The Lost Artifact Of Spode

23

A dust coloured sky stared down at Mel as the fresh, crisp air circled around him. He took a deep breath in, savoring the fresh air he missed dearly.

He's back on that planet from before. The one Spode originally sent him to. However, that's the most Mel's able to identify. He can't at all recognise the area he's walking in. He's only able to tell he's back on the planet from the colour of the sky, and the way the grass crunched under his feet.

Suddenly, the star appeared in his hands. The same one Spode had him chasing after before. Now, it felt heavy in his hands.

"What?" He asks in disbelief, tearing himself from the script of his dream. Within a few, short seconds, the dream dissolved from him.

Mel woke up to banging on his door. He let out a groan.

"Cinco más minutos," he mumbles, barely loud enough for himself to hear.

The banging continues at his door. At first, he tried to ignore it, but the banging persisted.

"¿¡Qué quieres?!" He demands.

The knocking briefly stops, long enough for Mel to start dozing off again. He wanted to fall back into his dream, curious why Spode wanted him to go back to that planet. After that star again. Didn't his last trip end disastrously enough?

The knocking suddenly starts up again, louder than before.

Mel tears the covers down from over his head and quickly sits up, but pauses as he realises he's not home. As the present slowly sank in, a pit formed in his stomach.

Surely, he'll eventually get used to waking up here, right?

He desperately hopes he won't have to get used to it...

The banging grows in volume again. Mel let's out an annoyed sigh and finally stands up from the ground, draging the blanket with him around his shoulders. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He opens the door. On the otherside waits another Proximian. Aside from the Imperial, this one is the tallest one Mel has met so far. She has an interesting hairstyle, too. Somehow her long hair is folded into several, perfect spheres going down her back. She's a very pale blue, too.

"What?" Mel demands, annoyance clear in his voice.

"You're needed, get ready," she answers, folding her hands behind her back.

Her orders perplexed Mel. "Aren't I a prisoner?" He inquires. "What am I needed for?"

She didn't answer him. "Get ready. I'll give you 10 minutes."

He rolls his eyes. "I don't know why I bother trying to talk to you people," he mutters. With that, he closes the door on her.

Mel let's out a long, deep sigh. He had a feeling from the moment Imperial Xia denied the fair trade that she wanted him for something for herself. With the medical treatment and a new room, it only confirmed his theories. She's going to force Mel to work for her, isn't she?

Of course just telling her all the information she wanted wouldn't be enough.

However, maybe she saw through the lies he spouted?

He shakes the thoughts out of his head and turns his attention back to the bar in his room, and the clothes the guard from last night gave him. He makes his way over to them and finally checks them out.

[Insert clothes here]

He slips on the garments, then heads into the bathroom for his old stuff. He still has his mushroom chain, afterall. It's his favourite accessory, he doesn't want to go without it.