Redemption Run

Chapter 25

"Oh for Oktu's sake, what now?!" Rhys said, "Everyone, stay close!"

The crowd did just that, sticking close to each other as the cars stopped and men in suits started piling out.

"Who are those people?" Jagos asked.

"We're about to find out." I said as I placed my hand on the handle of my sword. Felice was on my back, ready to take over if she needed to. I would kill all of them myself if it meant keeping my family safe.

Fortunately, it wouldn't come to that.

"Riley Newman." said the man, "We need to speak with you, urgently."

"Who's we?" I asked.

"The United Nations," said the man, "We'd like to know how and why a large country just appeared in the middle of the Pacific ocean."

"Say what now?!" Rhys said, stepping forward. The man took a step back, but composed himself quickly and handed me a tablet.

"We have a helicopter on the scene so that you can see for yourself," said the man.

I looked at the tablet and gasped when I recognized the castle the helicopter was flying over.

"That's... that's... there's no way..." Rhys mumbled to herself, but there was no way to deny it; somehow, Xeastea had appeared in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

"That means... everyone's still alive!" Felice said, "The Cleanser brought the country here! It really did give us our happy ending!"

I threw my arms around Rhys, nearly dropping the tablet in pure bliss. Rhys spun me around, and we turned back to the men.

"How did you know we were here?" I asked.

"My boss was informed of several 911 calls from this location against you and an... elf, several hours ago?"

"Yeah, she's tied up somewhere around here," I said, "That orc that's tied up over there also committed several crimes, so do with that what you will."

"Uh, okay." the man in the suit said with uncertainty in his voice, "Well, in the meantime, there's lots of paperwork to be filed and we have to figure out what to do with the new country that just appeared. I believe, according to the woman I spoke, that you are not from that country?"

"That's correct." I said, "It's a long story. Before we go into all of that, we need to help these people get back home."

For emphasis, I motioned to the crowd of nervous people, talking, looking around, unsure of what to make of the new world around them.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us," I said, "Where do we get started?"

"Well, if you'd like to come with us," said the man, "We'd like to ask you to be the ambassador for this country, if the people will have you?"

"Are you kidding?!" said Rhys, "Of course the people of Xeastea want Oktu's Second to be their ambassador!"

"That's... great." said the man. The fact that he barely understood a thing that came out of Rhys' mouth made me smile at little.

"We're also gonna have to get back to Xeastea as soon as possible," I said, "So that everyone there can find out what's going on. This whole thing is going to be a huge mess."

"Well, you don't have to go through it alone," said Rhys as she took my hand and squeezed it gently, "I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Me too." said Jagos.

"Me three!" said Baugh.

The four of us hugged together. The big crowd, which I had forgotten for a moment was there, started applauding again.