The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 33. Chapter 33 - Olona

Olona’s eyelids slid up. Dozi was seated beside the exam chair where she had been sleeping.

“Hey there, you,” Dozi said quietly. “Welcome back.” She smiled.

Olona winced as she sat upright. She took a sharp breath and asked in a weak voice, “Is he dead?”

Dozi smirked. “You mean, the guy whose foot… and then head you blew off? Yes, he’s pretty dead. Lahari told us about everything.”

Olona lay back again.

“Do you want me to help you get into bed?” Dozi offered. “You can’t be comfortable on that chair, and you’ve been out for almost two days.”

“Two days?” Olona repeated, groaning at another shock of pain from her chest.

“Yeah, that blast did a number on you. Also, Kosephaji deactivated a bunch of your armor after the battle, but he couldn’t deal with them all.”

Olona nodded, and her gear began to stow away in their housing units. “Ugh, you’re right; I’m weak.”

“Let’s get you to bed.”

Olona slept on and off for the better part of four more days, healing and being attended by the many friends she had made over her time in Teshon City. When she was eventually feeling up for it, she made her way through the neighborhood to where the mystic lived with his husband and daughter. Olona knocked on the door, and Theolan was delighted to see her when he opened it.

“Come in, come in! How are you feeling?” He gingerly hugged her.

“I’m doing better. My chest still hurts, but it’s not as bad. I will say though, I’m a little beat from the walk over here.”

Theolan brought a palm to his forehead. “How inhospitable of me! Please, have a seat, and can I get you some water or a little snack?”

“Water would be great,” Olona replied.

“I’ve got it,” Lahari said, coming out of the kitchen with a full glass in her hand. “Hey, Olona. You alright?”

Olona nodded as she took the glass and had a sip. “Yeah, I’m okay, and as a thank you, I come bearing gifts.”

“I smell muluflower,” Theolan said with a smile.

Olona took a jar out of her bag that was full of joints she had rolled while lying in bed during her recovery. Lahari placed a candle onto the table beside Olona, who smiled. “Thanks, Lahari.” Olona also removed from her bag a ball of twine that she liked to use as a wick. She ignited it on the candle, lit one of the joints, and handed it to Lahari. Olona lit another and passed it to Theolan. “The rest are for you as well. I’ve got a jar for Kosephaji and the guys, and another for Dozi and Tchama. My plan was to try and deliver all three jars today, but I may need to head home again from here. I’m already beat just from coming over.”

The front door to the house opened, and the mystic entered. “Hello, family and dear friend! How are you holding up, Olona?” He was carrying a large bag of groceries. “Oooh, it smells divine in here!” Theolan stepped up to his husband, gave him a kiss, and traded the bag of groceries for the joint. The mystic took a long puff and exhaled a wispy cloud.

Lahari passed hers to Olona who took another hit. The four of them sat chatting for a while, but when Olona finally said she was feeling more energized from the smoke and was ready to head on to her next stop, the others protested.

“Stay for dinner, hunny,” the mystic insisted.

“Yes, please,” his husband added, “let us cook for you.”

Olona laughed. “Thank you for the generous offer, but I really want to head out before I wear out completely.”

“But you’d be so much more energized by a meal!”

“And we’d love for you to stay!”

Lahari smirked at her dads. “I’m sure she wants to stay, but Olona has other things to do. Let her go. We’ll see her again soon.”

The men pouted but conceded, and after carefully hugging Olona quite a few times, she slowly began heading to another part of Shifton. It was not long before she arrived at one of her other two destinations, and she knocked on the door to Dozi’s new home, but no one answered. Olona knocked again, but neither Dozi nor Tchama seemed to be home, so she headed on to where the three young men had made a home for themselves. She knocked on their door as well, and Relliduna answered.

“Hey Olona, how are you feeling?”

“Getting better a little at a time,” she replied. “I wanted to bring Kosephaji a thank you to share with you and Pelipi.”

“Is that Olona?!” Pelipi’s voice called from the other room. “Get in here, sis!”

Olona had been instrumental in organizing how Pelipi was found when he was lost at sea after Ogomo’s ship wrecked.

Relliduna stepped back from the doorway and Olona entered.

“Hi, Pelipi,” Olona said to the glowing light.

When the three young men had moved into the old building that became their home, Pelipi had still been contained within a simple jar. It turned out one of the guys’ new neighbors was a glass-worker who constructed a brand new box for Pelipi. It sat in the main room of their home.

“Olona, are you doing alright?” Pelipi asked, his light blinking along with his words.

She answered the question yet again. “Yeah, slowly healing, thanks. I brought joints.” She held up the jar. “Want me to blow some smoke into your box?”

“Oh, yes please!” Pelipi replied, and his light blinked bright.

Kosephaji came down from the upstairs. “Hello, Olona. How’s the new device working out?”

“It’s perfect. Thank you, Kosephaji. Wanna smoke?”

Olona sparked two joints and passed one to Kosephaji and Relliduna, who sat very close together and held hands while they smoked. Pelipi let out a satisfied sigh as Olona blew a cloud of smoke into his box. “That is just delightful! Olona, where do you grow these flowers?”

“On the roof of my shop. I brought seeds with me from the riverland, and I’ve had great success almost all year long. It got a little too chilly for them in the middle of winter, but the temperature doesn’t get down low enough to kill the plants, just stunts their growth.” She took another hit and blew it into Pelipi’s box again.

When they were finished smoking, the three guys also tried to get Olona to stay for dinner, but she insisted that she needed to be on her way. They said their goodbyes, and she headed back outside. She stopped by Dozi’s house once more, but she still received no reply when she knocked. A short while later, Olona was back at her shop. She climbed the stairs to the living quarters she had shared with Tisa until her friend left with Z’Matri and Gawa. Olona climbed into her bed and fell asleep★