Chapter 20 - the dream

"What do you mean you might have messed up? You've barely been in Bongsburg for five hours, and you're already telling me you've screwed up?" Mr. Ntuli roared at Buhle over the phone.

"Dad, I didn't expect to run into Tristin so soon. I wasn't prepared," Buhle tried to explain.

"Buhle, do you know how hard I had to work to get you this mission? You said you wanted to be useful to the Argus Web. This is our chance to level up in the organization. Get it done, Buhle," Mr. Ntuli commanded in a cold voice.

"Yes, father, I'll get it done. It's not impossible yet; it's just gotten a bit harder, that's all," Buhle said, pacing in the restroom.

"Tell me what happened," Mr. Ntuli demanded.

Buhle wasted no time and recounted the events from the moment she arrived until Tristin left.

"Just give him a reasonable explanation for why you researched him. Say you're a fan, you're interested in him, or you wanted to buy the Prime Group from him. Make sure it's convincing. Tristin will need more than just a reason," Mr. Ntuli said, somewhat relieved that it wasn't completely over yet.

Buhle relaxed a bit after hearing her father. She felt like she had overreacted, so she stopped pacing and said, "Yes, father. I will go all out on this one."

After they hung up, Buhle returned to Megan, who was starting to worry. Buhle was much more relaxed now, and Megan didn't ask too many questions.

Back at the Mnisi residence, Grandma Mnisi had called all the key members of the Mnisi family, including Zinhle.

"Zinhle, how is your relationship with Tristin?" Grandma Mnisi asked.

Zinhle was a bit confused by the sudden question. She looked down at the table and said in a low voice, "Tristin is my classmate and a friend."

"Isn't he your boyfriend?" Aunt Becca teased.

Grandma Mnisi ignored Aunt Becca's tease and looked at Zinhle. "Zinhle, you need to work hard from now on. You have to get Tristin, no matter what."

The other family members looked at Grandma Mnisi with a bit of confusion; they couldn't understand why Zinhle's friend was so important to her.

Zinhle looked down and thought, "Who am I to compete with the likes of Ella and Lerato?"

"I know what you're thinking," Grandma interrupted her thoughts. "You are beautiful in your own right. Have more confidence, Zinhle. Plus, you have a great advantage over other girls."

"What is that, Grandma?" Zinhle asked in confusion.

"You know Tristin's new secret. I'm sure he won't tell anyone about being chosen by the leviathan."

As soon as the word "leviathan" came out of Grandma's mouth, the entire table went crazy. Some urged Zinhle to get closer to Tristin, while others didn't believe that Tristin was chosen.

"Zinhle, don't overthink it. Just do what you did today to make him come and see Grandma. Giving him your car was also considerate of you. Tristin is an observant kid. Did you notice how quickly he defended you when I was teasing you? Based on that, I'm sure he won't let you down," Aunt Becca said to Zinhle.

Zinhle looked at her aunt, grateful. She didn't know anything about boys or how to chase after one. "Auntie, thank you. That is much helpful," she said with gratitude.

Grandma knew that Zinhle was shy, and what she had asked of her was way above her current strength. "Okay, Zinhle, do as your aunt says. Having Tristin on our side will give us a great chance to stand at the top of Bongsburg."

Tristin, who was driving home, didn't know that there were two more girls after him now, sent by their families. Arriving home, with Grandma still at the hospital, Tristin went for a quick shower. After that, he remembered the medicine given by Zinhle's grandma.

"If the power is already in me, tonight is the night we find out," he said to himself as he drank the entire 100ml bottle of medicine. Feeling a bit relaxed and calm, Tristin was amazed by how quickly the medicine was working. He went to bed.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the dream came again—the same dream. Tristin was sinking deep to the ocean floor. As he struggled for oxygen, Zinhle's voice echoed in his head: "Don't fight it, Tristin. Don't fight against the water."

He relaxed a bit, letting the currents propel him. As he relaxed, his body started to sense the flow of living water better. As he landed on the ocean floor, darkness surrounded him, but for some reason, he wasn't afraid.

"Took you long enough," a voice sounded deep in the ocean.

Tristin followed the voice, and it was that homeless old man. Surprised, he asked, "Old man, where were you? I came to give you your dinner, but you were nowhere to be found."

"You don't even know what's happening to you, and you still care about a takeaway? You are an odd one, aren't you, Tristin?" the old man said, shining in the depths of the sea. His messy hair flowed with the water, looking completely different from how he looked next to the supermarket.

Tristin looked around and came back to his senses. "Where are we? Are we in the deep sea?" he asked.

"No, Tristin. This is my subconscious within your body. My subconscious has been sending signals to your subconscious, but you rely heavily on your brain for common sense," the old man explained.

"In other words, I'm dreaming," Tristin thought, then said to the old man, "My brain is my strongest weapon." Being raised by two academics and business geniuses, Tristin was raised to think logically. It's hard to step out of your comfort zone, even for a guy like Tristin.

"Not anymore, Tristin. Your spiritual consciousness is your strongest weapon now. But right now, you can only use 0.5% of the power within my subconscious," the old man said, holding Tristin's shoulder.

"0.5%? What can I do with so little? How can I increase it?" Tristin asked.

"Even though your body physique is purely water, your meridians are still human. We need to change your meridians to the leviathan meridians, and for that, you need to die, Tristin," the old man said with a smile.