Emel, Kokoro Islands.
10:48 AM, January 1st.
Just as the minibus exited the airport compound, the suited man beside the driver spoke to Theo and the others, "On behalf of the Avalon Resort Hotel, I'd like to welcome you all to Kokoro Islands. It's our pleasure to be at your service."
"Your guys prefer that I speak in English or Yamatese?" He asked.
"Either way it's fine." Theo replied.
Like every citizen of the Sakura Abode Country, Theo and the others were fluent in the two languages. So, they were not particularly leaned to one specific language.
"I'll speak in English then. It's the one that comes easier to me." The guide smiled.
Even though they were in another country, the guide spoke in perfect English.
That's because the Kokoro Islands were colonized by the Sakura Sea Empire, and until today English and Yamatese were official languages of the islands.
"Our journey until the hotel will have a duration of around 40 minutes. It may seem a long time, but our hotel is not technically at Emel but in a district near the city. Today is New Year's Day, so the road until the hotel will be mostly empty and we won't face any traffic. If it was a normal day, we would take around 2 hours to travel from the airport to the hotel."
"You guys must be wondering why the hotel is so far away. There we had the liberty to build the best hotel in the country. Because we occupy an enormous space, we had to build the hotel outside the city." The guide explained.
Everyone nodded in understanding as the guide started to explain the multitude of services and amenities that the hotel provided for them.
The ones that came from rich families like Ayia, Shizuka, Kaori, Vivian, Carolla, and Umaru were not surprised by this information.
But Theo and the others, who had just started earning big bucks, were surprised and beyond excited the more they heard.
The ones who came from really poor families like Theo, Aurora, Sam, and Ryoko had sparkling eyes as they heard all of that.
They never imagined that someday, they would be able to stay in a place so amazing!
They had never been in a place like that!
They couldn't wait to arrive at the hotel!
Just like that, they traveled through the streets of Emel toward their hotel. Sometimes the guide pointed somewhere outside where the bus was passing and explained its history. He even pointed at some tourist points.
Like the historical buildings, parks, street markets, and other places that tourists like to visit.
Theo and the others were amazed by everything they saw along the journey.
Even though there were few people in the streets, it was possible to see that people here were vastly different from their country.
They had beautiful tanned skins and a tropical beautiful look.
Even the architecture was vastly different from the Sakura Abode Country.
The Sakura Abode Country had two famous styles of architecture, the Traditional Yamato Style and the Gothic and Sacred Style. Both of them were gorgeous and gave the cities from the Sakura Abode Country a look like their buildings were up for centuries, and in some cases this was true. This meant that the cities mostly had a historical vibe.
This wasn't bad at all, as this meant that each city had its unique features to differentiate it from the others. It wasn't just copy-and-paste cities like the cities from certain countries.
But as they observed the buildings' architecture of Emel, they felt such a unique vibe from them. They couldn't explain why they felt that the buildings had a unique island, beach, and free vibe.
If they were asked what features made them feel like that, they wouldn't be able to do it. But they knew for sure that just by looking at the buildings, they were on an island with beautiful beaches.
Theo and some of the others even picked up their phones and started taking pictures as they traveled. I think you should take a look at
Just like that, 40 minutes after they left the airport, the minibus arrived in front of an enormous hotel.
It was so big that they couldn't even see where it started and where it ended.
"Wow!" Aurora exclaimed as she exited the bus.
"Yeah, it looks good so far." Theo chuckled as he followed her out.
Everyone exited the bus with smiles on their faces, they had finally arrived!
They looked around the building, but before they could have a better look, they heard the guide's voice once again, "Guests, you don't have to worry about your luggage inside the bus. We will take them to your rooms as soon as you check in at our reception."
Theo and the others were glad when they heard that they didn't have to carry their heavy luggage, so just after they bid farewell to the guide, they headed straight to the hotel reception.
They were dying to see their rooms after such a long journey.
As soon as they passed through the doors, they were able to see the stunning azure sea through the hall.
The sea breeze blew through their faces and hair as if to welcome them to paradise.
They were so stunned by the view and the amazing smell of the sea that came with the sea breeze that they stopped walking altogether.
"I'm in paradise." Max mumbled as he saw the stunning view.
Lauren was also stunned by the view, but she was still sane enough to say, "You mean this view is prettier than me?"
"Yes, no I mean..." Max stumbled with the words as he tried to explain.
Their interaction made everyone wake up from their reverie and laugh out loud happily.
Soon after, they arrived at the reception hall of the hotel, there were several stands throughout the reception where the 18 of them would be able to be attended at the same time.
Theo and Aurora neared one of the receptionists before the lady said with a smile, "Good morning! My name is Iris. How can I help you today?"
"Good morning. I have a reservation on my name." Theo replied with a calm smile.
"And what's the name?" She asked.
"Wait a moment, please, I'll check it on the system." The receptionist replied.
The woman was used to attending rich guests all year round, but as soon as she checked the information about Theodore Gray on the system, even her trained eyes betrayed a surprised emotion. It was only with her many years of experience that she stopped herself from gasping out loud.
"Two Avae Kokoro Island Suits at Breeze Island, am I right?" Iris asked as he looked back at him curiously.
"Yes." Theo simply replied.
"And I see you made another reservation, right?" She asked.
Aurora was confused when she heard that, the two for them only needed two rooms for them. What else did her brother book?
And it was exactly this reservation that made Iris, the receptionist, almost gasp in surprise. And it was the same reaction that the other receptionists had when they checked their group's reservations.
But what had Theo done to make them so surprised?