Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon (10 page)

“My nose hurts,” Birdie groaned from his right. (It came out like, “By dose hurzz.”)

“Useless Tile.” Albert sighed.

Professor Flynn motored down to them in his floating cage. He pulled to a stop and parked just above Albert’s head.

“Don’t let today’s obstacles get you down,” he said. “Everyone messes up a few times on their first day. Tomorrow, you’ll be ten times better. And the challenge really begins once Argon gets in there with you.”

At the mention of Hoyt’s team, the three of them groaned. Leroy muttered something about his mom’s homemade spaghetti.

“Get to your feet and brush yourselves off,” Professor Flynn said. “Trey will escort you to Lake Hall for some lunch. Core food will make everything better, especially the pecan pastries. I love those in particular.” Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out three Medallions, and turned to Trey. “I hesitate to even give these to Argon, since they didn’t find it suitable to stay and support their new Balance Keeper comrades, but they did win them. Make sure they get them.”

“Yes, sir,” Trey said, and pocketed the Medallions.

Then Professor Flynn pressed a button on his cage and moved up and away, leaving Albert, Birdie, and Leroy to lie in their misery.

“That was . . . ,” Albert started.

“Totally
not
Medallion-worthy,” Birdie finished for him.

“Food,” Leroy whimpered. “I . . . need . . . food.”

Trey blew his whistle. Their orange platform sank down to greet them. As they stumbled on and soared away to the top of the Pit, Albert couldn’t keep his mind off one thing.

For a moment there, it seemed like his Tile had done something for him. It was like it took over and made him a Core master for a few seconds, and then it had fizzled out.

And if he could figure out
how
to access that power, and exactly
what
that power was, his team might have a chance.

T
rey led the trio through the tunnels and out into the Main Chamber.

“Don’t worry too much,” he said. “Like Professor Flynn said, it gets easier.”

“It better,” Albert said. “Or we’re in big trouble.”

“Everyone’s first day is tough. But I assure you, once you three learn to work as a team, the magic will begin to happen.”

“Let’s hope so,” Albert said.

Leroy and Birdie were so exhausted, they hardly spoke a word. Even Farnsworth looked tired, the glow of his eyes faded to a soft and sleepy sky blue. They parted ways to get cleaned up in Treefare and Cedarfell, and hoped food would improve their moods.

Birdie and Trey were waiting for Leroy and Albert outside Cedarfell when they reappeared a half hour later. Birdie’s ponytail had its usual curl back, and there was a big smile on her face.

“Everyone back to normal?” Trey asked. They all nodded their heads and followed him through the tunnel, Farnsworth and Alfin leading the way.

Lake Hall was a five-minute walk through the Core. They marched down a set of winding stone steps that looked like they belonged in a dungeon. At the bottom of the stairs a wide, brightly lit cave opened up before them. The first thing Albert noticed was a glass window that spanned one side of the cave. Magma flowed behind the glass in swirls of blazing orange and red.

“Is that . . . ,” Birdie started to ask, with her mouth hanging open.

“Magma from the earth’s core,” Trey said, matter-of-factly. “Scientists don’t have their information about the Core
all
wrong. We just let them find what we want them to. The Path Hider is clever when it comes to dealing with those in the world above. Not to worry. The glass hasn’t shattered or melted in a thousand years.”

He led them down a final couple of steps to the ground level of the cave, where a huge lake spread out before them. There were numerous floating docks on the surface of the water, each with a circular table sitting on top. The other Balance Keepers, in their colorful team shirts, sat at high-backed chairs around the tables, talking and laughing. The Core workers sat at other tables, chattering away like old friends. Some of them were adults; some were children even younger than Albert. The most ornate table, a carved wooden one off to the right, held the four Professors and their Apprentices. To the far left, there was a dock without a table. Instead, golden bowls lined its edges. Some of the companion creatures, now including Farnsworth and Alfin, were there slurping food from their bowls. Trey talked as he led the trio to the edge of the lake.

“Take a turtle and go to your table. It’s the one closest to the window and the stage, with some of the other young Balance Keepers.”

“Aw, man, I was hoping we’d get to swim across.” Birdie sighed.

But Albert had something else on his mind. “Wait a second. . . . Did you just say,
Take a turtle
?”

Leroy chimed in. “Did you just say,
Closest to the window
? Where the lava might bust through?”

Trey nodded. “We can’t have you all wet while you eat, can we? And Leroy, stop worrying. You’ll be fine.”

Trey bent down to the water and touched it with his fingertip. Several bumps appeared on the surface of the water, moving toward them. As Albert looked closer, he realized they were four turtles the size of small boulders, with glittering green shells.

Trey stepped onto the first turtle to arrive, and it bobbed softly on the water’s surface. Its head turned sideways and an ancient eye blinked at Trey. Albert, Birdie, and Leroy followed suit, and before they knew it, the turtles were swimming, taking them to their tables. The ride was surprisingly smooth, like standing on a sliding walkway at an airport.

“Turtles, I am a fan. You’re excellent swimmers,” Birdie said as hers reached the dock. She hopped off and the turtle dove, disappearing into the deep.

When Albert and Leroy arrived, they took their places at the last empty chairs of the table. There were fifteen other kids sitting with them, eight boys and seven girls. Hoyt and his two teammates were among the group. It seemed like Albert couldn’t get away from these guys.

“Yo, Flynn. I thought you’d still be in the Pit trying to make it through the easiest simulation
ever
.”

“Cool it, Hoyt,” someone said behind Albert. He turned around, and was surprised to see Aria, the First Unit girl. Grey and Terran arrived beside her on their turtles. The three of them stepped off onto the floating dock and took their seats beside Albert, Birdie, and Leroy. The First Unit was sitting with
them
? Albert felt a wave of pride.

Aria rolled her eyes at Hoyt again, who was still snickering across the table.

“You’re just jealous because Albert doesn’t have a pea brain, like you,” Birdie said, a look of sheer determination on her face. Hoyt’s face went as red as a candied apple.

“He’s not a Pure,” Hoyt shot back. “None of them are. If I were the First Unit, I wouldn’t be so keen on having these duds as my trainees.”

“I’d watch what you say about us, Hoyt,” Grey quipped, not missing a beat. “In the end, we’re all in this together. And don’t forget that Aria, Terran, and I report directly to Professor Flynn.”

“And if you don’t watch it, I’ll tell Greymark to pay you a visit,” Terran said. She pointed at the companion dock, where a massive gray wolf with yellow eyes gnawed on a bone the size of Hoyt’s entire body.

“Whatever,” Hoyt mumbled.

Albert and Leroy exchanged satisfied glances.

This is as good as it gets,
Albert thought.
The First Unit, standing up for me and my team? I’m starting to really like this place.

Hoyt and his boys shook their heads and went into their own private conversation. They were on the far side of the large table, so Albert and his friends could speak quietly and not be heard.

“Thanks,” Albert said to Terran and Grey. Then he leaned past Birdie to shake Aria’s hand. She had skin like a china doll, and her eyes were as green as emeralds.

“Hoyt has a crush on Aria,” Terran explained. “He saw her win the Pit Races last year and hasn’t stopped teasing-slash-flirting with her since.”

“I’d like to show him one of my ninja moves. Or two. Or three,” Leroy said, bunching up his fists.

Aria burst into laughter. “You’re funny. What’s your name again?”

“I’m uh . . . uh . . .” Leroy looked like he was about to melt into a puddle right there in his chair.

“His name’s Leroy Jones,” Albert said for him. He gave Leroy an encouraging nod. “He’ll be fine once we feed him, right, Leroy?”

“Yeah,” Leroy said, and mumbled something about his mom’s spaghetti back home.

“We
are
excited to have you as our trainees, by the way,” Terran piped up. “We used to be Hydra, you know, before we became the Calderon First Unit.”

“The team names rotate,” Grey added. “When a team has completed all three terms of training and graduated to First Unit status, a new team of First Terms gets the name. It’s kind of weird you’re Hydra now, actually. I still feel like the name is part of me.”

“It’s like we’ve inherited your legacy,” Birdie said. “That’s encouraging! We might be even
better
someday!”

“Ha.” Grey chuckled. “We’ll see about that. You’ve got some work to do after today’s Competition, but I’ve got a good feeling about you three.”

Albert smiled. Maybe there was hope for them yet, though if he didn’t get some food in his stomach soon . . .

There was a rustling noise overhead, and Albert looked up. The air was suddenly full of white birds that sparkled like diamonds. Their wings spanned ten feet or more, and they held baskets in their talons.

“I hope those things aren’t delivering babies,” Leroy said.

“Not babies, silly,” Aria said. “Food! And they’re called Whimzies.”

“Whimzies,” Birdie said, watching the birds circle closer. She grinned.

One of the Whimzies swooped down and dropped an oval basket in the middle of the table. Albert could smell cheeseburgers, and BBQ, and spaghetti with meatballs. Another Whimzie swooped down and left a second basket. It was full to the brim with desserts in every color of the rainbow.

Smaller birds came, swooping down to leave white plates before each person. Then, most magically of all, bottles full of bright pink juice appeared beside each plate, as if they’d just popped right out of the table.

“Try the Core Juice,” Grey said, removing the cap and taking a sip. “You never know what you’re going to get, but it’s usually good. Looks like I got berry blast.”

Albert took a big gulp of his juice. “Cherry cola,” he said with a big grin.

“Mine’s fizzy coconut!” Leroy said.

They both looked at Birdie, who hadn’t said a word. She sighed, took a sip of her pink juice, and nodded. “Water,” she said. “Filtered. That is
totally
lame.”

“I always get water, too,” Terran groaned. “Sometimes I miss getting to drink Cokes from back home.”

“At least it’s healthy,” Aria said, gulping down more of her berry blast.

The boys laughed. They all filled their plates with food from the baskets, and spent the next hour talking about everything that had happened to them so far.

Albert learned that breakfast and a late lunch (or was it dinner?) were the only meals of the day. In the Core, food filled you up for longer periods of time.

“Your body will adjust in a few days,” Grey explained. “Until then, eat more than usual. It has to last you, and you’ll need your strength for the Pit if you’re going to beat the other teams.”

Leroy was shoveling food into his mouth at record speed.

Albert glanced over at Hoyt. He was jabbering on about old simulations his team had defeated. Albert saw that he was sporting a new necklace with a second Tile. The second Tile was red, not white, with a silver triangle that glowed purple in the center. Albert heard him say he’d purchased it with the Medallion Argon had won.

“It will give me more energy if I touch it,” Hoyt said, when he saw Albert looking. “Not that I need more energy to pulverize
your
team.”

Albert wanted to stand up and yell in Hoyt’s face, but he knew Aria, Terran, and Grey were watching, and that that wasn’t the mature thing to do. Here he was, sitting with the
First Unit
, chatting like they were old friends! Albert held his chin up as he looked at Hoyt.

“The best team will win in the end,” Albert said. Hoyt just laughed, and went back to bragging about the Pit. Albert turned back to his friends.

“You can get more Tiles?” Birdie was asking Terran.

“They only work once,” Terran explained. “But yeah, you can buy them at the Canteen.”

When everyone had moved on to dessert, one of the professors took the stage in front of the giant lava window. Albert hadn’t seen this guy yet, but the second he saw the man’s eyes, he knew it was the one Jack had talked about in the dorm.

“That’s Professor Hagglesworth,” Grey said to Albert, Leroy, and Birdie. “He’s got weird eyes like your companion Farnsworth.”

Professor Hagglesworth was of average height and build. He had peppery-gray hair, thick glasses on his nose, and eyes that shone a dim purple. He spoke into a MegaHorn like the kind Professor Flynn had used in the Pit.

“Is this thing on?” He tapped the tip of the horn and a high-pitched static noise exploded throughout the room.

Everyone covered their ears. Farnsworth howled like a coyote, and some sort of monkey with blue fur launched a banana at Professor Hagglesworth’s face. He dodged the banana as if he’d done it a thousand times before.

“Professor Asante is otherwise detained and won’t be doing the introductions. You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid. I see everyone has made themselves at home.” His eyes changed to yellow, the color of daisies. “Today is the first official day of the summer, and all of our Balance Keepers have arrived. Everyone, let’s welcome our newest recruits!”

He pulled out a crumpled list from his pocket and started to call out the names, one Realm at a time.

There were three new Balance Keepers training for each of the three Realms: Belltroll, Ponderay, and Calderon. Everyone clapped politely for the first two trios of recruits, while Professor Hagglesworth announced the Tiles they had received. There was a girl in Ponderay who could touch fire without being harmed. Albert wished for half a second she was in Hydra—that sure would be a useful power in Calderon. There was a boy in Belltroll who could talk to animals, a girl in Belltroll who could see through solid objects, and a boy in Ponderay who, apparently, could control the climate within a hundred feet in any direction. There were a couple of others, too, but that was all Albert could remember—he didn’t have Leroy’s Synapse Tile.

So many awesome powers,
Albert thought,
and I still have no idea what mine is. I’ve got to figure this thing out, and soon.

Finally, Professor Hagglesworth got to the Calderon Realm.

“Team Hydra consists of Albert Flynn, Birdie Howell, and Leroy Jones,” the Professor said. “Don’t be shy. Stand up!”

The three of them stood and everyone clapped.

“Go Hydra!” Grey, Aria, and Terran yelled together.

Professor Hagglesworth waited for the noise to die down. Then he spoke again.

“Birdie has been gifted with a Water Tile!”

Birdie did a little under the sea dance, loving the attention, as everyone cheered and her tablemates clapped her on the back.

“Leroy has been gifted with a Synapse Tile, very rare!”

The noise around the room erupted. Leroy took off his hat and did a quick bow. A blond girl at the workers’ table blew a kiss toward Leroy, and his face turned red all over again. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and turned away.

“And last but not least,” Professor Hagglesworth said, “we have Professor Flynn’s son, Albert Flynn. He has been gifted with . . . what did you say it was, Professor Flynn?”

Albert wanted to sink down into his chair and put his head in his hands. Professor Flynn crossed the stage and whispered something into Professor Hagglesworth’s ear.