Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (79 page)

Amphrite pushed off the wall and raised her voice. “Everyone associated to Sarah please follow me!” Connor was beside
her in a flash
as she ended her sentence.
Amphrite
blinked at his swiftness and shook her head. Kara, Mark,
Jillian
and
Jack all made their way over
.
They
then saw Veronica walking in their
direction. Amphrite held her hand up. “I’m sorry Honored Mother, but you won
’
t be able to
enter where I’m taking them.”

Veronica said
“I misunderstood. I will excuse myself then.”
She shifted her gaze to
her friends
and smiled
happily
.
“I will see all of you soon then?”

“Of course.” Sarah
said. “We are just going to freshen up before the meeting.” She nodded and walked back to Sorono
’s side
.

“Alright. Please follow me into our bath house.” Connor and the rest of
them
followed the tall and well built Amphrite.

They
entered the opening of the Balancer’s stone gate
,
on the left side. This room held only two large buildings
and was half the size of the Keepers room
. The
buildings
were in the back of the room, but the center of the room held a huge rock garden that has been perfectly
sculpted. The outskirts of the garden held shrub
s
and tree sculptures in th
e shapes of different animals. They utilized the winding
stone path through the center of the garden and up to the two squared marble buildings. They looked the same, but one building held a carved bed
over the eave
while the other hel
d rolling waves. Amphrite led them
to the right building and there were two doors. One was colored pink while the other was
powder
blue. Amphrite opened the
pink
door and said “All you boys go in that door. Girls follow me.”

Kara smiled and took her sister-in-laws
hand. “Come on
, Sarah
.
J
ust because I can turn into a dog doesn’t mean I have to smell like one
.”
T
he men
began
snickering.
She dragged
her
in
after Amphrite and
she
lost sight of Connor
,
after
Jillian
shut the door behind
them
.

They
walked down a short hall and into a room that looked like a smaller version of the bath house on level two. Amphrite handed
them
three baskets and inside
laid
a small bottle of strawberry and apple shampoo and soap. There were two towels and a small stick of deodorant. “Alright ladies, I’ll leave you t
o it.” Amphrite said and left
.

To the left were bathroom stalls. Sarah sat the
box down and did what
nature asked of her
.
She
came out and
her m
other and Kara were already in the next room
. Sarah
walked into the bathing area and off to
the
left was a
small sauna room. In front of that
lay
a heated pool and to the
right were
five shower stalls.
She
saw the t
ops of
her m
other’s and Kara’s heads as they were showering.

Sarah
walked into the stall and took off all
her
clothing and armor
.
She
sat them on a ledge and quickly lathered up and rinsed.
Needing it just as much, she
soaked
her
clothe
s
in the water
and hand scrubbed them clean. She
even
decided to rinse out
the stainless steel armor. She
summoned forth
her
power and used heat to evaporate the
all
moisture out of
the clothes and armor. She
slid everything back on
and the warmth they held was welcome
.
As she stepped out she began
brush
ing
out
her
wet hair and felt very feminine at the moment.
Jillian
began
using her power over Liquid to dry her clothing her way. Kara asked if
she
would do the same for her and she did.
They
put the wet towels
, baskets
and other things back in the first room.

They
left the bath house together, but the men still managed to beat
them
once
again. All three of them
had a freshly shaved jaw lines
and smelled more pleasant
. All three men looked too handsome to be real. Kara walked up to Mark and sniffed his chest. “Much better, Honey.” He only smiled.
Jillian
walked up to
Jack
and they chuckled.

Connor looked tall and extremely proud. His piercing and predatory hazel eyes looked
Sarah
up and down.
Satisfaction made a home on his smile
.
His hair
had
brushed to the side and he looked so ruggedly handsome.
He turned his back and o
pened a hole in his right arm. Sarah
walked up and slid
her
left arm through the opening. He was warm and his
clean
smell
remained
intoxicating for
her
.
She
couldn’t even register his scented skin over his natural smell.
They
walked back through the stone garden and into the waiting area.

When
they
arrived
,
everyone was ready. The
Elders
lined up in three lines. The Changers were lined on the far hallway entrance in the same order that they enter the meetings with the short Raphael leading. The Balancers were lined in pairs with Amphrite and Poseidon in the lead. The Keepers Stood in front of the largest central hallway. Sorono and Veronica stood at the lead of their line and Damian stood behind them.

Sorono
shifted his piercing eyes at them
and said
“Sarah, you and Connor are going to walk with us. Please fall in behind me.”

“Marcus and Kara!” Raphael called aloud. “The two of you will be
walking
with us
and standing on either side of me
.”

“Jillian and Jack.” Poseidon said normally
,
since he was the closest. “Please
accompany
us to the meeting.”

Sarah
looked at everyone for a moment, but
they decided to
split up. Connor and
Sarah
made
their
way behind the gigantic Sorono and the others. Just being near them makes
her
feel smaller than usual. Sorono hear
d something as did Connor, but she
didn’t. Sorono said
“It is time. Le
t’s wrap this up because I still have
many things to do today.”

Without another word he
began slowly walking forward. Sarah
tightened
her
hold on Connor’s arm
. He leaned down and kissed the top of
her
head
and that was all the reassuring she required
. Once Sorono’s and Veronica’s tail’s cleared
them they
began marching
right
along
.
This time going down the long corridor
proved to be
quieter because there were only thirteen of
them
ra
ther than ninety
seven loud feet.
They
stopped at the massive
mahogany
doors and Sorono pu
shed
them open. It was much brighter in the audience chambers than in the corridor, but
she managed to make her
way into the bright room.

Everyone in the audience was standing and completely
silent
. There were tens of thousands of immortals patiently
and eagerly
waiting and it seemed like they were all looking
at
her
, but that was just
her
paranoia setting in. Off to
Sarah’s
right
gathered
the Elder Balancers
and they
were already seated and that
her m
other and
f
ather stood together on Amphrite’s side. To
the
left
platform
lay
Mark and Kara
as they
stood proudly to either side of Raphael
’s throne
.
They remained in their human state.

They
continued to follow Sorono as he made his way to the Head Elder’s throne. Veronica stood behind the
throne
chair and she was more than tall enough to look over. Sorono poin
ted to his side and Connor and Sarah
walked over to stand to his left. The other Elder Keepers stood by their seats.

She
felt Sorono’s mind entering
everyone present
and
she
allowed it.
Although she couldn’t
read
everyone’s minds he was linked to, she could understand how disconcerting it was to link so many minds to one being, even if it was to simply speak
.
“Welcome back to today’s meeting. You may all sit down.”
Almost as one the entire room sat straight down
.
“I know you all want answers about yesterday’s entertainment and my deception for these past millennia’s. I promise you will get your answers, but you must be patient.
I am grateful that you took my warning seriously for you kept peace in this place.
This
day
will take time for each of you to comprehend and understand
”
The room
remained
eerily silent and intense.

Sorono rested a hand on the
safety bar and jumped over it. Sarah
could
barely
hear his heavy
yet light
landing. He asked
“Connor, Will you and Sarah please join me?”

They
walked
to the ledge and dropped down. Sarah
used Pressure to slow
her
decent so
she
wouldn’t jar
her
self from the twenty foot drop.
Connor had the same idea. Once they
landed
they
walked up to Sorono.

“These fine people are Sarah and Connor
, if you do not know by now
. What you need to know is that they are no longer Balancers, but something much more
special
.
”
He started slowly
walking towards the crowd and they
followed.
“But before that, you must hear this story.”
Sorono
re
told the story of the Hallowed Mother and their history once again. He told them about the brothers Afleen and Ragke
,
and what had happened and how all Keepers present are their descendants or his. During this speech
all three
made
their
way to the front of the platform. He finished the story by saying
“…her children were called Harmonizers.”
He stopped and looked at them
.
“
Brother,
Let us show them
the
b
rands that our mother gave us.”

Connor nodded and took off his shirt and chainmail. Sorono slid out of the top of his robe and showed his back to the crowd. Even
Sarah
was able to hear a few gasps
. They both slid their coverings back on and Sorono continued leading this meeting by saying
“Now I must explain about my deception to all of you. I designed these meetings so that we can help
fellow immortals live easier
and work together
, but
this system
was also designed for a Harmonizer to read the situation and fix the problem. Connor did that by bringing the meeting to a
n abrupt
halt and revealing me as the true Head Elder. Now there is something you must all take to heart.”
The crowd leaned forward
,
paying close attention.
“Connor and Sarah might look small and harmless standing next to me, but let me caution you. Do not try to harm them in any way because they could easily cut every single one of you down before you could even blink. They have all the powers I do and I would be the only one to stand a chance at surviving
if they became furious
.”
Every single being in this room was stunned
into
silen
ce
.
“That
i
s just a friendly warning.
They are great companions, but I still needed to warn you
should anyone attempt to challenge their power
.
I will not intervene if anyone here decides to attack them.
Now you must also know
they ha
ve more authority than all the E
lders except for me. Please treat them with respect like you would an Elder.”