Chapter One: Errand at Agate (Michael)
"Big brother, wake up!"
You gotta be kidding me!
"Leave me alone, Jovi…" I grumbled in reply, rolling over to face the wall. "I'm still tired from yesterday…"
Seriously, though, whatever made Professor Krane start a boot camp for the HQ trainers? I thought we trained mentally to think of quick strategies during intense battles?
"Mommy wants to see us, though!" Jovi argued.
I growled in frustration. I was tired, and all I was asking for was to sleep in on my day off!
But, this is my sister we're talking about. My now ten-year-old sister who still can't address herself in first-person rather than third, who I love to pieces since she was born. Ever since…
I shook off the thought and sat up yawning, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "Alright, I'm up."
Jovi cheered and decided to tackle me out of joy, causing me to topple over screaming, and eventually laughing.
A woman with her long brown hair in a tight bun and wearing a pink dress outfit and heels stood with her arms crossed over her chest as she listened the a man standing across from her behind his desk.
The man with short, tousled red hair and wearing round-rimmed glasses, a pastel green dress shirt, brown dress pants and shoes under a white lab coat that reached to his knees stood behind his desk, talking to his colleague.
The woman is my mom, Lily. She was the one who completed the now well-known Purification Chamber when Professor Krane – the red-headed man with the lab coat – got kidnapped five years before; it was a project originally started by the Professor and my dad, before…
"Ah, Michael!" Professor Krane exclaimed. "You're finally up! Did the boot camp session tire you out?"
I put on a weak smile. "Yeah. Smart move there, Professor."
"Good morning, Michael." My mom said. "I'm sorry to have woken you up this early on your day-off, but I need you to do me a favor."
I turned my attention to my mom completely. No surprise here; she always asks me to do favors. Most of them are just delivery or pick-up jobs, but it's still fun to get out of the lab every once in a while.
"Sure, mom." I replied. "Do I have to pick-up something again?"
"Something like that." My mom answered. "I need you to go see Eagun. I know it's a huge favor to ask of you to go to Agate Village right now, but he promised a piece of private information to us earlier, so I told him that I could trust you to bring it safely."
So that's why she woke me up so early… It's a big job, I must say, but… my mom trusts me, so…
"Okay, mom. I'll bring Jovi along, too."
My mom showed me her "thank you so much, you're a life saver" smile before she said, "Thanks, Michael. Be careful, you two, okay?"
"We will." Jovi and I replied simultaneously.