Chapter 9

Five days later, in the dining hall, Daniel, Adam, and Robert were chatting together. The news of Daniel's gift had spread quickly through the castle, until every ear had heard of it. Nearly everywhere he went, Daniel was met with fascinated stares and giggles and whispers. Truthfully, he had grown quite accustomed to the attention rather quickly, but he still enjoyed the peace of sitting with his friends in one of the corners of the hall; away from all the attention.

"So, where's Clementine been recently?" Adam asked at one point. "We haven't seen much of her since she showed you around."

"She said she had a lot of official business," answered Daniel.

"Probably has to do with the missions," said Robert. "She has to be one of the youngest mission directors Avonlee has ever seen."

"Tell me more about these 'missions'. I've only picked up bits and pieces from around the castle, but I don't really know what they are," Daniel said.

"Well, we Everseers, all of Avonlee in fact, exists to help the world of chaos. It is our duty and our pleasure to prevent bad people from doing bad things," Robert explained. "In fact I just came back from a mission recently. I'm not in any position to discuss the details, but let's just say it was in a country that speaks mostly German. Adam and I are actually scheduled to leave on another mission to Beijing in about a day."

"How long will you be gone?" Daniel asked.

"If all goes well, a day, maybe two," Adam answered. "Three, tops."

"Don't be sad, Daniel," said Robert, reading his emotions. "I'm sure you'll find plenty of things to do while we're gone."

"Yeah, like finding yourself a girl," Adam joked. They all laughed. "After last Tuesday, I think the odds of that happening have doubled."

"What makes you say that?" asked Daniel.

Adam gestured slightly to a group of girls sitting a few tables away who had been starring at them. When Daniel and Robert looked, they all hid their faces shyly. Daniel turned back to his friends and smiled with both delight and embarrassment.

"Lucky," Robert muttered.

"Hey, guys," said Charlie as he walked over with a fresh plate of mini sandwiches. He set the tray down on the table and said, in a hushed voice, "Did you guys hear? Daniel's going on his first mission in three days!"

"What?" said Daniel, Robert, and Adam in unison.

"How do you know?" asked Robert.

"Clementine was called to a meeting recently. Susan, in the kitchens, said that she heard from Max that Delila overheard someone saying that the meeting was about whether or not Daniel is mission ready," Charlie explained. "And word about got around that the final decision was yes!"

"What?" Daniel asked again, trying to wrap his head around what his friend just told him.

"Are you sure?" said Adam.

"Daniel?" Everyone looked up to see Clementine walking toward their table.

"Pretty sure," Charlie whispered as he slunk back to the kitchens.

"Daniel, there's something I need to discuss with you." Clementine smiled, but Daniel could sense that there was something troubling her.

"Sure," Daniel said as he rose from the table. His friends gave him some reassuring looks before he left the dining hall with Clementine. "So what did you need to discuss?"

"Daniel, you know what our missions are, yes?" asked Clementine.

"I do."

"Well, our forces are incredibly small at current, and most of them are spread fairly thin around the globe. In three days, there will be an attempted bombing, and we need your help to divert it." There was a short pause.

"But it's only been a few months. Less if you don't count the time before my memory wipe," said Daniel.

"But you have progressed so much. Your skills, even in their infancy, will be invaluable to our cause," Clementine continued. "And furthermore, the king has decreed that you shall cooperate."

Daniel sighed. He was nervous, but it sounded like they really needed him. Besides, he hadn't yet learned how to prevent someone from coercing him, so he really had no choice in the matter.

Clementine continued to explain all about the mission; where to go, what to do, and all the essentials. There was a hidden back room to the far side of the courtyard which housed all the necessary equipment and disguises they would need. They were to meet here on the morning of the mission and then continue through the main foyer, into the front courtyard, and then they would use the Archway to get to Santa Barbara. No one really knows where the archway came from, but it allows instantaneous travel to any corner of the world. You merely had to tell it where you wanted to go and it would take you there.

The next two days were quite unpleasant for Daniel, as he had to deal with the stress of an impending mission, but had no one to talk to about it. However, he did bump into that strange Gus fellow again while he out taking a stroll. He hadn't gone on about this 'Shawn' character like the last time they had met, but instead he grilled him with questions about his past before the memory wipe. As like last time, Daniel was unsettled by this and left as soon as was possible, but there was something so familiar about him that he just could not forget him either.

"All right, everyone. Listen carefully," said Clementine on the day of departure as Daniel and the other three Everseers who were chosen for the mission stood in the prep room. "Our job today to divert a potential bombing. That means find the bomber as fast as we can, and destroy his weapon—or weapons—of mass destruction. Alex, Samuel, Timothy, you will be in charge of scrambling minds, I will take care of the bomb, and Daniel-," He held his breath anxiously. "As your first official task, you will be responsible for the bomber himself. That means that you are to keep an eye on him at all times and will revert his mind back into one that is caring and good. Understood?" They all nodded.

This was it. Daniel was nervous, but he knew he could do it. It was just a simple mind alteration. As he stared down at the T-shirt and jeans that he was now wearing, he couldn't help but think, "This is how I used to look all of the time. I wonder... will I hate going back?" He had heard all of these terrible things about the world of chaos but he had yet to see any of them with his own eyes. Perhaps they weren't as bad as they said they were?

Clementine showed them a map of the area that they would be patrolling and then they all headed for the main foyer. Once they passed through the foyer they walked, single file, passed the front courtyard, following a path of stone that had been tread upon for centuries, until it lead them to a seven-foot tall archway made out of twisting tree branches and vines; hidden in the brush of a thousand lush trees and bushes.

"Santa Barbara, California, North America!" Clementine announced to the arch. The branches began to glow and suddenly a spiderweb of golden thread began to spin within the empty space before them. Then they all connected and lit up with white light. Suddenly the archway now lead into a glowing tunnel. Clementine went first, then Alex, Timothy, and Samuel. Daniel was last. He put one foot in front of the other and plunged himself into the light, which suddenly became darkness.

'Woah, déjà vu."