Chapter 10

Trade Agreements

Heatherfield

Cornelia checked her watch and bolted down the stairs. She was supposed to meet Will, Hay Lin and Eric under the bridge downtown at three, and it was already 2:55. She cursed the Internet for being so addictive, and was reaching for the door when her father stopped her.

"Cornelia honey, phone for you."

Probably Will, wondering where she was, Cornelia thought.

"Tell her I'm on my way." Cornelia shouted back, turning the handle.

"It's not one of your usual friends," her father replied. "It's Timothy."

"Oh?" Cornelia replied, both surprised and confused that Timothy would call her.

"He's getting together with friends tomorrow, and he wants to know if you would like to accompany them. Should I tell then you'd be thrilled?" Harold Hale yelled back.

Cornelia's mind switched into overdrive. True, she had enjoyed the dinner with Timothy last week, but what had begun as a funny little incident was now becoming a potentially major issue. What were his intentions? How serious would he get? A quick glance at her watch reminded her that this was not the time to answer those questions.

"I'm running late dad, tell him I'll think about it." Cornelia replied.

"Where are you going?" Mr. Hale asked, raising an eyebrow.

Meridian, Cornelia thought.

"Out." Cornelia said. "To the mall. With friends."

"Do you want me to invite Timothy?" her father asked.

"No!" Cornelia replied louder then she intended. "I mean, no, dad. Look, tell him I'll call him later, alright?"

Before her father could reply, Cornelia slipped out of room and into the hallway, hurrying towards the elevator.

Meridian

"You could have gone ahead."

"That's not the point, Cornelia. We said 3:00, and you weren't there until… hold on, Raythor's here."

Will, Cornelia, Hay Lin and Eric stepped from the fold into the Meridian mess hall. Raythor was in the process of carrying a large plate back to his table, when he noticed the group and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Raythor said, taking a seat.

"Hi Raythor." Will said casually. "How are you doing?"

"Meh, can't complain." Raythor said, stabbing his meal with a fork. "By the way, you do realize that you've got someone with you, right?"

Eric, who had been until now surveying the room slowly, now became aware of Raythor's piercing stare. He waved sheepishly from behind Hay Lin while Raythor continued to stare.

"Yeah, we know." Will said with a smile. "Is Elyon around? Might as well wait for her to show up before we explain."

"Oh, she should be here any second." Raythor said smugly.

As if on cue, Elyon walked through the door and into the mess hall, flanked by Julian and Vathek.

"Girls!" Elyon said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you! How are…"

Suddenly, Elyon noticed Eric, and her tone became icy.

"Who's that?" Elyon said, glaring at the young boy.

"Eric, meet Elyon, Queen of Meridian. Elyon, this is Eric Lyndon, my boyfriend." Hay Lin said, introducing the two. "A couple days ago, I told him about the Guardians, and so now he's taking his first trip to Meridian."

"Is he? How nice." Elyon said in a sickly sweet voice. "And, just out of curiosity, did any time in this decision making, did you think about asking us about whether we'd like a stranger from another world visiting us?"

"Um, well, no." Hay Lin admitted. "I mean, do you care?"

"Yes, Hay Lin, I do care." Elyon replied. "Every living thing on this planet cares. Do you know what many, including myself consider to be the greatest threat to Meridian? Earth. So I'm not exactly thrilled that another earthling knows about Meridian."

"Oh, come on, Elyon." Cornelia said. "How could Earth be a threat?"

"Do you know what would happen if the people of Earth found out about us? About Meridian?" Elyon said.

"It would probably be fine." Cornelia replied.

"The Vikings, the Crusades, the Europeans and the Native Americans, name one time where two groups of people have met each other and it's been just 'fine'?" Elyon said, crossing her arms.

"She's not wrong." Will said, thinking about it.

"There's tons of minerals on Meridian that would be incredibly valuable to any other world. If Earth ever found out about Meridian and its resources, it would mean the end for us." Elyon continued, on the verge of yelling. "Our way of life, our people, gone. All of it. So you can't just go and…"

Julian put a hand on Elyon's shoulder, and the young monarch paused for a moment. She saw the looks on the faces of her friends, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry girls, I don't mean to snap at you." Elyon said, sounding much calmer then before. "It's just… it's been a tough couple of months. And I am right. Still, what's done is done. Hay Lin, feel free to show Eric around. Just be careful, alright?"

"Of course, Elyon, thanks!" Hay Lin said with a squeal of delight.

Without hesitating, she grabbed Eric by the arm and dragged him off before he could even say bye.

"Hey Elyon, have you seen my boyfriend at all?" Cornelia asked as she watched Hay Lin disappear.

"He's in the training room." Raythor shouted from the back of the room, having observed the scene with interest, his face constantly stuffed with food.

"Again?" Elyon asked. "He's been spending a lot of time there recently."

Raythor gave his Queen a shrug and returned to his meal.

"Has he said anything to you Cornelia?" Elyon said.

"No." Cornelia replied. "I mean literally, he hasn't said a word to me since…"

"Since Kandrakar." Elyon finished. "Something happened to him there, and he just hasn't been the same since."

Elyon pondered for a moment, and then reluctantly turned to Julian.

"I didn't want to do this, but I think I have to, for Caleb's sake." Elyon said to Julian. "What happened in that final room on the way to the Engine?"

"It showed us our greatest fears." Julian replied. "That was the final challenge. It showed us everything we ever dreaded or feared. Walli and Raythor made it through only because of sheer will power."

"And what did you see?" Cornelia asked.

"I saw everyone I love die around me because I failed them." Julian replied. "If I know my son, and I do, I would say he saw the same thing."

"But how come he's acting so strange and yet you and the others seem unaffected?" Elyon asked.

"Caleb's has the weight of responsibility on his shoulders more then anyone else." Julian replied. "Remember, he became the rebel leader when he was only fifteen. He feels it's his duty to protect every single person on Meridian."

"I better go talk to him." Cornelia said. "I bet I can cheer him up a bit."

"Good luck." Elyon said, watching Cornelia leave before turning to Will. "Speaking of troubled souls, I heard about what happened on Balsilide. How's Irma doing?"

"She's Irma." Will replied with a shrug. "You know how nothing gets her down."

Heatherfield

Irma, Taranee and Orube walked up the steps of Weldrick Palace, the home of the President of Balsilide. They were dressed in full Guardians gear, except for Orube who wore her finest battle outfit. The three of them were enough to elicit stares from all onlookers, whether they be guards or simple palace staff. Taranee and Orube acted as if the stares did not bother them, while Irma was happy to oblige them. Anyone who gave the three girls an odd glance had it returned by the water Guardian, and so it continued until they reached the throne room.

"Mr. President." Taranee said respectfully. "Thank you for meeting us on such short notice."

"It is hard to say no to the Guardians." President Rikar replied. "Much as I'd like to."

"Well, let's hope it stays that way, because we've got a favor to ask." Irma said.

"You? Have a favor to ask me?" Rikar asked, beginning to frown. "I am aware of what happened the other day, Guardian. The girl Selna is still mourning."

Taranee watched Irma's face carefully. It had been two days since that incident, and Irma had been handling herself well. She always did. To Taranee's amazement, but not her surprise, Irma jumped only a little, even when being reminded of that tragic day.

"If I could just talk to her," Irma said, "explain what happened."

"She has no interest in talking to you." Rikar replied, standing up from his chair. "Any of you! And I have half a mind to agree with her!"

"No wait just a…"

"You came into my city uninvited, ruined a girl's life, and failed to stop a terrorist from gaining possession of what Wilder tells me is the most powerful weapon in the world!"

Well," Irma replied, "you're off the Christmas card list."

Taranee smiled at Irma's ability to joke in any situation, but as Rikar turned to sit, Taranee saw something change in her friend. Her face dropped, and the sparkle disappeared from her eye. It was a side of Irma Taranee had never seen, and it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"What is this favor you would ask of me?" Rikar asked, head in hand.

"We would like to help in retrieving the Heart of Balislide." Taranee said calmly. "But since we don't know where the Heart is, we can't afford to waste time looking while there are more important things on other worlds to attend to. We simply don't have the time."

The 'more important things' were actually the exams the girls had coming up in a few weeks, not to mention that none of them wanted to spend 8 hours a day on Balsilde, but Taranee decided not to mention this.

"Where is this going?" Rikar asked.

"To this woman, Orube." Taranee said as Orube stepped to the front. "Since we are unable to, Orube will be our eyes and ears on Balsilide until the Heart has been found."

"You're asking me to allow unknown military personnel into my city?" Rikar said in a tone that left little doubt as to how he felt about this idea."

"Actually, Irma misspoke earlier." Taranee replied. "We're not asking you anything. We're telling you. Kandrakar has labeled this as a universal level threat, which means we can do whatever we want. Telling you about it is merely a courtesy."

"A universal level threat?" Rikar asked. "For something that I am told exists on every world? What makes this Heart so special?"

"Sorry, that's classified." Taranee replied.

Rikar's face turned a bright red when he heard this.

"Do not seek to make an enemy out of me, girl." He said through gritted teeth.

"And vice versa." Taranee quickly responded. "Believe me when I say a friend in Kandrakar is better then the alternative."

Rikar frowned, but sat back in his chair when he heard this. The President of Balsilide may have been a proud man, but even he knew better then to anger Kandrakar.

"I believe it's best if you be on your way now." Rikar said.

"As you wish." Taranee responded politely.

The three girls turned to leave. Making sure they were out of the castle before talking amongst themselves.

"This may sound weird coming from me, but are you sure that was smart?" Irma asked. "I mean, I don't like these Balsilidian guys either, but it looks like we're going to have to work with them for a little while. You sure you want to make them mad?"

"Actually, I took a page from your book today, Irma." Taranee said, using the borrowed Heart to open a fold back to Heatherfield. "It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but boy did it feel good."

Irma found it hard to argue with that.

Meridian

Cornelia tentatively peered into the military training room. Rows of exercise equipment lined the walls, while training dummies filled the rest of the space. One of these dummies was on the receiving end of a beating handed out by the rooms' lone occupant, Caleb. The boy glanced over to Cornelia in between blows, giving a nod and a smile before refocusing on his target.

"Hello Cornelia." He said. "I heard you had arrived. Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Cornelia replied. "Hay Lin told Eric about the Guardians, so she's giving him the tour of the castle."

"Bet Elyon wasn't to thrilled about that." Caleb said still practicing. "How's Eric handling it?"

"Actually, I don't want to talk about Eric. I want to talk about you." Cornelia replied. "Julian told us what happened in the fifth chamber."

At this, Caleb stopped and turned his full attention to Cornelia.

"Oh did he?" Caleb said. "Everything?"

"I know what you saw, Caleb." Cornelia said. "You saw us die, because you thought you failed us. I know it's tough, but you didn't fail us. You've never failed us…"

To Cornelia's surprise, Caleb raised a hand for Cornelia to stop.

"I'm not a basket case, Cornelia." He said. "I'm not paralyzed with fear. Everyone else got over it and so did I."

Without a moment's hesitation, Caleb turned back to the training dummy, fist raised.

"Then what is it?" Cornelia asked, stepping in front of the dummy before Caleb could resume his training. "Meridian is safe. Even this Shadow guy is worried about Balislide, not you. Yet this is the longest conversation we've had in weeks. You don't smile anymore, you don't joke anymore, and now you're just spending all your time down here moping."

"I'm not moping." Caleb said with an icy tone. "I'm training. This is a job for me, Cornelia. Killing monsters, protecting Elyon? For me that's a job, not an after school club with your friends."

Cornelia stiffened at these words, but kept her composure.

"What changed?" Cornelia asked calmly. "You're like a completely different person."

Caleb took a deep breath. Images of the fifth chamber flashed through his mind, both the ones Cornelia knew about, and the ones she didn't. He calmed himself and looked Cornelia straight in the eyes.

"I'm the same person I've always been Cornelia. I'm still Caleb."

Cornelia stared back into his eyes and swore there was more to it. There was something behind those eyes, something that wasn't there before. Cornelia just couldn't quite tell what it was. Maybe he was still Caleb, but he wasn't her Caleb.

With reluctance, Cornelia left him to his training; the sound of blows echoing down the hallway. As Cornelia listened, her thoughts turned back to home. Maybe it was worth giving Timothy a call.