Chapter 45: Sea Globe, Sea Gold

Charlie

Supporting Infinity and helping her out of the ruins was no easy task. When I finally got her out, I was grateful to see Riley Burns diligently waiting for her return. Either he saw her follow us into the ruins or she told him to wait for her. When he saw the blood that flowed from under her cape and stained her clothes, he immediately whisked her up from my own grasp and carried her into the academy. A few faculty members had hung behind wondering why the head boy refused to go back with everyone else, but Riley didn't care about the punishment. He refused to stop and answer their questions.

I had full confidence that my sister would recover completely. She just needed to give her body some time to rest. I was proud of her for selflessly throwing herself in front of us to protect us from Ashkelan. I had frozen up, closed my eyes in fear. The tables had turned and Infinity had been the brave one while I was the coward.

To avoid questioning from any of my teachers, I quickly ducked into a bathroom before my French lesson to make sure all of the blood had been scrubbed off of my face and I didn't have any on my uniform. Luckily my cape had been mostly clean, but my sweater would have to be trashed. I couldn't tell whose blood was whose.

When I decided that I looked decent enough, I ran to French where I knew I would be questioned by Fidelio. We didn't get a chance to talk in-depth about it until lunch, where Gabriel joined us.

They listened as I described the battle in the ruin, how Infinity had bravely fought the swordsman and although it had been my commands that saved her life, she still blocked all of his swings and took a lot less damage than I thought she would take against an expert fighter. When I described his death, Gabriel lit up. "I knew it! I took a good look at the portrait earlier when I passed it. I swear I saw a light in his eyes that wasn't there before."

"He's back where he belongs." I frowned.

"You know, come to think of it, I haven't seen Infinity or Dagbert since break." Fidelio pointed out. "Dagbert wasn't in French and I always see Infinity in the halls."

Although I had seen her come back from worse, I still worried about Infinity. She could heal herself, but she could also feel pain. "Infinity is in the infirmary. She got hit during the fight, right in the ribs. It was a pretty deep wound and she was bleeding heavily. Riley Burns stayed behind and carried her there. As for Dagbert, he has all of his charms now. But he's at risk. Mrs. Tilpin is going to be furious. I hope he's somewhere safe."

"That sounds a bit odd coming from you." Gabriel remarked.

"I help people who need me." I stared down into my soup. I only hoped that I would be strong enough to help Dagbert fight the Lord of the Oceans.

The storm began during my history lesson with Mr. Pope. The rain and the hail would come and go, but when it came, it was intense. The howling wind shook the windows and the hail pounded into the side of the academy, disrupting Mr. Pope's history test. As always, he was angry. His fist pounded into the desk and he screamed at us all, as if any of us could be responsible for the storm. This definitely didn't seem like one of Tancred's. The thunder clapped, causing the windows to shake harder and the lights to blink. "I'm going to go home if this continues. How can any of you idiots learn with this kind of distraction?"

A few children chucked in spite of the possible backlash that would come from the short, angry man. No one would care if he went home. "I suppose you have all heard about the storms at sea? No, I suppose you haven't." Televisions and radios were only allowed in the sixth year, but I was sure Infinity didn't care enough to pay attention. She hadn't said a word about it. "Well, I shall enlighten you." He raised his voice to speak over another loud clap of thunder. "Severe weather on the southern hemisphere has caused havoc on the coasts. Many drowned. Ships wrecked. Boats lost." I began to feel very sick just thinking about it. Infinity had mentioned that Grimwald had been responsible for the death of Uncle Ailwyn. Many people had been killed just so the death of one man would be possible. It seemed it was happening again. "The storms have been appalling. Waves a hundred feet high. Wouldn't fancy my odds in a boat. They don't stand a chance." He nodded at the rattling window. "Mind you, this his just a breeze compared to the tempests out at sea. But that's no consolation when you've got to teach history to a group of nitwits." And with that, Mr. Pope gathered his things and stormed out of the classroom.

There was twenty minutes left until the next lesson and no teacher to tell me to stay put, so Fidelio and I left. I wanted to speak with Cook while I had the free time and she didn't have any distractions. She knew more about Lord Grimwald than any of us did, possibly more than Dagbert knew about his own father.

We had almost reached the blue cafeteria when Dr. Saltweather walked out. He was surprised to see us, but didn't scold. He just wished to know why we were out of class and Fidelio explained that Mr. Pope couldn't teach in a storm. "If he thinks this is bad, then he should go try some deep sea fishing."

His comment made me feel worse and he almost looked guilty having said it. "Is it really that bad, sir?"

"I'm afraid it is, Charlie."

"My parents… They're out whale watching." I could barely choke out my words. I wanted to ask him if he believed that they were dead already, but Fidelio interrupted me.

"Do you know anything about the Sea Globe, sir?"

Dr. Saltweather paused for a moment, shocked that Fidelio even cared about the affairs of the endowed despite our friendship. "I have heard that it is here. And that Lord Grimwald can control the oceans with it."

Dr. Saltweather, much like us, had an endowment. He was not able to drown. I wondered if he, too, could control water and drown people like Dagbert. "Do you think you could help us? Help us stop him?"

"Only the son can do that." Dr. Saltweather said sadly, walking away from us and getting ready to turn down the hallway. "Be careful, Charlie. You should let the boy fight his own battle. Your sister can't bring people back from the dead."

As Dr. Saltweather walked away from me, I considered his words. If I tried to help Dagbert and failed, not only would I die, so would my parents and Infinity would be alone. If I did nothing, we would lose our parents but still have each other. But if I succeeded, then we would all still have a chance to be together.

I thought for a moment. What would my father tell me to do? What would Infinity want? They would both tell me not to do it, but all I could think about was my father striking old man Ezekiel to the ground, of Infinity jumping between Dagbert and the sword. If all of this went wrong, Infinity wouldn't be alone. She would still have Maisie, Uncle Paton and Salem. Uncle Paton and Salem together would be a deadly force to reckon with. "That look in your eye tells me that you're not going to regard Dr. Saltweather's advice." Fidelio's brows knitted with concern.

"He needs to be stopped, Fido. Look at all the lives he has ruined. He killed Cook's family and the only person that Infinity ever knew as her father. And not to mention all of the other lives he took just because he could."

"Maybe you should wait until your sister is awake and talk to her about this."

"You know as well as I do, when Infinity's out, she's out for a while. That wound would have killed anyone else. I need to do this without her. There isn't time to wait. I'm going to find Dagbert. And we're going to stop Grimwald."

I had a feeling that Dagbert would have decided to seek refuge in the music tower. Since my father had woken up and left the academy, the old tower had been marked off and no one was allowed to go in, but that wasn't enough to stop me. I didn't have the opportunity to look until my lessons were over. Fidelio offered to skip orchestra practice to help me search, but I didn't want to draw any attention.

As I stood in the music coatroom waiting for my chance to dash down the hallway towards the tower, Gabriel put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay, Charlie?" He asked.

I nodded to him. "I'm going to look for Dagbert."

"Do you want any help?"

"Not yet." I murmured. I waited for a few more seconds. When the hallway was deserted, I dashed as quickly as I could manage down the hallway and slipped behind the giant doors. To get to the music tower, I would have to pass the ballroom, where Lord Grimwald likely resided with his Sea Globe. When I passed the massive ornamental ballroom doors, I couldn't help but to press my ear to them. I could hear the gentle splash of water, then the booming sound of waves crashing. Grimwald was in there all right. I could hear him humming to the sound of his own drowning song. With each crash, I knew someone would be killed but I was powerless to stop him. I forced myself away from the door and was going to continue to my destination when a small figure appeared at the circular room at the end.

"Dagbert?" I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look. "Where have you been?"

"Thinking." Dagbert replied. "I've got to stop him." He was holding his sea gold creatures close to his chest, as if he were afraid to drop them.

"But how? The curse – your father will try and overwhelm you." I was worried for the strange fish boy. While Dagbert was very powerful, I knew that Lord Grimwald had the ability to be twice as devastating.

"Yes, but no one else can stop him. I have to make an attempt or your parents will drown, Charlie." Dagbert approached me cautiously. "Since I have arrived here, I have watched you help many people. And you helped me, even when I didn't deserve it. You still tried to get my charms off of Joshua despite him kicking you in the face. Infinity put herself between me and a blade. I have my sea gold charms and they will stop him. My mother would have wanted it."

We stood side-by-side facing the ballroom doors. "If this is what you want to do, then I'm going to come with you." I said as Dagbert pushed open the doors.

Emma had given me Cook's description of the Sea Globe, but nothing could have prepared me for how magnificent and beautiful it really was. The floating sphere of rolling water bathed the room in a beautiful blue glow. The case of glass that I had been told protected it was gone. Nothing was blocking the roaring waves from nearly reaching the tops of the high ballroom ceilings.

Lord Grimwald was a large man. He had the same nearly drowned features of Dagbert, but on him it looked all the more dreadful. He had his back turned to us, but he was expecting Dagbert. "Son." He said gruffly. "Welcome. I see you have brought a friend."

Dagbert remained silent. He approached the globe slowly. He still held his charms firmly in both hands. I couldn't figure out what he was planning to do. Lord Grimwald refused to take his eyes off of Dagbert's hands. "Give me the charms." He demanded. His voice was soft, but his face was as hard as stone.

Dagbert was undeterred. He continued to approach the globe and I had no choice but to follow. Sea spray flew in our faces and soaked our hair.

"Give them to me!" Grimwald held out his hand. When Dagbert refused, he tried to intimidate him further. "Don't come any closer. If you harm the globe, it will destroy you."

I glanced at the globe, then at Dagbert's hands. I knew what his plan was. He wanted to throw his sea creatures into the sea. Would this be enough to calm the waves? Without his mother's protection, Dagbert would die.

"Give them to me!" Lord Grimwald roared, seizing Dagbert's clasped hands.

"No!" He fell to his knees, his body hunched over to protect his charms.

Snarling with fury, the Lord Grimwald raised his arm and a wall of water curled out from the globe. With an angry roar it rose to the ceiling and then began to fall. I was suddenly enclosed in a tunnel of thundering black water. I wasn't able to fight it or get away. I was forced to my knees beside Dagbert. Another wave rose. I knew that whenever it crashed, I wouldn't be able to breathe. This would be the end.

Just before it crashed down to swallow us, the sound of drums broke through the water. This was not enough to stop the wave. It crashed down on us hard. I couldn't move and I couldn't breathe. Loud shrieks and wails filled my ears. Were these the sounds of the other lives lost by the ocean?

Just when I thought my head was going to burst and my body would force me to try and gasp for air, the weight of the water was gone and I was able to open my eyes. I was laying on the floor in a pool of water, Dagbert's blue fist only an inch from my face. A golden fish floated through Dagbert's fingers and I quickly snatched it up before it could be washed away.

A black boot came down, crushing my fingers. An involuntary scream escaped my throat and I could feel one of them break under Grimwald's weight. The sound of beating drums however, made Grimwald step back and I was able to roll onto my back. Dagbert lay beside me, his eyes were closed, his face was blue and lifeless. His hands were empty.

"Dagbert?!" I screamed, shaking his limp arm with the hand that Grimwald hadn't crushed. He didn't move. I desperately wished I would have waited for Infinity. She could have fixed this.

Around me, the drum beats grew louder, faster and deeper. They filled the air with their threatening rhythm. I sat up and rubbed my eyes with my good hand. Lord Grimwald stood just a few feet in front of me. His back was turned towards me and he had his arms spread wide.

The blue sea light had been replaced by the red and gold of angry, leaping flames. I attempted to stand to my feet on weak and shaky legs. Now, I could see the cause of the flames and the drums: Lysander's spirit ancestors. Tall, dark figures lined the walls. There was not an inch of space between them. Their arms and necks were adorned with gold talismans, their robes were white, and their belts were colored like rainbows. Each man held a spear in one hand, a flaming torch in the other.

The drumming came from figures on the stage. Standing two rows deep, they beat their drums with feverish intensity. The chandeliers above me rocked and swayed. I wondered if they would eventually crash to the floor and shatter.

Lysander moved so fast around the great room that I could only catch a flimpse of his dark face and flashing eyes. The graceful whirl of his arms caused his cape to move through the air like a spinning green circle.

I stepped away from the Sea Globe, fearing that it would swallow me whole. From here, I could see Lord Grimwald's face. It was gray with fury and terror. He lurched from side to side, his arms outstretched protectively, as he backed towards his precious globe.

The lines of warriors stepped closer and closer to the globe. I could feel the burning heat from their torches. The intensity of the torches made clouds of steam rise from the globe. The spirits continued to advance and I began to feel very anxious and claustrophobic, entirely unsure of where I should go. They were almost on top of me, their dark faces only inches away. Then, they were on either side of me and I could taste the fire and the strong odor from their robes.

The surrounded the globe and their circle became smaller. Lysander continued to whirl around the room and the drums continued to beat.

I could no longer see Lord Grimwald from where I stood. He was trapped deep inside the circle of warriors. They were so tightly packed that their torches became a ring of fire. There was a loud, awful scream as the Lord of the Oceans was forced into the heart of the globe, overcome by the unforgiving seas that he had manipulated and drowned so many in.

The scream became a gurgle, then the gurgle became a desperate thrashing, as the Sea Globe steamed and boiled down, swallowing its master.

The warriors refused to budge and I was only able to see the very top of the globe as it became a very dull gray and reverted into steam. The patches of brown land crackled and shrunk. I had to drop down to my knees to see the rest of the fate of the Sea Globe. I watched the oceans steam and the land burn until it finally boiled away into nothing.

With the Lord of the Oceans dead and the Sea Globe destroyed, Lysander's ancestors began to back away. Their torches had died and their robes began to dissipate into clouds, until finally, Lysander, Dagbert and I were left alone. Where the Sea Globe had once stood, there now lay a small glass sphere no bigger than a tennis ball. It rocked back and forth in a pool of water next to Dagbert's unmoving body.

Lysander's hand came down on my shoulder and I gazed up at his grave face. "You finished it." I said. I thought that only the son of the Lord of the Oceans could kill him, but Lysander's spirit ancestors made quick work of him. I would not forget what I had seen for a long time.

"There was no other way." Lysander said grimly as his own gaze landed on Dagbert. "Perhaps it was too late for him."

"I should have waited for Infinity to get better. She could have helped him." I slowly approached Dagbert's body. Suddenly, his eyelids fluttered and his arctic eyes were staring back up at me.

Dagbert gasped loudly and sat up. "Am I alive?"

"You are." I grabbed Dagbert's hand with my own and pulled him to his feet. With the excitement of the battle wearing down, my broken fingers were beginning to throb again. I pressed his golden fish into his palm. He spotted the rest of his creatures laying in a pool of water and scooped them up. "You're finally safe."

Dagbert gazed around the ballroom as he stuffed his gold sea creatures into his pocket. "Where is it? Where is the sea globe?"

Lysander picked up the small blue-green sphere and placed it carefully in Dagbert's hand. "It's…here."

Confusion clouded Dagbert's features as he studied the small globe. "How did it…?" He glanced up at Lysander. "Where is my father?"

"He was forced into the globe." I said awkwardly. There was no better way to tell him that he was holding his father in his hand.

Dagbert looked back at the globe with a mix of horror and fascination. It was then that Lysander grabbed Dagbert's shoulder and nudged him towards the doors. "You need to get out of here, Dagbert. Once the Bloors find out what happened to Lord Grimwald and the Sea Globe, they will be furious. We'll get you out, but then it's up to you."

"Where will I go?" Dagbert was desperate. "I know nobody in the city. I have no family."

I looked up at Lysander, but even someone so wise didn't have all of the answers. He couldn't go back to the fish shop, not when his guardians were on the Bloor payroll. My house was unsafe with Grandma Bone lurking about. The Pet's Café was closed. The only place I could think of that would be able to keep Dagbert safe was Mrs. Kettle's shop. Between Mrs. Kettle's strength, Zelda's powerful endowment, and Infinity's protection magic, he would be completely fine. Infinity would have to return home, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if that meant Dagbert would be safe and that he had tried to overcome his father. "There's a place on Piminy Street. It's a Kettle Shop. Its run by a woman named Katya Kettle. She's the one who trained Infinity how to fight."

"Is that a good idea, Charlie? Piminy Street isn't the safest place to be." Lysander frowned.

"I think it will be okay. Infinity has the place protected, and Mrs. Kettle and Zelda are strong-"

"Did you say Zelda? As in Zelda Dobinski?" Hiss eyebrows raised. I knew I would have to answer some questions from Lysander later, but now was not the time. "I guess it will work. Tell her you've come from us. And show her the globe."

"Tell her…" I thought of a code word for a moment. "Tell her 'Matilda' and she'll know you're with us."

While I hadn't really told my own sister about the magnificent girl I had met in Badlock, I had told Mrs. Kettle about her. She had been on my mind a lot lately. "Who is Matilda?" Dagbert frowned.

I felt my face burn hot and suddenly felt embarrassed to have mentioned her. "Don't worry about it. Just tell her and she'll know, okay?"

We helped Dagbert escape the academy. We lead him out to the gardens and I told him how to navigate the ruins to get to the wall that would lead him away from the academy grounds. I hoped that any footprints that I had left behind were still there to help him escape faster. Lysander and I watched as Dagbert disappeared behind the crumbled castle walls and the trees that had grown within them.

When Lysander and I hastened to the main hall, a figure stepped from one of the side hallways. Manfred Bloor stood with his arms behind his back and a strange look twisted on his face. Whatever bit of humanity I had seen in his eyes the day before was long gone. "Very impressive, Lysander Sage." His body was practically shaking with fury. "But you're too late. I'm sure you and that sister of yours will find a pleasant enough orphanage."

As soon as he appeared, he was gone. I hoped Infinity was okay in the infirmary on her own. I would have to go there myself due to my broken fingers, but it was a small price to pay for all of the lives I had saved. The nurse couldn't do much beyond wrapping my hand in a bandage and giving me a low-grade pain reliever.

I tried to look beyond the curtains to where Infinity was laying, but I wasn't having much luck. The nurse was beginning to fuss over my nose. I hadn't noticed that it was starting to bruise. "Are you looking for Infinity?" She asked me as she dabbed a bit of antiseptic onto my nose and put a butterfly bandage over it.

"Yes. Is she doing okay?"

"When Riley Burns brought her here, we had a hard time trying to staunch the bleeding. I thought she was going to need a hospital, but after applying some pressure on it, I finally got it to stop. By the time I got her all cleaned up, the wound had already closed significantly. I've checked her every hour since she got here and she has made progress every time. Do you want to see her?"

I quickly nodded and followed the nurse to the curtained area where Infinity was being kept. When she pulled back the curtain, we were both surprised to see Infinity sitting straight up and trying to pull at her bandages. When she realized she was caught, her cheeks began to redden. "You're awake already." I could hardly contain my shock. "You're getting faster."

"Did you really think that something as trivial as a flesh wound would get me down?" Infinity swung her legs over to the side of the bed. The nurse, who seemed to be used to her antics, didn't bother to try and get her to sit down. "Where are my clothes?"

"Absolutely ruined." The nurse frowned. "Riley Burns brought you down some new ones, and a new cape. I believe it was his spare."

Both the nurse and I gave her some privacy while she changed. She came out dressed in her own uniform, but she was practically swimming in Riley's cape. "I'll have to see if someone in the art department can clip this for me." She frowned. It was then that she finally noticed my hand. "What the heck happened to your hand?"

"I'll tell you on the way to dinner. We're going to be late."

As we walked to the dining hall, I quickly explained what had happened the best I could. As I spoke, I could see a variety of expressions cross her face. A lot of them happened to be anger, but she finally settled on relief. "You're very lucky that Lysander showed up when he did. Both of you could have been killed. You took a very big risk doing what you did, Charlie. But I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, but it may have been for nothing." I knew I should have been proud of my victory, but Manfred's harsh words kept pulsing in the back of my head. "Manfred said mom and dad are already dead. Whatever you did to him, it didn't work. He's back to his miserable self."

"I guess he and I will have to have a little talk tonight." Infinity's eyes narrowed and I could see her movements become more rigid.

When we arrived at the dining hall, we tried our best to quietly slip in amongst the other music students. Riley nearly choked on whatever he was eating when Infinity took her seat next to him and I slipped in next to Fidelio and Gabriel. They were full of questions, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to answer them at this time. The other children at the table were staring.