Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (35 page)

They
all made
their
way to a somewhat long line that
led
all the way to a small shack
. T
wo people
sat
inside
the structure
and they were frantically writing on paper
and filing them
.

The eight of them
stood
in the back of
the line and waited
for
their
turn.
He
didn’t pay any attention to who stood in front of
him
. While
they
waited
,
Connor
turned around
and looked up
. “Clarein!?”
S
he turned to look down at him
with purple eyes and a furrowed brow. Her head looked down and
he
saw the light reflect on the glos
sy scales on the top of her skull
. “Do you know what Firon had to do today?”

“I do not, but I know he was summoned down to level four. I heard someone say there was a quick meeting of the Immortal Guards.”
She softened her features.
“I have a question to ask.”
From the expression of the others
he
could tell that Veronica and Sara
h were the only others in on this
conversation.
“How did you learn about seeing another’s aura?”

“Veronica accidently showed
it to
me wh
en she used the ability herself. I learn rather quickly.
”
He
smiled at Veronica and she
returned the expression.
“I will keep our bargain, so don’t worry. It is not my secret to share
anyway
.”

“But you have told your mate.”
Clarein
said pointing out the obvious.

It wasn’t difficult to find an appropriate answer.

“Can you keep anything away from Firon if he ever asked?”
She eyed
him
suspiciously.
“Unless it is a surprise for her, I will give her whatever she wants. The two of you have been together for so long. I can see it in your eyes that you understand exactly what I am saying.”

Clarein let out a rumbling sigh.
“I see your point alright. Do you have a question for me?”

“Yes.”
He thought while
smiling. “
Down on the scratched out level five, why is it closed?”

“Because it is so dangerous.
But t
here were some glorious battles.”
Her eyes went out of focus as she remembered the past.
“Anyone
could compete for the prize. The winner co
uld request one thing from the e
lders, if it was within their power
that is
. A thousand years ago the elders
decided to
shut dow
n that hall because so many woun
d up hurt or worse.”

Connor
wrapped
his
hands behind
his
head
,
making
his
elbows point out
. “It sounds like it would be
quite a bit of
fun.”

About an hour later
they eventually
made it to the registration desk. Behind the desk
sat
a pair of mated Balancers
putting some papers in a manila envelope
.
The woman wore a plaid shirt as did her mate. She had
light
red hair and pale green eyes. The male sitting next to her
sat
at most an inch taller and looked to be in his mid to late twenties. After they put the files aw
ay they both looked up to see him
standing
there
like some oversized shadow. The woman cleared her throat. “Hello
,
how can we help you?”

Connor
stood straighter. “I would like to register
and start a new team.”

She smiled politely, but
he
knew she was forcing it
out of sheer boredom
. “What kind of sport would you like? Do you also have enough players?”

“Baseball will do for now. And
yes I have plenty of players.” He
smiled the same way back at her
, gauging her reactions or what comes next
. She pulled out a new sheet of paper and
started writing after sighing. He
answered her first question. “The names are; Connor, Sarah, Jack, Jillian
who are Balancer
. Then there is Kara and Mark who are Changers.” Her pen stopped
scribbling
after she registered
in her mind
what he
just said. She looked up with shocked eyes.
Then a large shadow moved over
head and he
knew who it belonged to
.

He
almost laughed as the writers seemed to have had an aneurism.

“Don’t forget to put my name down either, little one. My name is Veronica.”
He
wasn’t surprised, but everyone within hearing range was. There was silence as everyone turned to look at
them
. When
he
asked Firon about the rules
at breakfast
, Veronica looked at him and winked. Connor
knew then that she wanted in.

The girl remained
frozen in shock as were everyone else around
them
. It was almost like it was during
breakfast, but this time every
creature
’
s eyes were popped outside their eye sockets.
He
broke the silence when the shadow moved away. “You heard the lady. Is there a problem with our application?”

She stuttered. “Oh… of course not… what are you going to call your team… when we call out the next players?”

He
turned around
and
first looked at Sarah as she gazed in shock up at Veronica. Her parents were too.
Connor
looked up to Veronica and she was showing a toothy grin.
He then
turn
ed
his
sights on Kara and Mark. T
hey were both sitting on their haunches
,
being silent, but they were both wearing their own version of a toothy grin. Then an idea for a name popped in
his
mind.
He
quickly turned back
around. “You can call our team,
Equal
!”

She quickly wrote the name down and started writing some more on the paper. A minute later she looked up
,
eyeing all of
them
. “Everything is ready for…all…of you to play. I would guess that you’ll be able to play in three day’s time.”

“Thank you.” As the eight of them started walking away Connor
heard the two behind the counter whisper
ing
to each other.
“
A
re they for real?
This hasn’t happened before! What do they owe that big one
? Will they actually make it
?” O
n and on they went.
B
oth Mark and Kara heard
just
as well as
he
did.
He
was proud they didn’t do or say anything. Veronica
continued
grinning from ear hole
to ear hole. Sarah re-grabbed his
hand and walked
along
with
him
.

She
felt
really tense at the moment.

The four of Balancers, two Changers and two Keepers all walked through the silent crowd of watchful eyes. Just about everyone was still in sho
ck from their initial
entrance.
Connor then
saw three
silver
sets of
eyes licking their lips at
their
party.
He
instantly memorized their faces because they could be
potential
trouble.
They
made
their way down the bleachers and Connor
found an empty spot for all of
them
.
They
chose the bleachers on the right fi
eld and sat about mid way up. They
sat
just a few yards away from first base.

Connor
studied the field after Veronica and Clarein managed to slide their tails between the metal bleachers
and let them hang
. The diamond bases were wider spread because
he
knew
an immortal
can run faster and farther than any human could understand.
The outfield net was made of a metal mesh. It would protect a
nyone who would get hit from any
runaway balls.
The outfield was proportionally as big. The green grass
i
s all artificial and padded underneath
,
and
it
sunk down an inch under
someone’s
heavy weight.

He
knew it was
so
because a team of Changers were playing. It seemed like the team all shared the same attributes. Each player was male and all were shirtless. They all wore white leggings and were all barefoot. Each one had made their arms somewhat longer and larger. Their legs were a
ll thick and well formed, but Connor’s
legs were
still
far more developed
. Their fingers were longer so that they could catch the ball barehanded. Then
there was the base
ball
itself
, it was made from solid steel and polished to a mirror finish. The bat was also polished steel, but from what
he
saw it looked like a regular bat, but the shaft was thicker and longer.
S
even members
of one team stood
on the field. There were two outfielders, three basemen, a catcher and a pitcher.

The Changers were playing against a group of Balancers. A frail
and young
looking woman walked
up to the batter
’
s box
wearing a pair of
blue
jeans and a brown t-shirt with tennis shoes. She picked up the bat with ease and gentle grace. She
had fire engine red hair, but Connor
didn’t get a good look at her eyes.
S
he didn’t have a helmet, matter of fact
he
didn’t see a helmet in either of the dugouts.

The
catcher crouched down and opened up his right hand
and extended his
overly
long fingers
. Then the long armed pitcher tested the ball a few times before he took his stance. He threw the ball at a speed a human couldn’
t imagine or keep up with.
Then a sense of
energy being gathered
alerted Connor
and
it came
from the batter
herself
. Then the ball suddenly started decelerating
in the air
because sand rose from the ground and slowed the progress of the metal
.
Connor
knew she was using
Terra
to slow it down. When the ball was within range she swung her bat with the speed and strength of an immortal. The sound of metal crashing together made the crowd cheer. The batter dropped her bat as the ball shot into left field. She made it to first, but
the outfielder caught it after leaping at least fifteen feet in the air.
That was the third out and the teams exchanged places on the field.

Then he
heard Sarah quietly say “Oh no…”
and her emotions scattered into fright. Connor
quickly turned to her and she realized she had spoken aloud. “Sorry, I just realized
who that was.” He
looked at the player and saw
striking
emerald green eye
s beneath
red bangs
. “Connor, that was my grandmother
, Laura
.
And that is my grandfather, Ryan.
”
She pointed
out
.