Farnsworth yipped in agreement. His flashlight eyes turned a cool ocean blue.
“See? Farnsworth agrees.” Albert said.
The dog howled, and Albert, Leroy, and Birdie were in high spirits again, having decided that tomorrow things would be different. Tomorrow, they’d do everything they could to show Argon what Hydra was really made of. They rode the orange platform up and out of the Pit, then left the room and walked the jagged path back to the old wooden doorway.
Outside, Petra stood waiting for them, his back up against the cool stone walls of the tunnel.
“I’m sorry, guys,” he said, shaking his head. “Hoyt’s such a jerk. He already shouted Argon’s victory to the whole Main Chamber the second he got out here. But no worries, right?”
Albert sighed. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Aw, come on, you guys are Balance Keepers. You can’t get upset about one loss! And besides”—Petra bobbed up and down on his toes, reminding Albert of one of his half siblings when they begged for a cookie late at night—“I have a surprise for you.”
“Unless it involves food, I’m going to Cedarfell and crashing,” Leroy groaned.
Birdie elbowed him in the stomach, and they started to argue.
Albert shook his head. “At least some things never change. Lead the way, Petra. Farnsworth and I want to see what your surprise is. And I’m sure those guys will too, just as soon as they’re done arguing like little kids.”
Petra smiled wider than ever, then turned on his heel and walked briskly down the hall. While Birdie and Leroy talked about whether or not the blue flames were made of a natural or man-made substance, Petra filled Albert in on the latest Core gossip. Albert thought if Petra ever wanted to leave the Core, he would make an awesome reporter on the surface. Maybe even a detective.
He led them back into the Main Chamber, past a group of girls who giggled as they put pink bows all over Professor Asante’s sleeping Guardian cat. Albert hoped the thing didn’t wake up anytime soon, or those girls might be lunch. Or maybe just an appetizer.
Right as they were about to head into one of the tunnels, something caught Albert’s eye. A large copper countdown clock had been hung on the wall beside the door to Ponderay. A big, glowing 7 sat on its face.
“I have a feeling that’s, like, totally going to stress me out,” Birdie hissed as she stared up at the clock.
Albert knew she was probably right.
“Come on, let’s go!” Petra squeaked excitedly. He took a sharp left into a tunnel that Albert had yet to explore. It was lit by the same blue flames, but there were other doors here, locked doors, which Albert was just itching to get behind.
“What’s in there?” Albert asked, pointing to a black door with an old, rusted handle.
“No one knows.” Petra shrugged.
Albert’s eyes widened, and again, he was filled with that same sense of adventure that struck him on his very first day in the Core. He loved this place, no matter the trouble, no matter the danger.
At the end of the tunnel, Petra stopped before a locked door. He turned to his three friends and gave them a sly grin. “What lies behind this door is only for us.”
Farnsworth’s eyes flashed a darker shade of blue.
“And Farnsworth,” Petra corrected himself. Farnsworth’s tail thumped on the dusty stone floor. “Here we go.”
Petra pulled out an old rusty key from beneath his shirt, turned it in the lock, and swung the door open.
Albert peered inside, past Petra’s shoulder.
It was not at all what he’d expected.
“This . . . is . . . ahhhhmazing!” Birdie shouted, holding her hands up in the air. “It couldn’t be more beautiful, Petra!”
She walked over and then climbed up on a Guildacker-shaped float, the kind that Albert watched every year in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
This float was twice the size of Jadar and it took up most of the room. It looked so real that Albert was tempted to reach out to touch its chest and feel for a heartbeat.
“It’s taken me months,” Petra said. “And you guys get to help me finish it! I mean, there’s no way I could do this all by myself.”
“But you have!” Albert gasped. “You made this?”
“You have some serious skill, bro,” Leroy said as he stared at the float.
It looked like some sort of famous sculpture artist had done it, not tiny little Petra. Albert didn’t know the guy had it in him to be so creative.
The base of the float was made up of glittering gold coins—old ones that, apparently, Lucinda had given to Petra to use, as long as he promised to return them (with interest). The Guildacker’s wings were covered in some sort of sparkling purple webbing. Albert reached up to touch it, but Leroy stopped him.
“That’s that crazy moss stuff that made my fingers go all balloony on me last term.”
“Oh, yikes.” Albert pulled his hand away just in time.
“I had to wear special gloves for that part,” Petra said. He stepped up beside Albert in the shadows cast by the Guildacker float’s widespread wings.
“This is really awesome, Petra. But what’s it for?” Albert asked.
Petra bobbed on his toes. “The Float Parade, of course!”
Albert just stared.
“Oh, riiiight,” Petra squeaked. “You don’t know about the parade. Technically, it’s usually just for Pures, since we’re the only ones here during the holidays.”
Birdie hopped down from the Guildacker’s back, careful not to mess it up with her boots. “I’ve never heard of it.”
Even Leroy shook his head. “I’m coming up empty, dudes.”
“It’s only the biggest Pure event of the year,” Petra explained, eyes as wide as the coins on the float. “First there’s the Float Parade. Then there’s a dance and a dinner, and whoever’s float gets the most votes wins. It’s a huge Core tradition for the Pures. And since you guys are here for the emergency session, the Professors have decided that everyone gets to join!”
“I can’t wait!” Birdie giggled and clapped. “And you’re so going to win the float competition. It looks just like Jadar!”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Petra’s cheeks grew red as cherries. “And I might have also been hoping that you three would, um, ride on the float. Please say yes! It’ll be just like last year, when you guys saved Calderon! The entire Core will go nuts when they see it!”
Albert didn’t really like being in the spotlight. He was good at saving the world from behind the scenes, then slipping quietly away with his best friends and dog.
But Petra looked so excited, and Albert couldn’t even imagine how much time his friend had put into building this thing. It was cooler the longer he looked at it, with tons of detail. Even the Guildacker’s claws looked razor-sharp, made of copper pipes that Petra had somehow chiseled into outspread talons.
“I’m game if you guys are,” Albert said.
“It would be an honor, bro,” Leroy said, patting Petra on the back.
“I’ll do it on one condition,” Birdie piped up. Her arms were crossed, and Albert knew she wouldn’t back down. “I’ll ride the Guildacker, even go to the dance . . . if I don’t have to wear a dress.”
All three of the boys laughed. Petra was at such a loss for words that Albert knew instantly he’d made the right choice.
The four of them piled their hands on top of one another’s. Farnsworth laid a paw on top of the pile.
“Deal,” Albert said. “We’re definitely going to win.”
CHAPTER 9
The Pillars of Ponderay
As they climbed down the staircase and saw the glittering pool below them, the floating docks with old wooden tables and all of the Core people waiting below, Albert felt a thousand times lighter. They’d arrived at Lake Hall, where lunch was the biggest and best meal of the day.
This term, icicle lights hung from the cavernous ceiling like falling stars. The lights cast dancing shadows on the
crowd below.
“You all right, Albert?” Birdie nudged him with her hip as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m good,” Albert said. “I still can’t believe we lost today.”
“Things will get better,” Birdie promised.
Albert wanted to believe she was right. This was the Core, after all. Things changed every single day, and tomorrow, he hoped they’d beat Argon.
“I’m so hungry I could eat an entire Guildacker!” Leroy yelled. His voice echoed across the Hall.
There was a deafening roar from the companions’ table, which was closest to the bottom of the staircase where the trio stood. Jadar had heard Leroy’s joke, and by the look of his coiled talons and snapping beak, he wasn’t happy.
“My bad!” Leroy said, holding his hands up. “Totally my bad!”
Birdie smirked and waved Jadar away. “Serves you right, Leroy Jones.”
“You guys are crazy,” Albert said, holding back a laugh.
The three of them stood by the water’s edge, waiting as the turtles swam to greet them.
“Oh, I’ve missed these little guys!” Birdie knelt down and patted her turtle on the head. It winked an ancient, knowing eye at her, then let her hop on. Albert and Leroy followed suit.
The turtles seemed to know exactly where Hydra belonged today. The turtles floated past Albert’s old table, where he and his friends used to sit. Today it was empty, reminding Albert that even though he was back in the Core, it wasn’t reason to celebrate. He was only here because of an emergency, and if Albert wanted to help set things right, and keep his family and everyone else in California safe, he needed to focus.
The turtles took a left, stopping at the edge of a black dock, where a few of the other students sat. Albert recognized some of them, especially Jack, an older Balance Keeper who had taken Albert and Leroy under his wing in Cedarfell. Albert didn’t know Jack was a Pure. Some people, like Hoyt, flaunted it like a shiny new gadget, while others, like Petra, didn’t think of it as something that needed to be said.
“’Sup, Hydra?” Jack waved from the dock.
“Hey, Jack! Nice to see you, man.” Albert waved and hopped off his turtle. He knelt down and patted it on its glittering shell. “Thanks for the ride!”
The turtle blinked at him, then disappeared beneath the surface of the dark water.
There were three empty seats at the table. Albert, Leroy, and Birdie sat down. Leroy tucked a napkin into the collar of his shirt, then grabbed his fork and knife. “Let’s do this.”
“Albert Flynn,” someone said.
Albert looked to his left, and was surprised to see Tussy there.
“Shouldn’t you be sitting with the Professors?” he asked her.
Tussy had a fresh cut on her left eyebrow.
“Shouldn’t you be a little more . . . disappointed right now?”
“I’m confused,” Albert said.
“You lost today. The great Albert Flynn, the boy who wears the Master Tile around his neck. Part of the heroic team that saved Calderon. And today, you failed your first Pit exercise.”
Albert felt like Tussy had just slapped him across the face.
“We haven’t been here in months. It’s natural to be a little out of touch.”
Tussy clicked her teeth. “If you say so.”
Albert could feel his face grow hot. “My team and I work really well together. You’ll see.”
“I’m expecting you to win in the Pit tomorrow,” Tussy said with a pointed glare. She nodded her head across the lake, where Hoyt and his cronies were making gross faces. “I’d hate to see the fate of the world land in their hands.”
“I can agree with you on that.” Albert nodded.
“One week.” Tussy took a gulp of her drink. “You’d better be ready.”
Then she raised a scabbed eyebrow, stood up, and walked away.
Whimzies began to swoop down from overhead, carrying baskets full of steaming hot food. The smell alone made Albert’s stomach rumble. As the rest of the table started loading their plates, thoughts of Albert’s conversation with Tussy faded away.
He ate spaghetti and meatballs until he felt like he was going to explode.
Leroy, as usual, filled his plate three times, and left not a scrap of food to spare.
“You’re such a glutton,” Birdie said, shaking her head at Leroy. “It’s really quite something.”
Leroy shrugged. “Wha—oo—uh—mean?” A noodle hung from his chin.
“She means,” Albert said, flicking the noodle away, “that you eat like a pig!”
Leroy swallowed, then laughed. “Pigs are usually fat and happy!”
As plates started to empty, Albert felt himself growing excited. Free time was next. And then, finally, a good night’s sleep back in Cedarfell inside his warm tent.
But before anyone could stand up to leave, Tussy took the stage. A MegaHorn sat on a podium there, and she tapped it. A squeal reverberated throughout Lake Hall.
“As you may well know, we’ve brought several surface-dwelling Balance Keepers back to the Core, something we don’t usually do on such short notice.”
Heads nodded. Companion creatures hooted and roared and hissed.
Tussy went on. “I’ll let Professor Asante relay the news, as she has just recently returned from the Ponderay Realm. Everyone, give her a warm welcome.”
Everyone clapped as Professor Asante took the stage. The sound was strangely weak compared to last summer, when Lake Hall was so packed with people that not a single dock or chair was left empty.
Professor Asante looked even larger today than she usually did. Albert had to crane his neck to look up at her.
“Sometimes I wonder if she’s fully human,” Birdie whispered to Albert and Leroy.
The boys both nodded. “Half giant, maybe,” Albert said.
“Or half cyclops,” Leroy mused, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.
Birdie sighed. “She has two eyes, Memory Boy. Cyclopses have only one.”
Albert sighed and turned back to the stage. Professor Asante was covered in scars and cuts, just like Tussy. But she also had tattoos that wrapped around her neck and arms. There were tons of them, all a bunch of Core symbols. Albert knew some of the symbols; others he’d yet to study in the Black Book.
Professor Asante waved a large hand, and the room fell silent. “Welcome, Balance Keepers, especially those who were able to arrive so quickly. And greetings to everyone else in the Core, whose importance is not to be forgotten.”
She gave the crowd another moment to cheer before silencing them again. Her eyes glittered as she surveyed the room. “These are dark times. I won’t hide that from any of you. Rumors spread quickly in the Core, and I will shed light on the most recent one. The Realm of Ponderay, a place very dear to my heart, is indeed facing a terrible Imbalance.”
The last time an Imbalance had been announced everyone gasped, but not today. Everyone had already sensed it. And with the reports coming in from California, Albert suspected he knew exactly how bad the Imbalance was. Soon, it would make things on the surface much worse. His stomach churned as he thought of his family.
“Let me assure you, this is something we Professors are taking very seriously. As you know, whenever a Realm has an Imbalance, the Realm always provides the Means. We are working around the clock both inside the Realm of Ponderay and through research efforts here in the Core to find the Means to Restore Balance.”
Professor Asante went on. “The Balance in Ponderay has not been off in hundreds of years. There is a system set in place, one that has been there since the beginning of time, that has always ensured this. I regret that we don’t know much about the system—we’ve never needed to—but we do know it involves the Ten Pillars of Ponderay that stand in a ring in the middle of the Silver Sea.”
“I bet that’s usually a gorgeous sight,” Birdie whispered.
Professor Asante continued. “But now, as some of you know, in an event ne
ver before documented in Core History, the Pillars have begun to rotate in their ring, moving in a clockwise circle. They are not moving too fast, but we believe it is this movement that is causing the massive tremors off the coast of Southern California.”
Several people did gasp this time, but Albert and his teammates just nodded solemnly; Professor Flynn had told them as much this morning. Albert suddenly wished he hadn’t eaten so many meatballs. When he thought of his family in San Diego, his stomach started churning.
“I’ve been to the Realm myself,” Professor Asante said. “Along with my Apprentice, Tussy, and we have yet to find the Means to Restore Balance. We don’t yet know why the Pillars have begun to rotate. We will continue our search. What I ask now is that the Balance Keepers training for Ponderay step up their preparations.”
She took a deep breath, and even from here, Albert could sense the tension in her shoulders, the exhaustion in her voice. Her eyes fell right on Albert, and as she spoke, a shiver tiptoed down Albert’s spine. He felt like she was talking only to him, that they were the only two in the room.
“The time may come, very soon, when you will be asked to serve the Core.”
Albert’s heart skipped a beat. He thought of his family on the surface, and the desire to defeat the Imbalance burned like hot oil in his gut.
“Hydra and Argon should report to the Pit early tomorrow morning, for an emergency lesson on Ponderay before competition,” Professor Asante added.
The speech ended.
Tussy took over and led the Core song. Everyone joined in, even Albert, and somehow, the familiarity of the moment seemed to take a bit of the chill away.
The song faded, and Albert, Leroy, and Birdie headed back toward the Main Chamber. When they got there, the clock with its glaring red number caught Albert’s eye once again. Seven days.
“That was intense, dudes,” Leroy said.
“Yeah, after that announcement, I think I need a good night’s sleep.” Birdie yawned and looked at Albert. “Do you guys mind if I head to Treefare early? I think I’ll go hang out with Jadar and some of the girls for a while.”
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