Brianna still wasn’t quite sure what kind of butterfly Stella was, or if she was a butterfly at all. There was nothing that matched her in the encyclopedia or in any of the online searches Brianna had done. The closest was a rare insect called a jewelwing damselfly—it was such a pretty name that Brianna wished she had made it up herself. Except the damselfly had only four wings, whereas Stella had eight beautiful, blade-like wings, so delicate and glittery. She could be some other, even rarer species of the damselfly, one that no one had even discovered yet. Brianna was thrilled to think that she was the only one in the entire world who knew about it.
Why don’t you skip school today? Tell Nana Lily you are sick so you can stay home and hang out with me. Stella seemed to whisper into Brianna’s ear without making any sound at all.
“I could pretend to be sick,” Brianna whispered aloud. “I could stay home. No one would miss me at school.” Levi preferred hanging out with his skater friends at school. And Xavier was older—he wasn’t in any of her classes. Plus, he was obsessed with making the basketball team these days; he never had time to talk to her anymore. And then there was Ivy—that girl with the nice hair. Ivy was in a bunch of her classes, and she was very smart. Whenever she was called on, she always knew the right answer. Brianna was getting pretty sick of it.
Besides, she hadn’t done her math homework. Usually she got her homework done as soon as she got to the Rec so she’d have the rest of the time to hang out with her friends. But lately, she’d been putting it off. Sometimes she didn’t do it at all. It was like she just didn’t care anymore. She didn’t know why. Middle school was so different from elementary school. At first it had been exciting and even challenging, but now it just seemed long and boring.
She knew her grandfather had noticed a change in her. He’d look at her over the dinner table with his head cocked sideways, like he was trying to figure her out. Every once in a while he’d ask her what was wrong. She wanted to tell him, but she just didn’t know what to say. That was weird too—Brianna never used to have trouble saying what was on her mind. Now she hardly talked to anyone. Except Stella.
Yes! Stay home! Pretend to be sick!
But then Nana Lily would make her stay in her room all day. “If you are sick, you’ll need to rest,” she’d say. Or she would take her temperature and look down her throat and insist there was nothing wrong with her. She’d know Brianna was faking being sick and would make her go to school anyway.
So Brianna got up and, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake her sisters again, began to get dressed. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on a fresh layer of glittery lip gloss. She tried to comb her hair, to make it lie flatter and smoother, but it wasn’t cooperating this morning. It rarely ever did.
Ivy has such pretty red hair. So shiny and straight.
Stella wiggled on top of Brianna’s unruly curls. Brianna frowned. She forced an extra wide headband on the top of her head, to hold her hair down. Stella flapped out of the way, then burrowed under the mass of Brianna’s hair, right at the base of her neck. She flattened her transparent wings against Brianna’s skin, her glow fading until she was nearly invisible against Brianna’s golden-brown complexion.
Outside the bathroom window a large butterfly lit upon a tree branch. If Brianna had turned to look, she would have seen it. And if she had seen it, she would have known what it was, even though its large, metallic wings were folded up. There was no mistaking this creature. It was an Ent. Stella, fixed to the back of Brianna’s neck, parted the thick hair with two of her wings and turned her cold, blue eyes to the huge Ent. The Ent’s red eyes flared, flashing, sending Stella a message, like Morse code.
Is she ready yet?
A little more time, Stella replied, pulsing back the message. But not long. I promise.
Chapter 20
Out of Sorts
Brianna sat at the breakfast table, stabbing at her oatmeal with her spoon. She wasn’t feeling hungry. The dream replayed over and over in her mind. And her sisters were really annoying her. Crystal was complaining to Nana Lily about Brianna’s making all that noise and waking them up nearly every night this week.
“It’s bad enough I have to listen to Nikki snore,” Crystal said.
“I don’t snore,” said Nikki, making a huffy face.
“You sing in your sleep,” Winter said to Crystal.
“Even if I do, there’s a difference between singing and snoring,” Crystal retorted. “I can’t get any sleep in this house!”
“I should have my own room anyway,” said Winter. “I’m the oldest.”
“Breeny can’t help it if she has bad dreams,” said Nana Lily kindly. “Part of growing up.”
“I need my beauty sleep!” Crystal huffed.
“You sure do,” said Brianna under her breath.
“What was that, Shrimp?” Crystal glared at her.
“Nothing.”
Good one. Brianna brushed the hair off the back of her neck, feeling a slight tickle. She smiled to herself. That was a good one.
She looked up at the wall. A calendar hung there by an old-fashioned wall phone with a long, curly cord. Who had phones like that anymore? No one she knew. Just her grandparents. The calendar had a date circled in red. Brianna’s birthday. Friday. She’d almost forgotten about her birthday. Beside the calendar was a framed needlepoint sign Nana Lily had made years ago: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely. . . .
Brianna looked back down at her oatmeal. This oatmeal sure isn’t lovely. She wished they could have something else sometimes. Like pancakes or waffles. But Nana Lily only bought cereal or oatmeal.
“You going to help me clean up the attic after school?” Grandpa Tony said, eyeing Brianna thoughtfully. “There’s something I’d like to show you.”
Brianna shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Why do you always have to help him? How come your sisters never have to do anything?
Brianna scratched the back of her neck again. Her neck had been itching a lot lately—maybe she got a bug bite in her sleep. She looked at her grandfather. “Why do I always have to help? Why can’t Crissie do it? Or Winny? Or Nikki?”
Grandpa Tony’s eyes got big. He glanced at his wife, who looked worriedly at her coffee cup. “I thought you liked helping me.”
She paused for a moment. She did enjoy it. Well, at least she used to. “Well, I don’t. It’s boring.” Brianna got up and left the table. She didn’t even take her dishes to the sink.
* * *
“What’s the matter, love bug? You seem out of sorts these days.” Nana Lily smoothed the back of Brianna’s hair while she put on her sparkly sneakers at the front door.
Brianna shrugged. “Nothing. Just tired.” She stood up to put on her jacket. Outside, colored leaves blew against the window in a stiff breeze.
“Not getting enough sleep? Because of bad dreams?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Nana Lily gazed upon her youngest granddaughter, worry lining her face. She knew Brianna was still sad about her mother abandoning them, even though she had been pretty young when it happened. Brianna had never even met her own father. She used to ask where her parents were and when they were coming to get her, questions Nana Lily never had a good answer for. And now Brianna was getting to the age when everything got harder for a girl. Her older sisters had gone through the same thing, although they had adjusted pretty well. But for Brianna, it was different.
Brianna glanced up at her grandmother’s gentle face. She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You’ll tell me if you do know, won’t you?”
“Guess so.”
“Hey! I know someone who has a birthday coming up,” Nana Lily said with a twinkle in her eye. “You’re going to be twelve years old very soon! I have a special
surprise for you.”
“What is it?” Brianna asked. She hoped it would be a hoverboard. She’d seen one in a magazine with a pink and purple swirly design. She’d mentioned it to Nana Lily once or twice, dropping hints whenever she could.
She’s not going to buy you a hoverboard. You never get anything new.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise!” said Nana Lily. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you? Have a good day at school today, okay? Give your old nana a hug.” Nana Lily opened her arms, and Brianna fell into them, hugging her tight.
* * *
Brianna jumped down from the top step of the porch to the sidewalk like she always did and began skipping toward the bus stop at the corner.
Don’t skip. You look silly doing that.
She stopped skipping, even though she usually loved to skip, and walked more slowly, glancing around to make sure no one had seen her. She reached up to check that her headband was still in place and patted her hair to try to make it lay down flatter.
Too bad you don’t have hair like Ivy.
Brianna scratched her neck.
When Brianna got on the bus, she saw Ivy sitting by herself. Ivy smiled at her. Her ruby hair looked shinier than usual. Brianna almost smiled back, until she caught sight of Ivy’s cool, hip backpack. She wished then that she had asked Nana Lily for a new backpack for her birthday.
You never get anything new.
Brianna averted her eyes and walked hurriedly past Ivy, tossing her chin in the air as she did. Then she sat next to a younger kid at the back of the bus.
There. Bet that girl feels bad now. The voice wasn’t scolding; it sounded pleased. Brianna smiled to herself. I hope so. She pulled her lip gloss out of her hoodie pocket and applied a fresh layer, smacking her lips in satisfaction.
Chapter 21
The Key Keeper
Evan rode the bus to the Rec, looking out the window at the yellow and orange leaves blowing across the road. He knew there’d be big piles of leaves at the rec center. Rook had a big leaf-sucking machine that he rode around the property. But instead of bagging the leaves up right away, Rook would dump them in a huge pile for the kids to jump in. He was cool that way. Even Mr. J. Ar had taken a liking to him.
The bus slowed as it turned into the rec center loop. Evan stuck his hand in his pants pocket, just to be sure it was still there. The key. The one he’d taken from the Cave. He hadn’t meant to take it. He was hoping they’d go back to the Cave soon so he could put it back before anyone noticed it was missing. It made him a bit nervous to keep it in his pocket all day, but he couldn’t take a chance on leaving it somewhere where his brother, or his mom or dad, might find it. His mom especially; after all, she did have eyes in the back of her head.
It had been so hard keeping the key a secret. Evan was kind of surprised that Ruwach hadn’t come looking for it. Maybe he didn’t even know it was missing. He never seemed to use it anyway. Maybe Ruwach just made up all that stuff about not being able to take anything back to earth from Ahoratos—because so far, nothing bad had happened to Evan because of it.
Besides, he didn’t mean any harm. He just wanted to take a peek in his room—the locked chamber beside his suit of armor in the Cave—just to see what it was that was so valuable and powerful that the enemy wanted to make sure the Prince Warriors never got it. Then he would put the key back right where he found it. No one would ever know the difference.
Evan also checked to make sure his seed was securely in his backpack. He still wasn’t sure why Ruwach insisted the kids bring their seeds with them to earth, since they left all the rest of their armor back in the Cave. But Ruwach probably had a good reason.
It had been two weeks since their last journey to Ahoratos and their victory over the Olethron. Since then they had gotten some messages from the app, but the glowing Crest had not appeared to any of them. Evan wondered why they hadn’t been called back—maybe Ponéros had really given up his attacks. After all, the Olethron apparently destroyed the Fortress of Cháos. Maybe Ponéros was busy building himself a new fortress and didn’t have time to start another war with the Prince Warriors. That sort of made sense.
Evan got off the bus and crossed the parking lot to the rec center. He went inside to see if the other kids had arrived yet. He saw Brianna, sitting by herself at a table, a book in her hand that she wasn’t actually reading. She’d been doing that a lot lately. She was getting—moody. Evan had heard that girls tended to do that when they got into middle school. He thought it best to steer clear of her.
“Hey, Evan.” Mr. J. Ar came out of his office, a whistle around his neck. “Going to shoot some hoops today?”
“Nah. . . . It’s leaf-vacuuming day,” Evan said, looking out the window.
“Oh, yes, better get out there before the pile is gone. Bit windy today.”
“Yeah . . . hey, Mr. J. Ar, what’s with her?” Evan pointed to Brianna.
Mr. J. Ar sighed. “I’m not sure. I’ll go talk to her. You go on outside.”
Evan watched Mr. J. Ar go and sit by Brianna then shrugged and sped out the back door to see the gigantic pile of leaves Rook had created in the middle of the playground. Already a dozen kids were demolishing it. Evan looked around for Xavier and spotted him over at the skate park with Levi, practicing kick flips. Xavier was getting pretty good at them. Rook sat on his leaf-sucking machine, drinking from a bottle of water while Manuel showed him a yellow leaf, probably explaining why it was yellow.
“Hey,” Evan said, going over to them. Rook turned and smiled at him.
“Hey, Squirt.”
“Evan! I was just telling Rook about why leaves change color in the autumn. I’m doing a project for science class.”
“It’s pretty cool,” Rook said with a grin.
“Nice pile,” Evan said, pointing to the leaves.
“Yeah. Biggest one yet.”
“I need to collect more specimens for my project. Do you want to help me, Evan?” Manuel asked.
“No, thanks,” Evan replied. Like he would ever.
“Okey dokey. See you later!” Manuel trudged off to find more leaves.
“Better get in there before it’s pulverized,” Rook said.
Evan looked at the pile. He wanted to join in, but there was something else on his mind.
“Hey, Rook, you . . . been back lately?”
Rook nodded nonchalantly. “Sure.”
“Really? When?”
“All the time.”
Evan was stunned and a little jealous. “Really? How come you get to go and we don’t?”
“I don’t really know the answer to that.”
“So how do you get there if you aren’t called? Mr. J. Ar said there was a way, but he wouldn’t tell us how.”
Rook looked uncertain. “Well, I think you’ll figure that out, when the time comes.”
“You sound like Ru now,” said Evan with a sigh.
Rook laughed. “Be cool, Squirt. You’ll get back there. Just be patient.”
Evan shrugged, as if he wasn’t quite sure he believed Rook’s words.
“So . . . what’s going on . . . over there? Any more attacks from . . . you know who?” Evan lowered his voice and leaned in so only Rook would hear him. “Ponéros?”
Rook’s eyes narrowed; he spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Not that I know of. But there is a problem.”
“What’s that?”
“The key is missing again.”
Evan froze. “The key? What key?”
“The key to the rooms. The locked rooms.”
Evan tried to look surprised and confused. “You mean the key you stole in the first place? I thought Ruwach got that back.”
“He did. But it’s gone again.” Rook looked levelly at Evan. “It wasn’t Ponéros this time, or any of the Forgers. Who do you suppo
se would do that? I mean, anyone who knew what happened to me would certainly never do such a thing, would they?”
Evan felt his own face grow hot. “Yeah, I mean no. No way. That would be . . . dumb.”
“That’s what I thought,” Rook said. “Ruwach wants me to find it, get it back.”
“Yeah? So—you been looking?”
“Yep. No luck so far. Any ideas?”
Evan looked away. For a moment he wondered if Rook already knew and was giving him a chance to come clean. “Maybe—one of the prisoners you brought back from Skot’os? Like one of them could have been—what do you call it? A mole, that’s what it is. A mole.”
Rook nodded slowly. “Yeah, maybe. Might have to look into that. But I’m hoping whoever took it will just put it back.”
“Yeah . . . I bet that’s what they’ll do,” Evan said in a smaller voice.
“Because if that key ended up in the wrong hands, it could mean disaster all over again.”
Evan glanced over nervously, but Rook’s gaze was fixed on the kids jumping into the leaf pile. Evan stuck his hand in his pocket to make sure the key was still there. “That would be bad, I guess,” he murmured.
“Very bad.”
* * *
Ivy walked into the rec center; it was nearly deserted except for Mr. J. Ar, who was sitting at a table talking to Brianna. Brianna looked sad, sort of dejected. Ivy wondered why. It wasn’t like her. Brianna was usually always busy, always involved in something. Either she had a project to work on or she would be out playing basketball or watching a game, cheering on her friends. Maybe there was something wrong at home. Ivy wanted to talk to Brianna a dozen times; it was part of Ivy’s assignment, and a difficult one for a girl usually overcome with shyness. She wasn’t sure why Ruwach wanted her to do this—to make friends with a girl who obviously didn’t want to be friends. She’d assumed that Ruwach wanted her to teach Brianna something or help her somehow. But this was hard. Brianna was going out of her way to avoid her. Why doesn’t she like me? Ivy wondered.
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