The Society of Imaginary Friends

The next morning, Valerie awoke to a slanting ray of sun hitting her face from the porthole in her cabin. Eager to make the most of her last peaceful hours on the ocean, she got ready, strapped on Pathos, and left the cabin without waking up Kanti.

Gideon was already at the wheel, watching the sun rise over the ocean. But this morning, instead of endless miles of shimmery aquamarine, the shadowy outline of a city skyline appeared etched on the horizon. She was surprised to see that it was full of skyscrapers, reminding her of San Francisco.

“It’s so normal,” she said, mystified.

“Did you expect it to be different from when you left?” Gideon asked.

Valerie blushed. “The truth is, I’m not really from Messina. I’m from Earth. It’s supposed to be a kind of secret,” she admitted. Gideon’s expression didn’t change. “I never meant to lie to you.”

“It’s a necessary precaution. I understand. And it explains several things that puzzled me.”

Gideon didn’t seem inclined to ask any questions, so she changed the subject. “From the way people talk, I didn’t imagine that Messina would be a big city. I thought these people were living on farms with no electricity or anything.”

She heard Cyrus burst out laughing and turned around. “There’s a ‘no magic’ law on Messina, Val, not a ‘no science’ law. Messina is the science capital of the Globe! They’ve adopted a lot of inventions from Earth, and added a few of their own. It’s probably the only place on the entire Globe that won’t seem totally weird to you.”

“And I’m excited to meet your family,” Valerie added.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see how that goes,” Cyrus mumbled. “When we meet my parents, please don’t wear your sword, though, okay? And tell Kanti to hide that staff of hers, too. There are some pretty strict rules about weapons on Messina, even non-magical ones. My parents believe that fighting, even to save your own life, is wrong.”

Gideon shook his head in disbelief, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m going for one last swim,” Cyrus said, abruptly ending the conversation. Yanking off his shirt, he jumped into the pool and began swimming furious laps.

“That reminds me; I meant to ask you about this sword—the Edge of Pathos,” Valerie said, shading her eyes to get a better look at Gideon’s face. “When I came to visit you at the Guild last time, you mentioned that I had inherited my sword from a master of the craft. Who is she?”

Gideon’s usually expressionless eyes clouded over. “It belonged to a Master of the Guardians, Adelita. She was a brilliant strategist as well as a swordswoman. She captured many members of the Fractus who were trying to break through the barrier between Earth and the Globe. The sword was a gift that she received for saving the life of the Grand Master of the Weapons Guild. It’s ancient, supposedly created before the barrier was placed between the worlds. It is said there has been no blade crafted before or since with its power. To see Adelita fight with it was like watching a ballet.”

“Did you know her well?”

“We teamed up many times to track down and fight the Fractus. She saved my life more than once, and I hers. We were friends.”

“What happened to her?”

“She fell in love with one of the Fractus. He swore to her that he would change, give up all contact with the Fractus, but in the end, it would have been better if they had never met,” Gideon said, and Valerie could hear the anger in his voice.

She hadn’t even noticed Jet’s quiet approach until an image flashed in her mind. A woman with long, dark hair was passionately kissing a man with stormy eyes—Oberon?

“Adelita was Oberon’s love? She was the one who convinced him to work for the good guys instead of the Fractus?” she asked, shocked.

Gideon gave Jet a stern, knowing look. “It is beneath my honor to gossip.”

She knew she should back off, but she had to ask, “What happened to Adelita?”

“Being with—that man—made her even more of a target to the Fractus than she was before. She knew too much, so they killed her,” Gideon said, his anger becoming mixed with sadness.

It was horrifying to learn that the last owner of Pathos had died so brutally. Seeing the firm set of Gideon’s jaw, she didn’t dare to ask any more questions about Adelita, and his usual calm returned.

“Now a question for you—where did you find the Edge of Pathos?”

“It was in the launch chamber on Earth, embedded in the floor. It sounds weird, but I think it was waiting for me.”

“That’s not strange—sometimes weapons recognize their new owners. But why would she put such a beautiful sword on Earth? Of course, if anyone would know how to send an object to Earth, it would be Adelita. She was a Master of the Guardians, so those secrets must have been known to her. But why? What could it mean?”

She left him to ponder those questions while she practiced with Pathos and her magic, aware that she wouldn’t be able to use either once they reached Messina.

When they were a mile or two away from the shore, Valerie eagerly strained her eyes for a more detailed view of the city they were approaching, trying to imagine what wonders would be in store for her in this corner of the Globe. But as the boat drew closer, she was slightly disappointed to see that Messina was remarkably similar to any major city in America, filled with buildings, people, and lots of traffic.

They docked the boat on a wooden pier, and she stepped onto dry land with a twinge of regret. The past two days had been the most peaceful in her entire life. She knew that it would be a long time before she had a chance to relax like that again.

At the end of the dock, crowds of people rushed past, buying things from the colorful vendors’ stalls and hurrying to their next destination. She was surprised how vulnerable she felt without the endless sea surrounding her, protecting her from attack. What if Sanguina was lurking somewhere in that bustling mob, watching and waiting for a chance to snatch her away from her guardians? She took a deep steadying breath, reining in her fear and telling herself to focus on impressing Cyrus’s family rather than the possibility of another encounter Sanguina, who was probably halfway around the world right now.

“Cyrus,” summoned a tall man in a gray suit.

“That’s your dad?” Kanti asked. Cyrus nodded.

Curious, Valerie stared at him as he stepped out of the throng of people at the dock. He was an older version of Cyrus, except his blond hair was very trim and neat, just like everything else about him, and his cold blue eyes didn’t sparkle with humor the way Cyrus’s did. He approached Cyrus and patted him stiffly on the shoulder, as if he were an acquaintance rather than his only son.

“Hello, Father,” Cyrus said solemnly. “Please allow me to introduce Valerie, Kanti, Gideon, Jet, and Chrome.”

Gideon bowed deeply. “Many thanks for hosting us during our stay in Messina.” His voice carried a power in it that made everyone standing near him on the dock stare. But instead of being impressed, Cyrus’s father kept glancing around, uncomfortable with the attention he was drawing.

“Thank you for your hospitality, sir,” Kanti added.

“You may call me Mr. Burns, young lady,” he said.

“I’m so happy to meet you, Mr. Burns,” Valerie said softly, intimidated by his tone.

But Cyrus’s father talked only to his son, as if the rest of them didn’t exist. “I trust you have explained to these Conjurors the rules of this island.”

“Yes, of course. We just need a place to sleep. You’ll barely know we’re here,” Cyrus said. Valerie could hear a thick chord of tension in his voice.

“Mr. Burns, we will always be near, but you won’t see Jet, Chrome, or me for the rest of our stay here,” Gideon said, still respectful, but with a chilly condescension of his own laced into his words. Then he turned to Valerie. “We will scout the area for any magical activity or potential threats. One of us will always keep you in sight, watching for any trouble. Farewell, for now.”

Without another word, Gideon and the wolves melted into the crowd.

Mr. Burns’ voice interrupted Valerie’s thoughts as he said to Cyrus, “Your mother will be relieved that it’s only the three of you who need lodging.”

Cyrus’s father led them to a dark blue car that was different from any Valerie had seen on Earth. It had sharp, crisp edges rather than the fluid lines of the cars she was familiar with, and apparently ran on energy captured by metallic panels on the roof that she assumed worked like solar panels.

It was a silent trip to Cyrus’s house, despite the fact that Kanti and Valerie each made a few attempts at small talk. Their questions were met with one-word answers from Mr. Burns, so they gave up and stared out the windows at the city. Kanti couldn’t stop pointing at everything that fascinated her, and Valerie had to smile. Had she looked like that when Cyrus and Azra first showed her around Arden?

After a half-hour drive, the tall buildings gave way to rows of identical houses. Apparently suburbia wasn’t limited to Earth. Mr. Burns pulled into one of the plain, concrete driveways.

Before they went inside, Cyrus pointed out a spot in the distance to her. “That’s the lighthouse where my dad works. I’ll take you there tomorrow. It’s pretty cool. When the ocean’s rough, the water splashes halfway up the tower.” She squinted and could see the tall lighthouse standing among the rocks at the edge of the ocean. The light at the top shone so brightly that it stood out like a star, even in the middle of the day.

“Who wants to see the lighthouse when there’s a world-renowned science museum to check out?” Kanti asked eagerly.

“Fine, we can do both. Any excuse to get us out of here early,” Cyrus replied.

“Enough dawdling. Your mother made dinner, and I don’t want to eat it cold,” Mr. Burns said impatiently.