Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon (17 page)

T
hat evening, Albert found himself lying in his bed in Cedarfell, absently petting Farnsworth’s head.

The Master Tile. He had the Master Tile.

Why hadn’t his dad said anything to him about it before? Professor Flynn acted like he didn’t know Albert’s Tile even existed. But surely his dad had heard of the Black Book. He’d probably read it loads of times.

Which made Albert wonder: Was the Master Tile really dangerous? In the wrong hands, it could do some serious damage. What if his dad didn’t
want
him to learn how to make the Master Tile work? And what was the Tile on the missing page? Albert shivered, even though he was buried under the covers.

Leroy arrived sometime later and flopped down on the bed opposite Albert. He was wearing a new pair of glasses with red rims. “Lucinda gave me these. She’s not bad, except for that snake of hers. Hey, thanks for what you did back there. It was really cool. I should’ve stood up to Hoyt on my own, but that guy sort of scares me a little.”

Albert sat up. “Leroy, I know what my Tile is.”

“Say what?”

Albert spent the next few minutes explaining the Master Tile to Leroy. When he got to the part about turning invisible, Leroy looked like Albert had just sprouted a fresh pair of wings. “We need to tell Birdie about this. And we need that book.”

“Dude, I’ve got that covered.” Albert hadn’t liked the thought of stealing the book from the Tower, but how else was he supposed to harness his powers? He lifted up his pillow, where the Black Book was safely hidden. “I think this calls for a nighttime adventure. How do you feel about breaking a few rules tonight, Leroy?”

Leroy didn’t look so sure, but gave Albert two thumbs-up. “Where were you thinking of going?”

Albert grinned slyly. “Same place we always go, only we’re going in at night.”

A half hour later, with Farnsworth in the lead, Leroy and Albert stood in the shadows before the doors of Treefare. “Time to go on a mission, little buddy,” Albert whispered to Farnsworth. He tucked a letter into the dog’s collar. “Go inside and find Birdie. Don’t bark, okay? You have to be sneaky.”

Farnsworth wagged his tail, his flashlight eyes alight like he understood Albert’s every word. Leroy opened the door to Treefare and Farnsworth scurried inside.

“Now we wait,” Albert said. He and Leroy sank back into the shadows.

A few minutes later the door to Treefare swung open. Birdie came rushing out, the letter clutched in her hands. “Albert? Leroy?”

Albert and Leroy emerged from their hiding spot. Birdie jumped, and slapped Leroy over the head with the letter.

“Ouch! Stop it, Birdie, it’s
me
!”

“You scared me half to death!” Birdie held out the letter. “Someone better be on fire or something, because I was totally asleep. What’s this about?”

Leroy smiled. “The Master Tile.”

“The what?” Birdie crossed her arms.

“We know what Albert’s Tile is, and we’re going to sneak to the Pit right now so Albert can practice and show us what it can really do.”

Albert explained the story to Birdie with as much detail as possible, though she kept demanding more answers. They got to the Pit undetected, thanks to Farnsworth’s super dog hearing.

The Pit looked exactly the same as it did in the daytime, but the room was colder. “We shouldn’t be here,” Leroy said. “We could get in serious trouble.”

“I think it’s exactly where we need to be!” Birdie smiled as the three of them stepped onto the platform. It carried them down to the floor of the Pit. Albert clutched the Black Book tightly in his arms, eager to open it up and show his friends all the powers he could harness.

As soon as their feet touched the Pit floor, it sprang to life.

The ground started to tremble, and Albert yanked Birdie aside just in time before the Pit floor opened up and a metal tree sprouted right out of the ground. It rose higher and higher, stopping when its tallest branches were slightly above the mouth of the Pit.

“Well, that’s something we haven’t seen before,” Albert observed.

There was a rumble, and a Melatrix appeared out of a hole in the wall. “But we
have
seen that thing,” Leroy groaned.

It didn’t bother them until Albert touched the trunk of the metal tree. Then the Melatrix came full speed toward him.

Birdie kicked at it and the Melatrix soared away. She smiled triumphantly. “All right, Albert. It was your idea to come here, so let’s get to work.”

They pored over the pages of the Black Book, picking a few choice powers for Albert to focus on. There were so many to choose from. Albert would
never
learn all of them. It seemed impossible.

The key was to know the symbol well enough that he could concentrate on it while doing other things. When he felt like he’d gotten a few symbols down, Albert ran to the tree and started to climb. The Melatrix came at him with a vengeance, knocking its way through the metal branches until it was bumping Albert’s heels, trying to throw him from the tree.

“Okay, Albert,” Birdie called out. “Try concentrating on the power for Double Vision!”

Albert thought hard, focusing on the symbol he’d just studied. At first, nothing happened. The Melatrix was really getting on Albert’s nerves, coming at him from odd angles. His hand slipped, and he nearly fell.

Focus, Albert. Double Vision. Double Vision
. . . He saw the symbol in his mind, an eye with four pupils, and amazingly, he was looking in two directions at once.

“Uh . . . guys? Please tell me I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, because if I do, I think I’m going to be sick.”

“No eyes!” Birdie said. “Can you see us, though?”

In front of him, Albert could see his hands gripping on to the metal tree branch. But he could also, impossibly, see
behind
him. He saw Birdie and Leroy staring up at him from below. He also saw the Melatrix coming at him full speed. Albert watched, timing it just right, and when the Melatrix swooped in, he let go of the branch and dropped to the next-lowest one.

“That’s it, Albert! You did it!” Leroy clapped. The feeling was incredible. Albert was controlling the Master Tile! He practiced for a few more minutes, but before long, Albert’s head felt like it was going to explode.

He lost focus, forgetting to keep the image of the symbol in his head, and the Double Vision went away. Albert dropped to the floor.

“It changed,” Leroy said.

“What are you talking about?” Birdie asked as she came in close.

“Albert’s Tile symbol. It changed. I saw it.”

Albert thought as hard as he could about the four-pupiled eye until his vision doubled again.

“There it goes!” Birdie said, pointing to Albert’s black Tile.

He zeroed in on his Tile, holding it in front of his face. Then he let the power he was focused on drift away. His normal vision returned and he was able to watch the symbol on his Tile change back to its resting place: the Master Balance Keeper symbol.

“When it looks like this, it has no power at all,” Albert said with wonder. “It keeps the powers secret. It hides them.”

“Dang, Albert, that is one seriously cool Tile,” Leroy said.

Birdie agreed, but for the first time Albert felt nervous about how much power he was holding in his Tile. How much could he unlock? And if there was another Tile as powerful as his, how much could someone
else
unlock?

A week passed. News came that Professor Flynn and the Calderon First Unit had reached the Fireflower field hoping to gather seeds, only to discover that it had been burned to a crisp. Now they were on the hunt for the infamous Hissengore eggs. Albert was getting worried about his dad—he knew the Realm took its toll on him.

At first, Albert spent nights studying the Black Book and being quizzed by Leroy in their tent (never in his life did he think he’d study this much over the summer), but after an unfortunate incident in which Albert accidentally set their tent on fire, the boys determined that the Pit was the only safe place to study—and the best way to keep their secret, too. They had decided they didn’t want anyone to know the true power of Albert’s Tile—not yet, anyway. Albert and Leroy snuck out every night along with Birdie so Albert could practice harnessing his powers.

They learned that the Tile required even more precision than Professor Bigglesby did in their weapons lessons. One time, Albert thought he had pictured the symbol for the Tall Tile, a spear-like arrow pointing up, but apparently his symbol was more spear than arrow, and he ended up with a giant cut across his leg. Luckily, he conjured the image of a fat plus sign, the Healer symbol, before things got too out of control.

While in the Pit, Leroy and Birdie practiced beating the simulations, too. It was looking more and more like a training unit would have to enter the Realm, and while they had beaten Argon twice in the Pit in the last week, Argon was still ahead on the leaderboard. They needed to strengthen their own physical skills if they had any chance of entering Calderon.

One night late in the Pit, Hydra was practicing dives through looped vines over what looked like a big, black hole in the floor.

“Whoever does the most flips wins!” Birdie yelled. She did three flips in the air and landed on her toes on the other side of the hole. Leroy stepped up, took a deep breath, and flipped four times.

“Nice one!” Albert said. Leroy was getting braver at stuff, slowly. “My turn. I hope I can beat four, but we’ll see!”

“Try Antigravity,” Leroy said. He knew every power in the Black Book.

“Remember . . . keep the symbol in your head at all times!” Birdie added.

Albert knew the Antigravity symbol—a bunch of black and gray circles stacked on top of one another that got lighter in color from bottom to top. He focused on the feeling of his Tile around his neck and watched as his Master Tile symbol changed.

“I got this one,” Albert said with a smile. He bent his knees, jumped softly, and tucked his body into a ball. Albert felt himself flipping over and over. When he landed, Birdie and Leroy were both staring at him with their mouths hanging open.

“Seven flips, Albert!” Leroy said.
“Seven!”

Ding! Ding! Ding!
The sound rang out as soon as Leroy was done speaking.

“What was that?” Albert asked, brushing himself off.

“I think it’s the scoreboard. . . .” Birdie pointed up, behind Albert. “But it’s not supposed to be on.”

There on the side wall of the Pit where the Competitions scores were held, a bright blue light was flashing.

“What does that mean?” Albert asked. The blinking light was on Hydra’s side instead of Argon’s. After a moment, it went away. Albert looked at Leroy and Birdie. “Must have been a wiring issue or something.”

They left the Pit without a second thought about it.

E
arly Saturday morning, Team Hydra was milling around in the Canteen, considering what to purchase with some Medallions they’d won at another game of Tiles—someone had finally agreed to play Leroy.

“Hey, guys, I’ll be back in a few. I’m going to call home,” Albert said. Normally at this time of the morning, he’d be waiting for his dad to come back from Calderon, but it was the same every morning—his dad came through the door, shook his head at Trey, and went straight to his dorm to rest. Albert hardly saw a reason to be there anymore. Today he figured that if he couldn’t say good morning to his dad, he might as well say good morning to his mom.

He made his way to the Phone Booth and pressed his Medallion into the little slot. When the Path Hider answered, Albert gave his mom’s number, and waited as the familiar dial tone came.

The phone rang and rang, but no one picked up.
That’s strange. Mom always answers the phone.

Albert hung up and tried again, thankful that Leroy had won them so many Medallions lately. This time, when the phone rang, a voice answered.

It was one of those computer recordings.
All circuits are busy. Please hang up and try again later.

Albert tried three more times. No one ever answered but the recording, and on the third time, the phone didn’t even ring at all.

“Oh man, this isn’t good,” Albert said out loud.

Something was seriously wrong. If the phones weren’t working, that might mean New York City was completely shut down. He ran back to the Canteen, but Leroy and Birdie were nowhere to be seen. He finally found them in one of the spare study rooms, where Leroy was trying to help Birdie improve at Tiles. They were arguing, as they had been lately.

“I get that you’re saying that stacking this Tile on that Tile should be my next move, but I don’t understand
why
that’s the best move.” Birdie glared at Leroy. “You’re not explaining it well enough!”

“And you’re not listening well enough!” Leroy snapped back.

“Guys!” Albert clapped his hands to get their attention. “I can’t get ahold of my mom. New York is way worse; I can feel it.”

Birdie started to say something, but at that moment, Albert heard a commotion outside the Library. There were shouts, and a monkey screeching in the distance. Farnsworth ran up to Albert and started tugging on his shoelaces, trying to pull him away.

“What’s going on out there?” Birdie asked. She and Leroy stood up.

“Come on, let’s go see,” Albert said.

By the time Hydra got to the Main Chamber, the alarm bell had gone off, and something told Albert this wasn’t a drill. A large group had gathered, including Trey, waiting for the Calderon First Unit to come back from the Realm.

All those mornings waiting for his dad to come back, Albert had looked closely at the door to Calderon. But today, looking at the symbol of the mountain with a sea beneath on the Calderon door, it all felt really, really ominous. He gulped, and thought of his mom and dad. Both of them were in trouble, one in an Imbalanced Realm, the other in a city filling with ash.

“The Calderon First Unit should be arriving,” Trey began, speaking up so all could hear, and looking at a timepiece on his wrist. “In exactly fifteen seconds.”

Albert counted the time in his head. But when the fifteen seconds were up, nothing happened.

“Where are they?” Albert asked, inching closer to the door until he was standing right before Trey. His stomach did a flip-flop.

“Give it a moment,” Trey said nervously.

But two minutes later, the door remained closed.

“This isn’t good,” Trey said, more to himself than anyone else. “We’re very precise about schedules in the Realms.”

More Balance Keepers and Core workers had started to gather at the river’s edge, watching Calderon’s door. At one point, Farnsworth sprinted off, disappearing down a tunnel. Albert could hear his barks echoing from far away. Doors slammed in the distance, and in minutes, Farnsworth came back with the other three Professors and their Apprentices. They pushed their way through to Trey.

“What’s going on?” Professor Asante asked Trey. She had a fresh cut on her cheek—it looked like a creature had attacked her. Her tattoos looked extra fierce on her muscular arms. Tussy, her Apprentice, stood beside her, quiet and sullen.

“The Calderon First Unit is late,” Professor Bigglesby said, sniffing the air. His eyes were as crafty as ever as he glanced at the door to Calderon.

He started to say something, but Trey stopped him, pulling all the Professors and Apprentices into a closed circle. They spoke in hushed tones and glanced at the gathering nervously.

The entire time, Albert had a lump in his throat. Where were his dad and the First Unit? What if they weren’t okay?

“It’s fine,” Birdie said beside him. “Everything is okay.”

But she didn’t look like she believed what she was saying.

“It’s eighteen minutes and seventeen seconds past the usual time,” Leroy said. “They’ve never been this late. . . .”

Finally, the Professors and Apprentices turned to the swelling mass of Balance Keepers and Core workers. It was so quiet in the Main Chamber, Albert wondered if everyone could hear his heart slamming in his chest.

Professor Bigglesby looked up. (He was the shortest person in the Main Chamber.) Then he addressed the crowd.

“The Code of the Core states the following: if a First Unit goes missing—”

There was an audible murmuring among the crowd as everyone tried to guess what Bigglesby was about to say. Apparently it was unprecedented for a First Unit to vanish as Grey and Aria had.
Especially
with a Professor’s help inside the Realm.

Professor Asante held up her hands to silence the crowd, and picked up where Bigglesby had started: “If a First Unit goes missing, all training teams who have trained for that Realm shall be eligible to enter as backup. The team with the most points shall be the team that goes in.”

Hoyt stepped forward out of the crowd.

“My team is ready,” Hoyt said proudly. “Just say the word.”

“I like your determination,” Trey said. “But all the same, I think we had better check the score, don’t you think?”

Trey held out his fist and revealed a round ball in his palm. He tapped the top with his free hand, and a holographic image of the Main Leaderboard appeared in the air. Tiny blue balls of flame appeared in columns above the team names, one team at a time.

Ecco had twelve fireballs.

Team Fury had fourteen fireballs.

Terra and Sapphire were deadlocked at sixteen.

Argon had eighteen fireballs.

Finally, Hydra’s score appeared. They had thirty-seven fireballs.

The Main Chamber burst into chatter.

“
How is that possible?” Albert whispered to Leroy.

For the first time ever, Leroy didn’t have an answer. He just took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses on his shirt, like maybe he was seeing the scoreboard wrong.

“There’s no way we’ve earned so many points,” Birdie said, shaking her head. “No way at all.”

She was right; Albert had to agree. They hadn’t even competed in the Pit that many times. Sure, they’d been practicing at night, but those scores weren’t counted. . . .

Were they?

“They cheated!” Hoyt yelled above the din. The crowd gasped. He turned to Hydra and gave them all a pointed glare. “And besides, we’re way better than them!”

“Enough, Hoyt!” Trey silenced him. Then he turned to Albert, Leroy, and Birdie. “Curious, wouldn’t you say, that you’ve come so far ahead of Team Argon? You’ve competed twenty-eight times in the Pit. How is it that you’ve gained thirty-seven wins?”

A silence fell over the proceedings, and then someone stepped forward from the crowd.

“Professors?”

Albert turned. It was Slink, and his face was white like a sheet of paper.

“Hydra’s been practicing at night. I’ve seen them sneaking out.”

“Hydra, is this true?” Trey spun around to face the three of them, but looked straight at Albert, his expression registering somewhere between admiration and disappointment.

“Well, yes, but . . . ,” Albert began.

“Sir, I’ve also read all one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six pages of the Core Code.” Slink stepped out of the crowd. “It
never
states that a team cannot practice during their free time.”

The crowd gasped again. Hoyt gave Slink a nasty look. Albert gave him a nod of thanks. Slink sure was full of surprises.

Hoyt shouted out complaints. “But they snuck out! They should be expelled!”

But Professor Bigglesby spoke, cutting him off.

“The leaderboard rules above all. It is decided that Hydra will enter the Calderon Realm in search of the First Unit.”

Everyone clapped and cheered for Hydra, thrilled to see the underdogs getting their day. A first-level training team was going to enter the Calderon Realm.

“We’re really going in?” Birdie asked Trey.

“Yeah, you’re really going in.”

“I don’t feel so good,” Leroy said, clutching his stomach.

Albert wrapped his hand around his Tile and closed his eyes.

Please,
he thought.
Help us find Grey and Aria.

And help me find my dad.