The Society of Imaginary Friends (The Conjurors Series)

by Kristen Pham

  “I’m ready,” Kanti said, with determination.

  “Good. First we need to find you a weapon. For some, like Valerie, a weapon will call to them. For others, they must try many weapons until they find one that suits them. Here, try my sword,” Gideon said. Kanti took it, but it looked awkward in her hand. Even after he taught her how to hold it, the sword frequently slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground.

  “Not the sword,” Gideon said decisively. “From the way you move, I think the staff may be better for you.” He briefly disappeared into the forest and then came back with a long wooden branch about the thickness of Kanti’s fist. Kanti grasped it in her hands, testing its weight and texture.

  “This feels right,” she said, gripping the staff tightly. “Like when I held the ballet bar at dance lessons when I was little.” Gideon gave her some instructions, and she practiced with the staff for hours. Later, she was reluctant to put the branch down when Gideon told them to rest, even though she was drenched with sweat.

  No bed had ever felt as comfortable as the one Valerie crawled into that night. Kanti was right—no more tents from now on, she thought drowsily before drifting off to sleep, the Laurel Circle cool, but not cold, against her skin.

  Chapter 32

  The next day, they woke at sunrise to continue their journey. The sight of the sun shining brilliantly on the turquoise ocean infused Valerie with energy and purpose. One way or another, she would find a way to make sure her brother was safe, even if Azra’s mission didn’t succeed.

  A short distance down the beach was a dock crowded with dozens of boats. Gideon led the group to a boat that reminded her of yachts that she had seen on television. It had three little cabins, a kitchen, and even a small pool.

  “With all this water, why would anyone need a pool on a boat?” Valerie wondered, mystified. “And it seems way too fancy for a day trip.”

  “Actually, it’s almost a three-day trip to Messina. The island’s really remote,” Cyrus said. He was starting to look a little anxious, and she wondered if he was worried about bringing such a strange crowd to his parents’ house.

  “You okay?”

  “Oh, yeah. I hope everything goes smoothly.”

  “I hope they don’t think I’m a total weirdo. I want them to like me,” Valerie said, wondering for the first time what Cyrus’s parents were like.

  “Of course they’ll like you. Who could help it?” Cyrus said, trying to sound confident, but she heard the worry in his voice.

  “Something’s bothering you.”

  “It’s nothing. I hope they don’t tell embarrassing stories about me or anything,” Cyrus said. She let the subject drop, hoping he’d open up to her later.

  The next two days passed like a dream for Valerie. Gideon captained the ship, with Jet helping him with navigation. The ocean water was so clear that they could stare down into the depths and sometimes see hints of the vast city beneath the waves. At night, lights glimmered through the water, and she couldn’t help but be entranced, imagining Leo living below the waves. But just as when she had been in Plymouth, it gave her a chill to imagine living so far away from the surface and the sunshine.

  A few times, she even caught a glimpse of mermen and mermaids, the immortal residents and record keepers of Illyria. Their long hair looked silky and fluid under water as they curiously approached the boat and then quickly swam away, satisfied that they were visitors skimming across the surface, not intruders trying to force their way into the underwater world.

  Every morning, she checked in with Thai back on Earth to give him the update. At first, she felt guilty that he was sitting around, waiting for her to figure out where Henry was, but he seemed to be enjoying the time he spent in the woods, talking to Tan and exploring. At least he wasn’t miserable, because she didn’t know when she’d have any news for him now.

  Valerie, Kanti, and Cyrus’s time didn’t go to waste during the long days of travel. On the first morning, the three friends practiced the moves that Gideon taught them on the bow of the ship. As Gideon watched and called down instructions, Valerie noticed Jet and Chrome watching her closely.

  When she finally took a break, the wolves approached her, and Valerie’s mind was flooded with images, almost like a daydream, of a warrior in full armor being attacked by a group of assailants armed with many different types of weapons. The warrior’s incredible speed and skill kept all of the enemies at bay, and one by one, the attackers fell. When the warrior was the only one standing, the helmet that was hiding the warrior’s identity slid off. Valerie gasped when she saw her own face.

  Only then did she realize that Gideon was standing beside her, sharing the vision. “Masters Jet and Chrome are showing you what you’re capable of, as well as what you need to work on—focus and speed. They want to help train you.”

  “Yes, thank you,” she said eagerly, staring into the eyes of each wolf in turn so that they could see her gratitude.

  For the rest of her time on the boat, she spent a large part of every day training with Jet and Chrome. She used a practice sword and shield, and her mission was to prevent the wolves from forcing her to the ground. Initially, she thought she would never be able to block even one wolf’s attack, never mind two. She was constantly being hurtled to the ground as they attacked her from all sides, and her bruises from her fight with Sanguina were joined by new black and blue marks all over her arms, knees, and back.

  Physical combat was only part of the wolves’ training. Jet and Chrome also spent hours taking Valerie, Kanti, and Cyrus through a series of mental exercises that Valerie found at least as difficult as fighting. The wolves sent visions to the three friends of battles that they had witnessed in the past, and then quizzed them on the details of what they had seen. The wolves expected them to remember everything from the techniques of the fighters to where the defenses were weakest to who was wearing a red shirt. The visions seemed chaotic to Valerie at first and she had trouble remembering any of the details that they asked about.

  But then Kanti commented that there was a rhythm pulsing through the battles. “It’s almost like a dance. Now that we’ve seen a few of these battles, I can recognize most of the moves. It’s like the battle has been choreographed.”

  In the next vision, Valerie looked for the rhythm that Kanti had mentioned, and suddenly, as if something unlocked in her mind, she could see the pattern of the battle unfolding before her eyes. Every move was in reaction to something else, and she started to see the battle as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts. From that point on, her answers to the wolves’ questions became increasingly accurate.

  She also noticed that she had a better awareness of where the wolves were located in relation to her at all times. When they were fighting with her, she was able to block out the details that weren’t relevant to the fight, like Kanti’s and Cyrus’s shouts of encouragement and the rocking of the boat.

  The intensity of her focus was also critical in helping her speed—it was as if she was seeing her next two moves in her head, which enabled her to move without thinking. After two days of practice, she was able to block some of the wolves’ attacks as long as she channeled her magic, though she had yet to touch the point of her sword to their fur and claim a victory of her own.

  When Valerie was sweaty from practicing all day, Kanti and Cyrus harassed her, insisting that it was time to learn how to swim. At the thought, the Laurel Circle turned ice cold. She remembered one day when she was six years old, and the boys who lived in the neighborhood of her foster family decided it would be funny to throw her into a lake and watch her drown. They’d pull her out at the last second and laugh as she threw up water. They’d done it three times before they finally got bored and left her alone. Since then, she’d never dipped so much as a toe in a body of water bigger than a bathtub.

  But it was time to leave that behind, she decided in that instant. This was one fear she could conquer right now. She decided to let Cyrus coax her into the littl
e pool on the boat. He showed her how to float on her back, blow bubbles, and eventually swim. She was surprised how quickly she caught on. The second night, when Gideon anchored the boat and told them they’d be there until dawn, Cyrus and Kanti told her it was time to jump in the ocean and practice her swimming for real.

  But peering into the dark depths of the ocean, Valerie wasn’t so sure she was ready for that. Anything could be down there, ready to grab her and pull her into the darkness forever. She shuddered, remembering a special on sharks that she had seen on television. Sharks were probably tame compared to the mysterious creatures lurking in the depths of the Illyrian Ocean. Even the moonlight shining down on the water with its shimmering light dancing on the surface did not bring Valerie any comfort. No way was she getting in there, she decided, ready to turn back.

  Then Cyrus stepped next to her and whispered, “So, let me get this straight. A gang of thugs attacking us in the middle of nowhere and robbing us of our powers doesn’t freak you out, but faced with a little water, you completely chicken out?”

  “Hey, to be fair, it’s not exactly ‘a little water.’ It’s an ocean!”

  “Whatever. Come on, wimp!” Cyrus yelled, and then cannonballed into the ocean.

  “Show off!” Kanti shouted, and then dove into the water gracefully.

  Valerie looked down at the Laurel Circle, which was freezing on her thumb. This was the chance to do what Gideon had said and fight her fear. She leapt off the side of the boat, feeling herself briefly suspended in the air before crashing into the water below. Everything was dark, quiet, and cold under the waves. But then she clawed her way to the surface and gulped in a giant breath of air. Surprisingly, the cold ocean made her feel alive instead of frightened, as if every one of her senses was tingling. She felt so different from the girl she’d been back on Earth who had no one but the hospital staff to love and no new experiences in her life.

  “Maybe there’s hope for you yet!” Cyrus said, splashing her playfully.

  With strong, confident strokes, Valerie swam over to him and immediately dunked his head under the water. Kanti cheered.

  To Valerie’s surprise, even Gideon and the wolves jumped in for a midnight swim. Splashing in the sparkling, moonlit water with her friends, proud that she had finally learned to swim, she reveled in the realization that this was one of the most wonderful times of her life. If only Henry and Thai were here to share it with her, her happiness would be complete.

  Chapter 33

  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 looks so, like, 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 I have wondered about.”

  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 look on Gideon’s face, 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 I do wonder why 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 looked 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 th
e most peaceful in her entire life. She had a feeling 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 took a closer look at him as he stepped out of the throng of people at the dock. He looked much like 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 looked 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.