The Formation of Team 55

by Neo Nidhi Baghel

  ‘So, you guys are priceless and we’re not even worth a damn gem?’ Brent was laughing as he had gotten drunk a lot to deal with the jasper popping out of his wrist and was laying flat on the cold floor, right in the center of the room. ‘Actually, now that I think about it. I don't have any value at all. I am worthless and so are you.' he teased Kathy, who kicked him, sitting near the main door.

  ‘Stop it!’ commanded Ace. ‘I want everybody to know this. No matter what grade we are in, Team fifty-five will never work until we have all our members.’

  ‘Why is the Warrior in grade two anyway?’ Kathy gritted her teeth. ‘Isn’t it like a really important part of the team?’

  ‘Kathy!’ said Victoria. She was laying on the red couch. ‘A Creator doesn’t seem important but it is still in grade one. The point is, it doesn't matter!’ she was declared as the Creator and wasn't excited about it.

  ‘You’re right.’ Kathy was sitting at the entrance door of the cottage. It was really cold outside, but Ace knew that her element was water. Maybe she was comfortable with the temperature outside. She got up and crawled into the bed next to Justin, who was asleep.

  Ace sat there, silently. He looked around the room. Nobody was here apart from the team and they all were enrolled. Victoria, Kathy, Justin, and Brent were trying to catch a break. But, he needed their help. They needed to begin working now. He looked at Dawn and Vanya. They had extended their wrists side by side, close to the fire and were discussing their element being the same, the Earth.

  What the hell? Were these two becoming some damned love birds already? He took a deep breath. Take charge now! He told himself.

  ‘Team fifty-five! Getup everyone!’ he commanded.

  Victoria tilted her head and looked at everyone. Kathy was sitting straight on the bed even though she looked sleepy. She tried to wake up Justin, but when he didn't wake up, she pushed him off the bed. Justin fell on the floor with a thud and woke up. Brent, who was laying on the cold floor sat up and shook his head several times to wake up properly.

  ‘Alright.’ Ace sighed looking at them. ‘Now that William is gone, we need to talk.’

  He told Kathy, Brent, and Victoria about what was going on. Their sleep was gone now. Brent didn’t seem drunk anymore.

  ‘Justin, you are the Healer.’ Ace nodded at him. ‘The first thing I want you to do tomorrow is to start finding a solution for Vanya's curse.’

  ‘On it!’ Justin looked active now.

  ‘Kathy,’ His head turned to look at her, ‘you are the Warrior of our team. You are supposed to fight. If anyone gets near Vanya, you break their bones immediately.’

  ‘I’m glad you said that.’ smiled Kathy.

  ‘Victoria, you are the Creator,’ he bit his lip, ‘and I have something important for you to do as well. I want you to find a way to turn this hill into a secret base for us. Nobody comes here. I want a secret base inside this campus, right beneath this cottage. Let me know what you can do about it.’

  ‘That is interesting!’ Victoria nodded thoughtfully. ‘Can I go and check out the area now?’

  It was night now. But, ace knew that nothing could harm them inside the campus.

  ‘Sure! Just don’t mess with the extinct beings and if you see the saber, bow! He’s important for us.’ Ace told her.

  Victoria nodded and dashed out happily without even waiting for anybody to accompany her.

  ‘I’ll be with her for now!’ Kathy ran after Victoria.

  ‘Brent, you are the Preserver,’ Ace turned to him. ‘I want you to find a way to control the curse on Vanya. If Justin is not able to find a cure, you will surely have to find a way to stop its growth or effects on her mind, body, and spirit. Try to find a way through which, if there are any physical side effects that might degrade her body can be paused. I want you to preserve her the way she is right now.’

  ‘Sure!’ Brent nodded at him. Since the moment he had heard Vanya was cursed, he kept staring at her, as if she might burst at any moment.

  ‘Ace, don't you think it is a bit too much?’ Vanya asked him. ‘The team is supposed to work together, not for someone in the team. I don't like-’

  ‘They are not working for you.’ Ace smiled at her apologetically. ‘They are working to stop that evil pathetic man from reaching here. If someone is really trying to get in here using you as a key, then we will have to stay lowkey and find a way to stop that person. If we tell the authorities about it, we have no idea what they will do to you for being cursed.’

  ‘Oh…’ Vanya nodded at him. She seemed a little embarrassed for saying that but remained quiet.

  Ace was doing it for her too. After all, Vanya was his teammate. Why wouldn’t the team stand up for saving a member in trouble? Ace just didn’t want her to think that she was being pampered a lot. She had told them that she could take care of herself. And, he wanted to check if she could do that.

  ‘I have some work for you too.’ Ace bit his lip.

  ‘What?’ Vanya looked up at him. He was taller than her even as they sat together.

  ‘Find a way to protect the entire team at once.’

  Vanya frowned confusingly. ‘Alright?’

  ‘I am serious.’ Ace gave her a look.

  ‘Alright, I will.’ she nodded.

  ‘Ace?’ Dawn called him. He had been analyzing a piece of paper for almost an hour now. He handed over the sheet to Ace.

  ‘What is it?’ Ace opened up the sheet and there was the same diagram he had seen at Willaim's cottage. ‘Why are you carrying this around?’

  ‘I figured what it is.’ Dawn bit his lip.

  Vanya got up slowly. Dawn kept staring at her as she got up and walked towards the bed where Justin and Brent were sitting. She crawled up and snuggled under the blankets. Brent covered her up properly and Justin let her rest her head on his lap. Then the two douches carried on with their muttering and whispering, taking notes.

  Ace raised an eyebrow at Dawn. He wanted to check what he had to say about her now when the douche and the drunk douche were caring so much for her.

  ‘What?’ Dawn glared at him. ‘Can you have an open mind? I warned you about this before. I like her, but not that way. It is just that…’ he bit his lip.

  ‘She’s new?’ Ace completed his sentence. ‘And, hopefully, when you see some new girl again, you’ll become excessively possessive about her too?’

  ‘I don’t know about that. We’ll see! Now let her sleep, will you?’ Dawn looked slightly embarrassed.

  He looked around at the rest to make sure nobody was hearing. Justin and Brent were still sitting on the bed, muttering something very quietly to each other. They were writing and discussing some of their areas of streams.

  Ace couldn’t believe what he was looking at. The two of them working together? Maybe Team 55 was going to be great.

  ‘Let’s get back to work.’ Ace turned his head to look at Dawn.

  Dawn showed him the sheet.

  ‘Alright! Look, this isn’t a diagram. It is a map of Bridging.’ said Dawn.

  Ace tried to see what it was. He remembered what Vanya had told them. Her voice echoed in his head.

  ‘Guys, if you look at it with dizzy eyes, you can see a cube.’

  Ace didn’t want to, but he did it and then even saw a cube. Seriously?

  ‘That cannot be Bridging, Dawn!’ Ace was about to crush the sheet and throw it in the fire. Dawn caught his hands and stopped him.

  ‘Just for once, listen?’ Dawn eyed Ace. He took the sheet and straightened it. ‘See, the tiny gray point in the center is the Junction, alright? The black portion is the central region of Hellberk. The black and white lines that divide Bridging in several parts are the official tracks for the trains that cover the entire land. And that!’ he pointed at the green section. ‘That is the south-west of Bridging where we are right now. The entire green portion is the forest of the Phrontistery. I don't recall the names of the other regions right now. If we go to the museums you will see that I a
m right. They don’t have the map. But, they do have all these regions mentioned and several sections dedicated to each region of Bridging.’

  Dawn was right. This had to be it. The diagram was nothing else, but a map of Bridging. Why was it nowhere else? His explanation was making sense.

  ‘Why does William hang it in his hall like a prized possession when nobody else does? We haven’t seen it anywhere before, have we?’ Ace looked up at Dawn.

  ‘I have an explanation for that too.’ he picked up a quill and began to draw tiny spots on the map, randomly. ‘This is how he keeps an eye on everyone who arrives in Bridging. Not just the descendants, but he gets an alert every time someone enters the surface of this land. You saw those sheets on which he enrolled us? I am sure that the map hanging on the wall of the cottage is drawn on that same type of sheet. So, every time somebody enters Bridging, those tiny streams of light not only spot the person but also tell William who they are.’

  ‘Do you think he can spot us if we move?’ Ace asked him. ‘If we leave and head to another region within Bridging, would he come to know of that?’

  Dawn shook his head as a no. ‘He can get an alert only when someone enters the land from outside. So, the map only lights up and writes down stuff when someone enters. I don’t think it will tell him, even if we leave. Even if we can’t be sure about it and you want to do something like that, you will have to take a risk.’

  ‘Dang!’ Ace took a deep breath. ‘Isn’t Bridging supposed to be round like Earth?’

  ‘It isn’t!’ Dawn chuckled thinking about it. ‘Now listen to this carefully. I was so confused about what Vanya told you. Remember Nexus? The land of Old Souls she mentioned? William pointed out that he had brought those sheets from there. He also told us one very important thing, that cleared my confusion about Bridging not being the hidden world we think it is, but just a part of the hidden world we live in.’

  ‘What is that?’ Ace asked him. He was already impressed with Dawn’s hyperactive brilliance.

  ‘He told us that Nexus is a neighboring land to Bridging.’ Dawn specified it very clearly. ‘Do you know what that means? If you try to think about it logically, as it is Bridging’s neighboring land, it must share a border with this land, which means that one of those four gates of Bridging leads to Nexus, the Land of Old Souls. They were the ones who kept Vanya safe until that man got here, right? I believe that the man who brought her here used the gate that connects Bridging and Nexus to enter the surface of this land. And, this also proves that Bridging is not the hidden world in itself. It is just a part of a hidden world that also has Nexus in it. Who knows? There might be more places here like Bridging and the Land of Old Souls around this hidden world about which the people on Earth have no clue.’

  ‘I still don’t get it.’ Ace shook his head feeling frustrated.

  ‘See, I have a theory that Bridging and Nexus are a part of a hidden world. They are like countries or kingdoms, get it?’ Asked Dawn.

  Ace nodded in agreement.

  ‘Now, what I am saying is that while Vanya was in the tunnel, on her way to Bridging, she was interrupted by whoever this man is.’ stated Dawn. ‘Then, to hide from him, instead of reaching here, she chose the first stop she saw, which was Nexus. The people there obviously know about Bridging and the descendants living here. So, they helped her. Then it might have happened that a few days ago or maybe last night, or whenever, that man found Vanya in Nexus. She was like a key to him. So he grabbed her, entered the surface through the gate that connects Bridging and Nexus and dropped her here.’

  ‘Alright, that is a bit more detailed than what Vanya told me, but I think you might be right. What is your theory about the man’s disappearance?’ Ace asked him feeling a little hopeful. Dawn’s mind was running faster than usual. Ace knew that the garnet was doing its job.

  ‘Simple! According to Vanya, the saber might have killed him, right?’ Dawn was still trying to figure it out. he thought for a moment and then said, ‘He dropped Vanya here. But, the saber sensed a newly arrived descendant in distress and he might have also sensed the breach and presence of an unauthorized person. So he came to help Vanya. And, when he reached the hilltop he might have seen the abductor with her. She ran inside the cottage to save herself from both of them, not knowing what to do. She didn’t know that the saber was protecting her. So she tried to hide from him too. Either the saber killed him and dragged him away into the forest or he simply left to save himself.’ Dawn glanced at Vanya.

  Ace turned to look at her and saw, that Justin had kept a pillow on his lap and cuddled her close to himself. She was fast asleep. Brent and Justin were still discussing something really serious in a very low voice, trying not to wake her up.

  ‘I just want her to become normal like us and be safe.’ Ace told Dawn.

  ‘Relax!’ Dawn assured Ace. ‘Look around yourself. We have a team, Ace. What does that tell you? You think if someone comes tracking her down they will let them take her away?’ he nodded towards Justin and Brent.

  Ace could see how protective Justin was being. He was able to sense her distress and was trying his best to comfort her.

  ‘You know how strong Team fifty-five is. The year is just beginning, my friend. We have a long way to go and learn about what we can do. And, just so you know, that saber won’t let anyone touch her. It was very risky until she was out of the surface, but now you heard it, right? The man might have gotten ripped even before he could do anything.’ Dawn shook his head. ‘If anybody even touches any descendant with wrong intentions, those extinct beings will make them go extinct.’

  Dawn was right. Those extinct beings would put their lives ahead of the Source’s descendants. And, not just the hill on which Vanya’s cottage was, but the entire forest was full of them. For some reason, Ace was very drawn to the saber. He was so thankful to him and wanted to see him again. The last time they had communicated it was just a thought. This time, he wanted the saber to know how grateful he was to have him there.

  Chapter 5

  Justin meets Glory

  Never underestimate anyone or anything that appears to seem smaller, younger or weaker than you. It is in the nature of some human beings to undermine the strengths of others and stand ahead boldly with overconfidence. Sometimes, where a sword is of no use, a knife can do the job. But, this doesn’t make a sword, less valuable than a knife.

  The point is, that you must learn to use all the tools you possess where they fit perfectly and not just because some of your weapons look deadlier than the rest. Every atom of this existence has a purpose. The Source has a purpose. You have a purpose too. Find that purpose and hold on to it. Just pick a stream if it doesn’t pick you and flow with it.

  As soon as any stream picks a particular descendant, his or her stream instincts are in action without even letting them know that it has happened. The element that chooses them, becomes a weapon, as well as a companion for the one.

  Through these streams and elements, the Source begins to resonate with its descendants. It guides and warns them with omens and events. After becoming an enrolled novice, a descendant’s job is to prove it, that his or her team stands out from the rest of the teams that showed up the same year. Whichever team wins, gets a guide. Not just a guide, but seven guides who choose to become their paths, letting the novices walk ahead towards the Source.

  26th May 2010

  A team at the Phrontistery was not considered just a team, but a family. They had to put their teammates ahead of themselves. As far as each member of the team does their job fully and completely, the team remains strong and united. If one of them would let go, things could get really tough. Ace had told his teammates the same thing. They will always have to work together. No matter who belonged to grade one or two, the team would never take a step forward in the absence of even one of them.

  He had also asked Justin to find a way to deal with Vanya’s curse as soon as possible. Justin was fully dedicated to this mission. His healer’s
instinct was activated the moment he got enrolled and he couldn’t wait to deal with the situation. But, he also had to attend the introductory session of the first semester of this year.

  The team had moved to their assigned cottages last night after the enrollment. Vanya had assured them that she was safer at the hilltop surrounded by the extinct beings and didn’t want to step out of the campus illegally to make things complicated.

  It was a sunny morning. Kathy and Victoria were roaming around the hill, as Ace had asked Victoria to find a way to create a hidden base under the cottage at the hilltop. He wanted to turn Vanya’s cottage into their base, but there wasn’t much space and he wanted to keep it clean of all their secrets, just in case William decides to pay her a visit.

  Brent and Justin were sitting in Vanya’s cottage. They had gone down the hill and brought breakfast for all three of them from the CafeZone. It was really scary now. Now that they were enrolled, they kept spotting extinct beings trotting around with the seniors. Justin had seen some sort of weird-looking bird he couldn’t even recognize, perched next to a girl, as she was feeding it, looking pretty happy about it.

  ‘A saber?’ Brent’s lower body was resting on the bed, while his upper body was hanging downwards from the edge of the bed. ‘Why did a saber came to see you? Why not Euhelopus? They are herbivorous, right? A saber can eat us anytime he’s hungry.’

  Justin coughed, sitting on the wooden chair, writing something down on a notebook that was kept on his lap. Vanya was sitting on the floor, right at the door, gazing outside. She had told them that last night after they all had left, the saber had climbed up the hill and sat outside the cottage in order to protect her. She had tried to bring him inside, but the door was small. As soon as he left in the morning, Justin and Brent had shown up at her door.