Down in the vault, the elevator opened. A humanoid man with a chevron mustache was walking to the main part of the vault.
As he went he stopped at a place to get an eye scan to pass the series of passages filled with traps.
He was going to the part of the vault were Tonir Lad things were and he stopped abruptly with his eyes transfixed on the empty platforms that formerly contained the leads.
The next thing, the high commission was called to the city hall.
The heavy doors of Unity City Hall creaked open. Sir Nicholas walked in, his face pale. The High Commission members stopped their murmuring, sensing something was wrong.
Nicholas sat on his seat " Good evening, Ladies and gentlemen," he said and sighed.
"Bad news," Sir Nicholas said, his voice low. "The leads are gone. Stolen."
Shocked gasps filled the room. Commissioner Elara leaned forward. "What? The artifact boxes? Both of them?"
"Yes," Sir Nicholas replied. "The box with the key and the one with the scroll. Gone. No sign of how they were taken."
General Marlowe slammed his fist on the table. "How could this happen? We had tight security!"
"Only the inner circle knew their location," Sir Nicholas said, shaking his head. "That's what makes this so dangerous. Someone on the inside must be involved."
" How can we be the ones behind it when we have been working on this for years," said Commissioner Elara.
"We need a plan," Finance Minister Devrin said, looking worried. "If this gets out, it'll cause panic."
"First things first," said Lady Felicia, head of internal affairs. " Lockdown all access points to the vault. No one in or out without clearance."
" On it ," replied Nicholas and called security to conduct a search in the ministry.
"And double the guards at all key sites," added General Marlowe. "We need eyes everywhere."
"Good," Sir Nicholas nodded. "But what is the point when the leads are stolen already?"
" The leads might not be the only thing it wants," replied General Marlowe gruffly.
" The solution we need more. We need experts to get those leads back," said Sir Nicholas.
"Experts?" Commissioner Elara frowned. "You mean outsiders? We can't trust them with our secrets!"
" It's not that of a secret since Nicholas gave the first lead to Wilder," said Lady Felicia looking at him distinctively.
" It had to be done, the key had a constellation symbol that only Wilder had the resources to research on them and he is getting somewhere, it was all part of the plan," said Sir Nicholas.
" He must have had a peak behind the curtain," replied Lady Felicia.
" He is clueless about it, he always had an obsession for discovering things. I gave him the key with a false origin concealing the main fact," said Sir Nicholas.
" People like that are not supposed to be trusted with this kind of things," Lady Felicia shot back.
" What choice do we have?" asked Sir Nicholas.
" Okay it's enough back to the main topic," said Commissioner Elara.
"These professionals know how to handle things like this. They can track the thieves down quickly."
"We need results, Elara," said General Marlowe. "If they can do the job, I say we bring them in."
Sir Nicholas raised his hand, silencing the debate. "Alright, here's what we'll do. First, we will make a public awareness of the leads."
" Remember the leads are classified," said Lady Felicia.
" This investigation will be intense so people will know eventually, whoever stole it might know of the leads' purpose and if in the wrong hands, it's better we get the city in some of it, to ensure safety," said Sir Nicholas
The room fell silent as the gravity of the situation sank in. Sir Nicholas looked around, meeting each of their eyes. " Our city's safety is at stake. We need to move fast and smart. We can't afford any mistakes."
With a nod, the High Commission agreed. The meeting ended, the weight of their decision.
All through the time at Christmas, Elliot had a great time with Zyaire who accepted him in the Oliver tree to stay for the holiday.
Elliot learnt how people on kelper celebrate the Christmas holidays and it was a little different from how he does it from earth.
Instead of Santa Claus, they had a Christmas entity called The Dos Santos who leaves in his headquarters in space above the north pole because the ice melted there ages ago.
He rides on a space sleigh driven by a furry snow things with no eyes and delivers presents to good kids.
He has tattoos on his arms and looked tougher than the Santa Claus and speculations say that he is real and there were anonymous presents giving all around the world,
Elliot didn't believe that.
It started snowing a few days before Christmas.
Zyaire had been taking him out to places sometimes and on the day of Christmas, he bought Elliot presents including a shirt that the emoji changes constantly, a cartoon fan you place on the wall that if turned it could display popular animations in the radius and so much more.
He was watching the movies and series in the tv Zyaire bought, just that alone made a good holiday.
However, ever since Elliot stole the leads, there were related news spreading in the social media, tv news, Unity scoop and ministry forces were investigating.
He noticed it first one time he was going out on his own in the big city.
He was wearing a hoodie because that was his normal look on earth.
He was walking on the sidewalk when he saw the news on a building screens.
' Breaking news.
In recent events, the ministry has reported one of the most sacred items of the ministry got stolen.
This news has been trending all over the social media for in the vault it was stolen from was inaccessible but only to the minister and not even a skilled vermist could maneuver the security measures placed to guard the vaults. The ministry forces are...'
Elliot watched and he was a bit terrified, he went back to the Oliver tree and he noticed that related news were ravaging in the Unity scoop.
Though it made Elliot a little scared now that he was being tracked down because of the leads but the place he lived, he doubted that anyone would come looking for the leads here.
Elliot always came to the roof to check on the leads at night, to ensure that the leads were safe and have being extra careful not to let Zyaire find out.
After Christmas, Elliot has never stepped out of the Oliver tree ever since.
Since then he had not seen real sunlight, just a yellow dot in the sky and snow only touching the high trees.
Then the new year came and fireworks were shot in the air by midnight, very bright and unique ones.
China had the best fireworks as always, Elliot saw that when Zyaire watched the news.
Second term was almost coming and Elliot started feeling reluctant of coming to school because Apollo might ask him of his whereabouts during the holidays.
In the night, Elliot was watching the final episode of nevermore when Zyaire came in with a load of stuff he bought.
" Elliot it is ten in the night and school is tomorrow, you need to get some sleep," Zyaire said and kept the load of stuff on the shelf.
' Well that was an awful reminder' he thought and turned to look at Zyaire " C'mon, the series is almost ending, what is that?" he asked of the load Zyaire bought.
" These are foods in bulk, not planning of coming out of here for a long time, don't try coming here till the next holiday," retorted Zyaire.
" You know I can't promise that," replied Elliot.
" I'm serious, I've noticed something, i don't know but i think someone is getting to know about this place," said Zyaire.
" Yeah i figured," replied Elliot.
"And besides, do you know how much I spent on you in just one holiday?" said Zyaire.
" You can still regenerate the feathers," replied Elliot.
" Dude, I made more than twenty people millionaires just this christmas," said Zyaire.
" That's why you are a generous person," Elliot smiled and turned back to watching tv
" Might as well be the new Dos Santos," replied Zyaire and Elliot chuckled.
Zyaire spread his wings and flew to the upper room.
In the last episode, Alia was in the deserted lost empire and finally got to the book of fears after fighting Death star.
She finally reached the temple and insert the seven keys and the book was finally found but if she destroys it she will be trapped in the nether and her master tried to stop her and she said
' Getting the keys destroyed is not enough, people will still come for the book of fears. The only way for all this to end is to destroy the book before anyone else in the future will come to get it and I'll save my brother who is posessed by the leach '.
I'm the end, his master got killed and Death star, surprisingly alive took the book and opened a portal of his kind, monsters.
The episode ended leaving Elliot in suspense and craving to watch the next season.
Elliot turned off the tv, thinking about the last episode, he realized that he was somehow in the same situation himself.
Elliot went to the roof top and opened the box of the scroll.
' In shadows casted by a celestial hue, seek the truth on the day the moon is blue' he muttered as he read.
He knew he had to destroy the heart for all this to end but the riddle mentioned a day which he could not tell but he could tell that day was near, if not he wouldn't have been having this visions.
He somehow had one during the holidays but he forgot. That means stealing the leads didn't quite do anything.
He folded the scroll and he heard the trapdoor open and he quickly hid the scroll in his shirt and turned back quickly to see Zyaire.
" What are you doing here?" asked Zyaire.
" Um, just breathing the fresh night air," replied Zyaire.
Zyaire looked around and sniffed " This air kinda stinks."
" Yeah, that's exactly what I'm breathing," replied Elliot.
" Whatever you are doing go-to-bed," said Zyaire and spread his wings.
" Why aren't you in bed?" asked Elliot.
" I'm an adult, a two billion year old adult. I'm just going for a flight around the world, coming back in about six hours," Zyaire replied and and flew to the night sky as he watched him.
Elliot thought of tomorrow being school and sighed, he wasn't really looking forward to going back.
He came down stairs and layed on the sofa and slept.
Tomorrow morning just came like that and Elliot was awoken by a loud bagpipe that made him fall of his couch.
" Bonjour Elliot, huh ha huh," retorted Zyaire in a french accent.
Elliot looked at him with his eyes still heavy " I don't think that bagpipe fits with the accent," he said and yawned.
" Today is a back to school day," sang Zyaire shaking his rattle and saw Elliot was still sleeping on the floor.
He jacked Elliot up in the air " when I told you to sleep you didn't."
" I-dont feel-like it," muttered Elliot.
" I have a way to make you feel like it," said Zyaire and flew with him high in the air and let him go.
Elliot eyes opened as he let him go and when he fell, he almost reached the rooftop and Zyaire caught him.
" Are you awake now? Wow, you didn't scream," said Zyaire and Elliot gave him an alerted look.
Elliot is now wide awake and prepared his things and around noon,
He went through a pathway with Zyaire till they came out of the beast forest and took a bus to school.
They stopped at the entrance.
Zyaire as an alien came out with Elliot and the bus drove away.
It felt kind of odd that Elliot was coming back to school without a luggage.
" I think we came to early," said Elliot looking at the bridge leading to the main entrance that looked empty unlike the first time when he came here and the brigde was filled with students carrying their stuff to the school but now he thought he could see a tumbleweed there.
" Maybe people are inside you can't tell," suggested Zyaire.
Elliot didn't believe that " maybe today is not the date let's go back."
" Whow slow down, today is the day, what are you afraid of?" asked Zyaire.
" I don't feel like going back," replied Elliot.
" Sure you missed the holiday but you have to, you will get used to it soon enough," said Zyaire and used telekinesis to push him forward.
" Okay I'm going," said Elliot and was walking on the bridge.
He was getting to the main entrance, he saw the security guard.
" Where are your things?" he asked.
" They are inside the school," he replied and entered the school compound I which q new feeling washed over him, he didn't know whether it was fear or paranoia.
Just as he expected as he walked to his dorm, the place was empty.
He saw some students but they were the ones who stayed back during the holidays.
He dodged them knowing that if they see him some of them will start asking him questions that he does not like.
He came to the dormitory which also empty and he went up the magnetic tile to the second floor to his room.
He opened the door and saw his stuff he left but didn't see Radley, he made be on his way from Atlantis.
' Okay what should I do now?' he thought himself for he didn't want to stay in a room doing nothing till Radley comes back.
He thought of going to find Andromeda.
He went out of his room not knowing what to do and as he was walking down the stairs, he saw Lily calling out and coming to him from the other side of the dormitory and they met at the entrance.
" Where were you during Christmas?" asked Lily.
" I, I was somewhere, why do you ask?" replied Elliot.
" Then why were Apollo, Poprifus and Donna looking for you?" asked Lily.
" Wait they were?" said Elliot in an alerted tone.
" Yeah, around some days before christmas and they thought you ran away, you are a pe student right?" asked Lily.
" Yes i am, but I went to my place for the holiday," replied Elliot with a look of worry on his face.
" You shouldn't have gone, pe students supposed to stay back," said Lily.
" What should I do, how should I tell them?," asked Elliot.
" You should tell Professor Winklesmut he was in charge of us during the holidays, he might understand besides PE students do it all the time but I've never heard of the principal or those two ever looking for them, yours might be a different case, just hope they don't remember you," replied Lily.
" Really?" asked Elliot in relief.
" Yeah, some senior students do it," replied Lily.
" Where is he?" asked Elliot.
" You mean Apollo?" asked Lily.
"I mean Winklesmut," said Elliot.
" I don't know, maybe you can meet him tomorrow," replied Lily.
Elliot thought and said " okay I will try."
Elliot went out of the dorm, he was quite relief that he had to deal with Professor Winklesmut for it, all it was left is to think of a story to tell him but the thought of him encountering Apollo, Poprifus or worse, Miss Donna made him feel uncomfortable.
Might as well avoid her for the rest of the year, if that was even possible now she knows him.
Apollo might still remember Elliot and the likely place they might have an encounter or mention his name is in the dining hall, not to mention that is office is in his block.
He much hoped that Apollo will not put him back on surveillance again.
He wanted to go to class for some alone time and he opened the door saw Andromeda sitting on a chair with her PUI.
"Oh hey! Andromeda you came early," said Elliot.
Andromeda looked at him and back to her PUI " Hi Elliot, how was holidays at school?" asked Andromeda.
Elliot came to sit opposite her. She looked up briefly and back down as she was busy with something.
"Great... What are you doing?" Elliot asked.
" I'm trying to predict something that Wilder is predicting but other people don't believe it but i think he is getting somewhere," replied Andromeda.
" So, what is it?" asked Elliot.
" I don't know how to put it in words, but I'm not going to tell you till the time comes and i will be the first student to discover it," replied Andromeda.
" At least can you give me a hint?" asked Elliot.
" It has to do with astrology," Andromeda replied.
" Okay," Elliot said in conclusion.
" Did you see the news about the ministry?" She asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" he asked.
" The leads has been stolen from the ministry and agents are looking for it like crazy, some of them came to my place with lots of cars and even a helicopter and they were investigating for about a week," she said,
Elliot gulped in his mind.
" It's odd the traps didn't catch the intruder. I mean, such strong security measures which most vermist cannot penetrate, some people are calling it the greatest ministry theft in Unity city," said Andromeda.
" Really?" asked Elliot getting how serious it is.
" Yes and the worst part about it is the crazy thing they stole is just a key and some scroll, what is so important about it?" asked Andromeda and looking back into her work.
" Perhaps the leads were stolen for good reasons," Elliot said nervously.
"For good reasons, how can it be good that a priceless piece of the past was stolen?" said Andromeda with a raised eyebrow.
" I don't know, why will they care so much for just two boxes?" asked Elliot.
" Elliot, they said it contains something that we shouldn't know about that if someone gets to know about it, it will be pretty bad but still, i don't get it," replied Andromeda and continued using her PUI.
Elliot looked at the table in thought, why will the ministry find it so important and try much possible means to find it? He supposed they might know it's use, if they find out he stole the leads, he is done for.
" Is there anything else you want to say?" asked Andromeda.
Elliot snapped out of it and looked at her "...Or you are just gonna be staring at the table all day."
" No, I have to go. I have many things to do, and unpack," Elliot said and went out of the room. As he was walking out of the class
'Evil hands were about to get hold of it, so it's a good thing I took it, right?' he thought to himself and that freed his conscience. He was around the dorm for a while and by then, the students started coming in were getting large and as Elliot went was hearing similar talks related to the ministry incident and people coming to search the sectors.
" Did the agents come to your sector?"
" The person who stole the leads is a daredevil."
" Why is a key and a scroll so important?"
Wherever he went and it made him more anxious.
In the evening, Radley came back and Elliot met Radley they talked.
It was sundown and the prefects were getting people to the dining hall.
Elliot, Radley and Andromeda came in the midst of students swarming into the hall.
They were seated on a table and the students in the hall were more chatty than usual, probably because they just came back from the holidays.
The service bots got ready and they marched in sync to the kitchen door to the kitchen at the front corner of the hall.
Elliot saw Robin who was sitting at the prefects table talking with the other prefects.
The staffs were coming to the staff table.
"You rocked at the match. I have never seen a first year player break the flits but you did it with just three months training. That's impressive," said Radley impressed.
" I know right, maybe it's just talent," Elliot said.
" Like, look at this," Radley showed him a video footage in his e-pad of when Elliot breaking the flits.
" That was pure luck, imagine if you missed," said Radley.
" Sorry I couldn't come to the match. I was taking care of my grandmother at the retirement home," said Andromeda.
"At least did you see the video?" asked Elliot.
" I was busy all through christmas, at least I saw some of it," replied Andromeda.
" Why were you busy?" asked Radley.
Andromeda looked at him " I just said I was taking care of my grandma in the retirement home."
"Oh okay, I understand, how is she?," said Elliot.
He saw Elizabeth for the first time in second term.
Elizabeth walked down the steps passing Elliot, talking with her friends and they settled in a table.
Elliot looked at her for a while.
" Still feeling down about that day huh," whispered Radley to his ear.
" Sort of," muttered Elliot.
Elliot kept his eyes and ears sharp for Donna, Poprifus or Apollo.
Soon after, Apollo came in the dining hall through the entrance and Elliot seeing him made his heart leap.
Elliot put his head under the chair as Apollo passed him.
" Elliot what are you doing?" asked Andromeda.
Elliot brought his head out slowly to look at the podium, Apollo was a out to make an announcement.
He really hoped that his name wasn't mentioned.
However, Apollo looked like he was in a happy mood but many couldn't tell.
Apollo took the mic and stepped on the podium and he observed the hall as everyone gradually became silent to hear what he had to say.
"Good evening all. I want to make an important announcement," said Apollo.
Elliot heart was pounding and by his face Radley and Andromeda could tell that he was not feeling alright.
" Elliot what's wrong with you?" asked Radley.
" No, Nothing," Elliot replied.
" Is it a human thing?" asked Andromeda.
" No it's not," replied Elliot and calmed his face down.
" First all all I will like to welcome you all to the second term. This term is a very important term, most of you should know.
On the fifteenth of January, a school was born and that school is Cor Centuria, we always celebrate founders day every year to celebrate the school and remember it's mysterious origin and achievements of the school. Cor Centuria will be five hundred years this year," said Apollo.
There was a round of applause from all present.
"And not only that, the best part of it is that on that day, something spectacular might happen.
It is something that people will get to see only once in a lifetime. Scientist did some research and it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that on the fifteenth of January...The sapphire moon will be seen by people all over the world," he said.
" I knew it!" said Andromeda as the students cheered loudly.
"What's a sapphire moon?" Elliot asked.
" Only the rarest, greatest natural occurrence in history!" replied Andromeda excitedly.
"it's a day the moon becomes blue for a night. This is a once in a lifetime occurrence," replied Radley.
Elliot was expected to be excited but the thing he heard didn't sound right to him.
It took effort to comport the students at the hall by the prefects because being alive to see the blue moon was a very big deal.
" Glad to know, that you are excited for it, what a great coincidence right? On that day, the choir should get ready, the press club and other people who have things to offer at founder's day," said Apollo.
Elliot spotted Miss Donna at the back of the hall and quickly looked front.
" On that day be on your best behavior, on founder's day, we normally do it at the afternoon but since that day the sapphire moon will come out, it is going to be in the night, there will be no classes on that day, stay in your dorms and from there you should go to the dining hall and after dinner, the ceremony will be conducted somewhere near the field. That day will be a memorable one so prepare your cameras to take a photo to show the next gen your experiences. You can proceed eating thank you," Apollo said and left the podium and his face changed back to normal as he left the dining hall to the vacant first years block unseen by anyone.
The students in the hall became more chatty and had a sort of vibe.
Elliot on the other hand was glad that Apollo didn't call him.
" I knew it, this was three hours of work worth it, that's how an astrologist predicts the moon," said Andromeda boastfully.
" I thought you wanted to be theoretical physicist," teased Radley.
" I don't know, maybe i can be all," replied Andromeda.
" You wish," replied Radley.
" Do you know Wilder also predicted the blue moon?" Andromeda ignored Radley's reply showed them the video in her e-pad.
Wilder was in a white tux infront of other scientists in a room taking the video.
" This things may probably be my greatest discovery yet. The sapphire moon aka the blue moon as been a rare wonder to kelper. However, thanks to reliable sources, we have developed a method to calculate the next coming and the next next coming of the blue moon. On the fifteenth of January, the sapphire moon will be seen from all over the world and I personally cant wait for for that day to come..." said Wilder and the scientist behind him cheered and behind them was the alignment in a big screen, the video ended.
Elliot was eating his food not uttering a word.
" He was the first one to predict it and other scientist didn't believe but now he is right, as always. He deserves a nobel prize," said Andromeda admiring the achievements of Wilder.
" What's with you and Wilder?" asked Radley.
" People like you will never understand," Andromeda replied.
" Whatever, Do you have any cameras?" asked Radley.
" No, I will just use my e-pad, besides I have a nice spot where i could take a picture," replied Andromeda.
Elliot looked back and to his relief, he didn't see Miss Donna again.
" Please tell me the spot," pleaded Radley.
" Why?" asked Andromeda.
Radley paused with a look " seriously?"
" Okay fine," Andromeda sighed " but not now for the sake of eavesdroppers."
" Elliot, this will be your first time seeing the blue moon," said Radley.
Elliot looked at him with a brow raised " also you."
" Bad thing you can't show your folks on earth, they will think it's fake," said Andromeda.
" Yeah I have no problem with that, i can show it to my mom and dad," replied Elliot and they continued eating.
After dinner, Elliot came out in the midst of a crowd of students chatting away.
He was relieved he wasn't mentioned at the announcements, hopefully he will spend the rest of his first year normally.
He went to his room later on.
Elliot looked around even though nobody was in his room and he was sure that Radley was busy and will come to the room late.
Elliot sat on the chair , thought he made a mistake because when he went to his luggage, in his secret zip he had the two leads items, the key and the scroll.
He didn't want to bring it here but Zyaire told him not to come to the Oliver tree anytime soon and just In case it was important to use it, he wouldn't have to go a long way to get it, although what he did was very very risky, people are looking for this thing and he will be done for if he is caught.
He opened the scroll to read again.
' on the day as rare as a moon in blue... more like as rare as as a blue moon' he thought.
He carefully read and thought it through.
'This could be true, the cycle of time, once in every age, reveals the secret to the cage'.
Elliot folded the scroll with the key and sat on his chair.
He started to think that the day of the blue moon is the day the way to the heart will be open.
In a blink of an eye, he saw that he was in a different environment that looked deserted.
Elliot stood up from the rock he sat.
He was shocked of where he was.
The sky was red and as he was walking slowly, he started seeing shadow figures pass the corner of his eye but he will turn to see nothing, the ground was dust and a steady wind blew and dead trees were everywhere and he heard sounds of ravens.
Elliot was walking but as he was looking straight he froze.
In a close distance, he saw a talk thing.
He couldn't see it because it was dark but what he could see was that it was a tall shadow figure with two long thin antlers with red eyes looking directly into his soul and above it was the blue moon shining bright in the eerie red sky.
Elliot couldn't move, it's red eyes alone made him petrified.
" Hello, hello," said a muffled voice.
" Hello?" , Elliot snapped out of it to see Radley at his front.
" Why are you acting like you saw a ghost?" asked Radley but Elliot couldn't speak.
" Elliot, you are behaving weird," said Radley.
" I want to go to bed now," muttered Elliot and climbed up his bed to lie down.
Radley looked at him with concern before lying on his bed to get some sleep.
Elliot however couldn't sleep, a vision happened again and this time it felt real and every vision he saw red eyes every single time and this time he saw the blue moon above him.
This was coming sooner than expected.
Elliot was tired of having his dreams and he felt that he wasn't ready to find the heart and destroy it.
Founders day was on the fifteenth and that is when the unexpected will happen and it scared him and had to do something before it was too late.
Some days passed and the investigation was led by Two head agents, Baron and Joyce, though they didn't seem to be going anywhere.
Elliot fear about the ministry reduced but he was reluctant about founder's day as others were keen to that day, the blue moon being the often topic of people's conversation, people were even buying cameras.
The task of finding the leads was getting harder that even the ministry promised huge money to the person who gets the leads.
It was finally the week of the blue moon and in one night, at the top floor of the ministry.
There was a conference room at the top floor seated the high ministry officials.
Among the commission, there was a commotion.
" Let's talk one at a time," said the minister, Sir Nicholas.
" Time is running out, it remains a few days to the dimensional alignment," said Lady Felicia.
" Why does it have to be so soon?"
" Wilder was right, on the fift-"
" What are we supposed to do now the leads are stolen, how is the investigation going up?" asked General Marlowe.
" They haven't searched all the sectors but so far, they got nothing," said Sir Nicholas
" We can't continue like this, it is pointless, it is just like finding a needle in a haystack," said one of them sternly.
" It d-"
" Do you have any better ideas?" replied Lady Felicia sharply.
" There is none because it is a dead end, this wouldn't have happened if the leads haven't being brought public," said Commissioner Elara calmly.
" We've already gone through this, he worked on the project we told him to do, to observe the alignment and it is true, it exists and it all had to be done with the key," replied Nicholas holding back his annoyance.
" I did not say it is your fault if you think that way, but now Wilder has made this huge discovery, he had advertised it like he always does giving the theif insights," replied the tall alien.
" Wilder had been helpful to us but also clueless of our real intentions, besides you can't blame him, that's what a scientist does when they make a huge discovery," replied Nicholas.
" But what will that do if we do not have the leads?" asked one of them and there was a moment of silence.
" I don't know how the theif did it, no one could pass the traps in the vault, no one, it is impossible," said the General Marlowe.
" I still reckon it might be one of us," said Sir Nicholas and they looked at each other silently.
" But he or she did, perhaps the person knows of the purpose behind it," said Commissioner Elara.
" If the object of great power is true like what it seems, like what the men of the past claims it is..." said Nicholas looking for a conclusion.
The whole group glanced at each other.
" Even if it wasn't stolen, we still don't have the third lead and that is also a huge obstacle for the theif," said General Marlowe and they all mumbled in agreement.
Nicholas stood up " We are not giving up, whoever is with the leads is likely to be with the third one, so we need to continue searching for it because the person might have plans for it and he or she is a step ahead of all of us."
" Yes, it certainly is," said an unnatural voice in the room and the light started flickering and it turned off leaving them in darkness.
Panic surged in them as they saw a cloaked figure with fiendish red eyes at the door.
They all stood abruptly to cast a vermoe but in a second, the figure raised it's hands and they were magnetized to the wall.
They were all terrified.
The cloak figure quickly came infront of Nicholas who whimpered at the sight of it's eyes.
The figure tilted his head.
The woman wanted to scream for help but it's power choked her to silence.
" I come in peace, but due to my appearance, my entrance is rouge," said the figure.
The figure sat on a chair and it levitated to the Minister's face.
" The person is after what you people seek. Do you know what this is?" The inhumane figure showed the minister a photo, above the ministry a comet flying above it.
" A... A comet," replied the minister shakily.
The figure put the picture down without removing his stare from him.
" This so called hero, that have being populating the internet that one time, never to be seen again, that no one has seen. That is your target."
The figure rose with the chair and landed on the table.
" You will never find the leads at this rate, what you should focus on is the place of origin the leads came from that is..."
The figure dropped a photo of Cor Centuria on the table.
The minister looked at it and grunted.
" There is a lot to know about, on founder's day, ministry officials comes to Cor Centuria every year, till then this place is your main target unless, you want the theif to beat you to it first," said the figure and in a flicker of the red light, it disappeared and the ministry officials fell down gasping for air and looking at each other in shock.
" What is that?" said the woman alerted and they murmed in shock.
They slowly stood up and the
minister took the photo and looked at it for a while as the room was filled with tension.
**************************
The next day,
Elliot and Radley woke up the next day and prepared to go to class.
He had to use his normal way of carring his heavy bag while Radley uses his method.
" I'm so saving to buy your kind of luggage," said Elliot.
" Yeah good luck with that," replied Radley.
They went to the first years block to their lockers and unpacked.
" This is frustrating carrying this heavy things around," said Elliot putting his books in his locker.
" Tell me about it, I used to do that too but when i won a swimming competition, she got me this," replied Radley
Andromeda met Radley and Elliot in the hallway.
" Oh hey guys, another term right," said Andromeda keenly.
Radley sighed " I can't wait for summer."
" How about you Elliot?" she asked.
" I don't know I guess," replied Elliot.
" Now I have to deal with Miss Donna for the term, you owe me a lot Elliot," said Radley.
" Why?" Elliot asked.
" When you were in surveillance you were one step close to being little red from angry birds," replied Radley.
" You watched that?" asked Elliot quite suprised.
" Yeah," replied Radley.
" So what other earth movies have you watched?" asked Elliot.
" I don't know," replied Radley.
" Ah, too bad," retorted Elliot.
" Same thing with you," replied Radley.
" I was selected to be in charge of decorations again and I was asked to play the violin for the orchestra, which one should i choose?" said Andromeda.
" Um, i don't know it's your choice," replied Radley.
" I asked you to choose," said Andromeda.
" Choose the violin thing since you did the other one in halloween," replied Elliot and he spotted Apollo coming out of his office.
" Violin, it's kin-" said Andromeda and was cut off by Elliot.
" You know what I'm going to class now," Elliot quickly took his book and ran to botany class.
They had the normal classes they had on a Monday, mutations, botany, arithmic, history and lastly use of vermoe.
During the time , at the entrance.
There were black cars and hover cars driving to the main entrance of the school.
The security men came out seeing the strange cars coming and they parked in front of the gate.
In one of the cars, a woman in a black suit came out of the car and approaching the security men.
She showed them an authority medal in her wallet.
" I'm an agent from the ministry of crimes and investigation," said the woman blankly.
They looked at each other and back to her.
" Okay, what do you want?" asked one of them.
" We've reported some strange activities happening in the premises and we want to investigate," said the woman.
" Um, sorry ma'am but we can't do that," replied the security men.
" Excuse me?" said the agent.
" We can't," said the man bluntly.
" We have investigated in firmer facilities and didn't do harm so unless this school is conc-"
" We need to take permission before I get you in," said the man, by then a man came to him, scaly, purple and had a white mohawk and came with two menacing mutant dogs.
" Get on with it then," said the woman.
The man dropped the phone at the sight of those dogs.
The man stared at the security man ghastly " It's like you have a hearing problem, we are from the ministry of crimes and investigations. I don't want to waste time here, open-the-gate, or you will have a problem with me."
The dogs started growling at the security.
" Okay i will," the man said quickly and opened the gate.
Elliot was in use of vermoe class with Professor Soarise, she was teaching force field vermoe symbols.
Elliot was blankly looking at his symbolizer and in the lesson he looked out the window and noticed that black cars were parked in the school and people in black were roaming around.
Elliot took the gaze of the window to the class.
Soon after, an unknown presence swept into the room.
The class attention was caught by a man, an alien man ,purple, scaly and had a snow white mohawk.
His dead eyes lingered around the class. All attention were on him and that was not even the scary part of him. He had two purple hard shell mutant greyhounds sniffing vigorously.
Elliot gulped 'let him not be who he think he is' he had his fingers crossed tightly.
Professor Soarise turned to look at him in suprise "May I ask who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked.
The man tilted his neck slowly " I am Agent Baron… I'm from the ministry of crimes and investigations." he said expressionlessly.
Elliot felt his heart fall into his stomach.
" How can I help you?" Professor Soarise asked.
"you might heard the news, so you might know what we are looking for. We have been looking for the scroll and the key and we traced it here, we just want to have a little look ," Baron said.
Professor Saorise glanced the class in disbelief and turned to Baron "I don't think the leads are in this class sir. Please leave, we are having a class right now."
The dogs started to sniff in a different direction and Baron looked at her " okay ma'am," he said and left and curious murmurs grew in the class.
Elliot was scared to death, the leads are in his room right now, what will become of him when Baron finds out it's in his luggage, he will be taken away and be regarded as a criminal, what will his friends think what will his family think?
Elliot quickly stood up " professor," he said. "What is it human?" She said not facing off the board she was writing on "I want to go to the bathroom," Elliot said quickly "Be quick," Professor Soarise said blankly.
Elliot walked normally out of the class and entered the hallway and he broke into a run, he ran to the bathroom and to his luck no one was there.
Elliot transformed into Cometwave and flew out of the window invisible.
Cometwave flew to the dormitory and through his window and rummaged through his luggage.
Panic surged in him as he heard incoming footsteps to his room.
Cometwave looked left and right,
the mutant dogs groped at the door and the next thing the door swung open, the man opened it with vermoe.
His entering made the place add tension.
Baron saw no one just the window open bringing in breeze and a scattered luggage which the mutant dogs were sniffing.
Meanwhile Cometwave was invisible on the ceiling with the scroll and behind his back, he could see suspicion in Baron's face. Baron casted a vermos on the luggage with his ring and the box rose up and all Elliot's things were separated, the leads wasn't there. Baron scoffed and casted a vermos on luggage and his things entered inside looking neatly kept than how Elliot left it.
Baron stepped slowly towards the window and stared outside for a moment "gotta go boys, nothing here, it's just another tip off," Baron sighed and left with his dogs, one of was looking at the ceiling which made Cometwave think it could see him even though he was invisible. When they left a reasonable distance.
Cometwave gave a sigh of relief.
He flew back to the bathroom after he saw there were black cars still parked in the school.
Cometwave turned back to Elliot in the bathroom.
He decided that it will not be safe if it is hidden in his luggage, he need to hide it in a safer place and fast, somewhere nobody will think of searching.
He put the scroll in his cloak and the key in his pocket and as he was going to class his heart was racing because that will be a risky thing to do, bringing the scroll to class and if he was caught he was done for, but he had no choice.
Elliot went to class and in his seat he held his cloak tightly till the end of the lesson and toward the end of the lesson, a boy sitting beside Elliot accidentally spilled ink on Elliot's hand.
Elliot made a pissed sigh and left the class and walked briskly out of the classroom block.
People were talking about the agents and most of them were intensively searching
Elliot was walking through the fields looking for where to hide it and he walked faster when he saw the agents were still here and he diverted.
Elliot found went to a grove of trees near the field which one of them had a hole in it.
Elliot without hesitation, saw it was a good idea and went to the tree, dropping it without anyone witnessing it.
Elliot remembered he had to meet Winklesmut and went back to class to find him.
Meanwhile, Agent Joyce came to the library and didn't talk to the liberian, just showed her her medal and kept going her way. She saw the door leading to the archives, metal.
She removed a robotic spider from her pocket and it crawled to the door and managed to hack it open.
She entered inside and as as she strolled with her flashlight, looking at everywhere she saw shelves of forgotten files.
Her flashlight shone at the statue at the end of the room.
She walked closer to it and she gazed at it closer and turned the nose and a passage opened before her.
The room light turned on and Apollo stood in the doorway, his tall frame casting a shadow over the room. His eyes were sharp, and a faint, knowing smile tugged at his lips.
"Agent Joyce," Apollo began, his voice smooth yet firm "you're trespassing in a place where knowledge is sacred and privacy respected. Our archives are protected under educational law, section 42-b, I believe you're familiar? Unauthorized searches could lead to… complications."
Joyce turned around straightened, meeting his gaze. "I'm just doing my job, Principal. We have reason to believe a government artifact was hidden here."
Apollo nodded, stepping closer. " I understand, Agent. But let me remind you," his voice lowered, "meddling with our records without due process could raise questions. Questions about breaches of protocol, perhaps even misconduct. Imagine the headlines if it got out that a government agent was tampering with an esteemed school's affairs."
He paused, letting his words sink in. "Now, I wouldn't want to involve lawyers or make a public spectacle, would you? After all, a closed passage suggests secrets best left untouched. Maybe it's better we work together...discreetly."
Joyce's jaw tightened, but she knew he was right. "Fine," she said " but this search is hosted by the Minister himself and you don't want him to know that you are breaching his operation."
Apollo's smile widened, his eyes glinting. "Of course not, Agent Joyce. It's not a crime in doing a work of a principal, so i advise you to leave unless things will happen."
Agent Joyce stood thoughtfully for a while " okay I will." unknown to Apollo, she secretly put a bug there and left.
Agent Joyce came to all of the agents and signal them to leave the premises and they went in their cars and left and the security men were rather glad to shut the gate.
Apollo left the archives and went to his office and activated the entrance to his secret room and in there Poprifus was looking at the cameras.
Apollo walked to the screen to take a look.
" They left sir," said Poprifus.
" That was close, they could have found out about the third lead," said Poprifus.
" I knew they weren't agents, they were bounty hunters, working for the Minister," said Apollo.
" How do you know that?" asked Poprifus.
" I've been working in the ministry for a long time, besides, they wouldn't give the agency insights on the leads," replied Apollo and he sat down on his chair.
" What about the boy, Elliot?" asked Poprifus.
" Forget about the boy, if the ministry is on the case, the leads are really stolen. It's like we are not the only ones after the heart," said Apollo thoughtfully.
Poprifus turned off the screen " On founder's day, ministry officials will come to the school and the third lead will be at risk," said Poprifus expecting an answer
" I know what I'll do about it, but something is telling me that the ministry is the least of our problems," said Apollo.
Meanwhile, at the dining hall.
" I think I've made a decision, I'm going to play at the orchestra on founder's day," Andromeda said happily.
" You have said this twenty times in different options," said Radley irritated.
" I know I want to decorate, I like decorating but I play the violin well but i sort of get nervous..." Andromeda continued to talk quickly as if she was talking to herself.
" Okay we got it you like violin and decorating," said Radley and shook his head and rolled his eyes " so did your mom send you the camera?"
" Why do you want to know, get one yourself," replied Andromeda bluntly.
" You know i can't," said Radley.
" Oh, too bad," replied Andromeda intentionally.
" You are a horrible person," said Radley and she smiled " you know I'm still going to give you at the end right?"
" Oh thanks Andromeda, your the best," said Radley.
" But since you said I'm a horrible person, i change my mind," said Andromeda.
" Rats," whispered Radley.
Elliot wanted to eat and he brought out his hands to see that it was still soiled in ink. "Oh no Elliot what did you get yourself into, don't you know ink can stain?" Andromeda brought out a special kind of tissue from her bag took Elliot's hand and cleaned it with ease.
"thanks," said Elliot.
"Did you see the man with the mutant dogs?" Andromeda asked.
"Baron," said Radley.
" I heard, that he came to you guys room," said Andromeda.
"Our room, why?" said Radley in disbelief.
" The mutant dogs sniffed to your room," replied Andromeda seeing that something was not right.
" Yeah maybe their dog senses are not right," said Elliot nervously.
" I don't think so ,he had mutant greyhounds it's hard for a greyhound to sniff wrongly, mutants for that matter," said Andromeda.
Elliot didn't like this topic of conversation.
"there wasn't any lead in our room, could it?" said Radley.
" No, it should be a mistake, it's not possible for something like that to be in your room, could it?" replied Andromeda.
" Yeah it's not," said Elliot nervously and stood up from his chair and left.
Later that night. Agent Joyce and Baron came to a fancy car parked in the side of the road in a busy part of Unity city.
They stood infront of the car window as it slowly opened and Sir Nicholas was seen.
" So what did you see at the school?" Sir Nicholas asked.
" My boys traced the scent to the school but couldn't find anything," said Baron.
" Your dogs traced it to where exactly?" asked Nicholas.
" A little boy's luggage," Baron replied.
" A little boy's luggage?" said Nicholas seeing it absurd and Baron nodded.
" So what about you?" asked Nicholas.
" I managed to find a secret passage in the archives but the principal couldn't let me investigate any further, we stopped our search halfway but I kept a bug, we have picked up more leads than we had in any other place," replied Agent Joyce.
Nicholas paused in thought before he said " you know what? Tell me what you find and our next move will be on founder's day," he said and signaled his driver and he drove the hovercar and flew away as the two them looked.
" At least, he could have given us a ride," said Agent Joyce and shook her head and left with Baron.
As the days drew nearer, People were excited for founder's day as Elliot was rather worried.
At least the the agents never came the school again.
The leads stayed hidden in the tree or so it was till Radley and Andromeda fou d his little secret.
Elliot was in his room at night. Tomorrow was Founder's Day, and his thoughts were clouded. The entire school had been buzzing about it—students, the Unity Scoop, the news, even social media. Inside, he felt unprepared.
As he sat quietly in his chair, he snapped out of his thoughts and noticed a note on his luggage. He walked over, picked it up, and read:
"Elliot, I want to tell you something. Meet me in the botany class after dinner."
—Radley.
Elliot wondered what Radley wanted but didn't think too much about it. Later, he arrived at the botany class. It was dark. He took a step inside, and a light flicked on. Turning, he saw Radley sitting next to the light switch.
"Well, well, well, Elliot," Radley said suspiciously.
"What?" Elliot asked.
"You didn't expect us to find out, did you?" said a voice behind him. Elliot turned to see Andromeda closing the door.
"Is there anything you have that doesn't belong to you?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" Elliot replied, confused.
Andromeda walked closer. "Don't play dumb, Elliot. We already know."
"Know what?"
"Shh, keep your voice down. This is serious," Radley cautioned.
"You don't want to admit it," Andromeda sighed.
"Admit what? I don't even know what you're talking about!" Elliot said, frustration growing.
"Elliot, you're hiding something," Andromeda insisted. "You've been acting strange, and that's what put you under surveillance in the first place. Since December, the Ministry has been searching for clues. You knew this. An agent came to your room, and that day, I saw ink stains on your hands. And today, while preparing for the Founder's Day ceremony, I found this." She pulled out a scroll and a key, both stained with ink.
Elliot's heart sank. How had she found them?
"How did you get those? The agents have been searching everywhere!" Andromeda continued. "Why do you always get yourself into trouble? If the Ministry finds out you have this…"
"You'll be in serious trouble," Radley added, checking the door to ensure no one was listening.
Andromeda looked at Elliot. "I didn't want to bring this up because I didn't want you to be mad at me again, but I have to. You've never been completely open with us, even though we're your friends. I'm not saying you stole these, but something's wrong. Are you hiding something?"
"I'm not hiding anything," Elliot said defensively.
"Then why keep this from everyone?" she asked, holding up the scroll.
"You know how dangerous this is," Radley added.
Elliot struggled to find the right words. "I… I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you two to worry. But I guess I have to now." He took a deep breath. "Okay, yes, I have it. But it's for a good reason. If I didn't, the consequences would be disastrous."
"What kind of consequences?" Andromeda asked.
Elliot was silent for a moment before speaking. "Many people don't know how Cor Centuria was built overnight. They think it's a mystery, but it's actually a secret. The school was created in a day by a powerful crystal heart capable of altering reality. Even Oliver Wit wrote about it." He tossed a diary to Andromeda.
"Wait, are you serious?" Radley asked.
"Yes, I'm serious," Elliot replied.
"This is Oliver Wit's diary," Andromeda said, flipping through the pages, astonished.
"The crystal is called the Heart of Centuries. The leads I have are the key to finding it. I need to destroy the heart before Apollo or anyone else gets their hands on it."
"Apollo knows about this?" Radley asked.
"Yes, and he plans to take the heart for himself," Elliot admitted.
"This really is Oliver's diary. How did you get this?" Andromeda asked.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I destroy the heart before it reaches Blue Moon. If I don't, by Founder's Day… the world could be in danger."
Radley and Andromeda absorbed the information, stunned.
"You two are the best friends I've ever had. I never wanted this to come between us, but I was afraid you wouldn't understand or that you'd try to get involved," Elliot confessed. "But now you know. Please, don't interfere. This is something I have to do on my own."
Elliot took the diary and scroll from Andromeda's hands, placing them in his bag. He walked to the back of the class, feeling the weight of tomorrow's events.
"I'm just scared about what will happen tomorrow," he admitted.
"How can you handle this alone?" Radley asked.
"You wouldn't understand," Elliot replied.
"We should tell the authorities," Andromeda suggested.
"Seriously? Who would believe that there's a heart powerful enough to be stolen by Apollo? No one would take us seriously," Radley argued.
"I mean the Ministry authorities," Andromeda clarified.
"And then Elliot would be in trouble for having the leads," Radley pointed out.
"You're right," Andromeda conceded. Silence filled the room.
Finally, Radley spoke up. "So, what's your plan for tomorrow?"
"I'll use the leads to find the heart and destroy it," Elliot said.
"How many leads do you need?" Radley asked.
"Three. Apollo has the third," Elliot replied.
"How are you going to get it?" Andromeda asked.
"I have my ways," Elliot said.
Radley suddenly stood up, excited. "Elliot, let us help you."
"No, it's too dangerous. I told you not to get involved," Elliot said firmly.
Andromeda didn't look convinced. "Elliot, you can't do this alone."
Elliot sighed. Radley and Andromeda had no idea about his powers. "You don't understand. I'm the only one with the leads. I'm the only one who can access the heart. If we reach it first, we destroy it. Problem solved."
"It's not that simple," Elliot insisted.
"If it's not that simple, what makes you think you can do it on your own? A little knowledge of vermoe? Your gadgets?" Radley teased.
Elliot shot him a look.
"Okay, but seriously. What if something happens to you? At least let us help," Radley said earnestly.
"He has a point," Andromeda agreed.
Elliot sighed. "The only way you can help me is by staying out of it. I can't risk your lives for something I need to do."
Andromeda stepped in front of him. "And we can't let you risk your life alone."
"Do you even understand what it means if the world is in danger?" Elliot asked.
"I understand, but how hard can it be to destroy a heart?" Andromeda countered.
Elliot sat back down, feeling torn.
"We're all we've got in this school, Elliot," Andromeda said softly. "You can't do everything alone."
"Fine," Elliot finally said. "But you have to do exactly what I say."
"Yes!" Radley and Andromeda said together, relieved.
"We have a lot to prepare for tomorrow," Elliot said, feeling a strange mix of fear and relief now that his friends were by his side.