Salem, Massachusetts, USA, Earth, Edim, 2090

‘Am I in the right place….. this can’t be Earth.’

Elizabeth thought to herself.

There’s no way Elizabeth went through the wrong portal, and it’s impossible for this to be earth. She quickly shook herself out of her thoughts and remembered why she was on the planet in the first place.

‘I have to find that keeper…Garrett Cleardane…’

“How do I find him?” She said under her breath.

Elizabeth knew little about the keepers on earth. It was the first time in 399 years since she set foot on the sphere.

‘Where do I go? Do they have a place where a lot of keepers stay?”

As she was lost in thought, someone ran into her, almost knocking her off of her feet.

“Oh! I am so sorry, are you okay?” They asked her as the caught her to hold her balance.

Elizabeth glanced up at the person, it was a tall boy with tan skin and charcoal hair wearing a gray baggy hoodie. At first glance, the person looked familiar, but she didn’t know where she saw him.

“Yeah…” she replied as she studied his face.

“Well, as long as you’re good” he said as he quickly showed his hands in his pockets, and walked away.

As he walked away, Elizabeth thought hard about why he looked so familiar to her, she had to get another look at him. So, she chased after him as he quickly got lost in the sea of people. She pushed through the crowds while looking for the charcoal-haired boy until she saw him again.

“Wait!” Elizabeth yelled out to him.

He looked around to see where the noise came from. Then he glanced down to find Elizabeth’s short and skinny frame looking up at him through big hazel eyes somewhat hidden behind big curly hair. Her eyes widened when she got a good look at his face. She saw his messy charcoal hair, tanned face, and captivating emerald eyes were hidden behind a gray hood. That was when she remembered where she had seen him. He was the boy in the vision. The two stared at each other blankly.

Elizabeth thought to herself ‘He must be a keeper, he was in my vision for a reason… if not he’s important to me in some other way.’

“Do you know a Garrett Cleardane?” She asked him.

The color in the boy’s face drained at the sound of her question. He played with the strings on his gray hoodie before stuffing his hands into his light blue denim jacket. Elizabeth looked at him strangely because of his reaction while waiting for his answer.

“No.” He replied in a shaky, unsure voice.

He began to walk away from her, but Elizabeth called out again.

“Wait!“

He let out a deep annoyed like sigh as he turned to face her again. Elizabeth sensed something was off with him because of his behavior, but she pressed on with her questions.

“Do you know where I can possibly find him?” She queried.

“Um…” he said, while he looked around.

“Try over there.” He directed while pointing in a random direction.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth replied as she turned in the direction he had pointed to.

As she walked away, the boy let out a breath of relief as he dug in his jacket pocket and pulled a golden pin out. Elizabeth’s guardian pin. He put it close to his eyes as he inspected the badge. Then he traced over the sword and each circle with his finger.

“It looks like I hit the jackpot with this! I wonder how much it’s worth.” He said as he shoved it back into his pocket.

‘Who is that girl anyway…and what does she want with him….’ He thought to himself as he walked off.

As she searched, Elizabeth thought back to her strange encounter with the boy and her vision at the knowledge pool. She stopped in the middle of the busy street and thought.

‘There's no way someone so unimportant would show up in such an important vision…’

It made little sense. His reaction made little sense as well. He seemed jumpy at her questions like he was hiding something. If what he was saying was true, why were all of his answers delayed and unsure? Elizabeth reached up to her chest to play with her guardian pin, but she felt nothing but the cloth of her uniform. She looked down to see that the pin was gone, in shock she looked around her surroundings and on the ground for it but I was nowhere to be found. Elizabeth tried to think back to when it could’ve fallen and then it hit her.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Oh that little…” she began before she began to push through the crowds and back to where she had run into the boy. It all made sense to her now, when he had run into her, he had stolen her badge when she was talking to him. That’s why he was so weird and jumpy when she was talking to him. At that moment all Elizabeth could see was red. Once she got out of the horde of people, she saw him preparing to cross the street. In a fit of rage, she reached for her scabbard and pulled out her blade. Elizabeth held its hilt with both of her hands and swung it at him with all of her might.

“You…you thief!”

Elizabeth’s sword flew past his face and landed upward in a slit in the concrete sidewalk. The boy's face turned white, and he took off running. Once she caught up to her blade, Elizabeth pulled it out of the ground and chased after him. The boy quickly turned a sharp corner and Elizabeth followed soon after. She was hot on his tail as he twisted and turned down the busy city streets. After a while, the boy ran down a back street with a dead end. He frantically turned around and looked for a way out until he realized Elizabeth was no longer chasing him. He caught his breath and then let out a deep and frustrated sigh.

“Great job Greyson, you just had to steal from a crazy lady with a magic sword! Now she’s trying to kill you!” He pinched the bridge of his nose and continued, “Out of all the people out there it just had to be her!”

Greyson braced himself against the red brick wall and shoved his hands into the pocket of his black skinny jeans.

“It looks like I lost her…” He spoke too soon.

Just as those words fell out of his mouth, a blade pierced the brick wall at the top of his head. Greyson felt his heart drop in fear. At the entrance of the alleyway, Elizabeth's short frame stood. She huffed as she made her way to Greyson while staring deep into his soul with her intense eyes.

“Where is it? Where is my pin?” She asked in a low, icy tone.

Greyson’s face paled as she walked closer towards him. Shaking he dug in his pocket and pulled the brooch out and threw it onto the ground.

“Just take it! You’re crazy!”

“You Earth mortals are all the same, terrible.” Elizabeth grew closer to him, she picked the pin up from off of the ground and stuffed it into her pocket before continuing her fit of anger.

“Do you know who I am?!” she questioned angrily.

Greyson looked around, trying to avoid her intimidating gaze before she answered her question.

“I am Elizabeth, the sixth guardian in the Order of the Realm Guardians! The protector of your realm and Osguild, how dare you steal from me?!” she yelled while pulling her sword out of the broken bricks and placing it closely to the side of his neck.

“You Earth mortals haven’t changed a bit!”

Greyson looked at Elizabeth like she had grown a second head. “You’re crazy!”

“Our guardian has never set foot here since they’ve been a part of the order. The realms must be in grave danger if they’re here.” He scoffed.

Elizabeth’s eye twitched as she stared at the thief in front of her. “So not only are you a thief, you’re a liar too.”

“You’re a keeper if you know about the order, in that case you must know where to find Garrett Cleardane.”

“I’m not a keeper.” Greyson retorted. “I don’t practice anymore and I’m not planning on starting again.” he replied while slowly moving Elizabeth's weapon away from his neck.

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows while firmly moving her blade back to its original spot.

“Then why were you in my vision? You must be important to me…” she thought out loud.

Greyson shrugged and responded, “Look, I don’t know, nor do I care. I’m not a keeper anymore, and you looking for one is not my problem.”

He then let out an annoyed sigh and asked, “Can I go now?”

“No. Show me where to find Garrett Cleardane.”

“Ugh, I…” Greysons voice trailed off as he looked away from Elizabeth and saw a girl frantically looking around at the entrance of the alley, her hands glowed a bright aquamarine color, as well as her eyes.

“Oh thank Reona…Maddie!” He called out to her. The girl looked at him with a raised eyebrow before jogging down the alley to the two of them.

“My gods Greyson, what did you do?” She said in a tired tone, as she closed the palms of her hands, extinguishing the bright glow from them and her eyes.

“Maddie, she's crazy! She’s trying to kill me!” He replied.

Elizabeth looked back at the girl.

“Are you a keeper too?” She asked.

“Keeper in training…who are you?” Maddie replied in a confused tone.

Elizabeth lowered her weapon away from Greyson. He sighed a breath of relief as he rubbed his neck in the spot the blade was pointing to.

“I’m Elizabeth, the sixth Garden in the realm's order, protector of Edim and Osguild.” She said as she faced the girl.

At this, the girl’s jaw dropped in shock.

“My guardian!” She said as she bowed down to Elizabeth.

“I’m Maddison Pyrepike, a keeper in training at our nearby keep. We were notified that an unknown portal was opened in the area and I was sent to check it out.” She explained.

Elizabeth removed her blade from next to Greyson and faced the girl. “There’s no need to do that… and just call me Elizabeth, there’s no need for formalities.”

“Oh, of course my guard…I mean Elizabeth!” Maddison exclaimed.

“Since you’re here I’m sure it must be very important! If it’s okay, please allow me to take you to the master of our keep.”

“Yes, that would be nice,” Elizabeth replied.

“Thank you. Please, follow me.” Maddison said as she bowed slightly.

Maddison walked ahead of Elizabeth and Greyson chased after her. Maddison glared at him before smacking him in the back of the head. He yelped in pain before rubbing where she struck him.

“My gods, what is your problem!?” She whisper-shouted at him.

“Master Jeannette sent us to find the unauthorized portal and you managed to piss off our guardian?! What did you even do?!”

“First of all You were sent to find the portal, I’m not a keeper anymore so it wasn’t my mission.” Greyson retorted.

“Secondly, I didn’t even know she was a guardian, I thought she was just a random from another realm, judging by the questions she was asking.”

“You still haven’t told me what you did.”

“She had a pin, and it looked really nice, so I may or may not have taken it for myself.” He replied in a nonchalant tone.

“Are you serious?! Why would you do that?! Why would you think you’d get away with it?!”

Greyson shrugged his shoulders in an unphased manner. Maddison sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had dealt with Greyson and his antics for so long she couldn’t even put into words how fed up she was with him. She just didn’t get how he pulls stunts like this and acts as if it isn’t a big deal. He just lives with no care in the world, and it baffles her.

“You said she asked you questions, what did she ask?”

“She asked for…” Greyson trailed off while looking at the pavement.

“Garett Cleardane.”

Maddison’s eyes widened.

“She doesn’t know…”

“How could she know? She hasn’t set foot here since she became a guardian.” Greyson scoffed .

“Did you tell her?”

“No. It’s not my job.” Maddison glared at him.

“But if she’s looking for him it must be important. I wonder what it could be.” She begins to think until Greyson spoke up.

“She said something about the realms being in danger. Maybe Jeannette would get more about that.”

“Master Jeannette, you still have to address her with respect.”

“That doesn’t apply to you when you don’t practice anymore.” Greyson replied as he walked ahead of Maddison.

All she could do was sigh and shake her head at him. ‘He’s lost his way.’ She thought to herself. Deep down she knew Greyson didn’t mean any of what he said, he was just lost, and he needed to find himself.

‘Maybe this would finally be his wake up call.’ She thought. It had to be. She hoped this would be it, that from this encounter alone he’d realize how important and honorable it was to bear the title of a keeper. With that the three made their way down the busy streets of Massachusetts and towards the nearby keep.