Chapter 39
“Hey! Imagine running into you two here,” Bobby said oh so casually as he sauntered over to Joel and Ariella’s booth. “Crazy! Do you come here often? I woke up feeling famished and decided to try out a new joint. I heard it was voted best burger in Eden.” He gestured to a sign that read, “Voted Best Burger in Eden 10 years in a Row!”
“Ten years running,” Ariella followed up, smiling.
Joel was not so calm. “How did you follow me here? I took major precautions. Hell, I even used my sleep power to make sure everyone within a hundred-yard radius was knocked out until I had exited the Spire completely!”
“Yes… your sleep powers.” Bobby’s tone was accusatory when he emphasized the word ‘sleep.’ “It seems you’ve been holding out on me, buddy,” he added, grabbing Joel’s half-eaten burger and taking a giant bite. His mouth still full, he exclaimed, “Thiff ifs da besht ‘urger I’ff effer ‘ad,” swallowed, and signaled to Eddie behind the counter, “Bring me a ballot. I must cast my vote immediately!”
Ariella seemed amused as Joel indignantly punched Bobby on the shoulder.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Where should I start,” Joel sputtered. “First, how the hell did you know that I came here? Second, you need to promise not to tell anyone about any of this. And third, get your own burger, I'm still starving from the trial today. Or yesterday.”
Ignoring Joel’s irritated inquisition, Ariella cut in, “Hello, Bobby, I’m Ariella. And, I am also curious how you followed him.” After her quick introduction, she reinforced the initial question to ensure Bobby didn’t lead them through another tangential wormhole.
“To answer your question,” Bobby said to Joel, “when I woke up, feeling extra groggy after your sleep power wore off, and saw you had left… You know, you should have probably, like, filled your covers with pillows at the very least, to make it look like you were still in bed. Have you never snuck out of the house before?”
"To be honest I thought the late hour, plus my extra sleep mojo would keep you knocked out until morning," Joel answered.
"Yeah well, after I saw your weird interaction with this Ariella chick at the kickoff party, I paid a few of the doormen and janitors around the Spire to call me if you snuck out late at night, or if they saw you with our mysterious redhead." Bobby had just finished the explanation when Ariella cut in to redirect the conversation.
“Excuse me, you were about to answer our question?” Ariella prodded to get Bobby back on topic.
“Oh, right. Well, when I saw you were gone, I decided to find out where you went. I had noticed you two making googly eyes at the welcome party, and then Joel started acting all weird. I thought you two might be having a thing. So I did a quick search to see who you were and how you were connected to The Council, and nothing came up, aside from a few pictures of you at a few events over the years. Which is strange. No one is that clean online. Anyway, I figured something was up, so when Joel pulled his disappearing act tonight, and after I checked the bathroom, closet, and common areas, I decided to track him.” Bobby was directing his attention fully in Ariella’s direction at this point.
“Track me?” Joel didn’t know what to make of this.
“Yes. The Big Bad Wolf is excellent at stalking his prey.”
“Okay, that explains how you found us,” Ariella said. “But I never saw you enter the diner. If it wasn’t for Mikey here,” she petted the little field mouse that was sitting on her shoulder, “I wouldn’t have even known you arrived.”
“Mikey?” Bobby asked.
“What can I say? I’m a fan of the classics. Don’t want to get sued, though. You know?”
Bobby let out one big guffaw, “I like her!” he said to Joel.
“I’m still reserving judgment.” Joel shot back sarcastically.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Look, I’m not gonna give away all my secrets. Let’s just say I have my ways of being stealthy.” Bobby spoke in a way so as to indicate that he was not going to entertain this line of questioning any further.
“Fine,” Ariella didn’t actually care how he had done it. The fact of the matter was that he had. Done it. He had slipped past their defenses, and now he was in on a secret that had the power to potentially disrupt all of her years of planning. Joel had been a happy accident: an extra piece added to her side of the gameboard. This Bobby kid was a wild card. Of course, she had vetted her star pupil’s new roommate, and she was relatively sure he could be trusted to come down on her side. But Ariella wanted to bond these two together further, to make it nearly impossible for them to betray each other. She wanted them rowing in the same direction while tied together and sharing the same brain.
“So. I only have a little time until my next meeting. One of my contacts messaged me last minute that he was passing through town. I really just wanted to check in after the last challenge and make sure you received the EMP clicker and understood how to use it so we could set up some off the radar training sessions. Plus, you two need to get back to The Spire before people start waking up. But, I promised you the secret history of The Council, and I can at least get started.”
For once, Bobby was silent. He didn’t want to do anything to stop this flow of juicy gossip. Joel just took another bite of his burger and chased it with some water, staring attentively across the table at his perplexing mentor.
“As we already covered, there was a wellspring, and it was discovered by colonial explorers who were sent to search for new land upon which to build their next settlement. When they discovered a small lake that could imbue those who bathed in it with powers, the settlers decided to claim the land. They created a small government and elected 10 representatives to sit on a council to decide the preeminent issues of the day. Each council member was elected to represent the community's various interests. The Seed was elected to oversee farming and agriculture to secure ample fresh food. The Armory was tasked with organizing blacksmiths and artisans to ensure the new settlement had weapons for hunting and protection, as well as tools for farming and building. The Warrior was elected to manage the militia and enforce the laws of the community. Get the drift?”
Both boys nodded.
“Good. So, 10 were elected to cast the first and most important votes. The council then determined that they needed a tiebreaker as well as someone to oversee The Council’s ethics and morals. They wouldn’t have veto power, but The Sentry would be appointed as an advisor; someone that The Council could trust to guide them when the balance was in danger of being disrupted. Their only formal role would be to break ties when the group was deadlocked. So that was the first vote, a unanimous one.”
“So the Sentry must have gone away cuz I’ve never heard of it,” Joel interjected to get clarification.
“I’m not so sure,” Bobby quickly said. “If I’m not mistaken, I think Ariella here was about to tell us that she is the current Sentry.”
“Way to ruin my big reveal!” She sounded wounded and then smiled, “Yes, I am The Sentry for this iteration of The Council of Heralds, just as my father was before me and his father was before him.”
“Congratulations! You’re doing a bang-up job,” Bobby joked.
Ariella’s tone turned eerily, deadly serious, “Bobby, Joel… You must promise, on your lives, that you will never reveal this information publicly. If these secrets were to ever get out, it could undermine the public’s trust and give great power to the most corrupt elements of society. If this information were to fall into the wrong hands, it could lead to a meta war like the world has never seen.”
“Way to bring down the mood,” Bobby snarked.
“I’m serious,” Ariella shot back. “Promise me. That you will never, without my permission, speak about anything that we have discussed here today with anyone beyond the three of us.”
“I promise,” Joel answered solemnly.
“Yeah, me too. I promise.” Bobby vowed with an emphatic nod. Ariella had expected more reluctance from the bartender turned competitor and was gratified when none showed in his tone.
“Thank you! Now, I have a little more time. Should I keep going, or do you have any questions?”
“Keep going,” Bobby prompted.
“Please,” Joel added.
Ariella laughed, “Okay, but time’s almost up. I do have another meeting I need to get to before sunrise. Anyway, so the first vote was to appoint The Sentry. The second vote was arguably more important. Before setting up the council, the party of settlers had debated whether some should go back to alert The Colonies of their findings. Essentially: Should they share the wellspring of power with the rest of the colonials or keep it contained to their community, giving them an advantage over the rest of the world? They decided that the newly elected council would decide their second action as one democratic entity. They weighed the pros and cons, debating for nearly a month before the first vote was taken. In the end, The First Council decided, with a vote of eight to two, to keep the wellspring a secret from the world, creating a veil of secrecy over its location that had never been lifted. That is until last month when The Show revealed Meta-Eden to the public for the first time.”
“So wait, are you saying there is a wellspring here that can give people powers?” Bobby asked. All of a sudden, his situation was making a lot more sense.
“Not exactly,” Ariella answered. “But that’s a story for a different day. As I said, I really only intended for this meeting to be a quick check-in. But now, It’s time for you two to head back to The Spire.”