The Hunt for the Ghostkeeper

Chapter 5: Initiation

"Good Lord, Circire," Hollingsworth said, brushing the dirt and grass from her business suit. "Can you Appear somewhere less crowded, or at least alert us first?"

"My apologies, Chief," said the woman in the azure dress. Rose looked up at the woman, who held a long silver blade which she quickly slipped into the sheath that hung at her side. Her thick brown hair that fell in a silver braid along her chest. Rose quickly stood up and bowed slightly before her.

"My Lady," she said.

"I'm glad to see you, Rosalina. I trust you arrived here safely?"

"Just about eight hours ago, actually," Rose replied.

"Are you fairly early, Circire?" Hollingsworth asked peevishly. "The Solstice is not until next week."

"I thought it wise for me to be here when 707 arrived."

"When are they coming?" Rose asked.

Hollingsworth frowned as she removed her timepiece from her pocket. "Any moment now, actually."

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The fire torches still ignited after movement passed them in the somewhat-darkened corridor, but the three pairs of deep green eyes shone brighter than the flames as they drew closer to their destination. The guards pushed the boys on through the large corridor, forbidding them to speak or even look at each other.

"Well, have they arrived or haven't they?" said a voice from a side corridor off of the main one.

"They are not expected to arrive for a few more hours-"

Suddenly, the two voices were paired with two bodies who rounded the corner and faced the new arrivals. The two pale, grey pairs of eyes stared intriguingly into the three dark, green ones. One of the grey-eyed people was a short, blonde woman who looked rather young, and the other was a tall, middle-aged man with long salt-and-pepper hair.

"Aha!" exclaimed the woman. "Remind me never to trust you again," she said to the man. Turning to the green-eyed boys, she held out an outstretched hand and a warm smile.

"Excellent, excellent!" she said. "My name is Cara Violette, you must be 707, yes? Such a relief to have you here safe, I cannot tell you! Of course, I'm not a Vexor, obviously, but nonetheless we would be extremely lost without you, no doubt. Let's see if my memory fails me- Chase Levane, Rick Johnson, and- Jason Grace, I presume?" Cara Violette said all of this in an excited and quick tone.

"Mason, actually," said the boy to the far right. He ran his long, nimble fingers through his straight brown hair and approached Cara.

"How do you know us?" Rick asked. He was by far the largest of the three boys but he spoke quietly and softly. He had smooth blonde hair which fell in waves across his forehead.

"Well, you're famous of course!" Cara said. "Although you don't know. Of course you don't know. How could you? You've been kept in the dark this whole time, like they all are. No doubt you're confused out of your mind! But I was actually present when the prophecy arrived- It's been stuck in my head ever since, can you imagine? Although I wasn't the one it appeared to of course. Guess I wasn't lucky enough!" she said with a laugh.

"If you will excuse us, Madam Violette, we have business to take care of," one of the guards said, pushing past the short woman.

"Of course, of course! My, do I get carried away sometimes. I hope they explain everything to you- if you need to talk to someone I'm right down the hall!" she called back to them as they swept past her in the corridor. The middle-aged man muttered something about embarrassing oneself.