Chapter 6
For the first time, all others in the room acknowledged us. They nodded respectfully in our direction and walked out, leaving us five alone. Just as we had sort of ignored the other two, they were looking everywhere except at us. I could tell that it wasn’t out of spite, though. The whole situation was stranger than any one of us were probably used to.
The girl finally seemed to notice us and her eyes trained on me and my brothers. When she came up to us, I realized how beautiful she was and was instantly jealous. Her tall, slim figure, perfect blonde hair and bright blue eyes would explain why Aaron was gaping at her as if she was from a different planet. Actually, not from a different planet. Just on one.
“Hi! I’m Cassidy Green,” she said, extending her hand to none of us in particular. She looked a little weirded out by it all, but she was smiling. Kevin wasn’t really paying attention and Aaron seemed at a loss for words, so I shook it.
“Hi. I’m Katelyn Andrews. You can call me Kate. These are my brothers Kevin and Aaron,” I said, gesturing to the other two. Aaron finally found his voice and replied. Kevin, too, realized what was going on and introduced himself in what he probably thought was a professional way.
Cassidy indicated the boy who was just getting up from the couch and said, “That's my brother Seth.”
He walked over, looking around him.
Thankfully, he didn't notice me staring. He looked around 16, as old as me. He was tall and lean with thick, dark brown hair. His face was ruggedly handsome and his deep blue eyes probably made girls go crazy. He also wore a scowl and looked nowhere near as friendly as his sister was.
Looking at him made me infinitely glad that my braces had been removed last year.
Seeing him and Cassidy standing together, you wouldn't have been able to tell that they were related in any way, except for their eyes. He had gorgeous eyes, that were almost exactly like Cassidy's.
I heard a door bang and it brought me back to reality, and I realized, embarassed, that everyone was staring at me, staring at Seth. Kevin was looking back and forth with a confused look on his face, Cassidy looked knowing and Aaron had a teasing, questioning expression. He gave a fake cough and introduced himself.
After the two shook hands, Seth said, mainly addressing Aaron, "Is it just me or does this place look strangely familiar?"
"It's just you," I blurted. His eyes snapped toward me. "Uh, hi. I'm Kate."
He raised an eyebrow, said, "Hey", and then turned to Kevin.
Out of nowhere, a 7 feet tall dude with leathery red skin and glowing green eyes walked in. I assumed he was a Hologon like Binstrome. Cassidy and Seth recoiled slightly at the sight of him, but were nice enough not to make their shock too obvious (I just felt that he was male). I guess they hadn't seen what Binstrome truly looked like.
"Mr. Boroda and Mr. Crobis will see you now. Look alive." he said and nodded towards the door.
His tone made me want to straighten up and prove that I was 'worthy' to be in the presence of Boroda and Crobis. Aaron gestured to the door. Impulsively, all five of us took a deep breath and stepped through the open door.
I didn't know what to expect walking into the room. It was large and circular with a huge writing desk at one end. It's walls were covered with all sorts of paintings. And standing in the middle of the room was....Gandalf?
'Gandalf' didn't notice us and bent down to pick up something. His beard fell off. Wait...what? Rising up, he saw us staring up at him and sighed. He pulled off the wig off his head, revealing his real brown hair and spoke in a deep, reassuring and rather wise-sounding voice. He had a sort of British accent, very different from Binstrome's.
"I've heard a lot about some special people from these...what do you call 'em? Yes, books! They're all the rage across the universe, you know! We opted for two characters called Hagrid and Gandalf. But this disguise didn't really work that well on me, did it? Pity. Binstrome looked perfect with his."
Our confusion must have shown our faces. The beardless-Gandalf guy spoke again.
"Pardon me. I haven't introduced myself properly. I am Crobis. The first, mind you. Don't let anyone tell you different!"
None of us spoke. Binstrome glared at us from the side and made a gesture that, to me, meant we should either bow or play dead. I'd go with the former. He really needs to work on his hand signals.
"Don't these un-G'Zox-ly beings speak?" said an irritated gravelly voice.
In search of the speaker, I turned around. There, mounted on the wall was a head. A real, live head. Well, not so live I guess. Feeling queasy I turned my back to it once again. I'd dealt with a flying bus, another planet with life, regenerating land and a beardless Gandalf. But I refused to believe that a severed head could speak. I must be hallucinating. Crobis sighed once more.
"With all due respect, Boroda, these kids have enough to deal with already," he said to the head.
Addressing us, he said, "This was not the way I would've wanted you to find out."
"You'll need me for this, Crobis."
"I suppose," said Crobis, though he didn't seem to like the thought much.
Gathering up every ounce of courage I had, which wasn't a lot to begin with, I spoke,"Um..Mr. Crobis? Why is there a head on your wall?" I'd mostly figured it out, but I needed confirmation that I wasn't imagining the whole thing.
Without turning around, I could tell that the head was rolling his eyes.
"That is Boroda," said Crobis.
"Could you elaborate please?" asked Cassidy in a hesitant voice.
"Perhaps I should. As I'm sure Binstrome has told you, Boroda was one of the Glories, the ones who created our world. He was the smartest of all. When-"
"Don't forget the most brilliant and the greatest, Crobis. And the wisest as well," called Boroda. I was starting to see why Binstrome was so bitter towards him. That guy was already getting on my nerves.
"Yes, yes," Crobis continued, like he was used to this. "As I was saying, when Boroda passed away, the population of G'Zox decided that it would be too great a loss-"
"Not an emotional one, I can assure you," Binstrome interrupted, who was looking like his regular self again, with the rather unnerving purple skin and yellow eyes.
"Now is not the time Binstrome," said Crobis.
"You mean to say there is a time for such nonsense?" interjected Boroda.
"I'll-" Binstrome started.
"Enough," said Crobis and for the first time, there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Time is of the essence here."
The other two grunted.
"I hope that was the last interruption. So anyway, Boroda was solely responsible for nearly all of G'Zox's accomplishments, before his untimely death. A committee was brought together and we voted to bring him back, well, part of him anyway. Without his advice, the plan didn't go as well as we'd hoped. Having only his brain, he cannot physically design his various ideas and that is where I come in. Unfortunately, though, many of Boroda's ideas are so complex that I have only been able to implement a few of them, otherwise we would have brought back the rest of him. Now we must move on."
"All of you have been brought here for a purpose. To help us in the defeat of Zephigon or Billy, if you will. There are things that you need to know."
"Excuse me, please, Mr.Crobis," said Binstrome in a shaky voice and left the room.
Crobis sighed sadly. "Binstrome is one of the oldest of his kind. When Zephigon was first created, he was the one who captured him. The plan was made by Boroda and myself, but Binstrome carried it out. Very efficiently. So when Zephigon escaped his prison-"
I made a mental note to ask Crobis how 'Billy' escaped in the first place.
"-he took out his direct revenge on Binstrome. Within an Earth week of his escape, Binstrome's wife and daughter were dead. I must warn you. This is what Zephigon is capable of. Binstrome can hardly stand the mention of his name."
What could anyone of us say in reply to that? Nothing, that's what. So we remained silent.
Boroda, however, seemed incapable of keeping his thoughts to himself. "I told him to get over it. I didn't bother with family and see how well I turned out!"
I had a feeling everyone was internally rolling their eyes. Crobis, however, seemed to take this statement a little more seriously.
Crobis ended the silence by saying, "Okay, then. Now it's time for you to know why you're here."
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