Coronation: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid Sensation #5) (20 page)

There was another elevator present – doubtless the one the Beobona had taken – but the device itself was nowhere in sight.

“Here!” Myshtal said, pointing to tracks in the dust. “It went this way.”

Once again we were in hot pursuit. Thankfully, the Beobona was not that far ahead of us and we easily caught up to it (although “catching up” in this instance really meant staying about a good twenty paces behind). The path this time was through various aboveground hallways, chambers, and such, and it became clear after just a few minutes that we weren’t just traveling through interconnected rooms, but also interconnected buildings.

From what I could see through the windows as we walked, we were in a part of the Acropolis defined by buildings that – while tall compared to what I was used to on Earth – would probably be considered mid-sized compared to most of what I had seen on Caeles thus far. Also, the architecture here was unique in that the tops of most of the structures appeared to be oval-shaped.

As when we had first stepped off the elevator, all of the places we went through were devoid of people. This seemed to disturb me more than my companions, probably because I had been in a deserted city before and was getting an eerie sense of déjà vu. Eventually I asked why there was no one around.

“It’s an older area of the Acropolis,” Myshtal said. “Lots of people prefer to be in a part of the city with a more modern look and feel, rather than these outdated designs.”

“Plus, it would seem to lack some of the functionality of more contemporary construction,” Vicra added.

“Such as?” I asked.

“The elevator, for instance,” he said. “We’re obviously not at our metal friend’s final destination, but I assume it took the elevator as far as it could. That tells me that other buildings around here, such as the one we’re currently traveling through, lack state-of-the-art technology and capabilities.”

“Well,” Nylerin chimed in, “they should just demolish them and build something new.”

“No one wants to put the necessary time, effort, or money into something like that,” Vicra said.

“Not to mention the fact that some of these buildings have historical significance,” Myshtal added.

“I don’t care,” Nylerin said. “Being in this part of the city makes me nervous.”

At this point I started laughing – not hysterically, but heartily enough. My companions tried to find out what I found so funny, but I waved them off because they wouldn’t have understood. These buildings they were speaking of – which really needed nothing more, in my opinion, than a light dusting – represented the Caelesian version of industrial decline and urban decay. To the three with me, these structures might as well have been boarded-up tenements! I found the situation even more laughable when I asked how long the buildings would stand.

“Barring a catastrophic natural event like a quake,” Vicra responded, “they’ll probably stand forever.”

“But with constant new construction,” Myshtal tacked on, “there’s no need to deal with antiquated architecture.”

Through my mirth, I realized that she had a point. On Earth, a company might buy and demolish an old building in a city in order to build a new, more profitable edifice on the same spot. That’s because space in a lot of cities was at a premium. However, that wasn’t the situation on Caeles. The Acropolis was ever-expanding, so it seemed that there was always a place to put up a new building (which would clearly require less resources than tearing down an old structure and putting a new one in the same location).

I thought about this as we continued trailing the Beobona – probably the first people to walk through many of these places in years.

Eventually we came to a building that seemed unlike the others. Many of the prior places we had walked through were not just barren with respect to people, but also accoutrements: chairs, tables, and other furnishings. This current building seemed stuffed with them, as well as a host of other odds and ends: figurines, storage crates, ornamental trinkets, and an assortment of other Caelesian knickknacks I’d be hard-pressed to name.

“Is this someone’s storage locker?” I asked as we passed through a room that contained statues, paintings, and other
objets d’art
.

“No,” Myshtal said. “I think this is an old museum. Or the forgotten repository for one.”

I frowned in concentration, as Myshtal’s statement reminded me of something my grandmother had said. I now had an idea of where we were going, but kept it to myself.

My hunch would be proved right a few minutes later when we went into what we would discover was the last room – and our destination. Just prior to that, however, we walked through an area that seemed to be filled with metal podiums, each of which was outfitted with a touchscreen on top.

“What are these?” I asked.

“Let me show you,” Nylerin said. She then tapped the screen on one of the podiums a few times. A moment later, a holographic image popped up, showing some kind of alien creature in a cage. (It looked like a saber-toothed beaver with orange feathers.) At the same time, a disembodied voice began speaking.

“The Imperial Menagerie,” the voice began, “was established during the reign of King–”

“They’re holographic exhibits,” Vicra said as Nylerin turned the projection off. “Virtual displays of pivotal or noteworthy events in the past.”

I nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything, turning my attention to the far side of the room where the Beobona was walking towards an open doorway. All of a sudden, it lurched to the side, bumping into one of the podiums and almost knocking it over. The impact must have jolted the controls, because all of a sudden the holographic display came to life.

Practically in unison, we ran to the podium. The Beobona, none the worse for the encounter, marched through the doorway, while behind it the display began to show construction on some site while the narrator gave an overview of what we were seeing.

“Now that’s a coincidence,” Myshtal said as Nylerin began working on the control panel.

“What?” I asked.

She gave me an odd look, then gestured at the display. “You don’t recognize it?”

I shook my head. “Afraid not.”

Myshtal giggled. “It’s the castle where we had the party for you last night.”

I looked at the image, frowning in concentration. Some portion of it – contours of the grounds and such – did seem familiar, but it could have just been my imagination. After all, the image was only showing construction of the place, which – according to the narrator – took place about two hundred years ago. It hadn’t shown the final product.

“It won’t turn off,” Nylerin said, practically pounding on the controls.

“Forget about that,” Vicra said from the doorway the Beobona had disappeared into. “The Beobona has stopped moving.”

He stepped into the room that the Beobona had entered and we followed him. Like the rest of the place, it was crowded with antiquities, but there – against a far wall and almost isolated from everything else – was the Beobona. Two of them, in fact.

The second Beobona (the replica that had been constructed on Earth), stood before the original, unmoving. Of course, only the replica had the Beobona Jewel – the true source of its power. Thus, the original was really just an empty shell.

We all stood there watching the two devices, and I felt a source of pride that I had figured out that this was where the Beobona had been headed. This was the place where my grandmother had first removed the jewel from the original relic.

However, after a few minutes of watching and waiting for something to happen, we started to get a little restless. Whatever was going on between the two Beobonas, it was either taking place very slowly, or on some level the rest of us couldn’t perceive. Thus, we began to look around at the other items in the room.

“Look at this,” Nylerin said, indicating what looked like a hockey puck that was six feet in diameter. “The information panel says it’s a deactivated pulse grenade from the first war with the Fleodin Demesne.”

“How about this?” Vicra said, pointing to an oversized ornate sword in a transparent display case. “It says it was a gift from Plavicre the Great to his eldest son.”

After that, it was a little bit of a race to see who could find the next object of note. Thus we went through another four or five items, having fun and actually learning something about our past. (At least I did. All of this was new to me, but one or two of my companions would occasionally know at least some history regarding the various articles in storage.)

“What’s this?” Myshtal asked, referring to an odd metal sculpture.

The subject was a man – clearly a soldier, judging from his attire. He seemed to be wearing some sort of body armor, but it looked as though it had seen much better days. Part of the chest plate had been shorn away, leaving his right pectoral exposed. Likewise, the left poleyn, which would have protected his kneecap, was barely hanging on. The couter for the left elbow was gone altogether. In essence, the body armor bore the hallmarks of a major conflict, with almost every part of it being nicked, dinged, or pocked in some way.

The battle helmet also showed signs of having seen some action. On the right side, a portion of it appeared to have been blasted away, leaving one pointed ear exposed. There was an indentation near the crown, indicating that a heavy blow had been inflicted there. Almost everywhere else there were small dimples and notches, like someone had tried to use it to crack open a coconut.

About the only portion of the entire armor that was still intact was the faceplate, which covered the man’s features from nose to chin. All that could really be seen of him were his eyes, which struck me as being narrow and focused, as well as angry and frustrated. As if in support of that statement, the soldier seemed to clutch something close to his waist in his left hand, his grip so tight that you couldn’t really make out what the object was. Fist closed, his right hand was extended out, with a weird rod protruding between his middle finger and ring finger, as if he were trying to hand it to someone.

Looking over the statue, I couldn’t help but admire the artist’s attention to detail. From the intensity in the eyes, to the gashes in the armor, to the pores of the skin, everything down to the smallest element was perfect.

The sculpture was mounted on a stone pedestal, which was engraved with the words:

THE UNBEATEN WARRIOR

“If he’s unbeaten,” I said, “I’d hate to see the guy who lost the fight.”

“I don’t think that’s meant to be taken literally,” Myshtal said. “I think it’s intended to convey his attitude – that mentally, he can never be beaten, no matter the physical punishment that he takes.”

“Regardless,” I said, “the artist did an incredible job. Everything down to the smallest detail seems flawless.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Vicra chimed in. “There’s a legend that this sculpture wasn’t made by an artist. Instead, it was made by dipping an actual soldier into liquid metal.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Nylerin said.

“That’s the story,” Vicra insisted. “But that statue is ancient, dating back almost to the time of Plavicre the Great. Who knows what kind of barbaric things they did back then?”

“Well, they could debunk that myth just by scanning it,” Myshtal said. “Seeing what’s inside.”

“That’s already been tried,” Vicra said. “Whatever metal it’s made of, it’s impenetrable to any type of scanning technology.”

While the others continued talking, I quickly cycled my vision through the light spectrum while focusing on the statue. When I finally finished, I had to admit to myself that I was surprised. I certainly didn’t buy Vicra’s fable about there being a person in there, but the remainder of his story may have been true; my vision hadn’t been able to penetrate the statue in any way.

“The Beobona!” Nylerin suddenly shouted, pointing.

I turned to where the two devices where facing each other, and then saw something extraordinary. The replica actually seemed to step into the original Beobona – like it was phased – and then be absorbed by it. In short, the replica appeared to swiftly fade from view, as if it were turning invisible. A moment later, only the original device remained, and it stood still, unmoving.

Curious, I did another round of rotating my vision through the spectrum, but this time centering on the Beobona. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t able to penetrate the relic’s armor, although I had no doubt the jewel was now back in its original resting place. (And on a side note, it suddenly occurred to me that the statue and the Beobona were probably constructed of the same material.)

“Show’s over,” I said to my companions. “Let’s get out of here.”

I teleported the four of us back to the park. The others piled into their transport, while I told my pilot that I’d find my own way home and he could take off – something I could have done way earlier. I then teleported back to the castellum.

I wasted no time locating my grandmother, finding her asleep on a couch in the library. She seemed to be having a pleasant dream, as I saw her smile once or twice as she snoozed. Seeing her like that, she reminded me of my mother, and I suddenly realized that this was the most peaceful state I’d seen her in since I’d arrived. I hadn’t thought about it much, but she had to be exhausted. She’d been running around for days (if not weeks), trying to make alliances, call in favors, and more, all for my benefit.

Bearing all that in mind, I decided not to disturb her. Instead, I shifted into super speed, zipped to my room, and came back with a blanket from my bed. I gently laid it over her, puttered around the library for a few moments doing a little research, and then left.

*****

It was about an hour later that Indigo sent for me. I was on the terrace at the time, thinking about everything that had happened over the course of the day, when a servant brought me a message that I was to meet my grandmother in her study. Anxious to talk, I teleported there almost as soon as the servant left.

She was seated behind her desk when I popped up. Thankfully, my sudden appearance didn’t seem to startle her.

“Thanks for the blanket,” she said with a smile. “I was in the library doing some research earlier. I had only intended to sit for a second and take a quick rest. The next thing I knew, I was asleep.”

“It happens to everyone,” I said, taking a seat across from her. “And it looked like you needed it.”

“Apparently so – and I won’t deny that I feel refreshed,” she said. “Anyway, we know how I spent my afternoon. How was yours?”

“A little less tranquil,” I said. “I saw the Beobona. The original.”

“What?!” she uttered in disbelief. “How? When?”

“Just after lunch. The replica just showed up unexpectedly, so I assume it must have hitched a ride on the transport. I st–”

“Wait,” she said, cutting me off. “Show me.”

I opened a telepathic link with her, and then shared everything I’d seen and heard after spotting the Beobona replica in the park. It only took a few seconds, after which my grandmother sat quietly for a moment.

“What do you think it all means?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “That was certainly the original that you came across, and it looks as though it’s still in the same place where I last saw it. My guess is that the Beobona Jewel went ‘home’ for some reason.”

“Do you think we need to bring it back here?”

She shook her head. “No. You can’t control the Beobona. It does what it wants. I’ll be the first to admit that I felt a little better having it close, but if it went back to that storage room, it must be for a reason.”

Mention of storage brought to mind the fact that much of the area where the Beobona now resided was deserted. I asked my grandmother about it, mentioning the conversation I’d had about it with Nylerin, Myshtal, and Vicra.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Your friends are quite right about the buildings there. They’ll probably stand forever, unused for the most part. But that’s not the only part of the Acropolis that is past its prime, and certainly not the last that will eventually end up neglected.”

“It just seems like such an incredible waste,” I said. “You’d think someone in an advanced culture like this would think of a way to utilize those areas.”

She smiled. “I suppose you’ve got some ideas on that front.”

“I might,” I said with a grin, although in truth I hadn’t devoted any thought to the matter.

“Well, that’s a problem for another day,” she said, rising. “It’s time now to get ready to meet the queen.”

“And go through the
prexetus
,” I added.