Changing the Leaves

No Time

"Okay, does anyone know what the root word 'cron' means?", Conner asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

"Time," I stated confidently. I knew it was correct because it was a vocabulary word in Mrs. Stephanie's class. 

"No, no. You are thinking of the root word 'chron' spelled with an 'H'. The 'cron' that I'm saying isn't spelled with an 'H'. But, it means the exact opposite of the one spelled with an 'H'", Conner corrected. 

We all shared a confused expression. Even Max tilted his head in confusion. Fortunately, Christy understood a little. She is the smartest of us all; in my opinion. 

"So, it means the opposite of time?", she wondered aloud. 

"Yes!", he exclaimed. 

"That makes no sense," Jenna whispered to Christy. 

"I know, right?", Christy muttered back. 

I look across the hot cave and make eye contact with Marissa to see if she understood. She just shook her head and shrugged. 

"Oh c'mon, you guys! The opposite of time!", Conner said real slowly as if we were stupid. 

"Okay, the opposite of time! I am pretty sure we all got that part down. What is that suppose to mean?", Alicia snapped. 

Conner put his hands up defensively, "Okay, okay! The opposite of time means no time at all." 

"I'm confused," Marissa whined, raising her hand. 

"Me too. Listen, Conner, can you just get to your point?", I requested. 

Conner took off his boots as he spoke, "Anyways, here in Cronistic Leaves we don't have time. Your world has day and night. All we have is day, because night doesn't come naturally to us like it does to you guys. 

"In order for us to have night, we have an apparatus that gives us night. It is called the Croniment. It is very powerful. It can bend any element! 

"But, it has been missing for three days. Without the Croniment, Cronistic Leaves will die in a course of a week. If our world dies then so does your's," he whispered the last sentence and looked at Marissa sincerely. 

"What?! Why is our world dying? We have nothing to do with your's," Jenna exclaimed all of our thoughts. 

"Okay, don't get mad when I say this, but I don't know. But, I'll find out right now, if you like," he said defensively. 

Christy stood and said, "Duh!" 

Our world is dying? Not only that, it has been dying for three whole days and we are just now realizing it?! Plus, the destructive chaos isn't just happening in McDonough, Georgia. It is happening everywhere! All because an apparatus is missing. 

I looked at my friends and studied their emotions. Marissa: panicked, but of course hopeful. Alicia: distraught, but more confused than anything else. Jenna: eager, but she seems real angry. Christy: calm, but even she can't hide the doubt on her face. Conner seemed more worried about Marissa than anything! He seems very protective over her. 

Conner took a sphere shaped object and through it into the giant fire. The fire grew larger, but then ceased back to its normal size. "Tell me," he said to it. He is talking to the fire? Hm, what a strange world. 

Conner stared at the fiery pit with shock. He started to tremble as he stood up. Then, he did something completely strange. He bowed to my friends and me.  

"What are you doing?", Christy asked.  

"You are the group that we have waited for for so long!", he exclaimed as he got up. 

"Say what?", Alicia said. 

"It all makes sense now! Okay, listen. There is a group called the Counting, they are weak without their leader, Series. Series has always wanted to destroy Cronistic Leaves, because we have always been powerful than him. 

"Fifty-three years ago, we went to war with the Counting and defeated them, but we couldn't defeat Series. So we buried him alive behind what is now Brooklyn's home. He escaped, took the Croniment and demanded another war. We retrieved the Croniment. Yet, we could not defeat Series! That is when we buried him behind Marissa's house. We then had to relocate ourselves behind Alicia's house to keep our world safe. But we don't know what has happened to the Croniment ," he explained. 

"Why did you pick my house and Marissa's and Alicia's?", I wondered. 

"I didn't pick it. The sorcerist did," 

"What's the sorcerist?", Jenna asked. 

"The fire. It is very sacred to Cronistic Leaves. It tells us who, what, when, where, and why," Conner pointed to the pit, "It picked your houses on purpose, because it knew that you guys would become best friends and help us defeat Series," 

"Woah, woah, woah! Defeat Series?! Are you mad?", Alicia exclaimed. 

"You guys really don't have a choice," Conner snapped.

We were all standing now. Well, Max kept sleeping.

"What do you mean we don't have a choice? There's always a choice," I yelled frantically.

"When the sorcerist tells us something, it is permanent. You guys don't understand! The Counting and Series won't stop until you, you, you, you, and you kill them," he said pointing to each of us.

"Why are we even apart of any of this? We didn't even know this place existed until an hour ago," Marissa plundered.

"That's another story. And I refuse to tell you that part until you all calm down and accept to fight," Conner said looking into all of our eyes, except for Marissa's