Awesome Squad

Chapter 4

For Ray, Chris, and Forta, Aria had only been gone a week.  On Aragraaner, Aria had been gone for three months.  When she set foot on Astrenin, after waving goodbye to her driver, she took a deep breath.  It feels good to be back. she thought.  When she walked into her home, however, she was greeted with an enormous mess.  The guys were lying back on the couch playing video games while a pot was boiling over on the stove.  Dirty laundry covered the floor along with many empty pizza boxes.  The place reeked like a pig pen. 

Aria materialized a large purple hand as she had learned on Aragraaner and smacked all three of the guys.  “OW!” they cried as they turned, rubbing the back of their heads.  When they saw her, her hands on her hips and giving them an evil stare, a smile bloomed on them and they nearly knocked her over hugging her. 

“Aria, you’re back!” Forta squealed. 

“We missed you!” Chris cried.

“We really needed you here!” Ray said.

She smacked them all again and then gave them each a kiss on the cheek.  “I really missed you guys, too!” she cried.  “But did you really have to leave such a mess?”  She snapped her fingers and brooms, sponges, and cleaning cloths sprung to life and started to clean the house.

“If I leave and come back to such a mess ever again, someone, as in all of you, are going to get punched.” She said rather angrily despite the happy grin on her face.

“You know who should get punched in the face now?” Forta said.

“Who?” Aria asked, not paying much attention to him but to a stain on a plate that wouldn’t come off.

“Ag.  He attacked us right after you left.  We told him he would pro’lly pay for it later.”

Aria turned and confirmed this with a quick glance at everyone else.

“Did he give you much trouble?” she asked them all.

They shook their heads.

“Then I see no reason to punish him.  Next time he approaches us though, I will be sure to give him a lecture.”

She returned to the dishes as the boys sulked off to their rooms.  All but Ray who stood staring at Aria.  Sensing him there, she said “I was proposed to on Aragraaner.”

He took a small step back, wide eyed with surprise.  “And you told him…?” he asked, worried by this new information.  “I told him no, that there was someone else I wanted, someone else who my heart loves.” she said, not taking her eyes off the cup in front of her.  He let out a sigh of relief but then stopped.

“So, wait.  Who is the one your heart loves?” he asked.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, dear.” She replied, setting the cup down and turning to face him.  She walked up beside him placing a hand on his shoulder.  “I do hope you figure it out soon though.” She said before walking off to unpack her suitcase.

                                                                                            ***

Later that night, the Awesome Squad had a party, celebrating Aria’s return home.  “Is all of this really necessary, guys?” she asked upon seeing the cake, streamers, and immense feast set out before her.  “Of course it is!  We have to celebrate the return of our great princess!” Forta said, a huge smile covering his face.  “What did you do?” she asked somberly.  The smile disappeared, replaced by a sheepish grin. 

“Well…” Forta said. 

“We may have… maybe…” Ray continued.

At this point Chris walked in from the library with a book in his hand and, glancing over at the boys and Aria, said bluntly “They broke that vase that you kept outside of your room.” And then grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and returned to the library.

Aria stared at the boys who were glaring at the spot where Chris had once stood at the doorway to the library.  “That’s it?  You were worried about that vase?  I… I….”

Uh oh. Ray thought.

We are definitely gonna die today. Forta thought.

Then Aria bust out laughing.  The guys stared wide-eyed at her as she bent over with joyful giggles, pounding the ground with her fist, tears streaming down her face.  “That… was… it?  That vase… That vase was nothing more… than a plastic… pitcher… that I left there… for the plants!” she said between fits of laughter.

Forta and Ray stared at each other with first astonishment and then relief as they realized how stupid they were.  Then they joined in with her laughter.  “I can’t believe we were so stupid!” Ray said to Forta.  “We were worried about nothing!” he replied.

And they laughed the night away.

Meanwhile, in the library.

Those people are ridiculously stupid!  I cannot believe that my own twin brother can be so stupid!  With his and Ray’s raucous laughing and smiling and cheerfulness… Ugh!  Aria, too, though perhaps not as bad.  I joined this team for its extensive wealth of knowledge and sources but now I am not so sure it was worth it! Chris thought as he wondered around the immense archive.  He pulled out a novel and flipped through its first few pages.  It was called The Truth Behind the Bedtime Story and was filled with the stories that created the stories that parents read to their children.  He put it back on the shelf and pulled out a book he had pulled out a million times, A Complete Collection of the Dark.  He took in its familiar scent and took one of the plush chairs by a nearby fireplace.  He opened the worn cover and looked at its back.  He studied it for a moment and after taking a glance around to be sure they were still in the dining room, enjoying their stupidity, peeled back the secret corner that only Masters could see.

“Finally,” he whispered. “it is time.”

***

“So what all happened while you were on Aragraaner?” Ray asked as they sat around the table.

“Well… Let’s see… Most of the time I did training.  I had a great coach named Glacon who taught me anything and everything he knew.  He was able to do things that I couldn’t even dream of like creating buildings and stuff like that.  He also made me aware of something I didn’t even know I possessed.” Aria explained.

“What?” Forta asked.

“My spirit animal.  As a psychic, I have an animal, a partner, who is both a part of me and not a part of me.  You have one, too, but you can’t see yours.  Mine can change form though Glacon told me that other humans cannot after they grow up.  I can see, Ray, that your spirit animal is a red fox and yours, Forta, is a ferret.  He likes to hang around your shoulders.  If you want, I can teach you how to see them.”

“Show me!  I want to see the little guy!” Ray exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t call him little but okay.  We’ll start tomorrow.”

“So wait, does your spirit animal have a form it likes the most?” Forta asked, pulling out his tiny computer that he wears on his belt and typing something in.

“Well yes, Lasa does.  She tends to favor a dragon which shouldn’t surprise you being as it is my favorite beast.” Aria said as she got up to get a piece of left over cake.

“Lasa?” Ray asked.

“Lasa.  That’s her name.  She’s beautiful; I can’t wait for you to see her.” Aria said. 

Ray nearly burst with excitement next to Forta who was busily typing away on his computer.  Aria, intrigued by his interest in said machine walked behind him and leaned over his shoulder.  “What are you doing?” she asked, making no sense of the seemingly random numbers and letters on the screen. 

“I’m doing a scan for particles that would make up my spirit animal.” He said shortly.

“Any luck so far?” Ray inquired.

“No.”

“Well try again tomorrow.  It’s getting late and I’m going to have to instruct you tomorrow.  G’night.” Aria said, raising her hand to wave as she left.

Ray sighed and got up, saying to Forta as he left, “I really wish I could figure her out.”