Guardians

While in the car we learned a little more about what the Sky's did during Kari's absence. In order to escape from all the chaos that surrounded her disappearance, they moved as soon as they could. The only house available at the time, however, was in a muggle neighborhood, but that was perfectly all right with them. Mr. Sky simply drove the muggle car to a portkey to go to work at the Ministry. Mrs. Sky owned an antiques shop in Cardamum Alley, and together they kept searching for their daughter. Until now there had never been a sign that Kari was still alive. There had been rumors, of course, but as soon as they had tried to investigate, the leads always ended up at a dead end. Just as Mrs. Sky had ended her narrative, Mr. Sky had driven into the parking lot of the movie theater.

"Where do you want me to go?" he asked. "Should I drop you three off at the entrance?"

"It's their first time at a movie theater, dear," his wife replied. "I'll go with them to get tickets. Just park in neutral." Together we stepped out of the car and up to the window.

"Three students for... Val?!" Mrs. Sky suddenly exclaimed.

"Hi, Mrs. Sky," the girl behind the glass smiled sheepishly.

"Are you working here?" Mrs. Sky asked back. "I see you help your sister sometimes at my shop."

"My sister's the witch. I work here to earn some muggle money, like a normal muggle teenager," the blonde-hair girl called Val answered, putting extra emphasis on the word normal. "Three tickets for what movie?"

"Any movie catch you fancy?" Mrs. Sky turned to us.

"I... really don't care," my friend said quietly.

"Oooh! How about that one?" Kari cried out excitedly. She pointed out a poster of a couple of guys waving long light sticks. There was also a girl brandishing a strange-looking muggle invention I recognized as a gun.

"Whatever," I shrugged my shoulders in resignation. That was how we received three tickets for Star Wars: Episode II in our possession. Kari's mother left before we reached the glass door, and it didn't take us long to find our Brethren friend Nicholas on a bench nearby.

"Hello, Rose, Kari, Anonimo," he called, nodding to each of us in turn. "You're on time, as usual, it seems."

"We've learned that lesson the hard way," my friend muttered, and we sat down as Nicholas stood up. "What do you want us to do this time?" Nicholas permitted himself a small smile.

"It should be rather simple for you," he grinned confidently. "After all, you've done it before." He paused for a dramatic effect, giving him time to gauge our reactions. It didn't take long.

"Wait a minute," I exclaimed, eyebrows arched high in surprise, "what do you mean, we've 'done it before'?" Nicholas' grin stretched to an amused smile, showing perfect white teeth.

"It's the same drill: different artifact, different museum," he said. "I'm giving you some time, though; you can do it tomorrow night. The next morning you'll receive a note with further instructions. Any questions?"

"Two, actually," my friend smirked wryly. "Which artifact, and which museum?" Outwardly Nicholas appeared to be unflustered by this "stunning revelation", but I could tell that he hadn't meant to omit the most important part of our orders. I managed to disguise my giggles as coughing into my sleeve.

"My superiors want another sword," Nicholas continued, ignoring our smiles. "You don't have to break into another museum this time, though; the Sword of Conundrum is located in a warehouse on the corner of Ashland and 18^th downtown. The warehouse belongs to the Field Museum, but it's low-profile and low-security, I've heard." He turned to leave, but he must have changed his mind because he looked back over his shoulder to give the last word.

"Kari, I'm afraid, can't help you with this mission. Good luck to both of you, not that you'll need it. After all..." We watched him climb over another bench nearby that blocked his way to the exit and head out the door with a sarcastic grin.

"Wait a sec," my friend asked, puzzled, "did he say 'both of us'?"

"Where's Kari?" I finished his question. We spent the next twenty minutes searching for her. She would have gone right past us in a multitude of people, in fact, if she hadn't been laughing so hard.

"Kari! Where have you been?!" my friend demanded.

"Where else but at the movie?" she ecstatically answered back. "Wow! I think I entered in the middle of it, but it was awesome, anyway! There was this really hot guy named Anakin, I think, but he's mine, so back off! Why don't we have light sabers, anyway?"

"Light sabers?" I asked slowly, a single eyebrow raised.

"Those were the long glowing sticks. They're so cool, especially if you don't have a wand!" Kari gushed wildly. "I bet they could block curses if we tweaked them right!"

"Kari, you do realize that the movie was fiction, right?" my friend smiled cautiously. She shot him a dirty look.

"They've got magic, too!" she hissed. "If they could make a light saber, then so can we! If I didn't know better, I would say that you were jealous 'cause I got to see the movie, and you didn't!"

"Hey, calm down, both of you!" I cried out over the mêlée. "We don't need to bicker like this! Now apologize, you two!" With some effort they muttered apologies without Kari biting his head off in the process.

"Anakin's still mine," Kari added mischievously.

"Relax, phoenix-girl," I smiled, glad to see that the spat was over. "I don't think you'll get much competition from us." Laughing, we left the movie theater together.