Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:50:10 -0500
From: Chris Geszvain <gustopher31@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapter 5 Evergreen Academy and the Golden Club

Evergreen Academy and the Golden Club
Chapter 5
The golden club

	Daniel found that both he and Kerri were in the clairvoyance class. There
were very few people in the class. Apparently clairvoyance was not a popular
course. The professor was a very fat man. He had three chins and a big
belly. That day's class was about stargazing. He let the students read
through the chapter and identify stars on a chart for most of the class.
Then he asked everyone to put the books away.
	"What you've read in the book is not very accurate. You see, stars do not
tell you exactly what's going to happen in your life or here on earth. Stars
are stars. They have their own orbits and own lives-do they have effects on
our lives? I believe they do, but they are more like the effect of weather
on a person's mood. There is nothing specific about them...It's just another
example that there are many misconceptions in clairvoyance. You have to use
your own judgment to find out what is genuine."
	He then dismissed the class. "You two," he pointed at both Daniel and
Kerri, "Stay."
	For a moment, Daniel thought that he had done something wrong, but he soon
realized that it had nothing to do with that.
	"I really don't like it when professor Alverdine tries to add to my
workload, bringing in new students like that after the beginning of the
semester all the time." Professor Baldred was talking to himself as if no
one was around. It made Daniel feel uncomfortable, not for the reason that
he added workload to professor Baldred, but for the reason that professor
Alverdine was blamed for his sake.
	"I'll go through the first few classes as quickly as possible," said
professor Baldred. "Now listen and don't interrupt." He went on to talk
about clairvoyance. He apparently had quite a large chip on his shoulder
because of people's misunderstanding of clairvoyance and some people's abuse
of it.
	"Clairvoyance means clear view of the future and unknown. It's different
from so called fortunetelling or psychism. It has a logical basis and
limits. First there is no sure way to predict future. You can tell what
already happened-now, I know that you are going to say what's the point-but
what if you can tell that a tornado is coming. It's not prediction. It's
happening and is moving your way. What if you can tell that someone's hurt,
and you can fly there to save the person without delay? The signal and
information are already there. People with the gift can pick them up."
	"I'm not saying that prediction isn't possible. There are causes and
effects. If you have all the information, you will know what's coming. When
it comes to a person's fate or something bigger, there are so many
ever-changing factors. Only people with the most powerful mind can decipher
the signs. And even so, nothing is for sure. Remember a person can change
his or her life. No one can take a look at you or your palms and tell you
what your future is going to be. They have to experience what you have
experienced and are experiencing to make a prediction."
	"Now, that's it. Think about it. You are dismissed." He left the class as
fast as a schoolboy.
	Kerri looked like someone had just shoved a big amount of food down her
throat.
	"You understand everything professor Baldred just said?" she asked, looking
quite tense.
	"Kind of," said Daniel, but he realized that Kerri just wanted to make sure
that they were at the same level.
	"No, not really," he added. What he said seemed to relax Kerri a bit.

	On his way back to the dorm, Daniel met Owen. He looked very excited:
"You've got to see this."
	He drew out his sword: "Hop on."
	"Where are we going?" asked Daniel, jumping on the sword.
	"The beach."
	They flew over the lake and passed the small hills at the other side of the
lake. The land fell down to a valley full of trees. Water from the lake
dropped down in a waterfall and cut through the valley.
	"So what are we going to see?" asked Daniel, wondering what could make Owen
this excited.
	"The legendary Golden Club," said Owen with a dreamy look. "It's one of the
few most powerful magical weapons in the whole world."
	The sword carried them through the middle of two high peaks. They were now
flying over a long white beach that led to the sea. On the beach were a
group of students. The boy in the middle was holding the Golden Club. He was
very good-looking. He had deep blue eyes, very strong nose, and full lips.
	"Make it big again," the other boys were cheering him on.
	"Get out of way."
	"Daenlarma," he shouted, throwing out the club. It flew in the sea.
Everyone waited. After a while, Daniel saw one end of the club sticking out
of the water. It was as big as a tree trunk. It kept growing and growing
until the boy commanded it to stop. The club was now the size of a table.
The boy flew on the top of the club with a perfect flip. He then jumped off
the club. Daniel heard him cite "Onenfini." One end of the club shrank to
the size of a normal club but the other end remained as big as a table. He
got hold of the club and started stirring the sea. A huge vortex appeared in
the middle of the sea. The boys on the beach were all yelling and shouting.
The vortex also generated a whirl of wind that almost knocked Daniel off his
feet.
	A couple of merpeople jumped out of the water and shouted at the top of
their lungs: "Stop it. What the hell do you think you are doing?"
	That didn't stop the boy. The merpeople were quickly dragged back into the
water by the current. That created a few laughs. Daniel was glad that Owen
didn't join the other students.
	Even though he had to admit that the Golden Club was quite impressive, the
whole incident made him very uncomfortable; but he kept his mouth shut. He
didn't want Owen or the other students to think that he was a jealous baby
or something.
	The boy only stopped when Michelle flew out and threatened him that she was
going to tell Professor Alverdine if he didn't stop. Daniel learned that his
name was Jared from the shouting between him and Michelle. Reluctantly Jared
commanded the club to shrink. It shrank until it disappeared into his palm.
He didn't fly down to the beach but flew back to the school. And the crowd
scattered.
	"I would give up anything to have that weapon," said Owen on their way back
to the school. He was totally mesmerized by the Golden Club, which didn't
surprise Daniel. Owen's power was combat. He was naturally attracted to
great weapons.
	From the sky, Daniel saw most students were on their way to the dinning
hall. Two people however, walked in different directions. One was Kerri. She
was walking to the library. The other was the monkey man. He was also
walking alone. When he was at the edge of the school grounds, he jumped on a
tree, and at a surprising speed, disappeared behind the hill.
	"Do you know what his name is?" asked Daniel.
	"Tao, I guess," said Owen. "He never really talks to anyone-I have no idea
where he is from"
	"He's like the new girl, only she is close to you," he said with a
mischievous smile.
	"No, she's not," said Daniel, feeling his face burning up.
	"She only talks to you."
	"All she talks about is the classes and the homework," said Daniel but
realized that Owen was joking.

	On Tuesday, they were in the classroom for the transformation Class.
Professor Nolte had not arrived yet, and students were chatting with each
other.
	"Birdy, talk to any of your sisters and brothers?" Daniel heard a chubby
boy call out to another boy. The boy, however, didn't look like either a
bird or a rat, even though he was small and skinny. He was clean and well
dressed. Daniel remembered that the boy was also in the clairvoyance class.
It seemed that he was in as many classes as Kerri was.
	"I'm an only child," answered the boy. Daniel heard some other students
giggle.
	"I mean your furry siblings," the chubby boy saw the giggling as an
encouragement.
	The small boy was not amused. His face turned red, and he looked like he
was trying very hard to think of a cleaver rebuttal but finally settled on
"Sod off."
	Daniel almost fell off his seat when he saw himself walk in the class. His
mirror image gave him a small wink and signaled him to keep quiet. It was an
eerie feeling, even though Daniel knew it was professor Nolte. The whole
class quieted down when they realized that there were two Daniels. They had
seen professor Nolte change his body like it was made of rubber, but never
seen him as another person before. After a while, the whole class burst into
heated dispute about which one was the real Daniel. Some said the one
sitting was the real one, because Daniel always sat with Owen; but others
argued that it wasn't supposed to be that easy. If professor Nolte wanted to
make it difficult, he could have easily detained Daniel somewhere for a
while.
	"I know the answer," Owen finally stood up and whispered so quietly that
only the real Daniel could hear. He walked up to the other Daniel.
	"What did I just say?" asked Owen. There was a baffled look on the other
Daniel's face. Then he broke into laughter. To Daniel's amazement, the face
changed back into professor Nolte's face. The whole class applauded.
	"That's the third law we are going to talk about today: it is impossible to
reproduce something or someone exactly by transformation. There are always
differences. People can always tell the real thing from the fake ones if
they have trained eyes."
	"The reason I transformed into Daniel was because I didn't want to run the
risk of being closely examined by his eyes," said professor Nolte with a
smile. He was a young man with black hair and small brown eyes. "Owen could
tell I was the fake one, because he knew I could never acquire Daniel's
power."
	"That was incredible!!!" said Owen when they walked out of the classroom,
"-are you going to the library again?"
	"Yes," said Daniel. He had been looking for the charms that could suck the
heat out of a place.
	"Be careful, you are going to turn into a bookworm," joked Owen.
	Daniel had told Owen about Colossa the book fairy and was told that book
fairies fed on bookworms and other book-eating insects.
	"Come here to take a nap?" joked Miss Leventis when she saw Danile. Daniel
believed that Colossa had told her about the incident. He gave her a
half-hearted smile and found a seat far away from the checkout desk. Then he
entered the side wing. He hadn't had much luck finding the charms. Last
time, he searched the freezing charms. They turned out to be the charms that
made something or someone motionless. Daniel was tempted to learn the charm,
but there was warning against learning it from the book: "severe damage
would come to both parties if not properly executed."
	"Need any help?" Colossa appeared on the top of a shelf. Since the
incident, Daniel had been trying to ignore him, but he just wouldn't give
up.
	Daniel found a book titled Advanced Charms. He was about to take it down
from the shelf, but stopped on second thought. Colossa was smiling and
nodding his approval. That usual wasn't a good sign.
	It took a while for Daniel to find another book that looked relevant. It
was title How to Keep Your Pet Cool in Summer.
	"If I were you, I wouldn't want to open that book," said Colossa with a
frown that looked very strange on his baby face.
	Daniel stopped again because that could be Colossa's way of tricking him
into taking the book. He knew Colossa liked to play mind games.
	In the end Daniel got so frustrated, he almost gave up. Then an idea came
into his mind.
	"I want you to leave me alone," he said very clearly.
	"I'm just trying to help," said Colossa with an innocent look.
	"Did you hear me?" said Daniel calmly. He pulled out a book randomly from
the shelf, opened it and held one single page between his fingers.
	"If you don't leave me alone, I'll tear this page off."
	"You wouldn't dare," said Colossa, but he looked extremely nervous.
	"Try me," said Daniel. He pulled the page a little harder.
	"Stop," screamed Colossa. "OK, OK, I'll leave you alone." He looked totally
defeated.
	Daniel went back to the shelf containing Advanced Charms. He listened
carefully to see if there was any sound inside the book. When satisfied, he
carefully took the book from the shelf. He closed his eyes before opening
the cover slowly. Nothing happened. He leafed through the book. The book
itself seemed to be protected by a charm. Only the general information was
visible. The real charms required a password. None of the descriptions,
however, seemed to fit the criteria. How to Keep Your Pet Cool in Summer did
even come close. It was a book about herbs to be used for bathing pets.

	On the weekend, many students flew to the beach. Now that Daniel had
learned to fly his sword. He and Owen flew on separate swords. Every time he
flew alone, he had this sense of freedom. It made him feel like he had
achieved something, and he was truly an immortal like everyone else in the
school.
	Daniel really liked to swim. He had spent a lot of time in the river in his
hometown. Swimming in the ocean turned out to be a very different
experience. He could feel the force of the sea, strong and persistent. It
was like the ocean had a life of its own and wouldn't answer to anyone
else's command.
	"I wonder what the Golden Club did to the bottom," said Owen. He had been
talking nonstop about the Golden Club. Daniel could understand his
fascination about the Golden Club. But after a while, it was just getting
old. There were only so many times that he could say, "Yes, it's fantastic."
After all, it was just a weapon.
	"You want to go down and take a look?" asked Owen.
	"Sure," answered Daniel, trying not to show his lack of enthusiasm.
	"Don't swim too far away," said Owen with a grin, and then he dove in.
	Daniel took a deep breath and followed him. When his head went underwater,
he felt that his heart rate slow down, and his whole body seemed full of
oxygen. The sea was more peaceful from within, but it was also full of life.
Fish of different colors and shapes swam slowly. He could also hear dolphins
and whales talking far away. He followed Owen to the bottom of the ocean. It
was however a very different scene. It was like a hurricane had just torn
through. Seaweeds were pulled out and floated lifeless above the bottom of
the sea. Broken coral could be seen everywhere, and even some parts of the
rock bed were chipped. Daniel could feel anger boiling inside. He took a
look at Owen. The typical joyful look had gone. It was replaced by a gloomy
frown. They kept swimming in silence. An underwater village came into view.
The houses were built with small rocks. Most of them were round and short.
The roofs of some houses were torn off. A couple of houses were now just
piles of rocks.
	Many merpeople were working hard to repair the houses. Some merwomen were
sitting by the houses weaving seaweed for the roof. Most of them looked
stressed. The only people unaffected were small merkids. They were swimming
around chasing each other. Some of them stopped when they saw Daniel and
Owen. A few of the adults also spotted them. They stopped the work on hand
and stared at them with hatred.
	"Get out of here, you filthy sharks," a man shouted at them.
	Daniel and Owen turned around and swam away from the village in silence.
	"I'm running out of air," said Owen when they were a safe distance away
from the village. With a kick of his legs, he swam to the surface.
	Daniel still had plenty of air, so he didn't follow Owen right away. The
shouting was still ringing in his ears. It made him feel quite despicable.
It saddened him to see the damage done to the merpeople. He remembered what
professor Alverdine said on the full moon night. He couldn't help but wonder
what he could have done to stop Jarred. There was actually very little he
could have done. Even if he had tried, it probably would have only brought
trouble to himself. On the other hand, he knew that he should have tried to
stop Jared, however feeble his attempt could have been.
	He kept swimming like a dolphin. Staying underwater helped him think. There
was much less noise. Then he heard this paddling sound. He was surprised to
see Owen swim towards him, his face showing fury. Owen grabbed him and
pulled him out of the water.
	"What did you think you're doing?" Owen shouted at him when the reached the
surface. "I thought you were drowned."
	"Why?" Daniel was confused. He was doing all right underwater. If he had
felt out of air, he would have came up.
	"Most people can't stay underwater as long as I can," shouted Owen. "Why
didn't you tell me you have whale blood too?"
	He turned around and swam back to the shore without waiting for Daniel.
	"Sorry," Daniel had to run to catch him up on the beach. "I didn't know
either."
	Owen picked up his robe and soon flew out of the sight. Daniel didn't
understand why Owen was so upset. Never had anyone been so upset about him,
not even his father. He wasn't trying to hide his power from Owen, so how
could he be mad at him for something he hadn't known of?

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Author's blog: 360.yahoo.com/gcgustopher