A Guardian's Imagination 10

December 13th, 1966
As I walked though my workplace to my office, excited to meet whatever strange being may be present in my office today.  After I found out that tragic news, I decided just to live my life the way I would have if I didn't know that I was going to pass…
I rounded the corner and saw my beloved office.  I'm going to miss that place.
As I strolled to the door, I noticed a set of wet footprints leading directly to my office.
"I must have the pleasure of meeting the Water Sprite today," I thought, chucking softly while opening the door.
"OH MY GOSH!!! IT'S WALT DISNEY!!!" A young, amphibian-like boy yelled as he rushed forward to shake my hand.
"I've always wanted to make you!!! My name's Aquarios, but my friends just call me Water Boy or Aqua because they're too lazy to say the whole thing!"  He squealed while continuing to shake my hand.
"This the greatest day of my life!!  After I was transferred here, I just knew that I had to meet you sometime!!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Slow down little buddy!  Calm down!  Here, just sit down, and try not to get everything wet." I said, attempting to slow him down.
"Sorry!  It was just so much easier to come up through the water fountain than to walk all the way around.."
"What?"
"Uh…never mind…"
"Ok, well then, should we begin?"
"Uh, yeah sorry.  What do you want do you ask me?"
"Whatever you'll tell me, I guess."
"Um, I could tell you about the Darkness!"
"Sounds fine to me."
"Well, the Darkness is the reason why we're here.  Someone sent us here at the beginning of time to protect humans from the Darkness, the ultimate evil in this world.  We were supposed to stay hidden from the humans to keep them from thinking that we're aliens or other beings unless an extreme disaster happened, like this.  Once the first extreme disaster happened, our High Council decided that the humans would need a certain something, "a gift", in order to see us.  So over the course of time, we randomly and rarely granted humans this "gift".  We perfected this gift throughout history, and we eventually developed "the gift" so that we can grant a gifted human the ability to see us when needed.  That's why you can see us and no one else can."
"Interesting.  I have one more question."
"Ok, as long as it's short…" he said nervously as he checked the clock on the wall. "I've told you too much already…"
"What was the name of that girl that came in yesterday?"
"Oh, that's Inferna!  Not very friendly, is she?"
"You could say that," I said smiling.  I liked this kid.
"Yeah, that's just the way see is.  The battle-hardened warrior," he laughed as he began to leave.
"Alright.  Here, take this."
His eyes lit up as I handed him an autograph.  "THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!!"
"I doubt you would have.  Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Mr. Disney.  You only have two more days left, don't forget."
"I won't.  Thank you son."  I said as he walked out of my office.  What a nice young man.

My thoughts
I was now hunched over the tiny book in exhaustion, pain, and obsession.  The Quill kept draining me, hurting me.  I wanted it stop, but it wouldn't.  It was doing something, but I didn't care.  THE POWER CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK WAS ALL THAT MATTERED!  Tired, crazed, and dying, I continued to read…

December 14th, 1966

I stepped into my office to find a pretty young lady gabbing on some type of telephone.
"Um…Yeah…I know right?  That's crazy!  What?  Oh, got to go…I'll talk to you later."
She slammed the little device shut and blushed.
"Sorry!  I didn't realize that you were there!" She giggled.
"And who might you be?"  I asked inquisitively.
She gasped. "No one else said ANYTHING about me?  You've got to be kidding!!"
"No, no one said a word about you.  I'm sorry."
She scoffed.  "The nerve of those five.  I TOLD them to at least tell you my name!!"  She sighed.  "Well, I'm Electra, but some people call me Ella.  But I PREFER Electra.  It has more…more…um, what's the word…"
"Um..Elegance?"
"That's it!  Electra the Elegant.  It has a nice ring to it.  Now where we we?"
"Uh…we really haven't started yet…"
"Oh yeah!  I remember now!  The divisions.  I'm supposed to explain them to you!"
"ookkk…"
"Well first off there are the snobs, the Air Sprites.  They think they have everything, being rich and smart and everything."
"That Skyren fellow didn't seem like that."
"Well, he's not.  His parents caused him to be way he is.  They're the biggest snobs in Zephyr Castle City.  But, I'm not allowed to tell you that right now…"
"What do you mean, right now?"
"Well, since your going to um, you know, the High Council decided that we were not allowed to you EVERYTHING about our world!  Some of it is supposed to be kept a secret for the "successor" of the Quill."
"But how can I pass down this information if I'm going to die in a couple of days?"
"You can't keep secrets from us, you know.  We know all about your little book you're writing."  
"What?  How?"
"You really have to ask that?  We're everywhere.  We, as in the six of us, have investigated everything.  That little disappearing act just serves as an exit for you to see.  We stay here, day after boring day, researching everything we can about this Quill thingy.  It's so BORING!!  The boys and Verina like it, but Inferna and I are just bored of this stuff."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I'd rather be back home chatting with my friends and just hanging out.  Who cares about research anyway?"
"Wel-"
"Never mind.  I need to keep talking about the other Sprites, sorry!  Well, next up we have the Earth sprites, who are just a bunch of healers.  They spend their days growing flowers and researching new medicine and more boring stuff like that.  They're SO quiet to!  You can never like get one to talk to you, at all!"
"Then there's the Ice Sprites.  The drama geeks.  Those thespians are as full of themselves as the Air Sprites.  They're amazing at their work though.  They put on the best plays and musicals, ever!  They're not all bad...I guess…"
"Next, it's the Fire Sprites, the battle-hardened warriors.  People of few words, they spend almost all of their time practicing for another battle.  They have some type of code of Honor too, but they won't tell you what it's all about.  You don't want a Fire Sprite on the wrong side your fight."
"And there's the Water Sprites.  Now an Ice Sprite is to classical theater, as a Water Sprite is to stand up comedy.  They are the funniest people, ur, Sprites around.  They're probably the kindest too.  There's not much else to say about them, they're pretty plain."
"Lastly, and probably the best type of Sprite are the Electricity Sprites.  We are totally awesome.  We are the smartest, fastest, and strongest of all the Sprites.  Others say we're lazy, gossipy, and nosy, but don't believe them.  We are the best."
"I can see that," I interrupted.
"REALLY?!" she cried, running over to me and giving me a hug. "No one else believes me!"
"It's alright!" I said while returning the hug.  "I'm sure that they are just saying that."
"Aww! You're so SWEET!" She squealed while she stopped hugging me.  "Well, I have to go now, it's been nice talking with you, even though you're old."
"It was my pleasure."
"Ok, then.  Bye-bye!"
After she'd left, I looked at my calendar.  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow was the day.  I had seen all six of the Sprites that would be watching over my Park.  I knew my future would be safe with them.  But what about tomorrow?  Will they all visit me together, or are they hiding something?

My thoughts
A blinding white light completely surrounded me, creating a force field around Quill, the book, and I.  I couldn't see anything.  Expect the book in front of me.  Pain flashed through my body once more as my vision began to fail.  I was light-headed, nauseous.  I had to keep reading, though.  It was my only chance.

Justin's thoughts
I can't watch anyone.  The more she keeps reading this mysterious book, the more pain she goes through.  And the more powerless I become.  All I can do is sit and watch as a white halo surrounds her small body that's writhing with the pain.  Thunder cracks overhead.  Something in the world was changing, but I don't know what…

December 15th, 1966
The day I will die.  I walked into my office with a smile, trying to make the best of this dismal situation.  As I opened the door, I was shocked to see yet another teenager sitting in that fateful chair.  This one was dressed like a true warrior, and looked like he was slightly older than the rest of them.  Who was this warrior?  No doubt one of the Sprites, but isn't don't look like any that Electra explained to me…
"Hello! And who might you be?"
"I am the Sprite of Imagination.  The one created by you and the pen."
"What?"
"As you created the pen, half of the power and half of it went into the creation of me.  Of course, Someone else had help to finish the process, but here I am.  I've already told the others that I would become a Guardian of this imagination tool.  And so they called me, Imaginerium.  I am here to explain what will happen once you leave."
"The High Council believes that if a successor cannot be found within six months time, we have failed in our mission to keep this item safely in the hands of one who has "the gift".  From there we will be exiled together to the "void", the prison for the most evil of Sprites.  There, we wander endlessly until the new successor sets us free with the power of the Quill and the power of the information stored in this little book."
I didn't know what to say.  For the first time in my entire life, I was speechless.
He continued on.
"If a successor is not found within six months, a second effect will take place.  Without the Guardian Sprites here, the park will be vulnerable to attack from outside, invisible forces.  This will cause the rides to fail, the park to fall into disrepair.  Without a person utilizing the Quill, strong, original dreams and ideas will be forever lost.  Eventually, the parks would have to be closed down, and the park would be forever lost."
I was silent yet again.  My dreams couldn't fail!  They were my life, my living, my future.  Whatever happens, I could not let the Quill fall out of service.  If I was going to die today, I would need help from some outside recruits, but that could wait until later.
"Are you done?  Or is there anything else that I might need to know?"
"I'm sorry, but I can tell you nothing more about us.  Please, record what I have told you in that little book of yours, and hide it so only the "successor" can find it with the Quill.  Remember, I am the Sprite of Imagination.  I will do anything to protect other's imaginations, especially those that are developed in the most magical place on earth."
"Well, thank you for your time, and your information of course."
"I'm sorry that this is all that I can tell you…but it's all that they would allow…"
I walked towards him and stood beside him while he sat.  He looked up at me, and I could see a hint of compassion present in his eyes.
"Thank you again, son.  I know my ideas are in the right hands."
He nodded formally, stood up, and walked out the door.
Just before he left, he turned around and said, "Good luck, Mr. Disney."
"You too, young man."

Later that day, I organized some of my best staff members from each department.  They were all young, but I needed someone to keep the Quill and my book safe from harm's way.  I had to trust them.
I told them everything, well, almost everything.  I told them all about the Quill, but nothing about the Sprites of this world.  Only what they needed to know in order to find the next "successor."  They became known as the Circle, for a circle has no beginning or end.  As I left my workplace, for the first time I said, "Goodbye," for I knew that this was my last day on earth.

After notes…
If you read this, then you know what you must do.  Find the Sprites, use the Quill, save the park, protect it.  You are the new Guardian of the World's Imagination.  The Quill will make anything real.  All you have to do is imagine.  

I slammed the book shut, panting.  The bright light consumed my vision, but the world around me was turning black.  It enclosed me with its shadow, and for the first time in my entire life, I passed out…
*************