Chapter 13

     Three weeks later:

Ariel had become damnably close with Chad. She wasn't totally to blame, he stuck with her like glue. They had gone to see Jero and in the process saw three other classmates some of which included Cindy.

       Then suddenly, he had asked to see earth's life crystal. Ariel discovered she was a guardian one day in medical school when she became angry and suddenly she found herself in front of a massive crystal that showed her part of her job portfolio. She took it in stride and wasn't as shocked as she would been had Chad not blabbed it to everyone that he was a guardian.

       She burrowed down to the crystal with Chad right behind her. When she got there, she was covered in debris and the likes. "You still haven't figured out how to dig have you? ", he said with a frown as he dusted off his shirt. "Sorry, I haven't figured all this stuff out yet", she said apologetically. 

       Everywhere was hot as they were at the earth's core. Chad nodded in approval. She had done as much of a good job as any guardian. The formerly two storey crystal was now four storeys tall nearly rivalling Saturn's crystal. For some strange reason, his crystal didn't grow the tenth of the size it normally grew every month so even though she just found out, she was making more progress than him. 

        "It's still small, I should help ", he said and walked closer. Ariel blushed at his proximity and mentally slapped herself. Okay fine she liked him A LOT but that didn't mean she should throw away all her life principles. 

       She stopped him. "Didn't you say that if someone else touches it, the crystal would explode with me and the planet along?", she asked skeptically. Chad gave a small smile. "I said if they insert a piece of the crystal it would blow. Look at me do I have any crystal on me?", he replied and turned for her to look. 

      Ariel breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry for doubting you", she said. "Yeah, that's something she would never do", Chad muttered under his breath. Chad moved to the crystal and touched it. The crystal pulsated a red color. "Why red, it's meant to be green", she said and started walking to the crystal. 

       Chad's eyes glowed for a split second to become a greyish colour before he removed his hand. He secretly removed the small crystal he always kept with him. Prepared to end it all there without Ariel knowing but the crystal worked up a strong force field around it so he couldn't touch it. 

       Suddenly, the lava sizzled and the walls began to shake. Ariel gasped and looked up. Chad had almost succeeded in bypassing the force field when he touched the two crystals together when he was flung away like a snipped kite. Ariel ran to help him while the green crystal glowed green again. Ariel heaved a sigh of relief and held Chad. Chad pushed her away and wiped the blood from his mouth. 

        "Nice of you to visit now of all times", he said, every word dripping with venom. He grabbed Ariel's hand and stretched it towards the crystal with his hand holding the other small yellow crystal in his hand. If Ariel touched the crystal herself, the crystal would drop its guard and would immediately get destroyed. 

          Ariel was confused as to why Chad was acting so strange. She tried to resist but he growled and pushed her hand. Her hand was two inches away from the crystal when a strong rope latched itself around it and pulled her back away from the crystal. Then she was somehow sent back to the top of the ground where she was closed off from them. 

          She tried to burrow again but she was locked away. It was like a titanium seal had been placed on the ground. She became agitated and started pacing nervously. "Oh no, the crystal, I'm not there to stop whoever threw Chad away, what if they do something to the crystal, what if the planet gets blown up and it's all my fault, what if Chad dies cos of me, What if my family and friends get blown up because of my stupidity... Ugh. Please protector, I know I don't deserve you but please give me a way to go back down there-", Ariel couldn't finish her agitated prayers as both Chad and the person were blasted up from the ground.

         The other person wore white overalls and a white cotton shirt inside with white trousers and white sneakers. Funny enough, he blended in with the environment perfectly. He was too fast in his movements so she couldn't see his face at all. He quickly stood up when Chad did and he dealt three deadly blows to Chad. 

        Chad spat up blood. Ariel winced. She looked around to see that people were in the vicinity. She burrowed exactly where the guys were and they both came tumbling after her. The hole automatically closed up as always and Ariel turned to the guys. Chad already had a hand on the guy's neck and Ariel felt like screaming with the sheer force Chad used to squeeze the life out of the guy. 

        Ariel tried to run to help the other person regardless but before she could even move, the person did the most awesome back flip ever even with Chad's hand still on his neck. He flipped himself and Chad to the ground and turned their positions to wrangle himself free. When he stood up, Chad snarled. He looked at Ariel and the strongest hatred she had ever seen surfaced clearly in his eyes.

         Did he really hate this person so much. The guy stopped moving and suddenly in a flash, he gave Chad seven punches and three kicks. In the space of Two seconds. Ariel's lower jaw dropped to the ground. She immediately ran to the crystal to protect it. She saw that Chad couldn't handle it and had fainted. The person then stood in front of her. 

          She assumed a fighting stance but the person didn't budge. His face was still to the ground and he was still heaving. He then jumped. Higher than she had ever seen anyone jump in her life and she didn't see him again. 

          She looked through the crystal and couldn't find him anywhere so she assumed it was safe. She quickly ran over to Chad and was relieved when she saw that he wasn't dead. She waited patiently till he coughed himself awake. 

         "Cin-", Whatever Chad was about to say was cut off by Ariel's hands on his chest pushing him back to lie down. When he saw her, he frowned. Dammit, that guy stopped him again. 

         Ariel hugged him loosely probably not to aggravate his already aggravated injuries. He raised a hand behind her head. All of the sudden, a knife appeared in his hand. He smirked. That was a trick he had always loved since he was young. 

         If he couldn't blow earth up, he could at least kill the guardian. He felt a twinge of regret seeing as she was a terrific friend but hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. He brought down his hand on her neck to end her right there.