Breaking Krone

Krone headquarters was located right in the busy world of Brehm. There were other Krone branches all throughout this world, but this one was the head honcho of them all. Is my luck great or what? I got to live right in the part of the world next to the head honcho Krone. Yeah, right.
Getting in was a lot tougher than I thought. My oh so witty plan was to simply walk in the front door and wing it from there. Not quite as easy as it sounds. I scoped the area and noticed you had to have a key card to get in. Hmm. I’d have to swipe one of those from some unsuspecting worker. While I pondered over how to get one without drawing much attention, I felt a pull in my chest. It was as if someone was pulling a string and drawing me to them. What is that? I walked toward the strange sensation.
I was nearly knocked out when I noticed I was about to walk into a wall. Focus Veretica. I turned around and the tugging got stronger. I didn’t want to fight it but I had a task at hand already. Maybe if I quickly saw whatever it was that was pulling me, it’d let me go. I rendered my senses, closed my eyes and walked where it felt right. An odd awareness came over me and I cracked open one eye. I was walking through the wall I’d almost crashed into! I opened both eyes full now. What is this? I felt like I was walking in Jell-O. Right as I was about to turn and run back whichever direction I’d come, I flopped out onto some concrete. Oh yeah. Graceful landing.
I brushed myself off and looked around. I saw a green sky and blue treetops. Every different color of birds imaginable. There was even a dark shade of purple ocean. My eyes devoured every inch of the scenery. It was beautiful. In an odd Dr. Seuss kind of way.
What is this place? How did I get here? I took a stroll down the sidewalk I’d landed on and looked around some more. At least the sand and grass were normal colored. In the distance, I saw a woman in sandals and a skirt walking towards me. As she approached, she looked me over and smiled.
“Hi! It’s about time you showed up,” she said. What? Does she have the right person?
“Uh, hi. I think you have me mistaken with someone else.”
She shook her head. “No I’d know your face anywhere, Veretica.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t know you,” I said apologetically. “I don’t even know where I am.”
“Of course. I’m Jacalyn. You really don’t remember this place?” she seemed a little hurt.
“Sorry, no. I don’t know how I even ended up here.” I smiled sheepishly.
“Well. No time like the present to find out. Come with me.” I followed her about a quarter mile down the sidewalk to a big house with a nicely vegetated yard. She was quite the gardener. Once inside, she gestured for me to sit on one of her couches. I obliged.
“I guess it doesn’t surprise me you don’t remember. You were only a little tot at the time.”
“Am I from here?” I inquired.
She thought for a moment. “Yes and no,” she decided. “Originally as a Vector, you’re from Cethus, but you lived most of your childhood at Quinn. This world is Quinn. I was your guardian when you were young after your parents left to fight in the war. Neither returned, but I’ve heard rumors that your mother has been sighted in a world or two-“
One word jumped out at me. I cut her off. “What exactly is a Vector?” Lately I’d been hearing it a lot. She looked at me in disbelief.
“I can’t believe your Brehm guardian didn’t tell you. That should have been the first one to inform you considering that ghastly thing your world calls Krone.” She seemed to remember something. “Oh where are my manners!” she exclaimed. “Let me get some tea boiling.” Right now, I didn’t care about any tea. I just wanted to question her further.
She finished bustling around her kitchen and sat back down across from me. I decided now was a good time for me to pursue my interrogation. “What can you tell me about the Vectors?”
“The Vectors are a kind of super human race that has dwindled out over time. The few remaining Vectors have guardians in each world that take care of them whenever they stop by that world. For example, I’m your guardian in this world. When you passed through the gate into this world, I felt a pull and I knew you were here. I’m also guardian to other Vectors but they hardly come about this world. They’re not really needed here at the moment.
“You see, Vectors help keep the balance of the worlds. They tend to be happy beings and their moods change the atmosphere of a world. But there are only so few Vectors left in the worlds. That’s why there are guardians in each world for them. We kind of protect them.”
All this information was interesting and a little overwhelming. “I’m a Vector?”
“Yes and a good one at that. I knew from the beginning that you would be important from the brightness of your reflector.” I looked at her questioningly.
“Reflectors are the blue rings around your pupils. Some are brighter than others depending on their mission. Based on yours, you have quite the mission ahead of you. Once you complete your mission, over many years, your reflector will fade.” I had to admit. This sounded pretty cool. I knew I was different but not this different.
But one thing was still bugging me. “Do you know Klause?”
“Klause? Of course. You two were inseparable as kids.”
“How come I don’t remember any of that childhood? I only remember as far back as Miss Faylene taking me to live with her when I was five.” Miss Faylene was, I guess my guardian from Brehm. I couldn’t have asked for a better guardian. She was always there for me. When I was little, every Saturday, she’d take me to the park. When I’d graduated high school and starting attending a local community college, she’d bought me a small place of my own to be closer to my new school. Klause and I had always been naturally smart. We graduated high school a few years early.
“I don’t know why you don’t remember it. But there are hardly any coincidences here. It probably has something to do with your mission.”
So the website was more or less correct.
“Jacalyn, what is my mission?”
She looked up at me. “I don’t know that either. That’s something only you can figure out on your own. I can help, but you’ll have to find it out yourself.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “What can you tell me about Krone?”
She sighed and years of wisdom showed up on her face. “Krone is terrible. As you know, they take young people every six months. They take humans, but what they want are Vectors. Young, healthy, strong Vectors. From what I’ve heard, they take the Vectors and put them through training.
That's where the humans come in. They use the humans to train the Vectors in fighting. They train them to become hard and cruel. Then use the Vectors’ cold nature to turn the atmosphere into one of hatred and war. I suspect Krone is trying to take control of all the worlds by creating a massive army.”
Oh no. They had Klause. I couldn’t imagine him not being the nice guy that he is. I needed to get there before they turned him evil and all that jazz.
I stood and turned to Jacalyn. “Thanks so much for everything you’ve done. I need to get back to Brehm and save Klause. Krone has him.”
“I have someone I’d like you to meet first. I think he’ll help you.” She climbed to her feet and headed to the door. “I’m his guardian as well. I think you two will hit it off nicely.” She smiled and gestured for me to follow her out the door.
We walked a little ways down a road of beach houses. I took in my surroundings and smelled the fresh ocean air. Jacalyn finally stopped in front of a green house, walked up the front steps, and knocked on the door. I say, “knocked”, but it was more like one knock and she opened the door to let herself in. She opened the door for me and I stepped inside the cool house.
“Hey Amos!” she called up the stairs. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” She led me over to what I assumed to be the living room. I sat on the edge of one of the chairs. She continued to stand.
“Alright I’m coming,” came a voice descending the stairs. A second later he was in the room.
He looked at me, “Veretica?”