“I hope that we can help you, Ms. Crown. But before you tell us your reason to see us, let me introduce us: I’m Frankie Ericson,” Frankie uses his hands as he introduces us to Barbara.

“That’s Nick Yaeger and Yugi and Gwen Williams.”

“Hello,” she waves and smiles at us. 

I’m glad that she didn’t fawn over Frankie like so many customers do, especially if they are from out of town. Hero worship is an awkward thing to witness and experience.

“I’ll cut to the chase,” Barbara digs into her backpack and pulls out a large green crystal. It fits comfortably in her hands as the light from the sun bounces off of its surface and into my eye. I use my hand to block it out.

“While out on an archaeological dig in Uruk, I came across this emerald. Do any of you know what this is?” Barbara looks around at the silent room waiting for any of us to answer her question.

It is not going to come. Nobody here knows what she is holding, except for me. I know what it is because of the power of Infinity, an old power that existed for over one hundred thousand years. It passes to a new user when the old one dies and I am this generation's wielder of this power. 

One of the powers Infinity has is that it allows me to know any information about an object just by its look. Well, my past lives would have had to encounter it before, but existing for one-thousand years is plenty of time to accumulate some knowledge. Frankie forbids me to use the power except in dire situations. But he doesn’t need to tell me that, I can’t use this power freely like I can with the Ultimate Force or my Mind Force.

If I do overuse it, it can very much fry my brain like eggs. I don’t think that even the healing properties of Ultimate Force could repair it. 

Anyways, I remain silent to not look like a know-it-all. Plus, Barabara’s face is lit up with excitement, I don’t want to steal her thunder away.

“This is a Phoenix Crystal!” Barbara says as she smiles from ear to ear.

“What’s a Phoenix Crystal?” Gwen asks.

Frankie speaks. “It’s one of seven magical crystals. If you manage to find all seven of them, you will be granted three wishes via a magical phoenix. I just never imagined that they would be found in this generation.”

“You do know what this is?” Barbara says, turning to face Frankie.

“Of course I do. My mother is a witch and I've been alive for a long time. I had plenty of encounters with the Phoenix Crystals. They are supposed to be hard to find.”

“Why is that?” Nick asks.

“Because they disappear after they grant you your wish,” I say. Everybody stares at me and I look at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

“That is correct,” Barbara confirms.

“So what is it that you want us to do?” Frankie inquires.

Barbara continues. “I want your help to locate the other six crystals.”

“You want a wish for something?” Nick asks.

Barbara shakes her head. “By the gods no! I want to collect them and put them in a museum. They deserve to be preserved and admired by the public.”

Barbara continues. “No one knows who created the Phoenix crystals or where they originated from. But, they are important artifacts all the same.”

“You are aware that these things can grant any wish to whoever collects all seven. If you place them in a museum, you are just asking for thieves and the desperate to come and try to steal them.” Frankies red-neck accent comes through during the last part of the sentence.

“They’ll be secured,” Barbara argues.

“That’s not the point. The point is that the Phoenix Crystals are not in the same ballpark as some old masks or vases. They are dangerous objects that we like to call Mystical Artifacts, artifacts that were created by magic and they can use magic. We are not putting them in a damn museum. Once we find Mystical Artifacts, we place them in a special warehouse we like to call The Special Facility.”

The “we” Frankie is referring to us Holy Knights and other government agents. The Holy Knights have the highest authority of any government in Gaia. That’s because they work directly underneath Empress Mordred herself. If they wanted to, a member of the Holy Knights could arrest anyone if they witnessed a crime. Heck, they can even perform a legal execution if they wanted to (assuming they have probable cause). 

Luckily, the Holy Knights are on the up and up. Except maybe for Clara (Daisy’s aunt) but even still, she’s not going out there and butchering Gingerettes and Pink Butterflies. Those are the two most notorious gangs in Gaia for those who aren't in the know.

Back to the topic at hand, Barbara looks like she wants to say something, but decides to hold her tongue. She probably knows that arguing with Frankie will be just a waste of time.

“How are you planning on tracking down the other six crystals?” Gwen asks, breaking the silence. 

Barbara digs into her backpack again and pulls out what looks like an outdated smartphone. I can feel a small amount of mana emitting from the phone. I cringe.

“With this bad boy!” She presses a button on the side and the black screen turns white and the words Magitek is displayed on the screen.

 “This is a Magitek Navi,” she continued. “It allows me to search for anything with a hint of mana energy.”

Gwen and I exchange looks with each other. Everybody in the magic community loathes Magitek, the company, and their products. Magic was supposed to be exclusive to those who possess the M-gene. The M-Gene allows a normal human to be a mage because they can manipulate the supernatural energy force known as mana.

But then came Magitek, which was then bought by Path-E-Tech, and created technology so that normal humans (or in Barbara’s case Celestial) can perform magic. I don’t care but Gwen is a classic mage through and through. I can't blame her for hating Magitek, she spent years of her life learning different spells just for a megacorp to come up with technology to spam fire spells easily. 

“So will you help me?” Barbara asks Frankie.

“I don't want the Phoenix Crystals to fall into the wrong hands. I’ll send these three to help you collect them.”

Barbara looks over at her shoulders at us and back to Frankie.

“But they're just children!” She protests. 

Frankie cuts her off before she can finish. “Nick and Yugi are my students and have confidence in their skills. Gwen is also a grade-A mage that I trust, she will be valuable for this job. I hope it won’t be a problem.”

Barbara sighs.

“Not like I have much of a choice here. Whatever, fine. The sooner we can find and locate the Phoenix Crystals the better.”

Barbara paid for the service with a credit card. Frankie tasked Nick and me to gather supplies for the job, I hope  it won't take too long, but knowing my luck it will.