Page 34 of Custodian

Blu made no attempt at further conversation and Max couldn’t blame him. He had to be reeling just as much from the day’s revelations as the rest of the citizens present. He had known Garrett and Autumn just as long as Mordecai had – longer even, given he was one of the oldest wardens in existence. Thinking of Blu’s age and his earlier comment, sparked a thought and Max broke their comfortable silence;

“You’ve met a Custodian before?”

“My dear, I was here to see the River of Life flow for the first time. There isn’t much I haven’t seen,” Blu replied, with no hint of arrogance.

“What were they like?” she asked. They had been trying to gather information about Custodians for months, but facts were few and far between. All records had been destroyed or lost.

Creases formed across Blu’s forehead as he considered her question, “Well, they weren’t exactly like anything. Custodians aren’t exactly people. They are energy, spirit if you will.”

“Energy? Spirit?” She wondered out loud, causing Blu to nod.

“Yes. They have no physical bodies like you or I. They are wisps of colour in the air, crackles of electricity in the atmosphere, bursts of light on the ground – that kind of thing.” Blu gave a chuckle, seeing her incredulous look, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not mad. They might not have been substance but the custodians were able to communicate and even form a human-like appearance when they wanted to. I could hear them in my mind and they often appeared as light-filled shadows with a human outline.”

Max felt herself go still, “Life-sized, see-through, and human-shaped with limitless colours?”

“That’s right,” Blu confirmed.

The description was exactly how she perceived souls. What’s more, Blu said he could hear custodians in his head – even though he wasn’t in an Order with them. Max was able to do the same thing. She could hear anyone’s thoughts and if she chose to, could also speak to anyone telepathically. Perhaps she had more in common with the missing beings than they thought.

“Did they require vitality?” She asked, as soon as the thought popped into her mind.

Blu quickly shook his head, “Oh, no. Not that I’m aware of. They were made of energy, you see. What use would they have for vitality?”

“And being made of energy is what makes them able to interact with their elements?”

“Interact?” Blu seemed surprised. “Create. Max, custodians were able tocreateelements.”

“But …” the thought of creating a domain out of nothing was mind boggling. Wardens were able to manipulate and communicate with their domains. They were able to heal them and nurture them. But they couldn’t make air out of, well, thin air. They couldn’t make a plant grow if there was no seed, couldn’t spark a life into existence. “Perhaps, I don’t have as much in common with them as I thought,” she murmured to herself, but Blu apparently heard her anyway;

“I suspect you do. Not only are you more powerful, but I believe that power is more energy-based, more energydependant, than the rest of us. You appear to expend a lot more energy than any of us normal wardens do when maintaining our domains. Your recovery also seems much more intense.”

“And you think that’s because I’m more energy than the rest of you?” she asked, trying to follow his logic.

“I have no idea. But it would make sense. You are half warden and half pure goddess. It would make sense for you to share traits with both sides of the DNA contributions,” he offered.

Max was startled into a snort, “DNA contributions?”

Blu patted her on the knee, “Well, I didn’t think referring to them as your mother and father was all that appropriate.”

She rolled her eyes over that, “I’ll say. So, I’m actually half warden and half custodian – if we assume Mordecai’s tale of Dana is true. Maybe you all shouldn’t go around calling me a custodian anymore.”

“Given you have control over all seven elements and are the most powerful being on the planet, I think it’s safe to assume you have a lot of your m–” he broke off abruptly.

Max grinned at him, cutting him some slack. The man was trying desperately not to offend or upset her in any way. “You mean, I seem to have a lot of maternal DNA contributing to my powers?”

He laughed, “Yes.”

“Hmm …” The notion gave her some pause and had her feeling some fragile hope for the future. “If that’s the case, do you think it’s possible I could go full custodian-mode?”

Blu’s greying eyebrows lifted, “As in …?”

“As in supernova.”

“Supernova?” She saw his lips twitch but he was also contemplating her question seriously. “I’ve honestly no idea. Do you believe the world is going to need supernova?”

A frigid blast of fear hit her, and she fought not to cringe. The idea truly frightened her elderly friend and she found herself lying to him for the first time; “I’ve honestly no idea,” she said.

Max saw Blu’s paladins moving restlessly from across the room where they were giving their liege space but also keeping an eye on him. She knew they were feeling his unease, and, feeling guilty for causing the Water Warden discomfort, she quickly steered the conversation in another direction;

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