Chapter one
Bobby Pendragon, now eighteen, looked over at the place he called home. After all the things he had been thru, after all the horrors he had witnessed, it was over. It was ALL over. Now, young Pendragon could relax and look over his home with pride and joy, knowing that it would be safe. And it was all because of an eighteen-year-old boy. It felt good to know that there wasn't a demon named Saint Dane out to destroy his home. Saint Dane was gone. For good. He stood atop a skyscraper watching the people of his home scurry to one another, hugging and kissing and cheering. He couldn't help to smile. He felt like a proud father watching his child. The moment was broken by kind words from behind him.
"Bobby!" a woman's voice called.
Bobby spun around to see his mother, his father, and his sister, Shannon. In that moment, Bobby couldn't help but cry. He was home. He was alive. And his family was back. He rushed to them hugging each and everyone of them in turn. Bobby even scooped Shannon up and spun in a circle with her in his arms.
"Hey! I don't want to throw-up because you spun me too fast. You know you can do that!"
Just like Shannon, always thought she knew everything. He pulled away from his family and looked at them. They hadn't changed a bit... but Bobby had. He changed a lot. He was not the same person who lived at number twelve, Stony Brook, about five years before. Scratch that, exactly five years before. It was the exact same day he left for Denduran on that back of Uncle Press's motorcycle. The adventure had come full circle. Bobby smiled to himself.
"Let's go home."
Home. The one place he thought he would never see again. Home. The place he grew up in, but grew the most away from. Arriving in his old driveway was odd that day. He had done this so many times for the fist fourteen years of his life, but today was this first time he had seen his house in five years. And everything was there, too. No longer was number twelve, Stony Brook a vacant lot. It had a house; it had a tire-swing the tree, and the tree-scar from the rope. He ran up to the front door and threw it open and... was greeted by his golden retriever, Marley. Marley liked his face with happiness. When the dog got off the first thing Bobby did was rush to his room. Not the hut on Deduran. Not the small apartment bedroom on Cloral. Not the hotel room on Third Earth. Not the bedroom in Evangeline's mansion. Not on Loor's living room floor. Not a creepy clown filled room. His room. The room he hadn't slept in in years. He tossed himself on his bed, smelling the covers.
"Bobby!" a voice came from the door frame. Bobby looked up to see Mark and Courtney, his two best friends. Bobby and Courtney decided it was best to see other people, so he couldn't call her his girlfriend anymore. They both looked just as banged up as Bobby did. They looked at each other for a minute, and then they all burst out laughing. They did it. They saved Second Earth.
"I don't know about you guys," Bobby said, chuckling, "But I've got to hit the hay!"
The next few days were enjoyable. They went to the beach, ate at the Ave, and went horseback ridding. But no matter how much fun Bobby was having, something was bugging him; something that he couldn't place with all the excitement going on. Boon had created a second flume on Eelong, saving Gunny and Spader. Bobby scattered Kasha's ashes at her father's perch, like he said he would. Aja had actually sent Veelox in the right direction by herself, witch was amazing. So, Bobby just couldn't place what was bugging him. That was, until Courtney's parents took her on a vacation and Mark got really busy with a robotics project. Bobby had time to calm down and get his thoughts straitened out. He lay on a park bench with his eyes closed. The sun was burning down on him. It was a really hot day.
"At leased it isn't Zadaa hot," Bobby blurted out. That's when the troubling feeling made since.
"Loor!" he shouted, sitting strait up. Yes, Loor. The Traveler from Zadaa; and the girl he had a crush on for about two and a half years. When he left Zadaa he admitted his feelings to her. She told him that she loved him as well, but they could not be together because they didn't know when the other would die. I know, sounds dumb. But when you're a Traveler, the probability of dieing was so much higher. Loor was right, they couldn't be together.
But that was then, this was now. The war was over. They were on the same playing field as the other couples. The normal couples. He supposed that was what you'd call them. He didn't exactly know what "normal" was anymore. He had to give it a shot. He had already been stalling for a month. Now was the best time as any.
"Next stop... Zadaa."