CHAPTER 1: ADVENTURE IN THE MAZE

Gilbert was bored. He and his sister, Elizabeta (preferably known as Lizzy), had already done all the awesome stuff they could for the summer; they swam at the lake, beat up the Roderich (their annoying neighbor), caught fireflies by the river, beat up Roderich, went fishing, aand beat up Roderich. They had even gone and done their summer Homework! Now they just sat under a large tree, letting boredom eat at their brains.

Suddenly, Lizzy sat straight up, a thought forming behind her eyes. "What is it now?" questioned Gil, watching her curiously.

"I just remembered, I haven't read at all this summer!" With that she ran back to the house.

"Read?" He called to the quickly departing brunette. "Who wants to do something as unawesome as read a book?" Lizzy just laughed and continued on to the house. She soon returned, a leather-bound book in her hands. "Why don't we just ditch the book and go do something awesome, like beating up that Roddy-kid again?"

"Nah, I'm sick picking on him, there's no challenge to it. Besides, I've wanted to learn how this book ends for awhile now – Heracles and Sadiq have just confessed forbidden love to each other."

"Whatever. The awesome me is going to go find something to do." Gil stood up, brushing grass out of his pure-white hair. "Last chance to come with."

"Go have fun."

"I will." He retorted and walked away, going farther into the Gardens.

The Beilschmidt Estates were a wonder to behold. A five-story manor stretched into the sky, with more rooms than Gilbert could count. Two greenhouses stuck out from the side of the mansion, each sparkling in the afternoon sun and filled with all sorts of exotic plant life. Behind the house were the Gardens. Acres of land, filled with hundreds of gardens, each one unique and teeming with life. Gil had never even seen most of it (though not from lack of trying), so he was sure that if he went far enough in, an awesome adventure would be waiting.

After about an hour of walking quickly, the albino reached an area he had never seen. Anticipation sent a thrill up his spine as he began to explore the new spot. A couple yards away was a rose garden, filled with nothing but white roses. Curiosity filled his mind as he went to explore the garden. Each flowering bush was and hand taller than the boy and cut to look like a small maze. The cloying scent of the roses filled the air as Gil got closer and closer to the white blooms.

Gilbert began walking through the maze of roses, making sure to which turns he took so that he wouldn't get lost. The deeper he got into the maze, it seemed, the larger the flowers bloomed. By the time Gil had been walking for a good half hour, the roses had swelled to the size of his head, and the scent was nearly touchable.

Soon, though, Gil began to get bored by the never-ending rose maze. He was eager to find the center, but he was sure there were better adventures than this out amongst the other gardens. So he turned around and headed back from where he came. However, it seemed that he had gotten turned around. He did not remember going through a three way intersection, nor did he remember the statue of a raven that sat in between two bushes. Before even a quarter hour had passed, Gilbert knew he was completely, and hopelessly, lost.

The albino tried yelling for help, but he knew it was a lost cause; he was much too far away from the house for anyone to hear him. After tiring quickly of the endeavor, he decided to sit rather than get himself lost even more. "Stupid, unawesome maze." He muttered to himself darkly. He just knew that Lizzy was going to tease him mercilessly for getting lost – if she could find him anyways. Gil hoped that someone would find him soon (he was getting hungry), but until they did all he could do was wait…. and figure out how to make this mess sound utterly awesome. The sun was beginning to set (and he had just finished adding the details to his imaginary Minotaur attack) when Gilbert spotted someone walking around a corner of the maze.

It was another boy, only about a year younger than Gil himself. Wavy, blonde hair fell around his head while bright, lavender eyes looked off into the distance. It was clear the boy was lost in thought. But what caught Gilbert's attention were the two, pure white, rabbit ears that seemed attached to the kid's head. As the albino stared the wonder, he could have sworn one of the ears actually moved. Gil almost let the boy walk right by him, until he remember that he was lost and that maybe this boy could help him get out.

"Hey!" Gilbert exclaimed, running up to the rabbit-eared boy. But before he could say anything else, the boy took off, faster than a startled hare. Desperate, Gil ran after him, begging him to stop the whole way. The violet-eyed boy simply ignored his pleas and ran for all he was worth, deeper into the maze. He was so fast that the Albino almost lost him several times. Once, only the rustle of bushes let him know where the rabbit-boy had gone.

Finally, when Gil was just losing hope of ever catching the boy, they reached the center of the rose maze. It was a grand place, well worth any trouble to find it. All three entrances stood below marble archways, each covered in delicate layers of hummingbird vines and honeysuckle. In between the far entrances sat a stone garden bench, partially covered in flowering moss, and curving slightly to fit the circular design of the clearing. Four rose bushes stood in the middle of the glade; one red, one white, one yellow and one violet. Each had been fashioned into a Heart roughly three feet tall while ring of comfrey, snapdragon and (what he assumed was) euphorbia surrounded the bushes. Two statues looked on, observing the beauty of the scene; one stood as a mighty Griffon, the other a strange hybrid of cow and turtle.

Gilbert did not have long to look though, for the other boy was rapidly distancing himself from the young albino, heading straight for heart-shaped hedges. Before Gil could take even one step, the rabbit-boy leapt over the yellow rose bush and disappeared. Gilbert was stunned, for the boy had never landed on the other side; rather, he just kept falling through the solid ground as if it didn't even exist.

"There's no WAY I'm losing you now!" Gil growled as he began sprinting towards where the boy had disappeared, fully intending on following the other boy to the ends the earth if he had to. "'Cause I'm too awesome for that to happen!" He jumped, over the rose bushes, and laughed as he fell through the rabbit hole.