Moments later, Lea decided to stay at the Grant Mansion until she figured out how to get back home to New York.

The blonde-teen walked around the hallways with Nightlight sitting on her right shoulder for company. She had her blue jacket tied around her waist, her gloves and earmuffs in both pockets of her coat, and placed her scarf in her backpack that was left behind in the living room.

"None of this makes sense, Nightlight. Why would Kate have a magic snowglobe at her desk? And of all places, why did it bring me here?" Lea asked, getting upset.

Nightlight shrugged his shoulders, saying he's not sure either.

"Well, at least Whampire was kind enough to let me stay here for a bit. Hopefully, we can find a way back home before nightfall,"

"Can't catch-Omphf!"

Abruptly, Lea found herself on her rear end and Nightlight thrown off from her shoulder. Getting her senses back, she looked up to see two little girls young than her. One girl had blonde hair with a rose on it, green eyes, and wore a pink flower dress. The other girl appeared to be seven years old, had medium length brown hair and eyes, wearing a bright purple t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"Sorry, didn't mean to...Who are you?" the young blonde haired girl asked with the little brunette ducking behind her.

"Oh, hello. I'm Lea," The blonde teen politely introduced herself while getting back up. "I'm a guest here by Whampire, Wildmutt, and Blitzwolfer. What about you girls?"

"Dad...gave you permission?" the brown haired girl asked cautiously while clutching her necklace.

"That's right. Which one is your father?" Lea asked, lowering herself to be eye-leveled with the little girl.

"Sis, everything okay?" a deeper voice said from behind Lea.

Lea turned to meet a boy that was around the same age as her. He appeared to have tanned skin with light scars on his arms, copper colored hair, and blue eyes. For attire, he had on a grey t-shirt, blue cargo jeans, hiking boots, and a red bandana around his arm. He also seemed almost as good looking as Jack Frost...Almost.

"Uh...hi?" Lea replied, giving a shy wave on her hand.

"Hey," the boy said hesitantly, still being very rigid.

"She said dad let her in," the brown-haired girl said, as she grabbed the little blonde girl's arm gently and moved behind the boy.

"Whampire let you in?" the boy asked, his eyes hard for a moment.

"Well, technically, Blitzwolfer and Wildmutt let me in while I was running away from them outside," Lea corrected and explained, rubbing her neck sheepishly while standing up. "I ended up crashing into a tree when I was going full speed down a hill using a hollow log as a snowboard and fell unconscious. Next thing I knew, after I woke up, I ended up in the living room being showered with alien doggie kisses and tickles. That's when your dad showed up with some drinks and I freaked out after seeing he was a vampire."

The male teen held her gaze for a moment longer before his facial features lightened up.

"Sorry for the suspicion. We're told to be cautious when we don't recognize anyone. Name's Sage," the boy teen said, offering his hand.

"Lea," she said while shaking Sage's hand, smiling back. "And I understand your concern. It's something my parents keep telling me while going by myself on the streets."

Sage nodded. "This is my sister, Megan, and my cousin, Summer," he introduced the little brunette and blonde girl.

"Nice to meet you all," Lea greeted, suddenly realizing that she's missing someone and looked around. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to have seen an eleven inched boy made of wood that's light blue, has white hair, and carries a diamonded spear, would you?"

"Is...this what you're looking for?" the girl named Summer asked, holding up Nightlight in her arms.

"Yep. That's him," Lea grinned, placing a hand on her hips and used the other to wave an index finger at him. "Nightlight, you little rascal. I told you not to leave out of my sights while we're here."

Sage watched as the toy moved, looking both worried and annoyed at what Lea said.

"I don't think he likes being scolded," Sage said.

Lea chuckled. "I'm just messing with him. Nightlight knows that and is doing the same with me," she explained to Sage before looking back at Nightlight. "I'm glad you're still okay, buddy."

Nightlight bowed his head, then held up his hands for Lea to pick him up.

Sage smiled. "Well, looks like you two are two peas in a pod."

"You could say that," Lea replied, picking Nightlight back up and held him caringly. "Nightlight has been my best friend since childhood. I can't imagine my life without him."

Nightlight nodded his head in agreement, giving another hug to Lea that made her bracelet and himself glow a little.

Sage smiled. "I have something like that. Though, it's a bit different than Nightlight here."

Lea looked up to Sage in wonder. "You do? What or who is it? Also, you're not weirded out about a living toy or me having something that's for little kids?" she questioned, considering most teens would make fun of her if they knew she kept a baby toy around at her age.

Sage shrugged. "It's no weirder than a house full of aliens. Honestly, if he makes you feel happy, then who am I to judge? As for my thing, it's...a bit more difficult to explain."

"Um, okay...So, what do you, Megan, and Summer do for fun around here?" Lea asked.

Sage chuckled, as he put his arms around the girls. "Question should be what don't we do around here? Though, I believe my sis and niece were just playing the most popular game of the Grant Mansion."

Megan and Summer began to wiggle anxiously in his arms, as he held them close.

Lea couldn't help but raise an eye brow in curiosity. "And what, may I ask, is this popular game you're referring to?"

"Tickle Tag!" Sage exclaimed loudly, as he tickled the girls before racing off down the hall.

"NOHOHOHOHOHO, SAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAGE! NO FAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAIR!" Megan laughed, before chasing after him.

Lea just smiled, chuckling a little while following her new friends from behind before lightly shaking her head. "Does everyone in this mansion use tickling a lot around here?" she asked Nightlight, whom was still being carried by her.

The wooden toy shrugged, thinking it's a definite maybe.

"Yeah, I think so, too," Lea nodded her head in agreement.


The game of Tickle Tag went all over the Grant Mansion. From Sage diving over a bed to escape Megan from tickling him, to Lea hiding behind a curtain to avoid Summer. Nightlight, seeing that his human girl was getting to know some new friends, decided to sat near the window to chill and let Lea have her fun. The game had come to an end when Sage became it and was chasing Lea through the halls. However, what neither of them noticed, as they reached the top of the stairs, was a lump in the rug, causing Lea to trip and began to fall down.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed.

Sage, acting on instinct, shifted to his wolf form and ducked underneath Lea so she landed on his massive furry back, before leaping down the rest of the stairs to land safely at the bottom.

"Lea, you alright?" Sage asked, his voice slightly deeper in his wolf form.

"I...think so," Lea said, slowly processing on what just happened while looking down at a wolf with grey and white fur colors. "Sage?! Is that actually you?!"

Sage chuckled, as he wagged his tail. "Yeah, its me."

"No way!" Lea exclaimed in awe, already getting off to study him more. "Are you some kind of alien werewolf or hybrid mutant or something like that?!"

Sage laughed. "Quit thinking sci-fi horror fiction. My kind are known as Wolfbloods. We've lived among human kind since the first man lit the first fire."

Lea blushed sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck. "Ohhhh...Yeah, that makes much more sense. Sorry," she apologized, chuckling nervously.

Sage smiled, nuzzling her hand with his muzzle. "Hey, no hard feelings. I know I'm quite the sight."

"I'll say. I've seen crazier things before coming here, but this is beyond something else! And I mean it in a good way," Lea admitted, now petting Sage's soft head and back.

Sage smiled, leaning into the touch. "No harm done. I'm used to it. Though, I bet you have questions."

"Just a few. As a Wolfblood, what other abilities do you have? ...Besides shifting from human to wolf. Are there any more of you here, or other creatures that do what you do but differently? How long have you known you could do that?"

Sage chuckled. "That's a few?" he asked in a joking manor, before leading Lea to the nearby couches where they sat. Or, in Sage's case, laid on. "Well, Wolfbloods have many different skills. One that is the most common is summoning the wind when we howl or are in need of it. Wolfbloods are just one kind of breed of what you know as shapeshifters. There are others, like Foxbloods and Deerbloods. To the rarer, Tiger and Polarbloods. All shapeshifters can call on an element of nature, but it just depends on what you're born. As for how long I've known, well, I've known since I was very little. Most blood families tell their children as soon as they can understand. So, sometimes five years, sometimes older."

"Whoa. Incredible!" Lea said in amazement. "I'm guessing you also get to go see different things all the time, as a Wolfblood. Even go on many adventures."

Sage smiled. "The adventures kind of come to me. As for seeing amazing and different things, it basically comes with the territory, but I'm simply another college student of Staybrook, California."

Lea blinked on that last part. "Hang on. You mean to tell me that I'm somewhere in California? As in on the other side of the states away from New York?"

Sage smiled. "Well, yeah. Unless you're from an alternate universe New York."

"Oh, man. That snow globe took me half across the states to probably a different universe?! And I thought going to the North Pole meeting yetis and the Guardians was insane," Lea replied, bewildered while placing a left hand on her forehead.

Sage cocked his head. "Guardians? You mean the Guardians of Hope, Wonder, Fun, Memories, and Dreams?" Sage asked.

Lea quickly turned her head to Sage in shock. "You know the Guardians of Childhood, too?! Including Jack Frost!?"

Sage shrugged his fur shoulders. "Mom and my aunt, Rachel, met him a couple of times. Along with meeting the other Guardians once. Mostly, I've just heard the stories and read the books to the younger members of the family."

"Your mom and aunt really have met Jack Frost before?! That's beyond cool!" Lea replied with excitement, suddenly realizing something. "Sage, out of curiosity, do the books you read to the little ones here involving the Guardians happen to be written by the same author named M.G. Joyce?"

Sage cocked his head to the side again but nodded. "Yeah. Some of the kids think they're a little old fashioned, but they love hearing the stories before bed or nap time."

Lea faced her head forward, seriously lost in thought. Why would a not-so-famous author give away books to people on learning about the Guardians of Childhood while, at the same time, do the same involving the Grant Mansion? How could he possibly have known about everyone's history and write them as stories? And how does this connect to the snow globe she found at Kate's bookstore?

"Sage...have you or your family ever met the author personally? Where exactly did your family get these books?" Lea asked, still looking away from the Wolfblood.

Sage thought for a moment. "Well, as far as meeting the author, I'm not completely sure. As for where the books came from, my great uncles run a shelter for the homeless and got a donation of books. Aunt Rachel saw the titles and picked out the books for the Mansion."

"Well, this is gonna sound crazy, but back home where I live, there's a bookstore where I not only find tales involving the Guardians, but also stories involving the Grant Mansion," Lea explained. "And North told me once that no one on earth is supposed to know the real truth about the Guardians of Childhood. Including the background of how Jack Frost came to be."

Sage's tail twitched. "The Grant Mansion secret is supposed to be hidden, as well."

"Yeah, I figured. But I wouldn't worry too much about that. That book I read about your home never specifically said where it was. Not to mention that the bookstore I mentioned before isn't really famous nor known on the map where I live. And my best friend, Katherine, works there and told me the author only publishes his work there because he doesn't trust anyone in getting their hands on what he makes," Lea explained.

Sage's fur bristled. "Doesn't this sound a little fishy to you? I mean, there are so many questions in between those statements that need to be answered."

"I know. Even I'm still having a hard time understanding all of this. Along with the crazy the fact that some magic snow globe brought me here while I was reading the story book about the Grant Mansion at Kate's working desk she left wide open when going out for some emergency she had to take care of," Lea agreed, equally confused on the subject.

Sage's ears shot straight up. "Wait, did you say 'snow globe'?"

"Yes. A magic snow globe. Gold colored and didn't have anything inside," Lea answered, placing her hands on her face while running them down. "I get it. I sound like a crazy person. Even I wouldn't believe me."

Sage stood up, jumping off the couch. "Follow me."

A bit hesitant, Lea stood up and followed Sage.

The two went upstairs to the bedroom floor. Then, after a few halls, Sage stopped and looked up above at the attic entrance. Leaping up, Sage caught the rope with his teeth and pulled the stairs down. With ease, Sage leapt up the stairs and waited at the attic entrance for Lea.

The blonde-teen climbed up the stairs to find herself in a dusty old attic that's nearly as terrifying as the main entrance to the Grant Mansion itself. She saw many boxes stacked, a dusty old mattress, a full-length mirror, a circular window, some spider webs all over, and so on. It's like the attic was abandoned for hundreds or more years.

"Um, Sage? Any particular reason why we're in here?" Lea asked, having her face caught on a web and tried to get it out of her face. "GAH, GROSS! Pffft! Ew, ew, nasty! I think some of it went into my mouth!" she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Sage looked back at her. "There's something I need to show you," he said, before disappearing into the mountains of boxes.

After getting the webs off, Lea slowly tried following behind the giant mountains of boxes. She did her best not to knock any of them down. Otherwise, they will collapse on top of her with who knows how much they weigh in crushing the blonde-teen.

Sage disappeared around a corner for a minute, before returning slightly larger with something in his mouth. Gently, he offered it to Lea, who became shocked at the sight of what Sage had found.

It was the exact version of the magic snow globe Lea found at the Golden Goose Bookstore!

"This...this is unbelievable! That's the very same snow globe that got me here!" Lea exclaimed in utter disbelief. "Wha-how?!"

Sage shrugged. "I noticed it the last time I was helping mom and my aunt up here. They had no idea where it came from."

Lea looked at the snow globe again before looking at Sage. "Well, however it got here, this is my ticket back home. Thank you, Sage," she said, smiling before going down and hugging the Wolfblood in happiness.

Sage smiled, nuzzling her hair. "Your welcome. But do you know how to work that thing?"

"Of course...I don't," Lea answered, after hugging Sage. "I'm not even sure how I managed to make it work going from the Golden Goose bookstore to somewhere at a forest near the Grant Mansion."

"Hmmm…maybe my Uncle X can help," Sage said outloud while in careful thought.

"Okay...Who's Uncle X?" Lea asked, unsure of who and what Sage is talking about.

"Uncle X-or Alien X-is another one of the aliens that live here. He's also one of the most powerful ones. He could probably help with jumpstarting this transportation snow globe," Sage said, nudging the snow globe.

"How powerful are we talking here about you uncle?" Lea questioned, a bit weary on this.

"Well...let's just say that he's so powerful, that his kind are more often to not stay out of the way and have super strict rules about interfering with other species," Sage replied, as me moved to the hatch door.

Lea gulped. "Well, nobody said that this adventure would be easy."

Sage looked back at Lea. "Hey, don't worry. Uncle X maybe crazy strong, but he's as gentle as a wolf cub."

"If you say that he is, then I believe you. But I'm just gonna keep my distance and not antagonize your uncle, okay?" Lea replied, slowly walking forward anxiously. "Maybe I should get Nightlight."

Sage turned and nuzzled Lea. "Don't worry. Uncle X is great. You'll love him. Now, come on. He lives on the other side of the attic," Sage said, hopping down the hatch door.

Sighing, Lea followed along. She still became worried on what Alien X would look and be like. For all she knew, he could be scarier and possibly way more dangerous than the Boogie Man himself.

Reaching another hatch door, Sage sat underneath and gave a bark.

"Uncle X! Can we come up, please?" Sage asked.

Lea held on to the snow globe tightly to her chest, feeling goosebumps running down her skin.

The hatch glowed, for a moment, before the stairs dropped down.

"Come on up, Sage," a deep voice called.

Sage wagged his tail before jumping up the staircase.

Taking a deep breath and gently letting it out, Lea calmed down and continued following Sage.

"Hey, Uncle X," Sage said, trotting over to a star-like sky alien rubbing his head against his hand.

Alien X then looked at Lea, as she appeared from the floor below. "And who is this?"

Lea became amazed when seeing Alien X. He was not as terrifying as she had thought. He actually looked incredible. Alien X appeared as a humanoid-like alien with three horns on his forehead and green eyes. He was all black with white stars printed all over him and some white on his fingers.

"Whoa..." she muttered under her breath, unable to blink her wide eyes.

Sage chuckled. "This is Lea. Dad found her and brought her here."

"Again, not your dad who chased me around a snowy hill top. It was your other uncles that found and brought me here," Lea corrected. "Your father was the one who let me stay here."

"Ah, and I see you're not originally from here," Alien X said with a smile in his eyes, as he stroked Sage's neck.

"Well, no. I'm actually from New York," Lea explained honestly. "How I got here is a bit complicated. It's hard to understand."

"You traveled through a portal to another dimension. One that, in your world, is a book," Alien X said simply.

Lea dropped her jaw in disbelief, seriously not expecting that one.

"Yeah...How did you even manage to know and guess all of that right?" she asked, still utterly shocked.

"You have particles from the portal that you traveled through stuck to your clothes. Some of my species have traveled to your dimension to study it," Alien X said.

"So the snow globe brought me to a parallel universe? How is that even possibly? And why end up here of all places?" Lea questioned.

"Portals can happen when unknown energy is charged into an object, like a snow globe," Alien X explained.

"It still doesn't explain how and why I ended up near the Grant Mansion. I was at a bookstore to see a friend who works there, saw an opened book about this place, was reading it on the counter and then I heard a book fell that startled me and accidentally knocked over a snow globe next to the book that looks exactly like this one that created the portal bringing me here," Lea elaborated, lifting up the mini globe in her hands.

"Could be that the two crashes started a chain reaction that brought you here," Sage suggested.

"But that was all accidental. I wasn't expecting any of this. And I don't even know how this snow globe thing works or if it can take me home," Lea said, secretly getting frustrated on a few other unanswered questions in her mind.

"Getting you home would be a simple task for me to take you," Alien X said.

"You can actually do that?" Lea asked, slowly looking at the snow globe in her hands before back to the Celestialsapien.

"Yes, I can. But how about spending the day with us, first?" Alien X asked with a smile.

Lea couldn't help but smile at that. "I honestly don't have anything else to do for a bit. And it would be nice to know the Grant Mansion better. Along with the rest of the residents that live here before I leave soon. So, I don't see why not."

Sage smiled. "Great. I can give you the tour and you can ask as many questions as you like,"

"Of course. Maybe, if we still have time, I could tell you and the children that live here the story of how I met Jack Frost and the Guardians of Childhood," Lea recommended.

"They'd love that. We try to have a story time for the little ones before their naptime," Sage said, his tail thumping on the ground.

"Great. Also, what should I do with this?" Lea asked, holding up the snow globe in her hands.

"I can keep this up here where it will be safe until you're ready to go home," Alien X said with a smile in his eyes.

"Fair enough. Thanks, Alien X," Lea replied, handing the Celestialsapien the snow globe directly at his palmed starry white hand.

Alien X smiled. "You're welcome. I'll be up here most of the day so, when you're ready, I'll be here."

Lea nodded her head, already leaving with Sage.

"So, what do you want to know slash do first?" Sage asked, wagging his tail.

"Not sure. I'm fine with whatever you want to do," Lea replied happily.

"Well, how about I show you the pool and lounge?" Sage proposed.

"Sure. I would love to," Lea grinned at that.