A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry this is a little late. I was so tired yesterday I didn't wake up until almost noon! Anyway, here it is; I hope you like it. Please review and let me know.

We left the nest day. I bought each of us plane tickets and we boarded early in the morning.

We landed a while later in Washington, D.C. we walked to an apartment complex and climbed up to the third floor. I knocked on door #23, holding my breath. The door opened, revealing a tall young man with blonde hair and blue eyes.

I squealed and threw my arms around his nice. He froze and pulled back just enough to look at my face. His eyes filled with tears, and he jerked my back into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Rayleen," he whispered in my ear, "I thought I would never see you again." He pulled back and kissed me.

We would have kept kissing all day, but I remembered that we had an audience. I ended the kiss and turned to Steven and Casey.

"Kale—," I began.

"I'm Kyle here," he interrupted.

I smiled at him. "Kyle," I tried again, "this is Steven, whose family adopted me; and Casey, his best friend."

"Pleasure to meet you," Kyle said politely.

"Hi," Steven and Casey said at the same time, Casey a little stiffly.

Kyle's eyebrows went up at Casey's tone. He glanced at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Kyle, do you know what happened to your father?" I inquired.

"Yes. He actually stopped by not too long ago."

"Was he alright?" I asked excitedly.

"He was just fine, but he was really angry," he replied. "Apparently, Excalibur was stolen again."

"What about Merlin?" I asked hopefully.

"He died," Kyle reported sadly.

"Oh," I sighed, disappointed. "Does your father know who took Excalibur this time?"

"Melvin Matroon, again," he groaned.

I sighed again. "Well, this will be just like old times then." He stared at me. "What, do you actually think that I'm going to let old Matroon get the better of me? No! I'm going to find Excalibur, just like we did over a thousand years ago."

"But it could be anywhere," Steven stated.

"I know. To find it, we have to find the king; and I always know where the king is."

"Then where is he?" Casey challenged.

"For some reason, the great King Arthur decided to go to Disneyland."

They all burst out laughing, while Kyle said, "Well, I guess we'd better set out if we want to get there before Matroon does."

We left before dawn the next morning, dragging along Steven and Casey, who were still half asleep. We arrived in California in no time and travelled to Disneyland to locate the king. We found him easily and had a talk about Matroon.

"He'll be here in a few days," the king reminded us.

"Father," Kyle began, "how can Rayleen—sorry, Katie—tell where you are all the time?"

"Well," the king replied, "Merlin told me it was because she connected to Excalibur when her father sent her to the castle to give it to me. When I acquired the blade, I, too, connected to it. Therefore, Katie and I are connected through the sword."

"How do you connect to a sword?" Steven asked, puzzled.

"Months of physical contact," I replied before the king could. "For me, it was carrying it for eight weeks on my way to Camelot to deliver it to the king. For him, it was using it in battle after battle for many months. Any person can connect to a sword by always using it; it just normally takes about six years. It didn't take as long with Excalibur because it's an . . . unusual sword."

"Astonishing!" the king exclaimed. "She is almost as wise as Merlin!"

"If it please the king, he might have already told you, but Merlin helped raise me."

Steven, Casey, and Kyle stared at me in wonder.

"He helped raise you?" Steven asked me.

"He was my grandfather."