Author's Note: Welcome to the Director's Cut of Chronicles of Life and Death: Lands of Discovery. I can honestly say the Director's Cut will contain more sensitive material then the original. Because of it's Restricted rating, I will be able to delve deeper into relashionships and other material that really is hard to deal with in a PG or PG-13 story. I offer you this warning: The following story is rated "R" forModerate Language, Violence, Sensuality (Like Sexual Situations) and in some cases, more dark and sinister story lines. I can tell you that everything in bold is what was not in what I will be referring to as the Original Release, so if you are very familiar with the OR, you can just skip to the bold parts. Some people will preferthe "OR" more than the "DC." I expect this to happen, because you gain more story, but also more questionable material. For example, in this chapter, Kit and Elektra are already kissing on the couch. Nothing major, and kinda moving fast, but it also alerts you to the fact that they've been friends forever and maybe they're becoming more. Enjoy!

Chapter One

The Darker Side

The sun was setting on another cool day. A fire was burning in every house in the town of Haven City. Each and every quaint cottage was warm and toasty. The people inside were snuggled up on large chairs before the fire, reading a good book. It seemed like the perfect place to be.

But out in the cold, on the brightly lit, paved streets, it was different world. Light, feathery snow fell onto every surface. The roads were slick. As one particular car came down Grand Street, it was obvious that it was in a rush. As the fresh snow crunched underneath, as the red sports car came to halt in a flurry of snow before a large mansion.

Opening the door, he heard a clunk as the curb suddenly chipped the red paint away. The man inside pushed open the door and got out of the low opening. Shoving the door closed behind him, He called, "Oh shit!" He stepped over the piles of snow along the curb and up to the gate that blocked the road up to the large, white house. He was far from old, probably new out of college. His dark black hair was messed up and scraggily. He scratched his small dark beard. He had been trying to grow a beard as long as he could remember, and the dark, short, scraggily hair was something he treasured.

A small box was secured to the side of one of the brick posts that supported the gate. He walked up to the box, crunching snow under his feet, and pushed the small red button. A beep resounded from the box and a deep voice said, "Can I help you?"

"Hey, Stavros." The man said, familiar with the name of the man. "I'm here to see Elektra." The gates opened wide, plowing the now out of their path as they moved inward, quickly shutting behind him.

With a huff, he stepped over each of the mounds of snow and up the walk to the large, column-ridden porch. Something on the ground caught his eye. He bent down and picked it up, looking it over. As soon as he had read whatever was on the ground, he pounded on the door and waited. A minute later, the door opened and a woman stood inside, about his age. She had long, dark wavy hair. Her eyes were bright green and shone in the moonlight.

"Hey." He said. "Wazzup?"

She looked at her feet. "Not much. How 'bout you?" She glanced up at him and smiled. He stood, breathing as his breath made puffy clouds fly into the air.

"It's, uh… It's kinda cold out here."

The girl blinked and laughed. "Oh, sorry." She opened the door wider and let him in, stepping aside. They stood in the living room. "So… Kit. What brings you here?"

He reached into the pocket of his hoody, pulling out a piece of folded up paper. "Actually, it's who." He unfolded it. "Uh. Maybe we should sit down."

"Sure, sure." She said, gesturing towards the red velvet couch that sat in the large room, whose color scheme was red and gold. "So, whatcha got?" She asked.

"I actually came here to show you something… Well... I got this in the mail." He showed her the paper. It was map, a bit yellowed and ripped along the edges, as if it's travel conditions had been brutal. She looked at it.

"What is it?" She asked, looking over it.

"Well, it's a map. The letter's return address was marked as being from 'The Magic Kingdom.' I don't know what the hell it is, but…" They looked over the map together. One long road lead from the bottom of the map up to the middle, and there, in the middle was a large castle. A drawbridge, a moat, and even light blue and gold towers against the white façade. It really was a castle.

The map showed the moat as it branched off to the southwest and began twisting into a series of rivers. The areas around the map were all very different. The one near was river was like a jungle. One was a desert, one a circus and one as like a futuristic city.

"What does it mean?" Elektra asked, puzzled.

"Well. Like I said, I only came to show you mine but…" Kit sighed and looked her in the eyes. "I think whatever this place is in trouble. I thought maybe you could help me protect it."

She smiled. "What?" She half-said, half-laughed. "Is this some kind of a joke? Why me? Who would choose me to go to a magic somethin'?"

"I don't know," he said, holding up an envelope in much the same condition as the map, "but whoever it, they want you, too."

Inscribed in script on the envelope was written:

Miss Elektra Natchios

1 Grand Boulevard

Haven City, New York

"That was on your front porch." He said, "Same as mine." She snatched it from his hands and looked at him.

"But where is this place?" She cried, sounding a but worried now.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that we gotta find out. What if whoever these people are need help? Are you with me?" He looked at her. She stared into his eyes, questioningly. He moved forward, towards her on the couch. With a gentle, swift movement, he took her lips into his mouth. She moaned from the bottom of her throat. He released her mouth, making her groan.

Without looking away from him, she called, "Dad?"

"Yes?" A voice echoed from within the large building.

"Me and Kit are goin' out!"

The voice replied, "Alright dear. Do you need a limo?"

"No!" She called. "… We need a plane."

He smiled at her, with a half smile. "So... a big... Dark... Empty plane."

"Is that all you think about? Oh my God, I hate men."

They both laughed.