Thedigimonbabe: Really??! ^_~ Check out my other fic if you have time! *winkz* I know…Kailee and Max…ahhhh, too many characters! X_X
Glowing Amber: This is late…;_; wasn't it? ;_;
~*~Prodigious girl*~*: Omg, you're back and you reviewed, omg, that shows just how LATE this chapter is! *sobz* I was soooo busy. Awww…too bad your trip wasn't that great, when I went on a trip to Ontario, the food wasn't great either. *wrinklez nose*
Phoenix-Ice: *laughz* That was exactly what I was thinking, lol! I'm sorry this is late, must've been keeping you waiting. ;_; Glad you like my fic, ^________^ so much!
kai_cutie_angel: Must…read…your…fic…I will when I have time. Ouch, time is a too short, I'll probably do it once I'm caught up on my updating and site updating and forum and stuff. ;_;
Tiny Lil Neko: Hiya! Latin words… I put in the English word on an online dictionary and press "Translate" and then BINGO! Lol! Thanx again!
Becs: I looooooooooove your picture! XD Glad to hear that I don't focus on Carly too much, lol! I don't mind criticism as long as there's like an explanation behind it, I mean, constructive criticism is one thing, just saying "It sux" is another. _ Thanx again for the picture! ^^
debbi-aura: I don't know much latin, so forgive me if you catch any mistakes there. X_X Glad you like it!
Hitawarilover: LOL, tonz of people love Kai, it's scary. O_O Glad you like my fic and my site!
bimbo_blonde: Oh, of course! ^______^ Tala's simply a genius, isn't he? ^____^
The Great Kuro Neko: He is! LOL, Tala's Kingdom has lots of birds??? I'll think about it, lol!
Terry: At least you can give me reasons to criticize it, you don't just say "this sucks" _ I didn't forget about the eggs. _ You're the 5th person to say that. *dies* Must make them hatch soon…About the attacks, X_X, actually, they're supposed to be level one attacks. When they defeat half of the kingdoms, they'll receive more power, but I'll keep your suggestions in mind, thank you!
Reicu: I hate seafood. ;_; Weird smell! ^^
Beyblader-grl: No kidding, I thought you abandoned me! ;_; Yeah, my site's redesigned, like it? ^^ BTW, I'm writing a one shot fic this weekend…and I'm dedicating it to you cuz you inspired me to write it! ^^ *zipz mouth* I won't say anymore! ^
Kagura: Keeper Of The Wind: O_o Yikes, you keep changing your name. I would read your fics, but I seriously do not like that woman, _ Hmmph, I like Legolas, he's gorgeous!
Elemental Water Mistress: This one took even longer. ;_; Sorry! Nooooo *shakez head* Carly's affections for Johnny are purely friendship, but let's not go the other way around! ^^
Britt: Me! I have too MANY projects, keeps me from updating! _
RBMIfan: COOL! I'm glad someone enjoyed the Cyber Tala shrine, I took soooooo many screenshots my hands were sore! ^^
dreamer-gurl3: I love military, well, what do you expect guys to do? Plant crops? XD
Emerald skies: Ah well, short review, took me a long time to update this time round. ;_;
whisper*2*imaginary: *glompz back* I LOVE Kane, *sighz* Dream……XD Thx about my website! ^^
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Chapter 36: Adventure-Bound
"I am SO starved!" Cassandra said, stuffing food into her mouth at an alarming rate, "Must...eat...something..."
"So how did it go with your guys?" Holly asked, pouring herself some juice, "We visited the Dark Mage again and she helped us rebuild the medical city in the Dark Kingdom."
"And I went to shape up Willow's army," Johnny bragged, "It was cool, commanding an army how to move, it was totally my thing."
"I wish Johnny would command my army," Willow added, "I really have no clue how to do it. I'll leave it up to the general there."
"Johnny," Carly said with a sense of fake sincerity, "Am I supposed to be pleased?"
"Okay," Johnny shot back, "What the hell did you do?"
"Well, I almost killed another jellyfish, but Kailee stopped me and it got away," Carly said.
"Carly, you are weird," Johnny said, shaking his head, "I meant, what do you do, as in something useful?"
"Oh, I helped rebuild the Water Palace," Carly said, "Cuz I didn't feel like going to the medical city."
"And I got Ray's army running up too," Hru added, sounding pleased with herself, "They're following a regular training routine too and plus I got the blacksmiths there developing new weapons. And plus, I took the city Kai wanted."
"Hmph," was all Kai said as he ladled some soup.
"Are we supposed to cheer for you?" Tala asked sourly.
Hru made a face at him from across the table, "And what happened to you? You look like you swallowed a whole lemon."
"Aw, don't mind him," Carly said brightly, "He's just mad at me because I wouldn't stop teasing him about the Water Mage. Since you were there to torment me, I figured I better take your place."
"Carly," Tala said warningly.
"What happened?" Hru asked eagerly, the plate in front of her forgotten.
"She kept on feeding him compliments," Carly said, grinning, "It was rather sickening to listen too, but I couldn't resist shoving my two cents in every minute." She copied the Water Mage's sweet and high voice, "Tala, you're SO brave and you SO skilled with your weapon. You'll make SUCH a good ruler...." Carly ducked as Tala's fist came flying towards her head.
"Carly!" Tala complained, "You promised you wouldn't tell!"
"Uh-uh," Carly shook her head as fast as she could, her ponytail flipping back and forth, "I never promised you nothing, you just assumed that I wouldn't tell!"
"I hate you," Tala said through clenched teeth as Hru was laughing at him.
"That's okay," Carly said, patting him on the back, "It'll pass. You can't hate me, I'm your best friend!"
Tala groaned and sank deeper in his chair, "Just shut up…"
"Oh, that reminds me," Willow said, "Ray, do you have any marble you can trade to my Kingdom."
"I think so," Ray said, "You can give me some strong metal in return, Hru made a list of all the weapons I should have in the weaponry."
"I love sea creatures," Kailee said dreamily, "They're so
beautiful, aren't they Kai?"
"Hmph."
"He's still ticked at me too," Hru said, grinning wickedly.
"You have some wheat and vegetables to export as well," Max told Ray, "I went into your storage room today."
"I have...mmmm....lots of seafood," Cassandra added, her mouth full.
"And Willow's healing city is blossoming with healing supplies and medicine," Holly put in.
Only Enrique said nothing, his mind was clearly elsewhere, on Aquana to be exact, and thinking about what he could do to get both his girlfriend and Carly to forgive him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day...
"Good morning," Enrique said sleepily, rubbing his eyes, "Sorry I'm late, I overslept."
There was a chorus of 'good mornings,' but Enrique noticed, with regret, that Carly ignored him completely.
"You missed our discussion," the Guardian told Enrique, "We're going to go to your Kingdom next."
Enrique's eyes flew open, "We are??? Cool!" Then his face fell, //What if Carly refuses to come at all?//
"The Psychic Kingdom is growing out of control," the Guardian told them, "You have to settle it down."
"We're on fire," Ray said, "We're getting way better at this."
"Be careful of the Psychic Kingdom, it's a tricky kingdom to cross and you must make sure your mind is focused," the Guardian said.
"I'm always focused," Carly scoffed, "Do I have to go?"
"Carly!" Johnny hissed, "We talked about this last night!"
Carly turned away, "Hmph!"
"Carly, don't you want to go and help your friend out?" the Guardian asked.
"You mean my ex-friend," Carly said dryly, "He's not my friend right now."
Enrique looked really miserable and he sat down, sulking.
"Quit it Carly," Holly hissed, "Now you're being too mean, Enrique has feelings too and you're being too harsh on him."
"That's my point, maybe he'll learn something then," Carly
said, "Yes, I am quite aware that Enrique has feelings, but he needs to learn
that other people's, especially Aquana's, feelings count too!"
"Hru, what are you doing?" Willow asked, frowning as Hru was pasting stuff in a
book.
"Doing my PROJECT!!!" Hru said loudly enough for Tala to hear, "Unlike SOMEONE I know."
Tala winced and smiled ruefully.
Kai elbowed him, "I think she was talking about you, you know."
"I know," Tala said with a slight smirk, "I guess I should do something."
"You mean you haven't done anything????" Kai asked, "Emily
doesn't leave me alone for one sec until I get all my stuff done."
"Well, I figured that I could always do it at the last minute," Tala replied,
"Guess she has other plans."
"Well, I, for one, want to get a decent mark," Hru snapped.
"We will, "Tala assured her, "I'll do my stuff, I promise."
"Like I'd believe your promises," Hru muttered, shoving her stuff away, "And don't watch me while I work, it's weird!"
"Gee, you two are going to blow up your project at this rate," Carly said, "Settle down, I'm sure Tala will do his stuff Hru, I mean, he did when I worked with him."
"Maybe he's scared of you," Hru muttered.
"I'm NOT scared of Carly!" Tala snapped.
"Can we go now?" Holly asked, "The longer we wait, the harder it is for us to win back the Kingdoms."
"I don't want to go," Hru mumbled, "My weakness is Psychic." //And what if I faint like Carly did and do something embarrassing like collapse into Tala or something?// Hru thought in disgust, //He's always there when I do something humiliating.// She glared as Tala flashed her an sweet innocent smile, his crystal blue eyes sparkling innocently.
Carly flipped her hair over her shoulder and ignored Enrique, "If we're going, let's get going. And somebody please make sure that Enrique is bright enough to read that map of his so he won't lead us all to the Underworld instead of the Psychic Palace."
"That's harsh," Kai whispered to Johnny, looking at Enrique as he slid down his chair, looking more miserable by the second.
"Yeah, when Carly bites, she bites!" Johnny said.
"I can read the map..." Enrique said quietly, not looking at Carly, his normal upbeat face sullen and hurt.
"Yeah, I'll be praying," Carly snapped, her voice rude and mean, "You probably can't find your way outta a cardboard box! Are we going to go or not????"
"Yes, we should get going, while the Psychic Kingdom is still stable," the Guardian said, "Hru, you do realize that this element is your weakness, do you?"
"Uh-huh," Hru muttered darkly, the idea not appealing to her, "I know, I know."
"Since technology is so advanced here, I've managed to start making a resistant device that'll lessen the effect of your weaknesses," the Guardian said.
Hru perked up, her face brightened, "Really?? You mean I won't faint like Carly did?"
"Thanks a WHOLE lot for reminding me," Carly said icily, glaring, "I just feel so much healthier now, don't I?"
"Ooops," Hru covered her mouth, "I didn't mean it."
"I've only started making it," the Guardian warned, "It still needs much improvising and testing, I'm hoping to allow the cancellation of your weaknesses, but I still need more time. In the meantime, you'll have to live with it."
"I'll be fine with what you have," Hru said, "Besides, Carly made it out alive."
Both Johnny and Carly glared at Hru this time
Hru covered her mouth again, smiling sheepishly, "Ooops, my bad, forgot that you two were sensitive to the subject."
"Of course, I'm alive," Carly muttered, "Who else is going to fix Enrique's head except for me????" Johnny cursed quietly to himself.
The Guardian took a small potion and dipped a small bit into a cup, "Drink this Hru."
Hru raised her eyebrow and stared at the murky liquid, "Ummmm...ew. Gross."
Behind her Tala laughed out loud, he seemed to be quite amused with the situation.
Hru glared at him and shoved it under his face, "You drink it then!!!! You good for nothing JERK!!!!"
Tala smirked, meeting her eyes with his unfaltering gaze, "Maybe when we go to the Ice Kingdom I will, but right now I'll just watch you enjoy your drink."
Hru fumed, steam coming out of her ears, "Why you, if you don't have your mouth closed, I would've have dumped this stuff down your throat!!!!!"
Tala shrugged, "Would you rather faint in the Psychic Kingdom???"
Hru hated to admit it, but Tala was right, she was trapped between two choices, neither of which she fancied. "Oh all right, I'm drink this disgusting liquid."
Tala grinned, knowing he won the argument. "Don't choke." He said as Hru lifted the cup.
Hru quickly slammed the cup back down and rounded him angrily, "Don't you EVER shut up!!!!"
Tala smiled at her lazily, "Just a warning."
Hru rolled her eyes and dumped the contents of the cup down her throat before Tala or anyone else could taunt her any further. "Yuck," Hru shuddered as a slimy feeling crawled over her skin.
"Now you're ready to go," the Guardian said, "Yes?"
Enrique stood up sulkily, "Yeah."
"Do brighten up young lad," the Guardian said, "You won't get far with that attitude."
Johnny pinched Carly's arm as she opened her mouth, most likely to spit out a fresh insult. Carly yelped and whacked Johnny on the head accidentally in her surprise.
"OW! Curse Carly," Johnny said in fury, "One day you're going to give me brain damage!"
Carly immediately became defensive, "It's not my fault that you pinched me, you had it coming."
"Cut it out with the insults," Johnny hissed, "Before you drive Enrique to tears or something, the guy's already lost what little self-esteem that he had before."
"That's the point!" Carly shot back, "Maybe this will toughen him up a bit!"
"Remember to keep your willpower strong," the Guardian said, spinning her staff in the air, "Otherwise you are easy prey for the Psychic powers. Good luck." With a flash of light, they vanished.
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"How come the sun is NEVER up in these places?" Hru demanded, "How can anything GROW???"
"Not to mention that the place always looks like it came right out of the junkyard!" Carly added.
The Psychic Kingdom was even more barren than the Fire and Dark Kingdom. There was no trees or plants whatsoever, just a lot of rolling hills and wastelands. Up ahead, they could see a weird glowing area.
"What the hell is that?" Johnny asked, frowning, "Don't tell they decided to install street lights."
Enrique peered at his map, "Well, we're heading in that direction...I think."
"Are you sure?" Holly asked, worried that Carly might spit something out.
"Uh-huh," Enrique nodded, looking miserably at his former best friend.
"Can you feel it?" Willow asked them, "The atmosphere is different. I think the air is different too, everything's different."
"Yeah, you're right," Carly said, "Feels spooky, oh well, let's keep walking. Hru, how do you feel?"
"Okay," Hru wrinkled her nose, "I can still taste that potion, it's gross." She flinched as Tala chuckled behind her.
"Well, let us know if you feel sick," Carly said, shrugging, "Don't strain, you don't wanna faint like ME!" She still looked ticked every time that subject came up.
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They walked for a while until they reached the glowing area, surprisingly no monsters jumped out on them or anything, there was NOTHING.
"I'm beginning to think this place is deserted," Kai remarked, crossing his arms, "I don't get it, how can a place like this be gaining power when there's nothing. I thought it's be swarming with monsters or something!"
"LOOK!" Ray called, staring at the glowing area, "This is wild!"
They all joined Ray at the top of a cliff and looked down at the orange glowing area that seemed to stretch on forever. The orange area was a grid with transparent tiles. The whole thing seemed like it was transparent and it was glowing really brightly as well.
"Looks like the inside of digital data," Cassandra remarked, "Too bad I can't take a chunk of it back to bribe Kenny into doing whatever I want for our project!"
Tala's eyes grew round, "Wow...that's amazing."
As Hru got close, she felt a strong blast of psychic energy and she winced, nearly stumbling into Tala, "Whoa..."
"You okay?" Tala asked, looking concerned, he seemed to
have forgotten about their little quarrel before.
"Yeah," Hru gasped, as Tala held her arm to steady her, "Fine, I just felt the
psychic force and it was a bit overwhelming, that's all."
"So that's all psychic power?" Carly said, looking down with a strange look on her face, "Hmm...I never thought that psychic could gather in one place like this."
"That's it!" Kai said, punching his hand with his fist, "That's it!"
Holly looked at him, "What is? You look like you just won a boxing match."
Kai looked embarrassed, "Oh, sorry. It's just that wow the Psychic Kingdom is gaining power, it's all right down there!" he said triumphantly.
Enrique frowned, "I think we've lost you."
"Try speaking plain English," Hru said, not noticing that Tala still had his grasp on her wrist.
"That weird orange area down there is Psychic powers, right?" Kai said, "That's why they don't need any monsters here, the land is full of Psychic energy! They're covering the whole Kingdom with Psychic energy, there are probably no monsters here at all except for the Psychic Warlock himself!"
"Hey," Cassandra said, whistling, "You can give Kenny a run for his money."
"Nice work Kai," Johnny said, grinning, "That's a great theory."
"He's probably right," Holly said, "Otherwise why would this land be so bare?"
Only Carly seemed unimpressed, "Beautiful Kai, couldn't have done it better myself, that's awesome and all, knowing the details, but the real prize is figuring out how to stop it. Not to mention figuring out how to cross this giant grid thingy."
"Trust you to rain on my parade," Kai said, sighing, "She's right though, we had better get going."
"It's called a Force Field," Enrique informed them, "It's extremely high in Psychic energy."
They made their way down to the orange glowing grid and stopped right before it.
Hru shielded her face, "Gosh, the feeling's as strong as ever, it's getting hard to breathe."
"She's right," Kailee whimpered, "I can't breathe very well Kai and I don't have any weaknesses!"
"It's the pressure," Tala said, "Too much energy in one place causes too much pressure."
Carly pointed across, "Can we walk on it? It looks like we'd fall right through!"
Johnny cautiously took a step forward and stood on the transparent tile, "It's safe, it's solid even though you can't see it."
"I suppose we should get going," Kai said, "It's a long way across."
"The Psychic Sanctuary is on the other side!" Enrique said, "Let's go."
They all stepped on the tiles and started walking very carefully as if the tiles would give away any minute to dreading blackness, the orange glow covered them up as they ventured deeper.
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WOW! Over 20 reviews, that's the most I got yet! ^^ *hugz all my reviewers* Thank you! Maybe I should update later next time, j/k! ^^ However, I regret to say that I'm moving my updates for this fic to once a week now, I've got too much homework lately to keep up. But don't worry, I'm not abandoning it! ^^ Read my other fantasy fic if you like, it's my best yet! ^^ I FINALLY FINISHED MY HECTIC PHYSICS PROJECT!!!!!!! *dies* Anyways, on an awesome note here, my friend Becca drew me a picture of the girls in Fantasy Dreams and it's beyond good! ^^ I think Willow and Holly look exactly like how I pictured them to look! ^^ So take a look guys, the link's on my profile! ^^ Review…and enjoy!