Disclaimer: Duh. It's not mine. It's called "fanfiction" for a reason. Someone else made it up, and I'm just writing about it. Again, duh. Does someone really check every single chapter of every single story of every single author on this site? That's got to be in the millions of things to check. Okay, now that I'm done with my little rant, you can read this new chapter!

Chapter 2

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the heat. It was much hotter than it had been, but much less humid. I was lying on a patch of grass, under a small tree. There was a clear building that appeared to be some kind of cafe. I did not recognize this place. I did not know were I was, but I was definitely not in Corus anymore. Had Henri and his gang taken me some where else?

The people in the cafe were all strangely dressed. They were getting some kind of concoction from a very busy, brown haired girl behind a counter. No one was sitting at the small tables in the building, rather they were getting their treat, exiting the building, and getting into strange carriages that made an awful noise and moved without horses or any other visible means. I stood up and noticed two things. One, I was not wearing my clothes anymore. I had been wearing clothes that would keep me as comfortable as possible in the heat: thin tan breeches, loose cream colored shirt, and comfortable boots. Now I was wearing dark blue, stiff breaches, a white shirt, and black shoes, the likes of which I had never seen before. The other was that my head hurt so bad that it was making me dizzy. I started to panic. I was not only in a strange place, but I was also injured. What had happened?

I looked around, searching for something familiar. There was nothing. Across a street with many of the fast moving carriages, there was what looked like a shopping center, but nobody leaving the shops had packages. To the other side, across a lot with many of the vehicles stationary in it, was another, larger shopping center. The biggest shop had a sign that said "Von's" in large red letters. At least the language was the same, though who Von was I had no idea. The cafe was called Baskin' Robins.

I had to sit down, or I would fall down. There was a table by the door of the cafe. Every time the door opened, a blast of cold air hit me. I sat on the bench that was attached to it, and put my head in my hands. Where was I, and why wasn't I in Corus? So many questions were running through my head, that I was startled when something nearby made a loud noise. I looked up to see what it was. One of the strange carriages had stopped right next to the table. Two girls got out, deep in conversation about something. I caught some of what they were saying. I heard my parent's names. I realized they were talking about what their son would look like. Why would they talk about something like that? It would be very easy to find out.

One of the girls was tall and had long auburn hair. She was wearing brown breeches that went halfway down her calf and a black shirt. The other girl was short, wearing breeches that didn't even reach her knees. She had... wait, I must be hallucinating. She couldn't have blue hair. These girls' parents must be ashamed to let their girls out in public dressed like this. The taller girl got two books out of the back of the carriage, smacking her head on the edge of the door frame. One of the books was titled the Tamora Pierce Files. I couldn't see the title of the other.

The girls shut the doors of the carriage and started walking to the door of the cafe.

They didn't get very far. The taller girl tripped on a rise of several inches. Her books

went flying as she tried to catch herself. I started to stand up, but then I realized that the girl couldn't be hurt, she was laughing too hard.

"Nice, Rhia." the blonde girl said, picking up the books. "Next time watch where you're going."

"Ha ha, very funny." Rhia said. "Where's my shoe?" She found it and put it on, still sitting on the ground. "Help me up."

The two girls managed to get to the door without anymore accidents. Neither one saw me sitting by the door. They went to the counter and got something in bowls from the girl behind the counter, who I now noticed was wearing a name tag that said "Sarah." They didn't leave, but sat at a table near the door. Rhia sat with her back to me. Her friend sat across from her. I went into the shop and went to the counter. It was made of glass. I realized that the clear stuff the walls were made of was also glass. Whoever made them was very talented, I had never seen such clear glass before, and so much of it!

Behind the counter there was about twenty buckets, filled with brightly colored stuff. Sarah didn't look at me, but was talking to the girls behind me. "I've always thought he should look like Orlando Bloom."

The board behind Sarah told me that the shop sold something called "ice-cream." That must be what was in the buckets. The prices were in a currency I didn't recognize, so I wasn't sure, exactly, how much it cost. And who was Orlando Bloom? "Excuse me, I would like some ice-cream." I said to Sarah.

Rhia said "That's what I think, but Carra, here, doesn't think so."

"What flavor, one or two scoops, cup or cone?" Sarah said to me. To Carra, she said " so what do you think he would look like?"

I found a bucket with plain white ice-cream in it. "I would like that one, one scoop, in a cup."

"I think he should have blue-gray eyes, like Diane, and a long nose like Numair. Orlando doesn't have either." Carra answered.

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Rhia said. "Kids don't always have to look like their parents."

Kids? They weren't talking about goats. Sarah gave me a cup with a ball of ice-cream in it. "A dollar fifty, please."

"Will this cover it?" I handed her a gold noble. Sarah got a strange look on her face as she examined the coin. Her lips formed the words "Tortall" and "One Noble" that were inscribed around the edge. She flipped it over and saw the faces and names of King Jonathan and Queen Thayet. "Rhia, Carra, look at this." Sarah tossed them the coin and looked at me for the first time. Her eyes widened in surprise, as if she knew me, but hadn't seen me in a very long time. Her scrutiny made me uncomfortable, so I turned to Rhia and Carra. Carra was examining the noble. Rhia, however, was looking at me with the greenest pair of eyes I has ever seen, greener even then Sir Nealan's.

"Where did you get that noble?" Rhia asked me.

"That is the currency used in Tortall."
"I know that, but Tortall doesn't exist. Where did you get it?"

"Tortall does exist, I live there. I got that there. Do you want to see more?" I pulled my money bag out of my pocket and handed it to Rhia. Where are we? Whereare we?"

By then Sarah and Carra were staring at me, as well. "This is Ridgecrest, California. It is June 14, 2004. Tortall does not exist." Carra answered.

"Then how am I supposed to get back home?" I panicked. This was bad. Very, very bad.

"Back to the looney bin, you mean?" asked Rhia.

"Very funny. I am just as sane as you are."

"Oh, not very then." Quipped Rhia, ducking the paper napkin Rhia threw at her. "So, who are you?"

"I am Myles Salmalin. Numaier Salmalin and Daine Sarrasri are my parents."