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ADAM

My bags were packed and waiting on my bed. I was waiting for Ashley to arrive. As first I wanted her to come. Then I realized that she would be in danger. And when I told her this, she refused to stay home and wanted to come to be with me. I couldn't say no

Sigh

As soon as we were ready, we would be transported to the battle grounds for this war. And I had wondered why Crayak couldn't accept defeat. He had lost the Lasterol Stone battle and he had lost the maze game

I remembered how we defeated him. I had morphed into an alien and flew into his ear when he was a gigantic dragon. I had fired acid onto his brain, causing him to submit and lose the game. So why now was he back?

"Adam, Ashley's here," called Mom

I raced down the stairs and met her, as she put her bag down and looked around. I went to her and embraced her

"So, you ready for this?" I asked

"Oh yeah"

"You might get hurt"

She smiled and looked up at me

"But I'll be with you, so it'll be worth the risk"

"Hey Adam, you ready?" asked Dad

"Ready when you are," I answered

"Leah, Tori, come on, let's go"

My sisters came down the stairs, both carrying their cases. Mom came down after them, with her and Dad's case, so I went and brought mine down

"So far as I know, Jake and Cassie are already there, along with Ax, so come on, let's go," said Dad

We all joined him, surrounded by our suitcases, waiting to be taken over

"Ellimist, we're coming too, so take us now," said Dad

Nothing happened; there was no flash or anything

But we were suddenly in a large grand hall. Like we had entered a mansion. There were two sets of winding stairs leading to the second floor. Under the stairs were double doors leading to a room. It may seem like an ordinary mansion, but we knew better. We had arrived at the fortress

"Alright, go and find your rooms," said Mom

Leah, Tori, Ashley and I went up the stairs and went through the door on our right and entered the wing. There were six doors on the right hand side and four large windows on the left. I went to the closest door and knocked

Sam answered the door and smiled when he saw me

"Hey bro, just arrived have you?"

"Yeah"

"John's next door, so the other four rooms are available"

"Where are your parents staying?" asked Leah

"In the left wing. Rooms for everyone, including Ax"

"There's a room with grass for Ax?" repeated Leah

"And a running stream," Sam added

"Oookay then," said Leah

She left, followed by Tori. Ashley and I entered Sam's room to have a look. Against one wall, he had a queen-size bed, while on the other side was a desk. A large cupboard and a chest-of-draws were on the far wall. And above the chest-of-draws was a French glass window

"Cool, dude, cool," I said, "I'll go and check out my room"

"No worries. Catch up with you soon"

I grinned and left, followed by Ashley. We went into the last room and dumped the bags on the bed. Ashley sat down, as I set about unpacking the bags and storing the clothes away

"It's not bad so far," said Ashley, "wonder what the rest of the place is like"

"After we unpack, we'll go and have a look, shall we?" I said

She nodded and helped me unpack; putting all the clothes we had for the next two weeks away in the cupboard, before leaving the room and heading out for a look around

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CASSIE

I looked up as Rachel and Tobias entered the room, followed by Ax. We were in the living room, which had five large couches and a large coffee table. Jake was at the coffee table, having a look at the map of the area he had found

"Hey guys, glad you could come," I greeted

"Cassie, I've been wanting to catch up you, but haven't had the chance," said Rachel, "so how about this to catch up in?"

The doors opened and in swaggered Marco, along with his wife Melissa, who was holding Damien. Made me remember about Sam and John when they were babies

"Howdy all, thought we'd drop in for mayhem"

He and Ax joined Jake and Tobias around the map, as Melissa came over

"Seems all too grand for a fortress," she said

"It's probably so we can live comfortably while we're fighting," I said

"Yeah, live well so we can die well," said Rachel, "makes it all too new"

"So is everyone settled?" I asked

"Kevin's in our room, he's unpacking his stuff," answered Melissa

Damien was sucking on her finger, so she went away

"Boy and girls are in," said Rachel, "so is the girlfriend. Adam thought about not bringing her so she wouldn't be in danger, but she refused"

"Could it be love blinding her?" I asked

"Don't know. Ashley's a good girl. She's perfect for him"

"Sam isn't interest in girls at the moment. He's busy with college"

"When this is over, let's hope he gets that degree"

"Hell yeah"

"So, let's go and see what the guys are up to"

"Taking a look at the map to plan battles"

"Already? Let's go, come on"

She dragged me over to the men and sat me down, before sitting next to Tobias

"What's happening?" she asked

"Just taking a look at the structure of the area," answered Jake, "you know, see all the advantage points and all"

(I wonder how the Yeerks can fight in this war, unless they have ships) said Ax

"And the Howlers, don't forget the Howlers," said Marco, "those guys can mince us"

"Yeah, I'm confused about them. Thought Crayak would've destroyed them," said Jake

"Maybe he destroyed them all and then recreated them," suggested Rachel

"That would sound like Crayak," said Tobias

The double doors burst opened, as Adam, Sam, Ashley and Leah came in. They came over and sat down, looking around

"We thought we'd look around, but you're here, so we're here," said Sam

"You know Sam, this is nothing like you've faced before," said Jake

"Yeah, but I have faced Crayak and we've kicked his butt, hey bro"

"Righto," said Adam, "he ran after we sent him running"

"Adam, how about you tell us all about you guys and Crayak," said Rachel

"Okay then. Crayak placed Earth in a different reality and only we weren't affected"

"Wouldn't we have remembered it then?" I asked

"Nope, the Ellimist altered your memories so you wouldn't," answered Leah, "he told you that"

(That sounds like the Ellimist) said Ax (Meddles, but says he doesn't)

"He gave me my human self back," countered Tobias

"Hello? Story that you want to know, right here," said Adam

"Continue," said Jake

"Wait, what exactly did we do in this altered reality?" interrupted Rachel

"You and Dad were acting all weird and dancing around like you were in the 30's"

"Rachel, please, can they tell us the story?" I asked

She folded her arms and leaned back against Tobias' arm

"The Ellimist gave us an offer: play a game in a maze against creatures and if we survived, Earth would be saved," continued Adam, "but we got to the end and Crayak wanted to fight us, so we did and we beat him twice, so we won. End of story"

"So you know about Crayak's powers?" asked Marco

"He was a gigantic half-Andalite, half-Taxxon like creature," started Sam

(What!)

"Then he was a massive black dragon," finished Leah

The doors swung open again and in came John, Tori and Kevin

"Hey, hey, we're here," said John

Jake looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders

"Alright, let's begin these plans," he said

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