Chapter 5: Okay, So Maybe Some Explanations Aren't That Boring

Andy and Tedder turned their bikes onto Jill's street, still bickering.

"Why am I doing this? I'm lazy!"

"Shut up, Tedder!" And that ended the argument (See? I told you they'd stop as soon as they got to Jill's street. I'm so smart). Andy was looking at Jill's house (bikes move fast enough that he'd probably be able to see it by now, and if not, there are three people standing in front of it, so he'd at least be able to see them).

"Hey, Tedder, who is that with Jill?"

"That's Adrienne, you idiot."

"I know that, but I was talking about the guy."

"What guy?"

"He's standing right there, Tedder."

"Oh! I see him now. Do you know who it is?"

"If I knew who he was, would I have asked you?"

"Oh, yeah! You did ask me, didn't you?"

"God, Tedder. You have the mental capacity of a 2 year old."

"I do not! I have the kapastity of a 6 year old."

Andy rolled his eyes. "You can't even pronounce it correctly. Well, I guess we might as well go talk to Jill and find out who that dude is." He raised his voice a bit so Jill could hear him. "Hallo, Jill."

Jill, who had been about to say something to the man, turned and looked at Andy and Tedder, clearly very surprised.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"We came to see what you were doing." He caught sight of Adrienne, who was still dancing and la-la-ing. "Oh, god. What's wrong with her this time?"

"She decided to become Elizabeth, and I had to fix that on account of our friend here." She indicated the strange man standing next to her.

"Oh, yeah," Andy said. "I was going to ask you about him, but I forgot until just now. ADD." He shrugged apologetically. "Anyhow, who is he?"

"His name is Silk."

Andy started. "Hey! Isn't that the name of that one dude from—"

Jill nodded. "Belgariad/Malloreon. Silk the spy."

Andy looked at the man, then turned back to Jill. "But how…?"

Jill shook her head. "it's complicated. I don't even know exactly how he got here, and, all things considered, I'm not entirely sure that I'd understand it even if I did know."

Suddenly Jill noticed something odd. Tedder hadn't said anything yet.

"Hey, Andy, where's Chedward?"

The three of them (Andy, Silk, and Jill) turned to look for Tedder. It only took a moment. Tedder and Adrienne were dancing around in circles together, both of them la-la-ing (and yes, this really does happen sometimes. I have such an interesting group of friends, don't I?).

"God," said Jill. "they're acting like kids."

"Yes," Silk said. "Just like a pack of kids."

Jill turned to look at Andy and both of them burst into gales of hysterical laughter. Silk sighed and said, "Just like a bunch of kids."

Jill and Andy laughed even harder.

(I can pretty much guarantee that you won't understand that whole laughing bit unless you either 1: have now or had Kosik for 10th grade English, or 2: have seen fit for some unknown reason to read The Lord of the Flies at some point in your otherwise not-to-exciting-life.)

………………………………………………………………………………...

Stephanie Anne Leger was only slightly confused as she got into the front seat of her car. Jill was usually confusing, which, if you know her, means that you're confused when she's not being confusing. This can be a very confusing concept, however, confusing though it may be, it makes perfect sense to those who are not confused by Jill's confusing-ness, and are only confused by Jill being un-confusing.

All Stephi knew was that Master had called and asked, no, ordered her to poof directly over to Jill's house. This was fine with Stephi, since she hadn't seen anyone all summer (wow. 2 ½ weeks. Such a long time). She was also glad to get out of her house and away from her brothers. She looked happily out the window as her mom turned the car onto school road.

………………………………………………………………………………...

When all the la-la-ing and dancing had been completed and Jill had finally managed to get Adie's attention, she suggested that they move down into the woods to avoid people staring (the house is a mess, so there's no point in going inside). Adrienne, Andy, and Silk immediately agreed, but Tedder declared that she was too lazy to walk down there and promptly collapsed in Jill's front yard. Jill rolled her eyes, then led the others down into the woods.

"So, let me get this straight," Silk said after a few moments of discussion. "I've been transported to your world from mine by some magical force?"

"Yep," said Jill. "It's happened before, just with different people from different worlds."

"And now you guys want to help me find some way to get back?"

"Of course we do," Adie said.

"Why?"

"Dude, we're helping you out, so just accept our help and let it drop," Jill said. Once again, Silk gave her a hard look.

"Okay, okay. Look, this is going to be hard for you to understand, but I'm asking you to just go with it, alright?"

"Alright."

"We know everything about you. Absolutely everything, including some things that probably haven't happened yet. But it's not just you. We know everything about everyone; Polgara, Belgarath, Garion, Hettar, and all the others. Everything about everyone, including the life stories of Polgara and Belgarath. We know who you all are, and who you will all become. We also know the importance of your missions, and, assuming that certain things still need to happen, you have to get back to your world or else the mission will fail."

Silk blinked in surprise. "Am I really that important!"

"Yes," Adie said, "you are. Now before we can help you, you need to tell us exactly what's been happening to you and where you were. We need to know what you guys have been doing so we can figure out how to get you back to your world."

Silk looked at her suspiciously.

"Silk, it's okay. We've been through this before; we can figure out how to help you."

"It's not that. It's…"

"For god's sake! I already told you, we know what's been stolen and by who. Telling us where the others are will help your mission, not hurt it!" Jill exploded. Silk saw that she was quite serious. He had no choice but to trust her.

"Alright. The Alorn Kings bullied Fulrach into sending us to Val Alorn to consult with King Aheg and the other kings of Aloria. Basically, they told us a load of things that we already knew. Then there was an attack on the palace, but you already know all about that, or so you say. We were just getting ready to leave Val Alorn. I was walking down the street when I was knocked out by something. I woke up in that box just before you let me out. And that, my friends, is all I can tell you."

"You're still in Val Alorn!" Adie exclaimed. "But you can't be that far back! This is going to take forever!"

"May I point out that I am no longer in Val Alorn?"

"Oh, shut up. You know what I meant." Silk began to chuckle. Jill, however, was lost in thought. Silk suddenly remembered something.

"Ah, I forgot to mention this, but I'm not quite sure if it means anything. When I was knocked out, I was walking past a very shady looking cheese shop. Does that mean anything to you?"

Jill and Adrienne started, then looked at Andy, who also understood. Silk however, became very confused by their reactions. The three teenagers ignored him as they silently confirmed each other's suspicions.

………………………………………………………………………………...

Mrs. Yunker placed Andy's clothes on his bed and then looked around the room making sure that everything was in order. She noticed that a few of his books were out of place, so she moved over to his book case to fix that. As she was straightening the books, she noticed the titles on two of them: Rules of Ascension and Seeds of Betrayal. The same books that she had seen Jill with just a few days before. It was odd. No matter what book any of their friends had, the others were sure to have them as well, or at least they'd have borrowed them at some time so that they had all read the same books. She supposed that it was good that they were not only all into the same things, but that they were into reading instead of video games or whatever the popular thing was now. She took one last look around the room and, satisfied that everything was in its place, she went back downstairs to finish the laundry.

………………………………………………………………………………...

First of all, the cow said "moo." Then the moo turned around and said "cow" right back. And everyone was happy because the moo and the cow were getting along splendidly. (Okay, I know it's a bit random, but it should be expected, especially if you know me at all).

End of Chapter 5