...I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts...there they are standing in a row... sorry, that has been stuck in my head for a week...is it copyrighted? hmmm. Oh well. It's fanfiction, and I can put whatever I want in my notes...Bwahahahaha! I like to manipulate the little characters! Sorry. Anyway. Here you go.

Chapter 3

The Situation

"Ok, Dakota."

"How do you know my name?"

"You think I'd bring a total stranger to a place of magic?"

"No."

"Well, then…"

"Have you been spying n me?"

"Yes."

"WHAT? Why?"

"When where etc..."

"Not funny."

"Oh! Now the High Princess wants humor!"

"Hey, you are averting the question. Why have you been spying on me?"

"Because you wished yourself here, I froze time, went back in time and found out who you are and what kind of person you are. You actually believed David would keep his promise and--"

"Hey! That is a private matter of humiliation!"

"Well, as you told the whole band…"

"They had the right to know!"

"Yes, anyway, can we get back to the matter at hand?"

"What, besides you spying on me?" Dakota asked acidly. In answer, he said, "How else was I supposed to know who you are without your noticing?"

"Well…"

"At a loss for words?"

She glared, and then nodded.

"Good. Now listen. In my…investigation of who you are, I realized that you are not a planner."

"That is certainly true."

"You are a man-"

"Girl."

"Girl of action. And you actually play quite well."

"Thank you."she spat.

"Well. You wished yourself here in disbelief. We need you, because of a war."

"War is just a series of catastrophes leading to a larger calamity for one and a triumph for another."

"That is quite true. May I continue?" Dakota nodded.

"Well, many centuries ago, there was the Goblin City, which you see over there. Then there were the elves, the elfish city. The elves and the goblins were never at war, but neither were they at peace. The elves one day realized that they could not prosper well with the goblins raided every so often. They cast a spell that keeps the goblins at bay. But in doing so, they destroyed themselves, for the spell was too great. Only recently, yesterday in fact, did the elves return from their banishment. The elves swore to make the goblins pay. I-the Goblin King-have no power over the goblins except to keep the spell working. I am elfish, not goblin, so it has been my sworn duty to keep the incantation operational. There was one small problem. Twenty years ago, a girl wished her little brother away. I took it, for that is also the duty of the Goblin King. No one had ever made it to the center of the maze, but she did. She took her brother back. During her process of the labyrinth I was distracted. She kept me held to one duty and kept me from another. The enchantment was dropped and the goblins ran. The city is empty, as every goblin able to bear arms has congregated to the battle field. The elves have declared open war. They are going to kill each other, and neither side will listen. I needed someone not goblin and not elfish, a person willing to jump in and improvise no matter what the situation, a person with fiery instincts. A person like you. And you so politely wished yourself here."

"Wait…the girl twenty years ago…was that my mom?"

"Yes."

Dakota was silent. This elf was the one in love with her mom…that's weird.

"And no, I was not in love with your mother, that is another part of the duty, to lure them away from the fact that the person they wished away is about to turn into a goblin. Besides. It's in the book." He tapped the red book that Dakota hadn't realized she had been holding. It was true….