Author's Note: This is something I'm sure all the fangirls will enjoy.

Okay, I feel a writer's block coming on with this story. However, I have several other story ideas rushing into my head. Should I work on those, or keep working on this one?

------------

"Owww..." Moses sat up, holding his head. "What the hell...?"

He looked around to find himself in a courtyard of some sort. This wasn't like a typical courtyard. This was more like a maze; the long bushes were growing in straight lines, turning corners. Moses looked next to him, where Jay was on the ground, still unconscious.

"Jay." Moses shook him gently, but there was no response. "Jay, wake up."

When Jay still didn't wake up, Moses looked around some more. He now noticed a fountain straight ahead, with fresh, clean water pouring from the top.

"Hey, that's just what we need!" Moses picked up Jay, carried him over to the fountain, and carefully placed him in the water. Moses then got into the water himself and scrubbed himself clean the best he could. After that, he began to scrub Jay. Even after the water and the scrubbing, Jay still had not awakened.

"Hmm...Solon must have hit him hard," Moses told himself.

He pulled Jay out of the fountain, then walked beside the wall until he came to a set of stairs. After climbing the stairs, he noticed a door to his left. He opened it and peeked inside.

"Hey! I like this room!"

-------------------

After crossing the bridge, the survivors of the party entered another long, wide hallway. On the left side, tall knight statues were lined up, all holding axes upright. On the right side, the windows were wide open, and the breeze was blowing the purple silk curtains towards the center.

"Brrr...it's chilly in here," Norma whined.

"The breeze feels quite nice," Grune said.

"Will you stop chit-chatting and let's go!" Senel yelled.

"Sheesh; what's your problem?" Norma asked.

"He gets like this whenever Shirley is in danger," Will told her. "Surely you know that by now."

When Shirley is in danger... Chloe thought. I wonder if he'd act like this if something happened to me...

The group slowly walked through the hallway, with Grune in the back. About halfway across, they heard a soft rattling noise.

"Wh...what was that?" Chloe asked.

Norma turned around; the statue directly to the left of Grune was slowly lowering its axe toward her.

"G-Girl, look out!" Norma cried.

The knight then brought its axe down sharply. Without even looking, Grune simply raised her left arm, grabbing the axe just a few inches from the blade, stopping it just an inch above her head. After that, the knight simply fell apart, and the metal pieces crashed roughly on the floor.

"Hmm?" Grune held the axe in front of her, tilting her head. "What was I just doing?"

"You really don't want to know," Norma said.

Will looked up at the other knight statues. "The others will probably do the same thing. We'll need to run across as quickly as possible."

The group nodded, then ran down the wide corridor as fast as they could. As predicted, the other knight statues brought their axes down, narrowly missing the group. Each statue fell apart after bringing the axes down. The group stopped at the end of the corridor.

"Whew..." they said in unison.

"Somehow we made it," Will said.

Senel looked around, noticing another piece of paper pinned to the wall. "Here's another note."

"Uh-oh...I wonder what this one says?" Norma asked.

"Let's fine out," Will said. "Senel, if you would."

"Right." Senel opened the note and read it out loud.

Just so you know, I have been able to capture Shirley. You should have seen the look on Senel's face...it was so ridiculous, it was absolutely hilarious! I had Jay where I wanted him as well, but I ended up knocking him off the bridge along with Moses. Damn that little brat for angering me. The two of them should have landed in the garden. I'm certain that Jay had survived the fall. At the very least, I'm hoping that Moses is just a broken, bloody corpse. However, he might be too stubborn to die.

On the bright side, Jay and Moses have been separated from the rest of the group, which should make them easier targets. We shall capture Jay and dispose of the stupid bandit.

Senel and the others must be eliminated as well before they can reunite. Now go and entertain our guests.

The group fell silent for a moment.

"Wh...what was that about?" Chloe asked.

"At least now we know where Jay and Moses landed when they fell off the bridge," Will said.

"The garden is a ways off from here," Senel said, "but I think I can find the way there without too much trouble."

"That's assuming we don't run into too many obstacles," Chloe added.

The group nodded, then went through the door to the next room.

-------------

Jay woke up with a start. As his vision cleared, he found himself in a large bedroom that could only be described as luxurious. He was in a bed with red satin sheets, complete with a red canopy. However, he found it odd to be in a bedroom, considering what had just happened.

Solon knocked me right off the bridge, he thought. So how did I end up here?

Jay gasped as the door opened suddenly, but he quickly realized that it was only Moses, carrying a wine bottle and two glasses.

"Oh Jay, you're finally awake," Moses said.

"Moses...what are you doing?" Jay asked.

"Gettin' some wine, of course."

"What do we need wine for?" Jay got out of bed and started towards the door. "We need to find Senel and the others as quickly as possible."

As he walked, Moses simply reached out and grabbed the back of Jay's collar. "Hold on there, Jay."

"Let me go," Jay said calmly but firmly.

"I wouldn't go out there if I were you," Moses responded.

"I said let me go!"

Moses jerked on Jay's collar, and Jay crashed into the side of the bed. Jay quickly straightened himself.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he yelled.

"There's a whole bunch of those monks out there," Moses told him. "It'd be better for us to wait here."

"We won't find the others by sitting here."

"Naw, we'll wait for them to find us. They're with Giet, and Giet can find me anywhere."

"Really? I didn't know your body odor was that strong."

"Now listen, you...oh, forget it."

Jay raised an eye. "Hmm?"

"We gotta figure out what to do until the others get here," Moses said.

Jay let out an exasperated sigh. "So I'm stuck with the stupid bandit yet again..."

Moses grinned. "Must be fate tryin' to tell us something."

Jay stomped his foot. "Now don't start that again! This is neither the time nor the place for that!"

Moses frowned now. "What're you talkin' about?"

"You even have to ask? Do you even know our current situation?"

Moses' grin quickly returned. "Of course! We're all alone together in the middle of a big, dark, spooky castle! So we oughtta heat things up a bit!"

"You know what's going to happen, don't you? We'll either get killed by all those monks, or we'll face endless torment from Norma and Harriet. In fact, I'm surprised you even survived the fall."

"Ha! You expected otherwise?"

Jay paused. "I'll admit that I did...but now that I think about it, you're far too stupid to die."

"Huh. Then there's nothin' to worry about. Solon wants you alive, and you think I'm too stupid to die. So what are you worried about?"

"Well...there is Norma and Harriet to worry about."

"Bah. We're not gonna let them find out. Now come on; we haven't got all night."

Moses reached out and grabbed Jay's shoulders, but Jay pushed him away.

"Oh...playin' hard-to-get, huh?" Moses asked.

"No...more like 'impossible-to-get,'" Jay replied.

"You know, a small fry like you may not know this, but I realized that it's a lot more fun when you do that."

"What?"

"When you try to get away, it's a lot of fun for me to chase you down. It's just like huntin' and I love it."

"So in other words, if I simply submit, it'll be less fun for you?"

"What, are you stupid? Of course it'll still be fun!"

Jay rolled his eyes. I give up...after hearing a line like that from him...

Instead of responding, he turned around and walked over to the side of the bed and folded his arms.

"Ooh, looks like I hit a nerve with that one," Moses told himself. "Well, this is my chance..."

He quietly moved behind Jay and bent his knees slightly. Jay hopped onto the bed, avoiding Moses' dive. Jay grabbed a pillow and slapped the bandit, knocking him off the bed.

Moses sat up. "Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh? Well, two can play that game!"

He grabbed the other pillow and swung it hard, hitting Jay's legs, knocking him down on the bed.

"Yaah!" Moses leaped right on top of him.

"Arrgh! Get off me!" Jay planted his feet into Moses' abdomen and threw him off the bed. Moses stood up, picking up the pillow again.

Jay hopped down from the bed with his pillow in hand. Moses swung his pillow again, hitting Jay in the face.

"Ah!" Jay cried out. "This isn't over yet!"

He gripped the pillow with both hands and slapped Moses with it. From there, the pair continued to exchange blows with the pillows.

------------

Back in Werites Beacon, Harriet was still sitting at Elsa's side, fidgeting her hands.

"Oh Elsa," she said. "Mr. Alcott is coming, and...I don't know what to tell him. He's going to be so angry at us..."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Harriet gasped.

"Oh no, that's him!" She stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, Harriet, you can do this. Just tell him what happened, say you're sorry, and all that good stuff..."

She went downstairs to answer the door. As expected, Arnold Alcott stood outside.

"Good evening, Harriet," he said. "Her Excellency asked me to come here."

"Well..." Harriet stammered. "I know you're probably really angry right now, and you have every right to be..."

"Harriet? Just tell me what happened. I just want to know that my daughter is safe."

"Well, yeah, she's safe. See, after the circus, this monster put her under a pig latin curse. Now she's only speaking in pig latin."

Alcott stroked his chin. "Hmm...I see. Where is she now?"

"She's upstairs in my room."

"Oh, may I come in?"

"Oh, sure!" Harriet stepped aside, allowing Alcott to enter the house. She then led him upstairs to her room. Alcott stood beside the bed, looking down at Elsa for a moment.

"Elsa?"

"Atherfay..." Elsa muttered.

"You see, this is why we thought you would be angry," Harriet said. "We promised to look after Elsa, but...but..."

"Well, I do wish you had told me sooner, but I appreciate your continuing to look after her after the incident."

Harriet sighed with relief. "Thank you...yeah, you're right. We should have told you sooner."

Alcott looked around. "By the way, is Will home?"

"He went with Senel and the others to find a special eres stone to cure Elsa. They said it could only be found on the mainland."

"I see...that is troublesome. Had I know, I would have gone as well."

"So what will you do?" Harriet asked.

"Well, Port-on-Rage doesn't operate at night, so I'll stay here and put my trust in Senel's group. Let us both pray for their success."

"Okay." Harriet closed her eyes and began to pray. "Dad, please come back safely with the others and safe Elsa..."