Chapter Five: The Search Begins...

"So...we need to figure out how this story, that by the way not once mentions a quill, can save the entire world?" Finn questioned Wayne, one eyebrow shooting upwards.

"Yes."

Philby groaned as he ran a hand down his face. "That's it. We're doomed. How are we supposed to do this?"

Wayne shrugged, looking him straight in the eye. "That is up to you five. Perhaps... no it's a long stretch."

Willa tapped a finger, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Long stretch or not, if you think you have an idea on where to begin, tell us."

Wayne took a deep breath, before speaking quickly. "The Kingdom is designed like an amusement park. There are all kinds of rides and attractions, none of which as been used since we were forced to severe our connection to the Real World, scattered throughout the land. The riddle specifically mentions the sun, clouds, wind, and a mountain. Everything here has a theme... and there is a list of rides that heavily use those elements. I would not be surprised if he hid this weapon of his in one of these rides."

"Then that's where we'll start." Finn glanced over, to see if anyone will agree with him.

Maybeck groaned as he rolled his eyes skyward. "So...we're gonna go traipsing around a basically abandoned Kingdom to find some weapon and hope we can find it?"

"You got a better idea Maybeck?" Charlene snipped from where she was sitting across from him.

Maybeck shook his head quickly, a frustrated mutter of no escaping him. Finn stretched as he stood up, turning to face Wayne. "Can we have a map of this place...and where's the ride that uses the sun?"

Wayne pointed to the watches that they were wearing. "You already have a map in the watches. As for the first ride, that would be It's a Small World."

Finn nodded, before turning to the others. "We meet back up here tomorrow night at eight o'clock. We need to get back to our beds and get some sleep. Unless I'm the only one that has school in the morning?"

"Yeah... I have a test first thing in the morning." "Can't miss anymore or else my mom's gonna freak." "I already have three different detentions from falling asleep in class...I don't need a fourth." "Ah yes... I have a project due in my Advanced Chemistry class."

Wayne nodded, moving to stand up. "Let me walk you back to the portal."

"It's ok. We've got this." Finn waved a hand at him, dismissing his offer.

...

Finn bit his bottom lip as he stared at the seemingly swimming numbers on the page in front of him. He totally doesn't have this. Why would Mr. Richardson give us a pop quiz this close to the unit test? "Problems Mr. Whitman?"

"No." Finn muttered as he bent over the piece of paper, scribbling down what he hoped was the right answer to the question. Maybe he should have asked Philby to give him a crash course on Algebra... or something, he was too tired to deal with this.

Dill glanced over at him, concern flashing across his features. Finn shook his head mutely at him, signaling that he can't talk right now. Finally, the bell rang. Finn nearly broke his pencil as he scribbled the answer out for the last question, before shoving the paper into Mr. Richardson's waiting hands. Breaking at a sprint, he rushed out the door. Slowing to a brisk walk, he aimed for his locker. Fumbling with the lock, he opened it, reaching inside to pull out his Item. The Fish flew in a low circle, clearly excited to be out. Finn shook his head at it, before speaking in a low voice. "Can you call Sorcerer?" The fish paused, dimming as it connected to the Cat Item. A minute later, it opened its mouth.

"Yes?"

Finn felt excitement flash through him, a grin crossing his face. "Just checking something. Looks like we can call each other using our Items. Not sure if we can use our actual names or not though. I told it to call Sorcerer."

"Well, you got me. So yes, it appears we can communicate using the Items when not transformed. Very good to know. Why were you testing this out precisely?"

Finn swallowed, before pointing out the obvious. "We're gonna need to sleep some nights. This way, we can let each other know if for some reason we can't make it. Or alert others if someone decides to go back when we don't have a mission for the night."

"Ah yes...that makes sense. We don't want anyone to get captured or worse without anyone knowing...and we definitely don't want to hang around for a long time for someone to show up, that isn't coming. Especially after what happened last night."

"Read my mind there, Philby." Finn glanced over to see Dill pointing to his watch. "Got to go. Talk to you later."

"Agreed. I will see you tonight Finn."

Finn shooed the Fish back into the locker, quickly shutting it and locking the door. "Thanks for keeping an eye out there for me Dill."

"No problem...so what happened last night?" Dill fell in step with him as they started to jog to their next class.

Finn winced, before rolling his sleeves up to show him the burn mark. "Pirates with lasers. And I'm not joking. Apparently the wraiths and the brooms we keep seeing up here are just the easy to defeat minions."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope." Finn pushed the class door open, disappearing inside as he pulled his sleeve back down to hide the injury.

~That Night~

Maybeck craned his neck upwards as he stared at the giant smiling sun that hung far above them. "We're really going in there..."

"Yep. Unless you're scared of dolls." Finn stepped up next to him, nodding to Willa who was rereading the information that she had managed to pull up on her watch for the umpteenth time.

"I'm not scared of a bunch of silly dolls." Maybeck nearly snapped as he glared at Finn.

Philby quickly pushed himself between the two. "Enough. We can't afford to fight amongst ourselves. Let's get going and see if we can't find anything of use in there."

With that said, the five teens carefully made their way into the attraction...

A/N: Done! So yeah... all that just happened. Next chapter we will see how well things go with the first ride. Now onto reviews!

Anonymous (Guest): Thank you! And Your Welcome!

Metoqofhearts (Guest): I'm confused... but ok!

Jaya4life: It certainly is! Thank you! And I certainly will!

That's all for now folks!

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SkyTalon