Chapter Seven: Maybeck's Kidnapping...

Finn and Philby crashed into Willa and Charlene. "We got our first clue!" The four of them yelled at the top of their lungs, clearly excited about this fact.

Finn gulped for air as he stared at the girls. "What is your clue?"

"Y I and R. You?" Charlene breezed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Philby lifted a finger up. "F M and E."

Willa punched the air with excitement, before turning to the large archway that at some point was designated as the sentry point. "Maybeck did you hear that?! We're gonna solve it!" Silence fell as he didn't respond.

Suddenly feeling uneasy, Finn walked over to the archway. Sucking in a deep breath, he whirled around to face the others. "He's gone."

"What!?" This wasn't good at all... how were they supposed to work as a time if Maybeck leaves them... if he left them willingly that is.

Finn pressed a hand over his stomach, feeling nauseous all of a sudden. "I think... I'm gonna be sick."

...

Finn knew that he was moving on autopilot. Open his locker, pull out the required textbooks, move down the hall. Sit down at his desk, take notes... He wasn't even aware of the worried glances that were being sent his way. That morning while the news was playing, Maybeck's disappearance was announced. Apparently their slim hope that he had just gone home early was in vain.

"Finn?" Dill placed a hand on his shoulder, startling the young Kingdom Keeper.

Finn jumped, jerking away from his best friend. Upon noticing the very worried look that Dill was giving him, he raised his hands up in surrender. "Sorry... but my sentry has gone missing... not only did he disappear in the middle of the night, but it was all over the news this morning."

"Wait... you mean Terry Maybeck is one of you?" Dill wrinkled his nose, clearly surprised about this discovery.

Finn shifted slightly, glancing around to see that no one was sitting, or paying attention, to the table they were sitting at. Well, except for Amanda, her brow furrowed in worry... a girl that looked familiar sitting next to her. Before Finn could place where he had seen her, the girl turned to speak with Amanda, allowing Finn to get a different perspective of her face. A gasp escaped him as he realized that it was the other extra person from his strange dream. Snapping his eyes back down to his lunch tray, he pushed the green gloop around with his fork. Eyes narrowing, he pulled the image of his dream to the forefront of his mind. Why hadn't he noticed it before...? There were seven Kingdom Keepers in it... not five. Sucking in a breath, he dropped his fork down. "I think I'm gonna go call a friend of mine while its still lunch..."

"What about your green gloop? It's not like you to not eat your green gloop!" Dill straightened, surprise clearly flashing in his eyes.

Finn paused, snatching his fork up to shove the disgusting looking food item into his mouth. Swallowing it down, he dropped his fork back onto the tray. "There. I ate my veggies...happy mom?"

"Yep..." Finn took off, missing it when realization on what it was that he had called Dill dawn on his face... "Hey! I am not your mother!"

...

"I need your help to build two more Items!" Finn blurted out the second Philby answered his Item.

"What!? Finn... what are you talking about?"

"You remember how I had that crazy dream about the Stonecutter's Quill? WEll I just remembered a little detail in it... the two extras I had seen in it were both Kingdom Keepers as well. Since we only have the five Items though... we need to make two more Items." Finn ran a finger through his hair, glancing furtively at the closed bathroom stall door that was his only assurance for privacy.

"Fine... does it matter wha... I don't know how to make the Items! We need to ask Wayne that!" Apparently Philby was worried about his qualifications for such a task.

Finn started to pace, before catching himself. He was in a stall, there was no room for him to pace in the small space. "Philby... ask your Item for help. Maybe it knows something."

"I already get weird looks for bringing a blue and silver cat to school... How much worse would that get when I start talking to it? I'll figure something out for you, alright?" Philby paused, before speaking up once more. "I've got to go. Class is supposed to start soon."

"Alright... let's meet up at the Froyo shop after school so that we can discuss this in more detail." Finn sighed, realizing that Philby had a point. Lunch will be over soon. And he still needed Amanda to introduce him to her friend.

~Backtrack, Cafeteria before Finn leaves it~

Amanda could tell that something was bothering Finn. Her adoptive sister shifted slightly, glancing discreetly over at him. "He's probably feeling guilty about the missing kid."

Startled, she glanced over at her. "What makes you say that Jess?"

Jess picked up the salt shaker, sprinkling it over the green gloop that another student had warned them was merely broccoli and cheese. "My diary. Entry made three nights ago."

Amanda hesitated, before pulling out the worn book from Jess's backpack. Flipping it open, she quickly located the entry that Jess mentioned. Sucking a breath, she stared at the detailed drawing of the missing teen... wearing a silver uniform that looked almost like a cross between fantasy and sci-fi. "He's one of them..."

"Yeah... he is." Jess took her diary back, slipping it back into her backpack. "I don't know which one though..."

"The rest of the drawing kind of reminded me of Space Mountain a little bit."

"I know... My guess is that its going to be important to them." Jess and Amanda glanced back over at the table where Dill and Finn were sitting to see that Finn had already left.

A/N: Done! Hmm... yeah... writer's block... and then I realized that I kinda needed them to recruit Jess and Amanda soon so that a certain dream can happen. As well as discover Maybeck had been kidnapped... okay that there was the whole block. I wasn't going to let him get kidnap... until I realized that um... if I don't they'll have the Stonecutter's Quill and only five Kingdom Keepers instead of the seven. And then this was born! Also Dad went to work for the first time in forever today so my updating schedule is back to normal/ still sporadic but I'm working on it all day and not just in the evenings.

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SkyTalon