Meanwhile…
Sierra was recovering, in a beach chair.
The voices were still around her but, on the bright sound, the seismic activity died down.
Gigantra was reading her magazine when she began to feel the heat getting to her.
"Phew wee...Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?" She said as she was now beginning to fan herself with the magazine.
"Sweetheart, we are in a volcano, a thousand miles beneath the surface of the earth. You'd expect it to be hot down here." Max said as he watched her.
Gigantra nodded her head, in agreement and began to take calming breaths.
She was on the verge of having a really bad anger rage episode.
Sierra looked over at Max, who was enjoying his National Geographic magazine.
Max looked up from reading and saw Sierra.
"Hey, sweetie. What is it?" He asked, concerned.
Sierra had begun to twiddle her thumbs, vigorously.
"Can you um...tell me how you and… um...Gigantra… m-met?" She asked as the heat was getting to her very badly.
Max looked at Sierra, concerned and began to get something out of his beige shorts pocket.
It was a temperature dial.
The temperature read 82.5 degrees.
Max then began to feel Sierra's forehead.
It was warm and sweaty.
He then looked at Gigantra.
"Gigantra, sweetheart… I know that I'm not asking for much but, can you go and get my niece something to drink?" Max said as his eyes averted over to the woman who had her reptilian nose all up in her fashion magazine.
Gigantra looked up from the page that she was on.
"What is it you want now, Maxie? Can't you see that I'm on the verge of something very important here?!" She said, in a sassy yet annoyed voice.
Max sighed.
"I said that I wasn't asking for much but… Can you go and get my niece something to drink?" He said, repeating the statement from earlier.
Gigantra chuckled.
"So…? Why should I?" She said, scoffing and turning back towards her magazine.
Sierra looked at Max, worried.
Max then got up from his chair.
He couldn't take it anymore.
"She's the one that controls this volcano and, if she doesn't have anything liquidy in her body soon, she will die!" Max said, raising his voice and referring to Sierra.
Sierra was surprised.
This was all new to her.
Gigantra stopped looking at her magazine and looked back at Sierra.
She got up out of her chair and placed the magazine on the table.
Gigantra looked at Sierra and curtsied.
"Yes, your Majesty. I'll go get you something to drink. Please stay here and don't go anywhere." She said as Max gave her a cup.
Gigantra then began to leave the tent.
…
Katherine, Laney and Darien arrived at the university.
"So...This is where Sierra's father works at?" Darien said, quite intrigued.
"Yep." Laney said, nodding her head yes as they were walking down the hallway.
Leonard was in the lab, just about to eat lunch when he saw three people walking down the hallway, dragging Sierra's body.
He instantly got up and went out of the room.
"Hey!" Leonard called out to the group.
Katherine, Laney and Darien stopped walking and turned back towards the guy that was calling them.
"Who in the heck is that?" Laney asked as she, Katherine and Darien were in a group huddle, holding onto Sierra.
"That is Leonard, Trevor's lab assistant." Katherine said as she looked from them to Leonard.
Darien was amazed.
"Lab assistant?! This is perfect! Hi. I'm Darien Marcus Lidenbrock, sixth nephew of the famous Professor Otto Lidenbrock. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, dropping Sierra's unconscious body onto Katherine and Laney.
Katherine and Laney were now struggling to get Savannah back up.
"Lidenbrock? As in THE famous Lidenbrock who had a nephew named Axel and they went down into the Icelandic volcano and obtained the center of the earth?" Leonard said, questioning Darien.
"Yes siree. You are correct! Also, did you know that Sierra is his sixth great granddaughter to him?" Darien said as he kept rambling.
It seemed as though the two were getting along just fine.
…..
Gigantra returned back inside the tent, with a cup of ice water in her hand.
"Here you go, your Highness." She said as she gave the cup of water to Sierra, who had a cool washcloth pressed to her forehead.
Sierra took the cup with gratitude.
"Thank you. You are dismissed." She said as she looked at Gigantra.
Gigantra silently curtsied and went back to her chair.
Max looked at Sierra and smiled.
"No wonder why Trevor called you his little princess. In fact, Sierra, I believe that you will serve this volcano well." He said as he looked at her.
Sierra was amazed yet puzzled.
Why would this volcano choose me as its guardian? Why does Max all-of-a-sudden say that I have tremendous potential of serving this volcano well? Does he know something that I don't? And the woman… Why is she being nice to me all of a sudden? She reminds me of something that I've seen before but...What? I have to get back to the surface soon and if I don't… I'm going to be stuck down here! She said to herself as she was beginning to take this all in.
Max began to realize the concerned look on Sierra's face.
"Sierra? Are you alright? What's wrong?" He asked, worried.
"I… I have to get back to the surface. My friends are worried about me, even my Dad. Could you please tell me the story of how you and her met?" Sierra said as she was beginning to freak out.
The temperature on the temperature dial was now 86.2 degrees.
Her skin was beginning to steam and her hair was beginning to feel hot.
They then began to hear seismic activity far off.
Max looked at her, shocked.
"Okay. Okay, Sierra. Calm down. I'll tell you the story, alright? Then after that, you can return to the surface. Alright?" He said as he was trying to calm Sierra down.
Her volcanic power was beginning to awaken.
Sierra sighed and began to release the steam from her skin.
It began to blow towards Gigantra.
Gigantra was now enjoying it.
Her white hair was blowing within the steam.
Sierra sighed in relief and sat back down.
"Okay, Uncle Max. Go ahead and tell the story of how you and her met." She said as she looked at Max and Gigantra.
Max sighed and began to tell the story of how he and Gigantra met.
(Scenes are switching from Sierra's unconscious mind to the real world. Darien is just like his six time great uncle, isn't he? Also, it seems as though Sierra's volcanic powers are finally beginning to awaken. Stay tuned for chapter ten.)