Jalil's POV

"She has great powers."

"Yeah? Well, I'm going to figure out. I'm going to figure it out, figure out how it works."

"What? What are you going to figure out?"

"Magic. Everworld has held together for a long time. So, as weird as the rules may seem, there are rules. There is a system. There is software."

"You're pretty cocky for a guy sitting in the dark in the lowest circle of Hel's kingdom."

"Not about cocky. Humans lived for a million years thinking the sun went around the earth. Not knowing what caused diseases. Not knowing why the wind blew or the rain fell. They called it magic. Used to be ninety-nine percent of everything was magic. Now we know."

We're four high school kids from a small suburb just north of Chicago. We weren't friends, once upon a year ago. We used to be just acquaintances, drawn together one morning, exactly a year ago, to see Senna. We had been dragged out of our own universe and came out into Everworld, where our journey began. We had just wanted to find Senna and get home. That had been a year ago. We've changed now. We are still the same, in many ways, and we are still just as different as we had been when all of our troubles had begun.

So much seemed to have changed. It was only three months ago that people finally accepted that Senna was gone. But we didn't, we tried, but we couldn't. The truth was still there like a very sharp pang, and then we got the call from April. That call wasn't good for any of us; hearing about her dream in which Senna had said that we are apparently still in Everworld. I had hung up with her only to get a call from Christopher who ran his mouth off for a good fifteen minutes, every other word was him swearing. It was very colorful. Apparently we were supposed to meet April and David at the lake. Honestly? I didn't want to go.

Still, I found myself walking out of the door with my backpack on. The lake had been where it all began before, with that in mind I had packed the backpack full of food that I was able to find around the house, a shirt or two, and Excalibur. I'd much rather be prepared. Finding food in Everworld while being constantly on the run? Not so much fun. Having to wear the same sweaty, dirty clothes all the time? Enough said. I also packed soap. I probably could have packed some kind of shampoo, too, and I probably should have, but four things of soap were all that I could get my hands on without my mom asking why I was packing away so much soap in my backpack.

I had to wonder, though, as I made my way to the lake, if we were still really in Everworld, why hadn't we woken up there each time we went to sleep here? Despite the fact that we had a girl to find now, why would we even consider staying in Everworld? Things there were just as real as they were here, only there were gods there. Magic really existed there. There is a fine line between myth and reality and Everworld has it all. All our myths are Everworld's reality and so much more. What other place has a crazy god who was after a witch just to escape Everworld or a giant snake? It's still very chilling, and all of it still pains me. Everworld is the one place where myth and reality really do clash.

I remember it.

Loki and the other gods wanted out of Everworld before Ka Anor got hungry for them. Merlin wanted to unite the gods to resist Ka Anor. And of course, it had all come down to the possession of Senna Wales, the charming gateway between universes. And we got dragged into all of it. We traveled around Everworld in search for her, sometimes with her, mostly looking for her. And then we killed her, and by we I mean April.

I hated Everworld. Seriously, it was the only placed that you could get killed by a talking pig. There was always some kind of threat, and always something for us to do. Gods, wizards, dragons, trolls, dwarves, and death. There was a lot of death. Very, very real death. And very real pain, and all the more reason to ask myself why the hell am I going back? Because there something for us to do.

I didn't even realize that I had finally made it to the lake.

"Captain Shiny Boots finally arrived," Christopher saluted, walking up to me. "Welcome, Cap."

"Christopher."

"Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up about my boots."

What a way to start the day. Ever since I bought a pair of boots, which was apparently very shiny according to April, Christopher took up the privilege of nicknaming me Captain Shiny Boots. Glancing around as the other boy made his way back onto the dock where April and David stood, looking as though they had been fighting for quite some time, I could only guess what was on their minds. David was throwing his hands in the air while April looked on the verge of screaming, or biting his head off. Christopher was snickering beside me once I had finally decided to join the happy go lucky group.

The one thing that posed a problem. We were here, in the real world. We had been going to sleep and waking up like any normal person would, from normal dreams. If we were supposedly still asleep in Everworld, how were we supposed to 'wake up' back there? Words couldn't described how much I hated Senna right now. She could have been a little more helpful in this department. Opening gateways and the like were supposed to be her specialty after all, but then there was the little dead factor at play, too.

Witches? Yeah, I hate them.

"So, how are we getting back to Hell?" Christopher asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I mean we don't have witchy woman, so that rules out seeing a giant wolf. What are we supposed to do, dive and take a swim?"

April fidgeted beside David for a moment before walking to the end of the dock. She was glancing down at the water, looking at it intently from what I could see. Her face was scrunched up in thought, and she held on to the straps of her own backpack (I'd like to point out that the only one of us without a backpack was David.). Frowning, she looked up. "Yes, Christopher, that's exactly what we're about to do. The water's choppy. This isn't choppy water weather," she paused. "Or we could just wait around and see if Fenrir does comes."

"I'd sooner swim," David said quickly.

Christopher nodded. "So that's what his name was! I knew it started with an F."

Well all just stared at him.

"Do you remember what happened the last time Fenrir came?" David questioned, looking at Christopher bemusedly. "Yeah, it was kind of like the world was coming to an end."

"Aye, I remember, General!" Christopher saluted before snickering.

Someone really needed to strangle Christopher. Or at least push him into the lake - just to see what would happen.

Of course, April went and ruined the fun of pushing Christopher in, and jumped in her self. There was a splash, but it wasn't a normal sounding on. It was more of the sound of something being dropped into water. A blurp. With her backpack on, she should have made a normal splash. Things happened after that. There was a loud buzzing that seemed to float around all of us. It was like there were several hundred bees swarming around but were no where to be seen. Christopher was swinging his arms around himself, as if to bat away this none existent bees. David stood with his hands over his ears, looking at the spot where April had stood before jumping into the water. And by some ungodly power, or maybe I slipped into a brief moment of insanity, I ran forward, and jumped into the water, too.

But it wasn't water. It was pressure. Like driving in a car with your head out of the window. It was hard to breathe, and I couldn't open my eyes. All around me I could hear the sounds of Christopher shouting, it sounded like it was coming from above me, and to my left and right. I shook and I knew that both David and Christopher had jumped. My head was going to explode. My eyes were plugging so much that it was painful. And there were sounds. None of the sounds were distinct. I could make out birds, rustling of leaves, and crying. The crying was what got me; it didn't sound like any one of us.

You shouldn't have come

And everything was black.

Okay, here's the thing. Waking up I have no problem with. You see, I love waking up, it means I'm back in reality, where there are actual rules and things make sense. But waking up in Everworld is a completely different subject. Nothing in Everworld begins to make sense until you have all the pieces of a puzzle and a lot of background so that later you can piece everything together. It's complicated. Also, waking up in Everworld meant that you'd probably been sleeping on the ground in some forest. And then you wake up with Christopher's foot jammed in your ribcage and want to sock him before realizing that you're all tangled.

"This has got to be some strange and weird orgy," Christopher grunted, shifting and unknowingly shoving his foot more into my ribcage. "Or a very bad dream, because I'd never have an orgy with any of you."

"Christopher, shut up," April snapped before groaning. "And would one of you kindly remove your hand from my butt?"

"Whoops."

"Christopher!"

April, who was apparently sprawled across me, had David twisted over her legs. Christopher found himself twisted between David and April with one foot under me, pushing into my ribcage painfully. Thankfully, April had managed to push off both David and Christopher, both of whom grunted with pain. I stayed face down on the ground. There was carpet. It smelt moldy and damp. It felt damp.

When I had finally managed to sit up the others were already standing. I stood too, and took a look around. We were in some kind of house. And it actually looked - normal. Something normal in Everworld. Who'd have thought? However, the normality of the house was short lived as two painting of flowers began singing. It was horrible singing, too. A mix between a dying cat and nails on a chalkboard. The sound of the singing paintings made me wonder if my ears were bleeding, because they sure were pounding. And then -

"Oh my god," David choked out, staring a the door near the back.

A little blonde haired girl screamed and ran through the door.

We followed.

The room we had entered could have passed for a house of mirrors. You know, the ones that make you look fat, skinny, weird, and tall? Yeah, those were the kinds of mirrors that were handing on the walls. It didn't take us long before we found the girl; she was sitting huddle in a corner of the room, pushing her hands over her ears. She wasn't looking at us. She was looking at he mirror that was behind us, and when I turned around I could see why: There was a face in the mirror. It wasn't a reflection. It was just a face. All the mirrors had faces, all of the different, and all of the beautiful in their own way.

They were speaking. Soft murmurs filled the room and we all walked to a mirror. The faces in the mirrors were promising something with their sweet murmurs. Compared to the rooms with the paintings, this room was heaven. The mirrors chuckled and laughed, still making promises. None of us remembered the girl; she was there, but we forgot her, lost in the words of the mirrors. Finally, the girl pulled us from the mirrors.

"Don't listen to the mirrors!" She shouted, still huddled in her corner. She was looking up at all of us with wide eyes, pulling herself into a ball once more. "They lie. They always lie."

Christopher blinked. "About about what?"

"They're swooning you," the girl replied blankly.

April and David paled. "Oh, god."

The girl gave a heavy sigh before standing up, brushing blonde hair over her shoulder. Wrinkling her nose she glanced at the four of us before shaking her head. She was leaving. She was walking back into the room we had all just come from, looking at all of us over her shoulder like we were ghost, or oddly shaped rocks, or something. Christopher began making gagging noises; finally putting together what the girl had said about the mirrors. He was a poor actor.

"Where are you going?" I heard April say, ignoring the gagging noises Christopher was making.

The girl didn't stop walking. "I'm getting out of here. This is a cabin in the middle of an enchanted forest."

"Oh. Is that bad?"

"Do you want to have sex with a mirror?"

Christopher's gagging noises grew louder. I don't think he was faking anymore. "That's fucking disgusting, man," he commented.

Welcome to Everworld.

"Ah. So you'll be the first scientist in Everworld."

- - -

A/N: 'Kay, this chapter was rushed, but its five in the morning, and I haven't gone to bed. Also? Me and Jalil don't get along at all. We had issues while writing this chapter. Big issues.