AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! This must be a record! Two chapters up at once! YES! Enjoy chapter 3 people :D for I was generous and posted this at the same time as chapter 2! lol If anyone else is reading this that is… I know my best internet buddy things24 is! Thanks things! ^.^ And for your review on chapter 1! :D

Chapter 3

Into Ravinia

Bobby was excited, but nervous. He knew he was finally able to figure what Saint Dane was planning to do about this fight and about the exiles.

The exiles. Where were they? He hoped that maybe the other Travelers knew. They needed to be found. They needed to be saved. Bobby could only hope that the Travelers would find them before Saint Dane did.

"This is the door to the tunnel," said the rugged man as he opened the door in the basement wall, "and here is the light switch. Make sure you turn it off when you get to the end. Then when you come out of the tunnel… well, just watch for anyone who might be around and cover up the trap door when you're out."

"No problem," Bobby said.

The man flicked the light switch and the tunnel instantly grew bright.

"Good luck," the man said.

"Thanks," Bobby said as he walked into the tunnel.

"Yeah, thanks," Patrick said, trying not to show how nervous he was, but boldly followed Bobby into the tunnel.

They walked the tunnel for a half hour without saying a word. They were running everything through their minds of what they should do when they got into Ravinian territory, but also Solara and the exiles.

Patrick broke the silence. "So, do you think that this fight is the turning point for Third Earth?"

"Yes. If the Ravinians win then Saint Dane has all of the territories in the palm of his hand. We have to help fight against him."

"Do you think the outsiders have what it takes to do it?"

Bobby took a moment to answer. "… I don't know. The tanks will do damage, but I don't know what other weapons they have. Knowing Saint Dane, he'll send dados to fight and if all the outsiders have are guns, if their tanks, for some reason, don't work anymore or run out of ammunition, then they don't have a chance. Besides, they're not ready. They're still testing things out."

"Right…"

There was more silence. They walked a little more… and a little more letting the thoughts that swirled in their minds before come back, but now with new ones. Did the outsiders have a chance? Do they have other weapons that could defeat the dados and Ravinia?

Patrick broke the silence once again. "You're not mad at your uncle are you?"

"What?" asked Bobby, even though he heard perfectly well what Patrick said.

"Your uncle. Are you mad at him? I mean, he never told us we had this kind of power, the star on our hand, Solara… we could've defeated Saint Dane a long time ago."

"Yeah, I guess we could have… but I think his intentions were good. He was just thinking of Solara. He wants to keep it safe and have it the way it once used to be. I'll be honest though… I wish we did know all of this from the beginning, but do you really think we would've believed it and understood it?"

Patrick shook his head. "… No."

"Me either, but to answer your question… no. I'm not mad at my uncle. Are you?"

"No. I agree with what you said before. His intentions were good."

There was a slight pause until Bobby said, "… To be honest… I think people would be more mad at me."

Patrick was surprised. "What? What do you mean?"

"It's my fault that we're in this mess now. If I didn't save Ibara then the territories wouldn't be in Saint Dane's hands. I was so focused on saving it I didn't care that I was mixing the territories. I guess I was getting desperate. I didn't want another territory lost. I didn't want to give Saint Dane another territory… but instead I gave him all the territories that we've fought on."

"It's ok."

"No it's not!" Bobby was yelling now. "Because of what I did Ravinia has taken over, Solara's in trouble, and people at my home were sucked into a flume and now we don't even know where they're at."

"Bobby…"

"Who knows! Many we won't even find them!"

"Bobby," Patrick said turning Bobby around to face him. He could tell Bobby was angry, but was hurt emotionally. "We will find them and we will defeat Saint Dane."

"How can you be so sure?" Bobby was a little calmer now.

"I'm not, but I do know that we have to stay positive and stop looking back at what has happened, especially you. You're the lead Traveler. You're the one who's going to stop Saint Dane. Like Press said, this will end between you and him."

Bobby didn't say anything for a moment, but then replied, "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's ok. You just needed to let out some steam and get it off your chest. Look. We're close to the end."

Bobby and Patrick walked to the end and saw a ladder leading up to the trap door. The switch to turn off the light was at the top of the ladder. Bobby climbed up first and Patrick followed. Once Bobby reached the top he turned off the lights and slowly lifted the trap door. He took a peek above and saw… no one. He then lifted the trap door, opened it all the way, and both Travelers climbed out quickly, closed the door, and covered it back up with the fake grass the outsiders must've used as camouflage.

Grass. That was the first thing they recognized. This area wasn't dirt. When they made a complete 360* they realized that they were in a forest. Then they saw the wall. It looked to be one hundred feet tall, but the width… unknown. It stretched out for what seemed like miles.

They walked through the forest, which took a long time; a lot longer than they expected. It made Bobby wander why their walks were always like this. It also made him a little annoyed.

NOTE TO SELF: Find shorter paths to take. Bobby thought.

They finally exited the forest and saw that the land stretched out more than two football fields. It was amazing and beautiful. Everything was spotless, the flowers were in bloom, and there were even animals going about their daily lives without any bother. Everything the outsiders told them was true, right down to the people doing nothing and the dados doing everything. They saw people at the park sitting around reading a book as parents sat around watching their children play. Some even were taking their dogs for a walk. The dados were walking around emptying garbage cans, picking up garbage off the ground, patrolling the area, fixing buildings… everything. They were even wearing the familiar red uniforms with the Ravinian star on it. It was creepy for Bobby and Patrick to see these dados again, but the thing… or things that made the place less amazing and beautiful was something the outsiders forgot to mention. Every famous monument and sculpture that Bobby and Patrick could think of was there. From the Eiffel Tower to Big Ben. From Notre Dame to the Taj Mahal. The only reason they knew the Taj Mahal was there was because they saw the dome peeking above the trees. For all they knew famous paintings could've been around too like the Mona Lisa.

"Do you really think these are the real things?" Patrick asked.

"Knowing Saint Dane… they probably are," Bobby replied dryly.

A bell rang. It was loud and could probably be heard across the whole territory. Every person and dado started to walk toward the Taj Mahal. Bobby and Patrick looked at each other and just shrugged. Together, they followed the crowd and along the way they saw that every concrete pathway had a poll next to it separated every ten feet and on top of the poll was a Ravinian flag flapping in the breeze. Eventually, they reached the front of the Taj Mahal, but Bobby and Patrick were a few feet back. The large building towered over the land as if it were looking down at its people. This definitely had a Saint Dane vibe going on. There was a stage in front facing the people with a podium upon it. Ravinian flags aligned the stage, podium, the Taj Mahal itself, and the path leading to its entrance. Polls were on both sides of the stage, five each, with flags as well.

Everyone was chit chatting with one another asking, "what's this all about?" and "what's going on?" Suddenly, the bell stopped ringing. Supposedly that was everyone's cue to be quiet because that's exactly what happened. Complete silence. It was kind of eerie. Everyone watched as a man walked up on stage and behind the podium. A woman stood by his side and six dados stood behind them. Bobby and Patrick knew this man and woman. They were afraid the man would see them, but figured that they blended in with the crowd well enough. These two supposedly important people had appearances that gave away who they were of course, but it was the man's eyes. Even from far away they glowed with intensity. They were almost completely white. It still felt like he was looking into a person's very soul and Bobby still shivered when he saw them. Those unforgettable eyes will always haunt him, but the most important thing was he had found who he was looking for. Saint Dane… and better yet, the woman was Nevva Winter, the traitor to the Travelers.

"People of Ravinia," Saint Dane began into the microphone on the podium. He was acting like a king. Bobby just rolled his eyes. "The time has finally come. The time when we finally are rid of one's not like us. The time when Ravinia will rule the world!"

The crowd cheered. Bobby and Patrick looked at each other. They both thought the same thing. This speech wasn't going to sound good.

Saint Dane raised his hands and everyone grew quiet. He continued, "We are ready. We are ready to take the outsiders down and to get our large army out there. These walls, that you have seen for so long, will come down. I will tell you that the sight of what's on the outside isn't pleasant, but we will be able to spread the beauty of our land and make the rest of this world livable. It will take time, but it's all worth it. So, let's begin the attack!"

Everyone cheered again.

"But what if they know about the attack?" a Ravinian man yelled out amongst the crowd.

There was silence. Apparently he was close enough for the microphone to pick up his voice. Saint Dane looked down at the man with anger in his cold, soulless eyes. Nevva was looking back and forth between the men worried. She wasn't sure what was going to happen. The dados of course, didn't care. They just stared blankly straight ahead like the machines they were.

"You dare question me?" Saint Dane asked with hatred. "Do you think we won't win?"

"No it's not that," the man pleaded. "It's just-"

"Guards! Arrest him and lock him up. I'll deal with him later."

Two dados marched off the stage. The man knew it was no use to run. He just let them take him into the Taj Mahal.

"Now everyone," Saint Dane said with a smile, clearly regaining his calmness, "let's get on with the attack… and believe me, the outsiders aren't even ready." The crowd seemed to like that. "Let's begin the countdown to victory… 30…"

The crowd joined in. "29… 28… 27…"

"We have to worn the outsiders," Bobby demanded in a whisper to Patrick's ear.

"Let's go," Patrick whispered back.

"24… 23…"

Bobby and Patrick moved through the crowd and headed back towards the forest.

"20… 19…"

Saint Dane noticed the two people running. He leaned over to a dado and said, "It looks like we have two intruders. Capture them and bring them to my throne unharmed."

"As you wish sir," the dado said in his mechanical voice.

The four dados that were left on stage jumped down and charged through the crowd. The countdown continued.

ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh my… Bobby and Patrick seem to be in a little trouble. O.O Run guys! Run! Hurry! Will they make it to the outsiders in time? Hopefully I'll be able to post the next chapter up soon. ^.^ Please review!