Author's Note: Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed! This is posted earlier thanks to your reviews. Also because this is AU, there may be some OOC occurrences. And no more warnings from here on, because you all know that I own the plot, and the plot alone.

Chapter 2: Finding Allies

Logan POV

I learned a lot from the guy running the general shop, Nanaki, about the world, the town, my 'powers' and the items in my bag, oh, and charm. Apparently this 'world' was called 'Gaia', the world had been devastated over a century ago and barren wastelands made up most of the world. And the Hiro Company had a huge part in turning this previously lush green world into a hunk of rock. Forests did exist, but they were rare. In fact, he told me that there was a forest just a couple of miles from here, and that a monster had been tormenting the village for years. Monsters, or genetic failures, were also a result of the Hiro Company. Nanaki's knowledge of the purpose of the Hiro Co. was little but I didn't care too much, I just wanted to figure a way back home.

When I asked him about what a 'High Mage' could do, he looked at me like I had asked him what color the sky was. He told me that he could practice on his dummy later, after I asked all my questions. So I continued asking my endless list of questions.

He informed me that the blue bottles restored one's endurance; red recovered a lost life, green replenished magic, while yellow cured all ailments. When I asked him what ailments were, he told me that monsters had abilities to cause anything from sleep to being confused while attacking. Nanaki explained that the charm represented a 'Summon' a being from a dimensional rift that could be called into battle. Once a charm was bound to you, nobody else could use it, unless the charm chose another user.

Now we were standing in the back of his yard, I stared at a wooden stick figure. I didn't know how to do magic; I didn't even think such a concept was real. He told me the book held an infinite list of spells, and responded to my thoughts.

"Just think of an element, like fire. The book will then flip open and show you every spell you know about that element." Nanaki said from behinf me. I thought about lightning, because I thought that it was an element and sure enough the book opened. 'Bolt' the first spell?, read.

"Good! Now call out the name!"

"Bolt!" And before my eyes a huge blast of lightning zapped the stick figure and caught it on fire. I jumped back in surprise and laughed. 'I could cast spells!'

"Great! Now try Water! And put out the fire!" He sounded a little nervous because the fire was getting out of control. Thinking about water and calling out the name felt so familiar to me. He sighed a breath of relief after the fire was extinguished.

"You can also create a 'Remember' page. It's useful in the heat of battle when thinking becomes more difficult." Who said anything about battling?

Kendall POV

I walked right into the palace, without any trouble, apparently because I happened to be a 'Knight'. I asked a guard where the prison was when I saw someone who looked like James.

"JAMES?" I called across the large hallway. He looked up and I knew that it was James alright! I ran toward him and tackled him into a hug. Finally someone I knew!

"Kendall? Where are we?" I could have expected that out of James, because the same thought was running through my mind.

"The Royal City of Saint Luca, where were you? I heard someone was in the city jail." I didn't think James would be the one to land himself in prison.

"I was in jail! You were hearing about how I just magically popped into jail. I didn't even know how I got there to begin with!" Apparently only James was down there, because he didn't mention seeing Carlos or Logan down there. Great, one down, two to go.

"Let's try getting information on the immediate area. We need to find Logan because only he would know how to get home. And wherever Logan is, Carlos is sure to be causing trouble nearby." I joked, trying to laugh in this confusing situation. We split up, I asked around the palace, me being a Knight got more answers. And James would ask around town, since he could get anyone to tell him anything with one sideways glance.

I entered the palace library and asked the oddly clothed man for assistance. He told me that he would fetch all the books on the subjects I asked for. Within a few minutes tens of books were floating down from the shelved and were being stacked on a wooden table. I grabbed the map from the wall and began looking for towns in the immediate area. I then glanced at the books, trying to decide which ones were the most important. 'History of Gaia', 'Hiro Company' and 'Age of Monsters' caught my eye. I grabbed them along with a copy of the map and headed toward the town.

James POV

I entered the first shop that I found; it had a wrench on the outside and looked promising. Mechanics knew everything, and could be easily seduced. Plus, I knew how to work a person to get whatever I wanted. Apparently this store wasn't a mechanic shop but a farm! Floating green, blue, and red creatures worked on weird looking devices. Occasionally one device would explode and cause a fluff ball to be covered in soot.

"Hello Kupo! What are you looking for Kupo?" I didn't know what 'Kupo' meant but I knew it had to be a trait because every 'person' was saying it.

"I need to know if there has been any news from other towns about random people showing up." The fluff ball smiled and then told me that a carrier from a mining town had a new visitor just today. I thanked him and turned to leave when my bag fell. The bombs fell out but luckily none of them detonated. The 'Kupo' floated and said that I must have been a genius because he had never seen such a well designed bomb that didn't explode on impact. He offered to pay me a million 'Gold' just to have one.

"Sure! One million gold and the bomb all yours!" I said happily opening my bag. Instead of weighing a ton, the million gold didn't weigh an ounce. I shook his furry hand and left the shop rich.

I found Kendall and told him the news, about a person in a mining town. I didn't know that he had a map but he pointed to the town near a cave. 'Quartly' was our next destination.

Carlos POV

The green, leafy monster had my foot wrapped in a vine and I couldn't get my foot free. I tugged, sliced, bit, and even stabbed but the vine kept growing. So I did the first thing to come to my mind, create a dummy. I watched enough Japanese shows to know that ninjas could create a wooden dummy to escape. So I tried that.

"Escape!" I yelled. And with some dumb luck it worked! I was freed! Jumping from branch to branch while the giant monster chased me I quickly found myself at the end of the forest. Within a few miles I saw a couple of houses, I hoped that someone there could stop this creature, so I booked it. I jumped over the vines, dodged the seeds it shot and ran as fast as I could.

When the town neared I saw two people behind a house and saw a bolt of lightning when the sky was perfectly clear. Deciding that they could help me I quickly made my way to them.

"HEEELLLPPP MEEE!" I screamed grabbing the attention of the two people. One of whom looked very familiar.

A/N: OHH! All four of them are headed somewhere! If you read it carefully you will know what happenes next and where Carlos was headed! Please review and thank you for reading! Have a monster-free day! ~RAY~