TaoP Chapter 28

Down the Rabbit Hole

Penny groaned as she slowly drifted to consciousness. She woke up in her hammock and one light burning brightly. As she tried to fall back asleep, the events of the fight came into her mind. Penny bolted up and ran to see the others. Midnight woke immediately from his slumber and followed her.

What happened while I was out? She asked as they searched.

The man left, along with Donald and Goofy. You won the test. Donald talked to them about something, but I was making sure you were alright, Midnight answered as he yawned.

Hmm…I wonder what he had to say.

Midnight hesitated before he asked the big question, What did he show you?

Penny stopped walking and looked at the floor. She clutched her hands into fists as she remembered. He used one of my memories as an illusion. I was young—well younger I should say—and I was swimming in the Mermaid Lagoon. When I got out, Captain Hook was there waiting for me. She flinched at the memory. After that, Peter taught me how to use a dagger.

Sounds like a bad memory. I'm sorry I brought it up.

She shook her head, Don't worry about it. It's in the past.

When they made it to the top deck, Penny found the ship anchored next to a world and the others getting everything prepared. She rushed over to help and soon they were putting on their backpacks. The trio hadn't said a word the whole they talked. Finally, Penny couldn't stand the silence.

"So what did Donald say?"

The three glanced at each other and talked through their necklaces. Penny tapped her foot impatiently until Jayden started talking.

"Well, you passed…"

"And? I know he talked to you guys about something else. Midnight said so."

"He did, did he?" Illiana sent him a black look towards the wolf, but he ignored it. He really only listened to Penny anyways.

Max sighed, "Fine, I'll tell her." He knelt down to Penny's height and looked straight into her green eyes. "He says that you need to learn more about magic."

"Okay…I already knew that, mate," Penny flipped her hand carelessly, which caused water to sprinkle all over them. "Sorry!"

"Right, but you're gonna have to go to school for it."

Penny froze, unsure if she heard right. School? But but…

Why do you need to go there? Midnight frowned.

She echoed his question.

"Well for one thing, the teachers know how to handle your kind of magic," Jayden stepped in. "Another, you'll be with people your own age…maybe, since we have no idea how old you are."

"And it will be right by the castle, so we will be right there if you need us," Illiana added.

"I don't wanna go!" Penny exclaimed.

"It won't be until we visited a couple of more worlds, so you don't have to worry about it," Max said.

Penny pouted for awhile, "I'm not given a choice, am I?"

"Sorry Penny," Jayden said. "I went to this school and it's not so bad."

"Fine," she grumbled. "I'll go, but I won't like it!" Max ruffled her hair.

"Here are the beads, Penny," Illiana handed her the pouch. She put them in as Jayden teleported them to the new world.

They landed in a grassy plain with a castle in the background. There were daisies in the field. Penny fell into the flowers, smelling them and rolling around in them. She laughed as Midnight joined her.

This place is peaceful, she watched a butterfly flutter above her. But of course it doesn't last. She felt the presence of a Heart and can see the string leading her. Penny got up with a sigh.

"Over here, guys. The Heart is this way." She led the way into a small area of trees. Right at the edge of the trees was a huge hole, big enough to fit even Max, right up against a tree. The string led right down the rabbit hole. Penny knelt at the entrance and was about to go in when Max pulled her back out.

"What?"

"We have to find out what world this is first before we can do anything else." He watched Jayden type away on his computer.

"Can't we just ask the Heart what the name is?"

"Well that is one way to find out…"

"Good. Then I can contin—uuuuuuuuuuuuuue!" Penny slipped down the hole and started falling.

Penny! Midnight followed. They came side by side and started floating down towards the bottom. They looked around at the walls and found maps, chairs, tables, bookshelves—all things normally found in a house. The others followed closely and looked confused at everything around them.

"What the—this is one strange rabbit hole," Illiana said as she picked up a book.

"I think we are nearing the end," Penny spotted the end and landed with a thud. They all looked around, trying to find a way out when Max spotted a door. He went over and opened it, only to find another door and this one was slightly smaller. He kept opening doors until they came to the smallest door they ever seen. It took forever for them to all crawl through to only end up in an empty room.

"Well that was pointless," Jayden said as he rubbed his knees.

"Wait, I found another door!" Penny knelt down and grabbed the door knob, but it squawked at her as she tugged. "Woah! It talks!"

"That really hurt! I'm locked and you woke me up," the door knob looked at her.

"I'm sorry, but how are we supposed to get through? You are a small door."

"You should try the bottle."

"Bottle?" Jayden asked, but soon yelped in pain as a table smacked him in the back, causing him to lose his glasses. As Penny gave him his glasses back, Illiana examined the bottle. It was clear, as was the liquid, and the only thing on there was a small sign saying, "Drink Me."

"How strange. Here, Penny, you try it," Illiana passed the bottle to the girl. She sniffed the bottle and took a small sip. Soon she was shrinking until she was the right size to fit through the door.

"Wow! Hey guys, look! I shrank!" she called up to them. Max crouched down and picked her up with his hand.

"This must be some potion," Max said. Star flew from Illiana's shoulder and landed next to Penny. They were the same height. "Guess we better drink some."

Soon all of them were standing in front of the door ready to go in. Jayden tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"I told you I was locked. The key should be on the table," the door knob explained.

Sure enough, as they all looked at the table, a key appeared next to the bottle.

"Well, how do we get that?" Illiana asked.

"Star, you think you could…" Penny looked at the fairy.

"Sure thing! Just wait here!" Star flew up and dragged the key off the table.

The trio looked shocked at Starlight, "She can talk!"

"Of course she can! We are finally her size so you can understand her," Penny explained as Star came back down.

"Otherwise, you hear bells when I talk. All the Big People can hear my bells, but only Penny can understand them. And since you are finally my height, you can hear me!" Star added. Her voice sounded pleasant and they never realized how much the two of them looked alike, right down to the same hair cut.

"Ummm…right. Should we open the door now," Illiana suggested. It took all of them to lift the key and open the door.

Once through, the group came out to what looked like a forest, but it could very well be just long grass. The string leading to the Heart seemed brighter once they entered the door and Penny continued to follow it. The others followed closely behind.

Illiana got close to Penny, "Are you sure we are going the right way?" A huge fly that looked like a rocking horse passed by them.

"I'm sure. The string is getting brighter along with the presence. I'm surprised we haven't run into her yet—ooof!" Penny ran into someone and that someone landed on top of her.

"Oh my!"