Chapter 23: The Fan Event

April looked down at the invitation she had gotten from this strange "Realms" fan earlier that night.

She set her eyes on the warehouse in front of her. It looked pretty empty and not at all "Realms"-ish. That had been the reason she had decided to double-check. But the address was correct, so it had to be this warehouse.

Okay, this is it, she thought and put the invitation away, and with a determined nod she walked over to the entrance.

She saw a movement behind her and quickly turned around. Someone in a knight's costume was headed for the entrance as well. April gave a little smile and continued her path.

Yes, she definitely was in the right place here, when knights were heading for the warehouse as well.

And as soon as she had entered the warehouse, she was one-hundred percent sure – or even more, because there were at least twenty other people standing around there and nearly all of them were wearing long robes or armor, and April couldn't help, but feel a bit out of place in her everyday clothes.

But how should she have known that she would be going to a big costume party today?

She looked around the warehouse. Except for the people in costumes it looked pretty normal to her. There were no decorations, not even a banner that said that this was a "Realms"-fan event.

She frowned.

"Didn't the invitation say something about an unforgettable event?" someone whispered behind her.

"Yeah," she heard the reply. "Looks pretty boring to me."

This was the moment when April felt another cold breeze, and this time it didn't just brush over her, no, the cold went right into her body and stayed in her stomach. She flinched a bit at the uneasy feeling, but it all became secondary when there suddenly was a movement in front of the group, and April's eyes widened when she saw a bird-like creature hovering in the air, wearing a hooded cape and holding some sort of a walking stick with a stone or crystal on top.

The creature's appearance rang a bell with April. It somehow looked familiar, although she was pretty sure she had never seen this creature before.

But then it spoke up, and April was pretty sure where she knew this creature from. It was the voice of the guy who had given her the invitation earlier that night.

"Welcome, my valued guests!" he said, and his voice was echoing through the warehouse so loudly, April wondered if there was a sound system installed.

"As you knoweth," the guy continued, "we have gathered here today to celebrate this special night where we cometh to know what is going to happeneth to the lost king and his realms. And to celebrate this, I inviteth you to followeth me to the REALMS!"

He raised his stick and the crystal started glowing with a blue-greenish light, turning brighter and brighter, and all of a sudden, the light shot out of the crystal like a shockwave, and April had to close her eyes because of the blinding brightness.

And when she opened her eyes again moments later and looked around her, all she could do was gasp.

Casey looked back over his shoulder.

Yes, Raph was still pacing up and down the living area behind the pit. Well, as much as pacing was possible with his crutches.

Casey let himself sink deeper into the couch and turned his attention back to the TV.

"She's late, isn't she?" Raph asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"No, she's not," Casey replied for what felt like the hundredth time.

Five minutes after midnight, Raph hadn't been able to stay in his room any longer and had insisted that he and Casey moved to the living area and watched some TV – although it hadn't been much watching from Raph's side. He hadn't even sat down and instead had immediately started this pacing up and down-routine.

Casey had looked up a nice action movie, but with all Raph's moving around and the sound of the crutches on the floor – not to mention the ongoing asking about April being late – hadn't given him much chance to enjoy the movie.

But he choked a frustrated sigh when he heard Raph take a breath, bracing himself for another "She's late, isn't she?"-question, but the words that left Raph's mouth were totally different.

"C-can you call her?" he mumbled almost.

"What?" Casey turned around in his seat to look at Raph.

Raph stopped and looked at him, biting down his lip.

"It's been forty minutes, Casey," he said. "Please call her."

Casey's eyes widened and he was so surprised that he forgot to retort why Raph wasn't calling April himself, so he just obeyed.

When the phone was ringing and he was waiting for April to pick up, Casey wondered if Raph was worried about April or about the book and settled for a bit of both.

When the call went to voice mail, he hung up.

"Didn't answer," he said with an apologetic look over to Raph. "I'll try again later."

Raph just nodded, taking up his pacing again.

Casey turned back to the TV, but again he couldn't concentrate on the movie. Only this time, it had less to do with Raph and more with the fact that April always answered her phone.

April heard the ringtone of her T-phone. She could hear it over the dragon's angry growl. she could hear it over the blood pulsating in her ears, over her hammering heart. Thing was, she couldn't get it, not with a dragon right on her heels.

She took a sharp turn and ducked behind one of these ancient looking pillars, hoping that maybe now she could get the call.

She started fumbling for her T-phone in her messenger bag, but the moment, her fingers touched it, a wave of fire hit the ground right to her left.

She jumped to her feet and took flight again.

The T-phone finally stopped ringing, and April felt a bit guilty that she hadn't been able to answer the call. She always answered. But hey, dragons made a pretty good, although very illogical excuse.

And she'd call back later anyway.