Chapter 8: And Throw in Two More

All of the kids were surprised by Toby's sudden disappearance. One by one they began to search around the living room, in any hopes that they might find him.

Jessica was about to go to Toby's room to check if he was there but…

"WAIT!"

Nick's voice stopped Jessica and Lucas from looking and turned towards Nick. His head hung low, arms behind his back, looking a bit sombre than usual.

"Nick. Are you ok?" asked a concerned Lucas.

Nick finally lifted his head. He sadly looked at Jessica and Lucas, the blush finally removed from his checks.

"I. I think I may know where…Toby is…"

Jessica's eyes suddenly widened in shock. "You do?"

"Follow me."

On Nick's command, Jessica and Lucas followed him to the pantry room in the kitchen. There, Nick pressed to button that revealed the secret stairways. Lucas and Jessica gasped as they saw the stairway leading to the dark aquamarine place which Nick and Toby had discovered but not them.

"NO WAY," blurted Lucas in amazement. He couldn't help hiding his shock from this discovery.

"How did you know about this?" asked Jessica, also in shock.

Nick blushed once again. "It's quite of a long story. I'm sure me and Toby will explain when we go down."

The three kids went down the stairways to the dark aquamarine place with the books. Jessica felt the stone walls along her hand as she walked down were smooth as silk. Well, not quite silk but more like a table. Lucas meanwhile had to admire the fact that walking on stone was quite as easy as he thought since it was usually quite difficult to walk to rough stones and had bumps and sharp edges.

When all three reached the bottom, Toby was there, sitting on the chair.

Jessica raced down to reach Toby. "Oh! You had us three worried!" She sat down besides Toby, who still looked concerned.

Lucas took in the scenery just as the other boys did when they first came to this place. He was amazed by all the different colours of the crystals and the ocean-like colours of the dark aquamarine stone wall that were not the usual stone colours he would tick off. He then turned towards Nick, who walked in front of him after he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"If you don't mind me asking. Where are we?"

Nick began to go towards the library area. "Well, we don't know if we have name for it yet but what we do know is-

"That we just discovered a crazy world full of weird creatures!" interrupted Toby, spinning around on the chair. "I know you two think we might be absolutely crazy but it's actually real!"

"Whoa, calm down Toby!" Nick warned, racing over beside him. "It's best if we discover more about this all together."

Jessica nodded in agreement but suddenly, the pool-circle began to glow again.

Toby jumped from the chair in excitement and dashed towards the pool circle.

"Toby, wait!" Nick also began to race towards his brother, panicked by the thought that Toby would go missing yet again.

Jessica sighed at the boys in frustration. "You have got to be kidding me,"

Lucas gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Well, if both are them are going, then I'm going too!"

"Come on, Jess!" called out Toby from the edge of the pool-circle. "It'll be fun!"

Fun. That word sounded to Jessica like it could be that specific word. After all, what could happen if she jumped into the pool-circle?

Jessica too began to race to the edge of the pool-circle.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" warned Lucas, who seemed nervous about jumping in. "It does look a bit…odd."

"Trust us," Nick reassured both Jessica and Lucas calmly. "I seemed fine when I landed through the pool-circle. You won't get hurt."

And so with a nod from every single one, all the kids jumped through the pool-circle.

All of them landed once again in the same forest area that Nick and Toby had landed the first time they arrived in Gorm. The tall green trees and bushes were still there and the ground once again was the same sandy colour. So far, there were no Forest Gormiti in sight, just yet, so at least the worry went off Nick and Toby's shoulders.

Jessica and Lucas meanwhile gasped in amazement and shock. They both couldn't believe they were actually standing in the middle of a beautiful, lush forest. Jessica could smell every single type of flowers from roses to daisies and lilies. Lucas couldn't be even more happier being in a forest which he loved to walk around back at Venture Falls. 'I guess this would be a perfect place for good environment,' he thought happily.

"I. I actually can't believe this wonderous place but…it's amazing!" gasped Jessica, almost speechless in her words.

Toby smiled at Jessica's astonishment. "Maybe it's just your imagination or…"

"A dream?" questioned Lucas.

"Kinda?" Nick let out a little giggle.

"So where are we anyway?" asked Jessica, looking around the quiet forest.

"At the moment, this is Gorm," explained Nick, sorting out his glasses correctly. "We're in the Forest area for the time being I think."

Toby agreed with his brother. "There are also four other tribes but I hardly don't know where to go first!"

Lucas nodded in agreement with Toby. He tried to look at all of the different paths the group can follow but there was only one. "So far, the only way we can go at the moment is forward."

Jessica moved closer towards the path Lucas was pointing. He was right. There was one path that went only forward but she was beginning to think if maybe there were other paths that they could go. They were in a forest in Gorm after all. "I'm unsure if there are many paths but we can try," she answered softly.

Toby went over the front of the sandy path to check. "Hmmm, Jess? I think you're maybe right. We should-"

Before anyone could answer, they heard a rustle within the bushes.