Chapter 4 - A Sense of Adventure

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"Who are you?" Pleb asked abruptly.

"I'm Kezra. You?"

"I'm Pleb. This is Aled."

"Do you know anywhere we can explore?" Aled asked, excitedly.

"Well," Kezra said. "I've heard rumors that there is a ruin of some sort around here somewhere."

"Can we go there?!" Aled asked Pleb.

"Of course."

"Come on!" Kezra broke off into a run.

Soon enough, the three arrived at the ruins of another kingdom. Or Empire of some sort.

"They say this place is haunted by ghosts. And sometimes, you can even hear them," Kezra teased.

"Oooo!" Aled let himself down from Pleb's shoulders and ran off.

"Not too far!" Pleb called out after him.

"Okay!"

"What is this place?" Pleb asked Kezra.

"A ruin of an old empire."

"How do you know about this place?"

"I heard about it once or twice before."

Pleb looked around the ruins, her eyes landing on Kezra as he walked off, exploring the remains. She frowned. Then a quiet gasp escaped past her lips. On the back of Kezra's head, for a flicker of a second, hardly noticeable, was a glowing purple eye.

. . .

"We need to talk to him about this!" Ian tightened his grip around the two books.

"What if we get in trouble?!" Drake cried out, pulling the two books back towards himself.

"I'll do it whether you like it or not!" Ian yanked the books out of Drake's grip and made a run for it. He slammed the door behind him in an attempt to slow Drake down.

"Hey!" Drake ran after Ian, following him. Drake then ran into someone with deep brown eyes.

"Hey!" Honey glared at Drake. "Drake!"

"Sorry Honey!" Drake called back to his science partner.

"What are you doing?" Honey grabbed Drake's wrist.

"Sorry, I have to get to Ian!" Drake tried to escape Honey's grip. Honey raised an eyebrow in response. Drake was left with the only option to drag Honey along. So he did.

"HEY!" Honey could barely keep up to their friend's speed.

Drake ran up a tall tower and up a spiral staircase. When the two reached the top, they were both out of breath. They found Ian knocking on the old wooden door.

"Ian!" Drake felt panicked. He grabbed his roommate's shoulder. But just then, the door was opened by an old man with a gray beard.

"What's going on here?" Gandalf asked, squinting his eyes.

"Nothing! Nothing sir," Drake said quickly.

Gandalf looked over at Drake. "Dear boy, no one comes to my office for no reason."

"Sir, we need to talk to you," Ian spoke up.

Gandalf looked at Ian, Drake, and Honey in the eye. He gestured to them. "Come in."

. . .

Galactic stared at the wall, blanking out. She heard something fall and she snapped back to reality. She stood up and grabbed her book from inside the desk. The Land of Stories.

She opened the pages only for a photo to fall out. She frowned, picking it up. She stared at it. It was a picture of her and another girl. One with black hair, glasses, and dark brown eyes, seemingly black. Galactic glanced up at the pictures above her bed.

Hold on.

Galactic stepped towards the pictures. Some people were starting to get ever so slightly clearer. She could faintly see black hair. Galactic looked back down at the picture in her hand. The only question was. Where did this picture come from?

She shrugged and put the picture back in the book and tossed the book back onto the desk.

. . .

Early the next morning, Galactic was hurrying down the halls of the school. She had slept through her alarm clock. Just as she was about to reach her classroom door, she slammed right into another peer.

"Sorry! Sorry!" The girl's voice was strangely high pitched as if she were in a hurry. She hurried to pick up three books that she dropped on the ground.

"Pleb!" A brunet peer was running after her.

"Honey?" Galactic was beyond confused on what was happening.

"Hi Galactic," Honey gasped. "Pleb you can't!"

"I will!"

"What?" Galactic looked between her two peers.

"Well-" Honey started. But they were interrupted by a loud, magically enchanted voice.

"If you hear your name, please report to Principal Gandalf's office. Pleb Kitty. Drake Bred. Honey Drop. Ian Downing. Kezra Frog. Odette Name. Galactic Ighteen. Ash Reid. Ember Ash. If you heard your name, please report to Principal Gandalf's office."

Honey, Pleb, and Galactic exchanged glances with each other.

"Well, I'm not going," Pleb huffed.

"What are you talking about? You usually always abide by the school rules," Honey said.

"FIne," Pleb groaned.

The trio walked down the halls of the school towards a door that led up a tall tower.

When they stepped into the room, they were greeted by Drake, Ian, Kezra, Odette, and Ash.

"Do you know why we're here?" Galactic asked.

"Nope," Ash replied.

"Gandalf isn't here either," Kezra said.

"I am now," said a gentle yet commanding voice.

The group of peers hadn't even heard the elder step into the room let alone open the door.

"Sir," Drake said. "Is there a reason why you called us here?"

"I believe you know that Mr. Bred."

"I swear if it is about that," Drake muttered.

"About what?" Pleb inquired.

"What's in your hands," Gandalf answered.

"These books?"

"Yes." All of a sudden, the three books flew out of Pleb's arms and into Gandalf's outstretched arm.

"Hey!"

"I'm sending all of you onto a special errand."

"An errand?" Galactic asked. "With this many people?"

"Yes Ms. Ighteen."

The group of peers exchanged glances with each other.

A black haired girl spoke up. "What kind of errand will it be?"

"You'll see Ember. I'm sure you'll be intrigued when you find out." Gandalf opened a drawer and gestured for the group of 9 to come over. The students obliged. In the drawer were 9 identical devices.

"What are these?" Ian asked.

"These are communicators," Gandalf said. "These communicators allow you to speak with whoever has one within a certain area. These communicators can also show you your health, hunger, and coordinates."

"What do you mean by that?" Pleb asked, confused.

"You'll see." Gandalf pulled a glove over his hands and handed each of them a communicator. As soon as each person held onto the communicator, the screens lit up. "These communicators sense body heat. The first person that touches them will be the owner of the communicator. Before that, no one touches them. Not even the developers."

The first thing the screen showed when it was turned on was, "Please input your username:"

Each of the members chose their name. Pleb decided to put her full name, PlebKitty. Kezra decided on Crafty_R567. Odette picked Whycantifindanamepls. Galactic chose GalacticGirl18. Ash put in DoubleRainbow09. Drake chose sandcrasher. Honey decided on Your-LocalMushroom. Ian decided to choose ianthewise. Ember chose FireFox7895.

"Now. Write this down."

Pleb, who was wearing a traveling cross body bag, as if she was already planning to leave, pulled a notebook out of her bag. Gandalf gave the group a set of specific coordinates that they would have to go to.

"Why are you telling us this?" Ash inquired.

Gandalf didn't answer. "I want you children. To go to the Empire of Dawn and speak to the ruler there. Tell her where you came from."

"Why are you sending us on this 'errand'?" Ember asked.

Gandalf didn't answer. "You kids should go back to class. You'll be excused from the rest of the school day, and the amount of time you're gone. I want you to spend the rest of the day packing and resting for your trip."

As the group stepped out of the office, Gandalf spoke. "Pleb, Kezra, wait." The two peers looked at each other, confused. The elder waited for everyone to leave before speaking to the duo.

"You two know more than you know."

"What?" Kezra frowned, confused.

Gandalf stared at the two. "You'll see." That was all he said before dismissing the two. But before Pleb closed the door, he said five more words. "Don't forget to bring Aled."