"I'm sooooo bored," Leffa complained.

Edward sighed. "Shouldn't we be doing something?"

"What?" Leffa sneered. "What's your plan?"

Edward thought for a moment, and then flung his hands in the air. "I don't know! Maybe we should... you know, try to escape from those men?"

"We've pretty much escaped," mumbled Leffa, absentmindedly snapping a twig on the forest floor in half. "I haven't seen one of those guys in robes in a long time."

"Well, we can't stay here forever," Edward pointed out.

The two were sitting opposite each other, under a canopy of vast evergreen trees. Needles lay scattered all over on the ground, and twigs and branches lined the forest floor. They were deep within the woods, having run for what felt like hours. And now they were all but lost within the vast expanses of conifers.

"Well, we can rule out going back to the academy," added Edward.

There was silence for a while.

A twig snapped in the distance. Edward's head spun around. Leffa clamped her hand over her mouth. They each knew what the other was thinking. Was it another robed villain, come to kidnap Leffa and take her away? Or was it just an animal, one of the strange alien species that resided here in this mysterious planet?

They dared not make a sound. More twigs were heard snapping, and leaves rustled, and then a figure grew closer to them in the distance.

Edward leaped to his feet, hastily shaking the dirt off of his shirt. "Let's go," he hissed, sure that this unwelcome intruder meant harm to the two.

"Jarex!" Leffa exclaimed.

Edward looked around, and sure enough, it was Jarex, coming through the forest to look for them.

"Oh, hi... Jarex..." Edward murmered, the color going to his cheeks.

"Hey," said Jarex with a grin, as he pushed aside tree branches to walk toward the two. "I thought I had lost you."

"What happened to you?" asked Edward.

"Oh, you know," laughed Jarex. "I kind of... got knocked out, and then..." he trailed off, running his fingers through his hair. "Uh, it's a long story. But this" -with a flourish, he pulled two scraps of paper out of his pocket- "might be helpful to you." He let the papers fall to the ground, leaving Edward scrambling to pick them up.

"What does it say...?" whispered Leffa, as she craned her head to get a closer look. Once Edward's eyes had finished scanning the letter, he handed it silently over to Leffa, along with the photo that happened to be with it.

"That's very interesting," said Edward. "It certainly sheds some light on Leffa's mission, whatever it is."

"Yeah, and I forgot to tell you," recalled Jarex, "It's supposedly my mission too. I guess."

"Wait, what?" asked Edward. "Where did you hear that?"

"Um, and also the mission" -he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers- "is to kill the Four Gods. Old Gods. Whatever. You know what I'm talking about."

"WHAT?" gasped Edward and Leffa simultaneously.

"Man, that's just what I heard, and... oh fuck."

"What is it?" Edward said concernedly.

"It's just that I should have remembered to grab my guitar before we left that school... man, I'm so stupid."

"Are you CRAZY?" demanded Edward. "There was no time! We needed to save Leffa, she's more important than your silly guitar!"

"Uh, yeah, I know, Leffa's really important too, but... you know... it was my guitar..." He flashed an unsure smile towards Leffa, who was still looking over the letter intently.

Edward threw his hands up. "And what's this about us having to kill the Four Gods? I mean, seriously! You can't just come in and say-"

Jarex raised his hands up, backing away from Edward. "Yeah, that's just what I heard, man... don't get all... uptight..."

"Oh my god..."

The two turned around, startled to hear Leffa talk. She didn't raise her head to look at them, and her hands were noticeably quivering, her grip on the paper loosening.

"We..." she started. "We have to... kill... the four gods?"

"Well... that's what I uh... heard, but... you know, I might be wrong and... and... shit, guys, why are you being so tense?"

"In case you haven't noticed," Edward wryly told him, "we might have to fight some horrific monsters that are GODS. I think we're allowed to be worried."

"Who says we have to fight them? Fuck all this chosen one shit. Who's going to stop us from just going to the West kingdom and staying there? It's not like those fags in robes are ever going to find us. It's not like anyone's going to care whether we kill the gods. People are just going to be all 'aww, I guess there was no chosen one after all'. I don't know about you, but I have some awesome things I want to do. It's not worth risking your life over some stupid supposedly divine mission someone somewhere maybe wants you to do."

"I... don't think it works that way, Jarex," explained Edward. "I think that being the chosen one means you HAVE to do... whatever you were chosen for."

"Well, I'm going to the West kingdom. Destiny is all a bunch of crap somebody made up."

Edward sighed, but Jarex was already walking away.

"Jarex!" Edward shouted after him.

"You can do the 'right thing' if you want," Jarex shouted back, steadily walking away from Edward and Leffa. "I'll be in the West kingdom, being AWESOME. While you'll be... dead."

"Let's follow him," suggested Leffa in a low whisper, and ran after Jarex. Edward stood still for a moment.

It wasn't like he had a choice. He ran after the other two.

"Thanks. Finally," complained Jarex. "Now, does anyone know which way the West kingdom actually is?"

"West?" suggested Leffa.

"I believe..." recalled Edward, remembering a map he had seen in one of his classes, "that the West kingdom is actually EAST of the Academy of Doom, on the other side of Lake Asara."

"Oh yeah, and that really helps, because we totally know which way is east," said Jarex.

"This sucks," said Leffa.

"It's not my fault," whined Jarex. "I get wrapped up in some fucking ridiculous sort of fantasy scenario, just because I happened to talk to Leffa like once or twice, and now some sort of FISH is telling me I have to save the world... what the hell?"

"A fish? What?" asked Leffa.

Jarex let out a long sigh. "Nothing."

"Uggh! If I could just remember..." said Edward in frustration. "Back on Earth, there was a trick, that you could use to figure out which way was north in a forest. And you could use it to find your way out of the woods. It had something to do with which way trees were facing..."

"That would be useful," observed Leffa.

"I don't even know if it would work here. I just wish I could remember it... uggh! What was it?"

"Don't beat yourself up," said Leffa in consolation. "We'll find it eventually. Just keep walking in one direction and you're going to get somewhere somehow."

And so the three set off in one random direction, hoping that dumb luck might possibly get them to the kingdom they were searching for.

* * * * *

As it turned out, it was a long time before they found anything other than more pine trees. Well, they did encounter several alien species of woodland creatures, which were of interest to all three members of the group. But mostly, they just kept walking.

And walking.

And walking.

Edward was starting to never want to see a forest again. He wished he knew what time it was, or how long they had been traveling, but the inner workings of his watched had been damaged due to the water of the lake. At first some snippets of conversation occurred between the three, but eventually they settled to just walk.

And walk.

And walk.

Until they heard a rustling among the trees. All three stopped.

"Oh no, it's one of those robed men...," worried Edward.

"You really think they followed us all the way here?" asked Leffa. "Come on, let's see what it is."

She ran up to the source of the noise, a thick grove of pine trees in the middle of a clearing. "What is it? Is someone there?" she curiously shouted into the midst of the pines.

Some more rustling of needles happened, and, all of a sudden, a boy, maybe a little older than Edward, stepped out of the trees, brushing the pine needles from his long, unkempt hair.

"Who are you?" he asked, with an unfriendly tone in his voice. "What are you doing here?" The boy had tattered and faded clothes, with splotches of mud all over them.

"Hi!" said Leffa excitedly. "Do you know which way it is to the West kingdom? We're kind of lost, and we're trying to get out of these woods."

"Uh... how am I supposed to know?" he asked, looking slightly irritable.

"Well, sorry, but, you know, because you're in the forest, I thought you might know how to get out... are you sure you don't know?" persisted Leffa.

"Yeah, uh... but Jet might. Hold on, let me ask him. JEEEEEEEEEEEETT!!!" the boy shouted.

"WHAT IS IT, RYYUUUUUUU??" shouted another voice, this one far away.

"One second," the boy noted to Leffa, and then darted away, leaves crunching under his feet as he ran. Leffa shrugged at her two comrades, who looked equally bemused.

Moments later, the boy came back, with another nearly identical boy coming behind. They had the same faded and tattered clothes, and the same long, wild hair that hung down over their faces and all over the place. The second boy was much shorter, though, and had black hair as opposed to the first boy's reddish-brown.

"Jet, these people," the taller boy explained, gesturing to the three travelers, "want to find a way out of the forest. Do you have anything?"

"Yeah, because I know the exact way to get out, having not been outside the forest for... what, at least two years? Seriously, Ryu. Why should I know?"

Ryu laughed. "I just thought you were the type to know something like that."

"Okay, now," said the second boy sternly, spinning on his heel to face the three intruders. "What are you three doing here?"

"Just passing through," explained Jarex. "We need to find a way out."

"Lost travelers?" inquired the boy, with a devious grin on his face. "We eat lost travelers here. We eat them for breakfast."

"Ha ha," Jarex laughed sarcastically. "Now seriously."

"I kid, I kid," hastily apologized the boy. "Now, right this way, guys. I just might be able to help you."

"JETX!" scolded Ryu, the other boy. "You're just going to show these random people our amazing hideout! We've been keeping it secret for... forever!"

"They're already here. What are they going to do?"

"Fine, fine," Ryu gave in, and Jetx started to lead them though a twisting lane of trees just ahead, until they reached a large, open clearing.

All three newcomers gasped.

In the deepest reaches of the woods, in this small clearing, shrouded and hidden by groves and masses of trees, was a tiny village. Several small buildings, carved out of wood were displayed in front of them. They were somewhat crudely made, but they were such an unexpected sight in these wild portions of the forest, it wast truly astounding.

In the middle of the circle of houses, two children about the same age as the other two, a boy and a girl, were sitting on the grass talking. Upon noticing the other people enter, the boy rose to his feet, while the girl remained sitting, but looked up in interest. The boy had the tattered clothes of the other boys, and the same long hair as Jet and Ryu, but it was more orderly and less all-over the place. The girl, too had tattered clothes and more orderly long hair, that didn't hang down over her eyes.

"Hello," said the third boy politely, extending a hand to shake. "I'm Lukas, who are you?"

"Uh," said Edward awkwardly, who was the first one to grasp Lukas's hand, "I'm Edward Thatcher."

"I'm Leffa," said the girl enthusiastically, grabbing Lukas's hand and shaking it up and down.

"Jarex," responded Jarex casually, keeping his hands in his pockets when Lukas walked by.

"Your name is Jarex?" asked Jetx in disbelief. "You're the only other person I've ever met whose name starts with a J and ends with an X."

"Uh, yeah, except your name sounds like some sort of crappy cartoon show about skateboarding," Jarex replied. Ryu roared with laughter, but Jetx just laughed it off too.

"I know. I didn't pick it. It's a Schendish name. That's where I was from on planet Water," he explained.

"Anyway," said Lukas, clapping his hands together. "I'm Lukas, as you know, this is Ryu and Jetx, and she," -he pointed to the girl sitting on the stump- "is Shynki." Shynki gave a small wave. "Would you like to take a seat somewhere, maybe inside?" he continued.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOAH!" said Jetx loudly, pushing Lukas aside. "Since when do you have the right to tell people where to sit and stuff? Remember, I am the boss of these woods, and I have power over you! So, I get to tell these people if they can sit down or not! And I will say that Edward, Jarex, and Leffa can come inside." He gave a glaring look to Lukas, who laughed a little.

"I will lead the way," announced Ryu, beckoning for the six other people to come into the largest small building in the clearing. It was a dome of wood with a small opening cut out, which the boys and girls ducked their way into. Inside, there was a grassy floor with a couple stumps for chairs and a rug spread out on the leafy floor.

"I can sit on the grass," offered Lukas, as there were only four stumps. Edward gladly sat down beside him, and Shynki gave up her stump too.

"What brings you here?" asked Lukas, addressing the three refugees from the Academy of Doom.

"You missed it," said Ryu tiredly. "They're lost. I have no idea what they're even doing in Breloom Woods in the first place."

"So that's where we are!" said Edward with a dawn of realization. "Breloom Woods... a section of this forest?"

"Yep," confirmed Ryu. "But anyway, I asked you a question. Answer me."

"We're here in this forest," said Jarex, leaning against the wooden wall that his stump was positioned next to, "because we escaped from that fucking school on the other side and we're trying to get to the West kingdom. And you have been of no help so far."

Jetx leaped to his feat. Ryu exclaimed "Oh my god!". Lukas put a hand over his mouth. Shynki gasped.

"We all escaped from the Academy too!" Shynki revealed. It was the first time they had heard her talk. She had long, brown hair which was, like the others, in a total state of disarray, and a rather kind face. "About three years ago. Was it hard for you? They've tightened security since, I've heard."

"It was easy," Jarex boasted. "I just wish I had remembered to bring my guitar."

"Well," Lukas told them, "We spent weeks packing for our escape. Then we stole one of the school's crafts. You know, the ones that can only go on land. Not like the ones that fly in space."

"That's so awesome!" giggled Leffa. "How'd you do it?"

It was Ryu's turn to brag now. "Shynki found the garage, it was in one of those secret passageway things. Then I stole the keys off one of the teacher's desks. They almost caught me, but I got away with it. Once we got the craft, we couldn't find out how to open the hatch, so we just drove around the hallways, all destroying carpet and almost running people over. They must have had to spend all their money fixing it up." He laughed maniacally.

"And then the four of you brought all your stuff into the forest, and you've been living here ever since?" Leffa questioned further.

"Yeah," confirmed Jetx. "Well, there was one other boy that came with us, but he's gone now."

"He left about two years ago," added Shynki.

"Um, did you guys built these yourself? I'm impressed!" complimented Edward.

"No, we didn't," asserted Ryu, "and stop asking us all the questions. Here's a question for you, why didn't you guys even bring anything? What are you going to do when you get to the West kingdom?"

"Um, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing," explained Edward. "We didn't have much time."

"Were you making a dramatic escape or something?" sneered Jetx. "Couldn't you have waited?"

"Hey!" Leffa burst out. "These dudes were trying to kill us! We almost died!"

"Either the school has gotten waaay more interesting since I left, or you're making something up," said Ryu in doubt.

"We're not making it up," Edward said indignantly. "Some men in robes tried to kill us."

Shynki laughed. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, it's true!" defended Leffa.

"Yeah, it's true," confirmed Jarex with a casual wave of his hand. "It's all some bullshit about destiny."

"Ooh, DESTINY," said Jetx sarcastically. "How fun. Let me guess, which one of you is DESTINED to save the world?"

Leffa shyly raised her hand.

"Wait, what?" said Jetx. "I was joking, you know, you mean that you're..."

"According to them," explained Jarex wearily, "Leffa is on a mission to kill the Four Gods, and she must succeed at all costs. What the hell."

"That's odd," said Lukas.

"They're making it up," Jetx maintained.

"No we're not!" exclaimed Leffa angrily. "Look, give them that letter, Edward!"

Edward fished for the letter and the photo in his pocket and handed them to the dark-haired boy.

"What's this?" murmured Jetx. "Hmm... blah blah blah... it says something about the chosen one possibly being real.. blah blah blah... wait." He paused, looking at the photograph that came with the letter, turning it over in his hands. "Ryu..." he said, leaning over to the other boy to show him the picture. "Do you think that's...?"

"Wow. It sure looks a lot like him..." Ryu responded. "But... what would he be doing in this..?"

Lukas craned his head over to look at the photograph that was holding his friends' interest. "Wow. Shynki, come look at this!"

She came running over, and gasped at the picture. "That... does look a lot like Chronon, it's the same face, it's... but why is he wearing a suit? And who are the two other people?"

Jetx looked back at the letter. "If Chronon is C, then the other two are probably P and R. Of course, that doesn't tell us anything..."

"Wait, wait, hold up!" said Jarex. "Who is this Chronon guy?"

"He was the other person that escaped with the four of us," explained Shynki. "We all lived out here in the woods for like a year, but then he left. Without even telling us where he was going."

"Yeah, it kind of sucked," said Ryu. "He didn't even seem to like living here in Breloom Woods that much, because he was always going on 'long walks' and always using the one laptop we have. Then one day he was just like 'bye' and we haven't seen him since." He then added, "What a loser."

"That's definitely him in the picture," said Shynki. "Who... who are these people?"

"We have no idea," admitted Edward. "There's only one way to find out. P says he's in the West kingdom. That's where we have to go, is it not?"

"Hey!" said Lukas, an idea forming in his head. "Why do you guys even need to go to the West kingdom? We're all refugees from the Academy, we could all live here in hiding together, couldn't we? It's getting kind of boring here to tell the truth."

"Lukas..." hissed Jetx. "I make the decisions, remember?"

"We can't, anyway," explained Edward. "We need to go to the West kingdom, because Leffa has a mission. That's the entire reason we escaped from the school."

"No," Jarex reminded them, "because you forgot that I don't give a fuck about this 'mission. And still, there is no way I would stay here. Why would I want to spend my life living in the WOODS? I'm going to the West kingdom, the most awesome city ever. Or so I heard. But there's no way I'm living in the woods for the rest of my life."

There was an awkward silence for a while. Shynki stretched and yawned. "Guys, it's getting late," she said. "We still have some fish left over from lunch, enough to share it with Edward, Jarex, and Leffa."

"Thanks!" said Edward, because his stomach was rumbling and he had been wondering what he was going to do for food.

"And then I suppose we could find a place for you to sleep," offered Lukas.

"That would be nice," said Leffa, as she got to her feet.

* * * * *

"Godsdamnit!" yelled the short, bald man.

"What is it?" asked a woman, robed as he was, standing next to him in the large cathedral.

"No one has been able to capture the Chosen One! Do you know what this means? This means that the entire Quadrateracel is in danger! This is awful! Someone has to find her. I don't even know if capturing her is enough. We might have to kill her."

The woman gasped. "But..."

"Yes, I know," agreed the man. "But even if we must kill a poor innocent girl, it is for the fate of the universe. Sacrifices must be made."

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