"Follow the key? How are we supposed to follow something that doesn't move!" Lilah demanded in confusion.
"I don't know." Dinah said, eyeing the key.
Lilah picked up the key and studied it.
When Lilah raised the key up to get a better look, it suddenly jumped out of her hand and flew out of the room, the girls gasped and quickly followed it out.
It headed into the bathroom and hovered in front of the mirror.
Dinah laughed. "Why did the key bring us to the bathroom." She asked.
Lilah shrugged, "I don't know but look it's glowing...and so is the mirror!" Lilah exclaimed.
"But why is the....." Dinah started, but she had gotten cut off when the key flew into the mirror, revealing a portal filled with a colorful, swirly marbled look. It shined with all kinds of pastel colors.
Lilah and Dinah both stared in awe.
"WHOAH!" Both girls gasped.
"Do we follow it? It's what the paper said." Dinah asked, she was still astonished.
"You don't know where it leads, it could kill us for all we know!" Lilah warned her little sister.
"But the note said it would help us find a cure for mommy." Dinah reminded her.
"But it could also be a lie." Lilah suggested. "A trap."
"We have to try, for mom." Dinah insisted.
Lilah sighed. "Okay."
Dinah smiled and climbed onto the counter, Lilah grabbed her sisters arm.
"Wait! Maybe we should tell Grandma Em first." The older sister suggested.
The younger one shook her head. "There is no time, the portal might close."
Dinah pulled her arm from her sisters firm, but loose grip and headed into the portal.
Lilah sighed once more. "This better help mom." She told herself and got on top of the counter. She then climbed into the magical, yet mysterious portal. The portal swirled around and around until it closed behind them.
The mirror returned to looking normal, leaving no sign of it ever being there.

Dinah and Lilah woke up in a perfect, green grassy area. The new world was surrounded with beautiful trees, all kinds of other plants, cute creatures, a beautiful flowing river that ran down the land behind them, and off in the distance there was even a hungry unicorn, standing by a purple mountain, eating grass. The girls stood up and looked around.
"It's beautiful!" Lilah cried.
"Look, a unicorn!" Dinah cried joyfully as she pointed to the unicorn not too far from them.
"This is unbelievable!" Lilah stated in amazement.
"Welcome to The Land Of Dreams!" A gentle, female voice spoke from behind them.
The sisters swooped around and were surprised to see a young woman with big white wings, which glowed with rainbow glitter. She was dressed in a silky white dress, that was covered in rainbow sparkles. Her thick, curly blonde hair gracefully framed her face, and her head was topped with a rainbow-flowered crown. Her face was fixed up in light make up. She wore diamond earrings that matched her diamond choker. Both pieces of jewelry reflected with rainbow light. The woman also had multiple bracelets going up both her arms. The white ballerina shoes she wore had a rainbow bow wrapped up her ankle. And to top off her look, she wore the key of dreams, on a rainbow chain, around her neck, as a necklace.
"Hey! You're from my dream!" Dinah exclaimed.
The stranger nodded with a smile "Well, I am the fairy of dreams."
"What's your name?" Lilah asked.
The young woman smiled. "Azlin." She answered.
"Is this heaven?" Dinah asked.
Azlin laughed sweetly. "No, it's The Land of Dreams, remember?" She reminded her.
"Oh yeah." Dinah said as she covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
"So, is it like Wonderland?" Lilah asked.
"Close, but not quite. Wonderland and The Land of Dreams have many similarities but many more differences." Azlin responded.
"Wonderland is real!" Dinah exclaimed.
"Of course, so are many other realms" Azlin, again, responded.
"Whoa!" Dinah's grin was big.
"A single mirror can take you anywhere, it's a very powerful thing believe it or not."
"Is it the only way to get to The Land Of Dreams?" Dinah asked.
"No, The Land Of Dreams has its own special way in. Like, Wonderland you can get there through a rabbit hole, or Narnia through a wardrobe, or you can get to Neverland if Peter Pan's shadow brings you with the guidance of a single star. The Land Of Dreams is during sleep but you have to know how to do it." Azlin answered. "But because you are here through a mirror, so you must be careful. You're physically here so you can really get hurt."
"We can!" Lilah practically shouted.
Azlin nodded.
"Well then we need to hurry up! Do you have the cure for our mother?" Lilah asked.
"No, I know where the cure is, but you and your sister have to get it." Azlin stated.
"Why do we have to get it?" Lilah asked.
"Because you must prove yourselves worthy of the wish." Azlin said.
"How do we do that?" Dinah asked in wonder.
"You must combine the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams. They were separated by my older sisters." Azlin said. "Each one wanted to keep their element for themselves, which is understandable. But their needed to be a balance of power, that's why I was born. Of course, power is powerful and every creature hungers for it, but it certainly shouldn't be separated like that. It's not how it should be. My sisters wanted me dead because they believe I am an unfair balance. So, my sisters and I have come to an agreement. If someone can join the elements back together, they will stay that way. Then, I will grant the person of success a single wish as a thank you. The wish can and will grant anything. If you can successfully join the elements back together you will be granted the wish by me and my sisters. Many have tried and all has resulted in failure, which is slowly killing me. Once you have the wish you can wish for a cure for your mother." Azlin told the sisters.
"So uh, where do we find them and what exactly are they?" Lilah asked.
"The elements are fire, water, life, land, magic, time, air, death, light, dark, wisdom, and love. Each of them has a pearl that holds each elements’ main source of magic, kind of like the heart, any damage that comes to it impacts the element and it's dreamers as a whole. Your job is to combine each element pearl to create The Pearl of Dreams. Each pearl, however, is heavily guarded by a beast of that element, somewhere in that elements’ headquarters. You must find your way to where they are and battle the beasts. Like I said, not everyone is capable of doing it. I hope you girls have what it takes to defeat this journey and cure your mother." Azlin finished. "I'll be counting on you if you do give it a try."
They nodded.
"Also, each element fairy has a want or need. Presenting them with the item of their choice will give you access into the beasts’ rooms." Azlin added.
"What do they want?" Lilah asked.
"I only have limited amounts of time I can help you on this journey," Azlin warned the girls. "Would you like to use one of those times" Azlin asked.
"Anything to get us started." Lilah replied.
The fairy smiled. "Very well." Azlin nodded. She opened her palm, a bag and paper appeared, she handed them to Lilah.
"You now only have two favors left but here is a list that will tell you what each element asks of you and where you can possibly find them, also the backpack contains smaller bags to carry the pearls and a few others things that may come in handy on your adventure." Azlin told them.
"Cool!" Dinah exclaimed.
"So, how are we supposed to combine the pearls once we get them?" Lilah asked.
"Just take them to the center of Island of the Elements, place them in the slots according to color. They will end up combing themselves." Azlin told the sisters.
"But by the time we have finished, our mother--it may be to late--she will--" Lilah started to say, but couldn't finish her sentence. She felt a knot tighten in her throat, indicating she was getting ready to cry.
"No," Azlin suddenly became stern. "you will have finished in time, I promise." She assured the worried sister.
"Alright." Lilah said gaining her confidence back.
"Good luck and remember to be careful, not every dreamer is a friend. Many dreamers can easily be a foe!" Azlin wished the girls luck as she flew off.
"Thank you, Azlin!" Dinah called, then she turned to Lilah. "Let's look at the list!" She exclaimed.
Lilah sighed as she opened the folded paper.
"Wow! This is a lot!" Lilah cried, then read aloud the list. It said:

Fire: lava from The Enchanted Volcano; found at The Enchanted Volcano

"How are we supposed to carry lava? How are we supposed to even approach a volcano for that matter?" Lilah asked annoyed.
"I don't know, but keep reading" Dinah urged.
Lilah then continued:

Water: mermaid scale; found at Mermaid Lagoon

Life: golden dinosaur egg; found at Dino Park

Land: charmed sand; found at Silver Bug Beach

Time: time bird; found in the past, present, or future

Magic: unicorn waste and milk; found from a unicorn

"Ew!" Dinah cried playfully, with a giggle.

Air: feather from a phoenix; found on a phoenix 

"That's so helpful" Lilah complained with a sarcastic tone. She seemed annoyed, but really she was scared for her mother and the idea of an adventure in an unknown land.
"What's a phoenix?" Dinah asked.
"A mythical bird." Lilah answered.
"Oh." Dinah said.
Then Lilah continued reading:

Death: water from The Forbidden Lake; found in The Forbidden Lake

"The forbidden lake sounds dangerous!" Dinah cried in fear.
"This whole journey sounds dangerous!" Lilah snapped angrily, though it was at no one in particular.
"At least we are helping mom." Dinah said.
"You're right." Lilah agreed, "If the Azlin fairy was even telling the truth."
"I'm sure she was." Dinah told her sister.
"Maybe." Lilah said.
"You've got to be more trusting and less judgy." Dinah told her big sister.
"I'm not judgy!" Lilah said with a cross of her arms.
Dinah laughed, "just keep reading Lilah."
"Fine." Lilah said and kept reading:

Light: Sword of Light; found in the kings castle

Dark: piece of the moon; found on the moon

"How are we supposed to go to the moon?" Lilah asked, frustrated.
Dinah shrugged. "Who knows, it's The Land of Dreams, maybe you just have to believe." She suggested.
"It's not Neverland." Lilah said.
"No, but Azlin said other realms are real, maybe Neverland is too." Dinah suggested.
"That would be cool." Lilah said. "And I think Azlin did mention Neverland and Peter Pan earlier."
Dinah nodded even though she wasn't really paying much attention to what Lilah had just said. She was busy thinking about the journey ahead.
"Is that all on the list?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shook her head and finished:

Wisdom: The Book of Cursed and Forbidden Spells; found in the Library of Dreams

Love: heart of a beast; found from a beast who has sacrificed its' heart

"That's all!" Lilah said. 
"I don't want to kill anything!" Dinah cried, worried.
"We won't have to. It said it sacrifices its heart, meaning it kills itself I guess." Lilah told her younger sister.
"But it would still die!" Dinah crossed her arms with a pout.
"Just don't think about it like that. It's to save mom anyway, and it's a beast not a innocent animal." Lilah explained.
"Still a living thing." Dinah said sadly, she still had her arms crossed.
"Let's get started." Lilah suggested.
"Agreed!" Dinah said as she skipped away, suddenly happy again.
"Dinah, wait!" The older sister called as she quickly folded back up the list and swung the backpack onto her back. Lilah ran to catch up to her impatient little sister.

The sisters were walking down a rocky road when Lilah complained. "Ugh! We don't even know where we are going!"
Dinah shrugged. "We could ask for help?" She suggested.
"Like who? Do you see anyone?" Lilah asked.
"No." Dinah answered.
"Exactly!"
The girls were continuing down the rocky path when someone suddenly let out a yelp of pain.
"Watch where you step!" A voice cried.
"Who's there?" Dinah asked nervously. She sure hoped it wasn't a ghost!
"Down here!" The mysterious voice called.
The sisters looked down but did not see anyone.
Then, when they finally spotted who the voice had belonged to, they were left even more confused than before.
"You're-you're a rock!" Lilah exclaimed, as she stared at the rock with two eyes and a mouth.
"Yes, and you're a girl." the rock spoke back.
"If you don't want to be stepped on, then don't sit on a rocky pathway as a rock!" Lilah said to him.
"I didn't choose to stay there you know. As a rock you get moved around."
"Aw, you're so cute!" Dinah told it amused.
"Thanks, I uh, get that a lot." The rock said in a smug, yet playful tone.
Dinah reached down and picked up the talking rock.
"Hey! Put me down!" It shouted, but it only made Dinah giggle.
"I'm going to call you Steve." Dinah stated.
"I am not a pet, and my name is Fluffy!" The rock shouted at her.
"Fluffy?" Dinah asked.
"But you're not even fluffy?" Lilah countered.
"Oh but I was." Fluffy said, then after a quick pause, he asked. "Can you put me down now?"
"Wait, do you know where Mermaid Lagoon is?" Dinah asked hopefully.
"Yes, why?" Fluffy asked.
"We need a mermaid scale." Lilah answered, taking the opportunity her sister had found.
"For what?"
"We are trying to combine the element pearls so we can get a wish to cure our mother." Dinah answered eagerly.
"I've heard of that quest." Fluffy said.
"So, can you tell us where Mermaid Lagoon is or not?" Lilah asked impatiently.
"If you can help me." The rock said.
Lilah sighed. "With what?"
"Well you see, I'm not supposed to be a rock." Fluffy said.
Lilah stomped her foot and shouted with frustration. "Of course you're not! You're supposed to be a handsome prince who got turned into a rock by an evil witch...right?"
"Well handsome, yes. Prince, no." Fluffy replied. "And it was a princess not a witch." He added.
Lilah rolled her eyes at him. "So, what are you supposed to be?" She asked, for some reason, annoyed. (Lilah tended to get annoyed when she was on edge and unsure of her and her sisters safety).
"I don't know." It answered. "But I do know I need to be taken to The Forest of All Things Living so I can be turned back."
"Alright, fine. Which way is Mermaid Lagoon?" Lilah asked.
"Left!" Fluffy shouted.
The girls turned left, steering off the pathway. They began walking left, and being sure to bring Fluffy with them.
"Thanks Steve." Dinah said.
"It's Fluffy!" the rock cried.
Dinah giggled, "oh yeah!"

data-p-id=a599d7561598f2f4ffe996426f594044,Lilah, Dinah, and Fluffy; who was in Dinah's hand, approached Mermaid Lagoon. The Lagoon was crystal clear and was laid against a cliff. It was surrounded by trees and other greenery.
"So, how do we get the scale?" Lilah asked.
"I don't know, but you have to watch out for the mermaids. They can be kinda rude." Fluffy warned them.
"How deep is the Lagoon?" Lilah asked.
"I don't know how deep, but I know it's pretty deep." The rock answered.
"How are we supposed to get down there?" Dinah asked.
"Swim." Fluffy told them simply.
"Well duh" Lilah said. "If it is too deep we won't make it." She added.
"Maybe-" Dinah got cut off by a mermaid who had emerged from the lake. They could see that her colors were dark red and purple.
"Hi, I thought I heard voices." The dark haired mermaid greeted them.
"A real mermaid!" Dinah shouted with joy.
"Bring it down would ya? You're hurting my ears!" The mermaid complained. "Gosh, humans are annoying." The mermaid added in a whisper.
"Can you help us?" Lilah asked.
"Why would I, a wonderful mermaid," she flipped her black hair. "want to help a pathetic little human?" The mermaid asked rudely.
"Because we would help you if you needed it, and mermaids help people because mermaids are nice and caring...right mermaid?" Dinah replied.
"Hmm," the mermaid hummed. "First off, my name is Jane and..." Jane stated with attitude, but she got cut off by another mermaid who just swam up to the top.
"She isn't nice or caring." The new mermaid answered for Jane. This mermaids colors were clearly light blue and yellow.
Jane rolled her eyes. "That's not what I was going to say Aylana, plus you aren't very nice either." She told her mermaid friend.
"Another one!" Dinah exclaimed.
"Another what?" Aylana demanded with a glare.
"Another mermaid." Dinah answered.
Aylana and Jane both rolled their eyes.
"Are you going to help us or not?" Lilah snapped, not liking the attitude that came with them.
"Not with that attitude." Aylana crossed her arms.
"Yeah, I'm the only one with an attitude." Lilah said sarcastically.
"So, will you help us?" Dinah asked this time.
"That depends." Jane replied.
"Oh, we don't have time for this! Our mother is dying we need to move quickly!" Lilah cried impatiently.
Another mermaid arrived at the surface, she was pink and navy blue.
"We used to have a mother, but she is already dead, because JANE killed her!" The third mermaid accused loudly.
Jane glared at her, "It was an accident! And you and Aylana were messing around too!" Jane spit at her.
"It was your idea Jane." Aylana said.
"You and Jacklyn helped me come up with the idea!" Jane shouted. "And we didn't kill her she just got turned into a fish." Jane added.
"A fish that got eaten!" Jacklyn cried while crossing her arms.
Jane glared at Jacklyn, she rose one of her hands slowly and began pinching her fingers together, it caused Jacklyn to choke.
"Stop! Your hurting her!" Dinah cried, worried for the mermaid.
"She deserves it!" Jane said, still choking her friend.
"No, she doesn't! Just help us and we will leave." Lilah cried.
Jane rolled her eyes and dropped her hand as Jacklyn struggled for breathe.
Jane smirked while Aylana laughed.
"You should have seen your face Jacklyn!" Aylana cried with a fit of laughter.
"Oh you shut up Aylana because I could easily do the same to you." Jacklyn said rubbing her neck.
"So will you help us?" Lilah asked again.
"No." Jane said, and re-submerged herself back into the water.
"Okay, well how about one of you?" Lilah asked the two remaining mermaids.
"Ugh! What do you need?" Jacklyn asked.
"A mermaid scale." Lilah answered with a smile.
"Are you asking us to pull off one of our beautiful, precious scales so we can give it to a foolish land person like yourself? Because if you are, then no, we can't help you." Jacklyn declared.
"Maybe, unless you can find one at the bottom of the lagoon?"
"How would you like it if we asked you for a piece of your toe nail?" Aylana asked.
"I would think you were weird." Lilah answered.
"See! And we think, your idiotic and weird." Aylana told them.
Lilah sighed, unharmed by her words. "Can you just see if one fell off?" She asked.
"You know what," Jacklyn pulled off a scale from Aylana's tail. "Here" she said.
"Ouch!" Aylana cried while Jacklyn laughed at her.
"Um, thank you." Dinah said while holding out a hand, though she felt bad for the mermaid.
"Uh uh, not so fast land girl" Jacklyn smiled while pulling the scale back. "You have to come get it." Jacklyn threw the scale behind her back and giggled.
"Good luck." Aylana said with a sly smiled, then the two mermaids went back under the water.
Dinah sighed. "I thought mermaids were supposed to be nice."
"Me too." Lilah agreed sadly.
"Well, we tried! Now let's go change me back!" Fluffy announced. 
"No, first we get the scale!" Lilah demanded.
"But..." Fluffy started.
"Sorry, first what we need and then your problem." Lilah commanded.
"Fine." Fluffy groaned.
"So now what?" Dinah asked.
"Azlin said if we need anything we could call her, maybe she can help us?" Lilah suggested.
"Right, how do we get ahold of her?" Dinah asked.
"Let's try this AZLIN! AZLIN! AZLIN! AZ..." Fluffy called.
"Be quiet! She might not be able to hear us." Lilah demanded, cutting him off with annoyance.
"You never know, AZLIN! AZLIN! AZLIN! AZLI..." The rock tried yelling one more time, and he got cut off once again, this time by Azlin.
"Yes." Azlin asked suddenly next to them.
"It worked!" Fluffy cried with satisfaction.
"Azlin! We need your help getting the scale." Lilah told her.
"You have a limited amount of times I can help you. Use them wisely. Do you wish to use one of them now?" Azlin asked them.
"Yes please." Lilah answered.
"Here you go." Azlin said with a snap of her fingers.
The sisters sparkled for a few seconds before they flopped to the ground.
Lilah and Dinah's matching tails were teal and lime green.
"Awesome! We look pretty!" Dinah exclaimed in amazement.
Lilah gasped and brushed her fingers across her tail to feel it. "I have always wanted to be a mermaid!"
"Me too, and a fairy, and a princess, and a good witch, and a good vampire, and a..." Dinah got cut off by her sister.
"We get it, you want to be everything." Lilah said, Dinah giggled.
"It's only temporary, you have a limited amount of time before it wears off." Azlin warned them.
"Can't we just pull off one of our scales?" Lilah asked.
"No, it has to be a real mermaid scale." Azlin told them.
"Oh." Lilah said, frowning.
"Good luck!" Azlin wished them with a sweet smile before flying off. "Oh, and you only have one favor left!"
"Thank you!" Dinah called after her but Azlin was too far away to hear.
"Let's go!" Lilah began scooting herself to the edge.
Dinah placed Fluffy down by the backpack that rested against a much bigger rock, before she joined her sister at the edge.
The girls look at each other, nodded once, and bounced in.
"Oh, okay! I will just stay here, alone...again." Fluffy said, sounding monotone.

The sisters were now in the water, eyes closed.
Both girls were holding air bubbles with their mouths. Lilah slowly opened her eyes, she tapped her sister, who's eyes were still closed. Dinah opened her eyes and looked over at Lilah.
Lilah tried her best to smile past her air bubble; the only indication was the upward slanted crease under her eyes. Lilah pointed ahead at the wonderful underwater world. Dinah looked around with amazement.
Colorful schools of fish swam in different directions, plants, of all shades of color, swayed in the soft current of the water, and old, sunken pieces of ships and architecture laid neatly atop one another, creating shelters and buildings. 
They then noticed Jane approaching them, followed by Aylana and Jacklyn. This seemed to ruin their mood of delight and wonder.
"Aw, look at the little mermaid girls." Jane exclaimed sarcastically; her tone was rude.
"Are you pretending to be pufferfish? What's with the cheeks?" Jacklyn asked.
The other two mermaids laughed.
"You can breathe you know, and talk." Jane told the temporary mermaids.
Dinah looked over at Lilah to be sure.
Lilah held up a finger, telling her sister to wait. Lilah blew out the air bubble and took in a small breath. When she felt she could breathe, she took in a bigger one.
"Hello?" She called to check if they could talk like the real mermaids. "Okay yeah, we can breathe and talk." Lilah assured her little sister. Dinah sighed in relief and inhaled a deep breath.
"Thank goodness! I thought I was going to explode!" Dinah cried while panting.
"Come one let's go find a scale." Lilah told her sister as she glared at the three, mean mermaids.
"Be careful down there." Aylana warned, though it didn't sound like she cared.
"Why?” Dinah asked, beginning to worry.
"He lives down there." Aylana told them.
"Who lives down there?" Lilah asked defensively.
"Uncle Bert." Jacklyn answered for Aylana.
"Uncle Bert? What's so bad about your uncle?" Dinah asked calmer, but still confused.
The three mermaids laughed.
"He's not our uncle, and his favorite snack is live mermaid sushi." Jane told them just before she swam away with the other two swimming behind her.
Once the mermaids were out of ear shot, Dinah asked. "Who do you think Uncle Bert is?"
"No one, I think they are just trying to scare us." Lilah patted her sisters shoulder to comfort her, then she glared in the mermaids direction.
Dinah sighed."I hope so, because then we'd be in trouble."
"Come on." Lilah said as she began to swim down, with Dinah following right at her tail.
As they got deeper and deeper, it got darker and darker.
"It's so dark." Dinah whispered fearfully.
"I know but we can kinda see the bottom." Lilah said.
They swam lower, soon they could see small little lights dancing in place at the bottom of the lagoon floor. When they got closer, it came into focus, it was different colors, and lengths, of glowing seaweed.
"Look glowing plants, we can use them as flashlights." Lilah thought while picking out a purple one.
Dinah followed her sisters lead and pulled out an aqua blue one.
Lilah started moving the sand around, "Start looking."
The sisters swam around digging through the sand, looking for a mermaid scale.
Only a few moments later, Lilah gasped with excitement.
"I found one!" she cried proudly, she held up the mermaid scale and swam over to her sister.
"It's so shiny!" Dinah said.
"I like this teal color." Lilah stated, handing it over to her sister.
Dinah took it and studied how it glistened in the seaweed light.
"Alright, first item found! Now let's go I don't like the dark." Lilah said.
Dinah nodded, "me neither."
Both girls dropped the glowing seaweed and Dinah handed the scale back to Lilah before they began swimming back up to the surface.
Suddenly a giant red tentacle shot out of nowhere, grabbing Lilah.
Lilah let out a horrified scream and struggled against the large arm. She accidentally dropped the scale in the process.
"LILAH!" Dinah cried for her big sister.
Lilah still screaming, and struggling, against the giant, red-eyed octopus yelled out for her sister. "Dinah, Dinah go! Get the scale, I dropped it!" Lilah shouted.
"No Lilah, I need to help you!" Dinah cried as she felt tears starting in her chest. She began swimming over to her struggling sister.
"No, I'm not...telling you to...leave me...I'm telling you to...get the scale, then go get...help! I don't want you to get hurt!" Lilah panted as she tried to struggle free of Uncle Bert's strong tentacle grip.
Dinah nodded still terrified for her sister. She began to swim down when another one of Uncle Bert's tentacles grabbed her. Dinah's scream and tears couldn't be held back anymore.
"Dinah!" Lilah cried still struggling.
"Let us go you big, old, fat, fish-smelling giant!" Dinah shouted, still crying.
"We are going to die and mother will never get better!" Lilah sobbed, beginning to cry with her younger sibling. Both girls continued to struggle as they were getting brought closer and closer to Uncle Bert's opened mouth, revealing his giant razor sharp teeth.
"Help! Help!" The sisters cried together, over and over, still trying their best to fight the monstrous creature.
A new mermaid, with pixie cut short hair, came swimming down quickly with a spear.
With her green and white tail she hit the mermaid-eating octopus in the face, causing him to make a weird noise; it was mixed with groans and gurgles. This time the mermaid stabbed him with the long pointy spear.
"Let 'em go Bert!" The rescuer yelled, stabbing him again. She hit him with her strong tail again, causing him to release one of the sisters. After another hit, he released the second sister. Uncle Bert made one last, odd, gurgling whine and swam off.
"Thank you so much." Lilah cried, gasping for air.
"Thank you!" Dinah said, also gasping for air.
The savior laughed sweetly. "You're very welcome."
"You are so brave!" Dinah told her impressed.
"Why thank you. So are you, you didn't give up you kept fighting." She told them.
"Who are you?" Dinah asked.
"Erica." she answered.
"Thank you again, Erica." Dinah told her.
"I just have one question. What are two young mermaids doing down here? You know the council forbids us." Erica said, becoming serious.
"Oh no, we aren't mermaids, we are humans. We were turned into mermaids by Azlin, she's a fairy." Lilah politely corrected her.
"Azlin? Why did Azlin turn you into mermaids?" Erica asked. Erica knew who Azlin was. In fact, every dreamer knew who Azlin was. She was in charge of The Land of Dreams, including all creatures and things living in it.
"So we could get a mermaid scale for our quest of combining the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams." Dinah answered her.
"Ah, trying to get the wish I see." Erica said.
"Yes." They answered together.
"Good luck." Erica added.
"Thank you." Lilah and Dinah said together.
"I will get the scale." Dinah announced and began to swim back down.
"Hold on," Erica said, and then she pulled off a scale from her tail;it was a pretty shade of green. She tried handing it to Lilah. "Take one of mine. You need to hurry up and get out of here. It's gonna take a while for you to find it again. The current is much stronger down here so it's probably buried in the sand again."
"Thank You." Lilah said. "But we shouldn't, you already saved us."
"It's alright, take it" Erica said, still trying to hand it to her.
Lilah hesitated.
"It's okay, I didn't just pull it off for no reason." Erica said with a playful laugh.
"Good point." Lilah giggled and took the scale.
"Thank you." Dinah said.
"Do you need anything? We will be glad to help after what you did for us." Lilah asked Erica.
Dinah agreed with a bright smile and eager nod.
"Oh no girls it's okay, it's what we all should do, help our underwater friends...or land friends." Erica told them. "All you need to do is get back to safety." Erica added.
"Thanks." The girls said together.
"I do hope you complete your quest and make it home safely. And you are very brave for coming down here." the nice mermaid told them.
"Thanks again." Lilah said while Dinah smiled.
"No problem." Erica smiled and swam off, the sisters smiled too and turned to each other.
"Now that's how mermaids should act!" Dinah said.
"I know right!" Lilah agreed.
The sisters laughed and swam together back to the surface.

The rock was, of course, sitting in the same spot as he waited for the sisters to come back. Out of boredom he began to sing.
"I'm a rock singing cause there is nothing else to do, I would be dancing too but I've got no legs so this is all I can do! And this song sucks cause I can't rhyme. A do da do do do da do a do da dooooo!" As he continued to sing a big bug landed on him. "And now there is a bug on my head, ew." He added to his song.
The shiny, greenish-teal bug, let out a dark blue gas. "Aw, and it's a stink bug too, get off me bug shoo!" The rock finished off his song as he coughed from the revolting smell.
The stink bug laughed as he flew off.
Seconds later, Dinah and Lilahs' heads came up from the lagoon.
"Finally! Took ya long enough!" Fluffy shouted.
"Sorry, we were busy trying not to get eaten by a mermaid killing octopus!" Lilah told him.
"Please tell me you got the scale at least." The rock said.
"We got the scale." Dinah told him truthfully.
"Great, now we can go!" The rock sounded eager.
"We still have tails, we can't walk." Lilah reminded him.
"UGH!" Fluffy cried with annoyance.
Lilah pulled herself out of the lagoon and onto the surface. She then plopped the mermaid scale into the backpack.
It was Dinah's turn to lift herself, only the tail was too heavy for her as she struggled to pull herself up.
Dinah grunted for the strength to lift herself onto the edge.
Finally on land, she flipped herself around to sit up right. Her tail flapped in the process; accidentally knocking the rock. Fluffy screamed as he fell into Mermaid Lagoon.
"Oopsy." Dinah whispered.
Lilah gave a small annoyed sigh and jumped in after him.
Lilah spotted Fluffy slowly drifting to the bottom as he continued to scream. Lilah rolled her eyes at this because he was screaming as if he were being murdered.
The oldest sister began to swim down after him, but before she could, Jane swooped down and wrapped her fingers around Fluffy first.
"Oh, what's this?" Jane asked in a teasing tone.
Lilah groaned. Why does she have to do this? Why can't she be nice? She thought.
"Can you please give him back?" Lilah asked with a cross of her arms.
"What's the magic word?" The mermaid asked.
"I said please!" Lilah shouted at Jane.
"I can't see!" The rock cried in panic.
Jane rolled her eyes and lifted the rock to her face.
Fluffy's eyes widened, "well hello there, I'm Fluffy." He tried to sound smug.
Jane laughed at his horrible attempt to flirt with her, "Fluffy? Your name is Fluffy?" She asked, mocking him.
"Seriously? Fluffy is not that bad of a name!" He cried feeling hurt. Lilah had already teased him about it.
Jane nodded, "Yes, it is." she had no problem telling him.
"Forget I said that." he cleared his throat, remembering what Dinah had tried to name him when they first met. "Well hello there, my name is Steve." Fluffy said, trying to wiggle the eyebrows he didn't have.
Jane rolled her eyes in disgust, "Gross." Was all she said.
"Now can I have him back?" Lilah asked.
"No, don't give me back, she's evil!" The rock cried, playfully. He thought maybe he wanted to stay with the pretty mermaid.
Jane rolled her eyes again as Aylana, Jacklyn, and two new merpeople, a magenta and black mermaid and a blue and grey merman, joined her side.
Jane noticed her friends and smirked. "If you can catch it." Jane taunted, tossing the rock over to the merman, he catched it and grinned.
Fluffy began to scream again.
Lilah began to swim over to the merman, who then tossed it to Jacklyn.
"I'm not a potato!" Fluffy cried. "Or a bouncing ball!" He added.
Jacklyn tossed it to Aylana as Lilah swam towards her.
Aylana tossed it to the new mermaid, who tossed it to a second merman, one who was olive green and brown, that had joined the game.
The rock continued screaming as he got tossed around.
"This isn't funny!" Lilah shouted angrily.
"Yes it is." Aylana laughed.
Lilah stopped and crossed her arms as the merpeople continued to play catch. Sometimes, Lilah would try and catch it, but she failed each time.
Soon, Lilah's tail began to flash.
"Oh no, please I have to go! You can find another rock to play with." Lilah cried.
"Yeah, like one that's not ALIVE!" Fluffy shouted.
The merpeople had noticed Lilah's tail and stopped.
"Oh!" Jane faked a whine. "Looks like little mermaid girl is losing her tail. Guess she can't get it." She teased. "Oh well." She added as she tossed Fluffy aside.
Fluffy started to fall further into the lagoon. "Well," he said to himself, "at least the throwing stopped. I thought I was going to be lagoon sick!" He thought for a moment, "or maybe that's motion sickness? Either way! It looks like this is the end of me, good bye bright world above, hello darkness!" The rock cried in fake sobs as he drifted lower and lower.
Lilah tried to swim after him but the current was too strong without a tail. Lilah frowned through her air bubble, thinking she had lost him, when Erica swooped in and grabbed the falling rock.
"Thank you, thank you! Looks like I've been saved!" Fluffy cried in a sarcastic, happy tone.
Erica handed Lilah the rock.
Lilah, using sign language, signed thank you.
"No problem." Erica smiled.
Lilah swam to the surface holding Fluffy tight against her chest.
"Oh you're no fun, Erica!" Jane pouted as she swam away with her friends.

data-p-id=55cb7a38a296ca78fdbf20383f3cc0a5,style=text-align:left;,Lilah rose to the surface and gasped for breath.
Dinah was sitting next to the backpack, in tears.
"Dinah! What's wrong?" Lilah asked her little sister.
Dinah quickly lifted her head. "LILAH! You're okay!" Dinah proudly shouted as she wiped her tears. She scrambled to help pull her sister out of the water. "I was going to go looking for you but my tail disappeared, and then I got scared." Dinah cried.
"Oh Dinah, I'm okay." Lilah assured her sister as she gave her a hug, after placing the rock gently onto the floor. "and look, I'm dry." Lilah noticed with amazement.
"I guess it's the magic of The Land of Dreams." Dinah said.
"Most likely." Lilah agreed.
"Did you forget I was here or do you just not
care?" Fluffy asked from the ground.
Dinah giggled. "I was worried about you too Fluffy, I'm glad you're okay." Dinah said.
"Oh that is so sweet!" Fluffy said, then he quickly changed the subject, "can we go now?" He asked.
"Alright, what's next on the list?" Lilah asked herself as she pulled out the list.
Fluffy replied before she had a chance to do so. "Taking me to The Forest of All Things Living." He told her with a smile in his voice.
"That's not on the list." Dinah and Lilah told him together.
The rock groaned, "But I..." He started.
"We will help you with that once we have finished our mission, I promise." Lilah told him. "Plus, we could use your help. You know more things about this place since you live here."
"But..." Fluffy started again.
"Do you want us to help you or not?" Lilah asked.
"Yes." the rock answered.
"Then you will go our way or no way, understand?" Lilah strictly told him. She wanted to be sure they had their best chance at helping their mother.
"Okay, geez!" Fluffy said.
Dinah pulled out the list and handed it to her sister. Lilah took it, "Thank you." She said.
Then, they began walking away from Mermaid Lagoon.

"Hey!" Lilah exclaimed in confusion. "Dinah, did you cross off the mermaid scale?"
"No why?"
"It's crossed off." Lilah showed her sister.
When Dinah leaned in to look at it she saw that mermaid scale had been crossed off in golden ink.
"I didn't do it, you've had the list. I guess it crosses off by itself once we find it." Dinah suggested.
"I mean, it's a possibility." Lilah said as she skimmed the list.
"That's so cool, it's a magical list." Dinah said, smiling wide.
"Probably."
"What are we going to find next?" The rock asked with a yawn.
"Fluffy, do you know where we can find unicorn waste?" Lilah asked.
"Uh...a unicorn." Fluffy answered. It seemed quite obvious to him.
Lilah rolled her eyes. "Obviously! Where can we find a unicorn?"
"We saw one earlier remember, but I don't know if it's still there." Dinah replied with slight disappointment.
"Let's take a nap!" Fluffy suggested suddenly.
"We can't!" Lilah almost shouted.
"We need to find the unicorn poop!" Dinah told him, holding back a giggle. "I never thought I'd say that." Dinah said to her sister.
"And I never thought I'd be helping you find some." Lilah said holding back a laugh, then she turned to the rock. "Hey!" She shouted. Fluffy had closed his eyes to fall asleep.
"What?" Fluffy snapped while opening his eyes back up. "Sometimes when I wake up I find some on my head." He said.
"That's gross." Lilah told him.
The rock frowned, "I'm a rock, sometimes it just lands on me."
"Ew!" The girls were disgusted.
"Yeah, but at least it smells good." The rock answered.
"That's disgusting!" Lilah cried.
"What? Unicorn waste smells like vanilla."
The girls were still in disgust.
"What does it look like?" Dinah asked.
"Well, they are soft swirly piles, kind of like iced cream. They are multicolored with bright colors; usually pinks, blues, yellows, purples, oranges, and greens." Fluffy answered. "Oh, and sometimes they are sparkly." Fluffy added.
"Let's just look for unicorns and hope for the best." Lilah said to them.
"Unicorns are very rare, especially in the daylight. Most of them are nocturnal." Fluffy told them. "They tend to avoid large living things." He added.
"Well it's getting dark." Lilah looked up, the light blue sky was now a purple and orange sunset.
"That's why I was suggesting to take a nap!" Fluffy exclaimed.
Lilah sighed, "I guess we could pretend to sleep for a while, just so we can spot one."
"While you two do that, I'm taking a real nap." Fluffy closed his eyes again and smacked his lips together.
"Good night." Dinah said and placed him on the grass.
"Good night." He said with his eyes still closed.
Dinah looked at her sister, who just shrugged. They laid themselves down on the grass next to Fluffy and closed their eyes.

Dinah, bored, sighed and peeked out of one eye. She gasped and the second eye flung open, "oh my goodness, unicorns!" She shouted in an excited whisper. Her words had her sisters eyes open in seconds.
In the distance, she spotted two beautiful white unicorns. The broader one had a black mane and dark grey horn, while the more feminine looking one had purple mane intertwined with highlights of different shades of pink, her white horn glimmered in the moonlight.
"They are so pretty." Dinah whispered.
Dinah quickly turned to her sister, who she didn't know was already watching the unicorns.
"Look, over in the trees." Dinah pointed.
"I know!" Lilah whispered with amazement. "I can't believe it!" She added.
"Come on, let's go!" Dinah whispered happily.
"Hold on. We might scare them, we have to be very quiet." Lilah whispered to her little sister.
Dinah nodded as they stood, they watched the mythical creatures from a distance.
"Okay, quietly get everything together." Lilah told Dinah.
The girls gathered their things. Lilah slung the backpack over her shoulder as Dinah picked up the sleeping rock.
The girls looked at each other, when they saw they were both ready, they began to tiptoe closer to the unicorns.
"What are they waiting for?" Dinah asked curiously. Both unicorns were paused in place while looking behind themselves.
"I don't know." The older sister answered.
"Does it look like they've gone to the bathroom?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged and shook her head, "it doesn't look like it."
Lilah stopped walking and Dinah stopped next to her.
"Let's not get too close, we don't want to scare them." Lilah told her.
"Okay." Dinah said.
Moments later, a baby unicorn began wobbling it's way towards its parents. They baby looked identical to its father, only it was much smaller, and not as muscular.
"Aw, they were waiting for their baby." Dinah whispered.
"It's so cute." Lilah smiled.
"I know! I just want to pet it." Dinah said in an excited whisper.
"Come on kid, let it out." The rock whispered from Dinah's hand.
Dinah looked down at him as Lilah turned her head to look the rocks way.
"Oh look, Someone's awake." Lilah said.
"I told you I was tired, I needed my beauty sleep." The rock told her
"You're a brown lump of ground, your beauty sleep doesn't seem to be working." Lilah said, jokingly.
"I will have you know, that I am not from the ground, okay! I wasn't always a rock." Fluffy told her angrily.
Dinah interrupted their dumb argument. "Hey, the baby is pooping!" She giggled.
"Told ya." Fluffy said.
"Let's go get it." Dinah got ready to take a step, but Lilah grabbed her arm.
"Wait until they leave, you don't want to scare it."
"Or get turned into a frog." Fluffy chuckled.
"What?" Dinah asked with some worry in her voice.
"Unicorns have magic in their horn! And unicorn parents are very protective of their young, especially the mothers." Fluffy told them.
Dinah and Lilah nod as if saying, oh.
"Now before you two go get it, where are you going to keep it?"
Lilah put a hand to her face in frustration and groaned. "I don't know, I didn't think about that."
"Azlin said things we will need should be in the bag." Dinah replied.
"Oh yeah!" Lilah hurried to take off the backpack. She dug around to try and find something they could possibly hold the unicorn waste and milk.
"Nothing we can hold it in." Lilah sighed. 
"What about using that jar?" Fluffy asked.
"What jar?" Dinah asked him.
"The one straight ahead, laying in the grass."
Lilah and Dinah looked up ahead, waiting for their eyes to land on the jar Fluffy noticed.
"Where?" Lilah asked.
"Right there!" Dinah pointed, then she went to go get it.
When Dinah came back with the empty jar, she handed it to her sister. "It's a little cracked." She frowned.
"No, it's just chipped a little at the top. I'm sure it can hold it." Lilah observed.
The girls looked back up at the unicorns. They had finally moved a little further away.
"Come on." Lilah said, and Dinah and her walked down into the forest where the baby unicorn had been.
Dinah laughed when she saw the baby unicorns pile of waste. "It really is rainbow!"
Lilah bent down to scoop it inside the jar, "and it really does smell like vanilla."
Dinah watched her big sister unscrew the lid and scoop the waste into the jar with the top.
When she finished, Lilah stood and closed the jar back up. "Now, for the milk?" Lilah thought aloud. She looked around in thought, she saw the unicorn family a little bit deeper into the forest.
"Hey, maybe we can ask the baby unicorn to help?" Lilah suggested.
"How are we going to do that?" Dinah asked with confusion.
"The mother won't let you near the baby, and the father won't let you near the mother." Fluffy argued. 
"Maybe they can help with that." Lilah pointed at two small, strange creatures that were playing not too far from them.
"Those are squirtels, they are half squirrel half turtle." Fluffy told them. "They are very playful and mischievous, and if you get them angry they will squirt their spit at you." Then he added, "they can be helpful I guess."
"Is the spit poisonous?" Lilah asked.
"No, just extremely sticky and it takes forever to get off."
"Can they speak English?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know, but do the noises they are making sound like English to you?" The rock asked.
"No, but we have to try." Lilah said and walked over to them.
Lilah approached the squirtels slowly.
"Um, excuse me?" Lilah said to the furry creatures with shells on their back.
The squirtels stopped and stared back at Lilah.
"Do you understand me?" Lilah asked.
The squirtels shook their head vigorously.
"Uh, yes you do, you just answered my question with a lie." Lilah glared.
They shook their heads again.
"See, you are doing it again." Lilah argued.
One of the squirtels had begun to chitter.
"But I can't understand you." Lilah replied.
The squirtels nodded and glared at her.
Lilah sighed, "Can you just do me a favor?" She asked anyway.
The squirtels chattered to each other, than turned back to Lilah to nod.
"Thank you, can you please fill this jar with unicorn milk?" Lilah asked handing the jar of waste to the odd creatures.
They stared at her like she had just said the stupidest thing in the world. She stared back at them, until they suddenly nodded extremely fast.
"Thank you." Lilah said to them. "All I need you to do is ask the baby unicorn to fill its mouth with milk from its mother, then spit it into here." Lilah told them.
One of the squirtels scratched its head then snatched the jar from Lilah.
It chattered one word before taking off with its friend.
"No wait, I'm coming with you!" Lilah shouted after them and followed them in a run.
"Great, you lost the poop." Fluffy said as Dinah ran beside Lilah.
"You said they were helpful!" Lilah shouted.
"They can be when they want to be." Fluffy said.
"Ugh!" Lilah groaned.
"Look, there they are!" Dinah shouted as she pointed.
Lilah turned her head into the same direction as her sister.
The squirtels were chittering to the baby unicorn, the baby neighed and trotted over to his mother.
The baby began to feed, then he trotted his way back over to the squirtels.
One of the squirtels opened the jar with its long fingers, letting the unicorn spit the milk inside. The squirtels chattered again, saluted the baby unicorn, then ran back over to Lilah.
Lilah took the jar with a smile, "Thank you."
The squirtels nodded one time as a salute. Then one hopped onto the others back for a piggyback ride before the other one took off.

"So, what's next on the list?" Fluffy asked.
Lilah placed the jar of milk and waste, for the magic element, inside of the bag, then she pulled out the list and unfolded the crinkled paper.
"What looks like the easiest thing to find?" Dinah asked.
"Well, I don't know. How we are supposed to approach a volcano? Fluffy, do you know where The Forbidden Lake is?" Lilah asked.
"No, but I heard it's extremely dangerous. One drop of water and you're dead." The rock explained.
"We're not going there just yet!" Lilah cried perplexed.
"I'll say." Dinah agreed.
"There are so many things on this list that I don't know what to do next!" Lilah complained.
"I wish we knew where to find these things." Dinah sighed.
"Can I see the list?" Fluffy asked.
Lilah put it in front of his eyes.
"Hmm, well, it says that the Sword of Light is kept in the kings castle, but I don't know where the castle is." Fluffy told the sisters.
"We should ask Azlin for help." Dinah suggested.
"But we aren't supposed to, we only have three favors to ask and we've already used two!" Lilah complained with annoyance, then she sighed.
"You could ask him." Fluffy said, breaking a short silence.
"What?" Lilah asked.
"Look behind you." The rock answered.
Lilah turned around to see a young boy, maybe only a year younger than Dinah, pulling a wagon full of candy down a narrow pathway. The boy, they saw, was peculiar. He was not a normal boy. His skin was blue!
Along with his blue skin, he had black hair and sky blue eyes. He was wearing black dress shoes, with a red dress shirt and black overalls.
"Whoa!" Dinah exclaimed. "He is blue!"
"Uh, Dinah!" Lilah whispered frantically as she saw her sister begin to approach the blue boy.
It had been to late, Dinah was already calling after him.
"Hey! Excuse me!" Dinah began to jog over to him as she waved her hand. Lilah sprinted to catch up to her.
The boy stopped in his tracks, startled.
"Please don't hurt me girl, I'm just a delivery boy." He squealed. He dropped the wagons handle and shielded his face.
Confused, Dinah tilted her head. "We aren't going to hurt you, we just have some questions for you."
"Oh." He nodded and removed his hands from his face. Though, he didn't seem to relax much.
"First, what is your name?" Dinah asked with a proud smile.
"Toby?" He sounded confused.
"Ooh, I like that name. You know I almost named my stuffed bunny Toby but I didn't because it's a boys name so I named her Cuddles." Dinah was speaking a little faster than normal, she couldn't help the excitement.
"Dinah what are you doing?" Lilah asked. "You're going to scare him off." She whispered.
"No I'm not, he's still here isn't he?" Dinah said.
Lilah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, surprisingly." She then looked at the boy. "Okay, well Toby do you happen to know where any of these places are?" Lilah showed him the list.
Toby stared at it blankly then looked back at her.
Lilah sighed. "Do you know how to read?" She asked annoyed.
Toby nodded his head. "Uh, but I can only read candy orders out loud. I get too nervous to read anything else."
"You can read it in your head if you want." She replied.
Toby looked at her nervously, right now he was too scared to do that too. He shook his head.
"Of course...Okay," Lilah said and cleared her throat. She got prepared to read, when she got cut off once again. Lilah groaned in annoyance.
"Where are you taking the giant wagon of candy?" Dinah asked.
"To the kings palace for his dinner party." Toby answered.
Surprised, Lilah said, "Really? That's perfect! We actually need to get to the kings castle, can you take us?" She asked.
Toby nodded.
"Uh, before we go, why are you blue?" Fluffy asked.
"Fluffy!" Dinah shouted in a whisper.
"What? Just asking the boy a simple question."
"I don't know, I was born this way." Toby answered. "I'm an irides." he added.
"Oh." Fluffy replied.
"Why are you a talking rock?" Lilah asked trying to get back at Fluffy, but he ignored her as Dinah giggled.

The three of them, and the rock, who was in Dinah's hand, were still continuing along the small pathway.
"How much further Toby?" Lilah asked.
"Not too much further." He answered.
"This is the longest walk I've been on." Fluffy complained.
"You aren't even the one walking." Dinah interjected.
"Oh yeah." Fluffy said, which caused Dinah to look at him with a confused expression.
They continued to walk when they heard someone laughing.
They turned their heads to see, not too far in the distance, a teenage boy with vines wrapped around different parts of his body.
He was tickling a young girl, probably his little sister, who was also wrapped in vines.
Both shimmered with green and yellow specks of glitter.
"Everyone is ticklish here." Toby explained.
Soon they approached a large castle.
"Here we are." Toby told them.
"Finally!" Fluffy cried.
"It's huge!" Dinah said, amazed.
They came to a stop at the castles large wooden door. Toby knocked gently, but it was still loud enough for someone to hear.
A short creature, with only a few hairs on its head (and chin), opened the door. It was dressed as if it were a maid. Its head reminded Dinah and Lilah of a dogs skull. It's body looked like that of a little old woman.
"Hello, I have the candy order for the king." Toby told her.
"Yes, please enter." The maid replied in a raw, "old lady" like voice and opened the door fully.
The three children stepped inside, Toby first. Dinah slipped Fluffy into the backpack's pocket. They followed the creature into a large court room. Everything seemed to be red, and decorated with accents of gold.
In the far back center, sat the king on his thrown, and right next to him was the queen. The queen, they noticed, looked to be made of gold!
The skeleton women, or animal maid, left, leaving them alone with the king and queen.
"Hello, Toby." The king nodded once to say hello.
"Hello, King Peels." Toby bowed, then he turned to the queen and bowed again. "Queen Smaerd."
"Hello." Queen Smaerd replied.
"I-I believe I have your order of 5264 pieces of candy," he pulled out the candy order, cleared his throat, and read nervously. "1000 pieces of pumpkin pie sugar blocks, 500 pieces of vanilla frosted frog legs, 500 pieces of chocolate coated frog legs, 1000 pieces of rabbit cinnamon hearts, 1000 pieces of strawberry bug swirls, a box of 64 sour sugar blades, and 1200 pieces of orange cakes." Toby looked up anxiously as the girls turned to each other disgusted. Some of those candies did no sound appetizing to them.
"That's correct." The king said in his booming voice.
"Those candies sound gross." Dinah whispered in her sisters ear.
"Shh!" Lilah whispered back.
Dinah shrugged.
Toby nodded with a polite smile and handed the wagons handle to another passing skeleton maid.
"Is there anything you need me to do? Or should I go?" Toby asked anxiously.
"No that is all, you may go. Thank you." The king replied with a jolly smile.
Toby bowed and smiled back. "My pleasure. Goodbye King Peels," he turned to the queen and bowed again. "Goodbye Queen Smaerd. The queen smiled, as did the king and Toby turned to leave.
Before exiting, he passed the girls and whispered. "Good luck to you both."
"Thank you." The girls whispered to him together.
As the blue boy exited, the girls stepped closer to the king and queen.
"Hello." The king said. "And who might you two be?" He asked nicely.
"Uh, Hello King Peels and Queen Smaerd. I'm Lilah." She indicated Dinah with her hand. "This is my sister, Dinah."
Dinah waved and smiled shyly.
Lilah curtsied, copied by a nervous Dinah. 
"And what brings you two here?" The king asked. "I've never seen either of you on the land." He added.
"Well we are not from here, we are here to cure our mother. We are working to get the wish." Lilah answered.
"Ah yes, the wish." The king said.
"We were told we had to come here to retrieve The Sword of Light." Lilah told him nervously.
He smiled, "You must win it over." He told them sternly.
"H-how?" Lilah asked.
"Take it from me." He told them simply, then he began to transform.
He grew six more arms, four more eyes, a fatter abdomen, and his skin even turned black. The king had become a giant spider.
"Oh god." Lilah whispered.
The sword appeared in one of the kings many arms.
"What do we do?" Dinah asked mesmerized, yet frightened.
Lilah looked around as the spider king crawled closer to them.
"Quick, those swords!" Lilah shouted as she went to pull one from the strange, animal-knight statues.
Dinah did the same and then they ran back.
The king slashed at the girls, Lilah blocked the first two while Dinah blocked the third. With every clash of the swords, the sword of light gave off flashes of white light.
"We can't hurt the king can we?" Dinah asked.
"No! Or you will pay the price." The queen shouted from her throne.
Lilah quickly whispered in Dinah's ear. Dinah nodded and ran around the large spider as Lilah's sword clashed with The Sword of Light. Lilah noticed Dinah on top of the spider. "Excuse me." Lilah asked. "Yes?" The king asked as they continued to fight.
"Are you ticklish?"
"What, wh..." The king began laughing as Dinah tickled him. He dropped the sword and Lilah ran to grab it. "I got it!" She shouted as she held it up proudly.
Dinah stopped and slid down the arachnid. After, the king turned back to his human form, he said, "Congratulations, you won the sword over. You girls are smart." The king complemented them.
"Thank you." They said at the same time.
"I wish you luck." He told them.
"Thank you." The sisters said again.
"Yes of course." The king said.
"Good luck!" The queen told them.
Dinah and Lilah nodded to say thank you and curtsied one last time before they exited the castle.

After walking not too far from the castle Lilah pointed. "Look, the Library of Dreams is right there and that's where the list says we can find The Book of Cursed and Forbidden Spells."
"Boring!" Dinah faked a yawn.
"Libraries aren't boring! They are filled with all kinds of magical worlds!" Lilah exclaimed happily.
"Worlds more magical than this one?" Dinah asked, testing her big sister.
"They can be, yes, lots more magical." Lilah told her little sister.
"Yeah right." Dinah said as she and Lilah made their way over to the old looking library.
It had been painted a baby blue color, but it was chipping away. The second hand on the clock tower didn't move, and the golden pillars were turning yellow.
Once they made it inside they gasped. The library was very large. Rows and rows of bookshelves carried billions of different books. There were higher floors visible from where they stood. Some shelves didn't seem part of the floors, but like they had floors of their own. Stairs and ladders connected each platform. The library was lit with light blue light bulbs hanging over each of the bookshelves.
It was old and dusty; cobwebs and dust bunnies decorated parts of the library, and it smelled strange. But it was a good kind of strange; like how old things smelt.
"I think I'm in love!" Lilah looked around in awe.
"It's huge!" Dinah cried in amazement. "The book could be anywhere in this place."
"Let's try the back." Lilah said.
Dinah agreed and the sisters headed to the far back of the library. Then the girls began to search.
"It's so dark and dusty back here." Dinah whispered.
"I know." Lilah whispered back. "Let's spilt up." She suggested.
"Okay." Dinah said and she walked the other way.
After a while of searching they met up again.
"I can't find anything that looks cursed or forbidden." Dinah said.
"Me neither." Lilah said. "but I'm pretty sure we weren't looking in the right spot. The book is banned, which means it would be hidden extremely well. So, where would I hide a book that I needed to keep safe?" Lilah wondered aloud.
"A hidden room." Dinah answered.
"Exactly." Lilah said.
The girls, instead of looking for abnormal looking books, began looking around for marks on the walls or odd placements of things. They felt around the library and pulled objects and curtains.
"Nothing." Lilah sighed.
"Hmm." Dinah hummed.
Lilah looked up, "There is a second floor." The older sister exclaimed.
"The stairs are right there." Dinah pointed.
They rushed up the creaky steps.
"Ah!" Dinah screamed.
Lilah looked back at her little sister whose foot had went through a cracked step. She rushed back down to help.
After Dinahs' foot was released the sisters ran up the rest of the stairs.
Fluffy's deep voice came from the backpack. "You know it would be nice if you could walk a little calmer! You're kinda shaking up my insides!"
"You're a rock, you don't have any insides!" Lilah argued.
"And how do you know that?" The rock asked smugly.
"I don't, but I'd gladly break you open to find out." Lilah snapped.
"You know what? I'm fine with pretending I do."
"Okay, then be quiet."
"You're real sassy for a little girl, you know that?"
Lilah rolled her eyes and replied with sarcasm, "Yeah, so I've been told."
"Because it's true!" Fluffy shouted as they finished going up the steps.
"Jeez," Lilah huffed out, out of breathe. "That was tiring." She added in a whisper.
"And dangerous." Dinah frowned, looking at her cut ankle.
The girls glanced around the second floor when they noticed an elevator.
"We should have used the elevator!" Dinah cried exasperated. She was out of breathe like her big sister.
They spread apart and began looking around the second floor, pressing against walls, picking up random items. After what seemed like hours of looking the girls called out to one another.
"Dinah! Have you found anything?" Lilah shouted.
"No! You?" Dinah called back.
"Well, I found a map of The Land of Dreams!" Lilah told her.
"That's cool." Dinah shouted back.
"Yeah, it could come in handy!"
The girls met up at the stairs.
"Should we keep looking?" Dinah asked.
"There is a third floor, but if we are gonna go up we're gonna have to take the elevator. The stairs are broken." Lilah said.
"Okay." Dinah nodded and began running towards the elevator.
"But what if the elevator is broken." Lilah interjected with worry.
"Let's go ahead and try." Dinah said jogging over to it.
Lilah sighed, "I guess it was my idea, but still if I die in the elevator, I'm blaming you." Lilah followed her little sister inside.
Dinah pressed the button and the elevator made a ding.
Dinah stepped in once the door had slid open, Lilah stood next to her.
"Which floor?" Dinah asked. "3 or 4?"
"First three, we can maybe try four later." Lilah answered.
Dinah pressed the third floor and up they went.
When the girls made it up, they looked all around the third floor but they found nothing. They then checked the fourth floor, and still found nothing.
"Maybe the book isn't in the library." Dinah said losing hope.
"Or maybe we have seen it but we don't know what it looks like so we didn't know!" Lilah threw up her arms angrily then she crossed them with a pout.
They walked back to the elevator, both girls leaned against the railings.
"Let's check the first floor again, just to be sure it isn't in the library." Lilah told her younger sister.
"Okay." Dinah got ready to push the first floor button when she noticed the button with the letter B.
"What's does the B stand for?" Dinah asked her big sister.
"I don't know, basement?" Lilah suggested.
"Let's check there." Dinah pushed the button.
"Okay."
The elevator stopped, Lilah and Dinah took in a deep, shaking breathe as the elevator doors opened to the basement.
"It's so dim, you can barley see." Dinah whispered.
"Maybe we have a flashlight in the backpack." Lilah wondered.
Dinah unzipped the backpack on her sisters back. "Here." She pulled out a flashlight and handed it to her sister, who turned it on right away.
"Do you want to split up this time?" Lilah asked as Dinah zipped the backpack back up.
"No."
"Good, me neither."

The sisters looked around the basement, the deeper in they went, the darker it got.
"Hey, w-" Dinah started to say something, but Lilah cut her off.
"Ssh!" Lilah shushed her sister in a whisper.
"What?" Dinah whispered back.
Lilah nervously pointed at someone sitting in a chair turned around.
The only thing that was visible was the back of the persons head, just grey silky hair tied in a tight bun.
"It's just a harmless librarian, I'm sure she is really sweet." Dinah whispered, trying to convince herself to relax, but something felt wrong.
"We aren't supposed to be down here." Lilah whispered back, feeling the same uneasiness as her little sister.
"Lets go back." Dinah whispered, her voice shook with worry.
Lilah nodded.
Both girls immediately turned to leave. When they took the first step, a floor board creeked. The girls stomach flipped and they gasped. They both quickly turned to look at the old women.
For a moment they thought they were safe, until a bat flew down from the ceiling. Dinah jumped. Then she let out a small yelp when it swooped too far down, knocking the librarians head off. The hair had been a wig, it fell off the head. Next to it, glasses landed.
The skull rolled all the way to them, the only sound was the sound of something hard rolling on the cement floor.
Lilah sucked in a short breath while Dinah screamed. The older sister quickly clasped her hand over her little sister's mouth.
"Ssh." Lilah whispered harshly.
When Dinah quieted and nodded, Lilah removed her hand. They stared at the skull in silence, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the skull's jaw opened with a crack, letting out a piercing scream.
The sisters ran.

Dinah and Lilah rushed into the elevator. As soon as it opened, they ran inside and leaned against the walls.
They didn't speak until the doors closed.
"Why was the elevator further than I remember?" Dinah complained while out of breath.
Lilah stood straighter. "Were could the book be?" She asked.
"Maybe it isn't in the library." Dinah suggested. Lilah sighed. "Should we try looking on each floor one more time?"
"I guess." Dinah shrugged. Lilah got ready to push the number 1 button when Dinah asked a question. "What does the A mean?" 
"What?" Lilah asked.
"The button with the A on it?"
"Where?"
"Up there." Dinah pointed up.
There was a single button on the top right corner of the elevator.
Unlike the other buttons it blended in with the silver elevator wall. Only it did have something carved neatly in the middle of it, an A.
"Attic." Lilah whispered. "Maybe the book is in the attic!" Lilah said louder.
"You're right!" Dinah's hope was returning. Both girls stared at the button. "How are we gonna reach it?" Dinah asked with a tilt of her head.
Neither of them could reach that high, even if they jumped. Lilah went to the backpack and pulled out the sleeping rock.
"Sorry Fluffy." Lilah whispered, she threw the rock at the button.
He woke up with a scream as he hit the wall.
"Excuse me!" He shouted at Lilah.
"Sorry-" she hurled him back up then caught him again, "Just a few more tries!" She tossed him again, which caused him to scream again. It took Lilah just two more tries before she finally hit it. "Yes!" She exclaimed. The button lit up and up they went.
"Oh my, if you wanted me awake you could have just gently shook me." The rock snapped.
"Sorry, just needed you to press the button. You can go back to sleep." Lilah said as the elevator dinged.
Lilah placed the rock back into the backpack and she and her sister rushed into the attic.
They gasped amazed, it wasn't messy and dark like the basement. It was neat just like the three main floors, if not neater. Instead of just light blue bulbs over each shelf, there were lightbulbs of different colors; either purple, pink, orange, navy, green, or yellow. There were also old artifacts, on display, sitting on different pedestals.
The sisters, again, immediately started pressing against the walls, feeling around the bookshelves, pulling random books; looking for a secret passage.
"Nothing." Lilah said, almost hopelessly.
Dinah quickly skimmed the room.
"Look." Dinah pointed, noticing that the wallpaper was peeling back from the wall.
"Maybe a secret room!" Lilah exclaimed.
"That's what I was thinking!" Dinah said.
Both girls ran to the wall and began tearing the peeling wallpaper apart. Behind it was what they were hoping and expecting, a door. The sisters stared at it with wide, proud eyes.
"It has to be in there." Lilah whispered.
Lilah didn't hesitate, she leaned into the door to push it open.
Inside was dark, except for a single red light in the center, hanging low from the ceiling by a single black wire. Underneath the light bulb was a crème colored pillar, and hovering above the pillar was a fat, brown leather book. It was wrapped in heavy chains and it was illuminated with the single, glowing red light above.
"That has to be The Book of Cursed and Forbidden spells." Lilah said.
Dinah reached up on her tiptoes for the book.
"Dinah!" Lilah whispered, urgency in her voice.
"What?" Her little sister asked.
"What if there is an alarm system." Lilah warned her. "Or worse, a trap." She added.
"One way to find out." Dinah tried to grab the book but it didn't budge. She tried again, tightly grabbing ahold of the book the best she could and yanked. "It won't move!"
Lilah moved her sister aside, it was her turn to try. She grunted and pulled with all her might but the book wouldn't move.
"Help me." Lilah suggested. "Push my way."
Dinah pushed on the other side of the book, while Lilah pulled.
"Woah!" Lilah fell back and landed with the book in her hands. "We got it!" She exclaimed proudly. The red light bulb exploded, leaving them in a pitch black room.
Lilah jumped up and held the book close.
"Ooh." Dinah whined and ran around the pedestal to huddle close to her sister.
An odd noise came from the side of them, it was by the door.
"What was that?" Dinah asked quickly.
"I don't know." Lilah's voice shook, then she handed her sister the book. "Here hold this."
Dinah did so her sister could scavenger around the backpack for the flashlight.
Lilah clicked it on, "trade with me."
Dinah handed her big sister the flashlight and Lilah put the book into the backpack. They tried to ignore the moaning sound that came from the outside for a second time.
"Okay," Lilah said. "follow behind me." She grabbed the flashlight from her sister.
They tiptoed to the door. Lilah grunted as the heavy door slowly came open when she pulled it. They stared in horror.
"Please tell me you don't see that." Lilah whispered.
"No, I see it." Dinah whispered back as she nodded.
They stared at a shadow in the doorway, it looked like an elderly women, a deformed elderly women. Hunched over and tall, long arms and legs. Everything on the shadows body was bone skinny, except the torso, that was wide and round.
"I told you to tell me you don't see it." Lilah said in a whisper.
The source of the shadow made a noise as if were gargling water. Dinah held her breath as her sister peered around the corner.
Lilah looked back at her sister, "nothing is there."
Dinah pointed at the floor, "the shadow disappeared."
Lilah whispered "Maybe we can run for the elevator." 
Dinah nodded. "Okay, let's try."
The girls dashed out of the secret room and tried to reach the elevator.
"Oh no." Dinah cried when they heard another horrible moan come from behind them.
"Faster!" Lilah shouted.
When they turned a corner, they saw the elevator appear up ahead. "There it is, go!" Dinah shouted, she was only a little bit behind her older sister. 
They didn't know that the creature had been right behind them until it moaned and took Dinah in her skeleton, claw-like hand.
Dinah screamed in panic. Lilah whirled around to find her sister kicking and screaming in the creatures long fingers.
"No." Lilah shouted. Immediately, she began looking around for something to help her get her sister free.
Dinah wiggled around to try and free herself as she sobbed in the scary creatures grasp. The creature held Dinah up to its face and, though it didn't have eyes itself, it seemed it was staring deeply into Dinah's.
Dinah stared back at the creature hypnotized until she passed out.
"No! What did you do?" Lilah yelled and began hitting the creature with a broomstick she had found in a corner. "Let her go you rotten creep!"
The creature swung her free arm at Lilah.
Lilah dodged the long skinny arm and whacked the thing in its stomach. It gargled and clawed at Lilah. She hit it again and gasped when it dropped Dinah on the attic floor.
"Hey! Don't you know you don't throw people!" Lilah whacked the creature again.
The creature looked at Lilah and opened its mouth, making another moaning sound, only this time Lilah could tell it said something. Eyes.
"Eyes?" Lilah wondered aloud.
The creature didn't have any eyes. Maybe, it wanted somebody else's. The creature tried to claw at Lilah's face. Lilah dodged the creatures hand and swung at it again, but because it had tried to hit her, she missed.
The creature moaned again and suddenly fell to the ground, without Lilah hitting her.
Lilah watched the falling creature. She was confused, what had caused it to fall? Once the creatures body was on the ground, behind it revealed the same blue boy that had helped them get to the kings castle. He was holding a mop in one of his hands.
"Toby?" Lilah asked.
"Hello." He simply said.
"W..How'd...never mind let me take care of Dinah." Lilah rushed to her sister's side.
"Dinah?" She shook her.
Dinah gave no response, so Lilah shook her a little harder. "Dinah!" Lilah whined.
"Is she going to be okay?" Toby asked, the mop was still in his hand.
"I-I don't know. Dinah!" Lilah cried horrified. "Please wake up!" Lilah began to cry. "Dinah!" 
Lilah placed two of her fingers on Dinah's neck to feel for a pulse. "No!" She shouted and shook her sister again. "No, Dinah! You need to wake up. You can't be dead!" Lilah shook her even harder. Lilah closed her eyes hopelessly, letting the tears roll down her cheeks. "Dinah." She whispered.
Lilah heard Toby let out a small gasp, "Lilah look."
Lilah opened her eyes and looked down at her sister, who's eyes fluttered open. "Dinah!" She shouted and leaned down to hug her.
Dinah wrapped an arm around Lilah. "What happened?"
"I don't know exactly, I just know that the creature made you lose consciousness. Then you woke up." Lilah wiped her tears. "Do you feel okay?" She asked.
"Yes, I feel perfectly fine." Dinah replied.
"Good." Lilah said.
"Wh-where is it?" Dinah asked looking around frantically.
"I hit it on its head." Toby answered as Lilah rose from the ground.
Dinah turned her head to look at him. "Toby?"
"Yes?" He said.
"Where did you come from?" Dinah asked him while Lilah helped her stand up.
"Yeah! How did you know where to find us? Were you following us!" Lilah asked angrily.
"No, I was passing by, going back to my shelter since I finished all of my deliveries. Then heard you shouting. The library doors where opened and I came up to see if you were okay." Toby explained.
"Oh, well thanks but I could have taken out the creature myself." Lilah answered.
"That's not a creature, that was the librarian. I don't know what happen to her though." Toby frowned, looking down at the librarian turned creature.
"Oh." The girls frowned with him.
"How'd you know this floor was here anyway?" Toby asked. "Not very many dreamers know."
"How? The button isn't that hard to find if you look up." Lilah said.
"How come you know it's here?" Dinah asked.
"I'm a delivery boy. I sometimes deliver to the librarian up here." Toby answered.
"Well if you will excuse us, we have to go and find the next item we need." Lilah said walking to the elevator.
"Can I help?" Toby asked. "I have nothing else to do and I get quite bored by myself for long periods of time."
"Of course not." Lilah snapped picking up the backpack that was on the floor. "Plus, I don't think you'll want to! It's dangerous."
"Why? He saved our life's." Dinah defended him. "He also lives here, he can help us." She added.
Lilah stared at both of them. "Oh fine." Lilah said. "Let’s go!"

Toby, Lilah, and Dinah (who was now carrying Fluffy) stepped out of the library.
Lilah swung the backpack around and pulled out the map. "The Enchanted Volcano is not too far from here."
"Make sure it's the Enchanted Volcano and not the Frozen Volcano." Toby told her, he was trying to be helpful.
"I'm sure it's the enchanted one. I can read." Lilah snapped at him defensively.
"Sorry." Toby whispered.
"Which way are we going?" Dinah asked skipping ahead.
"Straight! Then take a turn at a tree called dee leegno volot daeemoneoruum?"  Lilah tried to pronounce the latin words. de ligno volat daemoniorum, is what it read. Meaning, the tree of the flying demons.
"What?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know just when you see a big, dark purple tree turn left." Lilah answered, looking at the drawing of the tree on the map.
After some time of walking, Dinah spoke, "I don't see a tree yet." She said walking beside her sister. "You said it was close by, Lilah."
"Well, clearly it's farther than I thought." Lilah replied.
"Are you sure we went in the right direction?" Fluffy asked.
"Yes." Lilah nodded.
"Maybe we should rest here." Toby plopped onto the grass.
"No, I'm sure we are almost there!" Lilah said and continued to walk.
Dinah looked down at Toby.
"Come on Toby." Dinah said holding out her hand.
Toby sighed but took it.
"Hurry, I see a purple tree!" Lilah shouted.
Toby and Dinah speed up too catch up to Lilah, she was hiking up a small hill.
"Look." Lilah pointed.
A large banyan tree stood out among the rest. The majority of the tree was purple but some black leaves could be seen, and the trunk had slivers of black tints. The tree shimmered and glowed with specks of lavender sparkles. Tiny lavender lights flickered around the tree, and the grass surrounding it was a deep purple.
Lilah gasped in awe.
"It's a little creepy." Dinah said.
"Careful, some fairies live in trees and the darker the tree the darker the fairies." Toby warned.
"What do you mean?" Dinah asked.
"I mean, they could be evil." Toby answered.
"Evil? How could you say that?" A black-haired fairy, with pale skin and dark purple lips had flown behind them. She was smaller then the children but significantly larger then the rock. Her bat-like wings were dark purple and outlined in black. Underneath her purple colored eyes, lilac glitter sparkled, parts of her legs and arms shined with the same powder. For clothes, she had seemed to be wearing a ripped, purple petal dress that shaded to black. Purple vines and leaves were used for shoes. Black antennas, with purple balled ends, sprouted out of her head.
"Are you kids lost?" The fairy asked.
"Oh no, we are just fine." Lilah answered. "Thank you though." She added.
"You look hungry." The fairy said.
"Well we aren't, thank you." Lilah told her with an aggressive tone.
"Oh, I am hungry." Dinah said suddenly.
"Dinah!" Lilah whispered. "Did you not hear Toby?"
"Yes, but aren't you hungry? We haven't eaten at all." She whispered back.
Lilah shook her head and gave Dinah a stern look.
Dinah sighed, "You're right."
They looked at the fairy and she smiled warmly. Then they glanced at Toby who was staring at the fairy. Fluffy was doing the same, only his mouth was opened.
"The boys seem up to it." The fairy said with a warm smile.
Toby nodded slowly.
"Well you can go, Toby." Lilah said.
"I want to go." Fluffy said.
"Take the rock with you then." Lilah said as she snatched the rock from her sister and slapped it into Tobys chest so he could take it, she was getting frustrated. "Dinah and I will continue searching for the Enchanted Volcano."
Toby didn't try to grab Fluffy so the rock fell to the ground, but Fluffy did not seem bothered, he was still staring at the fairy.
"The Enchanted Volcano? I can help you get there. We can discuss it over juice and bread." The fairy smiled.
"It's okay, we have a map." Lilah turned her down quickly.
"Positive?" The fairy asked.
Lilah and Dinah nod.
"Well blue kid, grab the rock and let's go." The fairy demanded as she flew passed them, but she stopped as Toby bent over to grab Fluffy and wobbled over to Lilah and Dinah. As they began talking to one another, the fairy listened to the conversation, eavesdropping.
"Toby, Lilah is right. I don't think you should go." Dinah said. "Remember what you said earlier."
"Yes Dinah, but I'm suddenly hungry. Aren't you?" He asked.
Dinah shook her head disappointedly.
"Toby you shouldn't." Lilah said sternly.
The flying demon quickly turned around with a wide proud smile.
"Dinah, Lilah." She said slowly. "You girls are hungry. I can tell by how you talk...sound, look."
The girls squinted then tilted their heads in confusion.
"You're right." Dinah said.
"I guess I am a little hungry." Lilah thought aloud.
"Great! Let's go get some delicious snacks." The fairy guided them down to the tree and they stopped in front of a dark purple door, that almost camouflaged into the tree trunk.
The fairy landed on the ground to knock.
"Password?" A deep male voice boomed. The fairy flapped her wings. The sound of bells filled the air, creating a haunting tune.
The door flew open. Inside was far larger then it had appeared outside. It was dim; although the higher up you went the brighter it got, and the further down you went the darker it got. Other fairies flew around, though some walked.
All just as beautiful as the one who had insisted they enter. Each female fairy was wearing the same clothing as the one who brought them in, and each male fairy wore sleeveless v-neck tops and pants made of petals, for shoes they all wore what seemed like black leaves.
They stared around in wonder, it was beautiful for such a dark place.
Black vines grew on the dark purple walls, and purple flowers bloomed. On some of the empty walls, strange but fascinating designs were tattooed onto it in black. Gold lamps and chains hung around the room.
"This is not what I imagined the inside of a tree could look like!" Lilah said astonished.
"Me neither." Dinah whispered.
"This way." The fairy who had brought them inside guided them down some steps, taking them underground. As they passed, fairies stared at them, with hungry looks in their eyes. The sisters noticed they all had purple eyes, though some darker shades than others.
The fairy turned a corner and brought them down a very dark hallway with bones and skulls piled around.
Dinah gulped, "Lilah?" She whined.
"Yeah?" Lilah whispered back, her voice was shaky.
"I think we should turn back, we can find something else too eat." Dinah answered.
"Here we are." The fairy stopped in front of a door, inscribed on a metal plate, words read: feeding room #4
The room wasn't very bright, just a golden chandelier hanging over a black dining room table, four purple sconces lit with lavender fire on each of the patterned walls. The room was small but neat.
"Please have a seat, make yourself comfortable and your food will be out shortly." The fairy told them, sounding like a waitress. They obeyed and the fairy exited the room, through a back door, near some cabinets.
Toby eagerly placed Fluffy on the table as the sisters nervously waited.
A short while later another female fairy entered the room using the same door the other fairy had exited from. She had dark skin and curly brown, short hair. In her hand was a silver tray with three glasses on top. Each one was filled with a thick, dark red substance.
A male fairy walked in behind her. He had light skin and bleached white hair with blonde highlights. He too carried a tray, only it held three mini loafs of bread.
Lilah and Dinah stared at him just like how Toby and Fluffy stared at the female fairy.
Lilah appreciated looking at him and Dinah didn't think he seemed as icky as the other boys at school.
Lilah and Dinah caught themselves, closed their eyes and shook their heads as the fairy who had spoken to them earlier entered the room. She placed a cup and a loaf in front of each of them. When the tray's were empty, the other two fairy's exited the room.
"Enjoy, we will be back to check on you." She smiled sweetly.
"Excuse me, sorry for interrupting but what is your name?" Lilah asked.
The fairy chuckled, "Lamia."
"Laaammmiiiaaa." Toby slurred, enthralled. He picked up his drink and chugged it so fast, it was like his life depended on it. Lamia smiled at him before flying off.
Lilah turned to her sister who was studying the contents of the clear glass.
"It looks like blood." Dinah said.
"There is something fishy about this place." Lilah thought aloud.
"Doesn't it look like blood?" Dinah asked holding out the cup for her big sister to see. Lilah nodded, "A lot like it." She picked up her own glass to study it closer, then she sniffed it. The aroma filled her nose. The smell of metal. Iron. Blood. Lilah's eyes widened. "Dinah." She placed the glass down.
"Yes?"
"I think it looks like blood, because it is blood." Lilah cried in horror.
"Yuck!" Dinah, disgusted had pushed the glass back to forcefully, causing it to spill over.
They looked over at Toby, he had just finished scarfing down the loaf. Toby smiled widely before he passed out. His head fell hard onto the table, causing the girls to gasp. They looked a Fluffy, who had his eyes closed.
"We have to get out of here." Lilah jumped from her seat too quickly, making it topple over. "But Lilah, what about Toby? We can't leave him." Dinah asked looking back at her friend.
Lilah shrugged. "I don't know, but Dinah, we have to get out of here."
Lilah rushed to the door and jiggled the knob. It was locked. "No!" She whispered.
"Try the other door." Dinah suggested.
Lilah rushed over but before she could get her hands on it, the knob began to turn on it's own.
Lamia stepped back into the room. "Where are you going? You haven't drunk your blood?" Her eyes flashed red.
"I was right, it is blood!" Lilah cried horrified.
Lamia laughed. "Yes. Now, I need food! We have been gathering food for days, finally more of you kids show up. AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO LET YOU LEAVE!" Lamia's eyes turned red as she got paler. She grew to the height of a human sized young women. Her wings vanished as her canines grew sharper. Her old dressed disappeared, replaced by a new one. A black skin tight dress that stopped right at her thigh, fishnets, black knee-high boots, and a silver chained choker.
"She's a vampire!" Dinah shouted nervously.
"I see that." Lilah said, she was a lot more scared now.
Lamia took a step toward the girls while the back door opened. Another vampire stepped into the room, it was the blonde boy who had brought in the bread. His clothes also changed into something all black; ripped skinny jeans with silver chains, t-shirt, and leather jacket, and some type of high top sneaker. A bad boy look, to match the bad girl look. An everyday outfit for some of the teenagers who live in Lilah and Dinah's neighborhood, strange to find it in The Land of Dreams. The fairy who had brought out the drinks flew in and turned into a vampire too, she wore black combat boots, a black leather skirt, and a crop top that showed a little too much stomach. In her hair, she wore a bow made of chains. To finish off the look she had a diamond belly button ring.
"Lilith, get the boy, smash the rock." Lamia commanded. "Lucifer, grab the older girl."
They smirked.
"I'll get the little one." Lamia sneered in pleasure.
The sisters gulped.
Lilith, suddenly next to Toby, picked him up and threw him over her shoulder, like he weighed as much as a feather. Strength, blood-thirsty, and speed, characteristics of a vampire, Lilah thought.
Lucifer and Lamia looked at the girls hungrily.
"Lilah?" Dinah whined, "what are we going to do?"
"Well, like always, RUN!" Lilah darted for the door. Lucifer jumped over the table with ease and darted after her.
Lilah, now in the hallway turned to see where Lucifer went, but he was nowhere in sight.
It wasn't until the piercing scream did Lilah realize that her sister hadn't followed her out.

data-p-id=5ed29bad49086c85269528c6976692cd,Dinah was crying. She looked around the dark room but she couldn't see anything.
Dinah heard a small thump. A small light suddenly appeared in the back. Dinah rubbed her eyes clean and realized it was a lamp hanging from the black, brick wall. The light illuminated wasn't much, but it was enough so she could see her surroundings. She was in a cage. Dinah grasped the iron bars and shouted, "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"
A petite figure stepped out of the shadows. "Finally you wake up." The soft feminine voice spoke.
"Let me out." Dinah said helplessly.
"We will, don't worry. We are just boiling the water and preparing the bags and needles." She emerged from the shadows, it was Lamia, back in her fairy form.
"What?" Dinah asked nervously, her heart was pounding.
Lamia giggled and flew off through the door behind her.
Dinah sat on the cold concrete floor sobbing. The light shut off again, leaving her in the dark. Dinah sniffled.
"I really hope Lilah is okay."
A second of silence passed before she heard a whimper. Dinah squinted in the dark trying to find the source of the noise. It took several seconds before a small crouched human figure took shape in the far corner of the cage. Dinah approached slowly. It was Toby, She realized.
Dinah dashed to him. "Toby!" She exclaimed quietly.
"Dinah?" He croaked.
"Yes it's me"
"What happened? Where are we? Where's Lilah?" He asked turning toward her.
"I-I don't know." Dinah stammered with worry.
Only seconds passed when Dinah asked the next question. "Are you okay? Earlier you were hypnotized or something."
"I think I'm okay, my head is just spinning a little." Toby answered with a hand on his forehead.
Dinah sighed and wiped a tear.
"We need to get out of her before they cook us." Dinah curled her fists and stood up straighter, trying to gain confidence.
"Did you say cook us?" Toby asked his friend, in fear.
"Yes." She answered looking around. "Now, how will we get out of here?"
"Um-" He began.
Dinah cut him off. "Okay, okay. I-I see the key, it's over there above that rack."
A black key hung above a cart of mixed items.
Some jars were carrying blood, others were labeled as different body parts.
"We need to find a way to get it." Dinah thought aloud as she tightly gripped the bars of the cage.
Suddenly the door to the room clanked, and entered Lamia with a sly smile.
"Everything for the draining is ready, Agana will be here shortly for your blood." Lamia said approaching the cage.
Dinah stepped back anxiously.
Lamia smiled, "I can smell your blood." She told her. She took in a deep breathe. "It smells so lovely." Lamia wrapped her fingers around the cage as she licked her lips. "I can't wait to eat, I'm starving."
Dinah felt the tears sting her eyes as she held them back.
Toby stared at Lamia as if she was the first person he had ever seen.
"Why do they do that?" Dinah asked when she noticed.
"Why does who do what?" Lamia asked with a glare.
Dinah asked her question again only more clearer. "Why do the boys stare at you like that?"
"Because I am female and they are male. Like if one of the male fairy's walked in here right now then you would be just as delusional. It helps us catch our pray. we cannot control the opposite gender unless I know there name...Dinah." Lamia laughed as Dinah winced.
"That's how you got Lilah and me to agree to come eat." Dinah realized.
"Yes, and it's so much easier for me to control children, teenage boys, and men." Lamia said smiling. "Plus those are the ones that taste better." Her eyes flashed red.
Dinah flinched and stumbled backwards. "Are, are you part fairy, part vampire?" Dinah asked.
"Precisely." Lamia answered.
A bell chimed in the distance before Dinah got the chance to ask another question.
Lamia's smile widened, "The boil is done and Agana should be here any moment." 
Dinah let her tears roll down her cheeks once Lamia left them in complete darkness, again.
"It's going to be okay." Toby had said trying to comfort his friend. But Dinah knew better. She had shouted at him, No Toby, It's not! I don't even know where my big sister is! For all I know she could be dead like we are going to be if they get the chance to devour us until we are nothing but skin and bone! Who knows maybe they eat that too. My mom is going to die and it's all my fault! If only I didn't go back for a stupid rock!!! Toby had apologized for upsetting her and Dinah had felt bad so she apologized too. Right now they sat in silence waiting for the end.

data-p-id=ffd63209aa3bbbdc99fb8dbf66e35659,The door swung open causing Dinah and Toby to jump.
Dinah's fear grew when she assumed her life was just about to be over. Though she was wrong. Instead of Lamia, stood Lilah.
"Lilah?" Dinah croaked.
"Dinah!" Lilah cried happily as she rushed to the cage.
"Lilah!" Dinah scampered to the door of the cage. "You're here! How did you find me?"
"I will tell you once I get you out. Do you know where the key is?" Lilah asked looking at the lock.
"Over there, it's hanging on the wall." Dinah pointed through the bars of the cage.
Lilah nodded and hurried over in the direction Dinah pointed. Lilah looked up at the key and reached up on her tippy toes.
Toby got up and stood next to Dinah as they watched Lilah stick the key into the lock. Lilah turned it to the left. They heard it click and the cage popped open.
Dinah rushed out and threw her arms around her big sister. Toby smiled as he watched them embrace. Pulling away Lilah said, "alright now let's get out of here."
"Wait! What about Fluffy?" Dinah asked.
Lilah smiled "right here." She reached her arm around the backpack and pulled the rock out of the side pocket. She held it up and gave it to Dinah.
"Can you believe she almost left me!" Fluffy said.
Dinah giggled.
"Okay, now lets go!" Lilah grasped her sister's arm and yanked her along towards the door. Toby followed quickly behind them.
Lilah guided them along a hall that glowed with purple lights and doors aligned against the walls.
Lilah turned to them, "okay once we go through those double doors we have to be extremely quit. That's the exit to the gigantic room we first saw when we got here. Just follow my lead quickly and quietly." 
The other two nodded as Lilah pushed open the large doors. She peered her head out and turned to them, she nodded. She then slipped passed the door and held it open as Dinah and Toby came through.
Lilah gently let the doors shut with a click. They scurried across and peered over the black fencing that kept them from falling over. No fairy was in sight.
"I wonder where they are all at." Dinah whispered as Lilah lead them down some steps.
"I heard Lamia gathering them into the dining  rooms earlier." Lilah answered.
"To eat us?" Toby asked quietly.
"Not just you. When I was running through this place to find you I heard cries from other rooms and when I peeked inside of a window to see if you were inside I saw them strip a baby of there clothes and throw them in a boiling pot." Lilah told them angrily. "I was horrified, and I knew I had to find you before my sister was roast beef."
"Oh no." Dinah paled in disgust and sadness.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Toby said.
"How could someone do that to a baby?" Dinah said in a harsh tone.
"Someone dreadful." Lilah said.
They raced down more steps and onto the first floor.
They darted straight for the exit.
Their hands flew to their eyes to shield the sudden blazing sun. They ran fast and far. As far as possible from the tree before they ran out of breath.

Dinah finished panting, then she gulped before she looked at her sister to ask a question...or two. "How did you know where to look? How did you not get caught?"
"I didn't." Lilah answered. "I didn't know where to look, I mean. I had searched for you and looked into a lot of dark rooms. Some of the rooms scared me, like one had hanging bodies of other dreamers. They looked like they were being drained of blood."
Dinah stared at her sister in pure horror.
"It was terrifying Dinah, I wanted to run out of the whole place. But I couldn't because I needed to find you. I had no idea what state you'd be in. If you'd be hanging from the ceiling or torn apart." Lilah held back her tears.
Dinah blinked and held back some of her own.
"It's okay, were out now." Dinah tried to comfort her sister, along with herself.
"Yeah." Lilah whispered.
Dinah and Lilah wrapped there arms around each other one more time.
They let the tears roll down there cheeks and on to each others backs.
"You guys."  Toby got their attention, "look, the volcano!"
Dinah and Lilah broke free and wiped their faces. Both turned to see Toby pointing at a big volcano.
It wasn't what they imagined. Instead of a brown mountain and thick, red molten lava streaming down to a burnt bottom, it was white with a dark grey, shimmery liquid streaking down to beautiful tall, teal grass. When the unnatural magma got to the very bottom, it sizzled before touching the ground. The smoke coming from the top wasn't black or grey, it was pink and purple. Mixed with blue, white, and aquamarine. The girls gasped.
"Amazing." Lilah murmured.
"Are you sure this is the Enchanted Volcano?" Fluffy asked.
Toby spoke, "I'm sure it is. There are only three special volcanoes here in The Land of Dreams; The Frozen Volcano, The Enchanted Volcano, and The Volcano of Deadly Fire. And that doesn't look frozen or deadly."
They stood at the end of the volcano, looking up.
"So? How are we going to carry the lava?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged, "that's what I've been thinking. We need a container obviously, but one that won't melt if we put the lava inside."
"A magma box." Fluffy said.
"Yes Fluffy, something that can carry magma. I just said that." Lilah rolled her eyes.
"I'm telling what you can use. See look over there. Straight ahead to the right. That's a magma box goblin. See the orange box on its head?" Fluffy asked.
A little rounded box was skipping around. It had no arms, just little red stubby legs and feet. The box was slightly bigger then the actual creature itself. It had big oval, yellow eyes peeking out from underneath the front of the orange box that sat on its head, and a little red beard right under that.
"Yes." The girls said together.
"They wear those to keep them from melting everything around them." Fluffy told them, then he added, "They are filled with lava, regular old deadly lava. They live around volcanoes, well except for the cold one, the ones that live there are ice box goblins. Anyway, magma goblins are angry little creatures and lava is always spilling out of their boiling heads. The cube is a piece of the eggshell they hatch from, and when they hatch they keep half of it on their head because, like I said, if they don't they will burn everything around them. The eggs are made to carry the hottest of substances. My point is you can use them to carry the lava."
"Well let's go get one." Dinah said.
"Didn't you hear what I said? Those creatures are angry, and deadly plus they travel in groups. If there is one there has to be more, at least five." The rock warned them. "They protect each other."
"So, how would we get them off of their head? If we remove the box, or shell then won't it just spill out and kill us?" Lilah asked.
"Yes," Fluffy said. "Unless they are sleeping. They are like little walking volcanoes. When volcanoes are asleep they don't erupt but when they are awake they are spewing lava and smoke everywhere."
"So are we just supposed to wait until the hot headed thing falls asleep!" Lilah snapped.
Fluffy chuckled under his breathe. "Hot headed."
"HELLO!" Lilah shouted angrily.
Fluffy stopped laughing. "Sorry! No you don't have to wait, some are already sleeping, look."
Sure enough there was a small circle of red and oranges boxes sitting in the grass, not to far from them.
"Perfect! It's just the eggshell." Dinah said.
"It's underneath it, it's how they sleep." Fluffy answered.
"Oh." Dinah said.
Lilah looked at the lava box goblin that was walking around. It was prancing around making gibberish noises, stopping every once in a while to check around on the ground, probably looking for food. She then looked at the sleeping ones. The lava box goblin that was awake wasn't that close to its friends, but it could still run over if Lilah did something it didn't like. "Okay." She whispered. She began walking over to the sleeping goblins. Quickly but quietly.
They were lightly snoring. Lilah bent down and got ready to remove the eggshell when the wandering goblin made a loud noise.
Lilah quickly drew her hands back and snapped her head in its direction, checking to make sure the goblin hadn't caught her.
To her relief, it didn't. It had just fallen over.
Now, it was trying to wiggle its way up as Lilah turned back to one of the sleeping goblins. She removed its box top, slowly.
Inside of its round head was dark red bubbling lava.
Lilah stood and rushed back to the others. "Got it." She said.
Dinah took it from her sister. " I want to get the lava." She told her.
Lilah gave a shrug that meant, okay.
Dinah walked over to the volcano and crouched down.
"Wrap your hands with the grass. It's enchanted so it can't burn." Toby called out.
Dinah placed the box next to her and did what Toby suggested. She ripped out a few of the long, wide blades of grass from the ground and wrapped it around her hands the best she could. She held the bucket at the bottom and let the silver lava spill into the shell. She was careful to not let the lava touch the bare parts of her hands.
Once it was filled almost to the top, she stood up and walked back over to Lilah, Toby, and Fluffy (who was now being held by Toby).
Lilah took the lava filled box shell from Dinah and indicated her with her head. "Give her the rock." She demanded of Toby, politely. He did as told. Lilah put the Lava in his hands. "Now let me look at the map." Lilah swung the backpack around, leaving one strap on one of her shoulders, and pulled out the list.

Lilah had looked at the map and now the three kids were on their way to Dino Park. It was where the item for the life element was being kept; the golden dinosaur egg.
Lilah groaned. "Remember when I said that the longest walk I've been on was the one on the way to the castle?" Lilah didn't let them answer. "Well I lied." She told them.
"Um, I said that." Fluffy noted.
"Well I was thinking it." Lilah snapped.
"It's getting dark." Dinah thought aloud.
"Do you guys want to take a break and rest? I'm tired." Lilah said.
Dinah nodded, agreeing. "Me too."
Lilah wandered over to a tree and dropped the backpack against the trunk. It was a tall tree, filled with branches that twisted and turned in different directions. It's leaves were perfectly green and it seemed to sparkle. Lilah dropped down next to the bag, resting her back against the tree's trunk. Dinah had joined her sister underneath the tree.
The bark scratched their backs but they were suddenly too tired to care. Toby laid on the grass after placing the box of lava next to were Dinah put Fluffy.
"Goodnight, I guess." Toby said breaking the silence.
"Goodnight." The girls told him together.
Fluffy was already snoring.
Lilah woke up. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, it wasn't quite daylight but it wasn't yet dark out. She sighed and sat quietly.
After looking around for awhile she decided to close her eyes again and wait until the others awoke.
She began drifting back off to sleep when she heard shuffling. Her eyes flew open, she was relieved to see it was only Toby turning over in his sleep.
She closed her eyes again to get more rest when she heard Dinah whisper. "Lilah?"
"Yes?" She asked, turning to her sister.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you were awake." Dinah answered.
"Oh." Lilah whispered back. She thought for a moment, "Do you want to relax a little longer or should we continue?"
"It's up to you. I'm not really tired anymore." Dinah said.
"I was thinking we should continue, I'm not that tired either." Lilah told her, she stood up.
"But Toby is still asleep." Dinah said.
"We can wake him up." Lilah told her as she picked up the backpack.
Dinah sighed and stood. She bent down to pick up Fluffy as Lilah nudged Toby awake with her foot. "Come on get up. We're going now." Lilah said.
Toby yawned as he stretched.
Lilah pulled the map out of the backpack while Toby was still getting up.
"Faster!" Lilah groaned impatiently.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Toby stood. He picked up the lava and turned to look at the girls.
"This way!" Lilah said and began walking away from the tree and down the grassy field.
"Look! A pterodactyl!" Dinah exclaimed, pointing up at the morning sky.
Toby and Lilah looked up, a pterodactyl was circling above them.
"We must be getting closer." Lilah said aloud.
"What are we looking for a again?" Fluffy asked.
"A golden dinosaur egg." Lilah answered.
"Look, there is Dino Park!" Toby shouted happily as he pointed ahead.
An invisible line divided the almost neon green grass on their side with the brown grass and mossy rocks in Dino Park. They could see a rigged pathway made of twigs and dirt traveling through the jungle.
A Brachiosaurus was pulling leafs off of a tree with two babies standing next to it.
"Whoa." Dinah said as they came closer and closer. "Can't wait to see the look on Martin's face when I tell him I saw dinosaurs."
"He won't believe you." Lilah pointed out.
"Who is Martin?" Fluffy asked.
"A bully in Dinah's school." Lilah answered.
"He is the meanest boy in 4th grade and likes to brag about the things he has done. Oh, and he's obsessed with dinosaurs." Dinah explained.
"Yikes." Fluffy said blankly.
"Can I touch one?" Dinah asked eyeing the three brachiosaurus.
"You can try. Just be careful." Lilah allowed.
"It won't eat her will it." Toby asked.
Dinah giggled. "No"
"It's a herbivore." Lilah told him but Toby still looked lost. "A plant eater. It only eats plants, no meat."
"Oh." Toby said.
Dinah had walked away. She was stroking one of the legs of one of the smaller ones, she assumed it was a baby. It looked down at her, lowering its head in front of Dinah's.
"Aw, you are so cute." Dinah cooed, now stroking it's head.
Lilah came up by her side and reached her hand out to pat the babies head.
"They are cute." Lilah said with a smile.
The second baby nudged Lilah softly. "Oh" She said and began to pet his head instead. "Aw."
The bigger brachiosaurus, which they assumed was the mother, seemed to screech out a roar. The other two dinosaurs looked up and scampered after her as she walked away.
"Bye." Dinah waved. She looked at her big sister. "I want a pet dinosaur."
Lilah rolled her eyes, "Of course you do. You want a pet everything."
Dinah huffed out a small laugh. "True."
They began walking back to Toby who was still standing on the bumpy pathway.
All three of them wandered deeper into the jungle. They caught glimpses of a few other plant eating dinosaurs like a few triceratops and therizinosaurus. Each time they oohed and awed.
"Now where could the golden egg be?" Lilah asked no one really.
"I don't know." Toby answered.
"In Dino Park." Fluffy answered slyly.
"Really?" Lilah groaned annoyed.
"I wasn't finished yet, possibly in a nest. If it's golden and hard for life to reach it's most likely in a well hidden and dangerous place." Fluffy guessed.
"I'm pretty sure wherever it's at it won't be on the path. We're gonna have to go into the jungle." Lilah said, trying to look in deeper and past the trees.
"What if we run into a meat eater?" Dinah asked, her voice weary.
"I'm sure if we do we will be fine. I mean we survived a crazy librarian, a mermaid eating octopus, and vampire fairies, right?" Lilah told her sister, trying her best to calm her down.
"Yes true, but Jurassic Park...it makes me nervous." Dinah said.
"Dinah, we got this. They are just large reptiles." Lilah assured her.
"I know." Dinah said as she followed Lilah into the jungle.
Toby stumbled behind them, "what if one of them mistaken me as a blueberry?" He asked Lilah, rubbing his arm with anxiety.
Dinah giggled.
"Then the meat eaters wouldn't eat you." Lilah told him, Toby sighed with relief. "The plant eaters will." She added, he gasped from fear which left him choking on the air.
Lilah laughed, "You'll be fine, Toby."
"Okay." He said, his voice sounded unsure.
"Speaking of food, I haven't eaten in like years!" Fluffy practically shouted the ending.
"What exactly do you eat anyway...besides unicorn poop?" Dinah asked.
"Rocks." He answered.
Dinah, Lilah, and Toby gave him a crazy look. "You eat rocks!" Dinah asked surprised.
"What else am I supposed to eat?" Fluffy asked. "That's the only thing I can reach."
"So you eat yourself basically." Lilah asked disgusted, one of her eyebrows were raised.
"No, I wasn't always a rock remember." Fluffy reminded her.
"That's sad." Toby said. "how do you chew? You have no teeth."
Fluffy laughed, "I'm kidding." He laughed some more. "You should have seen your faces! Priceless! Oh my gosh he's a cannibal!" He chuckled, "Anyhoo. Uh no, I don't eat rocks. I eat berries other creatures drop, or poop...they...also drop." Fluffy answered.
"Eww." Lilah and Dinah say together.
Toby sprinted ahead.
"Over here!" He was kneeling in front of a bush covered in yellow berries, the lava bucket sat at his side. "It's a CopyCat berry bush."
"A CopyCat berry bush?" Lilah asked.
"When you it them you can make it taste like whatever you wish. If you want it to taste like strawberries it will, if you want it to taste like pasta, or fire corn, or orange cakes." Toby sighed as he stared at the berry bush dreamily.
"Really!" Dinah asked excitedly.
Toby nodded. "Yes really! Try one." Toby plucked one off of its vine, he handed it to Dinah. She held her palm out and he placed it in the center.
Dinah popped it into her mouth as Toby pulled one off for himself.
"Oooh! It tastes like mommy's homemade cookies!" Dinah sighed pleased. "I want another one."
Lilah pulled one off the bush and rubbed it against her shirt to cleanse it of dirt before she ate it. "Mmm, chocolate covered strawberries." She began looking around as she ate.
"What are those white ones?" Lilah asked, indicating the round balls on a blue leaved bush a little further in the jungle.
"Those are Nucy Berries." Toby explained. Dinah was feeding Fluffy some berries. Jokingly, he snapped and growled at her. He wanted to mess with her but Dinah didn't think it was very funny. She blew a raspberry as Fluffy finished laughing.
She paid attention to what Toby was saying.
"They're dangerous to eat because some are toxic. It's hard to know which ones. But I've heard that they have a mystery flavor. Each have their own individual taste, you won't know until you try. Some may taste like slugs, another might taste like candy. As you can see they are white but inside each is a different color. From afar they all look round but they are actually different shapes." Toby finished.
"So you've never had one?" Dinah asked.
"No, I came to the conclusion to never try one. It's too dangerous." Toby answered.
"Well good." Dinah said as she tossed a few more CopyCat berries into her mouth.
"Are we ready to get going then?" Lilah asked.
"Yes." Dinah said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Toby? You ready?" Dinah asked.
He nodded.
"Alright then lets go." Lilah picked up the backpack she didn't remember laying on the ground. Toby picked up the lava and away they went.
They had just passed a peculiar tree with its branches on the outside and the leaves on the inside. It's trunk seemed as if it was braided.
"Inverted trees are rare but common." Fluffy had told them.
"That doesn't make any sense." Lilah said.
"I mean it's not uncommon to see one but it's unusual to see them together. Like a forest of them would be odd." Fluffy made himself more clear.
"Oh." Lilah said. "Makes more sense."
They were quiet for a moment but Dinah intervened. "Lilah, how do you think mommy is doing?"
"Uh, I don't know...Good I'm sure." Lilah lied only to comfort her sister. She wanted to keep her little sister calm when it came to bad situations. She knew their mother wasn't in any good condition. She didn't know how their mother was doing, in fact she didn't even know if being here was the right thing. She didn't know if this place was real, sometimes she felt that The Land of Dreams was truly a dream. Maybe I'm going crazy, she thought.
A screech from somewhere near them interrupted Lilah's thoughts.
"What was that?" Toby cried frantically.
"I don't know, just relax. It's probably nothing, maybe a-" Lilah couldn't finish because a loud frightening roar ripped through the air.
They jumped and looked into the direction it came.
"I think it came from over there." Dinah said, she was pointing left. Lilah nodded in agreement.
"We should get out of here." Toby whined. The girls nodded and turned around to rush in the opposite direction. Before they could take a single step a small dinosaur fell in front of them. It had been a deinonychus, only now it was ripped up and bloody.
"Oh my god!" Lilah was taken back.
Dinah squeezed her eyes shut and covered her eyes with her hands.
Another roar erupted from behind them.
"We got to go, now!" Lilah shouted. She yanked one of her sisters hand away from her face and pulled her along in a run. Toby took off after them, being careful to not spill any lava. They could hear thumping of the large dinosaur's feet as it took it's steps trailing behind them.
Toby whirled around and let out a shriek. "It's huge!" he shouted.
Fluffy began to scream.
Lilah and Dinah kept at a run as they twisted their torsos too get a glimpse at the large vicious reptile. "It's a Tyrannosaurus rex!" Lilah shouted speeding up.
"Ooh." Dinah whined as she tried to keep up with her sister. She slipped Fluffy into her pocket which made him go silent.
Behind them, the t-rex let out another growl.
"We need to split up. We need to confuse it." Lilah said.
"No." Dinah refused. "I don't want to be alone and I don't want leave you alone either."
"Quick! Turn there." Lilah ordered Toby, he was in front of them. He turned left and the girls followed.
The T-Rex took the same turn as he roared. The kids sped up as much as they could and flew behind a bunch of trees, which slowed the dinosaur down.
"Okay we're gonna have to split up." Lilah gulped down air, her running legs burned like fire. Toby's heart was racing, making him feel a little dizzy. Dinah was gasping for air, the side of her stomach began to cramp.
"Okay I'm going to go straight, Toby you go right but first give Dinah the lava. Dinah you go left and remain silent. Toby and I will be screaming to distract and confuse the dinosaur. Then if the dinosaur chases me, Toby run over with Dinah and hide somewhere safe, but if the T-Rex starts to chase you I will distract it and then you still run over to Dinah. Got it?" Lilah asked.
"I think." Toby replied.
"What if it chases me?" Dinah asked.
"I will distract it." Lilah said.
"Lilah please be careful." Dinah said.
"I'll be fine, just if it does come after me and you are safe I do not want you to come and run after me. I'm your big sister, it's my job to protect you." Lilah instructed.
"Okay." Dinah said worried and a little disappointed.
"Are you two ready?" Lilah asked.
Toby and Dinah nodded and said "yeah." Though it sounded unsure.
"Okay go!" Lilah shouted.
Toby handed Dinah the bucket of lava and turned right, as directed. Dinah took a left, while Lilah continued straight.
Lilah and Toby began to scream at the top of their lungs. Dinah tensed but kept running. The dinosaur roared and stumbled to the right. Toby, of course noticed and began to scream louder than before. Lilah tried to shout to get the giant lizards attention but it didn't give up on the blue child. The dinosaur was gaining on the unnatural colored, young boy. Toby's eyes widened and began to water but his crying screams went down to a whisper as he ran out of breathe. He stopped on his wobbly legs and collapsed onto the floor. Toby began to cry weakly.
"No!" Lilah shouted as the Tyrannosaurus hovered tall over Toby's tired body and snarled.
Lilah picked up the biggest rock she could carry and tried to hit the T-Rex's head. She wasn't strong enough to get it that high up so it smacked him on his side. Luckily, it was enough to get its attention. It whirled around with a low growl. "Yeah that's right! I threw it at you! Come get me!"
It stared at her. Lilah wiggled her hands by her head. "Na na na na na na neh neh." She mocked. It roared in her face and took a step. "Oh no." She quickly spun around on her feet and began to run again. The T-Rex began to give chase once again. "Toby go now!"
But he was too tired and dizzy to stand. "I-I can't." He whispered but it was too quiet for them to hear.
Dinah peered around the tree she was hiding behind and didn't see any of them but she did hear Lilah screaming, and the dinosaur roaring.
Faintly, she could then make out a small blue colored person on the floor trying to move not to far away. She gasped. "Toby!" Dinah stood, picked up the lava, and sprinted to Toby.
Placing the lava filled eggshell back on the ground, she reached down to help sturdy him. She grunted as she helped him up, he was slightly heavy. He was on his feet and she walked him over to the closest tree.
Dinah left Toby propped up against the tree while she went back to get the lava. When she got back, Toby was getting his strength back, but was still breathing heavily.
Dinah sat next to him, she began tapping and rubbing his shoulder to comfort him. "It's okay. Catch your breath."
A small dinosaur scurried passed with what seemed like a dinosaurs leg in its mouth, the leg looked practically identical to its own.
Dinah shuttered at the sight of a dinosaur eating its same kind when she noticed a small cave in between two tall trees close by.
The trees leaves met in the middle above the small cave. Vines draped over the entrance like closed curtains. It was decorated with beautifully colored flowers and moss. Small mushrooms were scattered around it. "Hmm." Dinah hummed. "Be right back."
"Where are you going?" Toby asked, finally able to speak.
"Just over to that cave. I want to see if it's a good place to hide from predators." She answered.
"I'll come then." Toby told her, standing.
"Can you walk?" Dinah asked concerned. Toby nodded. "Well okay then." She said. Toby picked up the lava then followed Dinah down to the cave. Dinah swept the vines out of the way and studied the inside. Toby stuck his head through the vines, not even bothering to move them aside. "Is it safe to enter?" He whispered.
Inside was dark except for glowing plants sprouting up from the ground and luminous flowers growing from the walls.
"It looks like it." Dinah answered astonished by its beauty. She stepped inside and breathed deeply. Some more of the small mushrooms were growing on the cave floor.
"Smells like the rainforest." She said.
"It's so cool in here." Toby said brushing one of the plants leaves.
"Take me out! I want to see." Fluffy called from Dinah's pocket.
While Dinah was exploring a cave, Lilah was being chased by a meat eater. Lilah was running short on breathe, she needed to stop but she couldn't. Lilah tripped. "Ahh" She groaned but still, she jumped back up and sped up her pace. The dinosaur was still behind her, she could her the thunderous sounds it's weight gave. She felt a sting from her knee and looked down. Her leg was bleeding from when she fell.
The T-Rex might have slowed but so did she. It was gaining on her. She hoped Dinah was okay. A low roar came from behind her. She glanced quickly to see how close the large dinosaur was but it wasn't there. She stopped and looked around her. "Did I lose it?" She whispered. "Just like that?" She added. "Maybe it gave up." She concluded and slipped down onto the cool jungle floor. Her skin was burning of sweat. She removed the backpack from her back and unzipped it. She knew there were water bottles inside, she had seen them. Yes, inside were 4 containers of surprisingly still cold water. She unscrewed the top and poured some onto her scrape. It felt so nice as it diminished the pain. She drank some of the water before putting it back into the bag. After unzipping it she closed her eyes and waited for the tiredness to fade.
Only seconds of relaxation time seemed to pass when Lilah heard that familiar grunting roar. Lilah's eyes widened as she looked up. Behind her the Tyrannosaurus stood above her just as it did Toby. It's mouth opened wide.
"Ah!" Lilah wrapped her arms around her head and tucked up her soar legs as she braced herself to be eaten. But it's razor sharp teeth didn't chomp down on her. Instead it let out a cry of pain and spun around, its tail almost hitting Lilah. She ducked down just in time. She clutched the backpack and crawled away quickly. She was curious to see what had grasped its attention and inflicted so much pain.
Three ankylosaurus were swinging its spiky tails at the ferocious T-Rex. The giant beast had no idea what to do as it roared hopelessly. Lilah smiled. "Thank you." She called to the three mighty dinosaurs, she wasn't sure they were protecting her but something told her they don't just attack Tyrannosaurus for no reason. Lilah ran off in the direction she came, back to her sister and Toby.
Dinah sat against the cave wall sadly.
"What's wrong?" Fluffy asked. Dinah was holding him to her face as a tear ran down her cheek.
"Lilah. She isn't back yet." She sniffled. "She told me not to go after her and I didn't but you see, now she's most likely dinosaur kibble."
"Dinosaurs don't eat kibble, at least I don't think so." Fluffy said.
Dinah shrugged. "I know. I meant Dino lunch."
"More like breakfast." Fluffy said.
Dinah glared at him through her watery eyes.
Toby sat next to Dinah and put his blue arm around her. "It will be okay Dinah. You sister is one of the most smartest, bravest, and bossiest person I've met." He tried to comfort her. "She will make it."
"Yeah, the T-Rex needs to watch out for her." Fluffy chuckled.
"Dinah!" Lilah's voice rang from outside the cave. "Toby?"
Dinah gasped. "Lilah!" Without thinking she tossed Fluffy aside and raced out of the cave.
The rock skidded across the cave floor. "Oomf!" He groaned. "Pain."
Toby held back a laugh and went over to pick him up.
Outside, Dinah saw Lilah's back as she called for her. Dinah ran around and into her big sisters arms. "You're okay!" Dinah squeezed Lilah tight.
"Dinah!" Lilah smiled. "Yes, I'm fine." She hugged her little sister back.
After releasing each other Lilah glanced around. "Where's Toby?" She asked.
"Over here." Dinah twirled around and skipped over to the cave. Lilah limped toward her, turns out when she fell she had twisted her ankle too. Dinah noticed. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a little cut and bruise that's all." Lilah answered.
"You're limping." Dinah examined.
"Well I twisted it, but it will go away soon. I've twisted my ankle plenty of times to know." Lilah told her.
"If you say so." Dinah said then guided her sister to where Toby was hiding.

When Lilah stepped into the small cave her eyes widened in fascination. "Oh my." She whispered.
"Lilah! You're okay!" Toby smiled.
Lilah smiled back, "Yup!" Then her facial expression turned into concern, "are you okay? I saw you fall."
"Yes. I was most likely dehydrated and tired from all the running and fear." Toby figured.
"We have water in the backpack." Lilah removed the bag from her back, placed it on the floor in front of herself, and unzipped it to pull out a container of water. "Here." she handed Toby an unopened one.
He took it, "thank you" and drank. Lilah gave a warm smile and nod that said 'you're welcome.'
"Well, should we get going?" Dinah asked, looking from one to the other.
"Yes." Lilah agreed.
"Wait." Toby interjected. "I think this is the place you are looking for."
"How?" Lilah asked curiously.
"When Dinah ran out she tossed Fluffy." He began to explain.
"Yeah." The rock said rudely as he glared at Dinah from Toby's hand.
Toby continued to talk over him. "When I went to go get him I saw and egg sitting on an elevated white nest."
"Was it golden?" Lilah asked.
"No." He turned from them and walked deeper into the cave. "But look."
Lilah and Dinah followed. But before going, Dinah picked up the lava.
"Look at how neat." Toby said, his face inches from the egg. Dinah and Lilah saw a white nest sitting on top of a large blue and purple mushroom. It only glowed from underneath but the bright vines that hung from the ceiling of the cave was enough to illuminate the egg that sat on the nest. The egg didn't look that interesting, from afar. It seemed to just have a marble texture with green, blue, brown, and white swirls, until they got closer. It became clear. It was a transparent egg.
The egg was big for an egg, but what was in its interior was small for what it was.
Inside was a wonderful little world. Mini trees bunched together to make a tiny jungle. Small grasslands, beautiful flowers and plants, a sparkling waterfall that fell into a glistening lake, and some wonderfully tall (yet petite), brown rocky mountains that seemed to touch the sky. A mini sun was shining over one part, while the other half was having a ferocious little thunderstorm. Inside this wonderful egg were all kinds of mini dinosaurs running around and playing with each other.
The dinosaurs inside weren't just any dinosaurs, they looked special. Some had three heads, others had one head but three arms. Some had wings but two tails. Some even had one leg. Others were oddly colored, like pink and purple skinned or navy and dark red with scales. The girls gasped, both leaning in to get a better view.
"I can't believe it." Lilah said astonished.
"Me neither." Dinah agreed amazed.
"Pretty isn't it?" Toby asked with a smile.
"Yes." The sisters answered together.
"I still don't see how this is supposed to help us." Lilah said still staring into the strange fascinating world inside the egg.
"This egg isn't what I'm talking about. I'm just saying this place has all kinds of abnormal eggs." Toby straightened and pointed ahead. "Look."
The girls pulled away from the rather unusual egg and looked to where their blue friend was pointing.
What seemed to stretch for miles down, inside the cave, were strange eggs. All the eggs were in a nest, sitting on top of a large mushroom of its own.
"Whoa." Lilah stated.
"Yeah." Dinah agreed.
"Lets go." Lilah said wandering deeper into the cave. Toby and Dinah followed.
They passed sparkly eggs, very shiny eggs, spiked eggs, an egg wrapped in vines, an egg covered in a multicolored coating, a glowing egg, an egg filled with holes, an egg with tentacles coming out of it, and so many more.
At the far end was the golden egg, half of it was covered in scales and the other half was just a shiny, smooth surface. It sat on a black and silver mushroom inside of a bronze nest. Lilah and Dinah approached it with caution.
"It's so shiny." Dinah whispered.
Lilah stretched up on her tiptoes to grab it. Her fingers tips landed on the golden egg, when suddenly the mushroom it sat on grew a mouth and beady black eyes. It opened its new, grown mouth and began to yell.
Its piercing scream had set off the rest of the mushrooms. Lilah almost fell backward when she jumped back, startled.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby all covered their ears. Dinah nearly dropped the lava but had placed it on the floor as fast as she could.
"What did you do?" Dinah shouted the question.
"I tried to grab the egg!" Lilah shouted over the mushrooms.
"Bad idea." Dinah said.
"Yeah, I see that!" Lilah said, annoyed with herself.
"What's that!" Toby asked, panicked.
The dirt wall where the cave ended began to crumble. Brown vines seemed to penetrate through the cracks.
"Run!" Lilah shouted, she snagged the egg quickly. The mushroom it rested on let out more screams. They sprinted back down the long cave.
A woman, or what seemed like a woman, came though the wall. She was tall and skinny. The top of her head was a mushrooms top. The brown vines came from around the rim of her mushroom shaped head. Her eyes seemed hallowed and black. She resembled a walking jellyfish.
The kids ran faster, frightened by the half mushroom creature. It opened its mouth and let out a extremely piercing scream, an even higher pitch than the mushrooms.
"Ah." Lilah, Dinah, and Toby yelped.
Toby squeezed his ears even tighter while the girls flinched and tried not to drop the item in their hands.
They ran, trying to reach the exit. Faint pattering came from ahead. Little mushrooms with glowing green eyes zoomed towards the girls and Toby. Each mushroom carried a weapon, from spears to bows and arrows.
"I order you to halt!" One of the mushrooms, so small it could be smashed in a babies fist, commanded in the smallest, squeakiest voice imaginable.
"Oh no." Lilah whispered and skidded to a stop. Dinah and Toby smashed into Lilah, the force stopped them too.
"Make a move and we will fire!" It shouted as loud as it could, only to them it was faint.
"You guys could just stomp over them?" Fluffy eyed.
"That would be killing!" Dinah said.
"So? They are mushrooms. It's like stepping on grass." Fluffy smiled.
Dinah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, walking, talking grass! What if we killed you?"
"That would be murder." Fluffy said. "Tsk tsk tsk." He added.
"Hey." Lilah whispered. "No time for arguing. We need to find a way to get passed them, nice and easy."
"Do as we say and you will be safe." It squeaked from below.
"Alright." Dinah and Lilah said together.
"Face the mistress and gently pass the egg to her." One of the mini mushrooms ordered. It was slightly bigger and more feminine then the rest. In fact, if you looked closely all the mushrooms surrounded them seemed to be females.
"What if we don't?" Lilah asked.
"Then I am forced to put you all through the execution ceremony." The biggest one said, they figured it must be the alpha.
"That doesn't sound good." Toby whispered.
Dinah shook her head, agreeing with Toby.
"O-Okay." Lilah gulped.
All three slowly pivoted to face the Mushroom Mistress.
It's hallowed eyes seem to widen as she let out a screech from her mouth, which looked sewed on the ends.
Lilah held out the egg unwillingly. The Mushroom Mistress held out her mossy arms and got ready to grab the golden egg from Lilah.
Her long twisted nails scratched at Lilah's skin. Lilah tensed as she felt the egg began to slip through her fingers.
All while, Toby had been eyeing a group of stink bugs. All different metallic colors. He knew that when scared or squeezed they would let out the horrid gas and colorful fog. Toby slid Fluffy into his overalls pocket and walked over to the bunched up bugs.
The Mushroom Mistress yanked the golden dinosaur egg from Lilah's grasp. She held it up and let out a pleased grunt. Suddenly, the Mushroom Mistress made another horrible screech. Her hands flew to her face in pain, releasing the egg, which was falling to the ground. Lilah immediately jumped out to grab it. Once in her clutches, she hugged it against her chest protectively.
Toby had squeezed one of the beetles in the Mushroom Mistress's face. He turned to face the exit, more beetles in hand.
"Do not take a step!" The tiny mushroom called from below.
"Hold your breath." Toby warned the girls, ignoring the mini mushrooms. He began taking large steps. He squeezed and threw beetles around causing multi-colored smoke to spray out everywhere. Along with that, a putrid smell was released.
The mushrooms shouted and coughed as they covered their face. Each taking turns falling to the ground, gagging. The Mushroom Mistress tried to stand. She couldn't. She choked on the floor, the fumes intoxicating her. She tried to send her vines after the running children, but she was too weak to do so.
Lilah and Dinah followed Toby out in a panic as he finished off the stink bugs.
They piled outside of the cave gasping, they could finally breathe again. They glanced at the cave for a short second before they began jogging back to the pathway.
"What did you do?" Lilah asked Toby.
"I saw stink beetles and knew they were really stinky so I figured they would make them faint." Toby answered. "I didn't know what else to do, I didn't know if it would work."
"Well I'm glad you tried." Dinah said.
"Me too." Toby agreed.
"At least we made it out with the egg." Lilah smiled holding it up in the air.

They were no longer in Dino Park but instead, sitting on the outskirts of it. Lilah had the map of The Land of Dreams spread out in front of her. Dinah and Toby on either side, were peering over her shoulder. Fluffy was resting on Dinah's knee.
"It seems that The Forbidden Lake is the closest thing." Fluffy stated bluntly.
"Yes it is." Lilah drew an imaginary line from Dino Park to The Forbidden Lake. It was in the center of The Forbidden Woods.
"Oh," Dinah whined. "I don't want to go there!"
"To bad," Lilah sighed. "we have to." Lilah stood, then helped a struggling Toby up. Dinah, who was also now standing, looked at her big sister.
"Alright!" Dinah announced. "Which way?" She tried to sound more confident than she actually was.
Lilah pointed. "That way." She began marching playfully with her brows furrowed. Toby laughed and followed Lilah in an identical march with the lava in his arms. Dinah groaned in worry before she ventured off, taking the golden egg, and Fluffy, with her.
The stone pathway they walked on became cracked and crumbly once they entered the woods. The bright blue light sky turned a haunting shade of navy. Away went the sun and out came the full glistening moon (though, it was partly covered with thin, dark clouds). The trees branches twisted and turned while their emerald leaves became dark forest green. Owls hooted, crickets chirped, and the wind faintly howled.
"So, which way is The Forbidden Lake?" Dinah asked with a shaky voice.
"I can't read the map in the dark." Lilah squinted. "Toby, could you get the flashlight please?"
"Yes." Toby whispered and placed the shell of lava onto the floor, carefully. He unzipped the backpack and fished out the flashlight.
"Thank you." Lilah whispered after he handed it to her. She flicked it on and shined it onto the map.
"It got dark so fast." Dinah said.
"It's always night time here." Toby told her.
"It seems we go straight." Lilah concluded, folding up the map.
"Look, there is a sign." Dinah pointed ahead.
Toby and Lilah looked to see. A tall skinny wooden stick was stuck in the ground. Four arrows stapled onto it. One was pointing up, another was pointing right, the next was pointing left, and the last was pointing down.
The one pointing up was labeled, The Forbidden Lake. The one pointing down was labeled, The Tunnels. The one pointing left was labeled, Ms. Grumble's cottage. While the one pointing right was labeled, Wishing Rocks
"Who is Ms. Grumble?" Dinah asked looking at the left pointing sign.
"I don't know." Fluffy answered from Dinah's hand. She rolled her eyes and plopped him in her pocket.
"She's a lady who mostly lives all alone. She's had many husbands but no one knows where they went. Some dreamers think she's a witch." Toby answered for her.
"And what are The Tunnels?" Dinah asked.
"It one of the entrances to the underground tunnels. It's quite obvious really." Toby answered again.
"Wait, there is a world underground?" Dinah sounded amazed.
"Well, I wouldn't say a world but there is a small town where the groundlings stay and tunnels to get around The Land of Dreams. It's where I live." Toby said. "In my burrow."
"You're a groundling?" Dinah asked.
Toby shook his head. "I'm an Irides but I did live underground with my family."
"Well what do they look like?" Dinah asked.
"Well I guess you could say they are like tiny dwarves, only meaner." Toby answered.
"Wait! Wishing Rocks? We can wish mother better!" Lilah was getting hopeful.
"You're right! We won't have to go to The Forbidden Lake!" Dinah threw her arms up in excitement. The sisters began running right.
"No!" Toby shouted. They stopped and spun to face him.
"What?" Lilah snapped.
"Wishing Rocks are not what they seem. Their magic is run on wishes. For them to use magic something needs to wish them to do so. They take your wish and twist it. They make it into something bad and evil. Sometimes it has nothing to do with your wish." Toby warned them.
"Oh." Dinah's voice was sad.
"I really know this because...because I came to make a wish. That's... that's how I lost my family."
"Oh! I'm so sorry Toby!" Dinah ran over to Toby and threw her arms around him. He patted her back awkwardly, trying to hold up the lava, and smiled.
"It's Okay." He said.
Lilah came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a light smile. "It'll be okay." She whispered.
"I know." Toby said sadly. "Let's just go get some water from The Forbidden Lake."
The sisters nodded and straight they went. The path began to disappear but finally they approached the lake.
"It sure does look forbidden." Lilah whispered. The lake water looked dark and murky, but they didn't know if that was because of the absence of light. The lake was surrounded by dying plants and scary trees covered in draping moss. The moonlight should have helped to ease their apprehension but it only made things feel more eerie. It was shinning down, creating its reflection in the deadly water and evil looking shadows with the surrounding trees.
"It looks more like a swamp." Dinah said.
"It's sure does." Lilah agreed.
A rustling noise came from the bush nearby. The girls jumped as Toby held the lava up to his face. The girls watched the moving bush with nervous anticipation. Toby peeked around the lava. When the bunny hopped out they let out a sigh of relief.
"It's just a bunny, thank goodness." Dinah whispered. The bunny looked up at Dinah as if it understood her. It's nose twitched once before it's adorable little face seemed to melt. It's eye went red and it's open mouth revealed razor sharp teeth. It screeched before scampering away in its cute bunny form.
"Maybe we should go back." Dinah whined.
Lilah took a deep breathe. "We can't give up."
"What is that?" Toby asked, pointing to the ground. Dinah and Lilah looked down, eyes widened. Foggy smoke, that seemed to be coming from the lake, spread out around them.
"I-I don't know." Lilah's voice cracked.
Dinah began to whine. "I want to go home!"
Toby's eyes began to droop. He could hardly keep them open. "I'm getting pretty sleepy." He yawned. He placed the lava on the floor and laid in the mossy grass then started to snore.
Dinah rubbed an eye and nodded "me too". She dropped the egg by accident and fell to the ground.
"Dinah! Toby!" Lilah shouted in shock before dropping to the ground next to them.
Toby woke up first. He looked around groggily after he stood. He was in a small boat, floating on the Forbidden Lake. "Ahh!" He screamed. Dinah sat up slowly and patted her mouth as she yawned.
"What's going on?" She asked standing up with him.
"We're on a boat!" Toby shouted.
Dinah looked around frantically.
Lilah woke up last and stretched. "What's all the shouting about?" She asked, she hadn't noticed they had been moved to a row boat. She looked around and realized her surroundings. "Oh no, I think we were gassed!"
"Where is it taking us?" Toby's heart was pounding.
"The boats rowing itself!" Lilah shouted as she steadily stood herself up.
"I wanna get off!" Dinah screamed.
"The egg and lava! It's not here!" Lilah gasped.
"Help!" Dinah started.
"Help! Help! Help!" The three shouted together.
"HELP! HELP!" Fluffy screamed from the inside of Dinah's pocket. "Wait," he drew out the word, "why are we screaming?" He asked calmly.
Dinah pulled him out of her pocket.
"Because we are floating on deadly water and our stuff is missing!" Dinah shouted.
"Will you children stop the yelling!" A voice shouted. "Or I will tie all of you up and sew your mouths shut!"
The three of them jumped.
"Who said that?" Lilah asked.
The oars stopped moving and the boat came to a stop. A short, stubby goblin materialized in front of them, his back facing their faces. He turned around to meet them in the eyes.
The three kids crinkled their noses in disgusted at his ugliness. He was the color of slate and his nose was far to large for his round head. His black beady his were smaller than any of the warts covering various parts of him. His body was more or less shaped like a squash and only three uneven strands of yellow hair sprouted out of his practically bald head.
The rock frowned. "Ooh." Fluffy said, "you're one ugly dude."
"At least I don't look like a lump of hardened poo." The goblin huffed.
"Oh, you take that back! Dinah, throw me at 'em!" Fluffy shouted.
"Where are you taking us?" Lilah demanded, interrupting their pointless feud. He ignored her and began rowing again.
"Hello?" Lilah rose her voice. Still, he didn't respond.
"Excuse me!" Dinah tried more politely. Again, he still ignored them.
"Hey!" Lilah snapped. Again, he didn't respond. Lilah let out a long lengthy groan and plopped down onto the one wooden bench in the boat. Dinah and Toby joined her.
Lilah was tapping her foot in frustration when they floated up to a small wooden cabin on stilts. It seemed to be the center of The Forbidden Lake. It was small and falling apart. Tall plants grew around the perimeter of the old cabin, and moss climbed the sides.
The goblin turned the boat around slightly, and brought them close enough to the docks steps that an ant could easily crawl from the boat to the dock. "Aright, file out! Careful not to touch the water." He demanded.
Toby obeyed first, then Dinah (before standing she plopped Fluffy back into her pocket), then Lilah.
Lilah, who was still grumpy, still had her arms crossed. Toby and Dinah were more worried then angry.
The goblin man was now out of the boat and tying the boat to a pole with a rope. Once he finished he turned to the three of them. "Alright, inside!" He motioned forward with his hands.
Reluctantly, they listened and slowly made their way up to the second flight of dark wooden stairs.
The short chubby goblin ran past them as he fumbled with his key chain so he could unlock the door.
They watched him try every single key on his large key chain. "Sorry, almost there." He said trying another key. "I really should label these, I've got one for every door and every drawer." He told them but they weren't listening. "You can never be too secure."
Lilah motioned for Dinah and Toby to follow her back to the boat, quietly so the goblin wouldn't notice. They nodded and each one began to tiptoe back to the rowboat.
Creek! "Uh oh." Toby whispered. He accidentally stepped on a loose board.
The goblin turned around fast then shouted, "HEY! You get back here!" He started at them in a run, he's short legs made him slower than them.
"Run!" Lilah yelled. They did as Lilah said. Once they got back down to the dock, Lilah and Dinah worked together to try and get the boat untied.
"He's coming!" Toby whined.
"Almost got it." Lilah said pulling on the thick rope. The goblin made it up to them just before they got the chance to escape. He was wearing a mask when he pulled out a small round device. He pressed the big red button and gas started to spread out around them again. The kids eyes closed, then they fell right back down.
This time Lilah was the first to wake up, just like she was the first to fall. She blinked then looked around her new surroundings. Almost everything was made of wood and everything that could open had at least two locks on it. She was inside the cabin she realized, and she was tied to a chair! Lilah began wobbling around in her seat, trying to break free.
"Hey!" She shouted. "Goblin thing!"
Dinah stirred, then she blinked her eyes open. She jumped up and down in her chair. "Let me out! Let me out!"
The goblin wobbled into the room. "Shush shush, I like piece and quite." He told them as he threw some herbs into a steaming pot.
"Well then maybe you shouldn't kidnap people!" Lilah snapped, her eyes were squinted in a glare.
The goblin didn't say anything, he just kept tossing different things into the boiling pot.
Dinah gulped, "are you going to eat us?"
The goblin looked at her bewildered then he began to laugh hysterically. "No, no, no!" He shouted between fits of laughter.
Lilah and Dinah exchanged quick confused glances then looked back at the goblin who was now rolling on the floor.
The goblin stood then pretended to wipe a tear.
"I'm going to feed you to my dogs, then I will eat them." He said with a straight face. He then turned back to his pot and tossed in more herbs and spices.
"WHAT!" Dinah shouted. It caused Toby to wake up.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"We're gonna get eaten by dogs!" Dinah shouted in tears.
Toby's eyes widened. "Oh no." He whined, a tear fell from his face.
"Oh relax!" The goblin turned around to face them again. "I'm only taking the girls. Instead, you will be my servant! Helping me do things here and there." He tried to smile but it wasn't very appealing with his cracked, rotting yellow teeth.
"Ew." Toby whispered along with the girls.
"What if we make you a deal?" Lilah suggested.
"Like what?" He asked as he turned the fire up, he did this by adding more twigs to the already burning logs.
"Like what if we did you a favor and then you let us go?" Lilah answered.
"Yeah. What do you want?" Dinah agreed.
The goblin glanced at Toby.
Toby nodded quickly, he was desperate to get out of there.
"Okay." The goblin cleared his throat. "I guess we could compromise."
"Great! What do you want?" Lilah asked.
"Well, there is this plant. Very rare." He began. "They're called iuvenis. One petal from this plant has the ability to make someone young and beautiful...for a temporary period of time, but still worth it, especially when you look like me. They look like lavender but they are not. If you look closely you can tell the difference. There is one place that I know of that has these plants. I've been tryna get it for years but it's pretty much impossible."
"Where is that?" Dinah asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"Ms. Grumbles cottage." He whispered darkly.
"What's so bad about her?" Lilah asked, glaring at him.
"Her husbands didn't just disappear. She killed them, every 67 of them. I'm still tying to figure out what she does with them. Maybe she does it for the fun of it, maybe there's a reason." He shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know that she's wicked and that I want at least two of her precious iuvenis plants." He crossed his extremely thin and grey arms. "So deal on or off?"
"On." Lilah glared.
Goblin man glared back, "And how do I know you will return?"
"You don't." Lilah was still glaring. "You'll have to trust us."
"But I don't. So to insure you do. The little girl is staying with me." He pointed at Dinah.
Dinah's shrieked. "No way."
Lilah's glare faded and her eyes filled with alarm. "No!"
"Fine then, the boy will." He indicated Toby.
Lilah relaxed then glanced at Toby. "Um."
"No." Dinah shouted at the goblin. She then turned to Lilah, "how could you even consider that!"
"I wasn't." She snapped.
"We promise you we will return with your plants because we also want something else." Dinah lifted her head confidently.
"And what is that little girl?" The goblin asked.
"That wagon," Dinah pointed with her head at a small red wagon in the corner of the room. "We could use it to carry the egg and lava. We also want a jar of Forbidden Lake water ready to go. Oh, and we want the dogs too." 
"The wagon, fine, the lake water, I guess, but the dogs...no." The goblin refused. "They are my food and they took forever to get."
"Try eating some fruit." Dinah snapped. "You shouldn't eat dogs! Especially dogs that you feed humans to."
Goblin man smirked an ugly smirk. "All right then." He wobbled over and untied each of them. "Hurry up then."
Before they could go he stopped them, "the backpack stays, I need some more reassurance."
Lilah rolled her eyes but handed him the backpack. He nodded and smiled an ugly thank you.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby ran out of the cabin and down the dock. After they all piled into the boat Lilah untied the rope and they sailed off.
Once on the other side, and after Lilah had tied the boat to a crooked wooden stick, she walked over to where they were last and picked up the golden egg and handed it to Toby while Dinah picked up the lava.
Lilah looked at him. "I'm sorry Toby, I almost considered leaving you there. I would have come back for you though, but it was still wrong to think." Lilah apologized regretfully.
"It's okay, I know you love your sister very much." Toby smiled.
"It wasn't okay... but thank you for understanding, Toby." Lilah gave him a quick hug before they turned left to Ms. Grumble's cottage.

"Land of Dreams? More like the land of nightmares." Dinah murmured under her breath.
Lilah laughed, "I couldn't agree more."
"There it is." Toby whispered just loud enough for the girls to hear.
"Take me out. I wanna see." Fluffy demanded from the pocket. Dinah rested the lava in one arm and pulled him out.
"Ooh, spooky!" Fluffy whispered.
"Yeah, a little too spooky." Dinah began to worry again.
Spooky, not because the cottage itself was spooky but because it was the only thing that wasn't spooky in this forest. In fact, it was almost a little too welcoming. It was painted a bright yellow and the roof looked like it was made of golden hay. The green doors and windows were lit with white lights, and the whole cottage was surrounded by beautiful plants that were alive.
"Okay, come on." Lilah said.
"We can't just knock can we?" Dinah asked alarmed.
"Well would you rather break in?" Lilah crossed her arms and questioned her little sister.
"Obviously not." Dinah grumbled.
"So then we'll have to knock." Lilah began walking down the uneven rocky pathway. Dinah plopped the rock back into her pocket and went after Toby who was already trailing behind Lilah.
Lilah's eyes wandered around the creaky cottage. She took a deep breath before knocking on the mossy door.
For a moment it was silent and nothing happened, but when Lilah went to knock again, a small window appeared, replacing the non-existent peephole.
The three of them stared at the window unsure of what to expect. Lilah was just tall enough to peer inside. She inched closer and tried to sneak a peek of the interior of the cottage. Lilah could see a light shining from deep inside, but nothing else. She stared harder to make out what lay in the darker areas. A sudden movement from inside caught Lilah's eye, she turned her eyes slightly in the direction it came.
Suddenly, a women's shadowed face appeared behind the glass taking Lilah by surprise. She screamed and fell backward.
Lilah made a 'oomph' sound after falling to the ground and landing on her now bruised bottom.
"What! What is it?" Dinah rushed to help her sister stand.
"It, it was a, a face." Lilah stuttered. "But her face didn't scare me it was the fact that it came out of nowhere."
"So you're okay then?" Dinah asked.
Lilah began to nod, but before she could answer her sister, the door swung open.
"Hello children." Said a beautiful, young women standing in the doorway. Her smile beamed proudly at them. "What brings you to my cottage?"
"You're Ms. Grumble?" Was all Dinah could think to ask. She had expected Ms. Grumble to be old and ugly, like the goblin that kidnapped them.
The laugh Ms. Grumble let out was just as beautiful as her face, "yes."
"You are not what I expected." Dinah smiled while she admired Ms. Grumble's dark, long and silky brown hair.
"That's what they all say." Ms. Grumble laughed some more.
Ms. Grumble's soft doe green eyes filled with more joy when her eyes landed on Toby.
"Toby! Nice to see you again."  She cooed.
"Nice to see you too Ms. Grumble." Toby smiled softly.
The girls flashed Toby a confused look.
"Well come on in." She said. "I have cookies baking in the oven."
Toby placed the egg in a bush near the door and followed Ms. Grumble inside.
Dinah laid the lava next to where Toby put the egg. Lilah caught Dinah's wrist before she placed a foot inside.
"Haven't you read Hansel and Gretel?" Lilah snapped.
"Lilah, does this look like a gingerbread house to you?" Dinah pulled her wrist back. "Plus we have to go inside to get the iuvenis anyway."
"Fine, but don't eat the cookies. No matter how promising she looks, she still killed her husbands." Lilah warned.
"I won't and I wasn't, Lilah! Don't worry."
Lilah sighed and followed her little sister inside. Toby was alrighty sitting at a big round table covered with a red fleece cloth. Ms. Grumble placed a round tray of chocolate chip cookies in the center of the table.
"Ooh." Toby took a big sniff of the mouthwatering cookie aroma spreading out throughout the house.
Lilah and Dinah pulled out chairs and took a seat with Toby.
"So, what brings you three here to my humble cottage?" Ms. Grumble asked, putting out freshly baked cookies in front of them.
"Uh, well," Lilah began to lie, as she slapped Toby's hand before he could grab a cookie. "We were wandering around and got lost in the woods-"
Toby cut Lilah off before she could finish her lie. "And they ran into me," he started a lie of his own. "I was telling them about how delicious your cookies were and that I was on my way here for a visit."
Lilah and Dinah nodded.
"Oh." Ms. Grumble smiled as the oven beeped. "Well, you came just in time." She said.
Lilah slowly looked around to see if she could spot any iuvenis as she said, "Okay."
Ms. Grumble left the dining room and went into her kitchen.
Lilah turned to Toby and in a low voice asked, "why'd you cut me off?"
"Because you were about to tell an obvious lie. It sounded like you were going to say we needed directions out of The Forbidden Forest, but I've been here plenty of times. I should know my way out."
"Plenty of times?" Lilah wondered. "To deliver candy?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yes." Toby mumbled with cookie crumbs falling from his mouth. Then he swallowed. "Chocolate chips mostly," and he took another bite of the cookie.
"Oh." Lilah said, thankful Toby had caught her, "thanks then." She said.
Ms. Grumble kicked the oven closed with the heel of her foot as she brought the second tray of chocolate chip cookies to the table. "Careful, they're hot."
"So, do you live here alone?" Lilah asked giving an innocent looking facial expression.
"Yes, yes I do." She answered with a smile, then she quickly changed the subject. "Do any of you want some milk to go with the cookies?" She looked at the blue boy, "Toby?"
"Yes please!" Toby exclaimed and quickly grabbed a cookie before Lilah could stop him again. Ms. Grumble smiled and turned to the fridge.
Lilah sighed and glanced at her younger sister, who was happily eating a cookie too.
"This is delicious." Dinah smacked her lips together and looked at Lilah, who was giving her a disapproving look. "What? Toby was eating it!"
Lilah rolled her eyes as Ms. Grumble made her way back to the table with a tall glass of warm, white milk.
After cleaning her hands on her pink floral apron she smiled. "Enjoying the cookies?"
"Yes." Dinah and Toby answered together.
"Could I have a cup of milk too, please?" Dinah asked politely.
"I guess I could take one also, if you don't mind?" Lilah asked, also politely. "Cold though."
Ms. Grumble smiled sweetly, "of course." Then she walked back to the refrigerator.
Lilah reached for a cookie and took a bite. Her eyes widened in a amazement as she looked at the cookie in her hand. "Mmm! This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"
Dinah nodded in agreement.
"Wait until you try her chocolate chip brownies, they're even better." Toby told them.
Ms. Grumble returned with two glasses of milk and placed them in front of Dinah and Lilah.
"Take all the time you need here to rest up before you go. My home is always open to children."
"Thank you." The three echoed each other.
Ms. Grumble smiled another glorious smile and said, "You're welcome, just call me over if you need anything. I'll be mending my garden."
Dinah, Lilah, and Toby all nodded, trying not to show the curiosity they had in her saying the word garden.
When they finished snacking on the cookies Lilah faked a yawn. "Ms. Grumble!" She called for her.
Ms. Grumble's maroon heels clicked their way back into the house.
When she entered the room they noticed she had taken off the apron and was wearing a beautiful, black and white tea-party dress. She had tied her hair back into a perfectly round bun. In her garden gloved hands she carried a flower bed filled with colorful lily's.
Lilah faked another yawn and spoke again, "Could we maybe take a nap before we leave?"
Ms. Grumble smiled. "Of course, go on over to the great room, I'll get you some pillows and blankets." 
Lilah nodded and hopped off her seat, Dinah and Toby followed her. Ms. Grumble placed the flower bed down and removed her gardening gloves then left to find them pillows and blankets.
The girls sat on the sofa while Toby sat on the recliner. While waiting for Ms. Grumble to return, Lilah told them her plan.
"Okay," She spoke softly. "When she gets back with the pillows and blankets we will pretend to get comfortable. After a few minutes you guys will pretend you're asleep and I'll pretend that I can't sleep, then I'll get up and ask her if I could help her in her garden. If she says yes, then I'll look for the iuvenis, grab them, say that I'm getting tired, and when I come back we will run back out to the cabin and give it to the goblin. We can continue the journey from there!" Lilah finished.
Toby and Dinah nodded.
"But what if she says no?" Dinah asked.
"I'll figure it out, but I'm sure she'll say yes. I haven't given her a reason why I couldn't." Lilah told her.
"If you say so." Dinah said.
A few seconds passed when Ms. Grumble returned with the items needed. "Here you children go."
Ms. Grumble set them in between the sisters and handed one to Toby. Lilah and Dinah each grabbed their own pillow and blanket and began to lay out on the sofa.
"Do you need help Toby?" Ms. Grumble asked him, as he fumbled with the sheet.
"Uh, yes please." He squeaked from underneath.
Ms. Grumble chuckled and reached out to help him. She reclined the seat and placed the pillow behind him.
"Thank you." Toby said as she covered him with the thin white sheet.
"No problem." She smiled again. "Again, if you need me I will be in my garden located out back." Her heels clicked away.
When Toby and Dinah began to pretend to snore, Lilah gave it a few moments before she got up from the couch and made her way to the open, backyard door.
The part Lilah could see of the garden was beautiful. Though the sudden sight of sun made Lilah flinch. She used her hand as a shade and squinted into Ms. Grumble's backyard.
Trees were everywhere, along with the most exotic looking plants and flowers. A cobblestone pathway took you from the door to a tour of the garden.
Lilah saw a clear blue waterfall falling into a river of water all along the houses back wall. Dragon flies buzzed around the water. She turned her head and looked up to see where the water was coming from. It seemed to be seeping through the balcony above. Lilah looked back into the garden and saw a sparkling golden bunny hop by. Aw, it's so cute, she thought.
Lilah also thought the garden had to have been bigger than Ms. Grumbles whole cottage! It was like a whole other world!
Lilah snapped out of her amazement when she caught sight of Ms. Grumble.
"Ms. Grumble." Lilah mumbled, in her best tired voice, "I can't sleep for some reason."
Ms. Grumble took off her gardening gloves once again and made her way to Lilah. "You seemed so tired earlier."
"I know, I still am but for some reason I can't sleep."
"Well, what can I do for you?" The young woman placed a gentle hand on Lilah's shoulder.
Lilah tried not to let her tension show. "I don't know. Could I maybe help you outside?"
Ms. Grumble sighed, "I suppose, though I don't know what you can help with." She thought for a moment then she pulled Lilah outside. "I will have you water the plants on the balcony," she began saying, "since I already finished there."
She walked Lilah down the stone steps and led her to the far left corner of her house. Lilah noticed butterflies fluttering all around, accompanied by bumblebees and humming birds.
Lilah watched Ms. Grumble climb up the black ladder attached to the house and step onto the balcony.
Ms. Grumble waved for Lilah to follow, so she did. Careful not to touch the thorns coming from the roses that were growing on the ladder, Lilah made it up.
Ms. Grumble picked up a purple watering can and tapped her white gardening hose. "Alright Daisy, I need water." She whispered gently. Lilah thought it was rather odd that Ms. Grumble had named her gardening hose and was also talking to it.
Then Lilah had to blink twice to be sure she wasn't imaging things, but it was true, the hose lifted itself up and magenta eyes appeared.
Oh my, Lilah thought, it had turned into a snake!
It opened its mouth and water began to fill the can up with water.
When the watering can started to overflow Ms. Grumble smiled and told it, "thank you."
The snake laid down and its eyes disappeared.
Lilah was still staring at the strange gardening hose when Ms. Grumble handed her the now full, watering can. 
Lilah took it and Ms. Grumble told her what to do. "Just water all of the plants here, then when you are done, cross the bridge," she pointed to a bridge above the backdoor that lead to the other side of the balcony. "and do that side." 
Lilah nodded, "But where will you be?"
"Down there, working on some things."
"Okay."
"When you are finished you can leave the watering can next to Daisy, then you can go back inside to see if you can fall asleep."
Lilah nodded again as Ms. Grumble climbed back down to the rest of her garden.
Lilah sighed and got to watering. As she did that, she analyzed the garden to see if she could get an idea of where the iuvenis might be.
Her eyes slowly gazed around the large garden. She saw all kinds of new and familiar plants; cherry trees, apple trees, rose bushes, trees with glowing stars, a black plant with rainbow streaks, and so much more, but she didn't see anything that looked like lavender, or any lavender for that matter.
Lilah groaned, "why can't this be easier?"
"Hey!" Lilah heard a small voice shout, she looked down to find the owner of the voice.
"Who said that?" Lilah whispered hastily.
"I did!" The voice called in its high pitched tone.
"I don't see you." Lilah stated a she squinted at the plants.
"I'm on the petal in front of you." It told her.
It didn't take Lilah that much longer for her to focus on the little red circle on the fire lily.
"Yes, yes me!" It shouted when it noticed Lilah staring at it.
"You're a lady bug!" She exclaimed.
"Yes, yes I am."
"I'm talking to a lady bug!"
"Yes, yes you are."
"Wow!"
"Yes, yes well I was trying to tell you to watch where you're pouring that! I'm trying to rest."
"Oh, sorry." Lilah frowned but it quickly became a smile. "Do you have a name?"
"Yes, yes I do."
"Well what is it?"
"Lady bug." It answered.
Lilah rolled her eyes, "no, I know what you are!"
"Well you asked."
"Whatever," Lilah sighed then she perked up again, "hey, you live in this garden right?"
"Yes, yes I do."
"Great! So you know where things are."
"Yes, yes I do."
"Can I ask you something?" Lilah asked.
"Yes, yes you can. Though you've been asking me many questions already." The lady bug answered.
Lilah rolled her eyes again then asked, "have you ever heard of a plant called iuvenis? They look like lilacs."
"Yes, yes I have."
"Oh! Well where can I find them?"
"In the garden."
Lilah stared at the lady bug with an annoyed look on her face. "Yes, yes I know this." She mocked the lady bug in her best high pitched voice, then she crossed her arms and in her normal voice, asked, "where can I find it in this garden?"
"In Ms. Grumbles greenhouse."
"Perfect," Lilah dropped the watering can and ran to the ladder. "thanks lady bug!" She called.
"Oh, yes, yes you're welcome!" The lady bug called back.
Lilah didn't know exactly where the greenhouse was but she obviously knew it was somewhere in the garden, she could find it easily.
Lilah was running though the garden looking all kinds of ways for a greenhouse when she saw Ms. Grumble talking to four garden gnomes. Lilah stopped dead in her tracks and creeped behind a large unknown tree. Lilah got on her knees and listened, in doing so she accidentally knocked into the tree and noticed the red sap oozing through the bark as if it were bleeding. "Yuck." She whispered as she wiped it off her shoulder in disgust. "Hopefully that's not poisonous!" She quietly complained.
"Until they decide to leave." Ms. Grumble was saying.
"Okay Ms." The blue hatted gnome saluted.
"Ms. Grumble." Ms. Grumble corrected.
"Right, right Ms. Grumble." The blue gnome nodded again.
"Pardon me Ms. Grumble, but may I ask you why?" The green hatted gnome asked.
"Because, she may seem sweet and innocent but I have a feeling her and her sister will be up to something mischievous real soon." She answered him.
"Well if you insist." The green gnome replied.
"Uh, well what do we do if she tries anything?" this time it was the red hatted gnome to ask.
"Oh, and what do you consider mischievous?" The orange gnome chimed in.
Ms. Grumble groaned. "If you think it's mischievous then two of you will attack with your weapons. One gathers your brothers to help fight while the other will come shouting for me. Also, if the little girl intervenes, attack her too. I'm sure the blue child will be too scared to try and help, but if he for some reason does, then I want you to sedate him, do not kill him like you would the girls."
The orange gnome cleared his throat, "what exactly does sedate mean?"
Ms. Grumble groaned again, "It means to drug him, put him to sleep."
"Oh, okay." The orange gnome nodded, he paused in thought. "With what will we sedate him?"
Ms. Grumble rolled her eyes this time, "with the nottambulo flower, mix it inside some tea."
"Oh, okay." The orange hatted gnome said. "Got it."
The rest nodded but they all still stood in front of Ms. Grumble.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ms. Grumble snapped. "Go on!"
The four gnomes jumped and ran towards the balcony, passing Lilah, not noticing she was there. Lilah stared at them run past her before switching her attention back to Ms. Grumble.
Lilah watched Ms. Grumble as she slid her hand into the pocket on the left side of her chest and pulled out a compact mirror.
Through the mirror Lilah could see Ms. Grumble's face and how it began to wrinkle like an old women. Ms. Grumble lifted a wrinkled hand to her face and brushed over the streaks of grey appearing in her hair.
Lilah gasped, "she is turning into an old lady!" She whispered.
"It's time for more iuvenis tea, I suppose." Ms. Grumble grumbled before slamming the compact mirror shut and stuffing it into her pocket.
After Ms. Grumble stomped away, Lilah stood and brushed off her pajama pants. "Oh you, stinky-butt of an old lady! You will not kill me or Dinah, and you will not sedate Toby! But you will grow old and frail when I get my hands on your dearest iuvenis!" Lilah furrowed her brow and clenched up her hand into a fist as she marched in the direction Ms. Grumble went.
Lilah had to walk slow to avoid being seen by Ms. Grumble.
Ms. Grumble's hair was all grey now, and she began to hunch over, she was becoming more and more like an elderly women.
Lilah eyed Ms. Grumble as she finally stopped in front of her greenhouse. It was rectangular shaped and covered in so much greenery Lilah wondered how the sun got in. Then again, Lilah thought, it was The Land of Dreams.
Ms. Grumble's back was to Lilah but Lilah could still make out what Ms. Grumble was doing.
Ms. Grumble turned to a tall, closed tulip bouquet next to the greenhouse door, and seemed to rub, then tap, each of them. Lilah could hear the different musical noises the tulips made as they glowed in their vibrant color anytime Ms. Grumble touched them.
When Ms. Grumble tapped the tulip in the middle, it opened itself up, and Ms. Grumble took something from the center.
Lilah could see what it was, when the golden key glistened in the only sunlight that seemed present in the Forbidden Woods.
Ms. Grumble unlocked the door and went inside, shutting the greenhouse door behind her.
Lilah got ready to stand when, suddenly, a very girly voice came from behind her. "Excuse me little miss, but what are you doing here?"
Lilah flipped around, alarmed. Her eyes automatically landed on the source of the voice.
"H-hi." Lilah knew a talking, purple swan shouldn't have come to a surprise, as she has seen stranger things since arriving in this strange world.
Three swans floated in the pond behind Lilah, they stared back at her before replying.
"Hello." The purple swan said.
"Hi." The pink swan said.
"How do you do?" The white, the biggest, and most beautiful swan said in a British accent. Lilah figured the white swan was a male, as its voice was the only deep, masculine of the three.
"May I ask again, what is it you are doing here little miss?" The purple swan asked again.
"I, uh, exploring?" Lilah lied with unease.
"That's new," the pink swan stated. "We don't get a lot of explorers, just Ms. Grumble."
"Well it is her garden, Orchid." The purple swan told her.
"I know, I was just saying." Orchid, the pink swan, said.
"I'm sorry if this sounds rather rude but who are you exactly?" The white swan asked.
"Oh, uh...well, I'm Lilah." She answered, "Who are you?"
"Uno Orchid." The pink swan answered.
"Dos Plum." The purple swan answered.
"And I'm Ocho Cotton." The white swan replied to her.
Lilah knew how to count to ten in Spanish so she recognized uno for one, dos for two, and ocho for eight. "What interesting names." Lilah thought aloud.
"Yes, Ms. Grumble named us in such a way that if she became to old to remember how to enter her greenhouse she'd rely on us to remind her." The white swan told Lilah.
Lilah looked at their colored feathers that coated each of them, then she quickly glanced at the bouquet of eight large tulips by Ms. Grumbles greenhouse. "Interesting." Lilah replied, then looking back at them, she asked, "Are there anymore of you?"
"Yes," the pink swan answered. "They are back over there." She turned her head to show the direction of the other swans.
Five swans, all varying in color, huddled together in a high pitched conversation, though Lilah couldn't hear what they where babbling about from where she stood.
Lilah checked the colors of the petals again. The colors of the feathers and petals matched!
"Those girls love to gossip." The purple swan, Plum, told Lilah.
"What are their names?" Lilah asked, knowing if she knew then she'd know the code to get into Ms. Grumbles greenhouse.
"Well, why don't we call them over? They love to meet new creatures." Cotton, the only male swan, then called them over. "Girls, come this way! This small human wants to meet you!"
All five of the other swans giggled their way over in front of Lilah.
"Oh, hello small land human!" The yellow swan squealed with excitement in a country accent.
"All humans are land humans." Lilah informed.
"No, no no no no," The yellow swan shook her head, "The ones with the scaly wiggly end, they're water humans!"
The lime green swan rolled her eyes, "The scaly wiggly ends are called tails, and the water humans are called mermaids."
"Shut up Ivy! Nobody asked you!"
The lime green swan opened her beak to say something to her yellow friend but Lilah interjected, "Excuse me but may I ask, what are the names of you all?"
"I'm so glad you asked land human!" The yellow swan cheerfully told Lilah her name, "I'm Quartro Dandelion, but my friends just call me Dandelion."
"I'm Sies Ivy." The light green colored swan batted her eyes. "But I prefer just Ivy." She added sweetly.
"And you three are?" Lilah wondered looking at the three swans who hadn't said anything.
"I'm Cinco Rose." The red swan flapped her wings into an elegant pose.
"I'm Siete Persimmon." The orange swan answered.
Lilah looked at the blue swan, who still hadn't answered her. "And you are?"
"I'm not telling you my name until you tell me yours." The last swan, a blue swan, tilted her head up in refusal.
"I'm Lilah, and I'm guessing your name is Tres something?"
The blue swan looked at Lilah with a surprised look then glared. "How'd you know?"
"I'm just guessing."
"Well yes...actually it is." The blue swan tilted her head. "I'm Tres Cornflower."
"What unique names." Lilah told them truthfully.
"And so is Lilah." Cotton told her.
"I wouldn't say Lilah is unique." Lilah said.
"Well I haven't heard of it." Cotton told Lilah with amusement in his eyes. "So it is unique to me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me."
"And me." All the swans echoed each other.
"Thank you." Lilah smiled.
Lilah heard a click then a shuffle. She turned around to see Ms. Grumble exiting her greenhouse.
Looking perfectly young again, Ms. Grumble locked her greenhouse and placed the key back inside the opened tulip in the center of the bouquet. After the tulip closed itself, Ms. Grumble walked away into the direction of her house.
Once Lilah was sure that Ms. Grumble wouldn't be able to see her she turned to the swans, "thanks for talking to me but I must go now." She rushed out her words then quietly sprinted to the greenhouse, as she ran away she could hear the swans calling friendly 'you're welcomes' and 'good byes'.
Lilah stood in front of the greenhouse, facing the colorful tulip bouquet. Seven large tulips surrounded the biggest one in the middle.
Lilah began whispering the swans named to herself, "Uno Orchid." She thought for a moment, "one pink." Lilah hovered her hand over the pink tulip for a split second before gently rubbing its petals, she then tapped it like she saw Ms. Grumble do.
The pink tulip responded with a glow and a quick trumpet tune.
Lilah watched the petal open itself up and smirked. "One down, seven to go."
Lilah glanced at the swans back at the lake and whispered, "Dos Plum, two purple."
Lilah did the same to the purple tulip as she did the pink tulip. Like the pink flower, it responded by illuminating then playing a beautiful instrument melody. After the violin sound, it too, opened itself up.
Lilah thought of the next one, "Tres Cornflower, three blue." When the blue tulip opened itself up after a quick glow and piano melody, Lilah did the next one.
"Cinco Rose, five red." The flower lit up and let out a short flute song.
Lilah whispered the next one, "Sies Ivy, six green." The petals of the tulip let off a slight glow and played a soft guitar riff, then bloomed.
"Siete Persimmon, seven orange." When the petals let off the lighting and finished its quick drum session, Lilah turned to the next one while it too, bloomed.
"Okay," Lilah whispered hastily, "last one." She rubbed and tapped the tulip in the center, "Ocho Cotton, eight white." Lilah's grin beamed with achievement when the last tulip finished glowing and playing a fast organ song. Lilah watched the white petals spread apart and saw the golden key glistening in the center.
Lilah took the key and looked at it shining in her hand. The head of the key was a golden poinsettia, the ridges were squared, and a metallic green, metal piece was wrapped around the key in a spiral.
She didn't hesitate any longer, Lilah slid the key into the keyway of the lock. When it clicked, Lilah took it as the cue to push open the door.
Inside was dim. Lilah squinted around in the darkness to try and find a light switch or lantern, but she had no luck.
Lilah saw rows and rows of different plants, and some on the ceiling that were hanging from baskets.
Lilah carefully inspected each plant, one after another just to be sure it wasn't what she was looking for. Finally, Lilah stopped at a bunch of lightly colored purple flowers. Lilah wafted the smell her way, then frowned, "they look like lavender and smell like lavender. Nothing out of the ordinary." She quickly examined the room.
She felt her stomach flip in excitement at the sight of another bunch of light purple plants, but this time she had a feeling they weren't exactly the same thing as what she stood in front of.
Lilah made her way over and examined them closely, they had a slight sparkle to them. She sniffed them, the smell that filled her nose was similar to the lavender, but not quite the same.
She looked to her right and noticed a half counter and stove with pots and a cutting board. That must be where Ms. Grumble makes her iuvenis tea, Lilah thought.
Lilah looked back at the plants and smiled, "I do believe I just found iuvenis." Lilah pulled out two of the rare flowers and lifted her shirt up, half way. She stuffed the stem of the iuvenis in the band of her pajama pants, then laid her shirt over to conceal them. Lilah plucked two more and left for the door.
After quickly locking the greenhouse and placing the key back in the white tulip, she made her way back to Ms. Grumbles home.
Lilah brushed pass the plants and made her way to the backdoor. Ms. Grumble's angry voice carried over to her, Lilah skidded to a stop and rushed behind a bizarre looking plant... if you could call it a plant.
It looked more like long skinny twigs bundled together to make an abstract sculpture, and the multicolored stringy stuff hanging from various parts of the branches made it look like a kindergartener got happy with silly string.
"Well find her." Ms. Grumble was sneering.
Lilah peeked at her through the many holes the strange tree left open.
"I knew she'd be trouble! I should have poisoned those girls when I had the chance."
"Would, would you like us to find her now?"
Lilah, quickly recognized the stammering voice as one of the garden gnomes. Lilah saw the four gnomes from earlier staring up at Ms. Grumble in fear.
"Yes!" The young looking old women seethed, her face twisting into an ugly glare.
The gnomes flinched. Ms. Grumble seemed to notice she was being rather harsh and patted down her dress then gave them a soothing smile. "In the mean time, I will go check on my iuvenis." She left with her hands neatly placed in front of her.
Once the gnomes waddled away, Lilah began jogging to the door.
Just seconds later Lilah heard Ms. Grumble shriek and that's when she ran.
"You lying brat! Thief, a thief is what you are!" Ms. Grumbles voice must have filled the whole garden.
Lilah willed herself to run faster, she could see the backdoor, she was almost there. And right then, she heard shouts coming from behind her.
Without stopping she looked behind herself to see what it was, her eyes widened at what she saw. The garden gnomes were stacked together to make one big colorful silhouette of another garden gnome.
"Stop!" They all boomed together.
"No!" Lilah yelled, she flipped back around to face forward and only stopped for a second to open the backdoor.
Lilah ran inside shouting, "Dinah! Toby! Get up! I got it! We got to go! Hurry!" When Lilah made it to the kitchen she gasped once again.
"Let them go." Lilah demanded in a glare to the garden gnomes holding Dinah and Toby down in chairs with ropes, the only difference between them was the gardening pitchfork at Dinah's throat. "Before I shatter all of you." She growled.
"We were told not to!" The red hatted gnome from earlier stated, he was one of the two holding the pointy pitchfork up to Dinah's neck.
"We were also told that if you do anything but hand over Ms. Grumble's iuvenis then we should kill this small version of you, and if you did anything after that we should kill you too." Another gnome said, it was a gnome Lilah hadn't seen before, a purple hatted one.
"I would love to see you try." Lilah glared harder and took a step closer. Her hands were balled in fists so tight, she almost crushed the iuvenis.
"Eh eh eh." The red hatted gnome inched the pitchfork closer. "Take another step and me and my buddy here will stab her."
Dinah whimpered, Toby stared in horror, and Lilah huffed.
"All you got to do is hand over the iuvenis." A yellow hatted gnome stated. The other gnomes in the room nodded.
Lilah sighed, "Fine."
"Lilah no! We need those." Dinah shouted as her sister dropped the plants onto the floor.
"Let your sister do the right thing child." Ms. Grumble said angrily as she came up behind Lilah. Gnomes surrounded the sides of Ms. Grumble's feet, each with a pitchfork and rope of their own.
Ms. Grumble clicked her way over to Lilah's side and bent down to pick up the iuvenis she released.
Ms. Grumble held the plants to her nose and took a deep breathe, inhaling the smell as she closed her eyes. "Ah." She let out. "Wonderful."
When Ms. Grumble opened her eyes again, she smiled, she smiled a smile that Lilah didn't like, she smiled a smile that made Dinah feel uncomfortable, she smiled a smile that caused Toby to have chills running through his spine.
"Kill them all." Ms. Grumble said staring past them.
"E-even the boy?" The second red hatted gnome asked, he was helping the first red hatted gnome hold up the rake.
"Yes." Ms. Grumble was still smiling when she answered, she tilted her head to the side and began to laugh.
"No!" Dinah shouted in pain as the pitchfork began digging into her neck.
Lilah tried to run towards her but the gnomes at Ms. Grumbles feet had lassoed her ankles and yanked her back, causing her to fall.
Lilah, frantically tried to stand up but the gnomes were surprisingly strong. "No, no Dinah!"
Lilah could hear Toby and Dinah both crying.
Lilah sat up and pulled at the ropes wrapped around her ankles. The gnomes pulled the rope to help tighten their hold, Lilah could feel the ropes burning into her skin. She tried to wedge her fingers underneath before it cut off her blood circulation. Not only that, she needed to save Dinah and Toby, who now were trying to fight back themselves.
Just then Lilah's head was pulled back by another rope. She screamed as they choked her. Instead of working on her ankles she was now clawing at the rope around her neck. Lilah heard Dinah cry out in pain.
The silence that followed had Lilah on her feet. The chair Dinah sat in was now tilted over with her still helplessly tied into it. Dinah was bitting her bottom lip and her eyes were wide as she held her sideways glance at the pitchfork digging deeper into her skin. Streaks of blood dripped down Lilah's little sisters neck.
Lilah, without hesitation, ran for the pitchfork. Screaming, she yanked it away from Dinah's neck and threw it across the room. The two red gnomes that had the pitchfork flew off forcefully and screamed just before they hit the floor, causing them to shatter in pieces.
Ignoring were the pitchfork landed Lilah tried to untie her sister but Dinah told her to do something else first. "Save Toby!"
Lilah rushed to save him.
"Stop her!" Ms. Grumble stared in horror.
Ms. Grumbles army of Gnomes ran at Lilah with ropes and dangerous gardening tools. Lilah kicked and smashed her way passed the gnomes to get to Toby, who's eyes were shut, tears streamed down his face as the pitchfork pierced into his stomach slowly and painfully.
Lilah grabbed hold of the gardening tool and tossed it to the side.
Lilah began to try and untie Toby but his words stopped her. "Watch out!" He shrieked.
Lilah turned around just in time to see Ms. Grumble coming at her with a pitchfork. Lilah ducked and lost balance, she fell to the ground.
Ms. Grumbles eyes glared darkly at Lilah. "You scheming sinful child."
Ms. Grumble raised her head and passed her gaze over Dinah and Toby then Lilah again, back and forth she did this. "I invite you all into my home, feed you cookies, let you all rest your ignorant minds, and this is how you repay me." She scoffed "Well!" She raised the pitchfork above Lilah, getting ready to kill her, but the sudden pain in Ms. Grumbles' abdomen had her gasping on the floor. She looked down to see blood gushing from her stomach.
Lilah stood on shaky legs, in her hand was a sharp bloody piece of a shattered gnome.
Ms. Grumble held her stomach and looked up at Lilah as she moaned. "You corrupt little girl!"
"Don't hurt people I care for." Lilah growled through clenched teeth at Ms. Grumble.
"When I heal, I will find you. And then I will kill you!" Ms. Grumble choked in pain.
"If you heal." Lilah glared, then she turned to a shaken up Toby. After untying him she did the same for a startled Dinah.
"Let's go." Lilah brushed away the tears falling from her cheeks.
"The iuvenis." Dinah reminded Lilah as she wiped tears of her own.
Lilah pulled out the two she stuffed in the waist of her pajama pants. "Now let’s get out of here."

Once outside, Lilah waited for Dinah and Toby to pick up the egg and lava.
They made it back to the dock where they left the small rowboat. After each had piled in Lilah untied the rope and began rowing back to the ugly goblins cabin.
Dinah pulled out Fluffy to see why he had been so quiet. His closed eyes were practically invisible. He snored in her face and she sighed.
"He's always tired isn't he." Dinah whispered before placing the sleeping rock back into her pajama pants pocket.
Lilah finished carefully rowing back to the cabin. Lilah stood up first to tie the rope around the wooden stick. She stepped out of the boat and Toby and Dinah followed.
They made their way up to the cabin. Lilah knocked on the door. The ugly goblin creaked open the door and peered his head out.
"You're back!" He sounded surprised.
"Of course we're back. It wasn't that hard." Lilah said sarcastically.
"W-why? D-did you not expect u-us back?" Toby stammered nervously.
"Nope, not at all." He chuckled.
Dinah and Lilah both rolled their eyes.
Lilah held up the iuvenis. "Anyway, we got your plants. Can we have what we asked for?"
"Yeah, yeah. Come in." He stepped out of their way.
Lilah looked down at him and raised a single eyebrow. "No thanks, we'll stay out here."
"Cautious, I like it." He said.
"Don't be creepy." Lilah glared, "just bring us our things."
The goblin grunted as he turned around and went to collect the items. He came back and rolled the wagon to the doorstep. "Here you go."
Lilah looked into the wagon to make sure the backpack and the forbidden lake water they had requested were there. She opened up the backpack and checked for any missing contents. When she saw that everything was in place she pulled out the iuvenis and tried to hand them to the goblin, but Dinah stopped her.
"The dogs." Dinah reminded him.
"You aren't going to want the dogs girl, and I'm not giving them to you, that is my source of food."
"I told you to find something else to eat."
"You know what, fine." He turned away and waved Dinah over to follow him. "This way."
Lilah glanced at her sister and shook her head.
"I got it Lilah." Dinah set the egg down in the wagon and pulled out the sword of light. "Just in case." She said.
Lilah sighed and watched her sister follow the grey goblin back into the cabin.
The goblin guided Dinah down the only hallway in the small cabin. The dim flickering light gave Dinah an uneasy feeling.
They past the first door then the second. As they got closer to the last and third door, that sat at the end of the hallway, Dinah's heart raced faster and faster at the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach.
The goblin stopped in front of the door and grinned, "Here we are." He looked to the right of himself and took down the whip he had wrapped around a hook that poked out from the wall.
"Why do you need that?" Dinah tried her best to keep her voice steady.
The goblin ignored her and creaked open the door. Dinah could make out sleeping silhouettes of three dogs chained to the back wall.
The goblin flicked on a light. One by one their eyes snapped open, revealing their deadly looking, yellow eyes. Dinah shuttered as they stood menacingly. And their ripped up fur and torn skin did not help ease Dinah.
Slowly they all began to growl, their growls turned into loud barks. With foam and drool dripping from their mouths they ran at Dinah and the goblin.
Dinah screamed and tried to swat at them with the sword, but it only hit air. Even though the chain caught them with a choke they still tried to attack. They only stopped when the goblin flicked the whip, creating a loud smack. Dinah flinched from the loud noise and the dogs whimpered.
"Hey! Whats the racket!" Fluffy shouted from Dinah's pocket.
"You still want them?" The goblin asked Dinah.
"No, you can keep them." Dinah answered.
"That is what I thought." He said as he turned off the light. He closed the door and hung the whip back up.
"Hey!" Fluffy shouted again. Dinah pulled him out of her pocket.
"What was that noise?" Lilah demanded. She and Toby had ran in when they heard Dinah scream and the whip crack.
"Relax girl, I was just shutting the dogs up."
Lilah huffed and tossed the iuvenis onto the floor by the goblins feet then grabbed her little sister by the arm. "We're leaving."
The goblin didn't respond just picked up the iuvenis as Lilah pulled Dinah out of the cabin and dragged Toby along with them.
Lilah picked up the backpack from the wagon and flung it over her back. Toby placed the lava in the wagon and then pulled it along with him.
Once they made it down the dock, Toby and Dinah helped Lilah get everything into the small boat. After everyone and everything was settled in, Lilah untied the rope and rowed them back.
"How's the goblin going to get his boat back if it's on the other side?" Dinah asked.
"He can figure it out." Lilah replied.

data-p-id=d036ca76d20cd15815136a8cdba086cf,Lilah pointed a flashlight in front of them.
"Look light is shining up ahead, we're getting closer to the exist." Toby stated.
They walked towards the beam of light shining through the dark trees.
"I'm so glad I don't have to be in that creepy place anymore!" Dinah threw her hand up in relief once they made it out of the Forbidden Woods.
Lilah flicked the flashlight off and took the backpack off her back to put it away, but before she zipped it back up she took out the map and list of items.
"Everything is crossed off except the items for time, air, love, and dark." Lilah noticed after unfolding the list. "We need to find a time bird, a phoenix feather, a beast, and a way to get to the moon," she sighed and unfolded the map. "I've got no idea where to find a time bird or a phoenix." Lilah squinted up at the bright sky. "And the moon will be way up there."
"Then we better get walking!" Fluffy said eagerly from Dinah's hand.
"You aren't even walking." Lilah said.
The rock rolled his eyes, "I know, you've told me many times before."
"Lets just go." Dinah said and began walking straight. Toby trailed Dinah, pulling the wagon along with him
Lilah folded the list back up and placed it into the backpack, then she followed her sister and her blue friend.

data-p-id=ead1dafa1e6e7b6a61401b2c99f26070,Hours seemed to pass when Fluffy shouted from Dinah's hand, "Hey, up ahead!" He cried happily. "It's The Forest of All Things Living."
"Okay, and?" Lilah asked feeling fatigued, they had been walking for awhile.
"What do you mean and?" Fluffy asked. "It's where I need to go to get changed back into me! I don't want to be a rock anymore. You told me that if I helped you you'd take me there, and look, here we are."
"Fluffy's right Lilah." Dinah said.
"I know." Lilah said.
"Then let's go!" Fluffy shouted impatiently.
"Oh alright." Lilah agreed.
"I've never been in here before." Toby glanced around the forest nervously.
"So, where exactly do we go?" Lilah asked.
"To the Living Princesses palace," Fluffy said, "she's the one who turned me into a rock."
"You know, you never told us why you got turned into a rock." Lilah said.
"Well, I don't really know why. The Living Princess just told me I wasn't a very kind-hearted beast. Then the next thing you know she just voodoo-magiced me into this." Fluffy answered.
"Mmhmm." Lilah hummed. "So which way do we go."
Fluffy let out a chuckle. "Now that's a good question."
"You don't know which way to go do you?" Lilah raised an eyebrow, annoyed.
"No." The rock replied.
Lilah sighed then turned to Toby, "you don't know do you Toby?"
Toby shook his head in response.
"Well lets hope for the best." Lilah said and began walking deeper into the creepy forest, Dinah and Toby followed anxiously.
Minutes later they heard a snap, just like a stick being stepped on, coming not too far from where they stood.
"What's that?" Toby asked trying to keep his voice steady.
"I don't know." Lilah replied.
All three kids stared at nothing in an apprehensive manner. Another snap came, followed by another, then another. Soon the snapping took over the whole forest.
All of them cringed anxiously at the uproar.
Dinah and Lilah gasped at the trees. Each and all of the trees sprouted a face, they shook their limbs and blinked at the children.
Then, in either a deep or high pitched voice, the trees began tossing out questions.
"SILENCE!" The closest of the trees boomed. When all of the surrounding trees quieted down it asked a question. "Who are you?"
"Uh, w-were looking for the Living Princess." Lilah said.
"But who are you?" The tree asked again.
"I'm Lilah, this is Dinah, and that's Toby." She introduced.
"And I'm Fluffy!" The rock shouted from Dinah's hand.
"And the Living Princess is what brings you to this forest?" The talking tree asked.
"Yes." Lilah answered.
"And why is that?"
"W-Well she turned our friend into a rock and we would like her to turn him back into," Lilah thought for a moment, she still didn't know exactly what Fluffy used to be. "into whatever he once was." She answered truthfully.
"You don't know what your friend was and yet you want him to be turned back?" The tree asked. "The Living Princess had to have had a good reason to turn him into a non-moving object. She is quite fair you know."
"No, no I don't know." Lilah said. "But could you please just give us the directions to where she is?"
"I do not think the Living Princess would like to be disturbed." The tree told them.
"And how exactly do you know that?" Lilah asked as she began lightly tapping her foot.
"I'm one of her creations, therefore I am one of her guardians, I should know what she wants." The tree answered.
"Well, some guard you are." Lilah tilted her head up. "How can you guard her, or fight predators when you can't move from that spot, you don't have legs do you?"
"Y-you don't have legs do you?" Dinah wanted reassurance, the thought of a tree being able to walk scared her.
"No, but I do not need legs. That is what the Soldiers are for." The tree replied.
"Soldiers? What Soldiers?" Lilah looked around with Toby and Dinah.
"They are asleep, they don't wake up until we guardians sense danger." The tree answered.
"Well there is no danger here." Dinah said confidently.
"At least not yet." Fluffy said humorously, which had Dinah glare down at him.
"No, there won't be. We just want to find the Living Princess, and quick. We are sort of in a hurry." Dinah smiled sweetly.
"Did you not hear your friend? He said that there will be danger later. We cannot take that chance." The tree countered.
"He was joking, he does that a lot." Lilah countered back. She glared over at Fluffy and quietly ridiculed him, "although it's not alway very funny." 
"Prove to us that we can trust you, and then I will tell you where the princess stays." The tree said.
"Oh! We do not have time for this!" Lilah's eyebrows furrowed. "We'll just find her ourselves."
Lilah and the rest began trying to pass the tree but the tree shouted, "Soldiers! Soldiers!"
They all stopped and watched bush and shrubbery hanging from tree limbs and vines take shape of muscular human men.
"Oh my." Dinah's eyes widened as the moving topiary began surrounding them.
Lilah groaned, "why can't anything go right?"
"What seems to be the problem?" One of the faceless, human-shaped, shrubbery asked.
Lilah could not tell if the topiary man was talking to them or to the tree but she answered anyway. "There is no problem, we just want to speak to the Living Princess."
"I am not speaking to you, I am speaking to the one who called." The soldier told them.
"Sorry Sir," Lilah said anxiously, "my mistake."
"They wanted the princesses whereabouts. After I refused they began to wander closer to the princess after that rock threatened that trouble would begin later." The tree explained.
"Well, that doesn't sound good now does it?" The soldier asked.
"No it doesn't, but luckily he misunderstood." Lilah replied. "We only want to talk to the princess and ask her to help us."
"Yeah," Dinah said. "We don't want trouble."
"Very well then, I will take you to the princess but one wrong move and you'll be nothing but leaves." The soldier warned.
"What do you mean leaves?" Toby asked.
"He means leaves." A second soldier topiary said as he kicked the green leaves on the ground.
"Let's hope I don't find out what that feels like." Toby gulped.
"This way!" The first man bush waved them over with his leafy hand.
Along with four other soldiers for reassurance, Lilah, Dinah, and Toby all followed him deeper into the forest.
Minutes later he stopped. "Here we are." The soldier said.
They stared at the extra large treehouse, a castle almost. Two huge trees helped prop it up in the front like stilts. They each had a face and stared right back at them.
"I assume you wish to see the Living Princess?" The tree on the left asked.
"Yes, we would like to." Dinah said.
Both trees glanced at the soldiers to be sure it was okay, the soldiers nodded.
"Alright. You may come up then." The second huge tree on the right told them.
"Thank you." All three of the kids said together.
The two trees stretched out their right branches. They extended longer and longer and longer before meeting in the middle to create steps that lead up to the door.
All three of the them stared at it, not sure if they should go just yet.
"Go on, knock." The soldier said.
Lilah went first then Dinah. Toby followed them up, leaving the wagon behind.
Lilah got ready to knock on the door but Dinah stopped her. "I want to knock." She said.
Lilah shrugged an "Okay."
Dinah knocked on the tall golden door. Immediately, the door grew a face. "Yes?" It asked in a raspy voice.
"We would like to speak with the Living Princess, please." Dinah answered.
"She is on her throne, just follow the red carpet." It swung open when it finished. The opened door revealed a huge hall, the floors covered in dark wooden slabs, except for the bright, red carpet path they needed to follow.
They entered one by one inside. The lanterns, furniture, and decorations all had friendly faces on them. As the three of them walked by, each and every item called out a happy hello.
At the end of the hall were large double doors, this time faceless, but they did swing open for the sisters and their friend.
Passed those doors laid the throne room, where the princess sat upon the single golden throne. Her skin was golden-yellow, her brown hair was up in a bun with only a few waves framing her round face, and her brown silky dress neatly draped the seat. She smiled at them.
Lilah and Dinah slowly began approaching the princess with Toby practically tiptoeing behind them.
"Hello." She said in a warm welcoming voice when they came to a stop.
"Hello Princess." Lilah replied with a bow, Dinah and Toby frantically bowed too.
"What brings you to me?" The Living Princess asked.
"Well, my friend here," Lilah said as she indicated Fluffy while Dinah held him up. "says you turned him into a rock, and we were wondering if you could turn him back?" She asked.
The Living Princess stood, all three children took a step back.
"Fluffy?" She said with a raise of a single eyebrow.
Dinah held him back up. "Yes, it is me." Fluffy said.
"And you wish for me to turn you back?" She asked sternly. "After your attack on my forest?"
"Y-yes princess." Fluffy stuttered nervously.
"Have you become a better beast?" She asked, her eyebrow still raised.
"I would like to think so." Fluffy replied.
The Living Princess thought for a moment, then she let out a long breathe. "Very well, but I will warn you, if you are not changed for the better I will turn you back into a rock, minus the breathing mouth and seeing eyes." The princess warned.
"That's a done deal." Fluffy said happily.
"Alright then, let the change begin." The Living Princess held out her hand. "Place him onto the floor and take a step back." She told Dinah.
When Dinah did as she said, the Living Princess began swirling her hand above Fluffy. Sparkling golden particles fell from her hand and onto the rock. The Living Princess took a few steps back once Fluffy began to change.
Fluffy grew larger and larger and fluffier and fluffier.
Fluffy's long glossy fur was brown and auburn, large white canines hung from his mouth, and whiskers longer than a human arm grew from his face. He reminded them of a saber tooth tiger, or maybe a furry Chinese dragon.
The changed Fluffy huffed from his black, wet nose.
"Whoa." Dinah said as Lilah's mouth just hung open. Toby's eyes were wide with amazement but he scratched his head in confusion.
The Living Princess was watching him cautiously. Fluffy looked around, his eyes landed on her.
"Fluffy, sit." She demanded.
Fluffy didn't sit, instead a deep growl began in his throat.
"Fluffy," she seemed to grit her teeth, "sit." She demanded more sternly. Instead of sitting, Fluffy took a few steps closer to the princess, but she did not move.
Looking down she warned, "Careful now."
Fluffy halted.
"I'm going to test your hostility." She told him. "Looking into your eyes causes you to attack, I'm about to give you the opportunity to change that, and if you miss that chance then I'll have no choice but to turn you into a rock, nothing but a rock." She took a deep breathe, "understood?"
Fluffy didn't seem to understand but she tried anyway. The Princess slowly looked up and into Fluffy's golden-brown eyes.
When he did not attack, she relaxed. "Very-" Fluffy's powerful large paw sent her flying.
The Living Princess hit her head on the wall, causing her to pass out.
The five guards rushed over to her as Dinah yelled at him angrily, "Fluffy!"
Lilah's eyes widened, "Dinah." She whispered harshly.
Fluffy swirled around at his name, his menacing eyes landed on Dinah.
"Uh oh." Toby said along with the sisters.
Fluffy growled and Lilah grabbed her sister's arm. "Run!"
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby ran for the door and scrambled down the steps.
When they made it down the steps they heard one of the trees shout. "Soldiers, beast!"
Dinah screamed then covered her face, Fluffy knocked her over and was growling above her.
"Hey!" Lilah roared, she found the closest weapon, rocks scattered around the forest floor.
"How ironic is this?" Lilah asked as she and Toby began throwing rocks at the now dangerous Fluffy.
That got Fluffy's attention. He snapped his head in Lilah's direction and pounced on top of her.
The soldiers came running at Fluffy with leafless pointy sticks. To the kids that didn't seem like it would help, and they were right, it didn't. Anytime a soldier would stab him, or try to, the stick would break and then they'd be thrown to the side with Fluffy's mouth.
Once Fluffy finished tossing away the human topiary, he brought his attention back to Lilah.
He let out a low growl and lowered his large head in Lilah's face. He opened his mouth for a bite.
"Please don't Fluffy." Lilah whispered desperately with a tear coming down her cheek.
Fluffy closed his mouth with a tilt of his head. Dinah slowly approached him, Toby too.
"Fluffy, it's us remember? Dinah, Lilah, and Toby. We're your friends." Dinah smiled.
"You don't want to eat your friends do you?" Toby asked.
Fluffy let out a whimper and stepped back, letting Lilah stand. All the trees watched in silence and horror.
Dinah's smile widened and she reached out a hand to pet Fluffy's head. Lilah wiped her tears and pet him too. Fluffy lowered his head in shame and regret.
He looked up suddenly taking a look at what he'd done to the soldiers, he'd even broken the Living Princess's castle. He whimpered regretfully.
When he looked back at his old friends, he glanced at Lilah's backpack, then at the wagon. He let out a huff.
"He's trying to tell us something." Toby realized.
Fluffy coughed, then coughed again. Then he spoke, only his voice was deeper, rougher too. "Lilah, Dinah, your journey," he said. "You'll need this."
"Need what?" Dinah asked.
"Heart of a beast." He replied.
"No." Lilah said strictly. "We can't let you do that."
Dinah's eyes widened and filled with tears, "no, no, no Fluffy you can't do that. We'll find another beast."
"It's the least I can do after what happened, I'm sorry." He rose his huge paw to his chest and using his sharp claws, he ripped through his own thick skin. When he yanked it back out he fell to the ground, and his bloody red heart rolled out of his paw and stopped at the girls feet.
"No." The sisters whispered together. Toby looked at the girls sadly as he went in for a group hug.
Still crying Lilah spoke, "Would it be wrong not to take it?"
"We can't just leave it here." Dinah wiped snot from her face.
"But it feels just as wrong too take it." Lilah said.
"I know." Her sister whispered.
They all thought for a moment.
"I suppose it would be rude if we didn't." Toby concluded.
"You're right." Lilah said and she wiped the tears away.
"Here." A new soldier tapped Lilah from behind, "the trees said you'd need this."
He held out a wooden container with a golden latch to keep it shut.
Lilah smiled sadly and took it, "yes I guess we do."
Lilah walked over to Fluffy's sacrificed heart and kneeled in front. She hesitated but she did it, she opened the box and placed it inside. After wiping the small amount of blood on her hands onto her, not-so-clean pajama pants she stood.
Dinah helped place the box into the backpack then she turned to Fluffy's fallen body. With a frown she walked over and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. Lilah did the same. Toby gave a small pet before they left to continue their adventurous and dangerous journey.
The soldier gave a solute as he watched them walk out of the Forest of All Things Living, without their friend Fluffy.

"We should've tried harder to stop him." Lilah whispered.
"I don't think we could have. He was too big and strong." Dinah told her, although she wished the same.
"We didn't have to physically stop him, just begged him." Lilah said.
"I know". Dinah whispered back.
"At least he's in a better place than this." Toby said.
"That is true." Dinah nodded.
Lilah let out a soft giggle, "exactly."
Seconds of silence passed when Lilah swung the backpack off her back. She bent down and unzipped it, "let's see where to go next."
Lilah pulled out the map and the list, all while biting the inside of her lip in concentration.
"We need a time bird, and the list says it can be found in the past, present, or future...which isn't very helpful. But if I'm not mistaken," she picked up the map. "Time Town is not too far from here and that seems like the best place to go for a time bird." She nodded, "yeah look. It's close by, just across a river." She looked behind herself. "Which should be right over there."
"Yup." Lilah said, then she put the list back inside. She stood after zipping up the bag. She turned to Dinah and Toby, "Let's go," She said.
With Lilah in front, they all walked down to the river.
They stared horrifically at the river. The flow was rapid and rough. Lilah looked down at the map.
"The only other place is to go all the way around but of course that would take much longer."
"Look, Dinah exclaimed as she pointed to her right. "Bridge!"
Lilah and Toby both looked at the bridge Dinah pointed at. The tattered bridge was small and short, but big enough for them to fit across and tall enough that the rapid river didn't have an effect on it.
"It's broken" Toby said looking at the loose boards and splintered railing.
"No," Dinah shook her head. "It's breaking."
"But it's still too dangerous to try and walk across." Toby told her, then he held up the wagon handle, "especially with this." He added.
Lilah studied the river, examining it up and down.
"Hey!" Dinah shouted, interrupting Lilah's thought process.
Lilah looked over at her sister who was indicating some very large, colorful caterpillars. They were being followed by peculiar, colorful children, who reminded the sisters of Toby, each had baskets of assorted flowers in their arms.
"Irides" Toby whispered.
"Huh?" Dinah asked.
"That's my species, I'm an Irides." he reminded her. "Or a colored person, you can call us whichever, I told you earlier."
"Oh, yeah." Dinah remembered.
"I thought I was the only one left." Toby said, confusion in his voice. "I guess not, although even with my family, I never really saw any other Irides."
They watched as they walked to the edge of the river. The caterpillars swung the upper half of their body onto the other side. The Irides children walked across the long colorful caterpillars as a bridge, helping them safely get to the other side. Although the Irides didn't look very happy, just bored, and even sad.
Once all the children got to the other side, the caterpillars swung over the lower half of their body.
Before all the caterpillars got the rest of their body over, Dinah made sure her voice carried over the roaring river as she ran over to them. "Excuse me, could you please help us?"
The last caterpillar turned to look at Dinah, when he saw Toby he then nodded.
"Thank you." Dinah said.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby walked across the large, fuzzy caterpillar one by one and made it safely to the other side.
"Thank you." Lilah and Toby said together.
"Thanks again!" Dinah waved to the friendly caterpillar who had helped them as it walked away and caught up with its friends.
"This way." Lilah said and began walking towards the direction of Time Town.
"Here we are." Lilah stated, looking up at the town. The whole town was enclosed by a tall copper gating.
Dinah shook the gate, the gold chains only clanged against it in response. "Locked," She said.
"Look at the townspeople," Toby began. "Some of them are robots."
Lilah and Dinah saw the townspeople he was speaking of. Some were a shiny brass color and others seemed to be made up of random rusted metal parts, but all of them had a clock, or clocks, making up a part of their body.
"Do you think they'd let us in if we asked or do you think no outsiders aloud." Dinah looked at her big sister.
Lilah noticed the flyer hanging on the gate entrance, she yanked it off and showed Dinah.
"Looks like we're gonna have to dress the part." Lilah told her.
Dinah looked down at the flyer, it read:
TIME TOWN'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL!
All Dreamers Welcome——————————
-Gates will open at sundown
-Come dressed in proper Time Town attire
-Free entrance for women and children; men require 2 gold stones
—————————–Hope To See You There
"Well, where are we going to get those kind of clothes?" Dinah asked indicating the townspeople's clothing with a wave of her hand.
Some of the articles of clothing included a variety of long coats, vests, top hats, and dressy pants for males; and skirts, dresses, corsets, fascinators, and boots for females.
"Azlin." Lilah said. "We've got one more favor to ask and we haven't really needed her help. The fastest way to get that kind of attire is her."
"Well then let's call her." Dinah said.
They did just that, each of them took turns calling for Azlin until they saw her bright wings flapping in the distance.
"How can I help you?" She asked with a friendly smile.
"We need attire just like the townspeople of Time Town." Lilah answered.
"I can only help you a limited amount of times, you have one left. Would you like to use that time?" Azlin asked.
Lilah and Dinah nodded, so Azlin waved her hand and the children's clothing changed from old to new.
"Ooh, I like this." Lilah said twirling in her new skirt.
Dinah looked down at herself, "it's itchy." She said scratching at her new pantyhose.
"We look amazing." Lilah said looking at them.
They all studied each other. Lilah wore a laced white skirt, vertical stripped pantyhose, a white and brown corset, mid-sleeved white blouse, brown boots with golden medal plates, and a clock hairpiece that actually ticked with the time. Dinah wore a brown and gold dress, with white pantyhose, brown flats with a golden toe, and in her a ponytail was being held up with a bow made of clock gears. Toby was wearing black slacks, with brown chained boots, a white dress shirt with a black golden chained vest on top, a long brown coat, and a top hat with golden goggles around the top.
"I feel silly." Toby said as his top hat fell over his eyes. He pushed it up and frowned.
"But you look great." Dinah told him.
"I guess so." He said.
"Look, they're letting dreamers in," Lilah pointed ahead of them. "at that gate."
"Once you get the time bird, your old sleep wear will take place of the new clothing."
"And the backpack?" Lilah asked.
"Yes, the backpack and wagon will also reappear when you have won over the time bird."
"Good luck." Azlin added before flying off.
"Come on." Dinah said eagerly and began walking over. Lilah and Toby followed.
They pushed through the crowd and made there way up to the front.
Inside was spectacular, clocks on every building and old styled steampunk cars beeped around.
"Now this is what I call a town." Lilah smiled.
They caught sight of a tall rusty robot pointing the direction of where to go with a sign hung around its neck reading: Festival This Way
"The festival is that way." Toby said.
"But we don't need to go to the festival." Lilah told him. "We only used the festival as an excuse to get in. We are looking for a time bird." she reminded him.
"Maybe we should ask if we can even find a time bird in this place." Dinah suggested.
Lilah nodded and her eyes landed on the first townsperson she saw, "let's ask her."
Lilah began walking up to the lady, who was dressed in something almost exactly like Lilah. The difference was Lilah's clothing covered more parts of her body.
"Excuse me ma'am." Lilah got her attention. The woman's long orange, wavy hair swished around with her head. "Yes?" She asked, pulling a cigarette out of her mouth.
"Do you know if we could find a time bird here?"
She looked at them confused. "Yes, it's Sir Horace's pet, you should know that."
"Sir Horace?" Dinah asked.
The woman looked just as confused as before when she caught sight of Toby standing behind them. "Oh, you are here for the festival aren't you?" She rose her eyebrow. "Hate to tell you but you can't be anywhere but the festival, unless you're a resident of the town."
"But who is Sir Horace?" Lilah asked.
"The leader of Time Town." The woman answered with a puff of smoke.
"Do you know where we could find him?" Lilah asked, waving away the woman's disgusting smoke.
"I already told you kids, you can't be anywhere else but the festival unless you're a resident of Time Town." She sneered and she waved her hand to shoo them away, her cigarette was in between her fingers.
"But we are from Town Town." Lilah lied.
"Then how come you didn't know who Sir Horace was?"
"You said it yourself, we're kids. Do you really think we'd pay attention to this stuff?"
"Most children know who their leader is."
"Well we didn't, thanks for telling us." Lilah saluted and tried to turn away.
Still not convinced the woman spoke, "Okay, you two may be from Time Town but your little blue friend is most definitely not."
"We are just having him over until morning." Lilah lied and pulled him away while Dinah followed.
"Now what?" Dinah asked her big sister.
"We ask someone else for the directions."
Lilah walked up to another woman, only this time she was much older, "Excuse me ma'am, but could you please tell us the direction to Sir Horace's...ugh, home?" She smiled hopefully.
"Now why do you three children need to see Mister Sir Horace?" The old woman asked in her fragile voice.
Lilah huffed, "oh never mind."
Instead of walking up to an adult she chose someone younger, someone who maybe wouldn't ask as many questions.
A young girl, maybe a little younger than Toby, was running around a mechanical wishing well, hollering for her friends to chase her. "Come on Borace, come on Sally." She was chanting.
The two older kids sat on the edge of the wishing well, ignoring her.
"Excuse me." Lilah interrupted, the girl stopped short and stared at her. "Could you help us?" Lilah asked.
"Why aren't you three at the festival? Just about everybody went." The older girl, Sally, asked. She was probably around twelve, close to Lilah's age.
Lilah sighed; maybe children did ask as many questions as adults.
"Why aren't you?" Lilah questioned with her arms crossed.
"We weren't aloud to." The younger girl answered.
"Why not?" Dinah asked.
"Our mother and father don't feel safe with us hanging around other types of dreamers, they can be dangerous." The boy, Borace, replied. He was clearly older than the girls, a teenager, sixteen maybe.
"You can say that again." Lilah mumbled.
"Anyway, what did you need help with?" Sally asked.
"We need directions to where Sir Horace stays." Lilah told her.
"Oh, that's easy," The younger girl smiled, "follow me!"
"Hold on Cecil." Sally snapped. "Let Borace take them. Can't you see they aren't all from Time Town." She said this as she glared at Toby.
"He won't hurt me." Cecil furrowed her eyebrows at Sally, then she looked at Toby. "Right?"
Toby shook his head, "No, I won't hurt you."
"See!" Cecil grinned.
Sally sighed and shook her head in disproval, "it's still safer if you let Borace take them."
"I never get to do anything." Cecil pouted with a cross of her arms.
"Follow me." Borace said, and stood.
Borace brought them to a tall building with clocks on all four sides.
"He's on the top floor." Borace told them.
"Thanks." Lilah said.
"I guess so." Borace said before walking away.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby entered, which had a huge copper mechanical door.
"Which way?" Dinah asked.
"Up." Lilah answered simply.
Dinah rolled her eyes, "obviously, but how are we supposed to get up there, I don't see stairs or elevators anywhere."
Lilah looked around the empty room and noticed a small button on the left wall. "There." She went to push it.
When she did they heard a rumble followed by mechanical whirring. The back wall split in half down the middle and spread apart revealing a massive room. The room looked to be a workplace but no one was inside. Lilah stared in amazement at the interior design. The dark colors contrasted perfectly with the bright lights, and the steampunk inspiration was pleasing.
"Wow." Dinah said.
"Where do you think everyone is?" Toby asked.
"Probably the festival." Dinah answered.
Lilah walked up to a desk and placed her hand on the typewriter, "I want one." She said aloud.
Dinah was staring at the gigantic clock on the wall, "this is the coolest clock I've seen in my life." The gears connected to one another and rotated together as the second hand ticked by.
"Why does it go up to twenty-four?" Dinah asked.
"It's in military time." Lilah replied.
"What does that mean?" Dinah asked, but Toby spoke before Lilah could.
"There are the stairs." He pointed. 
They all walked over to the steps that seemed to be made of some sort of metal.
They looked up to where it lead.
"Woah!" Dinah said.
"It must go all the way up to the top floor." Lilah said.
"What does this do?" Toby asked, he was looking at a copper lever that was sticking out of a brass metal plate; which looked bolted to the wall. A small brass sign was above it, reading; one floor at a time.
"I don't know." Lilah replied.
Toby reached out to pull it.
"Don't." Lilah shouted but he had switched it down before she could finish.
The stairs started to move downward. "oh, it's an escalator." Lilah said relieved it didn't do anything bad.
Lilah switched the lever up to see if it would reverse the direction. When it did and began moving up, she stepped onto the first step.
"Come on." Lilah said as she let the moving steps take her up, Dinah stepped up after her, then Toby.
On their way up they looked at the other floors as they passed by, they were all decorated just the same as the first. They noticed that levers were placed at each level.
Once they reached the very top Lilah reached out to pull the lever down, just enough leaving it in the middle.
When the escalator stopped they all got off. An empty wall blocked of the whole top floor. Just like the entrance, a button seemed to be the only thing there.
This time Toby pushed it; the walls slid open.
Inside was decorated similarly to the rest of the floors, only this room was much smaller. One large desk sat in the middle of the back wall; which was mostly a large arch window. A man in his thirties, who had to have been Sir Horace, sat in the large chair behind it. He was dressed like everyone else in the town, only his top hat was taller, and in the center of it was a working clock.
"How can I help you?" Sir Horace asked.
"Uh," Lilah began, she glanced at the yellow and orange, medium sized bird sleeping in a brass cage, which was hanging low from the ceiling in the corner of the room. "We were wondering if...uh...well, we could have your time bird?"
"Evermore?" Sir Horace stood. "Why would you want to take my time bird?"
Lilah opened her mouth to explain but he wasn't finished. "And why on earth would I give her to you?"
"Well, we don't necessarily want to. We need to." Lilah smiled awkwardly, knowing no one would want to give up their pet. Especially not to strangers.
"Need?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"You see, we are on the quest of restoring the twelve elements of The Land Of Dreams and the element time, wants a time bird." Lilah explained.
Lilah was prepared to explain further, but was cut off by Sir Horace again. "Ah, now I understand." He sat back down.
"I knew she'd find a way." He muttered non-aggressively, then he looked up, "yes, I'll give you the time bird."
"Really?" The sisters shouted together in surprise.
"Yes, I'll find a way to get her back." He stood again and decided to explain further. "My little sister, Amser, rules all aspects of time here in the Land Of Dreams, she's leader of Time Headquarters.
"Oh." Dinah said.
"I didn't think it was fair that I couldn't rule Time Headquarters just because I was male, and I certainly didn't want my little sister to boss me around. So, I started my own town."
"If she's in charge of all aspects of time, isn't she still in charge of you?" Lilah asked. "You own a place called Time Town."
Sir Horace sighed, "yes well the element time is all I know and I still have more power here than I did there."
"I guess so." Lilah said.
"Anyway, Evermore." He walked over to his bird. "Amser and I made a deal that I could take her; well I more forced it on her."
When he turned around, they noticed his long wings resembled a moths, and that they were neatly tucked away behind his back. The inner part of the wings were made of a brown metal and were decorated with moving gears, while the end of the wings were just plain black feathers.
Sir Horace unlocked the cage while telling them more about the bird. "Evermore is friendly but she can get sassy after naps, especially when woken up." he reached his hand inside and began to gently pet her side. "Here Evermore, here girl. You're going on a trip." Evermore woke up, her eyes were white with some black lines inside. They saw that her eyes were meant to be clocks.
"There you go." Sir Horace whispered as he kept a gentle hand on her.
Evermore moved further into the cage so Sir Horace couldn't reach her and closed her eyes again.
"Oh come on Evermore! Don't be like that." Sir Horace said.
With the time birds eyes still closed, it opened its brown beak to make a ticking sound.
"Yes, I know I woke you up, but these children are going to take you back to Time Headquarters to see Amser." He told the bird.
Evermore opened her eyes again to look at her owner.
"You like that idea, don't you?" Sir Horace asked.
Evermore stood and bounced her way over to his held out arm while letting out a clucking noise.
"good girl." He said and took her out of the cage.
With Evermore on his arm, he walked over to the smallest cabinet in his office. "When she ticks, she is feeling a negative emotion, when she clucks she is feeling a positive emotion." Sir Horace explained. He unlatched the cabinet and pulled out a small black bird cage.
He placed it onto the desk and let her walk inside. After locking the cage door he turned to the three children in his office.
"Who's going to carry her?"
"I will." Lilah said and held out her arm.
"Thank you." Lilah said when he gave the bird to her.
"You are welcome." Sir Horace replied with a nod and a smile.
Then his face went stern. "I do hope you are telling the truth. I would hate to have anything bad happen to my Evermore."
"Of course." Lilah said assuringly, "we are only needing her for the quest, and if you are the brother of the time element ruler then I'm sure you will see her again."
Sir Horace became serious. "And of course if anything goes wrong I can always turn back time." He grinned then.
Lilah smiled, "I'm sure there will be no need for that."
"We're all sure." Dinah nodded.
"Good then." Sir Horace said, "be safe and good luck."
"Thank you." Lilah and Dinah said together.
Sir Horace bowed with his head and flipped a lever on his desk.
The doors behind them opened and all three of them left.
"That was easier than I thought it'd be." Dinah said as they let the escalator take them down.
"Yes it was." Lilah agreed, "let's hope nothing changes that."
They got back down to the first floor and began making their way out, when their clothes began to flash.
"Finally! I was getting a little uncomfortable." Dinah said with relief. Her clothes turned back to her dingy dirty pajamas.
Lilah placed the bright colored bird into the wagon.
Toby patted down his overalls, "much better." He said.
Lilah giggled, "you guys are so boring."
"oh yeah!" Dinah crossed her arms as they walked out. "Says the one who reads all the time."
Lilah rolled her eyes, "reading is fun."
"Too you." Dinah said.
Toby frowned, "can you guys please stop fighting?" He muttered. "It's making me nervous."
"Sorry Toby." Dinah said.
"We weren't fighting by the way, just messing with each other, in a good way." Lilah explained kindly, "sometimes sisters do that."
"Oh." Toby said.
They quickly ran out of Time Town and Lilah pulled out the map and the list.
"Aright." Lilah began, "the time bird is crossed off. All we need is the piece of the moon, the sand, and a phoenix feather, but I do not know where we would get that." Lilah said looking up at the night sky.
"Lilah?" Toby said.
"Yes Toby?" Lilah asked.
"I just thought of an idea that maybe could work. I'm not sure if it is true or not."
"One idea is better than no ideas." Lilah said.
"Well, dreamers say that the sun and moon don't just rise on their own. They have guardians who protect and guide them."
"Uh huh." Lilah said.
"So if this is true, then we can find the moon guardian and he can help us get a piece of the moon."
"If it is true were would they be staying?" Lilah asked.
Toby shrugged.
Lilah sighed, "we should have asked Sir Horace."
"We could go back." Toby said.
Lilah shook her head, "they wouldn't let us in."
Toby ran over to the gate surrounding Time Town while Lilah and Dinah waited in the distance.
"Excuse me!" He called to an old man with a very curly mustache.
The man stopped and turned to look at him.
"Yes boy?" He boomed in a British accent as he adjusted the monocle he wore.
"My friends and l-"
"Why! You're blue skinned!" The man interrupted with utter amazement as he made his way to the gate.
"Yes I am." Toby said, then started his question over. "My friends and I are looking for someone and we were wondering if you could help us?"
"Oh, okay." The old man nodded.
"Well, maybe I should start off by asking if you've heard of the sun and moon guardians?"
"Yes I have."
"Are they real?" Toby asked.
The old man looked stunned, "of course they are! Why wouldn't they be?" The old man asked.
"I thought it was only a legend." Toby replied.
"This is the Land Of Dreams," the man said, then he brought his head closer to Toby. "Nothing is ever a legend." The old English man whispered.
Toby nodded, then he asked, "do you know where we could find them?"
"Yes." The old man answered.
"Where?"
"Pegasus Meadows."
"Thank you!" Toby saluted.
"But wait!" The old man rose his voice urgently, "You and your young friends need to be careful. Pegasus Meadows sounds like a happy place, and it is, but the only way to get there is by passing through Nightmare Hollows, and that my blue friend is most definitely not a happy place."
Toby gulped and nodded before going back to his friends, "Thank you for your time sir."

Lilah, Dinah, and Toby were now nervously walking through Nightmare Hollows and were passing by a gothic mansion.
Lilah studied the map, "Pegasus Meadows is towards the end of Nightmare Hollows."
"Non dreamers." A deep voice came from behind them.
They turned around quickly to see two older teenage boys, possibly around eighteen or nineteen. The sisters and Toby didn't know which one of them spoke but they were very obviously twins, and very handsome. Their patterned clothing reminded the sisters of the Mad Hatter. Both wore top hats and semi-long coats, the only difference were the main alternating colors of each piece; dark, blood red and black.
"Two humans to be exact." The one with the dark red hat said.
Lilah stared at their faces suddenly wishing she was old enough to have a boyfriend. Dinah and Toby just stared at them anxiously.
"A time bird and an Irides." The boy with the black hat noticed.
"What a beneficial group of organisms." The dark red hatted boy said.
"It is indeed brother." The black hatted one agreed.
"What?" Lilah asked nervously.
"The time bird, you do know that is the last of their kind." The black hatted boy told her.
"No."
"Well, it is and I'm wondering just where two human children got one."
Evermore began to tick. Lilah remembered that meant a negative emotion.
Lilah took a step closer to the wagon to get near Evermore. "That's interesting news."
"You don't need to get so protective, we would never take something without asking." The boy smirked but took a step closer.
Lilah swallowed nervously.
"Who are you?" Lilah demanded aggressively, scared for herself and the rest.
"I thought you'd never ask." The dark red hatted boy grinned. He tipped his top hat and bowed, "I am Jester."
His brother did the same, "I am Joker."
The stood back up from their bows and Joker spoke, "we are the greatest voodoo masters and warlocks of The Land of Dreams, and the only ones living in Nightmare Hollows."
"And who might you be human?" Jester asked.
Lilah hesitated, wondering if like the demon fairy, they could use her name against her. She said it anyway, "Lilah."
Jester looked at Dinah, "and you?"
"D-Dinah." Dinah stammered.
He looked at Toby.
"Toby." He answered quickly.
"Interesting." Jester stepped closer to them, his twin followed. "Now, as I assume you know, we don't get a lot of new humans here in The Land Of Dreams."
Lilah stared at them cautiously.
"And they would make an excellent addition to our magic. We would be able to brew so many more special potions," he turned to Joker, "isn't that right brother?"
Joker nodded with a sly smile then quickly grabbed Lilah's arm.
Lilah gasped as her eyes and vision went white.
"Hey!" Dinah shouted angrily. "What are you doing to her?"
Joker's eyes had gone black and Jester was watching in confusion.
"Stop!" Dinah pleaded and reached her arm out to try and yank the warlock, voodoo master, or whatever he was, away from her big sister but Jester stopped her.
"Stop, something is happening." Jester told her. "A vision maybe." He added.
"But-" Dinah was cut off.
Jester had drawn a "Z" up the in the air.
Dinah mumbled the rest of her sentence. She wasn't able to open her mouth, her lips were practically glued shut!
"Hey!" Toby furrowed his eyebrows. "Undo her mouth right now, or I'll-" he was cut off the same way Dinah was and began mumbling the rest of what he was going to say.
Jester watched his brother and Lilah. Joker's hand was still wrapped around Lilah's wrist. Their eyes were still black and white. Both of there faces were tilted up at the dark sky, Lilah's mouth was still in a gasp. 
Seconds later Joker dropped Lilah's arm and their eyes turned back to the correct color; brown.
Lilah was left gasping for air, "what happened?" Her voice was shaking. "I couldn't see anything, it was all white!"
Dinah and Toby stared at Lilah with wide, worried eyes and relief.
"You didn't see that?" Joker asked rudely.
"I couldn't see anything!" Lilah practically shouted at him as she tried to gain back her composure.
Joker swallowed and turned to his twin brother, "come on Jester." He said and began walking away.
"Mmm! Mmm!" Dinah tried to shout. She needed him to unzip her mouth so she could talk.
Jester rolled his eyes before leaving with his twin and swooshed his hand through the air, allowing Dinah and Toby to speak again.
"Thank goodness!" Toby let out a deep breath.
"Are you okay?" Dinah asked her big sister.
"Yes." Lilah answered with a worried expression on her face as she watched the twins walk away, and into the gothic mansion.
"What happened, Joker?" Jester asked.
They were back in their house, sitting at a black dinner table decorated with only a checker patterned table cloth and a black candelabra, flickering with red fire.
"I don't know." Joker replied angrily.
"Why are you giving me that tone of voice? I'm simply asking you a simple question."
"It's not simple when you don't know the answer."
Jester nodded in agreement, "what do you think happened?"
"A vision, possibly of the future." Joker answered.
Jester nodded again, "that's what I thought."
"Then why did you ask?" Joker growled.
"To be sure." Jester rose an eyebrow, "What was it about? You're frustrated, and you let three special species go! We could have used them."
"Lilah will be back." Joker replied.
Jester scoffed, "but will the time bird?"
Joker shrugged, "it wasn't in the vision, just the oldest girl. She was older."
"And why will she be back?" Jester asked. "Do we need to worry?"
Joker shook his head, "she's going to choose one of us."
"Choose one of us for what?" Jester was getting impatient.
Joker just shook his head, he wasn't sure if he was quite ready to tell his brother.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby were standing in a practically empty, dark field. The grass was black, dead leafless trees were scattered around, and the orange hued moon was covered by thin, grey clouds.
"This is where it should be." Lilah said, glancing at the landscape, then looking at the map.
"This is not where I would have imagined pegasus live." Dinah said.
"Me neither." Lilah agreed.
"If this is it, then where are all the pegasus?" Toby asked.
The sisters shrugged.
"Maybe, this isn't it." Lilah held up the map closer to her face.
"Um, I think it is." Dinah said. "Look."
Lilah pulled the map down from her face so she could see.
A large orange horse, with wings, was trotting towards them. It was a pegasus!
"Oh my." Lilah whispered.
"Hello." The pegasus said, its voice sounded feminine.
"Hi." They all said back to her.
"We heard voices from underground."
"Underground?" Lilah asked in confusion, why would winged animals want to stay underground? She wondered.
"Yes." The pegasus replied.
"Interesting." Lilah said.
All three children stared at the pegasus and the pegasus stared back at them.
"Did you need something? Not very many dreamers wander over here, not even the ones from Nightmare Hollows." She asked.
"Oh!" Lilah exclaimed, she had almost forgotten. "Yes we do."
"Wonderful," the pegasus began, "what can I help you with?"
Lilah opened her mouth to speak but her sister cut her off.
"Why do you have Pegasus Meadows connected to Nightmare Hollows, isn't it scary?" Dinah asked.
The pegasus answered, "I'm not sure. It's always been that way. We no longer mind though, dreamers are too scared to pass through the horrid place, giving us a form of protection."
"But dreamers who live in Nightmare Hollows have easy access." Lilah realized.
"That is true yes, but our elders can be very scary—as in threatening. We made a deal, our magic for their peace and our protection for their protection."
"Oh." Dinah and Lilah said.
"Speaking of these elders," Lilah began, "who are they exactly?"
"That is personal information that I can not share, we must protect the elders and keep them hidden, even if it is from an Irides child and two young humans."
"Well, it may be what we came here for." Lilah told her.
"What do you mean?" The pegasus asked.
"We were looking to speak to the Sun and Moon guardians."
"Why so?" The pegasus asked.
"Well, we are on an expedition for reuniting the twelve elements of The Land Of Dreams. One of the elements wants a piece of the moon and a dreamer told us that the only way to get that would be to ask the moon guardian." Lilah explained.
"Well that would be true, that's the only way you would get it." The pegasus nodded.
"Then can we please see the guardians?" Lilah asked.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because we don't know you, you're outsiders. Especially you two females, you're most likely not even from The Land Of Dreams." The pegasus told them.
"But you can trust us!" Lilah exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, I cannot." She replied.
"What can we do to prove to you that zero harm will come to your elders?"
"Hmm" the pegasus hummed. "I do not know."
Lilah groaned. "Look, I'm promising you that nothing will happen, and if anything does, then you can keep us, use us, or do whatever you please, just please give us a chance."
The pegasus stared at them cautiously and considered what Lilah offered. "Very well."
"Thank you." Lilah said relieved.
The pegasus led them over to one of the dying trees. She stomped one of her hooves on the ground, giving off orange sparks. A double sworded tattoo on the pegasus's chest-  which they had just taken notice of because it was dark- let off a dim glow. The pegasus waited only a few seconds for a deep staircase to appear under the trees trunk, it went down farther then their eyes could see.
The first few steps were covered in the same black grass, but as it went further down it lightened to a beautiful lime green.
"This way." The pegasus said and began trotting down the steps.
"Wait." Toby said. "I can't go down the steps with a wagon."
"Leave it, you'll be back." The pegasus told him.
"No, we can't leave it. A dreamer may see it and take it." Lilah countered, she didn't trust the dreamers of Nightmare Hallows.
The pegasus huffed, "here." She said and bowed her head, the wagon slowly began to raise. Toby, still holding onto the wagon, began to rise too.
"Ahh!" Toby dropped the wagons handle.
The wagon glided over to the pegasus and hovered above her before gently setting down on her back. She looked back up and laid her wings to hold the wagon in place.
"There." She said and turned back around to walk down the steps. They followed her down slowly.
At the bottom, what they saw amazed them, they knew they were underground but it didn't look like it. The bright moon hovered above them, green grass, with scattered daisies, spread out beneath them, and the trees, that actually had leaves on them, were growing perfectly red apples. Other colorful pegasus, either flew or walked around them.
The pegasus they met brought them over to two other pegasus, who were orange like her. One was the same size as the first but the other was broader and darker in shade.
"Blossom." The broad pegasus greeted in a male voice.
"Hello Ryder." She replied, then she looked at the second pegasus. "Ellie."
"Hello." Ellie said.
"I have three visitors who would like to speak to the elders, could you two please escort them there?"
The larger pegasus, Ryder, gave a nod.
"Oh!" Blossom remembered, "take this." She rose the wagon off her back and passed it over to Ryder.
Once the wagon was in place he looked at the sisters and Toby. "Follow me." He said.
They did. Lilah, Dinah, and Toby were taken passed the other watching pegasus, and across the open meadow.
He and Ellie brought them passed two large trees and to another staircase, this one was made of plain brown dirt, no pretty grass or flowers. Darkness swallowed the bottom, darker then the first. Toby gulped.
"It's not as scary as it seems." Ryder told them, sensing their tension.
"Don't worry, we've been through worse." Lilah said and began walking down the steps.
Dinah and Toby looked at each other uncertain.
"Stop!" Ellie and Ryder shouted at Lilah.
Lilah did what they command and turned around to look at them. "What?"
"One of us needs to go first." Ellie said and trotted around Lilah.
Lilah sighed and followed Ellie, although she understood.
"Go on." Ryder told Toby and Dinah.
The two of them followed behind Lilah, then Ryder followed them.
They were surrounded by nothing but darkness as they stepped down step after step.
"How are we supposed to know when we are supposed to stop?" Lilah asked in frustration.
"Going down stairs in pitch black is dangerous." Dinah whispered.
"You'll see." Ryder said.
"There will be light at the entrance." Ellie answered.
Finally they began stepping into light. The last steps came into view and they stopped at the round double doors. The left half of the door was painted white, and plastered with a large golden sun, the other half was painted a deep blue, and decorated with a huge silver moon and splattered white stars.
Ryder walked to the front and stomped his hoof, just like Blossom had done earlier, his hoof let off orange sparks and his double sworded tattoo glowed with the same light.
The double doors turned into a mirror. Lilah, Toby, and Dinah stared at their reflections with anticipation. Ellie and Ryder immediately bowed down.
"Ryder, Ellie." A masculine voice seemed to come from nowhere. "How nice it is to see you."
All three of the children looked around curiously.
"May I ask who are the dreamers you brought with you?" A feminine voice intervened.
"An irides boy and the two others are not dreamers at all, they are humans from..." Ryder trailed off. He slightly turned to them, "ugh, what world are you from?" He asked them in a whisper.
"Earth." Lilah whispered.
"From Earth." Ryder announced.
"Humans?" The feminine voice asked.
"Yes, they want to speak with the two of you." Ryder told her.
"Interesting." The male voice again.
"May we bring them forth?" Ellie asked.
A few seconds of silence passed then the female voice answered them. "Very well."
The double doors turned back into what they had looked like before and then both sides swung open.
Ellie and Ryder stood up straight and entered the room, the children followed.
The room was divided perfectly in half by two colors, white and navy. The night sky was visible through a large window, similar to the one in Sir Horace's office, against the back wall.
The white side held an extremely large podium, that was painted a dark gold. A sun, identical to the one on the front door, decorated the front of the podium in white and yellow.
Behind the golden podium was a pegasus much bigger than Ryder. He was the sun guardian, they didn't need to ask, they could see his golden sun tattoo at his hip and chest. His white coat, along with his feathered wings, shimmered with golden highlights. His gold mane looked fairly thick, and a golden horn came out from the top of his head. Half pegasus, half unicorn?; Lilah wondered.
The darker, navy side was decorated with silver stars, and the black podium was glossed with a shiny, grey moon. A pegasus bigger than Ryder but smaller than the sun guardian stood behind that podium. Her coat was dark navy with specks of silver. Her long, black mane blew with imaginary wind, and was highlighted with thin, sliver strands. She was obviously the moon guardian, the one they needed to talk to. They noticed her silver horn was broken, barely three inches remained, they also didn't see a tattoo at her side, or chest.
"Guardian Soleil, Guardian Lua." Ryder began. "These three children want to speak to you."
Lilah moved forward, "actually we just want to speak to the moon guardian." She corrected nervously. "Sorry." Lilah told the sun guardian.
"That is okay." He replied, his voice matched the one from the entrance.
Lilah turned to the moon guardian, "my sister, friend, and I," she waved them over.
Dinah and Toby went to stand next to Lilah as she continued. "would like to know if there is any possible way we could get a piece of the moon?"
Guardian Lua looked down at them. "And why would that be?" She asked.
"We're trying to help reunite the twelve elements of The Land Of Dreams, and the dark element wants a piece of the moon." Lilah answered.
"I see," the moon guardian gave them an interested look, then she said, "I would be willing to give you a piece of the moon, if you do something for me first."
Lilah looked at her sister, at Toby, then back at the moon guardian. She nodded, "okay, what is it you would like?"
The moon guardian tilted her head to show them her broken horn. "My horn." She replied.
Lilah gave a sad look, that didn't sound easy. "Do you know where we can find it?"
"Not exactly, but I know who took it." The moon guardian replied.
"Lua, you can't send children over there, they're dangerous." Guardian Soleil sounded concerned.
"Soleil, please." Guardian Lua looked back at them. "Guardian Soleil is right, yes it will be dangerous."
"We've probably been in more danger." Dinah said.
"Who?" Lilah asked.
"Joker and Jester." Guardian Lua said. "Their evil voodoo-"
"Masters and warlocks." Lilah finished with her.
"So you've met them." Guardian Soleil asked from his side of the room.
"Yes, briefly." Lilah said. "I don't know if they did something to me or not and I really don't want to go into their mansion, but we'll do it if we have to."
"For mommy." Dinah said.
"For mom." Lilah whispered.
"And I'll go for you guys, my friends." Toby said, feeling left out.
"For your mother?" Guardian Lua asked curiously.
"She's dying," Lilah began. "the only reason we agreed to this journey is to get that wish, and we're not giving up."
"I'm sorry girls." Guardian Lua said, "I wish there was something I could do to help your mother."
Lilah gave an annoyed look. "There is, we need a piece of the moon."
"Then hurry on," Guardian Lua insisted, "retrieve my horn."
Lilah rolled her eyes, Dinah sighed, and Toby frowned.
"Let's go and try not getting killed." Lilah groaned as Ryder and Ellie showed them the way out.
All three of them anxiously stood in the front of Joker and Jester's mansion.
"Alrighty then," Lilah whispered and took the first step passed the black, pointed, iron fence. Toby and Dinah followed Lilah up the rigid path and met her on the steps leading up to the dark grey painted porch.
They stared at the red door, too scared to move.
"We're going to have to find another way in." Lilah whispered.
"You mean break in?" Dinah asked quietly.
"Yes," Lilah whispered. "We can't let them know we are here."
"They're voodoo masters and warlocks, they probably already know we are here." Toby whispered.
"Well then let's pretend like they don't." Lilah whispered back. She walked across the porch and peered around the house. Then she went to the other side and peeked around there.
Dinah and Toby watched, then her sister asked, "what are you doing Lilah?"
"Help me look for an open window." She said quietly.
Toby stepped down the small set of stairs, "I remember seeing a broken window." He faced the house and pointed up. "Yup, right there."
Lilah and Dinah went to see the window but it looked to be on the third floor.
Lilah sighed, "that's out of the question."
"Yup." Dinah agreed.
Toby shrugged, "I tried."
"Lilah, why do we have to go through a window? What if the door is unlocked?" Dinah asked.
Lilah only had to think for a second, "I don't know. Let's try."
They followed Lilah back up the creaky steps and Lilah slowly began turning the knob.
"It's not locked." Toby whispered.
Lilah carefully pushed open the door, crossing her fingers for no creaks.
The door opened silently revealing a dimly lit foyer. Two sets of large stairs met up in the middle, leading to the second floor. The railing looked similar to the fence, but they weren't identical. A snake chandelier hung over a round table that was decorated with a single dead rose. Just from standing in the entrance you could tell the house was big.
Dinah and Lilah gasped in astonishment.
"I want a mansion this big." Lilah said quietly.
Dinah nodded then whispered, "With the decorations slightly less scary though."
"I think they need to take better care of their plants." Toby whispered, eyeing another bunch of dead roses.
Dinah and Lilah let out a soft giggle.
"So, where do we start?" Dinah asked.
"I didn't think about that." Lilah replied.
Joker and Jester's voices carried from upstairs.
"Oh no," Toby whispered frantically. "They're coming downstairs!"
Lilah scurried behind the left staircase and the others followed. Lilah spied around the stairs and watched as the twins descended in conversation.
"They really are good looking." Lilah whispered.
"What?" Dinah asked taken back. How could her sister think that of someone evil?
"Nothing." Lilah whispered in embarrassment.
They began turning the corner which looked to be a dark hallway.
"Wait." Joker said and stopped his brother from walking further.
"What?" Jester asked.
Joker ignored Jester and walked to the middle of the foyer. The three kids bunched back to try and hide themselves better. Joker looked around but only slightly turned his head to the left. Joker smirked and walked back to his brother who had been watching him in confusion.
"What?" Jester asked.
"The children are here." Joker whispered and began walking down the hallway.
Jester followed but first he glanced around their foyer.
"Do you think he saw us?" Dinah asked anxiously.
"I don't think so, I'm sure he would have said something." Lilah answered.
Lilah stood up, then she peered around the corner. "Coast's clear." She whispered. Toby and Dinah stood and followed Lilah out from around the staircase.
Lilah peered up the steps. "Do you want to start looking up there?"
"Sure." Dinah said.
"Okay." Toby agreed.
Lilah began walking up the steps, and like always the other two followed. The steps didn't creak, and they weren't broken. The mansion isn't what they expect. They expected a haunted house with cobwebs in every corner, torn up dusty furniture, and maybe even flying bats. Instead they got a beautifully, dark decorated house with expensive pieces.
"Let's try this room." Lilah said and pushed open the door.
"I don't think it's in here." Toby said, after turning on the light.
Dinah laughed while looking around the bathroom, "me neither."
Lilah flicked the bathroom switch off and guided them to the next room.
"Maybe here." She whispered. They glanced around what appeared to be a sitting room. Lilah flicked on the light switch and walked into the room. She, Dinah, and Toby began looking through the drawers and opening cabinets.
They wandered around the second floor, walking into different rooms. None of the rooms looked out of the ordinary, they all looked like a room you'd find in a home.
"Maybe the third floor." Lilah suggested after her eyes passed over the stairs.
"But we haven't finished the second floor." Toby said.
"I know but so far all these rooms are just, well rooms you'd expect in a mansion." Lilah said.
"Okay then! Let's go up." Dinah declared. This time Dinah led them up the steps.
Lilah walked down the hallway and entered a large room with double doors.
"Just a library." Toby said.
Lilah walked in anyway, hoping maybe the horn would be kept in here. "You never know," she said. "Lot's of interesting things are kept in libraries."
Dinah and Toby followed her inside and helped her look around but again, they found nothing out of the ordinary.
After entering a few more rooms, they entered one that sent chills down their spines. Dinah gulped as Lilah looked around horrified. Tobys hands were over his face in seconds.
The room was filled with shelves carrying all kinds of dolls, some of them were life-like others were made of straw. Of course, that is not what scared them. What scared them was the hanging bodies of dead animals in another corner of the room.
Dinah shut her eyes and held her nose. "What kind of monsters would do something like this?" She asked terrified.
"Them." Lilah answered.
"Let's leave." Dinah said quickly as she turned to exit the room.
"Gladly." Lilah said and she left the room with Toby.
They went into the room next door, this room was a little more appealing. It had bookshelves bordering the top of the walls, tables of scattered items and opened books, bottles of colorful liquids, and in the back there were rows of shelves filled with all kinds of interesting things.
As they got closer they could clearly see what was on display. Underneath glass cases were different items. A few read: Aardvark ears, Antler of a ghost deer, Bones from a dillodawn, Bones from a frog, Bones from a unicorn, Cracked shell of a snail, Dragon claws, Dragon scales.
"It has to be in here." Dinah whispered as she and her sister read the labels on each glass case.
"It seems to be in alphabetical order." Lilah examined.
Lilah walked around to another shelf, looking at the U's for unicorn horn. "Udders, Umbrella bird feathers, but no Unicorn horn." She said disappointedly.
"Try P for pegasus." Toby suggested.
They all three hurried over.
"Pixie dust, Pebble from Lake Serenity, Purple Daisy." Lilah read a few.
"I don't see it." Dinah said.
"Me neither."
"Try H for horn." Toby said.
The sisters found the section for H's and began to read. "Hair from a pixie, hair from an angel,"
Lilah skipped to the H O's, "Horn from a male unicorn, Horn from a female unicorn, Horn from a zachelle," she read a few. "I don't see it." Lilah sighed. "Maybe A for alicorn?" She wondered.
"Here," Dinah almost shouted from excitement.
"Shh." Lilah made her way over to her sister and what she found. "Hybrid moon horn." Lilah read.
"That's it!" Toby smiled proudly, "Now we can get out of here!"
Inside a rectangular glass case was a silver unicorn horn, that shined beautifully just like the broken piece on Guardian Lua's head.
Lilah carefully lifted the glass off the horn. Toby watched, almost fascinated.
"It's so pretty." Dinah said as her big sister picked it up.
"I know." Lilah agreed.
A very familiar voice came for behind them. "Thieves are we?"
Dinah, Toby, and Lilah's eyes widened with surprise and fear. They each slowly turned around, Joker and Jester stood behind them.
"Hello again." Joker said.
"We-we can explain." Toby stammered.
"We don't care, we won't let you take it regardless." Jester told him.
"That's not very polite." Dinah glared.
"Again, we don't care." Joker said.
Jester snatched the horn from Lilah's grip. She reacted by kicking him in the crotch and snatching it back.
Dinah and Toby had their hands over their mouths in surprise. Joker held back a laugh.
Lilah glared at the boy on the floor and then to the boy standing up she demanded, "let us go!"
"We cannot do that." Joker replied and flicked his hand their way. A large cage came crashing down around them.
Joker looked at his brother, who stood up slowly, still in slight pain. Jester waved his hand and made the horn teleport back to its previous place on the shelf.
Lilah shook the bars of the cage, "you can't keep us here!" She shouted.
"You're right." Joker seemed to agree, then he waved his hand again.
They reappeared in another room that was poorly painted and empty, but they were still in the cage. Lilah growled.
Dinah whined, "not again!"
Toby just sat on the cold floor with a sigh.
The room door unlocked and entered the twins.
"You could at least get rid of the cage if you have us in a locked room." Lilah complained.
"That would be too nice." Jester told them simply.
Lilah twitched an eye with irritation, "what are you going to do with us?"
"Well, we are going to let the blue boy live in this cage here so his Irides power can develop, you two on the other hand won't live as long." Jester glared.
"What!" Dinah cried.
"You can't do that!" Lilah shouted.
"We can and we will." Joker said.
Jester gave a solute before the brothers exited the room.
When Lilah heard the lock click back in place she turned to Toby. "Toby, what did they mean when they said they were going to let your power fully develop?" She asked him. Toby sighed, "when an Irides reaches the age of maturity at one-hundred, they gain a special power according to the color of their skin. I'm blue so I will have water manipulation."
"How old are you?" Dinah asked.
"Nine." Toby replied.
"Wow." Lilah said. "That's years from now."
"Yup." Toby replied.
"How long do Irides live?" Lilah wondered.
"Most live up to be 1,000. But some can live a little longer than that." Toby answered. "How long do humans live?" He asked.
"Um, we can live up to our 80's, but some people get to 100." Lilah replied.
"Wow really?" He said.
Lilah nodded, "yup."
Dinah went to sit on the floor next to Toby while Lilah looked out through the cage.
"I want to know what he means by not letting us live as long." Dinah wondered.
"He means that he and his brother are going to kill us, you should know that Dinah." Lilah answered.
"Yeah but for what?"
"A lot of rare potions and items can be crafted from different human parts." Toby told them.
"Ew." Dinah scrunched her nose.
Lilah shook the door of the cage again and shouted, "let us out!"
When no one came, like Lilah expected, she reached her hand through the bars of the cage and tried to touch the lock.
Lilah felt her stomach jump with excitement when she could feel the latch. "What kind of lock is it?" She thought in a whisper. Lilah could barely see the lock but she could make out that it was fairly simple. She lifted the latch up with her finger then slid the lock towards herself. "Just like our old dog kennel." She whispered. "Great security by the way." Lilah added aloud when she swung the door open.
"You did it!" Toby cheered.
"Yeah," Lilah nodded "but we still have to get passed that door." she pointed.
The three of them exited the cage and gathered around the room door. Lilah jiggled the locked knob hoping it would open even though she knew it wouldn't.
"We can ask Azlin." Dinah suggested.
Lilah shook her head, "we can't, we used the last favor." She reminded her little sister.
Lilah bent down to get a closer look at the locked door. She noticed the small hole in the center as she observed it.
"Look, we can pick it. We just need something that is thin, long, and strong enough to fit inside." Lilah looked around but of course found nothing useful in an empty room.
Lilah then took the backpack off her shoulders and sat down, crisscrossing her legs. She carefully dumped the backpacks contents onto the floor. Everything scattered messily in front of her. Lilah began looking to see if anything could work to pick the lock while Dinah and Toby joined her on the floor to help.
They saw the map, the list, the jar of unicorn waste and milk, the mermaid scale, twelve different colored mini bags to carry the pearls once they received them, the flashlight, the four water containers, the sword of light, the Book Of Cursed and Forbidden Spells, the box that carried Fluffy's heart, and a compass that they hadn't used.
With a sigh Lilah said, "nothing is thin enough to fit in the hole."
Toby reached across the pile to grab the jar of unicorn waste and milk. "Unicorn waste is magical, we can wish for it to unlock the door."
"You're right!" Lilah smiled then took the jar from him. "Thanks Toby."
"Good idea!" Dinah exclaimed.
"You're welcome." He replied.
Lilah looked as if she was deep in thought, "Toby, do you think it can heal people?" She asked.
Toby shook his head, "No, their waste isn't that powerful, only their horn can do something like that, the injured or sick person has to be present, and something like that has to be done by the unicorn itself. Unicorn magic can sometimes be tricky."
"Oh." Lilah said sadly then she went to the door while Dinah and Toby put everything back into the backpack.
Lilah screwed off the top to the jar and shut her eyes, "I wish for this door to be unlocked." Lilah whispered.
Lilah didn't see it but Dinah and Toby did, the unicorn waste began to sparkle and pink glitter swirled from it. When Lilah reopened her eyes, the door quietly clicked and popped opened slightly. Lilah smirked and quickly recovered the jar.
"They're really bad kidnappers." Lilah said, then she turned to her sister and friend so she could put away the waste.
"Ready?" Lilah asked them as she put the backpack back on her back.
They nodded, telling her yes.
Lilah turned to the door, "Then let's go." She peeked through the door.
"Is the coast clear?" Dinah asked.
"Looks like it." Lilah replied and opened the door enough to let them all fit through.
They didn't recognize where they were but after looking around, a window told them they were on the first floor.
"We have to get back to the third floor." Lilah told them in a whisper. "We have to be even more careful now because they know we are here." She added.
The other two nodded, telling her they understood. Lilah scurried across the room and stopped at the open archway. She peered around, checking to see if the twins were there. When she saw they weren't she waved them into the next room.
"Which way?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged and looked at all three ways they could go. The one on their left lead into a hallway, the other two seemed to go into other closed rooms.
"Let's try left." Lilah quietly sprinted into the hallway. Two pairs of double doors to the left, a single door straight ahead, and another open room to the right.
"Their house is confusing." Toby whispered to himself.
Lilah went for the open room, which had only two options. Back or to the left, so they turned left.
The turn they chose brought them into another open room, and straight ahead was the foyer.
They quickly rushed into the foyer, then they tiptoed up the steps, all they way to the third floor.
Lilah who was ahead, stopped in front of the room filled with the potions and random items, she slightly pushed open the door to peer inside. She didn't see anything and she didn't hear anything so she pushed the door open all the way.
"Let's get the horn and get out of here." Lilah whispered.
Toby and Dinah nodded as they followed her inside. Lilah made her way back to the shelf's and to where the Moon Guardians horn was kept. When they found it, Lilah gently removed the glass case, and didn't put it back down until Dinah did what she asked, "Dinah, grab the horn and put it in the backpack."
Dinah did what her big sister asked of her.
"We can leave now right?" Toby asked in a scared whisper.
"Yes." Lilah replied and they began making their way back to the door.
"You three are smarter than we anticipated, you got out without a key." Jester said from behind them.
They turned around to look at him and his brother.
"Well, the cage didn't need a key, it was the most simple lock ever." Lilah glared.
"Well we didn't except the bird cage to keep you in, just scare you a little, the locked door on the other hand, you managed to escape." Jester answered.
"Speaking of bird cages," Joker interrupted. "Where is your time bird?" He asked.
"Not with us." Lilah answered simply, she obviously wasn't going to tell them where it was.
Joker clinched his jaw with annoyance. "Yes, but where?"
"Away from you." Lilah grinned.
"You know what, we'll worry about the time bird later. For now, give us back our horn." Joker demanded.
"You're horn! It belongs to Guardian Lua!" Dinah almost shouted.
"No, it belonged to Guardian Lua. Now, it belongs to us." Joker said.
"I don't think that's how it works." Lilah told them.
"We don't care." Jester said and rose his hand.
"Let's just run." Lilah whispered only loud enough so Toby and Dinah could hear. "Now." She added quietly.
They all sprinted in a run to reach the door. When Joker and Jester flicked their wrists, only Dinah and Toby fell.
Lilah, still running, hadn't looked back, but now the twins were right behind her.
Lilah screamed when she felt Jester grab her wrist. Then she gasped when her vision turned white again.
Dinah, and Toby watched in fear while Joker watched in curiosity, as the same thing that had happened to him and the young girl, was now happening with his brother.
When Jester released Lilah's arm, they were both left gasping for breath.
Jester looked at Joker, Joker shrugged. When Jester looked back at Lilah he was surprised to see a navy colored powder being tossed in his face. Before Joker could react, the same powder flew into his, and he and his twin collapsed onto the floor.
Dinah and Toby ran to Lilah frantically.
"What happened?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged, "the same thing that happened the last time."
"No, I mean why did they just fall like that?"
"Oh!" Lilah almost laughed and showed her little sister and Toby the purple bottle she found.
"What is it?" Toby asked.
Lilah pointed at its label on the table next to them. "48 hour memory wiping powder."
"Wow Lilah." Dinah said trying to hold back her laugh.
"Come on, lets go now." Lilah said and they all made their way out of Joker and Jesters' mansion.

Lilah, Dinah, and Toby were standing in front of the sun and moon door again. Ryder and Ellie, who brought them down, stood next to them.
"We have taken back your horn Guardian Lua." Lilah was saying.
"Wonderful, you may come forth." Guardian Lua's voice rang out and the doors swung open once again.
They all entered then bowed. Lilah took out the horn from the backpack and walked up to the moon guardian. She held the horn up high so Guardian Lua could see.
The moon guardian seemed to smile, "you really have gotten it."
"Yes." Lilah replied.
"Thank you." Guardian Lua said. She stepped down from her podium and knelt down in front of Lilah, "if you could..."
"Oh." Lilah reached up and placed the broken horn on the other half, she turned the horn until the broken edges fit into each other, like a puzzle. The horn began to glow with silvery white light as it fused back together.
When Guardian Lua stood back up they had taken notice of the crescent moon tattoo that suddenly appeared onto her chest and hip, "well done, I will present you a piece of the moon." She said.
"Thank you." Lilah and Dinah said together.
The moon guardian seemed to smile again, "would you like to come with me?"
"Of course!" Dinah practically shouted with excitement.
Guardian Lua bowed down, "then hop on."
Lilah and Dinah exchanged a quick excited glance before scrambling to climb onto the guardians back. Toby hauled himself up after them, sitting behind Lilah.
The moon guardian stood, "get ready and hold on." Guardian Lua faced the window and stomped her purple hoof into the ground. Both, her hoof and moon tattoos, gave off the same silver light as her horn.
The window dissolved into a liquified wall, with the night sky still visible, only it rippled like water.
The moon guardian began at a run, she ran straight into the window, and then they were flying up in the air.
The kids hair blew with the wind and flap of her pegasus wings.
"Woah!" Dinah laughed.
"Look!" Lilah cried happily as she peered over the moon guardians side, they were flying over the dark meadow.
"Wow!" Dinah grinned.
"Oh dear." Toby gulped then he closed his eyes, "let's try not to fall." He whispered to himself.
Guardian Lua's whole body began to glow like moonlight as they flew higher into the night sky.
Not long after, the moon was hovering right in front of them and they landed. They hopped off the moon guardian and onto the moon.
"So cool!" Dinah squealed happily as the light, cool breeze blew past their hair.
Lilah looked around the enormous grey rock she stood on. "There is gravity." She told herself.
"Of course there is, why wouldn't there be?" Guardian Lua asked.
"It's just that on Earth, the moon isn't in the planet, it's rotating around it, in space, and there really is no gravity there." Lilah answered.
"Interesting." Guardian Lua tilted her head with interest.
"So can we just grab a piece and go?" Dinah asked.
"Not too big of a piece." Guardian Lua told them all.
Toby bent over to pick up a loose piece from the ground. "How about this one?" It fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.
"Yes you can take that one if you want." Guardian Lua nodded.
"I think that the dark element would want a slightly bigger piece." Lilah told him.
"They weren't specific were they?" Guardian Lua asked.
"No, but to be on the safe side." Lilah went to pick up a moon rock probably five inches bigger than the one Toby had chosen. "This one okay?" She asked Guardian Lua.
"Yes sure," Guardian Lua replied. "but no bigger than that."
"Thank you." Lilah said and slid the backpack off her back so she could pack away the moon rock.
"Whoz youz?" Lilah almost jumped, a squeaky voice came from the side of her. She turned her head to see who it was. A little purple and furry creature, who's height barely reached her knee stood with its large pinkish hands lapped over one another. It's big black eyes watched her through its long fur in a confused stare. When Lilah stood she asked, "Guardian Lua, What is that?"
"Aw it's so cute!" Dinah exclaimed with a clap of her cheeks.
Guardian Lua giggled, "it's a moon crater."
"What?"
"Moon craters are the only dreamers that live on the moon, they burrow into the ground using their big feet and dig there way out with their big hands, which creates a large dent when it closes. Like, the sun has sun spots, they look just like these little fellows only the color of their fur is yellow or orange instead of purple or grey." She explained, "and their eyes are red." She added.
The moon crater turned to Guardian Lua and babbled something. Guardian Lua nodded and replied, "yes the children are friends."
The moon crater looked at each of them and slowly tried to pronounce English, "niz tooz meetz youz."
Lilah smiled, "nice to meet you too little buddy."
"Her names Twyla, she's a girl." Guardian Lua corrected politely. "Female moon craters are purple and male moon craters are grey." She added.
"Oh, sorry Twyla." Lilah told the moon crater.
"It'z kayz." Twyla replied.
"So where are the rest?" Dinah asked.
"Probably hiding, or wondering around somewhere."
The moon crater shouted in gibberish, which was followed by an eruption of more gibberish. Moon craters began climbing out from the ground and a few others came running over from different directions.
"Aw there's a whole bunch more!" Dinah exclaimed.
"There are about 1 million living on the moon." Guardian Lua told her.
"So, are you like there mother?" Dinah asked.
"I guess you could say that, I'm there guardian."
The first moon crater they had met came up to Guardian Lua and said something in gibberish.
Guardian Lua laughed, "yes, Twyla you're charge when I'm gone."
Twyla nodded once to show she agreed.
"Theyz shurz doz getz crazy'z."
All the other moon craters erupted in angry gibberish.
Guardian Lua laughed again, "calm down now, Twyla was just messing around."
When the moon craters went silent Guardian Lua told them, "we have to go now, I'll see you all soon."
The moon craters all shouted the same thing, "byez!" As they waved.
"Bye." The kids waved back.
Guardian Lua knelt down again so the three of them could climb onto her back. "All set?" She asked.
"Yes." They all answered.
Guardian Lua got ready to fly, "hold on." And she began running again. She jumped into the air and flew downward.
When they got closer to the dark meadow Guardian Lua's horn began to shine. She bobbed her head forward and the light from her horn created a rippling image of the inside of the room they had been in before.
After slowing down she flew right into it and they landed safely back inside the sun and moon guardians room.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby hopped off the moon guardians back.
"How was the trip?" Guardian Soleil asked.
"Good." Guardian Lua told him.
"Awesome!" Dinah shot her hands up.
"Amazing!" Lilah smiled happily.
"Wonderful." Guardian Soleil told them.
Guardian Lua turned back to them, "thank you again."
"You're welcome again." Toby said.
Guardian Lua giggled, then she became serious. "I do wish you three luck on your journey."
"Thank you." Lilah and Dinah said together.
"Be safe." Guardian Soleil told them as the doors slid open, Ryder and Ellie were waiting on the other side with their wagon.
"We'll try our best." Lilah said.
"Good bye!" Dinah said.
"Bye Bye!" Toby waved.
"Good bye." The guardians said together.
"Hope to see you again soon." The moon guardian added.
"You too!" Dinah called back.
"Bye." Lilah told them as all three of them left to continue their journey.

"Just two more things on the list and they could be anywhere." Dinah said, sitting next to her sister, who was holding the list in her hand.
They were sitting on the grass of Pegasus Meadows; they didn't want to pass through Nightmare Hollows again just yet. Toby was resting his back against the tree while the girls were figuring out where they wanted to go.
"Well, not anywhere. The phoenix is made of fire, so it probably lives around somewhere with flames." Lilah said.
"True." Dinah nodded.
Toby sat up, "look at the map and see what places have a fire environment."
"Good idea." Dinah said.
"Okay." Lilah pulled out the map and spread it out in front of them. "So some of the places I see that have fire are The Volcano of Deadly Fire, Fire Headquarters, and The City That Burns. Oh, and maybe Dragon Valley." Lilah concluded.
"Well I guess it could be in any of those places." Toby said.
"Maybe The City That Burns." Dinah suggested.
"Well," Lilah turned to Toby, "Toby have you been to any of these places?" She asked him.
"No." He said. 
Lilah frowned, "then never mind"
"What's the closest place to here?" Dinah asked.
"Uh," Lilah bent down to look on the map, "Dragon Valley."
"Then let's try there first." Dinah said.
"I actually don't think you'd find a phoenix there." Toby said.
"Okay then what's the next closest thing?" Dinah asked again.
Lilah looked back at the map, "The City that Burns." She said.
"Then let's get going." Dinah stood up.
Toby did the same. Lilah too, after she put the list back into the backpack.
"First we exit Nightmare Hollows, then we go right." Lilah said, leading them out of Pegasus Meadows.
They stared at the burning city in front of them. There were no dreamers inside; as far as they could tell. When the title said 'City That Burns' it was straight to the point. The tall buildings, trees, and roads were engulfed in flames. Nearly all of them stood, even with the fires. There was no gate or fencing of any kind blocking off the city, but the fire didn't spread outwards.
"I don't really want to go in there." Dinah said.
"Me neither." Lilah agreed.
"I don't see any phoenixes flying around." Toby said.
"Well maybe they're inside." Dinah suggested.
"What does that sign say?" Lilah asked.
Dinah squinted and read the larger lettering on the sign up ahead. "Uh...Welcome to The City that Burns...I can't read the rest, it's too far."
"Oh." Lilah said. She walked a little closer, she could feel the heat of the flames from where she stood. She squinted and read the rest of the sign, "Our population is, zero!"
"Maybe we shouldn't go in." Dinah said.
"I think you're right, if the population is zero then maybe nothings in there, not even a phoenix." Lilah agreed.
"If the population is zero, that must mean that the fires killed the residents." Toby said.
"Or maybe there were never any." Lilah said.
"Maybe." Toby agreed.
Lilah looked back down at the map. "Let's try The Volcano Of Deadly Fire."
"Are you sure you don't want to check inside here first?" Dinah asked.
Lilah nodded, "It looks pretty empty to me, like the sign says. And I don't want to risk dying in something as simple as a fire, after all we've been through."
"Okay." Dinah agreed with her big sister.
"This way!" Lilah announced and went in the direction of The Volcano Of Deadly Fire.
An hour later they made it to the dangerous volcano.
"Oh my goodness." Dinah stared at it in shock.
"Look at all that lava." Lilah shouted over the bubbly popping of the magma.
It looked like a really tall brown mountain, expect of course the red, molten lava streaming all around it. Grey smoke rose from the top, black ashes rained around it, and roaring fires were spread out near it.
They were standing a good distance from the actual volcano itself. They couldn't stand any closer to it because then they would definitely burn.
"Well, I don't see a phoenix." Toby said.
Lilah sighed, "Neither do we."
"So, do you think they only live in Fire Headquarters?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged, "yeah I guess, unless they live wherever they want. Maybe it doesn't have to be a fire environment."
"Do you see that?" Toby pointed at the top of the volcano. More bright lava had started bubbling from the top, followed by louder noises that sounded like, glub glub, almost like rapidly boiling water. The ground began to shake.
"Oh no!" Lilah cried, "it's going to blow!"
"Run!" Dinah echoed her older sister.
They spun around and took off in the opposite direction of the volcano with panic looks on their faces.
From behind they heard a loud pop. Over their shoulders they could see lava begin spewing itself forcefully from the top. It shot at least 50 feet in the air, only to rain down like a fountain, adding more to the rivers of lava surrounding all parts of the volcano.
"Oh." Dinah whined, she obviously had never seen a volcano erupt in real life before, let alone been this close.
Lilah stopped and turned around to watch the volcano finish erupting. Dinah stopped behind her sister and grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" She asked with alarm, she was practically shouting at Lilah. "You're going to get burned!"
Toby, who hadn't immediately noticed they stopped, had almost run into them. "What's going on?" He asked.
"Nothing." Lilah said. "But, look," She pointed. "It's like the Enchanted Volcano, the lava won't leave its boundaries." She stared at it. "We ran away for no reason."
"Well, we still have to-" Dinah was cut off by her sister and the absence of a rumbling volcano.
"Fire?" Lilah sounded a little confused.
Dinah turned around to see the lava replaced by fire burning on the rim of the volcanos opening.
Suddenly a loud screech was followed by more rumbling.
"What's that noise?" Toby's voice quivered.
"More lava?" Dinah suggested. She was nervous too, she knew lava didn't make animal noises.
"I don't think so." Lilah said. She didn't sound worried, just hopeful. She wanted it to be the phoenix.
Lilah smiled, Dinah and Toby gasped. A red bird lit with orange flames shot out from the center of the volcano.
"The phoenix!" Toby rose his voice with excitement.
All three stared at it, watching it fly around.
"Now all we need is to find a way to get a feather from it without hurting it, or us." Lilah said.
"How are we gonna do that?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know." Lilah frowned.
They watched the phoenix screech again and fly around the deadly volcano in circles. Lilah and Dinah began walking back closer to the volcano. Evermore began to tick as Toby pulled the wagon along after them.
"Shh, it's okay Evermore," Toby whispered to her, "we won't let anything bad happen to you."
Evermore still kept ticking.
The phoenix was still flying in a circle when the three kids stopped back at their previous spot.
"Evermore," Lilah looked at the time bird in its cage, her ticking became louder and louder by the second. "Be quiet, nothing is happening to you." Lilah told her calmly.
"Lilah look!" Dinah cried.
Lilah's head snapped up to see what her sister was talking about. Lilah's eyes frantically landed on a second phoenix flying in from the West of them. "Another one!" 
The second phoenix joined the first in it's repetitive rotation.
After a couple more circles around the volcanos top, a third phoenix came from the East side and flew with them.
"How many are there?" Dinah asked. Lilah shrugged in response.
"Up ahead! There's a fourth." Toby shouted, a phoenix was flying toward the volcano right up ahead of them.
"And a fifth!" Dinah said, the one she noticed had just flown passed above their heads, it must have come from behind them.
All five of the phoenixes flew in circles around the top of the volcano, their wings, tails, and bodies burned with blazing fire. Even their eyes had seemed to be lit with red sparks.
"What are they doing?" Lilah wondered out loud.
Lilah wasn't expecting an answer but Toby answered anyway, "I don't know."
Suddenly all five of the phoenixes let out loud, identical screeches. It was followed by more rumbling and another volcano eruption. When the volcano finished it was again replaced by fire around the rim. This time more fires started up around the burnt land.
An even louder screech came from inside the volcano. The ground shook hard and the three kids had to bend their knees and out stretch their arms to keep their balance. Evermore's ticking almost over powered the rumbles.
A large blast of fire came out of the volcanos hole and the five phoenixes that were circling the volcano poofed into nothing but smoke.  The sisters and Toby gasped as another phoenix bursted out of the volcano. This phoenix was even bigger than the ones that were previously flying around.
"Who trespasses near my volcano?" The phoenix asked. And it was more fiery.
Lilah and Dinah just stared at it in amazement. After a long moment of silence the phoenix asked again, "who dares trespass?"
Toby glanced at the girls, then to Lilah he asked, "are you going to answer him, Lilah?"
He whispered.
"What do you mean? He didn't say anything." Lilah whispered back.
Toby looked at her confused. "Yes he did, he asked why we are trespassing into his volcano."
"No he didn't, he just screeched." Lilah said, confused.
"No, he just asked a question." Toby said.
"Toby, I think I know what I heard." Lilah snapped with annoyance, she didn't like the idea of not being able to understand a potential threat.
"And I know what I heard." Toby defended himself politely.
"How dare you three ignore me!" The phoenix boomed. "I should burn all of you unless you give me a good reason as to why you are here!"
Toby looked at the mythical bird then back at the girls, "did you hear that!" He asked alarmed. He hoped they did, he didn't want to get burned.
"Yes, it screeched again." Lilah stared at Toby. Toby looked at Dinah, "tell me you heard what he said."
Dinah shook her head, "Lilah's right, it just screeched.
"I'm going to give you to the count of three before I unleash my fire." The phoenix threatened them again.
Toby, scared, decided to answer for them. "N-no sir, please, we were just trying to ask you a question."
"Now you answer." It boomed.
"Y-yes, m-my friends and I have come to ask a question." Toby said again.
Lilah rose an eyebrow while looking back and forth between the phoenix and Toby. "You understand him, but we don't." She realized. "Maybe it has to do with him being a dreamer and us not." She suggested.
"Maybe." Dinah agreed.
Toby looked at the girls and nodded, "I think you're right." He looked back at the phoenix, a little more confidently, "My friends and I are on a quest to reunite the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams and one of the elements calls for a phoenix feather." He told the phoenix.
"And what element would that be?" The phoenix asked.
"What did it say?" Lilah asked.
"He asked what element wants the phoenix feather." Toby told her.
"Air." Lilah said.
Toby looked back at the phoenix, "the air element."
"and why do they want one of my feathers?"
"I don't know Mr. Phoenix, our quest is just to get the items on the list and bring it to the element that wants it."
"So I have no good reason to give it to you then."
"Well, I guess not." Toby said, losing confidence. He really thought he'd get the phoenix feather for the sisters.
"What is he saying now?" Dinah asked Toby.
"He saying he has no good reason to let us have a feather."
Dinah frowned, "oh."
"Maybe we can get him something." Lilah suggested. "Ask him if he wants anything." She told Toby.
Toby turned to the phoenix, "What if we made a deal? We can do something for you and you can let us have one of your feathers in return?"
The phoenix hummed in thought, "no, I do not want anything from three children."
Toby turned back to the girls, "he said he doesn't want anything from three children."
Lilah glared at the phoenix, "there is nothing that we can get you? Nothing you want?" She asked.
"I can not understand what you are saying." The phoenix said to her, but all she heard was bird screeches.
"What did he say?" Lilah asked Toby.
"He didn't understand you," he answered her, then too he phoenix he re-asked Lilah's question. "She wants to know if you are sure you don't want anything? Nothing we can't try to get for you?" Toby translated.
"Of course there are things that I want, but I can get them myself, if I desired badly enough." 
Toby told Lilah what he said.
Lilah groaned, "nothing at all?"
Toby translated what she had told him for the phoenix.
"No." He replied and Toby told Lilah what he said.
"Well then can you just give us a feather out of the goodness of your heart?" Lilah asked through Toby.
"He said no." Toby told her.
Dinah and Lilah both frowned.
Toby turned to the phoenix, "there isn't anything that we can do for you. I mean anything. They are desperate." Toby told him.
When the phoenix just stared at him Toby added, "their mother is dying and one of your feathers is one of the last things on the list. Please."
The phoenix's expression seemed soften, "their mother is dying?"
"Yes." Toby said.
"Does it have to be my feather?"
"I-I don't know." Toby replied, then he looked at the sisters. "He wants to know if it has to be his feather."
"I don't think so, it just says phoenix feather." Lilah answered.
"She says it does not." Toby told the phoenix.
"Well I cannot simply just pluck a feather from my body." He said, "but I can give you an already fallen feather from my father, if you do me a favor."
"Yes! That's what we've been trying to offer." Toby smiled proudly.
"What? What did he say." Lilah asked.
"He said there is something we can do to get a feather from his father." Toby told her.
"What?" She asked.
"I don't know yet." Toby replied.
"My father is dying, just like their mother. His condition only has one cure that I cannot get or I will die too." The phoenix began to explain. "And a dead leader and former leader is no good to the phoenix population."
"What is it?" Toby asked.
"My father must eat a petal from a special plant called the snowflake rose, something of which can kill a phoenix if eaten for any other reason but this illness. If a phoenix goes into the cold they will begin to slowly die. I would like for you to get this plant for me and I will give you a phoenix feather in return."
"Deal." Toby said. "Where is it?"
"I know it's in Eternal Winter but I do not know the exact location of where it grows." The phoenix told him.
"Okay! Thank you Mr. Phoenix." Toby saluted.
"Call me Ash."
"Okay Mr. Ash." Toby saluted again.
"Just Ash is fine." The phoenix said.
"Okay Ash." Toby saluted one more time before he told the girls what the phoenix told him.
"Thank you Ash." Lilah said, "we won't let you down."
"No we won't." Dinah agreed.
"They said they won't let you down and thank you for giving them a chance." Toby told the phoenix.
"Tell them I said anything for a child and their parent."
Toby smiled and nodded, "I will."
"When you get back call my name, I'll try and come right out." And then Ash swooped around and dove down, head first into the volcano.
"Eternal Winter is near Persistently Autumn, Forever Spring, and Always Summer. Inside The Square for Four Seasons." Lilah told them after pulling out the map. "We go this way." She said and turned herself around.
They made it into Eternal Winter. The land was suddenly covered in beautiful snow and ice. Long icicles hung from the leafless trees and glistening snow sat on the bluish bushes.
"It's so cold." Dinah began to shiver.
"Well, we are wearing pajamas in winter." Lilah said through her chattering teeth.
"I think I'm going to freeze!" Toby had his blue arms wrapped around himself.
Dinah gasped, "look, it's starting to snow!"
Lilah tilted her head up and tried catching a falling snowflake on her tongue.
Dinah giggled and copied her big sister.
"Incoming!" Lilah shouted playfully and threw a snowball, she had made, at Dinah.
"Hey!" Dinah giggled. She picked up a chunk of snow, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at her sister.
Lilah laughed and made another one to throw at Toby. Toby smiled and joined in on the sisters snowball fight.
A few throws later Lilah frowned, "okay enough playing around, we need to find this snowflake rose."
"Okay." Dinah's voice was sad. This was really the only fun they've had since they had gotten to The Land Of Dreams.
The walked deeper into Eternal Winter. They started to shake. After they had stopped playing they started to feel the affects of the cold air again.
"If I were a snowflake rose where would I be?" Toby said. "And what would I look like?" He added.
"That's true, we don't know what it looks like! It may not look like a snowflake or a rose." Lilah said with frustration.
"It could be any of these plants!" Dinah spun around the forest glade they had walked into with her arms outstretched to show that the whole place was covered in snowy plants.
A baby white reindeer was hidden behind a few trees, curiously watching the kids. It had never seen creatures, like them, standing on two legs. When Dinah had begun to spin around it took it as an invitation to play. It ran at her, stopping inches before it could bump into her.
"Dinah watch out!" Lilah shouted at her sister, she didn't know it just wanted to play.
When Dinah stopped spinning around, the reindeer was in her face, "Ah." She lost her balance and her bottom hit the snow covered ground.
Lilah giggled.
Dinah's pouting face quickly vanished when she looked up at the white reindeer. She stood up and laughed. "You got my butt all wet."
The reindeer playfully huffed and jumped around in its place, happily. Dinah reached out to pet it.
"Aw, it's cute." Lilah said and joined her sister in petting the baby reindeer.
"I know!" Dinah exclaimed. "I want a pet one day."
"You'll get one next year for your birthday, when you turn eleven." Lilah told her.
Dinah gasped, "really!" She couldn't contain her excitement.
Lilah nodded, "mom and dad told me, but I'm not going to tell you what it is." She brought her voice down to a whisper as if her parents were near her. "Don't tell them I told you."
Dinah was still smiling, "I won't."
They were still petting and baby talking the reindeer when Toby interrupted. "Do you guys think maybe the reindeer knows where we can find a snowflake rose?" He asked the girls. Lilah shrugged and dropped the hand that was still on the reindeers back, "I don't know, I can try to ask." She said, then she looked at the baby. "Do you know where we can find a snowflake rose?" She asked it.
The reindeer responded by neighing and nudging the top of its head underneath Lilah's hand.
"I don't think it can understand me." Lilah told Toby.
"Let me try." He said and went up to the reindeer. "Excuse me baby reindeer but do you know anything about snowflake roses?"
The baby reindeer didn't understand him either, instead it just nudged his head against Toby's stomach, telling him that he wants to be pet.
Toby sighed and pat his head, "I guess he doesn't understand me either."
"Did I hear you were looking for snowflake roses?" A girls voice asked.
All three of the kids looked around for the owner of the voice while the baby reindeer scampered away.
"I'm in the tree in front of you." The voice said.
They searched the tree until their eyes landed on a snowy owl, with a sparkly light blue pattern, perched on the branch of the snow covered, leafless tree. "Yes me." It said.
"Yes, we're looking for a snowflake rose." Lilah said. "Do you know where we can find one?" She asked.
The owl stood and slowly swung around the branch while morphing into a bat. After a few seconds of hanging upside down the bat fell and landed feet first as a young girl with long white hair. A lot of parts of her pale skin was covered in light blue glitter and her big aqua colored eyes stared back at them. She was only a little older than Lilah.
"Yes, I know where you can find some." She smiled. "If you play a game with me." She added. "And you have to win."
"Okay." Dinah said. "We can play a game with you."
Toby looked confused at the girls outfit, she was in ripped up off-white rags and shoeless. "You aren't cold in that?" He asked her.
"No." She shook her head.
"I'm cold in my clothes." Toby shivered.
Lilah looked a little suspicious, "and what game is that?" She asked the girl.
"Hide and seek." The girl answered.
"Hmm." Lilah said, still suspicious. "Okay."
"What's your name?" Dinah asked.
"I'm Tilleah." She smiled.
"That's pretty," Dinah said. "I'm Dinah."
Tilleah nodded, "and what's your name?"
"Lilah." Lilah answered.
"Toby." He told her.
"Who wants to count first?" Tilleah asked.
"I will." Dinah volunteered.
"Okay, go stand by that tree and count to 30." Tilleah told her. "And then we'll hide."
"You know, there really aren't any places to hide out here." Lilah said.
"Sure there are." Tilleah countered.
Lilah looked around at the few trees around them wondering where they could possibly hide besides behind a tree. "If you say so, you live here not me."
The girl smiled, "let's play."
Dinah went to stand under the tree and buried her face into the inner crease of her arm. With her eyes closed she started to count. "1, 2, 3, 4..."
Lilah quickly sprinted behind a tree and Toby followed her behind the same one. Lilah shook her head at him and pointed to the tree next to hers. Toby looked to see where she was pointing and jogged behind it.
When none of them were watching Tilleah teleported herself onto the branch of a tree with only a few leaves. Then she changed into a snow bunting, a type of bird that lives in the cold. From up there, she watched Dinah finish counting.
"30, ready or not here I come." Dinah shouted and opened her eyes.
Toby peered around the tree to see where Dinah stood and she had happened to be facing that way.
"Found you Toby." She giggled and ran over to him. "You aren't supposed to peek."
"I got curious." He frowned.
"Now where's Lilah?" She asked herself.
"Right there." Toby pointed to where Lilah stood at the tree next to him.
Dinah turned around to see an annoyed Lilah. "Found you." She said.
"Toby!" Lilah whined. "You weren't supposed to tell her."
Toby frowned again, "oh."
Lilah's expression softened. "It's okay Toby," She told him. "Now you know for next time."
"Now I got to find Tilleah."
Dinah ran out from the trees and looked around behind all of the others. When Dinah looked up, Tilleah immediately teleported herself behind a tree on the other side and turned back into her girl form.
When any of them looked that way she teleported herself behind or on a tree on the other side. Tilleah laughed quietly as she did this for a while.
"Tilleah!" Lilah shouted. "You shouldn't have wandered off so far, that's cheating!"
"Tilleah!" Dinah called. "You win this round.
Tilleah had turned herself invisible. She stepped out from her hiding spot and teleported behind Dinah. Then she tapped Dinah's shoulder.
Dinah turned around, expecting to see Tilleah but she saw nothing. Dinah's face turned into worry.
"You bet I won." Tilleah said and turned visible.
"Hey! You can't do that!" Dinah told her.
"Yes I can." She smiled. "I just did."
Dinah frowned, "that's not what I meant." She said.
"Ready for round two?" Tilleah asked mockingly.
"Can we play a different game? One I know how to play?" Toby asked.
Tilleah rose a black eyebrow, "like what?" She asked.
"Umm." Toby thought for a few seconds, "tag?"
Tilleah tilted her head as if questioning him. Then she shrugged and said. "Sure." After a pause she said, "who will be it?"
"You." Lilah said.
"Okay." Tilleah agreed.
"Count to five to give us a head start." Dinah said.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5." Tilleah said as fast as she could, they hadn't gotten a chance to even fully turn around.
"Seriously!" Lilah snapped.
Tilleah sighed, "fine!" She started to count to five, slower.
Lilah ran off with her sister. Toby ran in the other direction. Tilleah began to run after them, then she gave up midway and teleported herself behind Toby.
"Tag, you're it." She said and teleported away.
"Aw man!" Toby laughed.
Toby ran after the sisters and caught up to Dinah. "Tag, you're it!" He shouted after tapping her.
Dinah laughed and went after her sister. Lilah laughed as her little sister chased her. "Tag!" Dinah said.
Lilah laughed then scanned around for Tilleah, she didn't see her right away but when she turned around she saw her standing by a tree.
Lilah ran at her. Tilleah stood there until Lilah got in arms reach. Then she teleported behind her.
"Over here." Tilleah said.
Lilah spun around and Tilleah ran away. Lilah dashed after her.
Lilah was getting closer. She reached out to tag Tilleah's shoulder. Suddenly, Tilleah teleported away.
Lilah tripped into the snow. "Hey!"
Tilleah laughed from inside a tree.
Lilah glared up at her. "We played games with you, now can you tell us where we can find a snowflake rose?" She asked. She still felt something was suspicious about this girl, other than her powers.
"No, I said you have to win." Tilleah smirked and climbed to one of the trees branches as a squirrel. "You haven't won." She said, as a girl.
Lilah's eyebrows furrowed. "How can we win if you're not playing fair!" She demanded of the mysterious girl.
Tilleah just laughed. "I am playing fair, I'm just good."
"No you're not good, you're just using your powers!" Lilah snapped. "What are you anyway?" She demanded.
"What do you mean?" Tilleah was playing dumb.
"What kind of dreamer are you?" Lilah was still glaring at her.
Tilleah tilted her head away and scoffed, "I still don't know what you mean." She was still playing dumb.
Lilah groaned and stomped her foot. "You know what! We're almost done and we don't have time for this." She crossed her arms, "we'll find the snowflake rose ourselves."
Tilleah looked back at Lilah and glared. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks." Lilah snapped sarcastically, knowing it wasn't words of encouragement. "Come on!" She told Dinah and Toby.
Dinah and Toby followed Lilah away from Tilleah.
Tilleah jumped down from the tree as a sugar glider and landed on the floor as an arctic fox. She ran after them and jumped in front, then she morphed back into a human.
"I'm a shapeshifter." Tilleah said. "I can shift into any living thing." Then her human form dissolved away and in its place was a faceless, floating shadow of a hunched up human female. "This is my true form." She told them. "Well, sorta. I always copy the shape of whatever creature I'm talking to, I can't change that. If I'm talking to nothing then I look like a black cloud of nothing." Tilleah changed back into her previous human form. "I can only be a female though, because I am a female."
"And why couldn't you tell me that earlier?" Lilah snapped and crossed her arms.
Tilleah shrugged, "That's no fun."
Lilah studied her. "So, can you tell us where we can find a snowflake rose or not?"
Tilleah shook her head. "Nope!"
Lilah groaned, "why not!"
"Because I don't like helping people who can't beat me at at least one simple game." Tilleah said. "It shows they aren't good enough for me." She gave them a smug look.
"They aren't simple when you use powers that other people don't have." Lilah told her.
"Fine! I won't use powers this time." Tilleah said. "Only because I think I like you. You remind me of me." She told Lilah.
"Well I'm offended." Lilah responded.
Tilleah laughed. "Exactly what I mean."
"What game do you want to play this time?" Tilleah asked them.
"I don't know." Dinah said.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors." Lilah suggested.
"No!" Tilleah shouted.
"Why 'cause you can't cheat?" Lilah mocked.
Tilleah huffed, "no, because it's boring."
Lilah crossed her arms, "Well that's what we're  playing. Two out of three."
"Fine." Tilleah rolled her eyes. "But you all have to beat me." She passed her eyes over them in a glare.
Lilah opened her mouth to protest but Tilleah stopped her. "Or I'm not helping!" She said.
"Like I said," Lilah narrowed her eyes at Tilleah even harder. "We don't really need your help."
Tilleah tilted her head. "Yes you do. I know things you don't."
"Like what?"
"Like things."
"Why do you want want to help us anyway?" Lilah asked.
"I don't." Tilleah crossed her arms.
"You seem desperate for us not to leave without beating you at a game." Lilah said. "You'd think it'd be the other way around." She rose an eyebrow. "Why?"
Tilleah let out a breathe. "You are the most difficult creatures I've had to deal with!" She screamed and fell into the snow. She buried her hands and face into her knees.
Lilah's anger turned into concern. "What do you mean?"
Dinah stepped over to Tilleah and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Tilleah looked up at her angrily, "Leave me alone!"
Dinah jumped a step back, "Sorry. Just trying to help."
Tilleah sighed and looked at the three of them apologetically, "The Winter Queen captured me. She uses me for most of her needs. Well, the evil ones, which is most of what she does. She doesn't treat me fairly, but I can't leave because she'll find me and most likely kill me. I mean she does let me out if she needs me to do something for her. And sometimes I do sneak out, not for long though, just to lose health and have a little free time. Being mischievous, playing games, it's in my nature. It's what keeps me alive!" She placed quotation marks around the word alive. "But not being evil!" She paused to see if they were listening, when she saw they were, she continued. "When creatures beat me, it weakens my power. When I play pranks or win games I gain strength but if I lose I become depressed and disappointed in myself. It happens slowly but eventually I'll lose my powers and I'll be nothing but a black shadow. If I lose my powers the queen will get rid of me, I'll be free..and majorly miserable. But it's better then being surrounded by evil all the time, doing evil deeds you don't want to do."
"Then why make us beat you?" Lilah asked. "Just lose on purpose."
Tilleah shook her head, "it doesn't work like that. I actually have to lose. If I know I made myself lose then I didn't really lose. It won't really hurt me."
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby looked at her sadly.
"Help us and we'll help you. Not by beating you but getting you away from the Winter Queen.
"How?" She asked.
"We'll figure it out." Lilah assured her, "we won't leave The Land Of Dreams until we do, promise."
"Really?"
"Yes." Lilah said and Dinah and Toby nodded.
"Okay, I know the only two places that the snowflake rose is." Tilleah told them. "Ms. Grumbles garden." All three of them seemed to flinch at Ms. Grumbles name but Tilleah didn't notice. "and the Winter Queens castle."
"The Winter Queen?" Lilah asked. "The one who you're trying to escape from?"
"Yes." Tilleah stood. "She has snowflake roses. She created them."
"Alright lead the way." Lilah said.
Tilleah turned into an eagle and flew into the forest. "This way." She called down to them and they followed.
Soon, they approached a large white and silver castle. "This is where she lives." Tilleah said, still flying above them. "But you have to beware of-" she was cut off by a roar. "Her guard." She finished.
A large monster made of frozen rock rose up from a mount of snow. He roared at them. Tilleah flapped her wings and landed on the ground in front of it as a human. "It's okay Glacier, they're with me. The queen asked me to find them." She lied.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby stared at the monster nervously as Tilleah talked to him.
"The Winter Queen did not tell me you were bringing her prisoners."
Tilleah shrugged, "I don't know why she didn't, that's not my job."
"But she usually tells me." The guard looked hurt.
Tilleah shrugged again, "like I said, not my job."
Glacier looked at them. "What's in the wagon? Why is there a bird inside?"
Tilleah turned around to look inside of the wagon. "Oh, that's a special bird." She looked back at the giant snow monster. "Yeah, she's working on some secret thing. I don't even know what it is. That's probably why she didn't tell you she sent me." Tilleah pretended to gasp with fear. "Oh no, maybe I wasn't supposed to tell you! Oh no no no no, please don't tell her I said she's working on something special. She'll kill me, Glacier!" Tilleah pretended to sob.
Glacier looked at her with empathy, "don't cry Tilleah, I won't mention anything. I know what she'd do to you." He smiled and waved her inside. "Go on, quickly."
"She's good." Lilah whispered in her sisters ear. Dinah nodded in agreement.
Tilleah smiled and wiped the fake tear from her cheeks. "Thank you, Glacier." She sniffled.
After they passed the guard and went passed the heavy silver doors Tilleah smirked, "he's great at his job but he's still got a heart for the Winter Queens servants and workers."
"even if he's cold?" Lilah laughed at her own joke.
Tilleah laughed too, "yes."
"Wow, it's bright in here." Toby said.
The inside was just as white as the outside, (with added accents of blue and silver). Big blue icicles being used as sconces were bolted in the walls, and lit up individual snowflakes hung from the ceiling.
"Where does she keep the snowflake roses?" Dinah asked.
"Different places around the castle." Tilleah answered. "She uses them for decoration."
"Oh."
"So, what are they good for?" Lilah asked. "Besides curing sickness."
"Mmm, nothing really. They can be used in a few potions though." Tilleah answered. "And decorating." She added.
Lilah nodded to show she heard.
Tilleah brought them into a bright hallway with a glass ceiling, letting you see the light blue sky. The walls were covered in what looked like white roses sitting in the center of a snowflake.
"Are these the snowflake roses?" Toby asked.
Tilleah nodded and plucked one from the wall and handed it to Lilah.
Lilah took it by its baby blue stem and held it to her face. "Well the names pretty literal."
"How many do you need?" Tilleah asked.
"Just one." Lilah replied.
"Well, they need to be kept cold or they will melt. So, you're gonna need these." She skipped down the hallway and turned into a strange flying creature that almost looked like a large butterfly mixed with a bird. "Be right back." She called.
Soon, she returned as a bunny with a bunch blue flowers in her mouth. They looked like they could be tulips only snow was raining from their opened petals.
"These are snowy flowers, they'll stay alive ripped away from their roots for a long time." Tilleah said after Lilah took them out of her bunny mouth.
"Okay."
Lilah bunched the tulips around the snowflake rose to make sure it was getting all of the falling snow. "Is there an empty vase I could use?"
Tilleah in the form of a cat dashed away and returned with a clear glass vase on her tail. She rose her tail up it to Lilah, who removed the vase from off her tail. She placed flowers inside and into the wagon.
"And now," Tilleah looked at them, "How are you going to get me away from the Winter Queen?"
Lilah frowned, "we don't know."
Tilleah turned back into a girl and frowned.
"But don't worry, we'll find a way." Dinah assured her.
"The only way she won't kill you is if you lose your powers right?" Lilah asked.
"Yes." Tilleah nodded, "if I just ran away she'd just find a way to find me and kill me."
"Unless you were already dead." Lilah said.
Tilleah looked at her horrified. "What do you mean?"
"Fake your death." Lilah said.
"You're an interesting kid you know that?" Tilleah told her. "What kind of eleven-year-old thinks of that? I'm fourteen and I didn't even think of that."
"I'm thirteen." Lilah said.
"Same thing." Tilleah told her.
"I'm closer in age to you than a eleven-year-old." Lilah said.
Tilleah shrugged a shoulder thoughtfully, "True."
"Anyway, that's what a character did in a movie my parents watched." Lilah told her.
"Right, a movie!"  Tilleah sighed, "It may not work."
Lilah shrugged, "We can give it a shot."
"I don't know how to fake a death." Tilleah said.
"Neither do I." Lilah gave her a fake, excited smile.
Tilleah rolled her eyes, "I can't believe I'm going to fake my own death. Which is a good idea if it works."
"Let's hope it does." Lilah said. Then she thought of a plan in her mind. "What can kill you?" Lilah asked.
"Anything that can kill whatever creature I am at that moment." Tilleah answered her.
"You're human right now right?" Lilah asked.
"Yes." Tilleah replied.
"Then pretty much anything can kill you." Lilah told her.
"Yeah."
"So how and where do you want to pretend to die?" Lilah asked.
"I don't know. Somewhere near the castle but not inside. Maybe I could be attacked by something." Tilleah replied.
"Okay, we could find a way to fake scratches and..." Lilah gasped mid-sentence, "we could use Fluffy's heart to make it look like you got yours ripped from your chest!"
Tilleah rose an eyebrow. "What's a fluffy's heart?" She asked, very confused.
Lilah looked at her sadly, "our friend hurt himself...for, for a reason I don't want to say." She didn't mean to bring her voice down to a whisper.
Tilleah looked at their hurt faces, "I understand, you don't have to tell me anymore except this." She paused for a second, "why do you have it?"
Lilah hesitated but she told her, "he wanted us to have it. He wanted to help us." Her lip quivered. "That's all I'm saying. I don't want to cry again."
Tilleah tried not to frown, "I'm sorry."
Lilah was frowning harder, this time tears were puddling in her eyes. Her voice shook a little when she said, "don't be. It's not your fault, it's ours." Then she sniffled.
Tilleah looked over at Dinah and Toby who tried to smile but their emotions forced it into an identical frown to Lilah's.
Lilah took in a deep breathe and wiped her nose, "change of subject!" She declared, "back to faking your death."
"Right." Tilleah said.
"So, I really don't know how to fake scratches or wounds without special effects make-up. And even if we had make-up I still wouldn't be able to do it because I can't even apply lipstick right." Lilah said.
"It's true, she can't. Even I'm better than her." Dinah light-heartedly made fun of her sister.
Lilah giggled with her sister then continued, "Anyway, I think maybe we can pull it off if we get your friend Glacier involved."
"Okay." Tilleah said to show she was listening.
"If he cares about you like you say, then when you scream for help he'll come looking for you. When he gets there all he'll see is you faced down in the snow and the heart next to you."
"Mmm Hmm." Tilleah nodded.
"Then he'll most likely tell the Winter Queen and you'll be free to go!" Lilah finished her plan.
Tilleah nodded more, thoughtfully. "I like it. It could work." She said.
"I know it could, so let's try it." Lilah said.
"To get back outside we're going to have jump over the garden walls. Glacier is standing guard." Tilleah told them.
"Okay." Lilah said. "Lead the way."
Tilleah stared at them. "The garden walls a protected by poisonous thorns."
"Well how do you usually get out?" Lilah asked her.
"I turn into something that can fly and fly over the garden wall." Tilleah responded. "Or I go through the main entrance."
"Right." Lilah didn't think about Tilleah's powers. She had almost forgot.
"It's hard to believe that there are only two ways into the castle." Toby said. "There has to be more."
"There are but they're all guarded." Tilleah told him. "The garden will be the easiest thing to get by."
"Hmm." Lilah hummed in thought.
Toby offered and idea, "You could turn into something big and strong, then you can carry us over."
"That's a good idea." Lilah nodded at her friend.
Tilleah nodded. "I could do that."
"Well then let's get to it." Lilah's voice sounded eager to initiate the plan.
"This way." Tilleah started back the way they came.
Not a while later she brought them into a open, glass dome-shaped room, the outside was covered in blue vines. Hanging from the center of the room was a chandelier made of snowflakes and hanging icicles. Around the room and underneath the light fixture were flowers they haven't seen before and others that they did recognize, like snowflake roses and regular looking white tulips.
Tilleah guided them to a glass door across the room that was camouflaged into the rest of the walls.
Passed the door was the garden. It was a large garden, but it wasn't even close to being as large as Ms. Grumbles, Lilah noticed.
As they walked through they noticed that most of the plants were light blue or white, a few had different colors.
In the back of the garden the silver-grey stone walls had long navy thorns growing from the cracks and black roses scattered around.
"Those are really sharp thorns." Dinah observed.
"Yup." Tilleah said then she turned into a flying dinosaur. More specifically a pteranodon.
She hovered over the three of them and grabbed them one at a time, to fly them over, with her pteranodon feet. Once they were all on the other side she transformed back into her human form.
They ran around the castle and before Glacier could see them, they dashed into the woods.
When they stopped, Lilah swung the backpack off her back and onto the floor so she could take out the box that carried Fluffy's heart.
"Here." Lilah said and opened up the wooden box. The blood on the heart was starting to dry.
"Whoa." Tilleah whispered in shock, but it was so quiet that they didn't hear her.
Lilah placed Fluffy's heart gently onto the snow. "I guess you can just scream and lay face down next to it." She told Tilleah.
Tilleah did as suggested while Lilah, Dinah, and Toby stumbled through the snow to get behind nearby trees.
Just as they hoped Glacier heard Tilleah's fake, yet unsettling scream. He ran from the castle and into the forest looking for his friend. "Tilleah." He called. Of course, Tilleah didn't answer, but he did see her.
The three kids watched what was happening discreetly.
"Oh no!" Glacier shouted. Glacier tried placing his huge icy finger against Tilleah's much smaller neck to check for a pulse but because he was too cold, he couldn't feel it. "Ah! I don't feel anything!"
Lilah slapped a hand to her face and looked at the other two. "Why would he check for a pulse if the heart is right there!"
Dinah and Toby giggled.
"I don't know." Dinah said.
Glacier picked up Tilleah and cradled her against his chest like a tiny baby. "You can't be be dead, you seemed to be my only true friend!" He sounded like he was sobbing. "I'll show the queen. I'm sure she'll know what to do."
Something in Tilleah's mind clicked. If Glacier shows my body to the Winter Queen, she will know I'm not dead. Then Tilleah's brain raced with all the horrible consequences.
"Wait!" Tilleah jumped from Glaciers arms.
Glacier's frozen face seemed to almost have a confused facial expression. "But you were dead?" Was all he said.
Tilleah shook her head, "no I was pretending." But your heart is right there." He pointed to Fluffy's heart.
"Does that heart really look like it can fit inside my chest?" Tilleah asked, it was huge compared to her.
"I suppose that's true." Glacier said.
"And I'm not even bleeding!" Tilleah exclaimed and held her hands to her chest to show she had no blood.
"But why would you fake a death with a heart that isn't yours."
"I'm trying to escape the Winter Queen."
"The Winter Queen? But why? She'd miss you wouldn't she. Why would you do that to her?"
Tilleah sighed, "No Glacier, she doesn't care about her servants or her workers. Just tell her you watched me get eaten alive by a beast. Okay?" Tilleah was gentle yet firm when she directed her directions to Glacier.
She went to pick up Fluffy's heart, "here." She handed it to him. "You can use this as evidence."
Glacier nodded his big head and took it, "Okay."
"Thank you." Tilleah smiled and turned into a another strange, flying creature. This time she looked to be a cross between a tiny eagle and a lion cub. More specifically a baby griffin.
They didn't follow Glacier directly, but secretly in the edge of the forest. When glacier got to the castle he shouted for the Winter Queen.
"My queen, my queen!" Glacier cried. "It's Tilleah!"
It took her a while, but when she did burst out of the castle doors she was surrounded by short chubby men made of ice. They were walking ice sculptures with long pointy spears.
Her curvy, tall figure stared at Glacier with slitted eyes. Her stare really looked icy, and not just because her eyes were pure silver. Her hair was just as white as her porcelain looking skin. Her long, Victorian dress was silvery-grey to match her eyes. The jewelry on her body was made of ice. And the only other colors she seemed to have was her bright red lipstick and pitch black eyeshadow.
"What do you need?" She demanded, her tone of voice was just as cold as her stare.
Glacier showed her the heart. "Tilleah, she..."
the Winter Queen interrupted him. "Tilleah? Who is Tilleah?"
From behind the trees, Lilah and Dinah looked at Tilleah confused as Tilleah rolled her eyes with fustration.
"She doesn't know your name?" Dinah asked.
"Probably because she always called me shifter." Tilleah said the last word like it was a curse.
"She is- was your shapeshifter-." Glacier was telling her, but she cut him off again.
"Right! Right, that Tilleah." The Winter Queen nodded. "What happened?"
"We were just simply talking when a beast came forcefully from inside the woods. I tried to stop it but it was surprisingly bigger then me. It got away after it ripped her to pieces, eating her alive. He ate everything but her heart." He was still holding up the heart so the queen could see it.
The Winter Queen did not seem like she cared but she snatched the heart from Glacier's giant hand.
Her extremely long black finger nails made Dinah and Lilah shutter with disgust.
"She would be pretty if it weren't for her eyes and nails." Tilleah told them her opinion.
Dinah, Lilah, and Toby nodded in agreement.
"What beast eats a creature only to leave the heart behind?"
"I don't know my queen."
Silence passed before the Winter Queen spoke, but not much.
"How could you have let this happen?" The Winter Queen suddenly sounded angry.
"I-I didn't, I didn't mean t-t-to." Glacier stuttered.
"Just find me another shifter." She managed to say through clinched teeth. Then she threw Fluffy's heart across the snow.
Dinah, Lilah, and Toby jumped at the sudden action of their friends heart being thrown.
"Yes ma'am," Glacier said with a shaky voice, "I'll find one as soon as possible."
"Good."
And with that the Winter Queen spun around and the doors slammed shut behind her and her four guards.
Glacier returned back to his position at the front of the castle.
Tilleah rushed to his side, still in baby griffin form. "Thank you Glacier, I owe you."
"No Tilleah, it's okay. I understand. I know she's a little harsh." Glacier sounded sad. "I hope you can find a better life."
Tilleah turned into her human form to show she was smiling. Then she hugged one of his huge legs because she was too short to give him a better hug.
He tapped her back gently to show his return of affection.
"Will I ever see you again?" He asked.
"I'll try and visit, okay?" Tilleah said.
Glacier nodded.
Tilleah gave him a salute and smiled.
"Bye Tilleah." He waved.
"Bye Glacier." She responded before she left.
Tilleah went over to the thrown heart and picked it up before she went back to where the other kids were waiting.
"Thank you guys for helping me. " Tilleah smiled and placed Fluffy's heart inside the box Lilah carried.
"Of course, what are friends for?" Lilah smiled back.
Tilleah winked at the three of them then turned back into a snowy owl. They waved the whole time they watched her fly away.
Lilah handed Dinah the box with Fluffy's heart so she could zip it away in the backpack.
"Let's go, I'm super cold." Dinah shivered.
"Aw Dinah, your lips are purple." Lilah grabbed her little sister's chin to study her chattering mouth.
Dinah swat her big sisters hand away. "And you're hand is freezing."
"Is it?" Lilah said sarcastically. "hmm, it feels numb to me."
Toby lifted up a foot and drew circles in the air. "This foot is half numb and half soar." He put it down and lifted his other foot to slap it. "This one I forgot I had."
Dinah and Lilah laughed.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Lilah was giggling, "before we get frostbite." She added. "If we don't already have it."
"I don't know what frostbite is." Dinah said, following her big sister.
"I know you don't." Lilah said to her.
Dinah frowned.
"It's okay Dinah, I don't know what that means either." Toby told her.
Lilah laughed again as they left Eternal Winter and headed back to The Volcano Of Deadly Fire.
When they got back to The Volcano Of Deadly Fire they started calling for the phoenix. "Ash! Ash! Hello! Ash!"
He didn't burst from the volcano and neither did any other phoenix.
"We got the snowflake rose!" Lilah shouted. Then Lilah remembered. "He can't understand me. You try Toby."
"We have a snowflake rose!" Toby shouted.
Immediately after he finished his sentence the volcano rumbled and the lava streaming down to the floor parted, leaving behind a path made up of igneous rock.
"Do we go down it?" Dinah asked Lilah.
"Yes." She replied and began walking down the dried lava path.
It led all the way up to a large crack in the volcano.
"Do we go inside?" Toby asked.
"Yes." Lilah replied and she went into the volcano opening.
The inside of the volcano was made of rock, like they expected. A large pit of lava in the center of the volcano bubbled and popped, like they expected. Surrounding that pit of lava was flying phoenixes.
"It's much bigger than it looks." Toby said.
"Yup." Lilah and Dinah agreed.
"And it's super hot, I think my skins going to melt off." Toby added.
"Ew, don't say that." Dinah scrunched her nose.
Lilah walked to her right, careful not to step on any of the lava feeding out from the center.
Lilah approached a phoenix that was sitting on a large rock- which must have broken off the volcano walls- shyly.
"Ask if he knows where Ash is." Lilah told Toby.
Excuse me." Toby said. "Do you know where the phoenix, Ash is?"
The phoenix opened its yellow beak to say something but a voice behind them interrupted.
"I'm right here." Ash said.
They turned around to look at him. He was no longer on fire.
"Where is it."
Toby picked up the vase from the wagon he was pulling. "Right here." He showed him. 
"Come this way." Ash told them.
"He wants us to follow him." Toby translated.
He walked them down one of the hallways and brought them to a red door. With a nudge of his beak the door opened, letting them inside.
The room was small. It only had two yellow lights on each wall and a simple, rectangular white bed with an old, very sick looking phoenix on top.
Dinah and Lilah gasped while Toby looked at the old phoenix sadly. It's feathers where falling out, leaving parts of his body bare and his yellow eyes were greying.
Ash cleared his throat, "Father." He said.
The old phoenix slowly rose his head to look at his son. "Where are you? I can barely see."
"I'm in front of you father." Ash told him.
"Oh. Hello." He said in his raspy, strained voice.
"I have a snowflake rose for you." Ash told him.
"You do?" His father asked. "How did you manage to get it?"
"I had help from three young friends."
"That's nice, I always liked young creatures."
"Yes I know."
"Well were is it?" The old phoenix asked.
"Right here." Ash replied. "The young irides will feed it to you."
Toby approached the old phoenix cautiously and took the snowflake rose from the vase.
"Open your mouth father." Ash told him so Toby could feed him.
The old phoenix did as his son told him and Toby placed the flower against his beak.
The old phoenix took a bite. The snowflake rose crunched around in his beak as he chewed and a misty blue-grey smoke left his mouth.
The old phoenix shivered but the same blue smoke seemed to pass through his body, bringing his feathers to brighten in color after it passed.
"May I have another bite?" The old phoenix asked.
"Yes." Toby said and held the rest of the snowflake rose against his beak.
The old phoenix took another bite. The same thing happened to him. He was starting to look healthier.
"Can I have more?" He asked.
Toby held the remainder of the plant to him so he could eat the rest.
After the last wave of color passed through the old phoenix he sat up straighter and spread out his wings, that were now blazing with fire. "I feel so much better now."
"And you look so much better now." Ash said.
"You do sir." Toby told the older phoenix honestly.
"Thank you." The old phoenix said as he burned out the fire from his body.
Toby smiled, then he glanced at the sisters who was watching them patiently.
"The phoenix feather." Ash said. "You may pick one from my father's resting space."
"Why are you letting them have my old fallen feather?" The old phoenix asked his son.
"We need a phoenix feather from a phoenix for the quest reuniting the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams so that why they can receive a wish and wish their dying mother better." Toby told him.
"Well in that case, no!" The old phoenix practically shouted at his son. "They don't need a feather from an old sickened phoenix." He said. "Let them have a feather from me. A healthier one." He looked back at Toby. "Come here child. Go ahead and pull a feather from my wing."
"Are, are you sure sir?" Toby asked.
"Yes." The old phoenix nodded. Then he lifted a wing.
Toby reached up and quickly plucked a feather from Ash's father's newly healed wing.
"Thank you sir." Toby nodded his head in thanks, then to Ash he did the same. "My friends and I are both thankful."
"And we are welcome."
Toby smiled again and turned to the sisters. He handed Lilah the yellow-orange ombré feather and she handed it to Dinah who put it inside the backpack.
"Bye." Toby waved.
"Bye." The sisters waved together, even though the phoenixes didn't understand them. "And thank you!"
"Bye." The phoenixes replied, even though it was only a screech to the sisters.

Lilah looked down at the list, "everything is crossed off except for the charmed sand." She said.
"Where's that at?" Dinah asked.
"Silver Bug Beach." Lilah replied. "This way." She added.
They went.
Toby followed Lilah and Dinah down a sandy path surrounded by shrubs and tall grass.
"Oh." Toby said. "I've been here with my family before." Then he said. "The sand is magical here because of the bugs that are living in it."
"Those bugs?" Dinah asked as she pointed at a large, silver bug. It was crawling in the sand and resembled a pill bug.
Toby nodded, "yes."
"That has got to be the biggest bug I've ever seen." Lilah exclaimed. She thought it had to be at least the size of her head, if not bigger. She could see it from where she stood, and she wasn't on the beach quite yet.
The sisters and Toby continued to walk down the sandy path. They stopped when they got to the end.
"How are we going to carry it?" Lilah wondered aloud.
Dinah and Toby shrugged. Lilah hummed; she had gotten an idea.
Lilah kneeled down, unzipped the backpack, and pulled out one of the containers of water. Dinah and Toby watched Lilah as she unscrewed the top and dumped out the remaining water. Lilah stood back up and said, "We'll hold it in here."
"Good idea." Dinah commented.
Lilah walked a little further, down into the beach. She kneeled back down and, using the top as a tool, scooped the charmed sand into the container. The sand was sparkly and light in color. It wasn't white, but it was close. 
Lilah jumped as her heart skipped a beat. One of the silver bugs popped its head out of the sand, which scared her. Lilah stared at it. It had long whiskers that moved around. Lilah guessed that was their way of sight and smell, as it didn't seem to have any eyes or a nose.
"It's okay!" Toby called out to Lilah after he saw her uneasiness. "They aren't dangerous as long as you don't hurt it, or its kind."
Lilah heard Toby and let out a sigh of relief. She proceeded to shove sand into the water container. From out of the corner of her eye, she saw the silver bug crawl out and dash in an opposing direction. Lilah then let herself fully relax. She didn't care that they were nice. She didn't like bugs and so one that's as big as a house cat she hated.
Lilah closed the container and walked back to Toby and Dinah. Lilah shook the container to show them, as if it would help them see it better. "Got it." She said.

Lilah and Dinah looked down at the list, very pleased with themselves and very happy as they watched the last item on the list cross itself off in golden ink.
"Where are we going next?" Toby asked as Lilah switched the list out for the map.
"The Island Of The Elements." Lilah smiled proudly as she looked down to unfold the map. "You know," She began. "I was worried we weren't going to make it this far."
"Me too." Dinah agreed.
"I know where that's at." Toby told them.
"Then I guess you can lead the way if you want." Lilah folded up the map when Toby nodded.
The girls followed him away from The Volcano Of Deadly Fire and in the direction of The Island Of The Elements.
Toby brought them to the edge of The Land Of Dreams- or that's what it seemed to be.
All three of them stood on the edge of the grassy land, looking out into the vast ocean of light blue sky, decorated with white, puffy clouds.
"I'm not seeing how this is The Island Of the Elements." Lilah said.
Toby pointed at a giant white cloud slowly drifting away. "That cloud is blocking it right now."
As the cloud moved further to the side, you could see a very large island begin to take shape. The bottom was nothing but brown rock and dirt, and long roots from the plants growing up top. On the top there looked like there was beautiful green grass, huge trees, and flowers.
"Well, how do we get over there then?" Dinah asked.
Toby pointed down and ahead of himself. "The bridge."
Dinah scratched her head with a confused facial expression. "I don't see a bridge."
"Me neither." Lilah said.
Toby frowned, "it's right there." He told them. He looked to be trying to point harder by stretching his arm as much as it could go.
Lilah shook her head, "nope still don't see it."
Toby sighed, "I'm guessing it's like the phoenix. You can't see it, but I can."
"That was my guess too." Lilah nodded.
"Well," Toby said. "It's big and white and fancy." Then he stepped onto the bridge. "Just follow me."
He began walking all the way to the floating island. Dinah and Lilah's eyes went wide with shock, Toby appeared to be walking in mid-air.
Toby noticed them not following him and stopped to ask them, "why aren't you coming?" He shouted from halfway there.
Dinah gulped and looked over the land, nothing but never ending sky.
"The bridge is invisible to us!" Lilah responded.
"It's a little scary to cross." Dinah said.
"Oh." Toby frowned and started walking back to them.
"We'll have to cross." Lilah told her little sister, who looked back at her with a worried expression on her face.
"I'm scared of heights!" Dinah almost shouted. "No terrified!" She corrected.
"I know." Lilah said.
Toby stood in front of them, still on the bridge. "Come on." He said. "The bridge is big and it has tall railing. If you just walk straight across you'll make it over there safely."
"Come on Dinah, what's crossing a bridge compared to going through a forbidden forest?"
Dinah shrugged.
"You flew on a pegasus! All the way up to the moon." Lilah told her, "you didn't seem scared to do that."
Dinah shrugged again, "yeah but I saw what I was on. Plus I wasn't thinking about that, I was thinking about how I was actually riding on a real life pegasus!"
Lilah seemed to frown and looked at Toby then down at the wagon he was pulling.
"Here. Could I see the wagon Toby?" She asked.
Toby rolled the wagon in front of him so Lilah could take the handle. Then she picked up Evermore, who began ticking from inside the cage. "Shh, I'm not going to hurt you." Then to Dinah she said, "get into the wagon and hold Evermore. I'll pull you across."
Dinah seemed to think about it for a few seconds, then she nodded. "Okay."
Dinah stepped into the wagon and sat down. She was a little too big to fit so her knees popped up on both sides.
Lilah handed Dinah Evermore.
"Ready?" Lilah asked her sister.
"I'm ready." Dinah said, her voice was slightly shaky.
Lilah picked up the handle and nervously stared at the invisible looking bridge. Then she stepped off the land and looked at Toby. "It's easy if you don't look down." She concluded.
Toby shrugged. "I see the bridge." Then he began walking towards the island.
Lilah looked back at her sister who was looking over the wagon. "Just don't look."
"It's not that bad." Her voice had calmed a bit.
"Yeah." Lilah said and she began following their blue friend.
When they got across to the other side, the island looked more like an exotic, mystical jungle flourishing with all kinds of interesting plants and animals.
Dinah handed Evermore to Lilah so she could get out.
"Which way from here?" Dinah asked.
Lilah and Dinah both looked at Toby.
He shrugged, "I said I know how to get here, not that I've ever been here."
Lilah said. "I guess we just look for a Headquarters then." then she sighed, "but I don't know what a Headquarters looks like."
"Hmm, I wish the map showed this part of the world." Lilah pulled out the map to study it, "Woah!" She exclaimed. "The map changed to The Island Of The Elements."
"Really? Let me see." Dinah said.
Lilah lowered the map down so Dinah and Toby could see.
"Cool." Dinah said.
"So according to the map." Lilah pointed, "We are here." Then she brushed her finger over each of the element headquarters, making an arch. "And they all seem to be in a curved line, close together." She finished. 
"Let's get going then." Dinah said.
Lilah folded the map, but didn't put it away, as they began walking to their destination.
"It's starting to look not so pretty." Dinah said while she glanced around nervously.
"You got that right." Lilah agreed.
The trees and plants began to look so burnt that they almost ceased to exist. The grass, if there ever was any, was no longer present. There was no wind of any kind, and the world just suddenly seemed dry and bare.
"Where are we?" Toby asked, looking up at the smoke filled, dark orange sky.
Lilah unfolded the map to answer Toby's question. "It looks like if we keep walking straight we'll end up in Fire Headquarters."
And walking straight is just what they did.
As they approached closer to Fire Headquarters, random fires were ablaze around the ground. They could only see the top half of the gigantic steel castle known as Fire Headquarters. The other half was concealed by a tall rock wall and huge roaring fires.
"We have to go in there?" Toby asked, worried.
"Yup." Lilah answered.
Toby gulped with worry, swallowing down saliva. "Oh my."
Lilah started slowly down the burnt pathway, which lead them through the open archway of the wall.
The whole place was engulfed in flames.
"How can anyone live like this?" Lilah asked, taken back at what she saw.
Toby and Dinah both shrugged at the same time, not knowing the answer to Lilah's question.
"Hello." A fairy, the size of an adult women, exited from the headquarters burning doors.
As she approached, she became clearer. Her tanned skin looked flawless! Even with the freckles scattered on her face.
She had short, crazy hair that reminded the sisters of the evil sea witch, Ursula. Only the fairy's hair was not white, it was pitch black with a fair amount of bright red highlights. Her cut hair gave them a view of her pointed ears.
Her red dress was an ombré to orange at the bottom and at the top, only really leaving the middle part red. The end of the dress also looked like it had been melted, or ironed a little too long, there were holes in the bottom. Her red to orange ombré heels and fingerless opera gloves matched her dress perfectly, and so did her make-up. She wore red diamond earrings and a choker, a key necklace hung from around her neck. They noticed that the symbol on the key matched the black tattoo of a simple flame on her upper arm. Her eyes were red too and they looked like they were glowing. The irises almost seemed to be on fire! Her long black lashes were almost as long as the winged eyeliner that was swept across the corner of both her eyes.
"I'm Ignacia." She said, her red wings fluttered, and they too were lit with the same orange fire as the whole Fire Headquarters. "I am the element fairy for fire. Welcome to Fire Headquarters."
"Hello Ignacia." Lilah said. Dinah and Toby just waved.
Ignacia smiled, "Who are you three?"
"I'm Lilah." Lilah replied.
"I'm Dinah." Dinah answered.
"And that," Lilah pointed at Toby. "Is Toby."
"Nice to meet you children. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Well, we're attempting the quest to win the wish. W-we have lava from The Enchanted Volcano."
Ignacia seemed surprised at this, "You do?"
Lilah nodded and went to the wagon. She picked up the shell that carried the lava and then brought it over to Ignacia.
Ignacia smiled at the thick, shimmering grey liquid that the cubed egg shell contained. "It seems you do have lava from The Enchanted Volcano." She took the lava from Lilah's hands. When she did so, they saw her long red, painted fingernails.
"Now I guess this means you get to try and battle the fire pearl's guardian." Ignacia said.
Lilah nodded, "I guess it does."
"Well then." Ignacia turned around, "follow me."
All three of them listened and anxiously followed Ignacia into Fire Headquarters, a headquarters that was literally on fire!
"Blaze." Ignacia called to a muscular male fairy. He had black hair like Ignacia's, but only one strip of red was at the front of his hair. His wings were red and also on fire. Blaze's clothes were red and orange like Ignacia's but nowhere near as fancy. When he approached them, they could see his eyes were just plain, boring black.
"Yes?" He bowed. Once he stood up, she handed him the lava.
"Take this to my lab, please." She demanded, politely.
He bowed again before he flew away, carrying the lava.
Ignacia guided the kids down several flights of stairs. "Down here is where we keep everything important, if not in my lab. Plus, there is much better... security down here."
Ignacia brought them through a brown cave filled with lots of different golden treasures. Some parts of the walls and floors were on fire while others were covered in what looked like golden flakes.
Ignacia stopped in front of a door that was located all the way in the back. "And here is where we keep the fire element pearl." She smiled, then removed the key necklace from around her neck. She handed it to Lilah, "here you go."
Lilah took the key from her. Up close they could see that the majority of the key was gold with a red and orange fire symbol in the middle. It hung on a golden chain.
"When you are finished in here be sure to give me back the key. Just ask one of my fire fairy's and they'll retrieve me for you."
"Okay." Lilah said.
"I do wish you luck." Ignacia told them, then she jumped in the air and flew out of the cave.
Lilah and Dinah turned to the locked door. It was gold, like the key, and it too had the same fire symbol that matched the key and Ignacia's tattoo.
Lilah placed the key into the keyhole, she turned the lock and they heard a click. The door had popped open, letting them inside the dark room.
The heavy door slammed shut behind them.
"I can't see anything." Toby said.
"Well, maybe it's because the lights are out." Lilah told him sarcastically.
Toby rolled his eyes but of course they couldn't see him.
"I wonder if there is a light switch in here." Dinah said.
"Let's check." Lilah said. "feel against the walls."
"I don't feel anything." Dinah said as they felt around.
"Me neither." Lilah and Toby said at the same time.
"So then what do we do?" Dinah asked.
"Hello?" Toby called.
"I don't think anyone is in here." Lilah said.
"Where is the key?" Dinah asked her sister?
"In my hand." Lilah replied.
"Hold it up or something." Dinah said. "Like how you did it with the Key Of Dreams."
"Okay." Lilah said.
"It's not going anywhere." Lilah told them after a few seconds.
Dinah sighed.
"Maybe I needed to leave it inside of the keyhole." Lilah wondered.
"Yeah." Dinah agreed.
"Try it." Toby said.
Lilah pushed the door open, she grunted at its weight.
"Hold the door open." She told her little sister and friend. They took her place so she could put the key back into its keyhole.
Lilah rushed back inside and waved them to move back to let the door shut.
When it closed with a click, only a few seconds went by, then the room lit with fire.
"Ah!" Dinah yelped.
Lilah looked at her scared sister. "Well, at least we can see now." She didn't sound happy though.
"We're going to burn!" Toby cried and crouched down to the ground.
"And suffocate!" Dinah added.
"We will if we don't hurry." Lilah said as she looked around the burning room. They all hid their noses and mouths inside their shirts to block out some of the smoke.
"Look! There is the fire pearl." Lilah pointed straight ahead at a golden pedestal. In the center of the pedestal, a small red and orange pearl hovered a little up in the air.
"Let's go get it and get out of here!" Dinah tried to run for it but Lilah caught her arm.
"Wait! Azlin said that each element is guarded by each element beast." Lilah warned her.
"I don't see a beast." Dinah looked around.
"It c-" Lilah was cut off by a thunderous roar.
Toby's hands went from covering his nose to covering his ears. "Ah."
A large lion dropped down in front of them. It's fur was orange, like a normal lion, but it's mane was on fire and it's eyes were red, like a lion you should only be able to find in a dream.
"There it is." Lilah gulped.
The lion stood in front of them menacingly with a glare, that could only translate to mean it wanted to tear them apart.
The kids felt their hearts pounding in their chests. "I don't know what to do!" Lilah shouted.
"Me neither!" Dinah shouted back, sounding scared.
When Toby stood up again the fire beast let out another deep growl, Toby flinched.
Lilah dropped the backpack and whispered to both of them, "We can split up and all make a run for the pearl. Just be sure to go around the fires."
"And of course avoid the fire beast." Toby added.
"Yeah." Lilah said.
"You can bet I'll be doing that." Dinah said to herself.
"Okay, ready?" Lilah asked, unsure if she really wanted to do this in this way.
"Sure." Dinah said.
"Sure." Toby echoed.
"Alright," Lilah said, then she began counting. "One, two, three, GO!" She shouted the last word.
They all ran for the fire pearl and the beast roared again. They dodged the fire balls being hurled at them from the beasts mouth. The beast ran for the closest child, Lilah.
Lilah was just about to reach the pearl when a heavy impact hit her in the stomach, causing the air to be knocked out of her.
"Oof!" and "ah!" Where the noises Lilah made as she went flying through the air. Then she landed with a thump as her back hit the wall.
"Aw," Lilah groaned. "that's really going to leave a mark."
Lilah stopped rubbing her back and immediately stared with worried, wide eyes as her sister went flying through the air.
"Oh noooo!" Dinah was screaming.
"Ah, my head!" Is what she said when she landed against the same wall as Lilah.
Lilah walked over to her sister, though it was more of a wobble due to all of the pain she now had.
Then Toby shouted, happily. "I got it, I got it, I got it!" He said.
"Good job!" The sisters yelled at him with a smile.
Toby, at the same time, noticed the beast was running over to him, "Ah."
"Here!" Lilah cried. "Toss it here!"
Toby threw the pearl towards Lilah and watched her hands clamp shut around it.
The fire beasts attention instantly turned to Lilah. It huffed and smoke came from his black nose. Lilah ran for the door but the fire beast was quicker and she went flying across the burning room again.
"Aaaah ooh!" Lilah's eyes were full of tears as she yelped with pain. When the beast hit her, it's nails scratched her skin. She looked at her bleeding arm.
She didn't like looking at it, it was oozing an orange liquid (that reminded Lilah of lava). "It burns." She whimpered.
The beast was slowly walking over to Lilah.
"Lilah!" Dinah shouted. "Throw me the pearl!"
Lilah swallowed saliva and bit her tongue in pain as she looked around for the fire pearl, which she had dropped.
Her eye caught the pearl laying still on the ground in front of her. It was only a few inches away from some of the fire.
Lilah reached out cautiously to grab it but the beast roared and a large fire ball come hurling out of its mouth. She acted faster, Lilah jumped for the pearl and rolled away from the ball of fire, then she tossed it at her sisters waving arms.
Dinah missed it but she ran over to it in time to pick it up before it rolled into fire.
Lilah noticed it landed in front of the door. "Dinah!" Lilah shouted. "Exit!"
"What about you?" Dinah shouted back.
"Take out the key!"
Dinah nodded and tried her best to push open the door, but it was too heavy.
"Dinah, hurry the beast is coming your way!"
"Argh!" Dinah strained to push harder but the beast was now only inches away.
"Hey!" Lilah roared at the fire beast. She was so furious, she almost didn't sound like a girl anymore.
The beast snapped its head in Lilah's direction.
Toby ran over to help his friend and together, they pushed the door opened.
The beast turned back around, deciding to ignore Lilah, and attack Dinah, but before he could, the heavy, golden door slammed shut in his face.
Lilah weakly chuckled at his whimper. Her arm was causing her so much pain she was surprised she still had one. In fact, she was in so much pain, that she almost didn't seem to care that the beast was running back at her.
Dinah quickly turned the key back. Inside the room, where Lilah laid, the fire was put out and the beast seemed to had disappeared. With her eyes closed, she sat in pain and held her arm in the pitch blackness of the dark room.
Dinah reopened the door (without leaving the key in the keyhole). "Lilah, come on." She quietly said into the black room.
When Lilah didn't answer she said her name again, only louder. "Lilah."
Lilah opened her eyes, "yeah." Her voice was groggy. She was surprised she had fallen asleep that fast.
"Come on, I got the fire pearl." Dinah told her.
"I'm coming." Lilah said. She stood up weakly, her whole body felt like it was on fire. Maybe it is, who knows what a fire beasts scratch can do to you!; she thought to herself. Lilah made her way out the door.
Dinah gasped when her big sister came into the light, "What happened."
"It scratched me." Lilah answered.
"Your whole body is red!" Dinah cried. "And your arm is cut and swollen, and it looks like it's dripping lava!"
"You look like you can be a red irides." Toby told her after he came out of the room with the wagon and backpack.
"I feel like I'm on fire, and I'm not sure if its a figure of speech this time." Lilah said as she sat against the wall.
Dinah sat her big sister down, "wow your burning up!"
"Figuratively or literally?" Lilah asked with her eyes closed.
"I don't know what fig-er-a-tiv-oly means but I need to get help." She ran up the steps. "Toby, stay down there with Lilah." She shouted over her shoulder.
"That's not how you say it." Lilah whispered.
"Okay." Toby replied to Dinah, it was what he was going to do anyway.
"Water." Lilah's voice sounded like it was leaving her.
"Water?" Toby asked. Lilah nodded slowly.
Toby quickly opened the backpack and pulled out one of the containers of water. Then he opened it and tilted it into Lilah's mouth for her. As she drank, Toby heard sizzling and popping coming from her mouth.
Lilah pulled away when the container was done and Toby held up the empty container with surprise. "That was really fast! You were really thirsty weren't you?"
"I didn't...get...anything to drink." Lilah told him sadly, "it turned... into water vapor... before I could swallow it." She was out of breath.
Toby frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"Okay, not your fault." Was all Lilah could get out before she closed her eyes again.
Toby dropped the empty bottle so he could shake her. "Lilah? Lilah!" He shouted, his voice was shaking. "Oh no."
Lilah opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a white room with red and orange decorations. It was obvious she was in a nurses office. She sat up as a fairy entered the room.
This fairy was obviously a fire fairy, as she was dressed in red and orange and her wings were on fire.
"Hello Lilah, I'm glad your up." She said.
"Me too." Lilah said.
"Do you remember what happened?" The fairy asked.
Lilah nodded, "I think so." She said. "My sister, Toby and I got the fire pearl from the fire beast. I got scratched, then I was all red..." she looked at her hands.
"You are perfectly fine now. Your sister got help."
"Where is my sister?"
"Right outside the door, she's been waiting to see you for the past few hours."
"Hours?" Lilah almost shouted.
"You were only out for the night and the early morning."
Lilah nodded, "well thank you for saving me...what's your name?"
"Emberley." the fairy answered. "But I didn't save you, Ignacia did. Only she can cure the fire lions damage. I simply just watched over you until you woke up."
"Oh, well thanks for that Emberley."
Emberley smiled, "you're welcome, Lilah."
Lilah hopped off the bed and stepped out of the room. Right when Dinah saw Lilah, Lilah was trapped in a big hug. "You're awake!"
Lilah hugged her sister back. "Yes I am."
Toby smiled at Lilah after the sisters pulled away. He held up the fire pearl.
Lilah smiled back and took it from him.
It was a one inch sphere and was marbled with two colors of orange and red. Without any danger she realized how heavy it really was.
"We wanted you to put it in its pouch." Dinah said.
"Where is the backpack and wagon?" Lilah asked them.
Toby pointed, "right there."
Lilah went over to it and unzipped the backpack. She took out the little bag with the fire symbol stitched onto the front and plopped the fire pearl inside.
After packing everything up she placed the backpack in the wagon and looked at the other two kids. "Let's go get the next element pearl."
Emberley walked out of the clinic and waved at Lilah, who waved back.
"Thanks again." Lilah said. "And when you see Ignacia tell her I'm very very very thankful." She smiled.
"Oh and give her a great big hug for me, I'm thankful too." Dinah added.
Emberley smiled, "will do." Then she asked, "do you need help out?"
Lilah shook her head, "nope, we got it."

Lilah, Dinah, and Toby left Fire Headquarters. They were now walking in the direction of the second element headquarters, water.
A little while away from Fire Headquarters, they noticed that the ecosystem was beginning to look more alive, rather than dead and burnt. The grass was beginning to grow further out they went, flowers bloomed in big, scattered patches, trees, that were full of leaves, stood tall, even the sky looked clearer.
"This place looks a lot safer than where Fire Headquarters was." Dinah said, looking up at the aqua-blue sky.
"Doesn't everything seem...Hmm, blue to you?"  Toby asked glancing around as they walked.
"Yes, everything does seem to have a bluish hue to it." Lilah answered him. "And the air seems musty...or maybe humid would be a better word for it." Lilah added.
"How much further is Water Headquarters?" Dinah asked her big sister.
"I don't know." Lilah replied and unfolded the crinkled map she carried. "Strange." She said.
"What?" Dinah asked.
"According to the map, we're standing on it." Lilah answered.
They all looked down at the grass they were standing on and squinted their eyes in confusion.
"But how?" Dinah asked.
"My guess," Lilah said. "It's underground."
"Or," Toby began. "It's underwater."
"But their is no body of water around-" Lilah stopped talking when she saw the river Toby was pointing at. "Oh." She said.
They stood by the edge of the river. Dinah was admiring the crystal clear, deep teal-blue color of the water while Lilah and Toby finished their conversation.
"So if the map says that Water Headquarters is over there," Lilah pointed behind herself to where she was just standing seconds ago. "Then I guess the river flows underneath the grass and dirt, making it wider than just this." She pointed at the river.
"Mhm, that's what I was saying." Toby told her.
"So then how do you suggest we get over there?" Lilah asked Toby.
Toby only shrugged, causing Lilah to sigh.
Dinah was enjoying making funny faces at her reflection in the water when she noticed her big sister staring at her.
Dinah looked at her sisters confused face. "What?" She shrugged. "I was making sure it was a real reflection and not an evil fake one. Like in the movies!"
Lilah shook her head as she giggled at her little sister. "Whatever you say Dinah."
Dinah laughed at herself before she got serious again, she remembered she was on a mission to save her mother. "So what's the plan?" She asked Lilah.
"Were going to jump in the river and see if we can swim under that way."
"Why?" Dinah asked.
"Weren't you listening!" Lilah asked her.
Dinah shamefully shook her head, "no... I stopped paying attention when...I only remember you saying you think it's underground because we were standing on it."
Lilah playfully scowled at her then said, "we think if we go in the river and swim underwater in that direction it will lead us to where Water Headquarters is."
"Ooooh, makes sense." Dinah nodded.
"Let's go!" Toby shouted then jumped in the water.
"Toby!" Lilah growled. "You splashed us."
Toby frowned, "sorry."
Lilah softened her angry expression, "It's okay. It was dumb of me, we're about to get in anyway."
They left the wagon, backpack, and all the rest of their items; except the mermaid scale, on the land as they splashed into the river.
Toby dove under the water first, then Lilah, then Dinah.
Toby opened his eyes, which glowed a bright blue. It was coming from his already blue irises. He turned his head to see that the sisters had pushed their heads up from the water.
Lilah and Dinah saw Toby come up to the surface. "What's wrong?" Toby asked.
"It's too dark." Lilah told him. "Also, we can't breath down there so if Water Headquarters really is down there, then how are we supposed to get over there?"
Toby seemed to frown only half way before he pointed at the tree right on the rivers edge. It was so close that it's roots were growing into the river. And growing up in a spiral, on a teal colored vine, on part of the trees trunk, were blue flowers.
"Those blue flowers help non-aquatic dreamers breath and talk underwater and that lighter blue one helps dreamers to see."
"What do this dark blue ones do?" Dinah asked.
Toby put a hand up to the side of his mouth that wasn't facing the sisters, like he was telling a secret. He whispered, "Those are poisonous. Their magic drowns you on land."
"Oh!" Dinah was taken back.
"Well, let's not eat those." Lilah said.
"Yeah really." Dinah agreed.
Dinah and Lilah pulled themselves out of the river to eat a blue and light blue flower.
They did not mind the taste of the first flower, even though it wasn't very good. In fact, it reminded them of those flavored chapsticks they'd sometimes get in their Christmas stockings. With a little aftertaste of the taste they'd get when they sprayed too much perfume.
"Hey, there's only one light blue flower." Lilah noticed when Dinah picked up the only one.
Dinah looked down at the baby blue flower sadly and then tried handing it to her big sister. "I don't need to see. You can guide me." She said.
Lilah pushed her hand away, "yes you do." She pointed up at the tree. "It's fine, I can use one of those lanterns."
Dinah looked to see what her sister was talking about. Instead of only leaves on its branches, the tree also had multiple sized, yellow-lit lanterns hanging from different limbs.
Lilah, stepping on her tippy-toes, reached up to pull off a lantern from the lowest branch. The branch flung back into shape after being bent down by a young girl.
"Hopefully I can keep my eyes open long enough." Lilah said to herself.
Lilah and Dinah jumped back into the river, and with Toby, they went back underwater.
"Your eyes look like blue flashlights!" Dinah exclaimed.
"I can see, talk, and breath underwater, and I'm also a really good swimmer. All because I'm a blue Irides so I'm connected to the water element." Toby explained.
"Interesting." Dinah replied, remembering that Toby said that he would develop water powers when he reached one-hundred years old.
"You know Toby, there's a lot we don't know about you." Lilah told him.
"Yes, and there's a lot I don't know about you two." He replied.
"Well, after we finish this mission of ours we should fix that." Lilah smiled.
Toby nodded and smiled back. "Yes, we should."
They turned their attention to finding Water Headquarters. They looked to their left, the direction where the map said it should be.
"I think I can see something?" Lilah wasn't too sure of herself. She could hardly see underwater with just a dim lantern.
"Yeah! There are lights ahead!" Dinah shouted proudly.
"Sounds like you're right Toby! It is underwater." Lilah patted Toby on the back.
"I knew I had to be. Where else would Water Headquarters be?" Toby replied with a smile.
"True." Dinah and Lilah nodded.
And with that they swam left.
Toby was right, he was a fast swimmer. He had to stop several times just so the sisters could catch up.
They were getting close to the gate when Toby suddenly stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" Lilah asked him.
Toby answered her question. "There's a dome in front of us."
To confirm what Toby had told them, Dinah reached out her hand and knocked on the clear dome in front of them. It made a heavy boinging sound when she did.
"Oh." Lilah said.
"I almost didn't see it." Toby said.
"Well now how do we get in?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know!" Lilah exclaimed with a tad bit of frustration in her voice.
"Look, there are tigers by the gate. Maybe if we can get their attention they'll let us in." Toby suggested.
"You can try but I don't think it'll work. There is a dome and tiger guards for a reason." Lilah said.
Toby tried to knock on the dome like Dinah did but his hand slipped through. "Woah, it's like jelly!"
Lilah and Dinah's eyes widened in surprised.
"Or maybe we can just go in now."
Lilah tried to put her hand through but the dome didn't budge. She groaned, "this better not be because you're a dreamer and we're not! Because then we can't get in!"
Dinah's facials expression saddened, "if we can't get in then we won't get to finish! And if we can't finish we can't save Mommy!"
"Don't worry Dinah, we'll find a way." Lilah assured her little sister.
"I think I already found a way." Toby said.
"How?" Lilah asked.
Toby showed them what he had discovered when they were talking. "I think the dome is made of water." He put one hand in, then the other and spread his arms out. His actions opened a hole in the dome. "I think only things connected to the water element can go through and open the dome."
"Cool!" Dinah said.
"let's go, it's closing." Lilah noticed, and she swam through the hole Toby made.
Dinah followed, slipping through just in time.
It closed before Toby could get through but he could just go through the dome, he didn't need an opening.
"Woah!" Toby was suddenly falling. "Oof!" He landed on sandy ground. He looked down at himself, he was dry!
He stood up to see the sisters brushing pale colored sand off themselves, although it was difficult because they were soaked with water
"There's no water in here." Lilah thought aloud.
"Look!" Dinah exclaimed.
Lilah turned around to face the way they came in. The dome, of course, was surrounded by water.
Dinah giggled at the school of very fat, very funny looking, colorful fish swimming by on the outside.
Lilah smiled, "Come on."
"Hey!" Dinah was talking to Toby, "Toby why aren't you wet?"
Toby just shrugged as they followed Lilah to the gate.
Two white tigers stood on either side of the gate entrance. The gate was blue, a pretty blue. Both of the tigers had a shiny, aqua colored tattoo that resembled a trident on their faces. They had aqua colored eyes and aqua colored noses. They also looked to be wearing some kind of armor. The armor looked like it was made from the same material that pearls were made from. It too was aqua blue and it looked like it was coming out of the tigers, long, spear-like wings in the front and the back. The tigers also wore similar armor on its tail and paws.
"Excuse me." Lilah tried to get their attention but they just stared straight ahead. "Excuse me!" Lilah said again.
"Yes?" The left one said, it didn't look at her though.
"We would like to enter." She replied.
"Why is that?" It still wasn't looking at her.
"Um well, I, we would like to speak to the water element fairy, or the one in charge." Lilah said.
"You don't need to go in to do that now do you?" It tested her.
"Well no, I guess we don't if they would have been out here, but they're not and we-" she stopped herself from telling them they'd have to go in for the pearl. She didn't know what their reaction would be.
"But what?" The right one asked, it too wouldn't look at her.
"But nothing, I guess we don't have to go in to talk to her, but could you please tell the element fairy that we want to talk to them."
"Okay then, Cascade is on her way." The tiger on the left said.
"She'll be out shortly." The tiger on the right added.
"They're bad at eye contact." Dinah said. Lilah looked at her sister with a smirk and shrugged.
The two tigers, suddenly moved for the first time that the children have been there, they turned to the side and bowed as the fairy that existed Water Headquarters flew over the gate.
"You must be Cascade." Lilah said to the blue dressed fairy.
"The one and only." She smiled.
Cascade was pale skinned and navy haired, which was an ombré to turquoise. It was wavy and flipped over to one side of her head, leaving the emptier part looking almost shaved. But they knew it couldn't have been shaved because it looked like the remaining hair had been braided over, into the right side of the head, where the rest of the hair laid. Cascade's wings were the color of water, probably because they were made of water. Her eyes were a very pretty, deep blue that reminded them of a clean and clear, dark ocean. Cascade had strange looking eyebrows, they were blue and the shape mimicked an ocean wave, but that didn't seem to take away from her poised expression.
They're attention turned to what she was wearing. The first thing they noticed was that she was bare foot. She wore a light blue silky skirt that had a neat cut going up her right leg and a diamond water droplet pendant was sewed onto the waist band of the skirt, right above where the cut finished. She also wore a light blue silky cropped top to match. They realized that the top only had one strap on the left side and it was woven with a thin silver rope. Cascade's make up was, of course, blue. She had navy eyeshadow and long black eyelashes. Her lipstick color almost matched her eyebrows, the outer part was blue while the inner part was light blue. She had clear painted nails and she wore a diamond bracelet on her right hand, which matched the diamond anklet on her left ankle. That jewelry matched her diamond choker (which looked like dripping water) and diamond earrings (which looked like a dripping water droplet).
Cascade seemed to be the exact same height as the fire element fairy, and just like Ignacia she had a black tattoo on her upper, left arm that matched her necklace. Only the tattoo was of water instead of fire.
"How can I help you three?" She asked them.
"Um, well, we actually are on the mission to win over the wish." Lilah told her.
"We have a mermaid scale." Dinah added.
Lilah nodded, "yes we do." She handed her the pouch that contained the scale.
Cascade rose her head up with interest. She took the pouch from Lilah and looked inside. She smiled. "Thank you." Then she spun around to face the gate entrance. "Hydro, Wave, open the gate."
The white tigers listened, causing their armor and pattern to flow with bright water. The gate responded with the same glow and silently, popped open.
"All that just to open a little gate." Lilah whispered. "Wow."
They followed Cascade through the gate and up to the headquarter doors.
It looked like a giant, sunken castle from Ancient Rome. Parts of the building was covered in green algae and surrounded with kelp and seaweed (which looked like dead trees from far away).
"So, um what kind of beast do you have guarding the Water Pearl?" Lilah asked Cascade, she wanted to be prepared.
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you." Cascade said.
"Was that a rule made between you and Azlin?" Lilah asked her.
"Not necessarily." Cascade replied.
"Well then I don't see a problem." Lilah smiled at her.
Cascade looked at her. "If you really want me to spoil the surprise I will. But I will not give a hand into defeating it. He is my friend you know."
"I know." Lilah nodded.
"He is a water serpent." Cascade told her. "The largest of his kind." She added. "I captured him, befriended him, and asked him to guard the water pearl at all costs."
Lilah only nodded. The double doors had a water symbol that matched Cascades tattoo and necklace engraved inside, which split in half when opened. The walls inside of Water Headquarters looked like grey, pearly marble.
The other dreamers inside Water Headquarters were dressed in similar looking clothes as Cascade but they weren't as fancy. Like she was the ruler and they were the subjects (which was true, she was the one in charge). Same with their wings, they were different shades of blue, not as water-like as Cascades.
Cascade lead them down some stairs, they could hear the dripping of water as they came down. It led into a dim hallway, with flickering lights.
They heard "drip-drops" from the leaking water falling from the ceiling into the slightly flooded floor. They sloshed their way through while Cascade flew above the mess.
"Ew, now my pajama pants are all wet!" Dinah complained.
"It's just your ankles, Dinah." Lilah told her. "And, you're already wet."
"But I was drying." Dinah said with a cross of her arms. "You know I don't like being wet outside of a bath or water park."
Toby laughed as he stomped around, "I can feel the water in my shoe and it tickles!" He giggled to himself.
Cascade stopped at the end of the short hallway and removed the necklace. She handed it to Lilah, "good luck I guess."
"Thank you." Lilah replied. Cascade flew away.
Before Lilah could unlock the door Dinah asked, "Wait! I want to see what the key looks like."
Lilah sighed but showed her little sister the key.
This key was strung onto a diamond chain, the water symbol, in the center, was blue and navy.
"Ooh, it's pretty." Dinah said.
Lilah shared the excitement with her sister, "I know look at how the diamond shines in the light!" She exclaimed.
Dinah handed the key back to her sister. Lilah turned to the sparkly, light blue door. The door looked heavy, and it was decorated with a 3-dimensional water design. They could see that the majority of the water was coming from inside, as it was leaking from every edge.
Lilah stuck the key inside it's keyhole and twisted her wrist. The door made a rattling noise as it slide open.
"Wow!" Dinah and Lilah said together. The room looked like it was filled with water from top to bottom, but what caused them their amazement was that it did not flood out at them. It stayed in place, like clear gelatin.
"Do we just go in?" Dinah asked.
"Maybe it's like the water dome outside." Toby suggested.
"And if it's not then it's full of water, we won't be able to breathe." Lilah said.
"Only one way to find out right?" Toby said.
"Yup." Lilah replied. She looked at Toby, "you go first. To see what it's like. You know, because you're connected to the water element."
Dinah nodded, "she makes a good point, Toby."
A sigh came from Toby, then he nodded. "Okay, I suppose it makes sense."
The sisters watched Toby as he stood in front of the water entrance. Toby took a deep breath in and walked through the wall of water.
Lilah and Dinah saw him disappear through.
"Toby!" Lilah rose her voice to see if he could hear from the other side. No answer. "Toby!" She practically shouted this time.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"What's it look like?" She asked, just as loud as before.
"It's a room." He replied.
"Yeah but is their water inside?" Lilah asked.
"Well," Toby said. "there is a body of water inside."
"What do you mean?" Lilah asked, confused.
"Come in and see for yourself. You can breathe in here!" Toby's voice carried from the other side.
Lilah and Dinah looked at each other for assurance before stepping through the door.
"Wow." Lilah whispered to herself, she was stunned. She didn't expect it to look the way it did.
"So pretty!" Dinah exclaimed. "It looks like a little fairy home."
The walls were made of rigged, brown rock and the floors were dirt, like they were in a cave. A waterfall covered the door they came through. The falling water fell into a thin stream of water that flowed around the edges and into the lake. The shape of the lake was the same old water symbol. The clear water glistened with the twinkling blue lights from the large, diamond chandelier above them. The chandelier seemed to be in the shape of a cloud and the diamonds dangling from it looked like raindrops. The room was very dim despite how big the light fixture was. A few plants decorated the area. Thick vines grew on the ceiling, around the chandelier. It practically covered the ceiling. They looked like fat, green branches or snakes hanging with laziness. Lily pads floated around the thin stream and on the lake. The same blue flowers that were growing up the tree, outside, were also growing on the walls, inside. And only small patches of grass grew around the cave.
"I assume." Lilah began, "that we go into here." She stood at the edge of the small lake.
"I agree." Toby said.
"Okay then let's go in." Dinah joined them at the edge.
Lilah sat down, her feet dangling in the water.
"Toby," Lilah said. "Could you look inside to see how deep it is down there?"
Toby nodded.
"Thanks." Toby dove right inside the lake, splashing water onto the already wet floor.
Seconds later his head emerged.
"I can see the pearl." He said. "It's sitting on a pedestal in the middle. Besides that, there is nothing down here. I don't even see a-" Toby was cut off when he was violently yanked underneath.
"TOBY!" The sisters shouted together. They couldn't see him anymore.
Lilah turned to Dinah, "stay here." She told her and jumped in after there blue friend.
Lilah tried her best to look around for Toby but, like before, she had to force her eyes open. Despite the blurriness of her vision, she could make out a little blue person struggling against a large sea serpent up ahead. Lilah heard Toby scream as she pushed herself up to the surface. When she felt her face hit the air, she took in a deep breathe.
Rubbing the water from her eyes she said, "Dinah, I could see Toby. He was taken by the water beast. If we-" Lilah opened her eyes to see that her little sister was not there. "Dinah?" Lilah called, her heart felt like it could have flipped, where did she go?
"Yes?" Dinah said, she sounded strained.
Lilah's heart settled when she turned her head to see Dinah stretching her body up as high as it could go. She was reaching for the blue flowers growing on the walls.
Lilah got out to help her sister. She was just tall enough to reach them on her tiptoes. Lilah picked two of the correct colors and handed one of each to Dinah.
"Eat them fast. We don't know how much time we have left to save Toby." Lilah said, chewing on one of the flowers.
Dinah nodded, she already stuffed her mouth with both.
They ran to the lake and jumped inside. The first thing they noticed was that it wasn't really a lake, it was a pool, the floor and walls were made of white concrete. The next thing they noticed was that the water pearl was floating above a silver pedestal in the bottom center of the lake. The last thing they noticed was that it was bright and they didn't know where the light was coming from.
"There isn't anything else down here but that!" Dinah exclaimed, scared for Toby.
"Yes there is." Lilah pointed to a small cave in the upper right corner. "That."
Dinah gulped, "you don't think that he's in there do you?" She asked her sister, hoping she'd say, no, of course not Dinah! That'd be silly! But Dinah knew the answer, where else would he be?
They swam together, as fast as they could, to the caves entrance. Before they entered they looked at each other, hesitating for only a second.
Of course, the cave was dark. Pitch black. Until they swam deeper inside the cave, they could see the blue light in the far back, where Toby was being kept.
They heard weeping and sniffles. Toby was sitting, or standing... or maybe neither. The sisters couldn't tell because the water element beast was slowly circling around him. Closing in, tighter and tighter. Like a snake trying to squeeze its prey. They could only see his shoulders and head as he cried quietly.
The beast, which looked like a teal-green serpent with an extremely large dragons head, hadn't seen them yet. It's tail was wagging side to side, as if it was showing off it's sharp, spear-like scales coming from the sides of it.
"What do we do?" Dinah whispered very quietly to her big sister.
Lilah shrugged, truly unsure of what to do.
"Maybe we can tickle him." Dinah suggested, "remember when we went to get the sword of light and Toby said all dreamers were ticklish?"
"Yes," Lilah nodded. "But that could end very badly."
Dinah nodded, agreeing.
Lilah began to brain storm. Ideas to save Toby were bouncing and running around in her head. How can I approach this in the safest way possible? If we did this... then this could happen. If we did that then that could happen.
"I think I have an idea." Lilah finally said.
"What?" Dinah asked.
"Distracting it with the water pearl."
"What?"
"It's job is to protect the water pearl right?"
"Right."
"Well, I think if one of us grabs the water pearl he will come for that person, leaving Toby." Lilah explained, "then the other, probably you, can grab Toby and we can swim to the surface together."
Dinah nodded, "okay."
"Alright, I'll get the pearl and he'll come for me. Right when it leaves for me, you and Toby swim as fast as you can to the surface." Lilah told her, "hopefully I can be fast enough to escape it and meet you two up there."
Dinah nodded.
Lilah took in a deep breath, "okay." She swam back out of the cave.
Toby whimpered, he didn't know how much more of being squeezed he could take. Not much, he thought to himself. He felt like his bones were being crushed. He'd be a pancake soon.
Dinah watched Toby, waiting for the beast to release him. She had a knot in her throat and her heart was pounding in her chest. What if Lilah doesn't grab it in time? What if she does but then she gets squeezed?
Dinah jumped when the beast suddenly shot out of the cave at top speed. She stood against the wall so she wouldnt get in its way. Wow, hes like one hundred and fifty feet long! Dinah thought this as he zoomed by. Of course, Dinah didnt know how long the beast really was, her thoughts were an unintentional exaggeration. Once the beast was out of the way enough for her to get to Toby, she did. 
Tobys eyes were closed as he whimpered. He was sitting on a tall, stack of rocks.
Toby. Dinah placed a hand on his small shoulder. He jumped and his eyes shot open.
"its okay," she assured him, "its just me."
He relaxed and smiled at her. Then he looked around. "where's Lilah?" He asked.
"She's distracting the water beast so I can save you." Dinah told him. "Now, we have to go, hurry!" She pulled his arm so they could go.
Toby nodded and quickly stood up. They didn't waste any more time talking, it could wait.
Lilah was only a few inches from the pedestal. She reached her arms out and clamped her hands around the pearl. She smiled to herself, "I got it!" She exclaimed under her breath. After bringing it close to her chest, she opened her hands up to see inside. The water pearl was the same size as the fire pearl. It was smooth and perfectly round too. The difference was the colors; the water pearl was a mix of two shades of blue.
Lilah heard a deep hissing sound come from the left of her. She snapped her attention in that direction as she secured the pearl tightly in her hand.
The water beast was swimming coming for her. Slithering through the water. It's mouth was wide open, showing off its rows and rows of scary-sharp teeth.
Lilah screamed as she turned around. Her arms and legs were flailing to do so. She needed to move fast before it got her. She kicked her feet and paddled with her arms, but she felt like she was moving so slowly. All her swimming lessons seemed to be leaving her brain.
"You're going to make it, you're going to make it, "you're going to make it!" She told herself.
Bang! She didnt make it. Lilah whined as she rubbed her head. She looked up with a frown. The lake looked like it had been iced over. She was trapped underwater!
"oh no!" she cried, the water beast was still swimming towards her!
Lilah looked passed the water beast and saw that Dinah and Toby were coming out of the cave. She also saw that many more cave entrances opened up. Any of them could be the way out.
Lilah started to swim away from the beast again but this time it was too close. Its tail whipped around, wrapping one of Lilah's ankles. She screamed as she was yanked forcefully down from the top. The beast hissed as it dragged Lilah across the bottom of the lake.
Lilahs eyes welled up with tears. The beast wasnt being very gentle as it did this. She could feel her back and elbows being scraped from the concrete.
When Dinah and Toby exited the cave they saw Lilah at the top of the lake and the beast slithering its way towards her.
We have to distract it so she can cli- Dinah cut herself off with her own scream. Toby screamed along with her.
The beast yanked Lilah roughly from her ankle using its tail. She flew to the bottom, which caused her to hit her head on the hard lake floor. The beast slithered down to her and grabbed both her ankles. It pulled her with aggressiveness, not caring that she was in pain. It was heading in the direction of one of the many caves that sprouted from out of nowhere.
"We need to save her!" Dinah shouted.
Toby nodded, and using his super-water-swimming speed, he bolted down to help his friend.
Lilah felt somebody grab her arm and pull in the opposite direction the beast was taking her. She opened her eyes to see Toby, straining with all his might.
Lilah suddenly gained her confidence back and was determined to win again. She started to try and fight the beasts tight grasp. Her sister later joined Toby. He had one of Lilahs arms and Dinah had the other. They were all screaming with anger at the beasts strength. This was not helping Lilah very much, instead they were being dragged with her.
Careful Dinah, the pearl is in that hand. Lilah shouted.
Dinah suddenly stopped pulling on her sisters arm and instead, just held it. "Let me see it Lilah."
Lilah uncurled her fingers so her sister could take the water pearl. The beast suddenly stopped. The three of them stood there as it slowly turned around to stare at Dinah.
Dinah gulped as she stared back at it. The water pearl was in her hand now and that's what the water beast wanted.
"Don't move." Lilah demanded.
"Don't worry, I'm too scared to." Dinah replied.
"Give the pearl to me." Toby said. "I'm faster than both of you."
"Toby is right." Lilah said.
Dinah, too scared to take her eyes off the water beast, reached her arm out to let Toby take the water pearl.
The beasts' attention quickly shifted to Toby, but Toby tried not to let that scare him too much. He'd been through plenty, a beast looking at him was nothing. He puffed out his chest and glared at it. "Pretend it's just you and me water beast."
The water beast let out a huff and bubbles came from his nostrils.
Toby kicked off the ground with his feet as hard as he could. He shot up and began to swim, fast. The water beast dashed after him, not letting the blue boy leave its sight.
Dinah and Lilah looked at all the exits. They were unsure of which one to choose.
"Okay," Lilah started. "one, two, three, four-" she counted the rest in her head. Then she said, "there are twenty-two new caves, twenty-three in all."
"One has to be the exit." Dinah said.
"Yes." Lilah nodded once.
"Which one?" Dinah asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out Dinah." Lilah said, not looking at her sister but instead trying to concentrate on the caves.
Dinah sighed and let her sister try and figure it out. Dinah wouldve helped but she hated puzzles. Instead, she looked around for Toby. She frowned when she saw him, he was screaming as he swam in all sorts of directions, trying to get away from the water beast. Good thing he's super-duper fast, Dinah thought.
"I got it!" Lilah exclaimed with a little too much excitement.
Dinah turned around to look at her sister, but Lilah had moved. She hadnt realized that Lilah swam away to get closer to one of the cave entrances.
"Look," Lilah pointed at the element sign carved faintly on the floor, in front of the entrance, as soon as Dinah was close enough to see. "It's the fire symbol."
"Why would water headquarters have the fire element symbol at the bottom of their lake?"
Lilah ignored her little sisters question and swam over to the next cave. "and this one has a heart and a rose, so I'm assuming this one is the love symbol." She pointed to the next cave. "and that one had a tree, and that one over there had another tree."
"So, what are you saying? That the exit is the one with the water drop?"
Lilah nodded, "yes, and not only because its the water headquarters sign but because it is also the only one without a match."
"well, which cave has the water symbol?" Dinah asked.
Lilah looked at her, "the water beasts' cave."
"Of course it is." Dinah sighed.
"We've got to tell Toby so he can come with us!"
Dinah nodded, "Toby!" she shouted at him.
"Can't really talk!" He shouted back.
"No, we found the exit! Its on the other side of the beasts cave!" Dinah shouted.
"O-" He whirled around and kicked off in the other direction before the water beast could get him. "kay!" He finished.
Lilah and Dinah swam to the beasts cave. Lilah let her sister swim in first so she could find Toby. "Toby, give us about 2 minutes to get out then follow!" Lilah shouted at him.
Toby didn't respond but Lilah went into the cave anyway.
"why does it seem longer then before?" Lilah asked.
"I dont know." Dinah responded.
"I think we are almost there though." Lilah pointed straight ahead, "look."
There was a faint blue light up ahead and when they got closer, they could see that it was coming from a portal. It was similar to the one in Pegasus Meadows, the only difference was that it led into the room they were in before diving into the lake.
Lilah and Dinah jumped to the other side. They fell from the portal and rolled out onto the, now opaque, frozen, lake. Immediately after they landed, they stood up and scrambled onto the rocky edge. Without saying a word, they watched the back wall with anticipation, waiting for Toby to come falling after them.
Minutes later, Lilah finally spoke, "he's taking too long." Her voice was unsteady, she was getting worried. "We shouldn't have left him." She added.
"Do you want to go back?" Dinah asked, she was worried about Toby too.
"How?" Lilah questioned. "The lake we went through to get there is frozen."
Dinah shrugged, then she said, "we can go back out and turn the key like we did when the fire beast got you."
Lilah shook her head, "we dont know if it'll work. It could trap him down there."
"He's practically already trapped down there! It may work."
After giving what her sister said a thought Lilah nodded, the worst that can happen has already happened.
Just before they turned to take back the key, a portal opened and out fell Toby. He stood up weakly. Before Toby could gain balance, the sisters rushed over to him and wrapped their arms around him, embracing in a group hug.
"We're so glad youre okay." Lilah said.
"mmhmm." Dinah nodded.
"Me too." Toby smiled.
Crack! They jumped, causing them to pull apart.
"What was that?" Dinah asked anxiously.
"The lake is breaking! Its going to fall apart." Toby pointed to a crack in the lake. "We'll fall in!"
Crack! More ice broke somewhere behind them.
"Get off!" Lilah shouted. She hadn't needed to though, all three already dashed for the land.
Panting, they watched the ice finish cracking and crumble into the water.
"We made it." Dinah smiled. Lilah and Toby smiled too as they huddled together for one last group hug.
Then, Lilah pulled back, suddenly remembering why they had gone down in the lake in the first place. "Do you have the pearl?" She asked.
Toby unclenched the fist that carried the water pearl to show Lilah the answer to her question.
"You did it!" Lilah shook his shoulders proudly.
"Yeah Toby!" Dinah cheered.
Toby couldn't help but smile again, he had done it hadn't he? And he didn't even wet his pants like a baby. He felt brave, and for the first time since he lost his family; he didn't feel alone. 
"Let's get out of here." Lilah said, she was still smiling. They all were as they passed back through the waterfall and walked out the door.
The sisters and Toby were giving the key back to Cascade when another water fairy approached them.
"Cascade," the fairy said. "I need your assistance."
Cascade smiled and held up a glistening, wet hand. "I'll be with you River."
River nodded and smiled back, then she waited patiently to the side.
"I am impressed with you three." Cascade told the children standing in front of her.
Lilah smiled, "it wasn't too hard."
"Easy for you to say." Toby said.
Lilah smirked, "hey, I got dragged around at the bottom!"
"Shh, you all did good. Too good, it looks like I need to speak to Nile about training Nereid a bit better." Cascade said.
Who? Dinah asked.
"Who what? Whos Nile or whos Nereid?"
"Well, both."
"Nereid is the water serpent, or the water beast, and Nile is a water fairy I have training Nereid."
"Oh." Dinah said.
Cascades blue eyes passed over the three of them, "now get going before I snatch my pearl back." She shooed them off playfully.
They smiled, "bye Cascade." They waved good-bye as they made their way towards the exit of Water Headquarters.
"Wait," a female voice stopped them.
They turned around to see River holding out four flowers; two of the ones that helped you breathe underwater and two of the ones that helped you see. "Here." She handed them to Lilah, "Cascade told me you needed them."
"Thank you, River." Lilah said as she handed two to Dinah.
River smiled, "you're welcome and good luck."
"Thanks again." Lilah said.
Then, they finally got to leave Water Headquarters.

They emerged from the river and climbed out. Dinah and Lilah were both soaked with water while Toby was dry; like before.
Lilah went to the backpack, found the pouch to the water pearl, and slid the pearl inside. "Two down, ten more to go." She said.
"Where are we going next?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know." Lilah pulled out the map so she could see. "It looks like Air Headquarters. It's next to Water Headquarters." She folded the map up and slid it into the pocket of the backpack.
"It's this way." Lilah told them and began walking in the direction the map indicated they should go.
The landscape began looking a little more green and a little less blue. The air was crisp instead of humid, and it was getting a little windy.
Soon, they stopped in front of a large set of stairs. They were white and fluffy, like a perfect cloud. They looked up to see where the steps would lead, but they disappeared into one of the many sheets of clouds above them.
"I hope the stairs can hold us." Dinah said.
"I'm sure they will." Lilah replied and placed one foot onto the first step. She pressed weight into the step; it had only sunk in a little. Now Lilah added the rest of her weight by stepping on top, all the way. The cloud stair only gave in around her feet, like she was standing in clay covered in cotton. It almost felt like clay too.
"Well," Lilah said to her sister, "it holds me up."
"But how well?" Dinah countered. She was still worried she'd fall through if she tried. Or worse, the steps might give up while she was halfway to the top and then shed plummet to the ground!
Lilah bounced herself up and down by shaking her knees. "I think pretty well."
Without waiting for her little sisters response, she began walking up the steps. Toby and Dinah watched Lilahs footprints disappear behind her.
"It's like you're walking on memory foam." Dinah told her.
"Uh-huh" Lilah responded. She was a few steps up now, "feels like it too." She added.
"What do I do with the wagon?" Toby asked.
Lilah stopped walking up the steps and turned to look at Toby. He was still waiting at the bottom of the staircase, and he was holding up the wagons handle, as if to show her he still had it.
"I dont know." Lilah said. Then she walked back down the steps with disappointment, the backpacks contents jiggled around on her back.
Toby picked up Evermore, who had fallen back to sleep. She was softly ticking in an odd pattern, like she was a broken clock. "We can leave the wagon down here and I can carry her." He said. "and Dinah can hold the dinosaur egg since you are carrying the backpack."
Lilah shrugged with acceptance, "okay." I walked all the way back down for no reason, she thought this as she turned around to walk back up the fluffy stairs.
Toby and Dinah followed Lilah up, leaving the wagon behind as planned.
At the top, they stood side by side one another in wonder. Air headquarters looked like it was made of white clouds and light grey stone. Identical cloud sculptures, of knights, were lined up against the wall. Random beacons of strong wind blew in scattered spots around the cloud floor. They weren't sure how the beacons worked but they all looked like tall, skinny geysers of air exploding from the floor, only to disappear somewhere in the sky. Despite the cool breeze, they weren't cold. They thought this might have been because of the hot rays of sun peeking through the clouds above Air Headquarters.
"It looks so cool!" Dinah exclaimed.
"Now this," Lilah stomped around, "is a floor I could sleep on."
The floor felt like the steps; soft and squishy, only it had cool fog surrounding their ankles.
"mmhmm!" Dinah agreed.
Toby glanced back and forth at the sisters. "Do you see anybody?"
"Nope." Dinah replied.
"They are probably all inside." Lilah said and began walking towards the only colored thing they could see; a blue wooden door.
Lilah knocked and they waited for an answer.
"Maybe they are on vacation." Dinah said.
Lilah shook her head at her sisters silly thought. "I don't think air gets a break."
Dinah shrugged her shoulders, "you never know."
Lilah was about to knock again but the door clicked, and someone partially poked their head out from the slightly opened door. "There is a meeting going on at this moment, so everyone is busy." It was a female.
"You aren't." Lilah countered.
"Yes, well everyone important. I'm just an air keeper." The girl replied a little rudely while keeping her face awkwardly hidden behind the door.
"Whats an air keeper?" Dinah asked.
"A keeper is like a maid. So, an air keeper is a maid for Air Headquarters." Toby answered her.
The girl nodded. "I just clean, organize, fix, care for and teach the young, keep Aria's papers filed, cook, and help out with other things that needs helping. Oh, I also answer doors and letters when everyone is busy in a meeting."
"That sounds pretty important to me."
"No, I'm only one of the many air keepers here. They won't miss one."
"Even though you don't think you are anyone important, could you still help us?" Lilah asked.
The girl didnt really know the answer to that because she wasnt sure if she was allowed to do so. "I dont know." Then she said, "I suppose it depends on what it is you need help with."
"Well," Lilah held up the phoenix feather. "we got the phoenix feather that the Air Element fairy requested and now we would like to try to get the air pearl."
The girl stared at them through her hair blankly, and then stuttered, "I- Im positive I cannot help you with that." A small pause, then, "You'll have to speak to Aria."
"Then can we?" Lilah asked.
"She's in a meeting, like I said."
"But this is very important!" Lilah replied.
"I dont think Aria will want to be disrupted by three children wanting an opportunity to steal the air element pearl."
Lilah furrowed her eyebrows. "We don't want to steal it! We want to win it over by battling the air beast."
"You three want to battle the air beast?" The girl did not believe them, and if they were telling the truth she did not believe they could. After all, she thought, Tornado trained him. And Tornado was the best trainer she knew; well he was the only trainer she knew but she thought he was a good one.
"Yes." Lilah replied truthfully. "We are on the quest of reuniting the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams." Then Lilah added, "we want to win the wish so we can wish for a cure to cure our mother of an unknown illness."
"I do not think all three of you have the same mother."
Lilah rolled her eyes, "no, we don't." She pointed to herself then at Dinah, its for our mother, then she indicated Toby, "he's just our friend who is kindly helping us."
Toby shyly smiled at the girl.
The girl sighed, "fine! I'll get Aria."
Lilah smiled, "thank you."
The girl shut the door.
A little while later the girl came back, but this time she opened the door all the way. They could see that she was a fairy, and not a very tall one. She was only a few inches taller than Lilah. Maybe it wasn't that she was short but young. She looked to be around fifteen. The girl had smooth pink lips and black eyelashes that were so thick, and long, that you could hardly see the light blue eyeshadow covering the lids of her eyes. Her hair, which they saw a part of earlier, was black at the roots and blonde at the ends. Her dress was white and grey; and looked like it was made from swan feathers. Her wings were also white and practically matched her dress. The girl was also bare foot, unless you counted to the white feathered anklet around her ankle. "Aria is willing to see you even after I told her what you came for. Can't imagine why."
They ignored the rude tone in the girls voice and stepped through the door, when they did this they were hit with a sudden gust of cool wind, and it caused their hair to blow back. Dinah and Lilah patted down their hair as the fairy shut the door. The fairy guided them down the long hallway. The walls were painted white and the floors were white and grey marble. Each wall had framed pictures hanging in a straight line. Dinah and Lilah looked at the faces displayed, and the names carved at the bottom of each of the frames.
"Who are all these people?" Dinah asked.
"They aren't people, they are fairies." The girl snapped.
Dinah frowned at the girls harshness. "sorry." She didnt mean to offend anyone.
"All those fairies live and work here." The girl told them.
"Wendy or Breeze." Lilah said, she stopped in front of two paintings. Both looked like it had the picture of the same girl, but Lilah knew better, they were twins, and one of them was helping them get to Arias office.
The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm Breeze, Wendy is my annoying, no good, deserves-to-die, twin sister."
Lilah, Toby, and Dinah looked at Breeze with wide, surprised eyes. They were taken back at how someone could be so harsh towards their sister.
"Jeez, what did she do to you?" Lilah asked.
"Nothing, I just dont like her." Breeze responded.
"That's not a good reason to not like someone, let alone wish them dead." Lilah told her.
"Yeah, she doesn't deserve to die." Dinah said to her.
Breeze shrugged then she asked, "do you want to see Aria or not?"
"Yes." Lilah responded. "But I'm also curious as to how a sister can hate a sister so much."
Breeze growled, "She stole him okay!"
"Stole who?" Lilah asked.
Breeze sighed and turned to a picture on the opposite wall, right in front of her portrait. It was of a boy. He had brown skin with a few darker freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose, dark eyes, curled, brown hair, and full pink lips. He also looked slightly older than Breeze, but not by much.
Lilah could see how Breeze possibly liked him; he was handsome.
"His name is Tornado." Breeze's voice softened.
"That's a funny name." Toby said.
"Shut up!" She snapped suddenly. "It is not!"
Toby looked down sadly, "sorry."
Breeze relaxed again, "We were best friends, I was going to ask him if he wanted to be more than that, but I had to wait until Aria gave me permission." She grew angry again, "And she never did because Wendy beat me to it." Breeze clinched her fists as she said this.
"Actually, no, she didn't. Tornado did, but instead of wanting me, he wanted my sister. I get it, everyone thinks she perfect. She learned how to fly first, she conjured wind the best, shes older by 5 minutes, she's considered prettier than me, even though we look the same." Now Breeze just sounded sad. "But I really liked him, I loved him. She doesn't, I can tell."
The three kids weren't sure what to think or say so Lilah just said, "I'm sorry that happened to you but you shouldn't say things you really don't mean just because you're jealous."
Breeze quickly wiped away the few tears that had dripped from her eye, "Whatever, you dont know anything, you werent there." Then she turned to go, "Come on!"
They finally came to a stop a little while later. Breeze pushed open the double doors they stood in front of. "Here they are." Breeze said, then she left.
The young women behind a large white desk smiled, "Hello children." She said. They figured this was Aria, the air element fairy.
"Hi." All three of them echoed each other.
When the women stood up, they noticed her chair was made from a cloud. She walked around to the front of her desk and placed her hands neatly in front of herself. They saw that her nails were long but not disgustingly long like the Winter Queens. They were all painted white, except two. The ring fingers were just coated in a clear polish. Around one of her wrists was a pearl bracelet with a grey feather in the middle, this matched the choker around her neck.
She was dark skinned; which contrasted well with her light-colored clothes. Her dress was made of feathers; it was strapless and white. In place of a belt was a rope tied around her waist, the excess length hung down longer than her dress. She wore wedged heels that went from white to frosted to clear. Her hair was extremely long and straight. The roots of her hair were grey while the rest of her hair was white. The silkiness of it reminded the sisters of a spiders web. One side of her hair was tucked neatly behind her ear, this gave them the view of one of her pointed ears. An earring dangled from it, it was a grey feather with white pearls.
She had grey eyes and white eye shadow. Her lips were plump and covered in shiny, clear lip gloss. There was also a small, pearl piercing in the center of her bottom lip and two smaller, identical ones on the corner of her eyes. Like the other two fairies they saw before her; her eyeliner and long eyelashes were black. On her right bicep was a black and white tattoo of a feather decorated with beads and pearls. It looked like a feather you'd find on a dream catcher. Around her neck was a key necklace that matched the tattoo on her arm (Lilah and Dinah werent surprised at this; the other two element fairies had a matching key necklace and tattoo on their arm. Why not the next one and the many more after that?).
"As I'm sure you've guessed, I'm Aria, the fairy in charge of the air element." Aria told them as she fluttered her grey feathered wings. They glistened in the light with every flap because of the white glitter sprinkled around them. "And I'm sorry that you had to deal with Breeze, I know she can be a hand full." Aria added.
"Just a little." Lilah nodded. "But nothing compared to wait weve had to deal with."
"She scared me." Toby said.
Aria laughed, "Some would agree with you."
Dinah nodded, "I agree with you."
Lilah rolled her eyes at their fear of a young teenage girl who she hadn't found scary, not at all, just annoying.
"Well, Breeze is nothing compared to what you will face momentarily." Aria removed the key necklace from around her neck. "Breeze told me what you came for, but I cannot take you there, for I must go back to my meeting. I will have one of my servants take you."
"Please dont let it be Breeze." Toby whispered in worry.
Aria smiled, "It is not." Toby was relieved when she said this. "I think you'll find him more welcoming." She added. 
Him? Lilah wondered. "Please let it be Tornado." Lilah whispered with hope.
Aria giggled at Lilahs comment, "Nor will it be Tornado. He's on duty now."
"Aw." Lilah couldnt help but feel a little disappointed.
The door opened and a cute little creature entered. It looked like it was a hybrid of different animals; an eaglet and a lion cub. They immediately realized that it was a baby griffin.
"Awwww!" Dinah drew out her excited exclamation.
"This is Zeru, he will be taking you to where the air pearl is kept."
Zeru had big, round black eyes and soft looking feathers coating the first half of his body, the second half was covered in clean looking fur. His little yellow beak was barely visible through his white feathers and his long lion-like tail was twitching at his side. He let out a small squawk and his little face seemed to smile as he pranced around the children.
They giggled and watched Zeru hop around them in excitement.
"Can he fly?" Lilah asked when she noticed his brown, feathery wings flapping around.
"Not yet, he is still too young." Aria replied.
Lilah laughed when he nudged her leg with his head.
"You can pet him, it's one of his favorite activities. Walking around looking for anyone and everyone to pet him, and play with him."
Lilah smiled as she and Dinah slid a hand across his feathered head. In doing this he squawked again; Dinah laughed.
"Alright, you better get going." Aria said. "I've got to get back to my meeting."
They nodded and let Zeru take them to where the air element pearl was being guarded.
Zeru brought them back outside, using a different door than the one they entered from. It was like a small courtyard. It was empty, unless you counted the cloud staircase leading up, past more clouds.
"More stairs!" Dinah exclaimed. "where do those lead?"
"I don't think Zeru can talk Dinah." Lilah told her little sister.
"I'm sure they lead up to the air pearl." Toby said.
"I know but those go up to more clouds and we are already standing on the clouds!" Dinah said.
"Look up," Lilah said and pointed at the clouds above them. "clearly there are more."
Dinah shrugged, "yeah."
Zeru spun in circles at the foot of the second set of cloud staircase, he was like a cat chasing its tail. He was trying to tell them this was the way to go.
They understood and began climbing up.
They stopped at the top, there was only a few feet of cloud floor left. The rest was cut off by a very tall, cloud wall. It was so tall that they could not see where it ended. It was like looking at an ocean, only your neck was turned up, and it wasn't exactly water.
They all turned around to see that Zeru hadn't followed them up. They wondered if it was because he was scared of the air beast.
"There is the door." Dinah pointed.
Lilah nodded and went to the door. It looked like a blue slab of wood was randomly placed inside white cotton candy. A giant cotton candy.
They stood in front of it and Lilah held out the key. The chain and the key itself, was made out of, what looked like, aluminum, and in the center was a dream catcher like feather. The majority of the engraving was white while the outlining and shading was grey.
Lilah got ready to unlock the door, but her sister stopped her. "Can I do it this time?" Dinah asked.
"Sure." Lilah said as she handed the key over.
Dinah stepped in front of her big sister and unlocked the blue, wooden door.
The lock clicked and the door was forced open with a heavy gust of wind. They stepped inside, allowing the door to slam shut behind them. The room was a giant rectangular box. It was a cloud room, everything was made of clouds, the floor, the ceiling, and all four walls. They could see the pearl floating in the air; being held up from blowing wind coming from underneath.
Small amounts of sunlight peaked through the cloud ceiling and the air beast was nowhere to be seen. "Go grab it." Dinah told her sister; she was talking about the pearl.
"Me? Why don't you grab it?" Lilah asked.
"Because I'm too scared."
"Well, so am I."
"I can grab it." Toby said.
Lilah and Dinah were surprised at his sudden bravery. "He'd always been easily frightened."
"You're not scared?" Dinah asked.
Toby nodded, "yes I am, but Lilah got it last time and Dinah, you can get the next one." Then he added, "plus we're working together anyway. I know you'll step in if something goes wrong."
"You're right." Lilah agreed.
Dinah nodded.
Toby stepped passed them and began walking up to the pearl, slowly. He may have volunteered to grab it but that didn't mean he wasn't scared. In fact, his heart was pounding, and he felt cold with sweat. The missing beast was a lot more scary than knowing where it was. They didn't know what it was, where it was, when it would appear, or how it would protect the air pearl. They all wished they at least knew what kind of beast they would be dealing with.
Toby was a lot closer to the pearl now, he just needed to reach out a hand to touch it. He stared at the pearl, worrying about what would happen when he did grab it. He kept telling himself that nothing would happen to calm himself down; if only he believed it. He wasn't stupid, something would happen. The beast would appear! 
Toby took a deep breath in. He held it in as he reached out to grab it. He watched as his fingers closed around the air pearl. It looked like the other two; marbled with two colors. This time the colors were grey and white. He pulled his arm in, removing the pearl from where it stayed, then he let it roll into the middle part of his hand. "I got it." Toby whispered to himself.
Dinah and Lilah had watched the beast slowly rise from the clouds they stood on. Emerging like a creepy swamp monster from a dirty lake. Except, the beast didn't look creepy or dirty. The beast was a griffin, and it would have looked identical to Zeru if it weren't for it's large size and evil glint in its black eyes.
"Toby!" It was Lilah, and her voice was loud. "Watch out!" she yelled.
Toby didn't stop to think, he didn't need to, as he knew it meant that the air beast was behind him. He ran away without looking back.
It was hard to run on cloud, it was almost like trying to run in water, but Toby tried his best to keep his balance.
"Over here!" Lilah shouted. "here!"
Toby exchanged his concentration from running from a flying beast to Lilahs waving arms. He threw it as hard as he could and watched Lilah catch it before he threw himself down into the clouds. He needed to relax and catch his breath, just for a second.
Lilah clapped her hands shut around the pearl and then took off in the direction of the door, but the air beast let out a piercing squawk and out of instinct she clamped her ears shut. She didn't realize that she had accidently lost the air pearl until after the air beast turned away from her.
The pearl had flung from Lilahs hand and rolled through the clouds. Toby could barely see it as it rolled in his direction through the foggy haze; which coated the floor. He reached out to grab it, but a sudden of wind blew it off into another direction. Toby sighed and stood up; he wanted to try and see if he could catch the direction it was going in. Then he saw Dinah crouch down. He assumed she did this because it was rolling her way.
Toby was right, it was coming Dinahs way. This was probably why the beast was circling above her now, looking down, watching her like it was half hawk instead of half eagle. Dinah didn't give the pearl time to stop rolling, she lunged at it and scooped it up in her hand.
The large griffin squawked again, but Dinah didnt let that let her lose the pearl. She cringed, letting her ears take the pain and ran.
"Oh noooo!" Dinah whined. Then she screamed, "Ahhh!" The beast had swooped down and grabbed her by her shoulders, now she was dangling from the griffins two front claws. She grimaced in pain, "ow." She whined as tears filled her eyes. The griffin was holding onto her tightly and its claws were sharp. She could feel the talons digging into each of her shoulders, cutting into her skin. She was bound to have a ripped shirt and bleeding shoulders.
"Hey!" Lilah roared. "Over here you big beasty!" She was waving her arms again, trying to get the giant griffin to drop her little sister. "Dinah, throw it to me!" Lilah was standing by the exit now.
Dinah, without any hesitation, listened to her sister and tried her best to throw it in Lilah's direction. They all watched the pearl soar through the air. The air beast immediately dropped Dinah and flew down to the air pearl, which had landed about a foot from Lilahs feet. Dinah hadn't thrown it hard enough.
Lilah eyed the beast before she went for the pearl. Her hand was outstretched, merely inches from the air pearl when it blew away in the other direction.
"Toby," Lilah shouted. "throw it back to me! It's coming your way."
Toby quickly responded. He saw the pearl rolling in his direction but it stopped before he had a chance to get it. Toby had to think fast, the beast was flying his way. Instead of reaching out with his hand to grab it, he first ran to it and then bent over it. Maybe the pearl wouldn't move if he tried to grab it from the top. After all, it only moved away from the sides it sensed a hand was coming from.
Toby had been correct, the pearl didn't move when he placed his hand over it, this aloud him to clutch it in a fist and throw it at Lilah.
"I caught it!" Lilah praised herself.
"Good!" Dinah shouted. "Now go!"
Lilah turned around and opened the door behind her. The beast squawked again as the door slammed shut in his face.
Lilah stood outside of the room, out of breath. We got it! She thought, but before doing anything else she quickly re-opened the door, being sure to remove the key.
The room was dark when she peered inside. "Dinah? Toby?" She called.
"We're here," Toby's voice carried out from the room. "But Dinah really hurts."
"Can you walk?" Lilah asked, her question was aimed at Dinah.
"Yeah." Dinah said, but she sounded like she was crying.
When Dinah and Toby came out from the room Lilah gasped at her sisters shoulders. Her shirt was ripped where her shoulders were, three vertical holes where each nail went in, and blood seeped through the shirt, turning the pink cotton into a deep red color.
"It really got you." Lilah stepped towards her sister; she could see that gashes a lot better now.
Dinah nodded and sniffled, her face was blotted with red spots from crying.
Lilah frowned and hugged her little sister, "we can have them heal you before we leave."
Dinah wiped at the tears sitting on her cheeks then asked, "did you get the pearl?"
Lilah smiled and nodded, "right here." she showed them the pearl.
"Thank goodness." Toby said. "I did not want to go back in there."
Lilah nodded, and Dinah tried her best to giggle but it was hard when her shoulders stung worse than a million bees.
They walked down the steps and were confused to see that someone was standing at the bottom of the stairs, as if waiting for them. It was a teenage male, fairy with a smug smile. His wings were made of grey feathers but, unlike Aria's, they weren't sparkly. His clothing was made of feathers too, but grey instead of white. He was wearing capris, a long-sleeved shirt, and fairy-like boots.
"I'm disappointed." It was Tornado, they all recognized him from the painting in the hallway. When they gave him a confused look he added, "not in you but in me, I thought I trained him better."
"You're Tornado." Lilah said.
"I don't remember meeting you," Tornado said. "How do you know my name?"
"The paintings in the entry way." Lilah replied.
"Oh." He said. "that makes sense."
"Zeru!" Dinah exclaimed. Zeru happily pranced up behind Tornado, who turned to look at him.
"So, youve met my pet, Zeru?" Tornado asked.
They all nodded.
"He brought us to the pearls room." Lilah told him. "Aria told him to."
"So, she knows youre here." Tornado said. "She didnt tell me anything."
Lilah shrugged, "What your leader tells you or doesn't tell you isn't my business."
"I'm assuming you're the three kids Breeze was complaining to me and Wendy about." Tornado said.
Lilah nodded, "Probably."
"Is it true?" He asked.
"Is what true?" Lilah looked at him confused; his question was too vague for her to understand what he was really asking.
"Are you all taking on the challenge of reuniting the twelve elements?" Tornado cleared up his question.
"Oh," Lilah said. "Yes, it's true." She nodded.
"Cool." Tornado nodded back.
"Well, we've got to get going." Lilah said. "Nice meeting you." She added.
"Yeah, you too. You aren't as bad as Breeze said you were, if at all."
"Thank you." Lilah smiled.
"Tell her we said she was scary." Toby chimed in.
Lilah rolled her eyes. "Uh, no, tell her he said she was scary." She told him. "She couldn't have scared me less."
Tornado laughed, "Will do."
"Bye Zeru!" Dinah giggled as she kneed down to pet the baby griffin.
"Yeah, you owe him an apology after you got his fathers face slammed with a door." Tornado shook his head with disappointment.
"Zeru's dad is the air beast?" Lilah asked, although she wasnt very surprised.
Dinah frowned and looked at Zeru, "I hope you dont grow up to be a meany."
"He's not mean, he's just doing his job." Tornado said, then he indicated Dinah's shoulders, "but I can see why you're mad at him."
"I'm not mad, just hurt." Dinah said sadly. "But I understand." She added.
"Here." Lilah said, she lifted the key up to show Tornado. "Take this back to Aria and tell her thank you for giving us a chance." She handed it to him. "and I'm sure you'll tell her that we won."
Tornado chuckled at her boldness, "Yes ma'am." He playfully said to her.
Lilah glared at him, "I know you're laughing at me because I'm young but I'm obviously smarter than you. I beat-" she corrected herself. "We beat your beast."
"I didn't train our beast to test intelligence," Tornado said. "Just bravery and ambition." He crossed his arms. "And you three clearly got it."
"Thanks." Lilah said.
"You really think I'm brave?" Toby looked up at him, delighted.
"Oh yeah, I stood down here the whole time and you didn't run out screaming like a girl."
Toby smiled at himself. "Thank you."
"Anyway, like I said before, we've got to go." Lilah began walking away and Dinah and Toby followed. "We've got to find the nurses so they can heal Dinah's shoulders."
"Uh," Tornados intervention stopped them from walking any further. "the nurses here can't heal that kind of injury instantly, they specialize in air related stuff." He pointed at Dinah. "That's a job for the fairies of life since its creature related." He paused. "Well, magic or Azlin could probably heal it too."
Lilah and Dinah frowned at each other sadly; now it was going to take longer for Dinah to get healed.
Lilah looked back at Tornado. "Thanks for letting us know." Then she looked back at her little sister, "it's a good thing Life Headquarters is next."
"How do you know?" Dinah asked as they walked away.
"I saw it on the map."

Lilah, Dinah, and Toby were only a few feet away from Life Headquarters.
"Are we almost there? Dinah asked her big sister. "My shoulders are hurting so badly now."
Lilah looked down at the map, "yup." She said. "It should be right passed those trees."
The landscape for the life section was filled with well, life. Gigantic trees towered over them. Brightly colored flowers decorated every area. Striking green grass covered the rich soil. Moss and vines grew around every plant. Bugs of every shape and color could be seen everywhere you looked. The chittering and squawking of creatures echoed throughout the jungle. And the smell of fresh pine filled their noses.
"This is one of the prettiest places I've ever seen." Lilah said.
"I agree." Dinah said.
Lilah came to a stop and looked around, then she scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. After taking a glance at the map, she said, "it should be right here."
"Aww, so cute!" Dinah squealed. "Ask him." She pointed at a tiny wooden creature standing on a root of a tree.
"Aw." Lilah smiled at the thought of it, he was like a mini person. She thought he was cute too. "Okay, we'll ask him."
When all three of them tried walking up to the little creature it jumped and ran around the tree root.
"Oh no, its okay! We won't hurt you little guy." Lilah brought her voice down to a whisper. "We just have a question. Maybe you can help?"
The creature poked its head out from behind the tree root. Its big eyes studied the children carefully.
"Do you know where Life Headquarters is?" Dinah asked.
The wooden creature began babbling in gibberish and tried climbing over the trees root, but his short limbs made it difficult. This caused them all to chuckle at his cuteness.
After successfully making it over the tree root, the little creature walked up to them and stopped in front of Toby.
The creature babbled something and pulled at the bottom of Tobys overall pants. He pointed a short finger at a fat tree sitting up ahead.
"I guess he wants us to go that way." Toby said and let the little creature guide him.
Dinah and Lilah followed them.
The creature stopped them from walking further and pointed up at the tree with a babble. The tree he pointed at had a deep hollow just big enough that an adult man could fit inside.
"Do you think it's through there." Lilah asked.
"Maybe." Dinah said.
"I'll check. Toby declared. The sisters watched as he pulled himself into the tree hollow.
Toby turned around and looked at the sisters. "Nothing is-" He disappeared.
"Woah!" Lilah and Dinah exclaimed together as they rushed to peer inside the hollow.
"Do you think he teleported to Life Headquarters?" Dinah asked.
"One way to find out." Lilah said and lifted herself inside the tree. Shortly after Lilah disappeared, Dinah climbed inside, following her sister.
Once Lilah had made it to the other side she climbed out and waited for her sister to appear. Then, just like that, without any sign, Dinah was sitting in the hollow.
"Dinah, come on." Lilah said to Dinah when she didn't move. Lilah felt like she was taking too long. Her little sister was just sitting in the tree hollow, facing the other direction. 
Dinah didn't feel like she had moved, in fact she was still sitting inside the tree, but she knew she had to have gone somewhere because her sister, who had disappeared on the other side, was now talking to her. Dinah turned around and stumbled her way out of the tree. "I didn't feel like I moved anywhere." Dinah said.
"Yeah?" Lilah questioned. She took a step to the side unblocking her little sisters view. "Well, take a look around."
Dinahs eyes widened with fascination, "Woah, we really did teleport!"
The Life Headquarters stood before them. It was just as big as the other three had been. This time the building looked like it had been built around, if not on, a very large tree. It seemed to be the biggest tree they had ever seen. The man-made parts of the headquarters looked to be made from, what looked like, gold and stone. It was covered in moss, grass, and vine. Trees and other plants surrounded the headquarters. A waterfall, falling from the building, flowed into the stream encompassing it.
"It's beautiful." Lilah and Dinah echoed each other.
"This one," Toby said. "Looks like the safest."
"Lets hope so." Lilah said. 
Suddenly, they heard babbling; the little wooden creature had appeared inside the tree hollow. They turned around just in time to see him hop out and run off. They giggled.
"Thanks for your help!" Lilah said as she waved at him, even though he didn't stop to acknowledge her.
"Let's go." Lilah began walking to the headquarters and they followed.
The closer they got the more plants and animals they could see. They saw a long, creepy looking bug with many, many legs and a group of fuzzy, flying insects with tails. They noticed, a large bird sitting in a square shaped watermelon patch and rainbow-colored flamingos standing in the river. They watched golden fish jump and a strange looking creature, that might have been a small squid, swim around in a circle as they crossed the wooden bridge. They caught site of baby pegasus, unicorns, and hippogriffs. They saw an interesting litter of bunnies; some had wings, others had antlers, but all of them had black, demon-like eyes. They spotted a creature that looked to be a hybrid of a wolf and a tree.
They even saw a cute creature with the ears of a rabbit, head of a dog, eyes of a cat, and tail of a squirrel. "What's that?" Lilah had asked.
"I have no idea." Dinah replied.
"I know you don't know," Lilah had said to her. "I was asking Toby."
"It's a baby Draxellion." Toby answered. "The only thing I know about them is that they're grey when their young and turn white or black when their older."
"Are they nice?" Dinah had asked.
"I don't know." Toby had answered truthfully. "I never met one." He added.
They had approached the door to the headquarters when they heard a low growl, followed by a giggle. All of them, alarmed, quickly casted their attention to finding the source of both sounds.
A female fairy dressed in a bright pink dress, which was most likely made from flower petals, was pulling a strange looking creature on a leash (which was more of a vine). Her wooden wings fluttered as she strained to pull the creature forward. The creature had an unsettling face, as it looked to be a cross between a lion cub and baby human. Its body, too, looked like a mix of a baby and cub (although it was more lion-like than human.) The creature had blackish wings that looked like they could have belonged to a large bat and its tail resembled a scorpions. 
"It's okay buddy, I'm going to help you." The fairy said to it as she pat it on its strange looking head. 
"What is that?" Lilah asked with disgust, she thought it was one of the ugliest baby creatures she'd ever seen.
"A manticore." Toby answered.
"It's scary looking." Dinah said.
Toby nodded vigorously with wide eyes. "And the adults are terrifying! Especially when they're angry. Which is probably all the time because," He shook his head. "they aren't very nice, and their tail has poison."
They continued watching the fairy plea with the baby manticore.
"I'm going to take you to our nursery so they can heal your wings all better." She said. "I won't hurt you, nothing will here. You wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for us."
The manticore still hadn't budged. The fairy groaned, "Don't make me get Eve!"
Eve? Lilah wondered. She looked at Dinah and Toby, "I bet Eve is the fairy in charge of the life element."
"Maybe we can ask that fairy to get Eve for us?" Dinah suggested.
"Okay," Lilah said, although she couldn't help but be a little scared of the manticore, even if it was a baby. "Well, since we all seem to be scared of the manticore..." Lilah then yelled to the fairy, "Excuse me but who is Eve?"
The fairy looked in their direction, startled. "Oh, you're visitors." Was all she said.
"Yes." Lilah nodded.
"Eve is the leader of all life in the Land of Dreams," The fairy answered. "and this is her headquarters."
"Could we speak to her?" Lilah asked.
"Of course, she is actually on her way now to help me with this manticore infant." The fairy yelled back.
"Oh, okay." Lilah shouted. "we'll wait here for her then."
Then, in the distance, a second fairy flew down and landed next to the first. This fairy was taller, and she had larger wings too. "How can I be of your service, Liv?" then she seemed to notice the creature, "another manticore infant?"
"Yes, and this one is worse than the others."
"Very well, I will work with this one too." She told the fairy, named Liv. "Go help Adam in the west gardens, gate 25." She demanded. "The pipsqueaks are hatching and their getting out of hand."
Liv bowed her head, "Yes Eve." And flew off.
"What's a pipsqueak?" Dinah asked.
"It's a little, yellow bird with a fat body, long skinny neck, big eyes, and large head. Their very mischievous but they are very funny. When they run around, which is most of the time, their head falls to one side because its too heavy for their thin necks to hold up." Toby answered.
Dinah giggled at the thought of one.
"Now I want to see one." Lilah laughed. 
Eve then looked at the baby manticore, You're being a difficult one, aren't you?"
The manticore purred as Eve pet his head. "You're not bad, not at all, just scared. You're a good boy." Eve told it.
The manticore purred some more as Eve rubbed its belly. "Bodin, that's what I'll name you." Eve stood and grabbed the vine, or the leash, whichever one they wanted to call it. "Come Bodin, to the nursery we go, I need to heal that broken wing of yours." Bodin stood from his resting position and pranced around Eve. From the looks of it, not much pleading needed to be done.
"Wait!" Lilah called out. Bodin froze, dashed around Eve, and hid; while Eve looked in their direction.
"Yes?" Eve asked.
"Um, I'm Lilah," Lilah pointed to herself then to the other two, "and that's Dinah and Toby. Um, we have the item you asked for." Lilah turned to Toby, who had been pulling the wagon.
Toby, realizing she wanted the golden dinosaur egg from the wagon, jumped and quickly turned around to grab it. He handed it to Lilah, who took it from him and held it out for Eve.
"We would like to try and battle the beast for the life pearl."
Eve turned to Bodin, "stay." She commanded, sternly. Eve flew over to them to take the golden egg from Lilah.
Up close they could see her wings were trees branches intertwined with vines and leaves. Her wavy, light brown hair was in a ponytail, but two strands were pulled out to the front. The strands were wrapped in vines, like other parts of her. Her right hand was wrapped with vines and so was her left bicep; along with her left ankle and right thigh. They also noticed that, in her hair, were butterflies decorating one side of her ponytail. She had olive skin and forest green eyes. Her green dress looked to be made of large leaves while her lime colored belt seemed to be made of thin vines that were crocheted together to make a bow. She wore light wooden wedges and white flower earrings. Around her neck was a vine choker decorated with white flowers and the key to the room the life pearl was being kept in. On her upper right arm was a black tree tattoo symbolizing her element. Her lips were painted with brown lipstick and her brown eyebrows were surrounded with the green glitter of her eyeshadow. And, as she took the egg from Lilah, they saw her glittery, green and yellow, camouflage-like painted nails.
"How did you get this?" Eve asked. "I mean, where did you find it? I have traveled all over in search for this egg. There is only one and it was laid by the golden T-rex, which has long been dead."
"We found it in Dino Park." Lilah told her. Lilah was slightly confused as to why some of the items were so difficult for the leaders of the elements to find. Dinah and I had found it so easy. Then again, we had a map and a list. But shouldn't they element fairies know where to go and where it is in the world that they helped to rule? Unless of course, Azlin hid these things from them.
"I looked there," Eve said as she admired the egg. "It was the first place I explored."
"Well that's where we found it." Lilah told her.
Eve looked at the children and smiled, "I suppose you want me to grant you access to the room of the life pearl?"
They nodded and Lilah said, "That is what I said, yes."
"Very well then." Eve held the golden dinosaur egg in one hand and removed the key necklace with the other.
She handed Lilah the life key. It was a bronze key with a yellow and green tree symbol in the middle. The long roots and long branches practically twisted into one another. Both sides looked so similar that it was almost easy to make the mistake of holding the head upside down. But, of course, the bit of the key prevented that mistake from being a problem.
"You can either follow the key to the room alone or I can ask one of my life fairies to guide you." Eve told them. "I'd take you myself but I'm too eager to fiddle with this egg." She held up the egg with a smile. Then she added, "I also need to heal the manticore infant."
"We would like help please. Just in case the key moves too fast and we can't keep up." Lilah said, replying to Eves' question from earlier.
Eve nodded, "Good thinking. It's no wonder you've gotten this far."
Lilah smiled, "thank you."
"Wait there and I will get one of my fairies to take you." Eve said as she prepared to fly off.
Lilah stopped her. "Before you go, could you heal my little sisters shoulders? A griffin grabbed her." She explained.
Eve nodded and went over to Dinah. Eve hovered a hand over Dinahs shoulders. Green mist sprinkled from Eves hand and fell onto Dinahs injury; healing it. With amazement they watched as her skin magically melded together.
"Thank you." Dinah told Eve as she healed the second shoulder.
"No problem. I hate to see any creature suffer, even if it is mild." Eve flew into the air. "Good luck, I guess."
They smiled and nodded as they watched her take the baby manticore and go.
Minutes later a male fairy landed in front of them. He was well built and dressed in leaves, but they were darker in pigment. His shoes were made of a darker colored wood and his hair looked to be a sandy blond. He had pointed ears like all the other fairies and his wings looked like they were made from wood too.
"I'm Ettan, Eve sent me to take you to the element pearl."
"Hello." Lilah said as Dinah and Toby waved.
"This way." Ettan said and he turned around.
Ettan opened the front door of the headquarters and led them through the entrance; which was a large foyer full of working life fairies. Some fairies were guiding animals while others were carrying baskets of things. None of them seemed to notice Ettan and the children as they walked by and into a short hallway leading into a separate small room.
"This is the elevator room." Ettan told them as they entered.
The room was empty, but there was a large green rug covering the golden, speckled floor. The walls were covered in faded yellow wallpaper and decorated with a golden border.
"Where's the elevator then?" Dinah asked.
"We are in it." He said as he pressed one of the golden buttons, they were the only things on the wall.
Then, rumbling filled the room. The room slightly shook before slowly moving downward.
"This is one big elevator!" Dinah exclaimed.
"Our elevators must be this big in order to fit certain creatures inside." Ettan replied.
They came to a stop and Ettan guided them out.
"It's right down here." He told them pointing down a dark, narrow hallway.
"Well, that's welcoming." Lilah commented.
"It's not meant to be." Ettan said, sensing Lilahs sarcasm. Then he said, "Well, Eve gave you the key. Go on and use it." He turned to go, leaving them to do what they needed.
After watching Ettan go, they turned to the hallway.
"I wonder how deep it is?" Toby thought aloud.
Lilah nodded, "Me too."
"You're the oldest, you go first." Dinah nudged her sister.
Lilah gave Dinah an irritated look, then she said, "What if the monster waits until the last minute? Then the target wouldn't be the first person."
Dinah wanted to argue that monsters weren't real, but in The Land of Dreams, she knew better than to say that. In this world monsters were real. Instead, Dinah huffed and shrugged.
Lilah smiled at her comeback but then she got serious again, "I'm messing around Dinah, I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You know that."
Dinah nodded, "I know."
"How about we all go in at the same time? Side by side?" Toby suggested.
"Mmm," Lilah thought about it. "We can try but we may not fit like that."
Leaving their things behind, they locked arms and squeezed themselves through. They fit enough, tightly, but enough. Dinah and Tobys shoulders scrapped against the cold, stone wall. Lilah squeezed the key necklace in her hand as they walked through.
The end was dark at first, but a yellow-orange light, overhead flicked on. The light was coming from a small lamp hanging above a rusty, iron door.
Lilah slid the key into the lock. She turned it until she couldn't anymore. Rumbling came from the door as it slid itself open. They all anxiously glanced at one another before walking past it. On the other side, a second door stood in the way, but this time it was made of wood. They looked at each other again, not saying a word. Then, Lilah tried her best to push the door open, but it was too heavy. Dinah and Toby stepped in to help her. The bottom of the door scrapped against the concrete floor as they managed to push it open.
The room was large, and it wasn't as dark as the hallway, but it still wasn't very bright. It was covered in grass, trees, and other plants. In the middle, there was a pedestal and a pearl on top. This pearl was marbled with green and yellow and its pedestal was the trunk of a tree. Its bark was white and covered in moss and vines, decorated with, what looked like, purple daisies.
"There is the pearl." Lilah said quietly.
Dinah looked at her sister, "I'll get this pearl." She said.
"Hey!" Lilah crossed her arms, "How come you get the pretty one?"
Dinah gave her sister a mocking smile, "because I'm cute and you're old." She playfully stuck her tongue out.
"I'm not old!" Lilah said. "I'm only in eighth grade!"
Dinah shrugged with her arms in the air as she said, "I'm a fifth grader so that's old to me." Then she said, "you're going to be in ninth grade next year, that's high school!"
Lilah gave her sister an annoyed look, "and you're going to be in middle school next year."
Dinah smiled, "I know, I cant wait until sixth grade!"
Lilah rolled her eyes at that. Lilah hated middle school, and high school sounded terrifying to her.
"And, I'm gonna get a phone soon. Mommy said." Dinah told her sister, still smiling.
Lilah rolled her eyes again. Her mom did say that they'd be able to get a phone upon entering middle school. Lilah, being thirteen, already had hers, but she didn't use it much. In fact, she seemed to be the only person her age who wasn't on it all the time.
Toby was listening to the sisters, looking back and forth as they spoke. He was a bit confused as to what a phone was, he didn't think they had any here in The Land of Dreams; but he was more confused about the other word. He thought he remembered Dinah saying it before, so he figured it must be important. He decided to ask, "Um, what's a grade?"
Lilah and Dinah looked back at him, almost forgetting he wasn't from their land.
Lilah shook her head at him and said, "don't worry about it, we need to focus on the pearl." She looked back at Dinah, "fine, you get the life pearl." Then to Toby Lilah said, "we'll stay back and watch out for her."
Toby nodded.
Dinah left them to walk to the pedestal.
Dinah stared at the life pearl. She was too anxious to grab it. Her gaze left the pearl and focused on the woods. The beast will probably come out of there, Dinah thought as she tried to look passed the trees. She couldn't see anything.
Dinah looked back at the pearl and drew in a shaky breath. She could feel her heart pounding as she reached for it. The moment her hand clasped around the life pearl she heard rustling. They all heard rustling. It was coming from within the woods. Dinah tensed up but she kept the life pearl tightly secured in her hand.
"Dinah, move!" Lilah shouted at her little sister.
The life beast emerged from the woods by pouncing in front of the trees. The life beast was a large, white deer with tan-colored, vine-wrapped antlers. On the sides of the life beasts body were green, tattoo-like markings that resembled vines.
The beast did not move, instead it just stared at the girl carrying the pearl.
"If you move, it'll attack." Lilah said.
"So, what do I do?" Dinah asked.
"Inch closer to the door. Very slowly." Lilah said.
"Okay." Dinah nodded and took in a deep breath.
Dinah took a small step to the side. Then another, and then another.
"I think it's working!" Dinah whispered excitedly.
Lilah nodded, she hoped it would. "Just keep going." She told her.
"You can do it." Toby encouraged.
Dinah was almost to the entrance; but that satisfaction quickly turned to fear when she saw the alert in Lilahs eyes. "Dinah, watch out!" but before Dinah could turn around to see what her sister was yelling about, Lilah yanked her to the side. The life beast had tried to ram Dinah with its antlers but thanks to Lilahs quick reflex, it missed by seconds. Dinah scrambled to get up. The life beast was still coming her way. Dinah ran.
Lilah looked at Toby, "keep the door open, I'm gonna get the pearl from Dinah."
Toby nodded and did as Lilah asked.
Lilah ran to the woods. The trees were planted in perfect rows and it wasn't as big as she thought. It was about seven rows deep and eleven trees wide.
"Ah!" Dinah screamed; the beast was gaining on her.
Lilah had to think fast. She looked around and climbed up the nearest tree. 
"Dinah!" Lilah yelled. "Throw it up to me!"
Dinah ran by the tree her sister was hiding in and tossed it up. Lilah reached down to catch it, but it flew up passed her hand and landed on the floor. "Gosh darn it!" Lilah whispered to herself.
Lilah looked up to find her sister and the life beast. Her sister stood in the doorway, next to Toby. The beast stood only a couple of trees away, staring at Lilah.
Lilah looked back down at the life pearl then glanced back at the life beast. "I can get it." Lilah said to herself. "The beast isn't that fast. I just need to climb down, grab the pearl, and climb back up the tree." She took in a deep breath. "Or I can try running for the door."
Lilah lowered herself from the top branch, keeping her eyes on the beast. When it didn't move, she went down to the next branch, and then the next one. She was close enough to the ground she could jump down without getting hurt.
Lilah dropped down from the tree and stared at the beast. It only stared back at her. Lilah glanced at the door, I think I can make it. She thought. It's not too far.
Quickly, Lilah snatched the pearl in her hand and turned to run for the door, but something told her she wouldn't be able to outrun the beast, it was too close.
Lilah turned back to the tree and frantically pulled herself up. The beast stood at the bottom, aggravated, it couldn't reach her. Lilah sat at the very top. Suddenly, the beast began to ram the trunk with its antlers.
Lilah held on tightly to the shaking tree. She wouldn't be able to get down unless the beast got distracted, and the only way to do that was to give the pearl to someone else.
Lilah shouted at her sister. "I'm going to throw you the pearl! Grab it and help Toby shut the door. Then one of you pull the key out."
"The key is in the other door!" Dinah yelled back.
Lilah groaned because she had forgotten, but she didn't have a problem adjusting her plan. "Then close this door and run to the next one, and then pull the key out!"
"Okay!" Dinah shouted back.
Lilah threw the life pearl towards her sister. It landed inches from the door. Dinah rushed in, grabbed the pearl, and rushed back out.
The beasts attention shifted from one sister to the other.
"Quickly!" Lilah shouted at her sister, as now the beast was running at Dinah.
Dinah and Toby slammed the wooden door shut. The beast began to ram its antlers into the door. It was trying to break it down.
The wood splintered and then split. The beast ran into the small entry room. Lilahs stomach flipped, now the beast would try and attack her sister and friend.
Just as Lilah thought it had succeeded the room went dark.
"Lilah?" Lilah heard her sisters voice echo into the room. Lilah sighed with relief and climbed down from the tree.
They had succeeded in getting another pearl, now they were one step closer to winning a wish to cure their mother.

"Whats next?"Dinah asked.
Lilah looked at her sister, there was slight fear in her eyes as she answered. "Death."
Dinah gulped and shivered at Lilahs response. That was the place she did not want to go! "I was afraid you were going to say that."
"There is the tunnel, it will take us directly into the death territory." Lilah pointed up ahead.
This time Toby gulped, "Maybe we can skip this one."
"The beginning of the tunnel isn't so bad." Lilah said as they looked in.
It was a round tunnel; a long cylinder. They couldn't quite see the end, as the tunnel slightly curved ahead. The entrance still showed signs that they were standing on lifes side of the tunnel. Grass sprouted between the cracks of the rocky floor, moss and flowers grew on the tunnels walls, and rays of light from the sun shone into the tunnel. It was still pretty and green.
They stepped in and began walking deeper inside; Leading them closer to deaths area. They huddled together, scared for each other and for themselves. The light was gone, and the plants were dying. The grass disappeared and so did the pretty flowers on the wall. The walls themselves were no longer smooth, but cracked and uneven.
"We are almost to the other side." Lilah whispered. A dim light shone up ahead.
"Normally," Dinah began to say, "that would make me feel better. But I don't want to go to the other side."
"I agree." Toby said.
They began to notice small, dark caves carved into the sides of the tunnel. Suddenly, a set of glowing eyes appeared in one of the caves a little ahead of them.
The children stopped walking. They froze in place because they were too scared to move any closer. Then, without the children taking notice, a second pair of eyes appeared in the cave next to them.
"What is that?" Dinah whined.
"Shh." Lilah whispered, she did not want her little sister to make any kind of noise.
More glowing eyes appeared in the caves ahead of them.
"Don't make any sudden movements or noises." Lilah whispered to them sternly.
They nodded slowly.
"Good." Lilah breathed out.
"Shh." A creature, suddenly next to them said. Its voice was raspy, cracked, and very unpleasant. Chills shot down the childrens spines. They could no longer control their beating hearts and quick breathes. Lilah slowly turned to look at the creature standing, hunched over, next to them. It looked like an elf, or goblin. The skin of the creature was peeling from its naked, skinny body. Its face was long and sunken, and its creepy bright, yellow eyes matched the other creatures still hiding in the caves. The top of its head was balding, only covered in long oily strands of hair.
The kids wanted to gag at the putrid smell of the creature. They couldn't begin to describe the stench the decaying creature gave off.
"I'm sorry." Lilah replied covering her face with her hand. She was trying her best not to breathe in the smell. Toby and Dinah had not moved an inch.
Lilah looked straight ahead again. "Let's go." She whispered to her sister and friend.
Lilah took the first step and they followed.
They walked ever so slowly, afraid the popping of rocks underneath their feet would anger the creatures watching them.
"Lilah," Dinah whispered, she was crying. "the smell is making me want to sneeze."
"Don't." Lilah demanded strictly. "Hold it in."
Dinah nodded but she didn't think she could hold it in any longer. "I-I-" she huffed.
"Dinah, no!" Lilah whispered urgently, "but it was too late."
"Achoo!" Dinah had sneezed.
The creatures jumped from their caves and shouted out their demands at once.
"Shh!"
"Shh!"
"Quite!"
"Shh!"
"Shush!"
Toby screamed, causing Dinah to do so too. Lilah shouted, "Run!" as the creatures shouted and clawed at them with their long, unsanitary nails.
"Faster!" Lilah yelled. "faster!"
As they ran the creatures followed, like a pack of angry monkeys. More joined along the way. The eyes jumped from their caves to shush and chase away the screaming kids.
The exit was close; they could see the other side. The moment they made it out, the creatures gave up chase and turned back into the tunnel. Leaving to hide away in their caves again.
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby watched them leave. As soon as the horrible creatures were out of sight, they allowed themselves to catch their breathes.
Toby looked at his hands and felt his face. "We made it." He said, sounding surprised.
"We're alive!" Dinah cheered.
"Yes." Lilah said as they huddled together for a group hug.
Lilah was the first to pull away, "And now," she began. "It's time we get the death pearl."
Dinah and Toby shuttered.
"If that is what we had to face getting in here, imagine what we'd have to face getting the pearl!" Toby exclaimed. His voice sounded frazzled and frightened.
"Yeah." Dinah nodded in agreement.
"Look," Lilah said as she pointed ahead. "There is Death Headquarters."
Toby and Dinah gulped once again.
It was fenced with broken, cobweb-covered iron fences. Two large, skeletons of gargoyles decorated either side of the gate entrance. The gate itself was ripped off the hinges and was now laying on the floor. They had to step around the gate bars to be able to get to the headquarters. The grass and other plants around it was dead.
Death Headquarters was a perfect example of a gothic castle. To Lilah and Dinah, it definitely looked haunted. The bricks of the castle towers were painted grey, and the roofs were black.
"It smells," Lilah said. "Like something died here."
Dinah nodded, "Probably because something did."
"I don't like it." Toby said.
"Us neither." Dinah told him.
They went up the steps leading to the headquarters door and knocked with the skeleton hand knocker. The beaten-up door creaked open, allowing them to come in.
Inside, was a dark, empty hallway leading to another door. They approached with caution before knocking on the second door. This one too, creaked open.
Fairies and ghosts stood around the large foyer-like room and stared at them as they entered. Both, male and female fairies, had skeletal wings. Some where dressed in grey, while others were dressed in black or red. All of them were pale and had sunken, muted colored eyes.
Dinah and Toby stared down at there feet because all the fairies had shifted their attention to them.
A white haired, female fairy approached them, "Excuse me, but may we help you?"
Lilah was surprised at her politeness. "Yes." She answered.
"Well, you seem very much alive so it must not be about your stay here." The fairy said.
Lilah shook her head, "No, its not. We want to speak with the fairy in charge."
"Ah, Persefoni."
"If she is in charge of the element then, yes."
"Well, she doesnt usually deal with creatures that are, um well, alive." The fairy told them.
"Well, its about the death pearl and battling the beast." Lilah told her.
"I see." The fairy said. She glanced at the other fairies before turning back to look at the children. "I'll take you to her. This way."
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby followed the fairy down another hallway. This one was more brightly lit than the first. It had red carpet and grey walls. Large, glass cases were built against these walls, each one held rows of skulls from different species. They shuttered, not because it looked disgusting, but because it made them nervous.
Persefoni was sitting behind a desk when they entered. Her office wasnt as scary as they had pictured. It was mostly empty, besides the desk and chair, was only a dead plant in the corner and a black coffin standing upright.
"Hello." Persefoni said as she stood from her chair.
"Hello." The children echoed each other.
Persefoni was very pale, almost white. Her eyes looked inverted; with the scleras black and the iris white. Red veins poked through her eyes, like they were on the verge of bleeding. She had many facial piercings and her lips were painted bright red. The left side of her face was covered with black cracks that made her face looked scarred. The same lines were on the right side of her neck. The key necklace was around her neck, and so was a chain choker.
Her wings were black, ripped, and so full of holes that they were practically broken. One side even seemed to hang lower than the other. She wore a grey, ripped hooded dress and a chain, corset belt. The sleeves of the destroyed dress were not the same length. They could see the death tattoo on one of her biceps, it was of a melting skull. She had on black leather boots wrapped in chains. She wore a ripped long sock on one foot and a fishnet stocking on the other. Over the fishnet was a long red sock, and over the ripped one was a white and black vertical striped sock. The parts of her legs that they could see, looked like they were covered in the same cracks and stiches as her face. She had on one fingerless glove; the other hand was wrapped in chains.
One side of her head shaved, while the other side flowed freely with black hair (Although it wasnt very long, and it looked matted with lots of split ends). Her black eyebrows were pointed up in perfect arches. The top of her head was decorated with chains and her pointed ears had many piercings.
"They want to speak with you about the pearl." The fairy told Persefoni nervously.
"Thank you, Labitina. You may go." Persefoni said to the fairy, she did not sound angry.
Labitina nodded and left the children with the fairy of death.
"What is it about my pearl?" Persefoni asked.
Lilah pulled out the forbidden lake water and showed it to her. "We want to battle the beast for the death pearl." Lilah told her.
Persefoni took the jar from Lilah, opened it and stuck her finger inside. She stirred the water around with her long finger. They could see that her nails were chipped. "Yes," Persefoni said. "I can feel it is truly deadly."
They stared at her with alarmed eyes because they found it bizarre that she was touching deadly water.
Persefoni saw their concern, pulled out her finger and laughed, "Toxic things cant kill me."
"Oh." They said together.
"You may try and battle my beast." Persefoni said. "I haven't got a choice now."
Persefoni removed the key necklace from around her neck and handed it to Lilah. "I'll call Labitina back to take you to the beasts entrance." Persefoni went back to her desk and talked into the microphone sitting on top. "Labitina, please report back to my office. I've got a special job for you."
Moments later, Labitina re-entered through the door.
"Labitina, take these children to Venoms grave. They are going to try and battle him." Persefoni demanded.
Labitina nodded, "Yes Persefoni." And then she guided the children to the pearl and the death beast.
Labitina brought them to a graveyard. The kids huddled close, trying to ease their shaking. They shook, not only because it was cold, but because they were terrified. A cool mist blew around them, and ghosts of different creatures stood around the graves. More chills ran down each of their spines.
"I don't like it here." Dinah whispered.
"Me neither, I'm scared." Toby whispered back.
"The faster we get the pearl, the faster we can get out of here." Lilah told them.
Labitina stopped in front of a large grave. A gargoyle sat at the top of the gravestone. Labitina pushed one of it's stone eyes. The button opened up a staircase, leading down underground.
The hearts of the children began to pound faster as they stared down at the dirt steps. Spiders crawled around on their webs, and snaked slithered around on the edges of the stairs. Dim, orange torches lit the way.
"Go on." Labitina said.
Toby looked at her, his blue face was now baby blue. "You're not going to come with us?"
"No." Labitina said, "I was only asked to take you to Venoms grave."
Toby gulped, "Oh, okay."
They began to descend the steps. Labitina only watched for a short while before turning to go. Toby was walking down stiffly, he looked like a robot.
"Well, at least it doesnt stink. It smells like fresh, moist soil." Lilah said, she was trying to best to stay calm.
"I just hope these bugs arent poisonous." Dinah said with a face full of disgust.
They made it to the bottom. A door was at the end, the word venom was written in what looked like blood. It looked like the liquid dried still dripping. There were also many wooden signs boarded up around the name of the beast. All of them gave a warning; Keep Out! Caution. GO AWAY. Do Not Enter. Beware.
"Maybe Azlin won't mind if we didn't get one." Dinah said.
"I highly doubt that." Lilah said.
"Yeah, I know." Dinah frowned.
Lilah stuck the key into the keyhole and turned it. The door unlocked, and she pushed it open.
The room was a very creepy, very old tomb. It was covered in cobwebs, stone creatures, bones, and dust. It smelt like sulfur and sour milk. Now, they thought, it stinks.
"I think Im going to faint." Toby said, his voice was suddenly a higher pitch then normal.
"You're not going to faint." Lilah told him. "We will be fine."
"An encounter with a beast named Venom doesn't sound fine to me." Toby said with a shake of his head.
"There is the death pearl." Dinah said, pointing at it. It was sitting on a stone pedestal, inside a small opening in one of the walls. Two skeletons, that of which looked like they belonged to a fairy with horns, leaned near it. "I can get it."
Lilah and Toby watched nervously as Dinah walked up to it.
Dinah, took in a deep breathe, preparing herself. Then, she snatched the pearl and ran back to Lilah and Toby. "I got it."
Lilah and Toby stared passed her with open mouths and wide eyes, terrified. Dinah saw their expressions and turned to look behind her. The death beast was standing before them.
It was a gigantic vulture. It was missing feathers and it was covered in blood. One of its eyes looked like it was ripped from its socket. The other, was red with no pupil. The beast looked scarred and beat up.
It squawked at Dinah, eyeing her with its one good eye. Dinah looked back at it with fear. A sudden beam of red light shot from its eye, hitting Dinah in hers.
"Oh no." Dinah said, she saw it coming, but there was no way she could have closed her eyes in time. She turned to stone and the pearl fell from her hand.
The beast jumped over, Toby and Lilah rushed out of its way, but it only wanted the pearl.
After the vulture placed the pearl back on its pedestal, and disappeared behind a crack in the wall, Lilah rushed to her sister with alarm, "Dinah!"
Toby ran over too, "Oh no, Dinah." He whined.
Lilahs eyes began to water, "Dinah?" She touched her shoulder.
Toby frowned, a tear fell down his cheek.
Lilah hugged her stone sister. "I'm sorry this happened to you." Then, she pulled away, "I'm gonna fix it." Lilah said with determination.
"How are we going to do that?" Toby asked.
"We are going to get the death pearl and then demand Persefoni to change Dinah back."
"What if she won't?" Toby asked.
"Then, I'll find a dreamer who will." Lilah said and turned back to the pearl. "So, the vulture is like Medusa."
"Who?" Toby asked.
"A magic lady with snake for hair. She turns people to stone if you look in her eyes." Lilah explained. "I saw once that to defeat her, youre supposed to get her to look at her own reflection."
"We don't  have a mirror."
"No." Lilah said. "But there might be one in here somewhere."
"Where?"
"In one of these coffins." Lilah went to one and tried to push it off, but it was too heavy, "help me get it open."
Toby went to help her, and together they got the top of the casket off.
"Ah!" Lilah screamed.
"Blech!" Toby said. It was full of worms.
"Ew!" Lilah made a face of disgust.
"Well, its not in there."
Together, Toby and Lilah looked through the caskets. Some were empty, others were not. Finally, they got to one full of treasure.
"Whoa." Lilah said and began to look through the items. With a smile, Lilah pulled out a golden mirror. "Go get the pearl."
"Why do I have to get it?" Toby asked.
Lilah held up the mirror and shook it, "Cause I got the mirror."
Toby sighed, "Oh, fine."
Toby went to the pearl, picked it up and ran back to Lilah, like Dinah had done before.
The vulture came out of hiding and looked at Toby.
"Don't look into its eyes." Lilah reminded the blue boy.
Toby nodded.
The vulture stepped closer and Lilah quickly placed the mirror in front of Tobys face. Toby and Lilah shut their eyes, and the vulture shot the red beam. It bounced off the mirror and back, hitting the vulture in its own face. The vulture squawked and it turned to stone.
Lilah opened her eyes and cheered, "We did it!"
Toby opened his eyes with relief.
"Lilah?" Dinah asked.
Lilah turned to face her, "you're not stone anymore!"
Dinah shook her head, "Thank goodness for that."
Lilah smiled and gave her sister a hug.
"Lilah, Dinah." Toby said. "Look."
The sisters turned to see three different creatures in the room. They weren't sure what they were, but they could tell they were confused.
"Turning the beast into stone must have reversed what it did to its victims." Lilah realized.
"I guess so." Toby nodded.
"Thank you for saving me." A female creature said.
"I don't remember how I got here." A second said, this time a male from another species.
"I do," the third, a second male, said. "I was trying to win the death pearl over, but I failed."
"Oh yes, so was I." The female said.
"Were you working together?" Toby asked.
"No." The female said.
"But I see you got the pearl." The second male said.
Toby hid it protectively.
"Relax, I wont try and take it." The creature said, "You earned it."
Toby nodded, "thank you."
"We should get out of here." Lilah reminded everyone.
"Yeah we should." Dinah agreed, looking at the scary, stone vulture.
And then they left, with the three creatures following them.

Lilah led the other two into the area of Land Headquarters. Everything around them looked the same. There were no plants or dreamers of any kind. Only dirt and brown rock made up their surroundings. The area looked more dead than before, but they were all appreciative of the clean smelling air.
"Well," Lilah began to say, "this is the most boring place I've ever seen."
"Yeah, but I'd rather be here than in Death headquarters." Dinah said.
"True." Lilah nodded.
Very soon they approached the spot the map told them to go. Lilah folded up the map and stuffed it into the backpack pocket.
"Here we are." She said.
Dinah stared questioningly at the massive rocks and minerals placed randomly about the sandy ground. "I'm getting tired of having to figure out how to find the headquarters."
"That's okay," Lilah told her. "Toby and I can do it."
Toby was already studying the colorful rocks. "It could be some kind of pattern." He said.
Lilah nodded in agreement. Then stating her idea, she said, "Or we might have to pick the right one to open a secret passage to Land Headquarters. Like the life element."
"Or that." Toby agreed.
"Let's pick all of the rocks, one by one and see which one does something." Dinah suggested.
"Okay." They said.
Dinah went up to a giant crystal and tried to push it. Dinah struggled to do so, as it was bigger than her. Lilah giggled then went over to help. Toby followed.
They grunted as they strained to move the crystal.
"Nothing is happening." Dinah said, quitting her attempt to move the crystal.
Lilah stood up straight and looked over at a large, grey rock closest to them. "Let's try this one." Lilah said as she walked over to it.
Dinah and Toby went to it and began to help push. This one was just as difficult as the first.
They gave up and sat against it. They were out of breath.
"Lets look to see if there is a pattern before we start trying to move all these boulders." Lilah stood up as she said this.
"After a few seconds of analyzing," she nodded. "There is a pattern." She pointed as she spoke. "Look, they are placed in mineral, rock, mineral, rock order."
"Oh." Dinah saw what she meant.
Toby counted the rocks and minerals. "There are 25 altogether, 13 rocks and 12 minerals."
"12 minerals?" Lilah asked as she thought.
Toby nodded but Lilah was no longer paying attention to him.
"12 elements." Lilah connected.
"I wonder if each mineral represents an element then." Toby said.
"I wonder if that quartz crystal represents air." Lilah said. "It's white."
"I don't know any rocks or minerals." Dinah told them.
"I dont know much about rocks or minerals, but I've gotten good at recognizing some." Lilah replied.
"Hello." A males voice called from behind them. They turned around to see a boy fairy, around fourteen-years-old, walking their way. He was carrying a box of rocks in his arms. He was dark skinned and dark haired. He was dressed in baggy, brown cargo pants and black combat boots. He was shirtless and covered in mud. His brown, wings were folded neatly behind his back. "Can I be of help to you?"
"Yes actually." Lilah answered. "We were needing to get in Land Headquarters, but we dont know how to open up the passage. We wanted to talk to the fairy in charge."
"The one in charge would be Terra." He replied, "I can help you get down to her, I am actually meeting with her now. I am one of her land fairies who help her keep up with the element."
"Okay, thanks." Lilah said.
The male fairy walked over to the bunch of rocks and stood in front of the sixth mineral in the line. "Usually its not this easy to get in." He began to tell them. "But since I live here all I have to do is stand in front of the mineral representing land, which is this one here called siderite."
"We were right, they represent each element," Lilah thought.
"Have you heard of siderite?" The fairy asked.
They all shook their heads no, and stood in front of the brownish colored mineral. The siderite tilted over, revealing a stone pathway leading down underground.
"This way." The fairy began walking downwards and the three kids followed.
The siderite slammed shut once everyone was inside. It was dim but not dark, torches hung on the walls, lighting their way.
The end of the pathway led them into, what looked like, a little town. Little huts made of clay and mud were built in rows. A castle-like structure, made of stone and crystals, stood tall in the far center. They knew that it was Land Headquarters.
The fairy helping them called to a second male fairy, "Steel!"
When Steel flew down, the fairy guiding them said, "fly ahead and tell Terra we are coming."
"I will." Steel said as he flew off.
Other land fairies and creatures were walking and flying around, hard at work. The male fairies were dressed the same way as the fairy who brought them down, only some wore shorts instead of pants. Their wings were brown too, though some grey, black, or clear (though the clear wings seemed reserved to females only). The female fairies were dressed in a dresses, skirts, and tops made of mud. Some of the fairies were cleaner than others.
"Terra is this way." The fairy who helped them said.
He took them into Land Headquarters. The inside was made of rock too. It looked like the inside of a cave.
Terra was sitting on a throne in the far end of a dim room. The brightest light shone down on her. She sat legs crossed and back straight. She looked very intimidating, even more so than Persefoni.
She stared directly at them; her facial expression was unchanged as she spoke. "You must be the three children Steel told me of."
"Yes, they are the ones." The fairy who helped them replied. "I told Steel to report to you."
"Thank you, Cole."
Cole nodded, saying you're welcome.
Terra got up from her chair and stepped down from the gem encrusted steps.
Terras black hair was up in a messy bun and covered with pearls. Her eyebrows were replaced with the same pearls in her hair. The ends of her eyelashes were decorated with pearls too. Her eyes were grey. She was dark skinned and didnt seem to be wearing make-up except for grey eyeliner and brown lipstick that looked a lot like mud. Grey stone earrings dangled from her pointed ears, and crystals hung from the matching wide choker around her neck. Like the other fairies, she wore her element key as a necklace. Her nails were painted grey, and the rings around every finger were made of different stones.
For clothing, it looked like she used a thick layer of hardened mud to create a romper. She had on two identical arm cuffs (brown, mud ones that matched her clothes), one around her wrist and the other around her opposite bicep. The opposing bicep was the land tattoo, which was a mountain. Her shoes were brown, chunky wedged platforms made from rock, or the same hardened mud as her romper. Her wings were clear plastic, or maybe it was a thin glass, it was hard to tell.
"As I assume you know, I am Terra, the fairy in charge of the land element. Welcome to my headquarters."
"Thank you." Lilah said.
"They told me you were coming but they did not tell me why."
"Oh, well we wanted to win over the land pearl to help re-unite the twelve elements of The Land of Dreams. Um, we brought you the charmed sand you want." Lilah told her.
Terra raised one of her pearl-covered eyebrows.
Dinah moved to the backpack and pulled out the container of sand.
"Here you go ma'am." Dinah said as she handed it to Terra.
Terra took at and held it up to her face to examine it. "How do I know that this is truly the charmed sand that I am looking for?"
Dinah, not knowing the answer to the fairys question, turned to Lilah.
Lilah shrugged, "I don't know."
"Where did you get it?" Terra asked.
"Silver Bug Beach." Lilah answered truthfully.
Terra narrowed her eyes at her because she couldn't tell if Lilah was lying. "Who told you to look there?"
"The magic list that Azlin gave us." Lilah replied.
Terra seemed to think for a few minutes before she said, "very well, I'll take you to the room of the land pearl. She clutched the key around her neck. But I'll be the one to unlock the door."
"Okay." Lilah said, she didn't care who unlocked the door, as long as they got in.
Terra walked over to a torch on the wall and pulled it downward. Next to it, the empty rock walls slid open, revealing a secret passage. They followed Terra down a short hallway. A stone door was at the end.
Without taking the key off from around her neck, Terra leaned inward to unlock the door. She let them step in and shut the door behind them.
The room was nothing but dirt and brown rock. In the center, a large cave faced the doorway. In front of the cave was a brown and orange, marbled pearl sitting on top of a rocky pedestal.
"I'll grab the land pearl." Lilah took in a deep, nervous breath as she worriedly rubbed her hands together.
She stood in front of the pedestal now. There is no point in stalling, Lilah thought to herself. You're going to have to do it anyway. "Just grab it really fast," she told herself, aloud this time. And that's what she did; she took her own advice and she snatched the pearl from the pedestal as fast as she could. Lilah looked down and uncurled her curled fingers, as if to check if she really had it. Satisfied, she curled her fingers around it again and tried her best to look into the cave. No beast? She wondered. Strange. And turned to go with Dinah and Toby.
Just then, a growl came from behind Lilah. Lilah went stiff. Lilah slowly turned herself around to face it. She was silly to think there'd be no beast.
The land beast was a humanoid figure made up of the same brown rock as its surroundings. It roared in front of the cave.
Lilah gulped at the beast standing before her while Toby and Dinah stared from the entrance, paralyzed with fear.
"Run!" Dinah then shouted. Lilah listened and darted for the door.
After taking a few more steps, Lilah yelped. She had tripped on a crack in the floor and her foot was stuck in between the rocks. Lilah fell forward and the land beast roared. Lilah gasped and twisted her torso, she could see the land beast running at her, it looked like an angry gorilla.
"Lilah!" Toby and Dinah shouted. Both ran towards her. Lilah yanked at her foot, but it wouldn't budge. She flipped around again, the beast was too close, she wouldnt make it. Lilah looked up, "Toby!" She cried. "Catch!" She tossed the land pearl at him.
With the land pearl in someone elses hands the beasts attention shifted.
Tobys eyes widened realizing that, once again, it was his turn to be chased. Toby ran and the land beast followed.
Dinah bent down to help her sister. Lilah kicked at the rock and pulled her leg. "Come on, foot. GET OUT!" She shouted with frustration. She fell backward, landing on her butt. "Thank goodness." She said. Her foot was free.
Lilah and Dinah frantically looked around for Toby. When they had spotted him, they saw that he had fit himself deep in between two large boulders. The land beast was roaring with frustration and swatting at the rocks because he was two big to fit.
"Toby!" Lilah cried. "Why would you trap yourself?"
"Because I got scared!" He called to her.
"Do you think you can throw the pearl hard enough to get it to us?" Lilah asked.
"Yeah." Toby answered.
"Okay, go."
Lilah and Dinah watched the pearl fly out from between the rocks, over the land beast, and drop in front of them. The beast turned around to face them at the same time that Dinah hurried to grab the land pearl.
The beast started for Dinah, allowing Toby to come out of hiding.
"I'll get the door!" Lilah yelled as Dinah began to run. "You keep running! Trade off with Toby if you need to."
"Okay!" Dinah yelled back as she did her best to run from the beast behind her.
Lilah yanked open the stone door, groaning at its heavy weight.
"Guys, come! But hurry, its heavy." While holding the door Lilah shouted for them.
Toby ran out of the beasts room while Dinah still ran in large circles.
"When you turn, come this way instead!" Lilah told her. Toby was now helping Lilah keep the door open.
Dinah did as Lilah said. She ran out of the room allowing, Toby and Lilah to let the door shut with a slam.
They walked back down the short hallway and stopped because the exit was shut.
"Terra closed it." Dinah said.
"There has to be a way out from this side." Lilah said. "She wouldn't trap us in here, plus I'm sure she comes in here sometimes. How would she get out?"
"Fairy magic." Dinah replied.
Toby shook his head, "the element fairies only have magic related to their element."
"Oh." Dinah said.
Lilah was looking at the rocky wall, larger minerals were poking out. "Maybe one of these gems is a button of some kind."
Toby poked one, "it's not that one." He said with a shake of his head.
"It might be this one. It's perfectly round and its in a spot that a button would be in." Lilah told them.
Lilah pressed it and it pushed into the wall; the doors slid open.
Out there, Terra was sitting on her throne, waiting for them. "That was quick. Did you give up?"
Dinah held up the pearl and smiled, "We got it!"
Terra scoffed, "I see that."

The three of the kids, Lilah, Dinah, and Toby, were now on their way to the next element headquarters.
Time, Lilah had told them, was the next element.
They were walking on cobblestone floor and wafting away drifting factory smoke when Toby suddenly shouted with excitement, "Look there it is!" He pointed ahead.
Lilah and Dinahs eyes widened at its greatness. It looked like someone took a complex city and squashed it together to fit in a certain sized proximity. The buildings all matched one another, being made of glass and dark gold. Mechanical whirring, ticking of clocks, and other machinery enveloped the headquarters in loud, yet pleasant sounds. Above the city they could see a brown and gold blimp circling around in the sky; a large clock was in the middle. As they approached closer, they could see that the fairies inhabiting Time Headquarters was dressed quite similar to those living in Time Town. In the center of it all, was a tall clock tower. The hands on the clock jumped and it dinged, striking midnight.
Evermore began to cluck loudly.
Lilah looked at her and smiled, "Yes Evermore, we made it to Time Town. We are giving you to Amser now."
Evermore clucked louder, enjoying her very positive emotion of excitement.
They stopped at the copper colored gate and squinted passed the bars.
"Do you think they'll let us in?" Dinah asked.
Lilah nodded and answered her little sisters question, "Yes. We've just got to ask."
Lilah got the attention of a male fairy walking passed the gate entrance. "Excuse me!" she called to him. "Could you let us in?"
The male fairy turned to her and stopped with the metal cart he was pushing along with him. "Depends on why you want to be let in." He replied.
"Uh, well we want to talk to Amser, you know the fairy in charge of time?" Lilah said.
"I'm sure he knows who Amser is." Dinah whispered to her sister. Lilah shrugged.
"Yes, I know who Amser is. She is my leader." He replied.
"See." Dinah said.
"Shh." Lilah shushed her sister before continuing her conversation with the male fairy. "Well, we have Evermore, her time bird. We got it back from Sir Horace, her older brother. We want to give it back and try to battle your time beast."
The fairy didnt reply, instead he flew over to the gate. The three children stepped back so he could let them in.
They could not see what he was doing, but they could hear clicks of what sounded like a typewriter coming from the other side. Then, on their side, the gears and the hands of the two clocks began to rotate. The double gate doors opened, allowing them inside.
Without the large poles obscuring their vision, they could get a better view of the young man who helped them. His skin was light, and his eyes were hazel, like his hair. He wore a chest plate made of metal and brown leather, wrist cuffs with clocks, and boots with lots of buckles, and pockets. His pants seemed simple enough, but he had big, round goggles around his head. His wings looked clear, but they were outlined in, what looked like, gold tinsel, and the part attached to his back was made up of metal designs and gears. When he went back to his cart, they could see it was full of books.
"What are those books about?" Toby asked.
"Time." The fairy answered.
"Oh." Toby said. "I should have known."
"So, where can we find Amser?" Lilah asked politely.
"Follow me, I think she is in her dwelling." He replied.
Inside, they could see that most of the building had clocks on their walls and windows. A small, black train slowly made its way around a corner. They also saw large tin robots, made of nuts and bolts walking around every corner, and old, rattling cars driving by on every road.
"Here is the headquarters of Time Headquarters." The fairy said. 
A large, Victorian, steampunk building stood before them. It matched the other buildings in Time Headquarters, only it was much bigger. A large clock was in the center of the tallest tower. They realized it was the clock tower they had seen when they were standing at the entrance, and they also realized that it was the biggest clock that they had ever seen.
"Just walk in and go down the twelfth hallway. Keep going straight, it will bring you to Amsers room." He told them. As he put in a password into the lock to let them in, he said, "If Amser asks how you got in tell her it was Cronus who did you the favor."
The double doors were gold and looked like a complicated safe door. Gears twisted and turned, clock hands swirled in quick circles, bars moved, and a pipe let out a puff of smoke before the door opened. Inside, different clocks covered the walls, ceilings and floors, like cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks, regular round clocks, alarm clocks, and more. The hallway went horizontal instead of vertical, and it led into twelve other separate hallways in front of them. A clock hung above each one of the entrances.
"He said to go into the twelfth hallway." Dinah said, and began walking to the last hallway in the line.
Lilah grabbed her little sisters arm to stop her, "Wait. He did say the twelfth hallway, but this is Time headquarters. It's going to be like a clock. We have to go down the first one." She told her.
Dinah looked confusingly at Toby with a shrug before following her big sister.
Lilah was right, at the end of the hallway was Amser, she was sitting at her desk when they knocked.
Amser opened the door, she was taller than they had expected. She seemed to be the tallest of her sisters. Her skin had an olive complexion and her eyes were amber. She wore neutral colored eye make-up with red lipstick. She had black hair and wore a golden headband, made of working gears, on her head. Golden earrings dangled down to her chin. Around her neck was a lace corset geared choker and the time key.
Her fitted dress was made of brown leather and black buttons. The skirt of the dress was shorter in the front than it was in the back. She had on long socks that reached up to her thighs and brown, leather boots with golden buckles and straps. A clock belt, that matched her choker, wrapped around her waist. Both her wrists had a watch on them, but only one had a bracelet. One of her biceps had a tattoo of gears and a clock. On the opposite arm of the time tattoo was an arm cuff. It was lace, like the belt, and had a clock in the center too. One of her fingers was decorated with an odd-looking ring. The ring covered her whole finger and went passed her nail, it too had gears on it.
Amsers wings were golden with rotating gears. A single ticking clock in the center of her back connected each wing.
"Who are you?" Amser asked, but then she saw her time bird and gasped, "Evermore." She looked back at the children and sighed, "You want the pearl don't you?"
They nodded.
Amser picked up Evermores cage. "I'll take you to the beasts room, just let me put Evermore in her rightful place."
They nodded and patiently waited for Amser. When Amser stepped back out into the hallway she said, "This way please." And they followed.
Amser brought them up several flights of stairs and then down an elevator.
"Why did you take us all the way up just to go all the way down?" Lilah asked.
"Because the only way to get to the underground rooms is this elevator and the only way to get into this elevator is from that room."
"Oh." Lilah said.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. They stepped out into a small room with a single door. They watched Amser unlock the door with the time key.
"Head on in." Amser told them.
After they stepped inside, they turned to see Amser give a smile and a wave before she shut the door on them.
They looked around the time pearls room. It was simple, the walls were painted burgundy and the floors were brown tile. A golden pedestal sat in the center of the empty room.
They approached the pedestal, a red stand was in the center, and it held the yellow and orange marbled pearl.
"I'll grab it. You two watch behind me for the time beast." Lilah said and looked down at it anxiously before picking it up. 
As soon as it was in her hands, the time beast appeared in front of Lilah, like a hologram. Lilah looked up at the large beast in awe. It was a large cat-like creature. Parts of its body were robotic, the other feline. It towered over them, and the mechanical top hat it wore on its head made it two times bigger. 
"Whoa, so cool." Lilah commented.
The time beast roared suddenly, and the pearl was back on the pedestal. And Lilah, was back to looking down on it. She looked at her empty hand and then back up at the time beast. "Hey!" She said.
Lilah snatched the pearl back and ran off in the opposite direction. She looked behind herself to see how close the beast was, but it had not moved. Instead, the beast growled again, baring its teeth. The pearl seemed to teleport back to its place on the pedestal and Lilah reappeared back in front of it. Dinah and Toby were also back in the same position they were in before Lilah grabbed the pearl.
"Woah! What happened." Dinah asked.
"I don't know." Toby replied.
"I think," Lilah said turning to them. "Its turning back time."
"How are we going to get the time pearl if the beast keeps turning back time on us?" Dinah asked.
Toby shrugged while Lilah looked deep in thought.
"The beast is like a time machine." Lilah said. "So, when we get the time pearl it turns back to when we don't have it."
"Yes and?" Dinah was eager to hear the plan.
"And if we can get to whatever part of him that does that then maybe we can force it to jump forward in time to where we have the time pearl and are out of the room." Lilah finished.
"Well, I'm guessing the thing that does that is the clock on its hat." Dinah said.
"I agree." Lilah nodded.
"Well how are we going to get to that?" Toby questioned them.
"It doesn't seem that aggressive." Lilah said. "It's still just standing there. I can try and climb it."
Lilah turned to face the time beast again and took in a deep breathe before walking up to it. The beast didn't move, it only looked down at her. Lilah went to the pedestal and hoisted herself up onto it. Then she jumped from there onto the side of the time beast and began to climb up.
Dinah and Toby watched nervously. The time beast still wasn't moving.
Lilah made it to the top of the beasts head. She reached up for the clock and turned the hands clockwise.
At first nothing had happened, but then she began to see particles of her skin come off of her hand. She was slowly teleporting away. The same began to happen to Dinah. 
Lilah looked back at the clock on the cats top hat and tried to break it so the time beast couldn't turn back time again. She punched it, even though she knew it was probably not going to work, she wasn't strong enough. Lilah groaned when nothing happened, she was trying to do this quickly. She had to hurry before she fully disappeared.
Lilah ripped off the clocks hands before she time traveled, hoping it would work.
Toby was watching as Dinah and Lilah dissolved away. He looked down at his hands, he looked like particles were leaving his body too. Then he was surrounded in darkness for a spilt of a second.
They had formed outside the room.
"We did it." Lilah said, the pearl was in her hand.
A rumble came from underneath them. "Spoke too soon."
White walls penetrated from the floor all around them and the room seemed to expand.
"What happened?" Toby asked.
"It's a maze." Lilah realized.
"Oh yeah." Dinah noticed after she said it out loud.
They heard a ticking yowl of the time beast behind them. It stood there menacingly, glaring at them with its orange feline eyes. They could tell it was getting ready to pounce.  
Lilah's eyes widened, "run!"
They did.
The three of them had split up. Dinah and Lilah were running down a hallway together.
They weren't sure if the beast was behind them, but they needed to stop. They were out of breath.
Panting, they looked up at each other.
"Do you think Toby is okay?" Dinah asked.
"I dont know, hopefully." Lilah replied. "Maybe we both lost the beast."
"Hopefully." Dinah said.
They stood there, resting, when something caught Lilahs eye. It was a mirror, a large, beautiful mirror. It was hidden in a closed off part of the maze. It was decorated with golden gears and red roses. A strand of fairy lights was draped around the mirrors rim, which would allow them to see in the darkly shaded area.
"Look." Lilah pointed and then she began to walk up to it. Dinah followed.
They were looking at themselves in the mirror when their images dissolved. Their reflections turned into someone else.
Two teenage girls stared back at them in their place. Lilah stepped back startled, and so did the girl in front of her.
Dinah looked at her sister confused.
Lilah noticed that the girls was mimicking their every move. Lilah stepped closer and held her hand up to the mirror. The girl in front of her did the same.
Dinah wanted to see if the girl in front of her would follow her movements too, so she began to make silly faces. Dinah laughed when the other girl began to copy her.
Lilah looked at her little sister and smiled at her silliness.
Dinah pulled away and said, "I think she kind of looks like me."
Dinahs words made Lilah realize something.
"I think that's because it is you." Lilah said.
Dinah laughed, "I think you need glasses."
"Yeah, I think I need glasses too. I can't really see that far, but thats not what I mean." Lilah looked back at the girl in front of her, analyzing her. She had straight brown hair like Lilah, the same brown eyes, and light skin with freckles. The differences were that she was taller, and clearly older, plus she had glasses. Big, rounded black ones. But, other than that, the girl looked like she could be Lilah with a few years of age. "I think its us in the future."
Dinah looked at her sister with wide, excited eyes. "Really!"
Lilah nodded.
Dinah looked back at the girl in front of her. The same brown hair, hazel eyes, and pale olive skin. "Wow."
"You're right Lilah." The girl in front of Lilah said with a smile. "Or should I say me. Younger me."
Lilah jumped, startled. She wasn't expecting her to talk at all.
"I am you four years from now." Older Lilah told her.
Older Dinah looked at younger Dinah and said, "And I am you four years in the future."
"Cool." Dinah nodded.
"Well, at least I know we get out of here alive." Lilah said. She frowned up at older Lilah, "We do get out of here, right?" She asked.
Older Lilah sighed, "We can't tell you that."
Lilah frowned, "Oh."
"Does mommy make it?" Dinah asked.
"We can't tell you that either." Older Lilah said.
"Oh." Dinah said.
Then, a yowl came from behind them. All four of them gasped. The time beast was coming, it was down the hall.
"Go, run!" The older version of Lilah suddenly shouted.
"Hurry!" The older version of Dinah yelled.
Lilah spun around along with Dinah. The time beast was coming up behind them, and fast.
"It's a dead end! We're stuck!" Lilah yelled.
Then, Older Dinah and older Lilah reached their hands out from the mirror and yanked their younger selves inside. They were now standing in a dark room with their older selves.
"How'd you do that?" Dinah asked.
Older Lilah and older Dinah shrugged.
"We don't actually know." Older Lilah replied, she glanced at older Dinah.
"We just had to try." Older Dinah said. "We couldn't let anything happen to ourselves."
"Well, whatever it was," said Lilah, "thanks."
Older Lilah smiled with a nod, "You're welcome."
The mirror wall was a window, and they could see the time beast sniffing around just before it ran off down another hall.
Lilah looked back at their older selves, "I think we can go now."
The older sisters nodded and pushed their younger selves out of the mirror.
Lilah and Dinah stood up and looked back at the mirror, but all they saw were their boring, old reflections.
The sisters looked at each other with a sigh before they ran back down the hallway.
They turned a corner and crashed into Toby.
"Oh!" Lilah shouted.
"Ah!" Toby and Dinah screamed. 
"Toby!" Lilah said, realizing it was their friend.
"Sorry." Toby apologized. "I didn't see you."
"It's okay, we didn't see you either." Lilah said. 
"Did you run into the beast?" Dinah asked Toby.
"No, did you?" He replied.
"Almost." Lilah said.
"Instead, we met our future selves." Dinah told him.
"Yeah." Lilah said.
"How's that possible?" Toby wondered.
"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who lives in a world full of magic." Lilah said with a shrug.
Toby looked confused, "You don't have magic where you're from?"
"I don't know, maybe." Lilah said. "There are a lot of undiscovered things on Earth."
"It was a magic mirror in time headquarters, thats how." Dinah said.
"Yeah, magic." Lilah agreed. "Like I said."
A growl came from somewhere in the maze. Alarmed, they flinched and looked around for the time beast, but they saw nothing.
"We've got to get out of here." Lilah said looking passed Toby.
"We don't know the way out." Toby reminded them.
"I know, we have to figure it out."
"I say we go that way." Dinah pointed.
Lilah shook her head, "That's where Toby came from. We've got to go a way we haven't gone."
"So, that way?" Dinah pointed down a hallway. "It was to the left of where Toby had come from."
"If Toby hasn't gone that way then yes."
Toby shook his head, "I haven't gone that way."
"Then lets hope the beast isn't down there." Lilah said.
They ran down the hallway. It was curved; Lilah had commented that she hoped it wasnt taking them in a circle.
They came to a stop, a wall told them it was the end of the hall.
"It's another dead end." Dinah groaned.
Lilah sighed.
"Now where do we go?" Toby asked.
"We must have missed something." Lilah said.
"We didn't go down the hall we saw the time beast turn into when we were in the mirror." Dinah reminded her.
"Oh yeah." Lilah remembered. "Let's go."
They ran off into the direction leading them to where they were before.
They passed the hall that the mirror was down. Lilah and Dinah both looked to see if they could see anything in the mirror, but they could not. They frowned and continued to run passed it.
They came to the end of the hall. The time beast was no where in sight, but a door was. It was gold with a black design, the knob was a red rose.
"Pretty." Lilah said. She turned the knob and pulled open the door.
They exited the maze and were surprised to see the room they had exited the elevator from.
Lilah looked at the other two and smiled. She held up the pearl, "We made it. We got another one."

"Where are we going?" Dinah asked.
"Wisdom is next." Lilah told them.
"Oh." Dinah replied.
The ground began to sprout grass. The patches of green grass turned into fields as they moved forward. And the green of the grass became teal in color as they walked deeper into the area for wisdom. A white stone path began to form in front of them.
Soon, they had to stop at a three-way intersection. They each spread off in different directions; left, right, and straight.
"Which way should we go?" Dinah asked
"Straight!" Toby said. "Its the way we went with all the other elements before this one."
"Oh yeah, they are all in the center." Dinah said. "The middle pathway makes sense."
"Wait, before we just make a guess" Lilah unfolded the map to check it.
On the map, Lilah found the fork they stood at and Wisdom Headquarters in the center of the shaded area. She also saw that there were three more forks ahead of the one they were stopped at.
"We go right." Lilah concluded, after analyzing the map. "See, the path going straight ends up turning back around. Which is actually this one." She pointed to the left pathway.
"So, the straight path and the left path are actually the same path?" Dinah asked.
Lilah nodded, "Yup."
"Right it is then." Toby said, and they all walked onto the pathway.
When they got to the second fork, Lilah looked back at the map. "This one we go straight." She said. They walked forward.
The next fork had only two choices; straight or left.
"Straight again." Lilah said after looking at the map.
The fourth, and last, intersection looked like the first, but on the map, Lilah saw, that the loop was on the opposite side. "Left." Lilah told them, and they continued walking down that path.
Finally, they saw a large building up ahead of them. It was made of white stone and blue diamond.
"Is that the headquarters?" Dinah asked surprised, it was a lot smaller than the others.
"I dont think so." Lilah said. "The path continues, and if you look up ahead there is another building just like it. And another passed that one."
Dinah saw that her sister was correct, but she was still confused.
"Read what the sign says." Toby said.
Lilah looked up at the black letters and read, "Library of War."
Dinah frowned, "That sounds dangerous."
Lilah ignored her and looked over at the second building ahead, "They must all be libraries." She jogged ahead.
"Yeah, this one is the Library of The Land of Dreams."
Toby ran past Lilah and read the next sign. "Library of The Elements."
Dinah went to the next building, she wanted to read one too. "Library of Spirtol Ba..lifts?"
"Spiritual Beliefs." Lilah corrected her.
"Oh." Dinah said. "Sorry, Im still learning to read."
"I know." Lilah replied.
"There are more libraries." Toby pointed.
"Wisdom Headquarters has got to be at the end of them." Lilah said.
They passed more libraries and they took turns reading what kind of genre of books each one held. "Library of Space!" Dinah got to read. "Library of Science Fiction." Toby said. "Library of Science." Lilah said. Other libraries, they noticed, carried books on romance, plants, other worlds, mystery, music, math, languages, horror, history, fantasy, drama, dimensions, crime, creatures, art, and action and adventure.
Lilah noticed that the names of the libraries were going backwards in the alphabet. She figured it was probably because they started on the opposite end of where it began, Wisdom Headquarters.
Wisdom Headquarters looked like a much bigger version of the libraries that they had seen on the way up to it. It too was made of white stone and blue diamond. Another small library was connected to it, this one read, General Library.
They walked up the large, wooden door. Lilah knocked using the knocker hung on the door.
Seconds later a female fairy opened the door. She was brown skinned and dressed like a school teacher. She had on a frilly white shirt and a blue, plaid pencil skirt. Under the collar of her shirt was a black bow tie. Around her waist was a belt. She wore white stockings and black Mary Jane heels. The pupils of her eyes were large and were light blue; they almost blended in with the sclera, which had a tint of blue to them. She had on large black glasses and white eye shadow with blue glitter. On one of her biceps was the wisdom tattoo, which was an open book with fluttering pages. Around her neck was the wisdom key necklace. On one hand were silver rings, on the opposite wrist was a silver bracelet. Her wings were blue, but the edges were white. She had a middle wing in between her forewing and hindwing. The fairies hair was blue and white dreadlocks. The back of her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. The front strands were left to hang, and they were decorated with silver braiding cuffs.
She smiled with her hands placed neatly in front of herself. "Hello, Im Minerva. Welcome to Wisdom Headquarters."
"Are you the element fairy in charge?" Dinah asked.
"Yes." Minerva answered.
"I'm Lilah. " Lilah said. "That's my sister, Dinah and my friend, Toby."
Minerva nodded to show she understood.
"We are here to try and battle your beast for the wisdom pearl."
"Do you have what I seek?" Minerva asked.
"Yes, The Book of Cursed and Forbidden Spells. Its in the backpack." Lilah replied as she took off the bag from her back. She pulled out the book and gave it to Minerva.
"Thank you." Minerva said and admired the details of the book. "Where did you find it?"
"Oh, it was in The Library of Dreams in a hidden room." Lilah answered her.
"Interesting." She paused. "Its interesting how it seems so simple but yet it was difficult for me to find it. I mean, I looked everywhere in that library. I looked in every library I know. I looked everywhere for a long while and I could not find it. But three children, two who, may I add, are not even from this world, find it in a matter of hours. Odd how it is so difficult for us element fairies to locate the item we desire most. Concealed from us. Its almost as if we arent meant to have it in our grasp. But now I am finally holding the book that contains the only knowledge I do not know, and it is thanks to you three."
Lilah nodded because she had realized that before. In fact, she had thought that before, how it was supposed to be difficult. Well yes, surely it wasn't easy. They had almost died more than a couple of times! But if three kids could do it, then twelve powerful fairies could too.
Minerva smiled again, "Now follow me."
Lilah, Dinah, and Toby followed Minerva into one of the towers connected to Wisdom headquarters. They went up many steps, wrapping upward in a spiral. At the top Minerva unlocked the door at the ends of the staircase. "Good luck." She said as they entered the room of the wisdom pearl.
The kids looked around at their surroundings. It was a library or maybe a study, either way there were shelves of used dusty books and piles of foxed pages and opened books scattered about. There was a vintage desk, sitting at an angle on one side of the room and the forest green wallpaper was peeling off from the walls. The room wasnt very big, but it was tall. It was circular with a bowl-shaped ceiling and a rounded balcony, allowing someone to reach the books on the highest shelves. A dusty skylight was in the center of the ceiling, and because the sun was going down, it was very dim inside. To Lilah, the smell inside of this old looking room was welcoming and smelled like an old library should. To Dinah and Toby, the odor was pungent, smelling like mildew and something aged and musky.
"I like it in here." Lilah said.
"Maybe if it was a little cleaner." Toby said, "I'd like it more."
Dinah shrugged, "I don't know it's kind of boring."
"You're boring." Lilah said playfully.
With a smile, Dinah shot back, "Look who's talking." Then she did her best to jokingly impersonate her big sister, "Oh, I'm Lilah I like to read all day."
Lilah laughed, "I don't sound like that!"
"Yes y-" Dinah was cut off by a womans voice.
"Hello children." The voice said.
They looked up at the balcony, where the voice had come from. Lilah and Dinah stared at their mother in disbelief.
"Mommy?" Dinah asked.
"Yes Dinah." The woman, who looked a lot like her mother asked.
"What are you doing up there?" Dinah asked. "Are you better now?"
The womans voice began to break up into pieces as she spoke the next words, "Does it look like I'm okay?" Her face began to disfigure, like a melting wax figure. "You and your sister failed me." 
Dinah screamed and covered her face. Lilah gasped and jumped in to hug her little sister. Just then, the creature that had resembled their mother disappeared.
Dinah sobbed against her sisters chest.
"Shh, its okay Dinah." Lilah stroked her sisters back. "It was fake. Mommy is home safe."
Dinah pulled away with her cheeks soaked with tears. "No, she is home but not safe! We've got to hurry and get the wish."
Lilah nodded. "You're right. She is not healthy, but she is safe. She is at home, okay? That thing was meant to scare us."
Dinah nodded as she wiped away her tears. "I know."
"We need to focus on getting the pearl." Lilah said and glanced around.
"The pearl isnt here." Dinah noticed.
"No," Tobys voice was very shaky. "but that is." He pointed straight ahead with a shaking hand. A tall, thin humanoid figure was sprawled out on top of the old desk. Its black head was turned to face them, and its white arms and legs where placed in irregular positions. Its bulging, red googly eyes stared at them. Its huge, toothy smile seemed to mock them.
"Oh gosh." Dinahs eyes widened.
"Ew." Lilah whispered under her breathe.
"Its Nigel." Toby said, his teeth were chattering.
"I'm sorry, who?" Lilah asked him without turning her head, she was too scared to take her eyes of the eerie monster.
"A boogie man who sometimes visits me in my nightmares." Toby explained. He too did not want to take his eyes off Nigel. "Ive never seen him in real life, but it's one of my greatest fears."
"Its not real then Toby." Lilah told him. "Like us with our mom, its only to scare us."
After Lilah said this, the boogie man named Nigel slowly began to rise from the desk.
"Well, it sure is working." Toby croaked.
Without turning its head away from Toby, Nigel fully stood up in only a way a contortionist could. Suddenly, it began to run at Toby.
Toby ran for the door behind them. He grabbed the knob, but it wouldnt turn. "Its locked! Its locked!" Toby screeched. "No, let me out!" Nigel was now standing over Toby as he cried.   
Lilah threw a book at the creature, causing whatever it was to, quickly glitch between Nigel and a large floating shadow. Before it disappeared, it screamed like a girl.
"Its a shapeshifter." Lilah realized.
Lilah went over to Toby, who was hyperventilating and getting his back pat by Dinah. "Its okay, it is gone." She was telling him. Lilah rubbed Tobys back and tried to reassure him too when the shapeshifter reappeared. This time it was in the form of someone Lilah knew all too well. Herself.
The Lilah that stood in front of the children wasnt the same Lilah they recognized. It was the teenage Lilah from the future, like the one in Time Headquarters mirror. 
"Oh my gosh." Lilah whispered. "Its older me."  
"Hello little me." The shapeshifter version of Lilah taunted.
"What is going on? Where is the wisdom pearl?" Lilah demanded.
Shapeshifter Lilah giggled, "Its hidden. Youll have to find it, but only if you can break out of this room."
"What?" Lilah asked.
Shapeshifter Lilah teleported to a spot on the balcony as she explained.
"I am Vidya, a shapeshifter, but you may have heard of me as the wisdom beast." She teleported to another side of the room. "I protect the pearl of wisdom, and to win it over you have to use your intellect."
"How?" Lilah asked.
"If you look at the door you will see a combination lock. You need to figure out the five digits that will help unlock it." Vidya turned her head to the right and to the left of them, a pedestal rose from the ground. Instead of the pearl there was an envelope. "Inside there is what you need to get started. I will not help you, but I will say that each room is a different number for the combination lock."
The kids went to it and Lilah tried to grab it, but it was stuck. They looked up at Vidya. 
Vidya swooped down from the balcony and landed next to them. She picked up the envelope and handed it to Lilah without a word. Lilah began to open it while Vidya teleported to the desk chair.
Lilah pulled out the folded parchment paper and unfolded it so she could read, "Look for the correct symbol. It will bring you to the first room. Oh, and remember these numbers, 35412." When she finished reading it the paper disappeared. "No!" Lilah cried. "I didn't get to be sure I remembered them."
"I think it was 35-" Dinah started but Lilah interrupted her.
"I know, 35412. But I have to make sure we remember." Lilah jogged over to the desk, ignored Vidya, and looked for a pen. Instead of a pen she found a quill and ink pot. "This will have to do." Lilah whispered. She opened the ink pot and dipped the tip of the quill inside. "35412." She whispered as she wrote it on her arm. She wrote the numbers on Dinahs arm, then on Tobys. Lilah placed the quill and ink pot back on the desk and turned to her sister. "We find the room."
"But what symbol was the paper talking about" Dinah asked.
"The wisdom symbol I think." Lilah answered. "I mean, what else could it be?"
Vidya, using Lilahs future body, smirked as the kids crossed the room.
After a few minutes of searching, Dinah, recognizing the picture from Minervas tattoo, had found it. "Here!" She called.
Lilah and Toby dropped the items they were holding and ran over to Dinah. She was pointing up at a small picture hidden in the circles of the wallpaper. It was of an open book.
"Good job." Lilah cheered and put her hand on the wisdom symbol. The book glowed and a hidden door popped open.
They stepped inside and jumped when the door slammed shut behind them.
"What in the world?" Dinah said. The room was white and covered in words written in different colors. Every word had a number next to it.
"We have to solve it." Lilah said.
Dinah groaned, "More solving! Man, I don't like puzzles." She plopped to the ground to pout. "I told you this was a boring room."
"Stand up and help me." Lilah demanded.
Dinah gave an exaggerated groan before doing as her sister said. "Why couldn't this be music headquarters or something?" she mumbled under her breathe with a cross of her arms.
"Farm 2." Toby read. "Brick 7."
"Ooh, candy 1!" Dinah licked her lips as she read this.
"Specialty 2, nodded 1, drink 7, window 7, bulb 3, water 3, crunch 2, signature 5." Lilah read. "Hm, random." She said.
"These two words match in color, maybe that means something." Toby suggested.
Lilah thought for a moment then said, "Maybe the words that are the same color go together. Like make a sentence or something."
Toby shrugged, "Lets try."
Lilah nodded and turned back to the section she had previously been staring at, "Okay, so these three words are all lime green; water, specialty and drink. Specialty has a two next to it so that would mean it is the second word in the sentence." She paused and looked at the other two kids. "Right?"
Dinah shrugged, "No clue, but it seems possible."
"Yeah, that sounds like it might work. Try it." Toby nodded at Lilah.
"Okay, look for other lime green words." Lilah told them.
"Here is one." Dinah was looking up as she spoke. "The 1."
"The specialty water-" Lilah was matching the words numbers to her fingers. "Something, something, something, drink." She looked up and asked, "Do any words have an eight or higher?"
They all looked. "No." They said together.
"So, drink is the last word." Lilah said.
Toby found some more, "Here two more light green words. Is 4 and to 6."
"The specialty water is something to drink."
"Good!" Dinah exclaimed. "I found it here." She pointed up to where it read, "good 5."
"It does make a sentence. Now, we need to find the one that gives us an answer to the combination lock." Lilah said.
"What about the word answer?" Dinah asked looking up.
"Yes! Whats the number next to it and the color?" Lilah asked.
"Um, its blue and number two."
"Look around for six more blue words!" Lilah told them.
"Got it." Dinah said.
A few moments later they had found all of the blue colored words and put them together. "The answer to this room is nine." They said together. They cheered when one of the walls split in two, allowing them to pass into the second room. 
This room was full of mirrors, like a mirror maze. A table was to the left of the entrance, and a metal mallet sat on top. A notecard was next to that.
"Whoa." Dinah said.
Lilah picked up the notecard and read, "Find the right mirror."
"That's it?" Dinah asked.
"Yup." Lilah said as picked up the mallet. She then walked into the cluster of identical looking mirrors.
"Wha- But how are we supposed to do that!" Dinah questioned.
"We've got to find the different mirror." Toby answered.
"Yeah, I know that, but how are we supposed to know which one is different when they all literally look exactly the same!" Dinah questioned again.
"Maybe one has a crack in it." Toby said.
"Or maybe one is like a fun house mirror!" Dinah exclaimed.
Toby looked at her confused, "I don't know what that is."
Lilah had been analyzing each mirror as they spoke, putting her finger on each one to test the idea she had come up with. "I think youre both wrong." Lilah said from in front of a mirror.
Both, Dinah and Toby frowned, they had thought they were up to something.
Lilah kept talking, "Both of your ideas are possible, but I think they are too obvious."
"So, what are you doing?" Toby asked.
"Yeah, why do you keep touching every single one?" Dinah questioned.
Lilah explained, "Dad taught me how to check to see if its a two-way mirror. He said that if you put a finger on the mirror then there should be a little gap between your actual finger and your fingers reflection, and if there is not, well then its a two-way mirror."
"Oh." Dinah said.
"What's a two-way mirror?" Toby asked.
"Its a mirror that has a window on the other side. Usually, its placed in between rooms so you can see out only from one way and not the other." Lilah explained.
"Oh." Toby said. "So, you think that the answer to this room is on that side?"
"Yeah, and possibly the third room." Lilah said. "Now help."
Dinah and Toby parted ways and started checking to see if any of the mirrors were two-way mirrors. Minutes passed when Lilah finally found it.
"Bingo!" She cheered.
"You found it?" Dinah rushed over to her sister, Toby too.
"Yes, look." Lilah showed them by placing her pointer finger on the mirrors glass. Her finger directly touched her fingers reflection.
"Wow." Dinah said.
Lilah got ready to smash the two-way mirror when her sister stopped her, "Wait, I want to."
Lilah rolled her eyes because she wanted to too, but she handed it to her little sister anyway.
Dinah smashed the mirror and another room was revealed.
"Congratulations, you found the correct mirror. The answer to this room is four." A robotic voice announced from somewhere above them.
Lilah smiled, "I was right!"
Then, they entered the third room. It looked like a classroom, only everything was upside-down.
"Weird." Dinah commented.
Lilah went up to one of the questions written on the chalk board, and slightly tilted her head so she could read the upside down words, "You walk into a room and there are four couples, seven dreamers who are twenty-one years old, two infants, and one ancient being. How many creatures are in this room?"
Dinah read the problem to the left of it, "It says, one plus eight plus one minus nine." She mouthed the numbers as she solved it on her fingers. "The answer is one." She said.
"The answer to this one is..." Lilah began to think. If there are four couples then thats eight creatures, plus the other seven, and the two infants. And there is one ancient being, plus I walked in. How many creatures are in this- "No," she realized. "It's a trick question."
"What do you mean?" Dinah asked.
"It asked how many creatures are in this room, not that room." Lilah replied. "The answer is three. You, me, and Toby."
"Oh, smart." Dinah said.
"Look a crayon and paper." Toby grabbed it from inside an upside-down cubby.
"Let me see." Lilah took it from him and counted the questions on the chalk board. There were five so she marked down five lines. The question Dinah solved was the third problem, so she wrote one above the third mark. On the fourth line, which was her question number, she wrote down the answer she had come up with; three.
They solved the other three problems together, and on the paper, Lilah had:
0 1 1 3 4
"Zero, one, one, three, four." Lilah called out.
"Nothing is happening." Dinah whispered to her sister.
"Maybe we need to say it together." Lilah suggested. "Go."
"Zero, one, one, three, four." They said.
"Nothing happened." Dinah said again, but this time she didn't whisper.
"Hmm." Lilah looked down at the piece of paper she held, "Maybe I got the fourth question wrong." She looked around the upside-down room, "Or..." She wondered as she flipped the page upside down. "Look, the numbers look like they make the word hello."
"Hello!" She called out, but nothing happened. "Hmm." She analyzed her surroundings for something that could go with the word hello. Her eyes landed on a rotary phone. We say hello into a phone, she thought. Lilah rushed over to the rotary phone and picked it up. She put it to her ear and said, "hello?"
Nothing.
She placed the phone back and using the dial, dialed the numbers from the paper backwards. 43110. She placed the phone back to her ear and said, "The answer is hello. Hello?"
A robotic voice responded, "Hello. The answer to this room is seven."
Lilah placed the phone back with a smile. "We did it. The answer is seven."
A hidden door opened and Toby and Dinah cheered. 
This room was black. Six white boards were hung on the walls. A dry erase marker, in order of the color of the rainbow, was under each board, and so were other items of that color. A second door was to the right of them, a puzzle with six rows of two knobs was built into it. 
Lilah went up to the first white board. Words, written with the red dry erase marker, were written across from one another. There were six rows, like the doors puzzle.
Lilah analyzed the words. "Its a matching game. We've got to match the opposites; night goes with day." She concluded. She picked up the red marker and began matching the words to their opposites. "And moon goes with sun." She drew a diagonal line to connect them.
"I think this one is too." Dinah said, she was standing in front of the dry erase board with blue words. She picked up the blue marker and matched, sky with ground.
Toby stepped up to the board of orange words and started matching the opposites on that one, "Boy and girl." He said, drawing a line from one word to the other.
After they finished all six boards Dinah asked, "Now what?"
"I think something about these boards corresponds with the doors puzzle over there." Lilah said. "The knobs match the dots on the matching game." She turned back to the first white board, looked through the items and found a string. "Maybe we have to tie strings to two of the knobs, like drawing the lines on the matching game."
"How do we know which two knobs to tie the string to?" Toby asked.
"The room is rainbow themed, so maybe we have to do it in rainbow order." Dinah suggested.
Lilah nodded, "that's what I was thinking."
Lilah brought the red string she was holding to the doors puzzle and tied it to the first knob on the left, then she tied the other end to the third knob on the right to go along with the first match of the red board. "There." She said. "Bring me the orange string, please."
Dinah brought it to her. Lilah did the same for this colored string, tying the ends to correspond with the second pair on the orange themed board. She continued to do this until she got to the last knob. She tied the purple strings ends to match the last pair on the final board. "Done." she said as she finished the last knot.
The door popped open. "We did it!" Lilah exclaimed.
"Yay!" Dinah tried to high five Toby, but he flinched and screamed.
"What's wrong?" Dinah asked.
"I thought you were going to hit me." He said.
Dinah and Lilah laughed.
"She wasn't going to hit you she was trying to give you a high five." Lilah told him.
"A high five?" Toby asked.
"Yeah, like this." Dinah said and demonstrated the action with Lilah.
"Where we come from, humans do that with somebody to show friendship or excitement over something. Its called a high five because we rise are hands up in the air and we have five fingers." Lilah explained.
"Oh." Toby said and held up his hand so Dinah could give him this high five. Dinah giggled at Tobys confusion as they slapped their hands together.
"I dont like high fives," Toby said rubbing his blue hand. "They hurt."
Lilah shrugged and looked back at the cracked open door. "There was no announcement?"
"Maybe we have to find an answer and say it, like the first room?" Toby said.
Lilah opened the door all the way, "There is a wall here, and another dry erase board." This dry erase board was smaller, and it had a single black line drawn on it. It was a place to fit a single digit. She looked back at Toby and said, "I think youre right Toby, it looks like we have to figure out the number and write it here." Lilah said. "Six." She said together.
Toby nodded as he looked at Lilah, "I think you're right."
"Oh, six because there are six colors in a rainbow." Dinah realized.
"Yup." Toby and Lilah said together.
Lilah picked up the black marker next to the board.
"Can I write it?" Toby asked.
Lilah handed him the marker, "Sure."
On his tippy-toes, Toby wrote the number six. The wall swung open, and with excitement they rushed out of the last room and back into the room where the wisdom beast was waiting.
Vidya stood up, "You did it."
"Where is the wisdom pearl?" Lilah demanded.
"Uh-uh, not so fast. You've got one more puzzle to solve." Vidya said and indicated the door.
"Oh yeah." Lilah said and went over to the exit. "What were the answers again?"
"Um," Dinah thought. "9, 4, 7, 6."
"Right." Lilah got ready to begin to turn the numbers on the combination lock to correlate with their answer when she suddenly stopped. She saw the numbers she had written on her arm before. 4213.
"Wait," Lilah said. I think we have to do it in this order." She pointed to her arm. "The fourth room first." Lilah rotated the first digit to the number six, then the second to four, the third to nine, and the fourth to seven.
They heard a noise come from within the door, something hard was rolling around. Then, a small compartment slid open, like a machine giving you a gumball. Only, it wasnt a gumball, it was the wisdom pearl.
Lilah took it from the door and held it up with a smile. "We got it."
"Congratulations, you may leave with the wisdom pearl." Vidya said, then she turned into a floating, shadowy blob. "I have failed."
Lilah opened the door and said, "Well, maybe you should have made those puzzles harder." And then they left.

Lilah was looking at the map when Dinah said, "We must be getting closer."
"Yes, we are." Lilah nodded and pointed to a spot on the map. "It looks like we are in this field, so there should be an arch coming up. A golden pathway will lead us from there." She told them.
Minutes later, they came across the arch Lilah had seen on the map. It looked to be made from red and pink stone, and it was in the shape of a heart. Braided vines, covered in white roses, were draped on top of the arch like garland. Small pieces of diamonds were encrusted in the arches stone and the white wall connected to it.
"Woah." Lilah was admiring the arch.
"It's pretty." Dinah said.
Toby and Lilah nodded in agreement.
The golden brick pathway on the other side of the heart arch lead down to Love Headquarters in a curvy line. The three of them walked underneath the arch, and onto the gold path.
Love Headquarters was a pink castle with purple stained glass windows. Some of the walls were adorned in rose covered vines. The roof was made of red concrete tile and the perimeter was outlined with rose bushes. Swans swam in the clear lakes and doves flew in the blue skies. Flowers and diamonds were scattered around the meadows of Love Headquarters. Clipped trees, creating hearts and a fountain of water was placed outside the building too.
Stone statues of rabbits were on either side of the headquarters door. A cherub holding a bow and arrow was painted on the glass door. Lilah knocked, and then they waited for a fairy to open up.
A female fairy answered with a smile, "Hello." She said. She had wavy, blonde hair and wore a simple red dress. Her face was powdered in light make-up and she was barefoot. Her wings were made of white and pink feathers.
"Hi." Lilah and Dinah said together.
"Hello." Toby said.
"I'm Lilah," Lilah began. "We are here to speak to the fairy in charge of the love element because we have what shes asked for. We want to try and win the love pearl so we can re-unite the elements of The Land of Dreams."
"Oh, well I'm Aphrodite, one of Lovelys love keepers. I can take you to her."
Lilah smiled, "could you please?"
Aphrodite smiled and let them inside.
The entrance was a large circular room. A mural of angels were painted on the ceiling and a diamond chandelier hung from a silver rod. The smell was pleasant, like sweet perfume.
In the hall, the floors were sparkly rose gold and white marble. Golden railing was placed against the white painted walls. Sconces flickered with fire and paintings in golden frames were fixed on the walls. Fireplaces, candles, and vases of flowers were placed in every room they passed by. Each room looked cozy and welcoming.
Aphrodite stopped at a large, sliding door. She let them enter first before she followed behind. The door led to a closed-off garden. Cherry blossom trees and fruit trees grew around the garden, along with roses and other plants.
They saw a fairy riding a unicorn. The unicorn was snowy white with specks of red coloring. Two other fairies were walking next to her, they were both male. The female on the unicorn jumped off when she saw Aphrodite and the children.
"That's Lovely." Aphrodite had told them.
Her wings were made of white and lavender feathers, each wing came together to create a heart. Her eyes were hot pink, and the black pupils of her eyes were in the shape of a heart. Her hair was straight and colored pink. Three different strands of hair were purple, red, and bright pink. They were braided together at the front of her hair, making one single strand. It was held together using heart shaped beads.
She had brown skin and darker freckles. Pink blush colored her cheeks. She had red eye make-up and long eye lashes. Her lips were colored with red glitter and in the shape of a heart. Her ears were pointed, and diamond heart earrings dangled from the lobes. She wore a heart choker, which was also made of diamonds. The love key hung around her neck on a rose gold chain. She had on a baby pink cropped shirt and a matching skirt. The shirt had a stitched red heart in the middle. The shortness of the top gave them a view of her belly button, which had diamond jewel pierced inside. She had on white stockings with lace, lavender bows and baby pink flats. Her fingers were painted lavender, although the ring fingers were red. One hand was wrapped with diamond jewelry. On one bicep was the love tattoo, a heart with a rose in one side.
Lovely turned to the boys. Both were dressed similarly to each other. One was in purple and the other in baby blue. They had on open coats and dress pants. There wings were made of white and red feathers and their hair was slicked back with hair gel.
"Amor, Luben, take Freya to her stall for me please." Lovely kindly commanded.
The two male fairies nodded once with a sweet smile and guided Freya away.
Lovely smiled at them and introduced herself, then she asked. "Who might you be?"
They introduced themselves and explained why they were there.
"I see." Lovely had said.
They gave Lovely the box that contained Fluffys heart. When she opened it she touched it and smiled, "A beast turned good, lovely." She said.
"I don't see how that's lovely, Lovely." Dinah said sternly.
"No, a dead friend is not lovely, but a good friend is." She said.
Dinah huffed because she missed Fluffy.
"Where do we go then?" Lilah asked, she felt uncomfortable talking about Fluffy.
"Right, this way." Lovely shut the box and took them back into her headquarters.
She was bringing them to her room because it was where the entrance to the love pearls room was hidden.
As they walked down a new hall, they passed a shimmering magenta wall. Lilah stared at this wall confused because not only was it shimmering, but it was also showing her pictures of different items. A top hat floated against the wall, a gem, and a heart too, and so was the letter E. The images looked like giant, 3D wall decals.
"What's that wall?" Lilah asked, she didn't like the bubbly, disoriented feeling it gave her.
"It's enchanted to show you your true love. And if you haven't realized it yet, it shows you images foreshadowing the person too be." Lovely explained.
"Oh." Lilah said.
"What do you see?" asked Lovely.
"I see a top hat and the letter E." Lilah told them.
"I see a letter R and a baseball." Dinah said.
"I don't see anything." Toby said.
Lilah and Dinah glanced at him sadly.
Lovely frowned and said, "It is always sad when that happens."
Toby shrugged, "I wasn't looking for a partner right now anyway." But he couldn't help but be a little sad.
"That is sad to hear." Lovely said. "But maybe all you need is love in a different form. Like friends or family."
Toby kept himself from frowning at the word family. He didn't want Dinah and Lilah to feel bad again.
They continued walking until they made it to Lovely's office.
A chocolate fountain was at the side of her room with candies, fruit, and other snacks on a table around it.
"Ooh." The children said as they eyed the food. It smelt very good.
Lovely giggled and then said, "You can have some if you want."
"Yes please." Lilah said.
"Yay!" Dinah cheered.
"Mmhmm." Toby hummed.
They all rushed over to the chocolate fountain and grabbed what they wanted. As they ate, they listened to Lovely.
Lovely went to a corner in her office, unlocked a trapdoor on the floor with the key around her neck, and pulled it open. "Down here is the entrance to the element pearl." She told them.
The kids walked over to Lovely as she began to put the key necklace back around her neck.
"All you have to do is slide down. Then you'll be inside." Lovely told them.
They nodded even though they weren't a hundred percent sure on what she meant by slide down.
"Good luck." Lovely said.
Lilah looked down the hatch. It was dark, so they couldn't see the bottom, but they could see the beginning of the ladder that would take them down. One after the other, they climbed down the trapdoor.
At the bottom was a black room. In the center, were large, sparkly, rainbow-colored slides that came together to create a giant rose. They weren't high off the ground, but they were long and steep. The ends all led to the same spot, into a big black hole.
"Now what?" Toby asked.
"We slide down, like Lovely said." Lilah replied. She lowered herself onto a red slide and pushed off. Lilah zoomed to the bottom, "Whoa! Whoa!"
Dinah, excited to ride one of the slides, quickly sat on a pink one and forced herself down. "Weeee!" Dinah raised her arms and giggled.
Toby anxiously got onto a green slide and, using his feet, slowly tried to pull himself to the bottom. He used his hands to stop himself from going to fast. "Ah, ah, ah!" He shouted as he jerkily made his way to the bottom.
Dinah had seen Toby and happily shouted, "Toby let go! It's fun!"
"I-I dont know Dinah." Tobys voice was shaky. "It seems dangerous."
"It isn't, I've slid down things many times. So has Lilah."
"If you say so." He said. Toby, frowning, slowly released his hands from the edges of the slide and raised them like Dinah was. Toby's scared expression soon turned into an excited one as he realized he enjoyed the slide. He cheered and smiled as he shouted, "woohoo!"
Lilah fell into the black hole with a scream. "Oh." She said, when she landed on the soft, bouncy floor.
Lilah quickly scrambled out of the way before her sister landed on her. When her sister came falling down, Lilah pulled her so Toby wouldn't squash her.
"That was fun!" Dinah cheered. "I want to go again!"
"Me too!" Toby grinned.
Lilah analyzed the area they landed on. It felt like a mattress covered with fluffy carpet. The small room was full of pillows and blankets, like a giant bed built into the floor.
A short hallway led into a second room. Lilah walked out with Toby and Dinah following behind her.
This room was much larger than the one they landed in. It was a ballroom with floors so shiny it was reflective. Tall pillars, reaching up to the dome-shaped ceiling were decorated with rose garland. Three, large crystal chandeliers hung level with the indoor balcony. The balcony was decorated with low hanging garland, the same kind as the pillars. In the middle of the ballroom was the pearl. It was sitting on a purple pillow, placed on top of a pedestal, which was a mini version of the pillars. On one wall were weapons, of many kinds, on display. From swords, to bows and arrows, to daggers, and sais.
Lilah had been looking at the weapons when she said, "Cause that wall screams out love."
"Are we going to have to use those?" Toby asked shakily.
"I hope not." Dinah said.
"How dangerous is this beast?" Toby wondered aloud.
"Probably just as dangerous as the rest." Lilah answered.
"There is the pearl." Dinah said, eyeing it.
"Yeah." Lilah said. "Who wants to get it?" She asked.
"I will." Dinah told them.
"Fine," Lilah said. "But wait for Toby and me to get weapons."
Toby's eyes widened with fear. He didn't know how to use any weapons. What if he accidentally hurt himself instead. Or worse, one of his friends.
Lilah grabbed Toby's arm and dragged him over to the wall of weapons.
Lilah quickly picked up a purple bow with silver arrows packed into a black arrow quiver. She swung on the quiver and held the bow at her side.
"Have you ever used on of those things?" Dinah asked from the pedestal.
"Yes." Lilah nodded. "I used to practice with one of my friends in her old archery range."
"Oh." Dinah said.
Lilah turned to Toby and looked at his empty hands. "Pick one." She told him.
Toby took in a sharp breath as he grabbed a pair of nunchucks. "Okay," He said. "I'll use these things."
"They're nunchucks." Lilah told him.
Toby didn't say anything, he just turned around to look at Dinah.
"Alright!" Lilah called out to Dinah. "Grab the love pearl."
Dinah nodded and did as told.
A small giggle came from the room they had landed in. Dinah jumped and hugged the pearl close. Lilah loaded and rose her weapon. Toby froze.
"Come out so we can get out." Lilah demanded with a glare from behind the bow.
A small, red creature waddled its way out from the room as it giggled its way over to Dinah.
"Aw!" Dinah cooed. "It's cute."
"Careful, I think its the beast." Lilah said, she hadn't lowered her weapon.
Dinah hearing her sisters warning didnt kneel down to pet it, instead she just stared at the furry little creature. Suddenly, the giggles of the creature began to deepen. Its child-like laugh turned into a distorted monster. The creature was growing in size, stretching way past Dinah.
Dinah stepped back with wide, worried eyes. "Hello." She croaked up at it.
The beast was very tall, taller than a full grown tree, it looked like a bear, and it was growling at Dinah. "Give me pearl!" It bellowed. Dinah gulped.
The love beast let out an unpleasant, argh and swung around with wobbly steps. Lilah was re-loading her bow when the love beast turned to see who had impaled an arrow into his bottom. It growled at Lilah as it plucked it out, the arrow dropped with a clattering thud.
"Come and get me!" Lilah taunted.
The beast growled at her but turned away. He was facing Dinah again.
"Toss it to me!" Toby shouted as he dropped his nunchucks. With all her might, Dinah threw the pearl to Toby, who was halfway across the ballroom.
Toby caught it with a jump, then quickly scrambled for one of the nunchucks. The love beast growled and ran after him. Toby began swinging the nunchaku the best he could, but it was clear he had never used one before.
Lilah, seeing as the arrow did not have an effect on the love beast, decided to drop the weapon and take off the arrow quiver. She looked up at the weapon wall to find a new weapon. Dinah had joined Lilah at her side.
Toby was still swinging around at the air with the nunchaku when the love beast approached him. The beast grabbed the nunchaku in between his two large, red furry fingers and flicked it away.
"Oh no." Toby croaked as the love beast looked down at him with a snarl. Toby tried to run but he wasn't quick enough, the beast caught him with a single hand. Toby whimpered and wriggled and tried not to cry. The beast brought Toby in front of its pink eyes and single pointed tooth. The beast roared and Toby screamed.
Lilah saw large throwing stars and quickly began hurling them at the love beast, trying her best not to hit Toby. The beast turned to Lilah furiously with a growl.
Lilah threw more of the throwing stars. The beast finally dropped Toby. He crawled his way away from the love beast.
Toby joined Lilah in the fight with the beast.
"Stop!" Dinah suddenly shouted at them.
"What?" Lilah asked, but she didn't stop throwing the stars.
"Stop! Maybe we aren't supposed to fight it!" Dinah yelled. "Maybe we are supposed to be nice because it is Love Headquarters."
Lilah registered what her sister said and stopped hitting the love beast. Dinah is probably right, she thought. So, she said it, "You're right. The weapons were a trick! Why would the element fairy help someone win over their element pearl?"
Toby stopped and looked at the sisters.
"I'll try." Dinah said and took a few steps closer to the aggravated beast. "I'm sorry we hurt you before." She flinched when it growled but she still kept talking. "The truth is we don't want to, but you're making it hard for us to get that pearl. We need it for our mommy because she is sick, and we want her to get better because we love her." Dinah saw that the beast was listening, so she continued. "I know you're doing your job but youre hurting us too." Dinah had been stepping closer to it, inch by inch. Now, she was right in front of it. "I forgive you and I would like to be friends. You must be lonely here all by yourself." Dinah saw that the beast was not showing anymore signs of hostility, so she touched it.
When the beast placed a finger on Dinahs forehead she giggled because its finger was almost as big as her head. She hugged the beasts leg and the beast purred in return. The beast placed its hand on Dinahs back and Dinah smiled.
Lilah, amazed her sister befriended the beast, approached too and hugged the beasts other leg. The beast placed its free hand on Lilahs back to show it forgave her.
Toby, with the pearl in hand, was still too scared to go up to it, so he smiled and waved from afar.
Dinah and Lilah let go of the beast and smiled up at it.
"Its good to be friends, love beast." Lilah said.
"Yes, friends." The beast said with its deep voice.
"Do you think you can show us the way out of here?" Dinah asked the love beast.
The beast, still purring, held out his hand.
"I think he wants us to get on." Lilah said.
Dinah climbed onto the beasts large hand, Lilah did too.
Dinah waved to Toby, "Come on."
Toby gulped, but he knew he was going to have to, so he did. When they were all on the beasts hand, the beast raised them back up to the hole they entered from. They climbed out together and smiled down at the beast as he shrunk back into the cute, red fur ball that he was.
Toby handed Lilah the pearl. "Thank you." She said.
They then went to the ladder leading back to Lovely's room and climbed up.

Light headquarters was in the sky, just like air headquarters. Lilah and the other two kids were not there yet, but they were about to be. The blue of the morning sky was lit with many bright stars ranging in a few colors; blues, yellows, reds, whites, and oranges. It was like the world suddenly had thousands of suns shining down on it at once. Despite the many stars beaming down on them, it was not terribly hot, just warm. It was a shock to them, the sudden brightness of the light element. Lilah and Dinah wished they had sunglasses.
The brightness of it burned their eyes, they could barely keep their eyes open.
Through squinted eyes they made their way to a golden, grand staircase. It was surrounded with blades of white grass and shimmering yellow shades of calla lilies.
Leaving everything but the sword of light, and each other, they walked up the steps leading to Light Headquarters.
Light headquarters looked like an Arabian castle made only of gold. The windows were decorative stained glass. A large, vivid rainbow arched over the whole building. They walked up to the headquarters and knocked. Instantly, the double doors swung open. They had to squeeze their eyes shut, shielding them, as they went inside. It was like a flash of sudden blazing, light so bright everything disappeared into a sheet of white.
Once passed the doors, Toby, Lilah, and Dinah had to stand still for a short while and rub their eyes to help adjust to the new lighting. Dinah was scared she had gone blind and Lilah didn't like the feeling of seeing purple, pulsing circles in her vision. They blinked a few more times before being able to focus on the fairy standing in front of them. 
"Hello, I am Dawn. A light keeper here at Light Headquarters." Dawn had translucent rainbow wings, brown hair up in a tight bun, and she wore a simple, silky yellow, sun dress with white shoes. 
"I'm Lilah." Lilah said, she held her hand above her forehead to help block out some of the light.
"And I'm Dinah." Dinah told the fairy.
"I'm Toby." Toby said with his eyes closed, it was very bright. Dawn giggled at Tobys closed eyes. 
"We need to talk to the fairy in charge of the light element."
"That would be Iliana." Dawn told her. "I can take you to her?"
"Yes please." Lilah said.
Dawn nodded once with a smile, "This way then." And she brought them to Iliana.
Iliana was talking to another one of her light fairies when they approached with Dawn, and there were two others behind her.
After patiently waiting in the line for Iliana to finish up her conversations with Faven, Twinkle, and Aurora (as they heard these were their names), it was their turn to talk with her.
Iliana had brown skin and yellow wings that glowed with white light. Her hair was black with golden streaks. She had two braided buns on top of her hair. She wore golden head jewelry with a white, crystal pendant hanging in front of her forehead. The outer part of her yellow iris was rainbow. She wore a long, glittery white dress with a fancy golden, metal breastplate. She had on golden flats and a golden anklet. Her bracelets and earrings were gold too. Her eye make-up was white, yellow, and sparkly. The light key necklace hung around her neck, along with a golden choker. On her bicep, was the light tattoo, a sun shaded in like stained glass.
"Hello Iliana." Lilah said.
With a sweet, proud smile Iliana said, "You aren't light keepers."
Lilah shook her head, "No, we are humans-" She glanced at Toby. "And irides."
"And wait can I do for you three?" Iliana asked.
"We want to battle the light beast." Lilah told her.
"Bold." Was all Iliana said.
Lilah held up the sword of light, "we brought this so, you'll allow us to."
Iliana grabbed the sword of light with astonishment. "You've gotten it?" She asked, although, it really wasn't a question.
"Yes." Lilah said.
"Then I guess I do owe you a chance at the light beast, don't I?"
Lilah nodded.
Iliana turned to another one of her fairies, "Lucinda!" she called.
A female fairy quickly turned to Iliana and flew over to her. "Yes Iliana?" She asked politely.
"Take the sword of slight to my dwelling. You know where to place it." Iliana demanded.
"Yes." Lucinda said as Iliana handed the sword to her.
Iliana turned back to the children as her fairy flew off with the sword of light.
"Follow me." She told them.
Iliana brought them to a yellow door. The light symbol was painted on with sparkly, gold paint.
Iliana removed the key necklace from around her neck, "Would one of you like to unlock the door?"
"Yes please!" Dinah said.
Iliana gave the key to Dinah so she could unlock the door. The door swung open and Dinah gave the key back to Iliana.
Iliana smiled, "I hope you make it out alive, pearl or no pearl."
Toby frowned, "Me too."
"If you succeed, be sure to give me back my key before you go."
They nodded and stepped inside. Iliana closed the door and went, leaving the key in its slot.
The walls of the room were golden, but the floor and ceiling were white. A golden pedestal, where the light pearl sat, was the only thing in the room.
"I'll grab it." Lilah said and went to the pearl. Lilah, without hesitation, picked it up.
Suddenly, they heard thunder. All three of them jumped, they were not expecting that. A rumble came from above them and they looked up to see the ceiling splitting apart.
A second clap of thunder and lightning struck the ground. They jumped again, this time with a scream. They shielded their eyes as the second lightning strike hit the floor.
They heard a thunderous roar and a large, flying creature swooped down from the sky. It was the light beast. Its white face and body looked like it belonged to a fox. Only, it had wings and a tail flowing with electricity. Its eyes were bright yellow, and its ears looked like it was pulsating with the same electrical light as its tail. It had sharp, black claws coming out from its paws.
"What is that?" Lilah asked.
"It's a lightning bug." Toby answered.
"That does not look like a bug." Lilah replied. 
Toby shrugged, "That's what it's called."
The light beast roared and sent another lightning bolt after them.
"Ah!" Lilah shouted, she dodged it just in time.
"They lay their eggs in the clouds, and when they're mad, they shoot lightning from their tail." Toby told them.
"Cool." Lilah said. "But, now is not the time to learn about a bug that doesnt even look like any kind of bug!"
The lightning bug landed on the floor with a growl. Lilah stepped back, intimidated as it came closer to her.
"Dinah, Toby." Lilah whispered.
"Yeah?" They asked.
"Get to the door and take out the key."
Toby and Dinah nodded and ran to the door. Toby yanked open the door and Dinah pulled out the key.
The light beast tried to strike Lilah with lightning again, but Lilah moved out of its way.
Lilah turned to look at them, "It didnt work!" She shouted.
"We see that." Dinah shouted back.
"Just keep the door open, I'm going to run out." Lilah said.
They nodded. Toby held it open and Dinah stood aside. Lilah dashed out the door and into the hallway. Toby hurried around the door and the sisters helped him to pull it closed.
"Well that was easier than I anticipated." Lilah said.
"Yeah, lightning bugs are not very smart," Toby shook his head. "And it takes a while for them to conjure up lightning."
"Then why would Iliana use it to protect her pearl?" Lilah asked.
Toby shrugged, "Because its scary."
"And can easily kill someone if they aren't careful." Dinah said.
"I guess so." Lilah said.
Then they went back down the hallway to give Iliana back the key.

data-p-id=0062f9b8bd9d5c6d2fcc34a2dd1848bd,They found Iliana back in the same room as before. She was talking to more of her fairies when they approached her.
"You're back." Iliana said.
"Yes, and we got the pearl." Lilah said as she handed the key back to the light element fairy.
Iliana took it and asked, "Which element are you going to next?"
"Dark." Lilah answered.
"Good luck with Esmeray." Iliana told them, "She's the meanest one out of all us element fairies."
Dinahs eyes widened, "even Terra and Persefoni?"
Iliana nodded, "meaner than Terra and Persefoni."
Dinah frowned.
"So are Esmerays fairies." Iliana leaned in and whispered, as if Esmeray could hear her. "I personally think its because they are always hanging out in the dark."
Toby nodded in agreement, "You're probably right."
Lilah looked at him, "How do you know?"
Toby shrugged, "If I lived in the darkness my whole life, I wouldnt be happy either."
"Yeah, makes sense." Lilah said. 
Iliana smiled, "The exit is this way."
Iliana pushed open a door, inside was white. The children walked in and stopped; it didnt look like there was anywhere to go.
"Sit down." Iliana told them.
They did, and Iliana raised her hands, in a wave-like motion. The floor seemed to rise and push them forward. They began to slide down the white floor.
"Whoa." Toby exclaimed.
Dinah laughed and rose her hands up. "Another slide!" She cheered.
Soon, the white walls disappeared, replaced by the sky, and the white floors they sat on turned into multiple lines of color. They were now leaving Light Headquarters, sliding down a rainbow.

She was light skinned with thick, black hair. Glittery, metallic strands of her hair were purple. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were thick too. Her eyes were purple and speckled with tiny black dots. Her lips were colored purple too.
She was dressed in a short, flowing purple dress and a black, leather harness. The long, flowy sleeves of the dress went off her shoulder, so they could see the moon tattoo on her bicep, a lace pattern formed a half moon inside. Spikes were on the edges of the dress and outlined the harness. She had on black, leather leg garters that matched the body harness (though, there was a halfmoon in the middle of each). She wore spiked, leather black boots and her nails were painted red. Her wings were black and purple, and on each side of the wings were, what looked like, antennae. The dark key hung around her neck.
Esmeray was fluttering in the air, flapping her wings as she spoke, "Turn that off." She commanded with disgust, "it's bright." She was talking about the flashlight.
Lilah switched it off. 
In a slightly kinder tone, Esmeray then asked. "Children, what can I do for you?"
"We want to try and battle the dark beast." Lilah told her. "We have a piece of the moon, like you wanted." She explained.
"Yes, the only source of light in my night." Esmeray landed on the ground in front of them. "Give it to me." She demanded.
"Are you going to let us battle the dark beast?" Lilah questioned.
"Yes." Esmeray scoffed, although it was more of a snarl. "I've got no choice if I want the piece of the moon." She rolled her eyes and murmured, "Azlin." As if that was a perfect explanation.  
"Right." Lilah said and then got the piece of the moon out from the backpack. "She handed it to Esmeray."
Esmeray took it from Lilah, trading it for the key necklace.
Lilah and Dinah looked at the key, it had the same symbol as her tattoo, only it was colored in with purple, and it was on an iron chain.  
"I'll have two of my servants take you."
"Okay." Lilah said.
"Shadow, Darcus." Esmeray called.
Two fairies, a male and female, entered the room quietly.
"Take these children to the dark pearls room." Esmeray demanded.
The female looked alarmed, "but, the dark pearl-. Are you sure?"
"If I was not sure would I be telling you to do so, Shadow?" Esmeray asked with a raise of her black eyebrow.
Shadow bowed her head, "No. S-sorry. O-of course. Yes, Esmeray." She stammered.
Lilah, Toby, and Dinah were unsure if they should be more frightened then they already were, no other fairy keeper seemed to be scared of their element leader.
"Thank you." Esmeray said. She then turned to the children, "Good luck, but not too much luck. I don't really want you to win the dark pearl over."
"Uh, thanks?" Lilah replied.
Esmeray smiled, "you're welcome."
"This way." Darcus said.
They followed the fairies to the room of the dark pearl, and the dark beast.
Shadow and Darcus watched Lilah unlock the room door and enter with the other two children following behind her.
The door slammed shut, and they jumped. The inside of the room was pitch black. It was so dark that it didnt seem like there was anything for their eyes to adjust too. 
"Lilah?" Dinah asked.
"Yes?"
"Nothing, I was just making sure you were here."
"Oh." Lilah said. "Ah." She jumped, "Who's grabbing my arm?"
"I am." Toby whispered.
"Why?"
"Because I don't like the dark." He replied in a whisper.
"Oh, okay." Lilah said.
"I feel like something might snatch me up and have me for dinner." Toby told her.
Lilah giggled, "I don't think that's going to happen Toby."
"Maybe not where you are from, but it's very possible here." He replied.
"True." Lilah nodded, but they couldn't see her.
"Plus, we are standing in the middle of a room with a beast inside." Dinah said.
Her words made Toby worry more, he gasped and squeezed Lilahs arm tighter.
Lilah groaned, "Dinah, youre not helping." She snapped.
Dinah shrugged, "I'm just saying, it's true."
Toby clutched Lilahs arm tighter.
"Ouch, Toby."
"Sorry." Toby said as he loosened his grip.
"How are we going to get the pearl if we can't even see where its at?" Dinah questioned. 
As soon as Dinah asked her question, a white light flicked on against the back wall. Underneath sat the dark pearl on a smooth, black pedestal.
"The pearl." Lilah said, "I'll get it."
Toby released Lilahs arm so she could walk up to the pearl. She picked it up without hesitation. A growl came from somewhere in the room. Their muscles tensed.
"W-where is i-it a-at?" Toby asked, his voice quivered. "H-how a-are we s-supposed to de-e-feat some-something that w-we c-can't s-see?"
"I think its right there." Lilah said with a gulp. She stared at the ghoul-like hand being casted as a shadow, against the wall, above the pearls pedestal.
They stared at it anxiously, just before it disappeared.
"Oh no, now where did it go?" Toby cried.
"I don't know." Dinah whined.
Lilah flicked on the flashlight and shined it around the room. Toby and Dinah rushed to Lilah's side. The beam of light landed on the dark beast. It was an eerie shadowy figure casted against the wall, but nothing stood in front of it.
"The dark beast is a shadow." Lilah said.
"So, what does that mean?" Dinah asked.
"We won't be able to see it without light."
The shadow from the wall disappeared. The kids froze again.
"Where did it go?" Toby demanded nervously.
"I don't... I don't know." Lilah replied, then she gasped. A shadowy hand came over hers. The one holding the pearl. It growled and swatted its hand. The pearl flew from her hand and rolled onto the floor.
"I lost the pearl!" Lilah cried and spun around to look at her sister and Toby.
"There it is!" Dinah said as she pointed ahead. Dinah quickly went to pick it up, but as soon as she did the beast swatted it from her hand. "Hey!" She called.
The pearl landed back on its pedestal.
"This beast is quick." Dinah said and she got ready to grab the pearl from its pedestal, but Lilah stopped her.
"Wait!" Lilah said. She had just got finished thinking. 
"It's a shadow. Shadows dont exist without light." Lilah realized, she flicked off the flashlight and stared at the white light above the pearl. "We have to put out that light." She indicated the bulb above the pedestal. 
"How?" Toby asked.
"We have to break it." Lilah answered. "Or unscrew it."
"Okay." Dinah said.
"I'll climb onto the pearls stand and try to unscrew it first." Lilah told them, and then she went.
Toby and Dinah watched as Lilah followed her plan. Lilah pulled herself onto the pedestal. Standing around the pearl, she reached up and twisted the light bulb. It was warm to touch.
The light went out before she could finish unscrewing it, but she took it out anyway. Lilah crouched down so she could hop off the pedestal. Once she was down she picked up the pearl and put the light bulb in its place. "I got the pearl." Lilah told them.
"Good, now we can leave." Toby said.
"Come on." Lilah found her way to the door and opened it. Dinah and Toby rushed to the exit and met Lilah outside. Once they shut the door, Lilah turned the flashlight back on and showed them the grey and black marbled pearl of the dark element.

And just like that, light was back. Although, it was still very dim. They had made it to the next area in the Island of The Elements, which also happened to be the last, magic.
Toby was scared, and Dinah was excited, but Lilah wasnt sure if she should have been scared or excited.
The land looked, well, magical. The grass was teal, and the sky glowed with purple light. The trees were tall, and their branches twisted and turned. The flowers were large, just as tall as the children. Cracked light bulbs were placed along the sandy pathway. Flakes of something shiny were drifting downward and floating all around them. Like it was raining glitter in slow motion. It smelt like roses and a low, deep hum filled the air around them. Though creepy, the sound soothed them. Dinah was holding the jar of unicorn waste and milk in her hand.
"It's so... dreamy... here?" Lilah said.
Toby and Dinah nodded.
"And pretty." Dinah added.
"Very." Lilah said.
"Look at the map, where do we go?" Toby asked. 
Lilah did as Toby asked and unfolded the crinkled map.
"I don't know, there are no special landmarks to show if we are getting closer." Lilah told them.
"I guess we keep going straight then." Toby said.
"Yeah, like all the others." Lilah stated.
"Yes." Toby said.
They stopped at the cobblestone wall. The headquarters was inside, but they couldn't get in.
"Hello?" Lilah called, but there was no answer.
"Hello!" Dinah shouted.
"Who are you, what do you want?" A grainy, male voice demanded. He sounded old. 
They looked around but saw no one. Lilah answered anyway.
"Uh, I'm Lilah and this is my sister Dinah. We are sisters." Lilah then looked at Toby. "He is our friend, Toby. He's helping us." She replied.
"Helping you with what?" The voice asked harshly. Before they could reply a second voice intervened. This voice was softer, nicer, and female. "Father please, let me speak." It said. The male voice let out a huff.
The female then took over, "Hello, I am Wakanda, the fairy in charge of the magic element. Welcome to my headquarters."
"Hi, I'm Lilah and that's Toby and Dinah. We got the unicorn waste and the unicorn milk." Lilah paused for only a second before she said, "we wanted to try and battle the magic beast for the magic pearl."
There was a longer pause before Wakanda spoke. Then she said, "Move back."
The stepped aside and a stone drawbridge with dark, rusty chains fell downward, allowing them to cross. They stepped onto it, and as they walked across, they looked down at the river of milky liquid swishing below them.
"What is that? Dirty water?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shook her head, "I don't think so."
The headquarters ahead of them looked like a medieval castle. It was made of cobblestone and surrounded by separate towers. The main building was on elevated ground.
Just before they could get to the large, wooden doors, a powerful looking fairy appeared in front of them. She was light skinned, but there were brown freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. Her eye makeup was black, while her shiny lips were colored with three different colors; red, purple, and black. Her eyelashes were long, and gems decoratively surrounded her eyes. She had large wings made of purple and red feathers.
She was wearing a simple, strapless dress, the top was purple silk and the bottom was ruffled and made with red mesh. Her hair was just long enough to go passed her shoulders. Half of it was black, and the other half was purple. Though, the purple strands of hair looked like they were dipped in fresh blood, as they were bright red. She wore black patent heels and choker. The choker held a purple, crystal pendant and the magic key was around her neck too, the chain was made of diamonds. They couldnt see her earrings because they were hidden behind her tri-colored hair, but they were also made of diamonds.
A black bracelet twisted up just past her wrist. It was decorated with several kinds of charms. On the opposite arm was the tattoo representing the magic element. They noticed that, instead of having a single tattoo like the other element fairies, she had several going up her left bicep. Five circles crawled up her arm, decreasing in size as they went down. The first was a crystal star. The second was a hand with an eye inside, and the third was a decorative looking knot. The fourth was a crescent moon and sun. The last picture was two feathers facing each other, with a small gem in the middle.
But the sisters thought the most amazing thing about her were her eyes. Her pupils were an ombre from red to purple.
As soon as she appeared, they halted themselves so they wouldn't run into her.
"Are- are you Wakanda?" Lilah asked.
"Yes." She replied. After a quick pause she said, "I was waiting for you three."
"You were?" Lilah asked.
"Yes, my sisters and I have been communicating. After your successful visit with Ignacia and her element it's all we have been warning each other about. And so far, you have succeeded in every previous element, even Minervas."
Lilah was unsure of what to do or say, so she nodded. Dinah had looked at her sister nodding and decided to nod along with her.
"I have no doubt that you will defeat my guardian. I would be silly to think not. You must be ambitious and intelligent to have come this far."
"I guess so." Lilah said.
"Hand me the milk and waste, then I will have a helper of mine take you to the dragons dungeon."
"Dragons dungeon?" Toby asked, he sounded worried.
Wakanda looked at him, "the place where the magic pearl is kept and guarded."
"Oh." Toby said, he still sounded worried. 
Dinah gave Wakanda the jar of unicorn waste and milk. When this happened, they saw that her long nails were painted black and sprinkled with purple glitter. 
"Wait here." She said and disappeared, leaving a cloud of purple smoke behind. 
The old man, who stepped out of Magic Headquarters doors, was a fairy too. He had balding grey hair. He was short and fat. His wings almost looked too small for his body. He was wearing a top hat and a dark purple trench coat. He had on black slacks and black dress shoes. 
"Let's go." He said, though he did not sound very happy. They recognized his voice as the grumpy one from the hidden speaker. He was the father of Wakanda, (and, they assumed, of the other element fairies).
"Are you taking us to the element pearls room?" Lilah asked.
"Yeah, Wakanda said so. Now let's go before I get bored!" He grumbled and turned into the building. Lilah, Dinah, and Toby followed.
The pearl room door looked like it belonged to a dungeon, probably because it was a dungeon. Wakandas father had brought them down several flights of stone steps, and around many kinds of corners before they made it to where they stood now. The father of the fairies sighed as he pulled out the magic key from his pants pocket. He unlocked the door with a groan. He pushed it open and, with a chuckle, said, "Good luck with Jinx I guess." He did not sound like he meant it.
They did not say anything as they entered the final element pearls door.
Inside, was a cavern-like dungeon, with lots of crevices and boulders to hide in and behind. Stalagmites and stalactites were scattered around the floors and roofs of the dungeon. Sparkling crystals grew from the walls. It was just tall enough for a large beast, like a dragon, to be able to fly around in. It was one of the largest rooms theyve had to battle a beast in, and thankfully the last.
"Is Jinx the dragon?" Dinah asked.
Lilah shrugged, "I don't know, probably."
"Where is the pearl?" Toby asked, as it was nowhere in sight.
"Again," Lilah said. "I don't know."
"It looks like were going to have to look around for it." Dinah said.
Lilah was glancing around as she said, "It looks like it."
"Should we spread out?" Dinah asked.
"Yes," Lilah nodded. "But if one of us sees it we don't grab it until we call the other two over."
"Okay." Toby said.
"Good idea." Dinah agreed.
Lilah told them what to do, "Okay, I will go left. Toby you go straight, and Dinah go right."
"Got it." Dinah said.
"Okay." Toby nodded.
Then, they parted ways in the cave-like dungeon to look around.
"It's here! The magic pearl is right here!" Toby shouted.
The pearl was in a small cave filled with a mass of rocks. It sat in between a crack, which was just big enough to allow a young child to fit their hand inside. 
"Where are you?" Lilah called.
"Directly straight from the entrance." Toby replied.
Lilah and Dinah rushed over to find Toby.
"There." Toby pointed when they reached him.
Lilah tried to stick her hand in so she could grab it, but her hand was too big. "Ugh." She groaned. Looking at Toby and Dinah she said, "One of you try."
Toby nodded and tried his best to wedge his hand into the crevice, and though it fit better than Lilahs, it still was not small enough to reach the pearl.
This time Dinah tried. She wiggled her hand just a few times before it slipped through. Her hand was just small enough to fit inside. She grabbed the magic pearl and yanked her hand back out.
"I got it!" She smiled.
Before Lilah and Toby could congratulate her, a small growl reached their ears.
They froze.
"Give me the pearl." Lilah demanded her sister in a whisper. Dinah quickly passed the pearl to Lilah.
"Where is it?" Dinah asked.
Lilah pointed into the small cave the pearl had been in, in the far back was a hole. She had watched the glowing, red reptilian eye flick open to stare back at them.
The magic beast rose, both of its eyes stared back at the kids. It let out a huff, and a puff of smoke came out of its nostrils. They looked up at the dragon who was now flapping its wings up in the air. It was covered in metallic purple scales and shiny, black spikes.
The magic beast roared, and a series of purple fireballs shot out of its mouth.
"Run!" Dinah cried as she turned to run.
"More fire, not again!" Toby whined from behind Dinah.  
Lilah screamed. Dinah and Toby turned to see why.
The pearl was on the ground, rolling in their direction. Lilah was bent over, holding her left hand with her right. One of the fireballs had burned her hand, causing her to lose the magic pearl.
"Lilah?" Dinah shouted.
"I'm okay." Lilah said covering her red, throbbing hand. "Get the pearl."
Dinah nodded and looked around for it. She saw Toby looking up at the magic beast, who was circling around the fallen magic pearl.
"Toby?" Dinah whispered.
Toby held up his hand and whispered, "I can get it. I'm just waiting for the right moment."
Seconds later, Toby ran for the pearl. Dinah and Lilah sucked in a breath and held it; their heart was pounding for Toby.
Toby tumbled to the ground on his knees, his hand clasping around the pearl. The dragon swooped down with a growl. Toby rolled out of the way, hugging the pearl close to his chest. The dragon swooshed passed him knowing it missed.
"I got it and I'm still alive." He whispered with a proud smile.
"It's coming back!" Lilah shouted at him. Toby scrambled to get up, but the dragon was faster. The dragon roughly knocked Toby to the ground by his butt, making him do an involuntary flip.
"Ow." Toby whined as he rubbed his head.
Toby hadn't noticed but the dragon was flying back for him.
"Throw me the pearl." Lilah said eyeing the magic beast. Toby did and Lilah caught it.
The beast turned towards Lilah and roared. Fire came shooting out of its mouth. Lilah ducked and ran in another direction. The dragon followed.
Lilah, still in a run, looked behind herself to see how close the beast was. When she saw that it was dangerously close, she turned and ran into a cluster of tall stalagmites.
The dragon was too big to be able to fly down into it but that didn't stop it from breathing its fire down onto Lilah. Lilah had to dash between stalagmites to avoid the balls of fire.
"Dinah! Toby!" Lilah called. "Get the door so I can run out with the pearl!"
"Okay!" Dinah shouted back, then she and Toby ran for the door.
"Oof." Lilah had tripped on the rocky floor, slamming her knee onto a newly forming stalagmite. Lilah quickly stood up and looked down at her knee. "Oh." She whined; a small splotch of blood could be seen on her dirty pajama pants. With tears in her eyes, she continued to dodge the magic beast with a limp.
Dinah and Toby made it to the door and tried to open it, but it rattled on its hinges.
"It's locked!" Dinah yelled.
Lilah groaned, "Someone take the pearl, I'll try and find the exit!" Lilah ran to her sister and tossed it at her. Lilah needed a break from all that running. 
Once the pearl was in Dinahs hands, she ran.
"When you get tired," Lilah shouted at her sister. "give it to Toby!"
"Okay!" Dinah shouted back.
Lilah began to look around for the exit, and Toby helped her.
After a few minutes of looking something caught Lilahs eye. "There!" She pointed up at an opening at the top of the dungeon. "I think we have to find our way up there."
"The only way we can get up there is if we climb the cave wall. Which is going to be very hard because its steep and there is an angry dragon after us." Toby replied.
"Or," Lilah said. "If we fly."
"We can't-" Toby drifted off from his sentence when he realized what Lilah was implying. "No way! How are we going to do that?"
Lilah shrugged. "Let me think."
Dinah raced by and tossed the pearl to Toby, "Here!" She was out of breath.
Toby yelped and ran off with the pearl while Lilah told Dinah their idea.
Moments later Dinah and Lilah came up with a plan. They were going to make their way up the stalagmites, jumping from one tower of rock to the next, like they were climbing steps that were more than separated from each other. Once they stood on the tallest one, they were going to jump onto the dragon, which would be coming their way because they would be carrying the pearl. Once they were on its back, they were going to throw the pearl to the exit, making the dragon fly towards it, then when the dragon got close enough, they were going to jump off and land at the exit, picking up the pearl and running out.
They knew their plan was dangerous and difficult. They weren't sure if it was possible for them to do it, but they didnt have any other ideas, so they were going to try anyway.
Lilah and Dinah began to climb, when they reached their highest point possible, Lilah called down to Toby. "Toby, throw it to us and start climbing up!"
As Toby ran passed them, he tossed the pearl up so Lilah could catch it. The dragon turned to Lilah as soon as the pearl began to fly her way. Lilah caught it as Toby started his way up the piles of rock and crystal. 
When the dragon was getting too close to the sisters Lilah tossed it back down to Toby, making the dragon fly down to him. When the magic beast began to fly closer to Toby he tossed it back to the sisters. They continued to do this as Toby made his way up the stalagmite steps.
Toby was almost there when he lost his footing.
"Toby!" Dinah and Lilah shouted together. "They watched him fall, the pearl in hand."
The dragon was coming for Toby, coming for the pearl. Toby was screaming as he went down.
Then he stopped, he landed unharmed. He opened his eyes to see why the fall had not hurt. Then he screamed again, he was on the dragon, who had accidently caught him.
"Toby, toss the pearl to me!" Lilah shouted.
"I'll try!" Toby screamed. When the dragon got near the sisters, Toby threw the pearl towards them.
Lilah had to reach out to catch it, as it wasn't close enough.
"I caught it!" She said, then she screamed. She had leaned too far out, and the gravity tried pulling her down.
"Lilah!" Dinah cried and reached out to keep her sister from falling. Using both hands, Dinah clasped her sisters pajama shirt and pulled. Lilah fell backward, knocking over Dinah. They bruised their butts on the rock.
"The dragon!" Lilah cried; it was coming their way. The sisters quickly stood and watched as the dragon approached.
"Get ready." Lilah said, then. "Now!" she shouted. Lilah hurled the pearl to the exit, and when the dragon turned, she jumped onto its back. Dinah jumped right after her sister.
"Oh!" Dinah yelped. Lilah scrambled to her sister, who was now tightly holding onto one of the dragons scales to keep from falling. Lilah pulled her up.
"We have to get ready to jump off." Toby said.
Dinah and Lilah sat behind him, on the scaly back of the dragon, watching as they approached the exit.
When they jumped, they tumbled. They rolled onto the rocky ledge and stood.
Dinah and Toby ran into the cave, while Lilah went for the pearl first.
The three of them ran down the small cave glad it was too small for the dragon to fit inside. As they began approaching the exit door the room suddenly lit up with warm light.
They turned around and their eyes went wide with worry.
"Fireballs!" Toby yelled.
"Against the wall!" Lilah slammed herself against the cave. On the opposite side, Dinah and Toby copied.
They glowed with orange light and were wrapped in a blanket of heat as the four balls of fire blew passed them. They burnt out against the door.
Lilah came off the wall as she spoke, "Okay, let's go before the dragon blows more fire breath at us."
The kids sprinted to the exit and stopped at the door.
"There is no knob!" Dinah said.
"It's shimmering." Lilah said about the ethereal barrier glistening against the door.
"It might have a spell on it." Toby said.
"Great! Now how are we going to get out?" Dinah crossed her arms with frustration.
"More fire." Toby warned and stood against the wall. Dinah and Lilah did too. They watched the magical door put out the magic beasts fire.
Lilah went to the door and touched it. She laughed and shivered, "It tickles."
"Let me try." Toby said with a giggle, but when he placed his hand onto the door it went through. With confusion he waved his hand around, "there's nothing there. It's an illusion." He looked at Lilah and shrugged, "at least it is for me."
"You try Dinah."
Dinah did as her sister said, and like Toby her hand went through.
Lilah looked at them before she touched the barrier again. She shivered and shook the tingly sensation from her hand. "I think," She said. "It might be because I'm holding the pearl."
Lilah gave the pearl to her sister and tried to touch the door. "Yup." She was right, this time her hand went through.
Dinah touched it and laughed, "It does tickle!" Giggling, she touched it again.
Lilah took the pearl from her sister and told them her idea. "You two go through the door and after-" She cut herself off when she saw more fireballs coming their way. "Fire!" They went against the wall and waited for the fire to go out against the enchanted door, again. 
Then, Lilah continued. "After you get on the other side, see if there is a way to open it for me."
"And if there is no way?" Dinah asked.
Lilah stopped to think, "I dont know." She concluded.
"Maybe Wakanda will let you out if we ask?" Dinah said.
Lilah shrugged. "Yeah, just go through first and see if it works."
"Okay."
Dinah and Toby walked through the door.
On the other side was a doorknob and no shiny barrier.
"She was right." Dinah said and turned the knob so she could push the door open.
Lilah watched with a smile as her sister opened the door. Lilah stepped out with the magic pearl, joining her sister and friend in the hallway behind the magic beasts room.
The hallway was aligned with suits of armor. Each one was displayed with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. They were rusty and covered in cobwebs.
Synchronized, the suits of armor slashed their swords, blocking the passage to the other side. Dinah and Toby gulped. Lilah groaned.
Lilah slowly began to walk forward. Dinah and Toby were following closely behind. The first knight raised its sword and brought it back down quickly, and violently. They jumped back before the knights sword could slash them in two.
Lilah stared down the hall of displayed armor, deep in thought. "It takes a little time for the knight to bring down its sword again, I think if we run through, we will be able to make it." She said.
"Why can't we just crawl under the swords?" Toby asked. 
"We could try, but this is Magic Headquarters. We don't know what they are capable of and crawling slows us down." Lilah said.
"I think I want to try Tobys idea first." Dinah said anxiously, what Lilah had suggested seemed risky.
Toby and the sisters got down on the floor, like a four-legged animal. Seconds after they did this, the knights crouched down to get down to their level.
Lilah sighed and stood. "Wakanda must have thought that idea through."
Toby and Dinah stood too.
"I guess we run through then." Dinah said.
"Yup." Lilah responded with a nod.
"On three?" Dinah asked.
"Sure." Lilah agreed.
"I do not know what you mean by on three?" Toby said, he had not heard anyone use that phrase before.
"We are going to count to three," Lilah explained. "When we get to three, we run."
"Oh, okay."
"Ready? One, two, and-" Lilah said.
"Three." Dinah and Lilah shouted together.
They ran down the hall, escaping the swords.
They looked at each other proudly.
"We did it!" They cheered, and then they left out the door behind them.

The sisters and Toby had left Magic Headquarters. Lilah looked at the map and guided them to the center of the Island of the Elements. Each of them wore a proud grin on their face. They were standing in front of, what was labeled on the map as, Ubi Cor Manere. Lilah and Dinah were unsure as to what that meant or what language it was, but Toby told them it was Latin. Translated, it read, Where the Heart Stands. Twelve slots, ranging in color, circled around a stone structure. Steps lead to a stone pedestal in the center.
"I can't believe we actually did it." Lilah said.
"Me neither." Dinah said.
"I can." Toby told them. "I think we make a good team."
Lilah smiled, "We do don't we."
"Mmhmm!" Dinah nodded.
Lilah put away the map and pulled out every elemental pouch. She counted them to be sure they were all there. "Good, twelve pouches."
"So, what do we do with them?" Dinah asked. "How do we make the pearl of dreams?"
"We put them in these slots. Azlin said they should fuse together themselves." Lilah replied.
"She is correct." A gentle voice, they recognized, said. 
They turned to see Azlin flying down with the twelve element fairies behind her.
The fairies landed on the ground next to them.
Seeing all of the element fairies together, Lilah realized how different each of them all looked. If she didnt know better, she would have never guessed they were sisters.
Azlin was smiling. "Go ahead, place the pearls where they belong."
Lilah nodded and handed Dinah and Toby four pouches each. They placed the element pearls they had in the correct slot by matching their colors. When they finished, stone coverings slid from the ground, shutting each slot. They heard the pearls roll under the ground. They stepped back and watched as streams of color snaked up from the ground and met above the stone pedestal. Suddenly, there was a zap and flash of rainbow light. Like a protective covering, the streams of color hardened around the large colorful pearl, which was now hovering above the pedestal.
"Woah!" Dinah, Lilah, and Toby said with amazement.
"We did it." Lilah whispered to herself, she almost couldn't believe it. "We did it!" She shouted happily.
Dinah jumped into the air with a laugh, "We can get the wish! Mommy will be okay!"
With huge, joyful smiles the sisters gave each other a hug. They turned to Toby, who had been silently celebrating with a grin, for a group hug. Toby wrapped his arms around the sisters, and they squeezed each other, proudly.
When they pulled away, Toby saw that they were crying. "Whats wrong?" He asked concerned.
"Nothing." Lilah giggled. "We are crying happy tears."
"Oh." Toby said. 
"Please prepare to create the wish." Azlin said, the sisters turned to her happily. "In order from oldest to youngest please join in." She looked at the dark element fairy. "Esmeray, you're first."
Esmeray seemed to roll her eyes. "I know, little sister."
Esmeray stepped forward and raised her hand, black smoke shot from her hand and into the air.
"Iliana." Azlin said.
Iliana, the light fairy, stepped forward and held out her hand. A beam of yellow light shot into the sky and collided with Esmerays dark magic.
Next was Terra, then Aria. After Aria was Ignacia, then Cascade. Amser went next, then Eve and Persefoni. Lovely went after, following her was Minerva then Wakanda.
The fairies magic sparked in the center of where it met. Each color was vibrant and intimidating, and together it had the potential to be terrifying.
"Make the wish." Azlin told them.
The sisters closed their eyes and spoke together, "We wish for a cure to heal our mother."
"As you wish." Azlin rose her hand. A glittery rainbow, mist flew from her hands and zapped in the center of the beams of magic.
The magic seemed to build before it vanquished. A bottle of magenta liquid fell from the sky and Azlin caught it.
Azlin turned to the sisters and handed it to them. "All she has to do is drink it."
"Thank you." Lilah said as she took it. With a grin, Dinah rushed over to Azlin and threw her arms around her. "Thank you so much Azlin." She said.
Azlin smiled and placed a hand on Dinahs back. "No, thank you." Then, she pulled away and turned to Toby.
"Toby, you joined the sisters on their journey, in doing so it became your journey too. You also helped to bring back the Pearl of Dreams. And for that I thank you. But you also faced grave danger, you fought alongside the sisters bravely, risking your life to help and save others lives multiple times, not expecting anything from anyone in return." She paused. "I have spoken to Cascade; you will be granted your Irides powers early. You have earned it."
Toby grinned, "Really!"
"Yes." Azlin replied.
Cascade approached Toby and put her hand to his head. "There."
Toby held up his hand and water squirted from his palm. He giggled and looked to Lilah and Dinah, "Did you see? Did you see that? I got my powers!"
Lilah and Dinah nodded proudly. "Congratulations Toby." Lilah said.
"You did earn it." Dinah told him.
"And thank you, for helping us." Lilah said to him. "I don't think we could have finished without you."
"You're welcome." Toby said. 
Azlin looked back at the sisters, "Girls," She said and removed the Key of Dreams necklace from around her neck. "You may now go home." She turned the key in mid-air. A portal, identical to the one they had seen when they got there, opened.
"Thank you for the potion." Lilah said.
"Bye." Dinah waved.
"Bye." Lilah said.
The sisters were getting ready to pass through the portal when Toby stopped them, "Wait." He called.
The sisters turned to look at him. He was crying.
"Aw, Toby what's wrong?" Lilah asked with concern.
Tobys blue lip quivered. "You're the closest thing I've had to family in three years. With you two I finally wasn't lonely anymore. I-I'm going to miss you."
"Oh, my-" Lovely sniffled. "That's so sad and sweet at the same time."
The sisters had tears in their eyes as they rushed to Toby to give him a hug.
"We are going to miss you too." Dinah told him.
"Yeah." Lilah said. "We are so grateful that we met you."
"You felt like a brother to me." Dinah said.
"Me too." Lilah said.
"I love you." Toby said.
"We love you too." Dinah told him, and then they pulled away.
"The portal is going to close you know." Esmeray said.
"Be quiet, Esmeray. Let them say goodbye." Eve snapped.
"I wish I could go with you." Toby said.
"Us too." Lilah said.
"You can." Azlin told him. "It's entirely up to you."
Toby nodded eagerly, "I do. I want to go with them." "You're not going to miss home?" Lilah asked.
Toby shrugged, "I lost my family, there is nothing left for me here."
"Then I'll be happy for you to come home with us."
"Yeah, you can be our brother! I'm sure mommy and daddy will understand." Dinah said.
"Okay." Toby said. "Let's go."
"Wait, your skin." Lilah said. "People will know you aren't from Earth."
Toby frowned, "Oh yeah."
Azlin smiled, "That's easily fixable." She waved her hand and Tobys appearance changed.
Lilah and Dinahs eyes widened with amazement. Tobys hair stayed the same color, but his skin turned fair and his eyes became brown. He even had a few freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose and a new pair of blue glasses.
"Whoa Toby, your skin isnt blue anymore." Dinah told him.
Toby looked down at his hand with surprise. "I look human?"
"Yes." Lilah said.
Toby looked at Azlin, "Do I still have my powers?"
"Yes, but in this world, magic is invisible, practically non-existent. You must not use it unless you absolutely need to." Azlin told him.
"Okay." Toby nodded.
"And here," Azlin handed the sisters and Toby a key identical to the one around her neck. its a copy of The Key of Dreams. "You three can visit and leave whenever you want."
"Thank you." The kids said.
"You can use it to re-open the portal now." Azlin said. "Just think of the mirror you want to enter to."
Lilah did. The portal re-opened and they waved goodbye before they walked through.
Lilah and Dinah fell onto a bathroom counter, but it was not their bathroom. It was a family restroom in the hospital their mother was at.
Lilah frantically stood up with the potion in her hands.
"This isn't home." Dinah said, sitting up.
"No, it's the hospital." Lilah said and hopped off the counter.
Toby groaned on the floor next to them. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the sisters, "Did we make it?"
Dinah smiled with a nod, "Yes." she helped Toby stand.
"Come on we got to find mom! She's usually in room 413." Lilah told them.
They rushed out the door, passed concerned adults and curious kids, ignoring the confused teenagers.
They made it to their mothers room. Their father was sitting on a bench sadly, and their mother was lying in bed asleep when they barged in.
"Mommy!" Dinah cried.
"Mom, Mom!" Lilah shouted.
Their father stood up quickly, "Girls be quiet, your mother needs rest."
"Mom needs to drink this." Lilah told him and went to her mothers side.
"Where's your grandma? What is going on, what happened to your pajamas?" Their father demanded, but his daughters ignored him. "Who is this boy behind you?" He asked.
They still ignored him and instead tried to wake up their mother. "Mom, mommy."
"Girls, y-" Their father started but their mother cut him off.
"Its fine, they just want to say hello." She said and looked at her girls lovingly.
They looked back at her sadly, she did not look any better. In fact, she looked worse.
Their father walked to his daughters side and picked up Dinah. "Girls, there is something we have got to tell you. Your mother is-"
"No!" Dinah shouted in his face. "No, no, no!" She wriggled out of his arms. "Mommy will be okay, mommy drink that!"
Lilah opened the bottle and tried handing it to their mother, but their dad snatched it with frustration. "What has gotten into you two? Your mother is not strong enough for this behavior. You need to go, where is grandma Em?"
With teary eyes, Lilah tried to snatch it back. "She is not here, but mom needs to drink that. It's a magic potion, it'll heal her." Lilah voice cracked. "I promise it'll heal her."
"Let mommy drink it." Dinah said, she had started to cry too.
Their father stared at them with utter confusion, he looked to his wife.
Christinah held out her hand, "Let me see it, Thomas. Let them try to help." She told her husband.
Their father sighed and handed it over. Lilah and Dinah wiped their tears and watched with hope.
Christinah tilted the bottle to her lips and let the contents spill into her mouth.
Thomas and Christinah did not think that the magic potion would do anything, they figured it was something that their imaginative daughters had thought of and threw together so they could try and help their mother heal. But as she drank, Christinah felt something inside her change, she felt more alive.
When she finished, Christinah handed the empty bottle to her daughters. Dinah took it and looked at her happily, "How do you feel?"
Christinah nodded, "Better. Actually I-" Then she gasped. A sudden wave of rainbow light passed throughout her body, it felt as if a slight shock of electricity was flowing through.
"Christinah?" Their father rushed to her.
Their mother sat up and stopped him, "No, no, no. I feel better. I can feel it. I..." She looked at her daughters. "They healed me."
Dinah and Lilah smiled. They ran to their mother and gave her a hug.
"I don't know how you girls did it, but I'm proud." Their father said happily, as he joined in on their hug. Together, they cried tears of joy.
Toby, who had been standing in the corner of the hospital room, patiently, said, "Congratulations."
Everyone turned to look at him.
He covered his face with embarrassment. "Sorry."
Dinah and Lilah laughed.
"Who is this young man?" Christinah asked.
"Yes, and why are you two so dirty?" Their father asked.
"Is that blood?" Their mother pointed out with concern.
"Well..." Lilah started. Then, Lilah and Dinah told their parents everything.