UA7: Brothers in Spirit

Chapter 3 - Splinterland

"Guys, remember that you can make your own light if you need to. You don't have to wait for Arlo to do it for you." Dylan quietly told his fellow explorers.

"But it's hard to make light and walk at the same time." Jason K complained.

"I know, but don't let it slow you down. It'll get easier with practice." Arlo implored him to understand.

"It's okay Jason. You can go slower if you need to. We won't save any time by letting you run face first into something." Dylan said reassuringly.

"Speaking of that, shouldn't we have come to a wall by now?" Arlo cautiously asked.

"I only have a general sense of how big the main room is, but it does feel like we should be at the far side of it." Dylan reluctantly admitted.

"Listen." Teddy whispered.

After a long silent moment, Dylan cautiously asked, "What is it?"

"I thought I heard a voice." Teddy slowly answered.

"Maybe you heard someone from the other group." Dylan reluctantly suggested.

"I don't think so. It sounded like it came from in front of us... listen. There it is again." Teddy finished in a whisper.

"I heard it too." Arlo quietly confirmed.

"Hello! Who's there?" Dylan asked forcefully as he fought to boost his spiritual light enough to see ahead of them.

A brighter light rose up from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Arlo casting a soft white glow.

"Dylan? Is that really you?" A young voice asked hopefully from the surrounding darkness. Suddenly a small figure slammed into Dylan, engulfing him in a desperate hug.

"Johnny?" Dylan asked disbelievingly, then looked around to see if any of the others might have a clue of what was going on.

"I thought I lost you. I just about gave up, then I heard your voice. It sounded like you were talking about me. As soon as I heard that, I followed the sound until I caught up to you." Johnny said with accomplishment.

"But Johnny, I heard that you were... dead." Dylan said as gently as he could and even returned the hug he was being given to some small degree.

"Yeah. I got popped pretty bad. It took me a while to figure out what happened. You're dead too, ain't'cha? I mean, the living can't see me. I learned that first thing." Johnny said as he finally pulled back from Dylan's side enough to look up at him.

"I got shot, but I didn't die... it's kind of a long story. But now it seems like we're in a place between life and death where we can talk to each other. We still haven't figured out exactly what that's all about." Dylan said honestly.

"He's not like Randolph." Arlo said cautiously.

"Like how?" Dylan asked curiously.

"Look at him, he looks like a ghost. He's transparent." Arlo said frankly.

"Johnny, take a step back so I can get a good look at you." Dylan said gently.

"You're not going to make me go away, are you?" Johnny cautiously asked.

"No. It's nothing like that. We've just found ourselves in a weird place where we don't understand how things work. We need to step carefully and look closely at each new thing we discover." Dylan rationally explained.

Finally, after taking a moment to think it over, Johnny stepped away from Dylan and waited to be evaluated.

"He's see-through, there's no doubt about that." Dylan said frankly.

"I'm having less of a problem with that than I am with Randolph being solid. In our world or realm or whatever it is, Randolph can barely manifest at all. Now, here, he's as solid and substantial as any of us. Which is fine. Except that if Randolph is solid, then so should Johnny be, too. Right?" Arlo slowly reasoned.

"Do you think it'd be alright if I crashed with you guys for a while? I mean, all the other stuff I had going on kinda fell through when I died." Johnny said uncomfortably.

Dylan looked around their gathering and came to the conclusion that regardless of any feelings he might have on the matter, he was the leader.

"Honestly, we don't know enough to make too many plans. You can hang with us for now if you want, and we can see how things work out." Dylan said a bit regretfully.

"Don't worry. I get it. There's too much weirdness going on for either of us to promise much of anything right now." Johnny said frankly.

"Yes. That sounds just like us, doesn't it?" Dylan asked rhetorically,

"Always has been." Johnny reluctantly responded.

* * * * *

"Ronny, are you okay?" Donny asked with concern.

"Yeah. Why?" Ronny cautiously responded.

"I don't know. You just seem like you're a little quiet... depressed, maybe."

"I'm not depressed. Not really. I think it has something to do with having all my dreams come true, all at once. Now that I have a few minutes to process, it's a little overwhelming."

"I'm guessing that you're talking about the guy thing and not about being stranded in the realm of the dead." Donny said speculatively.

"It's kind of hard to explain. I'm not sure if I even know what I'm feeling, but for as long as I can remember, I've always been a girl trying to live as a guy and become like one. As near as I can tell, now I'm exactly the same as if I had been born male... which is good. I'm not complaining. It's just that all of a sudden, I'm missing most of how I identify myself. I mean, who am I? What am I? Before, I had a lot of answers to that. I was an FTM trans guy. I was used to fighting to pass, fighting to be recognized, fighting to be heard. Now I'm a guy... just like any other guy.... I'm straight, even. I don't know how to be like this."

"After winning your fight, don't you want to celebrate or something?" Jinx quietly asked.

"Yeah. Except that it doesn't feel like winning." Ronny said in a pained voice, then speculated, "Maybe that's the thing. I've been given everything that I asked for. Nothing I did caused anything to change, the fight just suddenly ended."

"I guess you could try dressing like a girl. I mean, even if you don't feel girly, it might help you get your trans thing back." Donny cautiously offered.

"No. That'd be like living a lie, like I'd be pretending to be trans just to be part of the movement." Ronny said in a conflicted voice.

"You can still fight for trans stuff as a guy. I mean, no one's going to try and stop you." Donny said honestly.

"Yeah. Of course I'll support them. But if I'm a guy, who identifies as a guy, then me fighting for the cause feels like I'm an outsider trying to horn in on their movement."

"Then what do you believe is your proper place in the grand scheme?" Randolph asked curiously.

"I don't know if there is one for me. Maybe it's as a member of the crowd, cheering from the sidelines."

Before Donny could respond, a low growl sounded from nearby.

"Did you hear that?" Ronny whispered.

As Donny opened his mouth to answer, he froze at the sight of inhuman red eyes glowing in the darkness before them.

"What?" Ronny began to ask when another pair of red eyes appeared, focused directly on him.

"Please don't hurt them. They're being nice to me. I don't want them to go away." Jinx implored in a small helpless voice.

Both pairs of eyes shifted to focus on Jinx.

"Do you know who or what they are?" Donny asked cautiously.

"They're demons. I dreamed them up when I was little." Jinx timidly explained.

"If you dreamed them, how are they here?" Ronny asked quietly.

Before Jinx could answer, Randolph asked, "How am I here?"

"Yeah, but you were real to begin with. If these guys are imaginary... I don't know. It makes a difference." Donny said anxiously.

"Jinx. How sure are you that these demons aren't real?" Ronny cautiously asked.

"I've always dreamed about them and sometimes I thought I saw them, when I was alone in the dark. They don't talk to me or anything like that, but I've always felt like they could understand me from the looks in their eyes. Sometimes I'd even talk to them, you know, tell them what I was feeling when I didn't have anyone else." Jinx fought to explain.

"So they don't hurt you?" Randolph slowly asked.

"They don't bite me or anything like that. But they scare me and make a big mess that I get blamed for and sometimes they'll hurt the people around me. It's mostly because of them that I try not to be around people." Jinx said anxiously.

"Do they cause your bad luck?" Ronny asked curiously.

"I don't know. I guess they might." Jinx said honestly.

"From what you were telling us earlier, it sounds like these creatures became attached to you in your old house and have been following you since." Randolph said speculatively.

"Maybe. I guess." Jinx said uncertainly, then explained, "I never thought about them causing my bad luck. I always felt like I was already unlucky and having Ginger and Mary Ann following me around was just another part of it."

"Ginger and Mary Ann?" Donny asked with a smile.

"They couldn't tell me their names and I needed to call them something. We can give them better names if you want." Jinx hurriedly explained.

"No. The ones you picked are wonderful. As long as Ginger and Mary Ann aren't mad about it, I don't have any problem with it at all." Donny hurried to assure him.

"Do you think they could step closer so that we can see them?" Ronny asked curiously.

"I think they're already close enough." Randolph quietly offered.

"They probably won't anyway. They don't like light." Jinx said anxiously.

"Do you think that they're imaginary?" Ronny cautiously asked.

"Logically, they could be." Donny said consideringly, then continued, "But my instincts are telling me that Ginger and Mary Ann are actual demons who became attached to Jinx because he was born and raised in a haunted house. They may or may not be the source of Jinx's curse, but they are almost certainly a part of it. It would be too big of a coincidence to be random."

"Do you think that they have anything to do with where we are or how we got here?" Ronny cautiously asked.

After a moment to consider, Donny carefully said, "No. I really don't think so. They're here with Jinx. If they cared about us at all, I'm sure that they would have killed us by now. I mean, really, what could we do to stop them? We never even got our pointy stick. But I think that as long as we don't try to hurt Jinx, they'll probably leave us alone."

"So they protect him?" Ronny asked uncertainly.

"I don't know if I'd go that far." Donny said honestly.

"What do you think we should do next?" Randolph whispered.

"I think we should back away slowly and go back to the fireplace. Their presence is enough to prove that it isn't safe for us to be wandering around in the dark." Donny said slowly.

"I avoided such creatures in the past, believing that any encounter with them would lead to my certain death." Randolph said nervously.

"Weren't you already dead?" Ronny asked curiously.

"Granted. Even so, I still feared being mauled by a demon." Randolph said honestly.

"Yeah. Actually, that sounds like a valid fear to me." Ronny said easily.

"Let's head back to the others. Remember to take it slow. We don't want to spook the demons." Donny said quietly.

"I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, but let's just go." Ronny said anxiously.

The four boys looked at each other and it was Donny who finally asked, "Does anyone know which way is back?"

"I thought you were keeping an eye on the fireplace." Ronny said honestly.

"I am. I mean, I was. When you said that, my attention wavered for a second and it wasn't there anymore." Donny explained.

"Let's go back." Ronny said quietly, obviously unnerved by the new development.

"Yeah. But be careful. I have the feeling that my sense of direction is off." Donny reluctantly admitted.

"Yes. From the distance we walked, it feels to me as though we should be outside by now." Randolph said nervously.

"I think it's this way." Donny said, trying to sound confident, as he put an arm around Randolph to reassure him.

Ronny looked down at Jinx and smiled as he gave a slight eye roll at the budding romance.

Jinx giggled in response, then started walking with the group back in the direction that seemed to be where they had come from.

* * * * *

"What happened back in the real world when Matt and Tai first went to the digital world?" Paul slowly asked.

"They were away at summer camp, weren't they? I don't remember anything important happening in the real world until the second season." Obie responded uncertainly.

"Oh yeah. That's right. I was mixing up Matt and Tai with Takuya and Koji." Paul said seriously.

"Didn't time slow down or stop for Takuya?" Obie asked cautiously.

"Yes. Time in the real world stopped while he was gone so that he ended up returning the same minute that he left. There was a birthday party or something that was starting at the beginning of the first episode and was still going on at the end of the last one." Paul said in slow concentration.

"Do you think we have something like that going on here?" Kole asked cautiously.

"I don't know about that, but from what we saw in the mirror, time isn't working the same there as it is here." Paul responded easily.

"The frozen flames have me wondering if it's us or them who's unstuck in time." Ryvan said honestly.

"How long do you think it will be before someone notices that we're gone?" Kole cautiously asked.

"If what we saw in the mirror is really real, I don't think there's any chance. We're not missing. We're still there." Paul said frankly.

"Yeah. It's weird. We're here, knowing about them and they're there, not knowing about us." Obie said anxiously.

"I'm going to look in the mirror to see if maybe I can spot something to explain what's going on." Kole said determinedly.

"While you're doing that, I think I'm going to see if I can find the front door." Ryvan said as he stood.

"If you find it, don't step through. There's no telling where it might take you." Kole said sternly.

"I'll be careful if you will. There's a good chance that that mirror is somehow tied to all of this, whether it's a tool used to bring us here or the cause of everything, I don't know. But either way, I'm betting it's dangerous." Ryvan said seriously.

"You guys are pretty good. You've figured a lot out with very few clues." An amused voice said from the darkness surrounding them.

"Who's there?" Paul asked in sudden panic.

"A friend." The voice responded in a delighted tone.

"You saying it doesn't make it so." Obie said challengingly.

"He's right. Who are you?" Paul asked again.

"You can call me Alistair." The voice responded.

"That doesn't tell us anything. Who are you and why are you here?" Kole demanded assertively.

"I somehow thought you'd be nicer when we finally met." Alistair said speculatively, then continued more seriously, "I guess you would probably call me your 'quest giver'."

As Alistair said the words, he stepped into the faint light being cast by the blue/gray fire. His brown hair and eyes were unremarkable, but the stranger still seemed unaccountably familiar to all of them.

"Do you have some answers about what's been happening to us?" Kole asked hopefully.

"Some. Not as many as you probably want." Alistair said frankly.

"Where are we? What is this place?" Ryvan asked seriously.

"Don't you want us to have this conversation with the whole group?" Alistair asked in a leading tone.

"Before you can run away or disappear, I want to know where we are and what's happening to us. Depending on your answers to that, my other questions may not matter." Kole said frankly.

"Fair enough." Alistair conceded, then cautiously asked, "What exactly did you want to know?"

"Where are we?"

"Even though it might sound like a joke, the most accurate answer I can give you is 'through the looking glass'." Alistair finished with an apologetic grin.

"That sort of confirms what I was thinking about the mirror, but it still doesn't tell us where we are." Ryvan said seriously.

Before Alistair could explain, Paul said, "It means that we're in a different dimension, or at least it confirms it. We pretty much figured that part out already."

"That much is true. And the rest, I'm afraid, is complicated and will take more time than we have to explain. You'll need to discover the unique attributes of this place for yourselves."

"What dimension are we in?" Kole asked cautiously.

"It doesn't really have a name... I suppose that you can name it if you want to. Very few beings in the multiverse are granted the honor." Alistair said consideringly.

"Yeah, great. Maybe later." Kole muttered unenthusiastically.

"Am I going to be deaf when I go back to our own dimension?" Ryvan asked bravely.

"There is a decision path that you could take that would have that result. But hopefully we'll be able to find something better for you before that can happen." Alistair carefully answered.

"Hopefully? You don't know?" Kole asked suspiciously.

"Let me be blunt with you. What's going on here isn't a plan, it's damage control. Most of this was made up on the fly."

"Made up by who?" Kole asked in a firm, serious voice.

"Whom." Ryvan quietly corrected.

"Bite me." Kole automatically responded.

Undeterred, Alistair continued by saying, "There are certain beings who can move between realities..."

"Is that what you are?"

"No. My talents are a little more... psychic in origin. The others let me handle things on-the-ground so that I can make split-second decisions using my ability to foresee. They keep watch and help me out by doing what I can't." Alistair said cautiously.

"Does that mean that you're doing what they can't." Paul guessed.

"I'm sure they could probably do it just fine without me, but since they don't like meeting new people, my gifts can make it easier for all involved. I like to think that it's a lot faster, cleaner and easier with me helping them." Alistair explained.

"Okay, 'quest giver', tell us what we have to do."

"First step, gather the team."

* * * * *

"The fireplace should be around here somewhere." Dylan said as he stopped in the darkness.

"I was careful to keep track of where we were going and you're right, this is where it should be." Arlo confirmed as he worked to increase his light.

"Most places don't stay where you leave them. It's easier to find people in the dark than it is places." Johnny quietly explained.

"How do you do it? Find people, I mean?" Dylan asked curiously.

"I'm not sure how it works, I mostly did it without thinking. But all I did was want to find someone and sooner or later I'd hear them... I think it only works if they're talking about you or maybe if they're thinking about you really hard." Johnny said uncomfortably.

"We can try that." Dylan said cautiously.

"I don't know anything about Paul, but I can picture Obie, Kole and Ryvan. Tell me who we're focusing on and I'll help." Arlo said seriously.

"I never talked to Kole or Ryvan that much, but I talk to Obie all the time." Jason K reluctantly volunteered.

"I don't know any of them, so just tell me who we're calling so that I can try to listen for them." Teddy said frankly.

"Everyone, be quiet for a minute and focus on trying to hear Obie." Dylan said firmly.

"If I knew who Obie was, I'd help you." Johnny quietly offered.

"That's okay. You gave us an idea of something we can try. That was a really big help. You've already done your part." Dylan said frankly.

* * * * *

"I was afraid of this. When we walked away from the fire, everything behind us disappeared." Donny said anxiously.

"It's not your fault. Sometimes the world changes around you, even when you don't do anything to cause it. You just blink and suddenly everything's different." Randolph said regretfully.

"Do you know of any way to get back to where we were?" Donny asked cautiously.

"No. But stopping and waiting doesn't help, I've done that before. If I keep going and looking for it, sometimes I'll end up where I want to be." Randolph said carefully.

"But you just said that the world sometimes changes when you don't do anything." Jinx timidly pointed out.

"That's right. The world might change, but it doesn't revert to how it was before. Stopping is like giving up. If you keep moving, there's at least a chance that you'll get to where you want to go." Randolph carefully explained.

"I guess that settles it." Donny said resignedly, then turned to Jinx and asked, "Do you think Ginger and Mary Ann could help us find our way?"

"They might attack someone who tried to hurt us because they don't want anyone else taking their prey but that's about as much help as I think they'll be." Jinx responded anxiously.

"Comforting." Ronny said dryly.

"It looks like the closest thing to friends we've got here are enemies." Donny said frankly.

"At least we have each other." Randolph quietly offered.

"Yeah. That's important." Donny confirmed, then added more confidently, "We'll find a way to make it work."

* * * * *

"We can make this place be anything you want. Where do you want to have your meeting?" Alistair asked pleasantly.

"You mean that you can take us anywhere in the whole world?" Obie asked in awe at the suggestion.

"Anywhere in the whole universe... anywhere in any universe, really." Alistair said happily.

"So, does that mean that we're not really in Cabin Seven anymore?" Kole asked cautiously.

"Not really, no. In fact, we've been actively suppressing the formation of the Cabin Seven manifestation until you had a chance to make the conscious decision."

"What decision is that?" Paul cautiously asked.

"What kind of home do you want to have?" Alistair responded simply.

"Since we ended up at Camp Little Eagle, we probably aren't the best ones to ask about good homes." Kole said frankly.

Ryvan nodded his wholehearted agreement.

"When you're asking us about a 'home', are you talking about something like a 'made for TV' Holiday Special type of home?" Paul asked uncertainly.

"I don't know. You'll need a place where you can have group meetings and activities, but you'll probably also want some private spaces where you can be alone and relax if you want to." Alistair slowly explained.

"If we can live anywhere, does that mean that we could have someplace like the Hall of Justice?" Obie asked with delight at the thought.

"I suppose that you could. But unless you've got actual superpowered beings on your team you might not want something that high-profile. Besides that, there's always the chance that your home base will need to be shifted to another dimensional incarnation. You might actually want to keep a low profile at first in a situation like that." Alistair said cautiously.

"It sounds to me like we need a lair." Paul said simply.

"Will we still be in Camp Little Eagle?" Obie slowly asked.

"The people you saw in the mirror will still be in Camp Little Eagle. The way things stand at this exact moment, it looks like you won't be able to access that planar node until after a significant dimensional incursion has concluded." Alistair said carefully.

"Could you try that again in English?" Paul asked hopefully.

"Some people who exist outside standard time and space noticed a significant anti-time disruption in the prime materia planum. As you might expect, the dimensional superstructure began to fracture as a result, so we took steps to shore it up to minimize the damage caused by the split."

"You're giving us waaaaay too much credit of how smart we are." Paul said frankly.

"I'm catching about every third word." Kole supportively added.

"Let him keep going. I think he's working toward something that he thinks makes sense." Ryvan countered.

"It doesn't matter anyway. The original plan fell through. The 'forces that be' pushed and pulled trying to get the impending split to happen cleanly and smoothly, so a mend might eventually be possible. But instead of a clean break, with two nearly symmetrical divergent timelines, we ended up with two slightly messy timelines... and then a little left over besides."

"And that 'little left over besides' is where we are?" Kole guessed.

"Yes." Alistair reluctantly admitted.

"Is that like an island between two continents?" Ryvan cautiously asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Why not?" Alistair said uncomfortably.

"So, from what you were saying before, the two new timelines each have their own Camp Little Eagle but our splinter doesn't?" Paul guessed.

"If we hadn't taken action, some version of Camp Little Eagle might have manifested here, but it wouldn't be sustainable. Initially, we were trying to isolate your group so that you could have the option to jump between the two dimensional incarnations and give help when needed, as you had already deduced."

"But something went wrong. The fragment or island wasn't supposed to be completely created." Paul automatically provided.

"That's right. We took the actions we thought would prepare us to be in the best position when everything settled into place, but our abrupt actions and rushed preparations triggered something in the supernature that shunted off into the splinter universe."

"What does that mean for us?" Ryvan asked cautiously.

"We don't know yet. Nothing is for sure until it happens. We've done all that we can in the name of prevention. We can't really do too much else until the anti-time ripple impacts us. After that, we pick up the pieces.

"Due to the presence of higher beings in the main universes, an instance of Camp Little Eagle cannot exist in parallel within the splinter without their participation. They're integral for what Camp Little Eagle fundamentally is and how it functions."

"Okay. I don't really get all that except that things are happening and nothing's for sure. What do you need for us to do right now?" Kole asked firmly.

"First, we need to collect the others. To do that, we'll need a homebase. If you can describe a place where you feel that you'll be comfortable, we'll do our best to manifest it for you."

"Shouldn't the other guys be in on this?" Obie asked cautiously.

"I'm pretty sure that having more people here won't make it easier to decide. And in order to call them, we need a place to call them to. When things settle, we should be able to make changes if necessary."

"So, you need for us to describe the place where we want to live?" Ryvan asked cautiously.

"If you know of a place that already exists, you can just tell me and we can try to recreate it for you."

"So, do you mean that if I ask you to do Gilligan's..." Paul began to ask but was harshly interrupted.

"Stop!" Ryvan barked.

"I didn't mean..." Paul began to say when Ryvan interrupted again.

"Don't say another word. Don't even think it."

After a long silent moment, Paul finally nodded his compliance.

"I don't have anyplace special in mind where I'd like for us to live, so you guys can work that out. Just don't say anything that you don't mean. Assume that whatever you say next will be taken literally and made into reality." Ryvan said carefully.

After another long moment passed, Alistair quietly asked, "Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Camp Little Eagle is the nicest place that I've ever lived. I can't really think of anyplace better than that." Kole said honestly.

"While it would be easy enough to build the structures of Camp Little Eagle, it might cause problems in some of the possible futures. 'Like summons like' and all that sort of thing. With what we're planning, it just isn't a good idea for the long term." Alistair slowly explained.

"What are we going to be doing in this place? Eating? Sleeping? Meetings? Training?" Kole asked seriously.

"All of the above." Alistair responded.

"When you put it like that, it sounds like we need what Paul was saying, something like a villain's lair. Maybe not an island in the shape of a skull or anything like that, but someplace where people won't mess with us and where we can do the stuff that we need to do without being bothered." Obie said slowly, obviously thinking aloud.

"I guess that makes sense." Kole reluctantly admitted.

"So, what kind of place are you thinking of? A remote island? A giant cave? An extinct volcano, maybe?" Paul asked with building excitement.

"Hold on, I'm being told something." Alistair said slowly.

"Do you think we're going to be superheroes?" Kole quietly asked Obie with concern.

"No. Probably not. But it wouldn't be bad living like we were." Obie said honestly.

"If we're supposed to have a place for meetings and training and living places too, then a lair like that sounds like it could be just what we're looking for." Kole said decisively.

"What's our other choice? To live like we're nobodies? To struggle each day to find the things that we need?" Ryvan asked simply.

"Okay, guys. I've got the inside scoop on your lair. It's beginning to look like we don't have a lot of time, so I'll let you discover the features of it for yourselves." Alistair said seriously, drawing all attention to himself.

The boys were waiting with anticipation for any hint of what was in store for them.

"Before we manifest the structure, we're going to have to make some decisions about the technology that's going to be included."

"Can't we just have the stuff that we're used to? If you'll leave us the owner's manuals we can probably figure out anything we don't already know." Kole asked cautiously.

"What you need to keep in mind is that not all the dimensional incarnations that you might encounter will have achieved your level of technology. We need to be cautious from the outset." Alistair said anxiously.

"Do you expect us to be time traveling or something?" Kole asked hesitantly.

"More like dimension hopping. Anything that you encounter that seems like time travel is more likely going to be a separate dimensional incarnation which is differently-developed compared to what you're familiar with." Alistair carefully explained.

"I think I see what you're saying, but what can we do about that?" Obie asked seriously.

Alistair looked upward for a long moment, then said, "We can make adjustments later as needed, but I suppose for now, I need for you to promise not to expose any primitives to modern technology, or invite them into your 'lair' where they might be culturally contaminated."

"What? You mean like the prime directive? Sure. I think we'll all agree to that." Paul said confidently.

As Alistair looked around the group, illuminated by the fireplace, he saw each of them nod their agreement in turn.

"Any other requests or suggestions before we finalize things?" Alistair asked cautiously.

After a long silent moment, Alistair finally said, "Good. It's done."

In an instant, their surroundings suddenly changed from night to day.

Curiously, the fireplace and mirror remained in exactly the same place that they had been before. Although, now the fireplace itself was visible, not just the flame.

Everything else around them sprang into being, fully formed, from pitch black to dazzling brilliance in an instant.

"What just happened?" Dylan asked suddenly from the next room which had several dining tables flanked by a professional food service steam table.

"I think Obie and Paul just wished us up a home base." Kole said weakly.

"What happened to the cabin?" Donny asked curiously as he stepped out of an expansive library into the well appointed lounge area.

"The cabin was never really there. The only thing you were able to fully manifest from it was the fireplace. Everything else was brought into being using the blueprint that Obie and Paul provided." Alistair explained.

"Who are you?" Ronny asked hesitantly.

"You can call me Alistair. I'm here to help you." Alistair said pleasantly.

"When can we go home?" Arlo asked suddenly.

"I don't know if you can." Alistair said regretfully.

"Why not?" Dylan asked with concern as he looked out the patio door at a deck surrounding a large pool.

"I've already explained some of this to the others, but basically, a certain number of unexpected things happened and we reacted the best that we could to what we knew at the time."

"That doesn't sound good." Jason K said frankly.

"Right this minute, we don't know exactly how bad 'bad' really is. We're just taking what seems to be the most reasonable steps to keep everyone comfortable through some potentially uncomfortable times." Alistair said regretfully.

"Where are we?" Ronny asked warily as he took a step nearer the patio window to look toward the sky. The sunlight seemed somehow wrong to him.

"Where we are doesn't really have a name yet. I suppose that you can name it whenever you're ready." Alistair explained uneasily.

Ronny was only mildly surprised to find that the light coming from above outside the building was coming from multiple industrial grade light fixtures.

"Are we still in Florida?" Kole asked boldly.

"I can't really answer that right this minute. In fact, this very well could be the only instance of what you might call reality in this entire dimension right now." Alistair explained with difficulty.

"Can't we go back to Camp Little Eagle?" Dylan asked uneasily.

"We can peek in at them through the mirror. This dimension is still synchronized with them, but there are currently no open venules to either of the primary Camp Little Eagle incarnations." Alistair carefully said.

"There's more than one?" Jason K asked anxiously.

"Actually, there are probably countless possibles, but of the stable dimensions expected to continue their existence, there are two parallel instances, either of which would be suitable for you to return to." Alistair said with difficulty.

"Except that we can't go there." Paul guessed.

"That's right. Except for that."

To Be Continued...

Editor's Notes:

I get the feeling that we have, in fact, moved forward, or maybe sideways.

Things do seem to be solidifying.

Alistare does seem to be able to rearrange some things.

It kind of reminds me of some things involving brin hallow, etc.

I guess all we can do right now is wait for another new chapter.

It IS very nice to see a new chapter, sitting right here that isn't a flashback, so to speak.

Darryl The Radio Rancher