Britney stood behind Rebecca as she knocked on the door to Grandma Maya's house. Rebecca was fairly annoyed, so Britney tried to imagine what scene would unfold before her.
Maybe Rebecca would storm upstairs and drag the twins outside by their ears? Or maybe she would just throw them out the second floor window before using them to break her own fall.
There really was no telling what the 14 year old magician would do as the door opened.
Luckily for Halley and Brandon, Grandma Maya was the one who opened the door, and her kiss on Rebecca's forehead managed to calm her to the point of normalcy.
"Would you two like a cup of hot cocoa?" she asked them while ignoring her two grandchildren scurrying about looking for their things.
"They don't need it." Brandon said as he grabbed Britney by the wrist and headed for the door.
Britney stretched out her other hand towards the counter, longing for Grandma Maya's hot cocoa as Rebecca asked the twins, "Do you guys have everything?"
They said yes, but Britney was more concerned about the hot cocoa as Grandma Maya poured it into a cup and placed a lid on it.
"Are you sure you two have everything?" she asked as she dangled Halley's and Brandon's phones in the air. As they went to grab them, she snuck a cup of hot cocoa to Britney.
The eternally grateful freshman, however, never got the chance to thank Grandma Maya for the cocoa as Rebecca dragged the three of them out of the house. She kept telling them to run, and by them, I mean Brandon, because their bus was about to leave.
Britney ended up arriving first, but the bus had already left them behind.
"Wait!" Brandon said, panting, but Britney didn't know if he was talking about the bus or them.
Regardless, he was right to panic as Rebecca and Halley started ganging up on him and blaming the entire ordeal on his failure to wake up on time and his outrageous talent of being able to ignore every alarm except for Halley's elbow.
Britney couldn't understand how or why they thought Brandon of all people would be able to wake up on time for anything. Every time they did, they were honestly just setting themselves up for failure.
"What are you doing, Brit?" Halley asked as she and Rebecca were preparing to crucify Brandon for his ginormous blunder.
Britney was fixing the problem, but they were welcome to continue their preparations in the meantime.
"I thought we were friends!" Brandon cried as Britney brought her phone to her ear, ignoring the loud bunch.
They needed a ride to school because Brandon woke up late.
Britney found herself smiling at her phone as she turned to the curious magicians behind her.
"Britney smiling?" Brandon asked, "That could only mean one thing!" Nayeon blushed a bit at his comment, making Rebecca drop her fist in the middle of his head and tell him to leave her be as a limo pulled up to the curb by them.
That was quick, Britney thought as a driver opened the door to release the energetic princess of the South herself.
"Britney!" she cried as she latched herself onto the young girl.
She patted her childish older sister on her head before she turned to hug Rebecca and Halley, and Brandon last.
"What happened to no favourites?" Brandon grumbled as they entered the limo.
"You're the reason we're almost late for the first day." his sister rebutted."But thanks to our favourite princess," Rebecca announced, "we're saved!"
Kiara's smile brightened the car as the driver pulled off and back onto the road while Rebecca and Halley started to eat the candy in the car.
They must've been desperate to eat candy first thing, Britney thought as Kiara leaned her head on her shoulder.
"I didn't get much sleep last night." she said, but Britney was completely fine with letting Kiara sleep on her shoulder. She was fine with whatever made her happy.
"Gotta love the ego of the South's royal family." Brandon said, resulting in Halley elbowing him in his side, and him knocking Rebecca's food out the window.
They were as chaotic as Britney could've imagined, but she was almost always a fan of the noise they brought to every situation.
High school was going to be fun, she decided as she eyed the fighting siblings in front of her, and the sleepy princess on her arm.
"We have arrived." the driver said as the car came to a stop, and he opened the door for them.
Britney gently woke Kiara up as the 3 musketeers got out first and asked, "Kia, do you want to have a sleepover today?"
Britney remembered Rebecca's earlier question and became that much happier as the princess agreed.
"What about us?" Halley asked. "You can come," Rebecca replied, "Brandon can sleep outside."
"Hey!" he said as they made their way into the prestigious academy itself.
Britney knew she was bound to meet all different kinds of rich snobs there, but she didn't expect to meet them so quickly as 3 limos all pulled up in front of the school gate.
There was a bit of a commotion as three guys each stepped out of their own limos. There was a friendly-ish looking one, one who looked like he hated life, and one normal looking pretty boy.
However, Britney didn't care, and turned to go into the building with Rebecca, Halley, Brandon and-
Where's Kiara?
Britney's head whipped around and around until she spotted Kiara running up to the half-decent looking one of the trio and excitedly saying, "I didn't know you were going to AMA too, William!"
The blonde haired snob, however, glanced at Kiara with disgust in his eyes as he said, "School is a place to learn, not to flaunt a body you don't have by intentionally wearing a short skirt, Princess Kiara."
Britney's mind went blank as she felt herself inching closer to the brat, but she quickly snapped back to reality when she spotted Brandon's sunlight yellow eyes.
She grabbed him and held him back as Rebecca and Halley pulled a dejected Kiara away from the waste of space. The princess tried to cover up her clear sadness with a smile, but it was obvious she was hurt by the useless moron's words.
She would never hurt Kiara the way William did to her. She would never fear her the same way he did either. She only held back because Kiara was genuinely in love with him, but only one thought ran through Britney's head as she watched her petite, dark-skinned, princess tame the towering dragon with a simple gaze and a single hand: Kiara didn't love William anymore.
She finally had a chance with her!
"If you stare at her any longer, you'll burn a hole through her head." Rebecca joked as she nudged Britney in her side, but she couldn't help but stare in awe at the princess's blinding smile as she introduced the little dragon lizard to the group.
"Why a lizard though?" Brandon asked. "We can take on any forms we like, but it's usually based on our tamers' desires."
Speaking of tamers, Sky mentioned how each tamer was a magician of one of the 5 pillars.
"That I did."
So why was Sky helping them?
"I told you already," the colourful little girl said, "I want to leave this world, and I'm not the only one." "I don't think that's what she means," Awan explained, "I think she means why do you have an appearance catering to her and Rebecca's desires if they're not your tamers."
Exactly! Wow. Awan was really good at clarifying things, Britney thought as Sky told them how she "chose you two."
Huh?
"Unlike the tamers," she explained, "I cannot share my power with you, but I can still work together with you because of my own free will?"
Why was she asking them?
"I don't know how to explain it," she said while rubbing her chin, "but I know who does." "Who?" Celestia asked. "Tija, or the Time Dragon in your terms." "Great," Michael said, "then let's go to the Time lands, find out why, and get home. Lead the way."
Sky, Cloudy, Willy, Chayse, and Phyna all looked at each other questioningly before Chayse asked, "What are the Time Lands?"
Hmm?
"Forgive Michael," Brandon said, "He's a moron." Brandon's smug attitude soon dropped as soon as Michael put him in a headlock, but Britney was still a tad bit confused.
"Me too." Rebecca added as Cloudy flew high into the sky and pulled a few clouds down upon return.
The clouds hovered about the floor until they formed a map of Donum, and the planet itself was pretty massive.
"We're here," Sky said while pointing at one of the two mountainous quarters of the map.
"This is Fizul,"
The other mountainous region.
"This is Airizul,"
The cloudy area of the map.
"And this is Wazul."
The only ocean on the map.
"Many rivers and bridges connect these four worlds," Phyna explained, "But there is no Time Land nor Space Land here."
"Meaning," the eloquently spoken princess said, "We found Sky by pure chance, and we have no way of finding the Time Dragon."
It started to make a bit more sense to Britney. Sky and the Time Dragon have control over the whole world, which is why everywhere is frozen in time, and why the hurricane-tornado didn't directly affect the neighboring lands.
"So how do we find the Time Dragon?" Celestia asked, dejected until Halley lifted her arm and pointed East.
"Call it instinct," she said, "But something is telling me we go that way." "I'm not completely comfortable with going along such a hunch." Brandon added, but there was no harm, considering blindly exploring was their only option at the time.
"The Water Lands?" Awan questioned, "It's worth a shot since it's one of the places we haven't been yet."
Though Awan, Britney, and Halley were on board with the idea, it took Kiara's softened expression and gentle encouragement for everyone to fall in.
She really would make a phenomenal queen, Britney accidentally said aloud, causing Kiara to blush in the cutest way possible as they began their journey to the edge of worlds, specifically the edge between Wazul and Earzul.
Britney tried to walk a bit faster to catch up to Kiara, but she soon found herself being pulled back to the back of the group by her boyfriend.
"Don't show off too much." Brandon commented as the gap between the two of them and the group grew.
Michael, however, simply walked in silence while holding Britney's hand. Strangely, her heart still pounded where their hands intertwined even though she was-
"In love with Kiara, aren't you?"
What?
"Don't worry. I won't say anything unnecessary."
Britney's heart suddenly dropped to the floor as she broke out in a cold sweat.
How had he realised? Was she being that obvious about it? She didn't mean to let everyone know just yet.
Michaelangelo, however, simply held her hand to his mouth and planted a kiss by her knuckles before saying, "It wasn't easy to figure it out, but you tend to realise when others have their eyes set on the one you love."
Huh? Did Michael also-
"Yeah. I'm in love with Kiara too, but strangely,"
The curly brown haired 16-year-old leaned in and kissed Britney before adding, "My heart still pounds when I touch you."
She was the same, and it looked like neither of them knew why. It was a strange feeling indeed, Britney thought before she locked eyes with Michael.
She had an idea, but she didn't know how it would turn out, she thought as she explained her plan of action to Michael.
"It could work or make things more complicated, but it's worth a shot."
Right?
Britney smiled at her boyfriend and he at her as they began the first process of their plan.
"I'm breaking up with you." they both said to each other in unison before laughing at their perfect harmony.
Britney stared at the gleam in Michael's eyes, confirming he was indeed the real one before Chayse ran over to them with a face red from either embarrassment or exhaustion as he told them, "Ms. Sky is about to leave, so she asked me to tell you two birds of love to hurry up, but I don't think there's anything wrong with you two being in love. Being in love is a wonderful thing, really-"
"We'll be right there," Michael said, ending the deer boy's ramble, "Thanks Chayse."
Britney, however, saw to them getting to the rest of them on time by grabbing both boys by their wrists and running through the woods right as Sky began to move them through space. They hadn't seen a land without its dragon, but they imagined it to be frozen in time.
None of them expected the entire ocean in front of them to be literally frozen.
"I'll stay behind with the spirits," Phyna announced, "As their presences may agitate the Time Spirit."
That made sense. That and the fact Phyna was literally made of fire.
"Good luck!" Sky said to Britney and Rebecca as she hugged them goodbye. The two girls hugged their colourful ally back before they turned to face the frozen ocean, though the hardest part of all of this came about with Chayse immediately slipping and falling on the ice.
"Oh yeah," Brandon said, suddenly remembering, "You guys don't happen to have ice skates on you, do you?" "Yep," Halley replied sarcastically, "Right next to the red giant star I keep in my back pocket."
Kiara lifted her hands and pointed upward, creating the ice skates Brandon had just asked about.
"I hope you like them." she said with a smile, but before Britney could go and embrace her, Celestia got to it first.
Dejected, Britney still skated the best out of everyone else as Awan had to hold Chayse in his arms, and Kiara supported her little sister.
She wished she could switch places with Celestia, but she didn't have the skill to pretend to be bad at anything. Her only curse, she thought as the ice suddenly cracked underneath them.
"Brandon!" Rebecca immediately yelled. "It wasn't me~" he cried as the ice gave way and they all fell through.
I should really say slid rather than fell since the journey to the bottom of the sea was an unnaturally smooth one, and Britney's suspicions were confirmed as they all landed in front of four icy corridors.
"Did we just fall into a trap?" Awan asked, and it seemed like it as the ice slide sealed itself, not allowing for them to exit easily. On the other hand, if they had fallen into a trap, their trappers were either another person or the Time Dragon.
"We should split up-" Brandon suggested before Michael added, "And get picked off one by one? No, thank you." "No, Brandon's right," Halley said, surprising even Britney, "It's the fastest way to find who we're looking for."
As bad of an idea it was for them to split up, they didn't have much of a choice as they paired up and went their separate ways, and thanks to Britney's quick thinking, she got to be all alone with Kiara as they explored their own ice corridor.
*****
This was the first time they had been alone in a while, Britney commented, trying to break the silence between them.
"You're right," Kiara said with a smile, "The last time was before Baptiste's birthday. When you rejected Michael, but I'm glad everything worked out between you two. I could tell he loved you by the way his eyes lit up when he talked about you. You guys really are the cutest couple, but don't tell Hall and Ky I said that."
Britney felt an overbearing spike in her annoyance as Kiara talked about Michael, but she couldn't say much because she was right.
"I hope someday I find someone who can love me like that." the princess said, but she didn't need to find anyone like that.
"Don't be mean, Brit."
She was serious. Someone as kind, beautiful, and perfect as Kiara didn't need to go out to look for love when she was all she dreamed off.
Kiara laughed a bit at Britney's comment, adding, "I still want to find that someone myself."
But she didn't need to.
Britney felt herself blushing from ear to ear as she realised she had trapped Kiara between herself and the side of the corridor. She was being so cringy, but she didn't care as she told the princess how she and Michael broke up.
"What? Are you alright?"
She was fine.
"Well, why did you break up? If I may ask."
Wasn't the answer obvious to the clueless princess, Britney wondered as she leaned in closer and closer until Kiara suddenly said, "Brandon and Halley. They found the Time Dragon!"
Britney immediately realised what she was about to do and backed away from Kiara before apologizing. However, Kiara grabbed her hand and smiled at her as she teleported the two of them to a gigantic ice cavern where they saw the Time Dragon holding Halley captive.
Britney didn't hesitate to use her magic, but strangely, the moment she blinked, the Time Dragon went from about to kill everyone there to gently resting its head in the twins' hands.
Nayeon … was confused, to say the least, but it didn't look like she was the only one as everyone's expressions said it all.
"What just happened?" Celestia finally asked, and Kiara replied with a smile, "The Time Dragon trapped all of you in suspended animation as Brandon fought it on his own."
What? Brandon did that?
"It wasn't only me." Brandon said, strangely maturely as Britney studied his, Halley's, and Kiara's changes in height as well as everyone else's.
The twins had definitely aged quite a bit, but everyone else looked the same as the humongous dragon suddenly turned to dust?
However, that became the least of their problems as the cavern started to cave in on itself.
"Hurry! This way!" Awan called to everyone as Kiara teleported each of them back to Earzul where neither the dragons nor Phyna looked like they had aged.
"It's been 24 days!" Sky complained, "Where have you guys been?" "Taming the Time Dragon." Rebecca replied as she pinched Sky's cheeks. "Oh! Where is the Time Dragon?" Phyna asked before Chayse started to bawl his eyes out, startling everyone.
"Brandon and Ms. Halley killed the Time dragon!" he cried, but Brandon strongly denied it as Awan held the little deer boy in his arms.
"I didn't kill the dragon!" Brandon said over and over again until the same dust from the cavern suddenly came out of nowhere and formed a small cyclone before exposing a man who looked like Sky, but sunlight yellow and turquoise.
He looked mesmerizing as he said, "None of you could kill me if you tried."
He looked so mature and elegant …. until Sky roundhoused him in the face.
"Big words coming from a melodramatic child!" "Melodramatic?" he questioned. "Yes! If you just listened to me you would've been able to see Lucy that much sooner." "Shut up!" "No!" "How was I supposed to know Lucy's descendants would come find me?" "It's called having hope, you useless father!"
What did that mean?
"Halley formed half a bond first," Brandon explained, "But since we're twins, she needed me to complete the bond."
Wait. Did that mean-
"Yup! I'm a Class X too." "No, go ahead and just leave me behind." Rebecca said as she congratulated Brandon and Halley on their bond while the two dragons continued to fight until Cloudy started pecking at their heads.
Britney didn't clearly understand bird, but she figured Cloudy was trying to remind them why they were all gathered.
*****
"Oh that's easy." the childish man said, "To open a portal to your world, we need the power of either both Creators or all six of us." "Math wise," Michael asked, "Is it possible to open the portal with 4 dragons and one Creator?" "Luckily for us, that just barely works out, judging by Isra's power level in this magician."
Hmm? The Dark Creator's power level in Kiara?
Before Britney could ask what that meant, the Sky joined hands with the Time Dragon and Kiara while Cloudy and Willy sat on her shoulders.
A pillar of light suddenly appeared in the space between the three of them as darkness mixed with turquoise, cloud, sunlight, pearl, and tangerine shot higher and higher into the sky as the same vacuum feeling from before began to tug at Britney until they were all inside of another "steadier wormhole."
How exactly could Awan tell? Britney wondered along with everyone else as they floated in a more relaxed current.
"Wormholes are made of magic, and streams of magic like this one depend on the makers' mental states."
Great. How did he know that?
"Raphael Sullivan wrote theories and studies about everything related to Magiterra and Mytherra."
Michael's dad?
Britney's head immediately turned to check on him, only to see Kiara patting his head as he smugly grinned at Britney. It was obvious Michael was nothing like his parents, but there was just so much they didn't know.
Why were the papers and tapes of everything on PROJECT ANARCHY empty when they all saw the tape? Britney swore she saw writing on those pages, but it seemed like something else was going on. Something much bigger than they could ever imagine.
"It seems like we're way in over our heads." Brandon said before Awan, Chayse, and Celestia all offered to replace him in the group. "I was joking." he replied, pretending to be hurt.
"We can also have Timmit replace you too." Halley said, but who's Timmit?
The time dragon shyly raised his hand as Sky cackled at the name.
"Halley wanted Tim, but Brandon wanted Mit, so they named me Timmit."
Britney couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else at the twins' opposing dispositions as Britney remembered Ahn-Jong's request to "come find me the second you arrive in the East." when Celestia mentioned how everyone was doing in Wisteria.
Britney started to confuse herself once more as the wormhole came to an end and they arrived in Wisteria.
However, the Grand Duchess's words began to make more and more sense as Britney stared at the wasteland that was supposed to be Guro-gu Palace.
What the abyssus happened while they were gone?
To Be Continued~