Core Four Fun | Location : Earth | TMC |

|13| new territory

 "Crap on a cracker, that's huge." Alex whispered aloud, entranced by the massive build in front of them. The middle arm was nearly double the height of the other three on each side of it, smaller arches built into the sandy coloured stone. The sky behind it was starting to darken, a blue smeared with lingering wisps of cloud still hanging about.

"Everyone, welcome to Universal Studios! If you have bookings to stay at a park hotel, please proceed to the bus stop over to our right. If not, then head straight through under the arch to the checkpoint and have a great time!"

Alex pulled Jordan out of his seat and down the aisle, thanking the bus driver as they went to the undercarriage of the bus and got their suitcases, four in total to roll over to the other bus station. As much as Alex wanted to run straight into the theme park, she was practically dead on her feet and wanted another good meal, a slushie and an uninterrupted night's sleep.

"I didn't think it would be this big—"

"Our bus!" Bear interrupted Dix, "Our bus is here and it's about to leave—"

Alex didn't waste any time, hooking her arm through hers as they tried not to trip over their bags running to the bus. Jordan and Dix were close behind, lugging along their bags as well. The doors closed seconds after Dix hopped in. The bus driver gave them a very flat stare as they walked to the back for the only free seats, settling in the chairs with their luggage awkwardly shoved and balanced between the four of them.

She unlocked her phone, leaning away from Jordan who was sitting next to her and went to a special app Bear, alongside his genius brothers, had developed for cross-world communication.

You: kaiden

kaiden

kai

kai kai

op-boy: don't call me kai

You: okay kai

what time are you waking up tomorrow?

op-boy: i'm waking up at six, dragging dec out of bed at seven

You: i can't wait to show you around freya more

op-boy: how's Orlando? there's supposed to be lots of alligators n stuff there right?

You: actually haven't seen one yet. im on the bus heading to our hotel rn and there's a guy with sticky cheeto hands

op-boy: cheeto...hands?

You: you'll see

op-boy: okay i have to finish up an assignment for hunter now so i can 'go on a stimulating trip to another world'

You: don't die please

op-boy: when have i ever?

You: good point

op-boy: love you

You: love you too

"Who are you talking to?" Jordan tried to look at her phone. Alex pushed his head aside and put her phone away, the fluttery feeling in her heart that she always got when she talked to Kaiden slowing.

"Kaiden." Alex rolled her eyes as he mock-swooned dramatically, pushing him across to where Dix was sitting. "Go kiss your girlfriend."

"Gladly," Sparkie smirked. Alex shook her head and returned to gazing at the window. The scenery was whipping by, cars red, black and blue short next to the bus as they drove to Loews Royal Pacific Resort. Alex had picked it with the help of TripAdvisor and her wallet. Now they were nearly at the hotel, the bus slowing and pulling up to another bus stop.

"Hey, why are we at a lake?" Dix craned her neck to peer out of the window.

"Surprise," Alex grinned, "Welcome to Loews Royal Pacific Resort."

Everyone got off the bus and headed straight for a thatched hut, so the Core Four went with the flow and dragged their bags along to the docking bay. A few water taxis were already ferrying earlier hotel go-ers, churning up water behind them as they crossed the wide expanse of water. Tropical plants with widespread green leaves and shady palm trees were clustered around the hut. There was a hotel worker checking booking details underneath the hut.

Alex passed their papers and passports over. The worker glanced at them and waved their group, the four plus a family of three, onto the next water taxi. Their bags were loaded into a seperate compartment, leaving the passengers to lounge around on the top deck. Alex smiled at the breeze flitting past the boat, letting a long sigh out as the boat docked on the other side. Someone had their bags stacked with a fancy hotel trolley, rolling out another trolley with the family's bags to another worker.

Walking down the path cleared of sand, Alex took in the resort - more palm trees, sandy beaches and sun chairs, but it was mostly deserted apart from other arriving guests walking around a large fountain-pool out front. Two smooth stone elephants sprayed water from their trunks, two statues on each side of the fancy fountain also pouring in water.

They were lead into the reception area, greeted by the cool breeze of air conditioning and even more greenery. The triangular prism roof held the three desks receptionists stood behind, outside light barely streaming in from the panels in the roof. Dix was all business seeing they were distracted by the couches, TVs and staring at the scenes carved into the wooden dividers, heading for the free desk and beginning the check-in.

Alex could tell Dix was about to drop dead on her feet as well - she'd been walking as much as they had and managing all of their childish antics, so she gently pushed the redhead aside to a bench and took over. The receptionist, Mark, was very nice and ran through the whole thing quickly.

"You've booked three lovely Hospitality Suites, however, I'm afraid we don't have any that which have a connecting door, so we've put you all next to each other in one of our corridors that only has two rooms for your comfort and privacy."

"Thank you!" Alex smiled, and they finished up the rest of the information in two minutes, leaving Mark to hand over four key cards and an invitation to the buffet that was still running for dinner. A bellboy had already been sent ahead to their rooms with their luggage, so the four of them strolled along a bridge that connected them from the main area to Leeward Tower, where they would be staying.

Jordan had his arm slung around Dix, his usual hyper self dulled with tiredness they were all suffering from. Bear was scrolling through the Universal Studios website and seemed to be downloading the app. They arrived into a lift lobby, taking the lift up to the fifteenth floor, where both their suites were.

Alex followed the signs, leading the other three to the short corridor Mark had mentioned earlier.

"Room 269, 270, and 271." Alex handed Jordan and Bear their keys. "Bags should be inside already."

"Uh, who's the third room for? Headmaster Marselle?" Dix joked, suspicion lingering on her face. Alex shrugged.

"He's always wanted to visit Universal Studios." With that, she pushed Jordan and Bear into 270, and pulled Dix with her into 269.

"Does the extra room involve your surprise?" Dix immediately questioned Alex, not even ten seconds after the door closed.

"Oh come on, how'd you guess so fast?"

"When we're not in battle, I guess it's easier to see when you're fibbing. Really, really, badly."

Alex stared at her best friends and then caved. "Fine. Dec and Kaiden are coming tomorrow."

"Really? That's amazing, Bear's going to be so excited! They haven't been in Freya before, have they?"

"Once, but it was like a three day trip. They'll be staying with us for the rest of the holidays unless Dec doesn't wake up on time and they miss the door I'm opening."

"Okay, well, better get your beauty sleep so you can look fantastic for Kaiiiide—"

"Oh shove, it, Dix."

A/N: quick chapter update, probably has spelling errors, sorry. How's everyone still reading this lmao?