Project Fantasy

Chapter 5

"What about Ren? If he switches when either of the girls are in danger, why didn't he switch in when you two first came here?"

Mark was surprised by the question. When he first got placed here, he immediately thought it to be dangerous and mysterious. When he saw Lilac, though, she was studying the landscape with curiosity instead of caution.

"Maybe Lilac didn't think this was a dangerous place. I know she was looking at everything with the same eyes that she would if she were looking at a microscope."

"Well, let's hope we don't run into anything that causes Ren to switch. We have to keep moving." Mark nodded and headed over to Amber.

"Amber. We have to go now," Mark said gently. "Aww, do we have to go now?" Amber groaned. " I was playing with the bunny rabbits! Can we please stay? Please?" Amber looked at Mark with puppy dog eyes as she waited for his answer.

"Sorry, sunshine. We have to keep going."

"Can I at least bring the rabbit?"

Mark looked at Star. "I don't see why not. It'll find its way back eventually."

"Yay! Thank you thank you!" Star exclaimed as she quickly stood up. She held the white and blue rabbit in the air and twirled it around. "You're going to come with me! I'll make sure to take good care of you!" Amber hugged the rabbit tightly.

"Alright. Are we all set to go?" Star asked. Both Mark and Amber nodded, and a few minutes later, they had successfully left the Land of Wonders.

Amber skipped through the forest as she followed Mark and Star. "Hey, where are we exactly?" She asked. "We're not too sure Amber, but we'll find our way back home," Mark responded. Amber slowed into a walk. "Do we have to go? It's so fun and colorful here. I don't want to leave!" she whined.

Mark turned into a backwards walk as he looked at Amber. "I know you don't want to go, Amber. But we can't stay here forever. We have to go home." Amber's face changed into a sadder expression before bursting into tears and falling to the floor. "I don't wanna go!" She cried. Mark stopped walking and went to comfort her. "Hey. It's ok. I know you don't want to go," Mark reassured her. "I bet we'll be able to come back here though, once we're able to stabilize the portal that brought us here.

Amber sniffled. "You-you mean it?"

"Of course I do. But we have to get home first before we can do that, ok?"

Amber lit up again. "Alright, Mr. Mark!" She exclaimed as she rose from her feet again, and they went back to walking as she wiped the tears form her face.

A few minutes went by before anyone talked again. This time it was Mark to break the silence. "Hey Star?" He asked. Star turned around, flying backwards. "Yeah?" "Where are we going now? It looks like a long way 'till we get back to the portal."

"Yeah, about that. I've been trying to avoid this next section of the region, but I don't think we'll be able to avoid it." Star's voice grew softer for the first time, concerning Mark, while Amber looked off into the forest. "What section are we trying to avoid now?" He asked.

Star sighed as she turned around. "It doesn't have an official name like the Land of Wonders. Although people tend to call it the Land of Horrors, and you can probably guess why." Star put her head down.

"If it's called the Land of Horrors, would that mean it shows the person things that would want to make them leave? Like the opposite of the Land of Wonders?"

"Not quite. Unlike the Land of Wonders, which changes itself based on the person, the Land of Horrors doesn't change. It has these monsters as we call them. No one ever goes there more than once."