ANTIOCH

Chapter 3

It's been a day since Kayla, Luna, and Bryce's departure. Shantell Koneko sat silently, inches beside the Crystal Waterfall. She looked out into the green Antioch Forest as the trees danced to the calm winds.

"Hey..." a voice called out.

Shantell turned to see her friend Keiara Arashi

"Hi..." Shantell replied.

"Any sign of her yet?"  Keiara asked.

Shantell was silent, disappointed of the answer she had to give.

"Not yet." she answered.

"I figured so."

They continued watching the dancing trees. It was always so peaceful by the waterfall. The sound of the flowing stream rushing down a steep cliff.

"We should go.", Kei proposed. "We'll try again tomorrow."

"Alright.", she replied.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME?!", an outburst of frustration echoed in the Time Square.

"Sorry, Devin. We forgot to call you before they left.", Gage said.

"You guys suck.", Devin whined.

The sun was high in the baby blue sky, no cloud to be seen. The shops and cafe were full. Everything was busy.

"Calm down.", Annie teased. "It's not like they gave birth."

As they they continued on their conversation, Cody walked in heated. He carried a small, empty army green bag. His face almost reached the complexion of a tomato. His strides were heavy and demanding.

"Okay,", he started. "Who's idea was it to take my Butterfly Knives?!"

He held the bag up in front of him showing the empty bag. The others looked at each other with disarray on their faces.

"Well, it obviously wasn't one of us.", Devin commented.

Cody brought the bag down back to his side.

"Well, someone did."

"Maybe it was David.", Gage answered. "He probably hid them as a sour joke to piss you off."

Cody looked over to him. He lifted his head and cupped his chin with his hand.

"He would, wouldn't he?"  Cody replied.

"He's probably still salty about that fight yesterday." Annie mentioned, laughing.

"I clearly kicked his butt." Cody said, confidently.

"Wait..."\ Devin interrupted. "There was a fight?! I missed that too?"

Meanwhile, at the Ridge Castle, Mizu watched through his monitor once again, this time, spying on the gang at home. His homing bird stayed hidden in the Time Square with them.

"What the heck would he want with them?", Elon thought.

He felt around the diamond glass ball reminding himself that there was no escape. He carried no explosives with him at the moment. It was hopeless.

"It ends here.", Mizu spoke out. Elon looked up from the sudden words that came out of his mouth. Mizu pushed an orange button. The spy bird at Time Square then flew over to the group of friends. It circled around them before finally landing. They looked at the mysterious bird.

"Hey guys!"  David called out.

"You!" Cody yelled. "You have a lot of explaining to do."