Kingdom Keepers: Next Generation (Unfinished/Unedited) *Republished

Chapter 7- Up and Running

Sofia's POV

Back at home, Eli, Emma, Lucas, Alex, and I were in my basement. We had gotten home without a hitch. Uncle Oliver had been too preoccupied with our siblings to notice how long we had been gone. We sat together in silence for a few minutes, just thinking. Finally, Emma broke the silence.

"What are our parents into?" she asked, staring at a spot on the wall.

"Something bad," Eli said.

"Agreed," Lucas said.

"Something big is going on here," Alex said.

"We need to do something," I said.

"Why did they talk about Maleficent as if she's real?" Emma asked, zoning back into her surroundings.

"Maleficent was one of the Disney Villains mentioned most as an enemy of the 'Kingdom Keepers'." Lucas said. "The rumors are that dad fought her when he was 14."

"But, those are just rumors," Emma said.

Somehow, I knew that the rumors were true. It was hard to believe, but in that moment, as I looked around at my friends, I knew we all believed that our parents had done something incredible.

"They said something about crossing-over and looking around," I said.

Alex looked deep in thought. He finally spoke,

"I think we should figure it out. Our parents are keeping something big from us."

Alex rarely spoke his opinion. He must have felt very passionately because he was usually so easy-going. I knew we needed to do this.

"Let's do it." I said.

Our parents got home around 4 in the afternoon. I looked at them differently, but I guess they didn't notice. My parents never lied to me. My dad was horrible at it. I couldn't believe they kept all this from us. I didn't know what, but I knew they were keeping something big from me, and I didn't like it. I hated what I was about to do, but it was important to figure out what they were up to. My friends and I got along well, but we don't agree on a lot. This time, we do.

At around 10 pm, I got into bed, wearing a pajama top but regular jeans and my shoes. My mom came in to check on me, as usual. She didn't notice a thing. When she left, I quickly changed my shirt and met Lucas outside. Our parents had installed fire ladders in case of emergencies. I hated using it, but this needed to be done. We rode our bikes to a park, where we met Emma, Eli, and Alex, having done the same thing. We rode our bikes to the same soundstage we had been to hours earlier. The plan was to repeat the procedure our parents had done. We didn't know what it was for, but we figured we could at least have some leverage in finding out whatever our parents are doing.

We arrived at the soundstage expecting security everywhere. When we got there, however, we saw no security guards or anything. Alex spotted a sign, he read it alou.

"This soundstage is the place where the DHIs where originally modeled. It is no longer used as a commemoration for the hard work the Keepers have done for the Kingdom."

"Hard work?" Emma asked, as perplexed as the rest of us.

"Come on," I said. "Let's get started."

We walked into the huge soundstage. Lucas and Alex set up the computers based on their notes that they took when we were scoping it out. Lucas left Alex to do his work on the computer, so he could put on his green tights and leotard. The plan was for Lucas, Emma, Eli, and I to do the procedure first, while Alex did the technical stuff. Then, Alex would do the green screen work, while Lucas did the technical side. The whole thing took us 4 hours. Alex uploaded his data to a flash drive for him to put on at home. By the time we got home, it was 4 o'clock in the morning. I fell asleep as soon as I hit my pillow.

The next morning, I had school. I had to wake up at 7am, which is technically "sleeping in" on a school day. I was running on 3 hours of sleep, and I was not happy, nor was I ever, in any way, a morning person. My brother looked like he had gotten run over by a truck. We went to school and I barely made it to lunch. Alex was on his laptop with Lucas over his shoulder. I got pizza, the only lunch that resembled what it was supposed to, and sat down with them.

"I'm going to die." I said, as I put my head down on the table.

"You need to eat." Lucas said, turning towards me.

I looked up at him exasperated. I was skinny, but I eat a lot. I had absolutely no problems with eating, but Lucas always wanted me to eat. He was big on health and safety. He is my walking traffic cone. I took a bite of my pizza. I looked up at the right moment. Noah Luowski and his group of dim-wits were marching right towards us.

"Head's up." I said. Lucas and Alex looked up just as they arrived.

"Hey, Whitless! Do you realize how dumb you look?" Noah said, staring at my brother.

"What do you want, Noah?" I asked.

"To know why you three look like you just rolled out of bed and into mud." Luowski said.

"Really? I thought that was the look you were going for." I said. Some of Luowski's group started silently snickering behind Noah's back.

"This time, Whitman, I'll leave you alone. But next time, you better run." He said.

"I could outrun you any day." I said.

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut." He snarled at me.

"And you should learn to put on deodorant." At that point, one of Luowski's goons pulled him back and they slinked off.

"Sofia..." Lucas asked. I looked over at him. He and Alex were both staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You are going to end up in a locker." Alex said.

"Oh, please. He woudn't touch me." I said. Lucas looked worried.

"Hey," I said to him. "I'll be fine."

He nodded, but I could see the tension and worry in his eyes. Alex went back to typing. Five minutes until the end of lunch, Alex finally looked up from his computer.

"Done." He announced to us.

"We're on the system?" I asked.

"Yep. Now we can see what happens." He said.