Reality is Insanity

Hello everybody! Welcome to another installment of ‘Reality is Insanity’! Oi sorry it took longer than usual to get up, but it took for-freakin’-ever to finish! This is about as long as the first chapter I believe and it didn’t even get to where I wanted it to. But besides that I have some bad news kiddies. Next Tuesday is the start of my new semester in college…which sucks! So, I’m not exactly sure how that’ll affect my updating, but it just might, so be warned. Because not only will I be starting school, but I’ll also be starting a new job…God I hate being an adult!!! So if my updates become sporadic than I apologize in advance. Well, onto happier things, let’s answer reviews!

Sveta: Awe thank you so much. Your words make me all gooey inside. I honestly never thought this story would catch so much attention, but I’m so glad you like it ^-^ As for your questions they will be answered in time. You’ll be getting no spoilers from me, thank you very much. I’m also really happy that you like the characters as much as I do. If you think Iaol was able to freak you out just from that, wait till we really get into the story >:D Thanks for your review!

Aisha: Hehe that’s a mighty powerful squee you got there Aisha. So you thought the story was going to go differently, huh? Do tell, I’m rather interested to hear your thoughts on what you guessed was going to happen. Thanks for your review and you shall have to wait no longer!

Kat: Yay! Juniper has his first fan! Isn’t he just a smart aleky bastard? Heh if you really do have trouble with the names just tell me which ones and I’ll do my best to give a pronunciation key or something. Thanks for reviewing!

Tyrisha: Another fan of the Jareth description, huh? Guess the Goblin King rocks harder than I thought. Hehe just because I use the word ‘insanity’ doesn’t mean Joshua will have a lot of trouble. Whatever would give you that idea? >:P Here’s the update you wanted.

Passing Reader: I was starting to wonder what happened to you. I hope you had fun at your vacation/reunion. Holy crap that’s the most eloquent review I’ve gotten I believe. Never had someone call one of my stories quicksand before, I can tell you that much. Thank you so much, for your kind words. I’ll keep doing my best to make this story exciting and interesting and keep you in that quicksand. ^-^

Nastscarythingunderthebed: Um, you rambled? All I got was ‘I LOVE IT!’ But thank you very much and you didn’t have long to wait ^-^

Okay guys, that’s all there is. Again thank you to everyone that reviewed and has reviewed and has been reviewing through almost the whole thing and thanks to those that read the story but choose to remain silent. Now on with the incredibly long chapter!

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Floating in infinite darkness, a space blacker than any human being could imagine. How could something so dark and empty be so comforting? Those were the faint, flickering thoughts Joshua had as he slept a dreamless sleep.

No travels. No riding on gigantic sand rays or flying ships. No soothing voice that carried across the wind to rest in his ears, just darkness.

But soon the darkness started to lift as the boy’s mind began to awaken, drawing him out of his pleasant sleep.

Joshua made a soft grunting noise as he came back to himself, all of his senses fully waking up. He blinked open his eyes and the first action he took was to yawn widely and loudly.

The boy wanted to go back to sleep. He forgot how nice it was to get a full night sleep and to feel totally refreshed. Sure he hadn’t had any dreams out in the wasteland, but he had woken up periodically because of the uncomfortable ground. This time he was in the softest bed he had ever had the pleasure of sleeping in.

In fact, everything that happened after his talk with Juniper had been extremely pleasant. Both he and Lliamy had gotten to take very warm baths – not together of course – and when they got out plates full of food were waiting for them. Joshua couldn’t recognize over half of what they were eating, but he didn’t care since it had all tasted good. Then to top everything off with sleeping in the greatest bed in the world, it was easily deduced that Joshua was in heaven.

It was odd that they didn’t see their host after he dismissed them, but Joshua just thought maybe he was preparing for their journey the next day. *Wait, that’s right,* the boy thought, remembering what was supposed to happen. *We’re going to go see Juniper’s friend to see if he can help me know if I’m dead or not.*

A sense of dread filled Joshua as he remembered the horrible news that Juniper had given him. If he was dead in his world than Joshua would be stuck in Nisis forever, and even though he had already made good, helpful friends, he wanted to go back to his loved ones at home.

With thoughts of what was in store for them, Joshua became wide awake. *I better get up and go talk to Juniper to see when we’re leaving,* he thought. The boy then tried to get up from the bed, to find that he couldn’t.

Joshua was lying on his stomach and realized that something was on his back, holding him down.

“What in the world?” he muttered as he turned his head to see what it was. The first thing he saw was a mass of blonde, curly locks splayed around his back and shoulders and spilling to the bed. When he recognized what it was Joshua chuckled and laid his head back down on the pillow.

The mass of gold hair belonged to none other than Lliamy. She had her arms folded up on Joshua’s back and her head resting in them. The rest of her was curled up into a tight ball against the boy’s side.

“Sheesh, she’s more like a cat than a hamster,” the boy said in amusement, “though I guess hamsters curl up like this too.” Joshua had almost forgotten that the two were sharing the room. Though being used as a pillow quickly reminded him.

“Okay, you, I have to get up,” he whispered to her and slowly tried to move out from underneath her. Lliamy made a whine in her sleep, stretching and rolling over in the process. Joshua then found arms encircling his neck and chest as a head snuggled itself into his shoulder.

“You are not going to make this easy, are you?” the boy asked in exasperation.

After several minutes of struggling and maneuvering, Joshua was finally able to get out of the large, round bed. Lliamy whimpered at the loss of body heat and reached her hands out in a desperate attempt to get it back. They came across one of the pillows and the girl pulled it to her and curled up around it, going right back into a peacefully sleep.

Joshua covered his hand with his mouth to stifle a laugh. He then pulled the covers back over Lliamy and stretched out his body. Pops came from his neck and back followed by another big yawn from him.

“Now to go talk to Juniper,” he told himself and made his way to the door. After a few steps he stopped and looked down at himself. “Maybe I should get dressed in my clothes first.”

The night before, Bird had taken his and Lliamy’s clothes to go get washed. They had gotten replacements of course, but Joshua felt a little self conscious in his.

He was wearing a long black shirt that stopped about an inch above his knees. There was a cut in the front that had blue string weaving from side to side, but it showed off his chest just a bit. The sleeves were long with blue decorations at the cuffs and more blue string dangled from them to tighten the openings if needed.

Embarrassingly enough it looked like Joshua was wearing nothing underneath the shirt. Hidden by the length of the clothing was a pair of matching black shorts that were suspiciously shorter than was necessary.

Joshua was oddly modest for his age, never liking so show off his lean body or reveal a lot of skin, but now he felt he had a reason for that. Juniper’s leer and words from before put him on edge and the boy had a sneaking suspicion the man was responsible for his current attire.

“No way am I going to go talk to him like this,” Joshua firmly decided, pulling down the hem of the shirt a bit. The boy then started looking around the room, seeing if Bird had returned their clothes during the night. He didn’t have much to search. The room was small and all it contained was the bed, a dresser, and more of the odd books that seemed to litter every room.

Joshua went through every drawer in the dresser, but only found more books. He even tried to see if his clothes would magically come out of the books like the items last night, but all the books were normal and only contained words.

“Damn it,” Joshua grumbled, not seeing his clothes anywhere. “Don’t tell me I actually have to go out in these.” The boy stood up and spied his accessories on top of the dresser. Since they couldn’t be washed he was allowed to keep them with him.

“Well, I guess some of my things will be better than nothing,” he muttered. Joshua snatched up his silver earring and quickly put it in his ear. After clasping the watch around his right wrist, Joshua picked up his sweatband. He was about to slip it on his other wrist when he stopped.

He studied the blue material and ran his thumb over the white stitching that proclaimed Dumbledore was alive. A wave of sadness swept through the boy as he remembered how he had received it. The sweatband was a gift that had been given to him, well, not so much given as forced upon him. Joshua still remembered it like it was yesterday.

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“Joshua! Look!” Ellie cried out, pointing at a rack of sweatbands, bracelets, and other such accessories.

“Ellie, stop yelling, people are looking at you funny,” Joshua chided, striding over to his friend.

“Oh who cares how people look at me. It just makes them look funny for looking at me funny,” Ellie replied, making a face at him as he approached.

“This is why I’m so reluctant to come to the mall with you,” Joshua grumbled as he stopped beside her. “So what has you so excited?” he asked.

“This!”

Joshua pulled back a little as a sweatband was shoved in his face. After shooting a glare at Ellie he looked at the item, reading the words.

“Dumbledore Lives,” he read then rolled his eyes. “Oh not this again,” the boy huffed.

“See!? See!?” Ellie yelled excitedly, waving the sweatband around. “Other people believe it too! I told you Dumbledore is still alive,” the girl said smugly and crossed her arms.

“For the last time he is not alive, Ellie. Dumbledore is dead and buried,” Joshua told her firmly. He felt like a geek for fighting over a made up character, but he wasn’t going to budge in his opinion.

“But this is proof!” Ellie exclaimed, waving the sweatband again.

“That is not proof. That is just something the company made to get money from delusional people like you,” Joshua said, earning him a scowl.

“Dumbledore is alive! I believe it, other people believe it, and now you believe it too,” Ellie told him, making Joshua raise an eyebrow.

“What?” The boy yelped as Ellie grabbed his arm and forced the sweatband onto his wrist.

“There, now you think he’s alive too and you can’t take that off either,” his friend told him matter-of-factly.

“And why not?” Joshua questioned as he studied the unwanted item attached to his wrist.

“Because I’m buying it for you and if you reject it I’m taking that as a rejection of our friendship,” she huffed, crossing her arms and gave him a look that dared him to test her.

The boy gaped at her awhile before sighing and crossing his arms with a sulk.

“You're impossible, you know that,” Joshua murmured, his way of saying he was giving up. Ellie grinned widely and threw her arms around his neck.

“I wuv you too, Josh-Josh!” she said happily and the boy rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, well go wuv somewhere else,” he grumbled.

“Kissy attack!”

“Ack! No kissy attack! No kissy attack!!!”

***************

Joshua came out of his pleasant memories with a slight smile. Mixed emotions of happiness and sadness swirled within him and he didn’t know which to be. He was surprised when a drop of water suddenly fell onto the sweatband and was absorbed into the material.

The boy lifted a hand to his face and found a trail of tears running down his cheek. *I’m crying?* Joshua thought in surprise. Having realized it a floodgate was opened and more and more tears fell until the boy started sobbing.

Joshua covered his face with his hands to muffle his sobs as he let himself cry. The boy wanted to get it all out so he wouldn’t break down in front of Juniper or during their travels.

After a few minutes the flow of tears ebbed and Joshua forced himself to stop crying. He wiped his wet face with his sleeves until his skin was dry. After looking at the sweatband again the boy silently slipped it onto his wrist.

“I am going to get home,” Joshua said in determination, curling his fingers into fists. “I don’t care if I’m dead or not, I’m going home and that’s final,” he vowed as he went to the door and left the room.

Joshua quietly closed the door behind him, leaving Lliamy to her peaceful sleep. *At least one of us should be happy,* he thought.

“Okay, now to find Juniper,” the boy said out loud. Joshua looked from one side of the hallway to another and he raised an eyebrow. “Why does it look like there are no other doors?” He remembered that the hallway had had many doors last night. One had been a bathroom he had cleaned up in and another had been a dining room he and Lliamy had eaten in, but now he could see no other doors.

Joshua scratched his head in puzzlement before shrugging and choosing the left passage. The sound of his bare feet shuffling against the floor echoed off the walls and sounded a bit eerie to the boy. After awhile Joshua started to get worried when he didn’t come across any doors or the trapdoor in the floor. All he could see were stacks of books here and there and those weren’t helping him any.

“This is starting to get creepy,” Joshua mumbled, the long, bare hallway starting to freak him out. The boy perked up when he spotted a door ahead of him.

“Oh, finally!” he cried out as he sprinted to it. When Joshua reached it he opened the door, hoping Juniper was on the other side. What he saw made his smile fade and a look of surprise to replace it.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Joshua grumbled. Inside was the room he had left, the same piles of books, the same dresser, and the same Lliamy sleeping in the same bed. Joshua backed away from the door and looked down the hallway again.

“Are you telling me I went in a big freaking circle?” he said, not understanding why he wasn’t finding any other doors. “I know there were other rooms, where did they go?” the boy asked the air that was not willing to give a reply.

After looking around a bit more Joshua started jogging through the hallway. He made sure to keep an eye out for anything different, anything that’d give him a clue as to where the other rooms were. Soon he saw an open doorway ahead of him and prayed it wasn’t what he thought it was. Coming to a stop in front of it Joshua looked inside and let out a frustrated groan.

“What the hell!?” the boy yelled as he looked into the room he had left a second time. “This is not going to get the better of me,” he growled before breaking out into a run down the hallway.

Joshua passed his room one, two, three, four times and by the fifth time he stopped in front of the doorway. He fell back to sit on the floor as he panted heavily. His bangs clung to his sweaty skin and the boy glared at the room through the brown locks.

“This…is freaking…ridiculous,” Joshua said between heaving breaths. He leaned back on his hands and tilted his head back to breathe easier.

“All I want is to find another door or that opening in the floor. Is that so much to ask?” the boy asked no one. Joshua jumped when his hands suddenly sank into something and he scrambled away from it. He hid in the room and peeked around the doorframe when he thought it was safe. The boy blinked in surprise at what he saw.

“Where the hell did that come from?” he wondered aloud as he crawled over to the square hole in the floor that had magically appeared. Joshua touched the edges of the trapdoor and the wooden bottom that would slide open. After inspecting it he sighed and shook his head.

“Freaking crazy place,” the boy mumbled. “Now how do I get this open?” Joshua scratched and pulled at the edges of the trapdoor, but nothing he did worked.

“One problem after another problem. This is not my morning,” he huffed, sitting back and crossing his arms. “How did it open for Bird?” he pondered. Joshua stared at it for several minutes, hoping an answer would come to him, but nothing did. Finally, in a fit of irritation, Joshua kicked out his leg and hit his heel against the wood that was blocking his way.

“Ow!!!” the boy yelped and recoiled his injured foot. “Okay, not the smartest thing to do,” he said as he rubbed the throbbing heel. Suddenly he stopped as the hit jogged a memory.

“Wait, wasn’t Bird…tapping on it?” Joshua said. He looked at the trapdoor thoughtfully before reaching out his hand and rapping on the wood with his knuckles. The boy waited a second to see if anything changed then did it again.

“Hallelujah!” Joshua cried joyously as the trapdoor opened. “About time,” he said as he leaned forward and stuck his head through the opening. It was definitely the room him and Lliamy had entered from, but Joshua didn’t see the man he was looking for.

“Juniper! Hey, Juniper, you down here!?” he called out, but got no answer. Joshua pouted as he pulled his head up. “Guess I’ll have to go down there and find him,” he muttered. The boy turned around to go down the ladder, but suddenly had a thought.

He quickly scurried over to the room and peeked inside to check on Lliamy. After Joshua made sure she was still sleeping he quietly closed the door.

“I swear, she sleeps like a rock,” he said as he crawled back over to the opening. With all his shouting Joshua was sure Lliamy would have woken up, but she didn’t.

Joshua made his way down the ladder and jumped the last few steps. Once his feet were on the floor the boy began looking around.

“Juniper. Juniper, where are you?” he called out, but again he didn’t get an answer. “Don’t tell me I did all that work to get down here for nothing,” the boy grumbled as he started to walk around. Joshua studied all the books in the shelves as he went by and stopped more than once to look at all the odd maps of different worlds.

“Scientists are always wondering if there’s life on other planets,” Joshua murmured. “I bet they’d shit themselves if they knew the truth,” he chuckled. The boy moved on and was soon inspecting the contents on one of the tables. He examined a globe that was completely grey and had dark spots here and there.

As Joshua was making the globe spin a book caught his eye. Unlike all the other books on the table it was wide open. The boy walked over to the volume and began examining it. It appeared to be a regular book and Joshua cautiously poked its pages just to make sure. When nothing happened he began looking at the pages. A picture of a beautiful white was printed on the paper and Joshua started reading it aloud.

“The Forget Me Not Flower, also known as FMN, is a plant used in most potions, poisons, and antidotes…wow it’s used in everything,” Joshua murmured before reading again. “The pollen from an FMN can restore any lost memories a person has and can be taken in a many number of ways. The pollen can be inhaled through the nose or mouth. It can be inserted through the ear or taken…does that say anally!?” Joshua exclaimed, gaping at the printed word.

“Why the hell would someone shove pollen up their ass!? That doesn’t make any sense if you can breathe it in through your nose or mouth,” he said, scratching his head in puzzlement. Suddenly Joshua heard a creak behind him and he whirled around.

“Juniper, is that you?” he called out, but he didn’t see anything and there was no reply. “Huh, I guess I just imagined it,” the boy mumbled as he turned back around. Joshua’s eyes widened and his heart jumped in his throat as he came face to face with the man he was looking for.

“Hey, Joshy,” Juniper greeted him with a grin.

“Ah!!!” Joshua cried out and pushed himself back so abruptly he fell.

“Careful there, Joshua, don’t hurt yourself,” the man told him in amusement. Joshua looked up at Juniper, who was lying on the table on his stomach and was staring back at the boy with the grin still playing on his face.

“What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack!?” Joshua yelled at him. “And where did you come from anyways?” he then asked, not seeing how the man had gotten on the table without his noticing.

“Let’s just say I know my way around here pretty well so I can come from most anywhere,” Juniper answered as he swung his legs around so he was sitting up.

“Well, that’s just wonderful for my heart,” Joshua said sarcastically as he picked himself up.

“So, I see you were looking up the Forget Me Not Flower,” Juniper said out of the blue as he pulled the book out from underneath him. He looked at the pages before looking back to Joshua.

“Yeah, it was something to do while I was waiting for you,” Joshua told him as he dusted off his clothes. In doing so it made Juniper look him up and down.

“I must say, those clothes look very nice on you,” the man said as he closed the book with a snap and tossed it behind him, quickly forgetting about it. Joshua blinked at him and his modesty came into full affect.

“To tell you the truth, they’re a bit too revealing for me,” the boy said, pulling down the end of the shirt. Juniper chuckled as he slid off the table.

“Well, you’re lucky then, since I was going to give you ones that were a little less conservative,” the man told him with a grin that Joshua did not like one bit.

“I knew you were behind this,” the boy grumbled as he gave the shirt another pull.

“Yes, guilty as charged,” Juniper admitted. Joshua then blinked repeatedly as the man vanished right before his eyes.

“Uh, Juniper, where’d you go-ah! What the hell are you doing!?” Joshua shouted as hands suddenly slipped under his arms and began touching his chest.

“What’s the matter with showing off such a delectable body?” Juniper purred into the boy’s ear as he pressed Joshua against his chest.

“Ugh I knew you were a pervert, get the hell off me!” he snapped as he tried to squirm away from the exploring hands. Joshua’s face flared up when the hands began running up his body, pulling the shirt up with them.

“You know you’re enjoying it,” Juniper whispered, his hot breath tickling the back of the boy’s ear.

“I am not! This is sexual harassment, buddy!” Joshua growled.

The mischievous hands finally succeeded in pulling the shirt up enough so they could slip under the clothing and caress soft skin. That made Joshua pause in his struggle and he shuddered from the touches.

“If you don’t like it then why are you trembling so?” the man asked him as his fingers traced every curve and indent they could find.

“Y-You’re hands are cold,” Joshua lied as he tried to pull the hands off him. It was more than a lie because Juniper’s hands felt extremely hot and the boy’s skin was set ablaze wherever the fingers roamed.

“Really now? Well, could you warm them up for me since your skin seems to be so heated?” Juniper asked sweetly.

A whimper escaped Joshua as one of the hands left its twin and headed south to his waist. The hand moved over the boy’s shorts and began dragging them down. Joshua turned a bright red at this and his struggling was renewed.

“Juniper, stop, I’m serious,” the boy told him, fighting against his captor.

“And you think I’m not?” Juniper purred and Joshua shuddered as a hot, wet tongue touched the back of his ear.

“I don’t swing that way damn it!” the boy yelled and finally broke away. He turned to face the man as he pressed back against the table. Juniper raised an eyebrow and stared at the boy curiously.

“Don’t swing that way? What does that mean?” he asked and frowned when he saw his hard work wasted as Joshua’s shirt fell back down.

“It means I don’t like guys, asshole,” Joshua growled at him. Juniper continued to stare at him oddly until he snapped his fingers.

“That’s right. Your world is one of those ones that is very gender oriented, right?” the man asked. Joshua nodded and pressed back on the table more as Juniper stepped towards him.

“Believes that the same genders shouldn’t have fun together, right?” Juniper asked and Joshua nodded again. The poor boy started to sweat as Juniper placed his hands on either side of him, pinning him between the table and his harasser.

“Well, guess what, Joshua. As you’ve noticed you’re not in your world anymore and those rules don’t apply here,” the man cooed and leaned forward. Joshua had just enough time to turn his head so Juniper missed his lips and kissed his cheek instead. That did not deter the man though as he moved down the boy’s throat and began nibbling on the tender skin with sharp teeth.

Joshua whimpered again and his knees started to buckle. The lips, teeth, and tongue that lavished attention on his neck was making the boy feel weak. He hardly had enough strength to keep up his vain attempts at pushing the other away.

“Juniper, stop…,” Joshua pleaded and was surprised that it sounded more like a moan. His attacker seemed to notice it too and he chuckled against the skin he was feasting on.

“You say that, but do you really mean it?” Juniper asked as he pulled away then wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist and pressed their bodies together.

Joshua couldn’t get his vocal cords to work to answer Juniper’s question. All he could do was look up into the man’s eyes with a pleading look. Whether it was a plea for Juniper to continue or stop, Joshua didn’t know.

When the boy gave no reply, Juniper smiled and lifted his hand to run his thumb across Joshua’s bottom lip.

“I’m going to take your silence as a no,” Juniper said and once again leaned in.

Joshua shivered from the feel of the man’s hot breath on his lips. He couldn’t get himself to turn away again and closed his eyes, resigning himself to his fate.

“Juniper, what are you doing to Joshwa?” asked a sleepy voice from behind the man. Both Joshua and Juniper looked over to see Lliamy at the bottom of the ladder. She yawned and rubbed her eyes with her hands before looking at them.

“Well?” Lliamy prodded.

At the second question Joshua got back control of his body, shaky limbs becoming stable once more. The boy roughly pushed Juniper away from him, which was easy since the man had been distracted by the new arrival. With him stunned, Joshua curled his hand into a fist and lashed out at Juniper.

“Solar plexus punch!!!” the boy yelled and socked Juniper in the stomach as hard as he could.

An odd gasp came from the man as he stumbled back. Juniper wrapped his arms around his stomach as he wheezed and gasped for breath.

“There’s a treat for you, compliments of Ellie, you perverted sicko,” Joshua told him with a smug smirk.

Juniper tried to growl at him, but ended up wincing in pain from his sore stomach. He settled for just shooting the boy a dirty look before stumbling over to his chair.

Once Joshua was sure Juniper was seated and incapacitated he sucked in his breath and shook his hand.

“Ow, that hurt. How does Ellie do that all the time?” Joshua said as he rubbed his knuckles.

“What was that all about, Joshwa?” Lliamy asked, walking over to the boy, looking at him curiously. She squeaked when Joshua suddenly hugged her.

“Thank you so much, Lliamy. You saved me just in the nick of time!” the boy told her, pulling back enough to give her a grateful smile. The girl looked up at him in puzzlement.

“Um…your welcome?” she said uncertainly.

“Never leave me alone with him again,” Joshua then whispered into her ear and Lliamy was even more confused.

“I think you ruptured one of my organs,” a whine from the chair told them. The companions turned to the man slumped in the chair and Joshua scowled at him.

“It’s your own fault, Juniper,” the boy told him. “And don’t be such a wuss. I take at least one of those everyday,” Joshua said.

“How come?” Lliamy asked him.

The boy shrugged as he turned to her.

“Ellie always says I make perfect practice and it’s not like I can say no, ‘cause she’ll do it anyways,” Joshua replied. Their attention was then brought back to Juniper as the man rose up from his chair with some difficulty.

“With violence aside,” he said, “I’m assuming you’d like to know when we’ll be leaving.”

“Yes, that’s why I came to find you in the first place,” Joshua said, crossing his arms and scowling at the man.

“Well, as soon as you two go get dressed and eat something we can be off,” Juniper told them, ignoring the boy’s dirty look.

“I already looked for my clothes and couldn’t find them and the door to the dinning room is gone. In fact, all the other doors are gone,” Joshua said. He looked over to his companion when she tugged on his sleeve. “What is it?” the boy asked.

“They’re not gone, Joshwa. I saw all the doors when I woke up,” Lliamy told him. Joshua stared at her a moment in shock then looked over to their host. The boy narrowed his eyes when he saw the man trying to hide a smirk.

“I should punch you again just because,” Joshua growled at him before taking Lliamy’s hand. “Come on, let’s go get our stuff,” he said and the two made their way to the ladder.

Juniper watched them as they climbed up and disappeared through the trapdoor. Once he was sure they were gone he collapsed in his chair again.

“Man, who knew that kid could throw a punch,” he grumbled, rubbing his sore stomach. “I was so close, if that little pain in the ass hadn’t interrupted us, I could have had him.” Juniper sulked about it a few more minutes before getting up and going off to make his own preparations for the trip.

************************************************

Over a half an hour later the two companions descended the ladder once more. They were both dressed in their regular clothes and looked ready to go.

“Man, I wish food would appear out of thin air at my house. It’d save me from having to go to the store all the time and would be a good break for my mom,” Joshua said as he hopped off the ladder.

“It’d be really fun seeing what appears too,” Lliamy added as she joined Joshua. She then looked around the cluttered room. “Where’s Juniper?” she asked.

Joshua’s features darkened and he crossed his arms.

“Who knows? Probably off doing more perverted things,” the boy muttered, still miffed at the man.

Lliamy looked over at him and tilted her head. She suddenly heard something off to the side and turned to it. The girl let out a squeak and ducked. An object sailed over her and struck Joshua in the head.

“Ow! Son of a bitch!” the boy yelled as he held his head. The item that had hit him fell to the ground and Lliamy looked at it curiously.

“A canteen?” she said, picking it up to inspect it.

“Of course, unless you want to die of dehydration up there,” came Juniper’s voice and the man soon followed, appearing again from no where.

The man had apparently changed clothes while they were gone. He still wore tight black pants, only these weren’t made from leather, but cloth. Instead of his jacket Juniper wore a black vest that had dark grey fur going around the collar and dark grey fingerless gloves adorned his hands.

“Why did you hit me with it!?” Joshua demanded as he rubbed his aching head. Juniper simply shrugged as he stood in front of the two.

“It’s not my fault if you didn’t dodge it. Your little friend had the good sense to duck,” he said, tossing a second canteen up and down in his hand.

Joshua glowered at him as Lliamy stood up, shaking the item she held. She giggled when she heard the sloshing sound.

“So is this just water?” she asked, oblivious to the other two glaring at each other.

“What else would it be?” Juniper questioned as he shoved the second container into Joshua’s hands. “Now, if you both are ready, we should get a move on,” the man said as he began to walk away.

“Stupid, arrogant, asshole,” Joshua grumbled under his breath as he tied the strap from the canteen to one of his belt loops.

“Why are you mad at him?” Lliamy asked as they went after Juniper.

“Because he’s a perverted pedophile,” Joshua answered. The man they were following stopped in front of one of the bookcases and turned to them.

“You know, I’m taking you to Mirage Town out of the kindness of my heart. I could just as easily toss you two out to fend for yourselves. Is that what you want?” he asked them icily. Lliamy was quick to shake her head, but Joshua continued to glare at Juniper. It took all his will power to bite back a retort and shake his head.

“That’s what I thought, now come on, both of you.” Juniper turned back to the bookcase and reached up a hand. Grabbing hold of one of the books he pulled it out just a bit and something clicked.

Joshua and Lliamy stared in awe as the bookshelf swung open to reveal a circular room. Juniper walked inside and gestured for the others to follow him. Once all three were inside the bookshelf closed and the floor suddenly lit up.

“What is this?” Lliamy asked as she looked around at their cylinder shaped surrounding.

“Think of it as a giant elevator,” Juniper replied.

“A giant elevator?” Joshua repeated as he tilted his head back to look up. The shaft went up for what looked like miles. A thought suddenly struck Joshua and he looked around.

“Wait a minute. Where’s Bird? Isn’t he coming with us?” the boy asked.

“I sent Bird to run a little errand for me. Don’t worry, he’ll catch up with us,” Juniper told him. *Errand? I wonder what kind of errand,* Joshua thought.

“To the surface,” Juniper suddenly said in a commanding voice, making Joshua jump.

“Wha-ah!” the boy yelped as the floor jolted. Lliamy squeaked and grabbed onto the closest thing to her, which happened to be Juniper’s arm.

“Get off me,” the man grumbled and moved her over to Joshua so she could cling to him. The boy comforted Lliamy until she calmed down, but she refused to let him go.

The three ascended in silence, the humming of the odd elevator resounding in the small space.

“You know, you can’t really call me a pedophile given your age,” Juniper said, breaking the silence. “What are you? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

“I’m seventeen so that makes me a minor in my world,” Joshua growled through clenched teeth. Juniper looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Seventeen and you’re still a minor? Something tells me I wouldn’t enjoy your world all that much,” he said, looking forward once more.

Joshua made no attempt at a reply. He stayed quiet as he continued to hold Lliamy who was looking from one to the other oddly.

Suddenly the platform started to slow down and both Joshua and Lliamy looked up. They were coming to the end of the shaft. Joshua almost panicked when he saw no opening, but as they were coming to the end the ceiling abruptly opened. The platform reached the top and came to a stop at the surface of the wasteland.

Joshua was expecting to be blinded by the suns. He was instead surprised to see the sky dark and the moon hanging above them.

“It’s night?” he said, checking his watch to see that it read 11:25 am. “It’s after eleven and its still night?” Joshua muttered to himself. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to get used to the suns and moon coming up whenever they wanted to.

“I guess the suns wanted to sleep in,” Lliamy said, looking up into the sky with him.

“Stop gawking and let’s get a move on you two,” Juniper called to them.

Joshua and Lliamy turned to him and both jumped when they saw the man was already walking ahead. The two ran after him and the moment they stepped off the platform it went back into the ground. Then the hole was closed up and the ground looked like it had never been disturbed.

The now three companions traveled across the wasteland with the moon as their only source of light. Juniper was in the lead while Joshua and Lliamy trailed behind him. The girl had been complaining that she was bored and the boy was teaching her a game. Joshua saw that Juniper was getting pissed off by Lliamy, so he was distracting her before the man popped a blood vessel.

“Okay, so do you have the rules of I Spy down?” Joshua asked.

“Um, you say you spy something and I have to guess what the thing you’re looking at is, right?” Lliamy said and the boy nodded.

“Yes, exactly. So you ready?”

When the girl nodded Joshua began looking around for something to start the game with. *Guess a wasteland isn’t the greatest place to play I Spy, but it’ll have to do,* he thought.

“Okay, I spy with my little eye something…brown,” Joshua said.

Lliamy looked around their surrounding. She concentrated as she tried to figure out what Joshua was seeing that was brown.

“Um the…ground?” she answered uncertainly.

“That’s right! Good job,” Joshua congratulated her and Lliamy clapped her hands happily.

“You chose the ground? That’s way too easy,” Juniper said from in front of them. Joshua’s smile turned into a scowl.

“Hey, she’s never played this game so I’m starting her off easy,” the boy snapped. “So we don’t need comments from the peanut gallery.”

Juniper responded by waving his hand dismissively over his shoulder.

“Fine, fine, whatever,” the man muttered.

Joshua ignored him and turned his attention back to Lliamy who seemed uncomfortable with their hostility.

“So, do you think you can try something harder?” Joshua asked and the girl immediately brightened up.

“Sure!” she replied.

Joshua searched around for the next item he could use. After looking down at himself he grinned and turned back to Lliamy.

“Okay, I spy with my little eye something black.”

Lliamy’s face screwed up in thought as she scanned the area.

“The sky?” she asked, pointing to the dark night sky. Joshua shook his head.

“Nope.”

“Ummmm…Juniper’s clothes?” Lliamy guessed.

“Wrong again,” Joshua told her.

“Juniper’s eyes.”

“No.”

“It is nothing on me,” Juniper said, starting to get agitated again.

Lliamy frowned as she looked around, not knowing what else it could be. That’s when she spied Joshua’s red shirt.

“Is it that weird black thingy on your shirt?” she asked, pointing at the black dragon that wrapped around the boy’s torso.

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!” Joshua proclaimed and Lliamy jumped up and down happily.

“Again! Again!” she cheered, starting to like the game.

“Again, huh? Okay let’s see.” Once more Joshua looked around. With each round the choices of what he could use became smaller and smaller.

“Okay, I spy with my little eye something…something…silver!” he said, getting an idea.

“Silver?” Lliamy repeated. Immediately she got an idea of what it could be. “The moon.”

“Nope, not the moon,” Joshua replied.

“The stars.”

“Eh eh,” the boy said, shaking his head.

Lliamy pouted as she looked around. Not seeing anything else that was silver.

“Wait…Juniper’s hair?” she asked, eyeing the silver locks.

“Correct! You’re three for three,” Joshua told her and Lliamy smiled widely.

“This is fun, you’ll have to teach me more games from your world,” she said and Joshua nodded.

“I will…as soon as I remember most of them. It’s been ages since I’ve played road games,” the boy told her. He then started the next round. Searching for the next item he tried to make it harder.

“All right, I spy with my little eye something-”

“Bunny!” Lliamy suddenly exclaimed.

Joshua watched as the girl ran off and started chasing what looked like a brown rabbit, but it had a white horn coming out of its head.

“Um, okay…I guess we’ll play later,” Joshua said awkwardly as Lliamy chased the bunny around both him and Juniper.

“Gets distracted easily, wouldn’t you say?” Juniper asked.

Joshua crossed his arms and looked away from the man walking ahead of him.

“I suppose so,” he muttered. After that there was nothing but silence, except for a giggle from Lliamy here and there.

With nothing better to do Joshua looked at his watch to see what time it was. *Wow, its 12:37? It doesn’t seem like we’ve been walking for over an hour,* the boy thought.

As they continued to walk something started to nag at Joshua. He looked down at his watch with a thoughtful expression. *Back in my world my watch kept stopping. Now I’m in a new world and it hasn’t stopped once. What’s up with that?* After thinking it the question really started to bother him.

Joshua wanted an answer, but that meant asking the only person who would probably know. Juniper. He was still really angry at the man and embarrassed about what had happened. But there was really no other option. It wasn’t like Lliamy was going to be able to answer the question for him.

With much reluctance, Joshua took in a deep breath and quickened his pace to catch up with Juniper.

“Uh, Juniper, can I ask a question?” Joshua inquired when he was walking besides the man.

Juniper glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye. He was a bit surprised that the boy even approached him.

“Oh, are you talking to me now?” he asked. Joshua scowled at him and crossed his arms.

“Don’t get any ideas, I’m still extremely pissed at you,” he told the man.

“I honestly don’t see why. You’re being very childish about this,” Juniper said.

That caused even more anger to flare in the boy and he glowered at Juniper’s nerve.

“Childish!? You molested me, you bastard!” Joshua yelled at him then hushed himself when Lliamy stopped her playing to look over at them. He smiled and gave a wave to the girl, who, after seeing everything was all right, started chasing after her new friend.

“But you have to admit some part of you liked it,” Juniper said, getting Joshua’s attention. The boy blushed and looked away.

“No I don’t,” he grumbled. Juniper glanced at him with a smile tugging at his lips.

“Well, you have to look at it from my point of view,” he said and Joshua looked over at him quizzically.

“And what would that be?” the boy asked.

“I’ve been stuck down in that place I call my home for what I can only guess has been years,” Juniper told him. “Think how much sexual frustration that causes. How am I supposed to control myself when a succulent little morsel like yourself practically drops into my lap?” the man asked.

Joshua stared at Juniper oddly while trying not to inch away from him. *Succulent little morsel? What the hell?* he thought. The boy finally snapped out of it, realizing Juniper was waiting for a reply.

“Even so that doesn’t give you the go ahead to jump me,” Joshua said.

“Okay, fine, I was in the wrong,” Juniper admitted. “But you shouldn’t have hit me so hard,” he said with a small pout.

“You got what you deserved,” Joshua told him with no remorse. “Let’s just make a deal. You don’t try and get in my pants again and I won’t hit you again, deal?” the boy offered. Juniper thought it over then nodded.

“I guess that’s fair. Okay, deal,” he agreed.

“His fingers are crossed behind his back!” Lliamy suddenly yelled from somewhere behind them. Both Juniper and Joshua stopped to look back at her. The boy then glanced at Juniper suspiciously and grabbed his arm, turning him around.

“Juniper!” he yelled, seeing that, indeed, the man’s fingers were crossed. Juniper chuckled as he lifted his hands up.

“Calm down, Joshua, it was just a joke,” he told the boy, who was still scowling at him.

“It better have been,” Joshua grumbled as they continued walking.

“So, what was your question?” Juniper inquired. Both of them then watched with raised eyebrows as Lliamy ran by, but this time she was being chased by the rabbit. Joshua stared after her then shook his head and turned his attention back to Juniper.

“Question?” he repeated then remembered why he had started talking to Juniper in the first place. “Oh, right, it was about my watch,” Joshua said, lifting his arm up to look at it.

“What about it?” Juniper asked.

“Well, remember when I said that while I was in my world it kept stopping?” he asked and Juniper nodded. “Well, I think, and this is only a guess, that it was stopping every time I had one of those weird dreams. But since I’ve been here it hasn’t stopped once. Why do you think that is?” he asked. “I mean if it just stops from dreams, you’d think that it’d explode from being thrown into another world.”

Juniper chuckled at his reasoning’s then thought it over. It was a good few minutes before the man replied.

“Well, I’m guessing that when you were dreaming you really did cross over into our world, spiritually speaking that is,” Juniper told him and Joshua raised an eyebrow.

“But I thought everything had to be just right in order for me to come here. I’ve had so many dreams of this place I can’t even count them. How could I be slipping from my world to yours then back so frequently?” the boy asked in puzzlement. Juniper sighed as he tried to think of how to best explain it.

“Passing through worlds is quite complicated to explain, but I’ll try my best to get you to understand,” he said. “It’s not fully understood how someone can go from one world to another, but I do know there is more than one way,” Juniper told him.

“More than one?” Joshua echoed curiously.

“Yes, the way you’re describing it to me you came here through the dream world and that’s much different than coming here all together,” Juniper explained. “Instead of your body or your spirit being brought here, I’m thinking just a piece of your consciousness was taken. You see, even though every world and universe is different, the dream world is something they all have in common, something that links them,” the man said, lacing his fingers together as an example.

“It’s a much more stable way for someone to move around in. Not to forget it was most likely made even easier by that blindfolded man who pulled you in. But since the body does wake up at some point, your consciousness is snapped right back in. It’s actually like a yo-yo, if you think about it,” Juniper mused.

“A yo-yo?” Joshua asked.

“Yes, first you’re pulled out of your world then brought back in, pulled out, brought back in. Much like a yo-yo, don’t you think?” Juniper said, moving his hand as if he had the said toy.

“I guess that makes sense. More sense than I could ever make out of it,” Joshua replied. “But how does my watch tie in with that?” the boy asked.

“Oh, right, that. Well, watches are just odd little contraptions. My guess is that it’s quite sensitive to spiritual energy,” Juniper explained, taking hold of Joshua’s wrist and holding it up so he could look at the watch.

“When your consciousness left you as you slept the watch could have been touched by the extraction somehow, causing it to overload and stop,” the man said, tapping the glass of the watch with his finger. “But now that either all of you or just your soul has crossed over it was not touched, therein it has not stopped,” Juniper finished as he released Joshua’s wrist.

The boy looked at his watch curiously. He then shook his head and lowered his hand.

“All of this is just so weird. It’s like I’m taking a full course of chemistry in one sitting,” Joshua said, rubbing his forehead. Juniper laughed and patted his shoulder.

“Yes, its better not to think on it too much,” he told him.

“I just have one more question that’s been bugging me,” Joshua said.

“And what is that?” Juniper urged.

“How exactly did all of me or just my spirit get here? I mean, how does that work? Did I just vanish and appear, or was there a portal or something?” Joshua asked him. Juniper looked up into the sky and clicked his tongue as he thought about it.

“I guess you could call it a portal, or maybe a rift would be more accurate,” the man told him. *What’s the difference?* Joshua thought, but didn’t vocalize it. “But portals aren’t as flashy as most people believe, or at least some of them aren’t. I believe the way you got here was more like an invisible rift, a momentary weak point between our worlds.” Juniper paused as he tried to think of an easier way to explain it. “Think of it as how the tea tray came from one of my books,” he told him.

“A rift like your books?” Joshua repeated. He thought back to how the pages of the book had become like water and the tea set had appeared from it. “So you’re saying I came into this world from mine, like the tea stuff did from your book?” the boy asked.

“Something along those lines, yes,” Juniper replied.

“Huh, that’s an interesting way to think about it,” Joshua said. His face then fell and he sighed. “I just wish it was this easy to figure out if I’m alive or dead,” he muttered.

“All in good time, Joshua, all in good time,” Juniper told him, lifting a hand to stroke his hair soothingly.

The boy stiffened a little at the gesture, but convinced himself there were no ulterior motives behind it.

“I know, but its just that-ack!” Joshua cried out as something rammed into his back and sent him sprawling to the ground. A split second later that same something fell on top of him, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

“Owie, sorry, Joshwa,” Lliamy apologized as she lifted herself up a little.

“Tell that to my internal organs,” Joshua wheezed as he turned his head to the side to look back at her. “How did you not see me long enough to run into me?” he asked.

Lliamy chuckled sheepishly as she sat up on his back.

“I was distracted by the bunny chasing me,” she replied.

As if on queue the rabbit suddenly jumped up onto Lliamy’s head. It looked from up at Juniper to down at Joshua, wiggling its little nose at them.

“This is why I don’t like traveling with children,” Juniper grumbled as he massaged his temples.

********************************************

“So bunnies really don’t have horns where you come from?” Lliamy asked as the group traveled.

“Nope, no horns,” Joshua replied, staring at the rabbit being held in the girls arms.

“How do they protect themselves then?” Lliamy questioned curiously.

“Um, I guess just by biting and running away really, really fast,” the boy told her with a shrug.

“Huh, how weird,” the girl said.

“Again I’ll say that thing isn’t coming with us to Mirage Town,” Juniper called back to them.

“I know and he doesn’t want to go to Mirage Town. He’s just coming along for a little bit,” Lliamy told him.

“Did he tell you that?” Joshua asked.

“No, I just know,” the girl replied with a smile.

Joshua raised an eyebrow and looked down at the rabbit. The animal stared back and simply wiggled his nose at the boy. *Why is that slightly disconcerting?* he thought.

Suddenly, everything went dark, the sky, the landscape, everything just went pitch black.

“Ah! I’m blind!” Joshua heard Lliamy yell.

“You aren’t blind, the moon just went down,” Juniper snapped.

“Man, seriously, there should be some kind of warning for that,” Joshua said.

A second later, two fiery orbs shot into the sky. Brilliant light illuminated the sky and the world beneath it, turning night into day in seconds flat.

Joshua covered his eyes with his arms, the sudden switch hurting quite badly.

“Shit, now I’m blind,” he grumbled. When his eyes were able to bare the light he looked at his watch. “Past two o’clock and its just now becoming day. Wonderful,” the boy said.

“That’s just how it works,” Lliamy told him.

“That’s really going to start to get annoying,” Joshua said as he began walking again. “I mean, how can you stand-Oof!” the boy grunted as he ran into Juniper’s back. “Why didn’t you start walking?” Joshua questioned as he stepped back and held his nose.

“I figure its time for another break and the switch of the moon and the suns is a good a time as any,” the man answered as he turned to his two companions. Both Joshua and Lliamy cheered at the news and were lounging on the ground before Juniper could even blink.

“When I get home I am never walking again,” Joshua said as he began massaging his achy legs. The rant he was going to do of the suns and moon dying as he dealt with the familiar little throbs pulsing through his legs.

“It’s not that bad, Joshwa,” Lliamy told him as she began petting the rabbit that was lying in her lap. “But I do wish we only had to walk a little and not a lot,” she added.

“Yeah, same here. Hey, Juniper!” Joshua yelled to the man that had wandered a little away from them and was staring out into the endless wasteland. Juniper turned towards the call and began walking back to them.

“Yes, Joshua?”

“How long will it take us to get to Mirage Town?” Joshua asked him. Juniper looked out to the barren landscape again before turning to the boy with a shrug.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he replied. Joshua raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

“What do you mean? If you know where it is you should know how long it’d take us to get there,” he said.

“Yes, that would be true if I knew where Mirage Town was at the moment,” Juniper told him.

Both Joshua and Lliamy shared a surprised expression as they stared at the man.

“You don’t know where Mirage Town is?” Lliamy asked.

“How could you not!? If you have friends there you must have gotten there before,” Joshua said.

Juniper chuckled as he crouched down, becoming eyelevel with the other two.

“Tell me, why do you think it’s called Mirage Town?” the man asked. Joshua and Lliamy looked at each other then shrugged.

“Why?” the girl asked him.

“It is called Mirage Town because one never knows if they are actually seeing it. No one is sure why, but the town never stays in one place. It’ll stay in one spot for a certain amount of time, then simply disappear and reappear in a new place,” Juniper explained. “Hence why they refer to it as a mirage.”

“So we’re just walking in a random direction, hoping we’ll run into?” Joshua asked in disbelief. Not knowing whether to be horrified by the news or pummel the crap out of Juniper or do both.

“Not quite, there is one sure fire way of getting there. We’ve been walking around in order to get the attention of-” Juniper suddenly fell silent and turned his head, looking as if he was listening to something.

“What is it?” Joshua asked softly, looking around. Lliamy searched the area too, picking up the rabbit and holding it to her.

Juniper stood up and looked off into the distance. The man then closed his eyes and tapped his foot against the ground.

“Do you two hear that?” Juniper asked, turning back to them. Joshua frowned and tried to listen, but heard nothing.

“No, I don’t hear anything,” he said.

Suddenly the rabbit leapt from Lliamy’s arms and hopped away, but the girl didn’t seem to notice as she covered her furry ears.

“Ah, what’s that horrible noise? So much grinding and clanking,” she whined. Joshua looked at her oddly, not understanding why he wasn’t hearing what the other two were.

“Well, that confirms it then and it’s about time it got here too,” Juniper said. Before Joshua could ask him what he meant, the man lifted his fingers to his mouth and let out an earsplitting whistle.

Joshua covered his ears from the offending sound then everything went dead silent. Both he and Lliamy looked around curiously when suddenly the ground began to shake violently. If he hadn’t already been sitting, Joshua was sure he’d have fallen over.

“Is it an earthquake!?” the boy yelled as Lliamy grabbed and held onto him tightly.

Juniper did not answer the boy. The quakes didn’t seem to bother him at all as he stood in one place, looking off into the distance.

Joshua and Lliamy stared with him as something massive and dark suddenly shot out of the ground. The boy’s eyes widened as the thing landed on the ground and began coming towards them. The quakes subsided and Joshua’s jaw dropped when he got a good look at the thing.

“Is-Is that a train!?” the boy shouted in disbelief. The front of it was shaped oddly, it looked almost like a drill, but besides that Joshua was sure it was a train.

A loud whistle sounded and dark blue smoke rose into the air as the large machine went past the group. At first the boy thought it was going to keep going, but more steam came from it and the shrieking of brakes told him otherwise. The train came to a stop and let out one last whine as it settled.

Juniper turned to his companions and smirked at the shocked expressions on their faces. He held up his arms as he said.

“Joshua, Lliamy, welcome to the Nisis Express.”

===============================Ch.5 End

Why was that so long? I still don’t understand it. They didn’t even get that far and it turned out that long. Oh well, as long as you guys enjoyed it, I’m fine with it. I know there hasn’t been a lot of slashy action yet, but hopefully the yummy Joshua molesting helped just a bit ^-^ Not only is Juniper, smart, arrogant and egotistical, he’s a horny bastard as well. And it’s the introduction of the Nisis Express! I wanted to give it a much cooler name, but I couldn’t think of any so I went with that. Plus it does go all around Nisis so I guess it fits. Well, in the next chapter our three travelers will still be heading to Mirage Town, only this time in style. What awaits them on the Nisis Express? You’ll have to come back next time to find out…and hopefully school and my new job don’t interfere with me writing it.