The Adventures of the SOL

 Some of the greatest adventures have peculiar beginnings.  This story is not one only of a peculiar beginning, but one of a peculiar manner.  This story tells about the making of a hero, but she isn't the only hero in this story.  This is a story of many heroes and villains, hate and love, loss and gain.  But perhaps you shall see.

 And what better way is there to tell a story than to begin it with 'Once upon a time?'

 You see, once upon a time there was a Princess who was very different from all other Princesses.  The differences between herself and most other Princesses were many, but the one that stood out the most was that she was a very lonely girl, having no one in the castle in which she could talk to.  Another was that she had not been born into the royal family.  Though there are several more, the last two I will mention are that she was very powerful and that she was very young.

 She ruled the Kingdom of Lizerton, a prospering kingdom full of kind and compassionate people.  She was one of those compassionate people and everyone loved her very much as their ruler.

 You know.  The same old same old.

 Across the forest there was another kingdom, ruled by a girl who was also young, but not compassionate and very selfish.  The Kingdom was called Reptopia and they hated Lizerton with a great passion.

 One day, with no warning, Reptopia attacked Lizerton, and, caught off guard, the Princess was captured and imprisoned in her own castle.
 Maybe this beginning doesn't sound so peculiar, but in many ways involving fate, it is.  It was rather strange that the Princess was captured by a Queen who had little power herself.  But more importantly, were the people who came to her rescue.

 Mina was bored.  She ran her fingers through the stilled water of a small fountain in the middle of the village she resided in, knowing no sound but the water which spilled over the top of the structure.  She had her legs tucked halfway under herself and rested her legs on a sunbrick paved street.  All around her folks wandered through the town, all with someplace to be or an agenda for the day.

 Mina Brino had none.  The only thing she could think of to do was sit next to the fountain and watch the goldfish swim by and the coins glitter under the clear water from the sun.  She counted the ripples running by as her fingers dipped into the water.

 The name of her village was Atchoo, and it held no excitement for the blonde haired girl.  She sighed and rested her chin over her arms, staring into the waters.

 "Mina!"

 Mina took a glance to her right and saw a girl with long pigtails to her waist, striped blonde and ginger.  She was rather pretty and the epitome of innocence, but in appearance only.  She wore a pleated blue skirt and a white shirt that raised a little bit over the top of it.

"Hey Serena," Mina said, barely removing her eyes from the inactive view of the fountain.

"Hey Mina.  I'm bored," she said abruptly and stopped, standing in front of Mina, her hands folded across her front.

 Mina nodded and continued to wonder what she could do.  Serena always wanted the answers from Mina and she was used to it.

 "What do you wanna do?" Serena asked, taking a seat in front of Mina, landing in a clumsy and awkward umph.

 "I dunno, what do you wanna do?" Mina replied.  They played this game a little too often lately, it seemed.

 "I'm not sure, what do you wanna do?" Serena inquired.

 "Don't ask me, what do you wanna do?"  Mina answered.

 It could literally last for an hour if it got too competitive.  The only thing that saved them was the sudden sound of hoof beats on the paved roads of Atchoo.

 A man rode into the square and paused as if he was uncertain.  He was covered over dramatically in a Knight's armor and had a wide and round chin.  Under his arm was a small scroll and his white horse stamped impatiently.  His eyes fell over the two girls, Serena looking over her shoulder to see him and Mina's eyes widened at the prospect of something new.

 He persuaded his horse to stand in front of the girls and Mina saw that he had approached them because they were the only ones not on the move.  He gave them a nervous nod and pulled the scroll from under his arm, his armor making small clanks.

 "Hear ye, hear ye!" he cried as if making a great announcement to the entire town, though only a few passerby's gave him more than a second glance, "The Kingdom of Lizerton has been taken over by Reptopia!  The Princess has been taken prisoner and the people of Lizerton ruled by the Reptonians.  A man who wishes to remain anonymous has ordered the search of able warriors to rescue the princess and the kingdom."

 He looked down at the two girls who gave him wide and innocent looks back.  Mina tilted her head for a moment and stared at him.

 On any other day Mina might have asked why it was her problem and if he wanted to help why didn't he do it, but today seemed different.

 "Great!" Serena said suddenly and stood up, holding her hand out for the man to shake.  He took it and nearly had his arm shaken off, "Come on, Mina, maybe this is the end of our boredom, do you think?"

 "Sure," Mina said, jamming her hands in her pockets, "I just gotta get out of this town, anyway.  Sign me up.  How hard could it be to rescue a Princess anyway?"

 "Wonderful," he said, with a relieved nod, "Who shall I list thee as?"

 "Huh?" Mina asked intelligently, tilting her head again.

 "What are your names and warrior names?" the man in armor asked.  "You know, like Bob the Knight?"

 "Ah," Mina said, then put a thumb on her chin in thought.  Before she could answer Serena stepped up enthusiastically, raising a hand as though they were still in school.

 "I'm Serena the Scout!" the pigtail headed girl cried with a large smile on her face.  A few passerby's stared, curious as to the happenings but continued their way.

 "I'm Mina the Animist," Mina replied casually.

 "My master thanks thee," the knight said, and handed them a sheet of paper,  "Come to this place tomorrow in the afternoon.  See thee later."

 The two watched as he rode away.  The awkward man on the large and beautiful horse made a comic scene, but their expressions were a little mystified.  When at last the hoof beats were gone, Serena turned to Mina, looking down at her.

 "That was kinda odd," Serena said.

 "Yeah," Mina said, then smirked, "So what do you wanna do?"

 "I dunno, what do you wanna do?"

The next day the two girls went to the place the knight had written on the paper, having to ask directions.  They wandered quite a distance from Atchoo but it was only half a day's walk, and to escape the pending boredom they decided it was worth it.  As they entered they saw that Bob the Knight was there along with one other girl.

 When they entered, the girl turned.  She had the very rare color of blue for her hair and eyes to match.  It curled and waved down to her shoulders and she smiled in a friendly manner as they came towards her.  One of the first things Mina noticed about her was her white canvas bag and the blue cloak trimmed with red which she wore across her shoulders.

 "Hello, I am Amy the Dragon Trainer," she grinned and shook hands with both of them.  Mina looked up at her face.  It should be mentioned that Mina had always been short her entire life and looked up to most people.  She was sixteen and stood at an even five feet.

 "Dragon Trainer?" Serena asked.  She was, on the other hand, very tall, taller than most girls her age and even some of the boys.  Her height was the cause of her constant clumsiness. "What does a Dragon Trainer do?"

 "Um, Serena--" Mina started, not trusting the answer to such a question, but Amy interrupted her.

 "Are you sure you want to know?" Amy asked a little mischeviously.  Mina saw her put a hand to her bag.

 "I don't think--" Mina began again, but Serena interrupted her this time.

 "Of course I'm sure," Serena replied, "Why would I ask if I'm not sure?  What's a Dragon Trainer?"
 Mina smacked her forehead in exasperation.  "Serena, you're a nice girl, but bless you, you aren't that bright."

 Serena gave her a quizzical glance but before she could comment or defend herself Amy began to shout.

 "SADY!!!" Amy called and the ground started to shake.  Amy waved at the door behind them with a smug smile and Mina and Serena turned around slowly.

 A large black dragon stood in the doorway, tongue lolling out of the side of it's mouth. It was massive with shining scales and feet that seemed oversized and wings folded down at it's side, as gray and leathery as a bat's.  It's long neck put it halfway into the room with them and Serena's eyes went wide.  It let out two short barks and continued to pant.  It's amber eyes blinked at them and Serena gave a great shriek stepping back into Amy.

 "Good Dragon!!" Amy said and tossed it a small treat which it caught in it's mouth and backed out of the door.  As it ate the treat, several times smaller than it was, Mina and Serena turned to Amy with new respect.

 "W-wow," Serena said, "So that's what a Dragon Trainer is."

 "Yeah, so who are you guys?" Amy asked, tucking away the treats into the bag where she had got them.  The Dragon wasn't as feral it appeared, so they resumed conversation.

 "I'm Mina the Animist," Mina said.

 "I'm Serena the Scout," Serena replied a little shaken.

 "I'm kinda new at this," Amy said, "What'sa Animist and what'sa Scout?"  She looked at Mina and Serena curiously.  Now that they thought about it, she wasn't too feral herself.  They loosened up a little.

 "I can talk to animals," Mina grinned.  Animals were her 'people' and she typically preferred them over human beings.

 "Really?" Amy asked, "What do they say?"

 "Not much," Mina shrugged, "They are very simple conversationalists."  She smiled and Amy nodded, watching her curiously.  Finally she turned away and looked at Serena.

 "I'm a defender of Love and Justice!" Serena cried, and Amy just stared at her a moment.  Her eyebrows shot up and down.

 "Um, okay, nice to meet you Mina the Animist and Serena the Scout," she said and shook hands with both of them again.  Before anything else could be said their was a sound of a zoom from outside and they turned to the door.

 Suddenly the door opened with a bang and a girl with brown hair and a lots of black gothic make up walked through, freckles stretched across her nose.  She wore a baggy shirt and baggy jeans and had a collar with spikes around her neck along with a wry scowl on her face.

 "These are the other warriors?" she asked in a dull voice, and the girls made no reaction to her overdone entrance.

 The three simply stared at her and Bob the Knight looked up from the paper work he had to see who had arrived.

 She put her hands behind her head and Serena stared at the barbed wire bracelet on her wrist.  "You guys are boring me already," the girl said, and walked to the three. "Greetings.  I'm Twiggy the Witch."

 "Amy the Dragon Trainer."

 "Serena the Scout."

 "Mina the Animist."

 "Interesting," she replied but didn't sound like she really thought so, "So where are you guys from?  No place stupid right?"

 "I'm from Dragon Village," Amy said, slightly annoyed at such a rudely put question.  This girl didn't sound like she cared much about anything. "I am sort of a Dragon Trainer."

 "We're from Atchoo," Mina said pointing behind her at Serena.

 "Bless you, now where are you from?" Twiggy said, not smiling, or looking like she ever did, and Mina sighed.

 "No, Atchoo is the name of my village," Mina said, and the Witch nodded in understanding then,  "What about you?"

 "Gothopic," Twiggy said, and everyone else nodded.  "Oh, by the way, someone left their Dragon out there.  I'm afraid I might have startled it."

 "She's mine," Amy said raised a hand, even more annoyed.  Who did she think the Dragon belonged to, the Scout?

 "Oh, okay," Twiggy said, "So you guys here to save this Princess chic?"  She flopped down in nearby chair and relaxed very deeply into it.

 They nodded.

 "Who is Princess Rei?" Amy asked, "I mean, I never heard what she was like or anything like that.  I know she's famous because of her father or something like that."

 "I dunno," Twiggy said, and they noticed her voice was monotone, "I'm sure she's just another helpless Princess.  You guys know what Princesses are like." They nodded in agreement.

 From behind them, Bob the Knight stood up.  "I'm calling the meeting to order!"

 The rest of them pulled up large and heavy wooden chairs to sit around a horse shoe shaped counter, colored gold.  The walls were Victorian and had velvet locks of cloth hung around the ceiling going up and down, and the red walls were bright enough to make them turn their eyes away after looking at it too long.  The floor was peppered muddy brown tile with gold wedged between each piece.  Bob the Knight stood on the inside of the curve, still decorated in the shiny silver armor and looking still very nervous.

"As you have been told," he began after wiping his forehead with an arm, "Reptopia has taken over Lizerton and Princess Rei has been taken prisoner.  You are the warriors who are now working for my master, who will forever remain anonymous.  You can call him Charlie."

 "Charlie?" Mina asked skeptically, rubbing her chin and cocking up an eyebrow.  She cast a look at the others.

 "Charlie," Serena giggled, finding the name only amusing.

 "Charlie," Bob the Knight confirmed, "You will have to travel from here to Lizerton on this route.  You must pass through Nymph Forest, pass Reptopia without capture, cross the Faemon Swamp and get to Lizer Castle without detection."

 "Sounds good," Twiggy said, "Real simple anyway.  I mean, how tough can these Reptopian people be anyway?"

 "The Queen of Reptopia is currently residing in Lizerton.  She is Queen Brashear and she isn't very powerful by herself, but she has a massive army.  She is merciless and will not fail to punish you as she sees fit, so my word of advice is, 'Look twice before you leap.'  Not once, not three times.  Twice."

 Twiggy leaned over and whispered, "I don't get it," into Serena's ear.  Serena just shrugged back and placed her hands back in her lap to listen to Bob.

 "So I wish you good luck and farewell."

 "Wait, you mean that's it?" Mina asked with a few sharp blinks, "All you do is tell us how to go to a place where we might face torture and death and that's it?"

 Bob the Knight nodded. "Yeah, that's about it."  He the began to gather up the paperwork he had been busy with.

 "I didn't pack any music spells," Twiggy said, sulkily, "How's a heavy metal witch suppose to live under such conditions?"

 "We could get some on the way," Amy said eagerly, "Let's go!"  She put her first finger and thumb it her mouth and blew in a shrill whistle. A familiar rumbling sounded.  Sady the Dragon appeared at the door and jumped up on her hind legs.

 "Excuse me," Bob the Knight said.  "The only entrance to Reptopia is through the Nymph Forest and you can't fly there.  You can fly to Nymph Forest easily, but Reptopia is invisible from above.  It looks like part of the forest."

 "Couldn't we just fly straight to Lizerton then?" Mina asked with a polite smile on her face, but Bob the Knight simply rolled his eyes.

 "No, the Reptopians have extended the camouflage barrier over Lizerton ever since they took over."
 "Man!" Amy stuck her lower lip out and crossed her arms then cast Sady an glance that did more than only suggest disappointment.

 "Oh well.  At least we can fly to the forest instead of having to walk," Serena said, "Oh, but I hate forests.  They're so dark and scary and--"

 "All good and well," Twiggy said, giving her a soft but firm push towards the door, "The Princess is waiting though."

 "Let's go then," Amy said.

 The four of them walked out to the large dragon.

 "Down Girl," Amy said and Sady fell to the ground, causing the ground to rumble after her.  Serena lost  her balance as the ground quaked and fell over, her hair trailing behind her like a lightweight ribbon.  Mina giggled but helped her back up.

 "Wah!" Serena pouted and watched Amy with a sulky look on her face.  Amy didn't seem to notice at all, she was looking up at the huge Dragon.

 "Four passengers, Sady," Amy said, holding up four fingers, "We're going to the Nymph Forest, it isn't all that far from here."

 The Dragon nodded, it's tongue flapping with it's head.  Serena stared up wondering how they expected her to climb onto that Dragon, but then it crouched down and shrank.  It was the size of a small dog now.  Amy stood over it and the other girls looked at each other puzzled.

 "Get in line behind me," Amy instructed, "you'll see."

 "I'm not riding a Dragon," Twiggy said, taking a frowning step backwards, "I'll take my own flight, it's a much smoother flight anyway."

 She pulled a wand from seemingly nowhere and tapped herself.  She began to float in the air and gave them an infinitely cranky look, folding her arms over her chest.

 "Suite yourself," Amy said, and waved the other two to get behind her, which they did,  "Now be careful and mind you don't fall off."

 The Dragon suddenly grew a lot larger and carried the girls up with it until the ground seemed far away.  Suddenly they weren't as tall as Sady anymore.

 Amy used magic to make reins appear so she could guide Sady through the air.  Sady gave a great yip which echoed round them.  "Lift off!" she cried and Sady pumped her large black wings.  They flew through the air and were suddenly soaring.

 Serena let out a squeal, her ponytails flapping behind her and grabbed on to Mina at her waist.

 "Let go, I can't breath!" Mina yelled over the noise of the wind.

 Serena just continued to scream.

 Mina looked to her right and saw Twiggy zooming through the air next to them.  She looked back at Mina and winked.

"Is that the Nymph Forest?" Mina yelled to Amy, pointing down at the vast extension of dark green trees right below them.  The land around them was all rolling green hills and an occasional body of water, but it had very little trees.

 "Yeah," Amy yelled back, "We're going to land!"

 Mina felt the wind grow faster as Amy guided Sady down towards the edge of the forest.  The flight was very graceful for the Dragon but her passengers were only wind blown.  Sady's feet hit the ground and she rocked back a little from the impact, almost throwing her riders.

 Then there was no Dragon.

 "AHHH!"

 Mina felt Serena tighten her grip around Mina's waist as they fell through the sky.  Mina covered her eyes as they spun downwards to the hard and cold ground below.  She felt a tug and wondered if that was herself hitting the ground.

 She peeked a little, then wondering if she was dead.  She looked down and saw she was floating about three feet off the ground, her shadow cast across the grass in front of her.  Serena still had her in a death grip, but she was looking at the ground with the same confusion.

 "You guys need to be more careful," Twiggy said, folding her arms, "What if I didn't see them fall?"

 "Sorry about that," Amy said, petting a smaller version of Sady, "She forgot you two were on there, and she shrank too fast."

 "That's fine," Serena gulped. "Can we get down now?"

 "Oh yeah," Twiggy said and took off the spell.  Mina landed on her feet, but Serena fell on her face in the grass.

 "Hey," she whined at Twiggy, "Why'd you do that?"

 "Your just a klutz," Twiggy said, "It's not my fault you fell."

 "Call me a Klutz?! Well, your--your--"

 "Hey guys, shut up," Amy said, "Look."

 The two of them looked up from their argument and stared in the direction that Mina and Amy were.  There was a large and tall forest in front of them, the large gray trees about the same height as Sady when she was big, the light not even coming in through them.  On the forest floor their was a coat of mist and several dead leaves.  Black soil looked moist and worm infested from just their sparse view from about ten feet away.  It towered over them like a row of soldiers waiting for the order to charge.

 "What's a Nymph, anyway?" Mina asked suddenly.

 "Um, I'm not sure," Twiggy responded, still awestruck by the colossal forest.

 "Aren't they huge monsters?" Serena gasped, covering her mouth with a hand.

 "I think they're cannibals," Amy offered.

 Sady shivered and hid behind Amy.  She made a small bark like sound that was closer to a yelp.  Mina ducked down next to it and stared.  Sady craned her neck towards Mina, sniffing her out.

 "What's wrong?"

 The Dragon made another barking sound. "Yip!"

 "No, I'm sure there isn't anything bad in the forest," Mina said, reassuringly, "It's just a little scary looking that's all."

 "Yip yap?" Sady asked.

 "We aren't sure what a Nymph is.  I'm sure we're wrong and Nymphs are really nice people," Mina smiled.

 "Wow, you really can talk to animals," Amy said looking at the two of them, "Even I can't talk directly to Sady, though I usually understand what she wants."

 Mina just shrugged and turned back to the forest that still stood waiting over them.  They all fell silent and waited, but nothing happened.

 "Well, are we just going to sit here all day or are we gonna rescue a Princess?" Twiggy frowned and folded her arms across her chest.

 "I don't wanna go in there," Serena said and hid behind Mina.

"I'm not scared of any stupid ol' forest!"  Twiggy boasted holding her wand up at shoulder length, as though welding a great sword.

 "Then you won't mind leading the way," Mina said, gesturing towards the trees with a large wave of her arm.

 Twiggy looked at them fearfully for a moment.  She then took on false bravado.  "Of course!  What's the big deal anyway?  It's just a forest."

 With that, Twiggy the Witch jammed her hands into the pockets of her baggy pants and marched into the forest, Amy behind her, Sady after that, then Mina with Serena hiding behind her.

 Their feet made soft crunching sounds as they walked over the dead leaves and as they got farther away from the light of the forest entrance, Twiggy had to cast a fire spell on the tip of her wand to light their way.  Sady clawed her way up Amy's shoulder and dropped herself into a shivering ball into Amy's bag. Mina rested her fingers lightly on Amy's shoulders while Serena had a grip on Mina's arm so tight that it was making small white indentions on Mina's skin.

 "Did you hear that?" Twiggy stopped suddenly, placing her arm out to stop them, but still they all ran into each other.

 "Hear what?" Amy asked, slightly annoyed, adjusting the bag on her shoulder, shaking as the dragon inside trembled.

 "Shhh!"

 Amy cocked her head a moment while she listened for any sound at all.  Everyone held their breath as they listened.  The forest seemed as somber as it had appeared from the outside and now they couldn't see the forest through the trees.

 Then they heard it.  It was like someone running very fast across grass.  Only there wasn't grass, only twigs and dead grass, which made a lot more noise.  What was running fast enough to make so little sound?  Suddenly the sound disappeared then reappeared on the other side of them.  Serena whimpered and grip Mina's arm tighter.

 Twiggy started to back up into everyone else, and everyone else backed towards her.  They made a small defensive circle, everyone's back to the other.  Twiggy held her wand ready, Amy's hand was in her bag and they all stopped moving and listened.

 "WAAAAAH!!!!!"

The they felt something drop in the middle of them.  Everyone jumped as they cried out and tried to run, but whatever had fallen in the middle of them had knocked them down from the backside.

 Amy fell on her front and immediately flipped back around sitting up on her elbows.  When she saw the site in front of her she had to rub her eyes just to make sure she was seeing it.

 "Behold the ultimate beauty!!  It is I, Lita the Amazon!!" the thing, which was actually another girl, said.  She wore an animal skin halter top and skirt, her reddish brown hair in a curly wild tangle that made her beauty stand out even more.  She stood straight up with one hand in the air and the other on her waist.  She was barefooted with two ankle bracelets on, woven from thin strips of the animal skin.  Their was a band on her forearm and more bracelets on her wrists.

 "Who are you?!" Mina asked.

 "I just told you, I'm Lita the Amazon," the girl blinked her big green eyes and leaned down, putting her hands on her knees and staring, "Um, why are you on the ground?"

 "You scared the bajeezes out of me!!" Serena cried instead of answering and Lita turned to her, her face still with a look of total cluelessness.

 "I love making an entrance," Lita said finally and smiled, looking up into the sky as though in a daydream.  Everyone else gave a loud groan.

 "I thought this was Nymph Forest," Amy said sitting up and wrapping her elbows around her knees, frowning, "Why would an Amazon be in a forest where the Nymphs are suppose to live?"

 "It is, but those Nymphs hog all the spotlight.  This is where the Amazons live too," Lita frowned, "It's so very rude, really."

 "I'm very sorry," Mina said, feeling confused, clutching at her head.  Slowly they all stood up and dusted themselves off.

 "So who are you guys?" Lita asked, hands on her hips.  She seemed to strike a pose with every movement she made and knew much too well that she was a beautiful girl.

 "I'm Mina the Animist," Mina said.

 "I'm Serena the Scout," Serena said.

 "I'm Amy the Dragon Trainer," Amy said.

 "Yip yap yap!" Sady said.

 "That's Sady the Dragon," Mina translated and Lita stared at the small beast at Amy's feet, looking shyly back.

 "Where's the other girl?" Lita said, whirling around in a circle in search of her, "The one who was all scary and evil looking, who was wearing a lot of make up?"

 They looked around.

 "Where is Twiggy?" Amy asked suddenly, looking around too.  Wherever she was it was probably bad news for them.

 "I saw her a second ago," Serena said, confused, "She was right across from me.  She looked like she'd blow her top she was so mad."

 "So I don't think she ran," Mina said, rubbing her chin, "Not if she was mad.  Where did she go?"
They all turned to Lita and she smiled back.  She looked up and thought about it for a second as the girls watched her.

 "Well," she said, trying to sound very sophisticated and knowledgable, "Nymphs are very jealous people, and that girl was kinda pretty, so my guess," she grinned, "Is that they carried her away!"

 "WHAT?!" the three of them all shouted together.  Lita blinked and shrugged.  They all gave another group groan.

 "Oh yeah, they've been following you for quite some time," Lita went on, waving her hand at them,  "They really don't like me!  It's cause I'm so beautiful!  But they don't like other women, too."

 "What do we do?" Amy stamped a foot in frustration and folded her arms, staring at the ground in thought.

 "I guess we have to go after her," Mina sighed.

 "Better hurry, their sacrificing hour is coming soon," Lita said looking at a none existent watch on her wrist.

 "Will you help us?" Serena asked before anyone else could ask anymore questions.  A smile spread over Lita's face.

 "Sure!" Lita said, "Why didn't I think of that?  Let's go!"

 She walked soundlessly through the grass, her bare feet seeming not to touch the forest floor.  Her movements were fluid and graceful, and she made the others feel mismatched and clumsy.

 "What are Nymphs?" Serena asked, running up to walk next to the red head.  Lita frowned as she wondered how to explain it.

 "The Nymphs are, well, mean," Lita shrugged, knowing no other way of putting it.  Serena blinked and Mina shook her head.

 "No, what are they?" Mina repeated.

 "Oh," Lita said, "They're really pretty girls who know magic and hate other women and lure men in and kill them."

 "Ah," Amy commented, "Kind of like a Siren I guess."  She was quiet for a moment. "What exactly do you mean by sacrificing hour?"

 "Their hour of sacrifice," Lita said, "Um, you know, when they kill someone to please their god?  Usually another woman, you know."

 "You have very conviently left out a lot of information," Amy sighed and they walked over the thick forest floor in search of Twiggy.

"Can we discuss this?" Twiggy asked, looking apprehensively at the woman who had her wand.  That woman was apparently the leader of all the women that pushed her towards some unknown destination.  Twiggy hadn't understood a word that any of them had spoken so far.

 The Nymphs stayed silent as they dragged Twiggy towards a large but primitive village.

 "Can I at least have my wand back?" Twiggy asked then with an irritated frown.  There was still no answer from the natives.  They were all very primitively dressed in animal skins and their hair was wild and untamed.

 "You guys are real party animals, you know that?" Twiggy retorted, and started biting at the ropes that were tied around her wrists.

 "Stop," the leader who still possesed her wand commanded, her tongue sounding clumsy with the word, and Twiggy knew that they didn't speak the normal langauge.

 Twiggy stuck her tongue out at the leader and continued to bite at the ropes.  The lady ignored her.
 They walked forward and Twiggy caught site of an area that was bald with small huts and blankets laid out around it.  It must have been their village she was guessing, as the Nymphs pressed her into it.  She got a nauscious feeling in the pit of her stomach as they led her to the center of the village, which was very small.  There, like a pole out of a sea, stood a long wooden post with a circle of rocks around it.

 The woman who had her wand set it aside and walked over to Twiggy.  She untied the ropes around her wrists, and Twiggy wasted no time in trying to recover the wand.  She placed a hand towards it and the wand flew towards her, but the women reacted automatically.  The leader caught the wand in midair, while the other women pushed her back.  Twiggy felt her back hit the pole with a crack in her spine and someone forced her hands behind her back. They were fastened securely behind her and she watched as other women were gathering sticks and placing them around Twiggy.

 "Oh, a classic Witch burning," Twiggy snorted, "How original."

 They placed them all around at Twiggy's feet inside of the stone circle.  Twiggy fidgeted a little and tried to pull off the ropes but her bonds were too tight and she tried to no avail.  Finally all of the Nymphs stepped back and their leader stepped forward holding a torch made of small twigs wound together.  She held it high above her head and the Nymphs bowed their head as if in prayer.

 "Ew ecifiracas eht Hictiw ot ruwo lufredesnow retsam, Nubra!" she cried.

 The crowd let up a great cheer, and Twiggy tried to move.  She would have given a gold piece if she could understand what the woman was saying but the langauge was very complicated and not one Twiggy had ever chanced to hear.  How could she, she had lived in a city all her life and hadn't known what a Nymph was until now.

 She began to sweat as the torch went down on the wood which lit on fire in only seconds.  She felt the heat rising towards her legs.

 "I appreciate fire as much as the next person," Twiggy yelled, "but this isn't necessary, I promise.  Now if you'll please just go get some water…"

 "Tel su whictaw reh narrub!"

 "Let me go!" Twiggy yelled in a panic as the fire climbed higher and she tried to climb the pole upwards.  The Nymphs were all cheering loudly as the fire spread closer from the outer side of the circle to Twiggy.  She closed her eyes as the fire grew closer and waited for it to catch her on fire and cause her  a slow and painful death…

 Suddenly, louder than everything else, a ringing warrior cry sounded through the forest.  The ladies hissed and stared behind them.  They the gave a gasp as they stared up into the trees.

 Before she could even look up to see what they were staring at, a girl dressed in animal skins jumped down in front of Twiggy.

 "Eh, a little help?" Twiggy asked.

 The girl seemingly ignored her and growled at the ladies, kicking at them as if in warning to stay back.  The ladies all obeyed but didn't back down completely.

 "Ehes sugnoleb ot su!  Evaeli su eanola!!" the Woman cried fiercely, a look of pure anger in her eyes.  They were very afraid of this young girl.

 "Tub I yadaerla desimorp di tel reh og!" the girl said innocently and Twiggy was almost sure that the headache she was gaining was from the confusion and not the fire.

 "What?" Twiggy growled, and inched up the pole as the fire climbed closer to her.  "I'd love to sit and chat in incomprehensible languages, but you're cutting it a little tight, aren't you?  What exactly are you waiting for?"

 "The drama!" the girl cried and ran towards the Nymphs.

 "Teg eht Amazon!!" the woman cried and all of the Nymphs around her surged forward.  The girl stared as they did then jumped running over them and using their heads as stepping stones.

 Twiggy was about to yell for help again when she saw a small blue Dragon waddle over to her, it's icy blue scales plastered over it's snow white underbelly.  It yawned and smacked it's lips as it stared at Twiggy in a dull and bored manner.  Then it inhaled deeply and blew.  It let out an icy blast that froze the flames immediately.

 Twiggy let her feet drop with a relieved sigh and leaned down towards the small dragon as far as she could with her wrists tied.

 "Where did you come from?" Twiggy asked the Dragon, but she was answered when she saw a flicker of a blue haired girl from behind one of the nearby trees.  Amy ran out from behind, casting a glance in the direction of the Nymphs.

 Twiggy glanced that way and saw Lita not really fighting the Nymphs but diversing them from where Twiggy was.  The Nymphs were in an uproar as Lita dodged in and out of their grasp.

 "I'll take it you get yourself in trouble a lot," Amy said and pulled out a knife, cutting the ropes.

 "Ah!" Twiggy said happily, then reached for her wand.  It flew to her hand from where the leader had set it down and she lifted it in the air, making a loud boom of thunder, lightning streaking to the wand.

 Lita and the Nymphs all paused and stared at the deafening sound, so loud that Amy felt tears spring into her eyes.  Twiggy looked forward and saw that Serena and Mina were watching from the sidelines of the 'battle.'  Serena had her hands over her ears and her eyes closed and Mina was frowning at her and patting her on the back.

 Suddenly, the nomadic Nymphs fell to their knees.  Twiggy looked at them confused for a moment, her eyes shifting from each one of them.  Her hand was still halfway into the air and she blinked a few times as they began to rise then fall back on their faces.

 "Nubra!" they cried.

 Lita looked at the mass of Nymphs that had fallen to the ground, leaving her in the middle, then back at Twiggy, shrugging. She picked her way through them and stood next to Twiggy, leaning over to speak into her ear.

 "They think your Nubra, their god," she whispered, "Maybe you should play along so we can get out of here."

 So she wasn't a complete ditz, Amy thought.

 "Esaelp evigrof su, lala yathgim Nubra!" the woman said.

 Twiggy looked at her in confusion, finally putting her arm down and letting it hang at her side.  Lita leaned back over and said, "She's asking your forgiveness."

 "Oh," Twiggy said, then shouted, "Your apology is not accepted.  As punishment, I'm leaving!"

 Twiggy stepped over the frozen flames, trying not to slip on the ice, followed by Amy, the Blue Dragon, and Lita.  The Nymphs watched helplessly as they left.  Mina and Serena made their way over to them and they left the small village.

 After they had gone quite a distance from the area, they all stopped.  "Whew!" Twiggy leaned against a tree and wiped her forehead.  "That was too close!"

 "What happened?" Mina asked, "One minute you were there with us then we're wondering where on Dania you got to."

 "They snuck up from behind me and pulled me back!  I didn't even have a chance to react," Twiggy said with a dull frown.  Now that the excitement was over she decided to go back to her everlasting indifference.

 "Ugh, who really cares, let's just go," Amy said. "Thanks for helping us, Lita the Amazon, but we should leave.  We have a job to do."

 "Where are you going?" Lita asked, stepping forward, but the look in her eyes said she already knew.  Amy smirked.  Yes, Lita wasn't near as dumb as she let on.

 "We have to save a Princess," Serena replied abruptly, "We were sent by a man named Charlie or some such thing."

 "A Princess?" Lita asked.  "You mean Rei?"

 "Yeah, what do you know about it?" Twiggy asked suspiciously, leaning forward as if in interrogation.

 "Rei was very nice to us Amazons," Lita said, smirking and not at all worried about Twiggy's accusing tone, "We've been trying to figure out a way to lead our troops to Lizerton without detection.  We heard she is in her castle, imprisoned?  That true?"

 "Sad to say, it is," Mina said then smiled a wicked smile, "But not for long! That's what we came here for."

 "Yeah, we were sent to save her and the Lizertonians!" Serena nodded in agreement, "You can come with us, if you want."

 "Then I shall join you," Lita announced, still trying to sound diplomatic, "After all, Rei and I are good friends!"

 "Well, okay," Amy said, with a smiling shrug.  Sady looked up at her and twitched her tail, "I don't see how it could hurt."

 "Get us out of this forest and we'll be happy to let you come," Twiggy added, as though that was the only way Lita could come with them.

 "Of course," Lita said, then led them away from the Nymphs and closer to Reptopia.

Lita led them through the winding forest paths until they could finally see light through the trees.  With some relief they left the forest.  Mina looked up a tall hill, where the path went straight over.

 "Over that hill," Lita pointed, "Is Retopia."

 The trekked up, staying low, not wanting anyone in the town to see them.  They reached the top, lying on their stomachs, looking out over the town.

 "Terrible," Lita sniffed, "Isn't it?"

 "Looks pretty normal to me," Twiggy said in a drawling voice.

 "I think that's the problem," Amy said, "It's almost too normal."

 She was quite right.  Everyone seemed so... alike.  The buildings were alike, the clothes they wore were all similar, there was nothing out of the ordinary.  Everything was much too neat and orderly and everyone seemed much too organized.  The more they realized how perfect the town was, the more disturbing it became.

 "How are we going to get in?" Twiggy said, "With everyone looking as neat as a pin none of us fits in.  I can't.  Look at me.  None of us are dressed right except for maybe... Serena..."

 They all looked at Serena, with her ginger hair, green eyes, and well dressed physique.  Her style was very much like those in Reptopia.  She was very neat and orderly in her dress even though that was the only thing she was neat in.

 Everyone glanced at each other and smiled at Serena.

 "No, no, no, no, no!" Serena said, starting to get up and leave, "I'm not going in there with the psycho queen!  I'm not doing it!"

 Amy pulled her back.  "Come on, Serena.  Your the only one who can get us through!"

 "But I don't wanna!" she said, trying to leave.

 "Okay, but if you leave," Mina said, "You have to go through the forest, alone, and you might run into a Nymph, and--"

 "Fine--" Serena said, sitting down in a pout, "I'll do it."

Serena didn't have the first clue how she was suppose to help everyone else make their way through Reptopia.  Could she carry them in something somehow?  Using something maybe she could drive them through.  Like a carriage, she had seen a few.

 Something she found out very quickly, everyone in the town was very full of themselves.  They each thought they were the greatest person in the world.  Very strange.

 She turned a circle, her footsteps on the red brick road flat and monotonuos.  She heard someone talking behind her.

 "Can I help you?"

 Serena jumped and whirled around.

 A young man stood their, blonde curly hair and a neat dress shirt on.  He stared at her with eyes that narrowed in suspicion.  He sat on top of a carriage, holding the reigns of two identical horses.  Now that she noticed it, all the horses were white.

 "I said, can I help you?"

 "Um--um--um--um--yes!" Serena said, "I-I'm interested in--in a carriage.  Do you know if there are any nearby I can buy?"

 His eyebrow went up and he pointed to a "for sale" sign on the one he sat in.  She laughed nervously and he continued to stare.

 She decided to be more perfect.  "What is the price.  A good round number I hope."

 He dropped his guard a little gestured towards the carriage.  "Eighty gold pieces.  A round number I would say, wouldn't you?"

 "Yes, I would!" she nodded.

 "Would you like to see if it works?' he asked, "I'll let you take a quick ride if you wish."  He moved over.

 "Sure," she nodded and climbed into the front, taking the reigns of the horses.  She looked at him with a smile.

 "Well?" he asked, pressing her to move forward.

 With no warning her foot shot out and kicked him off the carriage.  She snapped the reigns and the horses began to run away.

 "Hey!  Come back with that, you haven't paid!" he cried.

 Serena ignored him and pulled away at top speed.  He was left chasing after her.  She felt a little sorry for him as he disappeared in the distance, but she needed the carriage.

 She had to find her way back to the other edge of the kingdom where everyone waited.  She managed to get there where everyone waited impatiently.

 "What took so long?" Mina asked.

 "I had trouble with the carriage salesman," Serena said dismissively, "Hurry, we don't wanna get caught."

 "You stole it?" Twiggy asked, heaving herself into the back.  She buried herself under the hay in the back.

 "Yeah, so?" Serena said, "I don't plan on keeping it.  Though I might put some wear into it or something..."

 "Now they'll be after every pigtail headed girl in a carriage from here to Lizerton!" Lita said, "This is not good.  What if someone recognizes Serena?"

 "We're screwed," Twiggy said, reclining in the back with Amy and Mina.   Lita sat down under the hay with a shake of her head.

 Serena felt very nervous, driving through the town in plain sight.  No one seemed to notice anything, though, as she went by.  It was just her luck that she should match everyone here.  She was careful to not hit any large bumps.

 In the back everyone else made conversation.

 "Hey, wait a second," Twiggy looked at Amy through the straw, "Where'd that little Blue Dragon go?"

 "What?" Amy looked down and saw only Sady, "Oh, I put him back in his stone."

 "His what?" Lita poked her head through, looking at them.

 "His stone," she reached in her bag and pulled out a small blue stone with a teardrop shape,  "He was an ice Dragon.  I have about fifty different Dragons."

 "Why is Sady always out?" Mina petted Sady and scratched behind her ears.

 "Yip yip!" Sady said.

 "Oh," Mina nodded with complete understanding.

 "For those of you who don't speak Dragon, it's because I like her.  She's my favorite, not to mention she isn't partial to the stones," Amy put the blue stone away, "Most Black Dragons don't."

 "Yip!" Sady stood up proud.

 "Hey, Serena?" Lita called over a jolt through the carriage, "Where'd you learn to use a carriage?"

 "Um, Scout School," Serena called back and received stares from the natives as she did, "They teach us everything down there." She smiled.

 "Everything except how to use your brains," Twiggy added, and there was no audible reply from Serena.

 They got to the edge of Reptopia and arrived at Faemon Swamp.

 "Would ya look at that?" Lita said, leaning over the edge and looking around them, "They must have done that before they attacked Lizerton."

 There was a dirt path going from the edge of Reptopia, into Faemon Swamp, and out the other side, which was Lizerton.  On either side were tall and spindley swamp trees and reeds.  The water was brown but sparkling in the sun.

 "They made a path in the middle of a swamp?" Amy asked indignantly, "isn't that against some sort of Lion's Head law?"

 "So that's why they never attacked Lizerton before," Lita commented.  "They must have not wanted to cross the swamp."

 "Let's ditch the carriage when we get into Lizerton,"  Twiggy suggested, "but let's use it to cross the swamp."

 They drove through the former swamp on the dirt path, looking out at the water around the edges.  They saw fairies moving sluggishly across the water.

 They drove in silence until they exited the swamp, then left the carriage and continued on foot.    They were now in a forest that was much brighter than their entrance had been and with a wider path.

 "These Reptonians are gonna pay," Twiggy cracked her knuckles and whipped out her wand.

 "Easy girl," Serena muttered.

 Twiggy shot Serena a dirty look.

 There was a large hill in their path, so they climbed up, thinking they would never reach the top.  It was covered in green except the path going through the middle.  They reached the top and looked over the edge.

 "Oh, wow," Amy said, catching her breath.

 They could only stare, except for Lita who had seen it before, at the kingdom.  Their were cleverly done buildings with extreme architectural abilities, colors and art everywhere.  There were tall towers, gables, gargoyles, and cobbled buildings.  The most noticeable was Lizer Castle, in the center of the village, standing high.  It was a glittering color of blue with red trim.  There were several towers and gables, along with multicolored flags.  Everything in the town was tall and beautiful but not necessarily symettrical.  In fact it was opposite of everything in Reptopia.

 From their perch they could see the huge market place and a large fair or carnival to a corner.  All of the house were distingished from one another in different ways.

 They bagan to notice the people in the kingdom for the first time.  They saw Reptonians there, certainly, but they also saw the Lizertonianss as well.  They were mismatched, strange looking people, wearing odd clothes.  Some looked like Twiggy, wearing black make up and jeans, but some wore anything from jeans, to a Japanese Kimono.  They were being led by their more coordinated dictators.

 Several soldiers lined the streets, making sure the Lizertonians followed their codes.

 "Look at all those soldiers," Serena muttered.

 "Come on," Amy nodded and they followed her down.

 They made their way down to the town, and as they did they came within earshot of the first people they saw.  It was a Reptonian and a Lizertonian.

 "Get out of my way, Four-eyes!" the brown haired man yelled, and shoved the glasses wearing Lizertonian out of the way.

 Glasses fell down, and the Rep stalked away.

 "They've turned Lizertonians into lower class citizens!" Lita said, angrily, "How dare they!  If they hadn't put Rei away, this wouldn't happen!"

 "Well, your Princess is now locked away in her own dungeon," Twiggy said, and made her way down the hill.  She put her hand down in front of Glasses.

 "Well, are ya gonna get up?"

 He took her hand and muttered thanks, then he hurried away.

 "Hey!"

 Twiggy looked to her right, the direction the Reptonian had gone.  He was coming back, looking angry.

 "When I knock one of you idiots down, I expect you to keep away," he said, "Bow before your superior!"

 Twiggy stared into his face looking thoroughly unimpressed.  Everyone watched form a distance.

 "Are you going to answer?" the man asked, "Little girl?"

 Twiggy sighed and then punched foreward, hitting the man on the temple.  He fell down to the ground, face against the grass.  She cracked her knuckles with a gloating smile on her face.

 The other four girls came running down the hill.  "What did you do?!" Amy said.  "You could get us in big trouble!"

 "My superior my foot," Twiggy said and spat on the unconscious man.

 "Let's get out of here, before another one comes around," Mina said, and they walked quickly away from the scene.

 "So we have to go to the middle of the town," Twiggy said, "Why couldn't the castle be towards the edge of the town?"

 "Then it's not as fancy," Lita said, matter-of-factly.

 Twiggy rolled her eyes and they continued to run towards the castle.

 "Where are you going so fast?" a blonde girl demanded to know as she watched them run towards her.

 "Sorry, can't talk, gotta go," Amy said as they passed.

 "Hey!" she protested, but they had already left.

 They made their way through the maze of streets, getting closer to the tall castle in the middle.  They were in front of a brown and white store when two guards stepped in front of them.

 "Stop, by order of Queen Brashear," they demanded.

 Everyone stopped and looked at each other.  What were they suppose to do now?  The guards waited for some kind of response.

 Amy stepped forward suddenly and pointed at them. "I'm getting tired of this," she cried, "Sady, attack!"

 "Yip, yap, yip!" Sady said, and grew much much larger.  They looked at Sady and then back at the guards.  They had both run away.

 Amy shrugged innocently.  "Come on Sady."

 Sady stayed the size she currently was and marched beside them.  Everyone ran, screaming from the dragon.  Sady just panted, barking every now and then.  They made their way to the castle.  Finally the found themselves at the front gates.

 "Okay, Sady," Amy said, "You can get smaller now."

 Sady shrank and with a "Yip!" she jumped into Amy's bag.

 The guards at the gates had left at the sight of Sady and they simply had to enter.  They found themselves at two blue double doors, several times taller than they were.  They looked up at them, and together, Amy and Twiggy opened them.

 They ran inside the front room, ready for a fight.  Twiggy held up her wand, Amy had her hand ready at her back and Lita stood in a fighting position.

 No one was there.

 Or so they thought.

 Then a shrill voice rang from the darkened back of the castle.  They looked up a long staircase, the end they couldn't see in the darkness.  It's red banisters gleamed.

 "Welcome to my castle."

 Then the lights were thrown on the reveal a large staircase, and at the top was a blonde girl whose hair was pulled into pigtails was wearing a dress that sort of looked like a wedding dress, except it was pink.  She had a lollipop in one of her hands and she was leaning against the banister.  The guard next to her announced her as Queen Brashear.

 "Can I help you Ladies?" Queen Brashear asked, looking down at them with an expression of amusement.

 "We're here to save Princess Rei!" Lita claimed.

 "That so?" Brashear asked. "Well, Rei is a little, shall we say, contained at the moment and isn't available for rescuing.  You can join her if you want to, though.  After all, you've come such a long way."

 Then tons and tons of guards poured out of the doors under the staircase.  They surrounded the group.

 Twiggy never hesitated.  She fired onto them immediately.  She sent out a blast of magic that knocked them back.  Lita ran forward and fought her way through the crowd.  Amy brought out the Ice Dragon and it was freezing the soldiers as they attacked.  Serena sent out large pink blasts at them from a scepter she carried with her and Mina tried to stay out of the way, her abilities useless in this situation.

 Twiggy turned to fire at the head of one of the soldiers but another put a hand out grabbed her wrist.  He twisted it behind her and Twiggy realized she was caught.  She made her wand disappear just as one of the soldiers sought to grab it.

 Lita hit one of them in the face, but turned to see Twiggy caught.  While she was distracted, one of the soldiers pushed her down and the ones behind her grabbed for her arms.  She thrashed back and forth but couldn’t free herself.

 Serena stood in front of Mina.  Her scepter was keeping the soldiers at bay, but one reflected her attack and Serena was thrown backwards.  They were picked up too.

 The only one left was Amy.

 "Hold your Dragon," Brashear said, "We have your friends and it would be a real shame if something happened to them."

 Amy stopped and pulled out the blue stone.  The Dragon was inside the bag just before the soldiers grabbed her.

 "Excellent," Brashear said, sucking on her lollipop.  "They want to see Miss Rei so bad, let's give them what they want.  Take them away."

 They were led down below the stairs and down a separate staircase.  There they saw a large wooden door with some sort of crest on it.  Two soldiers opened it and they were tossed inside.

 Twiggy growled and ran for the door, but they shut it before she got there.  Her fist slammed against the door with a loud bang.

 "If they think--" she said, and made her wand appear.  The room they were in was blue and shiny.  There was nothing but tiles and the door was hardly visible.

She fired a spell at the door but it ricocheted and came back at her. She ducked and it bounced off the other wall.  She launched another spell at it and it disappeared.

 "A lot of help that did," Amy folded her arms.

 "Guys--"

 "Well, if we can't spell our way out of here, how we gonna leave?" Lita asked helplessly, all out of ideas.

 "Guys--!"

 "Amy, couldn't you use a dragon?" Serena asked.

 "Hey--"

 "No, not if Twiggy's spell didn't work," Amy said, "My dragons all use magic and this room is protected by some kind of spell.

 "WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

 Everyone jerked around and looked at Mina.

 "We don't need to leave right this second.  Look," Mina pointed to the back of the room.  There was a large sphere that looked like glass, and in the middle was a girl with black hair that was cropped at the edges.  She had her eyes close and see was levitating in a meditation position.

 "Rei!" Lita said, surprised.

 "That's the Princess?" Twiggy asked, confused.  She stared at the avergae clothes on the girl's back and the crownless head that bowed down in concentration.

 "Yeah, why?" Lita asked.

 "Well, I just expected her to be, well, more royal like," Twiggy said, "Maybe older than us.  Maybe wearing clothes that pertain to royalty.  All those things."

 "What's she doing?" Mina asked quietly.

 "Meditating," Lita said, "Probably trying to get out of that bubble."

 "How could she get out by meditating?" Amy asked.

 "She's psychic, and she can move things with her mind," Lita said, "My guess is that's an anti-psychic bubble."

 "Tough break," Serena said.

 "So how do we get her out?" Mina stepped forward hesitantly.  The bubble surrounded her completely.  It was hardly noticeable.

 "Good question," Lita said, "So good in fact, that I have no answer."

 "Here," Amy said, reaching into her bag, "Let's get Cocoa to help." She pulled out  a red crystal tossing it in one swift motion to the ground.  In one blast of red smoke it flew back up.  Amy caught it with a trained eye and large red dragon appeared.

 It seemed short but it's red scales gleamed brilliantly and it huffed impatiently, waiting for some kind of order from Amy.

 There was no reaction from the Princess in the bubble.

 "Does she even know we're here?" Twiggy waved her hands in expiramentation.  No reaction physically.

 Of course I do.

 "What?!" Twiggy took a step back and fell over in her surprise.  She looked around to see who had spoken.

 You heard me, I said of course I do.  I'm psychic aren't I?  Not to be impatient or anything, but if you got any bright ideas to get me out, I'd like to see them in action.

 "Sort of long-winded isn't she?" Mina commented.

 No response.

 The Red Dragon was looking at them impatiently.

 "Attack bubble, Cocoa," Amy instructed.

 The Red Dragon rumbled forth and swiped a claw at the bubble.  The bubble cracked a little at his swipe, but the crack mended immediately.

 "Well, that didn't work," Twiggy said, and Amy called the Dragon back, putting it back into it's crystal form.  She shrugged at them when it was back in her bag.

 Twiggy then used her wand to attack the bubble.  Her spell just went around the bubble.

 Then Serena tried, aiming her scepter carefully at the bubble.  A very powerful attack shot forward but it too simpley moved around it.

 "There isn't much I can do," Lita said when they looked at her. "I don't know very much magic."

 "What about you, Mina?" Amy asked, then looked around, "Mina?"

 "Over here," Mina said.  She was on her hands and knees under the bubble.  They came over to her to see what she was doing.  There was some sort of talismen under the bubble and she was poking at it

 Finally she moved it out of the way.

 The bubble blinked, then faded and the Princess was left levitating alone in midair.  She opened her eyes for the first time and put her feet down, landing on the ground a little unsteadily.

 "Are you okay?" Serena asked, as she tried to keep her balance.

 "If you were in a bubble for a good four weeks, you might have a little trouble walking, too," Rei retorted as she steadied herself.

 "Hey, we just saved you!" Twiggy protested.

 Rei turned two intense gray eyes on the witch and Twiggy involuntarily stepped back.  "Excuse me," was all she said and walked by.  Her eyes fell on Lita.  "Lita, what are you doing here?"

 "I ran into this group who were on their way to save you and your kingdom, and told them I'd be happy to save you," Lita said, giving her some sort of odd look.

 Rei sighed.  "Okay fine, I'm sorry," she said in a pouty manner, "But I have something I need to do real fast, okay?

 "How you plan on doing it is beyond me," Amy said, motioning towards the door, "There's no way out.  We've tried everything.

 Rei grinned.  "There's a reason I was in that bubble."

 She continued towards the door.  She placed both of her hands forward and there was a loud cracking on the other side.  The doors flew open.

 "What tha?" Two guards poked their heads in to see what had happened.  They saw Rei standing there with her hands on her waist.  They ran forward.

 "Sleep," Rei said and two balls of light hit them both, causing them to fall over.

 "Nifty," Serena nodded with her approval.

 "Yeah, come on," Rei said, waving them towards the exit.  They made their way down the halls, walking slowly and cautiously.  Rei peered around the first corner then said, "So who are you guys?"

 "I'm Mina the Animist," Mina introduced herself, "You know, someone who talks to animals?  That's what I do.  This is my friend Serena the Scout."

 "I'm Amy the Dragon Trainer."

 There Rei raised her eyebrows.  "Really?  That might come in handy."

 "I'm Twiggy the Witch," Twiggy said.

 "That too," Rei replied, "Well, nice to meet ya.  Especially since I was stuck in that bubble.  So who sent you?"

 "What?" Amy asked.

 "Well, I mean, it's obvious you don't know much about my kingdom or my castle, so you aren't fellow Lizers, so who sent you?"

 "A guy named Charlie, and a fellow named Bob the Knight," Amy said after a moment, "We were sort of recruited."

 "Charlie," Rei grinned, "Shoulda known."

 They came out into the main room.

 "You guys ready?" Rei asked.

 "You aren't--" Twiggy started but bit her tongue.

 "I'm not what?" Rei asked.  She folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow.  She looked like any other person.

 "Very Princess like," Twiggy said, "I mean, most Princesses are helpless and not very informative, while you might be too much not so."

 Rei laughed.  "Guess I'm not.  You ready or not?"

 Everyone nodded, so she walked up the staircase and threw open the fancy double doors at the end of them.

 It was a throne room.  There was a long aisle leading up to a raised stage.  Collumns sat to either side and on the stage a huge throne sat.  A few chairs lined the walls next to it.  Queen Brashear sat in it, staring at a mirror.  Two guards started at the sight of Rei.

 Rei made a bang when she entered so that Queen Brashear jumped when she came in.

 "Miss Rei!" she squeaked.

 "Hello, Your Highness," Rei said, and walked down the velvet carpet.  "Nice to see your making yourself at home."

 "Oh, yes, well, you see..."

 Rei stood right in front of her.  The guards made no move to stop her.  She leaned down very close to Brashear's face.

 "You know what I'm going to have to do now, right?" she whispered.

 "Yes, yes," Brashear squeaked, "I'll leave immediately."

 "Uh huh," Rei nodded and raised a hand.  Brashear gave out a wail and ran under Rei's arm at a run.  Rei laughed.

 The she grew angry.  "Come on, Guards  We're going home!" she said and stomped out of the castle, but before she exited the room she added, "I'll be back, Rei.  You can't keep us out forever!  You haven't seen the last of Queen Brashear!"

 Then she was gone.

 Rei watched her go, then collapsed into her throne.

 "Rei?" Lita asked then ran forward.  The girl lay unconscious in her throne, a hand across her stomach.  Lita turned to the others in fear.

 "Call a doctor!"

Rei was nursed back to health by the Lizerton local Doctor.  It took on a few days and she woke up after only a little while.

 When she did wake up, the first thing she asked was, "Where is the group who saved me?"

 She ordered an immediate audience with them.  They had stayed and went immediately as she had requested.  She was sitting in her throne, wearing a crown and a reddish pink dress that was sort of short but looked royal.

 "The entire village of Lizerton thanks you for our rescue.  I'd like to make a proposition. And this may sound a little strange, but I think you might agree. Would you girls stay here and help me protect the Kingdom?"

 The girls looked at each other.

 "You can live in the castle," Rei continued, "And I only want you to styay until Reptopia';s threat is gone."

 They discussed it for a second.

 "It's only until we make sure Reptopia isn't coming back," Lita told them, "Which shouldn’t be too long from now."

 "Yeah," Serena nodded, "And I want tpo make sure this place will be okay."

 "If Serena stays then I have to stay," Mina shrugged.

 "I'm in no hurry to go home," Amy shrugged, "And I'd like to make sure those jerks don't come back too."

 "Whatever," Twiggy yawned.

 "Well, then," Rei said, "I now make you full fledged citizens of Lizerton.  Congratulations, your now Lizertonians."

 They all nodded to each other.

 "We shall call ourselves the Society Of Lizerton," Rei said, "And let it be known that we are here to protect this kingdom."

 "Cool," Twiggy commented.

 And so started the adventures of SOL.

And that's only the beginning... Chapter 2