Chapter 12: The Earth Guardian Revelation

While they were working as bellboys, janitors, and whatever the job their boss asked them to do, Edward was called by one of their customers.

"Yes ma'am? How may I help you?"

"Oh yes please. See I have lost my Truffles. I believe she went at your backyard. Please go and get her for me."

"Umm...sure ma'am. So...what does she look like?"

"Well, she's about a foot high and her tail is 2 feet long. She has white and blue fur."

"Okay. I can’t promise you that I can find her but I will try."

"Thank you very much."

When Joed got out of the room. Their boss called him to ask what the customer wanted.

"She lost her dog and asked me to find it."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. Should I go now to look for her dog?"

"Okay. Just hurry back here. There are many customers to take care of. And it's almost dark out there."

"All right."

When he went out at the backdoor of the inn, he has no idea what he got himself into. The supposedly backyard of the inn was a 20 hectares or so of trees.

"Oh my god. What have I got myself into. This is not a backyard. This is a forest."

With the thought that he would not find Truffles and the possibility of getting lost, Joed went into the forest to look for her.

"Truffles...Truffles...here girl. Come to me."

Then he heard a faint barking and tried following it. When he got to where he heard the bark, he saw a cave and heard it again coming from inside.

"Oh no...no way I'm getting into another cave."

But Joed has no other choice. So he bravely entered the cave to retrieve Truffles.

When Joed entered the cave, he felt that someone or something is watching him. He went deeper inside the cave to look for Truffles. Finally, he saw her and was about to return to the inn when he saw something glowing. He went to where the glow was coming from. It was green crystals that lighted a flight of stairs headed downwards. When he was about to turn back, Truffle jumped and went down.

"Truffles! Come back here!"

Joed chased Truffles down the stairs. While he was going down, he heard someone calling his name from down below. When he finally got down, Truffles was waiting by the foot of the stairs.

"Bad dog! Bad dog! If you were not so adorable, I would have left you here to die! Now...where did you take me?"

Joed looked around and something large caught his eye. It was a very big door. On it were carvings of plants.

"Whoa...now that is some big door. I wonder what's behind it."

Joed was walking towards the direction of the door when everything around him lighted. The stalactites and stalagmites glow of the color green. The floor on which he steps has a mark of a tree. Then something rose from the earth. It was a throne that looked like a tree.

"Okay. I'm officially freaked out...but this is cool!"

When Joed was about to get near to the throne, an earthquake happened.

"Now what's happening?"

While the earthquake was happening, the big door was now slowly opening and within it, bright flashes of green light came out. After quite some time, the earthquake subsided and the door was fully opened.

"Now, let's look at the prize behind door number one."

Chapter 11: Finance Problem

"So guys, now what? Hanna, I mean, the fairy told us to awaken the guardians. Where in this world are we going to find them?"

"Calm down Addison. Let's ask Paolo. After all, this is his dream."

"Don't you dare look at me Ramch. I know this is my dream but this is new. I haven't reamt this yet. How will I know what we will do?"

"All right. The better thing to do is find a place to stay for the night. It's getting dark. I see a town right past those sheep."

The gang went to town to find a place to rest. They found an inn and went inside to rest. But they have another problem.

"Oh my god. We have no money! How can we pay for this?"

"Don't worry Pinggoy. You're being too pessimistic. I have money."

"You have your wallet even in your sleep? That's weird Jessie, really weird."

"I know, I sleep with my wallet. So what? Aren't you glad I have it?"

"Fine then. Go on and pay her. I need some rest."

Jessie went up the counter to pay them a room or two to rest in.

"Uhmmm..."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes. I believe this isn't money."

"What? That's 1,000 pesos. That's more than enough for me to rent this whole inn isn't it?"

"Pesos? What in the world is that? The only money we have is Raon. And you need to pay 50 Raon per room. Whatever this thing is I can't accept it."

With that said, the lady tore up the money Jessie gave.

"Oh my god! You tore my thousand peso bill! Doesn't matter, I have many more!"

Jessie headed to the group to tell them the bad news.

"Guys, looks like we have some problem."

"What is it? You only got us two rooms? It's okay. Four people per room will do. But I need to room with Ramch, Raffy and Addison."

"Looks like we’re not going to sleep here Pinggoy."

"What? I need my beauty sleep and I need it now!"

"Our money is no use here. Their currency here is Raon. Whatever that is we better get some or we'll die of weakness, hunger and everything else money can buy."

"But where will we find that kind of money?"

"I don’t know but we need to find some now."

With that, the gang brainstormed how to make some money. Paolo suggested a lemonade stand, but in order to make lemonade, you have to have money. Pinggoy suggested having a kissing booth. He will be the one to kiss all the boys, and Raffy will kiss all the girls. That didn’t work also because who in their right and even wrong mind would kiss Pinggoy?

"I've got it!"

"What is it Joed?"

"How about we get jobs?"

"Jobs?"

"Yeah, jobs. How about you ask the lady at the counter if they are hiring someone. And ask her if we can sleep here for free in exchange of us being employees."

"Fine. But I'm not the one to work. These hands will not touch anything besides Ian's thing."

The lady agreed and all of them, even Pinggoy, worked at the inn. They were earning 100 Raon per day. They still have to find out how much food was in this world.

Chapter 10: The Land of Frell

"Guys..."

"Rjadz, is that you?"

"Pinggoy, help me, I'm being held at some kind of dungeon. I'm with Hanna, only, she's not Hanna. She said she was a fairy of the city of Frell."

"Frell? Is that what they call this place?"

"Yes. Please don't interrupt anymore. I haven't any time anymore. She helped me contact you guys with her powers. You have to awaken the guardians of Frell. The monuments around you are the different representations of the guardians. You have to get them and save me. Fairy Anna is here to tell you something."

"Brave wanderers of this land. Help us escape the evil clutches of Quirella. She's taken control of the land. I can't do anything since I'm only a fairy. Our Queen Frella has grown weak of the evil her sister wreaks all over the land. Please help us."

"Wait, how will we know what guardians belong to us?"

"It is not you who will choose the guardians. It is the guardians who will choose you. Remember this, for every guardian that you will awaken, our queen will grow strong again. So please help us."

"Ok. We will. Please take care of Rjadz for us until we awaken all of the guardians."

"Go forth into the land of Frell. You will see a door behind you. Outside is the Garden of Life. There, you will begin your first journey."

"Fairy Anna, can I talk to Rjadz before we go?"

"Pinggoy, please hurry up. I’m really scared. Please..."

"We will. Don't worry. Just stay put all right? We will awaken those guardians and get out of this place."

With that, the gang went out and journeyed into a land much unknown to them. The Land of Frell.

Chapter 9: The Temple

They all hurried up the hole and out into a temple.

"What is this place?"

The gang, determined to find Rjadz, wasted no time to find him.

The place was brightly lit and there were eight monuments placed surrounding the temple. There was a green tree with different fruits blooming from it. Next to it was a red volcano with lava coming out of it. Then an orange crossed bolts of lightning. Beside it was a blue whale. Then across the room, there was a violet hurricane, a white penguin, a yellow sun, and a black moon.

"This place is so beautiful, but so weird." said Jessie

"Hey guys, have you seen Rjadz? It looks like he’s not here. Oh my god...where could he be?"

Pinggoy was really worried because Rjadz was not inside the temple. The gang already searched the whole place but he wasn’t there. Then, there was a loud bang at the middle of the room.

"What was that?" said everyone in unison

Then from out of nowhere, a crystal of changing colors appeared in the middle of the room. When the gang was about to get close, it exploded and a blinding flash of light was emitted.

When the light subsided, they were still blinded. But they heard Rjadz' voice coming from where the crystal exploded.

Chapter 8: The Missing

Paolo and Ramch looked for their friends. Jessie was found near a shallow pond. Addison and Raffy were sleeping between two stalagmites. Joed was found at one end of the cavern while Pinggoy was found in the other end. Paolo went back to where he found Francis.

"Would you mind telling us where we are? I'm dreaming about Ian for Christ's sake."

"Yeah, I'm dreaming about Hanna and you drag me here in this place!"

"Paolo, Ramch, would you please tell us where we are?"

"Yeah, where the heck are we?"

"Is this some kind of a joke?"

"All right! Would you be quiet please? Thank you. We are in a cavern beneath a cave. I do not know how we got here but I think Paolo has some idea how."

"Okay, this may sound weird but, I think we are in my dreams. In my dream, there were nine of us. Me, Ramch, Raffy, Joed, Jessie, Pinggoy, Francis, Addison, and Rjadz. Where is Rjadz anyway?"

Everybody panicked and slowly calmed down. They all did not want to fight anymore for Rjadz was missing; he was not in the cavern.

"Okay Paolo, we will buy your story. However, we have to find Rjadz first. He might be in trouble."

Pinggoy was worried for Rjadz was his best friend.

"Wait guys, I think I remember a hole large enough for someone like me to crawl into."

"Where is it?"

"Near the place where I found you"

They went back to the hole and found it is indeed large enough for someone the size of Paolo to enter.

"Shall we guys?"

"Stop talking Joed and start moving!"

"Okay, don't be such an ass."

All of them, one by one, entered the hole. It was a little hard for them to crawl for the tunnel is steep.

"Do you see anything up there Joed? I am really tired of crawling, my shoulders hurt."

"Nope. There is nothing up here except more tunnels to crawl into. Paolo, just a little bit more okay. You can do it!"

After a few minutes, Joed saw a spec of light coming from what seemed to be the end of the tunnel.

"Hey guys, I see a light! We're there!"

Chapter 7: Dream or Reality

Paolo opened the lights and saw the fan flying in front of him. He again saw the pictures in his dream on the fan. He and his friends were falling. Then suddenly, a blinding light appeared out of nowhere. Paolo could not open his eyes, then, darkness.

"What happened?"

Paolo waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He could not believe what he is seeing.

"A...Am I...inside my dream?"

The place is exactly like the cave in his dreams. He looked up and saw the hole they fell into. He looked around hoping to find his friends. Then he saw Francis lying near a boulder.

"Hey Francis! What happened? Hey wake up!"

"Paolo? What are you doing in my room? Let me go back to sleep!"

When he heard what Francis said, he felt something wrong. He looked around for the others. He saw Ramch by an opening, large enough for someone as large as himself to crawl into.

"Ramch, wake up! Ramch!"

"What's the matter Paolo? By the way, what are you doing inside our house? Who let you in? And why is it so dark!"

"Oh my God, it was not just me."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a long story. Help me find the others."

"Others? Who are these others anyway?"

"In my dream, there was me, you, Francis, Rjadz, Raffy, Pinggoy, Addison, Joed, and Jessie."

"So, where are they...where are we?"

"We were traveling in a forest and some wolves chased us. We found this cave and we went inside. Then Francis said he saw a lake inside this cave and we followed him to look at it. Then we fell from up there. And now we are here, down below."

"I should be saying that you're crazy but due to the fact that I'm here and not in my room in a matter of seconds, I believe you."

"Thank you; now help me find the others."

Chapter 6: Start of Something Bigger

Paolo went to his room to nap a little before going to dinner. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see the fan, which was supposedly gone the other night, on his bed. He went towards it and was again shocked. He saw that the drawing was again changed. On it was a picture of the children sleeping inside a cave while heavy rain was pouring outside. One of them was heading towards the insides of the cave.

This time, he was too scared to go to sleep anymore. He could not get rid of the fan for it would come back to him eventually like what happened this time. He decided to lock it inside one of his drawers so it cannot get out, in case it is alive. He changed his clothes and went to dinner.

After dinner, he went to his computer to search for some information on the net about the fan. It took him almost 2 hours of searching on the internet for information on the fan. He almost gave up until he saw a website in Google Search that is entitled Mysterious Objects interconnected with Dreams.

He was really tired and exhausted from all the searching he did so he bookmarked the website to visit it the other day. He immediately fell asleep after turning the computer off.

Francis managed to find his way to his friends by dawn. They were already half-awake when he came.

"Hey guys, I found a lake inside this cave. It is about 6 feet deep and is very cold. Damn, I even fell in it."

"Where is it?"

They followed Francis inside the cave to see the lake.

"Be careful guys, this part of the cave is very slippery. I almost bumped my head when I went in here."

They continued on their way but they did not saw the lake.

"So Francis, where is it?"

Rjadz is so tired of walking that their journey easily irritated him. Added the fact that his cell phone was left in the forest.

"It was just right here. I swear."

"CRACK!"

"Hey guys, did you hear that?"

"What is it Raffy?"

"CRACK!"

"There it is again!"

Then, the floor they were standing on collapsed.

Paolo woke up. This is not because of the fall in his dreams. Something is making a rattling noise in his room.

"Huh? What is that?"

Chapter 5: Encounter with Old Friends

While they were sleeping, Francis was awakened by a loud snoring noise. He looked around to see that it was Paolo who was snoring. He could not sleep again due to Paolo's loud snoring and the bitter cold of the rain. So he decided to venture the cave by himself. It was in the middle of the night that he did this so there was barely any light besides the light coming from the moon. He ventured far from where the moonlight was shining that after some time, all was pitch black.

"Oh my God, I shouldn't have done this. This was way creepier and scarier than my bedroom."

He tried to find his way back when he slipped on a rock and fell in on what looks like a lake. The water was 6 feet deep so he was completely soaked.

Paolo woke up dripping wet. His mother tired of waking him up, poured water all over him and his bed.

"You know Paolo; I'm really tired of waking you up. Therefore, from this day on, if you do not wake up on time, I'm going to pour water all over you. Go on now, get up and get ready for school."

Paolo went through his usual routine; go to school, meet with his friends, and go home. Before going home, he decided to stop by the mall to do some window-shopping and watch a movie. He looked at some shirts and pants at Tribal, Bench, Oxygen, and some other shops that look nice. When he had decided what he wants to buy, he went to the theater to watch a movie. He could not decide whether he would watch Bewitched or Fantastic 4.

"How about we watch Bewitched, Mikko?"

Paolo was somewhat familiar of the voice. When he turned around to look who it is, it was Emily. Emily and Mikko were at the mall and were going to watch a movie together.

"Hey, Mikko! Emily! What are you doing here? How are you these days?"

"Paolo! We decided to go out this day and watch a movie. How about joining us? Is that okay with you?"

"Umm, sure. What are we going to watch?"

Emily suggested that they watch Bewitched so they bought tickets and went in. After the movie, Paolo parted from Mikko and Emily to go home.

He got home at around 7:30 PM. His class ended at 3:30 PM that afternoon so he got home late. His Mom was waiting for him and he was scolded at for being home late.

"Where have you been? You are supposed to be at home at 3:30. And you didn't even call to tell me where you are."

"Mom, don't worry. I was just gone to the mall to watch a movie. I even met my former classmate Mikko and his girlfriend Emily."

"Alright. Go to your room and change your clothes. We are about to eat dinner. Your father is going to be home soon."

Chapter 4: Earthquake

After dinner, Paolo went back to his bedroom to watch his favorite Primetime Shows at ABS-CBN. While watching, Paolo decided to read some of his books to be somewhat ready for what will come tomorrow.

When he reached into his bag, he felt some other thing besides his books and filler. He took it out and saw it was the fan the old woman gave to him only, the embroidery was different. Embroidered in it was a drawing of children heading towards a cave during a heavy rain.

Paolo threw the fan at the floor in shock. The drawing shows what he dreamt this afternoon. So does his dream last night. He walked across his room to pick up the fan when suddenly, an earthquake occurred.

"Jesus, what's happening?"

He was really freaked out because of what was happening. After the earthquake has passed, he hurried down to his parents' bedroom.

"Mom, did you felt the earthquake?"

"What earthquake, honey? You must be dreaming."

"But I wasn't asleep. I was wide-awake! I felt it. It's real!"

"But I haven't felt a thing. It is just your imagination. You have been stressed out by school today. It's better if you go to bed early."

"Okay, goodnight Mom."

When he went out the bedroom, he thought to himself.

"What if it was just my imagination? I am full of it anyway. Nevertheless, what I felt was not my imagination. It was real. I am sure. I think this has something to do with that fan."

He hurried back to his room to take a closer look at the fan. When he got to his room, he looked for the fan where he threw it but it was not there. He checked his bag, drawers, cabinet; he checked everything but the fan was nowhere to be seen. He was somehow confused and relieved that the fan was gone.

Before going to bed, he took a shower and opened his computer for something to do.

He opened his Yahoo! Messenger in case some of his friends were online and he could share his bizarre experience. Unfortunately, no one was online except for Yahoo! Helper. He played Gunbound for a few minutes and decided to go to bed. It took him about an hour before going to sleep; worried that he will dream the continuation of his other dreams. However, he has no choice. Whether he likes it or not, he will continue that dream.

"Rjadz, Paolo, and Pinggoy will find food for us in the forest. Francis and Raffy will look for water. Addison and Joed will look for dry wood to burn. Jessie and I will find out how deep this cave is and if there is another way out of here. Any objections?"

"Ramch, how are you and Jessie going to find your way in this cave? You have hardly and light." Raffy debated.

"We will start tomorrow with our errands. We must rest now and hope we are alive tomorrow."

After much talking, the group finally decided to hit the hay and sleep. The leaves Paolo brought did not help that much in covering them from the cold for the leaves itself was wet and cold. Some of them decided to hug each other to warm themselves up.

Chapter 3: More Dreams

When he got home, he took his key to the house from his wallet. Since he was going to be dismissed every other day at 12 noon, he was to be alone at home. His Mom told their housemaid to leave for she was no more than another mouth to be fed. This leaves him by himself at home for at least 3 hours.

"Guess it's me all alone again."

He dropped his bag at the living room and headed straight to his bedroom. Once lying on his bed, he immediately fell asleep.

"Thank God we lost those wolves. I could not walk another step. Can't we rest here for the night?" Paolo, being the biggest of the group, was having a hard time running.

"Oh, all right. We can sleep over there. There is a cave over there. We can spend the night in there." Francis saw the cave about 300 meters from where they were standing. The group headed for the cave, not knowing what lies within it.

"Now this is better." Pinggoy said trying to be comfortable in one corner of the cave.

"How about food? We left all our things back at that forest. We can't survive without food." Ramch said pacing back and forth near the entrance of the cave.

Some agreed on Ramch's declaration. While others disagreed. This led to shouting and blaming of each other. Addison was fed up with all the noise and spoke up.

"Okay. Shut up, all of you! We should at least sacrifice food for tonight. We cannot head out and look for food on a night like this. We'll search for food tomorrow."

"Well, we better split our group to do things to help us survive in this, whatever this place is." Paolo suggested as he brought in a bunch of banana leaves from outside.

"What is that you have there Paolo?" asked Francis

"Oh, this? This is supposed to be like a blanket. Tonight is going to be very cold because of the heavy rain. So, how are we supposed to split up?"

"Okay, this is what we are going to do..."

KNOCK...KNOCK...KNOCK...KNOCK...KNOCK...

Paolo was awakened by the rapid knocking at the door.

"Who is it? I am sleeping!"

"It's Rafael. We are going to eat dinner! Come now or else you won't have any Coke to drink!"

As he tried to get up he looked up to his wall clock and saw that it is already eight o' clock. He was asleep for eight hours. As he recalled his dream, he realized that it was the continuation of the dream he had last night.

"Whoa, that was some dream. Well, I'd better get to dinner."

Chapter 2: Coincidence

As he walked the underpass towards his school. He noticed an old woman sitting by the stairs with a very beautiful fan. It was decorated with colors of gold and silver. Embroidered in it was a picture of children on one side of a bridge with wolves chasing them.

SNAP.

Paolo remembered his dream. They were chased by a pack of wolves and they crossed a bridge then cut it to lose them. Paolo stood very still trying to figure out what happened then he remembered that he was going to be late for his first day. He then hurriedly walked down the stairs when suddenly, the old woman grabbed him by his leg, which almost threw him flying off the stairs.

"Young man, can I have some food in exchange for this fan?"

The old woman looked Paolo straight in the eyes then Paolo remembered that his Mom packed him lunch. He never eats lunch at school. Especially now that he is going home at 12 noon.

"Here. I am not going to eat that anyway. You can have it."

"Thank you. Here, have this as a token of my gratitude for what you have done."

"Um, no, it's okay. You can keep your fan."

"No, I insist. Take it."

He took the fan with doubt and confusion in his mind and thanked the old woman.

"Well, anyway, thanks for the fan."

"No, thank you. You saved an old woman from hunger. Some day, that fan will come in handy."

He was puzzled at what the old woman said but then remembered again that he was going to be late. He thanked the old woman for the last time and rushed off to school.

He was supposed to meet TJ in front of the large statue at the parking lot. However, seeing he has no more time and TJ was possibly heading to his own class, he hurried off to the Southwest building.

Paolo finished his first day of school with no trouble. He met again the girl he talked to back at the interview. When he was about to leave the campus he heard someone calling his name.

"Paolo! Hey, Paolo! Over here!"

He turned around and saw Keichi and TJ together at one of the benches. He rushed over to them and they talked.

"Hey, how are you two? Are you two in the same class?"

"No. I am section A8, while Keichi is in section A11. It's so disappointing that we don't have any class together."

"Yeah. Oh, I must go now. I have something to do at home. Nice seeing you two again. How about let us meet tomorrow here again?"

"Sure. Goodbye."

Paolo went home somehow relieved to see some of his friends again. When he was in the underpass, he again remembered the old woman he saw that morning. He looked around but he did not see her. He finally gave up and went home.

Chapter 1: Dreams and Wishes

"Run!"

Francis shouted as he and his friends hurdled through the forest as a pack of wolves chased them. They ran until they saw a bridge, which they crossed hurriedly.

"Paolo, cut the ropes!" ordered Ramch in order for them to lose the wolves.

"Wait, Raffy hasn't crossed yet. Hurry up!"

As soon as Raffy stepped off the bridge, Paolo cut the ropes, which led to the wolves falling as they tried to cross.

"That was some close call. Whose idea was this again to go on an adventure?" Rjadz said irritatingly because he left his cellular phone back at the forest.

"This was all...PAOLO...fault. If he hadn't...PAOLO...cancelled our trip to...PAOLO!"

Paolo woke up with a shock. His mother pinched him at his legs, which really hurt.

"Apparently, you didn't sleep early last night. You are going to be late for school. Get up and fix yourself. It is almost 7:30. Go on, get going!" His Mom shouted as he tried to get up.

"Mom, I was having a great dream. You're such a killjoy."

"Better a killjoy than a latecomer. Go on, take a bath and hurry up. You're going to be late."

It was the first day of his college life. He was nervous of not having friends at school. Maybe that is the reason that he dreamt of his friends last night.

"Mom, I'm going. Where's my allowance?"

"Go and ask your Dad for your allowance. I don't have any money here."

His Dad was downstairs cleaning the car. He and his Dad are not that close because he thinks that his Dad does not listen to him that much.

"Hey Dad, can I have my allowance?"

"Ask your Mom for it."

"But Mom told me to get it from you. Hurry up! I'm going to be late. There's hardly any bus this time you know."

"Here. Will you be having your lunch at home?"

"Yes. However, please do not give me 80 pesos. Can I have at least a little raise? Maybe 120 pesos a day? That should do."

"Ok. Save some money for your other needs. You are a college student now. Know how to use money well. I have been telling you this since you were Grade 6. Get going then."

"Thanks Dad. Bye!"

As he rode off to school, he tried to remember most of what happened in his dream last night.

"I wish those were true. My friends and I would be in an adventure to a far off place. Where we will have fun and action. If only dreams could come true."