‘Dearest Journal,
     It’s me again, Alex. You are not going to believe the size of the carnival that has now taken up residence in town, down at the ball field and playground. Serena says it’s like the one that took up residence in Crossroads some years ago. Rei says it gives her bad vibes, and she’s been getting strange visions. I checked it out with Zel, Nick, Mackenzie, Lita, and Mina last night, and we had FUN! I must have gone on the 1,002 Nights at least ten times. Zel and I went on the zipper, and I thought I was going to be sick from the number of times we flipped. Not since that time I went with Andrew have I come so close to puking
     Got an e-mail from Paige, Jono, Angelo, and Monet. They’re going to come up and visit for a few days. I figure I can set up a slumber party down in my lab again. I’ll be glad to see them again, since Nick and Mack are like, “When are they coming back?” several times a day.
     This weekend.... wait, make that tomorrow night, I head one town over and back to a time of elves, dwarves, ogres, and humans. No, I’m not going through a time warp... I’m going to a Live Action RPG event. I sure hope nothing strange happens there this weekend. I know I said earlier I don’t want anything to happen, and now I REALLY don’t want anything weird to happen.
     Ooooooh... phone. I’ll write back sometime this weekend.

     “Hello, Alex here. Oh.... hi Donat. Yes, I’m going this weekend. I was hoping I could bunk with you. I can? Kickass! Don’t forget earplugs and a padlock to keep the nasties out. Yeah, I’ll be bringing munchies and a few friends. I just hope they don’t do anything weird. Oh crud... there’s the door. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
     Alex was in the process of hanging up the phone when Lina and Zelgadis walked in, followed by Nick and Mackenzie.
     “We’re ready for this weekend,” Lina said, “I brought munchies galore, I have spending cash, and some new talismans.”
     “We’re set as well,” Nick said, siding his sunglasses up on his head, “We borrowed some of Zel’s and Xellos’ clothes and our mom worked up some stuff for us.”
     “I e-mailed the plot people and got everything squared away,” Zel said, taking a seat on the bed, “we’re at a minus for our build points since I had to beg them to let us be somewhat powerful, but we’ll have fun.”
     “I made our weapons and asked Donat to work up some spell packets for us,” Alex said, turning from his laptop and journal, “You read the rule book from cover to cover?”
     Four heads nodded. “And you understand it?” Four heads nodded again. “Would you like to practice combat skills?” Four more very enthusiastic nods. “O.K.. Who has what for weaponry?”
     Zelgadis reached into his jacket and pulled forth a folded sheet of paper that turned out to be relative character information. “Lina has two short swords, I have a long sword, Nick has a bow & arrow, and Mackenzie has a pole arm.”
     Alex whistled when he heard the list, then grinned with glee and stepped over to the far side of his entertainment center He pulled out a pair of ornately decorated short swords, an equally ornate long sword with a large hilt guard, a bow, and a long pole arm with a silver handle and blade with a flame painted upon it. These were all quite impressive... for being made of pvc pipe, padding, and colored duct tape.
     “Wow, you put a lot of work into these,” Nick said, looking at the decorative wrapping on the hand grip  and other designs painted onto it.
     “And when did you find time to make these?” Zel asked, looking at his long sword. “You’ve been working extra hours at the store for the past week and even before that you were working your butt off.”
     “And before that we were locked up by Tormaline,” Lina said, “or did you forget?”
     “Nope, I remember everything,” Alex said, “I found time after work to do this and make these.”
     “So your costume is ready?” Mackenzie asked his question getting a sharp glare from Alex.
     “It’s been ready since before I came home last fall,” Alex growled. Mackenzie recoiled behind Nick and said, “Please don’t hurt me.”
     “He won’t hurt you if he knows what is good for him,” Lina said, “so everyone just calm down.”
     “Let’s just go and practice with our new weapons,” Zelgadis said, “that way we can get some pointers about how to initiate combat.”

     The following evening a very overloaded cherry red Mustang convertible pulled into the parking lot of the NERO Syrrandor campaign site. The occupants piled out of the car, shouldered their packs and other gear, and strode over to the check in desk.
     “West, party of five for check in,” Alex said, setting his staff down, followed by his pack.
     “Actually, they’d be under Inverse,” Lina said, bumping Alex out of the way.
     “Nothing under either,” the man behind the desk said, “sorry.”
     “That’s because they're under Greywords,” Zelgadis said, stepping between the other two.
     “So you’re Zelgadis,” the man said, “plot approved everything for you and your group. You can set up camp in the area with the other tents.”
     He handed Zel five envelopes before saying, “These are the things you’ll need for the weekend. And at his insistence I threw in two gold pieces for each of you to keep you fed for a while.”
     “Thank you,” Zel said as he dragged Lina and Alex off, both of whom were in shock, “we appreciate it greatly.”
     “Have a safe and fun weekend.”
     “We will,” Nick said as he hoisted Alex’s pack onto his shoulder, “we will.”

     Once the group had finished setting up their tent and getting their equipment checked out they retired to the tavern to meet other players and wait for Donat to arrive.
     “I’m bored,” Mackenzie said after about half an hour. He reclined in his chair and nearly fell out of it due to the weight of his mantle.
     “You really should mix little bro,” Nick said as he was surrounded by three beautiful women in period costume, “I’m having a wonderful time.”
     “Hey bartender, more ale on table five, and another roast duckling while you’re at it!” Lina said from behind a large stack of plates.
     Alex and Zel watched from a pair of chairs on opposing sides of the entrance, sweat drops forming on their heads as they watched Lina eat herself silly. Other PCs (player characters) in the tavern stared in awe as the stack of dishes continued to increase. Finally a large elf stepped forth and said, “So, who might you be?”
     “What’s it to you?” Lina asked, munching on a chicken leg.
     “I’m looking for someone to travel with,” the elf replied.
     “I’ve already got four sidekicks. I don’t have room for a fifth.”
     “Who are you calling sidekicks?!” four voices grumbled, four heads going super deformed.
     “Unless you guys settle down I’ll shove a fireball someplace incredibly uncomfortable,” Lina grumbled, rising from her chair, her cape swishing out behind her. An evil glimmer came to her eye as she looked at her four companions, all of whom backed towards the door in a massive huddle.
     “Miss Lina, don’t do it,” Mackenzie pleaded, “don’t blow us up.”
     “Who ever said I’d blow you up?” Lina said, glaring at them. She raised her left hand and pointed the palm towards her companions, “Diem Wing!”
     A suddenly powerful gust of wind emanated from Lina’s hand and hurled her four companions through the doorway. Unfortunately a certain young, light brown haired, and quite small elf happened to be walking in while they sailed out and wound up on the bottom of the pile of bodies.
     “Owww...” came from the stain that had once been someone.
     “Sorry dude,” Mackenzie said as the other four moved away. Alex recognized the smear, a sweat drop forming on his head.
     “Donat, are you O.K.?” he asked, helping his friend to his feet.
     “If one can call being squashed flat being O.K.,” Donat said, “So Artemis, are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
     “Artemis?!” four startled voices said.
     Alex sighed and smacked his forehead with his palm. “It’s my character’s name you yutzes, just like Donat’s is Delwynndwn.”
     “Ahhhh...” Lina said, “then call me Mina, Mina Innerts.”
     “Nicolas,” Nick said, “Nicolas Dragoon.”
     “Mack Melherna,” Mackenzie said.
     “Zelgadis,” Zel said. The others glared at him. “I’m sticking with my real name for the moment.”
     “Well, now that introductions are out of the way, how about we begin our adventure,” Alex said, “to the woods and to adventure!”

     In the back of the ticket booth of a certain carnival four forms met. The table which they sat around glowed as they plotted and schemed, showing points of interest and possible targets for their mission.
     “Do we know where to look for amulets yet?” the gruff male voice asked.
     “No idea as of yet,” the liquid female voice replied, “Say Shanara, have you found a target for us yet?”
     “What do I look like, an information booth?” the woman with the New York accent replied, “Geeze Felina, can’t you do anything for yourself?!”
     “Settle down you two,” the liquid and refined male voice said, “Shanara, Felina, I thought I asked you to scour the area in search of targets.”
     “We’re sorry Dilanu,” Shanara said, “we meant to, but were occupied with running the ticket counter and promoting this place.”
     “Which left Demos to check for things,” Felina said, “So, tall, dark, and handsome, you find us anything?”
     “To be honest, I did,” Demos said, begetting shocked gasps from his companions. “There’s a live action RPG event in the next town over,” he said, unrolling a poster, “lots of people go there to escape from reality for a weekend, and I’m guessing that someone with a beautiful amulet in their hearts will be there too.”
     “Then let’s dispatch one of our minions to go,” Felina said, “Demos, since you found the targets, you can dispatch the monster.”
     “Come forth, dreamseeker Almion,” Demos said. From the table came a woman with angelic demon wings, clad in tight black leather. Her jet black hair was pulled back in a long and tight ponytail.
     “I am here for you to command,” Almion said.
     “Go forth to this location and find us an amulet,” Demos said, pointing to a blinking spot on the map.
     “As you wish,” she said, vanishing in a hail of black angel feathers.

     Back at the event site the six companions skittered through the woods, a large group of goblins flanking them. The six backed into a tight knit circle, the spell casters drawing back a little more than the strict fighters. A light spell poofed into existence above them, illuminating the woods. The goblins backed up a bit, regrouping to better take out their prey.
     “How many do we have?” Lina asked, glancing around, her heart beating faster than normal. Why had they gone into the woods? Whose bright idea was this?
     “I count ten,” Mackenzie replied, “Two groups of three and one group of four.”
     “Plan of action?” Zelgadis asked.
     “Utter annihilation,” Alex replied, an evil glint in his eye, an equally evil grin on his face. The goblins must have seen this glint since they turned tail and ran for the open field near the “town”.
     “You can’t get away *that* easily,” Lina said, breaking into a run to follow the crunchy green goblins. Her five companions followed hot on her heels, weapons still drawn.
     They stopped in the middle of the field site, the goblins still confused as to what was going on. Lina and the others burst from the woods a moment later, assaulting the goblins with no remorse and taking no prisoners. When the shouting died away there were ten goblin bodies on the ground, a ring of stunned bystanders, and our victorious heroes.
     “Don’t forget to deliver killing blows,” Donat said as he touched his sword to the chest of one of the goblins and gave a three count for killing blow. When he finished the count he knelt next to the goblin and said, “I search you.”
     The person playing the goblin reached into their pocket and pulled out two silver coins, which he set into Donat’s palm. Donat held these up and said, “Make sure you search them, since usually they’ll have money or items.”
     “I searched them,” Lina said, holding up an armful of treasure. Donat looked down to see the NPCs (Non Player Characters) scampering away, warm blushes on their faces. A large sweat drop formed on his head.
     “Round two begins now,” a sexy female voice said from the darkness. Everyone looked around, trying to pinpoint the location of the speaker. The hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end about the same time that Zel’s ears pricked up.
     “We’re not dealing with a LARP friendly creature here,” Zel said seconds before a dark energy bolt lit up the sky, revealing the shadow of a woman with angelic demon wings floating above them.
     “They’ve outdone themselves with the special effects budget,” someone said near them, “she looks like she’s really flying.”
     “That’s because I am,” Almion said, striking the person with an energy bolt. The person dropped like a rock, a jewel rising from his body, glowing a soft blue.
     “Ray, that’s not funny,” a young woman said as she knelt near the body, “Ray, I mean it. Stop this nonsense.”
     “Kate, get him out of here,” Alex said, “pull everyone to the tavern or into the woods. Someplace where she can’t get them.”
     “I’ll help her with her friends,” Nick said, throwing the body over his shoulder, “you guys hold that thing off until I get back.”
     Several more energy bolts crackled through the air, striking people, glowing gems rising from the bodies. Almion descended and began to snatch up the jewels, checking them over for some odd reason before bagging them.
     “What the hell is that thing?!" Donat asked, surprising the hell out of Alex, who thought his friend had left to find safety.
     “About to be barbecue,” Lina said, forming a sphere of electricity in her hand, “Digger VOLT!”
     The spell crackled through the air, only to encounter Almion’s wings crossed before her body. The electrical energy formed a globe, which exploded in an amplified manner. Alex, Lina, and Zelgadis managed to dive out of the way in time, but Donat took the full force of the spell. At that moment the sky darkened and lightning crackled through the air. Something which had lain dormant for quite some time was surfacing in a most violent manner.
     “You who have released me from my thousand year slumber I thank you,” a voice that definitely wasn’t Donat’s said, the eyes snapping open. A wave of energy washed over his body, starting with the feet and ending at the throat, changing his outfit to a shocking white karate / ninja gi with gold trim, “I, Delwynndwn Siele, shall punish you.”
     “No stealing our lines!” Lina grumbled, stamping her feet and throwing a tantrum.
     “Let’s see what type of amulet you’re hiding,” Almion said, throwing an energy bolt at Delwynndwn. A hastily erected barrier blocked the bolt from its target, but the force threw him several feet away into the woods.
     “That was my friend you just struck,” Alex said, a glow emitting from beneath his tunic. The glow slowly washed over his body, starting from that point, changing his outfit to his warrior armor, the staff in his hand changing into his glaive. “Brought forth from the silent star, Saturn, a warrior to protect the light. I’m the silent angel, the soldier of death and rebirth, Warrior Saturn.”
     “Give it a rest, will ya?!” Lina grumbled, “If I don’t blow something up soon I’m going to go CRAZY!”
     Almion chose that moment to sail at Lina, grabbing the sorceress by the shoulders and propelling her into the side of the tavern, where she pinned her.
     “Show me the amulet you hold,” Almion said, a design on her cheek glowing before an energy bolt struck Lina in the chest.
     “Wind which sweeps across eternity, gather in my hand and give me strength. Bram Gush.”
     A column of air struck Almion in the back, doing more to annoy her than to damage her. From behind her came, “Take your hand off of Miss Lina you creep before I get really mad!”
     “Give it a...” Lina began to say as a large jewel came from her chest. All signs of life left her violet eyes, which were now wide open in horror. The gem glittered violet and fuscia as Almion grabbed it.
     “This gem has an incredible power source, but I don’t know if it’s an amulet.”
     The temperature around Almion suddenly dropped to sub zero temperatures, ice forming on her wings and from her ears and hair. She turned, letting Lina’s body slump to the ground, to see Nick, his hands glowing ice blue as his power took effect.
     “What are you trying to do?” she asked, sighing as she shook herself, the ice shattering as an aura of flame surrounded her body. A moment later the air around Nick burst into flames, singeing his hair and clothes.
     “We need to get Lina’s crystal back,” Zelgadis said as he checked Lina’s pulse and other vital signs, “She’ll die without it.”
     The air around Almion suddenly ignited, singeing her wings and burning three inches from the end of her hair. She turned, noting that Mackenzie’s hands were glowing red as his power took effect. Several waves of flame struck her in the back, propelling her through the air.
     “How dare you hurt Miss Lina,” Mackenzie said, “for that I shall not forgive you.”
     Almion fired a force wave off in his direction, which audibly bounced off of a barrier. She fired several more in rapid succession, each one striking the wall and bouncing into space. Several trees around them cracked and broke, falling in wild manners. A faint golden glow in the dark was the only indication of the barrier’s source.
     “We’re going to get our asses royally whooped unless we can take her out,” Alex said as a stray force wave nearly took his head off. A second stray force wave caught him in the chest, knocking him back a couple of feet and onto his butt. He got to his feet, muttered a few curses, and began to chant a spell.
     “I call upon the twelve signs of the zodiac and pledge my life so that he may be called forth...”

     “What exactly is he doing?” Demos asked, staring in awe as the table top glowed.
     “Is that one of the Zodiac spells that we’ve heard about?” Felina asked.
     “The meter is going off of the scale,” Dilanu said, his voice showing signs of shock and fear, “Whatever he’s doing is going to be BIG!”
     The screen that was the table top flared up, filling the room with blinding light for a second before it went black.

     “... By the blood red tides of hell I command the celestial gates to be thrown open. Unleash the crushing blow of destiny!!”
     Almion turned to run, only to run into Zelgadis and a Visfarenk spell. She fell backwards, landing with her butt in the air.
     “Hey demon bitch, remember us?” Mackenzie asked, a red glow around his right hand. He knelt down and smashed his fist into the ground, a stream of energy coursing towards Almion. the energy split and circled around her before a wall of flame erupted around her and engulfed her. The flames suddenly turned into spires of ice thanks to Nick’s contribution to the downfall of the youma.
     Meanwhile a large globe of darkness was forming between Alex’s palms, a golden magic circle glowing and revolving beneath him. An unseen wind blew his cape out behind him as he incanted the spell. People watched out the tavern windows and from the edges of the woods as these valiant warriors fought off a threat to their well being.
     “Nightmare...” Alex shouted, bringing the globe before his body, “FURY!!”
     The globe exploded into streams of darkness, each of which took on a nightmarish shape. these wrapped around Almion, breaking down her power and eventually sending her screeching into oblivion. When the spell ended several brightly colored jewels sailed through the air like shooting stars, returning to their owners and reviving them.
     “That takes care of that pain in the butt,” Nick said, running his fingers through his hair.
     “How do we explain this to them?” Zelgadis asked, indicating the other players, “I don’t think they’ll believe anything we say.”
     “Who cares,” Lina said as she limped towards them supported by Mackenzie, “I’m here to have some fun, and no idiotic monster attack is going to ruin that for me!”
     “What about Delwynndwn?” Mackenzie asked, “I don’t know if he got in one the battle or not.”
     “I’m sure he did,” Alex said, “Lina and Zel are the only two who can cast barrier spells. Lina was out of action and Zel was busy with other matters...”
     “So you were saved by my barrier,” Delwynndwn said as he joined them.
     “How are you feeling?” Nick asked.
     “Very disoriented. I have fractured memories of Donat and of Delwynndwn. And I have Miss Lina’s lightning bolt to thank for this,” he added sarcastically.
     “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Lina demanded, leaping at him. Delwynndwn ducked and ran with Lina hot on his tail. “Come back here and let me fireball you!”

     ‘Well, the weekend is over and I’m about ready to go crazy. My life has suddenly gotten even more complicated, as did Donat’s.... make that Delwynndwn. He now has a fractured memory that will be complete at age 25. I apologized multiple times, and he cooked me... multiple times. I can run my laptop for several hours on the electricity that is now coursing through my body.
     As for the LARP, they now believe in magic after seeing what we did to that creature that snatched crystals from people’s bodies. Those who had their crystals taken have recovered fully. Ray still wants to know what the hell happened. I’m just glad they didn’t ask us to leave the event site after that. As for the rest of the event nothing could come close to being as cool as that attack, but we still had a pretty good time.
     I don’t know what our new enemy is looking for, but that monster said something about amulets. I’m going to look into that later on.
     Until the next time I write.
              AMW.’

     To Be Continued...