The Unicorn's Forest

In the distance a herd of unicorns drank from a stream. The sun shone in the clear sky, sending warmth on the ground that was already preparing for the cold that would shortly arrive.

Arachii looked over the unicorns wistfully. They were innocent, in that they knew nothing of what had led them here nor did they know of what Arachii could tell was going on. He'd eliminated the gates to this world, so why was he able to feel shifts like the gates opening in other worlds, he couldn't say.

He had been old when the gates had been closed in the first place. He remembered the war that had led to that action very clearly, and while he didn't see what happened to the greater unicorns, clearly at least one had to have survived, otherwise the gates wouldn't be able to open now.

Even if another greater bicorn had created a new gate, they wouldn't be able to likely have it open without a greater unicorn. Many had tried in the past before the war to speculate as to why, but none had ever come up with an answer. The only explanation that he could think of was that there was an entrance to a Unicorn's Forest in this world somewhere. Unless he stumbled on it, he wouldn't know it was there, just from the nature of Unicorn Forests. Which made him wonder: How long had that entrance been there?

Whatever the answers to his questions were, he had a feeling that something was happening. A rekindling of that old war was also possible. The gates had largely been all sealed by the greater unicorns to stop the war, but then they all fled. Up to this point, Arachii had never known if any had survived. Whatever was going to happen, he had a feeling that he would need to find that entrance.

While he could create a gate, now that all of the gates were unsealed, even the ancient gates that existed and had been closed for one reason or another before he was even born, he wasn't sure if that would a be good idea or where he should have it lead. Whatever else, he knew that detail would be important. Eventually he might take a risk on that point, but at the moment, he felt that he had some time to try and work things out another way, if that would happen. However, first it would be best to try and learn where that Unicorn's Forest entrance would be. If he learned that, he might be able to get a better idea of what was going on and what he could do that would help.

Above all else, he would like to see a greater unicorn again. While the lesser unicorns weren't bad company, the lesser unicorns viewed things differently and were like different shades of the same color. While the differences weren't always apparent, they were still there. As a greater bicorn himself, Arachii preferred the company to greater unicorns rather than the lesser unicorns or even lesser bicorns. Not that most would understand, or even appreciate the distinction most of the time.

Arachii sighed. He wished there was anyone else whom he could discuss these issues with that wouldn't take offense. That was one difference between the greater and lesser unicorns, the greater unicorns were willing to view alternate ideas rather than what they'd already decided. Lesser unicorns tended to be more close minded on what they'd already decided on and would sometimes get rather emotional when exposed to ideas that challenged their perspective. Especially if any differences between lesser and greater unicorns or bicorns were brought up.

What would happen if he was too late to help, if it turns out that he's right that that ancient war might be reigniting just because the gates are open again? Arachii wasn't sure he wanted an answer to that. For one thing, he wouldn't be able to change anything if it was. However, all he could do was wait and hope that he'd be able to learn if he needed to take action. So much right now hinged on that hope. He didn't want to feel like he'd failed again.

_

Charlie made herself comfortable, or at least as comfortable she could be sitting in Petals' forest against the crystals that seemed to just grow everywhere. She had enjoyed the camping trip with her family after she got back from the camp, but now that she was back from that, it was the first time she'd be around her friends after having opened all of the gates. Before the camping trip, she'd allowed herself barely enough time to enter Petals' forest to return the Heart of the Forest.

She was also aware that not much had occurred in regards to the centaur that had appeared in downtown Denver, though there was discussion about whether it had been real or if it was a hoax. Most had sided with it being a hoax until someone stumbled through the gate there and everyone learned about the gate, not that it convinced most of the centaur being real. Although all that had occurred was that it was taped off and people were prevented from traveling through, at least until they knew what was going on. Or so they say, she had said to herself when she'd learned about it.

She didn't have to wait long before her friends started to arrive. Tim was first, accompanied by Wes. Then as they were settling themselves, Beth and Ralph showed up. And once they were completely settled, Amelia arrived followed a minute later by Hannah.

"Where's Petals?" Amelia asked as she sat down next to Ralph.

"I think she's tending to part of her forest," Charlie said, unsure how she knew this. It was almost like she could tell exactly where Petals was at any moment, as long as both were in the forest. Though, she couldn't tell if it would work when they're both not in the forest, since Petals seemed to be in her forest almost constantly since the Heart of the Forest had returned.

Beth nodded. "Well, lets start," she said, taking charge. "The Heart of the Forest has been returned, we can take a look at it anytime as Petals has told me that we're welcome into her forest any time we want." Beth paused a moment before continuing. "Anything else that should be mentioned?"

Charlie waited, but no one else looked like they were ready to say anything. "Um, did anyone else see the news about the centaur?"

Ralph scoffed. "Come on, that had to be a hoax."

"I'm not sure," Wes commented. "Couldn't there be other things like the entrance to this forest?"

"It's not like there's a 'centaur forest,' now is there?" Ralph replied.

"Actually, it might be just a gate," Charlie commented.

"What do you mean 'a gate?'" Amelia asked.

Charlie explained about opening the gate by Berthoud Pass and how she'd opted to open all of them rather than just that one. "So, I think it could be a gate to another world that I opened that would allow us to move to another world. If I hadn't seen Petals before, I'd have thought the centaur was a hoax as well, but since I have and I know about the gates, I'm pretty sure that the centaur was only the beginning of what we're going to see."

"So, as far as you know, there could be other things that could come out from other worlds that would be something bad, right?" Tim asked.

"I guess," Charlie replied. "When I told Heathcliff about what I did, he pretty much said the same thing."

"Did Heathcliff tell you what he was trying to do in regards to opening the gate?" Hannah asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, he explained how he made a living and how he wanted to go to other worlds because his current method of making a living was going to have to end soon and wanted to see if there was something that he could do or get to make a living on another world."

Ralph laughed. "Not really surprised. I mean, why not?"

"I think it's bad that he'd do something like that," Amelia said.

"Come on," Wes said. "Everyone's trying to get their own niche hustle out there. Why shouldn't Heathcliff be any different?"

"Well, he did have someone attack Petals' forest," Amelia replied.

"Actually, I got the impression that Heathcliff wasn't happy about his men doing that," Charlie interjected. "I got the sense that he wanted the Heart of the Forest just to open a gate and maybe be on friendly terms with Petals. I know I didn't trust them and that's why I opened all of the gates, which who knows how bad that will turn out."

"You have a point there, Charlie," Tim commented. "However, why didn't he return the Heart of the Forest after that?"

"I'm pretty sure that it's because he couldn't be sure he would get another chance to use the Heart of the Forest to open a gate and he wasn't sure how to use the Heart of the Forest to open the gate either. He just was aware that it was needed, but didn't know much more than that," Charlie answered.

"So, what happened when you opened the gate, Charlie?" Beth asked. "Did you look through it?"

Charlie looked at the ground. "Yeah," she replied. "Heathcliff's people wanted me to walk through it. They thought it would open up to an open field."

"What was it?" Amelia asked after Charlie was quiet for a minute.

"It opened up to a canyon of nesting griffins," Charlie replied, her voice getting quieter and quieter as she spoke.

"So, did you look around a bit in that world?" Beth asked.

Charlie shook her head. "I couldn't," she whispered. "I was too high up."

"Wait, why were you 'too high up'?" Ralph asked.

"The gate was in the air above the canyon, I barely caught a rock on this side of the gate before I fell," Charlie replied, puling her legs against her and started hugging them, not sure why she suddenly felt so tense.

"How high up were you?" Amelia asked, putting a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"I couldn't see the ground," Charlie answered, her voice getting softer, as she felt herself drift back to hanging for her life above the canyon. Part of her was starting to wonder how far the others were going to push this subject. She was starting to feel like she was back in that situation, hanging above her certain death and would be more than happy to move on to another topic. "At least not with any detail."

"Were you pulled up back through the gate by a couple of Heathcliff's people?" Beth asked, a confused expression on her face, her tone indicating her thoughts were on a different track than the others.

"Yeah," Charlie said, as she started rocking, her eyes still mostly seeing the canyon of griffins, from the perspective she had hanging above it, feeling the wind blow against her while she was hanging over a long drop, only part of her hearing what Beth said.

"I see," Beth said, looking into the distance, her expression indicating she was thinking about something and was already miles away.

"Beth, do you know something we don't?" Tim asked, his suspicious tone somehow bringing Charlie back to the present fully.

"I'm not sure," Beth hedged. "It seemed like a dream I had about the time Charlie would have gotten the Heart of the Forest back. In the dream, we were in front of my house, Charlie and me, sitting on a bench that isn't there in the real world and she told me all of this. That she'd gotten the Heart of the Forest back, that she nearly died walking through that gate, that she thought she was going to die, that she was pulled back through the gate by a couple of those who took her to the gate, that she thought that she was fine, and that your crystal fell out of your pocket while you were hanging from the gate." Beth ticked each item on her fingers as she stated them.

When Beth was done, Charlie couldn't respond for a minute. She was stunned. Too many details were the same as in the dream she had when she'd dreamt of talking with Beth. Not to mention that she'd never mentioned any of this to Beth outside of what she had at least thought was a dream.

"How does that mean anything?" Ralph asked. "Couldn't you be changing what was in the dream to suit what we're hearing from Charlie today?"

"I know what I heard," Beth retorted. "The dream already felt weird and towards the end of it, I talked to Charlie about her having been traumatized about nearly dying, and she started to cry about it. Then when I woke up, my pajamas were soaked on the same shoulder she cried on in my dream."

Charlie stood up in alarm. "Wait, I had the same dream," she said, her mind racing as to what might be happening as she started to pace around, needing to move around for some reason she couldn't explain. "You told me something about what your dad had said when he was alive about trauma and told me to talk to my parents about it."

Beth stood up in alarm as well. "What happened?" she asked, her voice more cautious and curious than worried. "Were we actually talking with each other then? In our dreams?"

"I'm not sure, but maybe." Charlie said, not sure if she should actually be saying what she was thinking out loud at this moment. She was also vaguely aware of the others standing up as well. "It did feel weird that I'd hear what you said from my own mind. I was trying to figure out what it might have meant I should do."

"Maybe you should try again tonight?" Ralph suggested. "What did you do to talk with each other in your dreams?"

"I'm not sure I did anything," Beth said. "Before I started talking with Charlie I know I was having a dream, though I can't remember what it was about. When I started talking with Charlie seemed to be the clearest."

Charlie thought a minute. "Well, I went into my mind and drew out some of my magic with my hands and thought about wanting to talk with Beth," Charlie said, mostly to herself as she tried to piece how she might have triggered what happened. "I thought I was dreaming when I did that, but maybe I didn't realize I was doing that because I was just so tired."

"What did you do at the camp to be so tired?" Hannah asked.

"Well, I finished painting the girl's cabin, then I spoke with Heathcliff's people and they took me to the gate by Berthoud Pass, I nearly died, I felt a little out of it when we returned to the camp, then I spoke to Heathcliff, and when I got to bed, it had been dark for a while," Charlie listed, her pacing starting to slow as she ticked off each item in the list.

Wes whistled in appreciation. "Yeah, I can see how you might get pretty tired from that kind of schedule," he commented, walking over to stand next to Charlie.

"Well, if you do that when you're going to sleep, we can see what happens," Ralph said. "Though, how about you try to get the rest of us as well, if you're successful with Beth, and each of us will do something that we don't tell the rest of us. Like maybe writing down a specific number or word or something and we'll share what that is if we are pulled into this dream conference."

"Not a bad idea," Tim commented. "Though, if Charlie does try to get more of us in her dream conference, she'll choose what order to try and get us together in it."

"Should we talk about anything specific?" Hannah asked. "I mean, if we do get this dream conference going, how if we talk about what we'll be doing next? Now that Petals' forest is safe."

"Actually, I was planning on finding another way to that griffin canyon so I can get that crystal back," Charlie said softly, unable to get her voice louder, partly wanting to discuss that subject and partly wanting to disregard Ralph's suggestion altogether, given how she thought it was a moronic idea.

"Can't you just replace your crystal?" Amelia asked. "I mean, it wasn't anything special, was it?"

Charlie looked around and tried to sense Petals. When she felt that Petals was heading towards them, though still a distance from them, she shook her head. "Sorry, I'll explain about it during the 'dream conference,' as Ralph put it," Charlie replied, sitting back down, also unsure just how far away Petals would need to be in order to hear what they were saying clearly. Beth did the same a moment later, followed by everyone else.

"Fair enough," Beth said. "Though, to tell you the truth, after the last 'dream conference,' I was a little freaked out about it. I thought about calling your dad to tell him that I had a bad feeling about you, but couldn't think about how to think of how to put it so it wouldn't sound so crazy."

"I completely understand," Wes commented. "I've thought about how I would try to explain anything about our magic and can't think of how to not sound crazy with even the simplest of it."

"Oh, speaking of magic," Amelia blurted. "I finally got a focus for myself."

"What is it?" Tim asked first, earning a scowl from Beth and Wes, and a glare from Hannah. Tim merely chuckled in response.

"This," Amelia said, indicating a small armband on her left arm. It looked like it was made of some sort of fabric that held tightly to her arm. It was yellow and red and each color formed a ring that were at about a ninety degree angle from the other, the colors mixing in the places they connected, creating an X on her arm when looked at from the side.

"Why that?" Ralph asked.

"I made it with my magic," Amelia replied happily.

"How?" Wes asked. "I thought it would be really draining using complex magic without a focus."

Amelia chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, it did knock me out almost every time I worked on it and is part of the reason it took so long to make," she admitted, "but I used my magic to create the thread in the fabric used to make it. Then once I had the thread, I used my magic to weave itself together. It's as flexible as I want it, it doesn't chafe, it keeps itself clean no matter what happens to it, and it doesn't make my arm sweat like other fabrics."

"Nice," Hannah said, looking closely at it.

"I think I have an idea for my focus," Ralph boasted.

"What is the idea?" Beth asked, her voice indicating the trepidation she has at Ralph's sudden statement, which Charlie fully shared.

"You'll see tomorrow," Ralph said, his expression full of mischief.

"Well, what else is there to discuss?" Tim asked.

Charlie sighed, while she'd like a quiet afternoon after getting back from her family's camping trip after she got back from that horrendous camp, she couldn't say she was all that surprised at that not happening. It just seemed almost like it was going to be like this from now on, which Charlie was surprised to realize she didn't mind it as much as she had thought she would.

_

Charlie settled in her bed, pleasure enveloping her more than she would have expected at being in her own bed again. After the camp, they'd left for camping that day, so Charlie hadn't been able to relax in her bed. Normally she didn't mind it so much, but she wasn't sure what was different that it mattered more this time. Only that there had been a change and being in her bed somehow felt exhilarating.

She had to fight off the urge to go straight to sleep in order to work through what she needed to do in order to try the dream conference. She'd much rather just sleep, but couldn't think of a reason she wouldn't be able to get more sleep later.

So, she took a deep breath and imagined taking her magic in her hands again and thought about talking with Beth first. She tried, but nothing happened. She stopped trying when she felt her hands starting to burn.

Shee wasn't sure what was being done differently, so after using the magic she'd already pulled to heal her hands, she had to pull a little more magic in order to do that even with her backup focus.

She tried again and had the same result. So, she got up and went into the bathroom. She ran her hands under cold water and tried thinking of what she was missing as her hands enjoyed the coolness of the water after the burns they'd had before she healed them. She stared at her reflection as she tried thinking what she was doing differently as opposed to when she got it to work when she wasn't trying.

Nothing came to her mind, so eventually she cupped her hands together, let a pool of water form then splashed her face with it. She repeated that a few more times, then dried her face and hands before she returned to her bed.

As she was entering her room, she heard her sister calling to her. "What were you doing?" Cherie asked from her doorway, her voice indicating that she had been asleep.

"Having trouble sleeping," she replied, not sure what else to say.

"Okay," Cherie replied, turning back into her room.

She didn't pay it much mind. Cherie sometimes was an enigma to her. This was one of those times she couldn't think of what Cherie's question had been about, but she knew she couldn't let it distract her from trying to connect with her friends through their dreams.

As she settled back into her bed again, she wondered if she needed to first figure out how to 'enter' her own mind rather than just imagining doing what she had done the last time in regards to drawing out her magic like she was drawing out water from a pool of it. The biggest problem with this, was she had no frame of reference to know how to go about doing it.

Eventually, she decided to try to imagine herself in her mind to see if that would have any effect. She couldn't see how it would hurt trying. As she did that, she couldn't help but giggle to herself. It hardly felt like she was in her mind now, than when she had just been lying in her bed. She certainly felt more than a little awkward doing it this way. If it was any different from her last attempts anyway. For some reason, she felt a wave of giddiness wash over her and she almost stopped from sheer embarrassment over that fact.

However, she was able to push past that aspect of herself. Though, she made a mental note to try and figure out why she felt that way in the first place.

As she continued, she again thought of herself dipping her hands in her magic that appeared to her as a liquid fire, then of Beth. Rather than her hands starting to burn this time, she again felt the sensation of moving without moving. She hoped that she'd been able to get it done correctly this time, though she still worried that she was going to mess it up somehow. This was still a new idea to her and she often didn't learn things as quickly as most others around her.

She soon found herself looking at Beth, but this time in the girl's locker room at school. Beth was also wearing a gym class tracksuit. Why they were there, she couldn't say, nor why Beth was in gym clothes. "Sorry about taking so long," she apologized, though as she thought about it, she wasn't sure how long she'd taken or how long Beth might have felt she'd been waiting.

"No problem, Charlie," Beth replied, walking over to her and hooking her left arm around Charlie's right arm.

"Why are you doing that?" she asked, unsure if she should be trying to extricate herself again, despite always failing at her attempts to do so.

"I have a feeling that if you move to bring in someone else, then you'll leave me behind if I'm not connected to you physically somehow," Beth replied. Then after a brief moment added as she laughed, "Or as physically as we can in a dream world."

Charlie sighed. She couldn't deny there was a bit of logic there. She just wished Beth would merely put her hand on Charlie's shoulder rather than this. Although, on the other hand, it could be worse.

"Were you just imagining me taking hold of your hand?" Beth asked, amusement clear in her voice.

"No," Charlie stated flatly, while seeing if she could get two people at once rather than just one at a time. Pushing out of her mind how Beth knew what had crossed her mind as quickly as she could. Amelia and Hannah was Charlie's focus at the moment.

"It certainly seemed like it," Beth started, but stopped for a brief moment when they started moving again. "Whoa, this is trippy." Beth started giggling, which Charlie felt the urge to join as well. Though, she was successfully able to fight the impulse.

When they stopped again, Charlie could see Amelia and Hannah before them. Amelia was wearing a bikini, laying on a beach towel with her eyes closed while Hannah was wearing a dress that made her look ready for a school dance. Their surroundings however, didn't match either outfit. They were in front of the entrance to Petals' forest.

"This is weird," Beth commented.

Amelia opened her eyes and Hannah turned towards them. "It certainly is," Hannah replied, "But it seems you were able to get here faster than I expected. I thought it'd take a while."

"Ummm, I can't say how long it took me," Charlie admitted, looking away from everyone as she felt her face heat up. "I wasn't paying attention, but it did take a few attempts."

"Don't worry about it, but why are you two like that?" Amelia asked, getting up from her towel.

"We can't be sure if all of us won't stay together when Charlie goes to the rest of us, so I thought physically touching her might help prevent that," Beth answered.

"That makes sense," Hannah said, coming over and putting her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Yeah, wish I thought of that," Amelia agreed, walking over and taking Charlie's hand in hers. Charlie couldn't help but feel her face heat up, though for some reason it Amelia holding her hand wasn't as bad as the thought of Beth holding it.

"How is it that it feels like I can hear your thoughts?" Hannah asked Charlie.

"Couldn't say," Charlie muttered, wondering why Amelia just had to take Charlie's hand in hers.

"Well, let's go then!" Amelia cried.

Charlie merely sighed. She couldn't think of what else to do to get out of this situation, and since she was able to get both Hanna and Amelia at the same time, she decided to try and get the rest of their group in one shot. If nothing else, it would allow her to physically separate herself from the others; or as physically as possible given it wasn't their real bodies.

"Wow," Amelia said as they started moving again. "It's like we're not going anywhere, yet you can still feel a breeze going by."

"This is weird," Hannah merely said.

"Maybe we'll get used to it," Beth suggested.

Charlie could only sigh. Maybe she should have tried getting all of them at the same time in the first place. Hindsight certainly would be nice to have before she looked back on it wistfully.

It took a long time yet only seconds at the same time, again. They were in the parking lot in front of the school now, Ralph was wearing his pajamas while holding a bicycle seat. Tim was wearing a giraffe costume, his face around 5 feet higher than it should given where his body was. Wes was wearing a uniform that looked like the military uniform from an anime poster he'd shown her a couple weeks before school ended called 'Attack on Titan.'

"Why're we in front of the school?" Ralph asked, tapping the bicycle seat against his shoulder absently.

"Why do you have a bicycle seat?" Hannah returned.

"Why do you look ready for Homecoming?" Ralph retorted.

"Why do you-" Hannah started.

"Guys!" Tim called out. "We're not going to get anywhere if we nitpick every detail." He paused for a moment to see if either were going to continue. When they didn't, he moved on. "Let's just assume that each of our outfits or what we're holding had something to do with any dream we were having before we got pulled into this dream conference."

"Well, if that's the case, then let's start with the first subject that came up after we decided on this dream conference," Wes said. "Which is: what is the deal with your crystal, Charlie? Why do you need to go get it when it probably shattered to pieces on impact?"

Charlie took a deep breath. She had a feeling it hadn't shattered, but she couldn't say for sure and she certainly hoped it hadn't. "First, I found that crystal on our first visit to Petals' forest and that crystal is what unsealed my magic, which allowed me to unseal all of yours," Charlie said. "The crystal has Petals' memories and some of her consciousness in it. The crystal told me that I wasn't to let Petals know about it, and after I got the Heart of the Forest back, I was to give Petals her memories back. That also has to be done in her forest."

"Why didn't you tell any of us about it before now?" Hannah asked, then her eyes widen as she realized something, which Charlie somehow felt she knew what it was going to be before Hannah said it. "Why did you use it as your focus in the first place?"

Charlie couldn't help but chuckle in embarrassment about that point. "It seemed like a good idea," she replied sheepishly.

"Back on topic," Beth said. "Give them the reason you didn't tell any of them about it."

"Wait, what do you mean 'tell any of them?" Tim asked. "Were you aware of this info about the crystal?"

"I may have become aware of it, but that's not the point," Beth replied. "Let's focus on one question at a time. Or we'll never get anywhere."

"She has a point," Amelia chimed in.

Charlie took a deep breath and decided to say something so they could move on. "The reason I didn't tell you guys was because the crystal told me not to, it only gave an exception for Beth so I'd have someone to vouch for me about unsealing your magic. Also, it needs Petals to remain oblivious to it. So, if I told any of you, then Petals might have learned about it, but since I lost it, I need you guys to understand how important it is to get it back," Charlie said, wondering if she'd pretty much have to search for it on her own. "I'm not sure if the crystal will be happy that I told you guys about it even now with how I think it's necessary."

"Did it say why it can't have Petals know about it?" Wes asked.

"Maybe, but I don't really remember," Charlie admitted. "If it did, I doubt I understood the reasons."

"Oh, Charlie, if you lost your focus," Hannah interjected, "what do you have for a focus now?"

"Ummm," Charlie wished she could be done with this altogether. "My butterfly pendent." Charlie wasn't sure what else she could say about it.

"Oh, that pendent that Al-" Amelia started before Hannah slapped a hand over her mouth.

Charlie's interest was piqued despite herself. "What were you going to say?" she asked, but noticed the looks the others were giving Amelia and doubted she'd get an actual answer about it.

"Nothing," Amelia said, clearly not willing to say what she had been going to say anymore.

Charlie looked at Amelia levelly, but eventually shook her head. Unless she was going to try and peek into Amelia's thoughts, there wasn't going to be any use in pushing the point.

"Anyway, back to the next point," Ralph said, turning to Beth. "You knew about this before and didn't say anything?"

"Yeah, Charlie got permission from the crystal to let me know about it, but all of you should know that I can keep a secret and I don't reveal sources either, but since Charlie is going along with it, there's no reason for me to keep it either," Beth answered.

"Why you?" Wes asked, his tone indicating he was merely curious rather than an accusation.

"Probably because I was the closest to a friend Charlie had at the time," Beth replied.

Charlie was glad Beth replied. She wasn't sure what she would have said if everyone looked to her for a response on that point. Though, she still felt she should say something anyway, but really didn't want to. So, she forced herself to remain quiet and hope they moved on to another topic.

Fortunately for Charlie, Ralph was of the same mindset. "Well, anyway, in response to Hannah's question about what I'm doing with a bicycle seat earlier, I decided to use one as my focus. Not that I've used that bike for a while," Ralph said, though his last sentence seemed to be more to himself than anyone else.

Everyone stared at Ralph for what seemed like an hour to Charlie, but likely was a minute at most.

"Why?" Wes asked, voicing the question everyone but Ralph was wondering.

"Because I can," Ralph replied conversationally. "There wasn't anything that said what it could or couldn't be, so why not?"

"Because maybe it's stupid?" Hannah asked.

"Who says stupid ideas can't be genius ideas?" Ralph returned cheerfully.

"I'm not sure how to touch that," Hannah commented.

"Let's move on then," Beth replied. "Aside from us being able to meet like this, has anyone else figured out a new use for magic?"

"I'm still working on trying to figure out if I can use it to heal something," Amelia replied. "Even with my anatomy textbooks, it's slow going."

"I've been able to turn myself into a CD player," Wes commented smugly.

"Oooh, you'll have to do that for us tomorrow," Hannah said.

"Have you been able to use your magic to power your keyboard?" Tim asked Hannah.

Hannah stared at Tim for a minute. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys, I figured that out a week or two ago," Hannah said. "Sorry."

"Any other ideas of what we might be able to try with our magic?" Beth asked.

"While I was at Heathcliff's camp, I learned a few magic tricks from another girl in the camp," Charlie said. As everyone turned to look at her, she was immediately alarmed. Should she not have said that?

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Wes asked, his eyes eager.

"Yeah, you should have said something to us before, when we were in Petals' forest," Amelia added.

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled. Why did she have to mention this now? She wondered to herself.

Beth put her arm around Charlie's shoulders in side-hug. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Just tell us what you learned, and then more importantly," Beth started off in a conversational tone, but suddenly started yelling in Charlie's ear as she shook Charlie, "you met someone else who could use their magic!?"

"Yeah, I got the feeling that all the counselors at the camp were able to use their magic and that I was brought there because they knew of my connection with the Heart of the Forest and thought to use unsealing my magic as a way to get me to join them," Charlie said, inwardly withdrawing into herself.

"Oh, speaking of which," Tim commented, his expression giving Charlie hope that she might be able to get out from being the center of everyone's attention like this. "How exactly was the camp an 'unmitigated disaster?' I mean, how bad could it have been?"

Charlie sighed. While it wasn't as good as she had hoped, at least it wasn't something about her herself.

"Well, the campers were to work as a team. There were two boys teams and two girls teams. They were to design a catapult, build it, and use it to attack the other teams' territory. The only team that got past the design phase was someone who left his team behind and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the counselors drew up the plans for the catapult. I'm not really sure what Heathcliff had expected kids to accomplish in just one week," Charlie replied, hoping this would end their focus on her.

"Yeah, I can im-" Tim started to say but suddenly disappeared.

"What hap-" Ralph started when he disappeared at about the same time as Wes.

"Maybe they woke up?" Beth offered as an explanation of what happened to them.

"Could be the case," Hannah commented. "But-"

Then Hannah disappeared.

"I guess the conference is over," Charlie said, offhandedly.

"Yeah, we certainly don't have everyone here now," Amelia said. A moment later Beth disappeared. "Looks like it's just us now."

Charlie nodded. Amelia was the next person she was most comfortable with in her new group of friends after Beth. Especially since she rarely felt any demands from Amelia.

"By the way," Charlie said. "I assume you're wearing a bikini because of what you were dreaming about before we started this conference."

"Yeah," Amelia replied cheerfully. "It's the only way I can wear one right now, as my mom really doesn't approve, but I like them."

"I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be in one," Charlie said, not sure why she felt so relaxed suddenly. "I don't like feeling like others are watching me."

"That's part of the fun," Amelia protested. "Knowing that all eyes are on you because they can't get enough of looking at you. I bet you'd look really hot in one."

"I'd still like to pass, all the same," Charlie replied.

Amelia ran over to Charlie and pulled her into a hug before Charlie could react. "Don't be like that," Amelia said. "You never know-"

Suddenly Amelia was gone. Charlie sighed. It probably was time then for her to let her magic go. She wasn't sure what else she could accomplish by herself in this place, wherever anyone could describe it to be. Not just in front of the school, that is.

She tried picturing herself opening her eyes, but when she did, nothing happened. She wasn't sure what to do about it. So, she tried thinking of what else she might do to try and end this dream conference for herself. She tried letting go of her magic and found she hadn't been pulling on it for a little bit without realizing it. Whether she'd stopped pulling on it when they all got there or if it only occurred after everyone else woke up, she couldn't be sure.

Charlie took a deep breath and wondered what else she could try when she suddenly felt herself and the world around her shaking all over.

Charlie felt her eyes snap open to find her sister Cherie shaking her. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" she cried out, not sure why Cherie was doing this.

Cherie let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't know if you were going to wake up. You've never slept this late before," Cherie said. Then as Charlie's eyes focused, she could see the worry evident on her sister's face.

"What? Why? What time is it?" Charlie asked, looking over at her clock.

Her eyes widened when she saw that it was almost noon. Charlie had always been an early riser and for her, 'sleeping in' had typically meant sleeping until nine at the latest.

"Was mom or dad worried?" Charlie asked.

"No, they left already. It's your friends who came to see if you were up," Cherie replied.

"Well, thanks, Cherie," Charlie said.

"No problem," Cherie replied as she started to leave Charlie's room. "But if you're having trouble sleeping, set your alarm, okay? I mean, when you woke me up earlier, it was about one in the morning."

Charlie stared after her sister in surprise. The attempts to initiate the dream conference hadn't felt like they'd taken that long. Maybe an hour for both attempts, but not like it was halfway through the night. If anything, she would have estimated that when she'd taken a break from her attempts it was closer to ten.

She shook her head as she got out of bed and closed the door to her room so she could start to get dressed for the day. Although, setting her alarm when they had a dream conference might actually be a good idea, since she hadn't been able to get out of it on her own, which she couldn't figure out since she hadn't had that trouble the first time she'd accidentally initiated one.

_

"Are you sure we should ask Petals about this first?" Wes asked. "Can't we just try this before talking with her about it?"

"Of course we should ask her," Beth said. "This forest is her home after all, why shouldn't we ask her if she'd be alright with us traveling through her home to try and get to other worlds?"

"Yeah, it's called being polite," Amelia added.

"Wes, look at it this way," Ralph suggested. "If we want to use Petals' forest to travel to other worlds, why shouldn't we ask her? We don't know what might occur because of it and she should have at least a say in it in the event we bring danger to her forest, even though we just saved it."

Charlie kept quiet. When she'd gotten dressed, she'd merely put on a simple casual dress. Mostly because it took less time and she didn't expect the day to be that eventful. Although, while she had her regular shoes on, the dress didn't feel to be proper attire for traveling through Petals' forest, even if they were still mostly travelling along the still healing scar. Though, Hannah was wearing a skirt as well, although she didn't seem to be having the trouble that Charlie did. Nor had it been a problem for some reason when she had been wearing a skirt when she'd traveled through the forest in the past.

The other trouble that she'd had with the dress was when she saw Beth taking more pictures of her, which Charlie assumed was to send to the secret admirer that had been mentioned a couple months ago, but hadn't been since. For some reason, she found herself worrying more and more about that over time. Sometimes even checking her reflection in the mirror before she went with her family on a simple errand, before she could catch herself. She was starting to wonder if she was the same person she had been still.

"Why not give us some travel music, since you said that you figured out how to make yourself a human CD player," Tim suggested to Wes.

"I already told you guys," Wes protested. "I'll show you once I can show Petals too. Besides, I've only gotten it to work when I'm standing still. I haven't gotten being a human CD player and walking down yet."

"You could still work at it," Ralph commented offhandedly.

"If it's so easy, why don't you do it yourself?" Wes challenged.

"If its easy for you, why don't you show us? We can take a short break so you can demonstrate," Tim said.

"Why don't you try and figuring it out for yourself," Wes returned, his voice starting to get heated. "I'm sure we'll get to where Petals is soon, right Charlie?"

Charlie sent her thoughts out towards Petals and could tell she was working on something by where the center of her forest was, the sequoia standing over her. "Petals is towards the center of her forest. So, it shouldn't be too much longer," she said, wondering if the day would be as tedious as this short walk had been so far.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her face. Part of her brain was struggling to figure out what happened. It took her a moment to realize that she'd fallen and that the ground hadn't tilted up to meet her. She didn't feel anything else hurt, so she let herself lay there and even closed her eyes. At that moment she was content to not move. She couldn't say why everything about her felt off, but rest certainly sounded good.

However, it didn't last that long. While the others hadn't noticed Charlie on the ground right away, given she was towards the back of the group, it was quickly noticed.

"Are you alright?" Beth asked as she knelt next to Charlie and turned her on her side. "What happened?"

"Fine," Charlie replied. "I'm not sure what happened. It felt like the ground tilted up so I walked into it." Charlie knew things didn't work that way, but that's how it had seemed to her.

"Let me see if I can find anything with my magic," Amelia said, her voice making Charlie wonder just how much Amelia had been looking forward to one of them getting hurt so she could test her magic on them to work at being able to heal with her magic, regardless of what kind of injury.

As Amelia knelt on her other side. She closed her eyes as she felt Amelia's magic envelop her. It felt like being wrapped in a blanket, but one that she could breath through.

She started to laugh as the pain in her face faded into a tingling sensation that typically occurs when she'd bump part of her body into something, but this time it was like it was healing all at once and all that tingling was put all into one short moment. As a result, she couldn't help but laugh at the experience.

"Is she going to be alright?" Ralph asked. "Or did you just break her?"

Amelia ignored Ralph. "What happened to you?" Amelia asked her as her laughter died out after a minute. "It's like you're fully rested but like you don't have any energy, and even your magic feels tired."

"Couldn't say," she replied. "This is the first time it happened." A part of her was starting to worry that this might be more serious than she was first thinking, but at the moment it didn't seem all that important to her. Which she couldn't think of why that might be.

"Maybe she used more magic than we realized in the dream conference?" Tim asked.

"Could be," Hannah said. "Maybe we should wait for a week or two so we can be sure that Charlie will be rested well enough and that she'll be able to try again."

"Well, what should we do about her now?" Wes asked. "Do you think she'll be able to walk the rest of the way or should we take her back to her home?"

"I can help her walk if she'd be up for it," Beth offered.

"That sounds fine," Charlie replied. "I'm not sure I'd be able to explain to my parents what happened if I returned this quickly. At least when they get back home from work." She would rather walk on her own, but given how she didn't feel tired and just fell like she was, she wasn't confident that it wouldn't happen again. It might also explain why being in a dress was so troublesome in the forest for her today. Part of her started to wonder if wearing jeans or shorts would be just as problematic with her in the condition she was in.

So, she leaned on Beth as they continued through the forest. "Thanks," she whispered to Beth.

"No problem," Beth replied.

She was surprised at how much of her weight she was putting on Beth just to keep herself from falling again. Beth seemed a little surprised as well, but didn't say anything.

Charlie partly wondered if she'd nod off while being supported by Beth as they moved along. She didn't have to wonder for long as it hardly felt like it'd taken any more time before they were entering the clearing at by the sequoia, which as far as Charlie could tell, was at the exact center of the forest. She could see Petals walking over to them as they spread out to be in a rough circle again.

–What's wrong with Charlie?– Petals asked them as she took a place in the circle.

–Hold on.– Ralph said. –Where'd that horn come from?–

Petals gave Ralph a look that Charlie could only call annoyed. –I've always had it. Even Charlie saw it when she first saw me.– Petals replied heatedly.

–Well, this is the first time we've seen it.– Amelia said gently, stepping to Petals' side to rest her hand on Petals' shoulder.

–Charlie was able to see it, though there was the sense that she wasn't able to see it clearly.– Petals replied.

Charlie inwardly winced as everyone turned to look at her. Again. "Another thing you didn't both telling us about?" Hannah asked.

–I didn't think it was my secret to share.– Charlie answered using her magic, hoping this method would keep her from giving anything she didn't want to give away.

However, as soon as she said that with her magic, she didn't know what the response from any of them was. All she knew was that they were suddenly on a different topic and her head was resting against Beth's chest.

"-sure what's going on," Charlie heard Tim say.

Charlie lifted her head and looked around. She was kneeling on the ground, her weight completely leaning against Beth, so Charlie assumed she'd fallen unconscious or something, not that she could figure out why.

"Hey, she's awake," Beth called out.

She couldn't make any details out, but she had a vague idea of which blur was which of her friends.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked Charlie as she opened Charlie's eyes to look into them.

"As good as I was before," Charlie replied. "Only now everything's a blur."

"Maybe we should try this another day," Amelia suggested. "I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. I can't find anything that might explain what the problem is."

–I think Charlie might like to take a drink of my stream.– Petals offered. –Whenever I feel worn out, I drink from it and feel better right away. –

–I'm not sure that'll be enough.– Amelia replied. –I can't find what the problem is, so I can't say what we might really need.–

"You know," Beth said, "what if it's Charlie's magic that's the problem?"

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.

"It's just that we know she was using her magic for our dream conference and before she passed out this last time, she used her magic to talk to all of us. Maybe Petals' stream will help Charlie's magic. After all, Petals is a magical creature, so this entire forest might help any kind of magic," Beth answered.

"That might not be a bad idea," Wes said. "though, it might be good for all of us to drink from Petals' stream every so often."

–You can't.– Petals stated flatly.

–Why?– Hannah asked.

–I can't say.– Petals replied. –It just feels like it would be a bad idea.–

"Maybe Petals understands how her forest works without how she knows," Tim suggested. "That could explain why she isn't okay with us drinking from it and not knowing why."

"Makes sense," Ralph commented.

–So, where's the stream?– Beth asked Petals as she started to stand up, fully lifting Charlie, struggling enough for Hannah to help Beth.

Charlie was surprised to realize that she didn't have any strength to support any part of her body in any meaningful way. While she could move, she found she couldn't even make a fist that could even grip a piece of paper. She actually felt like a rag doll, at the mercy of whoever was carrying her around. She couldn't help but start to feel worried about what was happening to her. She hoped whatever it was would be able to pass by quickly. She definitely did not like this feeling.

Petals led the way off to the side, into the brush a little. Just past a few berry bushes, Charlie couldn't see what kind with how quickly Beth and Hannah passed them, the stream flowed gently by. Hannah cupped her hand as they knelt Charlie by the stream and brought the water to her lips.

Charlie drank what she could, which was barely a mouthful. As she felt the water go down her throat, it felt like her nerves were suddenly on fire. Almost like they had been asleep and decided to wake up all at once right then. Charlie couldn't help but start to cough. It almost felt like she was coughing up a lung. Charlie wasn't sure how long she was coughing, only that she could feel something ready to come up.

When it finally came, it was like phlegm from her lungs that was the size of her fist. It was rather gross and Charlie had to look away from it.

"What was that?" she asked, suddenly realizing her limbs had the strength they had earlier as her vision focused.

–I'm not sure, only that it was blocking your magic.– Petals answered. –If I was to guess, I think it was like you used up more magic than you could handle and your magic was drying out inside you.–

–How would that work?– Ralph asked.

–I don't know.– Petals replied simply. –Maybe you should talk to someone who knows more about your kind of magic.–

"I could ask Heathcliff about it, but I don't really feel like calling him this soon after I was at his camp without something big to mention as well," Charlie commented, carefully standing up, suspecting that she should avoid using her magic if she could right now.

–By the way, would you mind if we saw what other worlds your forest led out to?– Amelia asked Petals. –We thought it might be good to see if there might be anything that could be a threat to you in the other worlds.–

Petals considered what Amelia suggested for a minute. –Do you really think that other worlds are connected to my forest?– Petals asked.

Apparently Petals hadn't thought about there being other worlds other than her forest and the one she'd visited after she was attacked in her forest.

"When I spoke to the Heart of the Forest, I believe it said something to that effect, I think. If I remember correctly, it was that your forest connects to, I think five different worlds, including ours," Charlie told Petals. Trying to remember exactly where she'd learned about that from. "Though, if it wasn't from the Heart of the Forest, then it might have been from Heathcliff's people. I'm not really sure exactly where I learned about that from."

Petals sighed. –I wish yours was the only world I connected to. I don't like the idea of what might come from other worlds.– she lamented.

–I understand.– Beth told Petals. –The unknown can be scary, but it doesn't matter what you would like, only what is. The other worlds might be peaceful and not have anything that could be a threat to you, especially since how long you've probably been in here with this being the only incident you experienced. Let us at least take a look to see what dangers might be in the other worlds so we can help you stay safe.–

Petals mulled this over in her mind. Finally after a few minutes she sighed. –I understand and of course all of you are always welcome here, so if you need to pass through at any point feel free whenever you want.–

Everyone took turns hugging Petals, although it looked to Charlie that Ralph only did that because he thought it was expected of him. –We'll let you know what we find and if there's anything that might interest you.– Tim assured Petals.

–Let me know if you want anyone else to be able to pass through. While I know all of you are friends, I don't want any enemies to enter like that intruder.– Petals said.

–We'll do our best with that.– Hannah replied. –We want you to stay safe too.–

"So, let's get this party started!" Wes cried out, taking a CD out of his pocket, which Charlie had no idea how he fit it in the pocket.

Wes held the CD in his palm, then Charlie could tell that he was using his magic as the CD floated in the air above his palm and began to spin, a red light glowing from the space between the CD and Wes' palm. Then Wes held out his other hand and the music began to play.

Charlie recognized the song from the radio. It was 'A New Divide' by Linkin Park and a song she liked. Charlie was impressed at Wes' ability to do this with his magic.

–What's the point of this?– Petals asked, her confusion echoing through her words.

–He wanted to show us what he'd figured out to do with his magic and wanted you to be with us when he did.– Beth explained.

At the end of the song, Wes put the CD away, then stopped so suddenly, Charlie started to look around to see if there was something that had changed in a negative way somewhere in their surroundings.

"Hey guys, what if we camped out tonight?" He suggested. "We could go to another world, spend the night and then return in the morning. I'm sure we could get our parents to okay that. At least as long as we don't let them know it's on another world."

Charlie was hesitant. Not because she thought her parents wouldn't agree, but more because she hadn't camped with her new friends. She felt more than a little trepidation about the idea, but didn't want to say anything, given she didn't have a reason why they shouldn't.

"Great idea!" Amelia cried. "Hannah could bring her keyboard and play a few songs for us and we could experiment a little more with our magic."

"Um," Charlie started. This was a topic she felt she should say something. "I'm not sure it would be a good idea for me to use magic for the next little bit."

"You could still enjoy the music," Hannah said. "After all, you haven't heard me play yet." Charlie wasn't that surprised that they still insisted that she come anyway, although it did make her feel more than a little self-conscious about it.

"I bet Wes could even figure out how to play a movie for us," Ralph commented. "I mean, all you'd need to figure out it how to work the video on your hand."

"Maybe," Wes laughed. "Wouldn't be a bad thing to work on."

"Let's first take a look at the conditions in the world Charlie chooses so we know exactly what gear we need for the night," Tim suggested.

Charlie was startled. "Why would I be the one to choose?" she asked. Was there another conversation she'd missed when she'd passed out?

"Well, if you're not going to practice magic, you should at least get to be involved in some way," Tim explained, not that it really explained it to her. There were still many questions she'd like to ask, but didn't think she should. Partly because she wasn't really sure of her place in the group, so wasn't sure how much she should ask or push on any topic, and partly because she realized she really didn't want to be left out of this activity, which actually surprised her a little. Although, she still couldn't help but worry that she really should refuse anyway.

She wasn't sure she really understood why Tim's reason was acceptable to her group of friends, but it was clear that they did find it was an acceptable reason. In the end, however, she couldn't think of a reason to argue against it, so let the issue go.

"Come on!" Amelia called out, already moving towards their world. "Let's go! The sooner we get going, the sooner we can get started camping!"

"Shouldn't we first see what the conditions in the world we'll be camping in will be?" Beth asked.

Amelia stopped short. "Yeah, might be a good idea," she said, returning to the group.

"So, Charlie," Ralph said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Which world will we camp in?"

_

Charlie's head was still spinning. She hadn't expected the camping trip to be approved by all of their parents so quickly. Not only that, but everyone had gotten what they'd need for a single overnight camping trip within an hour. Even though she wasn't opposed to the idea in the first place, things were moving faster than she'd have liked.

The world she'd picked was to the left of just across Petals' forest from where their world's entrance was. The world, or at least this part of it was full of hills and the air had the feel of mid-autumn, though the temperature was rather mild. The entrance to Petals' forest was at the bottom of a valley with a small stream cheerfully flowing through. The weather was clear and the few trees in sight were starting to turn their leaves other colors.

They were also able to find a good amount of dried driftwood that they were able to collect nearby along the banks that looked like they regularly flooded in the spring.

Everyone else wasted no time in beginning to experiment with their magic and mostly working on their own, while Charlie worked at getting a fire going so they could make something to eat when it started to get dark. Especially since she could use matches rather than her magic to get the fire going.

While Charlie still wasn't sure of her place among her friends, she did feel fine with having these tasks left to her, given it gave her time to review what had happened in her mind. She was starting to suspect that the reason she couldn't wake up at the end of the dream conference was because she'd depleted her magic so much. Whether it was because she tried twice earlier or because having everyone together was the problem, or a combination of the two, she wasn't sure how viable of a communication method it would be, or if it should only be used as an emergency method to communicate. Maybe a few more experiments with it could give them the answers they were looking for.

She sighed as she started getting the hot dogs to cook on the fire so they'd be ready whenever everyone was done themselves. She carefully set the camping grill over the fire and started setting the hot dogs on it. She could only fit four hot dogs at a time, but she wasn't too worried. Right now she was testing to see how long it might take to cook them. Besides, they had enough for everyone to have four hot dogs if they wanted.

"Ummm, Charlie?" she heard Wes call out to her. He was the closest to her of everyone at the moment.

"Yeah?" she asked, her eyes focused on her task.

"You might want to see this," Wes said, Charlie now catching the trepidation in his voice.

She looked up to see several unicorns looking at them from across the stream. Their gaze didn't appear hostile, but it was clear they had been able to approach without anyone having noticed them before now. They looked almost like carbon copies of Petals, but it was clear they weren't. They looked curious, but she wasn't sure if this was a bad position to be in or not. These didn't feel like Petals. They seemed more mature and aware of their abilities.

She felt a sliver of fear start to climb her back. Would this end well for them? She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.