Quest for the Omnistone

Chapter 36: Crystal's Not a Happy Camper

Max:

We landed in the snow in a secluded section of pine trees. I saw light up ahead and guessed the guys made camp there. I pointed it out to Crystal.

"Well, let's go liven things up a bit." She said as we began walking. "Hey, look! Sandy's doing his thing. It always makes me feel at peace somehow." Her steps got slower as she marveled at the gold streams of sand rushing through the air.

I began walking faster, thinking of putting up a prank in her way, when I saw something up ahead that made me stop in my tracks. "Uh, is that supposed to happen?"

There, a few feet away from me, was Jack and Elsa. They seemed to be having a good chat, but Jack was getting close, too close, to the queen of Arendelle.

"What do you mean? Of course it's supposed to—" Crystal caught up with me and froze in her tracks. "Holy guacamole!"

The two 'winter lovebirds' noticed us and immediately jumped apart in surprise. "Crystal! Max! You're back!" Jack exclaimed. "We were just gathering some wood for the campfire."

Crystal managed to give a tight smile. "Okay, well, Max how about you help them out? I'm going to go check on Steven." And by 'check on' she meant, 'beat the stuffing out of him for leaving these two alone'.

"Roger that." I began picking up sticks in silence as Crystal walked on ahead.

"Is Crystal alright? She doesn't look so well." Elsa said once my cousin was out of earshot.

I shared a look with Jack before answering her. "She's just having a few problems with... work. All these Pitch attacks aren't helping at all."

"Work? Crystal needs to lighten up. Have a little fun." Jack said with a smirk, twirling snowflakes between his fingers. "By the way I heard Danny mention something happening tomorrow at sundown. Is that why we're here?"

"What's going to happen tomorrow at sundown?" Elsa added.

"The... the, uh, fireworks display. For.... the—"

"Celebration of Pitch's downfall two years ago." Danny finished, coming up beside me, a pile of sticks in his arms. "Just a little time to have fun before... you know."

"It's tomorrow? How time flies, huh?" Jack said.

"Mhm. Elsa? What are you doing here?" Danny asked, confused.

"I went for a walk with Sandy. He went off to do his job when we met up with Jack." Elsa explained.

"Ah, I see. Well, let's get back to the campfire. I passed by a cranky Crystal on the way here. I'm sure you want Steven in one piece tomorrow."

Steven:

When we got to the area near Oaken's Trading Post, Bunny, Tooth and North bid us farewell for they had to go oversee things in their respective HQs. They promised to come by in the morning, leaving us alone with Jack and Sandy.

Right now, I was tending to the fire, waiting for Danny and Jack to return with more firewood. Anna and the Elemental trio had just gone to bed, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

There were several new dimensions this month, all very interesting. Disney Descendants, Into the Woods... hm, which should we explore first?

-Beep-

My com-link lit up with a new message in my inbox.

'I received the package. Thanks so much, Steven. I love it! –P'

A small smile made its way onto my face, but it was immediately replaced with a frown. I hated keeping important stuff from Crystal, but how was I going to tell her? When was I going to tell her?

"Steven?"

I looked up to see Crystal making her way towards me. "Hey, Crystal. How'd it... what's with the face?" 'POOMF!' She threw a snowball at me. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Why are Jack and Elsa in the forest? Alone, I might add." Crystal said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"What? Jack's gathering firewood with Danny over in that section. Elsa went to take a walk with Sandy over in that direction." I said, pointing out two opposite paths my companions had taken.

"Really? Then either Sandy's gotten taller or Danny's decided to wear a dress tonight."

I snorted. "Danny in a dress. His gir—" I stopped myself from finishing that thought. Crystal didn't need to know yet.

"His what?"

"Nothing." I said, putting up a mental block in case she tried to read my mind. "Look, Danny's probably somewhere nearby. And Jack's a Guardian! I wouldn't worry about it."

Crystal groaned and plopped down on a log. "What are we doing out here, anyway?"

"You said to make sure the Guardians were on their side of the boundary, right?"

"Yes.... Quick thinking. This'll make things easier for tomorrow."

I went and sat beside her. "Crystal, I know the merge could affect Earth, but the deadline seems a little too soon. From what I know, a month here is around three days on Earth, giving us loads of time to do this."

Crystal sighed and gave me a look. "Your professor in power nucleology was a newbie, wasn't he?"

"Uh...."

"I'll take that as a yes. And this whole time, I thought you knew. Look, each realm has a power core right? It's what keeps the worlds spinning and stuff. Now, pretend this cellphone is a planet." She held up her hand, making a hologram pop up. "The battery, naturally, is the power core with a hundred percent capacity. Now, I'm going to take another phone and put its battery in the first one." Another phone pooped up and its battery floated over to join the other one. As soon as they were together, the phone went 'FSSS!'

Crystal dropped her hands and dispelled the hologram. "That is just like the merge. The realm's capacity is one hundred percent. But two cores put together unwillingly is equal to two hundred percent. What do you think will happen next?"

"Things heat up. Global warming?"

She gave me an exasperated look and rolled her eyes. "Close enough."

"But wait, if the core gets two hundred percent power, won't the realms also have a two hundred percent capacity? You know, two realms and two cores."

"The realms merged, Steven. It's currently one dimension now. But the cores are resisting one another, since this is technically... illegal, you could say."

Silence followed as I digested that piece of information. I then recalled something Danny told me before heading off to get firewood with Jack. Back in Neverland, Crystal had called Orange Hood, 'J'. She said she got it from orange juice, but I understood Danny's unease about it. We knew someone else who...

"Crystal?" I suddenly felt a small weight on my shoulder. I glanced down to find Crystal fast asleep, a peaceful expression on her face. I chuckled quietly and carefully carried her to the tent we put up for her. "Sweet dreams, Crystal."

I silently exited the tent, closing the flap behind me, and found Max, Danny, Jack and Elsa waiting by the fire. "Hey." I greeted, sitting down beside Max.

Danny tried to make sense of the expression on my face. "Did you ask her?"

I shook my head. "She fell asleep before I could."

"Ask her about what?" Jack asked, balancing himself on top of his staff.

"The... grand finale for tomorrow." Danny replied.

I raised an eyebrow. Grand finale?

Max cleared his throat. "How about a round of marshmallows before bed?"