A glowing purple orb engulfed everyone. They vanished from the chamber and reappeared floating, high over the dining hall. Still frozen and unable to move, they stared at each other.

The dining hall didn’t look like it normally did. For some reason, it had a faint, gray tint to it. As though there was a tinted window obscuring the view.

Parker shook his head. “What? Where are we? Why are we floating over the dining hall?” No one moved though, they stayed frozen, staring in front of them.

“Parker Gray, well done, finding Gia Lancastre’s chambers. I can’t thank her enough for creating the space for me.”

“Why are my friends frozen? Where are the kids you kidnapped?” Parker interrupted Lara before she could finish her sentence.

“Do not worry Parker, the other students will be released in due time. As for your friends, they will be frozen for a moment longer. You and I need to have a few words.”

Parker looked surprised at that comment. “What in the world could we have to discuss? The only reason I’m here is to save those students you kidnapped.”

“No, Parker, it is not the only reason. You are here because I have made it so. You and your little friend Caleb are vital parts of my plan.” She tried to continue but Parker cut her off again.

“What are you doing? And how can we be a part of it?” Parker was starting to get mad. Between being told that he was somehow going to be a part of whatever she had planned and the fact that all of his friends were still frozen.

“In due time Parker, in due time. For now, I must tell you, again, that there is much more to you than what you currently are. There are certain things you must realize before you can fully grasp your true potential.” As she said this, Parker noticed someone walk into the dining hall below him.

Master Sora made his way to the head table carrying a package. He sat it down and removed from it a large banner. He controlled the banner by moving the air around it and hung it from the ceiling. On the banner, it read, “Alexis Ayers” just below her name it said, “2003-2016”.

Another banner came floating out of the box and made its way to the ceiling next to the first banner. It read, “Hailee Burns 2002-2016”. One by one, ten more banners made their way into their positions stating each of the names of everyone who was missing with their birth and death year.

“What am I looking at?” Parker couldn’t grasp what he was seeing unfold below him. “Tell me what I’m seeing!”

Lara waited a moment before responding to him. “This is what is currently happening at Lancastre. They are holding a small service to discuss and explain your deaths to the students and staff of Lancastre.”

“My death… our deaths… What are you talking about? I’m right here! I’m not dead! None of us are!”

A small chuckle slipped out of Lara’s mouth. “You’ve been missing for months now. When you entered the hidden corridor, it was November. Snow was falling from the skies, covering the ground, and freezing the lake. It is now May. The snow is gone, the lake has thawed, and the flowers are blooming. The school assumes that you and the others are no longer a part of this world. And technically speaking, you aren’t. We are not in your world right now.”

Parker’s head was spinning, faster than ever before. “What do you mean we’re not in our world? Where are we then? I can see the dining hall right there!” Parker couldn’t figure out what Lara could mean, “Not in their world”.

“Parker, this won’t make sense to you now, but we are in a parallel realm.” He just stared at her.

“Like I said, it won’t make sense now, but give it time.”

The next thing Parker knew, they were in a different room. It was dimly lit and cold. “Where are we?” Parker asked. He was looking around, trying to figure out where this new room was.

“What happened?” Alexis asked.

“Alexis! Are you okay?” Parker couldn’t believe that she wasn't frozen. “Caleb, Hailee, are you okay?” Caleb was rubbing his head like he’d just taken a hard hit.

“I’m... okay, just feel a little funny,” Hailee said.

“Where are we?” Alexis asked.

Parker shrugged his shoulders, “I’m not sure. You came to just after we arrived here.”

They looked around the new room for any clues. Caleb turned and let out a squeaky noise. “Guys! Look!” He pointed across the room at the opposite wall. Floating on it, were the eight students who had disappeared.

One by one, each of the students disappeared. “Where’d they go?” Parker asked.

“I told you, they would be returned safely. They will wake up in their beds, none the wiser. It’ll be as though they never left. Well, except for the whole missing for several months thing.”

“It’s time you tell me what this is all about Lara!” Parker was getting short tempered, tired of being strung along. She raised her hands into the air and a blinding orb of light appeared over their heads near the ceiling of the room.

“My goal is to create a world of my own, a world that consists of only people I deem worthy. On this world, I don’t have that kind of capability. There are too many others who would, in the end, interfere with my ambitions.”

Her plans were starting to make more sense to them. However, they didn’t understand how they were necessary to this plan, or why she had to kidnap eight others for it. And even with that, what was so wrong about her plan? So what if she wanted her own world that she controlled.

“Please explain everything to us. I feel like there’s a lot of holes in our understanding here.” Parker was trying his hardest to talk calmly even though his frustration was skyrocketing.

“I took those students in order to increase my powers," she said.

Parker shouted, “What do you mean increase your power?”

"The more people I drain of their abilities, the stronger I become. And the stronger I become, the easier it will be to create my ideal world."

“You what?” Alexis shouted, furious. “You stole their ability to control the elements?”

Lara nodded her head. "Now, I will rob you of the ability to control your element. This will give me the power that I need."

She took a step towards them and Parker shot a burst of air directly at her. Lara simply raised her hand in front of her and the wind dissipated.

“Please, spare yourselves the embarrassment. Nothing you do right now, can help you.” She raised her hands in front of her. Parker, Alexis and Hailee slowly began to rise into the air. Caleb looked at them, fear flooding his body.

Caleb couldn’t figure out why this was only happening to them and not him. What was so different about him? “Leave them alone!” He sprinted toward her but with a small flick of her wrist, he went soaring through the air to the other side of the room.

His head hit the floor as he crashed to the ground, making him dazed and confused. Lara began to draw their abilities from their bodies. They were stuck, motionless in the air, unable to defend themselves.

Caleb slowly crawled to his feet, head throbbing from the crash. “I can’t let this go on!” Rage boiled inside him. He thrust his fist out in front of him, like he was punching a board in half. A searing, hot ball of fire hurtled from his fist and collided with the back of Lara’s head. She had been so focused; she didn’t notice he had gotten up.

When the fireball hit her, a burst of energy surged from her body hitting the others. They dropped out of the air and landed, unconscious on the ground.

“What have you done? You insolent, little pest!” Caleb could feel the anger radiating off of Lara. He couldn’t move, fear paralyzing him. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against Lara.

She held her hand out in front of him like she was going to choke him. He began to levitate into the air, gasping for breath. “I could crush you like an ant. How dare you attack me! Now, because of you, something has happened to your friends. They would have been perfectly fine, if you had let me finish.”

Caleb started grabbing for his throat, as if trying to release whatever was choking him. He wanted to yell at her, but didn’t have the breath to form words.

A burst of wind knocked her off her feet. Caleb fell out of the air. Behind Lara stood Parker, panting heavily. Caleb was coughing hard, finally able to breathe again.

Lara got to her feet and looked at Parker. “Who do you children think you are? Do you not see the brilliance of my new world?”

“Your new world isn’t the problem! It’s what you’re doing to obtain your new world. How can you justify robbing someone of their ability to control the elements, just so you can have something you want?” Parker was surprised to hear Alexis say this. Impressed that she was standing up to Lara, especially after what had just happened.

“My new world is for all those who are Imperials, not just myself.” Lara’s voice increased the more she talked, the more her rage grew.

“So, you plan on taking all of the Imperials from Earth and putting them in your new, controlled world? What about our friends, IMPS? What happens to them, they just get left behind?” Alexis’s voice began to mimic that of Lara’s, increasing more and more as she spoke.

“This world will be no more. Once we have relocated, this world will vanish from existence. However, thanks to your little friend, I don’t have the power to do that now.”

Parker just stared at whoever was talking. He heard what Lara said, but didn’t want to point out that she could still just take their ability to control the elements. There was nothing they could do to stop her. He highly doubted that Caleb would be able to stop her again. However, it occurred to him, that Lara was thinking the same thing he was.

He started to rise off of the ground again, feeling his energy drain from his body. After a few seconds of this feeling, a large burst of energy exploded from his chest and Lara flew across the room, crashing into the wall.

“What just happened?” Caleb asked. Parker couldn’t answer him; he had no clue what had happened.

“No! This can’t be happening! How?” They couldn't understand what Lara was mumbling. Parker walked over and grabbed Alexis and Hailee by the shoulders, helping them stand up.

“How do you think we get out of here?” Neither of the girls could answer his question. They were trapped in another realm parallel to that of their own. Only Lara had the ability to return them, and it didn’t look like she was in the mood to being doing them any favors.

Lara turned and glared at Caleb. “This is your fault! You caused this to happen!” Caleb looked beyond confused at what he was being accused of. She thrust her hand out again and he began choking for breath.

“Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Hailee screamed.

“I can do this without him! I don’t need him!” Parker, Alexis and Hailee simultaneously attacked Lara. Their movements were like that of The House of Erion’s Aether team. No one said a word to the others but they still moved in sync. Burst after burst of air hit Lara in the chest.

“Do you not realize who are you are against?” She snapped her fingers and all three of them froze in spot. Parker was off the ground, about to send a whirlwind towards Lara. Alexis was crouched low to the ground, kicking a gust of wind at her feet. Hailee looked like she was clapping her hands in front of her. Caleb stared at them in horror, realizing that Lara was past her limit of willing to put up with any resistance from his friends.

Fury erupted from within him and Lara froze for but a brief moment. Fear washed over her face. She turned and looked at him. “What did you just do? There’s no way that you have already tapped into that much power.” In the moment that Lara froze, the others came back. She spoke softly, “You can’t be this far along yet—”

The next thing any of them knew, they were laying in their beds. Parker slowly sat up and looked around the room. Only he and Caleb were there. “What just happened?” he asked Caleb.

Caleb was rubbing his forehead, “I’m not sure. Was all of that real?”

“It has to be. I remember going through all of the hidden places to get there. I remember everything so vividly that it has to be real. Let’s go find the girls.”

They made their way to the common room. The fire was lit just as it always was but there was no one in sight. Parker started to walk down the girl’s corridor and Caleb grabbed the back of his shirt. “What are you doing? We’re not allowed down there.”

“Caleb, I think at a time like this, they’d make an exception.” He continued down the corridor towards their room. Before he could knock on their door, it swung open to show Alexis and Hailee standing there.

“We were just coming to find you. That was all real right?” Alexis sounded so unsure of everything that had just happened. They discussed everything they went through. Parker even told them about how he saw the school holding a memorial service for them.

“Where do you think everyone is?” Hailee asked. No one answered her but they decided they should go see if anyone was in the castle.

They made their way out of their common room and landed in an empty corridor. No students were walking to and from class. No one could be heard from any of the rooms either.

As they made their way to the spiral staircase, Parker looked over the edge, down the long stairwell. No one was moving up or down. “Where in the world is everyone?” Caleb was starting to panic. After everything they’d been through, he was afraid that Lara had done something to everyone.

The four of them descended the stairs all the way to the main floor. When they landed, mumbling could be heard coming from the dining hall. As they turned the corner and entered, all of the muttering came to a stop and the room grew silent. The heads of every student turned and stared at them.