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I arrived in Krokotopia, and nearly fainted from the heat. It was hotter than anyplace on Earth I had ever been. A large, orange lizard came up to me. “Hello, my friend,” it said, “Welcome to Krokotopia! My name is Tinu Bhak'Mal.” Noticing my curiosity of him, he laughed and said, “Oh, I am part of a race you have probably never seen before! I am a Mander!” I smiled. A mander- cool!
“Right this way,” he said, leading me out of the enclosed area where the Spiral Gate was. When I got outside, I gasped. But it wasn't necessarily in awe. Sure, I was surprised at all the sand, and the few palm trees, and even the huge pyramid that lay a few yards in front of me. But I gasped because, unlike Wizard City, there was hardly anyone! I saw a couple of manders, and I even saw a few large dogs, walking on two legs! But I didn't see any other wizards.
Tinu Bhak'Mal led me to a large, black dog wearing a white hat and a white and red uniform. “She is here,” he told it. The black dog smiled. “Welcome, Sarah StormDreamer! I am Sergeant Major Talbot, and we are in need of your help!” He explained the problems that another dog, Professor Winthrop, was having in the pyramid. “If I were you, I would talk to him first,” he said. “Please, go and help. Good luck to you!” Tinu Bhak'Mal went back to the Spiral Gate, and started off to the pyramid.
“Wait!” a voice called from another area, “Can you help me?” A purple mander was calling for my help. He needed a favor. While I helped him, I learned why there were different mander colors. They used to be all green. But then some served different schools of magic. Orange manders served fire, blue ones served ice, and purple ones served storm. The mander, called Hetch Al'Dim, grinned when I told him that I was storm. “The school of storm is wonderful, isn't it?” he asked. We had a discussion, and then I continued on my way to the pyramid. Along the way, I overheard a dog talking to a mander. “It's true,” the mander explained, “Long ago, the Kroks needed our help. We tended to them, but they took control of our kindness. They enslaved us!” I shuddered. Perhaps that was Krokotopia's problem; the Kroks. But somehow, I felt that there was something bigger.
Once I had talked to Professor Winthrop, I went to all the different places in the pyramid. First, I completed everything in the Royal Hall. Then I did the Chamber of Fire, and then the Palace of Fire.
Finally, when I had completed the Palace of Fire, Professor Winthrop smiled at me. “You have done exceedingly well,” he said, “But now you must go to Krokosphinx and find the Order of the Fang. So, I left the pyramid and went onto the boat, which brought me to Krokosphinx.
There, I found the Balance School. Finally, I knew that there was one! Next, I went into the Great Sphinx. I then had to go into the Hall of Champions, and defeat some enemies there. While I was fighting, another wizard came from nowhere and joined my battle. I was startled. “Um... hi?” I said nervously. “Hello,” he said. He looked at me as a casted a lightning bats. “Is there something wrong?” he asked. “Oh, nothing,” I replied as I waited for the enemies to decide what to do, “It's just.... well... I didn't know there were any other wizards here!” The boy laughed. “Oh, of course there are, they have just either been too busy to show up or been captured.” I was startled, and it wasn't because the enemy had just used Lotus Swarm on me. “Captured?” I asked, my voice still shaking. “Yeah, the Kroks like to take some student wizards hostage,” he said, “I'm been captured twelve times, and I escaped every time.” “You must be a pretty good wizard,” I said, about to finish off the enemies. “Yeah, you seem pretty good too,” he said as my kraken defeated the enemy. We both ran back onto the sidewalk. “By the way, my name is Lucas NightBlade,” he said. As he turned to smile at me, I got a better look at him. He had brown hair and friendly, blue eyes. I smiled. “I'm Sarah StormDreamer,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Sarah... StormDreamer?!? The one who saved Wizard City? Who is supposed to destroy Malistaire?” he asked. I nodded. “Wow!” he said, grinning. I added him to my friends list, and started off. “Wait,” he said, “I have to ask. What is your quest?” I answered his question. “Cool. Can I help?” he asked. I thought for a moment. “Sure!” I said, smiling. He smiled back. We fought some more of the enemies, and I talked to lots of people. But eventually, the sky began to darken. I yawned. “Well, sorry Lucas, I'm tired, and I better find a place to-” “Talk to Tinu Bhak'Mal,” he interrupted, “He will get you a temporary place to stay.” “Um, okay,” I said. “See ya later!” He looked at me again, and it seemed for a moment that he wanted to say something. But then he looked at the ground, and, starting to leave, said, “See ya.” He then hurried off. I stared after him, wondering what he would have said if he had built up the courage. Either way, I hurried off to Tinu Bhak'Mal.
Once I had reached him, I asked if he had a place for me to stay. He smiled. “Of course, Sarah! I have the perfect place!” He led me outside and to the shopping area. “In a shop?” I asked, confused. Tinu laughed. “Of course not! Over here!” He came to a place where two, tall obelisks stood, surrounding a bluish, swirled platform. “To most wizards,” he explained, “This brings them to a secret shopping area. But for others...” He gently nudged me forward, a signal telling me to get on the platform. I did, and was instantly teleported. I still wasn't used to teleporting, and I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I gasped.
There was still lots of sand, but there was also much more. A HUGE lake was in the center of the small island. On the lake stood a beautiful house, at least 3 stories tall. I walked up to it and looked up, gaping. The house was made out of white wood, and the roof was solid, gray bricks. There were a couple tents around the area, and there was also a GIANT hill with a tunnel in it. “Places to stay away from the sun,” I said, still surprised.
It was then, after a long time, that I realized that my luggage had disappeared when I had gone through the Spiral Gate. “I wonder...” I said, walking into the house. I gasped again.
The walls and floors were perfect for a storm wizard. They were bright purple with yellow electric stripes, like lightning bolts. The ceiling was a dark blue color. There was one large room, and then I saw stairs. In the first room, there was a nice, blue couch that would fit two people and lots of banners hanging everywhere. There were also a few other decorations that filled the room. I saw a bookshelf filled with books. I then went up the stairs. This room had a table and two chairs. The table was FILLED with food of all sorts. The best part; everything was my favorite. There were also other decorations in the room. I went up the stairs again. There was my luggage, unpacked and put away in the nice room. There was my bed, and my desk, and all of my possessions. It was the perfect house for me! I couldn't help but wonder if it was purposely this way, or if it was some sort of magic that did this. Either way, I was 100% satisfied.
I lay down on my bed, and suddenly I was asleep.
I woke up the next morning, ready and wanting to battle. I realized that I had on my pajamas, but I hadn't changed into them. Hmmmm... more magic! I stretched and found my Krokotopia clothes in a dresser. I pulled them on and went into the bathroom, which I had not explored last night. I brushed my teeth and brushed my hair. For some reason, I brushed it perfectly and longer than I ever had before. I don't know why, but I wanted to look nice today....
When I was done, I grabbed my wand and walked onto the portal. I was suddenly at the Oasis in Krokotopia. I hurried onto the boat to Krokosphinx, and finished where I had left off yesterday. Just as I was about to talk to a member of the Order of the Fang, Lucas suddenly teleported above me. He did a flip in the air and landed in front of me. He turned around and smiled. “Hi,” he said. Instead of saying hi back, I said, “What am I supposed to do, clap?” Lucas laughed. “Yes,” he said. I clapped. “Hi,” I said, grinning. “So, what do you have to do now?” Lucas asked. I explained that I had to fight a boss. “Okay,” he said. We went off to the Krok boss. As Lucas was about to approach him, I yelled, “HiiiiiiYA!” and jumped into the battle, getting first. Lucas laughed as he went in. “What was that?” he asked. I giggled. “I don't know, but it sure was fun!” I said. He smiled. “I'll have to try it sometime,” he said.
We easily defeated the boss, and many more after that. In fact, with Lucas helping, everything was, well easy. And it definitely a lot more pleasant than soloing everything. Besides, I DID seem to do better with him there.
When it was getting dark, I started to say what I had last time. But when I did, Lucas looked sad. “Oh... okay...” he said. Before he could walk away, I quickly said, “Wait! You have a place to stay, don't you?” Lucas turned around and looked at the ground. “No,” he admitted. I walked up to him. “Well, you can stay at my house for the night, if you want,” I said. Lucas looked up, his face brightening. “Really? Wow, thanks! I'll sleep on the floor, I guess, unless....” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Yo, Lucas, I got a BIG house, okay? You can have the couch.” He grinned. “Cool!” We headed off for the portal... not knowing what lay ahead of us.
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