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Cassiopeia’s eyes widened when Tinker told them how many of them there were. ”Fourteen of us? All in the same town?” Could it really be that possible to have so many of them in one location? They had probably seen each other once or twice at some point too. Cassiopeia leaned back in her seat, listening to the others and feeling some relief that they could bring their cats and other supplies that they may need. Cassiopeia would definitely be bringing her bow and some other hunting gear. At least that they already had packed and ready to go.
Cassiopeia fiddled with a napkin on the table, not really in the mood for friendly conversation and small talk. Their entire world had just been turned upside down and now they were expected to leave everything they knew to go and help parents they had never met. This wasn’t something people did everyday. This was crazy and it was a lot to handle in one sitting.

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Annie’s voice brought Willow back to reality but she still seemed a bit stunned and then her mother, the woman she loved walked into Willow’s room and handed her her adoption papers. Willow managed to squeak out a thank you before she looked over the papers. Her maternal last name was there and she ran fingers over the printing before she noticed a lettered M on the paper. Could that be Merlin’s signature?
”No Annie, I’m really not okay. I don’t understand what’s going on. Oak Park was terrifying, finding out I was adopted from some strange letter saying my biological parents are in danger… I can hardly wrap my mind around everything. Can you come over?” The memory she just had on top of that was only making everything more real and Willow was starting to feel a tightening in her chest. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was on the verge of a panic attack.

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"Supposedly, more than we know about ourselves," Megan said softly as she drove. An old cold case came to mind though - the disappearance of Bobby Dunbar. "In the early 1900's, this kid went missing in Louisiana... Bobby Dunbar. They looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him. Eventually, they found some other boy and more or less convinced him that he was Bobby. It was only recently, practically a hundred years later, that DNA testing proved he wasn't the missing kid... But this kid, he said something that I think is beautiful and a little bit haunting, to one of his grandkids. I know who I am, and I know who you are."

"I know that you're my brother - maybe not by blood - and I know that I'm me... So no matter what we find out from the wizard, that's all that matters," Megan concluded. It was practically perfect timing as she reached their destination. It was an old, decrepit building - the sort that drug addicts and the homeless would end up seeking out for shelter. What little paint it had was peeling off to reveal the brickwork underneath. "We're here," Megan announced, parking the car in front of the building. "Are you ready?" she asked her brother, turning in her seat to look at him. She clicked the red release button for her seat belt.

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Once Sierra was on, and her helmet secured. Rose drove away from the diner. It felt good. The rumble of the bike and the air pressing against her. She had her helmet on so there was no wind in her hair, but she could imagine it. She drove past the park and seeing the cop cars kept going. There wasn't anything there for them anyway anymore. Rose could cut through the traffic and took advantage of the ability. Though since they were on a motorcycle there was no talking.

Arriving at the trailhead Rose parked the bike and killed the engine. She removed her helmet and fixed her head grinning the whole time. She picked up the conversation from there. "I think I went to the orphanage, but only for help with the legality of getting my parents to adopt me. And good point with the powers stuff." There were a lot of options to choose from, and Merlin hadn't been very forthcoming. Not that he had had a lot of time. Rose pulled her backpack out of the saddlebag and locked up the helmets. Nothing had ever been stolen from her bike, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. "Do you remember any of the other kids that were there? They might be from..." She waved her hand "You know where."

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Colby looked at Matthew indigently when he stole a piece of pork. He didn't say anything. Instead, he stole a piece of chicken off Matt's plate. He was thankful when Tink said they could take their cats. Though Colby wasn't certain how well his cat would fair in the magic world. He munched on his food and took a swig of water. Matthew was right, this might be his last meal in Kansas. Something about that didn't bother him. He was actually happy about that.

Colby would, of course, call his folks when he went to pack up. He had to say goodbye. Even as much as they had pissed him off over the years they had adopted him. Heck if they hadn't he might be like Matthew...Or maybe he and Matthew would have been friends earlier in life. They would have been at the same place. How odd, life could be so different from one choice.

"Well you know me pretty well already." He said to Matthew. "How about you two? What do you like to do? What's your cat's name?" He got right to the important part, the cat.

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Pandora had figured a few things out. Her mother was probably the "villain" in this twisted fairy tale. She didn't care about that. Pandora was probably the villain in her own life. No, all she cared about was getting to this "home" and finding out just what she could do. "All right then. The sooner we do what we have to do here, the sooner we go back. So what do we need to do then?" She knew her mother wanted to gather the others. If her mother had been looking for her, she imagined Merlin was looking for everyone too. Which meant the other children might have already been found.

"I imagine the others have been found already or at least informed. Letters were sent out stating such. It's not going to be easy so I hope you have a plan." Plus, Pandora was eager to get out now that she heard all she cared for. This beat any con she had planned in the next month or so. She had always felt different and this proved it.

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"I guess that makes some sense, to me it doesn't really matter who my parents are... Especially considering the fact that they never have seemingly tried to talk to us. You are my sister, even if we aren't related by blood as you said... But I do want to know what this guy has to say, since this whole day has been more then a little bit insane if you ask me," he said to Megan with a slight smile as he just waited for them to get to their destination. However, after a few moments, he noticed his cell phone ringing, so he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello?"

He waited as he listened to Isabella's voice as she explained what she found out about the Maleficent cosplayer. "Alright, that's good to know, I'll head that way in a little bit and see about checking it out," Jack told her as he glanced over at Megan as he spoke to her. "I can meet you over there soon, busy doing something at the moment, but I'll see you there Isabella, just text me the address and I'll meet you there," he said, before he hung up the phone as the car came to a stop. "A traffic cam caught the Maleficent woman at an apartment complex nearby, so after this we should see about heading over there maybe... Anyway, let's go," he said, before he got out of the car looking at the building in front of them.

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"Oh trust me, shelters are horrible, been in and out of them since I first took to the streets and away from dealing with the foster care system," she said with a shrug as she glanced back at the girl. "If something happened to her if you ask me she deserves whatever comes her way. Sort of a stuck up girl who really needs to get a reality check," she said with a bit of a yawn as she patted the dog still in her arms and she started walking away when it was obvious that the girl seemed to be a bit surprised that she had offered her a place to crash for a little while.

"Nice to meet you Taylor, and I don't need the chair, it's alright. But figured you'd want an actual shower in a decent place or whatever then a stupid shelter," she said with a slight smile at the girl. She contemplated actually telling the girl her real name, but considering she didn't one hundred percent trust her, so she figured that she was going to just let her know the alias she tended to use on the streets. "Call me Eva, now let's get going," she said simply, before heading off towards where her apartment was.

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Wichita Kansas Willow's Home:

If Willow looked through the papers there was a small envelope that was inside of it contained a small key attached to what looked like a small chain as well. The key looked rather old, but on the end of the key there was Willow's initials though WJ, but there was also the letter A on the end of it as well. On the envelope also had Willow Figlia di Aurora written on it with what looked to be in very good cursive handwriting.

Wichita Kansas, Maleficent's Lair:

Maleficent gave her daughter a smile and nodded towards her, she wanted to bring as many of the kids to her side as much as possible and soon. She knew that Merlin was already in the works with gathering a lot of them, and stood up looking over at Pandora before speaking. "We just need to bring as many of them to our side as possible. And then we can go back home, and once there you will inherit everything and learn everything that I know." Maleficent said.

As she heard her phone going off and made her way over towards a nearby table and picked it up, which was a text and started to read through it and smiled a little bit looking over at Pandora. "Theres two of them in the woods just outside of the city." She said, as she held out her hand towards her daughter, and then teleported the two of them over towards the closest location.

Wichita Kansas, Streets:

"Yeah I tend to avoid the shelters as much as possible, I only really use them during the winter." Taylor said as she gave her a slight smile, that she could actually keep the chair as well. "Theres also to many old, and creepy men there to." Taylor said shuddering slightly at the thought of having to talk to them sometimes. "Nice to meet you then Eva." She said as she looked around the road, and played with the idea of pickpocketing someone, but decided against it. She did have to agree on her thoughts on the girl earlier, Taylor really did hate the stuck up rich kids. "So, what did you have to do to get an apartment did you have to kill someone or something for it?" She asked curious, since she didn't have an idea how someone actually did get an apartment.

Wichita Kansas Outside of Merlin's Warehouse:

"Yep sure thing, don't have to much fun without me." Isabella said, before hanging up, and a few seconds later there was a text from Isabella to Jack with the address where the apartment actually was. The warehouse looked pretty old and creepy looking, there was an elderly looking man looking at the two of them for a moment before heading down a corner, and quickly closing the door to the warehouse. There were also a few men who looked like they were apart of some kind of gang eyeing the two of them. Though they were suspicious looking they didn't make any kind of move towards the two of them.

A few seconds later the door opened again and Merlin stepped outside seeing both Megan and Jack there and smiled towards the two of them once more. "It's good to see you again Megan, sorry I had to leave the way I did." Merlin said and turned to look at Jack and smiled towards him and nodded. "It's good to see you again as well, i'm sure you two have a lot of questions." Merlin said as he held the door open for the two of them.

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Sierra closed her eyes and enjoyed the little rush of cool air going through her hair as she rode behind Rose watching the traffic going by. She still did feel a little bit nervous going on a motorcycle since they weren't enclosed at all, and Sierra felt like she could fall off if Rose turned to quickly. But she didn't complain at all, she noticed the park for a moment which was now clear at this point and seeing a news van there probably covering that scene now as well.

When they finally got there Sierra handed back Rose her helmet and fixed up her hair a little bit as well, and started to tie it into a pony tail so that it wouldn't get to messed up or in her face again. She looked at Rose and gave a slight shrug, Sierra didn't recognize any of the faces at the park. "Nope, I didn't recognize them at all despite growing up in the orphanage." Sierra still did keep in contact with some of her friends there who also were lucky and found their family, though she started to get the feeling that they were being watched right now.

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Layla took another bite out of her food and her lunch she looked towards her sister for a moment, they both had survival skills so they would be pretty fine living off the land for a bit if it did come down to that for some reason. Tinker Bell looked down at her phone again as she got another text, and looked at the four of them for a moment. "I have to go, but here is the address to meet me at." Tinker said as she took out a pen and wrote down the address on the napkin. and dug into her wallet and then passed the money down onto the center of the table.

"Lunch is on me, just swing by once you have all of your things in order." Tinker said as she got up and left, Layla looked confused for a moment, wondering why she had to leave so suddenly. Which she thought was pretty weird as well, and looked at the two of them for a moment and her sister. "My cat is named Fuzzy." She said shrugging slightly as she remembered adopting him very clearly and he was an awesome cat and she'd really would have been upset if she left him behind. Layla would reach out with her phone and took a picture of the address so she wouldn't really forget it.

Annie's concern turned to fear as she heard Willow mention that not only was she adopted, Willow had also recieved a letter about it. This was a strange time. She felt in the air. Everything was coming together and something bad was going to happen. She felt her legs lock up. Right away she wanted to tell Willow no. No, Willow, I'm staying here. I'm too scared to go outside.

But that would be humiliating. More importantly, what kind of friend would she be if she did that? Willow was asking for emotional support. It was the least Annie could do.

"Y-yes. Yes, of course. You can tell me all about it. I'll be- I'll be right there." She began to gather up her things. Annie began to prepare her things, slipping her shoes back on and opening up the garage door. She glanced over at Doug and motioned for him to stay put. He didn't react, which was either a good thing or a bad thing. There was a simple brick colored car on the inside the dark garage. Certainly nice, bought for her by her decently well off parents, but nothing too flashy on the outside. Annie didn't want to embarass herself by showing off.

"Let me just- I should be over there in fifteen or so minutes. Like always." She laughed lightly, referring to the many times she had visted Willow's childhood home. Willow could probably hear Annie hurrying and rushing around, the garage door opening.

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Matthew watched as Colby swiped a piece of his meal, eyes widening in shock then settling down into submission as he realized he should've seen it coming. He continued to eat when Tinker Bell suddenly looked at her phone and began to leave. "Wait, um..." his voice was low and meek as she finally finished getting her things and left out the door. Matthew stared at the paper on the table for a moment before respond to the girls. "Mines is name Carroll..." He grabbed the paper after having seen Layla take a picture of thr address and then placed it in his pocket. Looking down at the table as he built up the courage to ask them.

Several bites of food later and Matthew finally spoke up. "I'd hate to ask this but...Tinkerbel- I mean Tink, drove us here and Colbys car was left at the park. Is there a way we could get a ride back there so we arent walking all the way to our apartment and then to this address? Itd be greatly appreciated." He tried to give his most charming smile, one of a lost child wishing to be given a hand in a time of desperation. Though perhaps they wouldnt fall for it, but he Hope's they would help.

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”Artemis. Arty for short,” Cassiopeia said, having no problem sharing her cat’s name. Arty and Fuzzy, a weird combination but it worked for them all the same. She watched Tink get her phone and then start to gather her things, saying she needed to go. ”Yes, because that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Cassiopeia grumbled. She slouched in her seat, not bothering to look at the address since Layla took a picture. She was on a rollercoaster of emotions and torn between wanting to follow after Tink or abandon it all and head off into the woods for a week or two to camp.
She looked back at the boys, the curly haired one asking them for a ride. ”Ya we can do that. Don’t mind all the hunting gear, we were about to head out when we stopped here for lunch and well, you know the rest.” That definitely would be one thing to their advantage, their hunting and tracking skills along with survival. Cassiopeia was starting to wonder if her and her sister had an affinity for it because of their true father but even if that were the case, he hadn’t taught them and Cassiopeia would never forget her true parents, even if they were more guardians.

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Willow sighed with relief and relaxed as she started to hear Annie moving around, getting ready to come over. She didn’t really notice the hesitation in Annie’s voice as she was looking through her papers and came across a strange one. There was elegant handwriting on the outside of the envelope with her first name but not her last name. When she opened it, there was a key on a chain with her initials but also the letter A. Willow stared at the thing, only becoming more anxious of her new reality.
”Fifteen minutes, yes. I’ll see you soon Annie,” Willow said before hanging up the phone. She picked up the key and examined it more closely. Could this be from her parents, a gift or a message of some sort? She flipped it over in her hand, trying to gleam some sort of recognition out of the key. She held up the envelope again and re-read the words. They were foreign to her, in every sense but the key on the other hand, the key she felt like she had seen before, maybe even held once in her tiny hands. All she knew was there was something special about the key. Willow set the envelope and papers down on her desk and slipped the necklace with the key over her head and tucked it under her shirt.

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"I don't like Isabella," Megan told her brother bluntly. She was irritated that he received a call from her in the midst of this, even if Maleficent had been spotted nearby. She wanted to focus on the wizard, find out whatever he knew about their pasts, their parents. If he was telling the truth and they were from some fairytale land... Well she had a lot of questions to ask. One of the main ones was how the reality of that land appeared as fictional stories here. "Be careful, Jack," she warned him as she got out of the car as well. She was getting a few goosebumps.

It didn't help she had the sensation of being watched. There had been an old man, as well as two gang members from what she could tell. Megan was getting mentally prepared to have to jump back into the car when the warehouse door opened and Merlin emerged. For a moment, she hesitated, wondering if this really was a safe choice. But she really wanted to know what was going on - curiosity had killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. She grimaced slightly and crossed over the threshold, entering Merlin's warehouse. "I believe we were being watched."

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As Rose settled her bag on her back the hairs on her neck raised. She suddenly wished she had her bow, but she hadn't been planning on coming up here originally. She still had a few hours before she needed to go to the bar. This felt like someone was watching her. The only thing she had handy that could be a weapon was her pocket knife, and that was barely dangerous at least she had some street fighting skills from the bouncer at her bar. She looked at Sierra to see if she looked like she noticed, and then glanced around with a smile trying to look like she didn't notice anything.

Rose caught something in her vision, it looked human, but when she turned to tell Sierra, and then back whoever it had been was gone. "Okay, I'm not normally paranoid, but I am on high alert in the woods cause wild animals. I swear something, or someone was just there." She gestured subtly in the direction she had seen the shape. "Let's go on in, but stay on the trail. And if you see a nice stick that looks like it can be used for walking or thwacking grab it." She advised and then started into the woods, following the trail she had walked hundreds of times.

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Colby's mouth was full when Tink left and he was annoyed. She didn't even give them a chance to ask if she would drive them back to the park at least. He choked as he tried to finish the bite of food, but then after a big swig of water Matthew had already asked the girls if they would take them back to his car. He was surprised. Matthew seemed socially incapable at times, but he had had the nerve to ask them for a lift. He raised an eyebrow at him and then turned back to the girls. "Thanks, appreciate it."

He took a deep breath. "So two cats? Fluffy and Arty, what breeds? I really like cats. Guess that shouldn't be a surprise considering who my dad is." He gave a small shrug. It explained a lot about him actually. His fickle nature. His love for tricks and cats. Though if he remembered his stories correctly the cat tended to sit in trees a lot. Something Colby distinctly disliked, which steamed from one of his oldest memories. Colby wondered if the memory was old enough that he had still been in Arcadia even.

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Wichita Kansas Willow's & Annabelle's Houses:

The traffic wasn't bad at all, and Annabelle would get there fairly quickly as well without any real issues, over at Willow's house there was another knock on the door and Willow's mother poked her head in again. "Is there anything else I can get you sweetie?" She asked her daughter. There was nothing else other then her parents adoption paper work, and the envelope with the key inside, nothing else would really stick out for her right now either.

Wichita Kansas Outside of Merlin's Warehouse:

Merlin held the door open letting Megan and Jack enter the warehouse, inside looked like it was somewhat stocked and containing some living spaces as well once Jack stepped inside Merlin closed the door and locked it as well. There were a few other people in the room, mostly older people for the most part around Merlin's age. "Can I offer any of you guys something to eat, or drink?" Merlin offered, as some of the people in the room whispered to one another, while others went about their duties.

Merlin nodded a little bit, he knew that they were being watched pretty closely right now as well which had started to become more frequent in the last few weeks. "Yes some of Maleficent's people have been watching pretty closely, which was why I had sent out the letters to all of you." He said as he made his way over towards a nearby table and pulled out some chairs, motioning for the two of them to take a seat. "And I am sorry for what had happened in the park as well." He said.

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Maleficent and Pandora had appeared, seeing the two girls nearby and hearing Rose talk she quickly waved her hands slightly and then they were invisible now, to Pandora she would look a little bit transparent as well. "Just remain close and observe for now." She whispered to her daughter as she watched Sierra and Rose on the trailhead starting to move now.

Sierra looked over to where Rose had gestured to, she couldn't see anything at all either which made her wonder what was actually there or if Rose was just being paranoid. "I don't see anything, but alright i'll stay alert though." Sierra said, after what she did notice at the park she was also a little bit alert now as well. She thought for a moment about Willow and how she was actually doing, after all she did find out that she was adopted just a few minutes ago as well.

"Soooo, hows your dating life?" Sierra decided to ask as she started to make her way down the trail, and started to look around and eventually picked up a stick nearby and hefted it up in her arms and twirled it around slightly in her arms and smiled. "It kind of reminds me when I was little I would play in the woods whenever I went camping with my parents and i'd play with sticks and pretend that they were weapons, which was fun." Sierra told her

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Layla watched as Tinker got up and left, letting out a little bit of an annoyed sigh as she watched her leave and turned her attention back over towards Colby, Mathew and her sister, and shrugged slightly. "I don't mind giving you guys a lift to wherever you want to go." She said as she started to finish up eating the rest of her food and when their waiter came up. "Can I get a box?" She asked, he nodded and then headed off to grab a box.

"I think a maine coon or something like that, he's a red furred cat." Layla said as she rubbed her hands together when their waiter came back and handed them four boxes to take their food with them. Layla started to put her leftovers into her box, looking at the two of them and nodded at her sister. "Yeah just be careful with what we have in the car." Layla said, luckily their food had been paid for she quickly snatched her sister's car keys and stuck her tongue out slightly. "To slow, i'll meet you guys at the car." She said as she started to make her way out of the restaurant now.

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"I know that you don't like Isabella, but you have to deal with her whether you like her or not," Jack said with a bit of an eye roll directed towards his sister as she got out of the car as well. "And why do you get to tell me to be careful? You know that I usually am. I feel like I should be the one to tell you to be careful... But if you want to know she was telling me that she found the Maleficent cosplayer or whatever on a traffic camera at an address not too far from here..."

With those last words, he finally took a good look at the building they had arrived at. It certainly wasn't really one that he would have thought he'd be going to that didn't involve some shady business going on within it's walls. He didn't like the fact that it felt like they were being watched, and he glanced over at the man who came walking up to them. Jack wasn't too sure what to think about the man who talked about knowing them. He followed along after Megan as she spoke to Merlin and walked inside of the warehouse. "Am I the only one whose slightly confused here? Since from what Meg told me, you're a wizard, and Maleficent, as in the real villain, is probably the one responsible for a dead body that was found at the orphanage here in town... None of that makes sense and essentially throws what I know about how things work out the window."

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"That I can definitely agree with... Staying away from shelters is always a nice thing, and one of the reasons I pooled together my money in order to never have to stay in one ever again. It's not the best of places, a small little one that has running water and power, that's about all I can guarantee with it," she said to Taylor with a bit of a shrug as she kept walking, it wouldn't be too far, after all, it was a bit of a hole in the wall sort of apartment building, had the cheapest rents in town after all.

"As to how you get an apartment, you have to apply for a lease and a bunch of stupid stuff like that. And you have to actually have money, which I mainly got from pick pocketing people and doing a few con jobs here and there. Honestly, it's really stupid and way more complicated then it should be. Then again pretty sure I got the place since practically no one else would want to live there, so that's definitely something." To her, getting apartments was dumb and definitely overly complicated, she just lucked out that the apartment she got wasn't in the best shape so no one else wanted it.

Annie sat down and collected her thoughts, having hung up the phone. "Phoo. Okay. Here we go. Nothing is going to happen." She grabbed the wheel and moved her fingers up and down. Then she reached down and twisted the key, the old clanker rumbling to life. "No worries. Skip college today. Let's...let's go." She was nervous. She didn't want anything else to happen.

Fortunately, she was able to make it to Willow's house without issue. No murderers or strangeness or anything. But she was worried about Willow. What was going to happen to her? Did Annie hear her say she was adopted, too? Things were getting strange. Poor Willow. It wasn't right for a parent to keep something like that from a child. In her experience, being adopted didn't hurt at all if you never knew otherwise. She could see how other people would want to find their 'real' parents (even saying 'real parents' made Annie's mouth taste gross), but Annie was happy with the family she had. It was why she was fighting so hard against this letter nonsense. She just wanted to live a normal life.

Pulling up on the street infront of Willow's house, Annie took a deep breathe and turned off the car. Walking up the drive way she approached the door and rapped against it with her knuckles. Three fast knocks, a pause, and then two more knocks. Annie always knocked doors in the same way. It was a secret knock she developed when she was a kid that became a habit that never left her. Then she wrung her fingers together and waited for someone to answer the door, looking behind her to see if anyone was around.

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”Cat,” Cassiopeia said when Colby asked what breed of cat. She really didn’t like this small talk stuff. ”Where do you guys need a lift too?” She shifted to stand so that she could go to the bathroom before leaving. She stuck her tongue back out at her sister when she reached into Cassiopeia’s jacket to take the keys. Cassiopeia stood. ”Shovel in the last meal boys, we’re on a schedule,” she said before retreating to the bathroom.
Cassiopeia blew out a breath and walked to the sink. She laid her hands on the counter and leaned forward. She tilted her head from side to side, shifting her hat and tightening the ponytail before blowing out a breath and washed her hands. Robin Hood’s daughter. This day could not get any more bizarre but she knew that was not true. This was just the beginning of some great adventure she was being pulled into. At least Layla would be with her. Too bad it wasn’t only Layla that was with her. Cassiopeia dried her hands and left the bathroom, heading out the door with one look at the boys at the table and jumped into the passenger side of the Jeep.

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Willow looked over at her door when she heard a knock and her mom poked her head in. ”No mom, I think I have everything I need,” she said. There was a knock on the front door and Willow jumped up. ”That’ll be Annie. Is there any iced tea left?” Willow asked her mom as she stepped around her and hurried down the stairs. Willow threw the door open and embraced her friend. ”Thank you for coming. Do you want some iced tea? Peach I believe it is,” Willow offered.
Willow pulled Annie inside her grand house and shut the door before pulling her down the hallway to the kitchen. ”So, apparently I’m adopted,” Willow told her friend as she pulled out a couple glasses. She turned around and set them on the counter. ”Who knew and there was this really weird letter I got telling me about it. It’s upstairs in my bag, I’ll show you after. Plus, when I was at the diner there were like three other girls with the exact same letter as mine.” Willow seemed to explain all of this like it was another Monday at school and she was just explaining how her weekend went.

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Megan couldn't help but be unnerved, given how calm Merlin was with them being watched. Was this really a safe space to congregate, with Maleficent - or whoever she really was - having people watch them? Her mind was still torn over whether or not she should fully believe Merlin, but at least for now, she had resolved to take what he said with a grain of salt. She couldn't help but notice the whispers of the others inside this warehouse, all of whom appeared to be about the same age as Merlin. "I'm fine, thanks," she replied, not feeling much like eating or drinking at the moment.

She took a seat, nodding in agreement with what her brother had said. None of this met the conventional rules of reality. "To add to that... What do you know of our parents? What precisely happened?" she asked. Merlin had given them small details so far, but she yearned to hear the full story. She wanted to know who her parents were and the circumstances that had brought her to an orphanage in Kansas all those years ago. If all of this was real, then Maleficent's threat was great - but it still didn't outweigh the demands of the heart. She wanted to know the truth, no matter how strange, bizarre, or improbable it may be.

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"T-thanks. I really appreciate it. We'll make sure to be careful around the hunting gear right Colby?" Matthew went to nudge him and then saw the quirked eyebrow that was raised at him. In an instant his face began to take on the color pink in his cheeks as embarrassment flushed into him. All it took was one look but he could understand what it was Colby had meant. Matthew began to fidget with his shirt under the table, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone as Layla and Cassiopa left the tables to fetch the car and use the restroom. Colby was right, perhaps this adventure was too brave for him and perhaps he should just stst in his apartment. He wasn't cut out for such things, let alone being in a group with fourteen other kids. That was going to be a lot of socializing.

As soon as the pair of girls left Matthew let out a breath he wasnt aware he was holding. He slumped onto the table, head rested in his arms as he pushed his plate away in a clear spot. "Oh man Colbs what have I gotten. Myself into. I don't know how to adventure? Heck this is the most adventurous thing I've done and it was just dinner with strangers. And and theres going to be soooo many people there what am I going to do? I may just explode from how long my breath will be held or just the social awkwardness alone. Am I in over my head?" Matthew stared off at his plate for a moment before finally boxing it up and ensuring to stack all the cleaned off plates together and placing the silverware atop the highest one.

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Rose laughed when Siera asked how her dating life was. She hadn't really been looking. Sure she had a few one-night-stands here and there, but nothing serious and certainly nothing she would have called a dating life. "Eh, nothing to write home about honestly. Not even someone I'd consider for more than a nice time for coffee and whatever followed." Rose never had sex drunk, she hated the idea of it and always wanted her partner to be sober for the experience too. If they wouldn't have sex sober, they shouldn't drunk. That was her opinion on the matter. "What about you?"

"I've done so much camping. The Buckners love to camp so we would go nearly monthly. Even if it was for just the weekend. And I was always so connected with the woods that I felt more at home there then I did in the city. A dream of mine is to own a cabin deep in some wood and forget the city even exists. And this is where I was found, so I always sort of hoped I'd find my birth parents someday wandering the woods looking for me." She gave a small shrug. The trail here was an easy one. And her feet knew it well.

Rose took a deep breath of the pine-scented wood remembering vividly crying in the woods. That was what had led the Buckners to her. She didn't even know how she had gotten there. Even as a child she couldn't answer that question. Another memory tickled at her memory and she focused on it. She could, in her mind's eye, see the woods from before. The one she knew was her original home. It was different. Older and denser. There was her mother. She had beautiful brown hair that curled around her face and fell down her back. She wore a red cloak and was saying something to Rose, but present-day Rose couldn't remember what it was. A tear threatened to fall and Rose could only hope that her mother was still alive.

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Colby helped stuff the leftovers into boxes. "I'll be careful around the hunting gear. And just to the park please." He promised before the girls left. He rolled his eyes when Cass said the cat's breeds were 'cat'. Why did no one care? It meant so much for a cat what breed it was. A lot of a cat's personality was determined by that. Certain cats didn't like strangers, others would love anyone that looked like they didn't want anything to do with a cat. And others still would climb into the lap of the first person who sat down.

"Honestly, I think this good for you." Colby told Matthew. "You need to break out of your comfort zone. Try something new. I mean honestly when is the last time you talked to a stranger, other than the first time we talked?" Colby stood up and adjusted his hoody. "I mean I think this is the most you've said in the last hour than I've heard you say in the entire time I've known you. Let's go."

Colby grabbed a container and headed out of the restaurant. When he spotted Layla he came over to her next to their car. "I appreciate the ride." He said before climbing gently into the back seat making sure he didn't sit on or disturb any of the gear the girls had back there.

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Wichita Kansas, Rosalia's Apartment:

Taylor listened to Rosalia as she explained how you got an apartment and scrunched her nose slightly, she really didn't like having to do to much work to get an apartment. "So you cant just kill someone, and dump their body somewhere and just take over their place or anything?" She asked jokingly, she wouldn't actually kill anyone at all really though she would absolutely try and do anything she could to try and get a place of her own. She looked over her shoulder for a moment, she wasn't sure if someone was stalking them or not but she shook it off slightly, as they made it to Rosalia's apartment building without any other issues.

Wichita Kansas Willow's House:

Willow's mother looked at her daughter and nodded. "Yes theres some in the kitchen." She called out to her daughter letting Willow grab it herself, and hearing the knocking on the door she smiled at Annie. "Hi there Annie how are you?" She asked her daughter's friend as they made their way into the kitchen. "I'll be in our office if you two need me." Willow's mother called out as she made her way down into the next room, letting the two girls talk together amongst themselves.

Wichita Kansas Outside of Merlin's Warehouse:

Merlin nodded as he went and poured himself a glass of tea for himself, grabbing two other glasses just in case either Jack or Megan changed their minds. He looked down for a moment when Jack mentioned about the body that had turned up, he was one of his people who would watch over the others occasionally. "That would have been Grumpy who has been working with me for sometime now." He said and looked over at Jack and nodded turning towards Megan asking information about their parents which was understandable.

"It all started a few years before you were all born where you were all born is a place called Arcadia. Maleficent and a lot of other villains started to all band together. They started out small taking over a small village here and there, before they worked together to take over other parts of Arcadia. I convinced them all to bring all of you here for your safety, which they were reluctant to do, but they wanted you all to be safe." Merlin said before continuing. "They are still alive, but they are all in danger right now of losing, and maybe bringing all of you back could help turn things possibly." Merlin answered looking between Megan and Jack, when the door opened and Tinker Bell came into the warehouse. "Managed to convince the four people you told me to get, hopefully they will be here pretty soon." Tinker said, when Merlin spoke again giving her a slight nod as Tinker Bell quickly grabbed herself a cup of tea as well. "You two can call me Tinker if you'd like."

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Sierra laughed slightly and smiled a little bit and shook her head slightly, she didn't really have much of a sex life either. "It's really non existent right now, I've mostly been busy with my school studies and work as well." Sierra answered, sure she did occasionally go to a college party here and there, but she just didn't have much time for dating at the moment. She was more content with just hanging out with her friends and classmates.

"I've only gone camping like once really with my mom and dad when I was younger, I haven't gone camping in years." Sierra said as she stuffed her hands into her pockets looking up at the sky for a moment as she could feel a cool air breeze going through her hair. "So got any plans after work tonight Rose and are you still planning on seeing the place on that card the guy gave us?" Sierra asked.

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Layla leaned herself up against the driver side door and waited for everyone else to come out, she pulled out her phone and going on her facebook just to check some messages. She also realized that she would have to probably quit her job as well, which she did like doing teaching others how to survive out in the wilderness and also rock climbing as well. She played a little bit more on her phone, until she saw the door opening and Colby coming out of the restaurant and nodded towards him. "No problem Colby Cheese." Layla said jokingly as she climbed up into the passenger seat.

"Also sorry for my sister, this thing is really weird for the two of us, and I didn't mean to put a fork to your friend's throat either." Layla mentioned, though it was a little bit funny seeing Matt nearly piss himself when she dragged him into the bathroom. Though he did have it coming a little bit to by passing that ominous note to the two of them.

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"Grumpy? As in one of the seven dwarfs from Snow White's story?" he asked, not too sure what else to say about that. Of course, considering the fact that they were supposedly talking to Merlin about fairy tales actually being a thing, which still made his head spin and go against all logic. "As in one of the characters from the freaking Disney movie that has probably the most t-shirts and whatever aside from maybe Dopey? Not like I pay attention, seriously the Disney stuff gets freaking annoying, and their advertisements and merchandise are literally everywhere."

Jack listened in on what Merlin was telling them about Arcadia, about the world they were from. The man kept mentioning their parents, but one thing struck him as odd, was that he never once really said who their parents were. "Okay, so you keep saying the words "your parents" and things like that, but not once did you actually say who are parents actually are. So mind mentioning who they are or what fairy tale characters they are?" he asked him, before glancing over as a woman walked in and told them to call her Tinker. "...Let me guess, that's short for Tinker Bell?"

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Rosalia rolled her eyes ever so slightly at Taylor's joke of sorts. "Well I mean, I guess that would work too," she said with a bit of a laugh as they finally reached her building. It wasn't in the best of shape, but at least it was a roof over her head with electricity, so she wasn't really complaining about it or anything. "Remember, don't expect much from this place, it's not much, but it is better then no home, and a hundred times better then any sort of shelter here in town." With those last words, she led the way up to her small apartment.

It didn't have too much furniture, and was really small and only had about 3 rooms with the living room and kitchen being merged really into one room. There was a beaten up couch that Rosalia instantly went over to and plopped down on, setting the puppy down next to her as she did so before looking over at Taylor. "If you want to take a shower, the bathroom is over there," she said, gesturing to one of the doors, "There are towels underneath the sink if you want one. Welcome to my little home."