Chapter One: The Adventure Begins

1 December, 2017

My name is Zachcheung. Actually, it's Gnuehchcaz , which is backwards from my actual name. I spelled it backwards, thinking it would be funny once everyone moved to the Lego Eternal City. We all originally lived in the Lego Message City but it was demolished by the Mayor. He claimed that everyone lives somewhere else, far away from there. A good many users didn't want to, though, so a few citizens from the LMC, our nickname for our old home, rose and built LEC. It's not the same but I'm happy that we didn't have to move far. Like to New Zealand or Japan or the United States, away from each other with little to no contact in different parts of the world. We're all from other places, originally, and we moved to the LEC for a new life. I was originally from the United States. I had just finished college, and didn't quite know what I wanted to do. I heard about the LMC and decided to make it my home. Now, I live in the Finding Friendships Apartment. Its abbreviation is FF, considering that FFA makes a lot of people think of the Future Farmers of America.

I still stay in contact with my family and check in on them every night. However, I can't be with them for Christmas. Instead of dwelling on why, I decided to start thinking about how I could surprise my friends for the Holidays. Well, technically one. Her name is K66 . We started this thing a while back where we sent each other "presents". Not like an actual thing you can hold. I drew her a picture for her birthday, and she wrote me a poem for mine. I've been thinking about what to get her for Christmas. We're the only ones who have done this, so we thought it would be fun to do another. She's very clever and won't give away anything about it. For me, today was going to be the day I get some research done to figure out what to get her.

I walked down the street to the BrickBook Lounge or BB. I walked into the first-floor building. The main room, and pretty much the only room, was decorated in Red and Green for the Holiday season. The double doors are in the middle of the wall with a desk for customer service in the right corner of the wall with the door. On the wall opposite to the door, there is a bookshelf full of books. I don't know how, nor do I question how, but normally if you have a certain book in mind, you can usually find it on that small shelf of books. Weird, I know. When you don't have one in mind, you always find a book that ends up catching your eye. Anyway, on the other end of the room is a fireplace, with burning logs in it at the moment, in the middle of the wall. There is a dark wooden table on a small red and green rug in front of it. There is also a green chair facing the wall the main door is on, another chair facing the opposite direction, and a couch facing the fire. On the opposite wall, spaced equally apart from the middle, are two doors leading to the bathrooms. The decorations consist of red and green snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and stockings near the fireplace.

On the couch, is a girl with brown, layered hair and dark brown eyes wearing a red and green Christmas sweater, blue jeans, black fuzzy boots, and a silver Chewbacca necklace. Her hair usually has a bit of a curly bounce, so I'm assuming she straightened it. She's holding a book that has a girl with light blue eyes and blond hair that is almost white on the cover. The character's hair is covering the top of her ears, and part of her face is not on the cover. The Iron King is written under the girl's face. K66 is in the middle of reading it and looks as though she is enjoying it.

"Hey, K66," I say, smiling as I sit down next to her on the couch. She looks up, her face serious at first. Once she realizes it's me, she gives me an equally warm smile.

"Hey." She looks down, searching for her bookmark, which is right next to her and puts it in between the pages of her book. She sits the book next to her and looks back at me.

"Good book?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's one of my favorite series. Very funny, too."

"Favorite?" I ask, raising an eyebrow and giving a joking smile. "I thought you didn't have favorites." She glares at me, giving me an equally joking smile.

"I said I have a hard time with favorites, but there are those random moments when I can actually say I have a few. Even then, I can't pick a true one, and you know that." I break into a big grin and she does the same. "Besides, it's giving me an idea for your Christmas present." She beams at the thought.

"Oh really. And what would that be?" I ask, knowing she won't tell.

She covers her mouth with her hands and she makes her eyes go wide as if she didn't mean to say that. "I've said too much." We both break into laughter. "So... what does the almighty Zach want to do with me?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just walking by when I passed by here. I had a feeling you would be here, so I thought I would come in." She gives me a smirk.

"Right. Well, I need to head out. You wanna go grab a drink?"

"Uh, I can't. I was on my way to, uh, FF. It's about time I call my parents." She gives me a suspicious look, and I hope she doesn't push any further.

"All right. Let me know how it goes."

"I will. See ya later." I stand up. We give each other a small wave and I head out before she starts questioning my behavior. That was close, I think. I head across the street to the Mod Building. The only room citizens are allowed in on the first floor. It has chairs in different rows facing different directions. At the far wall, there is a circular desk with two open doorways on both ends of the desk. There are a few citizens in random chairs reading magazines and such. I walk up to a lady behind a computer.

"One moment, please," Stephanie states. She has dark hair and blue eyes and was wearing a pink blouse and a gray jacket and skirt. After a minute of typing, she looks up at me. "Can I help you, Zach?"

"Yeah. I need to talk to Rome for a minute. Is he here? It won't take long." Stephanie is one of our nineteen Moderator Officials. She mainly stays in the office building, but she does come out and have fun with people every now and then.

"I'll give him a call. Have a seat, please." She gestures to an open seat before going back to the computer. I go and sit down. She's dialing on the phone when I look back at her. RomeNZ is a good friend of mine and the newest official to the city. He applied a while back, right before they closed the applications to become one, and after a few months, they gave him a call saying he got the job and if he still wanted it. He recently got promoted to Moderator Official instead of the Junior Moderator that he had been for a little while. He can't quite talk about what he does, but I get the gist of all of it.

I was hoping to get some insight from Rome about what get K66. I don't know why, but I've had a good impression that he could be a good spy and no one would know. Expect the one that would employ him and himself, of course. I sit lost in thought, hoping he was here.

"Zach?" I look up to see bun02 , a girl with brown hair in a bun (ironic, right?) and brown eyes. She's wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt, Donald Duck pants, and purple tennis shoes. Bun has always been known as a Disney person. To some stranger, it may seem on the extreme side of things, but to us, her friends in the community, we're glad she's here and accept her as herself. Besides, she's made us laugh at least once or twice. She's giving me a big smile. "I thought I saw you come in here. What do you need Rome for?"

"You're following me now?" I ask, jokingly.

"No, but I asked you first." Bun was always known to be a little stubborn, but I found it humorous a lot of the time.

"I need help trying to get K66 a gift. I want it to be special, but don't want her to get suspicious. Please don't say anything to her."

"That's why you wanted me." I look up to see a boy with dark blond hair and rich blue eyes. He's wearing a red and white striped sweater, blue sweatpants, and black tennis shoes. "Here I thought I was in trouble for not dressing up properly. Steph didn't say who or what wanted me." I smile at my friend.

"Good to see you, too, Rome. I just need someone to run through the ideas with."

"I'll stay and help!" Bun exclaims, smiling as she plops down in the chair next to me.

Not really minding the extra help, I tell her, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Well, let's see." Rome starts to think. "K loves Star Wars. That's kinda a given." I don't pay a lot of attention to Rome's nickname for her and just shake my head.

"I need something that's nothing like anything in the stores."

"What about that show?" Bun exclaims as if just remembering something. "It has a ninja in it. A Lego show."

"Ninjago?" Rome asks bluntly. Though I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it.

"Yeah!" Bun exclaims, not thinking about how Rome stated the word she was looking for. "Something from that. I don't see a lot of stuff on that out in the streets."

"That's great. She loves Doctor Who and the Marvel Movies, too." I smile at the idea of both shows. "I know she would love to be in all four of those universes from time to time. We even started mailing Roleplay moves for this Doctor Who-Avengers-Ninjago roleplay we created. I have a feeling we'll incorporate Star Wars in it some way soon." Rome starts smiling in a way that shows he has an idea.

"What is it Rome?" Bun asks, also noticing the look.

"You think it would be okay if you took a vacation?" Rome asks, clearly knowing something we don't.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Don't tell anyone, but I know a guy that knows a legend about something that will take you anywhere you want to go." I eyes go big with excitement, and I cannot contain the grin on my face.

"That would be perfect."

"When do we leave?" We both look over and see Bun. She looks back and forth between the two of us. She's smiling.

"You're going to come?" Rome asks.

"Why not? I may not watch some of that stuff, but I'm willing to help you out."

I was just about to say she could come along when Rome asks, "Who's going to make sure she doesn't get suspicious over Zach's and my disappearances?"

"Anyone. Besides, I've been kinda bored just sitting around with nothing major to do."

"We may need her," I state quickly before Rome can interject. "Besides, it can't hurt to have another person with us." Rome shrugs, showing that he agrees.

"Alright, but let's discuss details later. I gotta get back to work. Meet me in Sweets Café tomorrow at eleven. We can discuss details and head to Sha- I mean my friend's place afterward." We nod, say our goodbyes, and Rome heads off into one of the two doors. Bun and I stand up after that and start walking outside.

"Did that start to sound like Shamrock to you?" Bun asks me as we're walking out. Shamrock is the leader of all the Moderator Officials. He comes and helps us when we need it, and is very friendly.

"It was probably nothing," I suggest, not really wanting to think a lot about it. "Besides, if we start getting into that kind of conversation, we might get banned." Banned was simply another way of saying being "kicked out" of the City. I don't know who started the saying, but if you're new, you usually pick up the saying pretty quick. One time, a user started the rumor of a "Ban Hammer", assuming to be how you got "Banned" from the City.

"True." We walk in silence for a few minutes. "Where are you headed?"

"I guess back to FF. I made the excuse to K66 that I was going to call my parents, so I better go and do that." Bun nods her head. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right." She nods, smiling.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." She runs off in the opposite direction, leaving me to guess where she ran off to. Shrugging, I head into FF, lucky enough not to run into K66 on the way. It's pretty much like your basic apartment complex, except the number of floors went on what feels like forever. I walk into the elevator, press the button for floor 18, and wait as I am carried up the floors. I listen to the ding of the elevator passing the floors, counting each one on the digital screen as I go up. I walk off the elevator once it reaches floor 18, checking beforehand that it was on the correct floor. I walk down to door number 10, take out my key, unlock the door, and walk in.

My room is simple. There is a main hall when you first walk in, leading into the main room which has a brick fireplace, on the right wall, a flat screen TV on the brick, above the fire part of the fireplace, and a couch in front of that. There's a desk with a laptop on it in the left corner with an empty chair pushed in front of it. There's a door in the right corner, on the entry wall, that leads to my bedroom. It's another simple room with a full-size bed in it. There's a small digital clock on a simple wooden table in the right corner near the head, and a doorway to the bathroom in the middle of the wall on the left. There is a dresser on the right against the wall with the door from the Main Room. The closet is in the bathroom, which also consists of a shower, a toilet, and a washbasin.

Before you think that I'm a very bland and boring person, all rooms are like this. We're not really allowed to have "personal" items in the room. Unless it's something we wear or take with us, it's not really in the room. If you're also wondering how we eat, everything in LEC is basically free. You may have to sing a song or work for a day at a place, but it really isn't that bad. Keeps people from getting greedy, too, so I don't mind. Thankfully, we're also allowed to have our own beliefs as long as we don't talk about it too much. I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and sit in the chair near the desk. I dial my parents' house phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom."

"Zach? You're early in calling. Your father isn't home yet."

"I know, I know. I just wanted to let you know that I may be gone for a while. I'm taking a trip and I don't know if I'll have reception."

"Will you be home for Christmas?"

"I don't know. The trip kinda just popped up today." I listen to a worrying silence for a few seconds. "I will try to call every day. I promise."

"Yeah, okay." I hear her voice cracking a little, making me start to feel guilty in a way. "Where are you going?"

"It's classified, Mom. I wish I could tell you, I really do, but it just is. I'm sorry." I hear silence again, and I'm certain that she's probably crying again. I told her that I work for the Government and that where I live and do for a living is classified. She wouldn't understand this place like the people here do. Besides, no one can find it unless they're drawn to do something. Even if I tell her, she would forget as soon as we hung up. I've tried before; I was testing the rumor then, back when I first came.

"It's alright, son." I hear her sniffle. "Have a great time." I sigh.

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too." I hear her take a deep breath. "Be careful."

"I will. Bye." I hang up. Truth be told, I've never gone home. Not since I came. Some people just don't contact their families, letting them forget of their existence. I couldn't bear the thought of that. That's why I call or email every day. She will remember this conversation, hopefully, which will let her remember me for a few days or weeks, but after months of contacts, I will simply be gone from her mind as if I never existed. K66 is the same way. She hates the fact that she can't see her younger brother and family. Sometimes, if we somehow end up on this subject, she ends up crying on my shoulder while I comfort her. It almost always brings tears to my eyes.

I take a deep breath, not wanting to think of the situation any longer. Sighing, I look at the time: 5:00. Everyone's curfew was at 10. What am I going to do for five hours? I wonder. I lean back, put my hands behind my head, and stare at the ceiling. I wonder where K66 is right now. Bored, I walk out of my room. I head back into BB, finding it empty this time. The Iron King. I think, remembering the title of the book. I walk over to the bookshelf and find it almost immediately. I pick it up, sit on the couch, and start reading.

"Hey, Zach." I look up to see a girl with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail and blue eyes. LordTigress is wearing a light blue shirt, a black leather jacket, dark blue skinny jeans, and black boots that go up to her knees. Tigress was always a very talented writer. According to K66, at least. She told me a while back about one of her stories she's in the middle of writing. A Ninjago story called Roots of Earth. K66 didn't want to give a lot away without spoiling, but she did say it was very good and wanted to recommend it.

"Hi, Tigress. Good to see you." I smile.

"What ya reading? I didn't know you were in to that type stuff."

"I, uh, just started it. I saw K66 reading it earlier and thought I would try it. It's, uh-"

"I get the idea. No need to continue." I smile, grateful. "So. What are you doing for Christmas? Going home to family?" I give her a puzzled look.

"You know we can't go home. What would happen if we did." She looks over at the Customer Service desk, seeing that no one's there. Then she leans closer to me.

"Don't tell me you don't wonder," she whispers.

"I try not to," I state. "If we are caught talking about this-"

"Which is exactly why I'm whispering. Look. I heard Rome's going to help you find a present for K66. Before you ask, no, no one has told anyone. We just all know you two had done this for your birthdays, so everyone picked up on the fact that you'd be doing it for Christmas. Anyway, don't you think it would be nice if she could go somewhere other than here?" I stare into her eyes, studying them.

"Rome was already saying something along those lines. Except with the shows and movies she watches. What about it?"

"She could go home with what Rome is talking about. I don't know a lot about it either, but I do know that it will take you anywhere and everywhere." Her eyes go big, and I start to understand what she's saying.

"I'll be careful with it. I promise. I'll let her know of all the dangers." She shakes her head, smiling.

"That's not what I mean. She could leave us and never come back. We would never see her again." I swallow.

"But it would be worth it," I say, knowing it's the truth. I think back to those times she would cry on my shoulder. Crying because she thought of her brother. I swallow. "For me, it would be worth it to know that she would be with her family. She misses them."

"We all miss our families. Why is it different for her? Zach. You could get in big trouble for doing this." I shake my head.

"I have to take my chances." She looks down. "Tigress, I have to try." She looks back up, studying my face. She glances down for a second and looks back at me. Understanding, she nods her head.

"I will make sure she doesn't notice your leave too much." I smile.

"Thank you." She nods.

"Be careful." I watch as she walks out of the building. Swallowing, I put the book back up and back to FF. I go back up to my room. It's 8:00. I take a shower and change into my pajamas. Finding nothing else to do, I brush my teeth and climb into bed. 8:45 is the last time I know.

---

2 December, 2017

I woke up to my alarm going off at 8:00 in the morning. Three hours until I need to be at Sweets. I think. I turn off my alarm and get out of bed. I change into a green sweater with white dots all over it, blue jeans, and gray tennis shoes. I walk into the bathroom, comb my hair, and brush my teeth. When I'm done, I walk out and head over to BB again. There are a lot of different people in there, many are people I know. Disappointed, I see that K66 isn't there, and I walk on to Sweets. It's a normal café with tables everywhere. There's a bar in the middle of the room shaped like a square, and booths all around the wall. Different users were scattered among the seats and Sweets was busy attending to a customer. I have never personally been here, and I'm not sure if Rome or Bun has ever been here either, but I guess it didn't really matter. Either way, I didn't think any more about it once I spotted both of them sitting in a booth. A little stunned and surprised, I walk over to them and sit next to Bun.

"Little early, aren't we?" I ask. Rome smirks at me. He's wearing a green button up shirt and black pants. Bun is wearing a red sweater with a white outline of Mickey, gray sweatpants, and her tennis shoes.

"I had a feeling that you were getting antsy. Bun did too, apparently."

"I just found Rome here." I nod, smiling.

"What will it be friends?" I look up to see a girl with red hair and hazel eyes. She's wearing a yellow dress, black shoes, and white apron.

"Sweets," Rome says. "You're wearing your uniform. Shocking."

"Not careful enough, I'll have you in one too. Now, what will it be?" She gives him a playful glare.

"I'll have a pizza and fries," Bun says.

"I will, uh, also have that," I say, not sure if I really want that. Besides, I didn't really know what they served here.

"Make that three orders of pizza and fries," Rome says. Sweets gives him another playful glare before walking away.

"Uh..."

"That's the only real meal you can really get here, Zach." I nod my head, not really caring as long as it was good.

"So," I begin. "What exactly are we going to be looking for?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Rome answers. "We're going to eat here and head off. You can't tell anyone about the adventure we're going to face, either. No matter what. We're going to leave silently, without talking to anyone." Sweets comes back with our food.

"And that's why I said you're crazy, Rome. See what you miss when you're not here Zach?" Bun laughs, covering up what Rome was saying. I smile, trying to follow pursuit. Sweets gives us all a suspicious glance.

"Right," she says. "Three pizzas and fries. Enjoy." She puts plates in front of us and walks away. I dig in, now realizing how hungry I am.

Once I'm sure she's out of ear-shot, I say, "I will tell no one of this quest."

"Not even K66?" Rome asks, raising an eyebrow. I swallow.

"Not even her." Whether I'm lying or not, I'm not sure. Rome looks to Bun, apparently believing me.

"I won't tell anyone," she says, not smiling. Nodding, Rome starts to eat and we do the same. We take roughly 15 minutes to finish. Once we're done, Bun and I follow Rome into the street. Across the street, I see K66 walking out of FF.

"Rome?" I ask.

"Don't look at her," he commands. I look at Bun, instead.

"Shall we make conversation?" I mumble.

She laughs and then says, "What book is it called?"

"The Iron Knight," I say quickly. "I haven't read much of it, but it seems interesting. K66 seemed to like it."

"How can anyone like something that isn't Disney related?" she asks, instead.

"How can one not care for a Disney movie?" She gives me a confused look.

"What do you-"

"Star Wars ringing any bells?" She gives me a playful hit on the arm.

"Not funny," she states, trying not to smile. But she finds it very difficult since I'm smiling. We're both on the verge of laughing.

"Oi! Lovebirds. Will you get a move on?" We both blush, even though we know he's joking. We hurry up and focus on following Rome for the rest of the trip, not speaking the rest of the way.

We eventually make it to a house at the very edge of the City. I mean the very edge. Like the city limits are right next to the house. It's an old house, too. It's a log cabin with shamrocks in the yard. Rome bounds up the small steps and knocks on the door.

"Is this?" Bun begins to ask. Just then, Shamrock opens the door. He has short brown hair and green eyes. He's wearing a suit that is, well, green. I see past him that his house, where the walls, floors, and ceiling may be brown, all the decorations are green.

"M-Mr.Shamrock , " I barely manage to get the words out of my mouth. I have never personally met him, myself, but I had seen glimpses of him in the street and pictures of him in the newspaper.

"Hello, Gnuehchcaz , bun02 , and RomeNZ . I have been expecting you." My eyes go big.

"You have?" Bun asks.

"Of course. RomeNZ told me you were coming. Now, do come in." We follow him inside. "Have a seat. I will be back momentarily." In a way, it's kinda like my apartment, except for no TV and everything is either brown or green. There's a green table on a green rug in front of a green couch facing a brown fireplace. We all sit down on the couch. We have probably been seated for two minutes when he comes back in, carrying a big old yellow-orange book.

"What's that?" Bun asks, ignoring Rome's disapproving stare that says "You're-not-going-to-show-any-respect-to-the-leader-of-the-city?". I have difficulty not smiling.

"This, bun02 , is a very old book." She glares at him before directing her gaze to the book, curiously. He stands in-between the fireplace and table.

"About?" I ask. He looks at me, his emerald eyes studying me as though he was seeing in my future.

"Today? A gift. Tomorrow? Who knows?" He opens the book to a random page, sitting it on the table. We lean forward to see the page. There is a picture of a beautiful crystal necklace. There's a diamond-shaped gem at the end with a purple circle in the middle. "This necklace can take you anywhere you wish to go. It is a dangerous journey; no one knows how long it will take."

"I'm ready," I say, never feeling more determined. I look at Shamrock in his eyes. "I don't care what it takes. I just know that this is perfect for her." He gives me a blank stare.

"And what of your companions?" I look at Rome and Bun.

"I, uh, know that a quest of any kind is against the rules," Rome begins. "Which is why I shall be supervising this moderator-controlled vacation." He winks at me.

"I will gladly volunteer for this, uh, vacation," Bun says happily. I smirk at the little "cover-up".

"Great," Shamrock says. "Allow me to tell you about the Necklace of Travel."