All Eight Guardians

I woke up the next morning to Nick trying to push me awake using his nose.

I sleepily cracked open one eye and said, "Not now Nick, I'm still tired."

'I let you sleep in already. Everyone else has gotten up and are getting ready to leave.' Nick replied.

I silently groaned, "Fine. I'm getting up."

Nick nodded, satisfied, and trotted out of the room.

I sat up and glanced around the room to see I was the only one in it.

Moose walked past the open door and I noticed he was not wearing the school uniform like we all had been wearing since we arrived to this alternate universe. Instead he was wearing a black tee shirt, blue jeans, and some kind of white tennis shoes.

"Where did he get those clothes?!" I asked myself.

I got up and rushed to the door to ask him, but when I reached the door and glanced down the hall he was gone.

"What are you doing?" a female voice questioned, making me jump. I turned around and came face to face with Annabelle who was also wearing a different outfit.

She was wearing a white corset top, a black leather mini shirt, and knee-length black leather boots.

"Where did you get those clothes?" I asked her.

"In my closet, duh." she replied.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "You have a closet?" I asked.

"Uhhhh yeah. We all do." she said.

"Where?" I questioned.

Annabelle walked into my room and up to a ceiling to floor white curtain that I hadn't paid much attention to before. She drew back the curtain to reveal racks stacked upon racks of clothing.

"Woah." I said quietly. How did I not notice this before?

"Y'know, for having zero kinds of advanced technology, they sure are up to date on their fashion." Annabelle said, "They have every style of clothing but no labels." she added.

Annabelle began to walk away and I asked her, "Where are you going?"

"Leaving so you can change." Annabelle replied before she walked out of the room.

After about five minutes of shuffling through the racks, I picked out an outfit. I walked into the bathroom and took a quick bath. When I was done I changed into a green spaghetti strapped shirt with a loose fitting v-necked shirt over it, a pair of skinny blue jeans, and my own Converse shoes.

I walked out of the guest room and into the hallway where Roman was leaning against the wall waiting for me. He was quick to look my appearance up and down before he said, "Wow. You look nice."

I smirked at him, "I'm showing far less skin than Annabelle."

Roman pulled himself off the wall and walked up to me, "No matter. You still look great." he said as he smiled.

I lightly blushed and changed the subject, "When do we leave?" I asked.

"Soon." he replied.

"Will Base be traveling with us?" I asked again.

Roman shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not sure. Haven't seen him all morning."

"Ahh, then we should go straight to the source." I said.

"Huh?" Roman questioned.

I side stepped Roman and walked over to Base's guest room where I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Base's voice echoed from inside.

I pushed open the double doors and as soon as Base realized it was me he shot up to his feet and snuffed out the cigarette he had been smoking by twisting it onto a flat white plate on the table which already had two or three smoked cigs abandoned on it.

Base waved away the lingering smoke in the air and stuttered, "G-Good morning Karri."

I smiled, "Morning Base."

"What are you doing here?" Base questioned, "I thought you'd be preparing for your journey to Peace."

"That's why I'm here. I can to ask if you will be coming with us." I replied.

Base straightened up, "I would be honoured." he answered.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to though." I said quietly.

"No, I want to... Besides, I said I would protect you and I will." Base said.

I smiled, nodded once, and said, "Glad to see you're on board. Now get ready quickly because we'll be leaving soon."

Base nodded quickly several times before he began to scurry around his guest room, packing up all the things he needed.

I walked out of Base's room and down the hall.

'Y'know, that's why they all like you.' Nick said from behind me.

'Holy crap!' I said as I spun around on my heel, 'How long have you been standing there?!'

'Uhh... Since Roman checked you out, I think? Yeah, right about there.' Nick replied.

'And you didn't think to make your presence known?' I asked.

'Nope.' Nick said as he popped the 'P.'

'Great, thanks.' I groaned, '...So what were you saying when you scared the crap out of me?' I asked as the two of us started to walk down the hall together.

'Right, yeah. I think I know why all the guys like you.' Nick started.

'...And?' I pressed.

'You're too nice.' he finished.

"Too nice?!" I snapped as I stopped walking.

Two random guards looked at me skeptically and I offered them an awkward smile before Nick and I continued down the hall. 'What do you mean I'm too nice?' I asked.

'You made Base feel obligated that he had to come with us, yet he is anyways to protect you. You let Roman oogle your appearance without telling him to screw off and you let Moose insult you all the time.' Nick listed off.

'Actually, Moose doesn't insult me that much.' I said as I thought about the conversation Moose and I had the day before.

'Great. You're too nice and you're in denial.' Nick said as he trotted off ahead of me.

"I am not in denial!" I called after him.

"What are you not in denial of?" Sykes the inventor questioned as he caught up to me.

Okay. People have got to stop surprising me from behind.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I said as I smiled.

"Oh, alright." Sykes said quietly, "I have something for you." he said as he changed the subject.

I stopped and turned to Sykes with a hint of a smile on my face, "Really? What is it?" I asked curiously.

Sykes' smile grew as he noticed the neon yellow shrunken head with a green pony tail clipped to one of the belt loops on my jeans. "I see you have decided to use the headphone."

I patted the shrunken head and grinned a little wider, "Yes, I'm hoping it will come in handy... Shame there's only two of them though." I said, a little crestfallen at the end.

"Then maybe these will cheer you us." Sykes said as he held out three more shrunken heads.

One was white with a black pony tail. Another was crystal clear with a silver ponytail. The last was a red head with an orange ponytail.

"Wow." I whispered, "These are so cool!"

Sykes chuckled and handed me all three shrunken heads, "I found them in my office and I thought your friends would like to have one of their own as well."

I nodded, "Yes, thank you so much."

"Of course." Sykes replied, "King Ode told me to help you kids out however I can anyways."

I smiled a bit awkwardly, "Well, thanks again but I really should get going. We have to leave soon." I said as I started to walk away.

"Right! Enjoy and be safe on your journey to the Kingdom of Peace!" Sykes called after me.

I walked to the courtyard in front of King Ode's throne room and found everyone saddling up Lillix and packing the wagon.

As I got closer I called out, "Hey guys!" and every head snapped up in my direction. "Errr I mean... Annabelle, Moose, John!"

The three walked up to me and Moose crossed his arms as he said, "This better be good."

I smiled a bit, "Okay, so you know that headphone I showed you yesterday?" I asked.

Moose raised an eyebrow, "You mean that creepsville shrunken head thing?" he asked back.

I nodded, "Yeah that."

"What about it?" he asked.

"Sykes, the inventor, found a few more of them and there's one for each of you." I said as I held out the three shrunken heads.

Moose picked up the crystal clear head with the silver ponytail and examined it as he muttered, "I guess they're not that bad."

John picked out the red shrunken head with the orange hair and clipped it to his pants.

Annabelle picked up the white head with the black pony tail and examined it from all angles before she said, "These things are weird. Exactly what are they for?"

"Sykes said they work like universal walkie talkies. You just say something into the ear and the lips move when someone responds." I explained.

"Huh." Annabelle mused quietly.

Moose got a mischievous look in his eye and before anyone could ask him what he was thinking, he raised the headphone up and muttered, "Penis." into the ear. Annabelle's, John's and my headphones all repeated, "Penis."

Moose chuckled at his little joke until I punched him in the shoulder and called him a dumbass.

Moose stepped up to me, trying to intimidate me and asked, "What the hell was that for?!"

Unintimidated, I stepped forward too, closing in what little distance there was between us. "King Ode has his own headphone too and no doubt he just heard what you said." I spat.

John grabbed onto Moose's shoulder and pulled him back a couple of steps.

"How the hell was I supposed to know that?!" Moose questioned, still heated.

"I told you yesterday." I muttered before I side stepped the trio and walked over to the wagon.