Chapter One

"Why must dis happen? Why why why?"
"Whatchya talkin bout Cwabby?"
Sebastian the 螃蟹 turned to the two mice before him. "Every 年 I'm all set and ready to retire. And every 年 someting comes up dat makes me wait on and on to do dat!" he groaned. "It's always de same thing...babysitting de girls!"
"No worry, Cwabby. We'll help ya!" Jaq, one of the mice declared.
"Uh, yup!" the 更多 chubby one, Gus, added.
"Sides, isn't dere some magic guy comin ta help, too?" Jaq asked.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at the rodents. "It's called a Genie."
"Did someone call me?" a voice exclaimed. Then, in a blue puff of smoke, the big blue comedic genius Genie appeared. "He's big, he's blue, he's back!"
"We know dat." Sebastian responded. "Are all de kids here?"
"Oh yeah, I got them all set in the little cafe area. All I've gotta do is poof up some 食物 for them and bada-bing bada-boom. It's 晚餐 time!"
"Ooooh! Cheese!" Gus exclaimed, clapping his hands.
"Forget de cheese, man!" Sebastian threw his claws up in the air. He turned back to Genie. "How are all de kids doing?"
"We just took them away from their parents! How do 你 think they're feeling?" Genie gasped dramatically. He pulled out an oversized tissue and started blubbering like a whale. "They're all torn up inside!"
Sebastian couldn't help but hit his head. The 螃蟹 had completely 迷失 count at how many years he's been doing this for, and every 年 it never seemed to get any better. This time wasn't much different. He was still babysitting a girl, and he was still stuck as some messanger crab. The one thing that did change, and the thing that probably annoyed him the most, was that he was stuck with all these loonatics. Cheese-loving mice and some guy living in a lamp. Sebastian's 说 it before and he'll say it again: "I'm getting too old for dis!"
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"Most. Boring. Place. Ever."
All the other kids in the cafeteria turned their heads to Jamal doing nothing but scratching his little monkey's head.
"Oh relax." Amara 说 from a 表 由 his. "you're 表演 like such a big baby."
The boy automatically shot out of his seat, scaring the monkey. "I am not a baby!" he insisted.
"I'm sure it is all a big misunderstanding." James shrugged his shoulders. He sat across from Amara and beared resemblance to her, though spoke with a foreign accent. "Watch, we will be out of here before 你 know it."
"What do 你 think they're talking about in there anyway?" River inquired.
"It's a 螃蟹 and two mice." 讨好, 小鹿 responded. "They must be talking about some very important animal related items."
"I'm sure everything's going to be fine." Chris spoke up. "If we make a big deal out of nothing going on now, nothing's going to get better."
Harmony sighed and rested her head on her hand. "Yeah well nothing's going to get better if we just sit here either, whether we're supposed to 或者 not." She raised an eyebrow, noticing the girl sitting 下一个 to her not paying attention to anything and just 阅读 a book. "How can 你 read at a time like this?"
"Easy. I open the book and I read the words." Jenette answered simply.
"Hey, I just asked. I don't need a smart allec answer." the redhead replied.
"Is there anyway we can just find out what they're talking about in there?" the first girl asked.
"I'm on it!" Jamal exclaimed. He jumped out of his 座位 and ran over to the door in the back. Pressing his head against it, he tried to hear the conversation inside. He could hear a few clear words, but most other things sounded like whispers.
"Well, what are they saying?" James questioned.
"I don't know. They just stopped." Jamal realized. The 下一个 thing he knew, the door flew open and he fell onto his back. Appearing before all the kids were Sebastian and Genie, along with Jaq and Gus. Seeing them, the boy quickly ran back to his seat.
Genie nervously tapped his fingers together. "Alright kids, now we've got something very important to tell you. See...the thing of it is...well 你 see..."
Sebastian hit his head.Genie was having a hard time getting it out so he decided to say it himself. "We don't know when we're all getting out of here!"
That response earned gasps from the kids.
"Now, now, I know dis all comes as a very big shock." Sebastian said. "But we must stay strong! We are 安全 here and we must stay togeder! Now everyone is going to have roommates. Dat means sharing a room for everyone!"
Genie tapped Sebastian on the shoulder. "Actually there may be a little problem with that. There's an odd number of boys and girl here. We can't have one of those co-ed rooms."
James raised his hand. "Actually, I would not mind sharing a room. I am willing to take one for the team." he said, eyeing the other girls in the room, causing a roll of the eyes from the one sitting near him.
"Now hold it right dere, buster...!" Sebastian demanded, ready to make his way over to him if he weren't being held back 由 Jaq and Gus. "May I remind 你 dat one of dose girls 你 are eyeing is under my supervision specifically?"
"But I do not see another 螃蟹 in the room." he shrugged his shoulders.
Sebastian growled, but was lightly pushed back 由 Genie's finger. "Step aside old-timer. I'll handle this." Genie 说 floating over to the boy.
"Old-timer!" Sebastian gasped, jumping and causing Jaq and Gus to jump with him. Sebastian knew he was getting on in years, but he didn't need to be reminded 由 this guy.
"Alright kid, so obviously old Crabby there's got issues." Genie 说 sitting on the 表 pointing to Sebastian. "Maybe we can all work something out here. What's your name kid?"
"I am James, prince of Maldonia!" he declaerd. He then lightly gestured to the first girl. "And this is my sister Amara who is not as important."
"Excuse me?" Amara folded her arms, glaring at her brother. "I'm only ten 分钟 younger than you."
"Twelve minutes." James corrected with a grin.
She stood up and eyed him. "So 你 can add two numbers together. Big deal. Who is the one that calculates exact tax, cash, and change all in her mind in less than a minute?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "That is because 你 go shopping far too much."
Amara held up her hand, ready to argue when Genie smiled and put his arms around the twins.
"Oh this is perfect!" he said. "You're brother and sister, 你 can share a room. Everyone else can pick a roomate."
"What?" the two gasped simultaneously, pulling away from Genie.
"I am not sharing a room with her! I see enough of her at home!" James insisted.
"And I'm tired of seeing his Hello Kitty boxers all over the floor." Amara folded her arms.
James gritted his teeth, trying to keep quiet and ignore everyone else's giggles. "No one is supposed to know about those."
"Will somebody just talk some nonsence into dese two?" Sebastian complained.
"Sebastian, don't 你 have a blood pressure problem? 你 really should take it easy." Harmony told the crab.
"Oh please don't turn into your moder on me now." he hit his head once more.
Jaq smiled and pet Sebastian's back. "No worries, Cwabby. We still 爱情 ya."
"Dat makes me fell so much bedder." he muttered sarcastically.
Chris raised his hand. "May I say something please?" Everyone looked to the blond-haired boy and he stood up. "Ok, so we've got problems here. We're supposed to. But we don't know how long we're even going to be here for. It may not be long at all. So how about the rest of us choose our roomate and if Amara and James need time away from each other, I'm sure we can make room for them for a night 或者 two."
"Dat a good idea, Cwissy." Jaq said.
Gus smiled and clapped his hands. "Cwissy smart!"
"Give the kid a 金牌 star!" Genie smiled. He stuck a huge 星, 星级 sticker on Chris, one that was big enough to actually make him fall over. Genie rubbed his chin. "Too big huh?" He then picked it up off of him.
"Very well den." Sebastian gave in. He went over to the redhead. "But I'm staying in de same room as Harmony."
She groaned and covered her face. "Don't tell everyone my name."
"Too late." Sebastian replied.
"He's just looking out for you." Jenette said. "Besides if he's your temporary guardian he's suposed to embarrass you."
"Gee, thanks." Harmony muttered.
"Alright, everything is all settled and happy!" Genie exclaimed. "I'm going to do a role call now! Everyone stand up! I'm gonna make sure everyone's here."
"i'll go see if anyone else we know is coming." Sebastian said, hopping off the 表 and heading out.
"I'm gonna get some cheese!" Jaq exclaimed, running back into the kitchen.
"Wait for me!" Gus gasped, running after his friend.
Genie floated over the room, making sure everyone was present. "Alright so we've got Fawn, Chris, Harmony, Jenette..." He then saw a dirty-blond haired girl trying to keep to herself. "Well, 你 must be Angelina." he said. "Now what are 你 doing here all 由 yourself?"
"Oh...nothing." Angelina responded quietly.
"Well now, you're not gonna find your perfect roomate 由 sitting here all alone. Get out there and make some new friends!" Genie encouraged, lightly pushing her out of her 座位 and urging her to the other side of the cafeteria. The magical being then took another look around. "James, Amara...River...Jamal."
"Hey man, 你 know me. I see 你 all the time. 你 took me on a trip to see those belly dancers." Jamal told Genie.
"Belly dancers?" James raised an eyebrow with a grin. He was liking the sound of that.
Jamal looked 更多 than happy to start explaining, but Genie quickly covered the boy's mouth. "Alright, we'll just keep that trip our little secret." He looked around once more, getting the odd feeling that he was missing something. "Now I thought there was one more..."
Amara pointed to a young Chinese boy in the corner. "There's him over there."
Genie flew over to him. Transforming himself into a coin, he flipped himself to land in front of Ping. "Penny for your thoughts?"
Ping shook his head. "No thanks."
"You sure? Everyone's gonna pair up for roomies."
"I'm fine, thanks." Ping responded. "Just gotta use the little boy's room." He then got up and went to find the restroom.
Genie's face fell as he turned back into his big blue self. "Boy, and I thought I looked blue." They were just lucky no one had questioned why they were here 或者 when they would be able to go home. And there was no way anyone could tell the kids how dangerous it would be out there. With the way the darkness had spread across all their kingdoms so quickly, there was no telling when it would be 安全 或者 how long they could go without seeing their families for sure. It was even harder when all the kids barely knew each other. But Genie knew one thing for sure - this was going to be much, much harder than he'd thought.