Disclaimer: I only own the stuff I made up. The rest belongs to the rightful owners.

Author's Note: These fanfiction one-shots are short stories, but are confirmed canon to the Cassie and Derek stories. They serve as either prequels or sequels.


Cassie Drake: The Daughter of Nathan Drake, seventeen, inexperienced, and a college student with a dry sense of humor.

Derek Lowell: Cassie's best friend, observant sidekick, and male equivalent.

Prof. Harvey: Cassie and Derek's college professor who takes them on a trip to Easter Island.

Peyton Piers: A sociopathic student at Cassie's college and bully.


Extended summary

Cassie Drake and Derek Lowell, two seventeen-year-old students at the University of Hawaii in Maui go on their very first adventure. It starts when they're fifteen, and concludes when they are seventeen. They get a glimpse of the life that they were destined for and the evolution from curious students to amateur archaeologists. Time to go back to where it all started on Easter Island.


It's not what you find, it's what you find out.

David Hurst Thomas

June 2029

Maui, Hawaii

Cassandra Drake ran as fast as she could. She looked back not once. She was happy she was in good shape. She was going to beat her best friend in a race. But she lost by several inches. Cassie looked at her fifteen-year-old best friend as she was catching her breath. His name was Derek Williamson Lowell, standing at five-eleven, one-sixty pounds, curly brown hair, hazel-brown eyes, fair skin, and a ripped athletic build and he was Cassandra 'Cassie' Drake's best friend.

"Good job Derek. I will get you next time though." She shook Derek's hand.

"We'll see about that Daughter of Nathan Drake," Derek said with a laugh. He stared at her hazel-green eyes (through her contacts) and wavy dirty blonde hair that reached her neck.

"So, before we have to head down, you want to go exploring?" Cassie asked.

"Why not. The jungle is right over there," he pointed. The two began running into the jungle. Cassie looked at her watch and decided that they will go adventuring for ten minutes before turning home.

They noticed someone digging with a pick. They got a closer look at the man. He looked nothing like an archeologist. He was a graverobber. He found something metallic in the ground with his metal detector. He was going to unearth something then sell it for money and hammered the shovel into the ground.

Cassie and Derek hid behind a tree and watched as he unearthed something. It looked like a tablet of some sorts.

"A tablet of unknown origins," the graverobber said softly, wiping it clean of the dirt. "How much would people pay for this?" He began examining the tablet. He murmurs that it must have been handcrafted by ancient Polynesians and attempts to read some of the writing. It was written in an ancient language that he couldn't understand. "When you have a college degree in History, you need to know the language," he commented to himself. He puts the tablet down on the ground and when he turned his head away and turned back, it was gone.

The graverobber looked over his shoulder and saw Cassie running with the tablet and Derek following. He gives chase. Cassie and Derek were fifteen and the graverobber was seven years older. He easily caught up to them.

He grabs Derek by the collar and Cassie by the shoulder. "Nice try you, stupid kids. Trying to steal my treasure."

"Get the hell off me!" Cassie told while struggling. She tried breaking out of his grip but speaking in combat terms, she was unable to. Derek was barely holding his own. The graverobber was surprisingly strong enough to overpower both teenagers.

"I will let you both go if you give me the tablet," the graverobber ordered firmly. Cassie knew better and gave him the tablet, deciding that it wasn't worth her fifteen-year-old life. The graverobber smiled at the table and let them both go as a result. He looked at the language before looking at Cassie. "Are you super smart in history, kid?" the graverobber asked both Cassie and Derek.

"I guess we are," Cassie answered. Even if they were going to die, why not just go out with a bang and read something historic. They were freed and had every opportunity to run but they both chose not to.

"You look familiar," the graverobber squinted at Cassie. "How about this, you tell me everything you know about this tablet and maybe I'll give you kids something in exchange for your troubles in trying to steal it in the first place?"

Cassie shrugged and then began telling the graverobber everything she knew about the ancient Polynesians and how the tablet could have been crafted. "Now can you compensate us, graverobber?" She asked politely.

The graverobber recognized her. "Now I recognize you. You're Cassie Drake, The Daughter of Nathan Drake. I am a huge fan of his work." He looks down at the tablet. Cassie and Derek could have run, but they were curious and he sensed it. To be talking to Nathan Drake's daughter was like a dream come true for him. "Cassie, do you know the kind of life your parents used to run before you were born?"

"Yes," she answered; her parents told her everything.

"I am fully aware of their lives too," Derek also admitted.

The graverobber gave a long sigh before he regarded Cassie. "Y'know what, Cassie? Take this tablet. It belongs to someone like you. I can already see you turning into your father." He hands her the tablet and she accepts it graciously like a fan being given something by their idol.

She was about to leave with Derek, but curiosity got the better of her. "What's your name?"

"Rick."


Two Years Later

June 2031

"Alex Sierra Anderson!" The principal called and everyone cheered. Alex got up and went to receive her diploma.

Cassie smiled at the gown she wore. She was graduating from high school at seventeen along with Derek. She now stood at five-foot-eight and had slightly longer hair but still retained her waviness and dirty blonde color. Derek was now six-foot-one and a little more muscular.

Cassie stared into the audience. Her mother, father, grandfather, uncle, aunt, and three cousins (including her newborn one) watched as she was about to receive her diploma at this very moment.

"Robert Gerald Bowman," the principal called out. Robert went to collect his diploma. The principal began calling out more names and they all received their diplomas. "Marcus Jackson Cleveland. Anthony Gray Daniels. Paul Mitchell Dorrance."

Cassie's eyes went wide as she expected to hear her name being called. "Cassandra Morgan Drake." Nate, Elena, Sam, Magna, Andy, Nancy, and Sully cheered as loud as they could as they saw Cassie receive her diploma.

She joined the group who were already called and waited for Derek to be called up. "Derek Williamson Lowell." Cassie cheered for her friend and so did Derek's parents in the crowd. Derek got his diploma and walked towards the crowd people.

Cassie and Derek stood at different distances from each other and watched as the others received their diplomas.

After everyone got their diplomas, the principal said a few words into the mic. She gave a very inspirational speech about how everyone who graduated had earned their place in society and they deserve to get their diplomas. At least 97% of over four hundred and fifty seniors were going to college. After the principal gave her inspiration speech, everyone cheered and clapped.

Like every tradition that followed, all seniors threw their caps into the air and the crowd went wild.

"Seniors, enjoy the rest of your lives," the principal says one last time into the mic.

While every senior was cheering, Cassie and Derek reunited and hugged each other tightly. When they were done, Cassie and Derek looked at each other in the eye with a smile on each other's faces. "Well, D-Man, how does it feel now that we are free of school?!" she shouted through the loud crowd.

"It feels good, Cassie!" Derek answered delightfully. He stared at her for a very brief moment and all of a sudden, his heart dropped to his stomach. He dropped his smile. When he looked into Cassie's eyes, he didn't see a girl who had been his friend since they were ten, he saw someone who he liked. Someone who he suddenly fell in love with. Cassie and Derek first met each other on the first day of fourth grade and became instant best friends. They have been best friends for a very long time, but now, Derek was starting to develop feelings for Cassie.

He leans in to kiss her, but something interrupts them. Nate and Elena were calling out to Cassie. Derek waved goodbye and went to regroup with his parents.

"Hey Cassie, we can't tell you how proud we are of you," her mother said.

"You graduating as a senior at seventeen, you got my intelligence from me," her father spoke next.

Her uncle and grandfather hugged Cassie tightly. Her uncle asked the question, "So now that you are free from school, now what?"

She already had an answer and with a smile, she said, "Well, I already filled out an application for several colleges and I was accepted by one. Derek and I have been accepted into the University of Hawaii in Maui. As of 2029, it's the best school for archeology in the country."

"Man, I love that college. It's the best for what field she wants," her mother supposed.

"It's close at least," her father interjected.

"And your parents didn't have to pay for it," her grandfather went in with a laugh.


Two weeks later

"It has been barely two weeks since the school's over and you are already going to college," Cassie's mother almost cried.

"I know. I'm moving my stuff there. I won't live there until August," Cassie clarified.

"It feels like only yesterday that you were wearing diapers." Her mother began crying. "You kids grow up so fast." She hugs Cassie tightly.

"Mom, I am still gonna be here. If it makes you happy, I will visit every holiday."

"You come every day after school. I always want to make sure my baby girl is okay." Her mother released Cassie from her hug.

Cassie's father came into Cassie's room and hugged Cassie tightly. Saying no words, Cassie knew she didn't need to say anything. Neither did her father.

Her parents personally drove Casie to the University of Hawaii in Maui. This place was beautiful, bright with its school colors across the walls, and most of all, it was free.

"This place is magnificent," Mother said in awe.

"And it's free," Father said.

"Whatever you say, cheapskate," Mother countered.

"I ain't cheap."

Cassie ignored them and picked up a few stacked boxes and took them to her dorm. Mother and Father following.

"This is officially going to be your place for the next several years until you get your Ph.D. in eight years. You'll be twenty-five by then," Father pointed out.

"Well, I will be twenty-four when I get my Master's Degree and twenty-six when I get my Ph.D. in archaeology. So nine years, technically," Cassie corrected. "Derek is also minoring in Art history."

"Well, the most important thing to remember when you are in college is to study hard and have fun," Mother told.

Derek and his parents came into the room. Derek's mother Erica and his father, Richard said hello to Cassie's parents.

"Hey, Cassie. You move your stuff here?"

"Yeah, college starts in August." Cassie laughed at Derek.

Derek felt his heartbeat increase.

"So, how have you been D-Man?"

"Good, been looking up some archeological sites around the world that we could visit during our time off. There is one currently on Easter Island."

"Easter Island, I have always wanted to go there."

"Me too. I heard a rumor from one of the professors say that we may go to Easter Island and learn about the Moai statues."

Cassie smiled before sighing. "I hope that rumor is true."

Cassie set her stuff down on the ben and helped Derek out. "So D-Man, you are my roommate for the next nine years."

Derek paused and felt like passing out. He felt like he was being implied that he and Cassie might start a relationship. "Yes."

"Good. I wonder if we could join a frat."


Two months later

Cassie now slept in her dorm room with Derek on the other side of the room. In six hours, the first day of college was going to start. She was very nervous. Her mother gave her some advice about college and it calmed her down a bit. When she felt like she couldn't sleep, she watched the 1993 Cliffhanger movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rooker on her phone.

Eventually, Cassie did fall asleep. She was awoken by her alarm clock. She got out of bed and saw Derek waking up in the other bed. "What a night," She muttered to herself. "I dreamt of falling off a mountain, yet I survived somehow."

She looked at the time. Class started in exactly one hour. Plenty of time to take a ten-minute shower. She quickly gathers her clothes and goes into the bathroom to take a shower.

Derek was too impatient to wait to take a shower and decided to take one in the men's room. However, someone put up a men's room sign over the women's room sign and Derek walked right into the ladies locker room.

He realized too late that he was in the ladies room. No woman saw him as all their backs were turned. Derek immediately ran out as fast as he could and decided to wait for Cassie to finish up showering. He hoped no girl saw him in the ladies room because from what he heard in college, rumors spread like a wildfire ten times faster than any rumor in high school.

"Hey Derek," Cassie called upon noticing Derek's return. "Where ya been?" Derek was too embarrassed to talk. He just went into the shower. Cassie gathered her books and went out into the hallway. There was a herd of people walking all across campus.

She waited for Derek to come out and walk her to class. Derek came out, wearing nice clothes and he escorted her to her first class which was Anthropology.

Cassie sat in the front row seat and Derek sat beside her. Since the class was getting ready to start in two minutes, Cassie took out her book about the First Crusade and read it. The First Crusade started in 1095 and ended in 1099. A long time to wait.

The bell rang, time to learn. A young middle-aged man came into the room wearing square glasses and a red and blue striped tie. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Professor Harvey and I hope you have a taste for ancient civilizations because our topic for the entire will semester will be Anthropology."

Cassie and Derek listened to every single word that he said. Until they overheard some girls talking about some guy that came running out the ladies locker room while they were showering. Derek said nothing but kept a good and straight poker face that was enough to throw Cassie's suspicions off of him.

"Now, in today's lesson, we are going to talk about a lost civilization on Easter Island. Any of you guys that have gone to Easter Island have probably seen the Moai statues. Well, several archaeologists at Easter Island have just found out that the ancient Polynesians had a massive and almost advanced civilization there. We have several tablets to prove it. All of the tablets are written in an ancient language that nobody had been able to translate so far."

Harvey draws the Polynesian tablet. Cassie and Derek immediately recognized it as the one that Rick tried to steal two years ago, but gave it to Cassie.

She smiles with a cocky expression. "I can read the Polynesian language," She says to herself proudly.

She raises her hand and Harvey calls on her. She was called up to the board and was writing the language on the board and read it. "It translates that the Polynesians built the Moai Statues not only with their bare hands but a supernatural force from a lost city underground called Hawaiki. The tablet says that the Polynesians made seven other tablets that act as maps to find Hawaiki. This tablet says whoever possess the power in Hawaiki, has the potential to be invincible, invulnerable to any physical attack and build empires in a single day. That power is unstable though."

A young student in the crowd smiled at this idea. The idea of being unkillable sounded like a sweet idea to him that he shook in his sneaker. He now set himself a goal. He was going to find Hawaiki and grant himself the power of Hawaiki. He had nothing to show for himself and he had been wronged too many times in his life and it was time to even the score.


October 2031

Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island

Two months later, Harvey took Cassie, Derek, and twenty-three other students to Easter Island for research on the moai statues. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to join us on our research lab tour of Easter Island," the lead scientist said.

The twenty-five students were inside a big research facility that looked like something right out of a science fiction movie. There were advanced laboratory equipment and all kinds of unidentified insects. Right now, the lead scientist, a thinning young ginger-haired woman, who was showing everyone the science lab and in the science lab, research about the mysterious tablets were everywhere.

Cassie was taking huge interests in this little field trip. She and Derek did a little digging around, hoping that they were about to unearth a miniature moai statue, only to discover that it was just a shovel. Other than that, everything was perfect. Until someone shoved her. She was able to maintain her balance and turned around to see who it was. It was none other than Peyton Piers, a six-foot-tall, red-haired, blue-eyed, tan-skinned, Oahu native, an eighteen-year-old jerky college kid who frequently physically and verbally bullied Cassie, but not Derek. But his friends Andrew Lorentz - who was seventeen, African-American and stood at five-foot-ten, had wavy brown hair and eyes - and William Valentine - a sixteen-year-old Maui native with straight black hair, brown eyes, and heavy weighted - did, however.

"Leave me alone Peyton," Cassie demanded as she faced him.

Peyton did nothing but laugh with a hint of sadism in his voice. "Or what Cassie Drake?"

"Or else I will punch you in the nose."

"Yeah right, I dare you to." Peyton laughed with his friends.

"Hey Peyton, how about we beat up both of them after tonight?" William suggested aloud. "Andrew and I can take turns punching Derek while you can beat the shit out of Cassie."

Harvey appeared behind Cassie seemingly out of nowhere. "What is going on over here?"

Peyton and his friends said nothing, but Cassie and Derek were about to talk and deny until Harvey was called back.

"Peyton, Andrew, William, I am warning you. Leave us alone or things will get dicey," Cassie threatened.

"Looks like the bitch is threatening us," Peyton told his friends. They laugh before walking off.

Derek pats Cassie on the back. "We came here to learn, not to fight. Let's get back on schedule."

Cassie and Derek caught up with the other students.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, what you are seeing on the projector is a picture of all of the Moai statues on the island. If you notice, the tablets bear a striking resemblance to the moai statues, especially with the ancient Polynesian language. It's spectacular. According to one of your students, you said that Hawaiki may be here on Easter Island. Well, with the tablet translated, we can most certainly find out."

Cassie liked what the lead scientist said. It made her feel like she made something. She remembered a quote that David Hurst Thomas said. It's not about what you find, it's about what you find out. She was going to make her quotes one of these days.

"By the way, what was the name of that student who translated the Polynesian language on the tablet?"

Cassie raised her hand. The lead scientist asked how she knew ancient Polynesian. "My dad taught me, just like he taught me Latin. I have one of the tablets back home in Maui."

"You think you could ask someone to bring it, we may need it in our search for Hawaiki?" The lead scientist asked politely.

"I think I can." She took out her phone and called the two people she trusted besides Derek. Her friend halted her, saying before they left, he acquired the tablet for her because it would make sense to bring it with them on the trip. "Derek, you beautiful son of a bitch."

About an hour later, Cassie and Derek were now eating at a restaurant with the other twenty-three students and their college professor. When nobody was looking, Peyton, who was sitting beside Cassie, poured apple juice in her hair. She flips out and punches him hard in the face. He goes falling off the table and went landing on his hard on his back to the ground.

He puts a finger to his lips and growls when he realized that he was bleeding. Everybody saw this little incident happening but nobody did anything, just resumed eating. It was like this happened daily, and it ironically happens regularly back in Maui.

"Thanks for the punch to the mouth Cassie. I think I'll be leaving now," Peyton groaned in a somewhat sad voice.

"Wait, Peyton doesn't go. Cassie, you assaulted Peyton," Andrew berated.

"Me? He shoved me earlier, which is considered assault, and he wanted to punch me. I just returned the favor."

"That is correct, Cassie, Peyton, if you mess with Cassie again, then I will personally make sure you fail my class," Harvey threatened.

"Fine." Peyton sat back in his seat next to William and Andrew.

Cassie and Derek finished their bowl of soup and ordered dessert off the menu. "Hey Cassie, you should try the gumbo pie, it's amazing," Derek told.

"Okay, I trust you," Cassie asked the waitress for two of the gumbo pie.

After they finished, Derek was waiting for Cassie to answer. "I gotta say, Derek, the French sure know how to make a pie."

"Actually, it's not only pie, but it's also a dish and even a drink," he said.

"I would love to see France."

"So, is everyone satisfied with their meal?" Harvey asked. He looked at everyone, especially at Peyton and his two troublemakers.

Everyone nodded.

Cassie, Derek, Harvey and the twenty-three students got up after paying the check and they left the restaurant.

"Hey Cassie, you think you can take the tablet with us when we go to the moai statues again?" Harvey asked.

"Sure."

"Okay." Harvey began escorting them to their hotel.

Cassie and Derek slept in the same room with several other students. Derek slept on the couch while the others slept in the other beds.

Cassie woke up a few hours later and it was still night time. She went to the kitchen to get a midnight snack. She pulls out a turkey sandwich and consumes it. When she turned around, she saw the silhouette of a human figure.

"Is that you Derek?" The figure says nothing. She tried to make out his face but the total darkness in the room hid his face. Cassie moved forward toward a nearby table lamp and attempts to turn it on. As soon as her hands find the lever, the figure slapped her hand away and slapped Cassie across the cheek, knocking her to the floor.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal. It's your last meal you'll ever eat." The figure's voice boomed. It was so well disguised, she could not recognize it.

Cassie tried to get up but was stunned to see that Derek was still sleeping on the couch.

"You are probably wondering who we are." The figure said 'We' instead of 'I'.

Cassie was grabbed behind by another figure. The first figure began punching her hard in the stomach. "Cassie, we are not done yet. You better be ready for us next time."

Then, Cassie heard a yell and the first figure being tackled to the ground. "You never punch a girl!" a familiar voice shouted.

"Derek." She recognized the voice.

While still being grabbed from behind, the second figure throws her to the side and begins assaulting her with some kind of object. She was stuck in the head and immediately lost consciousness.

She then woke up in a groggy state, slowing peeling her eyes open. Above her was light. She was in the hospital. Beside her was none other than Derek, who had his lips bruised and bloody and a black eye.

"D-Man, what happened?" She squirms uncomfortably in her bed worriedly.

"Well, you sustained head trauma with a metal rod to the forehead, you have a black eye, a stitched cheek after you were whacked in your right cheek and you have a broken index finger on your right hand," he told as he rehearsed.

"No, what happened to you?" Cassie corrected before she thanked him for his concern. "But thanks for telling me about my damage."

"No problem. I sustained a minor head injury, a black eye, busted lip, and a few broken ribs. Other than that, I have received a wound to my shoulder after the first attacker stabbed me with a pencil."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. You've been out for six hours. Doctors said you are lucky to have survived. The police are currently trying to figure out who the would-be assailants are."

"I got a pretty good idea." Cassie was thinking of Peyton, Andrew, and William. "I'm thinking of Peyton, Andrew, and William."

"I can see why, but the Prof. says that he was with the three all night and only fell asleep after the assault happened."

"Our teacher must be in on it. Peyton must have paid him off, or worse." Cassie thought of the worse. She looks around the hospital room and the instruments that were in her arms. "How long do I have to be here?"

"The doctor recommends that you stay in bed for at least a week."

She has a sudden flashback. The first assailant told Cassie that they weren't done with her and they would be back. "The first attacker said 'we' which means more than one. There is at least two. He also called me by my first name and he said that I was wondering who they were."

"Did you recognized the voice?"

"No, it was so well disguised, maybe they used a voice modifier."

"Okay, let's look at the clues here." Derek gave a long sigh. "These people know who you are, are masters of disguise, and they were aware of the room you were in. I was half asleep and not once did I hear the door open."

"So, they must have either snuck into our room when we were gone or a secret passageway. They were dressed in all black. Why would they want to attack me? What have I done to them?"

Derek's eyes widened at an idea but it was more out of sarcasm though. "How about this for an idea, what if it was Peyton, Andrew, and William?"

"But you said Harvey was up all night and did not see them leave the room."

"No, before you woke up, Harvey was talking in a very slurred voice as if he was drunk. At the restaurant, he did not drink at all. I vaguely remember before going to bed that he drank water. Maybe the water was filled with some kind of drug."

"That's a good theory. We need to investigate. Until then D-Man, let's keep this between us."

"Sure thing." He adjusts her bed. "Let's get you out of this bed. You can sleep with me tonight in my room at this other hotel."

Cassie chuckled at him and patted him on the back, "Don't get the wrong idea buddy boy."

"I wasn't thinking of that until now that you have said it."

Several hours later, Cassie, who had ejected herself out of the hospital, had settled in Derek's room in the hotel he mentioned. After they settled down and made sure that Cassie's finger was wrapped tight in a cast, Derek went on to solving crimes like some kind of 1940s detective.

Derek went back into the hotel that Prof. Harven rented them in and went into the room that Harvey, Peyton, Andrew, and Williams slept. Nothing had been touched since Cassie went to the hospital. Derek put on latex gloves to avoid disturbing the police evidence and began investigating.

He picked up the glass of water that Harvey drank. There was still a little water in and so was some kind of substance at the bottom. Derek pours some of the water onto a paper plate. He removes one of his latex gloves and dips his finger in the substance. It felt very slimy. He sniffed it and it smelled like a wet dog hair. It was most certainly a drug, but what kind of drug? One to temporarily blind Harvey.

Superdetective Derek goes back to his room at his hotel to tell Cassie about his investigations. When he opens the door, he is confused at what he saw, Cassie kissing another guy. Derek just stood at the doorway, watching as they kissed. The guy's back was turned and Cassie's eyes were closed so nobody noticed him.

Derek felt his heart drop to his stomach. He was hurt and saddened. He turns around and walks out of the room, deciding to wait for the guy to leave. He never felt this feeling in his heart before. He was truly heartbroken. His heartfelt like it broke and snapped right in half, then stomped on the ground with someone's boot.

When the guy leaves the room, Derek walks right in, trying to put on the best poker face he could but his emotions would remain unchanged.

"Hey, Cassie," he waved at her. She gave a blank expression at him. "So, I finally found the drug in Professor Harvey's drink. It's some kind of sticky substance when it comes into contact with your fingers. I was able to look up some hallucinogenic drugs just a few minutes ago." He wasn't lying. While waiting for the guy to leave, he did research hallucinogenic drugs. "One of the hallucination drugs I found was a brand called 'Hawk-Eyed' which means that people who have been drugged only see what they want to see. And Peyton's father is a pharmacist."

Cassie leaned forward. "So, but why would Peyton want to hurt me?" Cassie wondered. "Other than the fact that he is a douchebag."

Derek remembered a few months back. "You know, when you translated the tablet on the board two months ago, when you mentioned that whoever possesses Hawaiki is invincible, I saw in the corner of my eye, Peyton smiling."

It didn't take long for Cassie to deduce, "So Peyton and his two buds after Hawaiki. Why attack me?"

"Maybe they are trying to force you to find the lost city for them," he suggested.

"Seems pretty legit. But, if they want the lost cities, they need tablets, which act like maps. Most likely." Her eyes widened. "Derek, where did you put the tablet that we found two years ago? If Peyton finds it, he might get what he wants. We got to figure out that puzzle before he does." She jumps up from her bed. "Peyton may be an asshole, but when he sets his mind on something, he has to be dead to give up."

"It's safe in my bag which has been unopened." His minds leave for another matter. "By the way, what was the name of that guy who was kissing you?" he asked rather quickly.

"That was Fidel, hotel housekeeping," she answered with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "I didn't want to kiss him. He forced me to if I wanted painkillers. His breath smelt horrible though."

Derek gave a long sigh and glared. His heartfelt better already, but still felt stabbed. "Okay then." He already had a plan. No doubt was he going to make Fidel pay for not only forcing Cassie to kiss him but for also psychologically torturing himself. "I'm going to punch that guy in the throat until he can't sing anymore."

"Focus, where is your bag?"

"It's in a locker at the airport at the beach," he answered.

Unfortunately, William had already gotten to Derek's bag first. Unfortunately, Prof. Harvey followed him and when he noticed, he took Prof. Harvey hostage and grabbed him by the throat. He was taking Prof. Harvey and the bag away from the beach and to a cliff.

"So, Prof. Harvey, why did you have to follow me?" William asked curiously as he took out a knife and pushed Harvey to the cliffs.

"I was getting a little concerned for my students," Harvey deadpanned. "All this over a tablet?"

"An ancient Polynesian tablet!"

"Whatever."

"That was found in Hawaii," the villain continued said. The professor noticed how William's eye went bright with anticipation.

"So, how are the moai statues?" Harvey asked. "I've been to Easter Island several years ago, before Cassie."

Suddenly, William kicked Harvey in the groin area and caused the professor to fold over with a pained groan. He puts the knife to his throat and demands, "Jump, and I will not painfully kill you."

Professor Harvey raised his hands slowly above his head but stayed on the ground.

"Why William? Why would you do this?" he asked with distress.

"It's simple. Cassie translated the language on the tablets and revealed that whoever rules Hawaiki is paid handsomely with invincibility and invulnerability. This is my good friend's dream. I don't believe in these myths or anything, but I owe my friend a favor and he is calling in the favor." William answered. "Now jump over the cliff. Don't make me force you."

"Please?" Harvey begged.

"Now!" William forced.

Harvey very slowly got up. He turned around slowly and just as he was turning, he quickly punched William. He punched William hard in the jaw and almost sent him flying off the edge. William hits Harvey in the stomach with the hilt of the knife.

Harvey hit William in the face with a rock and distorted him. William strikes him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Now with Harvey on the ground, William tosses the knife to the side and pulls out a pistol to aim at Harvey.

"Now you are in for it." William loaded a magazine into the pistol. "Goodbye." He makes sure the safety is off. He fires. The bullet misses Harvey's head by inches. Cassie tackled William to the ground, the gun sliding away. With Cassie on top, William flips her over so she lands on her back. William recovers faster and stomps on Cassie. William was then grappled from behind by Derek. William uses all his strength to hit Derek with his head and disorient him.

William breaks free and punches him in the ribs painfully, knocking him to the ground.

William looked over and saw Cassie was hanging from a handhold, over the cliff. She was losing her grip pretty quickly.

"Cassie, now you are really in for it." William stomps on Cassie's right hand hard, making her lose her grip. She was now hanging by one hand. She looks below her and sees at the beach ground fifty-two feet below her. "It is time to die, Cassie. Although I wish I could keep you alive. I would treat you right." He put his foot on Cassie's left hand and puts on all his weight on it.

"I hope you enjoy the fall," William said. A gunshot went off. Blood seeped from William's left shoulder and dripped on Cassie's forehead. William winced in agony. Willaim turned and saw Harvey with the pistol with smoke emitting from the barrel. He roars and charges at Harvey. He tackles the professor to the ground which caused the gun to go flying ahead. Once Willaim tackled Harvey to the ground, the gun bounced off the ground and unintentionally discharged a bullet which went right into William's skull.

Cassie climbed back up and saw William's frozen corpse being pushed back by Harvey. She was too terrified to look at the villain's corpse and looked away.

Harvey crawled away from the corpse while Derek planted himself in front of Cassie to shield her vision from the corpse.

The only thing that Cassie could say was: "That was nothing like the movies."


A few days have passed since William died. Harvey had wanted to cancel the trip early but severe thunderstorms made flights back to the US impossible and Petyon had vanished. Cassie was still in her recovering room with Derek in there with her.

"So, since our little encounter with William, the students have been distant from us," Derek announced.

"They believe we killed William in cold blood," Cassie told her friend. William's death had been his fault.

"It was either him or you Cassie, and I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

Cassie smiled at what he said. It made her feel loved, a lot. "Thanks, D-Man."

Derek shows her the tablet. "So, this is the thing that Peyton and Andrew are after?" He observed the tablet thoroughly.

"Well, from the one thing I read, but not aloud to the class, it tells that two other tablets are required and it shows a map of the tablets locations," she answered. Derek hands her the tablet and she begins reading it. "The first tablet is located at Ahu Tahai. The second is located on Hanga Piko."

"Okay then. Now we know where to go?"

"What about Peyton and Andrew, what if they sneak in, as you said, beat me up, and take the tablet and force me to translate?" she asked. "What I am saying is they might follow us. We should find the other tablets and destroy them so no one can possess Hawaiki."

"Destroy Hawaiki, when we could study the place?"

"Derek, let me ask you something."

"Go on."

"Put yourself into the shoes of a psycho."

"Okay," Derek complied hesitantly.

"If you found a place like Hawaiki, and the legend says whoever possess Hawaiki, possess the power to be invincible, what would you do?"

Derek thought for a second. "Well, I would use it for power, since I am a psychopath." That was his honest answer.

"This is exactly what Peyton and Andrew are planning to do. If they possess Hawaiki, then who knows how many innocents they could kill. We should destroy the lost city. In our parents' experience, some lost cities are better off destroyed. But there is still a part of me that feels that if we just destroy everything, then it would all feel anticlimactic. I think we should at least see if the stories are true or something."

Derek gave a long nod. "If we could find a lost city, we could become legends. People will talk about us and we will never be known as the daughter of our legendary parents."

Cassie decided that she couldn't argue with Derek on that one. If they were going to become legends, then they should at least make themselves known for finding Hawaiki. "Of course you're right, only for this time," she jokes.

"Okay, so we find Hawaiki, explore it, destroy it, document it. Okay then." Derek patted her on the shoulder in support. "Okay, so do we start in Ahu Tahai or Hanga Piko?"

Cassie pulled out her phone and looked at the map. "Ahu Tahai is closer. So the two of us should go to Ahu Tahai."

Derek helped Cassie out of bed. "Okay, we should leave as soon as possible."

"Before we go, Cassie, I need to do something." Derek left the room to go track down Fidel and make him pay for forcing Cassie to kiss him, and for indirectly breaking his heart.

When Derek returned, he had a very big smile on his face. "A good deed has been fulfilled." He knocked Fidel out cold.

Ahu Tahai was very scenic. Thanks to a picture of an old house in the middle of nowhere on the tablet, they knew exactly where to go in Ahu Tahai. Derek had rented a 4x4 jeep and drove Cassie there.

The two climbed out and gazed at the old and rotting cabin-like house. "Wow, that looks old and very rotten," Cassie comments. You just stated the obvious, she thought to herself.

"So, the tablet is somewhere in the house?" Derek asked.

"Probably, maybe in a secret passageway. People have come and gone before and since people believe this place to be sacred to ancient Polynesian natives, they refused to excavate or tear down the house," she told.

"How noble of them," he replied sarcastically. "So, where do we start?"

"My money's is either in the attic, the basement, or like I said, a secret passageway."

"Let's go."

Cassie began leading the way. They opened the front door and walked in. No such furniture existed in this place at all. Cassie then thought to herself, they refuse to excavate but they take the furniture?

"Wow, this place is empty. But it will save us the trouble and digging through places that have been blocked by furniture," Derek said optimistically.

The two began searching everywhere. Derek was beginning to have doubts. "You know, maybe people did excavate."

"No, they didn't. This place is covered in cobwebs, not a single footprint in sight other than ours," Cassie stated firmly. "Perhaps the Polynesians didn't put in furniture." She finds a hole in the wall. She looks through it and sees nothing but darkness.

Cassie and Derek look at the ground. There was something covered in cobwebs. Cassie crouches down to move away cobwebs. There was something carved into the floor. Cassie blows away the dust and finds a trapdoor. "D-Man, look at this. Go get the crowbar." He nodded and runs off the jeep. He returns with a crowbar. "Derek, a trapdoor that has been hidden by cobwebs. Old but nearly unnoticeable."

Derek uses the crowbar to pry open the trapdoor. Dust filled the air around them.

"Dusk to Dawn," she jokes but Derek shook his head no.

"Not a good one Cassie. Dust this trapdoor get unlocked."

"Okay, now you're making puns." Cassie and Derek laugh at their bickering.

Cassie and Derek yank open the door. They both gazed down into the abyss of darkness. "Well well well, a trapdoor inside a house. Never seen before y' know," Cassie smirked. "Who's going first?"

"Ladies first," said Derek.

"So that includes you, Derek."

"Haha, very funny. If I am a girl, then what are you, Cassie Drake?"

"A woman."

"Don't you have to older than twelve to be a woman?"

"I'm seventeen."

"I know." Derek smiles.

"Okay, enough with this stalling. Still, ladies first."

After both of them descended into the hole, Cassie and Derek turned on their flashlights. They were in some kind of cave. This cave was decorated with a Polynesian culture like paintings of warriors on the wall but nothing out of the ordinary yet.

"You know, one thing that questions me is, how does one possess Hawaiki? It is the original homeland of the Polynesians." Cassie waited for Derek's input.

"Got me. Maybe it's some kind of weapon hidden there. Or maybe some kind of substance," he suggested.

Cassie gave a sour face. "Maybe it means something else."

"Maybe Hawaiki is a weapon," he shrugged.

"Whatever Hawaiki is, we can't let Peyton or Andrew claim it." The two began walking down the cave. This place looked to be thousands of years old by either of their estimations. Derek was softly caressing the paintings. This was because aside from archaeology, he was an avid artist, mostly a painter. His grandfather told him at four-years-old, that he met Pablo Picasso in 1970 before he died. Ever since then, Derek has become a lover in arts and painting. He is an amazing painter, almost as good as Pablo Picasso himself.

"You know, when I become a fulltime archeologist, I will become a part-time artist. A painter by day, an archaeologist by night."

"Derek, when you make an amazing painting, I will personally visit it in the Art Gallery."

"Really?"

"That is a promise."

At the end of the cave, there was something hidden in between these two rocks. Cassie moved forward cautiously and gazed at the object. It was silver. There was only one thing it could be. The second tablet. "Lookie lookie." She grabs the tablet with extreme caution. She shows it to her friend. "The second tablet." It was just as beautiful as the first one. She begins murmuring to herself, reading. The Polynesian deity, also known as Makemake lies at the base of the statues. He will need to move forward. He must take upon a new form. We used to call him Hawaiki and now, he is in danger of being trapped in the statues. We must find a new form for him. If all three tablets were combined, then we can finally free Makemake.

"Oh god." She was scared. In Rapa Nui mythology, Makemake was the creator of humanity and the god of fertility. She reads it to Derek. "Hawaiki is just another name for Makemake. Whoever finds and combines the three tablets free Makemake. And listen to this."

The one who frees Makemake is promised to be invincible.

"Shit, now we know why Peyton and Andrew want Hawaiki," Cassie groans.

"No, they think Hawaiki is an underworld, we hold the knowledge of the fact that Hawaiki is Makemake." Derek puts the tablet back in the rock. Just as he put it back, he hears a familiar sound. It was the sound of a gun being loaded. Time for the usual. He raises his hands above his head and turns around slowly. They were both held at gunpoint by both Peyton and Andrew.

"So, Cassie Drake, you just revealed to us that Hawaiki is Makemake and whoever frees him is invincible," Peyton says with a huge smile. "Thank you very much." He aims right between Cassie's eyes, showing more of his sociopathic side before he hesitates and asks. "And by the way, do you guys know what happened to William, we haven't seen him in a few days."

"So, you followed us huh? I know what happened to William. He's getting a suntan at the beach," Cassie tries to mask the trauma in her voice but he saw right through.

"So you killed him. Oh well. Give me the tablet, or I will shoot Derek in the temple and I will trap you in here with his corpse."

Cassie does not hesitate and throws Peyton the tablet, he caught it mid-air. They began backing away and towards the way they came. "Oh yeah, and the first tablet that you left in your hotel room, thank you for leaving it there for us to pick up." Peyton waves goodbye.

Peyton and Andrew had completely barricaded the entrance from the outside and the two were trapped inside. It was their plan for them to trap them. They knew they would escape somehow and would be given the impression that he and Andrew still thought they were trapped. Then they would lead them straight to the third tablet. It was a foolproof plan.

"We are trapped like goddamn rats!" Derek shouts.

"We got to find a way out!" Cassie says in a frightful voice. "Look through the walls." Cassie found a hole in the wall. She crawls through after flashing her light through the hole that was barely big enough for her to fit through.

Cassie crawled as fast as she could. There was no air in the place, she had to get out as soon as possible. Derek crawled through right after her.

"This cave goes on forever." She sees sunlight and chuckles in triumph. "Derek, I can see daylight. We're going to be alright!"

She crawled forward a few more feet, she felt like a fish wagging its tail. She crawled forward a few more feet and went tumbling down. She fell into a puddle of mud. Her back was covered in mud and a little bit on her nape and the back of her hair.

She moved out the way in time just as her friend came tumbling down. Once the pain in her back subsided, she got up. They got out and were now outside the cabin. Peyton and Andrew were nowhere in sight though.

"What a field trip," Cassie jokes. She helps her friend his feet.

Are you okay?" Derek asked with concern.

"Define 'okay'."

"Not dead, not hurt, still breathing."

"In that case, yeah, we are both okay," Cassie remembered the villains. "Yeah, we are alive, and so are Peyton and Andrew. We got to do something to stop them."

"We gotta get to Hanga Piko and fast. But where do we start?" Derek asked.

Cassie was trying so very hard to remember what the second picture on the tablet was. It was an old pine tree. "The oldest pine tree in Hanga Piko."

"Wow, very vague, but okay. Hanga Piko is small, but at least we know what we are looking for."

"Yeah. We have to get to Hanga Piko immediately. Peyton and Andrew are probably already on their way."

The two of them raced by to the 4x4 jeep. Derek hopped into the driver seat and started the engine.

"Okay, so what are the chances of Peyton and Andrew finding the other tablet?" Derek asked.

"Well, like you and I, Derek, they are archaeologists. But do miss the little things."

"Well, they drugged our teacher, so I wouldn't call them dumb or missing the little things. Unintelligent maybe. But they are somewhat smart."

"Okay then. We got to get the other tablet quickly."

Derek engaged the keys and shift the car in drive.

"So how long till we get to Hanga Piko?" Cassie asked, hopping into the passenger seat with Derek.

"Twenty-five minutes tops," Derek answered and drove off.

Twenty-two minutes later, Derek had driven to Hanga Piko. The two of them parked in the forest and somehow, the rain from the severe thunderstorms that delayed their plane trip had begun.

"I am glad we brought jackets with us," Cassie appreciated. She put on her raincoat and passed Derek's his. "I like the rain. It reminds me of the shower." Derek tried his best to not remember the incident at the college.

"Yeah," he whispered to himself.

"Okay, now it is time for us to find that pine tree."

Just behind them and out of sight, two people that were hiding in the trees were Peyton and Andrew, smiling as they felt the anticipation in knowing that they are about to get the third tablet.

Cassie and Derek were looking for every single pine tree in the forest. "Man, this is like trying to find a small needle in a big pile of haystacks," She grumbled in frustration.

"More like a huge needle in a gigantic pile of little haystack pieces," Derek retorted. "Or a needle in a stack of needles."

"Let's hope that-" Cassie began but was interrupted.

"Found it!" Derek called out.

Cassie followed the sound of Derek's voice and found him at a small pine tree that was about seven feet in height. The decayed bark off the three indicated that it was the oldest tree in the area at least. "Cassie, we found the tree that the third tablet lays dormant inside."

"But how do we get it?" They searched everywhere for a hole in the tree. They found nothing so Cassie leaned against the small tree and it fell forward, taking Cassie with. Hidden underneath the trunk of the tree was the third and final tablet.

"Cool, we found it," Derek exclaimed. He picks up the tablet and examines it.

"Beautiful." Cassie groaned as she got up. She looked at Derek who then handed her the table and began deciphering the third and final tablet.

Hawaiki is more than a deity, it is still an underground world, but invisible to our naked eyes. If someone was to combine all three stone tablets at the statues, then they will go to the underworld. Where Hawaiki is trapped.

Cassie read to her friend. As if one cue, Peyton and Andrew appeared, this time with four other people with guns all aimed at the four.

They raise their hands and Cassie hands Peyton the tablet after several minutes of hesitating.

"Cassie, once again, we would like to thank you for all three tablets and for giving us the location of where we free Makemake and gain invincibility," Peyton said in a melodramatic voice.

"Well, it's our pleasure to help out villains," Cassie shrugged nonchalantly. "Once you are invincible Peyton, Andrew, then what? What are your motives for wanting to gain invincibility?"

Peyton answers, "When I was seven, my mother was unfairly prosecuted and my father was gunned down by soldiers when he was standing in the street, unarmed and unable to defend himself. I never got to meet my grandparents and I had to live in a foster home and the older I got, the more I came to understand that the government is not the kind of restriction that America needs. For far too long, those I ever loved, I lost because of the US government and they did not receive their punishment. I don't need to expose the government because I already know the villain that they are. I'm going to even the score. I will build my empire and I will destroy the government and free America from tyranny and restriction that has been inflicted upon them." He was shedding a tiny tear, indicating that he still does have a glimpse of humanity within him and even Cassie couldn't bring herself to not feel sorry for him. Peyton wasn't a villain, he was a victim of other people's plots. But then again, he was the one holding a gun at her.

"Please," Cassie begged. "I'm sorry, but please don't kill us."

"You guys will be dead anyway." Peyton wiped the tear away. "I want you guys to come with me, so you will be the first to witness my glory." He looks up at the sky and laughs. "It will be biblical!"

Cassie waited for one of the gunmen to walk up to her. When he was in range, she punches him in the face, disarms him, and use him as a human shield. "Back off or I'll kill him," she threatened. In reality, she was never going to kill him unless she had to. Right now, he was a prisoner.

The other three gunmen put down their guns and let the two walk over to the jeep. Derek climbed in and started the car.

"Peyton, give me all three stone tablets," Cassie demanded. In a very shocking event, Peyton did nothing but shrug and smile. He aims his gun and fires at the gunman Cassie was holding. He collapses to the ground dead and Cassie jumps onto the jeep. Derek speeds off with Cassie on the hood of the jeep.

"Road rage!" she shouts out in terror as she hangs on to the grille tight. Derek drove as fast as he could while Cassie tried to maintain a tight grip. It was hard because it was still raining and her grip was slipping and her right index finger was starting to hurt again. She uses what strength she did have to climb inside the jeep. She shimmies her way to the back while Derek kept driving as fast as he could.

Derek hit a bump and Cassie almost went falling out the jeep that was going sixty miles per hour. She grabbed her seatbelt in time and pulled herself back in.

"What a relief," she sighs deeply as her chest pounds against her heart. Once Derek had driven them to safety at a nearby pier, he put the jeep in park and they climbed out.

"You all right, Cass?" Derek asked, leaning against the car. He checked her to make sure there were no injuries on her.

"Yeah," Cassie chuckled. I'll live." She leans next to Derek subconsciously.

"What the hell was that?" Derek asked abruptly. "I have never seen a villain execute his henchman. So, what are we going to do now? Peyton and Andrew have all three stones and now know where to go. They could become invincible."

"Well, looks like we are going to have to do this the old fashion way. And that is where we stop Peyton and Andrew before they get to the moai statues. Like our parents did back in the old days, right?" She affectionately punches Derek softly in the shoulder.

"Exactly like that, but it was us instead of them." Derek was slightly excited because he was finally going to be a legend. Cassie was far more excited because this was her very first adventure and she wanted to get everything right so she could be a legend to remember. Derek jumps into the car. "Anybody getting in, or am I going to have to stop Peyton and Andrew myself?"

Cassie gets into the passenger seat. "Once we get to the moai statues before the two psychos, then what do we do?" Derek asked. She pulls out her pocket-sized journal and looks over the drawings she made ever since she arrived on Easter Island. A complete list of every student on the trip along with Peyton, Andrew, and William. She crossed William's name off because he was dead and she looked over the translations of the tablets that she wrote. She shuts the journal and turns to Derek to answer his question.

"Simple, we destroy the tablets before they can combine them."

"Well then, in that case, this should be easy then. I mean, that's just a tablet, is it?"

Cassie broke out laughing. "Derek Williamson Lowell, you are hilarious!"

The two drove up to the moai statues after Cassie's laughter broke down. They beat Peyton and Andrew to it, which was unbelievable. The statues that they saw were still standing, but the odd thing was Prof. Harvey and the students were all sitting crisscrossed on the ground with their heads down and hands behind their backs and the three gunmen were holding them at gunpoint.

In the center of all the people sitting crisscrossed, there stood Peyton and Andrew, chanting in a fanatical religious-like way.

"Makemake, hear us, Makemake, answer us, Makemake, listen to us," Peyton and Andrew chanted with to the statues with their backs turned to Cassie and Derek. "We have come to free you and to gaze upon this underworld you call Hawaiki, named after you. We brought you the three stone tablets and we plan to free you. As we free you, make us invincible. Make us gods, make us humanity's worst nightmare."

Just barely in front of the moai statues was a huge bonfire that flames seemed to reach dozens of feet in the air while the smoke reached mostly hundreds of feet into the air. It was like the fire was being called by some kind of god.

"Make our enemies fear us. Make our enemies want to serve us. Make our enemies want to die a merciful death."

It was a very disturbing sight to the two young adventurers. They just silently watched behind a log they ducked down behind. They had to think of a way to defeat them before they summon Makemake.

Peyton held two of the tablets while Andrew held the other one, indicating that they were about to combine them. Cassie couldn't let it happen. She picks up a rock and throws it at Peyton's head. It bounced off his head, causing him to grunt in discomfort and distracted him to the point he was frozen as if he was in an iceberg.

He slowly turns his head to a gunman and snaps to him, "Check it out." The gunman does as he asks and checks out the direction the rock was thrown. This was their only chance to interrupt their ritual. Derek jumped up from behind the log, took the gun and knicked the gunman unconscious with it. He aims at the other gunman and holds them at gunpoint before they could even raise their guns at them but they kept their pistols aimed at the students until Derek yelled at them to toss them away.

Cassie jumped out and joined Derek beside him "Peyton, Andrew, don't do this." She begged with her hands in front of her. "Think about this decision very carefully." The students were speechless as they watched the ordeal between Cassie, Derek, Peyton, and Andrew.

"Or what, you will kill us?" Andrew taunted. "Once we combine these tablets, we will be invincible."

"No, Peyton, think if this is what your family would've wanted."

Peyton snapped at Cassie, "My family was stolen from me and why should it be fair to others who had lost everything but I lost everything and suffered the worst fate? The US is getting what they deserve." They were about to combine them, and Cassie knew that they had to do something immediately. Derek fires off the trigger reluctantly, but the gun jams on him. He throws it at one of the gunmen before quickly punching the second one out cold. Andrew drops the tablet and fights back and the outcome of the short fistfight ended with Derek kicking Andrew in the chest after getting a three-second headstart. The kick was so powerful, Andrew went falling backward, and right into the bonfire, where his skin burned to a roast until burned to death.

Peyton pulled out a pistol from his belt and aimed it at Derek, who was still on the ground and looking over at his very first kill in history. Peyton was distracted from Cassie, who charged and tackled Peyton to the ground. The tablets and pistol sliding out of his reach.

Peyton kicks Cassie off of him and charges at her, almost tackling her into bonfire but missed by an inch. Derek snapped out of his trauma and hit Peyton in the back of the head with a rock and he began feeling dizzy.

"I was destined for this," Peyton manages to slur while staggering back towards the bonfire. He feels the heat already burning his leggings and he uses all of his strength in his will to stop. He moves forward and charges at the two adventurers. He was much more furious this time and not even the help of Derek could stop him from pouncing Cassie.

Peyton begins punching Cassie excessively until she started bleeding. When Derek put a hand on his shoulder, he punched him in the groin and shoved him away. "I'm okay with losing both Andrew and William, I'm okay with my hired guns being put in their place, but I am not okay with you foiling my plans." He punches her one more time before he lunges for the tablets. Despite Cassie pulling him by his legs, he manages to combine them.

At the drop of a hat, Cassie, Derek, and Peyton were traveling through some kind of portal with purple flashes across their vision. Although, what Cassie was seeing was a vision of her on some snowy mountain in a country she had never been to before. Before she could get a better picture of this vision, she was snapped back into reality. She fell forward and landed on a rock on her back. When they stopped falling, they were in some kind of rocky environment with no sun visible in sight and no rain dropping from the sky.

"Where the hell are we?" Derek asked while struggling to get up. He hears the bone in his knee pop and he groans in pain before popping it again to wear off the pain.

"There is only one place that I can think of," Cassie answered. "Hawaiki itself. We are officially underground." She looked around. The students weren't there, but for some reason, Derek and Peyton were. Peyton landed on a column and coughed up some blood and tried getting up but Cassie was quicker and went on to go kick him in the gut.

"So, how we get out?" Derek was more concerned about escaping then knocking out Peyton.

"Maybe we climb it," Peyton suggested sarcastically, which seemed uncharacteristic of him but he had a big smile on his face, which could only mean that he was happy to be a lost city that has never been found before. Cassie and Derek were just as equally thrilled.

In the center of all three of their eyes, there stood a rocky figure in the shape of a human laying against the wall upon a throne. The three approached them with caution and when his face wasn't obscured by darkness, they cringed at the sight of his face.

Makemake was a rocky figure and looked to be about eight feet tall. Cassie was very reluctant to talk to him because he is the very first being that Cassie encountered that wasn't a regular human, but something supernatural. "Hello there," she hesitated. She guessed his name correctly, "Makemake, I am Cassie Drake."

"I know who you are," Makemake said in a deep and booming voice. "I know what it is you desire. Two of you want to free and one wants to free me. Isn't that right, Peyton Piers?"

Peyton nodded quickly with a sadistic laugh. "I do, I want to free you."

Makemake sighed loudly and leaned forward towards Peyton specifically. His voice booms again as he says, "Why would I want to be free? I am free to do whatever I want in this world. I have total freedom. I am not going back to the outer world."

Peyton gave a disappointed look right after he gasped. His worst fear came to life when he realized that all of this had been for nothing and this wasn't his destiny. "I need to have your power."

"Why to be invincible, life is precious. Why live forever?" Makemake asked.

"I want to destroy the American system for my dad. I want to make him proud. You have not seen how the world has treated people like me and it's time I show the government that life is precious."

"If you have to do something like destroying a world to make a father figure proud, then he is not worthy of being your father. A real father would want you to do the right thing.

Cassie looked at Peyton and saw a face of grief. Was he having a change of heart? Any sign of him having a change of heart was completely and permanently shattered when he asked the next question to Makemake.

"Then I guess I made a mistake and I have every intention of killing that mistake as soon as I get to the surface." He glares at Cassie and Derek, growling at them with an accusatory look.

Makemake growled back at him. "I can easily send the three of you back to the place where you came from if that is what you want. Nobody is destined to be invincible; It's a living hell to be invincible. I can't die, and I can't see my family on the other side. And for invincibility to work, you are required to stay in Hawaiki, as leaving it will result in becoming mortal again. As much as I want to cross that threshold, I am bound no to."

Peyton growled in anger. He clenched his fits, grinding his teeth about ready to kill Cassie and Derek. "All this trouble for nothing?!"

"I'm afraid so," Makemake answered with no hint of sorrow in his voice. "So, all three of you have to make a decision. Do you want to stay here or go back to the surface? If you chose to stay, then you will stay here permanently, but if you leave, you will be forbidden from entering Hawaiki again."

Cassie did not hesitate to answer. "I vote to go back to the surface."

Derek nodded. "Ditto."

The two looked at Peyton. They were going to see what he was going to answer. Peyton knew that if he stayed here, then he would be invincible, but could never fulfill his dream. If he goes to the surface, he can release his anger on the duo of treasure hunters. He made his decision. "I chose to go to the surface."

Makemake leaned back against the wall. "Okay, now it is time to go back."

The two were thrown through the portal and they landed back into the real world. They landed near the moai statues. The students were still tied up and it was still raining, the bonfire was still burning and Andrew's body was still roasting. Peyton had recovered more quickly than the others and attacked.

The students watched Peyton fight their two friends and each one desperately worked on freeing the other.

Peyton punched as hard as he could. He hit Derek in the temple and knocked him to the ground. He throws a kick to Cassie's jaw and knocks her to the ground as well. He focuses all his energy on Cassie and Derek, picking up a rock, swinging it at Cassie's face, who jerks her head back in time. She uppercuts him and pushes him toward the bonfire. When she lunged, he moved out the way and she almost went flying into the flames. She stopped herself and was met with a shoe to the jaw when her head turned around. She fell right next to the bonfire. Derek charges from behind and hits Peyton hard in the nape with his fist.

Peyton elbows Derek in the nose and kicks him in the groin. He then returns his attention to Cassie. "This time Cassie, I will make sure you die." He has completely lost his humanity and sanity at this point and there was no redemption for him now.

When Peyton charges, Cassie flips him over her body using his momentum. He almost landed in the bonfire. He gets up quickly and hits Cassie in the head with the rock. He proceeds to climb on top of her and began punching her with the rock. But not in the head, but the chest and stomach.

She begins coughing up blood from the brutal blows but she tried her hardest to ignore the pain. She was about to blackout from the weight on her chest, however. Peyton punched her with his fist before he raises his hand with the rock in it. He is about to hit her in the face with the rock until Derek came lunging and shoved Peyton off of her. He turns the tables on Peyton and begins punching him profusely. Peyton kicks Derek back but both treasure hunters come punching at him. They both throw matching strikes. If Cassie threw a punch at his jaw, Derek would throw a punch to his stomach. If Cassie kicked him in the groin, then Derek would kick the man in the neck.

Peyton had had enough and he still stood to his full height. He practically had his pain receptors disabled. He hits Derek with a brutal punch and shoves Cassie away. He kicks Derek in the stomach and causes him to fold over. He turns his attention to Cassie, whom he managed to subdue and throw her to the ground.

When he was towering above her, he raises his foot and places it on Cassie's neck and begins to choke her to death. Cassie's eyes turned red and they felt like they were going to pop out of her skull. Blindly searching around her for anything she could use as a weapon, she did find one thing hidden in the grass and unnoticed by Peyton, the pistol he dropped. Cassie grips the handle and fires in Peyton's direction. Peyton was hit in the chest and stumbled backward, taking his foot off of Cassie's throat, allowing her to breathe again.

The three gunmen had regained consciousness and they stood back up, only for the group of students to attack them from all directions led by Prof. Harvey.

Standing up, Cassie aims the gun at Peyton and fires. He was hit in the kneecap, but was still alive and refused to scream in pain. Cassie pulled the trigger one more time and found no more bullets in the gun. She charges at Peyton and begins punching him in the face. Then, almost as if God himself was there, a bolt of lightning struck a moai statue beside them. The head of the moai statue began falling backward, and right onto Cassie and Peyton.

"See you in hell, big head!" Cassie shouts at Peyton in triumph. She knees him in the groin and attempts to run, but he grabs her legs and trips her. The moai statue was about to crush Peyton and her feet. She gives one final kick to Peyton's face and he released his grip. She kicks him back into the falling statue's path and moves her feet out of the way in time just as the moai statue came down.

Cassie brought her knees up to her chest as she crawled to another moai statue. With her knees to her chest, she grabs them and hugs tightly like a little girl does a teddy bear, more emotional trauma rapidly flashing through her mind. I just killed Peyton. She kicked him backward and he was crushed to death by the moai statue.

Her hand was shaking involuntarily.


One Week Later

It has been one week since the deadly confrontation of Peyton. Everybody was traumatized from witnessing the deaths of both Andrew being burnt to death and Peyton being crushed to death.

Now that all three tablets were in Cassie's possession, she placed them in a briefcase and walked off with Derek, Harvey, and the students.

Derek stops her as they walked over a bridge down at the pier. "Hey, Cassie, how are you feeling?"

Cassie gazes at him and gives a half-shrug. "Better. It's been a week since you killed Andrew and I killed Peyton, but I will survive."

"Y'know Cassie, we made a very revolutionary discovery. This is the first time you and I found an actual lost city, albeit a mythical being as well. We had our very first dose of the supernatural and man, those killer moves we were both throwing at Peyton, what a Cassie and Derek assault. How does it feel?"

Cassie was about to say hurt, traumatized, scared, frightened, but she was an optimist who went with, "It feels amazing." Two seconds later, she caved to the adrenaline rush and hugs Derek tightly.

Derek wraps his hands around her in response, one hand moving through her hair and smiles. His heart was warming up in delight. He was hugging the girl that he was in love. He had flashbacks of their senior prom. That beautiful red dress that Cassie wore, the slow dance they shared, it was not a moment he took for granted. Of course, he had nothing more than a small crush on her and his feelings for her didn't develop until after they graduated high school.

In that instant, Cassie felt a certain feeling tingly inside her. Her heart was racing not because of her traumatic experience, but because of Derek. Her heartfelt warm and tender. She got this feeling she never felt around Derek, she had been his best friend since fourth grade, but she felt a never felt before feeling. She smiled when the realization came to her. She was in love with Derek. I remember that slow dance we had at prom.

Cassie felt his skin warm and so did he. They were both in each other's arms where they could kiss. In that instant, Cassie wanted nothing more in life than to be with Derek. When they looked at each other, they leaned in, their lips very close to each other. But, they were interrupted. Their first kiss was interrupted.

It was Harvey, "Hey there, Ms. Drake, Mr. Lowell." He pulls out something from his back pocket. He hands two papers to Cassie and Derek. They open it. Their eyes widening.

"Are you for real?" Cassie asked her professor in shock and disbelief.

"Yes. After everything you have done, I called the dean and she wants you and Derek to graduate with your Ph.D. in seven years. So that means when you will be called up to get your Master's degree, you will also receive your Ph.D., both of you," Harvey explained. "This trip just shaved two years off your college experience."

"Thank you so much, Prof. Harvey," Cassie thanked, hugging him. Derek did the same when she was done with his hug. When he finished his hugs, he returned to the boat with the students.

The two amateur archaeologists decided to stay back, however.

Cassie remembered how Derek saved her life from Peyton and never got to thank him."Derek, I never got to thank you for saving my life."

Derek patted her back support. "Anytime. You don't owe me anything so don't worry about paying me back."

Cassie remembered a quote she heard from her father and what a tale this would be to tell. She quoted after her father, "I'm good for it."

The End of Chapter 1