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Description
Once long ago, in the city of Oxford there lived a young boy by the name of Henry. He lived in one of a long row of houses. One morning he was out in the back gardens, when suddenly, he noticed a girl walking by. The first thing he noticed was that she did not look like a normal young woman would. Her clothes were old and looked as if they hadn't been washed in years. He also noticed she had a football with her.

"Now why would she have a football? She's a girl" Henry thought to himself

After enough pondering, he decided to go over and talk to this strange young woman.

"Hi" Henry managed to stutter "my name is Henry. I was just wondering why you had a football. I mean, all the girls around here don't play football." The girl turned around with a puzzled look on her face, that made her look like she was about to laugh. Her body shape wasn't a perfect hourglass but her brown eyes and her brown hair, which went down to her thighs, distracted Henry's attention from her body since he couldn't see much of Anna's body since her long hair covered most of the contours.

"Hi, I'm Anna, nice to meet you Henry," she said, a smile creeping up her face.

"What's so funny," Henry asked her. "why do you look like you're about to start laughing?"

Anna looked at Henry with as straight a face as she could muster and said "Because of your name, it's funny."

Henry looked at her for a moment whilst fighting back a smile, said "Not as funny as Anna, that's an old woman's name. Besides, Henry is the same name as my father."

Anna passed him the football saying, "Well I think it's funny, I've never heard that name before."

Henry passed the football back to her.
Anna quickly and rather cleverly said, "I haven't seen you around before: I'm on holiday seeing my uncle."
"Oh, you mean, Mr. Johnson is your uncle? That's interesting, I haven't seen him in ages," said Henry.
"Do you want to come over and hang out with me in the attic? Its very big, we could play football or something and no one would know we are there," said Anna.
"Football... but you're a girl, girls don't play football" said Henry.
"Yes we do, we just don't cause the same amount of trouble as you guys do, that's why you don't know we play football" said Anna.

They went through the hedge, Anna first with Henry following right behind. When they got to Anna's uncle's house, they headed straight for the Attic.

"It's freezing in here," said Henry, hugging himself for warmth.

"Yeah, well, I guess it would be for a guy who's as thin as you are" said Anna.

Suddenly light appeared at the far end of the attic from a wooden hatch. They were both shocked and surprised because it appeared like there was no one there. Anna looked at Henry in a puzzled glance. They walked over to the source of the light, holding hands for comfort. They went down the hatch into what appeared to be a small room. The room had in it a desk, an old wooden chair, and a few books, one of which seemed to stand out more than the others. It was covered in a thick layer of dust, much like everything else in the room, with an old brown leather binding and thick, fragile pages.
The title, The Unfinished Story, was gilded in gold ornate writing.
Anna and Henry looked at each other and were rather puzzled about the weird title of the book. They picked it up and started reading it, they noticed that on the front page there was a poem. They both said the poem out loud. Once they started to read the poem, they heard a faint beating of a drum. As they read, the beating of the drum got louder – and louder – and louder with every word they said. The candle blew out and both of them were plunged into darkness.

Then the darkness slowly disappeared into light. Anna gazed at Henry and saw that he could be considered good looking. Henry's eyes were a hazel colour, his posture made him look like he was always leaning forward. Henry's hair was a dark brown colour with a few patches of white blonde hair for good measure, it was short on top and at the back was a ponytail it went down to his mid-back. All their surroundings looked the same. Nothing felt different. That was, before they looked around at the walls. They could see the beautiful wooden beams and the sash windows which were not there in the attic they were in. Anna and Henry looked around the attic and instead of many staircases they only found one. In the room with them were a chest of drawers, a wardrobe a bed, a purse full of money and the book in which they had read from in order to get there in the first place.
"Where are we Anna?" said Henry looking at Anna with a puzzled look upon his face.
"Do I look like Miss Know it all? Actually, don't answer that." said Anna.
"Well, let's look through the chest of drawers and the wardrobe. To see if we can work out where we are from that."
"That's a good idea. You know, you're not as stupid as you look", she said, grinning.

Henry looked through the chest of drawers and found some baggy trousers, a warm shirt and a sweater that looked awful, but not as awful as what Anna found in the wardrobe. It looked like a wedding dress, but with more colour. Anna walked out of the wardrobe wearing the huge dress, nearly knocking Henry over when she passed him. She wasn't a large girl, but the dress had added quite a bit. Henry pocketed the purse and led the way out of the attic.

They walked slowly down the wooden stairs, which creaked with every step they took. Then suddenly a large woman, well they thought it was a woman but they found out that it was not when he managed to get himself to the bar and order his drink. The landlord sounded rather nice but he refused to serve the large man because he was drunk. The Landlord saw Anna and Henry in the corner of his eye and poured out two pints of Ale which most of the local youngsters drank because the water locally was infested with the plague. Anna and Henry sat at the bar and drank their Ale neither of them had never touched alcohol as good Christian youngsters they were not allowed it.

"What is this drink Sir, Its very strong… nothing like what we have at home" said Henry
"It's Ale, What do you drink at home?" said the Landlord
"Never mind that, Where are we?" said Anna
"You've only just started drinking and now you're confused as to where you are… I guess you are youngsters and you'll only forget if I tell you" the Landlord said while he unravels a Map, a rather torn map but a map none the less.
"So? Where are we?" said Anna and Henry
"you're here in Oxford, we're by the coast, just down the road to the left is the Castle" said the Landlord "you might as well keep the map".

The too youngsters looked very puzzled when the landlord told them that Oxford was near the Coast. The landlord passed them the map which Anna takes before Henry accidentally spills anything on it. Anna hid it in her dress for safe keeping. The Inn was very quiet only the large drunk, and a happy couple who would not notice if you slapped them with a wet fish, or something even smellier like Henry's socks. They still would not notice.

The map just covered the region they were in, Oxford seemed to be an important place seeing as there was a castle there and all of the defences seemed to be there. Anna and Henry went out for a walk; they passed a lot of shops varying with shapes and sizes. The most popular shop in Oxford was a store called a blacksmiths as Anna and Henry walked passed they noticed that inside the blacksmiths was an abundance of weaponry. The Swordsmanship made every violent sword look so beautiful and unique. Anna and Henry walked on and saw Tailors; at a close inspection Anna and Henry noticed that all of the clothes looked very old. Looking at the people walking around the City they saw that a lot of them could afford pretty much anything they wanted. A part from the beggar sat outside the church at the end of the road. He looked almost like he could of died and no one would of noticed. Anna passed him some money from her purse and said "You look like you need this money". The beggar thanked Anna and he sat down again.

They walked passed the church and turned left, in front of them they noticed a Dock and in the harbour there was a ship which was the same style as 'HMS Victory' except it was actually in the sea, it was quite a distance away from the shore, rowing away from it was a little dingy on-board were six sailors who were rowing this small vessel and in the middle of the dingy there was a sea-chest. The sailors were about to ask Anna and Henry if they would help lift out the heavy chest from the dingy but it was too heavy for even the sailors to lift up except one of the strong sailors, who was wearing a leather hat with three points and gold lining, he jumped out of the Dingy and you could tell he was strong his massive biceps and well formed six-pack gave it away. He lifted the chest up using some rope and pulleys accidentally he spilled some gold pieces on the walkway, Henry and Anna helped him gather them up when they noticed on the Sailor's arm there was a tattoo which was not the same as all of the other Sailors. It was a weird tattoo it looked like a dragon with a sword going through its neck.

"Thanks for that you really helped, here have some, you deserve it!" He said passing Anna and Henry a handful of coins each, Anna poured the coins into the purse, when the He noticed the book that she was carrying, when suddenly he queried "Where did you get that?"
"We found it in the attic in my Uncle's house, why? Is it important?" they said together

"Meet me at The Plough tonight, about around six bells; you can count to six can you not… if so you'll hear the cannons of the castle firing every hour. They like to do that to test the cannons out in the event of Pirates attacking us, oh I didn't introduce myself, I'm George, and I'll be wearing my normal clothes since I'm off duty" Said George

"All right, meet you then" and as Anna and Henry were saying that George was busy helping the other sailors out of the dingy. Anna and Henry walked passed them and went on a stroll around the city. They found many Inns, but what was weird most of all was the fact that everyone seemed to be carrying a pistol, or some other firearm which was rather different then that in Oxford.

Anna and Henry went for a walk and found themselves near a hill. On the top of this hill was a singular cannon. You could see for miles around from this hill, in fact so far you could just make out the coastline of what they thought was another island. They could see however that there were many ships going in and out of the Port of Oxford. As Anna and Henry started to unravel the map, they saw that the coastline they saw was actually from the same region that they were standing on. The map they were holding only covered this island.

The worryingly thing was that they had accepted the fact that Oxford was not their own but, the way in which George spoke to them about the book got them concerned.

"How did he come to know of the book?" both of them said together.

Suddenly a patrol of guards walked passed them both holding muskets. They did not stop they just kept on patrolling the area. Henry started to chuckle.

"What's so funny? They could have shot us!" exclaimed Anna
"I'm sorry but they look like toy soldiers, I mean it's just amusing" he retorted

On their tour of the city they found many shops. As time went on the sixth cannon shot fired from the cannon in which they were recently standing near. They both hurried to 'The Plough' asking for directions on their way.

George was waiting for them in a secluded part of the Inn. In his casual clothes. He was wearing a well padded coat. In his arm appeared a book, surely it cant be the same book they were carrying themselves. It was bizarre surely it could not be possible.
George broke the ice by saying "I was given a copy of this book last week, no one knew where the original was, but I guess we know now, Don't we?"
"Yes I guess. But it can't be, we're not from this world... how did you get it to our world?" said Anna
"Well I don't know. If I take you to my little home town called 'London' just to the East, maybe we could talk about it in more detail" George said
"Well we really must sort this thing out" Henry said when he managed to find a gap in the conversation to speak in.

They walked for what seemed like days, walking through a forest over a few bridges and next to a Gold mine. You could tell it was a gold mine the golden flashes from the mine shone at Henry. When they got to George's house they went to the bookcase. George pulled from the bookcase a book, and the bookcase came away from the wall pivoting around on its right. Showing a tunnel going away from the mine, towards the sea, it was beginning to get dark. Then George lit a wooden torch and you could see surrounding the walls were pistols, muskets, uniforms and maps. The Maps interested Anna and Henry.

"Now the reason we are down here youngsters, is to understand one thing about that book. Its full of spells and once you say one the book makes that spell no longer valid now I did not expect it to work like this but, you're both now stuck in this world the only way back is..." he paused "... well I do not know that there is a way back, we will be able to find a way eventually" he said in a worried tone. Anna and Henry became worried but contained their worry when Henry asked how he would go about making money or travelling around making money just like in his favourite books.

Meanwhile in the sea there was a Major battle involving many ships most of whom looked like they were not professionally trained but still causing damage, at the faint sound of the shot George ran up the stairs and disappeared. Left in the room alone were Anna and Henry, they started playing dress up and they figured from the uniforms and pistols around them that they only had read about in story books.

Anna being the intelligent young girl that she was said "well we must be in the era of pirates I guess, judging from the attire, we must grab some of these maps so we can see where exactly we are"

The sun was slowly going down after all it was gone six. George never came back to let Anna and Henry out of his little hiding hole. He seemed such a nice man. Anna and Henry went upstairs to find the house was deserted no other people were around. Suddenly there was a bang at the door and there were two guards well they looked like guards standing at the door. "What are we going to say" said Anna. "Well do something useful and do not say anything about George" said Henry.

"Let us in we are friends of George... he gave us a message do you want to hear it or not?" said this male voice through the letter box. Anna and Henry let the two guards in, as they walked through the door you could just about make out that one of them were carrying a pistol which was uncommon but Anna and Henry did not know that was the case. The other guard obviously was not a male, you could tell as soon as she put down her musket.

"Captain George gave me this book to give to you" said the woman "He wanted to make sure you knew what you've landed yourself in"
"What do you mean 'landed your self in'?" they both replied
"Well, George is helping out some Maestegians escape from Oxford's Jail, in return he gets a huge ship even bigger then the biggest ship of the navy" said the man "I'm Adam, your tour guide and George's right hand man, and your now both in our crew" Anna and Henry looked at both of the people who they now knew were not guards and in a puzzled gaze they both said "well we don't really have much choice but to help you guys out"

With puzzled faces Anna and Henry looked at each other and then they walked out of George's house. They travelled towards a hill then they saw this small opening from where train tracks appeared from this dark tunnel when suddenly this guy came out with his torch he walked towards Adam and directed the party in the mine.

"We have to mine some gold to make it look like we are here for a reason" Adam whispered to Anna and Henry.

After a good hour or so passed, and it was getting dark, they had to light more torches. As soon as the torches were lit it was obvious that the mine was a cover seeing as there was a path going quite a fair distance downwards you could see water reflecting in the torch light.

"we have to go down there to tell the others about your arrival" said the man with the torch "I'm John, just so you know that" he passes them a pistol each "can you fire these... or do you want some training?"
"well, let me have a go" said Henry cocking the pistol and aiming it at the wall, he squeezed the trigger and there was a massive bang but nothing came out the other end, "We seem to have ourselves natural here lads" said John with a laugh. Anna had a go and after watching Henry do it she cocked the pistol and fired it, but instead of going where it was supposed to it covered the whole wall with spread shots.

"All right you both seem to be naturals, be careful down the mine there are a few weird creatures down there" said John. John ran ahead of Anna and Henry and disappeared out of sight. The woman ,who was standing near to John, Anna and Henry noticed had her tongue removed, It was quite weird but they did wonder why she was not talking to them.

Anna and Henry slowly and carefully went down into the mine, away from the tracks that had been put there for the miners into the unknown. They slowly went down the mine at the bottom of the path they were going down. The cave was a dark and haunting place, filled with the echoing voices of water and wildlife that had taken residence. The roof was covered in stalactites that had been glazed with water providing their glass like coating. The jagged rocks and ancient glossed spikes from the roof made the roof appear like the mouth of a huge creature, daunting and terrible, and awaiting the next victims that dare venture deeper into the secrets within. It was a deep cave that had a gradual decline. Suddenly as they were walking down the cave, they could see light, but it was not flickering like the torches were. And it was not like daylight.

It appeared to be some sort of spell, they tried to walk towards it and they were bounced backwards and fell down the wet slope hitting their back rather hard.

They picked themselves up and brushed themselves off. A bit puzzled about what just happened but still all right. They looked puzzled, I mean who wouldn't be, Looking up into the direction in which they had been flung from they saw a creature. The creature ran away from the light but before it got a chance to get away from Anna and Henry it burst into flames leaving a pile of ashes behind. Anna and Henry looked at each other; they walked up to the pile of ashes and were rather confused as to what just happened. A shout came from the shadows but Anna and Henry did not understand what the creature was saying. They gradually walked towards the noise seeing more and more piles of ashes as they walked deep into the cave. Then there was a force which threw Anna and Henry onto the path which they had previously been on, forcing them down deeper into the cave but this time they were not alone although they couldn't see the creature but it was there haunting them in the darkness.

As Anna and Henry were walking down the cave they saw a faint torch in the distance. As they were walking towards it they noticed that it was a fair distance away. A good hour's walk from the already two hours they had been down the mine. A strong smell came from the gap which the light was coming from, it was on either side of a long stone bridge, obviously someone did not want any visitors who ever lived down here. In the distance, Anna and Henry saw what appeared to be a huge city, built into the face of the rock. Such a marvellous sight had never been known to Anna and Henry, not even in their wildest dreams. As the city drew closer its size became more substantial, and the lights from its vast buildings pierced the swelling darkness.

Anna and Henry noticed that a dock had been built into the city and the water surrounding was enough to be a sea on its own. Small waves lashed up onto the edge of the port and gently caressed the damp wooden planks of the jetty. Anna and Henry looked down on this wondrous city in awe and began to venture down from the top of the cliff on which they stood. A small yet jagged and rocky path led down into the city sector that Anna and Henry struggled down. The path crumbled beneath them and Henry watched as the small rocks fell for what seemed like hours and then disappeared into the darkness. After what seemed like an eternity of clinging to the rock face and watching their step, Anna and Henry finally reached ground level and at last realised the true size of this subterranean civilisation. It was huge, a truly magnificent sight, bustling with life and filled with adventure. Anna and Henry felt a rush of excitement as they ventured farther into the city and marvelled in its many features.

The inhabitants of the city didn't resemble the surface dwelling people of Oxford. The Under city was filled with rugged people, dirty and weathered much like the cave in which they lived. The men were all built like houses, probably due to hours of gruelling labour round and about the caves. The women were not as built, but most looked like they could kill an average man without blinking an eye. The folk in the cavern reminded Henry of Anna, with stained skin and filthy clothes; he imagined she would feel right at home. The city did not resemble the above Oxford in the slightest. While Oxford had tidy shops neatly dusted and preened, the cavernous city had only piles of pillaged goods. Swords, jewels, rags and muskets were amongst the various treasures scattered around in surprisingly orderly piles. Henry and Anna were brimming with curiosity as to who these people were. How long had they been here? Why were they down here in the first place? So many questions flowed through the minds of Anna and Henry yet neither could pluck up the courage to ask one of the locals. Anna and Henry imagined many different reasons as to why the dirty people were here,
"maybe they're cannibals!" Henry gasped, frightening himself with his idea
"Don't be silly!" Anna barked, lowering her voice so that the pair did not draw attention.
"Maybe they are afraid of the light, and have to live here" Anna continued, trying to reassure Henry after his recent outburst,
"Maybe that's it. But aren't people usually afraid of the dark are they?" inquired Henry after pondering Anna's claim.
"Well...no, but these people don't seem normal to me." Anna stated, sounding proud of her observation.
"Wait!" Henry yelled excitedly, pointing at a ragged flag hanging from a stall,
"Is that...? Yes it is!" Anna was speechless at Henry's find.
Hanging from a damp wooden stall at the side of the docks hung a deathly black flag. At its centre a grubby, once white skull grinned chaotically at Anna and Henry, mounted atop of two cutlass blades, a symbol that could strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest adventurers.
"That's the Jolly Roger!" Henry exclaimed with desperation,
"I know what it is, these people are pirates Henry!" Anna cried glued to the spot with terror.
Amidst the shock of the latest revelation, the two young explorers failed to notice a darkened figure staring out toward the vast waters inside the cave. Dressed head to foot in a black trench coat, along with stained black boots and a black admiral's hat, this character was not easy to miss. Anna quickly snapped out of her momentary daze and noticed the now recognisable pirate.
"Henry, look there" Anna whispered pointing in the direction of the blackened stranger.
"I see him..." Henry said, softly but not quite a whisper.
"This isn't any place for youngsters" the figure shouted whilst turning his head and upper body to face them.
"Oh no Henry! He's spotted us! Now what do we do?" Anna yelped, desperation in her voice
"Get out your gun Anna, he is outnumbered!" screamed Henry bravely, drawing his gun from his belt.
Anna quickly Followed suit and soon both of the youngsters had pistols pointed at the now chuckling pirate.
"You're both feisty, I like that. But I wouldn't be so eager to pick a fight with a stranger in his city, wouldn't you agree?" Said the pirate a lopsided grin smeared across his scarred face.
"Why should we listen to you? We are the ones with the guns, you should be doing as we ask!" said Henry smugly.
"On the contrary my dear child, what good will two pistols do you against a city of Pirates now?" he chortled, this time bearing blacked and golden teeth with a monstrous grin.
"Henry...he does have a point" stammered Anna, fear beginning to hit her.
Henry and Anna lowered their pistols as the pirate began to advance toward them, still grinning madly and reaching for a pistol of his own.

Henry began to walk backward while Anna could not move with fright, as he walked Henry stumbled and tripped over a small pile of debris in the path. As he fell the book was thrown into the path scattering a cloud of dust and soot into the air. The pirate, now noticing the exposed book stopped smiling and now began to grit his teeth. With a look of disbelief the pirate began to stagger toward the book, his wooden leg leaving a trail in the dirt.
"Where did you get this!" the pirate raged frothing with anger.
"Do you know what you have!" He continued his rage building.
"It matters not where they received it Powell" A husky female voice echoed from the shadows,
"They were instructed to come here by my lover, George, their appearance is not merely chance. Fate brought them to us and we have a duty to fulfil Captain, All five of us." As her words rang about the air, slowly she emerged from her shadowed hiding spot. As the light cascaded against her sparkling gold jewellery, her beauty also shone out dazzling Anna and Henry. The female pirate was picturesque, golden tanned skin covered delicately by white woollen robes, her sultry green eyes, deep and mesmerising gleamed as brightly as the bracelets on her wrists. Leather leggings embraced her hips tightly, exposing her perfect yet voluptuous figure and her rose red lips, soft to the touch could send a man insane with the smallest kiss. Long black locks flowed and shimmered, spilling from her bandanna like a vast waterfall, and reached the length of her gently curved back. Henry and Anna knew that this pirate was not like the others. Her appearance alone was far superior to the other pirates the two had encountered in the village, yet something suggested she was far more dangerous. The rugged and aged pirate snapped backward and immediately acknowledged the woman's request. The female then drew her attention to Anna and Henry who continued to stare in sheer amazement at the events occurring.

Description
Once long ago, in the city of Oxford there lived a young boy by the name of Henry. He lived in one of a long row of houses. One morning he was out in the back gardens, when suddenly, he noticed a girl walking by. The first thing he noticed was that she did not look like a normal young woman would. Her clothes were old and looked as if they hadn't been washed in years. He also noticed she had a football with her.

"Now why would she have a football? She's a girl" Henry thought to himself

After enough pondering, he decided to go over and talk to this strange young woman.

"Hi" Henry managed to stutter "my name is Henry. I was just wondering why you had a football. I mean, all the girls around here don't play football." The girl turned around with a puzzled look on her face, that made her look like she was about to laugh. Her body shape wasn't a perfect hourglass but her brown eyes and her brown hair, which went down to her thighs, distracted Henry's attention from her body since he couldn't see much of Anna's body since her long hair covered most of the contours.

"Hi, I'm Anna, nice to meet you Henry," she said, a smile creeping up her face.

"What's so funny," Henry asked her. "why do you look like you're about to start laughing?"

Anna looked at Henry with as straight a face as she could muster and said "Because of your name, it's funny."

Henry looked at her for a moment whilst fighting back a smile, said "Not as funny as Anna, that's an old woman's name. Besides, Henry is the same name as my father."

Anna passed him the football saying, "Well I think it's funny, I've never heard that name before."

Henry passed the football back to her.
Anna quickly and rather cleverly said, "I haven't seen you around before: I'm on holiday seeing my uncle."
"Oh, you mean, Mr. Johnson is your uncle? That's interesting, I haven't seen him in ages," said Henry.
"Do you want to come over and hang out with me in the attic? Its very big, we could play football or something and no one would know we are there," said Anna.
"Football... but you're a girl, girls don't play football" said Henry.
"Yes we do, we just don't cause the same amount of trouble as you guys do, that's why you don't know we play football" said Anna.

They went through the hedge, Anna first with Henry following right behind. When they got to Anna's uncle's house, they headed straight for the Attic.

"It's freezing in here," said Henry, hugging himself for warmth.

"Yeah, well, I guess it would be for a guy who's as thin as you are" said Anna.

Suddenly light appeared at the far end of the attic from a wooden hatch. They were both shocked and surprised because it appeared like there was no one there. Anna looked at Henry in a puzzled glance. They walked over to the source of the light, holding hands for comfort. They went down the hatch into what appeared to be a small room. The room had in it a desk, an old wooden chair, and a few books, one of which seemed to stand out more than the others. It was covered in a thick layer of dust, much like everything else in the room, with an old brown leather binding and thick, fragile pages.
The title, The Unfinished Story, was gilded in gold ornate writing.
Anna and Henry looked at each other and were rather puzzled about the weird title of the book. They picked it up and started reading it, they noticed that on the front page there was a poem. They both said the poem out loud. Once they started to read the poem, they heard a faint beating of a drum. As they read, the beating of the drum got louder – and louder – and louder with every word they said. The candle blew out and both of them were plunged into darkness.

Then the darkness slowly disappeared into light. Anna gazed at Henry and saw that he could be considered good looking. Henry's eyes were a hazel colour, his posture made him look like he was always leaning forward. Henry's hair was a dark brown colour with a few patches of white blonde hair for good measure, it was short on top and at the back was a ponytail it went down to his mid-back. All their surroundings looked the same. Nothing felt different. That was, before they looked around at the walls. They could see the beautiful wooden beams and the sash windows which were not there in the attic they were in. Anna and Henry looked around the attic and instead of many staircases they only found one. In the room with them were a chest of drawers, a wardrobe a bed, a purse full of money and the book in which they had read from in order to get there in the first place.
"Where are we Anna?" said Henry looking at Anna with a puzzled look upon his face.
"Do I look like Miss Know it all? Actually, don't answer that." said Anna.
"Well, let's look through the chest of drawers and the wardrobe. To see if we can work out where we are from that."
"That's a good idea. You know, you're not as stupid as you look", she said, grinning.

Henry looked through the chest of drawers and found some baggy trousers, a warm shirt and a sweater that looked awful, but not as awful as what Anna found in the wardrobe. It looked like a wedding dress, but with more colour. Anna walked out of the wardrobe wearing the huge dress, nearly knocking Henry over when she passed him. She wasn't a large girl, but the dress had added quite a bit. Henry pocketed the purse and led the way out of the attic.

They walked slowly down the wooden stairs, which creaked with every step they took. Then suddenly a large woman, well they thought it was a woman but they found out that it was not when he managed to get himself to the bar and order his drink. The landlord sounded rather nice but he refused to serve the large man because he was drunk. The Landlord saw Anna and Henry in the corner of his eye and poured out two pints of Ale which most of the local youngsters drank because the water locally was infested with the plague. Anna and Henry sat at the bar and drank their Ale neither of them had never touched alcohol as good Christian youngsters they were not allowed it.

"What is this drink Sir, Its very strong… nothing like what we have at home" said Henry
"It's Ale, What do you drink at home?" said the Landlord
"Never mind that, Where are we?" said Anna
"You've only just started drinking and now you're confused as to where you are… I guess you are youngsters and you'll only forget if I tell you" the Landlord said while he unravels a Map, a rather torn map but a map none the less.
"So? Where are we?" said Anna and Henry
"you're here in Oxford, we're by the coast, just down the road to the left is the Castle" said the Landlord "you might as well keep the map".

The too youngsters looked very puzzled when the landlord told them that Oxford was near the Coast. The landlord passed them the map which Anna takes before Henry accidentally spills anything on it. Anna hid it in her dress for safe keeping. The Inn was very quiet only the large drunk, and a happy couple who would not notice if you slapped them with a wet fish, or something even smellier like Henry's socks. They still would not notice.

The map just covered the region they were in, Oxford seemed to be an important place seeing as there was a castle there and all of the defences seemed to be there. Anna and Henry went out for a walk; they passed a lot of shops varying with shapes and sizes. The most popular shop in Oxford was a store called a blacksmiths as Anna and Henry walked passed they noticed that inside the blacksmiths was an abundance of weaponry. The Swordsmanship made every violent sword look so beautiful and unique. Anna and Henry walked on and saw Tailors; at a close inspection Anna and Henry noticed that all of the clothes looked very old. Looking at the people walking around the City they saw that a lot of them could afford pretty much anything they wanted. A part from the beggar sat outside the church at the end of the road. He looked almost like he could of died and no one would of noticed. Anna passed him some money from her purse and said "You look like you need this money". The beggar thanked Anna and he sat down again.

They walked passed the church and turned left, in front of them they noticed a Dock and in the harbour there was a ship which was the same style as 'HMS Victory' except it was actually in the sea, it was quite a distance away from the shore, rowing away from it was a little dingy on-board were six sailors who were rowing this small vessel and in the middle of the dingy there was a sea-chest. The sailors were about to ask Anna and Henry if they would help lift out the heavy chest from the dingy but it was too heavy for even the sailors to lift up except one of the strong sailors, who was wearing a leather hat with three points and gold lining, he jumped out of the Dingy and you could tell he was strong his massive biceps and well formed six-pack gave it away. He lifted the chest up using some rope and pulleys accidentally he spilled some gold pieces on the walkway, Henry and Anna helped him gather them up when they noticed on the Sailor's arm there was a tattoo which was not the same as all of the other Sailors. It was a weird tattoo it looked like a dragon with a sword going through its neck.

"Thanks for that you really helped, here have some, you deserve it!" He said passing Anna and Henry a handful of coins each, Anna poured the coins into the purse, when the He noticed the book that she was carrying, when suddenly he queried "Where did you get that?"
"We found it in the attic in my Uncle's house, why? Is it important?" they said together

"Meet me at The Plough tonight, about around six bells; you can count to six can you not… if so you'll hear the cannons of the castle firing every hour. They like to do that to test the cannons out in the event of Pirates attacking us, oh I didn't introduce myself, I'm George, and I'll be wearing my normal clothes since I'm off duty" Said George

"All right, meet you then" and as Anna and Henry were saying that George was busy helping the other sailors out of the dingy. Anna and Henry walked passed them and went on a stroll around the city. They found many Inns, but what was weird most of all was the fact that everyone seemed to be carrying a pistol, or some other firearm which was rather different then that in Oxford.

Anna and Henry went for a walk and found themselves near a hill. On the top of this hill was a singular cannon. You could see for miles around from this hill, in fact so far you could just make out the coastline of what they thought was another island. They could see however that there were many ships going in and out of the Port of Oxford. As Anna and Henry started to unravel the map, they saw that the coastline they saw was actually from the same region that they were standing on. The map they were holding only covered this island.

The worryingly thing was that they had accepted the fact that Oxford was not their own but, the way in which George spoke to them about the book got them concerned.

"How did he come to know of the book?" both of them said together.

Suddenly a patrol of guards walked passed them both holding muskets. They did not stop they just kept on patrolling the area. Henry started to chuckle.

"What's so funny? They could have shot us!" exclaimed Anna
"I'm sorry but they look like toy soldiers, I mean it's just amusing" he retorted

On their tour of the city they found many shops. As time went on the sixth cannon shot fired from the cannon in which they were recently standing near. They both hurried to 'The Plough' asking for directions on their way.

George was waiting for them in a secluded part of the Inn. In his casual clothes. He was wearing a well padded coat. In his arm appeared a book, surely it cant be the same book they were carrying themselves. It was bizarre surely it could not be possible.
George broke the ice by saying "I was given a copy of this book last week, no one knew where the original was, but I guess we know now, Don't we?"
"Yes I guess. But it can't be, we're not from this world... how did you get it to our world?" said Anna
"Well I don't know. If I take you to my little home town called 'London' just to the East, maybe we could talk about it in more detail" George said
"Well we really must sort this thing out" Henry said when he managed to find a gap in the conversation to speak in.

They walked for what seemed like days, walking through a forest over a few bridges and next to a Gold mine. You could tell it was a gold mine the golden flashes from the mine shone at Henry. When they got to George's house they went to the bookcase. George pulled from the bookcase a book, and the bookcase came away from the wall pivoting around on its right. Showing a tunnel going away from the mine, towards the sea, it was beginning to get dark. Then George lit a wooden torch and you could see surrounding the walls were pistols, muskets, uniforms and maps. The Maps interested Anna and Henry.

"Now the reason we are down here youngsters, is to understand one thing about that book. Its full of spells and once you say one the book makes that spell no longer valid now I did not expect it to work like this but, you're both now stuck in this world the only way back is..." he paused "... well I do not know that there is a way back, we will be able to find a way eventually" he said in a worried tone. Anna and Henry became worried but contained their worry when Henry asked how he would go about making money or travelling around making money just like in his favourite books.

Meanwhile in the sea there was a Major battle involving many ships most of whom looked like they were not professionally trained but still causing damage, at the faint sound of the shot George ran up the stairs and disappeared. Left in the room alone were Anna and Henry, they started playing dress up and they figured from the uniforms and pistols around them that they only had read about in story books.

Anna being the intelligent young girl that she was said "well we must be in the era of pirates I guess, judging from the attire, we must grab some of these maps so we can see where exactly we are"

The sun was slowly going down after all it was gone six. George never came back to let Anna and Henry out of his little hiding hole. He seemed such a nice man. Anna and Henry went upstairs to find the house was deserted no other people were around. Suddenly there was a bang at the door and there were two guards well they looked like guards standing at the door. "What are we going to say" said Anna. "Well do something useful and do not say anything about George" said Henry.

"Let us in we are friends of George... he gave us a message do you want to hear it or not?" said this male voice through the letter box. Anna and Henry let the two guards in, as they walked through the door you could just about make out that one of them were carrying a pistol which was uncommon but Anna and Henry did not know that was the case. The other guard obviously was not a male, you could tell as soon as she put down her musket.

"Captain George gave me this book to give to you" said the woman "He wanted to make sure you knew what you've landed yourself in"
"What do you mean 'landed your self in'?" they both replied
"Well, George is helping out some Maestegians escape from Oxford's Jail, in return he gets a huge ship even bigger then the biggest ship of the navy" said the man "I'm Adam, your tour guide and George's right hand man, and your now both in our crew" Anna and Henry looked at both of the people who they now knew were not guards and in a puzzled gaze they both said "well we don't really have much choice but to help you guys out"

With puzzled faces Anna and Henry looked at each other and then they walked out of George's house. They travelled towards a hill then they saw this small opening from where train tracks appeared from this dark tunnel when suddenly this guy came out with his torch he walked towards Adam and directed the party in the mine.

"We have to mine some gold to make it look like we are here for a reason" Adam whispered to Anna and Henry.

After a good hour or so passed, and it was getting dark, they had to light more torches. As soon as the torches were lit it was obvious that the mine was a cover seeing as there was a path going quite a fair distance downwards you could see water reflecting in the torch light.

"we have to go down there to tell the others about your arrival" said the man with the torch "I'm John, just so you know that" he passes them a pistol each "can you fire these... or do you want some training?"
"well, let me have a go" said Henry cocking the pistol and aiming it at the wall, he squeezed the trigger and there was a massive bang but nothing came out the other end, "We seem to have ourselves natural here lads" said John with a laugh. Anna had a go and after watching Henry do it she cocked the pistol and fired it, but instead of going where it was supposed to it covered the whole wall with spread shots.

"All right you both seem to be naturals, be careful down the mine there are a few weird creatures down there" said John. John ran ahead of Anna and Henry and disappeared out of sight. The woman ,who was standing near to John, Anna and Henry noticed had her tongue removed, It was quite weird but they did wonder why she was not talking to them.

Anna and Henry slowly and carefully went down into the mine, away from the tracks that had been put there for the miners into the unknown. They slowly went down the mine at the bottom of the path they were going down. The cave was a dark and haunting place, filled with the echoing voices of water and wildlife that had taken residence. The roof was covered in stalactites that had been glazed with water providing their glass like coating. The jagged rocks and ancient glossed spikes from the roof made the roof appear like the mouth of a huge creature, daunting and terrible, and awaiting the next victims that dare venture deeper into the secrets within. It was a deep cave that had a gradual decline. Suddenly as they were walking down the cave, they could see light, but it was not flickering like the torches were. And it was not like daylight.

It appeared to be some sort of spell, they tried to walk towards it and they were bounced backwards and fell down the wet slope hitting their back rather hard.

They picked themselves up and brushed themselves off. A bit puzzled about what just happened but still all right. They looked puzzled, I mean who wouldn't be, Looking up into the direction in which they had been flung from they saw a creature. The creature ran away from the light but before it got a chance to get away from Anna and Henry it burst into flames leaving a pile of ashes behind. Anna and Henry looked at each other; they walked up to the pile of ashes and were rather confused as to what just happened. A shout came from the shadows but Anna and Henry did not understand what the creature was saying. They gradually walked towards the noise seeing more and more piles of ashes as they walked deep into the cave. Then there was a force which threw Anna and Henry onto the path which they had previously been on, forcing them down deeper into the cave but this time they were not alone although they couldn't see the creature but it was there haunting them in the darkness.

As Anna and Henry were walking down the cave they saw a faint torch in the distance. As they were walking towards it they noticed that it was a fair distance away. A good hour's walk from the already two hours they had been down the mine. A strong smell came from the gap which the light was coming from, it was on either side of a long stone bridge, obviously someone did not want any visitors who ever lived down here. In the distance, Anna and Henry saw what appeared to be a huge city, built into the face of the rock. Such a marvellous sight had never been known to Anna and Henry, not even in their wildest dreams. As the city drew closer its size became more substantial, and the lights from its vast buildings pierced the swelling darkness.

Anna and Henry noticed that a dock had been built into the city and the water surrounding was enough to be a sea on its own. Small waves lashed up onto the edge of the port and gently caressed the damp wooden planks of the jetty. Anna and Henry looked down on this wondrous city in awe and began to venture down from the top of the cliff on which they stood. A small yet jagged and rocky path led down into the city sector that Anna and Henry struggled down. The path crumbled beneath them and Henry watched as the small rocks fell for what seemed like hours and then disappeared into the darkness. After what seemed like an eternity of clinging to the rock face and watching their step, Anna and Henry finally reached ground level and at last realised the true size of this subterranean civilisation. It was huge, a truly magnificent sight, bustling with life and filled with adventure. Anna and Henry felt a rush of excitement as they ventured farther into the city and marvelled in its many features.

The inhabitants of the city didn't resemble the surface dwelling people of Oxford. The Under city was filled with rugged people, dirty and weathered much like the cave in which they lived. The men were all built like houses, probably due to hours of gruelling labour round and about the caves. The women were not as built, but most looked like they could kill an average man without blinking an eye. The folk in the cavern reminded Henry of Anna, with stained skin and filthy clothes; he imagined she would feel right at home. The city did not resemble the above Oxford in the slightest. While Oxford had tidy shops neatly dusted and preened, the cavernous city had only piles of pillaged goods. Swords, jewels, rags and muskets were amongst the various treasures scattered around in surprisingly orderly piles. Henry and Anna were brimming with curiosity as to who these people were. How long had they been here? Why were they down here in the first place? So many questions flowed through the minds of Anna and Henry yet neither could pluck up the courage to ask one of the locals. Anna and Henry imagined many different reasons as to why the dirty people were here,
"maybe they're cannibals!" Henry gasped, frightening himself with his idea
"Don't be silly!" Anna barked, lowering her voice so that the pair did not draw attention.
"Maybe they are afraid of the light, and have to live here" Anna continued, trying to reassure Henry after his recent outburst,
"Maybe that's it. But aren't people usually afraid of the dark are they?" inquired Henry after pondering Anna's claim.
"Well...no, but these people don't seem normal to me." Anna stated, sounding proud of her observation.
"Wait!" Henry yelled excitedly, pointing at a ragged flag hanging from a stall,
"Is that...? Yes it is!" Anna was speechless at Henry's find.
Hanging from a damp wooden stall at the side of the docks hung a deathly black flag. At its centre a grubby, once white skull grinned chaotically at Anna and Henry, mounted atop of two cutlass blades, a symbol that could strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest adventurers.
"That's the Jolly Roger!" Henry exclaimed with desperation,
"I know what it is, these people are pirates Henry!" Anna cried glued to the spot with terror.
Amidst the shock of the latest revelation, the two young explorers failed to notice a darkened figure staring out toward the vast waters inside the cave. Dressed head to foot in a black trench coat, along with stained black boots and a black admiral's hat, this character was not easy to miss. Anna quickly snapped out of her momentary daze and noticed the now recognisable pirate.
"Henry, look there" Anna whispered pointing in the direction of the blackened stranger.
"I see him..." Henry said, softly but not quite a whisper.
"This isn't any place for youngsters" the figure shouted whilst turning his head and upper body to face them.
"Oh no Henry! He's spotted us! Now what do we do?" Anna yelped, desperation in her voice
"Get out your gun Anna, he is outnumbered!" screamed Henry bravely, drawing his gun from his belt.
Anna quickly Followed suit and soon both of the youngsters had pistols pointed at the now chuckling pirate.
"You're both feisty, I like that. But I wouldn't be so eager to pick a fight with a stranger in his city, wouldn't you agree?" Said the pirate a lopsided grin smeared across his scarred face.
"Why should we listen to you? We are the ones with the guns, you should be doing as we ask!" said Henry smugly.
"On the contrary my dear child, what good will two pistols do you against a city of Pirates now?" he chortled, this time bearing blacked and golden teeth with a monstrous grin.
"Henry...he does have a point" stammered Anna, fear beginning to hit her.
Henry and Anna lowered their pistols as the pirate began to advance toward them, still grinning madly and reaching for a pistol of his own.

Henry began to walk backward while Anna could not move with fright, as he walked Henry stumbled and tripped over a small pile of debris in the path. As he fell the book was thrown into the path scattering a cloud of dust and soot into the air. The pirate, now noticing the exposed book stopped smiling and now began to grit his teeth. With a look of disbelief the pirate began to stagger toward the book, his wooden leg leaving a trail in the dirt.
"Where did you get this!" the pirate raged frothing with anger.
"Do you know what you have!" He continued his rage building.
"It matters not where they received it Powell" A husky female voice echoed from the shadows,
"They were instructed to come here by my lover, George, their appearance is not merely chance. Fate brought them to us and we have a duty to fulfil Captain, All five of us." As her words rang about the air, slowly she emerged from her shadowed hiding spot. As the light cascaded against her sparkling gold jewellery, her beauty also shone out dazzling Anna and Henry. The female pirate was picturesque, golden tanned skin covered delicately by white woollen robes, her sultry green eyes, deep and mesmerising gleamed as brightly as the bracelets on her wrists. Leather leggings embraced her hips tightly, exposing her perfect yet voluptuous figure and her rose red lips, soft to the touch could send a man insane with the smallest kiss. Long black locks flowed and shimmered, spilling from her bandanna like a vast waterfall, and reached the length of her gently curved back. Henry and Anna knew that this pirate was not like the others. Her appearance alone was far superior to the other pirates the two had encountered in the village, yet something suggested she was far more dangerous. The rugged and aged pirate snapped backward and immediately acknowledged the woman's request. The female then drew her attention to Anna and Henry who continued to stare in sheer amazement at the events occurring.