Adventures in Diviniand

by Nancy Olawale

  “Who said we were giving you a second chance?” she asked with a perplexed look on her face. “No offence, Harry, but I don’t trust you as much as that dude over there”—she pointed to a random man—“but I need to know more about this pendant. Whatever it takes.”

  Harry just shrugged with a sad look on his face and walked away.

  “Jess! Come on! They’ve already started the countdown for the official start,” Olivia shouted. She had already started running to the beach while Jess was talking to Harry. Jess ran through the crowd until she was next to Olivia.

  “You don’t think Harry was telling the truth about the pendant, do you?” Olivia asked, worried.

  “Honestly, Olivia, I’m not really sure, but isn’t it better to get information, whether it’s true or not, than nothing at all?” Jess replied.

  “I guess you’re right, but I won’t forgive him even if he did something over the top for us,” Olivia muttered.

  “Fair, fair, Olivia, but I need to know more about where my parents, maybe even myself, actually come from.”

  “What are you talking about, Jess?” Olivia asked, staring at her like she was mad.

  “Oh! I almost forgot that I didn’t tell you about what happened yesterday!” Jessica said with a laugh as she beckoned Olivia to an isolated bench.

  “You better be quick,” Olivia said, hiding a smile, “because I think we came here to pick up rubbish, and we’re not doing much of it.”

  “Yeah, you guys are so funny,” someone said. Harry walked up to them and sat on their bench.

  “What do you want now, Harry? Ten quid?” Olivia stood up and looked at him whilst rolling her eyes.

  “Actually, Olivia,” Harry started, “I want to know something way more valuable than money. I want to know everything about Jess. Right now. Right this second.”

  Chapter 5

  “Harry, name me one reason why I should tell you any of my personal business. I barely even know you, and what I do know about you isn’t very positive,” Jess said as she stood up with Olivia.

  “Okay, look, Jess, what if we make a deal?” Harry said whilst looking smugly at them both.

  “I’m here too, you know. Just in case you forgot,” Olivia said whilst sitting back down.

  “Including you, then. Happy now, Olivia?” he asked sarcastically.

  “Would both of you just shut up?” Jess mumbled.

  “Anyway, before we were so rudely interrupted”—he gave Olivia a menacing glance before he carried on talking—“we were talking about a deal. If I tell you about Diviniand and your pendant, you can tell me about everything strange that has happened to you.”

  “Yeah, and what is Diviniand?” Jess asked.

  “I can only tell you if you fulfil your part of the deal,” he said to Jess, shrugging.

  “How can Olivia and I trust you? Not trying to be rude, but you aren’t the most trustworthy person I know.”

  “If I get a say in this or something, here’s what I got to say. I. DON’T. TRUST. HIM. Jess, it’s as simple as that. Can we just go and do what we’re supposed to do and clean up the beach?”

  “Just let me think, Olivia, okay?” She turned to Harry. “This is your last chance, Harry. You tell us about Diviniand now, or there is no deal at all.”

  “Well, it doesn’t look like I have much of a choice, so sure. Whatever,” he said as he looked at them. “I’m just going to say, though, that you’ll probably think I’m crazy when you hear this story since I believe it.”

  “How much weirder can you get?” Olivia muttered to herself.

  “Okay, we’re ready,” Jess said as she sat down and pulled Olivia with her.

  “Ow! That hurt, you know!” Olivia complained.

  “Let’s just call that payback for when you pulled me earlier this week,” Jess replied with a smile.

  “Well, I don’t have all day, you know. Do you want to hear about Diviniand or not?” Harry asked, starting to grow impatient.

  “We were ready ages ago, so just start,” they said.

  “Diviniand is a place that is hidden in different cities in the world. An example of where you can find Diviniand is in Kent. Just to tell you, Kent is where we are right now. I’ve been searching for Diviniand for years here, but I can’t find the gateway that will take me there. I’ve heard different legends, like it’s on clouds, but I know for sure that it’s a completely different dimension.”

  “But why would you want to go to Diviniand?” Jess asked.

  “Jess, do you actually believe this nonsense?” Olivia asked, shocked. “Personally, I think this guy is making this all up!”

  “Of course you do, Olivia. It isn’t like you guys have been acting like best friends this whole time! So just listen to him. Please listen to him for me.” Jess asked pleadingly.

  “Fine, but be quick, Harry. I want to pick up rubbish on the beach.”

  Jess was hoping that Olivia and Harry would get on from now on, but she wasn’t sure if she had forgiven him or not, and she had something else to think about. Maybe the reason her dad didn’t want to come here was because of Diviniand. Was that the place her parents actually came from? Either way, Harry would probably explain everything she needed and wanted to know because her parents couldn’t hide everything from her forever. Well, not anymore.

  Chapter 6

  It finally started to make sense. That was all Jess thought when Harry finished explaining, but she was interrupted when he asked about her part of the deal.

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow in this exact spot with Olivia, but you still need to tell me why you want to find Diviniand.” Jess knew why she wanted to go there. She wanted to know about her past and her parents’ past. There was definitely something they weren’t telling her, and she needed to know more.

  “It’s none of your business why I want to go there.”

  “Why should I tell you what has happened to me if you’re not telling me?”

  “Because that is in the deal. My personal business isn’t.”

  To be honest, he did have a fair point, but she was going to know why no matter what.

  “You know you haven’t told me anything about the pendant?”

  “‘I’ll tell you tomorrow in this exact spot’ sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

  “Tell me tomorrow, then.” Jess couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the blonde-haired boy.

  Olivia and Jess walked to the beach, and Jess thought this was the perfect opportunity to tell Olivia her theories.

  “Olivia, what if the reason my dad didn’t want to come here was because of Diviniand?”

  “Jess, can we just pick up rubbish? That is why I wanted to come here. To save the environment!”

  “Oh. Okay. We can do that,” Jess said, slightly disappointed. “Hey, Olivia, do you think I should keep my part of the deal?”

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t. I don’t trust him, and I don’t care what he says. Once a bully, always a bully.”

  Jess picked up a plastic bag and put the rubbish she was collecting into it. “I don’t think I want to tell him, but I will if he tells me about the pendant.”

  “Do what you want, then, Jess, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. By the way, do you have any snacks? Because I am starving.”

  “Yeah, I brought some crisps with me.” Jess rummaged through her backpack and got one for Olivia and another for herself, but she saw something glistening out of the corner of her eye. It was a tiny key at the bottom of her bag.

  “Jess, are you okay?” Olivia asked. There was no reply. “Jess, snap out of it!”

  Jess looked up out of her bag and held up the key.

  “I found this at the bottom of my bag, Olivia. It looks like it can fit inside my locket! We need to go get Harry, Olivia. I have a feeling he knows more than he’s saying.”

  “But—but the beach—”

  “We need to go. NOW! The beach can wait!” Jess ran back across the beach, and Olivia followed behind. Luckily, Harry was stil
l where he had been when they left him.

  “Harry, tell me now why you want to go to Diviniand?” Jess asked frantically.

  “I told you, I’m not tellin—”

  “TELL ME NOW!” she screamed.

  Harry moved towards Olivia and asked, “What’s gone into her?” Olivia just shrugged.

  “Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s because of the jewellery they make. If I borrowed a few and sold them here—”

  “More like stealing,” Jess mumbled.

  “I’ll be able to make a huge profit out of it. Maybe even keep some of the jewellery for me!”

  “Are you saying that my pendant—”

  “—is a legendary piece of jewellery from Diviniand? Yeah, I am.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll do this, then,” Jess said.

  “Do what?” Harry and Olivia asked. Jess took the key and put the key in the locket.

  “Jess, please don’t say you’re going to do what I don’t want you to do!” Olivia said.

  Jess ignored them both and unlocked the locket. It created a portal.

  “Jess, don’t go in!” Olivia screamed, but it was too late. Jess was sucked into the portal, and she grabbed onto Olivia’s arm for dear life. Harry just sat there and watched them both whilst smirking.

  “Get up, you great pile of lazy bones, and help us!” Olivia screamed at him with sweat pouring down her face. “She’s too heavy! I can’t hold her much longer!”

  Harry grabbed onto Olivia’s other arm and tried to pull them both out. He held onto a nearby bench. His grip wasn’t tight enough, and his hand was starting to slip off.

  “Pull Jess harder, Olivia!” Harry shouted.

  “I can’t, Harry!” Olivia replied with her sweat now dripping to the ground. Olivia pulled as hard as she could, but half of Jess’s body was already at the other side of the vivid blue portal. Soon enough, the force pulled them all into the portal.

  “HELP!” Olivia and Harry screamed.

  Jess, Olivia, and Harry were all gone.

  Chapter 7

  The three of them staggered out of the portal. It was like it sucked them all up into a fluffy cloud. Thank goodness the ride was smooth; otherwise, Jess might’ve thrown up. They stepped out of the portal, looking around.

  “W-where are we?” stammered Olivia.

  “I don’t know, but we need to stick together,” Jess replied.

  “Jess is right, but that will be hard to do. This place is awesome!” said Harry, and he was right. Where they had ended up was unlike any place on earth. It was a beautiful place. The gorgeous, lush, lime-green grass was full of nature and colour. It was like this was all a fairy tale, maybe even a dream. But the place they ended up was called Diviniand.

  “This truly is a magical place,” said Jess, admiring all of the wonders.

  “Wait, where’s the portal? We need to get out of here!” Olivia panicked and looked to see where it had gone, but it was nowhere to be seen. It had gone as quickly as they’d left their home. “Try putting the key back in the lock, Jess!” Olivia said as she paced up and down. Jess listened to her suggestion and put the key back in, but nothing happened.

  “Guys, let’s not panic. We must be in an odd sort of nightmare or something.” Jess started breathing heavily and pinched herself. “OUCH! Okay, guys, we can start panicking.”

  “Or maybe not, Jess. Look what I found lying on the floor!” Olivia showed her a map, and Jess started breathing normally again. The map showed different gateways in and out of Diviniand and the whole place. “Jess, if we follow this map, we might be able to find a gateway back to Kent!”

  “Thank goodness!” Jess’s breathing became normal, and she started talking again. “Harry, since you know all about Diviniand, you can help us along with the map. Right, Harry?” Jess waited for Harry to respond, but there was no reply.

  “Harry?” she said again, but there was no response.

  “Jess, don’t bother. The idiot is probably stealing necklaces to sell,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “He wasn’t any use to us anyway.”

  “But we all need to get home. Including Harry.”

  “You can go looking for him, Jess, but I won’t,” Olivia said as she folded her arms. “He’s a pathological liar and a backstabbing bully. We. Don’t. Need. Him.”

  “Okay, fine, we’ll leave without him, but I still have questions for him. How did he know for sure that Diviniand is in a different dimension? It’s literally like he’s been here before,” Jess said.

  “Good point, but we need to save our own skins before we save the traitor’s!”

  “Can’t you just call him Harry, Olivia?”

  “Fine, but the next time I see him, I’m going to tear him limb from limb,” Olivia said whilst heading to a tree and punching it.

  “I don’t think I’m a big fan of violent Olivia.” Jess pulled her away from the tree. “What happened about you wanting to save the environment?” she teased.

  “Sorry about that, Jess,” Olivia mumbled.

  “It’s fine!” Jess took a deep breath and then said, “Olivia, I think we should go to the jewellery shop, though.”

  Olivia looked confused. “Why do you want to go there, Jess?”

  “I think we could find out more about my pendant there and maybe when it was bought. Then we could look into who originally bought it without the owners of the shop knowing anything!”

  “I like the plan, Jess, but really, I think we should be trying to get home. Besides, none of us know how to hack, and it’s getting dark.”

  “I guess you’re right, Olivia. We need to find a place to shelter for the night, but I do know someone who might know how to hack.” Jess looked up and started to see stars covering the night sky.

  “Please don’t tell me it’s who I think it is,” Olivia muttered.

  “It probably is.”

  “So you’re telling me that you want to look for Harry so he can help us?” Olivia frowned. Jess nodded.

  “You are one strange person, Jess, but I’ll do it. Besides, Harry seems like the shady type of guy who would practice hacking every other weekend.”

  Jess smiled from ear to ear. “Thanks, Olivia! You’re the best!” Then Jess remembered something that was slightly disturbing but interesting at the same time. “You know, this place seems kind of familiar. I think Diviniand is the place I see in my dreams!”

  “I was thinking about that too. Somehow, Jess, I think you have some sort of connection to this place! I guess we can solve your family’s mystery whilst finding the way home.”

  “I guess so, but we need to find somewhere to lay low for a while.” Jess looked around and saw nobody near where they were.

  “I think we’re in a rural part of Diviniand, Jess, but before we go to bed, I need to ask you a question.”

  “What is it?”

  “How come we could go to Diviniand without using a hidden gateway?”

  “I don’t really know, Olivia. I guess that is something we’re going to have to figure out together.” Jess sighed and sat on the floor. “Well, one thing is for sure, Olivia, I cannot sleep on the floor! Like, that’s just gross, but I guess tonight’s an exception. We need to find somewhere to stay tomorrow, though.”

  “I guess I can’t either, but we can’t look for a hotel now, so we’re going to have to stick with it. Whether we like it or not.”

  “Well, good night then,” Jess said, and then the two girls fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 8

  The next day was officially Jess and Olivia’s second day in Diviniand. The sun was high up in the sky and so were Olivia and Jess’s hopes. Jess inhaled the fresh morning air and gently woke up Olivia. The clear skies meant there was no chance of rain, which was perfect for Olivia and Jess to go look for people in Diviniand. Immediately, Jess heard Olivia’s familiar voice.

  “Do we seriously have to go now?” Olivia groaned.

  “Of course we do, Olivia! If we start now, we’ll be able to get to the city befor
e dark!” Jess replied as she picked up the map and looked at it. “I wish I had a phone with me, though. Then we would be able to see if Diviniand is above Kent or below it!”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll probably be able to ask the people in Diviniand!” Olivia had gotten up now and was stretching her arms.

  “I guess you’re right,” Jess replied, “but we need to get going.”

  “Wait! Have you got any food in your backpack? I’m pretty hungry,” Olivia said.

  “Can it just wait? We’ll probably need to save it for later,” Jess replied. “Olivia, I think we should get going now. I have to admit, it was a bit of a rough sleep last night,” she muttered.

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Olivia jumped up and started walking. Jess packed everything back in the bag and started following Olivia.

  “Um, Olivia, do you know where you’re going?” Jess asked as she caught up with her.

  “I actually don’t know,” Olivia mumbled, her cheeks starting to flush.

  “It’s fine! Don’t worry. I think we’ve got the map somewhere in my bag,” Jess muttered as she unzipped the blue bag and found the map. “Um, so how are your geography skills? Because mine aren’t the best.” Jess shot Olivia a grin, and Olivia did the same back to her. She passed Olivia the map.

  “I guess I can read maps okay…” Olivia looked at the map with a frown on her face. “This map makes no sense, Jess!” She passed it back to Jess and let her read it.

  “Yeah, you’re right! How are we supposed to know where we are when the paths are different than where we are?”

  “This place is crazy! Why would anyone want to come here?” Olivia whined.

  “Maybe you’d enjoy it if you understood how Diviniand works,” said a voice behind them.

  “Please don’t tell me it’s Harry, Jess,” Olivia said, not bothering to lower her voice.

  “I think it is.” Jess sighed and put her hand on her forehead.

  “You guys don’t have to act so disappointed, you know,” he muttered.