Chapter 8: These Clocks Can't Be Right! Has This Field Trip Gone Awry?!

Image description: Camelia greeting Kayla when Kayla approaches the bus

A bus pulled in front of the Capital Remedial parking lot; it was silver with darker gray and dark red trims. The bus was numbered 815.

Several students and staff were stepping aboard. Camelia stood immediately outside the bus, greeting each of the students and staff. She was fairly tall with medium-dark skin, and was dressed in a 1920's style outfit with a camera motif stood outside of the bus, greeting each of the students and staff. Her dress was a dark blue sleeveless dress that reached to her knees, and she wore a long white beaded necklace with white stockings, flat black dress shoes, a black and white scarf resembling a film strip, white gloves, and a dark gray beret.

"Bye, everyone!" She said while she waved. Kayla was just about to step into the bus when she overheard this.

"Huh? Who are you waving to now?" Kayla asked.


Image description: Camelia introduces herself in an Art Deco-inspired scene

"To the studio audience!" Camelia said, motioning towards them in a fourth wall break! In a demonstration of her abilities, she turned the background surrounding her dark gray with an Art Deco-inspired star and swirl pattern. "I'm Cam, or Camelia! I'm a Dimensional Weaver, a class of liminal beings who uphold space-time and have the power to break the fourth wall! It's a power to be used very carefully." She introduced herself.

"Was this one of those times?" Kayla snarked before she went into the bus.

"I was introducing myself!" Camelia said.


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Image description: Ella is loudly calling for any last minute students that want to make it to the field trip

"Is everyone on board? We'll be leaving in 5 minutes!" Ella announced. She also goes by Claire, or Ella Claire which are her first and middle names. She was one of the teachers and dressed in a uniform that was similar to the students', but with two sets of shoulder straps, a lapel on the front of her jacket, additional insignia on her sleeves, and her jacket was longer. She had a slight tan and hazel eyes. Her light brown hair was tied into a bun with a large pink ribbon, and she wore round pearl earrings.

She's Capital Remedial's cooking teacher and will be the bus driver. She volunteered for this and several other things around the school. Recently she tested Camelia's camera but worried that her camera was consumed by the darkness! Camelia noticed that the lens cap was still on, thankfully before any filming was supposed to happen. With her epic lens cap removal with gratuitous lens flare, she dramatically removed the lens cap, which shone in the spotlight!


Image description: Camelia when she troubleshooted a problem with her camera by removing the lens cap!
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"Last call! You might not regret this!" Ella loudly announced. The bus was nearly full but there was room for at least one more student.


Image description: Fiorina running towards the camera with a fierce and determined expression!

"Hold on!" Fiorina yelled. She was running at full speed to the bus, careful to not let her glasses slip. She had strawberry blonde hair that was around chin-length, had a slight tan, teal eyes that usually had a fierce look to them. She wore long boxing wrap on her hands, and with her uniform she wore a dark green satchel bag and black combat boots. When she ran, her shiny nose ring, lip ring and gauges gleamed in the sunlight.

"This bus isn't going without me!" She yelled just before she ran onto the ramp to enter the bus.

"I love your enthusiasm! You know this trip will be great!" Ella cheered. However, Fiorina quickly felt a chill of despair or regret.

"I'm regretting this already..." She thought. There were no rows of seats left with no one there. Few spaces were left.

"You can sit by us!" Two students cheered in unison. "Another one rides the bus!" They sung in unison when Fiorina reluctantly sat down in the seat next to them.


Image description: Fiorina trying not to sing along but is tempted. Her friends Alfbern and Felicity are there by her singing along

"Hang on to your hats now! We're going to get rolling!" Ella put on a hat and announced to everyone on the bus. She got in the driver seat and the wheels started going round and round. A certain song broke out on the bus. ("Wheels on the bus go round and round", though "Another One Rides the Bus" would've also been fitting!)

Fiorina tried to resist, but even she couldn't. "The wheels on the bus-- Aww danger! I hate you both so much for this!" She said.

Between you and the narrator, she's friends with them but doesn't want to admit it to others because of her reputation she needs to hold up.

"Camelia, are you narrating again?!" Kayla asked.


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The bus arrived in C Flats, the former capital city. It's the historical site where The Great Power Struggle erupted. The aftermath ushered in a new era.


Image description: The group arrives!

The group stepped out of the bus, one by one to look at the view around them. From there, they could see a welcome sign and several rustic wood-paneled buildings and elegant brick buildings that dated back to 1888 at the latest.

The first presidents wanted a fresh start with a new capital to commemorate it. C Flats was abandoned after the new capital was built, but was preserved as a historical site. However, they quickly noticed something was off. Something wasn't right.


Image description: A close-up of Kayla, who looks shocked over something

"Hey... Something weird happened! Look at this!" Kayla warned.


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