This is a prequel to my other story on the Journey 2: Mysterious Island archive. You don't really have to read that first if you're just starting to read this, just read the other later. Also, this story is a one POV; oppose to the other one which is third POV.

Synopsis: When Sean's best friend joins him on the journey to the center of the Earth, new emotions and complications that can happen for two thirteen year olds will be exposed. What will be unleashed?

Enjoy.

On I-95, Sean couldn't stop making faces in the rearview mirror at me. He'd stick his tongue out at me, cross his eyes or wiggle his eyebrows. His mom was taking us to his uncle's house.

Let me fill you in. I'm Daniela Delarosa; or Danny, for short. Sean Anderson is my best friend of all time. I'd always find it funny yet strange whenever we're at school and people just assume we're dating. I mean, I know I'm a bit young but kids my age – at least in today's society – already had at least three boyfriends (or girlfriends). Sean and I just laugh at them, turning down their assumption with pink cheeks.

Anyways, Sean and I kind of grew up together. His parents were great friends with mine in high school and college. I used to go and play at his house everyday and vice versa. We both had to grow up without our fathers and with each other. Our fathers went missing before our third birthdays. They were both wonderful scientists reaching for a new discovery but they never made it back. Sean and I promised not to ever bring it up. We didn't want our happiness with each other to be ruined depressing stories.

Now, our mom's who work in the same company is transferring to Canada. I don't really mind but Sean was angry. Mrs. Anderson is taking us to his father's brother. We were to stay there for there for ten days until our mothers get everything settled. I had other family members to stay with but Sean begged and pleaded for me to stay at his uncles. He said he wanted something to look forward to if he had to stay with his uncle. His mom called his uncle in advance and they sorted everything out.

I didn't notice we've arrived until Sean's mom spoke on her phone. "We're pulling up in front." She walked to the door of an average looking house. She rang the doorbell and looked at us. She smiled nervously and turned back around. I looked at Sean and saw he was playing on his PSP. A few minutes later I saw a grown man that had shaggy brown hair. He looked like a professor.

"Hey, Sean." The man said. It sounded like he didn't even want to be here. Sean ignored him and kept playing. The man whom I assume is Sean's uncle, kept talking, "Is that one of those Game boys?"

"PSP." Sean said in a monotone voice.

"Cool."

Sean's mom opened the trunk and sighed. "Sean, say "hi" to your uncle." Sean sighed and grabbed his backpack he had in front. "Hi to your uncle." Sean huffed out.

I grabbed mine and moved out of the car to see Sean leaving his uncle and the uncle forcefully laugh. His uncle's eyes landed on me and smiled.

"Hello, Danny. I haven't seen you since you were seven, as well. You grew into a beautiful young lady." I smiled at his giddiness. "Hello, sir."

"Just call me Trevor." He replied to me. I nodded and walked to the trunk to get my duffle bag. I saw Sean huff to the house. "Let yourself in." Trevor shouted to him. He made a face to Mrs. Anderson that said what's his problem?

"This'll be good for him. Being with you. Who knows? Maybe it'll good for you, too. Danny'll try and keep him…" Sean's mom started. "Knocked straight?" I asked. She giggled and nodded, agreeing with me. "Door's open, Danny." Trevor smiled at me. I entered his house and I was sure he forgot about Sean and me. I don't really mind, though. I'm used to being ignored. Not by mom, but at school. I was the mute, the freak, the geek, the nerd, the loser sidekick to Sean. Sean really was my only friend. I'm hoping Canada will be different.

"Sean?" I called out. He was staring at some trophies. He looked at me and his eyes softened. "Sean, try and be nice to your uncle."

"No promises." He muttered with humor in his eyes. Before I could say a reply, Trevor walked in, setting a box on a counter. "Hey, guys. This is gonna be fun. Just us hanging out. You guys like baseball? You know what we should do? We should go to the batting cages." He said before imitating a baseball player.

Sean faked a chuckle. "Yeah, okay, listen, I don't like this anymore than you do. So as long as you keep the fridge stuffed with Mountain Dew and TiVo Family Guy, we'll get along fine." I had the urge to hit Sean but I didn't; lucky him. I saw multiple jars behind Trevor filled with coins.

"Oh, wow." Sean started, sarcastically, "That's an awesome coin collection." I'm not sure if Trevor saw his sarcastic façade or not but he told us it was a pet project of his. "Yeah, it's really nifty." Sean said before walking away.

"Thanks. You guys hungry? We could order in. Maybe some pizza, Chinese, Thai food, subs…something like that? No?" Trevor opened the strange box he brought in earlier. "Wow."

"What's that?" Sean asked for real. At least now he's acting like himself.

"It's a box of possessions of a really great guy. Your dad." I saw Sean's lip curl a bit. So small, it's almost unnoticeable. Trevor held up an old, worn-out baseball and said it was Sean's father.

"Mom doesn't talk about him very much. Sean sincerely said. "Well, then take my word for it." Trevor murmured. "Your dad and Danny's dad, they were…a couple of those few people who were just…exceptional at everything they do. Ooh." He picked up a wooden yoyo that had a cared M on it. This," He gestured to the toy, "Was your old man's PSP."

Sean truly chuckled genuinely, "A yoyo?"

"Don't be dissing the yo-yo." Trevor said. "This is physics at work. You got your centrifugal force. Your gravitational pull, you got your potential energy. And in ancient times, did you know that this was actually used as a hunting implement? Watch." The yoyo lashed from his finger and broke a trophy figure from its pedestal. That caused Sean and me to silently laugh.

"Here, let me try." Sean said.

With embarrassment on his face, Trevor gave the yoyo to Sean, "Yep, you should probably take it." I saw Trevor wonder through the box once again. He found a familiar looking book with a green and red cover. I didn't want to intrude so I just stared at the yoyo Sean was playing with. Trevor kept muttering things. Probably his thoughts out loud. I do the same many times since I have no siblings. He flipped thorough the book and occasionally stopped at random pages.

"Journey To The Center Of The Earth? I've read that before." I said to Trevor. However, he was in a trance with the book he holds in front of his face.

"It's a good read…" Trevor muttered.

I looked back at Sean who was mystified with his father's old toy. Sean began to spin the yoyo on his finger. It got faster until it slipped off, still spinning in air. "Look out!" Sean screamed at the same time as I yelled his name. It knocked all the balls off of Trevor's molecule model down onto Trevor. All the balls including the last one that hit his head were on the floor. He looked at us and I immediately thought we were screwed. Instead he grabbed his jacket and I realized he didn't even notice what just happened.

"Hey, guys? Let's go check out my lab."

"So it couldn't wait for tomorrow?" Sean asked as Trevor typed away on his computer. Sean's pinkie just barely touched mine but in that small interaction, I felt tingles in my hand. Why? I settled my hands in my lap to stay away from any strange feelings of any kind.

"Your father used to say "Tectonophysics is the science of now, not tomorrow.""Trevor muttered. I barely understood his mumbling about the states and numbers. He then said the numbers on his grid were the same as July of the year 1997.

"What's the big deal about July of '97?" Sean quietly asked.

"Sean, that was the year your dad and Danny's dad went missing." I felt my heart drop at the mention of our fathers. I felt Sean tense up beside me and for some reason, I had the desire to squeeze him tight.

"Now, you see this column of numbers here. If the 753, right here, was a 752, then it'll be – " the beep interrupted Trevor as it changed one unit back. He froze, not believing what just happened, "Exactly the same."

"What do these little blips mean?" Sean asked on another of Trevor's computer screens. Trevor stared at his own computer, still in shock. "Hm? Don't touch anything. Those little blips are my entire's life's work."

"Heh, these four little blips are your entire life's work?" Sean humorously asked. Trevor stayed calm and held up three fingers, "Three. Three little blips." Sean counted the blips out loud; all adding up to four. When he landed on the fourth blip, Trevor immediately looked at the screen. His eyes went wide and his mouth was gaped open, "Iceland."

"This makes sense. Max saw the readings 10 years ago, and he took off to investigate. Now, if the readings are the same today as they were then this may be my only chance to find out what happened." Trevor said whiling snatching mountain back packs from a closet. "I'm gonna need your passports."

"For what?" Sean demanded.

"I'm sorry but I have to get you two to Canada earlier then we planned." I finally felt irritated at Trevor's secrecy. "What are you talking about?" I ask. I'm not one to sound frustrated but at times like these where I demand it, I have to be.

Trevor turned to us and held out the book. "I'm talking about this, "A Journey to the Center of The Earth." He tossed it to Sean. "It's all set in Iceland, which is where he must have gone."

"These were my dad's notes?" Sean meekly asked. He sounded like a sad little toddler and I really wanted to hug him on the spot. I looked at the pages which were filled with notes of all kinds. From numbers to notations. "Look," Trevor said, grabbing a stool, "Your father's and I were talking about the possibility of volcanic tubes existing that went down, past the mantle, and towards the center of the earth. And that's what I think they went looking for. I'm sorry, but I gotta put you guys on a flight to Ottawa in the morning."

I stood up with anger and pulled the cord that connected the telephone. "With due respect, sir, we just got here, okay. You're not goanna go and ditch us. You can't." Sean came to my rescue after my voice faltered, "Danny's right. Besides, I was the person who found your life's work fourth little blip thingy in the first place."

"Whoa, that's my brother you're talking about." Trevor defended. I still couldn't believe he wouldn't let us. "That's our dads. We don't have to be in Ottawa in ten days. We're going with you."

Trevor looked at both of us, skeptically, "Know how much to book a last-minute flight to Reykjavík?" Sean gestured to Trevor's coin collection. "Something tells me you got it covered."

Miraculously, the coin collection had been enough for all of us to board a plane. I sat in the middle seat, while Trevor was by the window and Sean was on the aisle. I found myself wondering what my mother would think of me going on an adventure. Growing up, my mom would yell at me for the simplest things such as "be careful" like all parents say. But it's now that I realize what she meant. She knew one day I was going to be like my father. An adventurer with my best friend and she didn't want to lose me like she lost dad.

I was on the edge of sleep so every now and then; I'd secretly pinch my arm and muffled my small yelp. I couldn't afford sleeping at a time like this. Sadly, all my books have been shipped off to our new house and my notebook was in the carry-on compartment. I heard a lady say something in Icelandic on the intercom. I found joy that we were going to Iceland; however, I have to keep reminding myself that it's for scientific research and not an architectural tour trip.

Sean was in deep thought while playing with his dad's yoyo. I can't believe he brought that thing. I saw that Trevor was trying to decipher these notations. I saw a vertical list of letters that seemed oddly familiar. "Sigurbjörn Ásgeirsson." I say. Trevor looks at me in confusion. I decide to elaborate, "He was a scientist that owned an institute for Volcanology."

Trevor looked at me in amazement. "Hey, Sean. Maybe you can learn a thing or two from Danny." I saw Sean roll his eyes as his foot tapped mine. "I could've done that." Now it was my turned to scoff. "How? Googling at 30,000 feet?" I tapped his foot back. Our little game of footsie on the plane was interrupted by Trevor, "Max would've known this guy. I knew it was a good idea to bring you two. His institute has to be our first stop."

So not much happens here. You already know the beginning. The dialogue was for the most part the same. I know it was boring but I'm sticking to the movie. Next chapter is more exciting, much more original dialogues. And you'll get to know Danny a little bit more.

Please review…

~Wisegirl13