Disclaimer: I don't own GS and HP. Stop reminding me.

KaiserMonkey and Shinomori Kyo: Thanks! This is weird, this story is like half an hour online and I already got reviews! While I was writing part two of the first chapter...I just thought it was a bit too long : p

part 2

About half an hour later, Felix and Jenna caught up to their allies just outside Vale. The sky was dark now, and their path was only lighted by the silver glow of Luna and her stars. It was a gorgeous, promising night. There was no need for words. In total silence, the four walked along the path that had started Isaac's journey. They all felt relieved beyond word that they were travelling again, together.

It was dangerous, but they were with people they each trusted with their lives.
It was hard, but they'd help each other on the road when one of them lost courage.
It was lonely, sometimes, but there'd always be someone to cheer you up and remind you that you were not alone.
It was life the way they needed and wanted it.

Jenna interrupted the peaceful silence. 'Just where are we going?'

'My ship. I left it on the riverside not far from here.' Picard answered.

'And then?'

' Sheba'll teleport us away from the mainland, and then we'll set sail to wherever we want to jump.'

'Wait-a-minute...did you say...'jump'?' Jenna stuttered.

'Of course.' Felix said. 'You told me that that other world lies under ours, so we'll have to jump to get down there, no?'

'B...but there's got to be another way than just jumping! I'm way too young to end like a stain on an unknown planet!' Jenna shouted.

'Keep it down! Don't worry, we're adepts, remember? We won't die. We'll find a way to slow us down once we get there. We always do.' Felix reassured her.

'I know, but he knows I'm afraid of heights... Jenna thought. But she kept that to herself.

When they arrived at the ship, a horde of Vermins jumped out of the grass. Immediately, the party went into offensive mode. With their enhanced speed, they dodged their attacks easily. Only Picard, the slowest got grazed by one of their fork-like weapons. On the beginning of their first quest, that might have hurt a bit, but now, he hardly noticed. The privateer took revenge by unleashing one of his Djinn, Mist. Obviously happy to be in action again, the little creature knocked the Vermin's lights out in one massive blow. As a follow-up attack, Sheba summoned Mercury and caught four of them by surprise.

Jenna was literally 'fuming', casting low-level fire spells at random at the critters. 'Heehaw!' She was really enjoying herself while chanting and singeing one after the other. Felix was busy defending his sister from attacks from behind with Granite. When he got fed up of defending, he unsheathed the Sol-blade. It was dully shining with anticipation for the battle after waiting so long. Felix almost lazily took a swipe at the Vermins. The sword's tip suddenly flared into life, unleashing a giant Megiddo. The meteor-like energy crashed into the blue creatures, wiping them all out. 'Yeah!' Jenna shouted. 'That was one of the best you managed up till now!' Sheba congratulated Felix, jumping up and down with glee. Even Picard wasn't able to hide his excitement. 'That was fun!'

They were back! They could handle anything!

Letting the emotions ebb away, they climbed on board of Picard' ship. They knew it was his pride. The majestic Lemurian drakar was really a sight to behold. During their quest, it had gotten the wings of Anemos, and a fully functional cannon. Even if Jenna had become a little seasick the first time on the boat, it was filled with good memories.

Picard opened the door to the main cabin and went down the stairs. Penetrating deeper into the ship, he made his way to the power-room, and placed the black orb (or 'thingy', like Jenna liked to call it) into its place. On the deck, Felix could feel the Psynergy flowing through the construction. It was the best feeling he ever had.

When Picard 'resurfaced', Sheba had already drawn out her treasured Teleport-Lapis. The rest gathered around her and helped her focusing. A powerful aura of Psynergy enveloped them and broke them all into swirling atoms. A split-second later, the boat appeared on the shore of the Apoji islands, startling the wits out of the partying people. It didn't take long to make clear who they were, however. The people still remembered them from their adventure in Aqua Rock. They even gave them permission to leave the ship in the well-protected harbour. If Isaac or one of his friends should come by, they were allowed to take it with them.

Walking through the now dark streets of the exotic town, careful not to wake any of its inhabitants, Felix and co. were mentally preparing them for the jump. Well, all except for Sheba. The young Adept could barely contain her excitement. She was looking forward to he sensation of the wind, of the feeling of the free fall. Well, it was her element after all.

Finally, the four arrived at the Eastern shoreline of the island. Felix halted a few metres before the edge. The edge of the world. His brown ponytail and his dark-green cape waved in the chilling wind that was blowing towards them from the void, warning them not to fall off.

'Are you all completely sure about this?...'

His friends nodded, and when they realised he couldn't see that in the darkness they all confirmed with a determined 'Yes.'

They stepped forward to stand next to Felix, Jenna on his left, Sheba and Picard to his right, and clasped their hands together. They let their thoughts carry them away. The fire-adept let her natural curiousness take the better of her, gripped her staff a bit tighter and tried to forget how scared she was.
The smaller figure of Sheba closed her eyes, and let herself be caressed by the wind. She was his to carry where she should go.
Next to her, Picard said goodbye to the oceans, to the water of Weyard. His aqua hair and that strange silk headdress of his got blown in all directions, the wind tugged at his tunic, but he didn't care. He imagined that he was standing on his ship, in a storm, fighting the waves and enjoying it. He'd give it all up for his friend, the Adept who seemed to have that effect on everyone. Sure, he was much older than Felix, but when it came to life-experience, there wasn't much difference. He respected Felix, as a man and as a friend.

'Ready?' Felix asked, his tone calm and relaxed as always.

''C...can I count?' Jenna asked, still a bit nervous. Felix smiled. 'Of course.' Sheba said, her voice dreamy. 'On the count of three?' Picard asked. Jenna gulped. 'Yeah. Here goes!'

'One...
two...

...Three!'

And they jumped.

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...In an instant, they were falling. Gravity tugged at them, pulling their bodies down and increasing their speed. Below them was nothing, above them the sky. Jenna squeezed her brother's hand so tightly her knuckles turned white. They clung together, falling down head-first. Picard had tumbled over when jumping and was falling feet-first, thus steadying his fall.

After the first seconds, Felix twisted his body around and took a standing position, too. His cape fluttered above him in he wind. He helped his sister getting upright, but him and Picard together didn't manage to get the ecstatic Sheba in the same position. She hung between them, plunging downwards head-first like a hawk. They weren't worried, however. Sheba looked as if she'd been skydiving since she was born. Which was true in a way...

Suddenly, a softly glowing mist obscured their view. Through the howling wind, Felix could hear Picard shouting something about the parallel-dimension between Weyard and the Earth. They fell through it like it was nothing more than a cloud.

The sight under it was breath-taking. When Jenna had said that the Earth was bigger than Weyard, the had made the understatement of the century. This world was huge!

Felix gasped at the sight of the enormous landmasses. He felt his power surge, he suddenly felt reborn. Picard almost lost his balance when he jerked in shock when seeing the huge oceans of the new planet. Jenna didn't see the fire, but she could feel the oceans of magma boiling under the surface in her bones. From above, she could easily see the tectonic plates and the volcanoes on their edges. Sheba let out a cry in joy and pleasure when she felt the power of her element seeping through her clothes.

Suddenly, the ground below was coming a bit too close for comfort. The four Adepts prepared their Psynergy. Sheba conjured an upwards vortex of warm air, slowing them down. Then they had to see how the get down themselves. They didn't notice that Picard was slowing himself radically by spreading out his headdress, using it as some kind of a parachute. When he was about two-hundred metres above them, he let himself fall again, plunging down head-first.

Below was a forest. For Felix, that was ideal. Using a wild growth spell, he made the trees go haywire and formed something like a net. Jenna clung herself to her brother, using the same spell after quickly trading a Djinn. Sheba was still slowing down her fall with wind spells, and cast worried glances over to Picard. He didn't seem to do anything yet. About a hundred metres above the ground, Felix and Jenna fell into the tree-net they had formed. It held, but just to make sure Felix had used Mud to slow them down a bit more. Hovering still seventy metres above them was Sheba. Like a dove, she gently landed next to them on the treetops. 'Felix, where's Picard!' she frantically shouted.

They looked around, finding no trace of him, until he suddenly zoomed past them, down to the ground. He still had an amazing speed, and for a moment he had his friends really worried about him. They held their breaths. Sheba's heart stopped beating for a moment.

Suddenly they heard an explosion from below, and a split-second later a geyser shot up from the ground. On top of the water-beam Picard was stretching out his arms, 'pushing' against the stream of water. When he appeared next to them again, he vaulted off the stream and came down with a crash in the net of plants.

Motionless, he lay there for a few moments. Only his chest was heaving up and down while he panted, trying to catch his breath again. Sheba ran up to him, stumbling over the plants and almost falling down. By the time she got there, he had stood up again. Soaked and cold he caught her when she tripped again, smiling. Only then he noticed the little blonde was crying.

'Don't you ever...do that...again.' she sobbed. 'Hey...it's OK. I didn't mean to scare you...' the Lemurian tried to calm her. 'Shhh. I'm here now. We're all safe.' Slowly, his soothing voice comforted her. She hugged him and snuggled into his tunic like a lost child, not caring whether she got wet or not. Together, they made their way back to the siblings.

They were already forming a way down with plants and rocks. Jenna looked up from the work. 'You sure had us scared there.' 'Tsk. And here I thought you guys had faith in me.' Picard joked. That moment Felix climbed up from the 'stairs'.

'We can go down now, it's secure.'

When they had firm ground under their feet again, Jenna kissed the ground. 'Never again...' she nervously smiled.

Like old times when they travelled in the darkness, Felix scared possible monsters off by sending small tremors off in all directions. Finally, they reached a safe-looking clearing.

Jenna made a little bonfire where Picard and Sheba could dry their clothes, and after that, they laid down. In a few hours dawn would break. They should get some sleep before that.

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About a mile away, a certain old wizard was woken from his sleep by a tremor. He sent his phoenix out to investigate. When not much long after that more tremors occurred, he frowned. 'Wonder what this means...'

A bit more miles away, a boy with messy dark hair and a scar on his forehead woke up with a start. That certainly was a strange dream. His scar didn't hurt this time. He had dreamt that he was falling, and seeing the Earth from above. In the end, he recognised the forbidden forest beneath him. When he was about to hit the ground, he woke up.

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Felix concluded his contemplations. Today they'd start discovering this magnificent planet...

TBC