Abyssa ran over to Swaine.

"Are you alright?" She asked, just as Oliver shouted

"Hey, give that back!" Swaine and Abyssa looked at the picture of the boy.

"What's the matter? It's a just a portrait of some pretty boy." Abyssa said.

"No need to get your knickers in a twist!"

"Its important! It must be! Why would you steal it if it wasn't?" Oliver demanded.

"Let's just say, we can't have doing the rounds." Swaine said. "Tell you what. We'll buy it off of you! That's fair, right?" Abyssa gave Swaine a look.

"With what money?" She hissed.

"We'll figure it out." But Oliver didn't take the offer.

"No! Its not for sale! We need it!"

"Oh yeah? Need it for what?" Swaine demanded, stepping up.

"Go on, this should be good." Abyssa muttered, crossing her arms.

"If I tell you, will you give it and the letter back?" The thieves glanced at each other.

"Er... We might..." Swaine told him. Oliver sighed.

"Its a picture... of one of the Great Sages. We need to find him. He's going to help us defeat Shadar." Abyssa tugged Swaine's arm, and they did huddle.

"What do you need?" He demanded.

"Swaine, I told you, this kid is the kid I've been waiting for!" She told him. "If we give him back the picture, we can convince them to take us with them to Autumnia. He'll get his Great Sage, you'll get your brother, and I'll get to join the Pure Hearted One! It's a triple win!" Swaine glanced down at the picture again.

"I don't know. I don't want anyone else knowing." She sighed.

"I'm sorry Swaine. But I don't know if we have a choice. We'll just have to tell a few white lies to stay in Hamelin." Swaine looked down at the ground, then the two o them looked back to Oliver.

"...Fine. We give up." Swaine said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but this one got me half convinced in you lot." He turned and looked at the water.

"...All right, we'll take you." Abyssa finished. "We'll show where to find him." The three of them gasped.

"Eh?" Drippy said.

"Wh-?" Oliver gasped.

"You know him?" Esther asked.

"Yeah, a bit..." Swaine muttered. Abyssa shrugged.

"I've never met him myself, but this goof told me a bit."

"Neato!" Oliver exclaimed. "Thanks so much... Uh..." Swaine grinned.

"I'm Swaine." He said, handing back the picture. "Goo to meet you, kiddo."

"And I'm Abyssa. Glad to finally meet you, savour." She grinned. Oliver took the picture.

"I'm not a kid!" He exclaimed. "I'm Oliver!" Swaine stepped back, a little surprised.

"All right, all right, keep your hair on." Then he patted Oliver's shoulder. "Nice you meet you, Oliver."

"I'm Esther." Said the blonde. Then the fairy jumped onto Oliver's head.

"Drippy, Lord High Lord of the Fairies!" Abyssa snickered.

"So I guess we should set sail, huh?" Oliver said.

"This is so exciting, Oliver!" Esther said. Abyssa and Swaine glanced at each other. They were more anxious than excited. Then Swaine snapped his fingers.

"Oh, and while we're doing introductions... Out you come, boy!" Then his familiar, Gunther came out. Abyssa did the same with Purrcy.

"Meet our familiars." Oliver and Esther gasped. Abyssa snickered again.

"Wh- you have familiars?" Oliver asked.

"You didn't steal them, did you?" Esther asked suspiciously.

"No! There our familiars, fair and square! And mine packs a real good punch and a half!" Swaine said.

"And mine isn't too shabby with a cutlass, either!" Abyssa added.

"It'll be great having two more friends with familiars!" Oliver said. Esther crossed her arms.

"I suppose so." Then the five of them got onto the ship. Sindbah waved to them.

"There you are!" He called.

"Sorry, Sir. We got a little sidetracked." Oliver told him as they walked up.

"The preparations are complete! We sail immediately!" Sindbah told them. As Sindbah shouted orders and the boat began moving, Swaine watched as Oliver, Esther, and Drippy ran to the side of the ship and rubbed the back of his neck.

"This is gonna be fun." He muttered. Sindbah patted his shoulder, then walked off. Abyssa put an arm around him.

"Don't worry. We've already been though a lot together in these past few days. We can get through seeing... him." Swaine nodded, then the two of them stood by the edge of the boat, feeling the sea breeze. They watched the lapping of the waves, occasionally having to battle familiars, getting to tame an airhead that Abyssa named Thundercloud. As they rode to Hamelin, Abyssa felt a huge knot in her stomach as the skies darkened. She, much like Swaine, hadn't been to Autumnia in years. She didn't know how she was going to handle being there again, after spending an entire year there, being treated like an outcast by all of Hamelin and landing there when Xanadu had fallen. But there was something in the air that also concerned her. Something she didn't want to be apart of.

"There she blows! Autumnia!" Drippy shouted.

"It won't be long till we meet the next Great Sage, huh?" Oliver asked and Swaine looked at each other. Swaine may have traded his princely appearance that people would recognise for a more hobo attire, but all Abyssa had changed was her name and her coat. She had left her old blue cloak at the Hootique in Al Mamoon, somewhere she was sure it would fit in. If Shadar found it, the Hootenanny could pass it off as just something she found. She slipped her hood over her head and stared at the island. This was going to be fun.

That was when they heard a dark laughter. They looked, and saw Shadar! "I fear not, boy. Though you have come a long way..." he chuckled again. "Come then, show me your power..."

"Who the hell is that!?" Swaine shouted, pointing. Abyssa just shook. She'd been waiting to battle Shadar again for six years, and now she was terrified. He seemed a lot more powerful than he had before when she was with Alicia.

"It's... the Dark Djinn himself!" Esther said.

"Shadar!" Oliver shouted. Abyssa looked at Swaine again as Shadar came at them.

"Swaine, I can't do this! Not after last time!" She said.

"Just stay by me! We've got to fight!" Then they prepared to fight.