A/N: I've finally thought of something to write! Yay!!

The next day, the one after Phi and Tom had discovered strange people breaking into their house, was Christmas Eve. Their parents invited Alex to spend the holiday with them because his parents still weren't home from visiting family in Mexico. Alex wasn't able to go with them due to his classes and gladly accepted. It was a pretty uneventful night as Tom was basically spending all of his spare time thinking about what they should do next. There was so much stuff going on on Christmas that Phi and Alex didn't even bother to think about their current problem. Only on the day after Christmas did Tom bring the subject up again, after Alex had gone back to his house and their parents were asleep.

He slipped into Phi's room to find that she was still awake, thankfully, and staring up at the ceiling of her room, "Phi? Can I come in?"

She jumped a little, then grinned and nodded her head, "Sure, since you would've even if I said no..."

"Have you thought anymore about the visitors that we had a couple nights ago?"

"Um...yes...maybe...no..."

Tom smirked and pulled up her desk chair next to the edge of her bed, "That's what I thought...well, I have anyway and I suppose that if there are people from Tortall running around in our dimension, we are going to have to meet up with them eventually, right?"

Phi nodded hesitantly, "So you're saying that we let them find us?"

"Basically..."

She stared at him blankly, "How do you know they won't just kill us on the spot?"

He shrugged and leaned back in the chair, "I don't..."

Phi sighed and looked back up at her ceiling, "Well before we endanger our lives, we should probably let Alex in on our plan so he can risk his too..."

Tom smiled, "We'll go over to his house tomorrow and work out the details..."

She nodded and he put his chair back and left the room. As he closed her door again, a strange sinking feeling filled his stomach . He shook his head as if to clear his head and walked back down the second story hall to his own bedroom.

***Next morning...***

Phi was woken up again by a strange sound and it took her several panicked seconds to realize that it was just someone knocking on her door. She slammed her face into her pillow and for a few minutes let her pounding heart return to a normal pulse before calling out in a muffled voice, "Ya?"

Her mother's own voice drifted from somewhere outside in the hall and she had to listen hard to what she was staying to be able to understand her. Obviously, her mom was trying to tell Tom and Phi something at the same time and was standing in the middle of the hall, "I just wanted to let you both know that your father and I are going on a little vacation for about four days. We're going to go visit your aunt in Arizona...either of you can come if you want..."

Phi heard Tom snort from his bedroom and felt a grimace play on her face. There was no way that they were going to get her out of bed to go stay with her aunt. She was nice and all...well, no she wasn't.

Phi heard her dad drag a suitcase noisily down the stairs and sat up slowly, letting her bed sheets fall to her floor. She stood up and stretched, then stumbled over to her dresser and pulled on some khaki cargo pants and a black sweatshirt. She yawned again as she started disdainfully at her tennis shoes and with a shrug pulled on her sandals.

She walked over to her mirror, ran a brush through her hair and opened her door to find Tom leaning against the wall waiting for her. He grinned, "I'm glad to see that you remembered that we were going to see Alex today...I wasn't sure that you would..."

"Of course I remembered...Are mom and dad gone yet?"

"They just finished pulling out of the driveway when you opened your door." He began to walk energetically down the stairs, "Come on!"

She glared at him, then slowly trudged down the staircase after him and followed him out of the front door, watching as he locked it, "How can you be this...awake...this early?"

"At college you learn how to wake up fast...that way, you can sleep in later without missing class."

She continued to glare, but this time at the ground as they walked the block to Alex's house. The sun was just about to rise over the green, rolling hills and a thick layer of fog was hovering low over the pavement that was still wet from last night's shower.

Tom zoned out while he was walking and his mind began to drift. He felt the rhythmic thumping of his necklace on his chest and the sound of the trees moving in the breeze. After a while, he felt a tug on his sleeve and quickly looked down, only to find that it was Phi trying to get him to snap out of it. They were standing in front of Alex's house now and he had almost walked right past it.

Phi gave him a faint grin, "I guess you're not as awake as you look..."

Tom frowned a little, then made his way up to the front porch and rapped on his friend's front door. No answer. He sighed and leaned against it. No duh Alex didn't answer. Just like Phi he liked to sleep in. Tom looked at his sister, "Okay...what now?"

Phi looked around and smiled. Tom stood back up to see what had caught her eye and scowled, "No way am I going to let you go up there..." There was a ladder leaning against the side of the garage that led to the roof. Alex's bedroom was on the second floor facing the street and Tom could just make out a faint glow coming from inside the room. He turned back to Phi only to find that she was already half way up the ladder. He shouted in alarm but only made it in time to hold the ladder steady as she climbed up onto the shingled roof and made her way over to the window.

Phi peered inside the house and grinned. Alex was face down on top of his bed with his TV on low, which accounted for the soft glow that Tom had seen from the ground. He was still fully dressed from yesterday and it looked like he had fallen to sleep while watching something on television. She knocked loudly on the glass and his eyes flew open. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. When his gaze drifted over the window Phi smiled and waved at him. He waved sleepily back, did a double take and said something inaudible under his breath. He flung open his bedroom window and glared at her while trying to smooth out his hair, "What the hell are you doing Phi?"

She grinned, "Well from the look on your face, I would say that I was trying to get myself killed." Her grin widened at his confused expression and she messed up his hair, "It looked better like that..."

He blushed but ran his fingers through his hair as if to flatten it down again and then helped her through the window and pushed her out of his room, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Tom wanted us to get together so we could scheme up away to get the attention of those people who came into our house three nights ago..."

"What?!?"

"That's what he said...ask him yourself. He's waiting for you to open the door outside..."

Alex stopped pushing Phi, jogged to his front door, and swung it open. Tom stepped in and hung his jacket up on the coat hanger, "It's about time!" He grinned as he took in Alex's disheveled appearance, "I hope we didn't wake you..."

Alex rolled his eyes and motioned for them to sit down on his couch, "So, what's the plan?"

"I guess Phi's already told you why we are here then...good. So um...ya..."

"Well..." Phi smiled jokingly, "We could run outside and scream out swear words in Tortallian...that would catch their attention..."

Tom shook his head, "It might, but it also might catch the police's...That would be fun, have our mom and dad come back to bail us out of jail..."

Alex looked at them quizzically, "What?"

Phi turned to him, "Our parents abandoned us for a week so they could visit our aunt in Arizona."

"Oh...That's the aunt you guys don't like, right?" Phi and Tom nodded and Alex looked blankly at the floor, "Let's go to your house then."

Tom stared at Alex, "Why?"

His friend grinned, "'Cause I'm starving and you guys have better food!" Phi shook her head and they stood up and went out the front door.

As the three strolled down the street, talking about nothing as they went, Tom had that strange feeling in his stomach again. He looked up and scanned the area, taking long looks at all the houses and bushes. Phi stopped to stare at her brother and glanced worriedly at Alex who shook Tom's shoulder lightly, "Hey...what's the matter?"

Tom shook his head to clear it, just as he had the night before and shrugged, "Nothing...it's nothing..."

Phi wasn't quite sure though and kept looking back over her shoulder as they continued down the road. They were just about to pass in front of Phi and Tom's neighbor's house when Phi stopped dead in her tracks. She watched curiously as a large shadow drifted over them, turned, then swooped back behind them. A cold shiver ran down her spine and as Tom and Alex stopped to wait for her, she slowly turned around.

Nothing.

She swallowed and couldn't remember feeling that frightened since...well since the last time they were in Tortall actually. Alex walked over next to her and grabbed her hand reassuringly, "Come on Phi...let's hurry up..."

She nodded but pressed closer to him, not understanding what had freaked her out and why the feeling wouldn't leave. They were heading up the front walkway when Phi glanced back again. Only this time, something was actually there.

She swore and threw herself to the ground, dragging Alex down with her. As he looked back too, a huge thing flew over their heads, missing them by only a foot. Tom had dove behind a hedge and peered out from behind it, "Oh shit...it's an immortal!"

Phi turned to him, "A what!?!"

Tom called over to her, keeping his eyes on the beast as it made another pass overhead and got ready for another dive, "I can't remember what they're called but they're horse like creatures with wings and very sharp teeth! Very bad!"

As the thing made another dive for them, Alex grabbed Phi around her waist and hurled her next to the front door while Tom dug in his jacket pocket desperately for his keys, "Here they are!"

He ran up beside them and threw open the door. Phi and Alex tumbled into the house and Tom whipped around and slammed the door closed, gasping for breath. Then he scrambled to his feet and quickly drew the front window's blinds shut so the thing couldn't see inside, then sprinted into the kitchen to make sure the back door was locked. Phi stayed where she was, frozen with shock and gazing dumbfounded at the front door while Alex propped himself up on his elbows, unable to move because Phi was sitting across his middle.

Alex turned to Tom as he came back into the room, "I think...we have their attention Tom..."

The other boy nodded and they were silent for a couple moments. Tom flopped down on the living room couch, "Now all we have to decide is what to do about it..."

Phi spoke up and said in a cracked voice, "We need to get that thing back into Tortall..."

Tom nodded in agreement, "Well, the only way I know how to do that is with Numair's help..."

Alex winced as Phi got up, "That might be hard to come by around these parts Tom...have an idea about how to get it?"

Tom stood up again and bounded up the stairs and into his room, "Maybe!"

Phi cracked opened the blinds on the windows and flinched as the horse thing slammed its head against the glass, "Well, there is one good thing about all of this..."

Alex grinned and looked up at her, "What's that?"

"Our parents aren't home..."

***Several Hours Later...***

Tom jogged back down the stairs with a smile on his face and his necklace in his right hand. Alex stuck his head out of the kitchen and swallowed the last bits of the sandwich he had been eating and walked into the living room to join Phi.

Tom looked at both of them with a gleam in his eye. Alex grinned, "Does this mean you know how to communicate with Numair?"

"I can't believe I didn't realize it before!"

Phi interrupted, her patience melting quickly away, "Realize what?!"

"That we have been wearing the answer to our problem for the past three years!" he held up his necklace and Phi took out hers and stared at it disbelievingly, "You see, although I wasn't able to use my magic after I returned to our own dimension, these should still contain some because the magic is infused with the metal itself and it's powers are still able to work!"

Phi looked at him blankly, "Um...that's nice to know, but it won't help us talk to Numair any sooner..."

"Oh, but it will!" Tom walked over and sat down on the couch in between Phi and Alex, "I can use the magic that is inside the pendant to contact a person from Tortall, and that person being Numair, we will be able to send that immortal back to where it came from so that it won't totally destroy our world!"

Alex held up his hand, "Wait a minute...I thought you said that you didn't have any magic left?"

"I don't, but I still have the ability to use magic. I suppose I've really had it all my life. I just never realized it before because magic cannot be created in our dimension."

Alex shook his head, "Strange..." Phi nodded as Tom jumped back up.

"All we have left to do now is try out my theory!"

"You mean you haven't tried to do it yet?!"

"Of course not..." Tom held the necklace in his right hand and sighed deeply, "Here goes nothing..."

A/N: *gasp* will Tom's roughly thought out plan actually work?!? I have no idea, I guess you will just have to keep reading!!! (Actually...I do know, but I'm not telling you 'till next time!!)