A/N: I don't know if I can make this story last for thirty chapters like my last one did. Maybe this one will be only twenty...

***In the city***

Esmond turned away from the wall and faced George and Owen, "We need to get back to the Palace and tell Numair what happened!"

George straightened up, "There's some business I have to take care of before I go back, but I'll be there as soon as I can..."

Owen narrowed his eyes, finally snapping out of his stupor, "What kind of business?"

"Business that your sort won't be wanting to get mixed up in, now move!"

The two knights looked at each other, then took off down the street.

George took one more glance at the wall and turned around, walking slowly away from the Palace, "So that's the way you want to play it then..." He looked down the street to make sure that Esmond and Owen were out of sight, then stepped into the Dancing Dove.

***At the Palace***

Numair almost collided with Esmond and Owen as they sped through the halls to his study, "What in Mithros's name are you two doing? And where are Phi and Devic?"

"They, they..." Esmond glanced at Owen, not quite sure how to explain it, "Well they disappeared, sir."

"They what?"

"We were heading home with them and then Phi went still. All of a sudden, she began to walk in the opposite direction, and it was like she was in some kind of trance. Devic said that she released some kind of magic when she began to move. Anyway, we followed her down the street and we tried to stop her, but she just kept on walking. She even punched George in the stomach because he was in her way. She turned down this alley and walked straight through a stone wall with Devic, who was holding onto her sleeve."

"She walked through a stone wall?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but yes, she went right through it. The strangest part was that Owen and I did not even notice the alley that she turned into while we were looking for her!"

Numair walked quickly down the hall towards the large wooden double doors, followed by the knights and he quietly opened the door. He walked around the table to where Alanna was sitting with her head resting on her hands looking extremely bored and whispered something to her. Esmond and Owen hung back and watched as the Scanran diplomat leapt up in his chair and started to yell at the King. Jonathan stood up and loudly asked for the man to calm down, but he just kept yelling. Esmond caught Dom's eye, who looked like he had been doodling on a piece of paper and gave him a small grin. Dom rolled his eyes and mouthed "So boring..."

Owen smiled. Raoul rose as did the second Scanran diplomat and the noise level in the room grew louder. Alanna stood up and squeezed passed the other chairs, Dom giving her a jealous look as she passed by. She and Numair grabbed Esmond and Owen and pushed them out the door, closing it firmly. Alanna cast a glance back at the room as they headed back to Nuamir's study, "I am glad to be out of there! That place was driving me insane...So, what is going on?"

"Phi is gone too."

"What?! How could you let her go!"

Owen threw his hands into the air in exasperation, "She did not really give us a choice!"

Alanna turned to Numair, "So, where did she go?"

"Straight through a stone wall..."

Alanna frowned, "Okay, and who witnessed this?"

"We did..." Alanna turned to Esmond and Owen who automatically shrunk back.

"...Did anyone else?"

"Well, George did..."

"George? So that is where he has been the past two days...hmm...fine. I am going to go find him. Numair, can you stay here and try to work out the magical half of the situation, like trying to figure out what kind of magic allows a person to pass through a solid wall?"

The mage shrugged, "I will do my best, but it is sure to be a very complicated subject..."

Alanna nodded absent-mindedly and strode back down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the front door. The two other knights turned to Numair, "So, what should we do?"

"You two are going to help me. Even if you do not have any magic, I am sure I can find something useful for you to do to help us solve this puzzle."

***Phi's view***

As soon as she passed through the wall, a darkness overtook her and everything went blank. The same happened to Devic except that a heavy, blunt object made contact with his head and he fell unconscious.

The next thing Phi knew she was lying on a couch with Tom and Alex hovering over her. She gasped and grabbed her brother by the neck in a huge bear hug, causing him to call out in surprise and fall to his knees, "I'm glad to see you're awake..."

She let Tom go and sat up, "What happened? Where did you go?! Where's Devic?" She caught sight of Alex and shakily stood up, as if making sure that her body was actually under her control again. She stared at him, then reached out and slapped him and fell onto him sobbing.

Alex looked confusedly from Tom to Phi and back at Tom, "What was that for?!"

Phi stood back up, wiping shed tears from her cheeks, "The slap was for leaving and the rest is because I'm sorry..."

Alex smiled and patted her on the back, "Oh...Well then, I'm sorry too and you're forgiven."

She grinned and turned to Tom, "So, what about my questions?"

"Let's see now. I can't tell you what happened because I'm not quite sure. Both Alex and I, and by the looks of it you, went into some kind of trance where we lost control of our bodies and ended up here after passing through a wall. That answer sort of covered where I went and Devic is right there." He pointed at another couch that was sitting across from the one they were standing by and she saw Devic lying face up, "He hasn't woken up yet. It seems that someone knocked him unconscious. I'm glad to see you're alright though. We were getting worried..."

"You're worried! How do you think I felt! Left all alone in the middle of the night, and having to spend an entire day searching for you! I thought you were both dead!"

Tom cocked his head, "How long did you say you spent looking for us?"

"All day...why?"

"Because I've only been here about an hour, yet I got here in the middle of the night."

Alex piped up, "But from what you're saying Phi, I've been here for nearly two days, and yet it only has been a few hours..."

Phi rubbed the back of her head, "So...wait a minute...what's going on?"

"It seems," a thoughtful expression appeared in Tom's eyes, the one that showed he was impressed, "That somehow, time is slower in here, then it is in the real world..."

"Who brought us here?" Phi looked at Tom and Alex but both of them shrugged, "You mean that you've been here for almost two days and you don't know why!"

"No, I've been here for almost two hours and I don't know why..."

Phi turned from looking at Alex to Devic as he stirred and blinked his eyes open, rubbing the back of his head and wincing, "Mithros...What is going on?"

Tom sighed, "I really don't want to explain it again...but we were basically kidnapped and taken here."

"Oh...Are you alright Phi? You look better..."

She grinned, "Ya, I'm fine. Thanks for trying to stop me though...Did I hurt George?"

"Only a little..." Devic smiled dryly and sat up, looking around, "Where are we?"

Phi shrugged, "I would tell you but I don't know..."

Tom turned away from the boy and sat down on the empty couch. Something had been bothering him about this place since the moment he woke up and found Alex's worried face hovering over his. The place was strange for some reason, and yet, when he looked around, there was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, all there was in the room were the two couches and a area rug underneath them with a geometric pattern on it that looked somewhat like a compass. The walls were plain rock, and there was only one door that led to what he supposed was the outside. Still, something unnerved him, something that he couldn't place. He leaned his head back against the top of the couch and zoned out, prodding his mind for any hints that it would give him.

After five minutes of sitting around in silence, Phi was getting bored. Mostly because she had the attention span of a four year old. She got up and walked around the room, looking at all the walls and then at the door which was wooden with metal hinges and a metal doorknob. She stared at it for a while, curiosity building up inside of her like a balloon. After a moment, it popped and she reached her hand out and rested it on the handle.

She wiggled it around and twisted it left and right but it seemed to be locked. She banged on the door, even though she already knew that know one would here her and tried the doorknob again...nothing. She sat down against the door and surrendered once again to boredom.

Alex looked at her and tentatively took a seat next to her. Phi turned to him, "How did you survive being in here by yourself?!"

"I had a lot of things to think about, but there was nothing much I could really do. I might have started talking to myself and banging my head against the wall, but I eventually pulled through..."

She shook her head and grinned, "Sounds interesting...almost exciting as my day in fact...Listen," She dropped her voice down so Tom, who had struck up a conversation with Devic, couldn't hear as well and said hesitantly in English, "I'm...sorry I...yelled at you yesterday morning..."

He shook his head and frowned, "No, it wasn't your fault...I think we had just been spending an...unusually long amount of time together...like Tom said..."

She rested her head on his shoulder, her mind at rest for the first time in two days. He cautiously put his arm around her shoulder, as if not sure what she was doing still and not wanting to get her upset again. He relaxed as she snuggled into his long sleeve shirt though, and listened happily as Tom and Devic talked about the Gift and what kind of magic was being used.

A/N: Okay, another chapter over...well, I finally got over the main cliffhanger for all you impatient and curious people, but they still have to figure out what's going on and how to get out of it!