A/N: Alrighty...Let's see...hmm...I guess this is going to be the last (or second to last chapter huh?) Time sure flies when you're having fun...especially when you don't have writer's block...

***Phi's View***

Phi sat down on her bed and stared out the window. She had come upstairs to pack, but quickly realized that she didn't really have anything to pack, except her real clothes, and she had put those on as soon as she had come up to her room. It was strange, coming back a second time, and saying good-bye to all her friends in Tortall twice. A grin lit her face and she wondered silently to herself if they were going to have to come back yet again...and have to say good-bye a third time. It was always the roughest part of any relationship, and she wasn't looking forward to the next few hours. After she got home, she would be fine, relatively of course, but wasn't this like her home too?

She flopped down onto the bed and her thoughts began to stray. And how should she say good-bye to those people she had gotten rather attached to? Like Kel, Alanna, George, Numair, Daine, and Devic? Maybe, she just would wing it...it would be easier that way... Her eyelids began to grow heavy and Phi closed her eyes and began to drift to sleep.

***
There was a loud knocking on her door and she jumped up, into a sitting position, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes, "Uh...Come in!"

Tom peered inside the room, "It's time for us to go Phi..."

Her face fell. She had slept through all of her preparation time, "Oh...um...Okay..."

Tom sighed. She looked so sad, like when she was little and their dad told them it was time to leave Disneyland. Phi trudged over to the door, glanced one more time back at her room, and followed Tom slowly down the hallway. Alex joined them at the top of the stairs, and together the three marched downstairs as if they were headed to the gallows. It's not that they didn't want to go home, because they did, but they were never going to be able to come here again.

Devic met them at the bottom of the stairs, looking very much like he had something to say, but was too embarrassed to say it, so instead, he gave the three a weak smile and followed them outside. There they joined up with Numair, Alanna, George, Kel, Esmond, Owen, and Dom (who looked very glad to be out of the wretched confines of the negotiation room, although and agreement was slowly being made.).

Tom looked up at the small group and grinned, "We thought most of you would be busy!"

Kel smiled, "No, not that busy. Besides, we wanted to be here in case Trycos tried to pull anything off while you three were going back to your world..."

George added, "...And I always love a good magic show..."

Numair shot the older man a glance and rolled up the sleeves of his robes, "I suppose I should get started then." His hands began to glow black, "Try to remember if you have forgotten anything..."

They all ran down a mental list of what they brought with them and Phi let out a little squeak, "My motorcycle!"

Numair nodded at her while he began to focus his energy on a certain spot on the ground, "Well, go and get it then..."

Phi ran off around the corner of the building and began to look around frantically for her bike. It had to be around here somewhere! Oh, there it is! She ran over to it, brushed the snow off and wheeled it away from the wall to quickly examine it. The tires were shot and it was out of gas, but it looked like it was salvageable. She sighed with relief, glad that she had remembered to take it with her, but something in the bushes nearby caught her eye.

She reeled back and almost tripped over her motorcycle as Trycos emerged from the bushes. As she scrambled back, he held up his hands in some sort of peace sign, "Do not worry...I am not here to hurt you, this time anyway. I am just here as an observer today."

"Observing what...?"

"Oh I do not know...life I suppose. Now that you have had your little adventure at my expense, I have come to realize that now the guards will be much more suspicious towards my doings and it will make me put much more thought into my plans..." Phi narrowed her eyes suspiciously and began to back away slower, confused as to why he was talking to her like this. "Oh don't worry lass, I don't have anything...up my sleeve...I just wanted to...bid you and your friends good-bye, and to wish you...good-luck in your adventures. You have returned to me the thing that I had treasured most in my life for almost ninety-five years...the thrill of the hunt."

Phi nodded slowly, "Well...um...If you don't really have anything horrible planned for us, I'll be going now..." Very slowly, she wheeled her bike back to the corner of the building, and then took off at a sprint back to the group, leaving a grinning Trycos standing in the bushes.

When she reached them Alex turned to her and frowned, "Are you all right Phi?"

"Ya...I think so..." She was slightly pale but gave Alex a stern look and he slowly turned back around, unconvinced. The portal had grown in her absence and was now the size of a large window. Sweat was beginning to appear on Numair's forehead, and there was a small humming noise coming from the swirling whirlpool of black magic.

As it expanded and reached the size of a door, a small rift appeared in the center of the portal and slowly opened, revealing the now familiar clearing in Golden Gate Park. Numair turned to them and motioned with his head that they should go through now.

The three stepped forward and right before they stepped through, Phi turned around and waved to Devic as she was swallowed up by the magic and thrown into the other world.

***Back in our world***

The landing this time was a lot smoother...in comparison anyway. Tom grimaced as he stood up after being thrown to the ground after stepping through and thought to himself, "Numair must be getting used to it by now..."

Phi groaned and pried herself off the handlebars of her motorcycle and stood up shakily, also managing to grab Alex's arm and hoist himself up before he fell back down after trying to stand up. Tom glanced around and slowly rose to his feet, "So..." he hesitated for a moment, not quite sure what he should say. That good-bye had felt a lot harder to get over than the last one did, but he supposed that they should move on. He sighed, "How long do you think we've been gone this time?"

Alex groaned and muttered something about his parents killing him, and Phi shrugged, "I dunno, two weeks maybe..." Suddenly, she realized what she had just said, "Oh shit! School's probably started again!"

Despite their situation, a small grin lit Tom's face at seeing his sister being so worried about school starting, "What, so now you care about school?"

"No! It's just that I haven't done any of my homework yet!"

Tom's grin became a smile and he threw his arm over his little sister's shoulder, "Well, maybe Alex and I can give you a little hand on that..."

Alex glanced up at his friend, "Are you saying that we should help Phi to cheat?" When Tom shrugged Alex laughed, "Oh my god, the world is coming to an end! Tom the teacher's pet is telling Phi to cheat!"

Tom rolled his eyes, "Sometimes, drastic situations require drastic answers..." Alex continued to grin at him, Tom sighed and began to walk out of the woods, "You're never going to let me forget about this are you?"

"Not in a million years..."

***In Tortall...***

Numair sighed and let the portal collapse and dissolve back into his hands. He flexed his fingers and turned to the others, "All right...that was not so bad, was it?" When no one answered right away, Numair nodded knowingly and began to walk back to the Palace, followed closely by Alanna and George, "Or maybe it was..."

Esmond, Dom, and Owen left next and Kel stayed long enough to pat Devic awkwardly on the back before turning and joining her friends. Devic stood and stared at the spot where Tom, Alex, and Phi vanished, wishing for the second time in his life that they could have stayed but realizing for the second time that they would have never been able to. To tell the truth, they had become, and probably were, the closest thing that he really had to true friends. He had friends who were squires and even some that were pages, but although they would stand by him, he was never able to talk to them. As he stood there thinking, a tugging came into the back of his mind, willing him to turn around.

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned and came face to face, almost literally with a very happy looking Trycos. Devic's body spasmed automatically and he fell back into the snow, reaching for the small dagger that was attached to his belt. Trycos's smile widened, "Please boy. If I wanted to hurt you, you would be dead already. You should really pay closer attention to when your mind tells you to do something...Next time, it might actually be important."

"What do you want? Why are you here?"

"Do you really think that I would tell you what I am doing here boy? Do you think that I would be that stupid? Yes, of course you would. But no, I am here for only one reason, to make sure that the three travelers got back safely to their own time. Yes, it surprises you that I would want to do that, I can see it in your eyes and read it in your mind. But know that I have my reasons, and you shall know them when the time comes, and I am ready to show them."

Devic glared at the man and jumped to his feet, unsheathing his dagger with his trained quickness and shoved it into Trycos's chest. He released the blade and watched in hatred as Trycos laughed and slowly began to disappear into the thin air, "Nice try boy, but it will take more than that to stop me, but I invite you to try."

His dagger fell to the ground and landed in a snowdrift where Trycos's feet used to be. Devic blinked and felt a strange heat rise up inside his that he had only felt once before, three years ago. Oh he would try all right, and he would make Trycos pay...somehow...

The thirteen-year -old marched into the Palace, ignoring everything but where he was walking and stormed into his room and slammed the door shut. He ran his fingers through his dusty blonde hair absent-mindedly and sat heavily down onto his bed. He dropped his hands to his side and stuck them deep into his pockets as a million thoughts raced through his head. He was sure that somehow he would have to be able to find a way to join the knights and hunt down Trycos like the animal that he was. He was just about to start brainstorming all sorts of ways to reek his revenge upon Trycos when he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it around in his hands. It was a folded piece of paper, with his name on it.

He frowned, trying to remember when anyone would have had the chance to slip anything into his pockets, but then his curiosity got the better of him and he carefully unfolded it. A small smile appeared on his face as he began to read. "Dear Devic, I didn't know if I would be up to saying good- bye to you properly in front of the group that is sure to see us off, so I decided that the easiest thing to do was to write you a letter. I just wanted to let you know that even though we didn't get to spend to much time together, at least time together that we weren't trying to save our lives, that I still really enjoyed your company and am very glad that Tortall can have a person like you to help and guide them. Even though sometimes you don't play by the rules (which is sometimes necessary to do the right things in life...), you are a true leader (whether you like it or not!), and you have the real makings of a hero in you. Even I can tell that, and Alanna, Kel, and HaMich can see it too, even if they don't say it out loud. It has been a real pleasure knowing you and I am certain that you are destined for great things! -Love your friend, Phiona." He put the letter down on his bed and fell back onto it, all thoughts of hatred replaced by those of a happy anxiousness for having the future arrive.

A/N: Yay! Whoo-hoo! I'm done with another story! Please, please, please, tell me how you liked it! If I get enough reviews, I could add an epilogue if you guys want...But please, REVIEW! Thank you.