Chapter 1: The Accident

The clouds was dark purple and flashes of thunder lashed across the angry sky. The sea was like a live monster swallowing up everything on the surface. But oneLemurian ship rode the gigantic waves, fighting to stay on the surface, and carry its passengers to safety.

"Ivan, you doing all right up there?" the blue-eyed adept at the tiller shouted over the sound of the storm to the petite Jupiter Adept who sat above him on the tip of the mast. In a bubble of calm winds, Ivan concentrated on his element, the wind, and extended his Psynergy to encompass the area all around the ship, lessening the gale force winds to the minimum possible, and held it there.

"Garet! Just hold that a little longer!" Isaac then yelled to Garet, who leaning against the mast, keeping it upright. They had not managed to get Ivan up there before the winds had weakened the mast so much that it was in danger of breaking. Without the mast, they wouldn't have a chance in this weather.

While the other three adepts worked to control the ship, below deck, the situation was far from being as calm as the upper deck. Felix worked with Picard to keep the boat afloat. Though there was no winds or waves battering at them, they were in a very different kind of danger – being drowned.

"Hey! Picard! Over there! There's a big spurt of – "A wave of water from the hole he was blocking hit Felix right in the mouth. Felix shook head, choking on the salty taste of the water. "Eurgh… Why did we decide to sail in this weather anyway?! The fishermen told us that a huge storm was coming up…"

"You do not remember?" Picard asked incredulously as he used more Psynergy to hold the water threatening to flood the boat in check. "Um… Felix, would you please block those leaks over there? I'm having a bit of trouble holding them together…"

Felix, after he got over the initial shock of having water hit him in the mouth, conjured up several rocks-which-act-a-lot-like-clay to block the holes.

Back On Gondowan...

"The nerve of them! I mean, just because we're GIRLS doesn't mean that we're weak! We could've gone along!" The hot tempered Mars Adept paced around the small room they had in the inn, speaking to the two other girls who sat on the small bed. "Nothing gives them the right!"

The blue-haired Mercury Adept stood up and walked over to Jenna. "They're just trying to protect us..." Mia replied in an effort to sooth Jenna's extremely hot temper, while the shortest girl of the three just sat with a thoughtful, worried look on her face. "I sense something... I think something bad is going to happen..."

Mia and Jenna each turned to her in surprise. "What do you mean by that?" Mia asked curiously.

"Well... I just have this feeling... I mean... they are traveling very close to the Gaia Falls..."

Jenna looked pale. The boys had set out on a journey to on of the islands to retrieve Jenna's lost suitcase, which Jenna had been very unhappy about leaving on an island, as it contained her wedding outfit. And, they hadn't let her come along. Well, to be more specific, Felix had told her that he didn't want to 'risk his little sisters life on rescuing her silly little suitcase'. He hadn't thought that he'd be risking his OWN life rescuing the 'silly little suitcase'. Jenna sighed. 'Why did I let them do this… we knew there was going to be a storm… All for my suitcase… We could've just gotten another one to replace it. Now they might even be dead…'

Meanwhile, on the Eastern sea… dangerously close to the Gaia Falls...

Ivan still sat in his spot on top of the mast, but he was starting to tire. The strain of the amount of Psynergy he was using started to show. Garet was running out of stamina – he barely had the energy to stand up and lean against the mast. But Isaac remained steadfast, attempting to guide the ship away from the dangerous edge of the Gaia Falls. "Come on everyone… We can do this…" But as soon as he spoke, a gigantic wave crashed through Ivan's barrier and swamped the three adepts, carrying them away…

Meanwhile, below deck, Picard and Felix were fighting a losing battle with the ocean.

"The water is up to our waist! WE must leave here!"

"No! We can't fail my sister! She'll pulverize me!" Felix gritted his teeth and tried to patch up a few more of the leaks.

"Do you think she'd rather see you dead?!"

This statement was greeted with silence.

"You see! We must leave now! Hopefully, Ivan has bought the Teleportation Lapis…"

Felix and Picard abandoned the lower deck and ran through the many corridors to arrive on the upper deck. But when they arrived...

"Oh no... What has happened up here?!

They gazed at the empty deck, and ran to the railing with difficulty, what with the boat tilting and bucking so much without Ivan's Psynergy holding it in check. Picard gasped as he saw where they were.

"No... We're far too close to the Gaia Falls… If they'd been washed overboard..."

They looked extremely scared and shocked. "Isaac... Ivan... Garet..."

Suddenly the boat tilted sharply. Taken by surprise, both Felix and Picard slid sideways, and fell into the relentless ocean.

Back on Gondowan...

Sheba inhaled sharply and just barely avoided falling off her chair. "No... The boys... I can't sense them anymore..."

Mia ran over from the door concernedly , having just entered the room in time to see him. "Sheba... Are you okay?"

"The boys are.... Gone..."

Jenna whitened, sitting frozen from her seat beside the window, then ran out of the room. Mia gazed after her worriedly, then turned back to Sheba, thinking to cheer her up later.

"Are you... sure?" she asked, hoping that there had been a mistake. Sheba nodded slowly, seemingly lost in her thoughts... Mia gulped, on the brink of tears. Then, she DID break down, threw herself onto the bed and started sobbing.

Sheba started and looked at Mia. She felt like starting to cry herself. They had been through a lot together, the 8 of them... She felt tears beginning to form, but shook them away. 'No. I must be strong, for all of us. We still have hope'.

She stood up and walked over to Mia and whispered something in her ear. After a while, Mia stopped crying and looked up. Sheba nodded encouragingly, and Mia left the room. 'Next it's Jenna.'

Sheba made her way to Jenna's room. Sobs and items hitting walls could clearly be heard from outside. Sheba entered and didn't come back out for several minutes. Murmurings could be heard, but words were difficult to make out. Then Sheba exited, looking grim.

Chapter End---- Revised 26/01/05