AN: Thanks for all the reviews guys. I really appreciate it! And not a single negative one yet. (Though it is only a matter of time, im sure.) Hope you enjoy the new chapter. =)

Lincoln was frustrated. He stretched his arms and almost fell over, but levitated upright again just in time. His magic had been less powerful and notably less reliable as of late. "Index, have you found out the cause yet?"

Im sorry Lincoln, nothing yet. Lincoln sighed. Anything else?

"Give me my schedule for today. I should have already taken care of everything important but it never hurts to double check."

Certainly. You really shouldn't stress yourself so much though. Just relax a bit.

The young wizard frowned. "You know exactly what happens when I don't think things through. Right now I have to study and refine my powers, but I can't very well do that if they don't work properly now can I? Schedule."

Sheesh kiddo, don't be so dramatic, I get it. Alright...First: Lori has to renew her ID, you wanted to arrange it so she doesn't have to wait in line.

He nodded. "Already did it this morning. The talisman is in her purse and it is unlikely she will find it anytime soon."

Alright then. Second: Luna has a big gig and is incredibly nervous. You wanted to ensure she has no problems with stage fright or jitters.

Lincoln slowly floated back onto his bed, but didn't quite stick the landing. Liam had always made it look so easy. "Ouch." Index chuckled his familiar chuckle. "I gave her the prepped guitar pick an hour ago. She should have no problems."

It took you a while to enchant it, right? Kudos to that. Its usually takes people a bit longer to start working on objects this small. A sound of applause, similar to the canned sit-com ones engulfed the room.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Its not like I had no help. Next."

Third: Daily preparation to redirect Lynn's nightmares onto yourself. Seriously man, you shouldn't mess with that sort of thing. I know you think this is helping her, but shell never really move on if you continue doing that. Just let it happen and...

"I can't remember asking for your opinion!" he snapped. "And of course I already did that. First thing after waking up, like always. Next!"

A sound not dissimilar to a sigh emerged in his head. Alright, alright. Don't say I didn't warn you though...Again...Anyway. Fourth: Help Lucy with her studies. The only sensible thing on your list, like always.

Lincoln stood up and moved to the door. "Finally, something I still have to do." He opened it and looked into the hallway. Like so often these days no one but Lori and Lucy were home. And since Lori was always either sleeping or working when she had time for herself he figured he could take more risks than usual. After a bit of concentration several symbols on his clothes began to lit up and he slowly gained altitude until he was hovering in midair.

Slowly but surely he began moving forward. If Liam...no, he couldn't think like that...WHEN Liam came back from his whole...being a statue thing...he really oughta teach him how to glide through the air like it was nothing.

"...Lincoln...?" The sudden calling of his name burst his concentration enough that he lost control and landed painfully on his hindquarters. When he opened his eyes he was face to face with a very surprised looking Lori. He hated looking at her face. The tired, puffy eyes. The frazzled hair. The grumpy look. This time there was also a hint of questioning whether or not she was still asleep. From the looks of it she had just woken up too.

"Now Lori...this Isn't what it looks like..."

But before he could continue he heard a quiet "Sleep." and just like that his sister fell forward, sound asleep. He caught her at the last second and gently put her down. He looked forward at the perpetrator. A young girl clad in all black clothes, eyes hid behind her hair.

"Lucy...or is it...?"

She shook her head. "No, its me...Did I do something wrong? I kinda sorta panicked a bit." Ever since she began learning magic her voice carried much more emotion. It still wasn't much, but compared to how it had been before it was still a significant increase. Index had mentioned that something like that may happen. Magic relied on emotion after all.

Now he shook his head. "Its alright. It was my fault anyway. I just don't have that much space to practice hovering in my room. It wont happen again." He stood up and pointed at their sleeping sister. "Could you give me a hand with this?" She nodded and grabbed Loris legs. Together they carried her into her and Lenis room, and carefully placed the sleeping blonde onto her bed.

"So, about your lesson plan..." As he turned around to look at her he was taken by surprise once again. "You know, I really don't need this right now."

Lucy's entire body had changed. Her hair was white, and did not obscure her...or rather his snake like yellow eyes. Scales had grown on her body, but only in irregular patched. He smiled, the forked tongue darting out of his fang-filled mouth. And he spoke with the voice Lincoln hated so much. "Im hungry Lincoln. How about you feed me?"

Lincoln shook his head, annoyed at this whole situation and stormed out of the room, his sister(?) following behind him. "You know exactly what our agreement is Bel. Once a month, no more, no less."

The thing continued smiling its eerie smile. "But Lincy, your little sister is sooooo hungry. Also, don't you need help with anything? Anything at all? I could be persuaded to work my wonders...all I want in return is some food."

Lincoln was about to rebut when a familiar voice entered his head. It sounded urgent too. Lincoln, I have located the source of your magic problems.

"You have? Where is it?"

I hate to be the one who fulfills a cliches but...its coming from inside the house. Your parents bedroom in particular. And its getting stronger.

Of course. Of all the places, it had to be there. But that also meant that whatever the problem was, it probably had something to do with the hole Liam poked between dimension back then. Without a moments notice he turned and ran to the source of the problem, Bel following close behind. He hesitated a second when he arrived at the door. No one had been in here for the last couple of years. But now was not the time to be lost in thought.

As soon as he opened the door the problem was eminent. Normally one couldn't perceive the breach with the naked eye. But now it was visible. Very visible. And very big. He pulled a book out of his pocket, opened it, and held it in the direction of the breach. "Index, what the hell is going on here?"

Well, would you look at that. It looks like something or someone is trying to break through. There is a lot of magic at work too.

Lincoln swallowed. After everything he read about Liam's homeworld the chances of whatever was on the other side being friendly was one to five thousand. At least as long as Liam was still trapped in the statue. "Index, any chance that I could close it from here?"

Not really. Not with your magic being sapped by it.

Sweat began to build up on his forehead. "Alright...what about the robe? Or..." he looked over his shoulder, with the thing in Lucy's body giving a girly wave. "..or...if I ask Bel for help?" It was evident from his tone that he really really didn't like the idea of the latter.

I don't think that's a very good idea. You have an advantage here, see. Since the origin-point is on your side, the breach is much more fragile here...but both the robe and Bel...they are too strong. And they arent really capable of controlling said strength. You run the risk of shattering the breach, which would not only not close it, but open it for good, just much bigger than before.

"...Liam really doesn't think these things through, does he?..."

Not really no.

The boy's thoughts raced inside his head. He contemplated idea after idea until finally settling on one. He did't like it very much, but it seemed the only reliable option. He turned around. "Bel...I want you to shield me. Make it so that the breach can no longer rob me of my magic."

Are you sure about that? I know you studied up on sealing magic, but I didn't figure you an expert. This is really complicated stuff...For an beginner anyway.

Lincoln just shook his head. "I have to try...You know exactly what manner of creatures could be trying to break through...I have to stop it...I have to try at the very least..."

A claw touched his shoulder. "Of course, I can do that if you really want me to. But you know what I want in return."

He breathed in an out slowly. "Yes...I will feed you. You will get another meal before the end of this week." With that he faced the tear again. "Now shield my body and then return my sister's back to her."

A rough laugh could be heard. A symbol on Bel's forehead glowed, enveloping first him and then Lincoln in a blinding light that subsided soon after. "The deal is made. Enjoy my blessing. Be seeing you later." With that he fell backwards, turning back into Lucy on the way down. Normally Lincoln would've checked if she was okay, but now it was time for action.

As soon as he felt his power return, he pulled one of his mirrors out and began drawing the runes. He didn't have time to check if those were the correct ones, having to rely on his memory instead. The young wizard had figured he would have to deal with something like this at some point. Even though he had chosen summoning as his favored type, sealing magic was always on his mind as well. He let go of the finished mirror which was now floating in front of him, rune side facing the breach. His adrenaline was pumping as he recited the names of all six runes without tripping up once. For once his hard work had actually paid off.

Light burst from the mirror, engulfing the gaping hole in reality. He suddenly felt resistance mounting, as whoever was on the other side had obviously noticed the interference, but that only spurred him on to put everything he had into it. Suddenly everything went white as pain ran through his body and he fell onto the floor for a second time this day. Once the pain had receded a bit he stood up, rubbed his eyes and surveyed the room. Except for his passed out sister and his mirror on the floor the room was empty. No magical tear in sight. "Index, what happened?"

It took unusually long but after a few minutes he heard the familiar voice in his head. Sorry boss, I was a bit out of it. But don't worry, its all good news. You partially succeeded, which is much more than I had expected. Hooray.

Lincoln sat down beside his sister and made sure everything was alright while he talked. "What do you mean "partial success"? The breach is closed, Isn't it?"

It definitely is. And whatever wanted to come through, you certainly have ruined their plans.

"Their?"

Yep. A whole bunch of people tried to cross over. But alas, only a handful made it through. And by closing the hole you have cut off their way back.

Great. Now whoever came over from Liam's world was bound to be angry or at least irritated once they inevitably found out. "And where exactly are they?"

Another bit of good news. They were SUPPOSED to be here right now. But by closing it right as they passed through you have basically flung them across the world. They could be right outside this door. They could be in this city somewhere. Or they could be in china, landing on a bag of rice right now. Wherever they are, they aren't going to be a problem for a while...i think.

Lincoln sighed. "You think...Awesome..." He stood up and picked up his sister.

Great work with the spell by the way. You really defied expectations there.

"How so?"

You managing to cast the spell was extraordinary for someone who has just begun a couple of years ago. I think you can now call yourself a mage without any hyperbole or doubt. But your still a rookie. Actually closing the breach should have been impossible.

He allowed himself to smile. "Whatever happened, I'm glad it did."

"Actually, I helped with the last part."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? How could you have helped Index? You know, without a body and stuff..."

A chuckle could be heard. Now Lincoln noticed that instead of inside his head the voice was coming from behind him. "Not Index. Me, my friend. Long time no see." After he turned around Lincoln fell on his behind for the third time. A trend he really didn't care much for. But he didn't really care about that right now because in front of him was his old "friend" Liam.

Not only that, but he was also in his underwear. "But first things first..." Lincoln knew what would come next as the grand emperor held his hand out in front him. "Would you kindly return my robe? I feel rather naked without it."

Before he could reply anything his clothes ripped themselves from his body and went back to their original owner, taking the form of a robe again. With the situations reversed and Lincoln now in his underwear he swallowed and locked eyes with the older man. "Welcome back." As Liam began to float and showed his familiar smile Lincoln knew that it was really him.

"Im glad to be, old chap. Lets continue where we left of, shall we?"

- 3 Years Earlier -

Lincoln was frustrated. He stretched his arms and almost fell over, but caught himself just in time. It had been about a week since Liam was sucked back into the statue. He had only seen Clyde once after that, at school. Ronnie Anne too, for that matter. As he had learned later there seemed to be some sort of bug going around. Clyde had been awfully coughy that day, and apparently Ronnie Anne had caught it too. So did a couple other kids and, miraculously, pretty much every teacher. Clyde had been gone by Tuesday, Ronnie Anne called in sick at Wednesday, and the whole school shut down Thursday. And from what he had heard it may remain so for another week.

Luckily everyone in his family was still healthy. So far it didn't seem like anything too serious though, it simply looked like a very persistent fever. Just bad enough to stay home, but not so bad as to require a stay at the hospital. Some people had already recovered too. (None of the teachers though luckily.) The really frustrating thing though were these damn comics. When Liam was there all of them simply looked like comics, but the titles, and was written within was anything but. Now though...

He picked one up. The one that had once been A Beginners Guide to Casting. Now though it showed the drawing of a weird mix of superhero and traditional magician holding a bank robber in a magic cage. The title was TALES OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY #1 with the subtitle Containing the Origin of the Amazing New Hero : Master Caster .

It was a surprisingly good read, but that wasn't the problem. It contained no instructions, no helpful advice, nothing that could teach him anything. It wasn't even any longer than a regular comic. Same for all of these issues. In the end there was nothing he could do about it, but still. After a sigh he took off his clothes until he was in his distinguished comic reading garb and searched through the stack of comics.

#6 : Enter the Enchantress of Evil - Already read that one.

#11 : The Spectacular Summoner Arrives! - This one twice, really good issue.

#16 : With the Mysterious Saint Sorcery. Is he Friend or Foe?! - He winced a little. That one was just creepy.

Finally he got the one he wanted.

#25 : Has Commander Cryoman created ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?!

The cover showed the titular Commander Cryoman fighting against what seemed like an army of possessed clothing Mannequins.

Lincoln shook his head with a smile. "Oh Commander Cryoman, will you ever learn?" For a bunch of textbooks in comic form the story was strangely engaging. But as he began to read he noticed something unusual. On the margin of every page there was some kind of unfinished drawing, It was small, and he didn't really know what it was supposed to be, but it was distracting nevertheless. It was on every page at the exact same place but the really strange thing was that it seemed to get better and more detailed as the comic went on.

After ten or so pages it was pretty clear what it was supposed to be. A face. A human face. An incredibly detailed human face. It was a woman, probably in her twenty's with long hair and beautiful expressive eyes. There was no color to it, it looked more like a sketch, but an incredibly lifelike one. As he went to turn the page again he caught something in the corner of his eye. The drawing had blinked. Now he began staring at it for a while. He was ready to move on again when the lips of the woman moved. The voice he heard came from inside his own head however.

Greeting: Hello.

It was definitely a female voice. He waved awkwardly. "Uhm...hi, I guess? Who or what are you?" He saw the panels of the comic slowly transform into text once more, the rest of the covers turning into plain book titles as well, still retaining comic form however.

Introduction: My Name is Index and I am a complex conjured Artificial Intelligence created by Grand Emperor Liam as a personal secretary.

Linconln shrugged. He honestly wasn't surprised that Liam had made something like that. "And why are you showing yourself to me?"

She smiled.

Mission Statement: Master Liam instructed me to help you in learning the ropes and becoming a true magician in any way I can.

Two expertly sketched hands appeared under her face and clapped together.

Cautious but Optimistic Statement: I hope we can grow to become an excellent team in the future.