Black boots crunched in the thick snow as a figure darted through the storm. Lily's sprint had slowed to an endeavored run as her breath was lost in the wind; she had no choice but to lift her arms to the wind as she forced herself against it. The familiar rock path that had led up to her house was covered in snow and the halfbreed found herself lost in the storm. No longer could she see what lay ahead or behind, she might as well have been traveling with her eyes closed. The girl felt such an unusual sense of despair and loneliness that it weighed down on her harder than the wind pushed against her. The only thing that had seemed to keep her going for the last four hours was the hope that her brother and his friends were safe at her house.

Exhaustion forced the girl to her knees and black dots danced before her watering eyes. Panting breathlessly, she struggled to force herself to her feet, but fell again.

Then she heard a voice. It was almost like a ghostly howl in the wind, coming from every direction. Lily's heart leapt, knowing she must be near somewhere she could escape the storm from.

"Oh, Green..." came a sing-song voice.

Then a pair of red eyes appeared before Lily, and strands of raven hair danced in the white. The halfbreed let out a gasp that sounded more of a wheeze and stumbled backwards into the snow. Then she was grasped from behind and lifted to her feet.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Valencia snapped. Lily swallowed dryly, and squeezed her eyes shut. A green and red aura surrounded her, flickered for a moment, and Lily groaned with frustration before it disappeared completely and her eyes closed.

"Aww.." Valencia whined, just loud enough to be heard over the snow, "I didn't even get to do anything. You wore yourself out, huh?" She snickered, her hair whipping in the wind, "Pathetic. Indigo could've taken care of you herself, but I do like my revenge. You'll be useful to getting back at that wretched group of borderhoppers."

Lily lifted her hand and it trembled for a moment, glowing green as she attempted to fight the waves of dizziness that washed over her. However, unconsciousness took over and the last thing she felt was the sensation of being lifted.

The boat ride was silent, aside from the sound of gentle waves crashing against the sides. Taube shifted as cold water nipped at his wings. Max was leaning over the side, the only thing preventing her from jumping in was Maya's hand on her sleeve. Oliver was curled up in the corner, the little beetle resting on his pants.

After finding out the source of the storm -the mysterious island-, after finding out the beetle had fled and was safe in Oliver's pocket, and after deciding Lily was strong enough to take care of herself, the group had decided the best thing to do was to travel to this mysterious island in hopes to stop the storm. It was a stretch, but there seemed to be no other place to go considering the storm had completely absorbed their home island. The storm of wind, snow, and despair had absorbed everything in its path and continued growing. The ocean around the island was turning into a thick sheet of ice.

Luckily, as the group grew frantic about the storm forcing them yet farther to the edge of the island and arguing about what to do, they had stumbled across the docks and found a small wooden boat.

It had been hours and the soft swaying motion rocked Oliver and his bug friend to sleep. Taube sat across from him, rather annoyed at the cold water that kept splashing his wings and enviously eyeing the beetle and Oliver curled up together. Thunder rumbled in the darkening sky as the mysterious island grew nearer and nearer. The dark clouds swirled together as flashes of light struck across the sky. Maya was silent, feeling ridiculous after panicking for Max's safety on their home island. Oliver snored quietly.

"Maya," Max said, settling herself in the boat so the other could release her sleeve, "Why would someone curse our home?"

The halfbreed shrugged, shivering as a cold mist found its way into the boat, "Dunno. Maybe it's not even magic, maybe it's just a whirlwind or something that's centered itself on the island."

"Maybe someone cursed our island." Taube spoke up, narrowed eyes not leaving Oliver and the beetle. His lisp was thick as he spat the word 'cursed'. Maya couldn't help but grin at the annoyed look on the fairies face.

"Max, tune out for a sec, please." Maya mused with a smirk.

"Huh?" The girl responded absent-mindedly, gazing into the murky waters.

"Nevermind." The halfbreed turned to the fairy, who was hugging his legs and shivering slightly, glaring at the Bug Elemental.

"Taube, are you mad at Oliver for something?" Maya whispered, just in case the Bug Elementals gentle snores were faked.

Taube snorted with the roll of his eyes, "I don't get mad. I'm cool as an ice cube." A cold wind whipped by and he shivered, hugging himself tighter.

"Really? Cause Oliver thinks you're mad at him."

"He does?" Taube sat up suddenly, his wings perking up. Then he scoffed, "Surprised he even noticed-" he muttered under his breath, then settled himself back down.

"Yeah..." the halfbreed said reluctantly, her scarlet red and sky blue eyes narrowed, "You remember when we had just gotten Max out of the asylum? We were sitting in the forest of Murk Island and I was talking to her?" She avoided eye contact and her face grew hot.

Taube's vibrant bubblegum eyes shot up to her. Knowing where this was going and how rough of a situation it had been for the both of them, his attention was snapped towards her.

"Yeah, of course I remember."

"I saw what he did. He pulled his hand away from you."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Taube exclaimed, face hot, then he covered his mouth and repeated himself in a whisper.

"Yes you do." Maya said confidently, "us Psychic's have this thing called 'lie detecting'. I mean- technically everybody has that thing called 'lie detecting' but-"

"Ok! Ok! I get it, geez. It's just- is he seriously that embarrassed to.." he lowered his voice, "..you know...hold hands with me?"

Maya let out a chuckle that sounded more like a sigh, "No, not at all. He's just scared of getting close to you, i'm sure. I'm almost positive he's never had a crush before. He's probably scared he'll get judged or you'll hate him or-"

Taube gasped, "I would never!"

"Exactly! So stop holding that against him. We don't have time for drama anyways, we have a storm to stop."

Taube offered a gentle smile and mumbled an embarrassed "thanks".

"We're here!!" Max exclaimed loudly, causing the two to jump and Oliver to jolt awake. The beetle fell onto its back and struggled to get up until Oliver helped it up.

The group spun around to see lightning strike behind a large, looming shadow in the sky. The island was decorated with charcoal-colored pine trees powdered in snow scattered about. Rock huts and buildings poked up between the trees and smoke from the occasional fire blew into the sky. Gentle white flakes floated in the wind as the boat approached the rocky edge and a mist had settled itself on the shore.

In the mist stood a shadow.

The shadow lifted its arm very suddenly; the group's boat was sucked towards the island, causing them to topple over each other in a violent manor.

Then, before they could comprehend what was happening, a tightness rested itself on their chests and each person was lifted into the air, surrounded by a neon blue aura.

And in the mist, a pair of piercing blue eyes caught their attention over the sound of their pounding hearts.

"Took you long enough."