A/N: BOOKS ARE NOT ON HOLD ANYMORE!!! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story in more than a while; there was this disease called Writer's Block that struck me, and it contains a bit of procrastination in it as well. But anyways, I'm gonna post this chapter now. Also, NEW COVER! And I'll give y'all a heads up on who the main characters are 'cause it might be a little confusing.

Lily Woodland: Dreamy, loyal sixteen-year-old spirit with wavy shoulder-length ginger hair and green eyes.
Hazel Jiang: Hotheaded, spunky sixteen-year-old spirit with long black hair and brown eyes.
Alexander "Xander" Grace: Friendly, sensitive seventeen-year-old spirit with spiky blond hair and blue eyes
Mark Williams: Intelligent, sarcastic eighteen-year-old spirit with curly dark hair and brown eyes

And now onto the story!

The overly energetic girl named Abigail-no, Abbey-pulls my hand as she leads us down a hall. She has a killer grip; my fingers feel like they're going to erupt any second.

"So, Abbey, what do you guys do everyday?"

"Well ..." She begins. "We're required to train for battle everyday, which isn't fun."

"Battle against who?" Mark asks, interested.

"The evil witch."

 Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Then I notice the gloomy expression on the girl's face. Okay, now I'm kinda-no, really-scared.

"Oh yeah!" Abbey suddenly bursts. "Abbey also talks to the stars."

"The stars?" Hazel has a look of disbelief on her face. "What's so cool about the stars?"

"They're amazing friends." Abbey smiles joyously. Friends. The ones I haven't been able to find ever since we escaped that death building back in New York. "Come on, I'll show you!" she yells.

She leads us to the well, the portal between Earth and this world. "Alright," Abbey says, bouncing up and down like a little kid. "So now, you all need to close your eyes and count for, uh, one-hundred-and-twenty seconds."

"TWO MINUTES?!" Hazel groans impatiently. "That's way too long."

"Just concentrate." Xander says.

"Your face is saying otherwise," Mark tells him. "But yeah, just do it." He closes his eyes, and the rest of us do the same.

"Alright!" Abbey giggles, tugging at the strands of her wild blond hair. "Abbey will start the counting. But in her head only."

One, two ... The numbers ring in my head. What's going to happen? Will there be a unicorn, maybe? Ooh, I've always wanted to be a unicorn when I was little.

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve ... Only twelve seconds? Come on, this is way harder than I thought it was.

Twenty ... forty ... eighty ... More than halfway through, Lily. Keep going!

One-hundred-and-fifteen ... one-hundred-and-nineteen, YES! WE'RE THERE!

I open my eyes curiously. What's happening? What's going on? I look around, only to see blank space, and the confused looks in my friends' eyes as well.

Abbey laughs delightedly at the fountain. "Hi there, Aquarius! Abbey's got new friends."

Silence.

"She's crazy ..." Hazel mumbles. 

"Don't be mean!" I snap at her. "I'm sure something accidental happened."

"I think I'll take a look at the weaponry place." The black-haired spirit shrugs. "Bye." She takes off back towards the palace, her tall, moving figure standing out in the rising sun.

"I'm going to the library, for information on the witch." Xander mutters. "Now that we've lost our powers, we might as well see what we can do here." He calmly starts walking away, only to turn back. "You guys?"

"We'll stay, thanks." Mark answers. "HEY!" he suddenly cries, wildly waving his hand around himself, and then me. "Our silvery glowing aura things disappeared!"

"That's weird." I frown, putting my hands in my pockets.

"Are you kidding?" Mark asks. "That's awesome! We'll stay safely hidden this way, so no one can see us that clearly."

"Guys!" Abbey cuts in. "Here!" She abruptly tears the pendant she's been wearing off her neck, wrapping the chained jewelry around my wrist. "Take it."

The necklace is plain, with just one large shape hanging there. It's a gemstone the color of a frozen blue lake in the winter, in the shape of a teardrop. I stroke my finger over it, smiling.

"Done admiring your little pet?" A sharp, clear voice calls out. "It'll be nice if you greet me."

I look up. Standing on the edge of the well is a smirking, amused girl of about Mark's age, eighteen. She sports blue, waist-length straight hair with chalky, light skin. Fingering with the headphones sitting on her head, she asks, "Well? Ya done checking me out?"

I gasp, letting a scowl slide across my face. "What-"

"The name's Aquarius," the girl interrupts, bored. "And you are ..." She wags a finger at me.

"Lily. Lily Woodland."

"Aquarius!" Abbey jumps in. "As Abbey was saying, these are the friends I want you to meet. Lily ..." She gestures to me. "And Mark!"

"You're looking in the wrong direction," Aquarius snorts, jumping off the stone ledge of the well. "Silly spirit girl."

The blue-haired supposed constellation then turns to me. "I see that you created a new style out of these clothes that used to be rags." Waving a hand at my ripped T-shirt and jeans, Aquarius continues. "I was just traveling in what you guys dub 'NYC', and surprise! Torn outfits were actually the new trend there."

Seeing the confused look on my face, Aquarius says, "Some celestial beings like me can travel through universes and dimensions. It's pretty cool. But whenever those like Abbey over here summon-well, plead-for me to come over, I just come over.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have a little convo with Mr. Almost Falling Asleep here." She smirks at Mark, then suddenly rips the necklace off my neck. Then, she's invisible like before.

Mark starts talking to what seems to be blank space. In minutes, he's so engaged in talking with the zodiac that there seems to be a barrier separating him from everyone else. He groans when Aquarius takes the necklace off.

He snatches my hand. "C'mon, let's go."

"Where?" I ask, surprised.

"Castle. Library." He pauses for a second. "Oh wait, Xander's there."

"What about him?"

"Um, well, I ... uh ... I dunno about his reaction to this. I mean, he's kinda been quiet these days."

"Mark." I say, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have a crush on Xander?"

"No." He says flatly. "I'm just ... worried."

"Sure." I smile, cupping my hands to my mouth. "Hey, Abbey! I have a surprise, and it's called a ship. But you'll have to figure out who's sailing in there!"

Unfortunately, she's still talking with Aquarius far away so she doesn't hear me.

"Anyway," Mark begins. "What I wanted to discuss isn't about stupid love interests. It's that ... you know how Aquarius just traveled to our world?"

I nod. "What?"

"Her exact words were, 'I was touring in this tall glassy building, but then I kinda got lost so I decided to take a look around on my own. I went into a place with this lady with whitish blond hair, and she was talking to this other lady. The blond haired one kept glancing around the room as if there was a fly buzzing around her head, and she was talking about relocating four lost prisoners.

"Lily," Mark whispers. "We're in danger."

A/N: Hi guys ... if y'all noticed, Mark made a comment about his worry towards Xander and then became annoyed when Lily said something about their ship. Do you think this ship should sail? COMMENT BELOW