And now the fun part began as everybody else started to take the jump one by one. First was Katarina, who made the jump easy enough, but missed her timing and started to slip the same way he had. He'd been prepared for something like this however, and quick as a whip he reached out and grabbed her by the arm to pull her back up. "No problem," he told her in response to her gratitude, "You'll have to teach me how to swim first."

Next came Astrid, who needed no assistance whatsoever. She actually moved quite comfortably, like somebody who was used to crossing the empty air. I wonder where she got that from, he absentmindedly wondered as the group continued. Sumi proved similarly able, in spite of her all sugar diet, but by this point he'd learned it was better to simply avoid questioning such things when it came to her. It wouldn't make any sense anyway.

Christopher and Kade were where the trouble started. Christopher slipped completely, and this time Alexander was too far away to reach out and grab him. with nothing else to try he whistled again, and to his amazement the wind answered him again and lightly tossed the other boy back onto safer ground. He was a little more calm when Kade nearly fell off; maybe it was the fact that he'd done it three times now, or perhaps something else, but he whistled much more casually to help the groundskeeper up with the air.

"I don't know how I'm getting used to that," he said out loud, "This is really bizarre..."

After that, he could only watch as Astrid did her work.

The group had not noticed it until it had ended. The air felt like electricity sparked through it and then it was gone. Even for Alexander the air seemed calmer suddenly. Like they had been in the middle of a violent storm that he couldn't feel until it was gone. Now it was a perfect breeze.

The magic in the air brushed against them. Those that were attended to feel it would almost say that it seemed like it was thanking them.

For a moment the magic opened just right that they could see the school in front of them. The storm that had been bearing down on it was dissipating.

"Through the portal quickly," Kade said. Sumi was the first through, sliding out of the portal into a tumble that she turned into a handstand before landing on her feet. There was a light rain drizzling still, and the shingles from the roof were all over the place. The building had been through the wringer, but it was still standing.

Christopher followed Sumi, tumbling a little less fantastically, but managed to stay on his feet.

Kade waited until all were through.

Astrid blinked a bit as she realized she had done it... that the magic had worked, and it was thanking her. She gently nodded to the wind and then held her spear close. Oh wow... she had... she had done it! She could only hope that Freya and Odin were proud of her. She then saw a portal opening and blinked a bit as she saw the school again.

"Alright..." She sighed at that as she gently clicked the knot on her spear and it shrank down again and then she jumped through the portal and sighed a bit. She had hoped to head home... her real home, but she guessed it was not that time yet. She noticed that Katalina had hopped through the portal and tumbled in close and looked around at the group.

---

Katalina soon followed the others through the portal and then looked back at Kade. "Come on!" She yelled as she reached out for him. The portal was not going to last too long, she could tell.

Alexander didn't need to ask if whatever Astrid did had worked. He could feel it all around them as the winds suddenly slowed and calmed. It was actually more than a little disconcerting; the howling tempest had seemed so natural when they'd arrived he'd assumed it was the standard state, but now that things were so calm and composed he could easily see he was wrong.

A portal opened shortly thereafter, and he didn't need two seconds to decide to leave. "And that's in the books!" he declared, "Who wants to join me for a tall mug of a- awwww, feathers, that's not a thing here."

"Dumb laws like that are why piracy is just better..." he muttered to himself as he stepped over and through.

Kade lept through the portal as it closed behind him. His aunt, Elenore West, came out of the front door. She moved slowly, was frail, even frailer than she had been since Lundy's death. Kade's heart dropped knowing soon she would find her door and return home. Leaving him in charge of the school.

Sumi skipped over to her and took Elenore's hands gently. She whispered to her, and the pair stood apart, tears on Sumi's eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them.

Christopher, holding his flute tightly went inside. The storm was almost completely gone now. The other students that had stayed behind greeted him or spilled outside. They asked dozens of questions. Bombarding them all with them. The loudest asking where Hannah was. Christopher didn't answer.