"Well Io, it's been real nice knowing you. Hope to see
you soon in another life" Jazel's voice shaked as she
shook the tiny dragon's hand. Io nodded.  

The goat stamped a hoof creating a small cloud of dust
around it.  Jazel tried to swallow the lump in her
throat that just would not go away. Time seemed to
crawl before the goat took charge of the situation and
charged the frightened pair sending them over the edge
of the mountain.  Their screams echoing throughout the
night air before they were cut off abruptly.  

"NOOO!" Jazel screamed in pure terror.  She didn't
know what happened but when she screamed she felt a
warm tingle surge at the back of her neck, her finger
tips burned with an intense heat.  She felt as though
an electrical surge was running throughout her veins. 
Behind her she saw it.  The blinding light.

It was as if she was entering into a tunnel.  Jazel
watched as the colors of the world she knew faded into
the emptyness that filled in the void around them. 
Soon they were engulfed in darkness.  Io was curled up
into a tiny ball with his eyes clenched closed.  Jazel
couldn't help but smile.  It was odd.  She felt as
peace for the moment.  She knew they were falling. 
But it was as if they were floating at the same time. 
Like she and the dragon were sitting still and the
blackness around them were still going.  

"Io look. We are not falling anymore" Jazel said as
she reached out a hand to the ball of dragon.  She
watched in aw as her long black hair floated around
her like it would in water.  She laughed.  Her
laughter echoed into the nothingness.  Io huffed
slightly.

"I don't see what you are so happy about! We are going
to die you know that don't you?" Io said matter of
factly.  Jazel shook her head.  There was no changing
the dragon's idea on the situation.  

"You spoiled sport! We aren't going to die.  Maybe
float forever, but-" Before Jazel could get the last
of her sentence out, a loud whoosh swept over them as
they moved backwards fast and faster yet.  Jazel
grabbed onto the dragon and stuffed him in her
shoulder bag.  She let out a scream of terror as the
darkness sucked them into a light up ahead.

"I told you we are going to die" Io called from inside
the bag.  Jazel clutched the bag harder and only
screamed a reply.  The light swooped in around them
almost blinding her as she fell with a muffled thud. 

Jazel slowly climbed to her feet and looked around.
She looked herself over breifly. She was alive even if
she didn't know how. 

~This can't be happening. There is no way I could have
survived a fall like that. There is no way at all.~
Jazel thought as she watched Io climb out of her bag
that lay on the ground at her feet. Io's jaw dropped
to the ground as he looked around. 

"Are we dead?" Jazel asked the dragon. Io huffed.

"Hush child. We are not dead, we are very much alive.
I just don't know where we are. That's all. Something
is not right at the moment." Io said as he climbed up
on Jazel's shoulder. Jazel was confused. What was the
dragon talking about? 

Suddenly there was a moan from somewhere behind the
pair. Jazel spun around and took a defence as she
stared at the figure of a human being that lay on the
ground. She didn't remember him being there. Maybe
that was what she landed on when she and Io fell. She
knew she landed on something, but she had no idea it
was a SOMEONE she had landed on. She watched as the
figure slowly climbed to their feet. 

~It's a man! Great. Now I am never going to get out of
here before meeting someone. Why me?! Why do I have to
end up meeting people? They ask too many questions and
I don't have time for it!~ Jazel thought silently in
bewilderment as she watched the man climb to his feet
and rub the back of his head. She normally didn't jump
to conclusions, but right at this moment, she was on
the defensive. Io yanked on her hair and glared at
Jazel.

~You are jumping to conclusions warrior. Haven't you
learned anything?~ Io thought as Jazel glared at his
thoughts. 

"Yes I learned something you idiot!" 

"Well you sure haven't learned how to land on your
feet, that's for sure." The stranger said as he rubbed
the back of his head some more. Jazel's hands threw to
her mouth quickly, she really had to learn to keep her
thoughts to herself, or at least with Io around,
between the two of them. 

~Now you did it Aquarius~ Io silently snapped. Jazel
fumed.

"Jazel! My name is JAZEL DAMN IT!!" Jazel snapped at
the snickering Io. 

"Well, in that case my name is Gordon. Nice to meet
you I think." Gordon said flattly a little confused as
he turned around and saw Cora standing infront of him.
And where did she come up with the name Jazel? She
looked a lot like Cora that's for sure, all except the
facial marks that seemed to run the length of her body
and the long black hair. Maybe Cora was having an
identity crisis or something. He still wasn't sure of
who she was talking to though. As if reading his
thoughts, Jazel replied flattly and as a matter of
factly.

"Io, my dragon. That's who I am talking to. Now, if
you excuse me, I have to continue on my way." Jazel
said as she looked around for path to follow. Io
rolled his eyes. He hated when she acted like this.
She was always eager to get away and be alone.  

"You wouldn't happen to know where we are do you?"Io
asked polietly. Jazel grumble lowly. She wanted to get
away. People sorta made her nervious. How they stared
at her and thought things. It made her jumpy to be
under constant judging. She couldn't read minds, but
she could read facial expressions really well, and
when she read them, it made her really nervious. Io
senced her uneasyness. 

~Relax, we will be on our way soon. You really have to
keep control. We will work on that later though.~ Io
quietly soothed. Jazel took a breath and patintly
waited for a reply from the man named Gordon. 

Gordon was still a little confused. If in fact it was
Cora, she was really acting strange. But he would play
along with it, for now. 

"Cora, er..Jazel, you are in Nermina." Jazel looked
confused. Who was this Cora he spoke of? As if right
on cue, Cora ran up the path and stopped short at the
sight of Gordon and Jazel. Jael glared at the new
comer in shock. She looked frazled and in an outfit
that looked similar to her Aquarius outfit. But there
was one thing that bugged her. She had HER face! Io
stared from one girl to the other in astonishment.
This was unreal. Gordon looked as if he has seen a
ghost. 

"Oh my gods!" was all that Jazel could get out of her
mouth.