"Ok, let's do this." Viktor muttered to himself, holding the loop which is still wrapped with plastic in his hands and staring intently at the barrier. Everyone was staring at him instead as he stood in front of us, waiting to see if this crazy experiment would work.

"Remember, if this works – we might only have a minute, if not seconds." I reminded everyone. There was really no way to tell whether it works or not until the barrier is breached, and even if it appears to work, there was no telling if it really disabled the barrier or not until someone tries it.

"Here goes nothing." Viktor said, nodding at me and throwing the loop out of the bag and towards the barrier. Diego and I reached out with our telekinesis immediately, guiding the loop towards the barrier and retreating immediately on contact.

Loud crackling and popping sounds followed by a flash of bright white light, someone to my right yelped and I retracted my mind, stung by the charged air. Holding my breath, I glanced over at the barrier as soon as the light cleared and a grin of victory spread through my face.

Despite the constant crackling and sizzling, the loop was embedded into the barrier about an inch off the ground, creating an oval shaped doorway. It wasn't completely clear of the barrier – there was still a clear film spread over it that shimmered and pulsated, but it was free of electricity.

"It worked!" Viktor cheered, jumping with his left fist pumped up in the air making everyone laugh. Even Iris and Vulture cracked a smile.

"Let me try first." Viktor said, turning around to look at me for permission. I shook my head at him, I brought him along on this dangerous mission, I wasn't going to let him put his life on the line.

"I will try it." I answered, stepping forward and pushing all my doubts and fears away. Keeping Akram's last words to me in mind, I marched towards the doorway before I could hesitate or change my mind.

"Gail, wait!" someone shouted my name behind me, but I ignored it. Barreling straight into the doorway. A tingle spread through my body and it felt as though I was moving through a thick skin of water. For a moment it was like the world was turning upside down and I was being rolled in a wheel barrel. It felt like I was in this limbo for forever, but it could easily be anything from a few seconds to a good few minutes. Before I gathered my wits back, I was spit out onto the ground on the other side.

"Gail!" the muffled cries of my friends echoed across the barrier, and I could barely register their voices and faces. Picking myself up, I brushed off the dirt on my suit, glad that I didn't end up face palming onto the wall. That would hurt.

"I am fine!" I shouted back, making hand gestures as well in case this was a one way barrier. The barrier than began to pulsate more vigorously and I motioned for them to hurry up.

Diego was the first one to pass through, and he was more prepared than me and managed to stay semi-upright. I quickly helped him out of the way so whoever was coming through next wouldn't fall on top of him.

Next came Natalie, then Fred. Following them were Iris and Viktor. By then the loop was actually smoking and the doorway had grown thicker with a blue tint, time was almost up.

"Quick!" I shouted and sighed in relief as Casey stumbled through the doorway. Everyone watched as the doorway quickly flashed blue before Vulture tumbled through. We could tell something was wrong when he crushed into the ground, and as smokes started coming off him we knew that he was hurt.

"Get him away from the barrier!" I shouted, lurching forward and dragging him by his right arm just as the loop exploded above us. Diego threw his arms up, deflecting all the debris ringing around us. I released Vulture's arm and saw a bloodied trail behind him. Frowning, I tilted my head and gasped.

There was a bullet wound on his leg, he must have been shot moments before he leaped through, Casey had already got her first aid kit out and she had quickly ran over and started cleaning his wound.

"What happened?" I asked, digging up my kit as well in case we needed it.

"A group came out of nowhere and started attacking us." Casey replied, quickly glancing over at Iris. I turned towards the other UGE operative and she had her lips pressed tightly together in a worried look.

"The Apocalypse." She answered, "They must be monitoring us as well to see if we can breach the barrier."

My heart lurched in my chest and I couldn't believe how lucky we were to escape from them with only one injury. The barrier had thickened considerably and we could barely made out what was happening on the other side. It was almost like the barrier could sense that it had been breached and tried to make up for it.

"We need to get him to the medical room." Natalie said, helping Casey to patch up the wound for now. "In case the wound gets infected."

Gathering what resources we had, we used the emergency shelter and some ice rods Fred made to make a very temporary stretcher for Vulture, who had yet to gain consciousness. Diego and Viktor carried it while Fred constantly reinforced the ice rods, with Iris and me leading the way.

"This is way too easy." Fred commented, the sound of water dripping down from the ice rod punctuating the otherwise eerily silent land. I was starting to get a feeling that something wasn't right – the Academy had never been quiet, in fact, it is usually full of shrieks and laughs and well, shouts and fights. But there was absolutely nothing right now and that was strange.

"This isn't normal." Natalie said, turning her head around. "I can't hear anything, anything at all."

"Let's just get him to a medical kit." Casey said, frowning down at Vulture who seemed better but still had smoke coming off of him. The ice thing was definitely helping, but he was worse off than we first thought. Whatever electric force that the barrier was generated off, it was wearing Vulture off and blue sparks were flying off his body randomly.

"We should be nearly at the entrance." I said, checking my personal device only to find that its display was flickering periodically into dozens of blue pixels. Hitting it on my wrist, it flickered back to its normal state, but I knew it was damaged when we passed through the barrier. At the rate this was going, we all need to get a full body examination at the first possible chance.

Within a few minutes, we were closing in at the front door of the Academy. Even from a distance I could tell something was even stranger here. The humming in the air was louder, the blue more intense and the air more charged.

"What the..." Iris trailed off and I could quickly see why. The magnificent wrought iron gates of the Academy were as beautiful as ever, but around the edges where it connected with the bricks were etched with some kind of symbols that were glowing and pulsating in the same manner as the barrier behind us. And that's when I realized that there wasn't only one barrier protecting the POE Academy. There were two.

A clear, plastic-like barrier wrapped closely around the Academy from its walls inward, and the gate seemed to be the center of it all with the symbols twisting and shimmering. Unlike the outside barrier, it didn't seem to be generated by electricity of any kind; instead, it looked like we could break it on contact.

"This is beyond me." Viktor muttered, setting Vulture's makeshift stretchers on the ground with Diego. All of us were staring at the eerie scene in front of us. The barrier we went through was still explainable by science, this, this was beyond what I could ever comprehend.

"How is this thing operating?" Casey asked as Iris and Viktor both stepped forward for a closer look. Fred formed another ice spear and motioned for the two to get out of the way, but I waved him down.

"I don't think this can be broken by force." I answered, staring at the shifting symbols as they danced around the gates. "I think this is a code."

"A code?" Natalie echoed, tilting her head sideways as she considered my theory. "Gail, did Mr. Andrewson ever mentioned anything to you about this?"

Everyone was looking at me now. There was something familiar about those symbols, although I couldn't quite figure out where I had seen it before. It looked like some kind of Chinese Characters, but somehow more... mystical.

"It's a keypad!" Iris said, and I turned towards her in shock. It seemed to make sense now, everything. But how did she know?

"I have seen this before." Iris said, her eyes wide and she took a step closer before jerking back as if she thought better of it. "It's hieroglyphics from the ancient Egypt, it's not POEs or machines protecting the inner part of the POE Academy, it's a spell."

"A what? Excuse me?" Casey was shaking her head, all of us having a hard time believing what Iris was saying. POEs were one thing – we were a product of radiation and evolution. But magic? Spells? These things had no scientific explanation and even if there was such a thing, how did it come to here?

"I don't think it's a spell." Viktor frowned, studying the hieroglyphics closely with squinted eyes. "I can't say much about what these symbols things are, but they are being generated by something."

I looked to the others to see if they had any bright ideas. Natalie threw me a helpless glance while Casey just looked annoyed. Fred looked like he was about to faint from thinking too much, but what worried me the most was the poker face that Diego had on. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and the fact that he still hadn't told me anything about what happened to him made me think that it wasn't something pleasant.

"I think Iris is right," Viktor continued, tilting his head around trying to get a good look at the gate. "I think it's a password protected mechanism that somehow incorporated the hieroglyphics. It's a very, very advance system – something that I don't think we would be able to create for at least another century."

A shiver went down my spine as Viktor dished out his last statement. I was sure that he didn't actually mean anything by it, but somehow there was a feeling in my gut that told me he was onto something. How would this futuristic technology come to being here?

"Do you think it is an Old Age relict?" Diego asked, his voice measured and tensed. Viktor shook his head.

"I have seen relict technology that had survived on Mars, but this, this is above and beyond anything we had ever accomplished before. I am sure of it." Viktor replied, staring at the gate like a lovesick teenager.

"So," I coughed loudly, jolting Viktor from his creepy stare at an inanimate object. "Any wise words on how to approach this thing?"

"It's simple if you know the code." Viktor answered, a slight blush appeared on his face as he realized that he went into a zone just now. "Otherwise, I don't even know where to begin. This is way beyond me."

I looked over at Diego, who had been at the Academy the longest only to find that everyone was looking at me. "What?" I asked a little defensively, why did everyone thought I have the answer?

"You are Mr. Andrewson's tutee." Casey answered for everyone (save for Vulture, Iris and Viktor, of course). "If anyone should know, it would be you."

"I had two sessions with him." I muttered; wishing Tom or Oscar was here to help me with this. "He never mentioned having a secret mystical barrier to protect the school."

"If anyone of us can do anything about this, it's you." Diego said gently, sensing my apparent distress. "Mr. Andrewson trusted you. He might not have told you directly, but he would have told you or give you something to prepare for this day if it ever comes."

My minds flitted over dozens of conversations I had had with the headmaster but none of them were out of the extraordinary. Then I remembered. The book he gave me.

My heart almost stopped as my mind momentarily went blank. I was pretty sure I had been keeping it on me at all times – but did I bring it on this trip?

"Do you remember something?" Natalie asked, she could probably hear my heartbeats changing. I nodded and held a finger out, asking everyone to hold on a minute.

Gingerly, I opened the zip of my backpack and went straight for the hidden, waterproof pocket. Sure enough, Mr. Andrewson's notebook was in there.

Taking it in my hand, I noticed there were faint symbols sketched all over the outside of the notebook that I never saw before – probably because I never took it out in the sunlight. They were gilded on in the exact same brown shade as the cover and weaved around the cover like a border. I could feel the weight of everyone's eyes on me and I took a deep breath. It felt as though every single action that I had gone through since we ran out of that Ruin had led me to this point.

"I think I know what to do."

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Good morning folks... well it's morning here for me anyway. I am aware it's still Tuesday somewhere else in the world, but I thought I would update anyway. Since it's Wednesday for me.

Anyway, who else can relate to that brain freeze when you are trying to remember something important but your mind goes blank? This happens to me far more often than I would like.

For those of you who think they got in WAY TOO EASILY, well I have an explanation lined up, so don't fret.

On a side note - I got myself a job! Like a proper adult :O I am starting on 4/1, and I am just a wee bit in over my head but I am glad to get this opportunity. But it's a 3 hours return commute, somebody kill me. Public transport hates me.

That also means I would have to stick to the weekly updates - because this is looking to be a very demanding job :( hope you guys understand - I still have a way to go before I can make this my living (ha... if ever).

Love you all, comments and votes. For those of you who still haven't told me your Christmas/NYE/NY plan yet - drop me a comment x