Life was, for once, quite in the Castle. A soft summer breeze whispered through the streets and into open shop doors. Birdsong filled the air, along with the scents and sounds of usual Castle life. The ExtraOrdinary Apprentice walked peacefully down a narrow lane, enjoying the nice weather, on his way to meet the Queen for lunch. As he passed the closed door of the Manuscriptorium, he felt bad for the poor, cooped-up scribes and decided he and Jenna would make a stop back there before they left.

Inside the Manuscriptorium, the Chief Hermetic Scribe looked longingly out the window at Septimus's passing. The door had to remain shut so the papers didn't blow away, but outside was too nice to be stuck inside, no matter how much he loved doing his job. Beetle could tell the rest of his scribes felt the same, but didn't complain. For that he was very grateful. Maybe he would close up a bit early today to let everyone enjoy the day. Either way, they had to stay at least until lunch. Beetle sighed and went back to work.

Jenna ran into the kitchen of the palace. On the counter, a wicker basket containing a picnic lunch rested. The Queen grabbed the basket and rushed out onto the lawns. On her way, she bumped into Sarah Heap.

"Thanks for the picnic, Mum!" she hugged Sarah.

"Anytime, sweetie," Sarah smiled and walked inside.

Jenna stood waiting for Septimus to reach the Palace. She shifted her weight, bouncing foot to foot in impatience. She was just about to go find that dratted brother of hers when she saw his unmistakable green robes and straw-colored hair come into view.

"Hello, Jen!" Septimus called out to her as he walked closer.

"Hey, Sep!" Jenna hurried out to greet him. "I'm glad to see Marcia let you come today." She nestled the basket comfortably in the crook of her arm.

"I was actually afraid she wouldn't let me at first. She gave in eventually," he smiled. The ExtraOrdinary Apprentice and the Queen walked step in step, retracing the path Septimus had taken to meet up with Jenna. "Hey, I was thinking we could ask if Beetle would like to join us today. What do you think?"

"Oh, that's a lovely idea, Sep!" the Queen replied happily. The two made their way to the Manuscriptorium.

Upon their arrival, Septimus pushed through the door, greeted by the light tinkle of a bell. Jenna followed him closely. The pair walked up to Beetle's desk where he, immersed in his work, had not yet noticed his friends walk in.

"Wotcha, Beet!" Septimus greeted his best friend. Beetle's head snapped up at the sound of Septimus's voice. A grin spread quickly across his face.

"Wotcha, Sep!" Beetle returned the greeting. "Hello, Jenna," he added somewhat shyly.

"Hello, Beetle," Jenna replied. She propped her elbows up on his desk opposite of him. "Sep and I are going to go eat lunch a little ways into the forest. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Beetle stood up, thrilled to be spending the afternoon with his best friends, and having an excuse to get out of work early. "Scribes, go out and enjoy the day!" he announced. "I'm closing up shop!" The rest of the staff cheered and began to pack up. The Chief Hermetic Scribe piled the parchments he was working on into a neat stack on his desk.

"Hey Foxo, would you mind closing up once everyone's gone?" he addressed a tall, lanky scribe passing near the back.

"No problem, Chief," Foxy promised. Beetle thanked him, and, placing a hand on each of his friends' shoulders, he propelled them out the door.

The trio made their way out the gate and onto a path that led into the forest. Jenna and Septimus both knew of a lightly wooded place that would be a nice spot to spend a beautiful afternoon such as this. As they reached their intended destination, Beetle took in his new surroundings. A slight ways within the woods was a near-circular clearing surrounded by trees. Sunlight filtered through the treetop canopy, which was still thin, and settled on the soft grass below. The setting was very peaceful and pleasant.

Septimus, Beetle, and Jenna sat down on the grass and Septimus started handing out neatly wrapped sandwiches from the basket. After everyone had one, he looked in disbelief at the remaining basket contents.

"How much does Mum think we can eat?" he asked Jenna. She and Beetle looked in the picnic basket and laughed. It was filled almost to the brim with more sandwiches and other food, even after they each took their lunch.

The friends talked and ate for a long while. Jenna finished before the two boys and decided to go walk off at least some of the vast quantities of food she just ate. Getting up, she excused herself and walked off through the trees. Before long, she came upon something that rather surprised her.

"Sep! Beetle! Come here!" the two boys in question stopped their conversation (which had turned to the time Jillie Djinn had met Spit Fyre for the first time) abruptly, and giving each other one final wide-eyed glance, stood and raced off in the direction of Jenna's call. She had sounded quite uneasy, which was not a good sign in the forest. Beetle grabbed the food basket before he left. You never know when that could be useful.

"Look at that, Sep," the Queen pointed to a jagged gap in the ground. It looked dark, and just wide enough that she could climb in it if she wanted. Not that she wanted to, of course. "That was never there before!"

"Really, Jen? You got us all worked up over a hole in the ground?" Septimus asked incredulously.

"Jenna, I'm sure everything's perfectly fine," Beetle tried to reassure her. "These things happen all the time."

"But..." Jenna tried to put into words what felt so wrong about this particular crevice. "I feel...heavy near it. Abnormally heavy. Like it's pulling on me."

"That's impossible!" the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice scoffed. "There's no way that hole is pulling on you!" His mind was made up on the subject, but Beetle took in the situation thoughtfully.

"Hold on, Sep. Look at her hair. And her cloak," he told his friend. "They're moving as if blown by wind. But the wind shouldn't be blowing in that direction," Beetle looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right!" Septimus realized. "And that doesn't look like wind anyway. It has more of a pull to it."

Sure enough, Jenna's cloak and hair were being pulled outward and down. Suddenly, the pull became much stronger. Too strong. With a gasp, she, caught off guard, began to tumble into the crevice in the ground. In a last effort to stay upright, Jenna grabbed the sleeve of the person closest to her, which happened to be Septimus. Septimus, joined by Beetle, who grabbed his friend's arm, exerted as much force in the opposite direction as he could. But the pull seemed to be getting stronger. Finally, it was too great for the three friends (and their picnic basket). The three of them fell into the crack, one after another.

Why haven't we hit the bottom yet? And why is it so cold? Jenna's last thoughts before all three of the friends lost consciousness and were enveloped by blackness.