Okay, I am seriosly POd at Fanfiction!!! They wouldn't let me update on Friday, (I couldn't on Saturday, cuz I was busy) and now I was going through and doing the last bit of editing to make sure it was especially awesome when it totally closed out on me!!! It has happened before, (with a diff story) and I totally gave up that time. So, sorry if anything sounds stupid or if there are any mistakes, just know that I tried, but they all got undone, which is IRRITATING because it took me FOREVER!!!

I DID list out all the reviewers who were totally awesome and reviewed, but as you all know, it did not get saved because FanFiction sucks. So thank you all, you are AMAZING!!!
You (reviewers) are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, on sucky days (like today). You never know, peeps, how much I miss sleep. So here's a chapter, I hope it pays (for your wait and my ANGER!!!)

Enjoy!!! (And you'd better, cuz I'm super POd...)

Zoey

"Stark!" I cried in surprise. I squinted my eyes as a late shower of earth fell through the hole directly above me and covered my face in grit. I blinked rapidly and shook my head a few times to get the dirt off, and looked at the strange arrow beside me, then back up at my warrior.

"Zoey! A-are you okay?" Stark's question sounded pained.

"Yeah, just a little sore," I croaked, not realizing how sore my throat was. How long had I been down here?

"I'm g-going to c-come and get you," Stark stammered, his teeth suddenly chattering. He grimaced in pain as he attempted to smile at me.

"What's wrong, Stark?" I asked fearfully, knowing how tough he usually was.

"I'm-m f-fine," he gasped. I scrambled to sit up to see what was wrong with him; from down here, all I could see was anything that was above the one-inch circle that I assumed had been made by Stark's arrow.

"No, you're not!" I concluded after he let out a cry of pain. He finally shook his head in agreement.

"N-n-not fi-ine. Sun-n…c-coming…"

"Crap, crap, crap!" I breathed. How could I help him from down where I was?

"Y-yeah."

Whoops. I didn't think he could hear me…

"Well, go back inside!" I demanded, trying to use my powerful High Priestess voice, and failing epically (A/N: haHA!!! No red line! It's a real word!!!). Stark gave me a hard look that I somehow saw through the tiny hole about nine feet above me.

"N-no. I wo-on't l-leave you ag-gain," he said stubbornly, his voice betraying the pain and helplessness he was in. He let out another yell of pain and rolled out of sight. A dim sunbeam shone through the hole he'd left vacant.

"Stark! Stark?" I called anxiously, suddenly understanding where his pain was coming from. He would die if he stayed outside much longer!

I heard him yell again, and my defensive reflexes kicked in. I called Earth to me, and used it to find exactly where above me Stark was laying. I took a deep breath and used all the power I had in me to pull that chunk of earth underground, to where I was. There was a loud groaning, followed by a rough scraping noise as I struggled to get Stark to safety.

A crack formed in the ceiling with a snap, and lowly got bigger as I strained to save my warrior. Ah, the irony. There was a dull thud as the network of cracks in the ceiling created a complete oval-like shape, and it sank about an inch with a grating sound. My body shook with effort as I fought to pull the chunk of concrete and earth down to me. Inch by tiny inch, I managed to slowly slide the large mass lower into the…cellar, thing I was in.

At any point while I was pulling it out, I could have completely stopped using my abilities and it would have stayed where it was because of the tightly packed walls of dirt, clay and cement around it. But at a certain point, I had to quickly switch gears as it popped out from it's stabilizing track. I heard myself yell out in effort of keeping it aloft with only my own strength.

I was drenched in sweat, my whole body ached, my irregular breathing came in heavy gasps, and I was so far past the point of exhaustion that I was no longer trembling. The lump of rock landed with an echoing thud, with Stark's limp body lying gracelessly on top of it.

I squirmed my way over to his still form, the light coming from the large gap in the ceiling making me close my sensitive eyes. I sat anxiously by him, frustrated that my hands were tied and I couldn't check his pulse or anything. The glow from the dim rays showed Stark's burned skin, making my heart clench. His skin was red, and I could tell it was slowly but steadily getting worse by the minute, even though the light down here was diluted since it was not shining straight at him.

With a deep breath, I tried to tip the earth to get Stark off it so I could replace it into the ceiling. It shuddered for a moment, before one side slowly rose and Stark's motionless body slid off the grass-covered top. I winced as he hit the ground, hoping he wasn't hurt. It was harder to put the chunk of rock and concrete back where it belonged, but for some reason it felt less draining. I wondered if it was because I was already past the point of exhaustion, and there wasn't much further for me to fall. I used the last of my strength to scrambled over to Stark's unmoving body.

"Goddess, please let him be okay," I begged, my voice gravelly, before quickly adding, "Thank you, Earth, for your service."

A strange sensation ran through my body as it left. I gently laid my head on his chest to see if Stark was still breathing, or if his heart was still beating. A sigh of relief escaped my throat when my head was moved up and down the tiniest bit, and the faint ba-dump, ba-dump of his heart reached my ears. He was wounded badly, and I knew I needed to help him. My mind whirled, trying to think of anything I could do to help him.

Well, first I need to get out of these restraints, I thought determinedly. My eyes wandered to the pack of arrows still attached to Stark's back. I pulled one out with my hands and grabbed it with my teeth, praying that this would work. I started awkwardly stabbing at the fabric binding my hands together, eventually creating several holes.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed hoarsely as I struck too close to my wrist and started bleeding lightly. I continued my task, being more aware of where I was stabbing, and after about five minutes, I was finally free. Well, my feet were still bound, but I quickly untied the fabric around them. I scooted over to Stark, sitting close to him and bringing his body up to lean on me. The cut on my wrist was still stinging, and I swiped my tongue across it to stop the bleeding. It tasted disgustingly good—because I felt like I was eating myself—and I scowled.

Stark suddenly hissed in pain, and I brought his face closer to mine. He didn't seem fully conscious, and his ragged breaths were becoming weaker.

"Spirit," I began, "Help Stark heal from his wounds."

I felt Spirit arrive, and I felt a wave of spiritual fullness and optimism stronger than anything I'd ever felt before wash over me. A flicker of purple light caught my eye, and I gasped aloud as I looked down to see that my body had become a swirling purple mass of light. It still had the general shape of a person, but it was constantly moving in elegant, fluid movements. I held what I supposed was my hand up to my face, examining the tendrils of whirling light that were my fingers in amazement.

"This is impossible," I whispered in awe, gazing at my body that I knew was somehow made of Spirit.

Suddenly knowing what to do, I slowly lowered my trembling hand to Stark's face, willing him to heal as I did so. The moment I touched him, the swirling light that I was made of all changed direction and flowed directly into Stark. I somehow knew—no, heard his heart beating louder, felt his breaths becoming even and strong, and sensed his burns healing. As Spirit entered Stark's body, my own body slowly became dark with flesh and bone once again, starting with my feet, then my legs, then up and out through my hand and into Stark, as if he was sucking Spirit from me like a drain sucked water from a pool.

As the last drops of light from the tips of my fingers were absorbed into Stark, a wave of fatigue overcame me, and I practically collapsed on top of him. I lay down beside him, beginning to shudder once again with tiredness and cold. I gazed at his more alive body beside me, faintly glowing with the Spirit I had just transferred to him. As the radiance dimmed and disappeared altogether, I thanked Spirit and it left me in the darkness with an unconscious Stark.

I absentmindedly scratched my wrist as I stared in wonder at Stark, taking in what had just happened. I started when I felt a warm, thick substance dripping down my had, and the alluring tang of blood reached my nose. I felt the open wound on my wrist, and realized I had reopened it when I'd scratched myself. I brought it to my mouth to reseal it, when I suddenly realized that Stark needed this more than I did.

I felt around in the darkness for Stark's face, then mouth, and pressed my wrist against it. I heard a soft complaint from Stark, even though he was still out cold, then felt his hands come up and weakly press my arm to his mouth harder. He reflexively stroked the cut with his tongue, causing it to bleed more heavily. I began to feel lightheaded after about three minutes of him drinking, and slowly lay back down again. Hopefully I could fall asleep…

Stevie Rae

"Something's wrong," Neferet said calmly, closing her eyes.

"What?" Stevie Rae asked dubiously, not understanding what she was talking about.

"Shut up," Neferet growled as she brought her fingers to her temples, "and let me find out…"

Stevie Rae crossed her arms stubbornly, but obeyed. She stalked over to the door separating her and Neferet from the sleeping Kalona, listening to see if he was awake. When she heard only steady breathing, she pulled away, scowling. All Kalona ever seemed to do anymore was sleep—or at least, he had, until the day before, when Zoey 'returned'. Neferet had tried to wake him from his slumber so they could attend the hearing, but couldn't, so she'd gone without him. He had just woken up when Neferet returned to get into position to ambush Zoey, a plan they hadn't informed him of. She was hoping that if Zoey became weak enough, they could tap into her powers through Kalona's imprint.

However, Neferet and Stevie Rae were both worried that Kalona was becoming far too attached to Zoey, and that his feelings for her might ruin Neferet's plan—not to mention Neferet's deteriorating relationship with Kalona. Stevie Rae thought that they should break the imprint, because it was making Kalona weak, but Neferet said otherwise. She was sure that she could use Zoey—or, more accurately, her abilities—to help her take over, but only if Kalona was bonded to her in a way unlike any other.

Neferet had told Stevie Rae that Kalona and Zoey's imprint is stronger than any other before. Stevie Rae thought that Neferet was jealous that she hadn't come up with the idea of imprinting them.

"It's more than just an imprint," Neferet had explained almost joyfully, "because it took place in the Otherworld."

"So?" Stevie Rae had replied indifferently, not knowing what she was getting at.

"So, it's more powerful than anything anyone's ever seen before!" Neferet exclaimed. "It's a spiritual imprint. They are bonded together, not just by blood, as with a normal imprint, but by their souls. As if that alone wouldn't have made it strong enough, their souls were connected before the imprint ever happened, making it far more powerful."

"So basically, no one could break it, right?" Stevie Rae answered.

"Yes—well, most likely—but that's not the point," Neferet sighed impatiently. "It means that we can practically make Zoey do anything we want."

"Well, Kalona could."

"Yes," Neferet gritted her teeth. "But through Kalona I could!"

"Or, if she was weak enough, you could tap directly into her powers through their imprint," Stevie Rae suggested.

"The chamber!" Neferet cried, bringing Stevie Rae back to te present.

"What?"

"Something's wrong...but she couldn't have escaped, or even have sent for help—I made sure of that."

"Yeah, those spells took hours to perform," Stevie Rae pointed out. "There's no way she's getting out of there."

"But I didn't cast any to prevent others from getting in," Neferet explained. "And I think someone's with her."

"Then let's go," Stevie Rae said darkly.

And the two marched off to check on their prisoner.

Dun, dun, DUN!!!

So I hope this clears up why Kalona and Zoey's imprint is so strong and overpowering—because their souls are imprinted, and the bond they had before that makes it even more binding/strong. If anyone has any questions about this (or aything else), please; don't be afraid to ask, cuz chances are that someone else has the same question as you.

Please review!!!! /○It makes my daaaaay/niiiight... /○

Your Pal,

SuperOreoMan