Part 2

It turned out that Ivan really DID know how to dress himself, he just had no color coordination. When he came out wearing one of Isaac's old red sweaters, a pair of green pants, and the deep purple cloak Garet had given him, all complete with a pair of white boots, Mia nearly snapped. She had to pull Ivan out of the house by his arm, the Jupiter Adept whining and crying the entire way to the door.
Once outside, however, he found much joy in the snow.
"Play snowman with me!" he begged Garet. "Please!"
"No, Ivan," Garet chided him gently, and Mia applauded him on his patience. "We're going to see Mr. Kraden. We'll play snowman after we've visited him."
"Okay!"
They made it to Kraden's without any trouble. The old man's house was nearly burried in the deep snows that had blanketed Vale over the past month, but from the thin trickle of smoke rising from the chimney, he was obviously home.
"Kraden! It's us!" Isaac knocked on the door. "We have a problem!"
There was an explosion from inside the house, causing the door to buckle outward. A minute later, Kraden poked his head out, soot covering his face and his hair looking remarkably like a beach ball. "Isaac! I'm busy! Whatever stupidly insignificant question you have can wait!"
And he slammed the door.
"Well, that went well," Isaac said calmly, turning away from the door. Guess we'll just have to wait until it wears off."
"Oh no we won't," Mia grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "I am NOT dealing with Ivan like this!"
She motioned to Ivan, who was currently pretending that he was exploring some unknown territory. "Bring in troops! It's a wild, savage beast!"
He made a growling noise, pouncing through snowdrifts on all fours.
"Aaah!" he screamed in a high voice. "Aaah! It's rampaging! It's horrible! Awful!"
"I guess you have a point..."
"Good, I'm glad we agree," Mia pounded on the door. "Kraden! We REALLY need to talk to you!"
Kraden's voice came back to them, muffled. "Go away!"
"Let me handle this, Mia," Garet pushed her gently to one side, then cast Heat Wave on the door. The snow surrounding the three Adepts melted and vaporized with a hiss, and Kraden's door was blown inward. "Sometimes the direct approach is the best approach."
"My door!" Kraden ran up to the door, his face still black. "Garet! Isaac! Mia! I told you three to leave me alone for a little while!"
"We can't," Garet answered, picking up the frail old man by his collar and pinning him to the wall. Kraden whimpered, he was completely at the mercy of the Fire Adept, who was bigger, stronger, faster, and younger than him. Not to mention currently had him in the air with his feet dangling several feet off of the ground. "Now, why did you give us chocolate for Christmas?"
"Um...no reason," Kraden said nervously.
"Oh, c'mon, I know why you did it," Garet smirked, and Kraden looked even more nervous. "You wanted us to eat the cookies, unaware that they contained chocolate. Once we were acting like our dear friend Ivan over there, it wouldn't be hard to convince us to eat more chocolate, and then bribe us with toys and candy to help you take over the world. That it, isn't it."
Kraden laughed evilly. "I never expected YOU, you stupid, thick skulled idiot, to discover my diabolical plans!"
"Oh, cool, I was right?" Garet looked amazed, until Isaac kicked him. "Uh...I mean, yeah, you dirty old man, I had you figured out all along."
"But it's too late to stop me!" Kraden laughed evilly. "For, just before you came, I mastered the secrets of Alchemy, and there's absolutely nothing you can do!"
"I saw that one coming," Garet muttered.
Kraden put one hand to Garet's chest, and let out a blast of pure power. Garet looked stunned for a minute, before slowly sliding to the ground, dropping Kraden as he did so. Kraden straitened himself, and shed his diguise. Where he had stood was a very tall, very beautiful woman with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and perfect skin.
"Bet he didn't see that one," Isaac muttered.
"What, you don't like my real body?" the woman huffed in a musical soprano. "Why do you THINK I never did any REAL work? I would have broken my gorgeous nails."
"Um....right," Isaac looked up at her. "You're pretty tall."
"What, you don't like your women taller than you, little boy?" she leaned down, tapping him on the nose with one long, pointed fingernail. "Saturos did."
"I could have lived without hearing that."
"Garet!" Mia screamed. Isaac looked around Kraden's impressive bust line to see Mia kneeling next to his friend. "Oh, Isaac...he's really, really hurt..."
There was a large hole in Garet's chest, narrowly missing his heart. But he was losing blood fast, the snow around his crumpled form was already stained crimson.
"Oh, woops, my bad," Kraden giggled.
"Alright, Kraden, it's you and me," Isaac drew his sword, trying to distract her from Mia and Garet. "Let's go."
"It's Arienne," she corrected him.

Part 3