I'm BACK!!! Camp was fun, but I missed ff.net soooooo much! T_T
Now... I have to type up what I worked on at camp and then finish it up... this could turn into an all-nighter. -_- I might have to run into tomorrow...

BTW, I have this story set a little while later after both games. Vale is in the process of being rebuilt.

Sorry, but I still haven't finished reading all the stuff I missed. I'll do it soon, I promise! I just want to get this done. And thanks for all the reviews!
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The eight Adepts huddled warily around the door of the sanctum. The others watched, with slight apprehension, as Isaac pushed the double doors open with a dull booming sound.

The one-roomed building was dimly lit, for although it was early in the day, there were no windows; the room was lit by two torches. One stood to the left of the healer's desk, and the other had been moved to illuminate a small cot on the right side of the room. The healer, Dora, and Garet's grandfather were grouped around the bed, and looked up as the group entered the sanctum. All three looked worried.

As the healer spoke to Isaac in a hushed whisper, Ivan and Sheba exchanged uneasy glances. This man was clearly panicked about something, no matter how hard he was trying to hide it. The emotion was so strong that Sheba began to feel quite scared herself. She watched as Mia joined the conversation; the older man seemed grateful for the advice of another healer. Finally, Isaac and Mia turned back to the others. Mia looked mildly worried, but Isaac's eyes held a familiar determination.

"All right, here's what's going on." All eyes turned to Isaac at the sound of his hushed voice. "This man was hit by some kind of monster attack; apparently it was some sort of strange beam emitted by the monster." Sheba glanced back at the cot - Dora had shifted slightly, revealing a dark-haired, middle-aged man that Sheba didn't know.

"He's still unconscious," Mia continued, "even though his other injuries have been healed. The attack did no immediate physical damage, but his life signs are failing." She glanced back at the man in the bed. "He's having trouble breathing, and his heartbeat is slowing down."

Felix spoke up. "Have you tried to revive him?"

The healer nodded. "I have - but if one of you wants to try, you're welcome to. I've attempted everything I can think of, and nothing's worked."

Dora looked over at them. "We're desperate at this point. He was fine until a little while ago." Her eyes were pleading. "Try anything that might work."

Felix glanced over at Isaac, who shrugged. Some of the determination had faded from his eyes, and worried looks were passing around the group. Sheba felt butterflies stirring in her stomach. This wasn't the kind of job she was used to.

The group converged around the cot as Dora and the mayor stepped away. Felix put a hand over the man's chest and closed his eyes. There was a collective intake of breath from the group as the golden light shimmered in the air, but the usual heavenly finale was absent. There was an awkward silence as the spell faded.

Isaac glanced around the group. "Okay... If you've got healing Psyenergy, try it."

Mia, Jenna, and Picard moved behind the two Venus Adepts. Golden, blue, and red light filled the room in turn as each Adept attempted their own healing spells. Each time a spell was cast, there was collective suspense, then disappointment and worried looks after it failed.

Finally, all the healers had tried everything they could, and the man was unaffected. Even the potions, nuts, and antidotes pulled from the Adepts' pockets produced no change. The healer was shifting restlessly, and looked very uneasy.

Sheba looked around at the other inactive Adepts. Garet looked frustrated that he couldn't do anything, and was pacing the length of the chamber. Ivan, on the other hand, was standing completely still next to Sheba. He seemed to be deep in thought. He continued staring into space, even when the sparkles and flashes of various Djinn filled the room, reflected in his amethyst eyes.

Sheba realized she was staring, and quickly looked away. The butterflies in her stomach had intensified, but now the effect was different; it was a pleasant, racing feeling rather than a sickening one.

Sheba pushed this feeling aside, and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She remembered Mia's words: "The attack did no physical damage". That's what she had said. What if the damage wasn't physical at all?

Next to her, Ivan seemed to snap awake again. Had she been thinking that loudly? Had he picked up on the strange butterflies in her stomach?

Good idea, he told her mentally as she got up to talk to Isaac. When she looked back at him, he was smiling. She fought the butterflies down.

"Isaac?" He turned to look at her. "Do you want me to get into his mind and see if there's a problem there?"

He looked startled for a moment, then smiled. He looked almost relieved. "Sure, Sheba, that'd be great. Hang on a minute..." He turned to the others, who were now engaged in whispered conversation; they stopped to listen, then moved aside.

Sheba felt Ivan approach behind her as she came to stand beside the bed. "Good luck," he murmured as she slipped into the spell.

The first thing Sheba noticed when she entered his mind was the weight. She felt like she was being pressed down into herself by the weight of a dozen stone spires. She struggled to look around. Instead of the usual expanse of thought and memory, all she could see was what looked like a thick black fog. It fought her Psyenergy as she tried to penetrate deeper. She stopped moving and felt around her for the usual activity. It was slow, sluggish. The blackness was everywhere.

Sheba pushed at the fog with a burst of power. It receded, then started to push back. A sharp pain shot through her mind as the fog began to surround her. She thrust at it desperately. She didn't have enough power! She felt her ties to her body begin to fade as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the blackness...

A light flared behind her. By this time, she was only dimly aware of anything around her, but it felt warm and comforting. As it enveloped her, her vision began to fade...

She was jerked back into the fog suddenly and painfully. It engulfed her more quickly now. She tried to release the spell, but found she couldn't. She was clinging to her body by her last thread of willpower, feeling herself being consumed by the fog, when the light returned, pushing the darkness back. It completely surrounded her, pulsating with a bright violet hue, and Sheba felt her mind released from the spell and the blackness...

She opened her eyes and found Ivan crouching over her, looking at her with worried eyes. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. He looked exhausted. Slowly, she sat up. Her head was ringing. She looked around at the frightened expressions on the others' faces.

"What... just happened?" She asked slowly.

Ivan shook his head, falling back to sit beside her on the ground. "You'd been standing there for a little while, and then you just fell... just crumpled onto yourself as if..." He broke off and shook his head again. "It was scary. We had no clue what was happening."

After a moment of silence, Mia continued the story. "Ivan dashed over to you and said he was going to try and pull you out of it. After a second he kind of keeled over as if he had been punched in the stomach, and kept swaying and buckling over. It scared us all half to death, because none of us could do anything. We were all sitting here petrified until he finally opened his eyes."

"Sheba..." She turned toward the sound of Picard's accented voice. "What happened in there?"

"There's definitely a problem in his mind," Sheba announced. "But..." She glanced at Ivan. "I'm going to need help."

The other Jupiter Adept wordlessly rose and headed for the cot as Sheba followed suit. He looked thoroughly shaken. Sheba peered worriedly at him. It wasn't like Ivan to get so worked up over something like this; he usually stayed relatively calm in situations like this one. He noticed her concern, and gave her a small smile, accompanied by a feeling Sheba couldn't explain.

"Wait a minute..." Jenna stepped forward, cinnamon eyes wide with concern. "Are you sure about this? If something like that happens again, there won't be anyone to pull you out of it! Isn't there anything else..."

Sheba shook her head slightly. "I'm pretty sure this is the only way..."

Jenna continued to look worried. "All right... I guess you guys know best. Just be careful in there."

Sheba gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile before turning back to Ivan. Together, they slowly eased into the spell. She felt safer this time, drawing comfort from the distant feeling of Ivan's hand in hers.

Once they were completely inside the spell, Sheba watched Ivan go through the same investigations she had a little while ago. That fog is what's causing this, she told him. I tried to fight it before, but it resisted, and I didn't have enough power. It's probably going to try to pull us in.

All right. I'm ready.

Sheba felt Ivan link his power with hers as she prepared herself for a mental battle. They started out with a burst of power, just like before. As the resistance kicked in, she felt Ivan waver. Mentally, she winced. She should have given him better warning. She pushed more of her power outwards, sending some through Ivan in hopes of helping him recover. Little by little, the fog receded. With their combined power, it wasn't hard to overtake it.

Finally, only traces of the fog remained. Sheba could already feel the mental activity around her slowly returning to normal. She concentrated the last bit of her energy, and the fog disappeared altogether. We did it, she told Ivan drowsily. She felt drained. Perhaps more out of exhaustion than out of will, the two Adepts slipped back into the sanctum.

Sheba wasn't clearly aware of much after that. There was general happiness and many thanks - she had learned to tune those out since their adventure - but she felt like she had been half-asleep through all of it; maybe she had. They were eventually brought back to the inn. She remembered being reluctant to let go of Ivan's hand; why, she couldn't remember. Eventually, though, exhaustion got the better of her, and all her thoughts turned to sleep. She had never realized how draining this kind of thing could be!

She drifted into her room, half-toppling onto her bed. Her head hit the pillow, and she slept, dreaming of red, flaming eyes in darkness.

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Hah! Finally found time to finish this. Sorry I didn't post right away - I still had to finish up when I got back, and things have been busy.

I've finally finished reading all your wonderful stuff I missed! ^_____^

Reviews are appreciated. ::puppy dog eyes::