Author's Note: I couldn't resist putting Celeste in the story. For years she's been my favorite recurring character and I wish we could see more of her besides the periodic necessity for a vision. I think someone wrote a fic that I loved about her possibly hooking up with Tek--something I'd enjoy much more than the Tek/Lexie thing going on right now. Maybe someday I'll get my wish.

By the way, I gave this my usual 3 edits so, hopefully, I caught all the little inconsistencies. As you can imagine, it's hard keeping everybody straight in a story like this.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It wasn't until after the four young Salemites were seated on the couch that they began to question their decision to share their bizarre circumstances with the mysterious Celeste. Belle and Philip sat on the end of the couch closest to the door looking antsy and nervous in their siblings bodies. Sami was sitting next to Belle leaning against the arm of the couch that Lucas was currently perched on. They were all politely sipping on the tea that Celeste had laid out for them in anticipation of their visit, complete with cream and honey for Sami. It didn't escape Celeste's notice that it was Belle who reached for both items.

They were each looking at their respective counterparts trying to think of a way to begin what had to be the world's most insane story. But if there was anyone in this town that would believe them it was Celeste. Besides being attributed to all things occult that happened in Salem, as Stefano DiMera's right hand women, she had seen some strange schemes unfold that no one could even fathom.

However, it was Celeste who broke the silence in an attempt to get to the bottom of their situation. "So. What brings you over here at this hour? I'm sure this isn't strictly a friendly social call . . . especially where some of you are concerned." She said this with a slight smile and a glance first in Sami's direction. She then knowingly swept her gaze towards Belle and raised an eyebrow at the slightly placated look on the young girl's face.

It was no secret that amongst the various enemies Sami had acquired over the years, Celeste's daughter, Lexie Carver, was on the top of her list. There was definitely no love lost between the two women. But what really irritated Sami was that even though Lexie had cheated, lied and generally shown her true DiMera colors on many occasions, people just kept on forgiving her and treating her like one of the most upstanding citizens in Salem. If Sami even sneezed in the wrong direction people were jumping down her throat and cursing her name. People in this town were such hypocrites. Sami chalked it up to Lexie being a doctor but she wasn't even good at that considering the body count she had racked up in the last year alone.

On the other hand, Sami held no harsh feelings towards Celeste. She kind of liked the mysterious older woman even though she tended to spread a little too much gloom and doom for her liking. Celeste made no apologies for her less than sterling past and most importantly, she had always been fair to Sami despite her feud with Lexie. Maybe it was because Celeste was friends with her late Grandma Caroline.

Belle and Philip really didn't know anything about Celeste except for what they had gossiped about as kids. They had heard that she had been involved with Stefano DiMera and that she was supposed to be a psychic but they hadn't actually had too many conversations with her. They were really too young to know much about her story. That may be why sitting on the couch under her scrutinizing gaze was making them seriously nervous and uncomfortable.

Lucas didn't really have an opinion when it came to Celeste. Well, he did have one opinion but the fact that he thought she was one of the most stunning women in Salem with a spectacular rack really didn't have much to do with their current dilemma. Actually, he didn't know much about her except for what people said and he didn't concern himself much with that talk. Besides, over the past several years, he had had his hands full with the triple threat—Nicole, Sami and his mother. He didn't really have time to worry about what everyone else in town was up to. He wasn't sure if he truly believed the predictions people attributed to Celeste but he supposed anything was possible. One thing was for sure—she was the only person he could think of who would have a clue about what they were experiencing.

At this point he realized he had been staring at her unable to resist a little leering while she was sitting in front of them in her nightclothes. He turned to Sami to see if she had noticed which she, of course, had. 'She must have some kind of weird girl-radar,' he thought turning his attention safely back to his tea. In retaliation, Sami pinched Lucas rather hard on his thigh eliciting a slight yelp and the rattling of his teacup. Noting her warning glare, he supposed her deserved that punishment.

'And to think, this is the same noble Lucas who played extreme hard-to-get with my cute little sister for fifteen minutes. It looks like the regular lecherous Lucas is back in action if the drool dripping from his chin is any indication,' Sami said to herself with a frown. Celeste pretended to ignore the exchange between the two.

Belle was the first to speak up with her usual perky babble that sounded strange coming from Sami's mouth. "We didn't mean to disturb you Ms. Perrault—"

"Celeste, darling."

"—sorry . . . Celeste. It's just that something strange has happened and we didn't know who else we could turn to. I mean, who would believe that something like this could happen. No one in their right mind would believe—"

"Sweetie?" Sami said in a warning tone.

"—not that we think you're insane or anything. We would never believe those kinds of rumors. You're just your own kind of person and—"

"Honey," Philip added thinking that it would appear normal for Lucas to prevent Sami from putting her entire foot in her mouth.

"—people shouldn't gossip about other people that way anyway so I tell those people—"

"Sweetie! Stop helping." Sami spat out before Belle got them thrown out with her mindless chatter. Belle abruptly stopped her rant silently thanking Sami for saving her from herself.

"What she's trying to say," Lucas started, "was that just a little while ago, something strange happened to us—well, actually, it happened to me and Philip first and then Sami and Belle joined us."

"To you and 'Philip' you say?" Celeste said looking pointedly at him. "I see," she said sipping her tea.

"What he means," Sami tried to explain, "is that we seem to have changed recently. That is, me and Lucas," Sami said waving a finger between herself and Philip sitting on the arm of the couch, "—and Philip and Belle aren't ourselves. We're . . ." she gestured to her body in an attempt to logically explain what had happened to them.

"Look," Philip interrupted. "We're messed up! This isn't a joke. We are not playing with you. We're just really messed up!" he said in an agitated tone, frustrated that they couldn't get across the proper significance of their situation.

Celeste calmly looked back and forth amongst the four people sitting on her couch. They were each in various states of panic. Philip had set his teacup down and was wringing his hands together. Lucas was running his hand vigorously through his hair. Belle was taking an aggressive sip of tea while swinging one of her crossed legs back and forth and Sami looked like she was going to burst out in tears any second.

If the situation hadn't been so odd, she would have burst out laughing at their inability to tell a simple story. However, now having heard some semblance of an explanation from them, she could sympathize with their stress. "Let me get this straight. Sometime tonight, you two," pointing at Lucas and Philip, "discovered that you had mysteriously switched bodies and not long afterwards, you two," gesturing at Belle and Sami, "found yourselves in the same predicament. So you've come to me to try and figure out how this happened and, more importantly, how to fix it." Celeste took another casual sip of her tea and set her cup on the table.

All four of the siblings were silenced as Celeste summed up their entire situation from remnants of their incoherent babbling.

"Uh, yeah, that's about it," Sami said from inside Belle's body.

"Just so I am clear—you," she said pointing to Sami, "you're Isabella Black." Belle nodded looking a little more together than she had a few minutes before. Pointing to Lucas next, she said, "You are Philip Kiriakis, no?"

"That's right," Philip said verifying his identity.

"That must mean that you, over there, are Samantha Brady."

"The shirt gave me away didn't it," Sami said.

Celeste grinned and quickly glanced at the words 'Bad Girl' etched across Sami's chest. Let's just say, that it was a helpful clue," she replied.

She then looked at Philip. "And you, sitting quite comfortably on the arm of my daughter's expensive couch, must be Lucas Roberts."

"You got it," Lucas said quickly scurrying to sit on the floor in front of Sami. "Sorry about that," he said a bit sheepishly.

"That's quite alright, child," Celeste said as she gathered their cups and placed them back on the matching serving tray. "So this is a brother and sister type of switch. Well, half brother and half sister. Does anyone have full-blooded siblings these days?" Celeste commented followed by the musical tinkle of her laughter.

Philip, Lucas and Belle nodded knowingly. Although Sami figured the question was rhetorical she responded anyway to set the record straight. "Hey, I've got a twin brother, remember?"

Lucas shrugged. "He doesn't count for purposes of this conversation. Where's he been the last few years?"

"Well, you know he lives in Colorado but he was in Seattle for a while and then he was up in Boston—wait, shut up Lucas!" Philip and Belle snickered at the two and their ability to argue about anything in any given situation.

Celeste raised her voice to be heard over the arguing couple. "My point is, that it is convenient that it happened to two sets of siblings. Let's see if we can figure this out." Suddenly she closed her eyes and held her hands in front of her palms out. Without opening her eyes she whispered to them urgently. "I can feel that something is not right with the elements around you. The forces are not aligned and everything is out of sorts." She opened her eyes suddenly and dropped her hands before looking at them. "But, I'm sure you had that general idea before coming to see me," she said lightly.

"Well, duh!" Sami said receiving a slight shove from Lucas seated at her feet. Celeste only laughed at her outburst. Now that was the Sami Brady she was used. She couldn't shake that biting wit even in Belle's body. "The question is what do we do about it. I know you are a lot more . . . perceptive than most people." She gave Celeste a hopeful look and asked shyly, "Have you seen anything like this before? Do you think you could help us get our bodies back?" Lucas ran a soothing hand up and down her leg from where he sat and then grasped the hand that rested in her lap.

"Celeste, you've got to help us. We can't stay like this!" Belle said with tears in her eyes. "I just want my old body back and I don't know anyone else who could help us." She then curled herself into Philip who put a comforting arm around her shoulders. He was trying to calm Belle down but it was clear that he was worried about getting back into his own body too.

"I have seen many things in my days and although I don't have all the answers, I do know that if there is something wrong with the universe, it always rights itself one way or another—many times in ways that we least expect it. More than likely, this had occurred to show you something. It is possible that a lesson must be learned before you are ready to return to your rightful bodies."

Sami crossed her arms in a huff. "It's shown me some things alright. Some of which will, regrettably, be burned in my memory forever," she said looking directly at Philip and Belle. Both looked away guiltily.

"Tell me about it," Lucas said thinking back on the disturbing game of cat and mouse he had played with his horny future sister-in-law.

"Come on, let it go you two. Geez!" Philip said.

"Yeah, let's just forget it." Belle said with an embarrassed flush. "What was that you were saying, Celeste?" she asked trying to focus the attention away from her, Philip and their hormones.

'It must have been an interesting evening,' Celest thought with a smile. "Have you talked to anyone else tonight? Is anyone suspicious?"

"Well, unfortunately, we all ran into Kate." Sami spat out her name like it was the worst curse word on the books. "She'd have to spend two seconds not obsessing over her sons' lives before she would realize anything was wrong." Philip and Lucas were prepared to defend their mother but Sami did have a point.

"Philip and I just saw her a few minutes ago and she didn't seem to realize anything was wrong." Belle giggled thinking about the awful things she had shouted at Kate as she left. "As a matter of fact, when she left us, she was pretty upset so I don't think she suspects a thing about our situation." Sami raised an eyebrow at this and gave Belle a look that demanded to know the details as soon as possible.

Sami then remembered the phone conversation she had before leaving to find Philip and Belle. "I talked to Mimi for a minute about an hour ago. We didn't talk for long so I doubt she thought anything was amiss. Oh, Belle, by the way, she's gonna stop by later on to borrow your car."

Philip unwisely figured he should fill everyone in on the true nature of this conclusion. "You were on the phone with Mimi for a minute? Of course she's going to know something's wrong. Those two have to yak on the phone for a half hour minimum for it to be considered a worthwhile conversation. Ow!" Philip exclaimed as Belle smacked him in the arm. "It's true! You know you can be such a girl sometimes," he added playfully.

"I am not!"

"Oh yeah? Who made me turn around so you could go back to the loft and get your purse?" Philip challenged.

"So that's where you guys were. Is that when you saw Mom? What the hell was she doing at your place at this hour?" Lucas said laughing hysterically. "I can't believe she was checking up on you, especially after I told her to back off not even an hour ago. It's like talking to a brick wall. Fortunately I have a lot of practice with that," he said looking meaningfully at Sami.

Sami, for her part, chose to ignore his comment. "Doesn't she have better things to do in the middle of the night? You think she would have learned her lesson after what happened with me and Lucas."

Now it was Philip's turn to laugh hysterically. "Yeah, I heard about that. Did she really walk in on you two . . ." He could tell by their expressions that they had, in fact, been right in the middle of doing the deed. Belle's laughter joined Philip's as they amused themselves at their siblings' expense. Still feeling the sting over Sami's little joke on them earlier Philip kept right on going. "How embarrassing. And Sami, have you recovered your taste for Italian food yet, lasagna in particular?" Philip let out another loud cackle as Belle looked on confused. She hadn't heard anything about Italian food but it sounded funny all the same.

Although Celeste found all of this subtext fascinating on one level, it was getting late and she really did need to get her beauty rest. "Okay children, let's focus. The hour is already late and there is much to make right before morning." All four ceased their taunting and looked back over at Celeste obediently.

"Here's what I want you to do. You go back home and find a quiet, clear space to think. You can do it together," motioning to the two couples, "but make sure that there is room for you to find your centers and hear your inner voice."

Philip, Sami and Lucas didn't know about all this inner voice, finding-your-center stuff but if it was going to help them get back to their own bodies then they'd give it their best effort. Belle on the other hand was excited to try a few new age techniques. "This is going to be so cool! I skimmed this book about meditation and stuff at Urban Outfitters and it sounded like a lot of fun. Can I use my scented candles too that Mimi gave—" Four sets of eyes were looking at her—one pair belonging to a very well-meaning psychic who was quickly losing patience with the chatty youngsters. "Sorry. Please continue. Inner voice, clear, quiet space . . ."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I want you to focus on clearing a space in your mind to think about what this experience and what the universe is trying to tell you. Think about the lessons you've learned by being someone else and the experiences you have gathered that you can draw upon in your future. It is imperative that you direct your attention to aligning the forces in the universe that have been turned around. You must put all of your energy into making right what has been thrown askew. I will give you some time to do this and then I will focus my energies on you as well. Hopefully, when you rise along with the sun, you will find yourselves as you should be."

Ever the optimist, Sami asked, "What if it's not fixed in the morning? Are we going to be stuck like this forever? Because I'll tell you right now, I did not endure my awkward teenage years to be stuck in an A cup."

"Amen," Lucas said thinking about a life without Sami and her ample bosom. Sami glared at him and he quickly backtracked. "Baby, you looked good back then. You were adorable. Don't be so hard on yourself." Sami didn't look convinced at his choice of words. "Hey, I'm the one who got you pregnant at seventeen, remember?"

"As much as I love Will, I don't think that's something to brag about," Sami said with a roll of her eyes. Lucas opened his mouth to reply but figured he should quit while he was ahead.

Celeste only smiled mindfully at Sami. "Samantha, I understand, darling, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, no?"

Belle still looked a little miffed at Sami's comment but Philip was quick to tell her that he liked her A cups. "They look good on you Belle, trust me." That succeeded in making Belle smile. He truly thought Belle was the perfect women, both physically and mentally. But he also wouldn't be opposed to an upgrade to Sami-sized breasts if she so desired. He was a guy after all--and as an intelligent guy, he knew better than to ever reveal such a thought to Belle.

At this point Celeste had had quite enough of these hormone driven young people in her home. "If there isn't anything else, I suggest you all return home and get started. This task is not as easy as it seems." She stood up from her chair followed by Sami, Philip and Belle. Having seemingly forgiven Lucas for his previous comments, Sami helped him up from off the floor. They all thanked Celeste as they headed towards the front door.

"Don't worry Celeste. We'll do our best to follow your instructions." Belle said to the older woman.

Celeste placed her hand gently to Belle's face. "I know you will Isabella. Hopefully, I will not be seeing the four of you later on today and you'll be able to sleep in back in your own bodies."

"Thanks for believing us Celeste," Philip said taking Belle's hand and leading her down the walkway.

"We'll let you know how it turns out," Lucas added as he followed Sami out of the door. "Sorry about the couch."

"Yeah, don't mind him—he was raised by a she-wolf," Sami said with a smirk.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Lucas said, his tone dripping in sarcasm. "Just get in the car."

"Don't rush me Lucas, I'm trying to thank Celeste!" an irritated Sami replied. She turned her attention back to the woman standing on the porch. "So, yeah, uh, thanks. We both know how I feel about your daughter but I really appreciate you backing me up recently, you know, with my mom and all. It means a lot that you're helping us out."

"I just call it like I see it as they say, Samantha. It is my pleasure to help." She then pinned Sami down with a stern look. "But since you mention it, try to go a little easier on Alexandra, alright? Sami didn't looked please but managed to grunt out a sound of assent. "Well, goodnight, Celeste," Sami and Lucas replied before turning towards the car.

"Goodnight and good luck." She closed the door and went to clear away the tea tray still sitting on the table. All of a sudden she heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to see her daughter walking towards her looking disheveled and sleepy in her pajamas. "What's the matter, darling? Did Theo wake in the middle of the night again?"

Lexie stared sleepily down at the scene in the living room. "No Mom, he's fast asleep. I thought I heard voices. Was someone else here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. We didn't mean to wake you. They're gone now." She knew her daughter was often skeptical when it came to her 'extraordinary powers' so she chose to keep her recent visitors to herself. Not to mention that Alexandra would be less than pleased upon learning that Samantha Brady had been in her home.

"Who was coming over in the middle of the night?" Lexie asked yawning.

"No one important, darling. Just a few young souls who needed my help and counsel. It's nothing to concern yourself with. Go back to bed. I'm sure you must be tired from working these past few nights."

Lexie didn't want to push the issue since she had a feeling that the 'help' and 'counsel' her mother was referring to had something to do with her talents in the occult. If that was the case, she would rather not know the details. "Okay, Mom. I'll just check on Theo before going back to bed." As she reached the landing her curiosity got the best of her and she asked, "Were you able to help them?"

Celeste was surprised by the inquiry since Lexie usually had no interest in encouraging her spiritual pursuits. Still, she figured that the less she said the better. "Well, the spirits showed me that the forces of nature were strongly out of line for these young people. I simply encouraged them to reflect on their situation and learn from their experiences in hopes of righting the universe to its natural course."

Lexie seemed to think about that for a moment. "I suppose, that's good advice for all of us—especially lately. Goodnight Mom."

"Goodnight Alexandra. Pleasant dreams." She returned to cleaning up the living room and preparing for bed herself. Of course, there was still the business of saying a prayer for Isabella, Philip, Lucas and Samantha in the hope that it would help them return to their rightful identities.

'Did I help them? That's an interesting question Alexandra," Celeste thought as she picked up the tea tray and carried it into the kitchen. 'How in the world should I know if I helped them? I'm a psychic not a body switching expert. I only know what the spirits choose to tell me and they weren't telling me a thing about the intricacies of sibling body switching.' But nonetheless she believed their story and gave them the best advice she could and hopefully the prayer would help too. It wouldn't hurt them to engage in a little self-reflection, especially that impulsive Samantha. She sincerely hoped that their little problem worked itself out because she didn't think she had the patience to deal with the four of them again anytime soon.

Besides, she had to deal with the strange visions she was having about being on an island but being in Salem at the same time. Sometimes, the victims of the recent killing spree would talk to her. It was all very odd and troubling but by now, Celeste was accustomed to such things.

"These are mysterious times for us all," Celeste concluded as she finally headed to her room to consult the spirits.