Well, now, a long holiday... Meaning tons of holiday homework from the teachers... Sigh... Why do they still call it a holiday??? Who agrees that holidays should be kept sacred for students? (I mean, it's a 'holy-day')

I still found time to write, though... In this chapter, there may be parts that make you think it's a mushipping fic... All I can say is, the next chapter disagrees entirely. As to the truth, I'm not saying anything!

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Princess Viv: Thanks! Well, now, I just updated!

Theamazingtechnocoloredringwraith: Evil paring??? Well, I never exactly thought of using 'evil' as an adjective for 'paring' ... Thanks for your support!

LuceScuro: Well, it MIGHT not be a mudshipping fic... I'm not saying anything!

Mesoforte: Yay, thanks! It's okay, I don't expect you to review every single chapter of mine. (Although that would be nice)

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Chapter 5: Confusion

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"They want to make peace?" Menardi said sharply.

"Yes. Contigo has asked for representatives of different kingdoms to gather. Shall I sent Karst and Agatio there?" Saturos asked.

"It's not as if you don't know about Karst's hot temper. And making peace is just what we don't want, isn't it?" Menardi clasped her hands tightly and sighed. "As long as Weyard is peaceful, he won't come..."

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"Agatio and I will leave for Contigo. It will be a good opportunity to find out what they are planning," Menardi said.

"I'll inform Agatio immediately."

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"T-That's the meeting room," Mia stammered. Holding a dagger to her throat was a stone-faced Isaac. He entered the large and luxurious room with his hostage.

The room was currently empty. Many chairs with aquamarine upholstery were lined up neatly at the long table.

"Father's holding an important meeting with the other lords; I saw a sign outside," Mia explained, eyeing the dagger warily. Isaac frowned.

"I thought the leader of Lemuria is usually the prince? Shouldn't he be the one holding meetings then?"

"Yes, but whenever the prince is ab..." Before Mia could finish, they heard footsteps. As swift as lightning, Isaac placed Mia and himself in a convenient empty cupboard in the corner of the room. With the door slightly ajar, Isaac could see clearly all the people entering the room.

"One wrong move, Princess," he whispered threateningly, pressing the dagger to her throat. Mia took a deep breath and remained silent. Mercury help me!

Soon, a stately-looking old man with light blue hair entered, and the door was closed behind him.

"All hail King Hydros!"

"The King!" Immediately, the occupants of the room went on their knees.

"Rise," Hydros instructed, sitting himself in a golden throne. A cranky looking guy stood up.

"As you may have noticed, Your Majesty, Her Highness Princess Mia has not returned from her visit to Lalivero. We believe that Lalivero is holding the princess hostage. As we have received news about Contigo having a 'peace meeting', His Highness the Prince has gone to talk to Lalivero about the Princess."

"Mia? This is bad. So my son has left Lemuria?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. As Lemuria is quite a long way from Contigo, the prince left immediately after receiving the news, so as to reach Contigo in time," another strange looking person replied.

"Wait a minute, your brother's not here?" Isaac whispered, aghast. His orders were to assasinate the ruler of Lemuria.

"No, of course not. What does that ma..."

The cupboard door opened as Isaac leapt out with Mia in tow.

"Intruders!"

"Mia!" Hydros screamed, shocked.

"Father, I..."

"Shut up!" Isaac hissed, rushing to the door. Within seconds, he and Mia were heading for the port. They climbed onto the tiny ship. Lemurians flocked out, yelling and racing to their ships.

Starting to worry, Isaac sent the ship out. As he neared the whirlpools, a strong current caught the ship and sent them straight out of Lemuria. Isaac began sailing away.

"I've already done as you asked and taken you to my kingdom. What more do you want of me?" Mia pleaded. Isaac told himself to ignore her. Saturos can deal with her for all I care!

For three days, they continued sailing north, and soon came to a kingdom at the top of Weyard.

"Where are we?" Mia asked wearily as Isaac got off. He grabbed her arm.

"Come on. We're going to see Princess Menardi."

"Isn't that the eldest princess of Prox?" Mia was again ignored as she was dragged off. This guy is so mean!! They soon met a redhead.

"Who is THAT?"

"Princess Mia. Where're Princess Menardi and Saturos?" Isaac questioned.

"Menardi's on a mission with Agatio. Saturos is in the dungeons," Karst replied. Isaac pulled Mia to a winding staircase and started leading her down. Mia began to feel uncomfortable as they descended. It felt strangely eerie.

Finally, the steps came to an end. Isaac led Mia through the dark dungeons until they saw Saturos.

"Isaac, you've returned."

"Lemuria's leader was gone when I reached Lemuria. Forgive my incompetence. I brought Princess Mia back as I thought you might need her in some way." Isaac reported.

"You've done your best, I know. Fill me in on the details later," Saturos said coldly. He glanced at Mia. "As for you, Princess, get ready to tell us all you know about Lemuria."

He opened the door of an empty cell and pushed Mia in. As Isaac turned to leave, he saw Mia give him a despairing look. Then, he left.

Isaac could not forget that Lemurian princess. He kept remembering that last look she gave him. It was as if she had lost the only person she trusted. Unable to shake off the guilty feeling, Isaac found himself heading for the dungeons again.

The Prisonmaster was pacing up and down, shaking his head.

"Charlie? What's wrong?" Isaac asked, dreading the answer.

"You better not go in. Choover's down there. I haven't heard any screams, but you can never tell..."

Isaac practically flew down. Choover was well-known for being a sadist. He loved to torture prisoners he was given a chance to.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. I expect to hear words from you when I come back tomorrow!"

Isaac watched a tall, muscular man walk past him with a whip in his hand. Fear lunged in his heart as he ran down several stone steps. When he came to the cell Mia was kept in, he felt sick.

She was tied to the ceiling by ropes on her hands. Blood covered her body, and fresh whip cuts could be seen clearly. Isaac had seen many other badly hurt victims of Choover's, but Mia looked near to death, making him feel half-dead himself. Raising the Gaia Blade, he slashed through the metal bars and undid Mia's handcuffs.

"You okay?" Isaac felt really worried. Mia smiled weakly at him.

"I always knew you're a nice guy." She fainted.

Not caring about the consequences for once, Isaac lifted Mia and walked off. Charlie gasped when he saw the princess, and opened the door without another word. Isaac gave him a grateful smile before he left.

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Mia woke up feeling sore all over, even though many of her wounds were half-healed.

"How're you feeling?" Isaac asked anxiously. He was sitting by a stream in some unknown meadow.

"Better," Mia croaked. She drank the water Isaac offered her from the stream and started to heal herself. "Why did you save me?"

Isaac was silent. He was not sure of the reason himself.

"I... I never thought Saturos would allow Choover to be so... cruel..." he finally replied. "I suppose I've never exactly seen someone so badly injured... and... I just couldn't leave you back there."

"Saturos? That blue haired man? He said Choover could do whatever he wanted as long as I talk," Mia said. She sat up, wincing slightly at some unhealed wounds.

"He DID?" Isaac felt confused. Sure, Saturos always said never to be too careful when dealing with enemies. But hurting people... Isaac just felt that it was wrong. "I... I don't understand..."

"You're not as mean as them, or as evil as they try to make you, Isaac," Mia said gently. "You sympathized with me when I was hurt. This shows that you have a heart, with room for kindness, care and concern towards others. I believe you can change, Isaac."

"She's right," Flint said, popping up and startling both the adepts. "Me and Granite live in you; we know you. And forget whatever wickedness you are supposed to learn, you're a real nice guy. So, just follow your heart."

"Follow... my heart?"

"Instead of listening to those horrible Proxians, and making your own decisions, yeah," Granite said. "I mean, they kidnapped you from your hometown!"

Isaac's eyes widened. "They did?"

"We were trying to tell you. But we ain't too sure of the details..." Flint explained. "We heard loads after we were stolen from Vale, see. And all that about your parents dying and Saturos taking them in... Those are all lies."

"I can't believe this..."

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"Welcome to Contigo, all of you. I believe you have gathered here to talk about the wars we've been having lately," Kite said. "I hope to straighten everything out today."

"Fine. Tell me, then, why did you abduct my son?" Kyle demanded. Menardi smirked.

"I've said it and I'll say it again! We have nothing to do with the disappearance of Prince Isaac!" Rose replied. "Your false accusations forced us to ally with Lalivero against you, Kolima and Vault."

"Kolima is no ally of ours," Dora said stiffly, averting the gazes of Django and Sora. "They are on Prox's side."

"No we're not!" Django exclaimed. "Prox stole the GunDeSol from us!" He shot an angry look at Menardi, who pretended she was not there.

"But Kolima and Prox were working together when they killed Father!" Sheba's lower lip trembled.

"We did no such thing!" Sora cried.

"There was a Venus Adept with the Proxians, and they shouted 'That was for Kolima' before they left!" Sheba argued.

"This is getting too confusing! Quiet, all of you!" Kite yelled. "Let's try to settle this peacefully!"

"King Kite, the Prince of Lemuria has arrived," a servant announced. Everyone looked up, amazed. A long haired young man with green-blue eyes entered.

"Presenting Prince Piers of Lemuria."

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Well? How was that?