Hmph, well, I suppose I've kept you mortals waiting long enough. Chapter 4 is up.

I don't own this.

Bebbies

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wednesday

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Morning already? Ivan let out a long yawn. Falling out of bed, he managed to drag himself up. Ordinarily, he wouldn't get up this early, but Isaac had told him that there would be another attempt to win Sheba's heart today.

Frankly, Ivan though to himself as he tried to rub out the sleep gunk from his eyes, he was getting rather tired of the gang's hairbrained schemes. Not only did all of them sound ridiculous, most of their failures came at the expense of someone getting hurt. Namely, Ivan.

Grumbling to himself, he padded over to the bathroom and swung the door open. After pausing to stretch sleepily, he went over to the bathroom sink. Then he looked up into the mirror.

Ivan's scream echoed throughout all Angara.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ivan, calm down." Isaac tried to reassure Ivan, and to get the Jupiter Adept to sit still for a minute. He might as well have tried to take on Dullahan with a butter knife.

"Isaac," Ivan tried to force himself into some manner of form that did not resemble hysteria. He had about the same success rate as Isaac in calming himself down. "Calm down? Isaac, if you were me right now, would you feel very calm? Would you, Isaac, sit down, think this over calmly and finally laugh it off as one of those infinitely small things that happen all the time in a universe full of catastrophes, and hey, no big deal! Could happen to anyone, except it had to happen to me, and I hate this and my life sucks and I wish I hadn't woke up this morning, and I…" Finally breaking down completely, Ivan collapsed onto the kitchen floor in a blubbering heap, sobbing to himself.

Isaac shook his head, about to say something. Just then, Picards entered the room.

"Hey, everyone!" He said cheerfully. "I brought some-" Then he stopped short as he caught sight of Ivan on the floor. Then he blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

"Are my eyes on the correct optical wavelength?" He wondered aloud. "Is… is Ivan's hair pink?"

Ivan suddenly snapped. Leaping to his feet, he began to glow. "Yes!" He snapped. "My hair is bright pink! Can the world hear me?! My hair is pink! Yes, you saw it! Now, are you going to do anything about it, or just stand there looking dumb?! Because if it's the latter, I… I'll…" The glow around Ivan began to increase in brightness and intensity.

Isaac decided to hide under the table.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two old men sat side by side, staring at the waterfall.

"Sure is a beautiful waterfall." The first one ventured.

"A-yup." The second one readily agreed.

Suddenly, a house some way up the hill erupted in a raging ball of fire and lightning.

"Sure have been a lot of houses blowin' up lately."

"A-yup."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isaac crawled out from the smoking ruin that had been his kitchen table. Standing there, looking rather sheepish, was Ivan. Still with bright pink hair.

There was silence in the house, or what remained of it. Then Isaac cleared his throat.

"I, uh, didn't know you'd mastered Spark Plasma."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay, so," Garet sighed. "In addition to me having to house two more people, one because his bed collapsed, and the other because his house got flash-fried, we have to hold our meetings in my kitchen now."

"Yes, that seems about correct." Isaac said. "Just don't try cooking us anything."

Garet chucked a spoon in Isaac's general direction, and continued. "Anyway, Mia and Jenna have collaborated to create a new plan for Ivan."

Mia stood up, and walked over to the head of the table. Jenna followed beside her, carrying several rolls of parchment.

"Recently, Kraden has been studying Jupiter psynergy, and he has created a theory that Mind Read can be used a different way than previously thought."

"Meaning?" Isaac asked.

"Well, his research suggests that Mind Read can be reversed to plant suggestions within people's minds."

"He told you that?" Garet said with a raised eyebrow.

"Among many other bits of useless and annoying information, yes." Jenna said as she unfurled the first piece of paper. "Okay, me, and Mia will accost Jenna here, and Ivan will be hiding in this tree…" She said, pointing. "While we talk to her, Ivan is to try and plant several suggestions of a relationship."

Garet shook his head. "Seriously… you think this will work?"

Jenna shrugged. "Hey, you never know until you try. Right, Ivan?"

It was only then that they realized that Ivan was not in the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix whistled to himself as he sat by the waterfall, carving at a piece of wood he had found earlier outside his home. A second later, he broke into a congenial smile as he saw Ivan stomping up to him.

"Why, hello, Ivan!" Felix said. "Do you happen to realize your hair is currently pink in colour? A rather nice shade too, I might add."

"Cut the crap!" Ivan bellowed, looking incensed. Or, well, as incensed as one as cute as Ivan could look. Especially with the whole pink hair thing and all… but that's going off topic. "YOU did this to me!"

Felix looked surprised for a moment, as if considering that. Then he nodded. "Why, yes. Yes, I do believe I did."

Ivan narrowed his eyes. "By your own agreement, you aren't allowed to try to win Sheba's heart! You lost the drinking contest fair and square!"

Felix raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "My dear Ivan, I agreed not to try to court Sheba, true. But, apparently, you seem to have forgotten that we never agreed that I couldn't sabotage your attempts, hmm?"

Ivan merely sputtered a few inarticulate words before whirling around and stomping away. Felix shook his head and continued fishing. "He needs to lighten up, that one…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I hate this… Why did I have to be the fall guy for all of their stupid ideas? Not one of them has worked so far! Ivan thought grumpily as he perched on his precarious position atop a tree. The fact that the Lure Cap kept slipping in front of his eyes didn't help too much either. But that was the only thing in his possession that could cover up his hair, he was forced to wear it.

Oh, right. I'm doing this because I'M the one in love with Sheba. Is that an indication of the power of love? Or just exactly how nuts I am? Ivan sighed. At this rate, I think it's the latter.

For the moment, though, he pushed aside a branch. Yep, Sheba was walking up the hill, humming a tune to herself. And for a second, Ivan forgot all his troubles as he stared, transfixed, at her.

Until the branch he was standing on cracked, and Ivan was forced to scramble for another foothold. That broke his reverie rather quickly.

Finding a stable branch, he leaned out once more. Yup, Sheba was almost directly under the tree, and Mia and Jenna were walking up to her. Come to think of it, I have no idea how to pull this off in the first place. Guess I'll just try to activate Mind Read and send a thought to her at the same time.

Here goes nothing…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jenna scanned the treetop, trying to look as she was glancing around disinterestedly. She caught sight of some rustling in the bushes, and a flash of purple.

"Guess Ivan got into position." Jenna said to herself. Beside her, Mia was doing her best to keep Sheba in one place. And she suspected the rest of the gang was around here somewhere too.

Letting her gaze move back to Sheba, she noted that the female Jupiter adept kept blinking and shaking her head slightly. Did this mean that it was working? Jenna couldn't tell.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Doing his best to keep silent, Ivan continued channeling the spell, all the time unhappily aware that the instant Sheba chose to glance up, his cover was blown. But… in the name of love, or stupidity- Ivan couldn't decide which- he was still here, in this dang tree.

Suddenly, Ivan became aware of a prickly feeling on his neck. Twisting, he managed to grab at whatever was crawling along his neck without falling. Bringing it to his face, his eyes widened as he saw what it was.

Eight glassy, black eyes stared back at him. A spider.

Ivan blinked, feeling an incredible sense of dread come over him. Slowly, oh so slowly, he turned to look behind him. He would never admit it to any of the gang, but he was deathly afraid of spiders. Maybe it had something to do with almost meeting his end at the hands of a Giant Spider when trying to save Tret. But that's another story.

Funny thing about spiders. Funny thing about Lure Caps.

As Ivan watched with horror, dozens, maybe hundreds of spiders erupted from various cracks in the bark, all headed for him.

Ivan decided his current action should have been attributed to stupidity.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sheba groaned softly. She had had a headache since she woke up this morning, and in the past few minutes, it had rapidly grown worse. She really, really needed a soft bed right now. Unfortunately, Mia wasn't exactly helping by refusing to let her move from her current position.

Trying not to sound too snappish, Sheba raised a hand. "Yes, Mia. I think your new dress is fascinating. However, I have a bad headache right now, so-" Unfortunately she never got to finish her sentence, as something soft hit her on the head. Rubbing her head slightly, she looked down to see… "A Lure Cap?"

"What the-?" Glancing upwards, she was just barely able to catch a glimpse of someone in the tree, trying desperately to keep out of sight. Squinting, she tried her best to see who it was, but her pounding headache made it difficult to see who it was… and she didn't think she knew anyone with pink hair anyway…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Isaac peeked out from behind the bushes, staring at the scene below him. Crap. He thought. Shifting his view, he noted that Sheba was staring at the tree, trying out figure who was in it. Mia seemed to swaying slightly in place, and Jenna was hurriedly signaling to Isaac to do something.

Shaking his head, Isaac decided that the most current, and pressing subject was getting Isaac out of there. Concentrating mentally, he sent a wave of Venus psynergy to the tree that Ivan was hanging on.

"Hope it works…" Isaac muttered under his breath.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ivan was currently engaged in a game of "Shake the Spider From Your Foot", with the spiders winning, 520 to 0. Suddenly, he was made aware that there was a strange golden light shining around him. He was also aware that the branch that was currently his only support was starting to beginning to glow as well.

And lastly, he managed to catch a glimpse of the branch straightening out once again, and suddenly, he was in the air, screaming his head off as he flew in an arcing trajectory over Vale.

As he finally stopped screaming, he looked down… to see that he was currently falling straight down.

The screaming restarted, until…

BALOOOOSSH!!

"Sure have been a lot of kids falling into the waterfall these days."

"A-yup."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Breath slowly hovered in the air, mentally calculating the radius needed. After all, this was their one chance to make good, and she-

"Breath?" Gust called from below. "We're ready to start the next phase."

"Got it, got it." She said wearily, floating down to ground level. "Any news from damage control?"

Damage control, or Fizz, was more or less in charge of monitoring the djinn, and making sure they didn't screw up. Or… best as best, not screw up too much.

"Well, Scorch and Flash got into an argument over who was the better djinni, and they started a fire fight that most of the other Mars djinn joined purely because it involved fire. Salt and Whorl tipped over a bucket of paint just now, and Breeze is now a very lovely shade of yellow. Flint, Fever, and Hail have been doing their best to annoy the heck out of Gel and Chill, and I think they succeeded, if the frozen icicles all around the area is anything to go by. Luff, Squall, and Smog have formed the brotherhood of Jupiter, and are currently attempting a hostile takeover of the world." Fizz read out from her list.

"Eh, that's it?" Breath sighed in relief. "I thought there'd be more."

"Well, we've been busy lately." Fizz replied. "In any case, we're ready to set the supports."

Gust turned to the various djinn assembled around the area. "Alright!" He yelled as loud as possible. "All of you get ready!"

Breath fluttered over to Gust's side to watch as the djinn, most of them Venus or Mercury, gripped ropes, tugging on them as slowly, ever so slowly, the support struts edged up, to stand perfectly ninety degrees.

"Good, now the second one…" Breath said as she flew over to the other side.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Wise One glared angrily with his single eye at the djinn cavorting about the mountain.

"How dare they?" He boomed. "How dare they desecrate the sacred guarding place of Mt. Aleph?! How dare they-" He was interrupted by a whining sound coming from below him.

"Can I get out yet?" Alex whined.

"Shut up." The Wise One replied. Turning back to face the djinn, he snarled as best as he possibly could without a mouth or a second eye. "Soon, you will know my vengeance…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, come on!" Isaac grumbled as he cast Potent Cure on Ivan again. "Look on the bright side! At least the impact of falling into the river knocked away the spiders. And look! It also washed away all your pink hair dye!"

"Oh yes." Ivan replied. "At the cost of breaking every bone in my body. What a wonderful trade-off."

"Yeesh." Isaac said. "Stop being so grumpy and start being grateful I decided to heal you."

"Alright, alright." Ivan stood up on his bed, stretching a little. "At least I can walk again."

Just then, Garet, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "How did it go with Sheba anyway?" As he finished his sentence, he cast a weak Flare on Ivan, drying him off.

Ivan shrugged, stretching slightly. "I dunno. She didn't seem to have any reaction whatsoever. But then again… I didn't really get a good look. Only time will tell, I guess."

Just then, the door flew open, and a flying blur tackled Ivan, sending him to the floor. Struggling somewhat, he managed to force the person off, and to look her in the eye.

It was Mia.

"Oh, Ivan dear!" She purred. "Where were you? I was so worried about you after you got catapulted out of the tree! Is my little snookums okay?"

"Mia, what-" Ivan wasn't able to get another word out before Mia tackled him again sending him crashing to the ground.

Isaac stared at his wife, devastated. "What the heck is happening?!" He yelled.

Garet raised an eyebrow. "If I had to guess, I'd say Ivan's spell succeeded. He merely overlooked the question of aim."

Ivan finally managed to force Mia off again, and utilizing his natural Jupiter speed, he took off. Mia stared at him for a minute, before running off after him. "No, Ivan dear! Don't leave me behind!"

Jenna, who had just appeared at the doorway, glanced around. "Hey, why'd Ivan run off screaming like-" Was all she managed to say before Mia bowled her over as she ran out the doorway herself.

Forcing herself back to her feet, Jenna stared at the two adepts inside. One dumbstruck, and the other calm. What scared her more was that her husband, Garet, was the calm one.

"Okay, what just happened?" She asked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sheba shook her head as she walked by the river. Her headache had vanished, and currently, she was busy enjoying the breeze. As she rounded the bend, her smile widened as she caught side of Ivan running towards her.

"Hey, Ivan!" She smiled. "What are you-"

"Hide me." Ivan squeaked.

Sheba blinked. "Pardon?"

"Hide me." Ivan said again before diving into a nearby bush. Frowning, Sheba looked around for a source of whatever could have scared the Jupiter Adept so. She didn't have to look far. She soon caught sight of Mia roaming the area, calling plaintively out for her "Ivan-chan".

Blinking, Sheba sidled over to the bush that contained her friend. "What happened?" She asked.

The bush rustled slightly before Ivan's voice replied. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Just… just… just don't draw attention to me, please."

Nodding and raising an eyebrow, Sheba walked over to Mia. "Um… Mia?"

Mia whirled around, fire in her eyes. "Ivan! Where is he! You have seen him! Where?!"

Sheba took an involuntary step back. Mia looked around wildly again. "Ivan… need Ivan-chan." She moaned "Need to hold his soft warm body to my own and lo-"

"Okay, time out!" Sheba yelled. "I really don't need that mental image." She murmured to herself. Louder, she said. "Oh, you know what? I thought I saw Ivan down by the entrance just no-"

This was turning out to be a pretty bad day for finishing sentences, all things considered. Mia had already taken off, towards then plaza, pausing only when she tripped on a rock. Then she got up and started running again.

Sheba gave a tiny little sigh as she walked towards the bush. "All clear." She said, and Ivan's head popped out of the bush, followed by the rest of his body.

Ivan glanced around, looking like a scared little mouse, wary of a cat. Finally, he seemed to notice Sheba, and turned to her. "Um…" he said. "Could I crash at your house? I really don't want Mia knowing where I am."

Sheba gave a wry smile as she helped Ivan to his feet. "All right, then." She said. "I have a spare bed, if you want it…"

Ivan gave a lopsided grin. "Or what? Sleep in the same bed as you?"

Sheba chuckled and hit him lightly on the arm. "Pervert." She smirked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The moon was already high in the sky (hey, that rhymed!) as Ivan finished the dinner that Sheba had prepared for him. "Sorry if I'm imposing on you…" Sheba for her part, smiled and shook her head.

"Don't be silly, Ivan. What's a few meals between friends? You're a light eater, in any case."

Ivan smiled and stood. "Thanks for letting me stay over too."

"Yeah… no biggie." Sheba replied off-handedly as she herself stood.

Shaking his head to clear away the weariness, Ivan started up the stairs, and glanced around. "Shit." He muttered to himself. "Now which one was my room again?" After glancing around, he found a more-or-less empty room with nothing but a bed in it. "Probably the guest room." He concluded, and entered it. "Wonder why she stuck a flower on the door?" He yawned. Collapsing onto the bed, he was soon fast asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ivan?" Sheba said as she climbed the staircase. "I forgot to tell you where your room was-" Then she stopped short, glancing around in confusion. " 'Guess he's found the room by himself. Pretty obvious, come to think of it. Tons of furniture everywhere." Going to her own room, which was pretty much bare, Sheba opened the door with a huge yawn. She was more tired than she realized. Thus said, she closed the door, leaving the flower hanging on the outside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Felix still got into bouts of chuckles whenever he thought about how ridiculous Ivan looked. "I guess I got my revenge pretty well." He said to no one in particular as he strolled near the side of one of Vale's cliffs.

Suddenly, he looked around. Had he heard a shout? Peering about, he was about to say something when he saw someone rushing in wide, irregular patterns in his general direction. In the dim light of the moon, he couldn't tell who it was…

Suddenly, whoever the person was stopped short, and rushed towards him. Felix backed away slowly, startled. "Hey, wha-?"

"IVAN!" Mia shrieked in his face. "Where is he?!"

"I- I, uh…" Felix gulped mentally as he backed up, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the obviously insane Mia. "I, uh, I don't know?"

Unfortunately, one should not go backing up when you are very close to the edge of a cliff. This holds doubly true if someone in front of you is holding your attention, and you have forgotten to look behind you.

Felix screamed all the way down.

THUMP!

"…"

"…"

"Sure have been a lot of fool kids falling over cliffs lately."

"A-yup."