Reviewing makes the world go round...Damn it Jenna! Why did you have to sing that song? I can't get it out of my head!

Jenna: Well, soorrrryy! Hey, think about the new song by the 411. You know, 'Dumb'. It gets all other things out of your mind.

Ok, I'll give it a go. That'd be dumb, diggy diggy di dumb, da don't want none...Hey! It works. Now if only I could remember what I was going to do...

Jenna: Continue your story?

Oh, yes! Thank you my dear muse/alter ego.

Jenna: Anytime.

Sorian: Jenna is not evil! She's just...misunderstood. Well, that's what she says. Of course she can't beat you up, whatever you say. Finally, I'm glad you like the evil kid; he was meant to be evil so he's done his job well. Jenna, please feed the evil one.

Jenna: No way! He's mental! He keeps tapping his metal fingers together and calling himself Freddy. Who's Freddy?

Never mind. Thanks Sorian for your constant reviews. We love you. In a normal way of course...yes...normal way...

Jenna: Oracle don't own diddly squit!

A Turning Point

Four sets of wings carried their owners gracefully through the empty sky. The tall stonewalls of the Lemurian palace loomed before them which was where they were heading.

In the arms of Isaac and Karst hung Alicia's limp form, exhausted from her encounter with Sheba, but only partially unconscious. The fact that she continuously moved her body around was enough proof of that.

Sheba herself flew slowly beside Mia saying nothing. It seemed that she was still in a state of shock of what she'd done. To her, this flight was taking far too long. Despite her natural comfort of being in flight, she couldn't wait to land.

I guess these new powers are at least good for something, she thought.

Isaac glanced nervously at Sheba. He couldn't help feel entirely responsible for what had happened. It had been him who made her do it after all. He slowed down, much to Karst's annoyance, so he could fly next to the silent Jupiter Adept.

"Sheba...are you ok?"

A nod was her only answer.

"I'm really sorry Sheba. I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you, especially just after you'd blacked out. You're my friend and I shouldn't have put you through that. I'm really sorry."

"You already said that." Sheba's voice was much emptier than usual, but her cheerful tone had returned. They exchanged a smile, knowing that everything was fine once again. Isaac's gazed met Mia's. She gave him a reassuring nod to let him know that she was proud. It really was difficult for such a powerful warrior to show his emotions and ultimately his weaknesses, but he'd managed it.

"Sorry to interrupt your tender moment, but we're here," Karst exclaimed. They all looked ahead to where the massive palace stood, shadowing the rest of the city and appearing much more sinister than it had before. More than a dozen guards were now patrolling the main entrances, giving them very little choice of how to enter. Karst's idea of an all out attack didn't go down very well with the others leaving Isaac's surprise attack as their best bet.

Once they'd located an unguarded tower in the north of the palace and Mia was in her hidden position where she would wait and guard Alicia; Karst, Isaac and Sheba made their way slowly to the room with the teleportation pad. This took much longer than expected. The security had increased dramatically, securing the fact that their friends where definitely here.

Under the magic of Isaac's Cloak Ball, they crept down corridor after corridor; sometimes allowing Sheba to Mind Read a passing guard until they reached the desired room.

"So, what now?" Karst asked impatiently. She fell silent when she saw Isaac glare at her.

"We have to say the password," Sheba answered, carefully stepping on the ring in the middle of the room. Isaac and Karst followed her, their faces calm, but their true emotions were quite different.

Karst mentally debated with herself at the reason why there was a lack of guards around this area if this was indeed where the prisoners were. Perhaps the person responsible didn't want to be disturbed? She didn't know and this unnerved her.

Isaac was literally shaking in terror. He had no idea what had happened to his friends. What if they'd been hurt? Or worse? Images flashed through his mind, each one more horrible than the last. The images stopped suddenly when Sheba grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Isaac looked at her face in surprise. Sheba had never really been very close to her. She usually stayed close to Jenna or Ivan, but just her touch managed to relax him slightly. It didn't have the soothing feel that Mia's hand gave him yet it still helped.

"Golden Sun," she said to no one in particular. Karst snorted with laughter.

"Figures that would be the password."

The symbols on the floor quickly lit up and a soft breeze picked up which surrounded them in seconds. In the very centre of the circle, a small opening was gradually appearing and was soon big enough for then to fit comfortably through. Stairs led away from them further down into the darkness.

Hesitating for only a moment, Isaac led them down, his heart in his throat and his palms very sweaty.

They couldn't have been walking for more than five minutes when Isaac slammed into a door at the base of the stairs. Rubbing his sore nose, he drew his sword and felt Karst do the same. Sheba gripped her staff that always hung from a sash by her side and gulped. Isaac counted down from three to one with his fingers then pushed open the door.

Once inside, an extraordinary sight met their eyes. Trinity, Alex and a nameless guard moaned in pain from the floor, Felix was dueling with Max who appeared to have swords for hands, and the other adepts were hanging unconscious from chains strapped to the wall.

"Karst! Sheba! Get the others free! I'll help Felix!" Isaac ordered. The girls nodded and rushed to the other side of the room while he made his way towards Felix and Max.

"It's about time you got here," the older Venus Adept growled as he ducked another well-aimed attack made by Max.

"Better late than never." Isaac grinned. He swung his Gaia Blade and was about to strike Max's unprotected left side when the dizzy feeling that he'd felt in the lighthouse returned at full power. It completely took over his senses, blurring his vision, stopping him in his tracks and numbing his mind.

Sensing Isaac's sudden weakness, Max jabbed his left arm towards him, which was only just blocked by Felix.

"Isaac? What's wrong?"

"It seems that the power binding potions are finally taking effect on the almighty Leaders," said Max while he pointed at Sheba who was experiencing similar problems. "Now, your legendary powers are nothing more than that of a common adept."

Isaac pulled up him heavy head to look into the cold eyes of his enemy.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to give up," he managed to mutter.

"Sheba?" Karst helped up the younger girl, concern showing on her red tinged face.

"I'm fine...I think." Sheba stumbled towards Ivan and grabbed his still chest for support. What happened next flashed past in an instant. She could feel Ivan flow into her with all of his strength. His voice, she could hear it in her head. It was very faint, but it was there.

Sheba?

Ivan! Are you alright? What happened to you?

Trinity...she's in my mind...I can't control what I'll do.

How are you speaking to me?

It's our connection...my free soul now resides in you...she can't control that. With my soul, I also give you my strength. She has taken yours, but mine still remains...use it.

Ivan...thank you.

Her psynergy restored and the knowledge that Ivan was safe, she turned back to Karst who looked rather concerned for someone who didn't care about anyone but herself.

"Don't worry, it's Ivan. He spoke to me and he's ok, but we have to get the others out of here right now."

"Urm...ok." Karst gave her an extremely strange look, but did what she'd been told.

Sheba, why is Karst helping us?

Save friends now, talk later.

Streams of flames shot from her Karst's hands, melting the chains around Garet and Piers' hands and feet. Sheba used small gusts of wind to break apart Ivan and Jenna's chains.

With the limp bodies in their arms, the two girls moved slowly back towards the door, but Trinity and Alex were already up and had blocked their path.

"Karst," Alex greeted the Proxian with a large grin on his face.

"Alex."

"I see you've changed sides. You're much more of a weakling than I first thought."

"At least I'm not doing a little kid's dirty work."

Alex's grin instantly disappeared at this remark.

"I think it's time for you to finish your job Trinity"

The younger girl's eyes glowed a rose pink and the four unconscious bodies began to move.

"Ivan?" asked Sheba while lifting his weightless head.

What?

How can you move if your soul is inside me?

...Is that a trick question?

Never mind.

Sheba quickly pulled her hand away from his head when she saw his face. His eyes were completely void of any emotion or warmth. A pale deathly colour had taken over his cheeks, reminding Sheba of a body she'd once saw being buried in Lalivero. This wasn't the Ivan she knew. Garet, Jenna and Piers were exactly the same. They pulled away from Sheba and Karst's grip then just stood their without a thought in their empty minds.

"Now we'll see who's doing whose dirty work," said Alex.

A cry interrupted him. Max had just attempted to stab his right arm into a still weak Isaac, but the deadly point had rebounded off of Felix's sword and went deepinto his own chest and blood was now pouring through his robes onto the stained floor.

"Guys! Come on, this is our chance! We've got to get out of here!" Felix ordered. He grabbed Isaac around his waist and dragged him to his wobbly feet.

"But what about the others?" Sheba cried.

"There's no time. Get over here now!"

Visibly upset, Sheba nodded and dashed to his side with Ivan yelling in her mind about having to leave his body behind. Karst appeared to be more annoyed than sad. She obviously wanted to fight with Alex. He had, after all, abandoned her sister and Saturos, but she swallowed her warrior instincts and followed Sheba. They grabbed Felix's arm as he used Retreat to teleport out of the castle just as Alex had just made a dive for them. With nothing to grab, he flew through the air and hit the floor hard, cursing all the way.

They've been gone for far too long. Where are they?

Mia had been waiting with Alicia for a while now and still hadn't heard from the others. Not long ago, she'd felt the same weak feeling that had overcome Isaac and Sheba. It had left her powerless and vulnerable, but with the aid of Psynergy Crystal almost all of her psynergy had returned. Alicia had fully woken up soon after that and had been causing problems for Mia ever since.

"What are you thinking about Water Adept?" she asked quite suddenly, startling Mia out of her trail of thought.

"I don't think that is any of your business." This was beginning to tire her. Alicia had been asked completely pointless question ever since she'd woken. At first, it felt rather nice to chat, even if the main topic was how badly Alicia was going to beat up Mia's pretty face, but now it was just annoying. Also, the headache she'd received from the other girl's constant chatter wasn't helping. It was actually the only thing that was keeping her awake.

"You know, I could probably get out of these ropes if I wanted to."

"I doubt that. The Bind psynergy that Sheba used will make sure you'll never escape until someone else unties them for you."

"Well, untie me then."

Mia didn't even dignify that with an answer. This girl seemed to think she was some sort of stupid girly girl that couldn't even look after herself. This, of course, wasn't true.

Feeling insulted, Mia continued to convince herself that she was no idiot as her eyelids drooped lower. She was almost asleep when she heard a noise behind her. Turning, she watched as four people appeared out of nowhere.

"Guys!" she cried happily, rushing towards them, "You found Felix!"

"Yeah, but we need your help right now," he said sharply while lying Isaac on the ground, "Do you have a Psynergy Crystal for him?"

"Yeah, what happened?" She desperately pulled her small bag off of her belt and retrieved the small golden star.

"Did you feel very weak a few minutes ago?" Sheba asked, trying to calm Mia who'd begun to shake as she'd passed the crystal to Felix.

"Yeah...yeah, I did. What was that?"

"Apparently, we all drank a power binding potion, courtesy of Trinity, Alicia, Max and Alex."

"Alex? He's in on this too?"

"Yep, just met him down in the palace dungeons. They've got the others down there and Trinity has somehow used her psychic psynergy to control their minds."

Silence followed this statement, interrupted only by Isaac's moans as he regained his lost power and Alicia's cries which Karst went to them?" Mia was stunned. She moved into Isaac's comforting open arms. He looked up at Felix, equally shocked.

"What do we do now?"

"You're kidding! I thought you'd know, being the Venus Leader and all."

"No such luck mate."

"So, was Felix the only one you rescued?" Mia asked.

"Ye..."

"No." Everyone turned to Sheba who'd interrupted Isaac. She didn't return their gaze and looked at the floor instead.

"Sheba? What do you mean?" Felix had no idea what she was talking about. There was no one else around. How could they have rescued someone who wasn't even there?

"Well, technically, Felix wasn't the only one we rescued. We also rescued Ivan."

Everyone was dumbfounded. Even Karst came back to hear Sheba explain this one.

"I don't see him Sheba. Where exactly is he?" Isaac asked almost as if he was speaking to a young child.

"It's kinda hard to explain and I doubt you'll believe me, but after the binding potion took effect, I fell onto Ivan's chest and suddenly felt all of his energy flow into me. Then I could hear his voice in my mind. He said it was because of our connection and until his body has been released from Trinity's power, his soul will stay inside me."

Sheba's body unexpectedly went very stiff and lifeless.

"Sheba what's wrong?" asked Mia. She watched with the others as Sheba's head moved up and her hair slide away to reveal her face again. A normal person would never spot the difference, but her friends did. Her eyes were no longer the emerald green they remember them to be. They'd been replaced with familiar violet eyes that gleamed mischievously.

"Hi guys," said a voice that was very different from Sheba's.

"Ivan?" Isaac looked directly into the violet eyes with a sceptical look on his face. "Is that you?"

"No, it's Saturos. Of course it's me!"

"How can we believe you?" asked Felix. "I mean, assuming that you are currently sharing a body with Sheba, what if you're not Ivan and you're trying to trick us?"

"Oh, thanks Felix." Ivan pouted and rolled his eyes at the Venus Adept. "Fine, Isaac, ask me a question that only I would know."

"Ok then." Isaac grinned evilly as he remembered the day that he'd found out about Ivan's biggest secret. "Ivan had a 'friend' while he was growing up in Kalay. What was he and what was his name?"

Ivan's eyes widen and he shook Sheba's head fiercely.

"NO! I'm not answering. Isaac, you swore you'd never bring it up again. You promised!"

"Sorry, but no answer and no one will believe you."

"F...fine. M...my childhood friend was...was..."

"Come on Ivan, we'll have to rush you."

"He was... an imaginary rabbit called Mr. Dude-Sir! Alright! Happy now?"

(AN: Mr. Dude-Sir is of no relation to Mr. Fred-Sir in Vuvvles story. He is a name I came up with myself and is the name I call one of my teachers behind his back.)

"MR. DUDE-SIR?!" Felix was down on the floor instantly, laughing along side Isaac who was nodding.

"That's Ivan alright."

Even Mia and Karst couldn't help giggling at this.

"I'm so gonna kill you Isaac!"

"Of course you are," Isaac replied through the tears that were running down his face as he continued to laugh.

Ah, comedy. How I love it!

Jenna: MR. DUDE-SIR?! Ivan is never gonna hear the end of this one. Just wait til Garet hears about it!

Now, now. Play nice. Ok readers and loyal reviewers, I have a very important notice. This school year is unfortunately my GCSE year, which means extra work and less time for fanfiction. I know you're all very sad, but I will try to remember to update as quickly as I can. Also, I am jetting off to Spain tomorrow, which will mean that this chapter is the last one you'll get for a while. GRIEVE AND MOVE ON! I hope I'll have plenty of nice LONG reviews by the time I get back so get to work. TTFN!