Love Bites

"What do you want, Alex?" Mia demanded, unable to believe that this long-haired guy who resembled a girl far too much was actually standing within a fifty-mile perimeter of her, let alone a metre away. A metre was too close for Mia, heck, even if he had dropped down Gaia Falls he would be too close for comfort.

"Mia, I have found you again," Alex's eyes shone and he clasped his fists together, smiling goofily at the female Mercury Adept. "I am so glad... for to be without you for a second is like a knife in my heart. You are the reason I am still alive, for upon Mt. Aleph, I struggled to survive... thinking of you."

"... Oh..." Mia blanched, taking a step backwards. She almost took another one backwards but realised she was at the top of the plaza steps, and Alex was taking another step closer which she simply could not bear. "Sick him, Serac!" The named Mercury Djinni promptly encased Alex in a cone of ice and he whimpered painfully.

"Do not break my heart, Mia!" Alex wailed, now completely sodding wet. "I love you more than anything in the world, and you could kill me as often as you liked, but I would still love you so much! Marry me, Mia!"

"Shut up," Mia growled angrily, turning around and staring directly at Isaac and Feizhi. She could not bear to look at the, in her opinion disgusting, man known as Alex for a second longer. "Shut up and leave me alone."

"Oh, Isaac," Feizhi simpered, smiling dopily up at the stricken Venus Adept. "I knew that our love was meant to be... don't you feel the same?"

"L-LOVE?" exclaimed Isaac in a strangled voice. "What are you talk-mmmmmmmf!" He flailed desperately as Feizhi promptly embraced him. Isaac struggled, thinking he could not have struggled more valiantly had the Fusion Dragon been choking him to death in a hug- although that was too scary to even imagine, and managed to push her away. "What were you doing?" Isaac asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice, and he turned his back to Feizhi.

What he saw next made his blood run cold. There was Mia standing at the top of the plaza steps, staring down at him with a stricken expression. Alex was behind her too... what was Alex doing there? Isaac was dismayed... had Mia seen Feizhi kiss him? Would she realise it had been Feizhi behind it and Isaac would not reciprocate her feelings? What if...

"Never mind," Mia sighed and turned around to look at Alex who seemed to have recovered from his recent attack by Serac. "What are you doing here, Alex?" She asked, crossing her arms and giving him a defiant glare, trying to mask the unhappiness that she was feeling... she couldn't believe she had seen someone else... kissing... HER Isaac... it was not possible... how could she?

"Why do you look so confused?" Feizhi asked, staring at the stunned and confused Isaac who had turned back to face her. "Didn't... the old man say that he would tell you how I felt? And didn't they give you the ring? There was a young man there too, who I thought looked a bit like you..."

"A bit like me?" The clockworks in Isaac's brain were slowly turning. "Some guy who travels with an old man and looks like me? The only old man I can think of is Kraden... and what exactly did this 'young man' look like?" He could not recall having gotten a ring, but he decided to leave that out in case she was hurt.

"Yes," Feizhi nodded eagerly. "I thought it was you... he had long brown hair, and a green cape... and warm, trusting brown eyes... like a puppy! I do like puppies with those nice brown eyes..."

"Felix?" Isaac wailed in a disbelieving voice. "Felix? You're kidding? I'm not like Felix, we don't look alike, how could you mistake Felix for me?" Now Isaac was beginning to feel utterly humiliated to think that he could resemble that sulky Venus Adept who had a penchant for masks... or at least used to.

"Oh, well, the blindness of love must have been in my eyes," Feizhi murmured dreamily, a faraway look coming into her eyes. Then she thought of something. "Isaac... do... you... have someone else?"

"Well..." Isaac considered the possibilities. If he said yes, Feizhi might turn psychotic and kidnap his 'girlfriend' if she was even capable. If he said no however, Feizhi might turn psychotic and kidnap him. Either way Feizhi might turn psychotic. Therefore he would have to be evasive, he would have to skirt around the topic and try to direct her to another topic which did not turn her into a psychotic being hellbent on claiming him for her own. Or maybe he was just being too paranoid. But when your mother tries to feed you poisonous pancakes (or at least Isaac suspected they could be) how can you avoid being paranoid? "Do you like Hsu?"

"The kazoo?" Feizhi stared blankly at Isaac, her nose wrinkling. "What does the kazoo have to do with whether you have a girlfriend or not? Who is this girlfriend?"

"Who said it was a girlfriend?" Isaac shot back casually. Feizhi's eyes widened and she took a step back, staring horrified at Isaac. Isaac stared back, not understanding why Feizhi was staring at him in that manner. 'Oh no, she isn't turning psychotic is she? I want my mommy!'

"Y-you mean... you... have... a BOYFRIEND?" Feizhi cried out in dismay. Isaac's reaction took all of three seconds. In the first second, he gaped at her like a goldfish stuck to the side of a fishbowl, then in the second second he started to shake all over, incoherent noises coming out of his mouth, then in the third second he was on the ground screaming and twitching, as well as foaming at the mouth. "Oh, no, Isaac! You're not choking are you?"

"What am I doing here?" Alex echoed Mia's question, thoughtfully tugging on a strand of his long hair. He had spend half an hour that morning grooming it. In fact, while Isaac and Felix had been walking to Kraden's cottage, he had been adding the last touches of hairgel. "The answer to the question is quite simple, my dear, beloved Mia..." He foolishly did not notice the growl coming out of her mouth. "My love for you guided me here, you are like a beacon shining out to me wherever you are, a light shining in the darkness."

"SPEAKING of beacons," said Mia icily. "So the lightning of the lighthouse beacons may have saved the world, but I cannot forget how you betrayed the Mercury Clan and you tried to rule the world. So how about you just slither back to the sepulchural bat cave from whence you came?"

"But, Mia," Alex protested desperately. "I did it for you, in the hope that as I ruled the world, you might see me in a better light and might even be my consort, and we could rule the world together, you and me. I risked my life for you, is that not enough to show you how I feel about you?"

"Alex," Mia gritted her teeth and wondered if she could do something about this pesky Mercury Adept standing in front of her. A lightbulb flashed on above her head. "Thank you very much, I appreciate all that you have done for me, and I understand that you are truly psychopathically obsessed with me, which is very nice of you."

"You do?" Alex gazed in rapture at her, and his eyes sparkled. "That is truly a joy, Mia, I am very happy to see you finally understand my feelings. I am happier than I have ever been before, and it is made better by the fact that you are here, telling me that you are happy for what I have done."

'Does he have to talk so much?' Mia wondered, chewing on her bottom lip. 'Sometimes I think that Alex is worse than Kraden... definitely worse than Kraden. That old man couldn't possibly rule the world... he would have given up just trying to scale the first foothill of Mt. Aleph!'

"Alex," Mia spoke in a clipped tone. Alex jumped at the mention of his name, as if a Jupiter Adept had just stuck a pin into his rear. But of course the Jupiter Adepts were currently down in the plaza, discussing goodness knows what. "Come with me, it is time I finally demonstrate my feelings for you."

"Yes, Mia," Alex simpered. Mia almost threw up, but she did not, and felt heartily disappointed for she would have loved to have thrown up at Alex... especially on his hair. His hair was vile, it reflected the sun and it shone like a second Mercury Lighthouse beacon in her opinion.

Mia led Alex all the way up to the river that ran through Vale and came to a stop just south of the first bridge, directly next to the waterfall at the end of the river. Alex looked around expectantly, as if he was expecting something to happen. Mia smirked evilly, but of course Alex did not see her evil smirk.

"Here is perfect," Mia turned to Alex, a big, broad, fake smile plastered on her face. "I think that we should do it here."

"Here?" Alex gasped out, his eyes turning as big as saucers. "But, my darling-" Mia gagged again but of course Alex did not notice that, he was too busy talking as he always was. If Vale had turned into a crater in that very moment, he might still have gone on talking. "Do you not think it is a little bit public?"

"It will be all right," Mia assured him in a soothing tone. "Nobody willl see us..." 'And if they saw me do it, they might build a shrine to me and worship me,' Mia added privately. "Alex, close your eyes." Alex immediately did so, and she sensed that he was feeling very excited, presumably about the prospect of something very different, Mia thought grimly. "Alex, I have longed to tell you this for a long time, and I am so happy we are finally here together so that I can show you..."

"You..." Mia took a deep breath, smiling evilly and pausing to check that Alex was just the right distance away from the river. Good. "Are..." Mia took a step closer to the eagerly waiting Alex, his eyes still closed of course. "A..." Mia flung out her hands and shoved him so hard, he landed in the river with a resounding splash. "SCUMBAG!" Alex screamed and flailed, but Mia was quicker and summoned a wave of water to carry him down the waterfall.

"Miiiiaaaaaaaa!!!" Alex screamed as he plummeted down the waterfall towards the mountains to wherever the Mt. Aleph boulder had gone. "I'll be back for yoooooouuuuu!!!" And then he was gone, and Mia breathed an audible sigh of relief.

'That's one problem solved,' Mia smiled in satisfaction, turning and starting her way back to the plaza. 'Now what about Isaac and Feizhi? I feel I've just... got to ask what's going on... I.... don't want him with her... I want him... with... me...'

"F-Fei...zhi...." Isaac had finally managed to compose himself. He was pale as a ghost, but he did not really care about that right now. He was still too stunned at somebody assuming he had a boyfriend. "I... no, you got it wrong... I just meant that I might not have a girlfriend. I'm not homosexual, I assure you..."

"Do you... love somebody else then?" Feizhi ventured nervously. Isaac was taken aback at the question, but he knew that he would have to answer her, he was still scared of her turning psychotic on him, especially since he did not really know Feizhi all that well.

"I... yes, I do," Isaac finally admitted, vigorously nodding his head. "I'm sorry but I've already got my eye on somebody else. I just don't know yet if she's going to reciprocate my feelings..." 'And you probably messed it up by kissing me in front of her,' Isaac mentally added with a hint of sadness in his expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Feizhi went scarlet, staring down at her boots. "I didn't realise... I thought that the old man would give you the ring... or... Felix, was it? I thought you'd know how I felt about you, they said they would tell you... I'm so embarassed! Please, can you accept my apology?"

"Okay," Isaac said numbly, deciding to have a talk to Kraden. His blood ran cold as he realised he actually wanted to talk to Kraden, and he wondered if he was actually going insane? "I accept it. So, what are you going to do now? Go back to Xian?"

"I think I'll stay at the inn," Feizhi indicated the Vale inn. "For tonight, I suppose."

"It's okay, you don't have to go straight away," Isaac assured her. "Well, I've got things to do, so... later." Rather than wait for a response from Feizhi, he turned and fled up the plaza steps, almost colliding with a certain blue-haired female Mercury Adept. "M-Mia!"

"Hi, Isaac," Mia was not going to beat around the bush, she was going to come straight out with her question. "What was going on down there? You know, when Feizhi kissed you, right? You two... haven't got something going on have you?" She knew it was a foolish question, considering that Isaac and Feizhi had only met like three times, and Mia had been there at both times, and to tell the truth, Isaac had not spoken a word on any one of those occasions.

"No!" Isaac wailed in a voice that was so loud that even Mia was taken aback. She noticed the flush that crept along his nose and cheeks, and took this as a positive sign although... it was still too early. "It's not like that, Mia... she just had a crush on me and she kissed me out there with no warning. In fact, she apparently met Felix and company on their journey, and Kraden pretty much promised to tell me how she felt about me and to give me a ring, which I frankly do not have."

"Ohhh!" Mia felt a huge surge of relief flooding through her. "That is such a relief! I'm so glad that there's nothing going on between you and Feizhi..." She noticed a suspicious, hopeful look creeping into Isaac's eyes and hurriedly changed the topic around. "I think you'd be better off with a girl you know," said Mia abruptly, turning and heading off back in the opposite direction, her face flaring red.

'A girl I know...' Isaac watched Mia's retreating back and his mouth spread into a secretive smile. 'You're just about there, Mia... oh, Mia... when are you going to actually tell me your feelings? Well... no time to waste, I had better go and see Kraden about a certain ring... and a certain girl... even if he tries to talk me to death. Maybe I'll just stuff a handkerchief in his mouth or something.' Whistling, Isaac headed off towards Kraden's cottage.

"Jenna?" Felix ventured nervously, watching the raging pyromaniac wearing a green hat on her head shouting out random words, some of which were dangerously close to rude words. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Jenna turned her fiery gaze to him and even Felix flinched when faced with his sister's immense rage. "What's wrong? What do you THINK is wrong, Felix?"

"Well," Felix paused, considering what was different about Jenna today. "It is difficult to say, but it might be something to do with the fact that you are wearing a hat, when I have never seen you wearing a hat in your whole life. But perhaps you are just developing a new fashion sense?"

"Ugh," Jenna shook her head and grabbed his arm, forcefully pulling him into a shelter of trees. She then pulled off her hat and shook her hair down to her shoulders. "THIS is what is wrong. Look at my hair!"

"Whoah..." Felix stared at her newly auburn hair. "Jenna! Who said you could dye your hair? Besides, that colour is a bit... weird..." 'And it reminds me of your doofus boyfriend,' He added sourly, although he restricted it to his thoughts, since he did not really want to make Jenna any worse.

"I didn't dye it!" Jenna was beginning to get very fed up of people accusing her of dying her hair. "I know who dyed it, it was Sheba! Sheba dyed my hair... I'm going to make that Jupiter Adept pay for this! This is a heinous crime! She should be arrested for... cruelty to hair!"

"You're positive that Sheba did it?" Felix asked cautiously. He had noticed Garet, Jenna, Ivan and Sheba acting very strange, and he was beginning to suspect that something was about to happen. "But why would she do it?"

"I know she did it," responded Jenna stonily. "We.... me, Garet, Ivan and Sheba, we are... plotting against each other. And anyway, why else would she have been the first up and ran out of the house just as I was looking in the mirror? And why else is she hiding from me?"

"Well..." Felix shook his head, not knowing what to say about his sister's dire situation or what to make of the whole thing. "All I can say is that your hair colour is not really something to dye for-"

"Felix," Jenna interrupted. "Make another joke and you're going to find yourself in hot water, got that?"

"Er, sure," Felix nervously took a step backwards in case she tried to do it anyway. "Anyway, you should wash your hair. That hat is not very... becoming. Did you dig it up or something?"

"Actually," Jenna was horrified at the thought she might wear something she dug up, in fact she didn't like to dig. Hence Felix had the Scoop Gem, and nobody else did. Neither Jenna or Sheba had particularly liked the idea of digging, and besides it was a Venus thing. "It was a present from Grandmother a few years ago."

"Oh..." Felix mentally hit himself. Of course it was from their grandmother, from what Felix was able to remember, she had been particularly good at giving him and Jenna particularly bad clothing. He remembered the time he had received a yellow jumper. Fortunately, that day, Garet had injured his arm on some barbed wire and Felix gave him the jumper to bind up his wound. The bloodstained yellow jumper had then been discarded of. "But then who says Grandmother never dug anything up?"

"Felix..." Jenna shook her head and put her hair back up, stuffing it into the detested beret. "You wouldn't understand why Grandmother would not dig, so never mind."

For some reason, Felix felt a little insulted. Then a thought occured to him, and he was amazed that the thought had not occured to him until now, but at least it had.

"Hey," Felix said suddenly. "How did you know that I was saying 'dye' and not 'die' just then? Don't they sound the same?"

"Wha..." Jenna stared open mouthed at him, then she clamped a hand on his forehead. "I think you're a bit feverish. Must have caught something at Kraden's cottage, you should go and rest-"

"But I'm not-" Felix protested. Too late, Jenna was dragging him back to their house. Their parents were somewhat surprised to learn that Felix was going to bed and Jenna was having a shower this late in the day, but they said nothing of it.

While Felix tossed in and turned in his bed and Jenna scrubbed away at her hair, Isaac headed towards certain doom at Kraden's cottage. Garet finished his chores and started cheering for a few moments until he realised that he still had five days left. Ivan and Sheba continued to talk about mysterious things down in the plaza, and Picard... well, Picard was currently fending off a gaggle of Valean girls. Kay not included, naturally. For something was terribly wrong with Garet's big sister. And Mia continued to walk around Vale, being very bored.