Hey my honey-bunches of oats! Thank you soooo much for reviewing, you have no idea how much it means to me! Every time that I see I have a review, I want to cartwheel in joy! I would, except for the tiny fact that I don't know how to do a cartwheel...T.T...

ANYWAY SAPPY TIME OVER! Here's Chapter Eight, I don't own anything, blah blah, READDDDD

Chapter 8:Mutations

By the end of the day, they had found the perfect spot for their new village. It was a couple of miles away from the cave system, in a wide, open field with a stream running right through it. Far off to one side of the field the forest began, so the people would have no trouble getting wood and food from the forest. The area was ready to go: construction on it would begin as soon as possible. Building materials-wood, stone, etc.-had already been moved into the area, and were merely waiting to be put together.

Now, Kisshu sat at a table in the main hall of the cave system, finishing up dinner. It had been a good, productive day. He was falling back into the rhythm of working with his people-even in the old days, when things had been very dark, Kaybler had always been working for the people to improve their lives. Now, Kisshu was back in the familiar pattern of working with people just like him, all striving towards the same common goal. It was something he could never quite have had on Earth.

Kish was jerked from his daze when Pai sat next to him and said, "Kisshu, I need to talk to you...and Searadesi."

Kisshu looked at him in surprise. Pai looked serious-well, that wasn't unusual for Pai, but he looked more so than usual. "What about, Pai?"

"Her visions."

That got Kisshu's attention. He had been wondering about the visions himself. "Okay, where is she?"

"Over there," Pai answered. Kisshu looked in the direction he'd pointed and saw Searadesi sitting alone, looking preoccupied. He waved at her, and she looked up. After a moment, she stood up and made her way to their table. Kisshu noticed her wipe at her cheek hurriedly as she walked, and he wondered if she'd been crying.

"Hi," Searadesi said, sitting down across from Pai and Kish. Kisshu and Pai greeted her, and then Kisshu said, "Pai wants to talk to us about your...visions."

Searadesi looked at Pai intently with those humongous silver eyes. "Have you found something out?"

"Yes..." Pai seemed reluctant to speak, even though he'd been the one to broach the subject. "I ran some tests on your blood and looked a few things up. I think..." he trailed off.

"What? What do you think?" Searadesi asked sharply, looking strained.

Pai sighed and looked her. "You said that the visions started a couple of months ago, around the time Deep Blue came to us," he stated.

"Yes," Searadesi confirmed.

Pai sighed again. "It is my belief that when Deep Blue came to us, some of the Mew Aqua in his body was permeated into the villagers...and it has started to mutate them."

Kisshu and Searadesi stared at Pai, shocked. Mew Aqua again? Mutating villagers? Kisshu felt like screaming. He'd thought all of their trouble with Deep Blue was finally over.

"M-mutate them?" Searadesi forced out. "My...visions?"

"Yes," Pai answered. "It may just be you...but it seems unlikely. So far, you are the only one."

"Wait, mutate how, exactly? With...the power of foresight?" Kisshu asked.

Pai said, "It's possible that the Mew Aqua affected only Searadesi with that particular power. It could be anything. We just don't know yet."

Searadesi asked quickly, "Am I still mutating? Is it going to get worse?"

Pai hesitated. "I don't know. This is...a very rare situation. I have no idea how it's going to play out."

Searadesi looked pale and clammy. Kisshu, remembering how upset she had been before while simply TALKING about the visions, could imagine how she was feeling now, knowing they might become even more intense, or worse. He reached out and patted her hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Pai's practically a genius, he'll get you through this."

Pai raised an eyebrow at him. "Practically?"

Kisshu rolled his eyes. "Fine, you ARE a genius. You get my point."

Searadesi smiled slightly, though she didn't look like she was really listening. "Pai-kun, what exactly IS Mew Aqua? I have a general idea, but I want to understand it completely."

Pai looked at her slowly, then said, "It is the purest possible form of water, without a single combating element. It possesses great power to heal, create, transform, and in some cases, destroy. There is no other substance like it in the world."

Searadesi nodded slowly, still looking worried and upset. Pai, looking unsure of what else to say, said, "I'm going to go tell Kaybler-san the news." He stood up and walked away.

Kisshu felt awkward. Searadesi had looked sad when she walked over to them, and she looked worse now. Kisshu wondered exactly what had gone on her life to make her look so lonely now. He wanted to help her.

"Hey," he said gently, "Searadesi-chan. It really will be okay. Pai knows what he's doing."

Searadesi looked up and smiled a real smile at him this time. "Okay. Thank you, Kisshu-kun."

On impulse, Kisshu put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Call me Kisshu, Shirubaaizu-Chan." Shirubaaizu meant "Silver Eyes."

Searadesi looked surprised, but not displeased. She smiled.

Later, after he had said good-night to her, Kisshu walked away with a very strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wondered about it, but he didn't understand it, so he decided to put it from his mind for now.

Update 10/31/10: Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that National Novel Writing Month is starting November 1st, so I probably won't be updating for a while. I apologize, and I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible! In the meantime, R&R and Happy Halloween!