A/N: This one took me a little longer to update, and it's fairly short. It's not the greatest but I need it so I can push things along. That being said: R&R please!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter 5:

Sheba fell onto the hard floor. Her head whipped back, slamming the base of her skull into the ground. Next to her fell Ivan, still dazed from being struck by Piers' glacier. On them, dropped the heavy weight of Ara. His knees slammed into Ivan and Sheba could feel the air whoosh out of her fellow Wind Adept's stomach.

With an angry yell, Sheba struck back instinctively. Her hand shot up and the heel of her palm smashed into the blue haired man's nose.

Ara screamed and jumped off of them. His good hand clutched at his nose which now streamed with red blood. Normally he would've healed himself, but Sheba had rocketed to her feet and was now baring down on him with the intensity and fury of a mother bear protecting her young. Snarling, he kicked the girl in the chest, sending her back into the ground to land atop Ivan.

The boy yelped as Sheba plummeted into him. His violet eyes rounded and he cursed soundly, something Sheba never expected to hear. However, she had little time to savor the phenomenon, as Ara was now stalking toward her, his hand clutched around a remarkably well crafted knife.

Sheba rolled off her friend and scrambled to her feet. Her hands curled around Ivan's collar and she jerked him upwards. "C'mon," she hissed, "Get up!"

The blonde complied, finding his balance he faced Ara. The two Jupiter Adepts exchanged looks of concern. At the moment the man was a very frightening sight. What with his disheveled blue hair, the crimson blood frothing from his nose, wrist twisting outward at an unnatural angle, and the firelight reflecting off his shining blade he could've easily passed for a bogie on All Hallow's Eve night.

"Ara!" cut in a voice like a hot knife through butter.

He froze and looked over his shoulder at a doorway. Sheba took advantage of his distraction to examine her surroundings. It seemed they had teleported into a good sized parlor room, oddly enough. A merry fire glowed cheerily in a marble fireplace, casting the scene into soft focus.

The person who had spoken was a woman of about the age of twenty five, and was now regarding Ara with a expression of shock and horror. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, "You're attacking children for Jupiter's sake!"

Staring out from beneath the angry woman's outstretched arm was a girl of ten or eleven. Like Sheba and Ivan's rescuer she had dark hair and eyes. With a look of curiosity she stared frankly at the two blondes. After what looked liked much inner debate, she spoke up in a piping voice, "These aren't children Elayne. They look like they're a good deal older than I am."

Elayne opened her mouth to protest, but the bloody Ara beat her to it. "I hate to say it, but your sister is right. These aren't mere children, they threaten the cause."

The girl smirked and assumed a smug expression. However, this was quickly wiped off her face. Her older sister narrowed her black eyes and gave Ara a death glare. With a growl she whirled around and pointed down the hallway, "Bed Isabella! Now! Master Ara and I have important things to discuss."

Isabella stood motionless for a second, looking upset. Then, with a pout, she turned on heel and marched away. Elayne watched her go, fuming slightly. Once she was sure her sister had made it to her bedroom, she faced the three Adepts arms crossed.

"You two," she nodded at Ivan and Sheba, "Sit. As for you," her eyes stared straight into Ara's own blue ones. "You- oh, you're hurt!"

Sheba blinked, a little thrown off by the woman's change in attitude. Ivan seemed to feel the same way as he spared his companion a quizzical look. Elayne rushed to Ara's side and picked up his arm gingerly. "Darn it Ara.…" she murmured softly.

The Mercury Adept withdrew his arm with a wince of pain. "It's fine Elayne," he retorted with a clipped voice, "I just need a chance to heal myself."

The woman watched with concern as Ara cast a Ply Well upon himself, fixing his broken wrist and bloodied nose. "No Ara," she informed him, "It's not fine, and you know it. I don't ask much about the work you do for the cause, but I'm your wife. I deserve to know why you're hurt and I deserve to know why you're attacking children, yes children, in my own house."

Wife? Sheba's pale brows shot into her hair. One normally didn't associate evil maniacs with being family men. This certainly was an interesting turn of events. And what was this about a 'cause?'

"I -uh…" Ara hesitated, avoiding his wife's steely eyed gaze. He swallowed and spoke up, "I'll explain later Elayne. It will all make sense in time. Just trust me. As for right now, I need to bring these two up to the Council Hall. Will you lend me some of your locks? They're," here he paused slightly, before continuing, "they're Adepts; Jupiter ones."

Elayne looked shocked for a moment, then she nodded uncertainly. "Alright Ara, I'll believe you…. Izzy!" she called sharply, "I know you're listening in, go fetch me two handcuffs."

From down the hall came a yelp of surprise, then what sounded like agreement. Elayne looked back at her husband warningly, "I will trust you this time Ara. However, if you harm these children or withhold the truth from me any more than you already have…" She let the threat stand unfinished; hovering in the air between the two.

A moment later the girl, Izzy showed up. In her hands she held what looked like shackles made from an odd, shiny material. Sheba grabbed Ivan's hand and directed a thought question at him , "What do we do?"

There was a tiny pause before Ivan answered, "If we were going to escape, we should've made a run for it awhile ago. As it is, if we stay we may learn something important."

Sheba considered this, then nodded. She pulled her hand out of Ivan's grasp and allowed herself to be locked up. As soon as she was shackled, an odd feeling hit her stomach. For a moment, she saw double before the world properly realigned herself. What was that? she wondered.

Then, it hit her. Her psynergy was gone; totally and completely disappeared. It was worse than when she had run out from overexerting herself. Even at times like that she could still feel the spark of her power deep in her core. Now there was nothing. This must be what normal people feel like… she thought dazedly.

Seemingly, Ara, who had been the one to lock Sheba up, knew what the girl was thinking. He regarded his young captive with a malevolent grin, "You like these? It took Elayne forever to figure out how to neutralize psynergetic powers."

Sheba glared at the man, then growled a low insult. It only made Ara laugh as he picked up the chains and dragged the two Wind Adepts off.

Elayne watched her husband go with dark eyes. As soon as she was sure he was gone, she twirled around and ran down the hallway into a second room. Izzy trailing behind her.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Now what?" Sheba asked crossly.

It was the morning after Ara had locked them up and taken them from his house. After a short march through darkened streets, he had brought them up crumbling steps into a large, drafty building. Several twists, turns, and more stairs had ensured before Ivan and Sheba had been thrown roughly into a small, windowless room whose floor was covered with what felt like damp straw. The door to the chamber was locked and adamantly refused to be pried open.

Ivan shrugged, despite the fact Sheba could barely make him out in the darkness of the tiny room. "Well, it isn't all bad. If we ever get out of these chains, I have the Teleport Lapis with me."

"You have the Teleport lapis?" asked Sheba, a little stunned.

"Yeah. Why's that so shocking?"

"Well it's just, if I had remembered you had it, I could've gone and given it to Mia. Then when she found Isaac and the others, they could've just teleported to the lighthouse or to the mayor's house and wouldn't have encountered Ara. We wouldn't be in this mess."

Ivan considered this, "Not necessarily. Ara seems pretty set on getting rid of us, I'm sure something else would've happened. Besides, if Garet hadn't run into him, I might not have had my vision and we would have no idea that there was any kind of threat."

"Ah," said Sheba. Then, "What did you see Ivan?"

He was silent for a moment, "I-I'm still not sure. Parts of it have already come true, like the part where Mia almost drowned, but the rest is still weird. I think, I think Ara might be planning on summoning something."

Sheba's eyes opened in surprise, "Summon? You mean like the way we summon Atalanta or something?"

Ivan hesitated, "Not quite."

The girl decided not press him. Instead, she stood up, pulling on the chain and dragging Ivan to his feet as well. "C'mon," she said, forcing cheer into her voice, "Let's see if we can get that door open."

"Alright…" replied Ivan skeptically, "but it doubt it'll work this time.

Sheba ignored him and moved to the door. She reached out a hand to grasp the handle. In the dim light, she could barely make it out. With a shriek she suddenly jumped back. It was shaking.

"What's wrong?" asked Ivan as Sheba bumped into him.

"The knob," Sheba whispered, "it's moving."

"It's what?" Ivan pushed past her and bent down to examine the knob. Sure enough, it was moving. He straightened up and looked at Sheba, "Obviously someone's trying to get in."

The girl nodded and rapped sharply on the door. "Hello?" she called warily.

There was a small shriek on the other side of the door. For a moment the handle stopped its shaking, then it started up again with renewed vigor. "Hold on in there!" a high voice yelled back.

Ivan and Sheba both took a half step back. They were wise to do so, for not a moment later the door swung open. Standing in the doorway was a small figure clutching a lock-pick and unlit candle. The Wind Adepts stared at their would be benefactor. "Izzy?" said Sheba tentatively.

The figure gave a small start, but once it had settled down, a small nod answered Sheba. "Elayne sent me…." the little girl muttered.

Ivan caught Sheba's eye and raised a pale eyebrow. She shrugged in reply to his unspoken question. She had as much idea as to what was happening as he did.

"Elayne sent you?" Ivan finally asked skeptically.

Another nod, "I'll explain in a moment." Izzy stepped into the tiny room, closing the door behind her and shutting out the little light that had filtered through. With a few muttered words, the girl rifled through her pockets before producing a match and lighting the candle.

The small flame did little to alleviate the pressing darkness. But it supplied enough light for the three to see each other clearly.

"Alright," began Ivan, crossing his arms, "talk."

"I -uh," Izzy shifted from foot to foot and pulled on one of the two black braids that framed her round face.

"Well?" asked Sheba, unsure of whether to be amused or impatient.

"Elayne sent me," the dark girl repeated once more, "She, I don't think she trusts Ara anymore."

"Probably a good idea, that," muttered Sheba under her breath.

Ivan nudged her and sent a warning glare. Sheba assumed a look of innocence, and tuned back into what the younger girl was saying. "My sister figured out that you're two of the Heroes of Weyard." The Wind Adepts nodded, Elayne had figured right. Izzy took a deep breath and continued. "She knew that there would be no good reason for the Heroes of Weyard to try and destroy what they had just saved, so obviously Ara was lying when he said you two threatened the cause."

Ivan and Sheba exchanged glances once again. Again this 'cause' had been mentioned. Ivan decided to interrupt, "So, let me get this straight, your sister sent you to tell us all this? Why?"

Sheba smirked, "Brave woman, sending a child to do an adult's job."

No one heard her and Izzy answered Ivan's question, "My sister thought it would be better for me to go. There are places in the palace that only a child can get through and she knew I would have less of a chance of being missed as soon as Ara returned home from making his report."

"Hold it, we're in a palace? And who does Ara have to make a report to?" asked Sheba incredulously. She had figured they were in some ancient manor, but a palace?

Izzy nodded in answer to her first question, but ignored the second. Then snapped her fingers as she realized something. Reaching once more into her pocket, she pulled out a small key. With a huge smile, she waved the key in front of their faces. "This," she said triumphantly, "is the key to your shackles. Here you go."

The girl handed the key to Ivan who quickly unlocked the handcuffs on Sheba, then did the same for himself. Sheba rubbed her wrists gratefully. "Thanks," she muttered.

Their heroine gazed at them expectedly. "Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Well what?"

She sighed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Elayne told me everything you need to know. She said you have a way of getting the information from me without having to wait for it to be all explained."

"Oh, right!" Sheba and Ivan exclaimed together. Now that their chains were off, the two were capable of using psynergy. Leaning forward, they both pressed slim fingers to the girl's forehead. "Mind read!" they commanded at once.

Confused thoughts and memories swirled through Sheba's mind; jumbling up together and forming incomprehensible ideas. Incomprehensible, that is, if you weren't a Jupiter Adept. Expertly Sheba picked through the many strands and layers of the girl's mind. Quickly she absorbed the specific images that Elayne had sent them, as well as anything else that seemed interesting. Only a second had passed when the two blondes were finished dissecting their savior's mind.

Izzy gave them a confused look. "That was it?" Like all non-Adepts who were subjected to Mind Read, she had no idea that basically every recent memory or thought of hers had just been memorized by two almost-complete strangers. "Shouldn't there be a flash of light or something like when Ara performs Glacier or Ply?"

Ivan flashed Izzy a smile. "A flash you mean like-" he grabbed Sheba's hand and wrapped his other around the Teleport Lapis, "This?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A/N Quick! What's an onomatopoeia for a flash of light?

Eh, screw it. Oh yes, I lied. Kraden wasn't in this one. Bet you're heartbroken, huh? Hell, no one was in here 'cept for a couple of scrawny Wind Adepts and a few OCs who will hopefully never appear again. (Except for Ara, damn him) Now, I swear, by all that I hold holy, Alex shall make my fanfic debut soon.

Reviews:

Dracobolt: My most steadfast reviewer, I fear I shall never make a chapter where I have made no typos. Alas. Yes, I know it's Weyard, my fingers just keep typing Weyward.

Kodoku: Soon enough an update for you:D

AGodofIrony: Your name takes too long to write. That's okay, I lurve you anyways sib.

Daidairo: Ah yes, about those stuck together words. I rewrote that part after my beta reader checked it, and considering it was one o'clock when I wrote it, well you get the idea. I'm glad Ara is no longer such a Gary Stu. Hopefully I can boot him out of the fic altogether. (I'm not too fond of OCs, especially my own)

L-Virus: My first non-mud shipping fan! Oh wait, make that second. (Bro doesn't like mud shippers either) Thanks for not pressuring me into doing a pair you like. Out of curiosity, what pairings would you like to see in my fic?

Sandstorm-shipping? Ah, okay. I was trying to think of something that combined earth and wind.

Luv ya all,

Zaurak