Mia entered the eerie darkness in which the only lights were Isaac's bright, illuminating eyes. They peered out from the far left of Isaac's room, so Mia presumed he was sitting on his bed. She slowly walked through Isaac's bedroom until his voice said, "Stop!” and she froze on the spot.
"Explain your purpose for entering my domain!" his voice commanded.
"Erm..." Mia's voice became stuck in her throat for a moment. "Your mother thinks it's a good idea if you got a babysitter."
"While I'm awake?"
"No, no. Only while you're asleep. You seem to have a case of sleep-casting."
Silence.
"And who did my mother assign this babysitter job to?"
A longer silence.
"She chose me as the babysitter."
Isaac took a long time for this to sink in.
"Thank you. You may leave."
Mia nodded and silently walked backwards out of the room, leaving Isaac to dwell.
"So, how'd it go?" Jenna asked as Mia rejoined them.
"He didn't seem that angry," Mia said, looking down at the ground.
"I wonder why," Sheba said pointedly. However, Mia still didn't get the point so Sheba dropped her smug expression.
"Garet," Mia said, turning to him, "You're his best friend. Maybe you'd better talk to him later about it."
Garet looked around at the others, who were all eyeing him. He shook his head quickly.
"No, no. You're not dragging me into this."
"Why not?" Ivan said, "It was your idea to spy on him last night."
"Yeah, but..." Garet thought quickly for a way to rescue him. Not finding any, he hung his head in defeat.
"Good Garet," Jenna said, patting him teasingly on the head. Everyone sniggered while Garet silently fumed.
This didn't last long though, because the door of Isaac's bedroom was twitching.
"Uh oh," Jenna said nervously.
"Everyone hide!" Ivan whispered, and everyone hurried to find suitable hiding spots.
Ivan had just crawled into a kitchen cupboard when Isaac slid out of his bedroom. His eyes were red, either with anger or because he was trying to readjust to the light, Jenna couldn't tell from her position behind a houseplant.
Everyone watched from their hiding spots as Isaac trudged down the stairs and out of the house. When the front door closed silently, everyone crawled out of hiding and met at the bottom of the stairs.
"Are you sure he left?" Ivan asked Garet, who had hid in a broom closet.
"Positive. I heard him close the door."
"Shouldn't we have someone take a look?" Jenna asked.
"Why? Let's just go," Garet said, and everyone followed him to the front door. However, behind the door waiting for them was...
"Isaac!"
Everyone nearly jumped out of their skins when they saw Isaac standing like an English guard at the top of the outside stairs. He was looking at them with a mix of contained fury and pure bad$$eyness - think Kai of Beyblades.
"Um... hello, Isaac," Jenna said, hoping it sounded innocent. Isaac wasn't fooled and fixed her with an icy glare.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked (after being repeatedly nudged by Sheba). This broke Isaac's defences momentarily, and he dropped his glares of daggers, then sighed heavily.
"A... babysitter?" Isaac's voice was filled with fear as his mind became shrouded in misery linked to his younger days...

"Isaac, dear?"
Dora peeked over her shoulder to find Isaac fiddling with pieces of a Psynergy stone.
"Please be careful with that," she said, and Isaac grinned.
"Si-nee-gee stone!" Isaac's shouted happily, clapping his hands.
"Yes dear, those are Psynergy stones," Dora said, smiling at him. She looked at her watch and shouted, "C'mon, Kyle!"
"Yes, love." Kyle walked down into the lounge room wearing an evening suit. "This makes me look like a penguin. Are you sure this is a good idea?" "Of course, Kyle," Dora said in an assuring way. They kissed quickly, causing Isaac to make a yucky face. Dora laughed on the look on Isaac's face, then said goodbye and went to the front door.
"Don't give the babysitter any trouble now, young Isaac," Kyle said. Isaac nodded quickly, and Dora and Kyle left.
However, no sooner had they departed did a knock came at the door. Isaac got up to answer the door and found a young girl, probably 17-18. Isaac didn't recognise her, so when he first saw her he became confused.
"Who you?" he squeaked.
"Hi, Isaac. My name's Lita," the babysitter said, kneeling down to say hello.
"I like Si-nee-gee stones!" Isaac said, holding his arms out wide. It was the babysitter's turn to be slightly confused as she stood up and looked at his creation.
"Si-nee-gee?... oh! Psynergy?"
Isaac nodded.
"Okay..."
Suddenly, Lita's eyes turned red. A bright aura surrounded her, and before he knew it Isaac was floating in mid-air.
"Like this?" she said, but it wasn't the sweet voice that came out of her mouth. Instead, it was harsh and artificial.
"What... going on?" Isaac said, alarmed.
"I'm in charge now. You'll listen to me or I'll place you on the roof. Capishe?"
"Yes! Yes! Lemme go!" Isaac cried.
Lita nodded and set him down on the table. Isaac shivered uncontrollably.
"Now," Lita said, "Let's get some food into you. And I mean, into you."
Isaac's eyes became wider than saucepans...

"Isaac? Yoo-hoo, Venus boy!"
Isaac blinked and looked around. Garet was standing in front of him, clicking his fingers. Everyone else was huddled up against the front door, looking at Isaac with the same fear he had shown on his face. Isaac snapped out of it and resumed his Kai face.
"So, a babysitter, eh?" he said, feigning astonishment. He looked around at them all (Garet had retreated back to give him room). "Do you all think I'm a baby?" They shook their heads. "Do you all think I'm incapable of looking after myself?" Another shake. Isaac raised his voice. "Do you all think I'm psycho?!"
"Isaac, stop it!"
Mia had stepped out to face him. The others stared, expecting the worst.
"Why are you lashing out on us?" Mia asked, voice full of alarm. "We didn't mean for this to happen. If you want to blame someone..." She gave a small smile. "... blame Sheba."
Sheba's face became that of a zombie as she looked at Mia as if a spider had dropped on her head. Everyone but Mia turned to stare at her, and it was obvious she didn't know how to handle this.
"Why are you all looking at me? Even if I was the one who the suggest Mia was the babysitter, I never said Isaac needed one..." She regained her smugness. "If anything, whoever ends up married to Jenna needs a bodyguard."
Now all eyes were on Jenna, and she glared at them all back. Garet's face became slightly red, but no one seemed to notice this.
"Anyway," Isaac said angrily, "There is no way I'm having a babysitter!"
"Oh, come on," Sheba said, and Mia knew what she was going to say, "Not even Mia?"
A vein in Isaac's temple throbbed painfully, but he didn't seem to notice this. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and everyone thought he was going to go DBZ and transform into a Super Adept Isaac or something.
His anger outburst didn't arrive, however. On the contrary, his face became cheerful for the first time today.
"What's all the fuss, guys?" he said, a wide grin on his face. Everyone sweatdropped. "Babysitter, schmaybesitter. It concerns not a Jedi like myself."
If younger Isaac's eyes were like saucers, everyone else's eyes were like satellite dishes, Mia's included.
"Isaac, what -" she began, but Isaac was already heading off into town.
"... I think he lost it," Ivan said, and everyone murmured some word of agreement.

Chapter 3 - Night One

Mia had resigned herself to a long night of Isaac-watching/Isaac-sitting, and was rocking on a chair outside his bedroom, sipping a cup of tea. Dora had gone out for a late night, so Mia was in no danger of waking up Isaac's mother.
Now and then she listened intently for signs of Isaac's sleep-talking, but he was silent in his sleep. Also, she had to occasionally Douse herself to keep herself awake.
Eventually she toppled backwards off her chair, and although she didn't physically damage herself, she wondered if she woke Isaac up. All was silent though, so she breathed a sigh of relief and resumed her idle rocking.

A strange thumping, which was coming from the stairs, attracted Mia's attention, and she crept over to see who, or what it was. Mia was surprised to see Jenna climbing the Mt. Everest of stairs, dragging a dozing Garet.
"Jenna, what are you?... Why is he......... H-Huh?" Mia was bewildered.
"Oh, don't mind us," Jenna said casually. "I slipped out of the house while Felix was watching The Bold and the Beautiful -" Jenna giggled to herself, "- And Garet's family was more than happy to let him visit Isaac. They said it saved them from his thunder snoring for a night."
"Then why is he asleep?" Mia asked, pointing to the sleeping Mars Adept.
Jenna sighed and rolled her eyes.
"He fell asleep on the way. I have to drag him most of the way here."
Mia was about to comment on this when bickering could be heard coming from the bottom of the stairs. She and Jenna peeked at the foot of the stairs to find the young Jupiter Adepts arguing over something.
"Ssh!" Jenna called from upstairs, and Ivan and Sheba stopped their arguement. "Get up here and shut up."
Ivan raised an eyebrow, but he and Sheba obliged and joined the other Adepts outside Isaac's door. Garet was still sound asleep, and a wide smirk grew on Sheba's face.
"You mind if I wake him up?" she asked. Jenna looked down at Garet, then shrugged.
"Go ahead."
"Excellent," Sheba said in a Mr. Burns manner, and everyone got a little scared. She took in a deep breath and prepared to blast Garet with a really, really, really, really... really, really, really loud shout.
However, Jenna realised what Sheba was up to so before she could say anything, Jenna whispered, "Flare."
A small flame lit up and zoomed straight for Garet.
"YOOWWW!!!" Garet shot straight into the air and shocked Sheba, who jumped back and landed on Ivan's foot.
"Argh!" Ivan hopped painfully on the spot, holding his squashed foot.
"Sssh!" Jenna and Mia put fingers on lips furiously, and eventually everyone became quiet.
"Did we wake him?" Mia asked nervously, but she got her answer when Isaac burst through the door, riding his bike.
"So, Bit Cloud, we meet again!"
"Uh..." Words of intelligence from Garet.
"You think you can defeat me?.......... oh yeah? We'll see who gets the last laugh! My Saber Tiger will destroy your Liger Zero!"
And with that, Isaac darted downstairs on his bike - or tried to. As soon as he got to the last step, his 'Saber Tiger' 'tripped' - in reality, the left back wheel of his bike got stuck on the step. He tumbled down the stair and landed in a heap.
"Isaac!" Once again, the others had to rescue Isaac from his own mess. Carefully, they lifted the bike off the unconscious Isaac, then lifted his limp body up the stairs.
"So, who's gonna place him back onto his bed?" Mia asked. Again she got her answer, with the sadistic faces of her friends.
"Seriously though," Jenna said, "If Isaac wakes up and finds us here, he'll freak."
"Okay, fair enough." Mia sighed and tries to lift Isaac by his arms, but struggled.
"Um, here," Garet said. He started to glow, and Mia stepped aside. Soon, Isaac was floating in mid-air.
"Let's give the Venus boy some air space, people," Ivan whispered. The others obliged and sidestepped to let floating Isaac a clear road.
A few tense moments later, Isaac was back on his bed. This left someone to cover him up {"I won't be responsible for my actions if you start thinking hentai images..."}. Mia sweatdropped nervously.
"Do I have to do it?" she asked. Jenna nodded, and Mia sighed.
So, Mia tiptoed into the darkness of Isaac's room, wondering how Garet managed to 'Move' Isaac onto the bed in the first place. However, light from outside told Mia that the door was still open. Of course! Garet could see! ... wait, Garet's eyes were closed. How would he... never mind.
Inside, Isaac was still motionless on the messy blankets strewn on the bed. Mia approached the bed; cautious of certain situations she'd find herself in if Isaac woke up. Silently, she laid the first blanket on top of his still body. Next, she placed a doona cover on top of the blanket, then she looked around. It was a suitably chilly night tonight, so she decided to place a third doona cover on top of the previous two.
She looked nervously at Isaac's face. 'What if he woke up?' she wondered, but the others were urging her to escape while she could. Quickly but quietly, she backtracked again through Isaac's room, but not before smiling to herself.
{"Following this, I'm still warning you people..."}

"What took you so long?" Garet asked as Mia rejoined them.
"It's cold, so I put extra covers on him."
"Worried little Isaac's gonna be a little cold?" Ivan sneered. For the first time, Mia glared at him.
"Do you remember when we first met in Imil?" she asked him. He and Garet nodded. "That cold was terrifying, and really dangerous. If I wasn't there to care for the sick people, they'd die." She lowered her voice. "Like my grandparents would've."
"But," Garet said, "When Saturos and Menardi lit the lighthouse, the fountain with healing powers flowed again. You don't need to worry anymore."
"Yes, but don't you see?" Mia said, upset. "People everywhere were ill. The cold was really scary, even for me. What if I'd fallen victim to it and couldn't heal myself? Then everyone would've died!" She was becoming hysterical.
"We understand what you mean," Jenna said, before Garet could speak again, "But what does the Imil illness and tonight have in common?"
Mia calmed down a little. "I guess I was just worried. I care for all of you, and it worries me to think of horrible diseases that the cold could inflict on you. Except," she added, as Jenna and Garet had opened their mouths to speak, "for you two, Jenna and Garet. I know you're Mars Adepts, you can protect yourselves against the cold. And since I'm a Mercury Adept, I'm immune to it. Still, I'm afraid of what could happen if you got struck down with a disease. I can't heal pneumonia, you know." {"Yeah, you're seeing deja vu. She said something like that to Isaac in Dragon Empress's "Seven Days", but don't kill me!"}
Everyone nodded, and Ivan shivered slightly.
"I s'pose it's getting to me. I'd better... wait. Garet, use Flare."
Garet's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"You heard me. Before I turn into an ice cube."
Garet shrugged, closed his eyes again and whispered, "Flare." Soon, Ivan was smokin'.
"Ah... that's better..." Ivan looked around at everyone's sweatdropping faces. "What?"
"Nothing..." they chorused. They spent the rest of the night around Garet's Fireball, just in case.

Chapters 4-5 = GO!