It was one o'clock in the afternoon in the afternoon before Isaac woke up the next day. Cursing to himself, he got dressed and proceeded downstairs.
"Oh, um, hello," he said awkwardly, finding everyone in the TV room.
"Hi, Isaac!" Mia said brightly. Everyone else exchanged dark looks, and clutched ice packs to their heads tightly.
"'bout time you woke up," Felix grunted. "We thought we needed to get someone to wake you up."
"How come you've all got ice packs?" Isaac asked. All eyes were on Mia, who simple smiled back at them all innocently. They then turned back to Isaac, who was still waiting for an answer.
"Er... headache," Ivan grumbled. Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"All of you?"
"Hungry, Isaac?" Mia asked, saving everyone from explaining. Isaac turned to her.
"Uh... okay, yeah."
"Okay, I'll go make some toast."
Mia scampered off eagerly into the kitchen, leaving a group of stunned teenage Adepts in the TV room, mouths slightly open.
"Gee, never knew your girlfriend could have so many mood swings," Ivan remarked. Isaac flushed, but then he became suspicious.
"What do you mean, "mood swings"?" he asked. Sheba stomped on Ivan's foot, causing him to wince.
"Er, nothing," Jenna said quickly. Isaac raised an eyebrow again, but at that moment Mia came skipping in (Well, not literally) with a plate of buttered toast.
"Here you go," she said brightly, setting the plate down on the table. Everyone stared at it: A sheer mountain of toast, at least 20 slices high. As everyone stared, a reporter appeared on the TV.
"This is Mt. Buttered Toast, a massive monster of a meal. 20 slices high, it reaches up to 9 feet high, and spans at least 20 metres wide. If you choose to scale this momma, be warned: It'll spit YOU out like a bit of food between your teeth."
Isaac stared up at Mia, who was smiling in anticipation.
"Er, thank you very much," he said. Mia beamed.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me," she said, and disappeared into the kitchen.
Isaac watched her leave, then turned back to Mt. Buttered Toast. His eyes bulged.
"Um... could you guys help me eat this?" he asked timidly. He became desperate when everyone shook their heads. "Please? I can't eat this by myself!"
"Sorry pal," Garet said with a slight smirk. "I'm afraid you're on your own with this one."
Isaac's stomach sank, and with grief he picked up the first slice of toast.

^

The guys walked wearily along the streets of Vale, with Isaac leading the way. He was clutching a bulging stomach - after he eventually ate Mt. Buttered Toast, Mia had insisted that he drink a whole vat of orange drink, or as the others had dubbed it, Lake Fanta {"Yeah, I know they don't have Fanta. Bear with me, will you?"}. As a result, Isaac's stomach had to do an afternoon shift to digest the food.

@ (Inside Isaac's stomach)

"Mmf! Must... digest..." the stomach grunted, pumping endlessly to let the toast proceed.
"We are free! Onward, to the lower intestine!" they cheered. The stomach's eyes bulged.
"No, not there!" he shouted, but it was too late. The toast became digested, it passed through the lower intestine, and became, cough, natural (but perhaps nuclear) gas.

@

*Censored!*
"Whoa, dude!" Garet said, waving his hand about. "Warn us next time!"
"Sorry..." Isaac said. "Man, my stomach hurts."
Felix, Garet and Ivan sniggered, making Isaac frown despite his pain - and the gas.
"Why didn't you just refuse the food, then?" Piers asked (the boat couldn't be wedged from the house yet, so he stayed for a while, much to Sheba's dismay).
"Yeah, good point," Ivan said.
"Hey, hey!" Isaac said, as the others started laughing. "You don't want to upset Mia... she's a hurricane if you get her angry."
The others, Piers included, looked at each other, then collapsed on the ground with laughter. Isaac fumed as he watched them roll on the ground, laughing helplessly.
It took at least five minutes for the guys to calm down. As Ivan wiped away a tear of laughter, Isaac started tapping his foot impatiently.
"Are we quite done?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," Piers sighed, "but I find that highly difficult to believe."
"Yeah," Garet agreed. "We all know that Jenna is a living volcano, but Mia? She's about as harmless as a Vermin."
"So then," Isaac said thoughtfully, "just what happened when Mia left my room last night?"
Everyone suddenly grew silent. For a while no one said anything, and Isaac frequently glanced between his dumbstruck male Adept buddies.
Eventually, Garet cleared his throat.
"C'mon," he said, "We need to go to the market."
Ivan, Felix and Piers nodded, then they started to follow Garet.
"Guys? Guys?" Isaac hurried after them, but he never got an answer.

@

The girls - excluding Dora (who always seemed to be away) - were still cleaning dishes while the guys were away.
"I still can't believe Isaac managed to eat all the toast," Sheba said, generally surprised. Mia smiled.
"A person's gotta eat to make himself really strong," she said.
"Yeah, especially if you want him to show off his rippling muscles to you later," Sheba pointed out; making Mia blush while Jenna sniggered.
"It's not like that," Mia said, beet red and shaking his head.
"Suuure it's not," Sheba said sarcastically. "Who knows? Maybe he's at a gym right now, buffing himself up for you."
"Where'd they go, anyway?" Jenna asked, unintentionally changing the subject.
"Um... Isaac said something about going to the market," Mia said. Sheba raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised he could say anything after that meal," she said.
"There, the last plate," Jenna said, placing it carefully in the cabinet. "Let's go and look for them, in case they've gotten into trouble."
"Knowing them, they've probably gone and tried to test their skills in some bogus game," Sheba said disgustedly.
"Er... this sounds like deja vu," Mia muttered, hitching her bag over her shoulder. They left the house in a somewhat apathetic mood, leaving the house sparkling clean - until mealtime, or when the boys returned, whichever came first.

@

"Hello, Mum."
"Hello, dear."
Nothing more was, nor needed to be, said between Dora, who was again checking out the jewellery stalls, and Isaac, who walked on ahead with the other guys.
"Geez, you and your mother don't say much," Piers said. Isaac shrugged, but started looking pensive.
"Y'know, for the past two months she's been talking about marriages in a distant voice," he said.
"Really?" Garet remarked.
"Anything else?" Ivan asked, intrigued.
"Well actually, yes there -" Isaac stopped. "Hang on, why do you need to know?"
"Oh, I dunno," Ivan said hazily, "we might need blackmail to use again you later."
Garet laughed rudely, and even Piers smiled sheepishly. Felix didn't say a word, choosing to keep his comments to himself.
"Gee, some friends you guys are," Isaac muttered.
"What're we doing here, anyway?" Piers asked. Garet shrugged.
"I dunno, ask Isaac. It was his idea."
"I'm looking for something... something special to give to someone," Isaac mumbled, twiddling his thumbs and looking down at the ground.
"Mmm? Would this someone have blue eyes, blue hair, be a Mercury Adept and have a name starting with 'M'?" Ivan sniggered. Isaac became mortified.
"No!... it's... it's for..." He became quiet for a moment, and he shifted his feet nervously. "Um... well... you won't laugh when I tell you something?"
"No, I guess not," Garet said.
"Okay." Isaac took a deep breath. "I... have been looking for a present to give to Mia. I want to tell her that I... that I love her."
Whatever reaction Isaac expected, it wasn't what he got. Instead of jaws crashing to the ground, Garet and Co. simply stared back at him. Only Piers looked mildly surprised.
"So, you finally admit it," Ivan said finally.
"Yes, I... eh?"
Garet, Ivan and Felix shook their heads in pity.
"Geez, man," Garet said. "You make it as if it's all new to us."
"Well, I only expected Felix to know," Isaac said, making a face. He turned to Felix. "Did you tell them anything?"
Felix shook his head in disgust.
"He didn't tell us anything," Ivan said, insulted. "Honestly, it wasn't as if it was difficult to see."
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.
"You're really asking that?" Garet asked in amazement. Isaac nodded innocently, and Garet gave a loud and heavy sigh. "We saw the way you looked at Mia during battles, how you constantly daydreamed about her - and when we woke you up you bashed our heads in, how your eyes light up when she smiles -"
"Knock it off," Ivan groaned, clutching his stomach. "You're making me sick."
"The point is," Garet continued, ignoring Ivan's complaining, "is that it was impossible not to notice. We've known since we met her in Imil."
"I... that is... but I..." Isaac stammered, but he stopped protesting and hung his head. "I guess there's no point in denying it any longer."
"That's right," Garet said, then in a spooky voice, "We know what you ate last Tuesday."
"That's not funny," Isaac said, making another face. "Besides, there's just one problem."
"Wait, lemme guess," Piers piped up, "she doesn't know how you feel, right?"
"That's... right," Isaac said.
"I must say," Garet said, "you catch on quickly. I'm impressed."
"Thanks," Piers said, beaming.
"Anyway," Isaac said impatiently, "you see my dilemma. But I'm hoping I can capture her heart with this..."
He picked up a pendant from a display. It featured a sparkling Mercury Djinn, and when Isaac flipped it open, it played a beautiful melody. Inside where spaces for two photos, so Isaac dug into his pockets.
"Whatcha looking for?" Ivan asked, but he didn't have long to wait, because Isaac pulled out a photo - and Bane.
'Zzzz... *Poof* Oy! What's the big idea?'
"Oh, sorry," Isaac said, placing Bane pack into his pocket. He turned back to the pendant and held out the photo: Isaac on the aerie of the Venus Lighthouse, holding his Gaia Blade.
"Nice shot," Garet said, looking over Isaac's shoulder at the photo. "How'd you manage to take it?"
"Er..." To be honest, Isaac had no idea how he'd managed to take a photo of himself from the top of Venus Lighthouse. He looked back at Garet, who was still waiting for an answer.
"Well?"
"Hey!" Isaac said suddenly, making everyone (including Felix) jump. "Garet, ol' buddy, how would you like to help me with something?"
"Eh?" Garet looked at Ivan, Felix and Piers, who shrugged back plainly. "What did you have in mind?"
"I need you to - EEP!"
Isaac suddenly dove behind the counter, and the others spun around to Jenna, Sheba and Mia about 20 metres away at a perfume counter.

@

"Why are we even here?" Sheba asked, as the girls strolled around.
"We're looking for Isaac and the others," Mia replied.
"Why?" Jenna asked, frowning.
"Ohhh, I get it," Sheba said, smirking.
Mia looked at Sheba then sweatdropped.
"What are you thinking?"
"You wanna tell Isaac how you feel," Sheba taunted, then in a sing-song voice, "Mia and Isaac sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N -"
"Please, be quiet!" Mia whispered, as passers-by glanced at the girls strangely. "Besides, I can't tell him that!"
"Why not?" Jenna asked. "It can't be that hard to say three simple words."
"That's what I thought," Mia said, then she lowered her voice. "I've been watching TV talk shows lately."
"Why?" Sheba asked, pulling a disgusted face. Mia frowned at her.
"It's better than watching violent movies about werewolves and voodoo chickens," she said. Sheba snorted a laugh, then Mia continued. "Recently, the topics have been about couples and their dreaded secrets."
"Heh heh, you've been Barry Ringer, have you?" Sheba asked, as she turned to Jenna. Jenna shook her head, so Sheba grew silent again.
"Not exactly," Mia said. "I find their solutions to problems rather unorthodox. No, I watch Golden Gab myself... but that's not the point. I've been watching the disputes the couples have, mainly about secrets they've kept from each other for years. They got me thinking about something?"
"What?" Jenna and Sheba chorused.
"Well," Mia started slowly, "what if I confessed my feelings to Isaac? What would he say?"
"What? What would he say?" Jenna asked.
"That's just it," Mia said quietly. "I don't know. What if he rejected me? What if he chewed me up and spat me out like a wad of bubblegum?"
"You don't know that he'd do that," Jenna said reasonably.
"That's right... I don't know," Mia said. Her eyes darted around, then when she spotted something they lit up. "But maybe that might help."
Without warning, she darted to an armoury display a few metres away. Jenna and Sheba watched after her, then Jenna spotted Garet and the others off at one of the other displays. She nudged Sheba and pointed, then they both proceeded to the guys.

@

"Looks like they spotted us," Garet said, pointing towards Jenna and Sheba.
Ivan took one glance at them, then asked, "Hold on, where's Mia?"
Felix shrugged.
"I dunno, but Isaac will be glad, 'ey bud?... Isaac?"
Everyone spun around to the jewellery counter to find Isaac gone. They started scratching their heads in confusion as Jenna and Sheba approached them.
"Hey, guys," Jenna said cheerfully.
"Oh, hey," Garet said absent-mindedly, still looking around in an attempt to find Isaac. Jenna raised an eyebrow and voiced the question everyone was thinking.
"Where's Isaac?"
A tall guy in red and white striped clothing appeared out of nowhere.
"I'm right here."
Everyone else made faces.
"We're looking for Isaac, not Wally. Get outta here," Sheba said.
"Okie dokie."
Wally has left the building.
After the initial surprise following that, a long, uncomfortable silence followed.
"We... have no idea where Isaac went," Piers said finally.
"It's a good thing Mia's not here either," Jenna said with a sigh of relief. "She'd probably do nuts if -"
"Well, what do you know?" Ivan remarked. "If Isaac were here, he'd be relieved. But speaking of Isaac, I guess we'd better go and look for him."
"Unless he's gone looking for Mia," Garet added. Everyone exchanged dark looks, then they split into two groups - Garet, Ivan and Piers went searching for Isaac; and Jenna and Sheba went to find Mia.

@

"Thank you very much," Mia said, handing the armoury salesman the money. She looked at her purchase: a leather sheath encrusted in beautiful jewels. At the top was space for someone's name, Mia hoped she'd be seeing Isaac's name on it if he accept the gift.
Suddenly, a loud crash brought Mia back to reality, and she spun around to find Isaac lying on the ground among various types of armour.
"I'm... I'm so sorry!" he stammered, picking himself up. In a flash, he cleared up the mess he made. "I'll be out of your way," he said, nodding at the bewildered salesman as he backed away from the display.
He didn't notice Mia until it was too late, and he collided with her.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I... Mia!"
Isaac's heart nearly committed a kamikazi attack, and Isaac clutched it in shock. Mia, picking herself up, luckily didn't notice Isaac's reaction. She tucked the sheath into her robes as Isaac started to regain her composure.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mia, I didn't mean for that to happen, I -"
"Isaac, that's okay," Mia said breathlessly, smiling. "It was just an accident."
"It's just... I have something to give you," Isaac said, reaching into his pocket.
"Oh, I have something for you too," Mia said, reaching into her robes.
As they handed each other their gifts, a feeling of comfort and tranquillity passed through them. Their hands touched, and clouds in the sky scattered. Their minds melded into one, their souls bound together, their bodies momentarily combined, their -
"There you are!"
"*Censored*!"
Isaac swore badly as almost on cue the two groups found the two lovebirds, and once again the fantasyland was crushed. Mia looked at Isaac in shock, then they turned to see Jenna, Sheba, Garet, Ivan, Felix and Piers running towards them.
"Guess I'll see you around," Isaac said.
"Yeah, I guess," Mia said gloomily, and they walked back to their respective groups.

@

"Phew, we found you," Garet said, catching his breath. "We thought you'd gotten yourself into trouble."
"No," Isaac said bluntly.
"Hey, nice piece of accessory," Ivan said, pointing to Mia's gift that Isaac had slung over his shoulder. Isaac turned to look at it and smiled.
"Thanks, Mia gave it to me."
"Oh," everyone said slowly.
"I guess Mia has her gift, then?" Isaac asked. Isaac nodded.
"I thought you were gonna wait," Piers said. Isaac shrugged.
"I guess there was no point in being afraid of giving Mia a tiny gift," he said. "And compared to admitting to her how I feel about her, it was nothing at all."
"So, you haven't yet?" Garet asked.
"No," Isaac said, looking down at the ground. "And I'm running out of ways..."

@

"Wow, that's beautiful!"
Mia had shown Jenna and Sheba the pendant, and they were all crowded in front of it.
"Open it up, see what's inside," Jenna urged, and Mia obliged and opened up the pendant. Suddenly, music started, and the girls closed their eyes to listen to the relaxing melody.
"Now this is beautiful," Mia sighed. The others nodded in agreement, and for a few minutes they just listened to the soft tunes.
"Is there anything else?" Sheba asked eventually, and their eyes popped open. Mia looked to the compartments and flipped them open. The first thing their saw was the photo of Isaac.
"Wow," Sheba said. "Interesting pose. Any idea of how he managed to take the photo?"
Mia and Jenna shook their heads.
"Not even I know how he took that photo," Mia said, shaking her head. But when she thought no one was looking, she smiled to herself.

Chapter 9 - Follow the leader

The girls returned to Isaac's house later that evening. When Mia, Jenna and Sheba walked in the door, they found Garet, Ivan and Felix sitting around watching TV. Piers was in the kitchen eating an apple, and he walked back into the TV to find the happy people.
"Hey, you're back," he said cheerfully.
"Hey," Jenna and Sheba replied apathetically.
Mia looked around, expecting to see Isaac hanging around somewhere. Disappointed, she turned back to the group.
"Where did Isaac go?"
"He's outside," Ivan said. "Said he had to do some training."
"What for?" Sheba asked. "There's nothing to train for. Our journey ended months ago."
"Yeah, we know," Ivan replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Still, that's his excuse."
"He has a million excuses for everything," Garet said, shaking his head. "Where ya going, Mia?"
"After hearing of Isaac's location, Mia had started to walk to the door.
"Oh, I'm just going out," she said. "I forgot to do something."
She left the gouse before anyone could ask her any more questions, and everyone stared after her. bewildered.
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Garet asked the others. They stared at each other, then nodded simultaneously.
"I reckon so, G man," Sheba said.
"Shall we?" Jenna asked. Everyone nodded again, and they got up and left the door after Mia.

@

"Hiiii-yah!"
Isaac lunged at the tree stump and struck it with immense force. Although he couldn't slice it, he hit it with enough power to shake it violently.
After a few more strikes, Isaac put down his sword and mopped his sweating brow.
"Whew! That was tough!"
He mopped his brow once more, then got out a comb and brushed his hair egotistically. Looking around, he put away his comb and cloth, then picked up his Gaia Blade.
"Okay, let's try this again... hee-yah - whoop!"
He added too much energy to his attack and ended up overbalancing, falling backwards into another tree. After recovering, he picked himself up and looked around apprehensively, hoping that no one was watching. Finding no one around, he picked up his sword again and got to work.

@

Mia explored the streets of the town, desperate to locate Isaac. She wandered through the deserted marketplace, and as owns hooted and flew overhead, she started to think aloud to herself.
'Maybe he does like me. I mean, this gift (She took out her pendant and held it) has to mean something special if he gave it to me face-to-face..."
She opened the pendant and stared at Isaac's photo, and the grin on Isaac's face managed to melt Mia's heart once again. Sitting down, she stared at the photo and listened to the melody delving into her own world.

^

"Heeee-yaaaaaaaah!!!"
A distant shout awoke Mia from her stupor, and she woke up suddenly.
"Isaac?"
She listened intently for another shout, and was rewarded with a loud grunt and a yelp of pain.
"Isaac!"
She got up in a flash and bolted in the direction of Isaac's voice.
Behind her, Garet and Co. struggled to keep up.
"Man! I never knew she could run fast!" Felix grunted.
"You should've seen her run from a spider in the Kolima forest," Garet breathed.
"Yeah," Ivan agreed. "She took one look at it and bolted back to the exit."
"Isaac had to go and persuade her to come back," Garet said, and everyone but Piers smirked.
"He had to hold her hand while we explored the forest the first time," Garet said. "Although she didn't complain about that, you couldn't imagine the look on her face when we were told to get the Hermes Water from Mercury Lighthouse and come back."
Everyone, Piers included, started to laugh, but they stopped immediately when they saw Mia up ahead.
"Shh!" Garet whispered, and everyone hushed and hid behind some bushes.
Up ahead, Mia had found Isaac and was crouching behind a tree stump, so that she could watch him in secret.

@

"Huff... puff... once more..."
Isaac took a few minutes to regain his strength, then he lunged at the tree stump again.
"Eiiii - whoa!" Isaac mistimed his approach, and when he slammed his sword into the stump it got jammed. "Stupid thing!"
He clasped his hands together, then breathed out slowly and grasped his sword with both hands. Grunting, panting, sweating and cursing obscenely, he tugged desperately at the handle. Tugging with all his might wasn't enough, however. Instead, he tugged too hard and fell backwards, rolling into another tree.
"... mamma mia. This-a is not-a going too well..." he said, eyes swivelling.
Up above, Mia giggled uncontrollably at Isaac's mishap, and behind her the others had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing. Isaac still heard this, and he stood up suddenly and looked up to find sources of the noise. Mia gasped unaudibly and crouched lower behind the tree stump, and this was Garet and Co.'s cue to hide as well. Trying not to make too much noise so that they didn't alert Isaac or Mia, they scrambled behind their hiding spots, hoping no one would notice them.
Back down below, Isaac shook his head and turned away, then eventually pulled free his weapon.
"I must be losing my mind," he muttered. "I could swear I heard laughter."
He looked up again to be sure, and that's when he caught sight of Mia's forehead, with her hairband protruding over the top of her tree stump. He stared at it for a few seconds, then he shook his head and turned away again.
"Now I'm hallucinating," he muttered. "That can't have been Mia..."
He picked up his Gaia Blade again and wiped his sweating brow with his arm. Takinf a few deep breaths, he readied himself.
"Right... 3... 2... 1... yee-haaaa -"
*Grumble*
Isaac fell down in stupidity as his stomach began growling.
"Oh yeah, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast... lunch... whatever."
He got up, dusted himself off and slid his Gaia Blade into his new sheath. He looked around again first, then crept into the darkness of the woods.
"Uh oh," Mia squeaked. She stood up from her hiding spot and sped away to the house. Behind her, Garet and Co. started to panic.
"What do we do?" Jenna cried, dancing on the spot.
"Silence!" Garet commanded. Immediately everyone grew silent. "It's no problem... it's no problem."
"So then," Sheba said impatiently, "what do we do?"
"Er..." Garet was dumbfounded, and everyone fell down in stupidity.
"Never get guys to solve your problems," Jenna muttered. Sheba smirked snidely, while Garet, Ivan, Felix and Piers scowled.
"Any smart ideas then, Sherlock?" Ivan said irritably.
"Naturally," Jenna replied, and she started to pace.
"Er, guys -" Piers began.
"It's simple, really," Jenna continued.
"Guys?"
"All we have to do," Jenna resumed, ending her pacing, "is return to Isaac's house casually and make up an excuse for being out."
This took a while to sink, in, then everyone but Jenna fell down in stupidity again.
"Nice idea, Einstein," Garet growled, getting up. "Even I could've thought of that!"
"Guys?" Piers began again.
"Why didn't you?" Jenna asked.
"Er..."
"Guys?"
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.
"... too late."
Piers pointed in front of them. Mia and Isaac had returned from the house (And Mia had managed to snake her way out of a lengthy explanation with a rather unorthodox excuse). Mia was back behind her tree stump, and Isaac was back in front of his. Miraculously, neither had noticed the quarrelling group of Adepts, and Garet and Co. sighed in relief, before covering their mouths.
“That was… too close,” Ivan whispered.
“Yeah,” Garet agreed. “We’ll have to be more careful this time.”
Everyone murmured in agreement, then they huddled behind/inside their hiding spots to watch.
“Phew, that was close,” Mia sighed, wiping her forehead with a cloth in relief. She then chuckled to herself. “Fancy Isaac scoffing a bowl of soup, an entire tub of chop chip ice cream AND seven glasses of orange juice in one go… with my help,” she added cheekily, sighing happily to herself again before nestling behind her tree stump to watch Isaac’s antics.
“Man, I’m stuffed,” Isaac said. “Dunno why Mia needed to research different types of fungi though… I hope she’s not turning into Kraden.” He suddenly let out an enormous belch. “Excuse me.” He turned red as he whipped around to check that no one was watching again. “Okay, here we go,” he said finally, cracking his knuckles.
His watch beeped.
“Aw, man!”
Isaac sighed heavily and slid his Gaia Blade back into his sheath and trudged towards the house wearily.
“Oh boy,” Mia said, and she sped towards the house again. This left the remaining clan of bewildered Adepts.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ivan said, and everyone started trailing back to Isaac’s house.

@

Isaac stumbled into the house and collapsed onto an armchair.
"So... exhuasted..." he gasped, then he jumped and turned around as the front door creaked open. "Who goes there?" No answer. "Who dares invade upon thy territory, privacy and safety, and speaks not of their name to me?" Still no answer. "Speak now and answer me, or I'll strike upon thee with thy trusted blade!... ANSWER ME!!!"
Mia froze on the spot, stunned by Isaac's sudden demand.
"Um... it is I, Mia. I ask of forgiveness from theee, and apologise for disturbing one's peace."
Isaac's heart leapt, not expecting to find that it was Mia who'd entered. He managed to regain his composure and spoke again, albeit with a slight croak in his voice.
"Apology accepted. Please, approach and explain your case."
Mia hesitated, then entered the TV room and approached the back of the couch.
"Now, my child," Isaac said solemnly, "what troubles you so?"
"W-What do you mean?" Mia stammered, turning red. Isaac grinned slightly, and although she couldn't see it, her face became a sparkling ruby - in colour at least.
Isaac couldn't see this either, but he knew what she was thinking and continued. "Now, now. I am not here to make one sub-conscious and worried. However -" He grinned widely, and Mia chose the wrong moment to actually approach him face-to-face, "- I must say the red in your cheerks suits you perfectly."
Isaac continued to grin on the look on Mia's face, which had become the reddest in existence (Which is that? Maroon, ruby, tomato?...). He even chuckled slightly in amusement, and this made it almost impossible for Mia to respond.
"I, uh... um... I just... didn't mean... I uh..."
Isaac chuckled again and sat up, holding up his hand to the still-stammering Mia.
"Fear not," he said. He lifted Mia's chin up so that they could look directly at each other.
"I just..."
Isaac shook his head. "Why do you fret so?" He placed a finger on Mia's lips to silence her, then the two of them just looked at each other.
Once again, their faces grew closer to each other. Isaac became intoxicated in Mia's perfume, and Mia thought she was looking into crystal mirrors - the reflection she got from Isaac's eyes was so bright that no amount of darkness could tamper with it.
'This is it,' she thought to herself. 'My dreams are about to come true at last. I wonder if anyone but Sheba and Jenna knows... oh boy, we'd have some explaining to do...'
'I can't believe it,' Isaac thought to himself. 'I'm finally going to admit my feelings to in the best way possible. Gee, I'm hungry... I wonder if there's any chips that Mum's hiding in the kitchen..."
After practically an eternity (About 36 seconds in our time), Isaac and Mia were once again nose to nose. 'Almost there' they told themselves, 'until I've admitted my love at last.'
Suddenly, Garet and Co. barged into the house, out of breath and puffing.

?

Isaac and Mia broke away, then stormed towards Lord Cynic's dressing room.
"I'm sorry mama, I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I'm cleaning out my closet..." Lord Cynic sang into an imaginary microphone. He was about to sing "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up" when Isaac and Mia crashed in (And it's probably a good thing... you don't wanna hear Cyn singing... bad...).
"What's the meaning of this?!" Mia raged, spraying spit on Cynic.
"What do you mean?"
"We mean," Isaac said, frowning, "this constant delay between us finally admitting our love!"
Lord Cynic suddenly became white and covered Isaac and Mia's mouths with one hand each.
"Don't give away the ending! Argh, youth... never grateful..."
Isaac and Mia looked at each other, then when Cynic released his hands they backed out of the room slowly, leaving Cynic to his 'singing'.
"Are you ready yet?" Garet asked impatiently as Isaac and Mia returned.
"Er... yeah..." Isaac said slowly. He and Mia got back into position, and the story continues.... now!... now!... NOW!... NOW!!! NOW NOW NOW NOW NO - OWW!!!

?

Isaac and Mia nearly choked. and they quickly pulled away from each other (Fat lot getting into position did, then... stupid Cynic). Then, Isaac's face became a vision of darkness: his eyes narrowed and became red, his brows furrowed, his spiky blonde hair became straight and silver (The horror?), and he seemed to sub-consciously emit a dark flame around him.
When everyone caught sight of 'Evil Isaac' {"I probably need a better name."}, Mia scuttled behind the TV, and the others immediately retreated as far away as possible. However, they couldn't escape from this blonde - er, silver terror, and he started walking towards the retreating Adepts.
"Now, now, Isaac," Ivan stuttered nervously. "Let's not become hasty..."
"Y-Yeah," Garet stammered, but his eyes widened when Isaac formed a Ragnarok with his Psynergy. "No, no... put that down, Isaac..."
"Don't hurt us!" Jenna squealed. Isaac chuckled malevolently, and the others sweatdropped when a wide, sinister smirk spread across his face.
"I'm not gonna kill you..." he said slowly.
"Phew," Piers said, sighing in relief. Garet, Ivan, Jenna and Sheba (who had become mysteriously silent all of a sudden) looked at him strangely. "What?"
They shook their heads, and Piers and Felix turned to Isaac, who was still brandishing his Ragnarok.
"No," Isaac said, shaking his head. "Instead, I'll send you all to Lalaland {"I'm one for originality, aren't I?... aren't I?"}..."
Remembering that she herself had said that before, Mia giggled to herself. Everyone, including Isaac, turned to look at her, or rather the TV and seeing all the staring faces (somehow) she turned scarlet.
"Sorry... don't mind me..." she mumbled, turning around again.
As Mia dropped her gaze to the floor, Isaac turned to face the others, who stopped chortling to themselves.
"What are you going to do?" Jenna asked as Isaac started to walk towards them again.
"Now to worry," he said calmly, but no one relaxed because he was still holding his Ragnarok at the ready. "This won't hurt - much."
And before anyone could speak, he had launched his attack on his unfortunate friends. They lay on the floor, unconscious, as Isaac's hair began to turn blonde again. He made his Ragnarok disappear, then turned to the TV - but Mia had slithered behind another armchair.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Isaac sang teasingly, searching around the room. Mia scrunched herself into a ball behind the chair, hoping Isaac wouldn't find her and glad he couldn't read minds.
"Come out Mia... I promise I won't hurt you..."
As Isaac passed Mia's hiding spot without seeing her, Mia gave an inaudible sigh of relief. Eventually Isaac gave up and shrugged.
"Oh well. I'll be going to bed. Goodnight."
He made to ascend the stairs, but stopped on the bottom step. Instead of walking up, he stood on the bottom step and simply stomped on that step, imitating walking sounds.
As Isaac faked the steps, Mia crept out of her hiding spot and proceeded to the staircase - where she met the waiting Isaac, who was smiling at her malevolently.
"Oh!" Mia squeaked. "I was just... I thought... you were... er..."
Isaac simply shook his head again and changed his smile to a kinder, saner one. Mia became very spooked.
"Okay, it's late, and I'm going to bed. Oh, and you might wanna revive the others." Isaac looked at the crumpled bunch and added, "In your own time."
Mia sweatdropped, but she bowed goodnight and watched Isaac climb the stairs to his bedroom. However, instead of reviving her fallen colleagues, she let them be.

Chapter 10 & 11 - GO!