Jaejoong heard everyone's sharp intake of breath.

"The Oracle!" blurted Lady Hye-Kyo's fear-laden voice.

"The Oracle had taken over Dara's body!" screamed Cloud in fear.

Jaejoong faced Dara, now under the control of the Oracle.

"I thought the Oracle needed a as her incarnation," Jaejoong commented. He tried to appear calm while his mind furiously thought of a plan how to handle the situation. He must find a way to free Dara from the Oracle's control.

"Dara had always been my best incarnation," the Oracle smirked. "That has not changed in spite of what you have done to her! My mental and emotional connection to her has remained intact." She pointed the sword toward Jaejoong. "Even as a child, she was special. She always knew what I wanted her to do. And she obeyed me without question. She was perfect for my needs. I always needed three women to serve as my incarnations to be able to have full use of all my powers. But somehow, even then, I sensed that I could use Dara and still be powerful enough even without the others. I was about to try this experiment when you suddenly took her from me, Jaejoong!" Her voice rose in anger. "But that's already in the past. I had enough time to think and plan for this day when Dara would return to me."

"Get out of her body, Oracle!" Jaejoong said firmly.

"You do not have the power to order me, Kim Jaejoong! And you cannot take Dara away from me because I will always find her wherever she goes. We are connected! We have always been one, and her body is now mine! I no longer need that child they gave me to be my Destiny incarnation because I now possessed Dara's body! She will be mine until the day she dies!"

"This is impossible!" blurted Cloud. "The Oracle can't leave the temple on her own! The Fireshadow always needed an incarnation to go from one place or another!" Cloud began to move away as the possessed Dara continued to walk toward Jaejoong.

Jaejoong remembered Dara's dreams. The Oracle had been visiting her dreams. He had a suspicion even then that the Oracle was able to link with Dara through her dreams. It was possible the Oracle also used that link to take over Dara's body. He gripped his sword. He had no intention of fighting the Oracle because he would also be fighting Dara. But he could not allow himself to get killed. Dara would not want that to happen.

"Dara hasn't become your incarnation, Oracle, you simply possessed her body. But I bet, her mind continually fights you," he ventured. This was just his guess, but he needed to find out if Dara was still inside her body. If she was still there, he needed to make her come out and wrest control away from the Oracle.

"Her struggles are useless now since she had allowed me to enter her mind. I will not let her go again, Jaejoong. And you can't separate us again. It was meant to be that Dara would become my true vessel." She expertly used the sword to cut through the air. "With the magic I possess and her body's fighting abilities, no one would be able to stop me. I would once again take control of Haldor's future!"

Jaejoong tensed as the Oracle prepared to attack.

"Cloud, find a way out of this situation from your vast storage of knowledge."

"What do you think I have been doing since that Fireshadow appeared?" he snapped.

Jaejoong noticed that Cloud had rolled away from him and had been keeping a wide distance between them. The little cloud must have remembered the Fireshadow's ability to keep Cloud trapped inside Jaejoong's body. Something about the presence of the Fireshadow affected Cloud's freedom.

The Oracle attacked! Jaejoong quickly parried and met Dara's blade mid-air with his own sword. He couldn't help but notice that his power of foresight didn't activate! Only his reflexes saved him. This wasn't the usual case. Every time he was in danger, that power would show him how to defeat his enemies.

Realization dawned on him. The power of foresight belonged to Dara! It would never consider Dara a threat or danger! It would never show him how to defeat or hurt Daral. He finally understood why during their training in the oasis, he could never see Dara's attacks! He always had to rely on his instincts.

Yoochun had quickly stepped away, dragging Lady Hye-Kyo with him and giving Jaejoong and the Oracle enough space. Junsu and Bom had remained where they were, watc