Disclaimer:  Much to my disappointment, I do not own Diadem.

            Score stumbled back, his eyes fixed on the form of their enemy, rising from the pedestal his body had been laying on.  Score bumped into Helaine, who’d been looking the other direction.

            “Score!  What are you doing?  Stop messing around and…,”  Helaine began, but her voice trailed off as she saw the cause of Score’s surprise.

            “Um…,” Score said slowly, his eyes still fixed on Dironal’s somewhat groggy looking body.  “This can’t be good.”

            Helaine shook her head as she and Score backed away.  She reached instinctively for her sword, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Score was already conjuring a large fireball.  At least they weren’t totally unprepared.

            Finally Dironal seemed to notice the two magicians staring at him in amazement.  “Score?  Helaine?  What are you guys doing?”

            Helaine finally seemed to have regained some of her wits.  “That’s not important.  What is important is that you take us to Pixel.  Now.”  Then Helaine raised her sword, an indication of what she intended if Dironal disobeyed.

            “What do you mean?”  Dironal asked.  “I am Pixel.”

            “Right,” Score said sarcastically.  “Of course you are.”  Then he looked over at Helaine.  “Can I toast him yet?”

            Helaine shook her head.  “No, don’t forget that we need that body to get Pixel back.” 

            “But if Dironal’s back in his body, does that mean that Pixel’s back in his?” Score asked hopefully.

            But then Dironal interrupted, saying, “Dironal’s back in his body?”

            Score and Helaine looked at Dironal in confusion.  “You’re just not that bright, are you?” Score asked.  “You are Dironal!”

            “What?” Dironal said.  “You’ve got to be kidding.”  But then he seemed to suddenly realize that something was wrong.  He looked down at himself and his eyes widened in shock. 

            “No,” Dironal said.  “This can’t be happening.  Oh God, no.  It’s worse than I thought.”  Then he jumped down from the pedestal and sat in the middle of the floor, his head in his hands.  Helaine and Score could barely make out the sound of Dironal murmuring ‘No’ over and over.

            Score looked at Helaine and raised an eyebrow.  She could almost hear him saying “This guy’s a nutcase.”

            Then Helaine reached down, grabbing Dironal roughly by the shoulder.  This seemed to jerk him out of his insane mumbling.  “Helaine!” he said as he looked up, his voice desperate.

            “You’ve got to believe me!”

            “Believe what?” Helaine asked.

            “I’m Pixel.”

            Score rolled his eyes, but Helaine paused.  A curious expression on her face, she simply said, “Prove it.”

            Dironal nodded.  “Okay, I’ll tell you both personal things about yourselves that only I could know.  How’s that?”

            Neither Helaine nor Score said anything, which Dironal must have taken as consent.  He turned to Score.

            “Score, every time Helaine cooks for us, you turn your serving into a burger when she’s not looking.”

            At this, Helaine looked accusingly at Score, who just looked embarrassed and shrugged.  Then Dironal (or Pixel?) turned to Helaine.

            “And Helaine, you used to sleep with a teddy bear named Mr. Fluffums.”

            As soon as Pixel said that Score burst out laughing and Helaine’s cheeks turned bright red.

            “Okay,” Helaine said, holding up one hand while smacking Score with the other.  “I think we’ve got enough proof now.  We believe you, Pixel.  But how’d you end up in Dironal’s body?”

            Pixel sighed and said, “I have no idea.  It must have had something to do with the spell he used to transfer himself into my body.  The last thing I remember is feeling myself finally fading away, and then I was here.”  He paused, considering.  “Most likely it’s just that two spirits can’t really fit in the same body.”

            “So what are we going to do?” Score asked.  “I mean, we have to get your body back.”

            “I think it’s time to go back to where we’re supposed to meet Oracle and see if he’s got the spell worked out,” Helaine said.  She felt much better now.  It was good to have Pixel back, even if he wasn’t in the right body.

            When Score, Helaine, and Pixel reached the decided spot, Oracle was already there waiting for them. 

            “Does it work?” Pixel asked eagerly.  Helaine and Score had explained everything to him on the way there.

            “It works,” Oracle said, raising an eyebrow at Pixel in Dironal’s body, but obviously suspecting the truth.  “Though we did have an interesting accident involving Shanara and Blink switching bodies, but that’s another story.”

            “And it’s definitely one I want to hear about,” Score said.

            “Later,” Helaine replied as Oracle handed her a slip of paper. 

            “Okay, this is the spell,” Oracle said.  Then he handed Helaine a small pouch.  “And inside this are the ingredients you’ll need.  It’s a mixture of several ground herbs and various other things.  You’ll need to sprinkle it on both bodies, then say the words of the spell.”

            “Simpler than most of the ones in Helaine’s book,” Score said, looking over Helaine’s shoulder at the slip of paper.

            “Okay, we’d better get going,” Helaine said.  “We don’t want to give Dironal any more time to plan.”

            After saying their goodbyes, they were on their way.  They talked most of the way, glad to be back together.

            “So,” Pixel said.  “Has anything interesting happened since I’ve been gone?  I mean besides finding out that my body had been stolen and all.”

            Helaine and Score looked at each other and then quickly shook their heads. 

            “No,” Helaine said.

            “Definitely not,” Score added.

            Pixel looked at them critically, but decided not to comment.  He’d find out later.  Right now they had bigger problems. 

            Pixel led them straight to where Dironal was.  They crouched behind a tree as they watched Dironal in Pixel’s body, still reading Helaine’s Book of Magic.

            “So,” Score asked.  “What’s the plan?”

            Helaine sighed, then said, “Well, this is the best I’ve got.  I’ll distract him, then you and Pixel get close enough so that you can sprinkle the dust on both of them, and then we’ll all say the spell.”  They had memorized the spell on the way there.

            Score nodded.  “Not the best we’ve ever come up with, but it’ll do.”

            Dironal was so intent on his book that he didn’t even notice Helaine until she was standing right beside him. 

            Dironal looked up at Helaine and said, “Well hello there.  I knew you’d come.  Took longer that I thought it would, though.”

            Helaine shrugged.  “We had to strategize.”  Then she pulled out her sword, holding it menacingly towards Dironal.  “We’re done now.”

            Dironal laughed.  “Dear child, you’ve got to be kidding.  With all of my newfound power, you plan to defeat me with a sword?”

            Helaine smiled, then said, “Something like that.”  She tried to keep her gaze leveled on Dironal, and ignore the fact that Score and Pixel were slowly sneaking up behind him.  But before Score could even pull out the sack full of powder, Dironal turned around and threw his hands out at Score, mumbling something under his breath.

            A ball of light flew from Dironal’s outstretched fingers and straight into Score.  Suddenly, Score fell to his knees, screaming.  Pixel jumped back, his eyes wide.

            “The power stealing spell!” Pixel yelled.