"Umbra!?" I scanned the immediate area, but he was nowhere to be seen. 

Panic swelled in my chest. I couldn't have lost him, not when I promised his father that I'd bring him back!

Split up?

Split up.

~.~.~

Almost as soon as they broke apart, Eliphas and Don Thousand began searching in different directions. Panic scurried between their minds like a rat, and while Eliphas tried to calm that panic, Don Thousand embraced it and used it to power the frantic search.

"Umbra!" Don Thousand shouted down the hallways. "Where are you!?"

Where were the guards we captured? Eliphas asked calmly. Don Thousand could hear the worry under the calm, though. Did they escape?

That should be impossible! Don Thousand raged. They were under our spell! They shouldn't have been able to break it!

But what if it was weak? We never tried something like that before!

They both cursed their lack of practice. What good was having powers when nothing was done with them?

Don Thousand slowed down. He felt Eliphas's concerns. He was worried about the people in the igloo, waiting to be taken home. He worried that they'd be waiting for a long while yet. Don shook his head; Eliphas could be such a fool sometimes.

Eliphas, take the others to their homes. I'll keep looking for Umbra.

Are you crazy? This place is a maze! You can't possibly search by yourself!

Are we just going to leave them there? The igloo is warm, but they can't want to stay there forever!

Eliphas was silent for a moment, but he finally sighed. Fine, he said. Fine. But promise me you'll be thorough.

Don Thousand smiled. I promise. I won't leave Umbra here. He's one of the better people we met.

Besides those in Etheria?

But Don didn't reply to that. He felt Eliphas blink out of the building and knew he would be alone for a while. A hand strayed to the third eye on his forehead. He could feel power there; was there a way to harness that power? Could he use it to see? It was worth a try, anyway.

Don Thousand sat down in the middle of the hallway and closed two of his eyes, leaving the third one open to search.

~.~.~

Eliphas appeared in the igloo and felt a small ping of playful satisfaction when the six former prisoners jumped out of their skin.

"Who are you?" Yama asked guardedly, and Eliphas had to remind himself that these people only saw Ambrose.

"My name is Eliphas." No need to reveal that he was half of the person they knew. "And you're Yama."

Yama nodded, but he was still standing protectively in front of the other five. Silent amusement filled his chest, and the small chuckle he felt from Don confirmed that he was seeing this, too. 

"What do you want?" Yama asked.

"I'm taking you to your homes."

Umbra's father stepped up. "Where's Umbra?"

Lie, Don Thousand urged. Eliphas waited for more, but it seemed his other half was occupied with something else, so he did as suggested.

"With my partner," Eliphas replied calmly. He kept a straight face; it wasn't like it was hard to do. "They had some unfinished business to attend to at the compound, but they will be back shortly." Hopefully.

I'm working on it, Don supplied.

"I'm not going anywhere until I see my son." The father glared at Eliphas, and the mother nodded fervently. 

Eliphas shrugged apathetically. "Very well. I could leave you here, if that's what you prefer. I have no qualms with that."

Amused satisfaction settled in his chest again, though he didn't outwardly show it. He just grabbed two of the former prisoners.

"Where are you two from?" he asked, voice devoid of anything.

One of them, a woman, replied, "Etheria."

The other, a man, replied, "Clockwork."

Eliphas nodded. He turned to the rest of the people. "I'll be back. Wait here, and don't wander off."

Without waiting for a response, he teleported off Wintra and to Etheria first, thanking whatever allowed Don and himself to wake up that the locations of the countries were still the same. He dropped off the woman first.

"I can't take you any further than this," he told her, "but I trust you can find a way back home."

The woman nodded. She took his hand; Eliphas's brow quirked up in slight confusion and intrigue. "Thank you," she whispered and kissed his armored hand, right on the gem. A pleasant flutter coursed through him, as though that kiss was embedded in his blood. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

A small smile graced his lips. "I'll pass the message on to my partner," Eliphas replied. He turned then to the man as the woman walked off to find some mode of transportation. "Clockwork, was it?"

The man nodded.

"Where is that? I don't think I've been there before. Give me a general direction, and I should be able to find it."

The man pointed east. "It's focused on technology, and we build our houses to be automated."

Eliphas nodded before the man could continue; that was all the information he needed. He closed his eyes and looked for the tangy feel of technology.

~.~.~

A few false starts later had Don Thousand's third sight sailing through the halls. He felt free as a bird, less constricted than when Ambrose jumped from mechanical body to mechanical body. Unseen by anyone, he entered rooms freely, stayed as much as he needed, and exited. No one even knew someone else was in the room with them.

He entered another room and found it was dark. It felt cold, even as he watched on with his third sight only. His physical body shivered as though he were in that same room. 

He searched the room carefully. For some reason, this room felt a little more ominous.

There was a shape in the room, someone lying on what looked like a table. The figure was dark and seemed to blend into the shadows; Don couldn't tell who it was. His third sight inched closer.

Footsteps were coming closer. Don didn't bother hiding. He couldn't be seen anyway. So, he kept focusing on the figure on the table. Bright markings could be seen; they were oddly familiar.

He inched his sight closer and tried to hop onto the table for something more than a floor-level view. After a few false starts (which only serve to increase his frustration as the footsteps grow closer), he managed to lift his sight onto the table. To his complete and utter shock, the face he's met with is Umbra's. 

He's here! Don exclaimed. He barely felt sorry when he felt Eliphas wince at his outburst. Umbra's here!

And suddenly the footsteps stopped. A trickle of apprehension shot down Don's spine because there was no one else in the room. Carefully, he cracked open one eye.

He barely registered Eliphas's alarmed cry before he blacked out.