Fury swirled within him, but Eliphas knew the fury was not his own. It was a welcome feeling even though it didn't really bode well. As long as he felt something familiar, he supposed it was fine.

Tentatively, he reached out. Don? Are you there, my dear?

The endearment was apparently a bad idea. The fury grew into an inferno of sorrow, anger, and strongest of all, hate. Like a whip, it lashed against their shared bond. Eliphas barely had any time to block the attack. His head whipped to the side as if he were struck.

"Very well, then," he muttered to himself. "But promise me you won't do anything rash."

Of course, there was no answer. He didn't expect one anyway, but it still stung a bit even though this was the case for thousands of years. Not for the first time, he wondered what this isolation--which was now self-imposed isolation--was doing to Don. He also wondered whether his isolation was affecting Etheria.

But that was a thought to follow another time. For now, he needed to do as he'd told the council and perform his scry. With passing greetings to the people who gave him a "good morning," he walked straight back home. He didn't bother going to the mechanics, shipyards, or hangars today. They'd understand.

So, he bypassed his usual stops--the shipyard and the hangar--and hurried into his little home. Once again, he settled himself down on his living room floor and closed his eyes. This time, he didn't seek to make contact with Don. That didn't work so well last time. Instead, he focused more on his dream, which he remembered very little of by now. His breathing slowed minutely, little by little until his mind was cleared. Then, with barely a thought, he plucked the dream from its forgotten location.

~.~.~

The capital city in Etheria was burning. Eliphas hurried through the streets, smoke burning through his lungs, but that didn't make sense. This world promised not to hurt him, didn't it?

But he set that aside. He needed to get the people to safety.

He broke into houses and held them up with his spells as the people trapped inside scrambled to get out and into the open air. With that done, he moved on to the next, and the next, and the next. He continued working until he came upon a silhouette. The figure's features were loosely defined; Eliphas could really only make out a body in front of the long hair, long sleeves, pointed ears, and sad eyes. His eyes drifted to the figure's midriff. Something golden bulged.

"Ellie, where are you?" it whimpered. 

"Ambrose..." Eliphas whispered. "What...?"

The golden orb started oozing golden ichor. The figure groaned and hugged its stomach tightly. "It hurts... Ellie, make it stop!"

"I-I don't know how! What should I do?"

The figure shrieked. "MAKE IT STOP!!"

And suddenly a hand stabbed right through its stomach.

The silhouette's scream was cut off with a pained choking sound. It looked down, moving its hands aside. The golden ichor oozed lazily around the hand poking through, that warm black hand whose claws were now stained gold.

Weeping golden eyes looked up at Eliphas. "Ellie, help..."

The hand yanked out. Another pushed the silhouette over. The assailant's face was now visible, red and blue eyes flashing dangerously. Eliphas backed away. The expected feel of pavement on his feet was absent, replaced with a nothingness so strong he flinched. All around him, the burning city bled away, replaced by a void.

"Don..." Eliphas whispered.

"Eliphas," Don Thousand replied. He stepped over the silhouette's body. "You left me."

Eliphas took another step back. Don took another step forward. "Don, please. I didn't-"

"Didn't mean to leave? Oh, you meant it, my dear."

Eliphas flinched at the venom in the endearment.

"And now, you can watch your precious city burn. And you with it!"

And then he was back in the burning city. He was racing through the smoke-filled streets. The smoke stung his lungs, but he quickly uttered a spell that filtered it. 

"Don!!" he cried, cupping his hands around his mouth. But he may as well have been speaking in a whisper; the roaring fire drowned out his shouts. "Don, where are you!?"

The silhouettes around him--they appeared out of nowhere!--were scrambling around in mad panic. They had no direction, and there was really nowhere safe for them to go to. One sweep with his mind told him that the fire blocked all the exits, all the hidden passages, and invaded the safe houses built for just this occasion. 

"Don!!"

And then there he was. Standing over a black silhouette with the golden eyes. He was holding it up by the hair, hissing angrily into its face. The silhouette looked so helpless and about ready to break down and cry. It was on its knees, looking more like a sad lump of clay than an actual person. Eliphas raced to reach them, but the faster he ran, the further they seemed to get. 

Stress urged him forward anyway. He reached within himself to the energy in his core and looped it around Don and the figure. As he ran, he pulled the two closer to him, though they didn't seem to notice the movement. 

And suddenly, he could hear their conversation. 

"You're useless," the figure said. It said this with a watery smile. "You need him, don't you? You can't live without him."

"Shut up!" Don Thousand hissed. "I'm getting by fine without him!"

"So you say. But didn't you just--"

The words were lost in the burning fire.

"I said shut up!!" Don gripped the bleeding golden orb and squeezed. "You don't know me!"

A broken laugh bubbled through the silhouette's lips. "I am you. You are me. And so is he." 

At this, both Don and the figure turned their heads to Eliphas. 

"And all of this is his fault. Isn't that right, Ellie?" And now the watery smile was all-out malicious. "You could have prevented this!"

"No..." Eliphas whispered. "I..."

"You left us," the figure--Ambrose--growled. "And now, we will--"

~.~.~

Eliphas jerked awake. The dream seared into his mind now, and there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't forget it again. The feeling of deep-seated dread settled in his gut solidified what he told the council. This dream was a warning. If he didn't reach out to Don soon, he would probably go mad. Worse, he would destroy things. Etheria's main city, Etheria itself, maybe even the world.

He stood up and hurried back to the city hall.

This time, he didn't bother talking with the receptionist. He brushed past her, ignoring her shout of protest. Instead, he called over his shoulder, "Call the council! I have their confirmation."

"It's the middle of the night!" she retorted. Was it? He didn't really pay attention to the time of day on his way over.

"Call them anyway. This is an urgent matter." And it wasn't a ploy to get them rounded up this time. It was serious.

He could hear the receptionist call out to him, but he ignored her. He opened the locked meeting room with a spell and settled on the chair at the head of the table. He didn't care about the time of day, he didn't care if they were otherwise busy. This was important.

After what felt like an eternity, the room slowly filled with sleepy council members, none of who were all too happy. They gave him a grunt in greeting, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"What's the urgency for?" Ember muttered. "It's the middle of the night."

"So I've heard," Eliphas deadpanned."But this is important enough to justify sacrificing a little bit of sleep."

The council members muttered something collectively beneath their breath--Eliphas could only assume they were unsavory things--but didn't really complain too much. They sat down in their respective seats as Eliphas stood up and began pacing.

"I've looked into my dream," he continued. "There was fire in Etheria, and in the center of it was Don Thousand."

The council members shared a confused glance. This name had never been spoken before. Eliphas continued, pacing as he spoke.

"He is currently in a state of emotional unrest, and unless we reach him soon, he'll cause the destruction of this world."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his audience perk up at this threat. Good. They needed to be aware of the severity of this situation.

"I will go in, but I need to know the state of Etheria before I do. Can you get some intel on them?"

"Yes," Aubry, the city's head of technology, said. "I can get it by the end of the week."

"Let's hope that's enough time."