-A/N- Sorry it took so long guys. Haven't been on recently... And when I have, its not to update but to read and edit

-Sky's POV-
The second I walked into the Barn castle, I noticed the energy difference. And space. You could walk without claustrophobia. I could hear Ian coughing down the hall in the med room, and Jason's screaming also down that same hallway. Everyone settled in while I went to check on the two boys. I set Choco on a table in a closed room, and took Jason down. He was ruining everything in the room he was in, and he was doing it mindlessly.
Choco was asleep, so I let him sleep in the now-locked room. Jason hit the floor, and I held him down. Knowing that struggling was pointless, he relaxed. His heart rate slowed- and his blood pressure and body temperature went down to normal again. I could feel his heart race suddenly, and he started to struggle again. I held tight, and he stopped again, starting to lose stamina.
Letting him relax, I slowly got up and left the room, the broken door tossed aside. I entered the med room to find Ian barely breathing, sweating in a freezing ice cold room, and absolutely miserable. "You okay?" He shook his head. "I- everything hurts." "It'll get better Ian. Just be patient and rest." "That's all the medic has told me! I don't wanna sit here while Jason gets more unstable by the second!" "Ian! Jason is fine. I have him settling in another room. He lost his ability to fight me off."
"So he's okay?" "I wouldn't say that- he's still unstable- but he's calmer than before. To say he's okay is to say he's not having a breakdown. Which he is. So not okay, but calmer." "That's better than ripping apart Vikk's place." "Yeah. Where are they?" "Who? Vikk and Lachlan? I thought they were upstairs." "I'll check."
I instead teleported hundreds of miles away. The Trees of Life were all very healthy, and yet, the Barn tree still refused to grow. The Solace and Latsky trees are flourishing, and the Sorcerer tree started to grow faster. I was pleased with this, but I found why I teleported here instead. It wasn't by choice. It was by force. I'd been pulled very far off course by my dad. Of course.
"What do you want?" "To talk. Is that such a problem?" "Kind of. I have a sick friend and Jason is having a meltdown. Quickly or I'm leaving." "I need you to send the twins home. The dragon is experiencing... troubles. Do it, or they will experience the same." "How do I know you're telling the truth?" "Do you want them to be in constant pain? To be insomniacs? If not then I suggest you believe me, Skybrine."
"Fine. Now let me leave." "I never restricted you. Go back." I teleported back, and went in search for Vikk and Lachlan. I quick checked up on Jason and Choco, (lol that moment my phone autocorrects Choco to Chocolate) and Choco had woken up. I picked him up and set him on the floor. He wandered out and into the rest of the castle. Jason was doing better, but he was drenched in sweat from his own outburst. He was tired.
Vikk and Lachlan were indeed upstairs, and Choco had made it up the steps. He was sitting quietly and contentedly against the cool wall in the upstairs hallway. I opened the door next to Choco to reveal Vikk sitting up on the bed, and Lachlan asleep still. Vikk dropped to the floor from the tall bed, and sat on the floor to situate his braces. I beckoned for him to follow, and he held up one finger, begging a moment to get ready.
I closed the door again, and sat with Choco in the hallway. The door opened, and Vikk walked out- cloak fitted once again and his hair still unruly. "Vikk, do you have any idea what happened to Jason? Like, when did he start to lose it?" "He was long gone by the time Ian arrived with him... It was before they got here. I wish I could tell you, but I don't know." "That's okay. I was curious."
I went back to Ian, who was sitting up. He still looked awful, but at least he was up. "Ian, when did Jason start to lose his shit?" "A couple days ago? It was the middle of the night, and it started to rain. I didn't know, and he ran off to the nearby village... They actually arrested him for murder. I don't think that helped." "Probably not... I'll go check on him again. He's tired."
I walked into Jason's wrecked room, and found him passed out on the floor. Just to make sure he was alive, I checked his pulse. It was there, but faint. Me wrestling him down was clearly too much for his system, and it was taking its toll. But just as soon as it slowed, it sped up again, and his heart rate skyrocketed. With every few breaths, this happened- it was fluctuating- but the human body shouldn't be able to do that.
Fluctuation in a heart rate normally would end in death- but Jason can't die from this. It's impossible for his body to stop. The Wither's curse prevents natural death- which is what would normally happen with this fluctuation. Jason's eyes fluttered open, and his soft blue irises locked onto my shielded golden ones. He squinted at me, then hit a button on the back of his suit.
The majority of the suit shrunk and folded into a small pair of visors. They were orange lenses, and blue metal arms. Jason slipped them on, and actually blinked at me. I noticed a faint glow to the visors- an enchantment. He got them enchanted so he could see. He'd followed my example. Blind, with enchanted eyewear. Smart.
(Arms on visors and glasses are the things that keep the lenses on your face, for the folks who don't know)

-Ian's POV-
Sky had done his best to understand what happened to Jason, but I wasn't sure it was smart to tell him the whole truth...
Jason had thrown my glasses off, and was confronted by Ssundee immediately. It set Jason off, because he's so rude. Jason was already pissed off, and it started to rain. It only got worse. Jason ran blind- literally- into the nearest village in a rage. He killed some village-goers, and was taken into custody by the village police.
Jason and I technically spent the night in jail- but it still beats being stuck in the rain all night. I tried my best to calm Jason, but he outright ignored me. I couldn't help, and when the police let us go in the morning, he walked like I didn't exist. He acted like he had when I met him. The scared, sad little boy with no direction to his life. I tried to help, but he acted as though we'd never met. Like I'd never even existed- ever.
Jason had slowly faded into me- understanding what I was trying to do, and following my lead by being calm and collected. He relaxed a lot, and took several naps a day to maintain this- and yet- he still failed in the end. The fluctuation in his heart rate was all because I couldn't keep him calm for another ten minutes than normal. He made everything impossible. I couldn't get him to move, eat, relax, etc. He was stuck in an endless loop of horrible thoughts that kept him in a rage.
Jason had fallen asleep in the room Sky left him in- thank Notch, and a small yellow bird came into the med room. He cocked his smallish head at me, and tried to smile. It watched me curiously, and sat on the floor. "Hi?" I asked, curious if it could respond, seeing as it's a chocobo...
"Hi," It chirped, "What's your name?" "Ian. You?" "Choco." "Nice to meet you Choco. Whatcha doing?" "Looking for Sky... He kinda disappeared." "Um... Last I checked, he went to check on Jason." "Who?" "My friend Jason. He's down the hall." "Oh. Thank you!"
And he walked out. Strange. Suddenly, he came back, and jumped into my lap. He looked slightly terrified. He shook violently with fear, and Jerome appeared in the doorway.
"Jerome, what are you doing?" He wasn't paying any attention, and had his eyes locked on the small bird in my hands. I set Choco behind me, and stood up shakily. Jerome's eyes never strayed from Choco, making me very nervous and protective of the poor chocobo. I snapped my fingers in Jerome's face, and it only disrupted his attention for a split second. His body language had changed- from easy going to slightly angry.
"Jerome! Look at me." He ignored me. A howl erupted from the castle's front gate, and Jerome ran to it- growling- leaving Choco absolutely horrified on the bed behind me. Being sick, I felt lightweight, so I headed back to Choco to sit down. I sat down, and the bird laid his head on my arm- body language for thank you.
The twins went by the door, Anthony tripping Ty, and Ty doubling back to return the favor. I didn't realize then that this would be the last time for a while that I'd see them together, or at all.

-Sky's POV-
I slowly herded the twins to the portals, because I really don't want them getting hurt. They understood why once I explained myself, but I could tell they were still reluctant to go back. Ty seemed a little torn, because last time he went back, he actually committed suicide into the void below. At least this time it isn't by force. It's by a friend trying to protect them from harm.
Jerome had run past me a while ago, looking angry about something. I knew he'd gone to answer to the alpha's howl, but I wanted to know why he was so angry. I stopped him before nightfall, and he looked at me real serious, and growled. I backed up and let him go. I caught Mitch a few minutes later and told him to keep a close eye on Jerome.
"Why?" "He just growled at me, and didn't answer a simple question. He's just acting... Off. I'm not liking it at all." "Okay then... I'll watch him." "Thank you Mitch." "No problem. You can count on me. He sleeps in my room anyway." "By the way, does he even sleep well? I've seen him end up sleeping on the floor sometimes." "He gets uncomfortable, but he sleeps like a rock. Once he's out, he's out. I'm gonna go to bed, Sky. Good night."
He went to bed, and I followed his example. I collected Choco from Ian- who looked slightly better- and went to bed. Choco curled up on the pillow, and fell asleep within seconds. I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the sight of a contented sleeping chocobo. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sight of no Choco, and squeaking in the main hall. Something was desperately wrong.
I ran downstairs to find Jerome trapping Choco in a corner. Choco was sitting in a small puddle of blood already, and he had several open flesh wounds. His beak was drowning in tears, and his wing looked like a mess. There were feathers all around them on the floor, and I was shocked. Jerome was calm as ever, a small knife in his hand as what I can only assume was his claw replacement.
The knife was dripping with blood, and Jerome didn't care. I grabbed the knife, but couldn't wrench it from Jerome's iron grip. He turned, and I could see his canine teeth gleaming as he growled. This is NOT Jerome... But who is it?