"Flame?"

The world came to a slow focus as he blinked himself awake. Summit Central materialized around him - or more specifically, a medic's room did. He was laying down, his wing folded over himself, a few torches and a window lighting the room and the dragons in it.

Flame didn't have the strength to feel very much, especially when he started to remember why he was in that bed in the first place, but what he did see gave him something to stay awake for.

Avalanche gave him a huge, toothy smile and her eyes were clearly red and still wet from crying. She grasped her son's talon as she bent over him from the bedside.

"Oh, gemstone. Don't try to talk," she breathed, stopping herself from crushing her dragonet with a hug. She lifted herself and saw Flame try and fail to struggle to hug her back. "...Or move. If I understood correctly," she said, "you might be numb for at least another day."

"Again, I apologize," Placoid's voice responded, as the SeaWing fixed his glasses from the end of the hospital bed, "I sshouldn't have been quite sso forceful."

"I don't think he or Ire would have been quite so thankful if you had been any less delicate," Rail's voice piped up as the hybrid appeared from the other side of the bed. Avalanche nodded in quiet acknowledgment as she wiped her eyes from more tears.

Flame certainly agreed. "As much as I'd like to feel my wings right now, I certainly prefer being alive."

"Alive..."

Placoid and Rail must have seen the distress form in his eyes as his face contracted. The SeaWing quickly jumped in.

"She'ss alive, Flame," he assured, giving him a meaningful look, "she'll need some time to recover, but Buzzard made sure she'll get all the medical attention she needs. And I think Ardor is keeping her company now."

"She does want to talk to you, though," Rail added in, shaking their wings as they made a thoughtful face that clearly spelled out 'I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW', but they managed to hold that back as they said, "I think we all want to, in one way or another."

"To understand what happened," Placoid concluded, "and how to stop it from happening again."

Flame thought about it, in his quiet stillness.

"They want answers," he thought, "I'd probably want them too... but would they believe me after everything that happened? Some of them already see me as a liar, or as inherently unlikable and murderous." He paused. "I wouldn't believe a dragon who just tried to kill their friend," he reflected, "would telling them that this happened because of an enchantment cast by a centuries-old animus change anything? Isn't it still my fault?"

"Well, he told me a dragon enchanted him," Avalanche exclaimed, "that NightWing animus who attacked Jade Mountain Academy. A young IceWing in the Talons had... worrying stories about him."

"That IceWing probably hates him the same amount as me, tribe or no tribe," he realized, "so maybe the stories they told mother were... not exactly depictions of the truth."

He remembered Darkstalker with vivid clarity, now more than ever. The animus wasn't an outwards monster. He wasn't manipulative like Flint, violent like Viper, or cruel like Morrowseer. He was charming, generous... and much too smart. He'd given Flame exactly what he wanted - but not without a reason. He accused the SkyWing of fulfilling an ominous prophecy, to cast the shadows away from himself.

"I never stood a chance to see through this back then," he sighed at that thought. "I would have been mad and seething with revenge and violence. Stonemover saw all of them when I was chained next to him. But now... he was exactly the sort of monster that I had never known. The kind who listened - and lured me right into his trap."

Surprisingly, this idea seemed to be a lot less heavy than he had imagined. It gave him a sense of understanding, where his emotions let him see through his own eyes again, but with new clarity. With acceptance. And with forgiveness.

It was certainly different to not burn himself with anger when thinking about that dragon anymore.

"Flame? Did you hear what I said?"

Rail's voice jolted him awake. He saw the hybrid's eyes, two bright lights staring at him with colorful duality. He could have looked at them for a long time.

"I asked if you remember something changing when you started to attack Ire. She also mentioned that you seemed to be disjoined, so I'm wondering if you could have felt... something?" The hybrid paused to look for the right words. "Something that could resemble a spell activating, or something similar," they asked again, tilting his head, "you can close your left eye to say 'yes' and your right eye to say 'no'."

"Or you could jusst blink once for 'yess' and twice for 'no'," Placoid contested, which only resulted in him getting an exasperated look from Rail.

Flame wanted to smile and sigh at them, but he instead blinked his left eye once, which he saw made both Placoid's and Rail's faces crinkle up with understanding.

"Ok... well if this is an enchantment, the solution is easy. Just hold on to that earring and we should be good," Rail offered, waving their talon simply.

"Doesn't that sseem rissky to you?" Placoid responded as he shot the hybrid a worried look, "what if he loosess it? Or if ssomeone threatenss to remove it? That wouldn't really be a ssolution - we need to find a way to identify this enchantment, and fix it," he concluded, and Flame felt thankful that the SeaWing had brought up his own concerns.

"This would be easier if I could talk," he growled at himself, "but I'm glad all three of them are here right now."

Rail's talon dropped, as they shrugged. "You do make a point," clearly disappointed that they hadn't thought of that before. They checked the light outside the window, gave Flame a look, and said,  "Hurricane needs me at her side tonight. I'll be back later, Flame," and hastily left the room. But it was clear there was something else there.

"Maybe they're still shocked from me attacking the guards or Ire. I can't blame them. They probably trust me less than anyone, right now. Well, maybe they're tied with Buzzard," he thought, "but I really wish they could be here. They're... sharper than they think."

"-I'm sure that he could be careful," Avalanche said, breaking the silence, earning herself a shocked look from Placoid, "he's a strong dragon. He'd be able to stand his ground, I'm sure of it. He doesn't need a solution as long as he knows what he needs to defend."

"No one deserves to live that life!" Ardor's voice growled as she skipped inside the room. "Hi, Flame! Sorry I didn't come earlier! I didn't know you were awake," she said, smiling at him, "I'm glad you're awake."

"He hasn't been awake for long and he still can't talk," Placoid filled her in, "oh, and you just missed Rail, they were here all night with Avalanche," he said, nodding at Flame's mom.

"All night?" Flame wondered. "Why would he want to stay here all night?"

Avalanche fluffed her wings and looked down at Ardor, who was nearly half her size.

"What do you mean, by 'no one deserves to live that life'?" She questioned, her voice clearly upset at the medic for opposing her.

He felt his claws tense up, as he regained sensitivity in them.

"Never step between a SkyWing and their dragonet," Flame recited, as he looked at his mother, feeling definitely less numb than before.

"Don't you think that's totally cruel?" Ardor challenged, looking up at Avalanche without a shred of nervousness, "why should any dragon be stuck in a constant battle with something that scares them, that holds them back, that hurts them," she paused off, giving Flame a small smile, "that's no life. Not one I think Flame wants to live anymore, I think. That's why he stayed here - so we'll find a way to give him the serenity that this hm, thing, won't happen again. And maybe that'll finally give him a chance to heal."

There was something profound in Ardor's words, in the way her mother's eyes widened, as she looked back at him, and as he blinked from his left eye again.

"I know you're trying to help me... but I'm done fighting, mom," he thought fiercely, "whether that's Flint, Viper, the NightWings, or myself. I think I'm done with hurting myself just to hold on to my SkyWing pride."

He unclenched his jaw, as he felt his body finally respond to his commands. Placoid and Ardor were quickly by his side and helped him lift himself backward, resting his back on a diagonal small ledge on the wall of the cave.

"Well, either way, if this is an enchantment, how can any of you fix it?" Avalanche questioned, raising an eyebrow at both medic apprentices as they helped her son.

"Well... we didn't quite get that far," Ardor responded, giving her a small embarrassed look, "but we will! I'm sure Rail and Hurricane will be full of bright ideas by dawn!"

"Treen mentioned sshe'll help too-," Placoid added quietly.

"-And of course," Ardor interrupted him, "my best friend and I will also do everything we can for your son, ma'am," Ardor concluded giving Placoid a wink and Avalanche a small bow of her head.

"Oh moons," Flame thought with surprise, "Ardor is either incredibly foolish or extremely brave... and mother will eat her alive either way."

But even more surprisingly, Avalanche didn't retaliate, despite the look of absolute disgust on her face. Flame recognized his own emotions in first meeting Ardor in that look.

"While your loyalty is... peculiar," she said simply, "that doesn't change the fact that this isn't a disease. It's magic," she declared, "and we can't fight this. I mean, who could ever defeat an animus?"

Flame's heart skipped a beat. It was quite obvious to him - he'd seen it happen already.

"And maybe, we can make it happen again."

"Another animus," he breathed, as three pairs of eyes turned to look at him. He paused, but hope already carried his words.

"And I know where to find one."