Jason emerged from unconsciousness with a pounding head and an arm throbbing so badly that his first thought was that his mother had beaten him again.

It wouldn't be wise of him to reveal his wakened state too quickly, not without first taking note of his mother's mood. Sometimes, it was better to simply lay there, waiting until enough time had passed that she could no longer be bothered holding onto her anger and walked away.

Yet he couldn't hear her. Couldn't hear anything but the panting breath of someone beside him, presumably the same someone who had slung his arm over their back to carry him.

With the comfort of Sae burning cold on his ear, Jason cracked his eyelids open and found nothing but darkness. The person carrying him stopped a few perfectly silent steps later. A door creaked open in front of them. The footsteps continued, and the person carried him up a set of stairs without stumbling once despite the dark and his weight.

Despite his mind still being fuzzy, his thoughts still blurred together, Jason could piece together enough information to figure it out. His feet dragged along the ground, like this person was far shorter than him. He felt long hair against his skin down near their waist. The night vision. The strength, the balance.

Jason lifted his head ever so slightly and whispered, "Banshee?"

"Welcome back, Frostsong," she said in a quiet, restrained voice. "Wasn't sure when you'd wake up."

It was still pitch black. "Where are we?"

"In some basement in Kaladrel," she replied. "What do you remember?"

"I..." Jason trailed off as he found his memories strangely empty. "I was coming to Kaladrel to follow a lead on the Lumi hunters who knew you'd be here, but when I was outside, a group attacked me. I don't know why. I remember taking a blow to the head with some kind of starstone baton and after that my recollection is vague at best."

"I see," said Banshee, turning a corner that was invisible to Jason. "Well, it appears the Serpent's lot were waiting for us tonight."

Crimson flashed through Jason's mind. "Adande. Adande knocked me out with a diamond scale."

"Yes, it appears that he did indeed," said Banshee. "He, Aya and Alma took you down here while I was fighting a Manifested on street level. I almost lost you, but I tracked them down and managed to get you back."

Bits and pieces were flashing through his head, sharp memories that weren't quite his own. Memories that were cold and frozen. A scream, a thud, a voice--

"You didn't win the fight," Jason realised as he put the pieces together.

Even in the dark, Jason could hear the grimace in her voice. "No, I didn't. They set a trap for me and blinded me with light and the whispers of Vengeance. I don't remember much, but I woke up on the floor in a pool of my own blood. Decided it was best to get us out of there as soon as possible."

It took Jason a moment of silence to find his voice.

"I heard you scream. Did they hurt you?"

"No," said Banshee. "The Manifested did that. When Cryo didn't come, I had to fight it alone. Almost killed myself and lost you trying to protect Pegasus at the same time." She went quiet. "I don't know where that bird brain is, but I needed him today."

Guilt stabbed Jason in the gut.

Banshee continued, unaware of it. "But I'm worried that the Serpent might have got him. He's always answered before. It's never been silent."

Skypillar, she was worrying about him. Worrying, when he'd failed her.

Banshee jostled him slightly on her back. "I don't suppose your secret communication methods with Cryo know what he was doing?"

"I... I'm not sure."

"Too bad," replied Banshee as she pushed open another door. "I wanted to know if I should bother preparing a speech so guilt-tripping that even Skypillar himself would fall over listening to it. Guess I'll give him a pass this time. We're almost out."

Jason lifted his head, finding the room a little lighter than it'd been before. It was still dark, but he could make out details of the room, the shape of Banshee beneath him. Light leaked into the room through the cracks of the door they were heading towards.

Banshee kicked it open with her foot and walked out onto the street, Jason on her back.

The streets were empty chaos. Crowds of people lurked around corners of dimly glowing starstone. Others were darting out of buildings, giving the world a fearful glance before making a run for it. Towards one side of the street stood Golem, in an expressive conversation with a few civilians, each one holding one of Pegasus's feathers.

Banshee turned towards the wall beside the door. For a moment, Jason thought she meant to put him down until she gave a slight shake of her head and walked over to where Golem stood, Jason still on her back.

"Is that all he told you?" Golem was saying. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" replied one, holding Pegasus's feather close to their chest. Dried blood still stained the perfect elegance of the white and brown feather, even as it slowly turned to cloud in their hands. "I haven't forgotten anything!"

One of the other feather-holding individuals pointed towards Banshee. "Golem, look!

Golem turned, the stones on his face arranging into relief as he saw Banshee striding towards him. The ground rumbled as Golem's wheel-shaped bottom half rolled towards them, and it was then that Banshee stopped.

"Banshee," said Golem, that gravelly voice of his rough against Jason's headache. "I was worried that the worst might have happened to you."

"Wouldn't stop worrying just yet," murmured Banshee. "Something weird happened."

"Weird?" asked Golem. "Wha--" He stopped dead, like a stone in the water. "Banshee, your arm. What happened?"

"Manifested."

"I haven't seen many Manifested capable of that damage," said Golem. "Put Jason down, and I'll summon Fae's avatar."

"Serpent's lot kidnapped him and used him as bait," said Banshee, reluctantly helping Jason off her back. "After I saved Pegasus's tailed behind, I tracked Jason. They had him in a basement, unconscious. A few of them attacked me, I fought them, and I lost. The Serpent's aura was far too strong down there, but I woke up on the floor."

As Banshee spoke, she helped Jason sit against the wall, and he got his first glimpse of her arm.

It wasn't much of an arm anymore. The entire top layer of skin was practically gone from the elbow-down. What remained sat in clumps, like the Manifested had scraped it off. There were a few deeper wounds in a line--fingers, Jason knew--on her wrist where someone had dug their nails into the exposed arm. Blood covered her hands, her garments, and the grips of Grief and Joy. Her visor was cracked.

Yet it was the wild look in her crimson eyes that shocked him the most.

Banshee straightened. Her stare remained fixed on Jason's chest. "They could have done anything, but they left me. Why?"

"I'm not sure this is something we should be discussing so openly," said Golem quietly. "Perhaps once we're back at the Starlight Hall, we can--"

"Screw the Starlight Hall," said Banshee. "I had to take on three Manifested by myself, protect a novice Luminary who almost got himself killed, and rescue a hostage alone. The Starlight Hall didn't help me in the least during any of that. The Serpent is supposed to be powerless outside of the festival, but there was a corrupted Manifested and its aura was so thick I could have choked on it!"

"Where is Cryo?" asked Golem.

"No idea!" said Banshee, throwing her good arm to the side. "Maybe he's got his head stuck in some books again. Maybe he fell in. At this point, I don't really care. Cryo does whatever he wants anyway, right?"

Each word felt like a slap to Jason's face. He deserved them, yet... "Banshee, are you okay?"

Her eyes flicked to his. Shadows danced in them, dark and suffocating. "Fine. Perfectly fine. What about you?"

"You don't seem fine," said Jason. He leaned forward, attempted to stand up, but a wave of pain wracked his body and he shuddered back to the wall. Banshee crouched beside him, concern on her face. He attempted a small smile. "I believe you might be as fine as I am."

"I need to get you to a hospital," she muttered. "Golem, I'm going to take him..."

Jason glanced to the elder Luminary just in time to see the stones on his chest rearrange and reveal a smaller, transparent violet gem. The gem flashed, the light focusing on the space before him as DragonFae's avatar appeared before them.

It looked just as she did for the moment. Horns, wings, scales, a humanoid figure, all delicately crafted out of solid violet light. Jason knew from experience that it could cast spells as she did, even change its shape on a whim, though she had to set a reservoir of magic aside beforehand to draw from and maintain the avatar.

DragonFae's avatar turned around to face Banshee. "Let me see your arm."

"My arm will be fine," said Banshee. "Jason will not. He needs a hospital."

"Your arm, Banshee."

Jason saw the fury writing itself on Banshee's face. "DragonFae might be able to sense if the Serpent did something to you," he said quietly. "I'll survive another five minutes."

Banshee's eyes flicked to him for a second. Before Jason could decide what that dangerous light within them was, she looked towards DragonFae's avatar and held out her arm, turning the rest of her body away.

DragonFae's whole avatar glowed violet as she worked her magic. "I cannot sense anything within, though I would like to examine it back at the Hall. You will likely need time to heal from this as your civilian self. Golem and I will handle any Manifested that arrive within the next two weeks. Cryo and yourself have earned a break."

"You're taking me off duty because my arm got a little hurt?" said Banshee. "Y'no, coulda used that break before the festival, when there was a Manifested every night for like a week and I was running on about two hours sleep a night, but--"

"It is your attitude that concerns me" said DragonFae. "You certainly have your own way of doing things, Banshee, but I never thought to hear you speak of your partner as you did just now. I believe the two of you may have things to work out."

"Sure," said Banshee, folding her arms. "Fine. Now we get Jason to a hospital."

DragonFae's avatar reached out a hand towards Jason, and a gentle mist of violet flecks surrounded him. "Sleep, Frostsong. I will see that you are taken care of."

The pounding in Jason's head vanished, the aching of his arm subsided.

He couldn't have resisted DragonFae's sleeping magic even if he'd tried.

*+*+*+*

The next time Jason opened his eyes, he was in a clean, white room in a bed that was not particularly comfortable.

He took a moment to assess his surroundings. Sae was still hugging his ear. There was a bustle of people outside his room, and the gentle beep of the monitor to his left. A fresh bandage was around his arm, and sunlight streamed through the window. He was still in the clothes he'd been wearing last night, though someone had made an attempt to clean the bloodstains from it.

Jason tried to sit up and was rewarded with a flash of pain across his left arm. He grimaced, falling back against the pillow with a dull thud.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Frostboy."

Jason turned his head to the side, finding Ella lounging in a chairs. Her legs were thrown over one of the arms, a cushion behind her back, her pigtails hanging down and a sketchbook resting against her thighs. She didn't look up as she spoke, continuing to sketch across the page.

"How long have I been asleep?" asked Jason. "And my clothes...?"

"Eh, fifteen hours or so," said Ella with a shrug. "You woke up right when DragonFae said you would, so good job at remaining punctual. I'd expect nothing less from you. As for the clothes, Banshee was apparently in a mood when she brought you in. Wouldn't let the nurses change your clothes. DragonFae healed the worst of your injuries already." She swung her legs back to the floor, snapping her sketchbook shut. "Your mother tried to come by before. I told her she wasn't allowed to be in here but she might still be waiting outside."

Cold gripped Jason's stomach. "Why did you forbid her?"

Ella popped her lips. "Well, Fae's orders were to ensure that any suspicious individuals were to be kept away from you, and in my opinion, no one fits that description better than your mother."

Jason wasn't quite sure how to interpret that. "So I've earned myself a bodyguard?"

"Only for today." Ella picked up a nearby Liaiser and tapped out a message that Jason couldn't see. "I think Fae was a little worried that Banshee would kill anyone who looked at you the wrong way. The only way Banshee was gonna leave this room as if someone else she trusted was in it instead. What do you remember?"

"Not much," said Jason, rubbing his head. "I went out to follow a lead for Cryo, and when I reached Kaladrel, four men approached me. I remember thinking they were aggressive, that I wouldn't be able to talk them down when they attacked me. I held them off for a minute or so, but then someone grabbed me from behind and... well, I believe the state of me speaks for the outcome."

"Do you think they were the Serpent's lot?"

"I don't know," said Jason. "I've never been able to sense the--" He cut off, realising he'd been about to say Serpent's aura. "--Well, sense that kind of thing, I suppose. I'm not particularly good with people. I assume they're all terrible until proven otherwise."

Ella gave him a wry smile. "Even me?"

"Especially you."

Ella just laughed at that one.

Jason sighed and leaned his head back onto the pillow. "I apologise that you've had to put your day on pause on my account."

Ella snorted and put the Liaiser down. "Don't be. I was only looking forward to being bored out of my mind with about five different meetings today. I mean, I'm probably preaching to the temple here, but government officials are not the most exciting individuals in the world."

"Why were you meeting with government officials?"

"Part of their whole 'training a response team' thing," said Ella. "Because I've had experience fighting Manifested, they want me on to help coach. Well--they didn't originally, but I mean I kind of made it glaringly obvious that they didn't know the first thing about Manifested in that first meeting aaand now we're here and I'm gonna be teaching fifteen men twice my age how to take down a civilian with uncontrolled superpowers."

The government's plan--their bid to make it legal for civilians to carry Lightblasters for self defense, was this a part of it? "Why would you agree to that?"

"Because they're gonna do it regardless of whether the temple is involved or not," said Ella, shrugging. "I figure there might as well be someone who understands it keeping a closer eye on things and teaching them the right way. And... I guess they have a point. Why shouldn't civilians be able to defend themselves?"

Jason made a second attempt to sit up, being a little more careful about it this time. "The Luminaries have always been enough to defend them before."

Ella stood up from her chair and walked over to help him. "It's not just Manifested anymore, though. The Serpent's followers are so much larger than we'd ever realised. The police deal with regular, non-magical civilian matters, but what if the two start to overlap?"

She withdrew her hands but remained by Jason's bed, leaning on the railing, her eyes wandering across the other side of the room. "When I became a Lumi, I had a little self-defense training, but for the most part... I wasn't exactly ready for it, Andrew even less so. Skypillar shoved us into the job of protecting this City without training, without any kind of real guide, and I just can't help thinking--if we'd had that training, if we'd had help... maybe he wouldn't be dead?"

Ella shook her head and sighed. "I dunno, Frostboy. It just doesn't seem entirely fair that Skypillar can so drastically change the lives of two sixteen year olds, give them superpowers, and leave them in the dark like that. I wasn't even out of school yet, and I was expected to fight the monsters everyone had told me to run away from. Don't get me wrong--I loved it--but for Andrew..."

Ella trailed off, leaving Jason to consider it himself.

She had a point. It was something he'd considered in the past--Banshee had taken to the Luminary lifestyle like the auroras to the skies, but Cryo had struggled. The lack of rules, the feeling that he'd simply been released onto the world, expected to uphold an entire population's ideals, to be selfless, to be heroic, to be wise... The responsibility hadn't been an easy thing to adjust to.

"It seems important to ensure the Luminaries are not... restricted, I suppose is the word for it," said Jason after a moment. "A pair of Luminaries will still be far more effective than a team of civilians, no matter how well they're trained."

Ella flashed him a grin. "That's why I'm staying involved. Making sure the government won't push things too far and keeping an eye on it all for Fae. Now, you hungry? I'll go track down a nurse and tell them you're awake."

As Ella walked out of the room, Jason lifted a hand to his tattoo and pressed against it.

Guilt still weighed heavily on his chest as he recalled Banshee's words. She'd always given him the benefit of the doubt before. She'd never seemed to consider that he'd simply ignored her. He had to talk to her, if only to apologise.

Banshee didn't reply, but Sae did.

The Ascended burned on his ear until Jason was forced to subtly remove his icy ear cuff and palm it under the blankets of his bed. He brought his knees up slowly, creating a small, concealed pocket of blanket where Sae promptly poofed into existence.

Jason tried not to look too interested in his crotch as he murmured under his breath, "What?"

"Something is wrong with Banshee," said Sae. "I haven't had a chance to tell you because DragonFae knocked you out, but since Banshee rescued you from the basement, the bond I have with her Ascended has gone silent. We only go silent when our human is at risk of discovery, or if they're in danger that would be amplified by it."

"What does that mean if the bond is silent?"

"It means you won't be able to sense when she's transformed," said Sae. "She won't feel your taps, you won't feel hers, you won't be able to find her just by following her aura while transformed. I won't be able to communicate with her Ascended."

"You can communicate with her Ascended?"

Sae waved a wing. "Unimportant! What you need to be taking from this is that whatever the Serpent's lot did to her with the needle in the neck thing changed something that her Ascended considered to be a threat."

Jason's gut twisted. "That doesn't help me much, Sae."

"Yeah, well, for once I'm as blind as you are," said Sae, ruffling his feathers. "Hopefully Cevinari shows up during the auroras."

As Jason gave him a curious look, Sae turned himself back into the icy ear cuff and refused to say anything else.

"Other-cursed bird," muttered Jason, putting Sae back on his ear, but his mind was already racing.

Something is wrong with Banshee.

Without the bond, how was he supposed to find her?

*+*+*+*

A/N - Bonus vote for a bonus chapter? <3 

ALSO CAN WE HAVE ALL THE GOOD FEELS AND THOUGHTS FOR OUR RESIDENT DISCORD CAT, GURF? He's a long-time reader of my stuff, has been under a lot of surgeries recently and is not having a fun time hanging in there. 

Send all imaginary snow cookies and hugs to him please <3