The tunnel through which Leo was traveling was no darker than any of the others, nor was it any more damp. There were odors which he identified as decay and filth, not in the least unusual, and noises he identified as the skittering of tiny rodent feet.

He had no concept of how long he'd been searching the tunnel and only the vaguest of ideas as to why. None of that seemed as important as pushing forward. Something seemed to be tugging at him, some urgency that he couldn't identify or quantify.

Whatever drove him onward didn't feel threatening so Leo did not draw his swords. The tunnels here were like a maze and Leo recognized none of them, yet they also seemed familiar.

After a time he realized why; here and there along the walls Leo saw the symbols he'd come to know were Y'Lyntian. They were the same as the ones in the lair and identical to the ones in the underground city he and his brothers had helped to destroy. They were glowing.

A low sound drew his attention and Leo stopped moving to listen for it again. When it came it was louder and directly ahead of him. He'd only taken two steps when he realized that the sound was someone calling his name and that the voice was feminine.

"Leonardo~ . . . . "

The word had a sing song quality to it that at once beckoned to him and caused him to become alarmed. Dread crawled its way across into his consciousness and Leo began to run.

"Leonardo~ . . . . help . . . ."

Water splashed beneath his feet as Leo ran, faster and faster, never seeming to draw closer to that voice. He was nearly panicked now and had no idea why; he just knew he had to find the woman who was calling to him.

"Leonardo~ . . . . help me . . . ."

The water beneath Leo's feet grew warmer as he ran; at first merely tepid, then warm, then hot, until finally it started to become unbearable. When he looked down, he saw that the liquid had changed color. It was now a bright orange-red; glowing with a deadly brightness.

"Leonardo~ . . . . help us!"

A blast of blistering heat suddenly hit his face and Leo threw his arms up to protect his eyes. In that second, hovering in mid-air directly in front of him, Leo saw Versallia.

"Leonar~ . . . .!"

Her cry was swallowed in an instant and as Leo shielded his eyes to search for her, he found himself facing a giant, roiling wave of scalding death.

Lava.

Leo gasped as his eyes popped open. Sitting upright in his bed, Leo threw back the blanket that felt as though it was strangling him with its heat and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Gripping the edge of the mattress in his hands, Leo took a moment to calm his still racing heart. Something rolled across his temple and when he reached up Leo found that he was sweating.

He'd never had a crystal dream before but somehow knew that's what he'd just experienced. It made no sense to him; both Mikey and Don had crystal dreams in the past, but in each instance they were actually near active crystals. Not only were there no crystals in his room, the only ones they still had were burnt out, the power gone when the crystal moon fell into the lava deep underground for the second time.

Standing, Leo quickly donned his gear and then left his room in search of Donatello. A glance towards the genius' bedroom showed him that it was empty, so Leo leaped down to the lower floor, bypassing the stairs.

Going immediately to Don's lab, Leo found his brother leaning over a wire filled object, tinkering away at its insides with a screwdriver and pliers.

"Donny," Leo called out so as not to startle his sibling.

"Hey Leo," Don said, looking up. "I thought you'd gone to sleep."

"I had, I was," Leo told him. "Don, where are the crystals you brought back from our last trip underground?"

"The ones that were in the suits we wore to protect us from the lava monsters?" Don asked, looking perplexed. "I put them in the box on that lower shelf over there."

Leo followed Don's pointing finger and pulled a dusty box from the shelf he'd indicated. Lifting the lid from the box, Leo reached inside and extracted one of the crystals.

"What's going on?" Don had set aside his project and come to stand next to Leo.

"I just had what I think was a crystal dream," Leo said, holding the crystal up and staring at it. It appeared dull and lifeless. "I don't know how that's possible though, these things look dead."

"The crystal moon fell into the lava again," Don said. "Without it none of the crystals can recharge. Maybe it was just an ordinary dream about the crystals. What happened in it?"

"I was searching through tunnels deep underground for something," Leo said. "I didn't know where I was or what was pushing me; I just knew I had to keep going. Then I realized someone was calling me; calling for my help. It was Versallia. There was lava everywhere and it came between us before I could find out why she needed me."

"That does sound like a crystal dream," Don admitted. "What did she say exactly?"

"My name, over and over," Leo said. "She was calling so that I could follow her voice. When I got near she said, 'help me' and then 'help us'. That's all she managed before the lava overflowed."

"How did it feel?" Don asked. "Not just the lava, but the dream itself?"

"Not like a dream," Leo said. "The lava was hot; I could feel the heat radiating from it, but it didn't start to burn until the dream was interrupted. It was Versallia herself that made it seem more like she was trying to reach me rather than my just dreaming about her."

"It's definitely odd," Don mused, looking at the crystal which Leo was still holding. "Maybe something today reminded your subconscious of our time underground and that's . . . ."

A sudden flash of light from the crystal in Leo's hand cut Don off mid-sentence. It was not much more than a brief brightening before the crystal turned dull again.

"You saw that right?" Leo asked in an almost hushed tone.

"I did," Don answered, his eyes glued to the crystal. "Maybe we should reevaluate your dream."

"We'll do that on the way," Leo said, suddenly all business. He scooped the remaining crystals out of the box and headed for the door.

"On the way where?" Don called out after him, watching as Leo strode purposefully towards the stairs.

"Underground," Leo answered. "We're going back underground."

TBC…..