This was not one of his most favored spots in the astral realms. Pine went calmly after Spoke, who flitted from rock to rock to lava-filled crag. Fires burned somewhat randomly, without fuel or any other visible source. But on the astral plane, things were not bound by physics as they were on the physical plane.

Spoke had said they were going to meet a dragon. Pine had dealt with dragons before; many of them were old and tended to be very wise. Mostly the dragons he had met were the ones that lived in the woods or the oceans; he'd never met a fire dragon before because frankly he did not spend a lot of time in places like the one he was in now. Pine was still hopeful about this dragon; Spoke had assured him that the being would be delighted to help. Apparently this was an old one none to fond of humans. That was to be expected after how humanity had treated creatures such as dragons and faeries. It was a hurtful thing to call such beings demons, and despite their capriciousness and sometimes self-serving attitude, neither did faeries deserve to be called that. Demon was a term coined by the humans, but there were some creatures and faeries who could and often did fall under the category. The dybbuk and the incubus were two good examples. And then, of course there were entities like the creature that had taken Johnny's soul…

Spoke stopped moving then, and pointed with a long, thin finger towards something that resembled the rest of the rocks and heaves that littered this landscape. It was as still and black as they were, until Spoke began to call out to it.

Patterns of crimson red rippled across the black surface, and a pair of warm, jewel-like yellow eyes opened in one of the black lumps. The crimson red, in glittering scales, continued to spread across the black heaves until a large dragon was revealed; curled with his head on his foreclaws much like a large cat. A long, whip-like tail coiled around in the other direction, and a pair of golden-hued, expansive wings arched up from the dragon's back. Long polished horns curved back from his skull, and a row of finned spikes ran down his neck. He was an imposing and majestic creature, as powerful as Pine but of quite a different nature.

Spoke introduced this being as Aedrywn. And Pine, standing tall with his neck arched and his mane and tail blowing in the hot winds that swept this place, requested the dragon's help. He showed him the horror that was being wrought on souls, both human and non, by the mad 'doctors' of the castle in the cold north of Earth. Aedrywn, who had never liked humans—being old, he remembered well their persecution of his kind—agreed to help. Dragons, like unicorns, were creatures of balance. Almost all life was of balance, though some of it ranged more into the wilder elements of energy and some more into the orderly. Order was the humans, the physical plane, where things were more rigid and unchangeable than they were here. Humans needed to define everything, put a label on it, dissect it until they understood its every aspect. Humanity feared what it could not understand and could not control. But this fear couldn't be used against the 'doctors' Pine was up against. They knew too much about how this realm worked for it to frighten them.

Would three be enough for Pine's 'crusade'? Pine was sure that it was, but Spoke insisted upon going to yet another of his friends. The fae tended to be overly enthusiastic, once its mind was set on something. Though its nature leaned towards devastatingly chaotic, Spoke could be extremely focused.

Dr. Anthony Kasavin wiped the sweat from his brow, and gazed solemnly at the pale figure that lay on the table, staring up at him. The man's eyes were wide, and his body shook all over. There was often a period of shock that a patient went through after its soul was reinstalled into its body. Not only did the soul have to be anchored once again into the physical shell, but the shell itself had to have its functions re-started, had to be coaxed back into operative mode. That wasn't hard to do, unless the body was badly decayed. In such a case it could prove impossible; however, Dr. Kasavin and the others were determined to find a way around that. When they first came into the market, the public would not have many pristine corpses that it would want revived.

This particular human had been left to decay for about a week. That wasn't much, but malfunction of the internal organs could occur due to the decay process, and necessary magickal energy had to be devoted to keeping this in check. Once it was back in operable status, the body could sometimes repair itself. Currently, they were using a combination of antibiotics and healing energy to assist the body in its task. A dead body was full of feeding bacteria, and these had to be gotten rid of until the immune system was back up to par.

"Don't worry," Dr. Kasavin said with a cold smile, his tone only very slightly kind. "You're alive again… aren't you happy? We have made you live once more." He spoke slowly and clearly, as if to an idiot. But this human, in his state of shock, could probably not even understand that. Perhaps someday they could eliminate the recovery period for recalled souls. That increased the chances for more business with the public.

It was not really the money the doctors cared about, although that was a small part of it. It was their need to control things that really motivated the project. The feeling of security and power that came from knowing everything in your world and having a good amount of control over it was unmatchable by anything. There was nothing more elating, more satisfying, than the feeling of power… and it was for this feeling that the project had been started. Money? Only a pleasant side.

But they still had a lot of work to do before the project was over. There was so much they couldn't do yet, and there will still some things they failed to understand. Dr. Kasavin well remembered the cold being that had lurked beyond the ward and surpassed it as easily as if it had been a circle of salt without energy raised to power it. The being had taken the diseased soul of the boy Johnny C. right out of the doctor's firm grasp. And this was something that had to be learned about. It was Dr. Kasavin's firm theory that if you understood something well enough, you possessed the means to control it. And in most cases, that proved true. But there was one thing about which Dr. Kasavin was certain. He wanted that diseased soul back. So much could be learned from it.

It was a few nights later, after the low sun had sunk beyond the horizon when the astral beings made their first move. Most of the doctors were awake; they used drugs and their own skill to reduce the need for sleep almost to non-existence. The ward was still up around the huge stone castle, but with a concentrated, multi-pronged energy attack by the group, it was easy to bypass.

Spoke had recruited two more for the group. One was relatively young and unpowerful, but Pine had agreed with Spoke that all creatures could use some hands-on experience in their learning. This one was of the race known as the Moss People. The other that Spoke had found was closer to a deity. His name was Vertumnus. Spoke said the Romans had worshiped him long ago as the god of gardens. And indeed, that was Vertumnus's main niche, but none of the others believed it would impair the battle. A gardener had a good understanding of balance, and Vertumnus was a very old individual. He was of the caliber to be shown great respect and even worship by humans; he possessed a power equal to that of Pine and Aedrywn, perhaps even surpassing in some cases.

Dr. Kasavin was up that night, working on removing a soul from a young child. The soldier who had brought him the child had had a very worn and pained expression, but Dr. Kasavin did not question where the child had been found and the soldier did not volunteer any information. It was not important, as long as no one came looking for the young one.

When he'd finished, and had the soul struggling in his grasp, he sensed something about this particular one. It was an old soul; extremely old. Old souls handled differently than young ones; and were perhaps a bit more difficult to manage. But they would have to be conquered just as well; although there were more young souls than old on Earth, there were a few old ones here that a family might want recalled.

A voice suddenly chattered in his head, but he kept his concentration on the soul.

"Ugly human. Screaming ripping souls from their natural path. How dare ye?"

Dr. Kasavin blinked at the voice. He recognized an astral being; a fae or an elemental. How had it gotten inside the ward? He knew there was not a being like this within the castle; astral life here was now carefully monitored, since the incident with the unicorn. The doctor did not reply to the confrontation; he had no need to defend his motivations. He knew that the project out-stepped the bounds of the natural order of things, but that was the challenge of it.

"We come to stop ye. Give up the soul. I knew her before; she was an ancient friend of mine long time ago. Yes, I knew her before." Dr. Kasavin could feel the being make a grab for the soul he held in his clutches, but he easily kept a hold of it from the long ghostly fingers of the fae. Still, there was no need to bother with words. This was an unauthorized presence in the castle, but it was nothing he couldn't control; not like that unicorn…

Young Todd flinched away from his father's raised arm. Mr. Casil hadn't hit him, but he looked so frightening and imposing, standing there rigidly, a dark storm across his brow.

"You ruined my life." Todd had heard the tirade many times before, but his innocent mind still failed to comprehend the implications. Todd had no friends; he had no one but Shmee, and he innocently and childishly believed that his parents loved him and did not mean the cruel things they said.

Todd turned his head, his gaze falling on the drawing that was taped to the smiling wallpaper. It was a crude child's drawing; a picture of Todd's mother and father, with Todd in the middle. It was a pretty standard conception, except that Todd had scribbled a shadowy border around it, and another shape lurked in those shadows, a thin, scraggly-haired shape.

Mr. Casil's glassy-eyed gaze was also fixed on the picture, but he did not see the implication of it or he did not care. And Todd's young hopes were again dashed, upon hearing his father's words.

"I'm sorry nobody loves you… what was your name… kid, I'm sorry, I really am. But there's a reason for it. You know how you ruined my life. You know how your mother is these days. I'm really falling apart, and it's your fault. Just think about how awful my life is, and you'll understand why."

When his father talked like that, Todd's eyes started to sting and his nose felt thick. But, as always, he convinced himself that his father did not mean it. He couldn't mean it… they were his parents; they had to love him. Todd could not understand otherwise, and it was doubtful he would until he was older. It was a rare thing; that such a neglected child could remain so innocent, especially living next to a person like Johnny. But Todd remained so.

After his father left Todd continued sitting on his bed, staring at the floor. His sneakers dangled above the floor, and he kicked them back and forth slowly. Hunched forward, holding Shmee tightly, Todd looked the picture of a dejected child. Alone, uncared for, Todd merely accepted it as his fate, although he wished more than anything for his parents to hug him. Just once… one hug to show him that they cared. That was all he wanted, but even in his wishing he did not believe it would ever happen.

Pine knew he should be helping Spoke, at the castle, but something was drawing him here. The fae was merely distracting them, right now; the others were waiting. The unicorn did not think he would be long, and he felt this could not wait.

Well, perhaps it could. But walking calmly along the human street, though he remained invisible to all but the psychic senses, Pine felt a deep-seated dislike for this place in which humans made their homes. They were content with so little, and yet never were content. But the place where Pine was heading was the worst of them all.

A small house, run-down, with boarded up windows and a house number beside the door reading simply '777'. It was dark, and cold with the absence of life. But there was ugliness inside. Filth. Everywhere. The house was small only on the top floor; intricate labyrinths extended far below the ground, and it was here that the negativity sat like an oppressive cloud that clung to everything it touched. Standing on the worn floorboards as he gazed down the stairs, Pine could smell the blood, sense the fear, the rage, the hatred. Though the unicorn was forced to turn away from it, sickened, he did not blame Johnny. The way the poor human drew negative energy in; it was no surprise that he'd become an extension of it.

And what would happen to this place now? Now that Johnny was in the direct clutches of the creature that had been feeding on his mind for so long, there was no need for any residence on the physical plane. But no one deserved this to happen to them. Not even someone who had murdered hundreds, bloodily ended lives that hadn't yet run their course. That, too, was wrong; lives ended so abruptly often could not carry out their purpose. The rage and pain and unending agony that Pine felt seeping through this house told him that perhaps, they had begun to learn their lessons. The hard way. Johnny was a spiritual anomaly, perhaps because of the creature, perhaps by some accident.

Pine did not like suffering. He did not like the ending of life. But he accepted that without suffering nothing would be accomplished, and he understood that death was never the end. No, the end was being caught in the claws of someone like those doctors, or like that demon of Nny's. Because true end is unnatural; there is always a balance, always a continuation. Everything in existence is recycled, nothing is ever created, nothing ever destroyed.

The unicorn stood there, head down, letting the ugly energy flow around him. It would almost appear like he was in despair, but that was not the case. He only contemplated, and experienced unpleasantness as a path to further understanding.

Pine lifted his head upon hearing a call. It was Spoke, looking for him. They were ready to break down the ward. Leaping past Johnny's house, Pine traveled north to where the castle stood. He located it by the ward that still pulsed around the cold stone edifice, and he felt the energy pattern forms of Aedrywn, Vertumnus, and the lone Moss Person waiting just outside of it. He joined them. It was time to tear the Project apart once and for all.