When Perenelle woke up, the first thing she asked was the whereabouts of Nicholas.

"Where's Nicholas?" She sat up, looking around, and regaining some of her original regalness. Sybil watched her silently, becoming her 26-year old self unconsciously. It was one of her instincts, to become older and more imposing when the Enchantress was around.

"Nicholas left with the Twins," Joan said, a note of irritation barely hidden. Sybil understood. The Flamels had a strange obsession for the Twins. They put them above everything else, regardless of who needed help and what was going on. Personally, she couldn't see why they had to destroy one world to start another. They were almost as bad as the Elders who were greedy and ruthless. The Flamels were greedy and ruthless as well, at times.

"And the Shadow? Is she ok?"

"Scatty got carried off by the Nidhogg." Joan had to struggle to contain her annoyance at the immortal. "You would have seen her being carried off, would you not?"

"She was doing an admirable job of distracting the beast while I attacked it with Clarent and my aura." The woman replied with equal irritation. "As you can see, I wasn't conscious long enough to see what happened to her, although I'm sure she'll be fine."

Joan was about to protest when Germaine laid a hand on her shoulder. She stopped, and her husband spoke. "Can you look at Sybil's arm?"

"Sybil, let her see," Joan turned to her, and reluctantly, the girl rolled back her sleeve, letting her dark forearm appear.

"You're going to have to let me see everything," Perenelle said, annoyed now in earnest. "How do you expect me to understand the extent of the damage if you don't let me see?"

Sybil hesitated, until the immortal shot her a look. Joan gasped, and Germaine sucked in a sharp breath.

Her entire arm was an icy, almost black shade of blue, and it seemed to be spreading to her shoulder. Her blood vessels were weakly beating against the chill. Sybil's usually vibrant, color changing eyes were now a washed out, dull blue. Her dark hair was now light brown instead of black, and Joan swore it was growing lighter and lighter as they watched. Her cheeks were hollow, and she looked thin and weak with dark circles under her eyes.

"Happy now?" her voice was painfully cracked and quiet, even though it carried through the room.

"It's fatal," the woman said immediately, unfazed by the damage. "But you knew, didn't you?"

"Yes," she sighed, and covered herself with her aura again. It was a comfort- warm, and it smelled faintly of the chocolate chip cookies her mother used to make.

"Are you cold?" Joan instantly stood, and headed for the door. "Put on that blanket over there, I'm going to make soup. No! Lie down!"

"Where are they?" Josh said, for the hundredth time. Sophie sighed, sure that he was just saying that to break the awkward silence that had stretched after they had woken up. Josh was convinced that the Flamels were just using them, and was trying to convince her as well.

"Scrying isn't my best skill. Perenelle had far more skill than I do, but I know they're in a hotel near their house. I think I know which one, but I'm not sure. We'll go and check." Nicholas sighed, straightening and sliding back into the car. The twins followed. He was getting old, Josh thought, and looked out the window as they drove on.

"Hey- isn't that Sybil?"

Josh turned to look out Sophie's window, as they pulled up alongside a young woman in a thick hoodie, with the hood up. She turned, and Josh recognized the face of Sybil Ludington. Nicholas rolled down his window, and Sybil stopped walking.

"Where are you staying?"

They stepped into the hotel room five minutes later, and Nicholas was eager to see Perenelle. Joan and Germaine were strangely subdued, and Sophie attributed it to the loss of Scatty. Sybil came in, and the three were immediately in a quiet, urgent conversation.

"Hey, Soph." Josh had his ear pressed against the door where Perenelle was lying, beside Nicholas, who seemed overjoyed to see her again. "Listen- it's hard to hear..."

Sophie pressed her ear against the door, straining to make out the words.

"Disir...She's... said...dying..." Perenelle's voice was very faint.

"Sybil said... visited by Marethyu..." Nicholas was saying, "So Sybil's dying?"

Josh jerked his head away from the door, and Sophie looked up at him, partly in shock, and partly in horror. Josh quickly pressed his ear back against the door.

"...she is. The Disir touch... froze...arm."

Josh and Sophie both moved away and back into the other room as Nicholas opened the door. Sybil sat there, on a couch, curled up and staring out the window. Both the Twins stared at her, then at her arm, the back at her.

"Um, hi, Sybil." Josh said.

Sybil jumped, leaping to her feet and standing quickly. "Wha- oh. Hi." She laughed nervously. "Sorry. I spaced out for a moment."

"How are you?" Sophie asked, and Sybil glanced at her, and then her eyes darted away.

"Good, thanks." She smiled, and Sophie thought that she looked a little bitter. "You?"

"Yeah, we're good," Josh said. Both of them sat on either side of her, and she looked at them, then laughed again.

"I'm tired. Sorry." She bit her lip, and rubbed her forearm unconsciously. "You guys aren't cold, are you?"

"No, why?" Sophie asked, trying to get her to say something about the Disir, or her arm, or something. "Are you?"

Sybil looked at her sharply, then at Josh. She knew that they wanted to know something. She didn't really want to tell them anything at all, bit both of them stared her down, and both feeling guilty for taking advantage of her weakness at the moment.

"You guys really want to know?" She asked, and they nodded in unison. She rolled back her sleeve, exposing her arm. Sophie stared at it, and Josh frowned, and reached out to touch it. Sybil snatched her arm away. "Uh- don't. It's like that to my shoulder. I'm not going to take all of it off, just because I don't want you guys to freak."

"Why not?" Josh asked, "Is it really bad?"

"My hair is turning white blond." Sybil said, looking away. "You can see some of the veins in my arm. I have these dark bags under my eyes. I'm really thin... and I'm so, so cold."

"You okay? I mean, what happened?" Sophie glanced at Josh who was staring at Sybil in concern.

"A Disir touched me and cursed me or something." Sybil shook her head. "It's okay. At least, if I really do die, I'll see Martheyu again. I really enjoy talking to him."

"Who?"

"Marethyu is Death." Sybil said, simply. She seemed to sway a little. "I'm tired- I'm complaining a lot aren't I?"

"It's fine." Josh looked as Sophie, who shrugged as Sybil rested her head against his shoulder and immediately fell asleep.

"What do you think?" He asked, quietly.

"I think she's really dying."