Abe poured through the information he could find on Runestones and stones of power, finding several leads, but nothing definitive. Even literature on the Philosopher's stone seemed unhelpful and useless in this, the Ripley scroll little more than modern legend and scripture. As the sun slowly rose and light began to peek through the upper windows of the Library, Abe was filled with an intense sense of dread.
"I'm running out of time... Dammit Abe, think! The Runestone has to be here, but where, and what am I supposed to do with these?" Abe muttered to himself, commanding himself to focus. He thought over the encounter with the Daemons, of the eerie green stone, and the runes and energy flowing through, within and about the stone, how they drew his eye and seemed to flare brightly when they engaged the Daemons. Instantly his thoughts went to Locke, and how the brave child had marched up and grasped the Runestone fearlessly, barely giving a single cry of agony as he was attacked from all sides, yet still focused on his task until it finished. Until he had collapsed against Abe, taking only a few hours to go from nearly dead, to fully healed thanks to something Kate had done for him. He hadn't realized then, yet remembered now that Kate had seemed very pale and a bit weakened afterward, despite their interaction later on the plane. Locke however seemed completely normal, as though he'd not had any injury at all.

Abe changed his tactics and instead thought about his dreams, and the pool that the patron's form rose from each time, the runes and other symbols that would appear on the surface for a moment before they fell into the swirling mass of energies deep below. The eyes of the patron, their piercing violet orbs swirling with a similar power, one that bore into his soul each time he looked into them.

He was reminded then that Locke had worn a bandanna, with four violet slits like eyes that always sat perfectly on his forehead. Abe then realized that Locke hadn't been wearing this bandanna since the incident at the Troll market and his meeting with Nuala.
"What is the connection? Surely Locke cannot have the stone?" Abe thought again, recalling Locke's room. The lavish decor, beautiful bed, desk and his computer. All the trinkets and books and scrolls on the desk and in the bookshelf. The large out-of-place crate hidden off to one side beneath a crystal suspended in midair.

A Turquoise crystal.

Abe nearly slapped himself for having overlooked that one detail for so long, having run himself in circles for countless hours that Locke likely didn't have. Abe quickly snatched up the tablet and ran from the Library, leaving the golden door open as he dashed down the halls.

'I figured it out Locke... but was I fast enough?' Abe mentally asked himself, praying that Locke would be awake and eating in the mess hall or talking with Kate or Hellboy and Liz. He desperately wanted to know exactly what Locke meant, what he was hiding, and what his real connection to the Professor truly was.

Abe first checked the briefing room, then the mess hall, Hellboy and Liz's room, then Kate's office. He then heard someone talking as he dashed toward the hall leading to the hidden stairwell to Locke's room.

He paused, turning and locating the source. The infirmary? Locke certainly couldn't have run out of time already!
Abe dashed over to the infirmary, heart hammering in his chest, nearly knocking over Kate as she stepped out. Both looked at each other, shocked for a moment.
"Abe, what in the world?" She asked, seeing his stress and watching his chest heaving as though he'd been running a marathon, even his gills flaring and flattening as though to help him breathe.

"No time, where's Locke? I may have found it." Abe sputtered, Kate thumbing over her shoulder and back inside, her expression grim. Abe followed her gesture, and saw Locke hooked up to several IV's, and monitoring equipment. A sheet covered him lightly, as his clothes had been set aside in a large brown bag, and blood, so dark it appeared almost black, visibly seeped into the sheets beneath him and at his sides.

"I'm sorry Abe, we're too late." She said sadly, resting a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off, almost angrily, moving inside. He frowned, seeing the bracelet on Locke's right forearm, the damage it seemed to be doing to him, yet saw it visibly deteriorating and shaking lightly of its own accord on his skin. The runes on it seemed to fade in and out, as though the connecting power within it had begun to fade like its wearer.

"No. He's still alive and breathing. There's a chance, and I must take it. I'm not going to be still and watch him die... I refuse to accept this as inevitable. Kate, tell me what happened." He turned to her, frowning, although she could barely make out the gesture. "What is this bracelet's purpose?"

"I woke up to Locke knocking on my door hurriedly, yet weakly. When I opened it, he collapsed, and I just barely caught him. I'm surprised you didn't see the blood trail from his room to mine..." She shuddered, moving to stand next to Locke, stroking the side of his face.

"The scars on his back, the ones that always look raw? Opened fully and began to bleed whilst he slept. He came to me, knowing that I could try and help him. What was taken from him, by that madman Rasputin, caused those wounds, and forced him to find a way to preserve himself. This bracelet is forcing back his greater power, lest it destroy him utterly. What it's doing to his skin, is merely showing that the Patron is doing what she can to assist... He's dying Abe, and if we can't find 'them' and get them back to him, he will die."

"How do you know all this, and what is your real connection to him? You aren't related, I can tell this much, and if he's older than he appears to be, then how old is he really?" Abe pressed, frowning and looking idly at the tablet in his hand, mind racing at the possibility of what had been taken from Locke, and what it would mean once it was returned.
"You'll find out, if he dies, or not. But you need to get that stone now, or you won't be able to save him." Kate replied simply, watching Abe sadly.

"Damnit! What is it with you people and being cryptic? Just tell me!" Abe cried, his stress level growing further, feeling just as helpless as he had when Nuala sacrificed herself to keep Nuada from killing Hellboy.
"No. Time." Abe and Kate both jumped, Locke opening his eyes just barely, the blue-green orbs glowing slightly like gemfire, seeming more green than blue.

"Locke, am I right, is the Runestone, the Turquoise, the one you keep in your room?" Abe asked hurriedly. Locke nodded, coughing once, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he smiled slightly.

"She will... Help, you." Locke wheezed, shaking lightly. Abe looked to Kate, who shook her head.

"Who? Who will help me?"

"The stone... You'll see." He smiled, despite his pain, his weakness, he smiled. Abe blinked, choking back a sob. He felt so powerless, seeing Locke, who admitted to caring for him, in so much pain, and being unable to do anything to lessen it. "Hurry Abe..."

Abe only nodded, checked to make certain he still held the tablet, before he hurried on to Lockes room. He gasped when he turned the corner, seeing the blood spread from Kates room in one hall, back down an unlit hall, and down a stairwell, a faint light coming from the area below. He swore, the footprints in blood left by Locke earlier that morning, looked like tracks left by a large reptilian.