You know what? This whole thing is just going to take a long time to write! Curses...and I hate to say it and get anyone's hopes up (including mine) but the next part (eep) should be easier to write.

Sorry sorry sorry!

He was alone in the dark, a black void that stretched forever around him, nothing solid, no ground and yet he wasn't falling. He spun around trying to find something, anything, reassure himself that he was not all alone. He saw nothing, felt nothing, heard nothing and a terrible thought wormed its way into his mind; maybe he was dead. But if he was dead he'd never see Piper or Radarr or Finn and Junko and Stork and the Condor ever again. It would mean that he'd left them to fight the war without him; he couldn't protect them anymore. And what about Starling, and Lynn and the others from the Talon Academy, he'd promised them…

No, something told him, not dead, just cut off from everything somehow.

Somehow.

That meant there was a reason, he just needed to figure out what that reason was. Then he froze, all thought terminated as a voice blew past him in the dark. It was a voice he'd heard only once, but a voice that no one could forget; a horrible, mocking, poisonous voice that sent shivers down his spine and made him want to run. The voice had almost a physical presence and it enveloped him like a cold wind. It spoke, loud in the void but he couldn't make out the words.

Piper: "You started mumbling things but your voice sounded weird and none of us could understand you…"

It laughed, loudly, mirthlessly, forcing horrible images of people being tortured, people cowering, and people in pain into his mind.

'Yes,' it said,the words becoming suddenly clear, 'pain…you are my one exception…my one exception…let it begin…my one exception…your fault Aerrow…their pain, you're fault…one thousand years…solitude…pain, eternal suffering…it has begun, now feel her pain.

A bolt of hot, searing pain ripped its way up from his left hip to his right shoulder and he screamed amid the Voice's laughter, arching his back and grabbing his head with both arms. Slowly, new pains made themselves known and he screamed each time, even at the little ones. The Voice's power made them so much more painful than they should have been, the pain throbbing with his heartbeat, unrelenting in the void.

A white-washed wall streaked past her, blending in with the mists in her head. Piper closed her eyes, felt sick as the world suddenly lurched sideways. A wave of muffled noises assaulted her ears; she couldn't concentrate on the words and so stopped trying, letting her mind wander. She felt a cold hand on her shoulder, realized she was lying on her stomach, and then heard soothing but unclear words whispered in her ear. It was nice, she thought, and then, 'ow.'

There were two sharp jabs of pain near her other shoulder, but she couldn't muster the strength to look over or ask what happened. She settled back into her previous stupor, already forgetting about the pain, when it happened again, and again. Each new pain came farther down her back, leaving a long, stinging line of pain from her right shoulder to her left hip (1); Piper wondered vaguely what was going on, but her thoughts wouldn't stay clear.

And then came the best, a spreading warmth along the line of pain, soothing the hurt, erasing it. Her tired mind put the feeling with a colour, making the mists in her head lilac purple; she fell into unconsciousness (2).

0o0o

Piper woke up to a sea of royal purple. She sat up slowly, her entire body stiff and sore, and focused her eyes, realizing the 'sea of purple' was a thick curtain hanging around her bed.

"Hospital," she mumbled aloud.

She slipped off the hard bed, stumbled a little on the landing. Piper looked down at herself; she was dressed in a simple off-white dress, no shoes, and her headband lying on the night table a few feet away. She straightened the dress, grabbed the headband and stepped around the curtain. She collided with one of the nurses, the same one who'd looked after Aerrow…yesterday?

"And where do you think you're going?" asked the startled woman, placing a restraining hand on Piper's upper arm.

"I have to find my friends. Are they okay?"

"Dear me, dear me, Sky Knights are all the same," the nurse mumbled to herself before gently spinning Piper around and leading her back behind the curtain, "You can go if you check out physically healthy; even the Crystal healing goes wrong some times. Your friends aren't going anywhere; they've waited long enough for you to wake up. Now, sit, and hold out your arm!"

0o0o

"Piper, how are you feeling?" Finn asked once they were outside.

The exchanges in the hospital had been brief; no one had wanted to stay in that building for any longer than necessary. Now they walked along a quiet trail in the woods behind the Atmosia General, trying to replace the foul sterile smell with open air and leaves.

"I'm fine," she answered, "but Aerrow isn't! What happened to him? What's wrong with him?" She turned to Stork, eyes wide and desperate, begging him to tell her what possible disease their leader had so she could fix him. "Is it mind worms?"

Stork shook his head, remembering what he had seen, what had caused the Condor to fall in the first place. It hadn't been Aerrow at all, he was sure.

Piper turned to the other three, "Junko? Radarr, Finn? Do you-?"

"Nope"

"Sorry"

Radarr shook his head sadly from his position on Finn's shoulder.

Piper turned back to the trail ahead, her eyes on the muddy ground. The group walked in silence for a few more moments. Slowly, then with more enthusiasm, Piper began to nod, making the others aware that she was on the brink of some breakthrough.

"The library!" She finally cried, jumping in front of the others and turning to stare at each of them. "Come on! There's lots of books on mental breakdowns and diseases at the library! One of them has to tell us what's happened to Aerrow!"

She jumped again, spun on her heel and ran, the others slightly baffled but following. Piper broke through the trees first, skidding to a halt on the dusty cobblestones and nearly running into one of the Sky Knight Council members; the others had the same results.

The old men of the Council nearly tripped over their own feet in their haste to avoid collision by backing up. Two of the four put their hands over their hearts, glaring at the Storm Hawks Minus One.

The Head of the Council just shook his head, looking slightly amused and rearranged his too small glasses on his nose, studying each of their faces.

"Storm Hawks," he greeted with a slight bow of his head, "but where's Aerrow?"

"Ehm…" Piper hesitated.

"Well…" Finn started, and then froze, lowering his eyes.

Stork rubbed the back of his neck, turning his head away, not even trying to explain.

Junko looked at each of his friends, thought of Aerrow, about the library, about the Council, and broke down.

"We don't know!" he cried, throwing his hands up to his eyes to hide the sudden, violent tears, "Something happened to him and now he's gone! And he was acting really weird and he…he…!" he couldn't say 'jumped,' so he let himself trail off.

"Oh?" the Head of Council took a step back from the emotional Wallop, both surprised and a tiny bit afraid. His mind was racing, trying to make sense of everything the Wallop had said, and about the kids' reluctance to say anything, he feared the worst but told himself not to jump to conclusions, anything else could have happened. But probably not.

(1) I know I didn't explain it very clearly but Aerrow and Piper are feeling the same pain. The Darkness is making Aerrow feel what Piper is.

(2) Confusing again! Sorry. Piper's having surgery only with pretty lights and crystals instead of creepy metal tools. 'Cause it's the Atmos y'know, crystal healing is possible.