Thanks to: Judal Hiwatari, laceyowens50 and Colin Creevey for reviewing!

Questions:

What's the percentage of dead Aurors now after all this?
About half, leaning more to 55%

People are going to notice that Scorpius has done something drastic at some stage right? Perhaps not what he's done exactly but they're definitely going to think him odd at some point?
Too spoilery to say

"What the hell, Michael?!" Scorpius demanded of his friend in annoyance, he hadn't even believed Hogan when he'd rudely awoken him to complain about Michael bringing a criminal to Gray but after being practically dragged out of bed to the Embry's he was proven wrong. On top of that Latimer was also seriously injured and there'd been some kind of major Shadow incident, "Why would you bring a random criminal to Gray?!"

"He was injured!" Michael insisted defensively, "I promised to help him if he helped me save Latimer and he did! What was I supposed to do, leave him to die?!"

"You don't have to, there's Healers who exist outside of Gray!"

"Yes but they'd just turn him over to Aurors who would kill him-"

"What?!" Scorpius interrupted incredulously, "I don't have a lot of love for the Aurors either but come on, that's ludicrous."

"You see?!" Hogan questioned triumphantly, "I told you. Are you drunk, Michael?"

"No!" Michael snapped still defensive but seemed to be trying to reign in his temper, "Look, Lawson told me-"

"Who's Lawson?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"The guy we're talking about! He-"

"Wait, the criminal's name is Lawson?"

"Yes, Scorpius, stop interrupting me!" Michael complained and Scorpius obediently bit his tongue, folding his arms crossly while Michael took a breath, "The Aurors are ones who injured him, they were trying to kill him. I couldn't in good conscience just leave him there."

"And how do you know they injured him?" Hogan questioned, "Did you actually see it happen?"

"No, but he told me-"

"Michael, people lie," Scorpius pointed out, immediately losing whatever interest he'd been gaining for Michael's side.

"Especially criminals," Hogan agreed.

"He'd probably say anything to avoid going back to prison."

"I know that! I'm not an idiot-" Michael started to say.

"I think you're an idiot," Hogan complained, earning a frustrated glare from Michael.

"Look some things don't add up, okay?!" Michael insisted determinedly, "Things that suggest he's not lying- like the Aurors can't heal shit but somehow one of them was stabilized for the Medi-Wizards, if Lawson – who can heal – didn't do it then what's your explanation? Divine intervention?"

"Magical outburst."

"And then there's his injury, whatever stabbed him twisted inside him to do even more damage. It's incredibly unnatural, it pretty much had to have been caused by a witch or wizard intentionally and it's not like there was many around. Besides, if he was lying then he should be a dead Inferi like the other New Azkaban prisoners."

"I don't know, doesn't that sound kind of coincidental?" Scorpius admitted still dubious and Michael scowled, "I think its best if we turn him over, especially now the Ministry are our allies."

"Can't you just back me up on this and trust me here?! You let random people into Gray all the time!"

"Yeah, people who are trustworthy not random criminals I met once this morning!"

"I think he's trustworthy!" Michael insisted and they both raised an eyebrow at him, "To a certain extent anyway, I mean he's just a drug dealer. I think he could be useful, like he knows about potions and we can always use more Healers. His resourcefulness at treating his own severe injury is seriously impressive, I doubt I could've done that, if he can do that for himself I think he'll be even better with others. Did I mention he helped me save Latimer's life?"

"He's not an officially trained Healer," Hogan pointed out.

"Neither am I!"

"His skills don't matter if he's not trustworthy," Scorpius agreed with Hogan, just seeming to irritate Michael more, "What reason would the Aurors have to kill him anyway?"

"To keep him quiet," Michael answered, cooling down a little and sounding less confident, "They're doing some shady stuff."

"Like what?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the details but they wanted to leave the prison unprotected, they were also torturing him before the attack which was why he wasn't with the others."

"Torture how exactly?" Hogan questioned and Michael shrugged.

"Like I said I don't know all the details, he passed out when he trying to tell me and his explanation was getting more garbled anyway."

"That's convenient."

"Not really, if you heard him speak you'd understand."

"He hasn't woken up yet?" Scorpius wondered and Michael shook his head, "Because if he hasn't he hasn't seen anything of Gray yet."

"All the more reason to turn him back over to the Ministry now," Hogan pointed out.

"Except for the part where they'll kill him!" Michael protested angrily and Scorpius sighed heavily, "Do you really want more deaths on your conscience?"

"Do you?" Scorpius countered, "If Lawson is bad it puts the rest of Gray at risk and-"

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" an unfamiliar voice suddenly started screaming at the top of their lungs, Scorpius spun around in surprise and saw it was the criminal who'd started flailing wildly in his sleep, "NO! NO! NO!"

"Lawson, wake up! You're having a nightmare!" Michael called out as he rushed over and Lawson jolted upright immediately, hyperventilating and trying to yank his arm free from the handcuff anchoring him to the bed. He looked around frantically in fear and Scorpius cringed inwardly at how screwed up his left eye was, all bloodshot with the pupil and iris blended into a singular milky blue orb. Michael pushed him back down onto the bed, "Holy shit, stop moving or you're going to tear open your stomach again!"

"Wha- I don- Wher- I-" Lawson stammered out before wiping at his eyes, trying to sit up again but Michael forced him back down, "I don't under-"

"Relax, okay? You're safe as long as you stay down and stop freaking out," Michael reassured him, seeming to soothe him for a second as his breathing calmed a little, "You're with Gray now."

"I'm- Wai- What?!" Lawson started in shock, his good slate gray eye widening and Scorpius felt oddly reminded of someone, "Is this threal?"

"I told you I was with Gray," Michael insisted, Lawson's mouth open and closed like a beached fish before seeming to give up as he just absorbed the shock. He lay back, rubbed at his head as if it was in pain and went silent, "Good, just lay there calmly and-"

"So you claim you were tortured by the Aurors, huh?" Hogan cut him off to question Lawson firmly, the criminal jolted at being addressed and tried to sit up again.

"Easy," Michael hissed, pushing him back down.

"Y- Yeah?" Lawson stammered out, his eyes darting rapidly between them like they were playing pinball, "Wh-"

"How?" Hogan demanded.

"Crucias- Crucicias- Crucish-"

"Move aside," Hogan barked briskly, Michael sighed but obeyed and Lawson tried – this time successfully - to sit up again as Hogan sat on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked irritably, crossing his arms and scowling. Probably annoyed Hogan had allowed Lawson to sit up, Lawson flinched as Hogan whipped out his wand.

"Checking his story," Hogan answered as he started flicking his wand over a puzzled looking Lawson, the old Healer frowned, "Have you ever been treated by a real Healer before in your life?"

"No," Lawson said sadly as Hogan kept flicking his wand over him, his brow only furrowing more and the movements becoming more frantic around his head.

"Well?" Scorpius wondered but Hogan's attention was solely on Lawson.

"Do you have a headache right now?"

"Yeah," Lawson confirmed as Hogan lowered his wand, his expression severe, "It started when the torture, it still hurts."

"Do you remember your name?"

"L- Lawson?" Lawson told him, seeming taken aback by the question.

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Yelling."

"So you know who you are?"

"Of course," Lawson assured him, looking increasingly as confused as Scorpius felt by the questions.

"And you have all your memories?"

"Yes."

"Even going back to childhood?"

"Unforsunately," Lawson sighed, screwing up his words again for reasons Scorpius didn't understand but was sure he wasn't imagining.

"Are you able to think clearly?"

"Yes?"

"Your thoughts aren't racing constantly and things keep popping into your brain and getting stuck and keep repeating over and over again?"

"Um… no," Lawson answered, looking confused, "Definitively not."

"Hogan, where are you going with this?" Michael inquired curiously but was also ignored.

"Are you having trouble distinguishing what is real and what's not?" Hogan asked and this one got a reaction from Lawson, he jolted then averted his eyes ashamedly, "Hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations?"

"No…" Lawson muttered slowly, suddenly fidgeting with his hands that Scorpius noticed were scarred with burns like around his eye.

"By no do you mean yes?"

"Bayme…"

"Okay," Hogan said, seemingly satisfied and stood up to rejoin them.

"So was he lying?" Scorpius questioned.

"No!" Lawson insisted irritably, apparently they were still in earshot.

"I'm not talking to you!"

"He's not, he was definitely tortured," Hogan confirmed in a low growl, looking rather angry now as they inched a bit further away from Lawson, "Not only that but the bastards came close to driving him insane."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered, switching to surprise.

"Yes, the headache he's experiencing is the pain of his mind starting to break under the strain of the Cruciatus Curse and the brain becomes scrambled which has varying effects. We can't turn him over to them, if they torture him right now they will drive him insane and even if we wait he'll never be able to endure the Cruciatus Curse for very long before reaching the danger zone. I don't know about potential murder but the torture is undeniable and as a Healer I can't in good conscience turn him over to people who are likely to irreversibly destroy someone's mind, even if that someone is a criminal. Its sick and its wrong and we can't have any part in it."

"Yeah, that's what I said," Michael muttered with a mild nod and a suppressed yawn. Scorpius sighed and rubbed his own eyes tiredly, not really wanting this to be his decision but having a feeling that Varanian would go along with whatever he suggested.

"Well what am I supposed to tell the Ministry?" Scorpius wondered as he lowered his hand, "We're trying to be their allies and the first thing we do is take their prisoner?"

"Talk to Hermione about it."

"Tell them to grow a conscience!" Hogan snapped more loudly and Scorpius threw up his hands in defeat.

"Well he better be the most useful damn Healer the world has ever seen," Scorpius complained, directing his scowl at Lawson who he was sure could probably still hear them even if he wasn't looking in their direction anymore, "You understand me, Lawson?"

Lawson nodded.

"I don't know how these places manage to simultaneously be completely different yet exactly the same," Oathan commented as they both apparated just outside the makeshift city.

"Yeah," Molly agreed, hoping it was the right one this time as she started striding towards it with Oathan in tow.

It looked more like a collection of cardboard boxes then an actual town, not that it was an actual town and was closer to a shanty town if any. It was all temporary, patchwork sheets of metal, planks of wood or even literal cardboard were crafted into hovels that passed for homes. There was no consistency to any size or design, nor was there any kind of pattern to how they fit together so the whole place felt like someone had tried to make a jigsaw by forcing together different pieces from twenty different puzzles of varying designs and sizes.

That was the cost of escaping the Shadows' world, you had no resources to work with and nothing could be permanent because you had to be ready to flee at any time from the Shadows as they continued to seek out any survivors not in their society. It turned everyone not under their rule into a race of nomads, some clustered together like this finding safety in numbers while others stuck to themselves – like they did - and then there was Gray, they were the ones actively fighting back not just trying to survive. They were also the ones Molly was looking for right now.

"I don't like these places much," Oathan admitted, drawing her attention back to the lanky twenty year old. He was tall and gangly, not quite having escaped his adolescent awkwardness yet but his skin had cleared up and he'd finally cut his hair.

"Neither do I, that's why we used to leave you behind," Molly agreed, starting to wish she'd been the one to stay behind because the smell was triggering her morning sickness but she knew it was better if she spoke to him, "Sometimes it's necessary though."

Oathan sighed and went silent, she knew he didn't agree but ignored it to focus on where she was going. There were a lot of people there but she wouldn't call it bustling, for as many people she passed enthusiastically shoving goods in their faces there was twice as many leaning listlessly against buildings with defeated looks in their eyes. Everyone was grimy and varying degrees of thin, there were always more people then there was food and not even enough shelter. There were also no laws in nomad land, crime was rampant amongst desperate people in a place of despair.

"Is it really necessary?" Oathan queried unhappily, seemingly finally having worked up the nerve to express his complaints.

"Yes," Molly insisted as she followed the nauseating smell, "We need him to find Gray."

"Yeah but do we really need to find Gray? It's not like we ever needed them before, we do just fine by ourselves."

"We need to do more than fine, Oathan, the plan was always to rejoin them when you were older and now you're older. You have more potential than Flan or I can teach but Gray can, we need that," Molly told him seriously and subconsciously put a hand to her stomach, "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have more protection."

"I just feel like we're better off without them," Oathan said quietly with his head hung low, "I don't like Gray and I don't want to have to see my brothers again, my real brothers I mean."

"You might be pleasantly surprised and you might not have to see your brothers," Molly sighed sadly and noticed him raise his head out of the corner of his eye, "Maurice might be dead by now and I don't think Orous even survived the final battle."

Oathan said nothing and she went back to focusing on her surroundings, meandering her way to the west side of the town where he apparently resided. A bad side of town she was realizing from the smell, the drug trade flourished amongst the nomads. After all it didn't really require the same things needed for the precious commodity that was food and it was far easier to drown your problems in potion then it was to actually fix them, at least they could delude themselves into thinking they didn't exist for a little while. Molly could understand why they did it but still hated every last thing about it, it wasn't life.

"M- Mom, th- these women are barely wearing any clothes!" Oathan hissed at her in shock, his jaw had completely dropped.

Looking back to the people around, Molly noticed he was right. There was an increasing number of men and women – though Oathan seemed to only have eyes for latter – waltzing around in little more than underwear, if that, with smiles and glazed over eyes, seemingly oblivious to the fact their horribly emaciated bodies were going blue from the cold autumn air. Some of them looked disturbingly young, some of them were lying on the ground so still they might not even be alive and some of them were just screwing shamelessly in alleyways.

"Some of the drugs they might take don't let them feel the cold," Molly explained, tugging his sleeve as he had stopped to ogle a particularly large breasted woman who didn't seem to notice one had slipped out of her shirt. Starting to wonder if she should've left him behind, he was an adult though and they had wanted him to experience the world.

"Y- Yeah but why?" Oathan stammered out, still looking shocked and it occurred to her that he hadn't had much experience with nudity, "I don't… I don't understand why they would… why anyone would live like this."

"Well it's probably a good thing you don't understand," Molly decided before she spotted the person they were looking for.

Cyrus Akram lay curled up on his bed, sobbing silently as his body continued to shake from the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse. Not that it mattered when that would actually stop because everything hurt, the vast majority of his body stung from the shapes the Blood Quills carved into his flesh. Not that it even felt like his flesh anymore, it was all raised grooves and raw wounds.

"Cyrus?" his friend's familiar voice called, accompanied by a knock at the door. Davin was very soft-spoken, he always sounded strange speaking through a door, "It's time for dinner."

"I don't care," Cyrus called back, his voice cracked from crying. There was a slight pause.

"Can I come in?"

"If you want," Cyrus said disinterestedly as he heard the door, not bothering to move as he didn't feel like talking. Or eating.

"I take it last class didn't go well?" Davin inquired and Cyrus heard the door close behind him, Cyrus thought the answer was too obvious to bother confirming it, "Have you ever thought of taking Mo up on his offer to help you?"

"I don't want his help!" Cyrus insisted stubbornly, accepting his help felt like giving in to he Shadows, "Besides, we were practicing the Cruciatus Curse today so I don't think his help applies to that."

"You still can't do it?"

"I don't think I'll ever be able to do it, and it's got nothing to do with being blind. I'm not like them, I just can't," Cyrus told him and wiped at his eyes, "Sly would probably be good at it though."

"I don't know, I think we should try be nice to him for a while," Davin pointed out, sounding unusually sympathetic even for him.

"Why?"

"Because Stephan was just telling us about the attack on the New Azkaban prison, they rescued all the spies and killed everyone else. The Shadow Master turned the rest of the prisoners into Inferi and used them as part of a ploy to hurt the Ministry, especially the Aurors."

"So?" Cyrus wondered, his brain not feeling much like thinking until recognition tugged at him and he sat up, "Wait, didn't Sly say his parents were in prison?"

"Exactly."

"So he's an orphan now? The Shadows didn't save his parents even though Sly's one of them?"

"Yeah, Stephan said no one except the spies were worth saving, it's not like we need numbers anymore with almost seventy countries under our belt," Davin told him, Cyrus really didn't like how he said 'we' instead of 'them' sometimes, "Even Sly doesn't deserve to be orphaned."

"What else did your brother say?"

"The usual mostly, just wanting me to do better- well, all of us but I'm the one closet to the Test," Davin explained, though with any luck Cyrus really hoped his mother would manage to save them before they got near that thing, "He mentioned you too."

"Oh?"

"He said James should be well enough to carry out the attack by the end of the month so brush up on your Arabic, just a few more weeks until you have to translate again."

"Great," Cyrus muttered miserably and buried his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut as tears welled within again.

"Look on the bright side, at least you'll get out of here for a bit," Davin offered encouragingly, putting a comforting arm around him, "Isn't that what you want?"

"Not when it involves helping to conquer innocent people… What's my mom going to say when she sees me?"

"She'll know it's not your fault, she'll just be proud you managed to hold on."

"That's the thing, Davin, I don't know if I can," Cyrus admitted, feeling his throat choking up again and Davin's tone switched to one of concern.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how much longer I can take this," Cyrus whispered, wiping at his eyes again and making an effort to look at his friend even as he felt more bubbling, "I feel like I'm losing it, every day just hurts more and more and more. I don't know much longer I can take it, I'm not strong like you guys. I just my mom, I just want to go home. I don't know how you all do it, Davin, I really don't."

"You've lasted this far, Cy, you're just stronger than you think."

"But-" Cyrus tried to protest but was silenced as Davin gave him a hug.

"Being strong is about enduring the hurt not never feeling it, that'd just make you inhuman. You're just as strong as any of us."

"I just want the pain to stop," Cyrus said in a small voice, clinging to Davin childishly.

"It will stop, someday this will all just be a bad memory."

A part of Cyrus wanted to question how he could be so confident but the rest of him stopped that part, he felt so defeated right now he'd rather just believe then try to pick apart Davin's words. He wasn't sure what he'd do without him, it was another reason he was dreading having to go translate for James. He'd be completely alone without Davin.

"So can we go eat now?" Davin asked as he pulled away, "We can stay here if you want but it's best to keep our strength up and honestly, I'm kinda hungry."

"I suppose so," Cyrus begrudgingly agreed, wiping at his eyes again. He still wasn't feeling much of an appetite but he didn't want Davin to go without on his account, hopefully it'd be a quick meal.

"Great!" Davin said cheerfully and was soon leading them off to dinner through the throng of the other kids talking quietly amongst themselves, mostly about classes.

"Hey tearface, by which I mean you, Akram," Sly's stupid smug self-righteous British accent cut across everything else, Cyrus immediately felt his back go up.

"Shut up, Sly," Cyrus shot out immediately, not in the mood to deal with him. Especially if he had to try being nice to someone he despised. Though from how normal – at least normal for Sly, he sounded too old for his age - he sounded, Cyrus didn't think Sly had actually heard about his parents yet.

"Hey Sly, I really think-" Davin started to say but Sly completely ignored and spoke over him.

"So what's up, crybaby?" Sly taunted and Cyrus heard him approach, did he still have tears on his face? Sly always seemed to know when he'd been crying no matter how much he tried to wipe away the tears, "Were you practicing your eulogy for your dead mother's funeral?"

"I said shut up!" Cyrus snapped again, his fists clenching and his body tensing. The thought of her dying was the most distressing thing he could imagine, he couldn't not be upset when Sly started on this. Except this time you actually have something to say back, his mind reminded him so darkly he felt a little colder inside and he lowered his voice, "Back off, Sly, I'm serious today."

"I-"

"Ooh you're serious today," Sly teased, steamrolling through Davin's attempt to speak up again, "But you're right, you're right. Of course you're not practicing her funeral eulogy."

"That's right," Cyrus confirmed quickly, trying to shut Sly down from whatever awful thing he was going to say next.

"Yes, she's been dead for so long that you already missed her funeral! What an awful son you are."

"Sly-!"

"Okay, we're leaving!" Davin interjected finally, trying to drag Cyrus away and he felt his jaw clench along with his fist. He hated Sly so much, "We can just-"

"I'm sorry, my bad!" Sly called out in a falsely cheery tone from behind them, "Of course you didn't miss the funeral, a worthless bitch like her wouldn't have one."

"Cyrus, don't-"

"YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD, SLY!" Cyrus yelled out in anger before he could stop himself, yanking his arm free of Davin and spinning back around. He heard Sly laugh, his smooth smug laugh that made Cyrus want to punch him.

"That's your comeback, really?" Sly taunted and Cyrus felt Davin go very still beside him, "It's so childish to just regurgitate the same-"

"You think I'm lying but I'm not," Cyrus sneered, stepping further forwards, "You go and on about my mom being dead but you're the one who's an orphan- Davin heard it from Stephan himself!"

"Davin?" Sly queried, not sounding so confident now.

"I'm sorry, Sly," Davin said solemnly, speaking so softly it was barely audible.

"And you know what else, Sly?" Cyrus continued cruelly, not able – or maybe just unwilling – to stop once the ball was rolling because this was the only one he'd ever get, "The Shadow Master is the one who killed them! That's right, your parents are such garbage criminals that even your precious Shadows didn't think they were worth the second of time it'd have taken to save them! You think joining these maniacs made you special? It didn't! You're nobody to them and your parents are nothing, Sly, nothing but dead meat now! You say my mom is worthless but she isn't, your parents are the worthless! And you say my mom is dead but she isn't dead, your parents are dead! They're dead, Sly!"

Silence.

"Maybe you should look at your own family before you start criticizing mine, huh?!" Cyrus shouted at him, it felt so good to have finally shut him up!

Still silence, around them there suddenly just seemed to be a vacuum of soundlessness. It was strange, he'd expected Sly to scream at him that he was a liar or to speak up with some snarky comeback but Sly didn't speak, Sly didn't say a word. Cyrus started to fear that maybe Sly had walked out while he'd been speaking and he right now he was now talking to no one.

"You're not going to say anything?!" Cyrus demanded, hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself.

"I um… have to…" Sly mumbled aimlessly in a voice suddenly sounding too small for him, not even managing a coherent sentence before his footsteps started to walk away.

"Yeah, you better walk away because Daddy isn't coming to pick you up!"

"Cyrus," Davin said sharply, warningly and he glanced in his friend's direction in surprise.

"Come on, he was asking for it," Cyrus insisted, feeling rather irate that Davin was siding with Sly here, "I didn't tell him anything that wasn't true."

"That doesn't make it okay to be as mean as he is, he's still just a little kid who just lost his parents," Davin admonished him, his words heavy with disappointment as he started to walk away, "You should have been better than that, I thought you were better then that."

Despite having expected him not to be in good shape, Molly was nonetheless surprised by his appearance. He'd been a child the last time she'd seen him but he was certainly not a child now, he was tall like his father had been and covered in blood quill scars like his brother had been, except his looked a lot less legible. Like the other addicts he was extremely emaciated and wearing just a ragged open shirt and pair of dirty boxer shorts, his wand was tucked down the side of them. His blond hair was a mess matted with filth, the woman he was snogging didn't seem to mind though as she ran her fingers through it. His eyes were unchanged though, still that sightless milky white with a scar running down the left side.

"Hey Cyrus," Molly called out a greeting as he threw the woman down onto a pile of trash, she didn't seem to care however as she spread her legs readily but Cyrus' head had shot up in recognition.

"Didja just hear someone call my name?" Cyrus asked, his words slurred.

"I dunno, what's your name?" the woman wondered disinterestedly, reaching for his shorts.

"I called your name, Cyrus," Molly reiterated and he pulled away from the woman, his head cocking to one side curiously, "Do you even remember your cousin?"

"Molly?" Cyrus said as he stepped away from the woman, stumbling a little but not seeming to notice as a lifeless smile spread across his face. He opened his arms in a welcoming way as he approached, up close she noticed track marks hiding amongst the scars on his arms, "And here I thought you had died."

"What happened to you?" Molly couldn't help but ask, any joy she was trying to feel for seeing a familiar face after so many years being completely offset by his drastic change. To her surprise, or maybe not, he just laughed joylessly.

"What didn't happen? You're going to have to be a bit more specific, life is nothing but stuff that happens and I'm a little high right now," Cyrus answered cheerfully and covered his mouth as he started giggling, "Okay, a lot high. I don't even know where the world is anymore but I can taste the colors of these lights."

"Are you sure this is the guy?" Oathan wondered, looking and sounding extremely dubious though Cyrus' head cocked to one side curiously at the new voice, "He doesn't look very useful."

"It is true I don't look very useful, Oathan," Cyrus admitted while Oathan looked completely taken aback at being recognized, he tapped the side of his head and started giggling again, "But then again you know how the saying goes: looks don't matter because I'm blind."

"I thought you were with Gray?" Molly questioned, trying to get the conversation back on track and surreptitiously flicked her wand to ensure they wouldn't be overheard.

"I was," Cyrus confirmed, still grinning widely and not seeming to notice his body shiver from the cold that just blew through, "Until they kicked me out."

"Why'd they do that?"

"Oh no reason," Cyrus answered with a smile, folding his arms, "They just thought I was trading supplies for drugs."

"Were you?" Oathan asked curiously and Cyrus burst into hysterical laughter.

"What do you think, you fucking idiot?" Cyrus countered, laughing so hard he cried while Oathan crossed his arms grumpily, "God, you're dumb. Even the lights are laughing at you, they're singing songs about how stupid the supposed savior of the universe is."

"Did they really never try to help you?" Molly asked instead, silencing Cyrus who tilted his head curiously again.

"Depends on your definition of help, I suppose. I mean Maurice gave me plenty of chances, more then he would've for anyone who wasn't his baby brother, and I was forced through withdrawal more times then I want to remember," Cyrus explained and started giggling again, "I'm sure they certainly thought it was helping me but I didn't find it particularly helpful, I wanted to get high."

"They gave you a way to get back to them though, didn't they?" Molly guessed and he smirked in response, somehow doubting Maurice would cut his brother off forever. Roman wouldn't have wanted that.

"Only if I promise to be good and want to get better."

"So you can take us back to them?" Oathan prompted grimly to which Cyrus giggled.

"No, why would I want to go back? Their idea of better is my idea of hell," Cyrus said, giggling and shivering again as he wrapped his arms around himself, "They're fighting a war they already lost but somehow I'm the crazy one? They're probably dead by now anyway. Everyone dies so easily, they all just die over and over again, everyone I cared about just dies over and over again."

"Even Maurice?"

"It's funny, isn't it?" Cyrus continued, staring off at nothing as he laughed harder, "I'm alive but they're not, even though I'm blind but they're not, even though I'm useless but they're not. Or are they? Maybe I'm the one who's dead and they're alive, or maybe no one is dead and this is just a joke everyone is playing on me."

"Cyrus-" Molly started to speak up but was cut off.

"Good one, guys! You got me! You totally got me, I really believed everyone was dead! You can come out now!" Cyrus shouted suddenly before descending into more laughter, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he hugged his arms tighter around himself, "Who knows? I don't, I thought you were dead too. What do I know, I'm blind? I can't see, I can't see. Except these lights, sometimes when I'm high I can see these lights and they taste like the flavors of the night-"

"Cyrus?" Molly tried again and he stopped laughing, cocking his head again and continuing to smile even though his eyes looked dead inside.

"Yes, dear cousin? Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Um no."

"Oh good, because I don't have any."

"If you can't take us back to Gray, can you at least tell us how to get there?" Molly asked of him and Cyrus looked thoughtful for a minute before nodding.

"Yes," Cyrus smiled, "I can do that."