Aigis woke with a start, still clutching her candlestick and flashlight. Rei, the Janitor’s closet, Athena… Could it really be that Athena was gone? No! She could still feel her. Just barely. Muted and hidden under a thin layer of… what?

Aigis followed Cathy, dazed, answering the nurse’s inane conversation with just a polite nod now and then. She stared blankly, allowing her nurse to select her breakfast, and she hardly noticed the growing din in the cafeteria around her. What could have stopped her from reaching Athena last night? Was it this place? Or this body?

So distracted was she by her thoughts she barely registered anything even an inch past her nose. As a result, she bumped against another patient, despite the brilliant color of his familiar, messy hair. The jarring sensation finally broke her from the spell of her thoughts. Heat. She reached out and touched his arm tentatively.

“Excuse me,” she said, almost too softly to be heard over the others talk around them. She gave him a nod of greeting, but her gaze drew past him, her thoughts a jumbled mess. Her voice still obviously distracted, she asked, “Would you mind if I join you for now?” She suddenly did not want to be alone with only her thoughts as companions.