After a morning (yes a morning, Maiko was actually awake before noon as an attempt to correct her sleeping schedule for the school year) of drinking caffeinated beverages and grocery shopping, she came home with paper bags in her arms. Her giant-bear dog greeted her at the door as if she had come back from war rather than a few miles down at the grocery store. Maslow's tail wagged wildly,  threatening to knock anything down that was within reach. After scratching the beloved canine behind the ears, she made her way to the kitchen, dog following close behind.

She had just finished putting away the perishable goods when the Newfoundland mix perked up his ears and ran to the door. She took a quick breath, color draining from her face. Something inside told her that it was important. Way to be vague, weird seer instincts. When her instincts were vague, it was aggravating in an entirely different way than if they were explicit and vivid. She really didn't want to play Sherlock Holmes at the moment. Twenty questions, maybe-- that was easier.

 Maiko took a moment to steady her breathing and compose herself. Was it a person? Yes. Usually these things had to do with people. Did it have something to do with her brother, Kohaku? Was Callum okay? Akiva? Her muscles tightened.

Akiva. Somehow that felt right. Was it Gabriel? No. Was she sick? No. She bit her bottom lip and made her way to the door, just as the hollow sound of knuckles rapping against the door confirmed the arrival of a not-so-unexpected guest.

"You'd really think that my foresight would give me more warning, hm?" She asked Maslow, gently pushing him aside with her leg. The house was a mess! Not dirty, of course-- but dog hair clung to a spot on the rug that Maslow had claimed as his special lazing area, there were books lying on the couch and a pile of records on one of the side tables. The window facing the street had doggie nose prints on it from Maslow taking it upon himself to keep watch. Her home was in no way pristine, but well lived in.

The witch opened the door, smiling weakly. Maslow's nose was peeking between Maiko's hip and the doorframe as he tried to get a good sniff of the guest who was so obviously here to see him and give him pets.

She squinted her eyes at the man-- he was familiar, where was he from? Mai was certain she had never met him before. "Is... Everything okay?" Well that greeting was as awkward as Michael Cera in literally any Michael Cera role ever. Then it hit her. He resembled Akiva's supposedly deceased husband in enough ways that it wasn't simply coincidence. A relative, maybe.

"Holy cinnamon-toasted baby Jesus!" She exclaimed, before realizing that was an even more inappropriate response. "Fuh-- Sh--" She Mai paused for a moment to gather herself in hopes of appearing at least a little bit sensible. "I mean,  good afternoon." She nodded proudly, finally pleased with herself as she opened the door wide to let him in. 

THWUNK!!

Maslow proceeded to throw himself on the floor, exposing his belly and wiggling like a flobberworm.

"Is .... everything okay?"

Adon suspected that she didn't get the owl.  He had borrowed one from a friend--another hazard of being a recent transplant--and it had more of a proclivity towards hanging out with the pigeons in the stoop than actual, real and pi]important[/i] work.

Owls were dirty, bird-brained creatures.  Now that he had an iPhone (primarily for selfies), he wondered why wizards had relied on the creatures for so long when they could have, for an insane amount of Muggle coins, have something that you can take pictures of yourself with and--presumably--contact others.  ... Adon hadn't quite figured out that last part yet.

He gave a somewhat frail smile at her response--quite aware that, in some way, a realization had startled her.  Usually Jesus was off-limits; but she'd basically rolled him in pastry dough and seasoned him.

"I think I should extend the same question to you. ... Are you?" he asked, ducking his head a little, indicating that they might do best inside.  "Adon Eleor."  He had a feeling she'd already pieced this together.  The Seer had been a friend of his brother's.  Or maybe she had been particularly take with Witch Weekly.  Either way, the door opened wide, and Adon followed her in.  The dog seemed to collapse in expectation of a reward of some sort from him.  He proceeded to ignore it for the time being. 

"Professor Yukawa, is it?"  He didn't know how she was accustomed to being addressed.  Adon had written her down as "Maiko"--sometimes "Mai" in his meeting book, but Adon couldn't assume the sort of familiarity the two had.  "I take it you didn't get the owl. I'm sorry."  He looked it.  This was already 50 shades of awkward.  "I hope you'll forgive me taking the liberty of taking up one of your last mornings before school settles in--I didn't want to wait any longer, since I figure you'll be returning..."

There was a high, whining sort of noise, and Adon returned his attention to the squirming dog.  With an air of acquiescence, he knelt onto one knee to scratch the belly of the beast--the dog's eyes closing happily--before popping back up onto his feet after a few strokes.  There.  The dog squirmed in further anticipation before opening its eyes, no doubt expecting more.  Adon, however, didn't have the hands--or the interest--for a more thorough petting.  Tucked beneath his arm was a large, but very thin, silver platter.  As soon as Maiko caught sight of it, he knew there would be questions, but that wasn't where he wanted to start, so he said,

"...You probably know, I'm Dree's--Dreogan's--brother.  I've been following up with people in his appointment book, from last November."  His eyes flicked towards the sofa.

"I'm fine, sorry!" She shook her head at herself more than anything else. "I'm not a professor." She replied, closing the door behind him and motioning for him to take a seat. Maslow seemed absolutely taken with their guest, "I'm a counselor-- at Hogwarts."  Mai cringed internally-- many people had their reservations about such a position at the wizarding school, though her last year working there seemed to have exposed a need for her role. "Maiko is fine, or Mai." She sat down on the couch.

Maslow laid there like a slug, totally satisfied with the small amount of attention that Adon had bestowed upon him.

"Adon, of course. I've heard about you. The famous auror himself! Lovely to finally meet you in person." Maiko hadn't heard much, just snippets from Akiva and Dreogan. "I don't think I got the owl-- but my darling, sweet, absolute gherkin of a brother may have." She shrugged, "He prefers phones, and if letters are delivered here I don't get them half the time because he throws them in totally irrational places. Also owls terrify him. There is a high chance he screamed profanities and pelleted laundry at the poor creature until it retreated."

Her eyes narrowed in on the silver platter. Adon was following up on people who had met with Dree before his disappearance. A heavy subject indeed. She rubbed her temple and let out a sigh.

"The last time I saw Dree, we met for lunch." Mai began, "Gabriel had just been born, so he looked like he was running on... Nothing. He was tired-- which isn't unusual for a new dad." She could feel a knot build up in her stomach. Gabriel had already grown so much-- if Dreogan was alive, he was missing out on things that he would never get back. And Akiva-- his disappearance had devastated her more than she would ever let on.

"You're looking for clues then, about where he is? Do you think there's a chance he is still alive?"

Adon gave a lopsided, melancholy smile at as he nodded, "That's, ah, what he called you," he nodded.  Feeling himself teetering too close to that edge already, he cleared his throat and composed himself.

Maiko might not have known, he hoped, for she'd pressed on: "I don't think I got the owl-- but my darling, sweet, absolute gherkin of a brother may have. ..." something about phones, owls, and finally "There is a high chance he screamed profanities and pelleted laundry at the poor creature until it retreated."

"--And," Adon cut into the train of reasons intended to make him feel better, "the poor creature no doubt would have deserved it."  He shifted slightly, stooping over finally to rest the platter onto the ground, "I..." he gave a sheepish smile, pulling out the newly procured iPhone from a satchel draped over his shoulder. "...happen to have bought a mobile cellular telephone, if that's easier..." he gave another smile meeting her eyes, "for next time."

If there was one.  This next bit might frighten her away in a quick minute.

"I do have ... strong indications he may be alive.  Predominantly how the Near East Aurors are responding, and I know them well." They would not have sent him away while they were making new landfall on the case.  They would not have kept the case open this long, they would not have been spending late nights burning the midnight oil if he was just another dead man at the hands of a merciless band of men.

And they most certainly would not have sent him away, just when he had been closing in.

"I am not looking for clues, Mai," he said, his words breathless.  Wetting his lips, he said abruptly, "I am looking to make contact."

Dree did call her that-- he was one of the few who had called her by her preferred name. At work it was usually Maiko or awkward stumbling over her last name and avoiding before saying it. She couldn't help but smile, even though it was, in a way, bittersweet. The way any nice reminder of someone who is gone comes with a little bit of sadness, no matter how positive the memory is.

The interruption did not bother her as much as she thought-- granted, they weren't arguing and his input was actually humorous and added to her story, rather than distracting from it. Then he offered to exchange numbers-- it always threw her off guard when wizards were knowledgeable about muggle things in general. However, considering Dreogan and Akiva's lines of profession, she realized that she shouldn't have been so surprised.

She picked her phone off of the end table, "We're exchanging numbers at your own risk, I hope you realize that." She teased before they stumbled around on their phones to get each others' contact information. At last, that task was complete.

Maiko sobered up when the conversation switched back to Dree, eyes darting from the platter to Adon curiously, examining his expression, processing his body language. They were stepping into difficult territory. Dreogan was potentially alive; she was certain that if he could have, he would have come back. If he could contact Akiva, Dree would have done so a long time ago.

"I am looking to make contact."

"And my help would make things significantly easier, then."  She replied, both a question and a statement. "What do you need?" Mai hesitated for a moment, "And... Does Akiva know about this?"

"It requires a Seer.  And a Seer that knows Dree is," how not to scare her off. 'My only chance' seemed to dramatic, but equally dramatic would be calling it 'a shot in the dark with a blindfold on.'

Which was not, strictly speaking, true.  Having Dree gone for so long.  Having Dree gone and anywhere in the world--or in the afterworld--made it a like searching for something while being blindfolded in the dark.  Having a Seer, well that blindfold came off.  And having a Seer that knew Dree, with a natural affinity towards him, well, that just made this: "Even better," he said, hesitantly.  It was true.  And this way, he didn't need to lay out the bleak odds, which she probably already knew.

Add to the complication that he didn't want to drag another person into this, if he could help it--or, perhaps was not overly interested in losing ownership on this search,  now that Jerusalem seemed to have cut him off.  And, the thought of bringing Maiko into this, this Middle Eastern magic, who seemed so... well, wide-eyed didn't sit quite right with him.  And then there was--

Akiva.

He gave a tight-lipped sigh at her question.  "No.  Akiva does not know, for a couple of reasons.  But I did not want to say something until I had a better idea.  She is... healing." He didn't particularly like it--but he couldn't deprive her of that; not when he had faced the resentment of his mother and brother years ago, when he had been the only one to accept--to fully accept that their father was dead.

Almost certainly by the hands of the same people who'd taken Dree.  It was not promising. "I did not want to get in the way of that, if there was no reason."  But she was going out with someone else, now, and that did add to the urgency.  If Dree came back, and his wife was not his wife, and his home was not his home, and his job was not his job...

Adon would always be his brother.  Gabriel would always be his son--and Dree would see to it that he wasn't just a weekend father with visitation--but Adon very much wondered if Dree could recover from a blow like that, with everything else.  God, if he were just in Jerusalem where he could actually do something--!

Adon had fallen silent, and gave a strained smile.  "Sorry. I'm trying to think of how to explain this..."

It was good to be in London.  Better than Jerusalem, even.  For one, he could do things--off-the-book things--like this.  For another, it was where Gringotts was, and he had a hunch that that was still where the Group's interest lie.  Adon was not know to have the Sight, per se, but growing up with two Seers in the household--as well as a fair bit of his job had taught him to trust, wholeheartedly, his instincts. "Never. Doubt. Your. Judgment."[1] he still heard Tamis Raynor's voice in his head. And he never really had--until he'd moved here and everything had changed.

Everything was changing again, and it was time to get back to what he knew.

Something in that vault was of interest to the Group that took his father, and his brother.  And his father had not wanted to give it--whatever it was--to them, and had died instead.

And so, every day, Adon had been--to the Goblins' consternation--visiting the vault.  Not an object had moved, save the ones he'd touched.  Something might have happened to Dree--that was not out of the question--but for the Group, keeping Dree alive to access the vault was likely their best option.

And of course, London was the best place to be because it was where Akiva was.  And Dree's son, which at the moment was the closest thing to being with his brother that he could possibly be.  He only wished his mother would come, but she felt the need to fix her hawk eyes on the Jerusalem Auror Corps, who had in so many ways, at so many other times, let the family down before.

This time would be different.

With a cleansing exhale, he embarked on an explanation.  "You do not," Adon said, very levelly, "have to do any of this if it makes you uncomfortable. I am certain you're proficient at scrying-" it was the staple for any Seer, the way to access visions besides the happenstance dreams and prophecies.  "This is a sort of... geographical scrying.  Not of the future, but the present.  Looking for a person. And using the scry to narrow to a region.  Or, if we could even manage it, access Dree directly.  It has been known to work, when both members of the scry are Seers."

He paused.  "Dree actually, ah, performed this when he was trying to find someone.  A Seer with the group that most likely took him, in fact.  They made a connection--exchanged some thoughts and memories... but the Seer on the other end was hostile, and... I'm sorry to say it, he was able to possess my brother."  He held a hand out very strongly, his body tight with meaning, "that will not happen to anyone searching for Dree, however.  To start with, he would not be openly hostile, and I know for a fact that Dreogan would never even be capable of performing dark magic."  He considered how best to explain.  "I only say this now to bring to point the ... profundity," he paused--was that even a word?--"of the connection that can occur.  A potential for a temporary... blending.  And I don't know what state Dree is in, and if that is something you would not want to undergo..."

He waited nervously, fingers trembling slightly, for an answer. 'Your only chance' ran through his mind, once again.

1.

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He was being careful with his use of language, but that didn’t seem to mask what he really meant. His body language said it all. She wasn’t sure if he was aware of it, but Adon was incredibly expressive—more so than many people she had the pleasure of interacting with. He was desperate, that much was clear. He hadn’t told Akiva about this, but yet he was willing to go to a complete stranger in a last ditch attempt to find his brother. Maiko waited for him to finish speaking, completely, before she put in any input. Waiting through the silent pauses, giving him time to think and process what he needed to say and how he wanted to say it.

Mai was a master at the waiting game; it was a necessary part of being a counselor. Cutting someone off mid-thought was not usually the most advantageous way to listen—if that was even counted as listening.

“She needs to know.” Maiko said firmly, though not unkindly. “Not right now, but after we know more. He’s her partner, Adon. He’s Gabriel’s father. She’s healing, but delaying telling her what we know won’t help the healing. If he comes back, she’ll be betrayed because we didn’t give her time to prepare.” As she spoke, her voice quivered in hesitation towards the end—Mai wasn’t sure if that was necessarily the right way to go.  If he didn’t come back, they could be giving her false hope. Adon was right. She had already grieved—and should they really put her in a position to go through it again? She was torn between loyalty to her dear friend (and favored cuddle buddy), and said friend’s well being.

Dree had done this before. And had actually gotten possessed. The thought of that made her pale slightly and her fingers clench into fists for just a second. Mai had never been comfortable with any situation where she was not in complete control over her body. Her body had let her down too many times before for her to even trust that it would behave the way it should in different circumstances. But this was more than her body at risk, it was her mind.

But no. She shook her head. Dreogan would never do such a thing—not to her, and especially not after having been through that. If he did intentionally, then he was entirely a different kind of person than she had believed him to be.
A few moments passed, probably too many for Adon’s comfort, but she needed the time to choose.

“I’ll do it.” She decided, resting her hand on his shoulder. “I can handle it.” Maiko didn’t have a choice—once she went through with scrying for Dree, she had to handle it-- she had been through plenty of her own trials in the past with the war, a rocky home life, and raising Kohaku. But this was not the same.

But it was Adon’s last resort, and by extension—Akiva’s.

"She needs to know."  It wasn't so much this point.  Or even anything she said.  Adon knew all of it.  The momentousness of it.  How important every-single-freaking-thing was.  But she just kept driving it in, over --and over...

Adon moved both of his hands to the sides of his head, fingernails scratching the scalp as he listened to--well, it sounded like a scolding.  "I know!" he snapped, hands flying out before, once more, before he gave a strained sigh, pressing the palms of his hands over his eyes.  "I'm sorry," came much more quietly.  The hands dropped.  "I know." He evened his tone, hoping to sound much more reasonable. "You are absolutely right.  I've thought of that, though.  I would never keep anything from her.  The moment I know. But we don't know anything yet--" he could feel his shoulders start to tense, and he gave another sigh.  "But when we do."

Shit.  And here came the pain and embarrassment.  Every. single. time.  "'I'm sorry--" he repeated. "I didn't mean to snap.  I'm just... I'm not sure you understand how much this..." his hands fished in the air as he thought of a word. scares me?/ needs to work?/ brings back bad memories?

..."means to me."

Adon crouched down to pick up the bowl.  "If you are sure," he said, looking about the room.  "We will need to fill this with water, and make the room--or any room--as dark as we can..."

He began looking about, inspecting the place.  It had a very harmonious... vibe, if that was the right word.  Tranquil.  A bit different from Dree's study, where he scryed.  He hoped that that would be conducive. Adon didn't know what it was like.  He'd never been in this position before.  This was all unchartered territory.  Which was why it was good to lay boundaries where he could.

"Understand, Maiko--if this works, and you're able to connect with Dreogan... whatever he is feeling, or seeing, or thinking... you may experience yourself." And if she saw nothing? What then?

Was that what Dree would be? Nothing? Or would it just be another failed lead?  The uncertainty of those two options made his stomach twist. 

She flinched at his temper, but he quickly tried to get it under control. He was tense to begin with. Hell, let's face it-- tense wouldn't even touch what Mai guessed he was feeling. Terrified? Powerless? She was not him-- she could not speak for his emotions, but so far that was what she was gathering. And she could hardly blame him for it. A touchy temper plus high-stress situations do not exactly equal peaceful interactions.

"Sorry if I was being condescending. I do that sometimes, it's never my intention." Mai's eyebrows furrowed together, a crease forming in the middle. "It seems we're in agreement then?" She tilted her head to the side inquisitively. "And you're right. I don't understand how much this means to you-- I'm not in your position.  Dree's your brother. It's your family. I can do my best, though."

He seemed to feel the need to repeat the risks, this time in a much more clear way. "I understand the risks." She replied,  "And..." Mai inhaled sharply, "They're risks I'm willing to take." The self-preserving, selfish, absolutely terrified part of her wanted to run away from this and pretend this had never happened. But at the same time, she couldn't. She just couldn't.  "We really don't have any other options. Dree was--is-- my friend. I'm ridiculously-- pathetically-- self sacrificing to those I care about." She gave him a weak smile, standing up to prepare. First, Mai called the dog and locked him upstairs, where he whimpered for a minute before settling for his lot in life.

Her bedroom would've been the most ideal place to scry, she felt-- but there was no way in seven hells Adon was going to witness the horror of her laundry and books all over on his first visit.

As she came back down the stairs, she motioned towards the other room, "You can fill it up with water from the sink." Any water was good enough, right?

Mai quickly bustled around, closing the curtains, clearing off the coffee table, and locking the front door. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the dark. "If you need to use lumos, it's fine." The microwave was broken anyway, and navigating through a strange house in the dark with a bowl of water was probably not easy.

She settled back on the couch. That felt right? Was that right? She never scryed like this before, and Mai couldn't say that she scryed very often. Being a seer was not a part of herself that she had completely accepted, though she was hesitant to admit that to anyone else. Despite her natural affinity with divination, she neglected it more often than not. It didn't stop her from having her visions or seerdreams though.

"So...." Mai swayed a little, finding a mild comfort in the movement. "Are you ready?"

As always, the apologies dulled the sting of his own pride.  Perhaps he'd not been so utterly irrational.  Even if he had been, she was obliging and Adon was grateful for it.  He gave a mute nod in acknowledgement, and was happy to leave that matter behind them.  They had work to do.

As Maiko went upstairs to tuck away the energetic mutt, Adon set about his rather lengthier preparations.  So much of this was cobbled together from memories--but Adon had read over several books from his brother's study.  They'd been very insightful--Adon learned from this that the generally accepted view of divination among Jewish mages was that reading of Signs and utilizing the Sight to interpret already present stimuli (such as dreams and visions) was acceptable, but provoking the sight--through ceremonies, hallucinogens, or even exactly what they were doing now--was not only frowned upon, but could be considered a sin.

However, this insight was not particularly instructive or helpful.  Dreogan had done so much to carve out his own space with his divination--and had been so careful to walk the line.  Even his Divination teacher at Beit Gaddol hadn't quite known what to make of his negotiations.  Adon very much doubted Dree's methods were learned from books.

But it was what he had to go by.  Adon carried the thin silver bowl into the kitchen and filled up the water from the sink, running his hands under the tap as he did so.

Dree'd used a silver pitcher and had said some sort of blessing or other as he did so.  Adon had never much cared or taken note.  Sheepishly, Adon said the only prayer over the water that he knew--a customary and general blessing over food before a meal--as the water reached the brim.  He turned the tap off, sighing.  This already was half-assed.

The return trip to the front room was a bit difficult to navigate--but Adon doubted he'd have been able to handle the bowl single-handed to free up his wand arm, anyhow. His eyes were already adjusting to the light,

By the time Maiko'd returned from upstairs, Adon had laid out the bowl, and sitting on the ground just opposite the couch, was fishing in the empty space behind him for his bag.  Finding the handle, he dragged it towards him.  He wrapped his hand around the stump of Dreogan's black candle, which he lit.  He then unwrapped several items from a handkerchief.  The sprig of clary sage he placed at the top of the bowl.  Below it, he placed two silver coins: one sickle, one shekel.  The handkerchief itself was folded into a triangle, then laid to the left.  And Adon lifted the bowl, placing the final item beneath the water: several strands of (what was almost certainly) Dreogan's curly black hair, taken from his brush, and several pinches of a white powdery substance.

"So..." he said, wetting his lips, "Dree always stood, but I think it was just to get a good angle in order to look directly down into the water... I think if you pull the table up, that could work..."

Now that Adon thought of it, he wasn't even sure what Dree saw.  Was it an image in the water?  Did looking at the still water help clear his mind for a vision?  He'd always steered far clear of his brother's and father's gifts--he'd never even thought to ask them.

"...And if it'd be easier to be alone..." he added, a bit uncertain.

The candle, the water,the sage-- the coins? It was all quite an interesting sight. Maiko was glad that Kohaku wasn't around to see this, it would have undoubtedly made him uncomfortable, or jealous. Or both? Lately it was hard to decipher her brother's emotions-- anything remotely negative showed itself in a general grumpy attitude and an explosive temper.   Both she was used to dealing with, but it didn't mean it wasn't tiring after a long while.

She approached the bowl, standing, like Dree supposedly did.

It had been years since Maiko had scryed for anything.

She gave Adon a small, approving smile-- this setting was perfect, for her at least. In her home, it would be much easier to clear her mind enough to open up to.... Whatever it was that was behind this magic. Maiko had always been hesitant to call it God, or even label it as an entity. Although Adon seemed to lack confidence in what he was doing, the motions he went through implied that he had spent much of his time watching Dreogan, even if he did not quite understand how it worked.

"I don't need to be alone." She murmured. It would be better, actually, if Adon were there. His presence wouldn't inhibit her focus, but it would bring just a little bit more security to a wary situation.

Mai gazed down at the water, watching as the last few ripples smoothed, leaving the surface unblemished. She inhaled slowly through the nose, before letting the air out, and with it any sense of fight-or-flight that she had left. Finally she was looking--but not looking-- at her own reflection. The bowl of water served as a point of focus, a beginning. She was here, and not here-- reaching out tentatively, her mind focused on Dreogan Eleor.

To Adon, her staring at the water probably felt like forever as the minutes passed-- but to her, nearly no time had gone by. The seer felt a tugging, a familiar presence. Weak at first, but growing strong.

"Dree?" Mai called out to him silently, though not without conviction. If she used her voice, she feared she'd lose focus.

Dreogan smoothed down the white cotton of his long white robes--a Palestinian thobe.  Godze had said that this and the keffiyeh would be necessary--to cover as much of him as possible.  And it was true: with the full beard, covered head, and head-to-toe robes, there was very little left of Dreogan to be recognized.  He looked into the mirror, examining and, finally, determining that Godze had chosen rightly.  Perhaps only the Gringotts goblins would know who he really was--when he handed over his wand (which had still not been returned to him) and entered the family vault.

The thought that he would be walking through Diagon Alley, free and yet tethered, was a particularly--disturbing was not quite the right word.  There was a dread--that he would be recognized or compromised.  But even stronger was the dread that he would be that close to home, and to his family, and may never be that close again.

This had better work.

As Dreogan turned from the looking glass, he felt a particular pricking at his consciousness.  A sort of presence.  Not entirely unlike the time he'd admitted Katsaros in, and that man had possessed his body.

This felt different--it was not him, but the same panic surged up.  Dreogan tensed instinctively, holding his breath.  This was not the time for this.  Whoever it was--if they could See into what Dree planned, it could ruin everything.

He could not let Godze or his men know.  Dreogan had declined more than once his uncle Alberic's offers of Occlumency lessons.  And he was heartily regretting that, now.  He was not certain what the person who seemed to have latched on might have seen, or observed of his thoughts.

Closing his eyes quickly and clenching his fists, he willed the person be gone.  With all his might, he thought one, clear thought: Not now.

She felt a push—away. He was resisting her. Did he not know who it was? If he had been possessed before while doing this, it could be that he was trying to keep that from happening again. Or, he knew exactly who it was and didn’t want her exposed to… Whatever it was that he was going through. Or maybe he Dree was alive, that much she was certain. How alive he was, his current mental and physical wellbeing was still unknown to her.

”Not now.”

Maiko startled a bit-- flinching visibly. She actually understood. But not now? No. Now was the time. Sooner rather than later—and she wasn’t sure how long Adon could wait, or what he even had planned.

This little bastardized version of Dree’s ritual actually worked. Adon knew more than he thought.

“No.” She protested, not confident that she would be able to do this again. What was she supposed to do? Retreat and then tell Adon, “oh we connected, it just wasn’t a good time.” No. It would never be a good time, and frankly that was a bullshit reason. She wasn’t sure how to communicate how imperative it was that they communicate, in some way. She conjured up memories—mostly of her with Akiva and Gabriel. Their dinners, her bouncing his son on her hip.

How much Gabriel had grown since Dree last saw him. Gabriel’s curls. The way he held his face that looked exactly like his father. He was a mini-Dree, and in many ways that broke Akiva’s heart.

“It’s just me, Mai. Your brother asked me to help.” She pushed back with the stubbornness of ten worried mothers; there was no way Mai was going to back down—not when they were this far.

The memories, the visions, flashes of faces he loved and had lost brought an almost palpable pain that ripped at his chest and choked him with emotions.  Overwhelmed by the loss--and with no time to grieve for those memories he'd never have, Dreogan covered his face with his hands--pressed against his eyes to bid it to stop.

But that was not how the Inner Eye worked, and instead, Dreogan took a knee to the floor, willing, pleading it to stop.  This was compromising.  Those guards were doubtless just on the other side of the door.  He could not be betrayed now; they could not have any cause to question him, or it threw everything he'd worked for into jeopardy.  Dreogan took several deep breaths, trying to quell the turmoil.  His mind--resolved only moments ago--was in such a state of unrest now, that he only caught piecemeal the fragments of what she--he knew it was a she--had said.

It was Maiko.  Somehow, it had felt like her--a hard resolve, but that softness around the edges.  Reassured it was a friend, but no less resolved, Dreogan pushed himself back up to his feet.  He faced the mirror once more--this time looking beyond his reflection.  He ran a finger along the edge of the mirror as he considered.  With grim determination, he reached out for her: pouring himself over the smooth glass, looking for a glimpse of her--

And he saw her.  And, really, he thought she saw him, too.  Breathlessly, they could see face to face.  He could feel the nature of their connection shift.  It grew clearer.  Less invasive.  He felt as though a weight--that weight of feeling two peoples' emotions, of trying to hide his own--slowly lift.  They worked through their mirrors, now.  He spoke aloud, but in a voice that was barely above a whisper--urgent, rushed: "Tell them I will see them soon."

And then, his hand on the top of the mirror, Dreogan pulled  it loose from the nail in the lightly plastered wall, sending the mirror to the floor, where the glass dashed about in shards.

It worked, it actually worked. For a moment shew as overwhelmed-- although the meomries she provided stirred something in him, she felt like it was her fault he was grieving like this. She pushed those on him, showing him what he may never see again-- what she was seeing and experiencing when he should have been there.

And they were face to face-- he looked different. So different. Older-- though it wasn't just the phsyical aspect. There was something else there. Whatever he has gone through was aging him, she felt. How much of the old Dree would be coming home? A piece of her had shattered in 1997, would Dreogan's experiences affect him similarly? How much had he been through? What sort of dark magic had been inflicted on him? Had any?

She shuddered at the thought-- the cruciatus curse?

No. Maiko shook her head, she wasn't going there.  She wasn't going to project. She couldn't start this, not now. This was not about her, not even a little bit. It was about  Dree. It was about Akiva. It was about Adon. And most importantly, it was about Gabriel. Thinking about possible horrors that could've been, and probably had been inflicted on Dreogan was not going to help in this situation.

"Tell them I will see them soon."

She nodded back, a silent promise before the connection snapped, sending her mind reeling. Mai stumbled backwards, catching herself on the couch. She wanted to scream at something, anything-- she wanted to cry. But most of all, she wanted everything to be okay. Not even good-- just okay. That asshole. That was all he could have said?! Not even a clue about his whereabouts? It probably wasn't safe but still. The crypticness of it all was infuriating, and the scrying had brought her to a state of mental exhaustion that eradicated any patience she had left.

"Putain!" She cursed, hoping to pastry-wrapped baby Jesus that Adon didn't speak French.  “C’est vraiment des conneries." Mai muttered to herself, resting her elbows on her knees and putting her head in her hands. Her fingers clenched, getting knotted up in her hair.

"He says," Maiko sighed, "He said that he will see you soon. Them soon?" She sat up and looked at Adon. "Whoever the bloody hell 'them' is."