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The decision to leave Nod-Krai is made without deep discussion or formal farewell; just a shared, unspoken understanding that none of them are fit to stay.
Albedo is the one who voices it at last, folding away his notes with a finality that surprises even himself.
"... I know I've said that me and Durin will stay at Nod-Krai," the alchemist says, almost quietly, "but...I think we should return to Mondstadt. At least for now. We...will go back here when it fits, Grand Master Varka."
The departure of new and familiar faces back to where they came from after the whole mess with the Doctor here at Nod-Krai made Albedo notices how he and Durin are also quite drained from it all.
Hat Guy, having his core back after the fight is over, returned to Sumeru to get back to the Dendro Archon while getting the Doctor's attack on him checked as well. On his departure, after Arlecchino had walked quite far, Wanderer shared a knowing glance to Traveler, which tell there is more happening when the latter was rescued by the former from the Doctor's domain back then. But it seems manageable still; because Hat Guy isn't as shaken as when he fought the Doctor with Durin and Traveler quite a long time ago.
… Or perhaps because Mini Durin was in danger at the time, and would have drowned in the corruption the Doctor injected into him had Echo Durin not saved him; long before both Durins agreed to coexist.
Hat Guy shifted his gaze to Durin, telling the humanoid dragon to be careful as he'll get quite busy by his own matters so he can't visit for a while. Moving his eyes to Albedo, Wanderer asks the alchemist to look after Durin in his absence. At Albedo's nod and reassurance, Hat Guy lowered his hat as he finally made his way out of Nod-Krai to get back to Sumeru.
The fight against the Doctor's plans on Nod-Krai is indeed over, but their victory has some casualties, not to mention the damages all around, still in slow rebuilding.
Durin, sitting nearby with his wings drawn close, blinks at Albedo tiredly upon hearing his alchemist brother's words. The humanoid dragon doesn't argue, nodding slowly.
Varka laughs, low and tired as well, rubbing a hand over his face. "Can't say I blame you. If I am not bound by the things I decided to do here, I probably would come with you two in a heartbeat. Home is where you can truly relax, after all, especially after...everything happened here."
He looks toward the northern horizon, face unreadable. "... I'll stay," the Grand Master adds after a moment. "I trust my letters to be delivered to the others at Mondstadt. As much as I'd like to join to go back home, there are...things I need to see through here. And I'd rather not leave Nicole, little Aino, and the others here alone with them."
Albedo inclines his head in understanding, with Durin nodding along. No one asks Varka to explain further.
The parting is brief, and in a chance meeting, they met up with Paimon and Traveler, with the latter wearing a new outfit (though they said it was an old one).
In an unspoken agreement to reach the place they agreed felt like home (perhaps for Traveler, home is everywhere at Teyvat too; or perhaps that portable Teapot they had, but Mondstadt is still a first place with how their journey starts there) quicker, Albedo asks for Traveler's help to bring him and Durin along if they want to use Teleport Waypoint to quickly reaches Mondstadt.
While there are a few people, including him, had the knowledge of how Teleport Waypoints that spread around Teyvat works courtesy of Traveler's explanations, the following nausea after using those things was harrowing, which grew even more the farther the distance was. So far, only the Traveler can use them with little problems; perhaps a bit nausea when they use those things nonstop in one day, while Paimon hides away to wherever space she goes to when she disappears in a blink of countless stars.
So when chance allows them to meet, those who know Traveler and want to simply travel for a short time or in urgent need to arrive somewhere quick, will asks the Traveler to hold their hands; which, somehow, is enough trick to share the Traveler's unique composition that the trip through the Teleport Points are not giving them much nausea like when they did it by their own.
And so, the three of them connected their hands together after the Traveler activates the Teleport Point, feeling the ground shift and the air spun before they arrived in front of the bridge to Mondstadt's front gates.
Paimon reappears in a blink of countless stars from whatever space she goes to, looking at the Traveler. In return, they nod in reassurance.
"... I'll walk around," the Traveler said, with Paimon already floats beside them. "Just...needed to move, but no fighting. Need to calm myself."
Albedo nods. "No need to explain yourself, Traveler. Just know that Mondstadt always welcomes you, should you decide to relax within the safe walls."
Traveler nods back, feeling Paimon's small hand placed atop their shoulder. "Just...let me know if you, Durin, or the Knights need anything." They said with a chuckle. "Knowing you, Albedo, you'll find a way, should the urgency be there. And--"
"Aaaaalright, enough worrying!!" Paimon cuts in, huffing almost fondly. " You're having a 'me time', remember? Try to focus, Traveler!! Paimon will handle the talking if anyone tried to ask you to finish some tasks!!"
"S-Small ones are okay, really..." the Traveler uttered in protest, only for Paimon to scolds them to focus on relaxing.
And with that, they traded farewells, along with a promise of meeting up one day should the chance allows it.
Mondstadt greets them with familiar warm air, carrying the scent of stone and dandelions instead of alchemy, machines, and gravity, along with many questions regarding the moon.
... Or moons.
A weird thing to compare, indeed, but their trip to Nod-Krai is really leaving such unique impressions.
For the first few days, everything seems...fine.
Well, except Durin sleeps a LOT.
At first, Albedo doesn't think much of it. With everything that had happened at Nod-Krai, especially to a being new to this world full of unexpected things like Durin who came from a storybook, prolonged sleep is expected as a form of tension releases and fading adrenaline.
It's natural, after all. Necessary, even.
Durin curls up as he sleeps deeply, breathing slow and steady. Echo is quiet during those days, content to linger just beneath the surface, present but unobtrusive.
It almost feels peaceful.
By the end of the week, Albedo starts taking notes.
Durin falls asleep at odd hours; mid-conversation, mid-meal, and much more.
The first time it happens mid-reading, Echo slips forward instinctively.
Durin's body doesn't collapse, but the change is immediate. His posture straightens, opal-like eyes replaced with bright red as Echo takes over to guide his swaying body somewhere safe.
"I'm fine," Echo says gently when Albedo looks up in alarm. "Mini Durin; he just...drifted."
Durin wakes an hour later, confused but unhurt. Sleepyhead, Echo playfully says.
The second time, it happens mid-TCG game at Cat's Tail.
The third time, on the steps to the second floor of Knights' Headquarters.
And after many, MANY occurrences of Durin falling asleep where it happened more often and it took longer for him to wake up, Echo began to worry. So does Albedo, along with the others who noticed how the humanoid dragon with opal-like eyes is more absent now than the one with bright red eyes.
Albedo observes more, noticing how Durin's shoulders slump a second before sleep takes him. The alchemist also noticed a faint delay; as if something is pulling Durin under rather than letting him rest.
"... I don't think it's exhaustion," Echo admits one evening, voice low as he adjusts himself after hurriedly pushing Durin against the back of a chair when he drifts to sleep again mid-walking. "It doesn't feel like it."
Albedo's face hardened, looking at his humanoid dragon brother. "... Then what does it feel like?"
Echo hesitates. "... Like something is settling quietly."
Outside, Mondstadt carries on as it always has-- bells ringing, people laughing, life moving forward.
Inside, something begins to go wrong.
Days passed, and Durin's condition only worsened.
Durin insists he's fine. He says it while standing, wings half-furled, posture straight in that deliberate way that means he's trying very hard not to sway.
"... I-I slept already," Mini Durin says, frowning slightly. "I-I don't need more. I-I just...w-want to..."
Albedo doesn't argue. He just watches, trying his best to look composed, but worry is clear on the edges if one look closely.
"J-Just want to...eat...p-play...and-- Nggh..."
Deep within, Echo feels it-- the subtle drag beneath Durin's thoughts that his focus keeps slipping sideways, like something tugging at the edges of his awareness.
( ... Mini Durin, ) Echo says quietly, ( sit down. )
Durin opens his mouth to protest--
But nothing came out. His pupils dilate, a sharp gasp escaped his mouth, and then his knees buckle.
Echo catches him, the smooth transition of sliding into control came without resistance. He guides their shared body to a nearby chair before it can hit the floor.
By the time Albedo reaches them, Durin is already deep asleep, and Echo is the one in control of the body now.
Echo steadies the body against the back of the chair before looking up at Albedo, bright red eyes replaced Durin's opal-like ones, expression tight. "... That wasn't fatigue."
Albedo exhales slowly. "You're certain."
"... Yes," Echo closes his eyes. "Let me check on something."
Echo dives inward.
...
......
.........
Deep within their shared space, the similar Simulanka-stage greets Echo Durin.
His face quickly hardened when he saw Mini Durin lies at the center of the stage, asleep as expected, eyes closed and hands on his sides. But his body trembles, as if struggling to move; to awake from something forcing him to sleep.
Echo quickly steps closer, dropping to his knees and places a hand over the sleeping body's heart, focusing deeper.
Echo Durin felt it then; a cold, foreign feeling, seemingly embedding itself around Durin's core. It wraps around Mini Durin like a brace, falsely guiding him into sleep whenever it spikes. It forces the body's protective instincts to rest, even when there is no reason to do so.
Although...this cold, foreign feeling also felt familiar to Echo.
Bright red eyes widened shortly after, and Echo leaned his forehead against Mini Durin's, trying to reach in deeper into this familiarity.
Echo gasped and pulls back, recognition settling in.
The familiar feeling... There's no doubt; it's corruption, and it clung to Durin like a curse.
The scary thing is...the moment Echo tried to reach deeper, the curse acknowledged him; as if it recognizes him.
Chills crawled up his spine, and Echo Durin grits his teeth.
...
......
.........
Echo returns back to the real world, opening his eyes, finding Albedo already rushes to him with notes in hand; it seems when he decided to check from inside, his alchemist brother did the same outside.
"Echo," Albedo said, quite alarmed, "what are the strange sensations you felt inside?"
Echo blinks in wonder, but answered, "... Cold yet familiar. A-Anyway, Brother Albedo... I've checked; it's corruption. It's almost like a curse clinging to Mini Durin, yet it recognizes me."
Albedo's face hardened. "Then it unfortunately lines up," He showed his notes. "The intervals and the description... It matches resonance or stabilization matrix. And with the familiar cold you mentioned... Then I can safely conclude it came from Dragonspine."
Echo Durin tried to ignore the uneasy feeling. "... I think I can manage it," he said instead. "Whatever this is, if it's really came from Dragonspine, I can keep it from progressing."
Albedo looks at him, face unreadable. "... Echo, you said the corruption-- the curse-- recognizes you. That's...already quite dangerous."
Echo let out a deep sigh, crossing his hands as he lowered his head. There is some tense silence before the humanoid dragon clicks his tongue.
"... I didn't tell you before," Echo uttered, standing up from the chair, gaze shifted to the night sky beyond the window not far from them. "I know now I should have told you what happened before you and Durin returned to Nod-Krai again to help find Columbina and deal with the Doctor."
Albedo tensed. "... Tell me what?"
"On my day out, I met Subject Two at Dragonspine before your trip back to Nod-Krai," Echo Durin finally admitted. "Mini Durin knew I met a stranger at that snowy mountain, but he didn't know the details because he dive in deeper shortly after to rest." He didn't mention the eye swap color moment to keep the secret still between them.
Echo's fingers curl slightly. "Foolishly, as thanks to him for not raising his sword that time, I agreed not to speak of the encounter to you."
Silence drops heavy between them. Albedo said nothing for a moment, staring back to his notes again.
"... Then this might not be coincidence," Albedo said tightly. "If Subject Two laid groundwork back then…" He looks at Echo sharply. "... This may be a trap."
Echo nods. How he doesn't deny it is already quite scary.
"... If you act," Albedo continues, worry threading through his voice despite his control, "you may be doing exactly what he wants. And--"
"If I don't do something, Durin will keep sleeping," Echo interrupts softly. "And one day, Mini Durin won't wake up at all."
Echo looks away from the window, gaze focused back to his alchemist brother with an unreadable smile. "To always being pulled under, forced to sleep when all he wanted was to live and do things normally... Mini Durin doesn't deserve such life.
"The curse reacts to me," Echo pointed out. "Dragonspine holds my remains. If I move quickly, I can redirect the flow there and spread it so Mini Durin can be freed from this...unique corruption. I won't bring Durin with me; I'll go alone. It'll be a quick work, and I'll return just as quick."
Albedo shakes his head. "Echo, you'd have to extract yourself entirely if you plan to do that."
"I know."
"You'd be vulnerable."
"... I know." Echo let out a resigned sigh. "I'll be careful."
Albedo looks at his humanoid dragon brother in quiet disbelief, knowing how this is not driven by recklessness, but resolve forged by choice.
"... I don't like this, Echo," Albedo says quietly.
"... I don't either, Brother Albedo," Echo admits with a shuddered breath. "But it's the only way that doesn't end with Durin trapped in sleep."
Echo sat back on the chair, letting out a heavy sigh. "... Let me prepare myself first."
The alchemist watches with a small frown as the humanoid dragon's body sagged forward slightly, obviously going deep within to say what he needs to his sleeping other half.
...
......
.........
Echo kneels beside Durin's sleeping form once more, noticing how he doesn't tremble anymore. His chest rises and falls, steady but too even; as if regulated rather than natural.
"... You really are a sleepyhead," he says softly, fond despite everything. "I don't think I've ever seen you fight rest this hard."
There's no response, as expected, but it doesn't stop Echo from frowning in worry.
Echo reaches out, fingers threading gently through Durin's hair, brushing back loose strands the way he's done countless times before. The familiar warmth is still there, fainter but very much real.
"... I'm going to step out for a bit," Echo continues, voice low and calm. "Just temporarily, and I'll be quick. There's something tangled up in you that shouldn't be."
His hand stills. "... It might be dangerous for me," Echo admits, letting out a shuddered breath. "To be honest? I'm not sure I can return safely, especially with how...vulnerable I'll be without a stable body."
Echo Durin smiles faintly, looking resigned. "But I promise I'll try my best, Mini Durin. So--"
Tears rolled down from Durin's closed eyes, tracking silently down his cheeks.
Echo freezes. "D-...Durin?"
He leans closer, placing a hand over the sleeping body's heart, searching with attention instead of power.
Echo felt his heart dropped. He can feel it deep within; a distant awareness, trapped beneath the enforced sleep like someone underwater.
A whisper brushes Echo's senses; so faint it almost got lost if one didn't hear closely.
( D-...Don't go. )
Echo's breath catches.
( Please. )
"Oh, Mini Durin..." Echo presses his forehead gently against Durin's, voice breaks despite his effort to keep it steady. "Y-...You were awake this whole time."
He closes his eyes. "... I'm so sorry. If there were another way, I would've taken it. Truly."
Echo's hand tightens just slightly in Durin's hair. "But I can't let you live like this, Mini Durin. I can't sit still with the knowledge you'll be caged in your own mind if I don't do something."
Echo draws back just enough to look at him. "... I'll come back," he says firmly now, promise sharpened by resolve. "I won't leave you like this."
Another tear slips free from Mini Durin's closed eyes, and Echo Durin knocked their horns together in comfort.
“Sleep just a little longer," Echo whispers, finally lifting his hand off Durin's head with a heavy yet determined heart. "I'll handle the rest."
And with that, Echo took in a deep breath, gathering himself, preparing to pull free. Solid colors began to bleed out of his being, his attempt to leave made him a flickering, all-magenta self; like back then before both agreed to coexist.
Echo opened his eyes, bright red eyes looking down to himself, all-magenta and flickering. He laughs weakly at a memory that felt so long ago; back when he still believes he doesn't have the right to exist anymore in this body.
"... Good bye for now, Durin. We'll meet again, I promise."
Mini Durin's sleeping form began to tremble again, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. Echo Durin held back his tears at the sight, forcing himself to turn back and flew himself out of this warm space they shared, with the promise to return burns bright within him.
...
......
.........
The air shifts for a moment, and in a burst of unsteady light, Echo flew free from Durin's body.
Echo Durin coughs as he staggered midair, his form flickering violently, all-magenta edges blurring as he struggles to hold cohesion without the shared, stable anchor.
Albedo reaches out on instinct, then stops himself, face unreadable.
For a moment, neither speaks, staring at one another while Durin's sleeping form leans against the chair, still locked in forced sleep.
Albedo exhales carefully. "You're...less stable than I expected."
Echo huffs a weak, breathless laugh. "... Yeah. Coexistence spoiled me a little."
Albedo straightens, decision settling behind his eyes. "... This may complicate things, but..." he says, choosing his words with care, "...could you leave something behind in Durin? Just a trace. Or a residue."
Echo blinks. "... Why?"
"Just in case you need to return quickly," Albedo reasoned, worry clear around the edges. "Not fully. Just...enough for contact."
Echo looks back at Durin, expression softening. He considers it longer than Albedo expects.
"... It will divide my focus," Echo admits. "This body will be even weaker than it already is."
Albedo nods once. "... I know."
Echo closes his eyes. "... Alright."
Echo drifts closer to Durin, magenta light dimming further as he concentrates. A thin, delicate filament peels away from the all-magenta flickering form, settling into Mini Durin's chest like a fading ember.
Echo Durin pulls away, visibly unsteady, magenta glow flickering harder as the separation completes.
Albedo watches him closely, opening the window just enough. "... Be safe, Echo Durin."
Echo meets his gaze, and nodded. "... I'll be back, Brother Albedo."
With a final flare of magenta light, Echo launches himself into the night toward Dragonspine, leaving only a trace behind.
Albedo watches his flying form fade into the night, hoping that everything they've prepared will be enough to save Durin, and for Echo to come back safely at the end of it.
❄️
The cold almost felt like reminder at Dragonspine.
Echo slows himself to a stop, landing softly on the familiar red grass around the warm space that used to host his beating heart.
He straightened himself, closing his eyes to feel his surroundings, focusing to find the veins he can use to transfer Mini Durin's curse-like corruption.
... Good, he thought with a nod. Still compatible. And with that, Echo opened his arms, letting the corruption that curses Durin seeped into the empty cracks.
The curse bled in smoothly, drawn through him in thin, obedient filaments. Echo adjusted the flow with practiced restraint, refusing to let it surge and let nothing pass through him unmeasured.
Far away, through the thinned bond, Mini Durin slept more peacefully than he had in days, the strain eases and exhaustion receded.
Echo Durin exhales, allowing himself a moment of quiet relief. ... You're safe.
The distribution spread evenly across the mountain's remains, corruption dissolving into something manageable.
Echo adjusted again, feeling the system corrected itself with him. It anticipated his restraint, smoothing the flow and didn't resist him.
It...cooperated with him.
Echo remembered his conversation with Albedo back at Mondstadt, and he shakes his head, trying to not get too deep that something is obviously wrong to keep himself calm and--
"... How fascinating."
Echo Durin turned around in alert. He...probably can't feel him because how focused he was on distributing the corruption to his remains here.
"... Subject Two," Echo's face hardened, watching said person wore Albedo's face this time, stopping a few steps before him.
The corruption shifted, reorienting itself. Echo felt the flow bend toward Subject Two, yet still clinging to him, threading through his core. He looks down at himself in quiet confusion.
Subject Two observed him with quiet interest. "... You've become," Subject Two began mildly, tilting Albedo's head as if appraising a diagram, "remarkably predictable, Echo Durin."
Echo's eyes snap up.
"You used to be sharper... Then you chose coexistence," Subject Two goes on. "You learned how to share a body. How to regulate yourself against another will." A small, satisfied smile. "You learned restraint."
Echo's grits his teeth, the confirmation of his suspicion made his anger flares up. "... You seeded the curse to Mini Durin."
A chuckle. "... Yes. Sharing a name means he is, in a way, similiar to you. To modify it slightly so it affects differently to each of you is easy enough, what with your remains here made it a child's play for me to learn your structures," Subject Two said, an unreadable smile on his face. "And what do you know...?" A dark laugh. "You solved it. Just as expected."
Before Echo could react, Subject Two lunges forward and stabs a hand through his chest, foreign cold fingers move within. Echo gasps, choking as he grabs the wrist buried inside him, his magenta form flickering violently while Subject Two's grip tightens around something essential.
"I told you once that I lacked power. That the others did too." He murmurs, leaning closer. "What I didn't know was that you would become the answer."
Echo's grip tightens on the wrist. "W-...What are you even saying--"
"You changed," Subject Two cuts in, eyes gleamed. "You learned how to hold yourself together while tethered to another Durin."
Echo convulses as the grip tightens just enough to still his flickering.
"You agreed to coexist once," Subject Two says too softly. "To share a body. To temper yourself against another will..." A small, twisted smile. "... You can't convincingly deny the same comfort to me."
Realization hit like a ton of bricks. "Y-You--" Echo shakes his head in horror. "N-NO!! T-That's--!!"
"Different?" Subject Two finishes. "Emotionally, yes." He leans closer, Albedo's face far too near. "Functionally, it's identical."
Echo Durin's horror sharpens as Subject Two speaks on, unhurried.
"The remains here in Dragonspine are still resonant. It's just dormant now, especially with how it's incomplete, missing the core." The hand in Echo's chest presses deeper. "But with you as an intermediary? And especially, with you being the SAME missing component that can drove the resonance completely?"
Echo's breath breaks, watching Subject Two gave him a wrong, kind smile.
"That'll be quite enough power," Subject Two finishes. “More than enough, even."
Agony flooded his senses as foreign cold fingers tightened around his core, followed by a pull toward Subject Two. Echo felt his world spin as he feels himself compressed, torn through engineered absence, forced into a cavity carved with purpose.
And then--
💥
Cold.
Not the cold of Dragonspine, but absolute stillness-- without wind, texture, or even the passage of time.
Echo's awareness snapped into focus.
There was no horizon. Just a vast, empty dark that swallowed sound before it could exist.
This is not a place meant to live.
"T-This is--"
A chain struck through his chest.
Echo Durin gasped as the force drove him downward, his knees hitting unseen ground that had not been there a moment before. The chain burned with meaning rather than pain, locking something fundamental into place.
Then more appeared; from above, below, and all directions. Chains threaded through his arms, his back, his neck, his core-- everything. Each one snapping into position with terrible precision, binding him in place with practiced efficiency.
The link follows immediately, threading outward from his bound core-- a forced conduit keyed to summon and siphon at will.
A leash disguised as design.
Subject Two's voice carries through the void, distant but clear. "... How interesting. I can already feel the difference," the voice echoed. "I wonder..."
A distant sound of snapping fingers was heard, then--
The chains pulled all around him, but especially the ones struck through his chest and around his core. The links answered to Subject Two's summons, mechanism testing its reach.
Echo gasps, magenta light flaring instinctively as the chains tighten even more in response, stabilizing him even as the pull persists. He feels energy siphon, drawing from him in measured and controlled pull, preventing him from breaking apart no matter what.
"S-Stop...!!" Echo Durin cried out, struggling uselessly against the chains.
The pull pauses. Not because it listened to him; but because it finished taking what it wanted.
Echo's breathing labored, body shaking as he sagged against the chains that bound him, eyes widened in terror as realization slowly creeps in.
This prison runs itself. Subject Two doesn't need to be here and watch to use him like a tool.
"... You're better like this," Subject Two's voice carries through the void, distant and satisfied. "... Useful, even. I can't hear your voice-- not did I plan to open such useless link like that to a conduit, but your power flowing through me? Oh, I love it."
Inside the prison, Echo Durin remains; awake, bound, and horrified.
And far above, in a body that walks and wears a borrowed face, Subject Two straightens; whole, empowered, and no longer alone.
...
......
.........
He can't breathe.
The chains hold him upright on his knees, suspended in nothing, and the first sensation that breaks through the shock isn't pain.
It's FEAR.
A power source doesn't need consent. It only needs to stay intact. And right now, Echo Durin is being treated as such, what with Subject Two's words proofing that this 'coexistence' between them is just one-way, with no attempt from the other party to connect more with him other than using his powers.
He was maintained at a precise threshold-- enough autonomy to function, but not enough freedom to refuse. The design clicks into focus all at once, horrifying in its elegance.
Echo opens his eyes to the dark, reaching inward, trying to calm himself.
M-Mini Durin... My connection to him is losing. S-Subject Two, h-he... Echo Durin closes his eyes, shaking. B-Brother Albedo... I-I--
A conversation that took place in Nod-Krai; the one he heard while he's being dormant within the body; passes Echo's mind, and his eyes widened.
T-The alchemical concoction Brother Albedo made as a 'signal'!! I think Durin still has his somewhere in his pockets. W-With the residue I left on Durin, I can temporary use his body to smash two bottles of that to the floor and--!!
Echo's eyes widened, feeling the connection between him and Durin are thinning; as if it's slowly overshadowed by Subject Two courtesy of the links forced upon him, replacing the ones he had with Durin.
... I-I can't fully return, Echo let out a shuddered breath at the cruel reminder. The residue I left...i-it would only be enough to do that emergency signal. 'Just in case', huh... At the very least, I have to thank Brother Albedo for his quick thinking. Or else, no one will know I'm here, forever stu-- He did not dare to finish that thought.
Echo felt his sight blurred with unshed tears. ... I-It's fine!! It'll be like just back then before Mini Durin and I agreed to coexist!! B-Back then, he sealed me too!!
But that seal isn't hurting him. It embraces him like a warm hug. And when it broke and Mini Durin eventually reaches out for him instead of erasing him like he supposed to do, a beautiful coexistence was formed.
... Unlike his current predicament.
Echo sagged against the chains that bound him, unable to stop himself from crying. I-I really did became soft... B-But how can't I? The life I've experienced ever since Mini Durin gave me a second chance was pure blessing...
Echo Durin hisses when the chains around him tightened, and he felt Subject Two's annoyance bleeds through the link.
"... Whatever you are doing there, cut it out," Subject Two said coldly. "And here I thought giving you a little taste of your old connection would be enough warning so you won't try anything and gave me full compliance... Guess my first plan was right all along; I'll have to cut off everything. You don't need distractions to function, conduit."
Echo's heart dropped. T-That means--!!
True to Subject Two's words, Echo felt the connection thinned even more. In last desperate attempt, Echo Durin lunges inward with everything he has left to reach Mini Durin.
"Y-You insolent fool-- GAH! S-Stop trying, 'Humus'!!"
...
......
.........
Durin's eyes snapped open.
It's abrupt enough that Albedo nearly drops the notes in his hand, a light gasp escaped his mouth.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moves... Then relief crashes through Albedo so hard his knees almost buckle.
"Y-...You're awake," Albedo breathes, already moving closer. "Good. That means the transfer Echo did is working. The corruption in you should be gone, and being kept within the remains at Dragonspine."
Durin blinks slowly, unfocused, like someone surfacing from deep water. His breathing is shallow and uneven.
Albedo keeps talking, grounding himself as much as Durin. "You'll feel weak for a while. But don't worry, that's expected. Your recovery--" He trailed off, finally looking carefully at his humanoid dragon brother.
... Something is wrong. The opal-like color of Durin's eyes hasn't fully returned. Beneath the pale glow, there's a faint tint of red; like a reflection that shouldn't exist.
"E-Echo...?" Albedo says, uncertain now.
Durin's brow furrows. He blinks again, slower this time, and his mouth opens.
"E-...Echo?" Mini Durin uttered softly, voice rough. "What's...happening? Why can't I...feel you?"
Before Albedo can answer, Durin's hand jerks upward-- not quite his own movement. Fingers fumble clumsily at his coat, drawing out two small bottles.
Albedo's breath catches. "Wait-- Durin, stop. That's--!!"
Durin's head lifts, opal-like eyes that shone faintly red meet Albedo's. And for a split second, someone else looks out through them.
Echo Durin.
His expression is panicked but resolute, faint red eyes shaky. His mouth shape words Albedo doesn't hear, but understands all the same.
Subject Two.
Then Echo smashes the two bottles together against the floor, the reaction detonates an alchemical blinding light that floods the space, forcing Albedo to shield his eyes as Durin cries out and does the same.
When the light finally dies down, the air hums with residual energy.
Silence filled the room, with Albedo and Durin lowered their hands slowly.
Both felt their hearts sank, remembering-- realizing something.
T-That was...the emergency 'signal' Albedo and Durin had once discussed, which they later explained to Hat Guy, during their quest in Nod-Krai to investigate the Doctor's domain and attempting to rescue the Traveler.
Durin staggers upright, body swaying, opal-like eyes clearly visible now. "E-...Echo?" His voice cracks in dread as he placed a hand over his heart, reaching inward--
Mini Durin freezes.
There's nothing deep within; no presence, no familiar warmth, no reassuring anchor.
No Echo Durin.
He can't breathe.
.........
......
...
The chains around him tighten without mercy, making Echo screams in pain, his all-magenta body flickering wildly. He struggles uselessly against the tight bounds, feeling the link both hurt and absorb a large amount of energy from him.
It felt like forever before everything stops. The chains are lessening, but still quite tight. Echo's breathing labored, sagging against his bounds, consciousness slowly fading.
"... No more distraction now," Subject Two huffs. "Hold still, will you? There are still others here I haven't shared your power with."
Tears rolled down from Echo's unfocused eyes, feeling his power being dragged out again through the links, the chains binding him tightening slightly.
With no more familiar warmth to cling to, Echo Durin let himself drown in the cold darkness, closing his eyes as he settles himself completely in this space that acts as nothing but a prison to a chained power source, with only a fragile yet desperate hope to return to the familiar warmth one day.