Things for Jericho have been absolutely horrible as of late. He was barely getting any sleep, and his emotions have been rather wild if not somewhat unpredictable. He'd range from rage to utter despair within seconds and sometimes pop back and forth between the two. The few times he did manage to get sleep was due to passing out after bursts of emotion and tears. Rarely did he even leave his room nowadays. There was little reason for him to do so. He was infected with insanity and no doubt his days were numbered now.

Human fear... How the hell was he going to get that directly? He was but a student. It wouldn't be an issue if he had access to the portals freely but that wasn't exactly the case.

His room was still a mess and chunks of his treasure was actually missing. Apparently he had been throwing some things out. The dragon had even considered donating things to the horsemen reserve. Right now they could probably use it more than himself. That and these things just didn't mean all that much to him any more.

A red dragon. Who no longer cared about treasure.

All in all, he was not taking his loss all too well.

"WHY! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU? Just... why..?"

The burst of energy he had at the start quickly died down, fizzling into nothingness. Letting out a pained cry, he dropped down to the ground, flopping over, closing his eyes in defeat. He had all the questions, but none of them really had answers.

His eyes reopened when he realized the area around him felt cooler than usual, and he could see a sort of mist rolling through his room. The fog... was it here to claim him now? Pushing himself up, he looked around, listening. The voices were not any louder than they usually were, nor did they call to him more urgently.

Jericho.

The mists began to form before him, taking a more solid form. White tendrils slowly curled into tentacles, arms, and legs. Her form. The dragon's eyes widened for a moment, unsure what to make of this. Was she here to berate him? Accuse him again as she had in his dreams? Or was this just the fog trying to pull him in? It was hard to say, especially as the form of Riley slowly stepped towards him from across the room.

You've forgotten.

"What..?"

From the fog, a more solid body stepped on out as she drew closer. The mists still filled the room. At first, her body was entirely grey, almost stone like. But with each step she took, color filled her skin to take that purple hue he knew. And yet, as real as she was becoming to him, her movements still caused soft wisps to trail behind.

The look in her glowing white eyes were filled with sadness, rather than anger or having the weight of judgement within.

This broken dragon before me is not the Jericho I know. Remember who you truly are. You are my right hand. You mustn't give up. I may be gone, but this is why you must step up in my place. I did not select you to have you crumble should something happen to me.

Her words were simple. Soft. Upon reaching him, she knelt down and gently placed her hands upon his shoulders.

"How are we supposed to do this? You were supposed to be invincible..." he whispered while gazing up at her.

You will find a way. Remember, Jericho. I know you can do this. You are stronger than this. Fight in my name. Remember this...

Softly, her white eyes crescented in lieu of a smile, before she stood back up.

"W-wait.. Riley..."

Remember..

And that was all that was said before her body faded back into the soft white mists. Jericho had gotten up to try and reach out for her, but it was then that his eyes snapped open.

The dragon was still on the ground. Slowly, he pushed himself back up and looked around. There were no signs of fog or mist anywhere around.