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After everything that went on in Seeds, Jericho returned to Riley to give his report, including the answers for the questions regarding Insanity. Right now, those sorts of things were of higher priority than the questions on weaponization and all that.

"We should seek out Invictus soon," he urged her. They were supposed to go talk to him after Scarentines, but that hadn't quite happened.

"He may know more than the Hunter did.."

The dragon was trying to convince Riley to come with. She had been holing up in her room as of late, but he had a feeling they should go to where the Heir was rather than have him come to them.

There was a sense of relief for Jericho as Riley finally relented to his urgings. Letting out a sigh, he nodded to her and grasped her hand firmly.

"Let's go then," he said before guiding her on out the door to make their way to Invictus's room. Being in the same building, it didn't take them too long before they were standing outside of the heir's door.

"Invictus? It's Jericho and Riley. We need to speak to you," he called out while knocking at his door.

It was clear by the look on her face that they had not come for a social call. She wished it was a social call. She bowed her head gently in response to Invictus' greeting, but her eyes were troubled, and her face was dark and lined with fatigue. She entered when they were invited in, her hand never leaving Jericho's as it had clung to him when they headed there. She turned, and strangely enough, was letting Jericho take the lead in speaking, even though her eyes were very clearly focused on the heir himself. She said nothing, because it was difficult to express herself at the moment. So she let Jericho be her voice, as he was the one who'd urged her to come that day. She patted his shoulder, as if gesturing him to quickly explain before she decided this was a bad idea and made them leave.

It seemed that the pair weren't in as high of spirits as he normally met them in - which alone would have been a cause for concern if he'd been inclined to express such things openly in company. Still, it was unusual. Something was up, and it wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed as Jericho rolled up his sleeve.


He knew exactly what the grey was - in fact, he more than knew it. In fact, Invictus's hand almost immediately went to his golden eye when the inquiry came. He'd basked in it for years. Felt it eat away at his mind, the foggy voices that washed over his mind, calling him home at Giftmas, and even before then.

"That. Yes, I know how that goes. I am sure you have seen how it lingers on Cymbeline as well, even now." That wasn't a very helpful answer, and yet he continued; "You have to force it out with the same thing it feeds on." he answered. "I believe I told you this story once before, Lady Mindflayer." His attention rifted to Riley, but his tone was softer than usual - he wasn't going to make her recall it on her own, nor was he going to chastise her for not thinking about it.

"Time immersed in FEAR brought clarity to the heirs... and yet..." he took Jericho's arm in both of his hands, one holding it steady, the other brushing over it, seeming thoughtful of the state of it.

"How long as it been this way?"

They were right to go to Invictus about this, seeing how the heir was more than familiar with Insanity. However, the thing he said was a bit worrisome. Being in Halloween had helped the four, but he and Riley hadn't left the place much at all since it started up.

"We first started to hear the voices a few weeks after Giftmas... This... greying. We noticed the first signs at Scarentines. We do not think being in a FEAR rich land is helping..." he said, slipping into the we pronoun now that the worry was hitting him a little harder.

"Now and then, we hear calls for Home.. We feel.. almost formless.."

Harvest FEAR. Riley had already rebuttoned her corset, and her melancholy attitude vanished in mere seconds as she latched onto the smallest hope that Invictus actually had information that could help them. Tell us where we can do this. Do we need to get to the human world? How much FEAR will we need to combat this? Will we need to do so for the rest of our lives, or will a massive influx banish this infection from us once and for all?

She looked hungry for the knowledge that Invictus suddenly seemed to have, and impatient with her barrage of questions.

"You will need humans to harvest FEAR." he confirmed, which did mean they might need to get to the human world, as humans didn't really mix with Halloween all that well. He knew a thing or two about that quite well. "And you will need a steady supply of it. Something you can obtain consistently over a period of time."

Her last question seemed to cause his lips to tighten.

"That is one answer I can't be sure of. It is hard to tell because we heirs have ranging degrees of public reputations, but we are all...infected still to some degree." again, his hand went to his golden eye, half a thought about Cymbeline passing through his mind, her rampant mood swings clear in his mind. "But you will become functional again. The voices will only visit occasionally - though they do have their timing..."

Again, intimate familiarity with the the affliction and what was important to note about it.

"However, to harvest FEAR I will recommend you do what is necessary to make sure they fear you." Not just a general fear. A specific one.

Jericho listened to Invictus very carefully. Yes, he was aware that the horseman was struggling with it himself. But things had changed since he first met the guy, forcing Riley to bow down to him and flinging his friends hap hazardously across a trap room.

Bad memories.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he was trying to think about just how they were going to get this steady fear supply. It would mean they'd have to find a way to the human world a few different times to scare.

"Yes... that should be our top priority once that's through," he nodded.