Malodore stood on the threshold of its room, staring, unable to enter. As soon as its hooves had sounded on the stairs, Luce had begun to bark in ecstatic, welcoming joy - yet, even as the cwn pup bounced up to her master, she picked up on its emotional state. Her tail wagging slowed, and her ears went back. A faint whine issued from her throat and she put one paw up to tap at the plague doctor's leg.

It bowed its head and closed its eyes tightly, fighting what it knew was ultimately a losing battle against its own grief. The last time it had been in this room, it had been whole. It had been happy, ready to spend a week with Riley. And now...

Something soft bumped against it - Dolce - and one of the sobs escaped. It clapped one hand over its beak, forcibly holding it closed, though a faint wheeze of pain hissed through anyway. No, it could not stay here. Not now. Not with memory thick around it, when every glimpse was wracked with loss. Turning, the plague doctor fled, running down the hall as its confused minipets followed it.

It fetched up in an empty room on the first floor, a dusty room with a sarcophagus in it. Slowly, it shut the door behind it and let itself collapse to the floor in a puff of dust.

Grey dust.

"No. No!! No more grey, no more-" It swept its hands violently through the dust, trying to push it away. Dolce fled to hide behind the sarcophagus, and Luce barked uncertainly. The plague doctor was sobbing openly now, shaking as tears streamed from its mask. "Vile substance, foul tool - you took my Riley from me, my love, my tresorina-" It curled inwards, clutching its head, its wings flaring feebly behind it. Gone, gone, she was gone, Cricket may have some vague hope but Cricket hadn't reached out with her entire heart, mind, and soul and found nothing left.

Nothing.

It wasn't sure how long it lay there sobbing and screaming at the world, at the grey, at the Hunters, at the bogeymen, at all those who had conspired to snatch her away from it. It screamed at them - and it hated itself, for it had seen the affliction and not told Nurse Cricket, not pursued a treatment aggressively enough. And it had taken her to the Isle of Famine. 

It had taken her to her death.

It wept and wept until there was nothing left, no tears, no energy, nothing but an aching empty void that nothing could ever fill. All it could do was treat others, fight this infection and find a cure... In her name, for her sake, so no one else would be lost. 

And then it would strip the flesh from every last Hunter living.

But first... first there was someone else it had to see, had to talk to. Taking a deep, ragged breath, the plague doctor looked up at the sarcophagus. Sure enough, Luce and Dolce were not the only ones to have followed it here. The crow Fedele, a gift from Armida, had also come. The plague-marked bird tilted his head at Malodore.

"Fedele... Please. Please, I need to talk to Armida. You must fetch her - I need to see her in person. Please..." It gave the crow a pleading look.

Fedele cawed, spread its wings, and flew out through the open window. Malodore sagged to the ground, dust swirling around it as it settled, limbs sprawling. It was still carrying her name in the back of its mind - Aen'ryllis, Aen'ryllis, Aen'ryllis- a constant, throbbing ache that would never leave it. Part of it would always be crying out for her, calling her home, begging for an answer it would never receive.

But for now, for today, there was nothing it could do but wait - wait for a reply, wait for the others to be released from quarantine. There was Jericho, yes, but it knew it was in no state to treat others now. Knew, and hated itself for it. For being so weak, so useless. It should be bold, moving forward to heal the world without hesitation, but it was just do tired in every possible way.

It curled up in a ball; Luce curled next to it with a whimper, Dolce following suit after a moment. The minipets were warm against it, their heartbeats and breathing soothing and painful all at once. It breathed her name again, silently, again and again. Her name, her heartbeat, her breath. Could it breathe for her? Perhaps it could learn...

Dizzy and incoherent with sheer exhaustion, the plague doctor drifted off into a thankfully deep sleep. For now, it could forget...

But it was still alone.