The journey home is always shorter then the initial journey to where you're first trying to get to. Ray thought about this comment as he and the three windians stepped up to the nomadic village just outside of Windia.

It was true. The journey to the volcano that had taken the group eleven days to complete was just now turning into a seven-day return trip home, and the group now found themselves standing just outside of the village that they had stopped at before the first night of their journey. The seven days back home had been quicker for the group, but they hadn't been any easier.

For the past seven nights Jason had been unable to sleep. The windian was suffering from insomnia and paranoia that kept him up all night long, unable to close his eyes or he'd suddenly be overcome with the feeling of something watching him. Ray had stayed up some nights to try and help the windian calm down, but Jason spent most of his time brooding over the scar on the back of his left hand.

Lucy had grown very quiet as the party hurried home. Memories of her brother seemed to flood her every time they passed someplace that was even vaguely familiar to her. She had been thinking about what she'd do when she returned home, what she'd say to her parents, the Conwings. What she'd say to the King and Queen when they asked her about her journey. She even considered what she'd say to anyone at school who would ask her about her brother. Sometimes she wondered what she'd say to herself on the days that she knew she'd wake up and think, 'where is he now?' Life was going to be harder without Brandon around, and an empty feeling had started up inside of Lucy.

Janet herself had also been troubled by the whole trip. She was worried about what life would be like when she returned to Windia. My parents have no idea where I was... what will they say when I come home? What about Justin? I wonder if he and Candi are really... what about all of the WINGS? I can't go back to that group now, not since I've been out here with Ray... She wasn't sure what she was looking forward too in Windia.

Ray seemed the least troubled by everything, or at least from what the others could tell he wasn't troubled. His mind was mostly concentrated on his little sister, Britney, and how she must have been doing without her brother home. There was also a portion of the dragon's mind that was preoccupied with Lucy, but for now Ray had just been ignoring that. Seeing Jim about Jason's condition was what he had to think about now, and the dragon led the three windians into the village as he headed for the building that he knew he would find the man at.

"So I see you all are back now?" Jim glanced up as Ray, Lucy, Janet and Jason entered the small building. Ray rubbed the back of his neck uneasily as he glanced from Jason to Jim.

"Yea... we're back."

"What troubles you?" Jim motioned for the group to approach and sit. They did so, and the man waited patiently for Ray to start up.

"A lot of things, actually, but right now..." Ray glanced at Jason, "right now there's something specific we need to deal with."

Jim nodded to the dragon and turned the red haired windian. "What is it that you need?"

Jason slipped his left hand out from where it had been in his jacket pocket and he leaned forward, putting his hand out so that Jim could see the scar on the back of it. "I need you to fucking get that thing out of me."

Jim took a hold of Jason's hand and leaned down to get a good look at it. He reached out and poked the scar lightly, massaging it a bit with his fingers, then flipped Jason's hand over to study the windian's palm before turning back to the scar. With a click of his tongue Jim let go of Jason's hand and the windian slipped it back into his pocket.

"My, that's some demon you've got there." Jim rubbed his chin lightly.

"Yea. So... are you going to get rid of it?" Jason raised his eyebrow at Jim, a worried look hiding in the windian's eyes as he spoke.

Jim rubbed his chin again in thought and shook his head. "No, no I'm not."

"WHAT?" Jason jumped up suddenly. "WHY THE FUCK NOT?! It's a FUCKING DEMON! You can't just LEAVE it in me!"

Jim waited as Jason's companions worked quickly to calm him down, and eventually the windian was sitting once more in front of him, his form shaking lightly with worry and annoyance as he gazed down once more at his left hand. Jim let him sit a few more minutes in silence before he started up again.

"That demon there, this is something I haven't seen in a long time. It's not a possession like most cases, when a demon is just injected into a host and must be exorcised out." Jim shook his head. "No, yours is a different case. Instead of being injected with the demon you are..." Jim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How shall I put this... infected? With the demon in question..."

"Infected?" Lucy and Ray managed the question out at the same time as they stared at Jim in wonder. Jim nodded and began to explain.

"The demon that your friend has inside of him wasn't just some demon that was put in him for a moment of control over his body. That would have been a possession. Instead this demon was more like a seed, planted in the body of your friend here. As the seed stayed inside of him it began to grow, structuring itself around your friends mind, body and soul. A demon like this actually shares a bond with its host, and if it stays in the host for a certain amount of time without being removed," Jim shook his head, "then the demon must stay in the host permanently."

"But why?" Lucy gazed at Jim questioningly. The man went on to explain.

"When the demon has begun to grow and develop around the host so complex like this, it soon begins to become a part of the host itself. The demon is then able to share a link with the host by way of the mind, the body, and the soul, so that if you remove the demon you are at the same time removing part of the host."

"And if that happens..." Janet wondered out loud to herself.

"If that happens," Jim nodded to Janet as he answered her muse, "then both the demon and the host will die."

"So that's it then?" Jason stared at Jim, his wide eyes filled with a look of fear and disbelief. "I'm stuck with this thing? Either take it or die?"

Jim nodded. "That's it."

"Well fuck!" Jason threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "Great! So I'm just fucking stuck with this thing for the rest of my life!"

Jim nodded again and Jason dropped his head down into his hands, muttering strings of profanity to himself quietly as his traveling companions exchanged worried glances with each other. Jim's voice was enough to get Jason to look up again as the man started to talk once more.

"And since you are stuck with this thing, it may help you a bit if you knew what it was you're dealing with." Jim folded his hands together and propped his chin up on them. Jason gazed up at him with an annoyed stare as he waited for the man to continue.

"Something you should know about this demon," Jim started to explain, "is that no matter how much it bonds itself to you, it'll still be its own creature. The demon has its own mind, and its own instinct, and if allowed to act by these things it will. Currently I can sense that the creature inside of you is strong and unstable, and probably does not like being held back from taking over and letting itself be free from you." Jim shook his head. "You will feel it fighting against you soon if you don't now. The demon will want its time to rise, but you must not allow it to. It is too strong right now, and you will not be able to control it if it is allowed free."

Jason rubbed his left had carefully as he stared down at it. Jim watched him for a moment before continuing.

"Being bonded to you like it is, the demon will be affected by the same things that affect you. Its strength will be determined by your own mental and physical strength and stability. You must be careful not to allow yourself to lose control over anything you do or the demon will gain power and may use it against you and force itself out. Be careful with your emotions, if you allow yourself to become too angry, too frightened, too sad, or even too happy, the demon will be able to use the emotional unbalance for its own will. Watch yourself physically. As your body weakens, so does your mind and you will not be able to fight the demon back if it tries to gain control and you are in a weakened state. You must learn to live with the demon and to work with it, have it learn to live and work with you, and when you two reach a type of balance then you will no longer have to worry about the creature raging out of control in you."

"How long will that fucking take?" Jason growled as he continued to rub his hand in agitation. Jim shook his head.

"I can't tell you, the length of time it takes is determined by you and the creature within you. I can do something that will help you out for a while though." Jim motioned for Jason to show him his hand again and the windian obliged, holding out his left hand so that Jim could get a good look at it. The man closed his eyes and chanted quietly, moving his own hand over the scar as he did so. As he finished chanting, a white light enveloped Jason's hand, encompassing the scar in a bright glow before fading out. Jason pulled is hand back and stared at it before looking back to Jim in wonder.

"What the fuck did you do?"

"I put a shield over the demon to retain it. It shouldn't be giving you much trouble now."

"How long will that last?" Lucy was now staring down at Jason's hand. Jim rubbed his chin thoughtfully before replying.

"The shield will hold the demon until its power becomes strong enough to break through it. If your friend is careful and does not allow that to happen, then it should last a long time. If he is careless and loses control too quickly, then the shield will not last very long at all."

Jason muttered and went back to rubbing his hand. "Is there any fucking good news you have to tell me? Or is all of this just gonna be shit about how I have to live with a demon inside of me from now until forever."

Jim chuckled at the windian quietly. "There can be good news to this if you'd like to consider it good news. You've just become immortal."

Jason gave Jim a bewildered look at the man chuckled once more.

"The demon inside of you needs you to live in order for it to live, and it knows that. It won't be letting anything kill you any time soon." Jim shook his head. "Instant death spells will no longer harm you, any blows that you may receive that could be considered fatal won't even phase you."

Jason just continued to stare at Jim. "Hold on one second... you're telling me that I can't die?" Jim nodded lightly and Jason shook his head in disbelief. "So I'm fucking invulnerable?"

"Oh no, you're not invulnerable. Things can still hurt you. It's just that nothing right now can kill you. It is possible that you may reach a near fatal state, if you and the demon are both too weak to fight back, then it will be like you are dead until the demon inside of you has regained enough power to rise again. Remember, you and the demon are bonded, so the demon's strength then becomes your strength." Jim shrugged. "However, if you and the demon are forced apart, you will both die within an amount of time if you're not reunited."

"That... that's fucking..." Jason stared down at his hand again and shook his head in disbelief. "So wait a second. If I pulled out Janet's gun," he gazed at the revolver that hung at Janet's side before turning back to the man in front of him. "If I took her gun and tried to blow my head open, it wouldn't work?" Jim shook his head and a blank look passed over Jason's face. "That's fucking unreal..."

"The demon won't let anything kill you." Jim motioned to Jason's hand again. "The creature is more there to help you then to harm you."

"So if it's trying to help him," Lucy questioned Jim thoughtfully, "why would it be fighting against him like you kept saying it would?"

"Because the demon is its own being, and no being wants to be kept bottled up inside another." Jim sat up straight in his spot. "It will fight your friend for the chance to free itself, and if that happens then it'll take some doing for your friend to regain control."

"That's fucked up..." Jason kept muttering to himself as he started down at his hand and shook his head. The others regarded him for a moment before Jim turned to Ray.

"You all have had a long journey, and it's so close to nightfall. You're near enough to Windia, why don't you rest here for the night and leave for home tomorrow?"

Ray cast a glance at the tired windians of his group before he turned to Jim with a nod. "Alright... I suppose we can wait one more day."

Jim smiled. "Good, I'll take you all to a building that you can stay in for the night." The man stood up, motioning for the others to stand and follow him as he made his way out the door of the building. Ray and Lucy followed immediately behind him, leaving Janet to help out a dazed and muttering Jason.

"Jason?" Janet raised her eyebrow at the windian he seemed to be lost elsewhere in his mind. "Are you alright?"

Jason turned his dazed and almost empty eyes to Janet for a moment before he shook his head lightly. "Did you hear what he said? I'm fucking going to live forever..."

Janet gave him a doubtful look. "Nothing lasts forever Jason..."

"No..." the windian shook his head again as he followed Ray, Lucy and Jim. He didn't even seem to notice Janet walking near him as he muttered blankly to himself. "Nothing lasts forever, but some things last for a god awful long time... which is basically the same thing..."

Once again Jason was unable to get to sleep, and as Janet and the others awoke in the morning they could just hear him muttering to himself quietly as he stared down at his left hand in wonder. The group situated themselves, thanked Jim for his help, and then made their way out of the village and finally entered Windia by the afternoon. As the group stepped across the threshold of the great city, they let out a collective sigh.

"Well," Ray gazed at the city that stretched out before them. "It's been two and a half weeks, but we're all finally home..."