Buck staggered up the steps towards Hazelnut's apartment, the weight of the previous night slumped across his shoulders like a wet coat. During the long walk from Aethercorp in an attempt to clear his head, he'd come across a 24-hour liquor store and had bought himself a fifth of whiskey. Now approaching two in the morning, the bottle held as much liquor as he had answers. The events from the night before played over and over in his head. Finally arriving at the top floor, he banged on the apartment door with the paper-wrapped bottle. A moment later, Hazelnut answered.

  "There you are Buck. We were starting to worry." She sniffed the air around him and wrinkled her nose. "Have you been drinking?"

  Buck pushed his way past her, saying nothing. Inside, Krouri sat on the couch with a cup of tea and Sparks stood leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, smoking a cigar. The smell of the smoke caused bile to rise in his throat. He'd been lied to. Manipulated. Endangered. All so this furball could sate his desire to destroy.

  Sparks offered him a cigar, pre-lit. "To a job well done," he quipped.

  Buck set his bottle down on a small table. He looked at the cigar, then knocked it out of Sparks’ hand. In the same motion, he grabbed the tabbi’s collar and drove his fist into Sparks’ jaw. The tabbi hit the floor hard, landing in a potted plant that shattered around him.

  "BUCK!" Hazelnut cried out. "What are you doing?!"

  "What the hell was that, Sparks? We were there for intel—not a bonfire! I warned you."

  Sparks rose slowly, brushing spilled soil from his suit. "You're drunk, so I'm going to forgive that one." He touched a paw to his nose, dabbing at a trickle of blood.

  "We could have been killed!"

  "In all honesty, you almost were," retorted Sparks. "You're welcome, by the way."

  "Save it," Buck spat, fuming. "I can't believe I thought this was even remotely a good idea! You're an insatiable pyromaniac and you don't care who gets in your way! How many more have to die before you're satisfied?"

  Sparks’ eyes flared in anger. He grabbed Buck by the shirt and slammed him against the nearby wall. "You have no idea what you’re talking about. How dare you!" He growled, baring his teeth at the rat.

  Buck snarled back. "How dare I? I was there, matchstick! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been in the building. If you hadn't started the blaze, I wouldn't have fired at you and Sam would still be alive, because my shot wouldn't have killed him!"

  The accusation hung in the air for several, silent beats. Sparks released his grip and took a step back. "Sam? Your partner?" he blinked, stunned. The smoke from the dropped cigar swirled into the air. It seemed to take the shape of the elderly mole woman from his nightmares, glowering angrily at him. Sparks summoned a patch of roaring fire into his paw, staring at the wall next to Buck’s head.

  Hazelnut thrust herself between them, a hand on each chest. "Whoa! No fire!" she commanded, looking at Sparks. "And you," she said to Buck. "No assaulting guests in my home. Sit down, both of you. We obviously have a lot to discuss."

  She directed them to chairs on opposite sides of the room. Buck took his seat, scowling. Hazelnut joined Krouri and prepared to mediate. "First of all, while I don't approve of his methods, Buck has a point. We were there to find out more about Aethercorp and their possible connections, not blow the place up. You need to explain yourself."

  Sparks retrieved his cigar and put it out against the pad of his hand with a grimace. "I will admit I had an ulterior motive-" he began.

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  "So it WAS another one of your targets!" Buck interrupted, pointing an angry finger.

  Hazelnut grabbed a teaspoon and wielded it at Buck threateningly. "SIT. DOWN. You will be civil or I will throw you out a window." Krouri put a gentle hand on Buck's shoulder and eased him back into his seat. Buck sulked but obeyed.

  "As I was saying, I admit I had another reason to be there. Yes, detective. I was hired to do exactly what I did. I was not expecting the degree of the reaction it caused. I knew this would be dangerous but I never intended to harm you. Any of you. However, I don't believe the operation was a total loss." He looked towards Hazelnut. "Did you manage to grab that doctor's clipboard?"

  Buck raised an eyebrow as Hazelnut produced an Aethercorp branded clipboard, complete with attached papers. "I did and while it has a lot of information, it doesn't make much sense to me," she said and passed it to Krouri.

  The cockatiel flipped through the papers, murmuring excitedly. "It's readings," she said at last. "Electrical readings. Seismic measurements. Wave forms of data. There’s a name here too. Nooraym." She paused, searching her memories. "Illani told me about him. He’s a professor of ancient philosophy with an interest in apparitions. Looks like he was paid for consulting."

  She looked up with a start. "Eidolons! They were measuring Eidolon activity throughout the city! The data shows massive spikes over the last several months." She flipped through more pages and slowly came to a realization. "The spikes line up with the dates of the Cremation Killer victims."

  "Let me see that," Buck asked and Krouri handed it over. "Several of these dates also match sites of yours, Sparks." He narrowed his eyes over the clipboard at the tabbi. Sparks' tail thumped nervously against the floor.

  Hazelnut wisely changed the subject. "Let's back up. We never actually got an answer about this. What are Eidolons?" she asked.

  Sparks sighed in defeat. He held his hand in front of his suit’s breast pocket, allowing a tiny blue flame to emerge and sit in Spark’s palm. He placed it down gently on the coffee table before him. It hovered there and seemed to look at the others before turning to Sparks who nodded encouragingly.

  The flame began to slowly spin and grow larger, ultimately taking the form of a small blue kitten with two tails. It glowed with a soft, warm light and its eyes were bright and yellow. Its fur wavered and crackled like a campfire. Sparks gestured as an introduction. "Apparently, this is an Eidolon. This is Kindling."

  As Kindling proudly marched around the table, light wisps of smoke rose from its footprints, leaving tiny paw print scorch marks that slowly faded from the wood. Hazelnut squealed in delight and retrieved an incense cone from one of her many pockets, holding it above Kindling like a treat. The fire kitten stretched upwards, taking hungry little chomps of the cone. The room began to fill with the scent of sandalwood.

  Buck offered his hand and Kindling rubbed up against it, encouraging scratches under its chin. "It's solid," he wondered aloud. "It's made of nothing but fire but…it's solid. And warm." He sat up quickly in realization. "Wait a minute, we're all saying ‘Eidolon’. Why aren't we getting headaches?" The others looked amongst themselves, the revelation dawning on them as well.

  Krouri spoke first. "I got one earlier. When I talked to Iggy. I saw a chained prisoner…then my grandfather. He said we needed to talk."

  Buck perked up. "Maybe he can tell us more? Can you reach out to him?"

  Krouri shook her head. "He passed away when I was little."

  Buck slumped back down in his seat. "Great, so apparently we're seeing ghosts. I don't know who mine are. Just some tired looking fox and an old mole woman with a grumpy mug."

  Sparks stiffened and his tail puffed up. "I ran into a elderly mole woman on my way here. She pulled on my suit coat and berated me. Said there wasn't enough coin in the world to wash away the blood on my hands."

  Buck sat up again, grinning. "So you admit it!"

  Sparks set his jaw, staring back. "I. Don't. Kill. I've never intentionally hurt anyone at my sites. I clear them myself multiple times and burn from the top down to better contain the wreckage. It gives anyone I possibly could have missed the chance to flee."

  Buck rose from his seat, fists clenched. Sparks mirrored him. "That's not how I remember it," Buck spat. Kindling sensed confrontation, growing into a large angry house cat. It arched its back and hissed. Hazelnut put a hand on Sparks' shoulder and Krouri stepped in front of Buck, looking bewildered.

  "Buck, what are you talking about?" Krouri asked.

  "You’re the reporter and you're telling me you didn't know?" Buck said, bewildered. He pointed an accusatory finger at Sparks. "He's the Crimson Lotus!"