She saw him. Standing on the stage. He seemed to not notice she was there, or hear her, and just continued to stand there absently and almost ominously, as she slowly approached. She then saw the pendant in his hand, which slipped through his fingers and fell to the stage, shattering and dissipating when it smacked against it.

She was silent as she approached, anxious about how much fainter his mana signature was.

"...Ash...?" she said when she got even closer.

That's when he slowly turned his head and looked at her, and she could see that her was a GHASTLY pale, with almost black bags under his sunken eyes. His mana felt to be weaker than her grandmother's, but not by a considerable amount.

But still, this was a jarring sight, to see her brother look and feel THIS weak. For his standards, anyway.

"...heya." he greeted her with a smile, his voice hoarse and strained.

"Everyone back?" he asked.

"...cool." Ash responded.

"Looks like the dweller kept their word." he said, looking around.

He then looked at the bottle of water before accepting it, opening it, and chugging it faster than she'd ever seen anyone drink something before. It was gone in a matter of a few seconds.

"...sitting's good." he then said, before promptly collapsing to his ass, and falling onto his back.

"I don't think I've felt THIS bad since back in the days of Vanessa's lab." he commented, not even having the energy to put venom into her name.

Ash just laughed lightly.

"I'll be good." he said.

"Worst thing is that I've been knocked down a peg or two in terms of mana I have. Or three. Or four. Or five." he went on.

"Well, Kaia, I think I'm going to pass out now." he then told her.

"I trust you to take care of me and do whatever you feel is best." he finished, before smiling again, and closing his eyes, falling unconscious.