Leo just sighed as he made his way through the halls of the Order. It seemed that, recently, a lot of the people he'd talked to were tense, or things were finally coming to a head for them.

He didn't think TOO much of it, considering they were in the middle of a stressful time of the year, as far as dreams were concerned. Politics were shifting in the world, as such, stress ran high, and it meant that they had to put more effort into making sure all their charges had a good amount of restful sleep.

Which was harder than it sounded.

However, for ALL the people he knew to suddenly be so tense? It DID strike him as a little odd.

Just as he turned a corner, he heard what sounded to be a heated argument just down the hallway, so he quickened his pace and went to see what was happening. The pair that he found having the discussion was a pair of more senior members of the Order, held in relatively high regards by others.

But they were really going at each other, it seemed.

"You IDIOT!" one declared. "A nightmare is the LAST thing his campaign manager needs right now!" he growled.

"YOU'RE one to talk!" the other shot back. "What about that recovering addict under YOUR care!? Because of that nightmare you were supposed to cut off, but ended up making worse, he'll probably hit the stuff harder than ever, which could KILL him!" they countered.

"That was unexpected, and not my fault!" the first one shot back. "I specifically used the sand to bring peace and serenity to him!" he insisted.

"And I did the same!" the other one countered.

"Stop trying to cover your sorry ass by hiding behind MY reasons!" the first one then snarled... which, at that point, made it look like things were going to get physical.

"Please, please..." Leo said as calmly as he could, deciding he needed to interject. "Fighting and arguing isn't going to help anyone." he told them as he slowly approached, trying to diffuse the situation.

The pair of them looked sharply at Leo, before they both spoke up in unison.

"Butt out, junior!" they barked.

"This isn't something for YOU to get involved in!" one of them said, reaching out and grabbing Leo by the collar. "I suggest you learn to let those higher ranked than you work out their OWN problems." he then snarled.

Immediately, the two of them froze where they were, fear in their eyes.

Almost instantly the one called Stan let go of Leo, and gulped audibly.

"Y-y-y-yes Ma'am." he stammered.

"We were... we were just on our way!" the second one quickly said.

"Yes, yes, that's right!" Stan agreed, before they started to back away from the newcomer, as well as Leo, who was fixing his shirt from having been grabbed.

"...." he was silent for a moment, and sighed quietly.

Leo was silent again for a moment, and shook his head.

"I wish MY presence carried some weight." he said.

"ANY weight..." he mumbled.

"But I'm still mostly seen as just some junior, unless YOU enter the picture." he admitted, biting his lip slightly, but quickly snapping himself back to reality.

"And something's going on?" he asked.

"Would this be tied into why everyone seems so angry and stressed?" he asked further.

Leo just nodded in response.

"Okay." he said.

"Let's get out of here." he agreed.

"To where?" he asked.

"Just anywhere that's not here in the Order?" he asked further.

"...hm." he then mumbled, thinking a little.

"Well, spending more time with Nakia is never a bad thing." he admitted.

"But where will YOU go? Just go to being Serenity more... full-time?" he asked her.

Leo just smiled.

"That's good, at least." he said.

"Then yeah, let's scram." he told her.

"I hear another argument brewing, and if I were to wager a guess, this will continue to spread." he went on, before they kept hearing the word 'nightmare' over and over again.

"....ok, I'm hearing that word a LOT more than normal." he commented.

Leo was silent for a moment, before he heard an argument making its way towards him.

"...aaaaaaand I'm running." he muttered, before he disappeared in a similar swirl of sand, appearing in the mansion that he and Nakia lived in.

"...." he was silent, looking around where he appeared, which was his workshop.

"Wonder if she's home..." he mumbled, before exiting.

"Nakia!?" he called out.

"......................" he was silent as the knock was heard, and he felt the oppressive mana outside it as well.

"Hm." he muttered.

"That's... concerning." he said quietly.

He then sighed, and lifted his hand slightly. As he did so, the door that had been knocked on started to open.

And he tried to mentally prepare himself for what he would see... not that it helped.

"....what?" he asked, when the door completely opened.

"Uh...." the man stammered.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Must admit, I didn't expect someone wearing an Order cloak to show up." he said.

He then narrowed his eyes, unable to ignore the oppressive mana.

It was similar to one he knew quite well... but different.

"Who ARE you?" he asked.

"......that voice..." Vincent whispered quietly.

"Excuse me?" he then asked.

"The Order is out of control?" he asked her.

"That was something I never thought I would hear in my lifetime." he admitted.

"What do you mean by 'out of control'?" he asked her.

He was silent as she made her explanation.

"I see." he replied.

"I do agree that that is, indeed, a very grave situation." he said.

"However... one thing still puzzles me." he went on.

"You say the human race will not last long." he continued. "And yes, that's true." he said further.

"But, forgive me if I'm wrong... isn't that your ultimate goal?" he asked, revealing he knew who was under that cloak.

"Why would you want to stop that?"