"Well, I don't see why not. I mean, each time you've touched one of our gems, your sight has come back... If we could combine our powers...Thought that might be tricky." She realized after saying it.

"Are all of you, um... alive, right now?" Horatio asked

Polly sat down beside Horatio, "All but Vesta... She was the first born this time around..." Polly explained what happened with Vesta and Ceres. "Only celestial beings can remove gems... That's how father took yours... But how Ceres did it at such a young age..." Polly trailed on.

"So... so we have to wait for her to be born?" Horatio asked, deflating a little.

"Maybe not. We could go to her family shrine where her gem is... But then... there's another problem... Apparently Juno's turned dark side..."

"So capture her?" Horatio suggested uncertainly, "how does one go 'darkside' anyway? There must be a way to fix her. Or make her cooperate"

"Dark magic, if used right, it can corrupted a gem... It's not like when Vesta went crazy... It's different. Anyways, we don't have a lot of information on her whereabouts. Since she showed herself to Ceres, she's been a ghost." Polly explained as the sound of the door to the bath house opened. There were footsteps and the sound of one of the taps being turned on. "Seems someone else had the same idea." Polly commented.

Horatio thought for a moment, "... what if she found out I was alive?" he asked.

"That would get her attention for sure... But it may not be the best idea... We have no idea what dark forces we're dealing with. First Vesta and now Juno... Someone's out to get us all." Polly paused, "Do...do you hear crying?" She whispered, not sure if she was hearing right due to the echos the large room produced and the running tap across the room.

Horatio only had to listen for a moment before he nodded, "Yes... who is that?" he tilted his head.

"Hello?" Polly called out but no one replied. She moved to the side of the tub and started getting out, "Come on, we've been in the tub long enough anyways." She pulled a towel around her.

Horatio climbed out carefully and wrapped a towel around himself as well. He held out his hand for her to guide him.

Polly guided him to the one side of the room where the tap was on. Those set of lights weren't turned on. Polly let go of Horatio's hand for a moment and flicked on the switch a foot or two away from him.

"Ceres?" Polly called. There was no mistaken it. There was only one lady with long pink hair on campus. She was sitting under the running water, fully clothed, one hand on the tap as she leaned face forward against the tilted wall.
"Ceres!" She called, taking Horatio over to her and kneeling down. "You should be in bed-" Polly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She screamed, not moving from her stop.

Horatio placed a hand on the wall and stepped forward carefully, "Ceres?" he questioned with concern, "why are you so sad?"

"They-They...touched me." She hiccuped, "Poked and cut... They tried knives, blades, laser...cut...pull...rip... It won't move or break but it hurt so much... I-I...felt everything...I I couldn't move...Or scream...It hurt so much..." She sobbed, sounding a lot like a wounded animal.

Horatio moved forward, slipping a little on a wet spot but managing to keep his balance as he knelt by her and reached out. The moment he felt where she was, he pulled her into a tight hug without a word and just held her close, stroking her hair.

Ceres wasn't expecting that but it was what she needed. She broke out into big water works, holding onto him tightly. Polly turned off water and sat down beside Horatio. "Yup, you still have it." She whispered to Horatio softly.

Horatio just held onto Ceres until she let it all out. "You're alright now" he spoke softly, letting go to wipe off her tears from her cheek.

"I-I can't shake the feeling..." She stared up at him, sniffling away, "But...But... Eric...they took-"
"He's alright. He's resting."
"O-Oh...ok."
"Hey, why don't Horatio and I get you cleaned up and we can go all cuddle up and tell stories with coco, hm?" Polly said lightly, finally getting a better look at Ceres. Her eyes were glazed in pink and her gem was glowing softly. Her body was still in defensive state.
"C-Can we Horatio?" She asked.

"She's looks fine to me" Horatio joked, getting back to his feet and offered Ceres his hand up, "but I think I'll take Polly's word on this one"

Ceres took Horatio's hand and the three of them dried up, put some clothes on and snuggled up on a couch in Celeste's office, a few doors down from the infirmary wing. Polly sat on one side and Horatio sat on the other.

"Th-then what did the Red Panda do?" Ceres asked as Horatio told her one of the tales he'd listened to with Ciara. She leaned against him, a large fuzzy blanket wrapped around all three of them.

"He stopped them of course" Horatio replied, "With nothing but a butter knife and a shoe lace"

"Wooooow. That's impressive. I don't think even Polly could have done that." Ceres stated softly.
"Well... maybe with two shoe laces." Polly added in.
"I'm glad we found each other.... I love you big brother..." She mumbled falling asleep, her gem going back to normal.
"You always knew what to say to make her feel better, Horatio." Polly said softly.

Horatio touched Ceres' hair lightly and sighed, "Honestly? I didn't know what to say at first so I just hugged her. Then I was afraid to stop talking because it seemed to be calming her down."

Polly chuckled, "Yup, sounds about right." Polly reached over and ruffled his hair.