The cemetery was dying.
Drake realized it while staring silently at the shattered tombstones surrounding them.
Not physically.
Existentially.
Reality itself felt thinner here now.
Weaker.
The boundaries separating dimensions strained visibly beneath Saint Louis Cemetery as black fractures spread slowly through the air like cracks forming across glass.
The prison beneath New Orleans was pushing upward harder with every passing minute.
And somehow—
His presence accelerated it.
Which honestly felt incredibly unfair.
"I leave one dimension for one vacation," Drake muttered tiredly.
"And suddenly I'm accidentally awakening imprisoned cosmic entities."
Klaus folded his arms while surveying the broken cemetery.
"To be fair," he mused, "your vacations are significantly more entertaining than most."
"You say that because destruction follows you recreationally."
"Correct."
Rebekah looked around at the collapsing graveyard.
"…I miss when our family problems involved regular murder."
"Those were simpler times," Elijah agreed solemnly.
Ciri helped Drake stand slowly while keeping one hand tightly wrapped around his.
Grounding contact.
Anchor.
The simple warmth of her touch cut through the chaos in his mind better than any cosmic revelation ever could.
Morrigan watched them carefully.
Then quietly—
"You really love her."
The statement surprised everyone slightly.
Mostly because Morrigan sounded genuinely curious.
Like someone rediscovering a concept she thought extinct.
Drake looked toward Ciri instinctively.
No hesitation.
No uncertainty.
"Yes."
Simple answer.
Absolute truth.
Ciri blinked once before a faint smile crossed her face.
Even now.
Even surrounded by existential horror.
Klaus looked personally offended.
"Why does the eldritch nightmare get the healthy relationship?"
"Because unlike you," Rebekah answered immediately, "he communicates."
Rude.
Accurate.
The faceless messenger still stood motionless near the cemetery entrance.
Waiting patiently.
Watching Drake constantly.
Elijah finally addressed it directly.
"What exactly are you?"
The entity tilted its head unnaturally.
"A remainder."
"That answered absolutely nothing," Klaus muttered.
The messenger ignored him entirely.
Instead it focused completely on Drake again.
"The Gates weaken."
"Yes," Drake replied tiredly.
"We established that."
The creature stepped closer.
Reality distorted around it violently now.
Small cracks formed in the air itself wherever it moved.
"The Forgotten dream deeper."
Morrigan's expression hardened instantly.
"That cannot happen."
The messenger turned toward her slowly.
"Too late."
The words echoed unnaturally through the cemetery.
And immediately—
Every light across New Orleans went out.
The city plunged into darkness instantly.
Humans screamed in distant streets.
Car alarms echoed through the night.
But beneath the ordinary panic—
Something else rose.
Whispers.
Ancient whispers spreading invisibly through the city like infection.
The cemetery trembled violently.
Drake looked sharply toward the skyline.
Black cracks now spread faintly across the sky itself above New Orleans.
Tiny fractures.
But growing.
Klaus stared upward openly.
"…That seems problematic."
"Massively problematic," Elijah corrected immediately.
Ciri looked toward Drake.
"Can you stop this?"
Silence.
Drake hesitated.
And that terrified her more than any answer could have.
Because Drake usually adapted instantly.
Usually knew exactly what to do.
But now?
He looked uncertain.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly.
The messenger spoke again.
"You were made for this."
Drake's expression darkened instantly.
"I wasn't made for anything."
The pressure in the cemetery surged violently.
Space cracked around him in jagged fractures before healing seconds later.
Morrigan stepped between Drake and the messenger immediately.
"Enough."
For the first time—
The faceless entity reacted emotionally.
Amusement.
"You still protect him."
Morrigan's voice turned cold.
"I remember what happened last time."
Silence followed.
Heavy silence.
Drake looked sharply between them.
"…Last time?"
Neither answered immediately.
Which felt significantly worse than answering.
Ciri narrowed her eyes slightly.
"You two are being cryptic again."
"Yes," Klaus agreed immediately.
"And I dislike being excluded from apocalyptic information."
The messenger shifted unnaturally.
"The Wanderer broke the cycle once."
Drake's head hurt instantly.
Fragments slammed violently into his mind again.
A battlefield stretching across dead stars.
Reality burning black at the edges.
Him standing alone before endless gates while colossal entities screamed behind dimensional chains.
And himself—
Opening something.
Not freeing them.
Closing them out.
Sealing realities away at unbearable cost.
Drake staggered slightly.
Ciri steadied him immediately.
"Hey."
He inhaled sharply.
"…I remember the gates."
Morrigan's expression tightened.
"How much?"
"Not enough."
The cemetery suddenly screamed.
Not metaphorically.
The ground itself released an impossible sound as black mist exploded upward between tombs.
Everyone turned instantly.
A human woman stumbled through the cemetery gates sobbing hysterically while shadows wrapped around her legs like living smoke.
Behind her—
Things moved in the darkness.
Tall shapes emerging slowly through the fog.
Humanoid.
Faceless.
Wrong.
More messengers.
Dozens this time.
Klaus' expression shifted immediately from curiosity to anticipation.
"Well," he murmured while his eyes flashed gold.
"Now this feels like my kind of evening."
Elijah sighed deeply.
"Why are you enjoying this?"
"Because," Klaus answered while grinning dangerously, "I've waited centuries to fight something truly interesting."
The approaching entities stopped several yards away.
Watching silently.
The human woman collapsed near Rebekah trembling violently.
"They're everywhere," she gasped.
"They came from the shadows—"
One of the faceless entities stepped forward.
"The Forgotten send envoys."
Its layered voice echoed across the cemetery.
Morrigan moved instantly in front of the group.
"You cannot cross fully."
"Cannot?"
The messenger tilted its head.
"Watch."
Suddenly—
One of the sky fractures widened.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Something enormous moved behind it.
Not visible fully.
Only an eye.
Ancient.
Infinite.
Watching the city below with terrible hunger.
Every supernatural instinct in the cemetery screamed instantly.
Even Klaus stepped backward.
The eye blinked once.
And three nearby tombs simply ceased existing.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
Reality around them folded inward unnaturally before snapping shut again.
Silence crushed the cemetery.
Then the thing behind the fracture whispered.
Not aloud.
Directly into every mind present.
Open.
Drake froze completely.
Because the voice felt familiar.
Not from memory fragments.
From himself.
The crimson-black energy beneath his skin ignited violently.
Power surged outward hard enough to shatter nearby crypts.
The messengers immediately bowed their heads.
Recognition.
Submission.
And suddenly—
Drake understood why they called him Wanderer.
Because once—
Long ago—
He hadn't merely traveled realities.
He'd opened them.
Morrigan's expression shifted instantly as realization crossed Drake's face.
"No."
Her voice carried genuine alarm now.
"Drake, do not listen to them."
But it was already happening.
The Forgotten recognized him.
And somewhere deep inside his fractured ancient memories—
Part of him recognized them too.