And now Legolas' hand moves to his collar, gently fingering the metal before looking back to Thranduil. His laugh slows and then stops, shakes his head and then just sits down before his stomach grows more unsettled.

"That's it though, isn't it? All things did come to an end. That's why I'm alive, they rescued me. The collar keeps my soul intact, keeps me from dying, it's the only way for us to survive on another world."

Or so Ruana had told them. And Dax had assured them that their worlds really were gone, that they were trying to restore them. He looks to his father, eyes automatically going to his bare neck.

"So this can't be real. You have no collar."