I keep thinking about the question Hollyhock asked, “Ask your questions, then what?” I hadn’t given any thought at all as to what would come after. Should I report back to IronHenge? That sounds like the smart thing to do. But then they’d find me. Would contacting another Arcanium be wise? I can’t say I know how to do that though. What would I even say?

‘Hey I’m a witch from IronHenge and I found a necromancer in a human city, can you help me out?’

Maybe it wouldn’t be the strangest thing they’ve ever heard.

Hollyhock sings along with the song on the radio, driving us to her latest task. Hopefully, it goes quickly; I have several things to prepare if we’re to face this necromancer. A few of the charms I already have on hand, but there are elixirs and salves I have to mix by hand.

‘I wonder if Hollyhock has any lithium at her place?’

“We’ve arrived, should be in and out of here,” she tells me.

“What is this place?” There’s a wide opening in the building. A couple of cars sit inside, one is lifted by some mechanical apparatus. I can smell oil and some kind of chemical through the windows.

“It’s an auto repair shop, they fix cars here. Well, on paper they do. It’s really a money-laundering front.”

She pauses as she sees I don’t know what that means. “They use this place to cover their paper trail. The money they get from less than legal means,” she clarifies. “Man we’re looking for is called Fye Kuss, supposed to be a real creep. Let me do the talking and we’ll get out of here quick.” She no longer insists that I wait in the car like a child, so I guess that’s progress.

I follow her into the store, though there are tools about the place, there isn’t anyone working here. No customers either. I can hear music playing somewhere in the building below us. Hollyhock walks to the rear-facing wall and feels around for something. She soon finds it, a hidden panel that she pushes in. Part of the wall retreats into itself to reveal a descending stairway. The music comes through louder, it’s chaotic and grating like dragon scales against stone. Or like a computer being struck by lightning if that were to make a noise.

Ignoring it, Hollyhock treads downwards and I follow. The door closes behind us after a brief moment. As we ingress, the interior changes to suit a parlor of sorts. It’s nicely furnished if a bit dingy. It’s either an upscale dive spot or a dirty fancy place. More than grime on everything, there’s a vile stench in the air, many heinous things have been committed here. No doubt Hollyhock senses that too.

The lights are somewhat dim. I imagine it’s designed that way to add to the almost sinister atmosphere.

There are several people here, doing various things. Their eyes examine us as we enter but they are otherwise not on alert. Some are just sitting, drinking, and talking, others count money and packages of things I’m sure are drugs. Three stand around a pool table holding their sticks. I’ve only seen pool played once in an old movie, I wonder if Hollyhock would teach me if I asked her.

They all orbit around a man on a brown chaise lounge. Though the man I assume to be his bodyguard stands tall and aware next to him; the man in the chair is reclined, relaxed, as if he is in a dream. His golden brown skin is moisturized, making him shine a bit under the lights. His close cropped hair is dyed plant green. He has tattoos on his rather chiseled face of teardrops coming from his eyes.

A thin body wrapped in a silk robe, and nothing else. He reaches to the table covered in different foods and picks up a fig. The garment is patterned with cherubs flying every which way. This Fye Kuss bites into the fruit without opening his eyes. I don’t know if he knows we’re here. He slowly, deliberately chews, smacking on it to let everyone know he’s eating.

I can smell rich scents coming off of his somewhat exposed chest. A mixture of things, lavender, something citrusy, coconut, and I think eucalyptus. They’re just hints of it though, not like he bathed himself with the strange blend but more like it rubbed off on him.

He’s beautiful, hedonistic, and judging by the way he eats; narcissistic.

“Yo, Dicho! Change to something else!” One of the men says.

The song playing from the speakers changes to something softer and slow.

Hollyhock rolls her eyes and instead looks to the bodyguard and nods her head. The rather large man bumps Fye Kuss with his knee.

“Boss,” he says “you got company.”

“Oh yes, I know,” Fye Kuss replies. His voice is a golden, melodic thing. “I was sensing them with more than just my eyes. Trying to picture in my mind who came to visit, but I suppose sight has its advantages.” He talks like some soothsayers I know, as if words were invented for him and everyone else is just playing at it.

He has startlingly green eyes and he locks them onto Hollyhock first. A smile that could peel paint stretches across his face.

“My, you’ve quite the figure. So many tattoos.”

Hollyhock is only wearing an orange tank top, so her strong arms and all her tattoos are on display. She doesn’t respond to his observation.

“What do I have to do to see your uninked skin?” He asks.

“Let me peel yours,” she answers.

The bodyguard frowns and looks at her more seriously but Fye Kuss just laughs. It’s a short, abrupt chuckle that rolls from his throat.

“So feisty!” He then turns to violate me with his gaze.

“And you, my exotic beauty, are you as harsh as your compatriot here?”

“I’m actually meaner.”

Again, that laugh of his comes out. He finally deigns to sit up straight and look at us.

“Can I interest you ladies in some cheese? They’re quite good.” He picks up a knife and twirls it around before hovering it over a platter with an assortment of cheeses.

Hollyhock licks the top row of her teeth.

“My boss paid you for something, I’m here to pick it up,” she asserts.

“Oh, boo. You’re no fun. And you?” He turns to me. “Would you like any?”

“No, thank you. I had a big breakfast.”

Hollyhock smiles just a bit at that. Fye Kuss groans in annoyance as he stands up.

“Business and pleasure can coexist, you know?”

“The business was with my boss, so there’s no pleasure to be had here,” she counters.

“Just as well, I’m a bit spent anyway, and I figure you’d need my full vigor to get you going,” he says. Hollyhock looks like she might throw up in her mouth. He walks over to a desk, opens a drawer, and retrieves something. A large yellow envelope. He turns it over in his hand and then gives it to Hollyhock.

It has a number of papers inside by the sound of it.

“That’s everything she asked for. I had hoped for a bigger challenge but the pay was good so I shouldn’t complain,” Fye Kuss says. Hollyhock looks over the envelope, I’m guessing she doesn’t know what could be inside.

“Can I fold this?” She asks.

“Yeah, it’s just paper,” he answers. “Now would you like some cheese?” Hollyhock remains silent as she folds the envelope twice and puts it in her back pocket.

“No,” she answers, then turns to leave. I follow her closely.

“You remind me of this girl I had sent over earlier, so determined, so serious about her job.” Hollyhock ignores him. “She couldn’t have been older than fifteen, that one.”

With that, she stops dead in her tracks.

The song changes again, to something with a hard, quick beat.

‘If he had kept his mouth shut for even a minute longer.’ We were near the stairs, we were almost gone.

I chance a glance towards Hollyhock. The assassin stands there, expressionless. There’s no tension in her body, she almost looks serene despite our environment and what we just heard. I cannot fathom what she’s thinking as she stares blankly ahead.

She licks the top row of her teeth.

She turns around and walks back to him.

She ignores whatever it is that he says.

She grabs the knife he had and stabs it clean through his hand.

The impact is so great it breaks the cheese platter underneath and anchors him there.

As he howls out in pain his bodyguard moves to retaliate. He tries to grab the assassin by her shoulder but she shrugs him off quickly, grabs the back of his head, and slams it down onto the knife.

With amazing accuracy, she managed to stab his eye out with the hilt. Hollyhock punches him in the forehead to get him off the knife. He recoils in pain, holding his now empty eye socket. The assassin pulls the knife from the table and Fye Kuss’ hand and swiftly swipes it across his bodyguard’s throat. A river of blood flows from his neck.

Hollyhock puts the knife in the forearm of Fye Kuss, who hollers out with renewed agony. She kicks his bodyguard in the chest to let him bleed out on the floor.

Two men approach me, they think grabbing me will stop Hollyhock. I quickly prime a spell, superheating the air around my hands, and press them against their faces.

I hear their skin sizzling before their screams come out.

They crumble to the floor, writhing in pain. I look up to see the men who were playing pool rush at her. They swing their sticks at her but she deftly dodges them. One man tries to hit her in the head but she steps towards him, cutting off his angle, and grabs his wrist. In one fluid motion, she twists, grabs the stick before it falls, breaks it over his head, and stabs it into the man coming up behind her.

The assassin spins around to deliver a kick that makes the stick fully penetrate his torso. She grabs a beer bottle and smashes it over the head of the man she just abused with the stick. Holding the remains of the bottle she stabs it into the throat of the last pool player. His blood gushes out through the bottleneck, spilling it on the floor.

The last living pool player, with his vision compromised by the glass shards in his face, doesn’t see the pool of blood as he tries to do something against Hollyhock. He slips and bangs his head once more against the pool table, but he isn’t in pain for long as the assassin stomps on his chest, breaking his neck.

Another man approaches me, he’s disturbed by the carnage Hollyhock unleashed, and he’s perplexed by what I did to his friends. They’re still rolling around on the ground in pain. He doesn’t understand what I did to them but knows he doesn’t want it to happen to him. His eyes flit between me and Hollyhock, trying to calculate his odds.

Turns out it doesn’t matter because the assassin comes from behind him and snaps his neck. He’s dead before he hits the floor.

That’s when I see the haunting look on her face. It is a vacant, empty expression. There is no anger, disgust, or even exertion. Nothing. Her face is a blank slate as she snuffs out another life. I’m taken aback by it.

I don’t get much time to examine her face as more people come after us.

Before my latest assailant can close the distance between us I tear a ligament in his knee with a strong pull of telekinesis. He falls like a sack of bricks.

Hollyhock runs to one of them and he tries to land a punch on her. She jumps, turning her body horizontally, and kicks the man behind him while clotheslining the first man. Her arm wraps around his neck and as soon as her feet touch the ground she tightens and lifts her arm to break his neck.

I can’t understand why they keep trying but the man she kicked rushes to get at her. Faster than I can see she pulls out a knife that I didn’t know she had and drives it through the bottom of his chin. It isn’t lethal, but the pain makes him stop. Hollyhock raises her arm up to look him in the eyes.

It’s cold indifference that stares at him.

She pulls the blade from his mouth and lodges it deep into his eye. She doesn’t flinch or blink as blood flicks onto her face.

I thought, for the briefest moment, that she would leave him at that. None of what she did should kill him. The assassin takes the knife out of his eye socket and punctures his stomach with it a few times. He’ll bleed out for sure.

Hollyhock moves away from him and heads towards Fye Kuss, the man who triggered this mayhem.

A man who I didn’t see earlier steps in her way and pulls a gun on her. I try to get a spell ready but the assassin barely registers him as a threat.

“Not so tough now, are y-” She punches him in the throat before he can finish. She takes the gun from his hand, pulls back the hammer, and shoots him in the chest.

The last conscious man who isn’t pinned to a table puts his hands up.

“Wait I just drove them! I-” The rest of his plea probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

She puts a bullet between his eyebrows and he falls, dead. The assassin throws the gun on his body. She turns back to Fye Kuss who is still desperately trying to unpin himself. He saw the massacre unfold and doesn’t want to be a part of it.

But he has to know by now it’s out of his hands.

Hollyhock approaches and he pathetically tries to fend her off by throwing any objects within arm's reach. She lets them hit her. I can’t decide if it’s more degrading or not.

The assassin pulls the knife out.

“WAIT, WE CAN TALK THIS-”

She plunges the knife straight into his heart with practiced ease. The only thing he has to say now is a death rattle. The stab was more than enough to kill him, which is why I’m surprised that she pulls the knife out to stab him again. And again. And again.

She speeds up and stabs harder each time, getting blood all over herself and the corpse of Fye Kuss.

My stomach turns watching the mutilation.

‘Should I stop her? Can I stop her?’

She raises the knife high as she can and gives one final stab in his chest. The impact is so great that I can hear some ribs cracking from here.

The assassin drops the bloodied knife and stops to breathe. Even with the man’s blood splattered on her and breathing heavily, she has no emotion on her face.

In the space of a few minutes, she’s spilled more blood than I’ve ever seen and killed more people than I thought possible.

This is what she’s capable of.

Hollyhock catches her breath and then walks away without even the slightest hint of feeling.

She walks past me without saying anything and I snap out of my shock to realize that the three men I incapacitated are gone.

Hollyhock heads up upstairs and I go up. She opens the hidden door and as soon as she takes a step a man yells out as he swings a socket wrench at her.

The assassin throws herself to the side, dodging the blow, plants her hands to catch herself, and flips back upright. The socket wrench hits drywall instead and gets stuck.

I duck under the tool-wielding man to get out of the stairway and see he’s one of the men I burned. The man whose knee I injured is crawling to escape the shop.

The other burned man swings a heavy metal cross at Hollyhock but she sidesteps it easily.

The man with the socket wrench sees me and tries to take a swing at me. But his eyes are damaged, he can’t tell how far I am from him so he hits air mostly. When he swings again he tries vertically, I move to the side and trip him.

I turn to see how the assassin is doing. Her opponent swings, misses, and hits the ground instead. His metal cross is exhausting him as he struggles to lift it back up.

That’s all the opportunity she needs.

Hollyhock swings her leg up high, making almost a perfectly straight line, and brings it down hard on the back of the man’s head. The force of the kick takes his neck to one of the arms of the cross and breaks his tracheae if not his neck entirely. He falls over, for the last time.

The man I’m fighting gets to his knees and swings at me again. The socket wrench would’ve connected with my thigh if Hollyhock hadn’t caught it just in time.

I don’t know when the assassin made it over here, but she snatches it out of the man’s hands and brutally assaults him with it. Caving in his skull, she stops when he stops moving.

The man with the knee injury managed to stand up and tries to limp his way out. Hollyhock throws the wrench at his back, making him fall over. Right above him is the car on the lift mechanism. The assassin walks over and presses a button that makes the car descend.

The man hysterically tries to crawl away but the assassin's boot on his one good leg keeps him in place.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO, YOU CRAZY BITCH! PLEASE!! I’LL DO ANYTHING!!!”

If his pleas for mercy even register to Hollyhock she makes no sign of it; she’s looking at him as though he weren’t real.

The lift gets closer and closer.

His fingertips are bloody from scratching the pavement.

Metal meets human bones and concrete.

One of the most horrifying screams of agony I’ve ever heard come out of the man as he’s crushed to death. The air leaves his lungs quickly so the only sound heard is mechanical whirring and bones snapping.

I have to turn away before I see too much. With everyone who was in the building dead, I assume that Hollyhock will get into the car and we’ll talk about this at some later point.

It’s then I remember what my mentor taught me about assuming.

The assassin walks past the car and starts heading down the sidewalk. I run to catch up with her.

“Hollyhock, that was...intense,” I say while walking backward in front of her. “But you got what you needed.” She does not indicate that she’s listening to me. The assassin isn’t even looking at me, but past me somewhere. “Why don’t we get in the car and-”

She pushes me out of the way like I’m just an obstacle. I almost trip and fall into the street. A spike of anger quickly rises in me but I quell it fast.

‘She’s not herself.’ I have to remember that.

Her walking pace is fast, that or I really need to exercise more.

“Hollyhock, you have to calm down and listen to me. We-” I hear signs of life ahead, people, lots of them. And with Hollyhock covered in blood, it won’t be long until someone tries to intervene or call the cops and that won’t help the situation at all.

Luckily, one of the first basic spells a witch learns is how to remove blood from something. It’s harder to do on a person that’s walking so fast but I have no other choice.

It takes some concentration considering I’m walking backward but I pool all the blood off her body and toss the blood orb into a nearby storm drain.

If there are consequences to what I just did, I’ll have to suffer them later, I’m too busy right now.

While she still has a vacant expression, Hollyhock at least doesn’t look like she massacred a room full of people. It’s an improvement. A step in the right direction.

She weaves her way through the other pedestrians and even stops at crosswalks when cars are driving but still refuses to listen or acknowledge me. It makes me wish I took those psychology classes I was offered a few years ago. Maybe then I’d know what to do or at least then I’d know what’s going on with her.

We’ve been walking for over half an hour and the sun shows as much mercy as Hollyhock did to those men back there. My feet are aching and an uncomfortable amount of sweat has gathered everywhere on my body.

‘How the fuck do people live here without climate magic?’

I’m about to pointlessly beg Hollyhock again to stop when a violent tremor takes hold of my body. It’s all I can do to keep myself standing upright. I feel a powerful pull towards somewhere.

The aura receptor we put up is picking the necromancer’s magic.

‘So soon?’

I detach a portion of my magic so that I’m not overwhelmed by the sensation but can still feel the pull. The necromancer isn’t too far from us.

‘Us.’

Hollyhock is a block away from me now.

I can catch this necromancer right now and lose her, or stay with her and lose this chance for who knows how long?

“LOKI’S FUCKING BALLS!” I curse aloud as I make my decision.

I run after Hollyhock who’s still the same. She continues to walk, not paying me any mind.

I follow her for twenty minutes and the magical sensation of the necromancer wears off. They’re done with whatever abomination they were creating.

‘Really hope I don’t regret choosing you.’

After killing that many people and going on this long walk, I’m worried Hollyhock might get a heat stroke but she perseveres. She turns a corner and it occurs to me that I don’t know if she has a destination. Hollyhock knows this city but that doesn’t mean she’s going anywhere in particular.

I don’t know where we are but it looks like a decent part of town. There aren’t any tall skyscrapers but there also aren’t any abandoned buildings either.

She turns once again but into an alleyway this time. The building on the right side seems new, freshly painted. The one on the left has exposed brick walls that have been subjected to the elements for decades. There’s a cement brick wall that makes the alleyway a dead end. It’s been painted too, but not well. I can see faint remnants of graffiti under the white paint.

Hollyhock walks to a spot between the wall and the dumpster that the older building uses. She puts her back against the wall and sinks down to sit.

‘Goddesses above, she’s finally taking a rest.’

I sit across from her and take off my shoes to rub my feet.

“You’re cute but you aren’t marching shoes,” I say to the footwear. Might as well talk to them since Hollyhock isn’t talking to me. I look up at the assassin in question.

She’s breathing heavily, much heavier than she should be. Her breathing gets faster and I spring to action.

“Hollyhock? Are you okay?!”

Her rapid breath is the only answer I get.

“Holly, if you can hear me, you’re hyperventilating! I need you to try and calm your breathing!”

Tears start streaming from her eyes and her face twists into a portrait of fear. Her breathing doesn’t get any slower and she’s curling up into a ball.

Panic sets in me.

‘WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?!’

Years of medical training fly out of my brain as I watch Hollyhock fold into herself. All I know for certain is that she’ll seriously hurt herself if she doesn’t stop.

Her phone rings in her pocket.

‘This godsdamn phone always rings at the worst time.’ I struggle to get it out of her pocket and see who’s calling. The screen says it Koki’O.

‘She’s nice, maybe she can help.’

I answer the phone,

“Hey, you have that thing Tamara asked you to get? She’s bugging me about it.”

“Koki’O this is Hazel, Hollyhock’s hyperventilating and she isn’t responding to me!”

There’s a pause before she says,

“Are you on Daisy Avenue?”

“I don’t know, we’re in an alleyway somewhere!”

“Do you see a neon sign of a doughnut getting eaten?”

I look around for what she described. I see it at the front of the old building.

“Yes,” I answer.

Another pause.

“Shit. I’ll be there as fast as I can. If you can, keep her calm,” her steady voice reassures me.

“Okay.” She hangs up. I take a deep breath and focus. Hollyhock is still crying, holding the sides of her head, rocking back and forth. “I hope you can forgive me for this one day.”

I press two fingers against her forehead and send a pulse of energy, knocking her out. She slumps forward into my arms.

“You’re going to be okay, I promise,” I tell her. I think I need to hear it more than her. Not that she can hear it.

Some gravel is digging itself into my legs, and Hollyhock is heavy but I endure it all to hold her. It’s no comfort to her that I rub my hand in circles on her back, but it relaxes me a bit.

“What has this world done to you?” I say softly in her ear. Her breathing is normal and it tickles my neck. I wish this didn’t have to happen for me to hold her this close. I wipe away her tears with my shirt.

We’re hidden from view behind this dumpster; I wouldn’t want to spin an explanation for this.

‘You’ve never seen a woman hold another unconscious woman in an alley before?’

Instead of thinking silly thoughts, I cradle my chin in Hollyhock’s shoulder.

I don’t know how much time passes when a large shadow is cast over us.

I turn to see it belongs to Koki’O. She takes Hollyhock from my arms and easily carries her.

The assassins almost resemble a mother and her child like this.

“Come on,” she says with the nod of her head.

Koki’O leads me to her car, like many of the Bay Leaves vehicles it’s unremarkable. A beige so plain that I feel like I’ll forget the second I stop looking. But I suppose that fits the needs of assassins. She carefully places Hollyhock in the backseat, putting a seatbelt on her as well.

We get in the front and the first thing she does is turn on the a.c. Heavensent cold air breezes over me as Koki’O drives off.

“What set her off?” She asks me.

“Fye Kuss commented on being with a young girl. A fifteen-year-old.”

Koki’O makes a noise of disgust.

“He's dead?”

“Yes,” I answer.

“Tamara was going to kill him anyways,” she says. “He outlived his usefulness. So let’s just say that Hollyhock was being proactive. She kill anyone else?”

“Everyone who was there.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know, lost count in the fighting. More than ten.” She mumbles something.

“Cleaning crew is gonna have a field day.”

An awkward silence falls between us, I’m not sure what to say or ask.

“She told me once,” I start to say “how you and Tamara saved her from that cop’s house. So I know she has her trauma.”

“That was a crazy day from start to finish, you think you’re there to cut a loose end from a dirty cop, and you find a girl he kidnapped,” Koki’O replies. “There are lotsa crazy days around here”

“I know she’s particularly protective of kids, but why’d she go to that alley?”

Whereas Tamara is like a safe, Koki’O is an open tome. Her knit eyebrows show she knows something, if not the whole truth. How else would she have known where Hollyhock and I were?

“It’s not my secret to share,” she says with a note of finality. Something tells me I won’t get more out of her. “But yeah, she’s always had a soft spot for kids. She’d never admit it but it’s a sign of a kind heart.” She laughs a bit. “Makes you wonder what kind of person she’d be if life didn’t serve her a plate of hot shit. Certainly not no killer.”

She looks up in the mirror to check on Hollyhock.

“Did you give her a sedative or something?”

“Trade secret I’m afraid.”

Koki’O laughs again.

“Tamara said you like to hold your cards close. Fair enough, we all have secrets to carry. Just make sure you can handle the burden.”

With that bit of ominous advice, she turns on the radio.

When we arrive at their HQ Koki’O picks Hollyhock up and takes her inside.

The Bay Leaves go about their business until they see Hollyhock. Many of them ask about her. Unease quickly spreads throughout them all.

“She’s fine,” Koki’O firmly answers. That alone assures them as they warily get back to whatever they were doing.

Her word carries a lot of weight around here.

Koki’O takes Hollyhock to a room off to the side. There are several cots all over the room, many have personal items on them, which makes me think they’ve been used recently.

“Think of this as a sleeping area,” Koki’O explains. “Recruits stay here or those of us who need to sleep an assignment off.” She carries Hollyhock to a cot in the corner and gingerly puts her down. She pulls over a chair for me to sit in. “This used to be her spot. Always that brooding kid in the corner,” she says with a smile. Odd that it seems a fond memory for her.

“No one else should come in for a while so you’ll have some privacy.” She goes to leave before turning around again. “I forgot, did you get what we needed from him?”

In all the chaos that happened, I completely forgot why we were there.

“Yes, it’s in her back pocket.” I reach to get it. This proves a difficult task given how unconscious she is and the rotund dimensions of her ass. The envelope is, amazingly, none the worse for wear. Doesn’t even have any blood on it.

I give it to Koki'O who unfolds it and she gives it a once over. A cocked eyebrow signals she has some inkling of what’s inside.

The tall assassin goes to leave but stops once again.

“She doesn’t think she can have it all, that girl,” she says. “Thinks a life in the shadows can't have moments of light. So she never got too close to anyone,” she turns around to face me “not like she has with you.”

She turns the envelope over in her hands.

“I don’t know you, and I don’t know where you’re from or where you’re going, but you’ve been good for her...Hollyhock looks at you like you might solve all the problems in the world, you might not see it yet, but she does.”

The warm buzz of happiness I feel is quickly squashed when I see her scowl.

“So know when I say this, it’s not a threat, but a promise,” her voice takes an exhortative tone. I sit up straighter but still feel incredibly small in her presence. “Whatever responsibilities you have are your business, but if you end up breaking this girl’s heart,” she points to Hollyhock ”then you better not show your face in this city again. Understand?”

I nod.

Koki’O’s harsh scowl turns back to her usual sunny face.

“Good! Alright, watch over her, I got stuff to do!” She leaves like she didn’t just threaten me. When she closes the door I wait a moment before letting a breath go that I didn’t know I was holding.

“Seems a lot of people care about you, Hollyhock.”

She lies there unconscious.

“Oh, right.” I look around the room again to make sure no one is here. Then I press two fingers against her forehead. A small jolt of energy and her eyes open.

‘Oh wait, what if she’s still out of it?’

Hollyhock calmly looks around, seeing a familiar environment. She slowly leans up and looks at me.

“How did we get here?”

It’s nice to hear her scratchy voice again, even if it is confused.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I ask her.

“We were getting something from that creep, Fye Kuss. Did you teleport us back?”

‘She doesn’t remember. That’s not...ideal.’

Hollyhock takes my silence as an answer. She gets up and examines her hands.

“My arms are sore, and there’s blood under my fingernails,” she notices. “My feet hurt too.” She starts breathing faster and I tense up. “Did I kill someone? Did I kill Fye Kuss?”

“Yes,” I admit.

She grabs the sides of her head.

“FUCKING FUCK!!! SHITSHITSHITSHIT!!!” She screams.

“Hollyhock,” I try to keep my voice calm. “It’s okay.”

“IT’S NOT OKAY!” She yells at me, she then takes a deep breath. “It’s not okay, this has happened to me before!”

That hangs in the air for a second.

“I- I’ve forgotten shit I’ve done before! I don’t remember any of it but I come back with blood on my hands.” She runs her hands through her hair frantically. “I’m fucking insane!”

I stand up.

“You’re not insane,” I sternly say to her.

“What sane person kills people and doesn’t even remember it?!”

“What day is it?” I ask her.

“Huh?”

“What day is it?”

She answers correctly.

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m in the Bay Leaves headquarters, in the sleeping area.”

“See? You’re not insane. Just mixed up is all.”

She sits back down and wipes tears that are falling down.

“I was really hoping it wouldn’t happen again, that you wouldn’t ever see me like that,” she says through some sniffles.

I pull her into a hug and she reciprocates it.

“I’m just glad that you’re safe and back to your usual self,” I tell you.

‘Now doesn’t seem like a good time to tell her about the necromancer. She feels bad enough already.’

“But what if I forget you? What if I hurt you?” She says. I chuckle a tiny bit to lighten the mood.

“I don’t think you could forget me even if you tried. And you didn’t hurt me, so don’t worry about it.”

“I...didn’t scare you?”

“No, you-”

I saw her kill in some of the most gruesome ways ever, but I hardly flinched, I barely felt anything. They weren’t good men but they were still human beings, and their deaths meant nothing to me.

‘What the fuck is wrong with me?’

Ch. 13 End.