The weather had remained nice as Dietrich walked down to the outer limits of Cambridge to take a bus to the northern edge of the city. From that particular bus stop, he could walk out to the well-kept home of Moffitt's parents, Nicholas and Adeline. Their property was quite large, and the gardens were lovely, but it wasn't overly extravagant. There were winding walkways and hedges. Some areas had trees and shrubs. It was quiet and relaxing, a place of tranquility. Dietrich had enjoyed spending time here when he had helped Moffitt plan his father's retirement party a few years ago. He rang the doorbell, then waited patiently, wishing he had come under better circumstances. That distraction didn't last long, as he started wondering if Moffitt ever told his parents what was going on. If not, we are going to be here a while. Dietrich tried to plan out how to explain the magpie situation, but his thoughts were interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Dietrich! How nice to see you again!" Nicholas shook Dietrich's hand. "Please, come in. What brings you by?"

"It is… difficult to explain," Dietrich replied, following the older man inside. "Have you heard from your son recently?"

"Now that you mention it, no. The last time we talked was the day before Jules's birthday a few weeks ago."

"Alright. This will take quite a bit of explaining."

Dietrich greeted Adeline, and all three of them sat down in the parlor with cups of tea and shortbread cookies. He did his best to summarize the situation with the magpies, then gave Moffitt's parents time to think about what they just heard.

"This is certainly troubling to hear," Nicholas said after a long moment of silence.

"Jules is only a child," Adeline added.

"Whatever drives the creation of prophecies does not care how old he is," Dietrich said. "We know what we are doing to put an end to this, but the matter I came here to discuss with you has to do with his father." He took a breath, hoping he wasn't touching on something overly sensitive here. "It is not exactly… difficult to notice that Moffitt will take any and all blame for things, even situations that are not his fault. I want to know where all of this started."

Nicholas glanced at his wife, then back at Dietrich. "I had always suspected that had something to do with how much I pushed him to exceed in his classes in order to get into the university, but I apologized to Jack years ago about that. He accepted it. Things changed between us, and I had hoped that behavior would change."

"It wouldn't surprise me if what happened to Michael set him back," Adeline replied. "Although, Jack was always the shyer of the two. Michael had friends. A lot of friends. Jack had none."

Dietrich felt like there were a lot of pieces missing, and couldn't quite explain why. He thought for a moment, and decided to try a less-direct approach to get some answers. "Moffitt has mentioned to me before that it was difficult for him to maintain friendships."

"He never really acted like he wanted friends. When given the choice of going to North Africa or staying here, he always chose North Africa—and this was before I started putting pressure on him to do well to get into the university," Nicholas said.

"There were… other things that made him a bit of an outcast," Adeline said. "You remember the series of incidents during your trip to London, Nick, where Jack reacted strangely to the presence of snakes."

"I do remember. I accompanied him and several other students, including a girlfriend of his at the time, on a trip to a few museums. For an afternoon out, we went to the London Zoo. Back then, they housed the longest known king cobra in the world—quite an impressive specimen. Jack approached the exhibit, and you can probably guess what happened next. It was one of… the most awful things I ever witnessed. One minute, he was looking at the snake. The next, he collapsed. He started bleeding profusely from his nose, and he was twitching violently. It was difficult to help with the sounds he was making. It was like he was possessed. Thankfully, it stopped several minutes after he was dragged away from the exhibit, but still…" Nicholas shook his head. "That wasn't something I wanted to see again. Unfortunately, I did see it again. Several times."

Dietrich couldn't imagine seeing something similar from Gunther. He tried not to think too hard about that. "Moffitt has mentioned before that these episodes stopped once he gained control of his abilities. I doubt these… attacks, seizures, whichever you wish to call them, made it easy for him to hold onto any sort of relationship, especially since no one knew what was happening at the time."

"I took Jack to a hospital immediately after the first one. The doctors couldn't make out what was wrong, so he was allowed to continue the trip. I hoped and prayed it was something that we didn't have to worry about, something that could… that could potentially kill him. The following day, Jack went with his girlfriend and a few others to the Natural History Museum. They have the first-ever collected specimen of a black mamba there, preserved in spirits."

"I am guessing the same thing happened when he saw it?"

"Yes. It was less extreme than his encounter with the king cobra, since the snake was dead, but still a horrible, frightening sight. Again, not a single doctor could figure out what was wrong. There were too many things missing and uncharacteristic for a diagnosis of epilepsy. One suggested that this was an abnormally strong fear of snakes, which made no sense. Jack never feared snakes, and he would continue approaching them and representations of them even long after we noticed the correlations between his fits and snakes. That didn't exactly make me happy."

"I am curious now, was he ever tested by a magical physician?"

"Once, about three years later. Even they couldn't figure out what the issue was. Anyway, the sad outcome of that trip was that his girlfriend broke up with him immediately after we returned to Cambridge, claiming that she didn't want to deal with him if these seizures were going to be a continuous problem. It's a shame, really, because she seemed like a nice girl at first. Then, her true colors came through, and it left Jack heartbroken for a while. She was his last girlfriend before Vanora. Still, he's very happy with Vanora. He has control over his abilities with snakes. What could possibly be causing him to remain so unhappy?"

"There is his combat fatigue."

"How could he have combat fatigue? He's got a stable marriage, a child, still has his job, hasn't started drinking—"

"One can have combat fatigue and still have all of those things. I would know. I have it. Troy has it. We are all stable in our lives, jobs, and marriages. We all discuss it with each other, because we went through very similar experiences. Troy witnessed a lot of the incidents that continue to haunt Moffitt. Even with having people to talk to, everyone handles it differently."

"Perhaps that's the issue, then."

Dietrich shook his head. "I feel like there is more that is missing. Something that pre-dates his combat fatigue." He thought for a moment. "How old was he when his brother was born?"

"Jack was six. He was a little disappointed about not being the only child anymore, but he took to being a big brother quite well after a couple of years." A warm smile crossed Nicholas's face. "I remember he used to drag Michael out of his cot early in the morning to try playing with him."

"And Michael let him, for some reason," Adeline added. "He never cried out once."

"Michael was much less fussy as a baby."

"Because he didn't have colic all the time like Jack did."

"Well, now I know where Jules got it from," Dietrich muttered. "I was the one in charge of getting him to sleep."

"Before you ask, no, there was never any favoritism," Nicholas said.

"I was not going to ask. Moffitt never really expressed any animosity toward his brother. I think if things had not been good between them, he would not have reacted so… violently when he got the news about Michael's death." Dietrich paused.

"There was some rivalry between them, but they were fairly quick to outgrow that."

"If anything, they drifted apart once Jack entered secondary school," Adeline said.

"I have never gotten that impression from how Moffitt talks about his brother—well, when he is willing to," Dietrich said.

"Oh, yes, they drifted apart alright."

"Which was mostly my fault," Nicholas added.

"I don't think that was completely your fault, Nick. We both tried to get Jack to do other things, especially after he was accepted into Cambridge. He wouldn't budge. He slaved away in his room for hours, doing extra assignments, papers, projects, you name it."

"Still, that was because I—"

"We both tried. Michael tried. Jack wouldn't listen."

"It sounds like there were multiple things at play here," Dietrich said.

"There were," Adeline replied. "Jack had a legacy to live up to, but he couldn't see that we were already proud of what he accomplished. Then again, it was Nick and the rest of his relatives, as well as many of the staff at Cambridge, who were convinced that Jack needed perfect marks in everything he set out to do."

"And he didn't get perfect marks in everything," Nicholas added. "He tried to hide some of them—a lot of them, actually. His first year in secondary school, he failed a mathematics exam. He 'lost' the paper on his way home, and lied about his marks."

"I feel like I see where this is going," Dietrich said.

"I doubt this would've become a problem if it had only happened once."

"It happened multiple times?"

"A handful, I would say. I would reprimand Jack for his actions, but he had one teacher who… let's just say, didn't handle the situation well. Most of his previous teachers offered remedial courses to help bring his marks up. This one didn't, and soon Jack went from trying to hide low marks to hiding welts and bruises on his hands."

"His focus on his studies became a lot more intense after that year," Adeline said.

"It didn't help that was the year when colleges start really looking at someone's marks."

Dietrich was quiet for a moment. "No wonder he was quick to pull Jules out of school and have him tutored by Anah."

"It's surprising he was going to put Jules through traditional schooling in the first place."

"He may have pushed a lot of those memories out of his mind because of how bad they were, and they came flooding back when he realized Jules was being treated similarly. He never mentioned this when he brought up wanting to change things for Jules, though."

"Regardless, that wasn't a good year for Jack. There was an improvement in his grades, but it wasn't hard to see how… hollow he was, emotionally, when he came home on the last day for that school year."

Adeline nodded in agreement. "He didn't want any of the gooseberry crumble I made. No tea, no biscuits. Nothing. He disappeared into his room and didn't come out until supper. There was some improvement over the next few months, but then we started to notice he said 'sorry' in any little situation where something went wrong."

"I guess the best way to describe it was that it started almost like a nervous tic, and then gradually became a regular part of conversations with people. Us, Michael, other relatives, strangers. If he suspected that he upset anyone, he apologized over and over again."

"That did slow down a little as the years went on, but it was still present."

Dietrich drew in a breath. "Is this person still teaching?"

"I think he actually passed away a couple of years ago," Nicholas replied.

"I suppose he is lucky, then, because I can guarantee Troy and Anah would be at his doorstep to teach him a lesson of their own."

"Indeed, especially Anah. Death by Egyptian cobra is not exactly a pleasant way to go, from what I've seen on expeditions."

"No, it is not." Dietrich sighed, trying to put his thoughts together. "So, this confirms that what Moffitt has is a very bad habit, brought on by multiple influences. It has not been helped by his connection to snakes, his brother's death, his combat fatigue, or his son's prophecy. If anything, all of those things put together made things worse."

"How do you plan on helping him?"

"I might have an idea. If Moffitt agrees to it."

"And what would that be?"

"I am not quite sure how to describe it, but it involves hypnosis and snakes. I will let you know how it goes." Dietrich stood after finishing his tea, bid Moffitt's parents goodbye, then prepared to head back to the house.

Troy wasn't quite sure how to respond to Vanora suddenly deciding to get upset with Jules over something she had never really gotten angry over with before. He stayed out of her way, not saying anything apart from announcing his presence when she stated that he was a bad influence for Jules. He wasn't hurt by that, as it wasn't the first time he had heard that from anyone. He knew Vanora was in a conflicted mood over Jules, but he didn't think her pushing him away was the answer.

There was also Anah to worry about. Troy waited until Jules and Antheia had left before sighing heavily and hoping Dietrich came back soon. He's much better at dealing with people's problems than I am, Troy thought. He put his coffee cup by the sink before going over to Moffitt's bedroom and standing in the doorway. He could see the shape of Anah under Moffitt's bathrobe, and debated on whether or not he should bother her.

"What do you need, Troy?" Anah asked from under the robe.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Because your scent is unmistakable, and my psychic abilities are starting to come back."

"That's good. Just don't push yourself."

Anah sighed. "Do you need something, or are you here to be a nag?"

"No, I do need something from you."

"What is it?"

"You mentioned a few days ago that you would help me gain control of the jackal spirit-things."

"I will teach you, but give me another day or so of rest." Anah sighed. "Besides, I will not be going to the island with Moffitt and Jules. I will probably be able to teach you when they leave."

Troy grew tired of talking to a lump under fabric, and took the robe off of Anah so he could actually see her face.

"You are the one who is constantly insisting that I need to rest. I am not teaching you anything today." Anah turned away from him.

"I'm not asking you to teach me anything today. I think you need some company."

"Maybe I do not want your company."

"Maybe I think you're being a grumpy old lady."

Anah slowly turned to face him. "What did you just call me?"

"Grumpy. Old. Lady. That is exactly what you're acting like right now."

"You really are a nuisance, Troy."

"I'm your favorite nuisance."

"You are not my favorite anything right now. Get out."

Part of Troy wondered if calling Anah a "grumpy old lady" was too far. He kept staring at her and she kept staring at him, until Anah gave up and slithered under Moffitt's pillow. Troy walked over to the head of the bed. Before he could touch the pillow, he heard an annoyed hiss. "Can I apologize, Anah?" Troy asked.

"Are you going to mean it?" Anah replied.

"Yes."

"Fine."

"Okay. I'm sorry for calling you a grumpy old lady."

Anah was quiet for a moment. "Alright. I accept your apology." She peered out from under the pillow.

Troy put his hand on the bed to allow Anah to crawl up to his shoulders. "Well, if you can't teach me anything about the spirit jackals, maybe there's something else we can talk about."

"Like what?"

Troy hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was a good topic to start with. "Dietrich went to Moffitt's parents to see if he could learn anything about how to help with Moffitt's issues with guilt. He suspects that's why Moffitt isn't letting you go on the trip to the island."

"You know, I had suspicions of my own that was the reason Moffitt was being so stubborn. It would be nice to know how to fix this."

"It certainly would. We've been watching him suffer way too long."

"And this is something that has gone on far longer than you have known him."

Troy was about to add something to that when the front door opened and Tully called, "Hello! Sorry we're late."

"Traffic was nuts in town," Hitch added.

Troy stepped out of the bedroom. "I was starting to wonder where you two were."

"Hey, Sarge." Tully gave a sympathetic look to Anah. "How've you been feeling, ma'am?"

"Oh, things could be better," Anah replied. "Troy called me a 'grumpy old lady' today."

"Sarge, that's not nice."

Troy rolled his eyes. "She was sure as hell acting like one."

"Still. That's kinda rude." Tully looked around the kitchen. "Where're Moffitt and Dietrich?"

"Moffitt's playing with snakes and Dietrich is talking to Moffitt's parents."

"I thought we'd be spending the day together since we don't have to worry about the magpies for a while."

"Well, Moffitt's in a mood and Dietrich is trying to help. And that's not the only problem. Vanora's in a mood, too."

"Did she and Moffitt have a fight?" Hitch asked.

"No. Vanora wants to spend time with Jules, but he'd rather spend time with Antheia. Vanora's afraid of making Jules feel like he has to choose. Meanwhile, Moffitt wasn't sure if he wanted to take Anah to the adder island or not, so he eventually blew up and said that she's not going. Dietrich sat him down and questioned him about his behavior, and then Dietrich told me that he thinks Moffitt's only acting this way because he doesn't want to make the wrong decision and feel guilty about it. Now, we're trying to make him stop feeling guilty about everything under the sun."

Once Troy was done, Tully was quiet for a moment before saying, "I think we'd all like to see Moffitt stop taking the blame for everything."

"Yeah," Hitch added. "But haven't we tried that before?"

"We didn't have Dietrich with us then. Dietrich knows what he's doing," Troy said.

Tully and Hitch nodded in agreement. "Thing is, I don't know if this is something even Dietrich can help fix," Tully said. "That unnecessary guilt has been with Moffitt a long time."

"I doubt what happened to his brother helped," Hitch said.

"It's probably made this harder," Troy added. "But this has been a problem long before that."

"The bigger question is why are we worrying about this now? We've… kinda gotten used to it."

"We should've taken care of it a long time ago," Tully said. "Now is better than never."

The door opened, and Dietrich entered the house. "Hello, Hitch, Tully."

"Hey, Dietrich. Sarge tells us you were talking to Moffitt's parents about how to help him."

"I was, and I may have a solution."

"First, were they able to tell you how this started?" Troy asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. There were several things that contributed to Moffitt's current behavior, just like I suspected."

"Like what?"

"Well, I did not get all of the details, but I was told that he had a… rather harsh teacher in secondary school."

"Like the hag that taught Jules?"

"Worse."

"Oh." Troy glanced at Anah. "Should we—"

"No. He is already dead."

"Damn."

"I concur with Troy," Anah said. "For once."

"This person, whoever he was, is no longer important. All that matters now is breaking the habit that Moffitt has gotten himself into."

"We all knew it was a bad habit," Hitch said. "What makes it any different than any other bad habit?"

"This isn't one that Moffitt can break just by chewing on matchsticks," Tully replied. "It's more complicated than that. Way more complicated."

"Exactly. I have an idea for how to get this started," Dietrich said.

"What's your idea, then?" Troy asked.

"Hypnosis. And, of course, snakes."

"Okay, I've heard of hypnosis to break habits, but why the snakes?"

"I have no idea how someone with Moffitt's abilities will respond to hypnosis—"

"Actually, it would be best to deprive Moffitt of all connections with snakes if you want to successfully hypnotize him," Anah said.

"Wouldn't that be torture?" Tully asked.

"No. He went to Antarctica, after all. As long as he is not actively searching for snakes to connect with, it will not be painful."

"I can talk to Evelina about seeing if there is a way we can do this without having to travel far, and how to do it safely," Dietrich said.

"Quick question, what makes you think hypnosis will work?"

"I doubt Moffitt will voluntarily access the memories I want to hear about from his perspective."

"Do you even know how to hypnotize someone?"

"How hard could it be?" Troy asked. "You just swing a pocket watch in front of their eyes and it'll put them to sleep."

"There is a little more than that, Troy," Dietrich said. "I will not be using a watch. I will be using the psychic orb."

"Well, you're better at stuff like this than the rest of us, so, you do what you think has to be done to get Moffitt out of this habit. It'll be nice to see him happy and guilt-free."

"Indeed it will. We will wait for Moffitt to come home and discuss this with him. I will only do this with his permission."

"What if he refuses to do this?" Tully asked.

"Then we will find another way."

Vanora had the yard to herself since Jules and Antheia were in the stables, and everyone else was inside. She wasn't sure why Moffitt had gotten in the Land Rover and disappeared not that long ago. He didn't say a word to her when he left, and she could tell from the expression on his face that he was in a very frustrated mood. Something told her not to worry, though.

So, until Moffitt returned, Vanora was tearing weeds out of the garden, both hers and Anah's, since the cobra wouldn't be able to do so for a while. She had hoped doing some weeding would help her own frustration, in regards to both her husband and son, but so far, it wasn't. She couldn't figure out why she was angry with Jules. There was no reason to be. It was petty and immature to be upset. And yet, it was there.

She looked up when a shadow started crossing over the garden. Troy was approaching with his hands in his pockets. "Hey. You doing okay?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?" Vanora replied.

"Because you snapped at your son for no reason."

"That wasn't 'no reason.' He's got himself into bad habits, just like his father, and he's not sticking with them."

"Still, this isn't something that you've gotten mad about before."

"Well, I'm angry about it now."

Troy didn't say anything for a moment.

"Could you get out of the sunlight, please? And preferably stand away from the garden. I can't imagine you're any better in a garden than a kitchen."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to touch anything. For the record, I can pull weeds and use a watering can, but that's about it."

Vanora set aside a fistful of dandelions. "I'll play it safe and ask you to do nothing."

"Okay. Fair enough." Troy remained where he was.

When he didn't leave after a minute or two, Vanora looked back up at him. "Is there something you need, Troy?"

"I came to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Jules."

"I have no interest in discussing Jules with you or anyone else, apart from my husband."

Troy sighed. "Vanora, it just so happened that your husband told us about how you want to spend time with Jules, but you're afraid to ask, because you don't want him feeling forced to choose."

"I can't say I'm surprised. Jack tells you everything."

"I wouldn't say he tells us everything, but he's worried about you and isn't sure how to help you."

"He has nothing to worry about. I've made my decision. Jules can spend all his time with Antheia." Vanora pulled another few dandelions out.

"You don't have to make yourself miserable to make someone else happy."

"Jack said something similar this morning."

"Well, he's right." Troy knelt down to pick up the dandelions.

"Jules is a lot like his father. If I tell him, he's going to feel guilty, and then he's going to be miserable."

"I don't think so. Moffitt's misery came from the fact that an old schoolteacher of his treated him like crap. Jules hasn't been treated like crap."

"No, he hasn't, but he still observes Jack's behavior."

"That doesn't mean he's going to come out exactly like Moffitt, and I don't think shielding him from feeling bad is going to do anything. Do you think he didn't notice how strange your behavior was? He doesn't know why you're acting like this, and leaving him without answers is just going to lead to him feeling like he did something wrong. Then he'll really start turning into his dad."

Vanora hadn't looked at Troy the whole time he spoke, but she was starting to think that he had a point.

"I've known Moffitt for a really long time now. He has a lot of good qualities that we're already seeing in Jules. He has some negatives ones that we're working on. Dietrich has an idea for how we're going to get Moffitt to stop feeling guilty."

"Good luck. You all should know better than anyone how stubborn Jack is."

"Stubborn enough to resist hypnosis?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Who's doing the hypnotizing?"

"Dietrich."

"Alright. I'll… I'll trust him." Vanora sighed. "I'm tired of everything changing. I don't want a 'new' Jack. I just want everything back to the way it was before."

"It won't hurt him, and it's not going to drastically change him. I don't think Dietrich would've suggested it if he thought it would do something like that. People use hypnosis to quit smoking and they're still the same person afterward. It's just helping him break a really bad habit. That's all. It'll help him think clearer. He'll be less anxious."

"I suppose… that would be nice."

"Yeah. It would. I get it, you don't want things to change all at once. I promise, we're not going to lobotomize Moffitt. Dietrich's just going to talk to him about some things that happened in the past that he might not be able to recall on his own. That's all it's going to be." Troy was quiet for a moment. "I do think we should tell Jules if Moffitt decides to go through with it."

"Why? He doesn't have to know."

"He's not a baby, Vanora. He's noticed Moffitt's behavior."

"How do you know?"

"Because he's asked me about it. And he's asked Dietrich. And Tully. And Hitch. And especially Anah. He should know."

Vanora didn't respond at first. She tossed aside another bundle of dandelions, and shook her head. "He's really not a baby anymore, is he?"

"Nope."

"Where did the time go?"

"I don't know."

It was hard to believe at times that the lankily-built young man in the stables had once been a pudgy baby capable of fitting in someone's arms. He certainly wasn't small, but he was adorable, staring up at everything with a big smile. Spending time with him was easy with Anah around to help out with chores. There was nothing to worry about, and a lot to look forward to. No one suspected that sweet little baby would be the subject of a prophecy involving angry magpies. That wasn't something Vanora could do anything about. Nor could she stop him from growing up.

She pulled another dandelion out, and noticed the original pile had disappeared. She looked at Troy, who had several of the flowers in his mouth. "Oh, for heaven's sake!"

"What?" Troy asked.

"Typically, most people wash their bloody dandelions and put them in salads or tea before eating them."

"Well, I don't really like salads and I really don't like tea. Besides, you were going to throw these out, right?"

"Those? Yes. Anah has a dedicated dandelion patch that we use for food. The rest get tossed."

"I think that's a waste."

It's not like anyone else is going to do anything with those dandelions. Vanora sighed. "Oh, alright. At least you'll never change."

"I've changed a little bit over the years, but some things will always remain the same." Troy gestured to his hat. "I'm never getting rid of this, that's for sure."

"Is it strange for me to say that I appreciate that?"

"No. I don't think it's strange. I get it. Having something familiar around makes adapting to change a little easier."

Vanora couldn't explain why that made her feel like crying. Maybe it was because Troy was right. Maybe it was because she felt like everything had changed too fast for her liking. It seemed childish to be upset by that. Change was a part of life, but there was always comfort in familiarity. Some things needed to be constant. Things like home. After all, she wouldn't want to be living in a new place every single day.

"You okay?" Troy asked, pulling Vanora from her thoughts. "You look like you're about to cry."

Vanora nodded.

"Do you… need a hug?"

She hesitated for a moment, then turned to put her arms around Troy. He hugged her back, gently squeezing and trying to reassure her that everything was going to work out alright.

A couple of minutes passed before Vanora heard the sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway. Another shadow passed over her and she looked up to see Moffitt standing behind Troy. He tapped Troy's shoulder, and said, "Can I have my wife back, please?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Troy let go.

Moffitt took Vanora's hand. "Your face is all red and wet. Were you crying, darling? What's wrong?"

"Everything's alright, Jack," Vanora said as she stood.

"I started eating the dandelions and that made her cry," Troy said.

Moffitt gave him a curious look. "I feel like asking you for an elaboration is just going to make me more confused."

"Well, we had a talk about what's been going on with you and Jules. Started talking about things changing, and Vanora saw me with the dandelions and said, 'At least you'll never change.' Then she started crying."

"Alright. I… guess that makes sense."

"That is basically what happened," Vanora replied. "I know, it sounds silly."

"No, I understand why. It's just amusing that Troy eating a flower of all things is what caused you to cry." Moffitt gave her a hug of his own, and kissed her forehead. "I missed you. I'm sorry for leaving in a hurry. I wasn't in a good mood."

"It's okay. I needed time alone as well."

"Still. I-I feel like I should've—"

"Moffitt, stop," Troy said. "Did you go inside yet?"

"No. Why?"

"Dietrich has a solution for you, so you can quit apologizing for everything."

"As much as I value Dietrich's advice, I highly doubt even he found a solution for this."

"Well, he did. I suggest you go talk to him."