Robbing The Wrong House

by 6474131

An Anon robs the wrong house.

2. Robbing the Wrong Hospital

I laid my gun on the poorly washed table, dug into the hashbrown bowl, and stared at the blackness outside. Not true blackness, since there was a small hospital across the street with the big ass HOSPITAL sign and everything. And now that I thought about it, the moon was bright enough that the streetlamps didn't need to be on. I could see it in the reflection of the window.

"Hashbrowns burned enough for ya, hun'?" The hellhound asked, cleaning off her stove with what I could only hope was a clean rag. Her back was turned to me, and in true hellhound fashion her shirt only barely covered the front of her- only with her FUCK THE COOK apron. Which meant that the scars on her back, obvious from the fur that had refused to grow back, were naked to the eye even a few feet away.

"Yeah, thanks." I answered after taking another bite. This really was some good shit, the sort of stuff that made me forget about the fact that I was aimlessly traveling. Without realizing, my hand went to the seal in my pocket. A token, not quite symmetrical and with bubbles on the side of it to make it look as if it had been pressed while hot, the seal of the Royal Makai. The only reason I even knew it wasn't made the real way was because I'd seen it summoned into existence in front of me.

"So what brings you here?" The hellhound asked, leaning over the divider and leering at me with her smoky red eyes. Not metaphorical smoke, actual smoke came off her eyes. She was close enough that I could feel the heat from them. Mamono never really made sense to me, but things like that in particular had always been confusing to me.

I made an obvious show of glancing at my gun and she laughed like a train in the process of wrecking itself.

"No need to worry, hun. I know you're taken. Mine is in the back. We just had a romp before you rolled in so he's still recovering~" She said with a tone that I had interrupted them during the middle of said romp. I could only hope she washed her fucking paws.

She moved back a few feet, leaning against the wall, her tail flicking here and there. I could hear it moving against the tiles behind her, making an odd swishing noise. She had her arms crossed under her breasts, like she was judging me. Not like she was, she was judging me.

"You know it's not like you need to bring heat to Waffle House anymore. The worst that happens is you get pinned down and raped. No mamono would ever hurt a man." The hellhound said, continuing her trainwreck of a laugh from earlier. "And if you're planning on robbing me, well try your best~" She said, opening her arms, welcoming a fight.

"The gun is an exit strategy, not an entrance strategy." I said, slamming my fork into the mix of hash brown, egg, and bacon with a crunch. I took another bite. It was good.

"Oh really? You don't look the type to me. You look like the kind of motherfucker better suited to customer service than alleviating honest people of their valuables. Sitting behind a cash register. Is that how you found your wife? Did she catch your eye or yours hers? That's fine, tough guy. You don't have to answer. I already know you caught hers. What's the lucky lady's name?" She asked, her grin wider than a cheshire's. I wanted to punch it in, but picking a fight with a Waffle House employee- even if they weren't a mamono that was bigger and stronger than me- was a terrible idea.

"Olivia." I answered. "And yeah, I met her working retail."

"Oh, so you stopped working retail?" The hellhound said as if that was obvious.

"I didn't say-"

She cut me off with a slash of her hand. "Hon, it's 3am on a Tuesday and you're driving a Bimmer. You're not working retail~" She finished with a smirk.

This woman was getting on my fucking nerves if that wasn't already obvious. I wasn't a fan of women that claimed to know everything about me when we'd just met.

"So you met this woman and then turned to a life of crime and she's still with you? She must really love you. She's a real keeper! Some men would kill for a girl like that!" The hellhound whooped, grabbing something from the back of the restaurant. I could hear her humming a tune, but I didn't recognize it. It was airy and light.

"Something like that," I answered quietly. I just wanted to eat my hashbrown bowl in fucking peace but maybe that just wasn't going to happen at this point. Better to just roll with it. Answer her questions and hope that I don't get a ticket.

"So a life of crime was lucrative for you?" She asked, still in the back, still shouting. I could see her tail wagging through the doorway at some points. She must have been moving something around.

"Not really." I answered. "Had trouble making ends meet even at my best. I wasn't very good at it." I said, filling my mouth with more food before I could say more.

"I can tell! You shouldn't be telling Waffle House employees about your illegal escapades, hun!"

I looked skyward to an absent God and shook my head. "What a bitch…"

"I heard that!" Echoed from the backroom.

"I said 'what a sitch'! And thanks for the hashbrowns."

"Any time, hun~ You still hungry?" She asked, pointing a meaty claw at me. "Want coffee?"

"I'm good, thanks. How much I owe you?" I asked, putting my jacket on and slipping my gun into the back of my pants.

"Oh you're good, hun. Our conversation was about payment enough. You have a safe drive!"

Glass shattered.

It took me only a moment to realize it was coming from the hospital across the street. I was forced to watch as a man plunged from the window, and fell one, then two stories, before collapsing on the ground in a motionless heap on grass. I stared for a moment, watching through the glass and hoping that I'd see him move. Do anything to show he was alive.

He didn't.

I pushed out the doors of the Waffle House, my feet pounding on the pavement as I crossed the street. I was there within a few seconds, kneeling beside him and trying to avoid the glass shards. He was breathing, his eyes staring at the window he'd just fallen from with an emotion I well recognized. A werecat with odd eyes peeked out that same window, blocking the light, just before ducking back inside.

His eyes were wild, filled with white. His breathing was ragged and his skin was too pale to be healthy. His legs looked anemic, his arms twigish. He looked weak enough that he could get blown away by the wind, his eyes sunk into his head. He wasn't healthy.

Although that's kind of obvious given that he was wearing a hospital gown and had just fallen out of a fucking hospital window. But the fear in his eyes, that was out of place. He didn't care about his broken leg. He didn't care about the large glass shard embedded in his thigh. Maybe he just didn't feel it yet, but his eyes hadn't left the broken window yet.

And then his eyes swiveled to mine.

He tried to say something, mouth something, but I couldn't tell what. He gripped my arm with so little strength it felt like the grasp of a petulant child, but with the way his arm and face strained I could tell he was using all his will.

He was desperate, now, his mouth shivering. His whole body was shaking. He wouldn't let go of me, his jaw set.

Without thinking I pulled the sleeve of my jacket up, grabbed a shard of glass and cut the back of my hand, pressing his finger into the wound.

"If you can't speak, write." I told him, tapping my forearm. And with long, shaky strokes he did. It was only six letters, and they were unmistakable. I met his eyes, gripped his hand, and nodded. In what could only be a sign of relief, he closed his eyes, lightly sleeping. His hand still gripped my arm with strength I didn't think he had. I had to pull him off as gently as I could.

Just as two nurses came down with a stretcher I pulled the sleeve of my jacket down.

"He's breathing. I rushed over when I saw him fall. What's his name?" I asked nonchalantly.

"We can't tell you that, sir." One of them answered reflexively, carefully lifting him onto the stretcher as to not hurt his back or neck in case he broke them in the fall. They hurried back inside, not asking so much as my name before hurrying through the door, held open by the werecat that I'd seen at the window.

Her eyes looked wrong to me, but I couldn't say why or how. Just not right. She grinned at the man as he was brought inside before returning her forsaken gaze to me. Her white lab coat fluttered a little in the breeze, unbuttoned all the way and with some gray sweater beneath it.

"Hello there~ I'm sorry you had to witness that. He's a coma patient with bouts of lucidity. Or something near it, I suppose. Is your hand hurt? I'm sure I can stitch you up if you'd like. No need to look at me like that~" She said, crossing her arms under her breasts, leaning back against the wall.

I couldn't help but grit my teeth. I couldn't hide my distaste for the woman.

"Are you his wife?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level. It was a hunch, but I couldn't say why.

"I am! What good eyes you have, young man." She said, her own sparkling. "My poor husband has been like this for the last five years, bless his heart. I only hope that one day he'll recognize that I only want to help him. He simply doesn't have the mental faculties to realize that he's in the safest place on Earth, with his loving wife who would never do anything to hurt him. You're acquainted with us mamono, right? And how we'd never hurt a man? On top of the oath I took as a doctor, of course." She accentuated with a wave of her hand. Her ears twitched.

"I'm aware." I said through gritted teeth. This bitch was trying to convince me she wasn't doing anything wrong, or gloating about it. Either way I fucking hated her.

"It's just such a miracle that he managed to bless me with a child while in a coma. I think it was a sign from the Maou herself of our love. I was just filling my stomach a few minutes ago." She said, licking her lips. "Did you happen to just arrive, perhaps at that establishment over there?" She asked, pointing a slender finger at the Waffle House behind me.

"You raped him while he was in a coma?" I asked, slack jawed. I was too shocked not to ask. I couldn't have stopped myself from asking that question when posed with such a ridiculous goddamn story even if I wasn't tired.

"Why not? I certainly know it was pleasurable for him, and a woman has to eat, right? Sometimes I can even hear him moaning my name in his sleep~ It's a shame that he'll probably be unable to wake any longer." She sighed, looking not at all apologetic.

I closed my eyes, fumbling at the token in my pocket and rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger. I could snap it in two to summon my wife in a moment. Put an end to this farce, this monster's work of five years. She was grinning freely. I needed to put a bullet through her fucking head.

"Are you sure your hand is okay?"

I didn't even have time to react as she held up my hand for inspection, looking at the cut closely. I ripped my hand from her grip and stalked away. Because if I stayed there any longer I wasn't going to be able to stop myself. I had to think.

"I'll see you soon, husband of Olivia Von Feyx Al NicLilith. Feel free to stop by the hospital at any time~"

My blood ran cold, and I felt in my pocket for the token. Fumbled for it.

It was gone. I turned to see the werecat laughing as she tossed the token, caught it, and retreated inside. The door swung behind her and I could feel a snarl attaching itself to my face.

The fear in his eyes reheated my frozen blood. I glanced back up at the window he'd jumped through and I vowed that no matter what, I'd free him. Even if his wife was a mamono and could never truly hurt him, he must have been living in hell to pull a stunt like that when he could barely move as it was. I'd free him from whatever bonds shackled him, help him escape the house hospital.

When I strode back into the Waffle House my hand was hurting like a motherfucker and the hellhound was staring at me. She was ringing her fingers in the same rag that she'd been cleaning the stove with.

"Where's your first aid kit?" I asked, sitting down at where I'd just eaten, pressing napkins into the back of my left hand to staunch the bleeding.

"Why wouldn't you just go to the hospital, hun? You were right there." She asked, and I gave her a look that told her to fetch the goddamn first aid kit. I don't think she was trying to be obtuse, she just didn't know how to react to what had happened. After a moment of her retreating with her tail between her legs and rooting through the back, she dumped it in front of me with a clatter and I got to work with the stitching after finding the needle and thread.

It hurt like a motherfucker but I didn't give a shit. I was too angry to care.

Without asking, the hellhound handed me the cleaning supplies and I wiped off the blood from the counter, shoving it in the trash can. With only a few minutes of bloody work, my hand was stitched and bandaged.

I'd never seen a hellhound cowed before but this one certainly looked the part. She'd been awfully quiet all throughout, pacing with her claws clacking on the tile floor.

"Hun, what exactly happened over there?" She asked, pointing across the street, as if I didn't know what she was talking about. I'd truly never seen a hellhound so scared. Monsters usually relished the opportunity to help others, but she'd waited behind here. Was it because she was scared?

"Hun, what happened?" She repeated. "A man fell from a window. I-I saw you talk with him. And he wrote something on your arm, I think. Are you okay, Hun? We've got a couch in the back if you need a moment to rest." She said, babbling. All the confidence from before was gone.

I raised my arm and pulled down my sleeve. I watched as her eyes jumped downwards from letter to letter, before narrowing into slits.

"Hun, what did you see?" She asked, close enough that I could feel the heat from her eyes once again. They were hotter now.

"I saw a man put into an induced coma, that when given the miracle of an opportunity to escape, jumped out of a second story window while unable to walk or talk. Because he thought that it was better than staying in that fucking hospital. A man who would beg a complete fucking stranger to free him. I saw his wife grin at his motionless body, and taunt the person her husband begged for help. A husband that she rapes in his sleep. That is what I saw."

The hellhound closed her eyes, and when she opened them again her irises were ablaze. Evidently she wasn't scared any more.

The hellhound quickly took off her apron, flinging it into a cabinet before shrugging on a fluffy jacket. I hadn't thought about it before but it was freezing out.

I stepped outside into the cold night air after her. The moon was bright above us. The hellhound cracked her knuckles and her neck. I could hear a low growl from her throat, as well as her bare claws scraping against the pavement in anger.

"Be cool. She wouldn't have openly taunted me without a plan." I said quietly. "I told you because I lost my other option."

"You expect me to be cool?! I'll rip her fucking head off! Raping a man in his sleep!" The hellhound growled, gnashing her teeth.

"Be cool." I repeated. "Let's walk for a bit." I said, heading down the sidewalk and away from the hospital. "Now I want to kill the bitch as much as you do. But I need more concrete fucking evidence before I ice her. My gun is not an entrance strategy and neither is you ripping her fucking head off. She's clearly lost her mind if she's doing shit like this to her husband, right?" I asked.

"You've got that right, hun. And I'm cool. Cool as ice." She said, her flames noticeably lower, but far more intense. More directed.

"Unfortunately I'm not, so we're going to keep walking."

It took walking past 16 lamp posts before I felt calm enough, and I still wasn't sure it was enough. I turned around, it would have to be good enough.

"Do you know anything about the wife of a coma patient at that hospital?"

The hellhound nodded. "She's never come to our establishment, but the nurses and some of the doctors have. They've talked about him and her before. He's been there for years. Apparently they were set to get hitched and he just fell asleep the day before the wedding day."

"I think the doctor's drugging him. Forcing him into a coma."

The hellhound didn't say anything. We were close enough to the hospital that we could see the sign again. And the broken window, for that matter. It was probably for the best that she didn't say anything, and maybe it would be better to keep my ideas on what was happening to him to myself. I didn't need her going ballistic.

"What's your plan? We rescue him and then what?"

There was a certain anticipation behind her words. It made me feel better that she, too, wanted to save this man. That I wasn't the only one that felt there was something wrong.

"We're not doing jack shit. We need information, understand? Also he broke his leg, he's not moving far or fast. It's pointless if we end up killing him when taking him out of the hospital. I'm going to have a nice discussion with his wife while you make sure that I don't get knocked out from behind or some shit. After that, we can talk more and come up with a real plan."

She nodded. I was surprised to see her keeping her word of being cool. A hellhound wouldn't have been my first choice on that front, but at least I didn't have to worry about her not being strong or fast enough to cover me, if their reputation still held. I didn't make a habit of personally shit like that.

The wind started to pick up as we walked to the entrance of the hospital, past the blood and shattered glass on the ground. The hellhound's eyes lingered on it before pushing through and into the light.

The inside of the hospital was annoyingly well lit and sterile. Nothing was out of place and the tile was clean as could be. Maybe a little old, but perfectly good for what a hospital should look like. Except for the doctor waiting for us, her legs swinging on the counter where a receptionist would normally have been. She was a goddamn eyesore that I wanted to remove from this world. I reached into my pocket reflexively and cursed this bitch for stealing my token.

Calling Olivia with human means would've been fine, except that she wasn't in cell signal range. She was in the realm of the Royal Makai, and the demon realm proper already had a shitty cell signal without another layer on top. No, there wasn't going to be any backup, and I wasn't quite dumb enough to call the fucking cops. It was just going to be me, and a hellhound that I didn't even know the name of.

"Welcome back! And you must be Laraxi. I've heard wonderful things about your cooking from the nurses and my coworkers~" The wife said with enough saccharine to make me sick. "Why don't I show you around the place?" She offered, slipping off the counter.

Guess I knew the name of the hellhound now. Her fur bristled at her name being mentioned, her hackles rising. Even if she'd promised me she wasn't going to, she looked more than ready to tear the bitch's face off with her own claws.

I still hated the werecat's eyes, but I didn't know why. I couldn't even tell what color they were, but they rubbed me the wrong way. It was like being looked at by a monster, not a mamono, a goddamn monster. A real monster, not one that would pin you down and rape you, then love you for the rest of your life.

No, this was a monster that deserved equal amounts of respect and lead to the brain, preferably quickly. Even the way she moved was off. Unnatural, not human nor mamono.

The hellhound glanced at me for direction and I nodded slowly. We were forced to play along for the moment. Nothing was going to go down, at least right now. Laraxi deflated, but didn't question it.

"Come along now~ It's not every day that you have the pleasure of being escorted by a beautiful doctor who happens to be on duty." She chided. "There's so many things to show you in this wonderful hospital of mine."

So I followed the damned werecat down the too brightly lit hallway, the hellhound behind me. I didn't feel like skipping along with the werecat for obvious fucking reasons.

"So this is Acenath Hospital. I'll save you the numbers buuuut this place is pretty renowned for our care of coma patients. Making them feel safe, comfortable while asleep. And doing research on those that have the chance to give permission. The work that I have done here will last for generations. New routines for preventing muscular atrophy. Diets for short term and long term comas to ensure mental plasticity in the hopeful event that they regain consciousness. I have personally seen over 3,000 coma patients in my residence, hundreds of which I was able to cure and use in my research to help others across the globe." She said, walking backwards as she articulated a ball with her hand, before eventually smashing it with a clap.

"And before I forget, you may call me Dr. Fracta! I feel obliged to tell you that it's Latin for 'break or broken' but I like to interrupt it as destiny foretelling that I would mend the broken. That's much better, don't you think?" She asked, her arms spread wide. "Well, it's a non-issue. Upstairs, now." She intoned like we were lost children. We followed her up, and she gave a scandalous look when we finally reached it, as if we'd been trying to look up her skirt. We weren't. Or at least I fucking wasn't.

Having been in a hospital before, it was weird not to see people milling around at all hours. At least a nurse or maybe a visitor. But it was dead quiet. No beeping, no conversations, no screams of pain. Just the sound of Laraxi, the 'good' doctor, and I walking. And the doctor humming, I guess. And this time I felt sure that I would recognize the tune. Still couldn't place it but it gnawed at my mind like it was good jerky. Laraxi, the hellhound, still hadn't said jack shit, which was perfect. As long as she could keep that up we were in the clear.

"On the first floor we have mostly records, administration, and labs. Our wonderful patients are all on the second floor for their safety."

I wasn't really sure how it was for their goddamn safety and I wasn't going to take her word for it, but whatever.

"Why don't we check in on a couple of my patients?" She said like it was some sort of goddamn suggestion, opening a door and waving us through. I went in to find a perfectly normal hospital room. There were machines attached to people that were beeping, and that was it. I didn't have a whole lot of criteria for a normal hospital room. And those people were sleeping. This wasn't the room that the husband had been in, if the unbroken window was anything to go by.

"This is Ms. McKenzie." Fracta said, stopping by an elderly woman with tubes and wires coming out of her.

The patient was obviously asleep, resting what I could only guess as peacefully. The machine looked normal, I guess. Then, without any sort of care, Fracta picked up the woman's arm and dropped it on her face.

Laraxi and I both recoiled at the slap. There was no change in the machine or the woman.

"Guess she's still asleep." The doctor shrugged. "You'd be amazed how many people try to fake it. Or get woken up by that. Anyway, I thought I should mention that I need to take care of her, and the other patients in this room, on a twice daily basis. One of the many clinical trials I've started is a drug that allows comatose patients to be asleep indefinitely."

She rippled her fingers before opening a drawer, quickly pulling on latex gloves. In it were a few odd colored vials and syringes. She took out one of each, dunked a syringe into the rubber head of a vial, extracted some of the weird looking liquid, and pulled the syringe back out in one movement. She tapped the back of the syringe, squirting some of… whatever the fuck this drug was into the air.

"There's two things I'd think you'd find important about this drug and trial, which I've taken to calling insomnium. The first is that we have a 'control group', which means that some patients are administered effectively saline- it does nothing for their system except perhaps minorly increase their blood pressure- but in keeping with the trial I've colored them the same, in order to reduce potential variance." She said sticking the syringe into the IV drip and pushing all of it out. I grit my teeth as I watched the drug work its way down the tube and into the woman's arm. It was as if I could feel whatever it was start to course through my blood.

"And one of our new interns- you know how they are- for some odd reason stripped the labels off the vials." Fracta added, tossing the syringe in a biohazard bin, along with her gloves. She then held up two perfectly identical vials. "To the naked eye they look imperceptibly similar, but let me assure you, they are not. Only someone who has worked with them, such as myself, can tell the difference. The second noteworthy thing is that this drug usually presents no side effects. Unless the patient stops taking the exact dose that they were given to begin with, which is not always based on weight and is… shall we say more magic than science."

"Why are you telling him this?" Laraxi asked dumbly and I wanted to fucking slap her.

Fracta just shook her head. "I can clearly see there's a reason why you work at Waffle House, now. I'm explaining why our dear friend here can't just ice me. Or sic you on me like the dog you are, I suppose. If, for any reason, I am away from these patients for more than 12 hours, they will die. I'll just continue finishing the rest of them, if you two wouldn't mind waiting in the hallway? I'd hate to miss a vein, I get so nervous when being watched~" She giggled.

I slammed the heavy door behind me as I paced the hallway. If the bitch couldn't read minds, she was pretty goddamn close to it. There wasn't any other reason she'd reasonably know that I wanted to kill her, or who my wife was.

The hellhound paced, changing between pissed enough to stoke the flames near her eyes, to hopeless enough that there were barely cinders. Even then I could only see her doing it from the reflection in the window. I was staring outside into the night. And I had a perfect view of the Waffle House.

"Laraxi. Did you know about this?" I asked her, standing in front of her to prevent her pacing. She didn't meet my eye. She whimpered like a dog. A woman twice my size and bulk, who could probably shrug off the bullets from the gun in my back pocket, was whimpering.

"There were rumors. But Dr. Fracta always seemed so kind…" She trailed off.

"Look, she's fucking crazy. She could be lying about the whole drug thing, but we have no way to tell. Did any of the doctors or patients mention anything about dosages, some kind of clue?" I asked. She had a room of hostages, and she might as well have been holding a deadman's switch to all of them. I couldn't risk it if she was telling the truth. And she seemed crazy enough to do it.

"No, sorry, hun…"

Laraxi's ears wilted further.

"Fine. Come with me. There has to be a doctor or a nurse around here somewhere. I saw two of them get the husband after he fell."

I moved to another hallway we hadn't been down, looking for any sign of life. I could hear the hellhound behind me from her feet tapping on the floor.

I opened a door at random, and found only a Nereid sleeping calmly. Covered in a hospital gown, and with a strange apparatus filled with water around her head. Presumably so she could be kept on land without drowning in air.

An odd side effect of Olivia's fucking with my head was that I couldn't help but look for valuable shit. Cash, expensive devices, something I could easily shove in my coat. Even if I knew I didn't actually give a shit about robbing the place. And I'd found jack shit to take. My fingers were itching to take something, anything. And it certainly wasn't going to be one of those fucking plants.

My eyes scanned boring-ass, overlit corridors and found nothing. I looked in more patient rooms- still nothing. Unless I wanted to take some vases with wilted flowers in them.

Medical documents might be valuable, but I also didn't really want to get into that game. It didn't have the same pull as gold or diamond necklace, anyway. I wanted something tangible. Something that gleamed that I could easily fence.

It wasn't until I got into the last room of a hallway that I found something worth stealing. An expensive rolex on the wrist of a coma patient. He looked like all the other coma patients, like he was just softly sleeping. But his hair was unwieldy, and his arms were thin and pale. He was groomed at least. His beard wasn't overgrown.

The rolex was broken, but it was more the point of the thing. I lifted it off his wrist and slipped it into my coat pocket. The metal felt cold on my fingers.

The TV was on. It was playing some old hospital drama. Looked like House MD. Never watched it much before, but I could at least recognize it. I sat down in a chair next to the patient and let my eyes glaze over as I watched the episode. Apparently leaving on TVs stimulated the minds of comatose people, keeping their brain active. Guess that's why it was left on with no one here.

Fracta had hostages. She was also a manipulator- as if that was hard to fucking tell. I couldn't leave the man that had put his trust in me, or the people that she'd threaten to kill. God only knew if those were the only ones, or if she was even telling the truth. But I wasn't going to let their blood be on my hands. But I didn't have a way to guarantee their life. Even if I got word as fast as I could to the Royal Makai- not that I trusted the fuckers much- this was a hospital with glorified fucking vegtables, and Fracta had made it clear she had no issue with hurting people to get whatever sick pleasure she derived out of it.

I broke the shitty handle of the chair just thinking about how she'd raped her husband in his sleep while he was defenseless. The lives she'd put at stake just for control. I was looking for an answer in this situation that didn't end up with someone dead and I couldn't fucking find one. If I killed her, her hostages died. Even if she was removed from the hospital, her hostages died.

Maybe some magic bullshit could fix all of this but I doubted it. Mamono had been pretty clear about their lack of healing knowledge. The way they fixed men was by incubizing them, not casting spells or magic. And coma patients couldn't reasonably get wives even by mamono raping standards. Unless they were fucking crazy.

"It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what."

I blinked. Slipping the rolex over the wrist of my other hand I went to a whiteboard on the other side of the room. It had some shit about food schedules and a couple old doodles. I erased it all, staring at the blank board. I twirled the red marker in my hand. I'd had a lot of practice in retail.

I wrote down what I'd seen and been told. What Laraxi had told me about Fracta. What Fracta had told me about her husband. The little stint she'd done to show us she was a fucking psychopath about how the patients would die unless she took care of them. I wrote it all down, everything, and backed away from the board, staring at it.

I walked back to it and added the rules of mamono that Olivia had told me. Mamono would never harm a man, or let their husband come to harm. They would encourage others to love and help others as much as they could. It was outside of their nature to consider harming another being and they had great distaste to see those in pain, especially men and children.

Laraxi hadn't come over to help the man that'd fallen from the window. I assumed it was just because she was shocked, but it was off. She hadn't even seemed all that concerned with the man that'd fallen out the window. Not so much as a is he okay?'

Fracta followed none of the rules. She paraded around as a poor imitation of a mamono, taking delight in her husband being hurt, endangering the wellbeing of men, and made a point of not helping people.

Except that wasn't true, at least according to her. She'd helped thousands, if the bitch wasn't lying. There was no guarantee she was even a fucking doctor, really, but she'd made a specific point that she had helped people, and her ongoing research was going to help more.

The rules of mamono weren't as ironclad as Olivia would have hoped. She undeniably broke them out of selfish but well meaning love, even if it was nowhere on the scale of whatever this fucking werecat doctor was doing.

I found my fingers rubbing at the cold band of the rolex, the watch perfectly still and stuck at 6:47 AM.

But something consistent in the rules was that Olivia had always thought she was helping me, truly believed it, or at least tried to. If she had thought she was hurting me, or thought the alternative was worse, she would never have done what she did. She would have rather died than hurt me, and put the barrel where her mouth was on that.

I knew what Fracta's deal was, now. All I had to do was check which one of my assumptions was wrong.

I put the marker back on the whiteboard and saw Laraxi standing at the door, hunched below it. She looked torn, beaten emotionally. Like she'd just seen the death of her husband and it was today.

"Laraxi, what does Fracta's husband look like? Has she ever described him?" I asked her, walking towards the door that she encompassed.

"I-I don't think she has, hun. I don't know." The hellhound said quietly. She wasn't looking at me.

"Where were you, by the way? You left at some point. It's not good for us to split up here. Especially if you don't know how to deal with manipulators. They fuck with the head. Stay with me and don't let her talk with you alone."

She didn't respond to that, just kept standing in the door frame. She filled it with how big she was. Still, her eyes never touched me.

"What does she normally order when she comes by?"

"Pecan waffles, she always asks for extra pecans. Why do you ask, hun?" Laraxi asked, the stupid bitch somehow confused.

"Your husband. What was his name? Dave?" I asked casually. She still wasn't looking at me. "I remembered you calling it out before we left. Almost certain it was that. Laraxi, I don't like being fucked with. And for some stupid reason, you're doing it right now."

She tensed, but didn't say anything. Her ears flattened, still not looking at me.

"Now let's say on the off chance that I happened to find this room looking for valuable shit. I'm a robber after all, right? Let's go one step further."

I picked up the chart on the end of the bed and tossed it at her. She caught it, holding it in her large, furry paws without looking at it. The clipboard looked almost comically small in her claws.

"I wasn't really sure what I was looking for. But I found him. Dave Laraxi. Now, I'm not a fucking statistician, but is Laraxi a common last name? Dave's are a dime a dozen, but Dave Laraxi? No, what are the chances of that? Not high, I can tell you that. So you tell me, Ms. Laraxi, why did you lie about your husband being in the Waffle House? Obviously he's right fucking here, so you didn't fuck him in the back room."

She still hadn't said anything, clutching the chart like a younger girl might clutch an animal. Laraxi still hadn't looked at me.

Because she was looking at her husband. The flames at the edges of her eyes were low but white hot.

You did this.

You did this.

"Fuck off." I whispered. "He's your goddamn husband isn't he?! Stay silent and I put a bullet through his fucking foot. He won't even feel it." I assured her, pulling my 1911 from the back of my pants and pointing at the fleshiest part of his foot.

The next second there was a blur of black, the only thing saving me was a sidestep to the left. It rushed past me, crashing into the nightstand and into a vase of fresh flowers, splattering water and flowers into the air. In that moment I saw that they were white lilies, and they didn't even have time to hit the floor before Laraxi launched herself at me again.

It was a terrible idea to threaten the husband of a hellhound, let alone in front of her. Fucking voices in my head.

The sound inside the hotel room was deafening, but I had no problem hearing her grunt. She might've been a hellhound, but .45s fucking hurt and she slid on the floor, gnashing her teeth as blood dripped onto the ground from the open wound in her hand.

"Calm the fuck down, Laraxi." I told her, blood pounding in my ears. I couldn't imagine this ending well, why the fuck did I have to go and threaten him? I was done traveling after this shit.

She didn't move, but her eyes didn't leave my throat. The flames around her eyes were so hot they were transparent, they lost their color. I could feel the heat of them even a few feet away and they were as hot as a bonfire.

I didn't want to kill her, but it wasn't going to be hard not to, now. Mamono weren't supposed to hurt men, but I wasn't really sure how that applied when the man fucking shot them. This was not how I wanted things to go. I wanted to question her, but I couldn't do that if she didn't talk.

"What kind of fucking psychopath doesn't even use demon realm silver?" She growled. "How did your wife let you get away with that?"

"Because she's not my goddamn keeper and it's because I don't trust mamono. Now calm your shit. Is he your goddamn husband?" I asked, pointing at the sleeping man, his rolex still on my wrist. I kept my gun trained on her head the entire time.

She nodded, and I lowered the gun. I did not let my hand leave the gun because I'm not a goddamn idiot.

"Good. Why did you lie about fucking him earlier? Seems kind of bizarre."

I thought she'd grit her teeth at me, growl. But instead she did something much worse. She lowered her eyes. "I don't know, hun. He hasn't been awake for years. H-he doesn't even know I'm a monster… He could wake up and hate me. I still remember the last morning we shared together. I made us breakfast. Dave always liked my omelets. Couldn't stop smiling. We had off from work, watched TV, cuddled… Our wedding was the next day."

Tears fell from her eyes, and I half wondered why they weren't evaporated instantly by the heat. She walked to his bedside, looking at him with such deep love and misery that I was forced to put my gun down on the table next to me. I wasn't fucking heartless. But I did have to ask an obvious question. Even if it did go against everything I stood for.

"Why haven't you raped him? If he incubized he'd probably wake up."

"Rape him in his sleep?!" She roared, her teeth bared, her claws scratching the tile wall and leaving four distinct trails and an awful sound as she raked it, bringing up dust and porcelain. I liked this better than her last response. "I'm not a goddamn monster, hun. Suggest it again and I'll rip your throat out. Gun or no."

She was silent, staring at her husband lying peacefully on his bed. It wasn't the man that had fallen from the window. If I had to guess, he was substantially larger before. He looked gaunt, as if at some point he'd had more flesh on him. However good Dr. Fracta's procedures were- if she even was a doctor- they weren't good enough to prevent years of inactivity and sunlight.

"I'm sorry."

It wasn't something I said often, but I already felt like a dick. Least I could do was apologize.

She didn't look at me, brushing a finger against her husband's face. The only thing that broke the silence was the heart rate machine beeping constantly.

"Just leave, hun. And forget about this place. It's nowhere important. Dr. Fracta is the only person here who's ever done anything important. I'm just a widowed Waffle House manager."

She looked like she wanted to embrace her husband as he lay motionless, but chose not to, pulling back.

"And don't turn back, hun."

There was no heat at all in her eyes. Nothing left but wisps of a fire that had once been. They stared through me.

Pulling up my arm, I pulled down my sleeve, showing the words written in blood by the man trapped in a house that he couldn't leave. I knew she saw it from the way her eyes flickered to it and then to me.

"Before you came in this room, you were talking to Fracta, weren't you? She told you to take care of me, and not in the way where you work a grill. And you have to listen to her because your husband is helpless, here." I said pointing to the glorified vegetable, one step away from pickling. "But there's a man who launched himself out of a window in order to escape this fucking place, and he gave me one request. FREE ME!" I shouted, shaking my arm at her, the letters written in the blood even clearer under the hospital light. "And what about the others? The ones that can't help themselves? Is she lying about whatever shit she's doing with the drug trial? Who knows what else she's doing. So if you think I'm going to leave this goddamn house, leave these goddamn people, you're wrong. Now are you going to let me leave this room?"

Laraxi didn't respond. She leaned down to her husband, whispering in his ear. It was too low for me to hear. Then she straightened, looking only at me, her eyes intense but with blue flame. Her undamaged hand held his, and then let go.

I stepped back unconsciously, picking my gun back up.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then laughed. It was an awful laugh. Didn't sound at all like someone happy. It sounded like someone laughing at the sum of their life.

"You were a lot like him, you know." She said, leaning on the corpse-in-progress's bedside. "He always helped people. Gave away too much of our money to ungrateful wretches. Used to forget to take out the trash. He was what I looked forward to when I came home from work. We used to sit out on the porch, listen to the radio. Watch the sunset togeth-"

Her voice caught, but there were no tears. Her eyes were unsteady, filled with that emotion that I knew well. Fear.

"He used to talk to hobos. Give them food. Whenever his friends needed him, he was there. I only wish that he could've left me someone to track mud in the house after he was gone. Dave was the light of my life. He was my everything."

It took me a moment to realize that she wasn't talking to me. She wasn't explaining why her husband was the best or why she loved him. This wasn't the reason why she was about to kill me, even with her paw still bleeding.

My feet were rooted as I listened to Laraxi's elegy.

"You were the most wonderful person in the world. You never made fun of me for not knowing things. Never made fun of my dream to retire in Mexico with you. And so many other things. Every day without you was a day that I didn't want to live. It was a day that was incomplete, worthless."

She'd been moving slowly around the hospital bed, towards the life support machines. I could've looked away, but I didn't. She stared at the monitor of the largest machine, and then, with a heavy, shaking paw, she tapped a few buttons, unplugged the machine, and that was it.

I saw the man breath his last breath. One last exhale, and that was it.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, hun. It was a long time coming." She said, her voice uneven. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. I can only hope that when I meet him, he can forgive me. God I hope so." She said, finishing her elegy. There were still no tears in her eyes. There were no flames at all, now.

For a few minutes neither of us said anything, and then she snorted.

"I keep hoping he'll get up, say it was all a big prank." Laraxi said offhandedly with a snort. "But I don't think that's going to happen, is it, hun?"

"No. I don't think it is." I answered quietly.

She nodded at that, looking thoughtful. She still hadn't looked at her husband behind her.

"Hun, I'm already going to hell. I helped that bitch Fracta with keeping this thing quiet. Making sure that things went smoothly. She's been working on a drug to cure comas, but she needed men and women to… test with. I looked for the ones that were alone, or suicidal. I'd 'accidentally' bring them over to the hospital. Just to get them inside. And once they were in, that was it. Fracta would have another fucking test subject. All so that one day my husband might wake up."

She grit her teeth, looking more angry than regretful. "I was too weak to tell her no. I just wanted to hear him talk again, I can't even remember his voice." She whispered, closing her eyes. She opened them, looking at me. "You were supposed to be another one. Another test subject. But I couldn't do it. Hold on to your backbone, hun. Don't ever let your wife take it from you."

"I won't."

"Good. Now give me a few moments. Alone. Please, hun?"

I nodded. I'd only taken a few steps out the door before I heard wailing behind me. I wasn't heartless enough to look through the window and see a widow grieving.

I could hear the soft patter of rain on the roof, like a drum rhythmically beating. I paced, thinking about what to do.

Why had Fracta done all this? I found it hard to imagine that Laraxi was the master-mind behind all of this, it just didn't make sense. And what were we going to do with Fracta? I wasn't sure if I was cooler or hotter than when I'd first come in, but I still wanted to kill the bitch. It was hard for me to think of doing anything else, but I'd be killing innocent people if I did ice her. I wasn't even sure what mamono did with murderers nowadays, I hadn't heard of one in years.

Fuck this shit. Fuck all of this. This was what I got for stopping at a fucking Wafflehouse at 3 AM. I glanced down at my watch only to remember that it wasn't even keeping time so that was pointless. My phone said it was almost 5 now. Hard to believe it had taken an hour from me stopping.

I could still leave, ditch Laraxi, ditch the man that had written in blood a request for freedom from this damned house. I could leave, never bring up Dr. Fracta or whatever the fuck she had done, and nothing would happen.

But I would still remember. I'd remember the people that I'd left. That might not even know that they were relying on me, but they were. And I'd grant them freedom from this lying motherfucker.

"Hey there~ Hanging in there?"

Fracta was in front of me, hands behind her back as she leered.

The only good news was that as long as I kept my distance from her, I was ready, now. Werecats were faster and somewhat stronger than a normal woman, but that was it. No magic, no special abilities. Just had to keep my distance and my gun ready.

"Why do all this? Why drug your husband? Toss him out a window? Rape him in his sleep?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking." She sighed. "I had to ask a few of my assistants to help with the poor man who jumped out a window. They weren't able to set his bones and stitch him to my liking. Running a hospital by yourself is exhausting. You won't believe how much the patients complain~ I swear that I do nothing but hear their complaints all day. And for what? I'm a good doctor. I keep them healthy and alive as reasonably possible. But they don't seem to appreciate both that I'm trying to help them and further the fields of science. Don't you understand?"

I started walking away. I wasn't sure if I could stop from killing her if I listened for any length of time. It was hard enough as is.

"Do you know why Laraxi is crying? Did you call her retarded or some other such accurate term? I remember her doing that when I've done so."

If she wasn't a woman I would've fucking punched her. I couldn't believe how much of a piece of shit she was.

"She just pulled the plug on her husband."

Fracta's face went through surprise, confusion, and then finally the one I knew best.

"S-she can't do that. She's a mamono. She can't ever give up. No matter what. No matter what, she can't give up on her husband. It doesn't matter how long."

The smugness had left the good doctor, and been replaced with fear as she paced, her entire frame shuddering.

"H-how long ago? How long ago was the plug pulled?" She asked, gripping my coat with both hands. The eyes that I hated bore into me.

"Five or ten minutes. I don't know." I answered truthfully, shrugging her off.

She stood there, frozen, her hands slowly falling to her side as she stared into nothing.

"It won't work now. I need another. The drugs won't last another month or two… oh no, oh no…" She babbled, before turning her damned eyes on me. I didn't like the way that she looked at me, her pupils dilating.

"I have another."

My hand was too slow to stop her, and I saw stars on the ceiling as my head hit the floor. Then there was a sharp pinch at my neck, and then nothing.

---

Lessofa, my kikimora milkmaid, was the one to greet me when I came home, broom in hand as usual. She waved, her crow's feet (on her face) twitching as she smiled. It was such a joy to see her, and I really needed to drop by more. I'd been traveling in the demon realm for a month or so now as a sort of vacation, but had only decided to come home now.

"Olivia, sweety, I didn't realize you'd be back so soon! Please, sit down and let me make you some tea."

She forced me into a chair, even when I was protesting that I had to go meet with mother on urgent business. I eventually gave up, allowing her to serve impromptu… lunch? I was unsure what time it was, now. Or at least what time my stomach was on. And as usual, she was able to somehow magic a table, a pot, and tea leaves into existence. I still wasn't fully sure how she did that, given that I was certain I couldn't feel any conventional magic when she did so. A mystery for another time, I supposed.

"I just so happened to be baking chocolate chip cookies, your favorite! Fresh out of the oven." She said, setting a plate of them down, along with a steaming hot cup of tea in front of both of us. It took her a moment to adjust herself in her seat, but she was smiling wide at me. Not at all grouchy like she'd been a year or so ago.

Probably because I have a husband now. She didn't feel the need to push me to get one, as that was all settled. There wasn't anything left for her to push me on, although I knew that she always meant well. I had a husband, and that was when parents- I mean milkmaids- stopped pestering you in life. I sipped the hot tea. Delicious as always, especially when paired with the cookie. Lessofa was a master of pairing just the right amount of sugar in the cookies and tea to make sure they complimented another.

"So has he finally decided to start filling you at least a dozen times daily?"

She asked it so casually that it took me a moment to process, and then to gag and choke on my tea from the statement. Of course she had a handkerchief at the ready to wipe my mouth with.

"Um… not as such, no? He's still traveling and we talk daily. Except for now, of course. Cell signal through the portal still hasn't been perfected." I added.

"So you are not having your womb filled repeatedly? It's unbecoming of a bride! You two are still on your honeymoon."

I stopped myself from pointing out that honeymoons on Earth lasted at most a week or two (instead of at least a moon), even with mamono culture seeping in. Earth was quite more my type when it came to such things. I could hardly even imagine doing nothing but being pounded for years straight, my womb filled as Anonymous came in me repeatedly. Until he might even give me a child-

So apparently I could imagine it, but that wasn't the point at hand. Although I wasn't actually sure what it was, right at the moment.

"I'm sure that he'll be satisfied soon."

Lessofa scoffed. "A man scorning his wife to travel alone. A daughter of the Maou, no less! And one of her most beautiful and intelligent and kind daughters!"

I blushed. Lessofa was very practiced when it came to flattery. "Thank you, Lessofa. I swear that I'll come back to chat after I finish talking with my mother, but I really must be going."

I stood up, and when I looked down both the table and my chair were gone. I was certain I'd never understand how whatever Lessofa did, worked.

"Oh, alright deary. Please give your mother my regards." She said, gently as she raised a cup to her lips, gesturing that it was okay to leave.

But I made sure to give her a quick hug before I could, one that felt wonderful after being alone for so long on Earth. She returned it, and I could see her tail wagging furiously. We said our goodbyes (again), as I strode to my mother's private meeting room. Not her throne room, where she'd usually accept visitors, but to a more secluded area just outside her living quarters.

I found myself before the door, composed myself, and knocked. I was nervous, but I wasn't really sure what to expect. My mother had never summoned me on such short notice before. In fact, this would be the first time we had a conversation in quite a while. Even their news about Little Jessica had been through a letter, rather than an in person meeting.

And it certainly wasn't that my mother was impersonable, I just… didn't have much of a reason to speak with her.

"Come in~" I heard through the door. A thick, sultry voice, one that gave me chills, even as her daughter. I entered, quietly shutting the door behind me. She was at her desk, and was, in short, the perfect woman. Beautiful, elegant, and refined. Even I could see why men and women routinely lost their handle on their libido around her.

"Olivia, thank you so much for coming." She said, opening her arms for a hug that I gladly accepted. Just as warm as Lessofa's, and she didn't let me go until it felt like she'd squeezed the life out of me. She gestured for me to sit, and I did.

"Any time, mother. What is it you needed of me? You didn't say what, in your letter."

"Well, as you know, I recently gave you another sister, Jessica. Mora is taking care of her right now and she's moving along splendidly. Such a curious child. And… already asking hard questions, like about the birds and bees." She sighed. "They grow up so fast."

"Yes, mother."

She smiled at me. "No need to be so formal, Olivia. This isn't a court of Makai hearing. I know we don't see each other as often as I'd like but I'm still your mother. Are things going well with your new husband? Anonymous, I think?"

"Things are going well." I said, knowing what question was going to come yet. I was no longer naive enough to think it wouldn't be asked.

"And any progress towards a child? It's best to start early, and go consistently. Your father fills me up at least 50 times a day and-"

I coughed. "No, mother. But I should be starting soon."

She looked a little hurt, but nodded understandingly. "Whatever makes you happy, Olivia. I'll always love you."

It really did warm my heart to hear those words. I always felt sad that Anonymous had lost his parents too soon. I'd never be able to meet them and ask for their permission to marry him properly.

"I love you too, mother." I replied back as warmly as I could.

She smiled. "Now… onto my summons. You have another sister! I've yet to tell anyone else- except your father, of course!"

I was dumbstruck for a moment, and I looked at her stomach. "You mean you already-"

"No! Not like that." My mother laughed. "You see, one day when I was walking through the streets of an Earth town in disguise, as you know I often do, I found the most pitiable child. An orphan, alone, with cuts, bruises, and so skinny that her ribs were showing! And I couldn't simply leave her. So I adopted her. Ersatz! Come in~"

The door to her private chambers opened and a child of what looked like 9 came out (I was terrible with ages). Not at all close to the description that mother had given of her, evidently she had cleaned up since being brought here. She wore a cute white dress, shoes, and had her white hair braided in twintails- the same way mine had been when I was much younger.

"This is Olivia, one of your sisters! Why don't you go ahead and say hi!" My mother said excitedly, pushing her gently on the back towards me. She looked apprehensive at best, but still walked forward, her little shoes shuffling.

"Hello." She said, looking at my shoes instead of at me. Her fingers twiddled, restless.

I crouched down, meeting her at eye level and doing my best to smile. It was a little hard. I wasn't great with people or children for that matter, and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"Hi there, Ersatz. I'm Olivia. Would you mind looking at me?"

Eventually she drew her gaze to me and I gasped. Her eyes were red, just like any of my sisters or mine were without magic. That, with her snow white hair, only meant one thing.

"Ah, your father was quite confused as well, but it's quite simple." Mother said, with a chuckle. "Lilims are my daughters. There is nothing in the magic specifying that they have to be birthed from me. Therefore, Ersatz is now a Lilim. She is as pureblooded as you or Egwene."

Mother looked thrilled by this, but I still didn't quite understand what was going on. "Well Ersatz, do you like it better here?"

The little girl's face softened. "Yeah. The food here is really good. But she won't let me leave." She added, pointing at mother.

"It's for your safety, dear. A nine year old should not be out by herself in the world! Maybe when you're 60 or so you'll be ready to leave." Mother chided. This hadn't been a problem for me, but I'd heard my other sisters complain about mother suffocating them in the castle well past when they were mature enough to leave.

"Where would you go?" I asked her.

"Um… McDonald's?" Ersatz replied. "I've always wanted to try it…"

"You've mentioned that before, dear. Where exactly is that?" Mother asked, confused.

"It's a popular Earth restaurant." I replied, frowning. Mother had left the integration of mamono into Earth society to a few of my sisters and I, but I hadn't expected her not to know McDonald's.

"Hmm, would you mind taking her to this place? Do you have enough Earth currency?"

"I have plenty. But why did you call me here-"

"Splendid! Why don't you take little Ersatz with you to McDonald's right now? My duties require me to be here, after all."

Ersatz turned around to look at her. "But you took me from Earth." She pointed out.

"A-ah, well that was a special occasion. I'm quite busy!" Mother tried to assure her, but Ersatz looked as convinced as I was.

I had a guess at what mother was trying to do, but I wasn't really sure why.

"Alright. It was nice seeing you, mother." I said, hugging her again, even though the last one had only been a few minutes ago.

"It was nice seeing you too, Olivia. I love you. And I love you too, Ersatz!"

Mother picked her up and squeezed her tight despite the squirming, until finally letting her down.

"Bye, whore." Ersatz said in such a flat tone that I almost missed it.

"WHORE?" My mother gasped. "Young lady, where did you learn that term?!"

"Um… a man showed me one, one time, and you're wearing less than she was. You're just wearing underwear."

My mother's mouth opened and shut, glancing down at what Earth inhabitants would call less than a sling bikini. "Sweetie, whore is a very bad word here. I love my husband and children more than anything in the world. Please don't call me a whore. This is my royal garb, with our coat of arms, insignia, and made of the finest material in the Royal Makai. I wear this to all formal occasions!"

Ersatz didn't look convinced by this either, and I had to bite my lip not to laugh. It was very hard not to, with my mother looking so distraught by such a young girl.

"Okay. Bye, not-whore." That young girl said with a little wave to mother, looking up at me with impatient eyes. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, yes we can." I answered, having to hold my breath in. I gave my mother a wave as I led Ersatz out, and into the hallway.

Lessofa was sweeping nearby, and it only then occurred to me that it might have been because she was listening in. Although she looked innocent now, I could tell she was looking at us out of the corner of her eye. I'd promised to catch up after talking with mother, anyway, and I walked towards her.

"Ah, Olivia my dear. I was so caught up in work that I barely noticed you." She said, looking up from sweeping an obviously clean area. "What did the Maou desire of you? And who are you young lady?! Why, you look just like-"

Lessofa froze as she saw Ersatz' eyes.

"She's my new sister, Ersatz. Mother wanted me to get her McDonald's." I answered bluntly.

"But… she just had a child." Lessofa said, looking at me in shock.

"Ersatz was adopted?" I offered. Although now I was wondering if 'kidnapping' was the more accurate term. Mother hadn't been particularly clear.

Lessofa looked down from her, to me, and then back to her, scratching her tiny hat.

"If you say so, dearie. Are you unhappy with the food here? I'm sure the cooks would be more than happy to cook you something!" Lessofa said, crouching down to meet my new younger sister at eye level.

Ersatz squirmed, and it was only then that I realized she actually had a little spade tail at the back of her skirt. It was small, and quite cute. It flicked back and forth as she thought.

"Um.. no thank you." She responded, staring at Lessofa's bird-like feet. Clawed and somewhat scaly. "Why do you have bird feet? And feathers on your wrist?"

Lessofa gave me a confused look and I shrugged. "Why, I'm a kikimora, dear. That's how I was born."

"Oh, are you a freak?"

"FREAK?!" Lessofa shrieked, and I saw where this was going immediately.

It was a long ten minutes to calm down Lessofa, explain where Ersatz had come from and why she didn't know. At the moment, not all of Earth was fully integrated with mamono. About a third of Earth was, but not all of it, and she had likely never even seen one before meeting mother- our mother.

We hardly had time to say goodbye before Lessofa excused herself, with some comment about Ersatz bringing up memories of me. Which was totally untrue. I was a very respectful child.

I think.

When I saw my sister Egwene coming from down the hall, I made the decision between greeting my sister that I hadn't seen in the last several months and enduring another one of these conversations, or simply not. And I chose the latter, as I snapped my fingers and the both of us arrived outside, a few feet from the private portal that I had used to travel between here and Earth.

I did not expect Ersatz to suddenly start coughing and vomit. I patted her back and tried to comfort her, but she looked well and truly sick. Even after summoning a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and a water bottle to clear her throat, she still didn't look steady.

"I'm sorry, Ersatz. I forgot that teleportation can be quite straining on the stomach for the unprepared."

She just groaned, but didn't say anything. Not so much as a tear or a cry of indignation, which was somehow worse. Ersatz simply accepted that I had made her sick, without complaint.

Somewhat gingerly, I picked her up and held her in my arms. She was warm, not in a sickly way, and surprisingly light. Which made things convenient as I flew through the ground level portal and found myself in the cold night air of Earth, hovering over a small town.

We were high above the ground, as I'd put the portal up in the air on the Earth side so now one would accidentally find it or run into it. I used a spell to make us both blend in with the night as I spied the golden arches and landed just outside the entrance. Ersatz had started to shiver so I summoned a coat that should've been about her size. I helped her put it on, and she sighed in relief as I zipped her up. She no longer shook and looked quite cute in the coat, especially with just the top of her head poking out.

"That's better. Let's go inside." I told Ersatz, holding her hand as we walked inside. It was beginning to drizzle, anyway.

I've been to McDonald's more than I'll ever admit, especially when I was first scoping things out. The food was addictive. Food back at home- especially in the castle- was good, but it wasn't in the same way. The food here was greasy, fast, and good. There was definitely street food like this somewhere back home, but I'd never been interested.

The only problem was… sometimes the cashiers were off-put by how much I ordered. Which isn't my fault! I just get hungry!

And while I'd been at McDonald's at odd times of the night, there was almost always someone there. Except that from what I could see, as I looked around, this one was empty.

"Hello?" I called, a little spooked. Anyone would be off-put by a restaurant that had all its lights on, but no one inside it.

A large rat (the mamono sort, not the ones I've heard come from New York), poked her head above the counter, her fluffy hair covered by a black hat.

"U-um, hello Ms. Lilim! What can I get for you?"

I'd never seen a large rat that was so nervous that they were chittering before, looking this way and that. Large rats (the mamono kind) were usually known for their timidness- unless cornered. And she looked horrified at the moment, her thin tail wouldn't stop thrashing.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, stepping closer.

The large rat took a step back, her eyes on me, now.

"I-I'm fine, miss, and I'm honored to have you here! Would you like to try our new quarter pounder?" The large rat offered, her hand hovering over the kiosk.

I then realized I forgot something critical, and bent down to Ersatz.

"What would you like, little sister?" I asked her, feeling the term 'little sister' on my tongue. It was certainly odd not to be the youngest anymore. Not that I was ever really picked on, but now I had the opportunity to be a big sister for someone.

"Fries?" Ersatz said quietly, then let go of my hand to go trot around. I let her be.

"I would like a quarter pounder, a big mac, a fish filet, three McCrispys, four large fries- actually five large fries." I said, correcting myself. I had to make sure that Ersatz had enough to eat. "And um… two small drinks."

The rat gave me a blank stare, all fear gone, as she craned her head to look around the column at the rest of the McDonald's, finding no one. This was not the first time that a cashier had done that, and all I could do was look innocent. I'd tried to convince the cashier that I was just bringing it back for myself and friends once, but had forgotten when the food came, and ate it all in the restaurant. I could hardly contain my shame as I walked out, then.

The rat rattled off the total, I paid it after scrounging around for cash in my dark matter ball, and then I silently waited at a window booth for our food to be ready. I stared outside at the moon, wondering if Anonymous was looking at the same one. And wondering where he was, right at the moment. Did he think about me as much as I thought about him? When would he finally come back and settle down? I'd suggested that we take a small break, but I didn't think that he'd be gone for years. We hadn't seen each other in person since he left the house and I'd given him the token, but I could still remember how content he was. Not necessarily happy, but a far better sight than before. At least I knew he was alive.

"Olivia, what's that?" Ersatz asked, pointing to the hospital a ways across the street with a pudgy finger. It was lit particularly well by the moon.

"Oh, that's a hospital. You've never seen one?" I asked, looking at her. "They're places where people go when they're sick. One day, we'll no longer need them!" I told her confidently. Eventually mamono magic would fix everything, but until Earth was more integrated and had the proper systems in place, Hospitals still had to exist. I was actually the one to suggest a push to phase out hospitals with magic, but I met resistance from a group that I'd not been expecting to. Roleplayers. They were angry with the idea that they would no longer have a safe space to do their 'sexy nurse' or 'sexy murse' routine.

What I had definitely not expected was for one of my sisters to ask me not to do so yet, as her husband was quite the fan. How closing down hospitals and replacing them with something better prevented people from cosplaying I didn't truly understand, but I let it go. Work by itself was engaging enough without my duties to the Royal Makai.

Ersatz looked at me like I was an idiot. "No, why is there a broken win-"

"Your order, Miss Lilim!" The rat squeaked, placing a large tray in front of me. "I hope you enjoy and let me know if you need anything else!"

I smiled. "Thank you… Yilsa?"

"Any time, ma'am. I'll just be in the backroom for a little bit."

The unfortunate part about being a Lilim is that… I was a little bit of a voyeur. I couldn't help myself. It was hard not to know what people were doing, and perhaps the large rat had a husband in the back room, one that she'd been torn away from just as we came by… that she would resume lovemaking with as soon as she could. Thrown back into passion, fully embraced by him as she rocked her hips on top of his-

"Fuck." I cursed as something pinched my leg. Ersatz was looking incredibly annoyed, her little arms crossed. It would've been threatening if she wasn't so cute. And only after did her face widen, her lips trembling as she cried, putting her hands over her head.

"P-please don't hit me! I-I promise I'll be better! I won't ask for anything ever again, please, Miss."

She was shaking uncontrollably, balled up on the floor.

I slid off my seat and sat next to her, waiting. Touching her at the moment would be a particularly bad idea. When someone was hurt, emotionally or physically, touching them while they were vulnerable did little to help. So I had to watch as she trembled for a few minutes, before she finally stopped, and looked up at me, her face blank but puffy.

She looked away from me. "S-sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize about." I told her, smiling. "Did you need something? I'm sorry I was so distracted. Oh dear, can I wipe you with a handkerchief?" I asked, pulling one out of Wilson (my dark matter ball), and waited for her to respond.

She hesitated, and then nodded. I wiped her face clean, suddenly bringing to mind when Lessofa had done it a few times when I was younger. I smiled at the memory, and Ersatz gave a weak one in return.

"Um… I wanted to know why there was a broken-"

"Hello there! I'm the manager, everything going okay this evening?" The self described manager asked, clasping her claws (or whatever they classified as) together. She was a devil bug, or some other insect mamono given the antennae sprouting from her head, and her carapaced arms and legs. She had on a blue button up shirt, as opposed to Yilsa.

She was behind Ersatz, and when the young girl turned around, she burst into tears. I pulled her up quickly, putting her into my chest and rocking her back and forth. I'd seen it done with small children before (well, on TV at least), and tried to shush her.

The manager looked well and truly lost for a moment, before regaining her composure. "Please let me know if there's anything you need." She said before darting into the kitchen.

Ersatz finally trailed off into a sniffle as I held her tight.

"There's nothing to be scared of, that was just a devil bug." I told her as quietly as I could. "She's not scary at all."

"But she's a monster." She sniffed.

"She's a mamono." I corrected. "They love and cherish humanity. No mamono would ever do anything to hurt you. I'll make sure of that."

She sobbed into my shoulder, her tears soaking into my shirt. She held me even harder.

I closed my eyes, casting my telepathy spell. I'd improved at it to the point where I just felt queasy, instead of losing my stomach when I used it. I needed to check her mental state, and this was the easiest way to do it.

Colors whirred in the darkness, thoughts projected as flashing words. I could see Ersatz's thoughts, peek into her memories. And what I saw was a whirlwind of neglect and pain, to the point where it was hard to pick out a specific scene. They all whirled by too quickly for me to examine.

Please leave please leave please leave

I watched as the words floated by, dancing in my vision, but they weren't thoughts from Ersatz. They came from further away, somewhere in the back room. I threw my attention there, curious at what exactly had prompted that train of thought.

The psyche of the person I looked at wasn't at all like Ersatz's, although they were close to mental instability. Visually that was usually represented by the thoughts or scenes in their mind being played on loop, and there was a stream of please leaves streaming out of them. It was the manager from what I could tell of the scene playing in their mind. One of a man sleeping soundly in a hospital bed, with her crying over his unconscious body. That scene repeated over and over again, though I didn't understand why. Presumably they wanted us to leave, but how that was related to the memory confused me. If the memory was impactful enough, no matter what happened that would be at the forefront of their mind, but I'd gained considerable insight into the psyche after becoming a therapist, and this looked like something brought on by us rather than being a coincidence.

I stopped the telepathy spell and opened my eyes to the brightly lit interior, blinking a few times. I was too curious to simply let this pass, and if there was a problem, it was my duty as a Lilim to fix it if possible.

I weighed my options, and decided to kill two harpies with one stone.

Once Ersatz calmed down enough, I took her off my lap and placed her with both feet on the ground. She was eye level with me, and was considerably calmer now.

"Do you trust me?" I asked her in a conspiratorial tone.

She looked more torn than any nine year old should look when asked that question by an adult, but she gave a slight nod.

I flashed a smile. "Thank you, sister. Do you think you could apologize to the manager for me? You don't have to if you don't want to." I added, quickly.

She kicked her shoes on the ground, looking away from me.

"...can you show me how to fly?"

I blinked, her eyes on mine, now. I wasn't expecting her to be a negotiator, but I could work with this.

"Of course. I'll teach you how to fly as soon as I can." I assured her.

She nodded, and I took it as the go ahead that she'd be willing to apologize to the manager. I walked with her hand in hand to the counter. When she didn't appear for a few seconds, I lightly dinged the bell. It didn't take long for her to come out, and she looked composed when she did.

"Hi Ms… Blatta. Ersatz is terribly sorry about what happened earlier. She's not quite used to mamono, yet."

I squeezed her hand, and Ersatz squeezed it back. "Sorry Ms. Blatta…" Ersatz said as sincerely as I would have ever hoped for. She looked a little regretful, too.

"It's quite alright, there's nothing to be sorry about." She said pleasantly. "Now, we have changed our hours recently, and I was wondering if we could impose on you to leave in the next few minutes or so…?"

"Of course. It's no problem." I answered graciously. "Could I ask what brought about the change?"

"Less staff." The manager said, her eyes dimming before quickly fixing themselves. "We simply don't have the manpower required to work that many hours."

"Ah, I understand. By the way-"

Glass shattered.

I turned and saw a person falling out of a second story window of the hospital back-first. His body bounced once, then laid still.

---

I was in a line. I peeked around it to see about five people in front of me. I didn't recognize any of them. They looked normal enough. I suddenly couldn't remember why I was in the line. On one hand I had a 1911 wrapped in comically flimsy and shiny plastic packaging, and in the other I held a car key- also wrapped in a hard plastic wrap.

The store seemed normal enough. Some kind of convenience store, and it looked familiar now that I was looking around. Couldn't place why, but I knew exactly where everything was. Where the deodorant was, the condoms, the chips were. I knew what was on the backside of the shelves that I was looking at.

There was a cough behind me and I stepped forward, I hadn't noticed that the line had advanced. I was close enough now that I could hear the register beeping, and small talk being made. Not close enough to actually make out the conversation, only that it was light and everyday. Nothing interesting. The sort of conversation that I would make when I worked at a convenience store, something to keep my mind occupied while my hands scanned and took cash and change.

I didn't need the grunt from the guy behind me to step forward- I was paying attention now. This line certainly wasn't moving fast by any means. I glanced at my rolex, watching the seconds tick by. It was much earlier than I thought it would be judging by the light outside. Only about 6 AM. It'd taken 5 minutes for the last customer to get their shit together and I couldn't help but wonder why. Didn't seem like they were carrying much. I also hadn't seen them leave the line, which I found a little odd. Where were they going after they bought their crap?

It was a throat clearing that told me I'd somehow missed two people in the line in front of me. I cursed under my breath and took two long strides forward. Only one person left until it was me. I could actively hear the conversation but I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to it. The cashier made a joke, the customer gave a small laugh, and then they were gone.

When I stepped up to the register, I faced myself, 7 years younger. I was clean shaven and not too bad looking, really. The sort of thing you can only really judge when seeing yourself candidly.

"Which one, sir?" The younger me asked, gesturing to the two items in my hand. "You've only put enough down for one."

There was already change down on the counter. $6.47 cents from a glance. I'd become very good at reading change at a glance when I'd worked at this store.

Everything felt so slow. I somehow didn't understand the question.

"Why would I only want one?" I asked the cashier, snorting. "I'll just take both."

"I'm sorry sir, but you can only pay for one. The gun, or the car." My younger self, who was starting to piss me off with how positive he was, even as he told me to pound sand. He looked more sad for me than annoyed with how I was holding up the line. "Olivia locked me down here- which is fine, I like it here- but it also means you're incomplete. I can only give you one, Peace, or Conviction." He said, pointing to first the car key, and then the gun.

"Incomplete? What do you mean?"

"Olivia may not have realized it, but she reconstructed your entire personality based on her own tastes. Someone angry but with a deep love for humanity. A person unaware of their kindness. Always striving to do the right thing even if they don't know what it is. You know, chick stuff." He smiled. "I didn't want to live anymore. I couldn't handle it. I'm at peace now, but dad's death hit us pretty hard… you know the rest."

I did. It was part of the memories that Olivia had given back to me.

"The point is she didn't do that great a job. You're not really complete. You're aimless, just wandering, because you don't know what to do next. You can't find peace because you can't comprehend the notion of it. Just meandering from one town to the next, stealing or finding whatever it is you need to live day to day. And you don't have the conviction to tell Olivia to fuck herself for what she did to you, or to really forgive her or yourself. It's not your fault and it's not my fault you're like this. It's Olivia's, but it's not like she did it on purpose. Sure, you could tell her, and she might cry over the fact that she made you into a half baked character. Maybe even fix you. But if you really love her, is that what you want to do? No matter how you look at it, without her, dad would've died, and so would you. She gave you the gift of life, do you really want to tell her how badly she fucked up on something she cried while doing and still regrets? Even I only barely remember that. That was a bad day." He finished, shaking his head.

It was hard to tell your subconscious that he was a fucking prick, and I couldn't manage to do it.

"Why don't I take both?" I asked, gripping the two packages, my knuckles white.

"Because your psyche can't handle it." He answered airily, not even looking at the items. "You'll end up breaking down if you do that. In the future you might be able to create Peace or Conviction yourself, but I can only give you one. If you choose Peace, you'll be able to live a idyllic married life with Olivia. But if you choose Conviction, you'll begin to act on all the things that you wanted to but didn't, for better or worse. Right now you act like you have conviction, but real conviction means giving up things in return for whatever it is you desire. Time, love, and humanity are all equal in its eyes as payment. You make a good show of making it seem like you'll do something, but you won't. You'll just hope that it all ends well as you waffle between making choices until someone makes one for you. You let a woman kill her husband because you didn't have the balls to stop her. Couldn't just shoot Fracta, even when it came to saving yourself because you want everyone to act for you."

There were no other customers behind me, it was just me and him. Me, and the self that had been discarded by Olivia.

"You're a real motherfucker, aren't you?" I asked him.

He just smiled, and I knew what lay behind the eyes.

"I'd much rather be half baked than whatever you are. I'll take this." I said, sliding the box forward.

His scanner gun beeped and he nodded.

"Visit any time." Were the last things I heard before the lights went out.

I knew I was awake even with it still being dark because of how heavy my body felt. I couldn't even bring myself to open my eyes. Lifting them was too difficult.

"This can't be happening… This can't be happening…" I heard someone- Fracta probably- muttering nearby. I could also hear her pacing. "I was so close, I was going to be able to run the test tomorrow. Can't trust anyone… I know you're awake."

I couldn't even wiggle my big toe. I would've gulped if I could.

She walked next to me, heels clicking on the tiles. Fracta was hovering over me, while I was lying in what felt like a hospital bed.

"Laraxi is sleeping, now. It took all three of us to get her onto the bed. Took nearly six times the normal dosage to stop her. Why didn't you stop her from pulling the plug on her husband? He might've been a vegetable but at least he was useful. With only a few more days I could've had it, I was this close to finding a cure. Laraxi is replaceable but her husband? Invaluable. A male in a vegetative state in his late 20s, a perfect control to test on. While you might only be the latter, I'm sure I can induce the former. Not as perfect, but adequate for the purpose of testing."

I tried to wiggle my big toe. Thought as hard as I fucking could, but nothing was going through. I was trapped in my own body.

"You're not going to escape." Fracta whispered directly into my ear. "Not until my husband wakes up for good. After that you will be free to do whatever it is the husband of Olivia Von Feyx Al NicLilith does on a daily basis. Have sex, I suppose? Fill her womb?" She mused.

I would've smiled when I felt my big toe move slightly, except I still couldn't move my face.

"I think for the man, unincubized, it's different. Do you really understand how difficult it is for a mamono to go without their husband for even a few days? Not being able to love them, touch, or talk to them? My husband lies here-" Fracta said, rattling a metal guard close to me- probably the bed over, "And I can't do anything." She hissed. "Do you really think I want to gather test subjects? To have to control these incompetent idiots?! I want my husband to be awake and happy. I will wait for as long as I need for him, do whatever I can to help him wake up, and you're going to be the one to do it. You ran over as soon as that other subject jumped through a window- like some sort of retard- and rushed to make sure that he was okay. You would be fine to give up a few years of your life to save another, wouldn't you? Just a few years. I'll make sure you're well taken care of. I'm sure by that time I will have figured out how to restore you from being a vegetable. Although it's not as if you have any choice in the matter."

She giggled. "Oh, if only your wife wasn't a daughter of the maou this would be perfect! I've gone to lengths to make sure that tracking magic fails on anyone at this hospital- but I have the sneaking suspicion that they could eventually find out. I'll need a cover of some sort. What do you think, Anonymous? Perhaps your car had a nasty head-on collision, something that I can arrange with Laraxi once I have her calmed down and settled with a new husband. A tragic hit and run. Perhaps reaching out to her quickly would be for the best? Build a rapport, ensure that they understand that it was simply happenstance, yes." She giggled. "It's all perfect! I can envision the conversation now! And she's sure to forgive me when I tell her that it was all for my dear husband! Because it was! Wasn't it…?"

My hand was moving underneath the blanket. I wasn't restrained as far as I could tell, at least beyond the bedsheets covering me. I could move other parts of my body, and I could feel things, now.

I finally opened my eyes to see Fracta facing away from me. She was staring at the man next to me. It was hard to move my neck but I could see his face in the dim light.

It wasn't the man that'd jumped out the window. He was… normal looking, I guess. Just a normal guy. And Fracta was stroking his cheek, her golden eyes focused entirely on him.

Slowly moving one hand, I undid the clasp on the rolex. It was getting far easier to move. And in a move I saw once- I don't remember where, I wrapped the watch around my knuckles, face out.

"Did you really think I wouldn't-"

It's hard to punch laying down, but when it's to the gut, it's going to fucking hurt. Fracta gasped, doubling over as I slipped out of the bed.

"How… are you already walking?"

She asked as I loomed over her, my hands shaking as I held the rail.

"Conviction." Was all I said before my fist landed on her, shattering both her face and the watch's. I landed blow after blow from my makeshift brass knuckles and my elbow.

I didn't kill her. I left her breathing, just barely. Conviction wasn't enough to make me kill her, even if she was undeniably evil. If I killed her, she'd never pay for her crimes. I'd already resigned to the possibility that she might refuse to treat the people she was poisoning. That was simply that. I couldn't save everyone. But I could at least try to save the man that had written in blood on my arm.

I wiped my gory hands on the bedsheets, suddenly feeling tired. My legs were wobbly as I stood up. It was much harder to do than when I had just a few minutes ago. I glanced at the rolex in my hand, the crystal shattered, the face cracked in a spiderweb, but still ticking away. I frowned. Hadn't it been broken when I first got it? Could have been fixed with percussive maintenance when I smashed it against her head, although that was unlikely.

I suddenly wasn't able to read the watch in the dim and squinted. Which was when I realized there was someone blocking the light from the hallway.

"Laraxi?" I asked, now finally standing. She didn't look quite right. And even with Conviction I felt uneasy looking at her. "I took care of Fracta- she's out right now. Do you know where she put the token she stole from me?"

The hellhound sniffed, her eyes locking onto the unconscious form of Fracta. The flames around her eyes blazing so hot that the paint on the wall next to her started to drip and run down the wall. They looked like tears.

Laraxi was going to kill the doctor.

"Don't fucking do it." I said, my words slurred. It was hard to talk, my burst of energy was completely gone. "She won't face judgment if you kill her now."

Laraxi's flame went out, her eyes closing.

"Hun, I am the judgment. And if you didn't stop me earlier, you're not going to stop me now. I'll take the blame of killing her. I deserve it for all that I've done."

Her eyes reopened, her flames a cold blue. Even as her claws clicked on the tile floor I stood my ground. She was a good two heads taller than me, and twice my size. I couldn't even imagine how much stronger she was than me.

I shouldn't have to fear if a mamono was going to harm me, but I did. I'd already pissed her off before. Let alone putting a fucking shot in her hand.

Even still, I kept my fleet planted, her body blocking the light to the point where the only thing I saw were the flames on her face.

"Move, hun. I don't want to hurt you. Your wife Olivia would miss you dearly."

If she was planning on hurting me bad enough to kill me, she was truly gone as a mamono. With no husband to protect, one that she just laid to rest, she wasn't going to hold back.

I gripped the watch band in my right hand, feeling the cool metal against my fingers.

"Make me." I said as clearly as I could, staring her in eyes filled with flames the color of water.

I gasped. There'd been no transition between me standing in front of her, and laying in the grass, in the rain, surrounded by shards of glass. My leg was also twisting the wrong way. I stared at the open window that I'd been flung through, effortlessly.

Fracta would never face judgment. She'd never pay for the years of life she stole from people, or whatever sick testing she did.

But she'd also never see her husband again. The entire reason why she'd done this in the first place.

I tried to gather my conviction to stand, to rush back to the second floor, but conviction wasn't enough to fix broken bones. The most I could do was sit up, and not much besides that. I was also hallucinating because I saw Olivia rushing towards me. It'd been years since I'd seen her in person, but she was the same as ever. The rain only made her prettier, the droplets running off her skin, the light bouncing off the water to make her even more radiant. I couldn't help but smile.

The world went horizontal, rushing by me- but not before the hallucination caught me in her arms- staring over me with her wide, green eyes. I couldn't tell if I was crying or if it was just the rain. Even with the moon overhead, it was getting harder to see it or her face. Everything was getting darker. But I had to tell her something that I'd never said in our text messages. In our calls while I was on the road, running from her.

"I missed you, Olivia."

And then the moon flickered out.

---

The surrounding area was now covered in my pocket dimension. I rapidly healed Anon's wounds, stroking his cheek as he slept peacefully. Though I didn't know what to make of his arm. It had the words FREE ME written on it, though the curved letters were being washed away by the rain.

He'd be fine in a moment. My dimension could heal anything short of someone being evaporated, although 'resetting' them was probably a more accurate term than truly 'healing' them.

"Is he okay?"

I turned to see Ersatz, still in her coat. I wasn't sure how she followed me into my dimension- I thought I'd left her at the McDonald's, but she was here now somehow.

"He'll be okay. Would you mind watching him?"

She nodded, only glancing at the glass embedded in his leg pulling itself out, followed by his bones resetting. That was something else to unpack at a later time.

I flew through the window that was currently fixing itself, and recoiled from the scene in front of me. The sort of brutality I would've expected of men, not mamono.

The hellhound didn't even bother glancing at me. I had to snap my fingers to summon golden restraints so she'd stop making the mess worse than it was. My pocket dimension was about to have its restorative capabilities put to the test.

Only then did her attention turn to me. There were no flames around her eyes, a look of resignation in them. Her paws were bloody and matted, and she looked as if she'd just been crying her eyes out from her glistening face.

"My name is Peggy Laraxi. And I killed Dr. Fracta, Ms. Lilim." She said, gesturing with her chin towards the mess in front of her that was pulling itself together. "You wouldn't happen to be Olivia, would you? I talked with your husband outside a few hours ago. He loves you a lot."

I didn't respond. As a lilim, I had specific duties. One of which, that didn't come up often, was to adjudicate crimes that I was witness to. And I would have the sole duty of deciding the outcome for the victim and perpetrator. I'd oversee their case until the end.

"She was an evil motherfucker. Ordered kidnappings. Blackmailed to get what she wanted. Ran tests on people knowing it could kill them. Lied to people about why their loved ones were in a coma. Put people into comas just to test them. She was about to do the same thing to your husband, you know."

I stared at what now looked like a werecat, almost fully restored now. She was breathing softly, her eyes closed.

"I… was one of the people who kidnapped for her. She held my husband hostage. Hell, she might have even been the one to put him in a coma." The hellhound sighed. "But your husband helped me. Convinced me that this wasn't right, in his own way. He's a good man." She smiled.

I nodded. She didn't explain why he'd fallen from a window, and I had a feeling the werecat hadn't been the one to do it.

I blinked. I'd never felt the urge to murder someone before, but I had to restrain it just looking at the hellhound. Hurting Anon was unthinkable.

I peered into her mind. I watched as she cried at the corpse of the husband she'd finally let go of. The hatred- both at herself and the werecat on the floor- was clear in the memories that I sifted through. They weren't chaotic like Ersatz's had been, they were still fresh in Peggy's mind. Her reasoning, her desires, her fears, they were all clear to me.

As was her backhanding Anonymous out the window when he stood up to her. Even after being drugged, he was still striving to do what was right.

I had to close my fist in order to not snap my fingers, to erase the lives of the women in front of me. Both had harmed Anonymous and countless others. Maybe if I was an impartial judge I could forgive it. But they'd harmed my husband with the intent to do worse than kill him- to trap him, here. To hide him from me.

And for that, I found it hard to forgive them.

"I know you're awake." I told Fracta, who was trying to lie as still as possible. I summoned Wilson, my dark matter ball, and leaned back onto him to sit, staring at both Peggy and the werecat.

The werecat scrambled up, scooching as far away as she could from the hellhound, staring at her wildeyed. Peggy had memories of the doctor's composure, but I had a feeling she was easy to crack.

I summoned tea, sipping at the hot liquid. It was perfect as usual. I made no move to offer it to them, focusing on the citrus undertones.

"I-I wanted to talk to you as soon as possible. Your husband was brought here because-"

I looked at Fracta, placing my cup on an offshoot of Wilson the size of a baseball, that perfectly balanced the saucer on top of it. I could fondly remember spending time when I was younger to learn the magic behind it, to implement it, to reproduce it. It was such a small thing, but understanding magic at a young age was one of the few things that I had been confident in. Seeing the usefulness of it was something that always brought a smile to my face. I smiled then, poking the small ball and watching as it readjusted itself to ensure that the saucer didn't let a single drop of tea fall.

"I am Olivia Renson, 50th daughter of Lilith, and I will adjudicate whatever happened here. You may refer to me as Ms. Renson. Judiciary systems here in America- which you may well know better than me as you are both clearly not from our realm- operate on an interesting system when it comes to the punishment of criminals. A crime cannot be cruel and unusual, at the simplest and base level. But that gives leeway in an interesting direction- entailing that a crime can be cruel or unusual, just not both. I will also freely inform you that for hurting my husband- for hurting countless other men and women, there is no punishment for such a thing in my homeland. It does not occur. You both have heard that my homeland is idyllic, where there is no hunger, no want for a wife or amusement. Nothing is out of reach with determination. There are no crimes. No murder, or robbery, nothing of the sort."

I leaned forward.

"The law of my homeland states that any mamono found to have murdered, or be an accessory to a murder, is left to the discretion of the overseeing lilim. There are no requirements on the punishment, even if it were to be cruel and unusual. Although it is not common knowledge, some have been put to death for far less than what has occurred here. I will deal with the others that helped you later."

Fracta was openly crying, sobs racking her body.

"Dr. Fracta. You hurt men, forced them asleep against their will. Orchestrated this-" I said, gesturing to the hospital. I had seen the twisted desire of Fracta to save her husband within Peggy's memories. "Killed several. For your crimes, when you sleep, you will see through the eyes of your victim's loved ones. You will feel their pain of not seeing their husband or wife return home safely, understand it, and beg each and everyone of them for forgiveness on your knees. As your peers, they will pass their own judgment on you. No matter what that judgment is, you will bear it. And after each and every one of the victims and their family feels that you have paid for your crimes- you will spend the rest of your life pursuing means to wake your husband and those like him, using means that do not involve kidnapping or psychological torture. I am not going to list the ways that I would be okay with your research progressing because you will not make this mistake again. Am I clear?"

"T-there are patients that I need to attend to every few hours-"

"I will not be coerced like my husband. You are a doctor and countless others have already died to your malpractice, your twisted schemes. You will follow my sentencing to the letter, and if those patients were to die, you will have yet more families to kneel in front of."

"I-I… this can't be happening, I just wanted to help my husband! I want to see him smile!" She said, standing up, her hands shaking, her golden eyes wild. "Surely you can understand that?"

Laraxi had been sitting but was suddenly up, holding one of Fracta's arms. Bending and twisting it with awful cracking noises until I could clearly see the syringe she'd been holding behind her back. The one she'd been planning to stick in me.

Not that she would have succeeded, even without Peggy's interference.

"Y-you placed that in my hands! You were the one to do all this! You set me up!" Fracta screamed.

But unfortunately, even as I touched Peggy's mind, I could see the exact memory from the hellhound's point of view. Fracta had picked it up of her own accord.

Laraxi couldn't even look me in the eye. I snapped my fingers, binding Fracta at the hands and feet with golden thread, and tossed her off into a corner that I could keep an eye on.

"Dozens of women lost the smiles of their husbands due to you. How many more might have if you were unchecked?"

What went unsaid is that it might have been my husband's smile, but from the way her eyes widened there was no need to tell her directly. I snapped my fingers, and although nothing changed in the physical world, I placed the curse I had detailed to Fracta upon her.

"Ms. Laraxi. For your crimes, you will stay with Fracta and ensure she carries out her sentence. After either her death, or the fulfillment of her sentence, you are free."

"What?! She's just as guilty as I am! She was the one that helped me kidnap men! I couldn't have done it without her!" Fracta wailed, struggling in her bindings. "She's even worse! This isn't fair!"

Laraxi said nothing to me, instead choosing to sit, and put down the syringe carefully, glancing at me after she did so, and then at something behind me.

I nodded.

"Do you believe this judgment to be 'fair', Ms. Laraxi?"

"No, Ms. Renson." She said, shaking her head. "I believe we should both go to hell for our crimes. Now."

I peered into her mind and there was no trace of a lie. She truly believed her death was the only penance grave enough to account for what she had done.

"Then you both have the pleasure of being unhappy with your sentences. Ms. Laraxi, this goes without saying but Fracta's judgment will come from her peers, not from you. Is that understood? I expect weekly updates on her activities, her penance, and your own thoughts on the matter. Do we understand each other?"

There was the start of a flame around her eyes, but it quickly flickered out. "Yes, Ms. Renson."

"Then I place Dr. Fracta under your parole." I said, snapping my fingers and releasing the binds on the werecat. "Do your best to work together and ensure that whatever patients can be saved, are. I will allow a grace period of one week before Dr. Fracta will be unable to resist the call to her penance. Speaking of which."

I snapped my fingers, summoning Fracta to me. I placed a hand on her feverish forehead. I rewrote her desires so that she'd be forced to follow through with my sentence, but left her memories and character intact. There was no point in penance if I was to do it for her. I also placed the spell that I had promised- that she would know the pain and suffering of those connected to her victims when she slept.

"My duties as a Lilim are done." I said coolly. "But not as a wife. If you ever touch my husband again, you will know why there is no crime within the Royal Makai."

I allowed Laraxi to escort Fracta out of the room, and sat, pondering as I sipped my tea.

"Why didn't you kill them?" A young voice asked from behind me.

"Ersatz?! You weren't supposed to see this."

I turned around to find her standing behind me, emotionless.

"The guy that fell is fine. He'll be coming up in a minute. So I wanted to see…" She said, trailing off. "Did I do something wrong?"

I crouched, sitting at eye level with her. I brushed away a strand of her on her face.

"No, but I wish you hadn't left Anon alone. You said he's fine? Where is he?"

---

The moonlight flickered, the broken watch face dimming for a moment as I stared at it. It had definitely been broken before I snagged it off of Laraxi's husband.

And Olivia just happened to be here? What were the chances?

The doctor wasn't stupid either, why had she even allowed me to wake up? To gloat? To have me know about my impending state of vegetation?

And how had Fracta known about Olivia? That I was married to her, that it was her token?

Mamono willingly hurting each other and men in excess was bizarre.

I hadn't thought about it before, but why did the husband of a Waffle House manager even have a rolex anyway?

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. Something wasn't adding up. I didn't like the conclusion that I was coming to. I could hear my heart pounding as I walked to my car. My legs, my whole body was fine now, probably thanks to Olivia. I was pretty sure she'd flown up to the second story, but I couldn't remember.

Fracta had taken my gun and token, but she hadn't taken my keys. I unlocked the trunk of the car, pulled up the wheel-well, and grabbed my other handgun, a Sig Sauer, P226, out of it.

I stared at it for a good long time.

How did I know that I wasn't dreaming right now? That me getting out of the house hospital wasn't just part of the dream?

I could just be a vegetable lying on a hospital bed. A test subject for Dr. Fracta. I could never be sure this was reality. That anything was real.

If only I'd chosen fucking Peace. I would've been able to live with the idea that nothing was real if I didn't have this conviction.

I jammed the gun in my mouth, closing my eyes as I kept my finger over the trigger. The trigger weight was low enough that just a twitch would tell me once and for all whether or not I was in a dream. Conviction was telling me this was the right call.

I couldn't even get rid of it now. It was going to stay with me forever. The strength to push forward no matter what. I'd have to make my own Peace.

I tossed the watch onto the asphalt, aimed, and shattered the watch into a shower of glass and metal. The watch looked stupid anyway. Couldn't pawn it after what it'd been through anyway.

I flipped on the safety before shoving the gun into the back of my pants, only to see Olivia standing aside from me.

"Hello." She said timidly, her white hair framed by the rising sun to the point where it was practically glowing. "Are you okay? I heard a gunshot."

Her eyes were drawn to the smoking pile of metal in front of me, before being pulled back to my face.

"I'm fine. Did you take care of Fracta and Laraxi?"

She nodded, her eyes drawn back to the metal. The broken watch added character to the parking lot. It was an improvement, really.

"Fracta will pay for her crimes. As will Laraxi." She said flatly. "Anon, are you sure you're alright? I swear they'll never hurt you again."

Her heels tapped on the asphalt, until she was close enough for me to reach out and touch. I wanted to embrace her. There was nothing that I desired more to pull her in close for a hug, to feel her heat against me. I was tired of traveling on the road, alone. Eating at shitty diners. Stealing money.

I cried when I heard the voice whisper. It wasn't the you did it, it always had before. It whispered something far more malicious, now.

This isn't real.

This is what it would tell me forever more. And I'd never be able to reason against it, ever. I could be stuck in a dream- maybe I never left the hospital. Maybe I was still stuck in the godforsaken house-

The words drifted away when Olivia wrapped her arms around my back, pressing herself against my chest. She was a head shorter than me, and buried her face in my jacket.

"I missed you, too." She whispered.

Olivia was warm. She had a pleasant smell about her, one that made me feel at ease, at home. I placed my chin on her head, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her as tight as she pulled me.

It was nice to be like that for a moment. I was the one to eventually pull away.

"I never want to set foot in that fucking hospital again, but I made a promise to someone."

It took a few minutes of searching rooms, but I eventually found the man that'd fallen from the window. He no longer showed any sign of having ever been hurt and was sleeping deeply in his bed. The window had been boarded up with a piece of wood and duck tape. And he showed no signs of waking.

"I'm sorry Anon. I can't help them. My pocket dimension magic only resets them to how they were physically. It will never fix mental wounds. I could try and use more invasive means of magic, but it might only hurt him more."

Olivia looked genuinely sorry as she said it and I only nodded.

"I get it. Now that Fracta is going to be gone, what's going to happen to them?" I asked, gesturing to the whole hospital.

"I've been in contact with a number of hospitals already, and I should be able to ask them for the staffing necessary. Monsterization and Incubization has dropped the need for them substantially, so more and more doctors are looking for work, as well as nurses and technicians. I'll handle it." She said.

And I realized that I trusted her to do it. Without question.

I stared at the boarded up window, setting my jaw. Olivia placed her hand on mine.

We hadn't really ever seen each other a lot. We'd spent maybe a full week together before our separation, but nothing else. We'd talked daily when she was able. Sometimes for hours. About what we would do, or Olivia's sisters. About life. Sometimes she would vaguely tell me about her patients, how she helped them move past their fears or realize what they were.

And sometimes, she'd tell me about when she couldn't help them.

"Olivia." I said. I couldn't bear to look at her, focusing on the grain of the wood.

"I'm scared. That none of this is real."

I felt oddly calm.

"I'm scared that I'm still trapped at your house. Or that I'm still in a coma from that cat. That I'll never wake up. That this is all a dream. You might not be real. None of this." I said, gesturing to the whole hospital. "And I'll never know."

She squeezed my hand. "You know I love you, right?"

I glanced at her. Olivia was wearing a plain smile. I couldn't read it.

"So let's assume that this isn't real. That you are in a coma."

This isn't real.

This isn't real.

"I'd look for you. Immediately. And I'd find a way to wake you up and save you, right?"

I nodded slowly. Olivia would find me eventually. No matter what Fracta did, she'd be able to stop or revert it somehow.

"So then all you have to do is live happily. And if this is real, that's all you'd have to do, right? So just live happily, Anon. You can think of me as a fake. The Olivia that you make mistakes with, that you do things you'd never normally do." She said, squeezing my hand as her green eyes softened. "But I'd prefer you think of me as your Olivia. Whether it be in a dream or reality, I will always love you. I will always find you."

I ugly cried on her shoulder. It just never stopped. I squeezed her tighter than I ever should have. I never wanted to let her go. I'd never leave her side again.

I'd never felt so safe before, so comfortable as I embraced her. Smelled her scent, felt her warmth. I could feel my thoughts of this being a dream fading away. Erased just by being next to her. I wished she would eventually know how much I loved her. For saving me.

But eventually I pulled away. The tears wiped away by a handkerchief that Olivia handed me.

And I felt Conviction flare, burning in my chest.

"But how do I know I ever left your house? That I'm not still trapped there?" I asked, my Conviction speaking through me.

Olivia's eyes fell, her hands lightly squeezing mine.

"You don't. Nothing I say will ever change that. When we first really talked, do you remember the promise you made me make? That you would trust me not to use my power to remove or change your memories?"

"It wasn't a promise. I trust you not to do it." I corrected.

Her hand twitched at my response, "I could have removed those memories. Any thought that you even had that my love for you is anything less than genuine, that you really did leave my house. That this," She said, gesturing to the hospital, "Is real. I could remove all of your pain, all of your misgivings. They'd be mine to bear, to remember, while you live peacefully… with me. But I won't. Because you trust me. And I trust you to believe in me. That I would never do anything to harm you. That you are free from me. That if this is a dream- I will wake you from it and save you. I love you, Anon."

"I love you too, Olivia."

I didn't realize our lips were meeting, but they were. Years of stress melted away in her embrace. There was nothing but her, and I.

"Ew."

I pulled back and saw a small, white haired child leaning in the corner. She looked rough for what was one of the cuter kids I'd ever seen. Although her red eyes were a little off putting.

Though if she had green eyes, she'd look almost exactly like Olivia. Or Olivia's mother, who I'd briefly met before. It was definitely weird to think of the Maou as my mother in law, but that was how it was.

"Is she your sister?" I whispered in Olivia's ear, since it was already so close. She shivered at that in a weird way.

"Yes to both." My wife replied, and I pulled my head back far enough to see her trying to hold back a laugh. "She called my mother a whore a few hours ago."

"Kids got some fucking balls." I whispered back. "Why is she here?"

"Because I think my mother was not so subtly hinting that she would like us to have children." Olivia said pointedly. "As would I." She whispered, her voice sending shivers down my spine.

"Hmm. I see." Was all I said, although I could definitely feel her magic acting on me. It'd been a really long time since we last had sex. And the kiss alone had done a number on me.

"Once Ersatz is safely back at home, we will be taking my mother's hint. For the next month." She whispered in my ear. I shivered. I knew I'd have to pay for depriving a mamono of her indulgences at some point. It just wasn't something that I'd been thinking about having to deal with now. "Unless you don't feel up for it?" She added quickly.

I just patted my wife on the back.

"Is Olivia your whore?"

My wife gasped. "Ersatz!"

"Yes." I answered, keeping a straight face.

Olivia looked positively betrayed, and then a little too smug for my liking. "I think calling a woman you had sex with once your whore is a little inaccurate, isn't it? We'll have to remedy that posthaste. Ersatz, my dear sister! We're heading back!"

"But I didn't even get to have McDonald-"

"We will get take out!" Olivia announced quickly. "And then head back to the castle to fuck- I mean eat!"

"Whore." Ersatz said silently, making Olivia's eyebrow twitch.

"I like you, kid. My name's Anonymous. And you're Ersatz?"

She nodded at that.

"Why don't you come out of the corner?"

Slowly, she did. It wasn't as if the light changed, because the window was boarded, but it felt like it did. I could see her face more clearly. Her face wasn't at all rough- no mamono's ever did- but she looked like she'd seen shit. I could think of at least one way to make her day.

"You ever driven a car?"

"I'm 12." She answered petulantly, and sullenly.

"So what? Do you want to drive a car?"

Her red eyes widened, and I grinned.

---

We all looked at the car rolling down the mountainside. It wasn't as loud as you might think, and all of us respectfully watched as the window shattered when hitting the ground flat. All of us- except Ersatz- cringed when it finally stopped after hitting a tree.

"I was expecting worse. Nice job, kid. You should've seen what happened the first time I drove my dad's car."

"Sorry…" She said in a quiet voice, her tail dragging against the ground.

"It's no big deal. Olivia, can you summon another one?"

"No." My wife snapped. "I told you this would happen!"

"We would've been fine. I've lived through worse."

Just then, the car down below burst into a plume of flame and smoke, until Olivia snapped her fingers and the fire was out, the car inert.

"I plan for you to be driving and walking very little for the next month. If you behave, I'll summon you another one."

"But then how are we going to get McDonald's?" I protested, putting my hands on Ersatz's shoulders and rocking her a bit. "She's gotta drive us there."

Olivia rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. There was a small picnic in front of us with a basket overflowing with fries, burgers, and a cooler of drinks on top of a comfortable checkered blanket.

None of us made any sound other than eating for the next five minutes, until Olivia's sister posed a good fucking question.

"Why didn't you just summon us McDonald's at the castle?" Ersatz asked, digging into a burger the size of her head.

Olivia just kept eating her burger, occasionally dabbing at her cute mouth with a handkerchief.

"She's still not sure when to use her powers." I whispered to the girl, giving her a reassuring nod when she cocked her head.

"I will curse you to walk around pantsless if you keep this up, Anon." Olivia said without a fucking trace of a joke on her lips or her handkerchief.

"She's moved onto threats. All she knows is violence. Learn from good adults like me, that solve issues with words." I told Ersatz in a not-so-quiet whisper.

The kid giggled, and my mission was accomplished. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have one of our own. That was the one topic me and Olivia had never brought up on our calls. Children. Or sex, for that matter, even. I'd always thought she was kind of prudish, but she certainly wasn't acting like that now. She had a look in her eyes that meant she was going to make good on all the threats she'd made today, and I wasn't sure whether to be concerned or aroused.

The car down the hill from us burst into flames again, interrupting our conversation, as Olivia was once again forced to douse it quickly or risk a forest fire. She didn't look as amused as me or Ersatz were since we were hunched over laughing. I was kinda glad I never took those child choking classes, now. At least this kid had a sense of humor.

It felt like everything was on fast forward as we went back to the Royal Makai, Olivia instructed me to say 'hi' to Lessofa (her maid) and I did, and then I also said hi to her mother where we dropped off Ersatz.

And then we were in Olivia's bedroom. She was wearing a striking negligee of green that matched her eyes and caught my own as she laid on her bed.

I wasn't fucking nervous… I was a little nervous. She was looking at me more like prey, right now, her green eyes locked onto me.

"Did you know that I masturbated for a full month to you?" She asked. It was hard for my eyes to not look at her body.

How the fuck was I supposed to respond to that? I really hoped she wasn't expecting an actual answer.

"I'm flattered?" I offered, still standing clothed and not sure what to do. This wasn't at all how our first time had went. Our first time had been gentle, slow.

"You're going to be more than flattered. Now let me show you a few of my fantasies that I had during that month. I made sure to write them all down. Let's start with… robber rape play!"

With a snap of her fingers, it began.