In anticipation of speaking with Izadora, Alder shrugged off the blanket she had had so tightly wrapped around herself. She braced herself for excruciating cold against her skin but felt nothing of the sort. In fact looking around, her biddies seemed to have gotten over it as well.

The cadet's voice still swirled around her head and she could hardly sit still. So she didn't. She paced about for the several minutes it took the scientist to reenter the room.

"General, are you feeling better? What has happened, the major made it sound urgent? Is the cold feeling getting worse?!"

"It is urgent! Nevermind my brief chill, whatever it was," Alder waved her off flippantly. "Izadora, I don't know how or why, but I heard her or I felt her, I'm not entirely sure. I just don't understand it, she sounded so..."

"Who, ma'am, even I need more information than that, please from the beginning," Izadora followed her with her eyes as she kept pacing about restlessly.

Alder sharply glared at her then. "Craven. Who else?!" Alder bit harshly.

The Necro's eyes widened a fraction. "Apologies, but the more forthcoming you are the easier the situation will be to diagnose," she paused. "Start with what she said. Was she distressed? Did she sound normal?"

She just shook her head and scoffed. "Normal?! how would I know what her normal is anymore?! I feel like all I can remember is pain in her voice and suffering in her eyes!"

The scientist just looked at her skeptically. It was unlike the general to be so outwardly worked up like this. "General, do not make this harder than it is. You know this Cadet on a deeply personal level, you know what normal means,"

"Yes I suppose I do," Alder sighed, pulling herself together slightly, becoming acutely aware of the other people around her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a breath. "She sounded like she was in trouble, in pain maybe, I don't know for sure,"

"Mhmm okay. And she said, what, exactly?"

"'General, please don't do this,' were her exact and only words, and she sounded scared," Alder recalled. "That tells us close to nothing! Only that the spree is torturing her with mind games,"

"Interesting," Izadora cocked her head to the side curiously. "Were you able to respond or was there any indication she was aware that you could feel or hear her?"

Sarah sighed again and let her hands hit her sides in silent exasperation. "I tried, but no, there was no indication of anything like that,"

"But you did try?" Alder nodded immediately. "Good. Now might be as good a time as any to discuss what I found in my time researching,"

Alder contemplated sitting down at her desk but decided against it, she had too much pent up energy and she was on edge. "Yes. Go on,"

"I came across several pieces of information that may prove important for your consideration," she paused. "Granted this is all speculation, it seems like it may be possible to strengthen your connection to the Cadet, but given you said you made an attempt and failed, it is not encouraging,"

"I see," That did not bode well. "I have heard her voice in my head twice now, but I couldn't get through to her, explain that to me,"

Izadora folded her hands tightly behind her back. "Twice? And when was the other instance?"

"Day three of the on base interrogations," Alder stated matter-of-factly.

"And you didn't think it critical to keep me apprised?!" The necro narrowed her eyes.

Alder clenched her fists. "No. I did not. I was not convinced it was possible but now…"

"It is possible that during moments of high stress the bond is stronger, but that doesn't explain why she can reach you and not visa versa," She trailed off. "I would suggest when making another attempt that you yourself will need to focus on her energy, and your biddies, as during a biddiing ceremony, should attempt to the sing the seeds of joining,"

"The goal is not to make her my biddy again, Izadora," Alder scowled, thinking over what she'd been told.

The necro nodded. "I am aware, and it is my understanding from texts I came across, I should be able to force the full strength of the connection to reestablish itself without the side effect of her taking your years," Izadora explained.

"Ooh General, this sounds promising," Danny interjected.

Alder nodded again, ignoring her biddes' optimism, she knew there had to be down sides. There always were. "Okay that sounds reasonable so far, what are the risks?"

Izadora hesitated. She never did that, and it only served to make Alder nervous. "Besides the added stress of connecting another mind to you, there is one major concern I have, and I fear it may be distasteful to you as well," Alder could hear the trepidation in the scientist's voice that told her even further that she didn't want to hear it.

"Just tell me, Izadora,"

"Strengthening the connection may make it more difficult to break and even if it were possible to sever it eventually, it is considerably more likely to cause irreparable damage mentally and emotionally to both of you should a separation be attempted,"

"In short?" Alder understood what she was saying but she needed it straight.

"If you go through with this, the link would be permanent as it would be too dangerous to sever," Izadora said plainly.

And there it was. Her heart sank. She knew she couldn't do that to Tally. No matter how badly she wanted to find her, she couldn't bind the girl to her forever, against her will no less, especially after what she did. It was one thing when it was in the heat of the moment on the battlefield and it was the girl's own choice, now it was completely different.

"I see," Well there goes that idea, Alder thought to herself.

'What do you mean 'well there goes that idea'?! You aren't even going to consider it?!' Jamie hissed through their link.

'Because she's afraid, let her be, if she doesn't want to do it, you can't blame her,' April defended her.

'Like hell I can't, she could help Tally and be truly connected to her again, which is a win win scenario,'

Alder sighed. "Thank you Izadora, I will consider it, if you can find any other options I want to be briefed ASAP,"

"Might I suggest you consider it quickly? Given the connection was strong enough for at least her to communicate with you, and the appearance of fluctuation in what little strength it has, waiting for it to be weaker than it already is, is not going to be beneficial. Beyond that, the fact that she reached out to you, knowingly or not, means that she has yet to learn the truth of the broader situation,"

"How do you figure?" She arched an eyebrow at the assumption.

"Because she didn't shut you out completely, rather she reached out to you for help," Izadora said sternly.

That fact should have been a soothing thought, but it wasn't. It reminded her that it was certainly only a matter of time before Craven was informed of the truth. "I will consider it quickly, but I still want other options,"

"Understood," Izadora nodded and walked off.

'I am not considering this, and that is final, I don't want to hear a word from any of you about it," Alder growled to her biddies, feeling like they were going to argue with her decision.

She was right and it was as if Jamie hadn't heard her at all. "You're making a mistake, General, and this time you have to see it. You could save her life. Time is only being wasted as Izadora said, and the chances of bringing her home lessen with every second that passes by. Will you be able to live with yourself if we find her too late?!"

'Just because you-we all, miss Tally, doesn't mean binding her permanently to the General is a good idea, especially after everything Sarah did to her, poor thing . Even if it means finding her faster, Sarah has other things to consider, you don't know everything Jamie!" April hit back at Jamie's remark.

'Goddess, just own it Sarah, we know you miss her more than we do, when she told you that you were still connected, even on a small level, part of you was ecstatic, we all felt that. Being linked to her again couldn't be that bad. I remember when she was your biddy. As much as she mourned the loss of her old life, part of her was beyond thrilled, just as at the prospect of returning to that life, she was excited but she also felt a deep sadness at the idea of losing that connection with you. You had to know that, ' Rosa explained. " Forcing this connection to her, especially if it doesn't force her to take your years at the same time, really could be something she actually wants,"

"She's not wrong," Danny agreed. "Especially given the circumstances, I can't imagine a scenario in which she would be upset by this, considering everything."

"Danny you too? How can you say that? Sarah got her into this mess in the first place, how do you think Tally is going to feel when she knows the whole truth of it?! And you think it would be good for her to be permanently connected to the General after learning that?!" April pointed out.

"If she survives because of this, I think she could learn to move past it. None of it matters if she isn't found, and right now this is the only lead!" Danny scowled from across the circle at the other women.

"Enough! I will not do this to her!" Alder yelled at them, jumping to her feet and slamming her palms on the desk. She didn't mean to yell out loud and the whole room went silent and everyone turned to look at her. She was glaring daggers at all of her biddies.

'If that outburst isn't proof enough, I don't know what is,' Jamie scoffed.

Tally was interested now, but she also had no expectation that anything this woman said would be true. "Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Come on Red, we know each other better than that, why would I lie?"

"To trick me into betraying everything and everyone I ever cared about," Tally said flatly.

Nice smirked. "You're not wrong, because that is exactly what I want, but I don't need to lie to make that happen, the truth is more than capable,"

Tally scoffed. "And what truth is that?!"

"Ah ah ah, you have to ask more specific questions than that, as much as I want to, I'm not going to just tell you, that's no fun," Nicte shook her head and tapped her fingers on the edge of the table.

Tally rolled her eyes. Somehow this wasn't what she imagined when she thought of the leader of the spree. "Why did you fix me?" She put a hand to her throat. That was the simplest question she could come up with out of all of them.

Nicte cocked her head to the side. "I'm not in the habit of watching idly by while one of our kind is suffering, needlessly ,"

"Needlessly?"

"There are those who deserve all the suffering that befalls them," She sneered before her expression became lighter again. "You, however, do not, you are a seeker of the truth, that is not something that should be punished, and besides you were not the intended target,"

"Who was?"

"We both know the answer to that," Nicte answered shortly.

She knew there was only one person she could be talking about and Tally could feel her heart racing. If only she could still be connected to her, she would know if the General were alright. "What did you do to her?!" She sprung up, ready to jump across the table to attack the other woman and demand answers, just at the mere suggestion that she hurt the General. She would have anyway, but she found herself unable to move. Instead, Tally glared into the other woman's eyes.

"Oh you know, only a slightly more extensive version of what happened to you," Nicte rolled her eyes clearly uninterested. "You are incredibly lucky that those pretty vocal cords of yours were easily fixable,"

Tally struggled and tried to get free but none of her limbs responded, she couldn't speak, she could barely even breathe. "Mmmm-mm-mmm,"

It was like she could read her mind because she answered the exact question Tally was asking. "Yes yes don't worry, fortunately for no one , she survived annoyingly enough and is in good condition, though she's a little pissed off if you ask me," Nicte said less than enthusiastically before releasing her.

"How do you know all of this? How did you get close enough to her?!" Tally fell back to her seat with a thud. "What did the General do to you?!"

"You've seen it," Nicte's eyes flickered. "It's the reason I started the spree, she needs to be stopped," Tally noticed how easily the other witch evaded her first two questions and went for the third instead, but she would get the answers to the rest at some point.

"I don't understand, why do you kill innocent civilians and what does that have to do with the General?" It was like Tally had several different but similar puzzles strewn about and mixed together in front of her. She was having a hard time putting any of it together.

Nicte leaned back. "Tell me, how many witches die every year globally in defence of those petty humans?!"

Tally didn't know, she just shrugged, all she knew was that it was too many.

Nicte nodded knowingly. "How about this, how many humans have died at the hands of the spree this year?"

"1,894," Tally knew because she had heard a news broadcast at Raelle's house right before she was abducted.

The dark look in Nicte's eyes told her she was right. "And so you have the answer to both questions," Nicte explained, waiting for the realization to hit the redhead. "Ask yourself why their lives are more important than ours? It's not hard to keep track of civilian deaths, that number is everywhere, on every TV, every radio station, but witch deaths, no one knows that number, no one seems to care about that, not even witches!" Nicte laughed humorlessly at the irony.

Tally was horrified. "That cannot be right,"

"Do the math. Why should we be the only ones paying the price, fighting their wars, while they use us as living body shields. Are we not worth more than that?" Nicte growled and hit the table making Tally jump.

Tally was baffled. "And the General?"

Nicte narrowed her eyes at her. "How many civilians died in the first spree attack over 20 years ago,"

"30?"

Nicte just nodded. "What else happened?" Tally didn't immediately answer. "Come on Cadet, it's part of the reason I had to rescue you, it's because you know too much about this,"

Tally's eyes widened. Rescue her from who? The army? The General? No, that was impossible but what if... "Goddess," How did she not realize. "The martyrdom,"

"Bingo," Nicte smirked. "She was responsible, not only did she use my work without telling me, but she killed innocent witches that already surrendered, but you already know that. She murdered them because they refused to fight in her army. Because they refused to be slaves to her and the humans," Nicte paused and stood. Tally kept her eyes locked on her every move. "Listen Tally, the hatred of our kind has too long been allowed to fester and grow in the shadows, with General dearest not lifting a finger to fight against it and rather sending our kind to early graves. We are at the precipice of a grand opportunity that will not present itself again. We can bring witch society to its zenith, and end our tenure as slaves for those who are undeserving. It's time we fought for ourselves, but things will need to change first, starting with the removal of your General from her high pedestal she has built for herself atop the graves of our ancestors,"

Tally felt a stab of guilt. She did know a lot of this already, but hearing it out loud felt different. She was far from agreeing that the General was a monster in need of being put down, but she couldn't disagree with the obvious war crimes that she had committed. "You don't think she does any good at all?" She allowed herself to be in denial and continue her defense. After all, Nicte never actually said who she rescued Tally from.

Nicte just scoffed. "She has done irreparable harm. Keeping our kind in chains, preventing us from reaching our full potential, allowing us to die for no reason,"

Tally balled her fists. "The General does answer to the Hague, and to the government, it is not because of her doing alone that things are this way,"

"Cadet witch, Sarah Alder signed away every witch's life, from our first song to our dying breath, and she had a hand in the creation of the Hague. If you think she answers to them you are delusional," Nicte spat. "And as for the government, Alder would have been more than capable enough to be the one leading the country, rather than taking their puny demands that take no toll on them but leave our families without mothers, sisters, and daughters," She turned away from her then. "If she had made better, stronger choices, she could have been the hero and leader we all needed, but instead she's a tyrant,"

Tally could tell she was getting off track from her point.

"She has been in power for far too long, she cannot see how she has hindered our kind,"

Tally had heard enough of this, yes what Alder did was bad, but she did have reasons, she certainly wasn't as evil as Nicte was making her out to be. "She's doing her best, her intentions are good! I can't imagine anyone doing much better!" Tally exclaimed through gritted teeth.

Nicte raised an eyebrow and smirked a little at Tally's display of anger. "Oh? Is that so? And you know that how exactly?" Nicte circled her slowly.

"I have seen it almost every day serving under her, and I have felt it. You know we were connected already, and through that brief connection, I felt how strongly she cared for our survival, her intentions are in the right place,"

"Our survival or her own?!" Nicte snapped before her voice evolved into a menacing chuckle and she shook her head. "You have no idea how naive you are, I almost feel badly for you," she paused and her chuckle turned into a slightly deeper laugh. "You and I have so many things in common Red, it's simply astounding,"

"What are you talking about?" Tally glared at her. She was going to force her to explain.

Nicte's eyes glinted with mischief.

"Enough! I will not do this to her!" The General's voice echoed through the room making both of the Cadet's along with everyone else jump and look at her.

"What do you think her biddies told her?" Rae whispered to Abigail who just shrugged.

"I have no idea, but she looks furious, whichever one it was must have been feeling brave,"

"Cadet's, I'd advise you to keep those comments to yourselves," Anacostia and Izadora were standing nearby.

"Yes ma'am," Abigail responded.

"If they are still connected why can't the General just figure out where she is?" Raelle flipped through more maps.

"It isn't that simple. Their connection isn't strong enough, and the General has thus far refused any attempt to strengthen it," Izadora explained.

"Good. Once I tell Tally about what the General did to her, there's no way she'd want to spend the rest of her life connected to her like that," Raelle said bitterly.

"That is, if the spree haven't told her already by the time you get to her," Izadora pointed out coldly. "Either way, cadet, you would think bringing Craven home safely as soon as possible at any cost would be your priority, even if it meant she remained linked to the General,"

"I agree, it may not be the best option but anyone who wants Tally to return alive shouldn't rule anything out," Anacostia added pointedly.

"What did I say, I told you the General doesn't really want Tally alive," Abigail muttered not so quietly under her breath to Raelle.

"You're mistaken," It was the General.

"General," All four of them stood at attention.

She nodded. "Izadora, prepare for the procedure,"

Nicte walked slowly, dragging her nails along the edge of the table as she went until she came to stand behind her. Her warm hands landed on Tally's shoulders, startling her though she could have guessed that was coming.

Tally could feel her tighten her grip and lean closer.

"She betrayed you just as she betrayed me. Part of you should be able to feel it, deep down even if you don't admit it, you know what she did to you," Her tone was dangerous and yet it invited Tally to be curious.

Tally just shook her head slowly. "I don't know what you mean,"

"Yes you do, think about it, Tally. It's the only plausible answer to all of the questions that have been playing around in that pretty head of yours since before you ended up here in my domain," Nicte strummed her fingers, but didn't remove her hands from Tally's shoulders.

Her voice was deep but smooth. "Don't make me say it Red,"

Tally scoffed lightly and squirmed under Nicte's touch. "I'm not making you do anything, but I want answers! If you're so eager to give them, then tell me. If the truth is so powerful you think it would make me betray the army, then please, let's test that theory," she practically growled.

Nicte hummed in approval. "There's a tenacity there that Alder hasn't marched it out of you yet," Nicte whispered close to her.

"Why don't you keep her name out of your mouth and get to the point," Tally hissed, trying to angle her head so she could see the other woman's face behind her.

"Oh but if not for her taking it upon herself to have you shipped to my backyard, you and I wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting, and I must say what a true pleasure it has been," Tally felt Nicte's breath on her ear and she shivered uncomfortably.

"You expect me to believe she delivered me to you, and how would that serve her?!"

Nicte's nails bit into her shoulders at the question. "You are blinded by your loyalty Tally! Open your eyes. Here is the answer you've been waiting for. She made you think you were abducted by the spree, which is offensive to me that she thought she could imitate us so easily, but it was her. It was the army, the whole time,"

Tally stiffened and her heart rate skyrocketed. Her blood felt like it was on fire, she felt like she was being torn open from the inside out. She couldn't breathe. "Why-why would she? You're lying," She couldn't just roll over and believe General Alder had anything to do with her capture based solely on the word of a known terrorist, not without proof.

All unnecessary personnel were filing out of the room, and her biddies stood in a circle around her.

Alder was contemplating the potential consequences of these next few actions as she stepped up to the chair, Izadora following a step behind her. "If you would lay down, General, and try to be calm,"

"I am -," Well, she had been calm, but the ache she felt in her chest had her doubling over gripping the edge of the chair to keep herself standing. "Goddess," She squeezed her eyes shut.

"General!" Izadora yelped. "What is it?!"

She was out of breath, her head was spinning. "I don't know…"

"That's right, Tally, every minute of interrogation, every painful seed that snaked its way through your limbs burning through your senses. Every slap, punch, and kick. Every lie, carefully crafted but not carefully enough. All of it. Authorized and encouraged by our one and only Sarah Alder,"

No. It wasn't possible. Tally physically shuddered. No it couldn't be true could it?! The truth of the martyrdom and the beginning of the spree was important for sure, she was still wrapping her head around that as well, but was it all important enough for the General to decide to torture her?!

She searched her memories for any indication that it was true, and unsurprisingly some things lined up unfortunately well. The fact that the first interrogators never once used any form of mind linking for information, and they focused almost all of their energy on questions about the General. They used spree techniques, but none of it was too terrible really, at least not as bad as she could have expected from the spree.

After all she had done for the general. The taste of betrayal was bitter in her mouth and sorrow and anger flowed freely through her veins. She was having trouble deciding which one she should be feeling.

She barely was able to make her mouth function but she couldn't believe it fully, not yet, she needed more. "Prove it,"

"Of course, allow me," Nicte gripped Tally's shoulder tightly. Tally felt Nicte wrestle her way into her brain, forcing her to link with her, but not in the healing way, in the way of giving information.

Tally looked around, she was showing her Alder's office. The perspective was not Alder's, but off to the side in a way that made Tally confused.

There was Alder sitting behind her desk, sipping on whiskey, her hair down in the way Tally had only seen once or twice, and her jacket was undone. Just looking at her was making her blood boil. If she didn't know it was a mental manipulation, she would be marching up to her demanding the truth, but on second thought, that is what she did the first time, demand truth about Nicte Batan, and now here she was.

She looked at Nicte who looked smug.

"Feel familiar yet?" Nicte prompted but Tally shook her head. "Give it a second, right...about...now…showtime,"