Author's Note: And we're getting to the actual creation part this time, as well as the end of the flashback segment. More warnings this time for Harvey being a Big Creep (again) and also Bad To Kids. A couple more things to say, but I'll toss them at the end.

Chapter Three: The Experiment

Harvey hummed as he left his last lecture for the day. He hadn't had much time to work recently, but he'd already made some wonderful progress on his research. It had been just over a week, and the small test projects he'd made with Rita's blood were brilliant. He'd created some of the most amazing Soulstones he'd ever seen, but could they truly be compared to the average Soulstone? They let out multiple bursts of the purest, most concentrated Light energy he'd ever seen.

Yes, he was ready to move on to bigger things. His hand was doing better, so it would be easier to make a few test golems. He needed to work on inverting the Soulstones, too, both for the control mechanism and to see how Lumina blood related to the Shadow. Harvey wanted to do it soon.

But he knew he needed to act fast on his other idea. Too much longer, and it would be hard to pull off reliably… He just needed to find a good time for the "extraction," so to speak.

At least Elena was easy to deal with. The girl had been so disoriented after the fire that it had been simple to feed her a few lies. It was Harvey's lab that had been set ablaze; it was his research partner who had done it; he was her "Papa," actually. He was just familiar enough with her that he could fire off some of her favorite foods and books, and she'd been convinced. The memory spells were almost unnecessary, but he'd done a few anyway, just to be sure.

Harvey wished she would stop chattering so much, though. He stopped at home before going down to the lab, struggling through dinner as Elena rambled about her day at school. How did Osvald put up with it? Harvey smiled and nodded, pretending as if he cared about whatever inane topic she brought up next, but he silently wondered if Osvald was as intelligent as he'd thought. Who would want to deal with children, anyway?

Finally, he patted her on the head and said, "Papa has to get back to work, dear. Stay here and read your books for school. If you're in bed on time, I'll bring you a gift tomorrow."

"Oh, of course, Papa! I'll be good, I promise!"

She scrambled off to her bedroom, and Harvey chuckled as he left the house. So gullible. However, the fact that she didn't ask any questions made it easier to carry out the next part of his plan.

He saved a tray of food from dinner, and he carried it down to the lab with him. Harvey bounced on his feet when he arrived at Rita's chamber. It would be so simple, but he'd have to work quickly.

"Rita, darling, I don't suppose you're hungry?" he sang as he opened her door. "I brought you something."

She eyed him suspiciously as he entered. Still, ever since his little threat the other day, Rita hadn't bothered with any more tricks. Not even the most basic of escape attempts; he hadn't needed to put the bars back up. Harvey supposed it was worth it, if it made his job easier.

Rita glanced away, defiantly remaining silent. Harvey chuckled, sitting down beside her and offering her the glass of water. She took it, but she held it up, swished it around slightly, and squinted at it. Clearly, she at least had enough of a brain to see if he'd slipped anything in the drink.

Harvey wasn't stupid, either. He'd sprinkled the Sleepweed over the meat and vegetables, where it was easier to disguise as seasoning.

Finally, Rita took a sip of the water. She sat there for a few seconds before apparently deciding she was safe. Then, she reached for the plate of food. Rita took a few bites, chewing carefully. After swallowing, she ate a little more, and then…

"What…what did you…"

Rita swayed, resting a hand on her forehead. It had been a powerful dose of sleeping drugs; no surprise that it was taking effect so quickly. Soon, she crashed down to the floor. Her eyes closed in seconds, and the deep rise and fall of her chest indicated she was asleep.

Harvey leaned down and pulled a vial out of his pocket. He slipped a few extra drops of Sleepweed medicine into her mouth, just to ensure she'd stay unconscious for the whole procedure. Then, he returned to his lab and found a pod he used for some of the smaller hybrid monsters he'd made.

Time to get to work.

Rita wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious, but she supposed she had little sense of time at this point, anyway.

The first thing she noticed was the sharp, throbbing sensation around her stomach. Then, that she was stiff and sore; obviously, she'd been lying in an awkward position for some time. Rita sat up slowly, and she winced as her entire midsection screamed in protest.

She almost didn't want to look, but she knew she had to. Rita took a deep breath and lifted up the front of her blouse. When she looked down at herself, she clapped a hand to her mouth and barely held back a scream.

There were bandages wrapped around her stomach, and they were soaked in blood. She could see that some of it had rubbed off onto the inside of her shirt, and it was worst along her lower belly. It was in just the right place for…

No, no, she had to be imagining this. Rita was having a bad dream, that was all. She'd wake up soon, and—

She squeezed her eyes shut for several long seconds, refusing to believe the obvious. Of course she remembered her conversation with Harvey, but even then… Rita scarcely imagined he'd do this. She'd hoped that he'd let her get through her pregnancy, and then, after the birth…

How? How had none of them realized just how cruel this man was?

Once again, there was little more Rita could do than collapse onto her mattress and weep.

Harvey made the measurements carefully. He was treading into unknown territory, and the thought excited him. Imagine—him getting to make some new, earth-shattering scientific revelation! But because of that, Harvey knew he had to pace himself.

Really, he should've limited himself to adding one type of monster blood to the fetus. Who knew if this would work? But, well…Rita would be there as long as he needed to extract her blood. If things went poorly, there was always the Plan B.

Harvey decided to add some Collared Salamander blood, along with a drop or two from an Island Froggen. Then he added a few extra cells, made the proper markings around the pod, and cast the binding spells he'd used with the other chimeras. Salamanders had some magical power of their own, and Froggen were vaguely humanoid. He doubted either one would cause too much trouble on their own…

And if they did combine badly? Well, science was all about trial and error. It would just be a learning experience.

Then, Harvey cheerfully watched the fetus develop. He took thorough notes, writing down any little detail that seemed important. After several weeks, the fetus remained stable, and he could already see some monster traits developing.

Still, Harvey couldn't neglect his other projects. He took a few drops of Rita's blood and constructed a couple of small golems. Those were slower work… Everything needed to be just right if he was going to control them. Some of them worked; others didn't. He couldn't move onto a larger one until he was absolutely certain they'd be fine.

But he'd gotten a good supply of Rita's blood from her little operation, so he wouldn't need to draw any more for a while. That, he supposed, was one positive.

He went to visit her several times, bringing her more food, a better washtub, and even a few new articles of clothing. Harvey needed her to last as long as possible… Good scientists took care of their tools. However, she spoke less and less; Rita was often hunched over, with her arms wrapped around herself as she stared at nothing.

"What is it, darling?" Harvey purred as he delivered another pitcher of water. "Do you need a new dress? Some jewelry, perhaps?"

"I-I want my baby," she choked.

"I've already told you: Elena is safe and sound." He chuckled. "Besides, I would hardly qualify her as a 'baby.'"

"You know what I mean!"

"Do I? I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific." Harvey patted her on the shoulder. "You should know how to use your words, being married to a man like Osvald."

She finally raised her eyes to look at him, an expression of the purest loathing on her face. "You wouldn't have cut me open if there wasn't something inside me that you wanted."

"There, there; that's better." He laughed again. "But suppose I did cut you open… How do you know I found anything? I might have been disappointed."

"You—you—" Rita tore her gaze away from him. "You wouldn't have said that unless you… A-and you haven't yet…"

"Poor dear; you must be confused. Get some more rest, won't you?"

As Harvey stood up, Rita shook her head. She held her face in both hands, screwing her eyes shut. It was obvious she was starting to slip; good people were so easy to manipulate with silly things like grief and isolation.

Soon, it would be easy to keep her completely under his control.

It was her fault.

It was Rita's fault this was happening. If she'd just never married Osvald—

He wouldn't be in prison for a crime he hadn't committed. Elena wouldn't be under the care of an absolute madman. Rita wouldn't be locked up in this musty old cell, and her baby wouldn't be getting used for who-knew-what.

Why had Rita been stupid enough to say yes?

"Nothing begets nothing." That was another thing Osvald said often. These thoughts led to nothing. Rita knew that. They were nothing.

But what else could she do?

Rita took a deep breath and stood up. She had to find something to hold onto, to keep herself sane. Everyone needed some kind of light. That was something she frequently told Osvald.

And so, she tried to imagine the warmth in his eyes and voice every time he spoke to her. That gentleness had been reserved for her and Elena alone. Perhaps it was selfish of her, but that made his softer side even more precious.

"I know how to dance, theoretically. I've just never had much interest in actually doing it. But if it makes you happy…"

Rita closed her eyes and shifted her arms as she took the proper steps. If she thought very hard, she could imagine Osvald's arms around her, the tickling of his beard on her forehead, and the gentle brush of his lips against her hair.

It was all she could cling to, and she wouldn't let anyone take that away from her.

The golem was taking longer than expected. Harvey had a working prototype for its body, but the control mechanism proved…difficult. But he had plenty of time, and he would perfect it eventually. Besides, he had other things to work on, when he needed a break from that.

As the months passed, the fetus developed more and more monster traits. Harvey took notes with increasing glee as the frills and webbing grew more obvious. And it was still stable and functional; it was already better than he'd imagined.

However…there was the matter of what to do next. Harvey wanted to keep watching the child. Testing the effects of the Collared Salamander blood on its magical powers had been one of his main ideas, after all. But he'd have to feed it and raise it and teach it how to talk. (Comparing verbal and nonverbal spells wouldn't work otherwise, in the latter case.)

Harvey sighed as he absently read through his notes one day. He needed to watch every little step of the baby's development; this was his project. But the fact that he hadn't stuck the fetus back into Rita meant that she couldn't nurse the child… Her body didn't have the chance to develop properly.

He could always hire a wet nurse… But then he'd have to dispose of her, too, once he was past that phase. And that would be much harder to cover up.

Well, Harvey supposed he would cross that bridge when he got there. It was time to draw some more blood from Rita.

Harvey had long since abandoned the bars on her door, but Rita only made one more attempt at freeing herself. It was pathetic, really. He'd told her Elena was alive. As a mother, she should've put more effort into seeing if that was true. If Rita couldn't have her baby, she at least wanted her daughter.

But of course, she had the terrible luck of trying again just before Harvey came to check on her. He'd seen the icicles burst through the door, and he had a solution to that, too.

"Oh, sweet Rita… Should I muzzle you, too? They did that to Osvald. You can match your husband, if you like." Then he leaned down and whispered, "And you know what will happen to you if I catch you outside, yes? You know what I want from you."

Either taunt on its own would've been unbearable, but together…

Rita withdrew further and further. She clung desperately to the little bits of hope she had—remember his voice; remember his warmth; remember your smart, beautiful daughter—but the lights faded more every day.

Finally, finally, the golem was complete!

Harvey stood back in amazement, watching as the monster responded perfectly to his every movement and command. It had taken almost eight months, but there it was—flawless even by his standards. And he still had some of Rita's blood in reserve… He doubted he'd need any more, but it was there, just in case.

He hummed to himself as he bounced down to Rita's cell. The golem trudged after him, and its footsteps produced rumbling echoes. Harvey opened Rita's door and found her staring blankly at the opposite wall. She didn't look up at him.

"Rita, dear, would you care to meet your…replacement?"

By the time she registered what was happening, it was too late. Rita didn't have time to scream; the monster Harvey made with her blood swung its massive arm, and she crumpled to the ground with little fanfare.

Now Harvey was free to focus on other things.

In a few weeks, Harvey decided it was time to take the child out of the tube.

He'd done a lot of work beforehand. It took some time, but he'd found a few wet nurses willing to provide him with several jugs of milk. The request was strange, but people would do almost anything if they were paid enough. (Stenvar had taught him that.)

Then, Harvey scheduled most of his lectures for the next few months for early-to-mid afternoon. He figured he could spend a few hours in the morning watching the baby and writing down how it grew. Afterwards, he could go to work, pick Elena up from school, and be back in time for some more observations.

Evenings were…difficult, however. Harvey kept the baby locked in his room most of the day, and it was surprisingly quiet most of the time. Harvey wasn't sure if that was an effect of the monster blood, but he wouldn't complain either way.

Still…when it did cry, it was loud. It screeched and wailed constantly when upset, and Harvey was sorely tempted to smother the damn thing with a pillow. Would this research be worth it in the end? How had Osvald put up with this once, and why did he want to do it again?

(Harvey found one way in which he was unambiguously better than Osvald: he wasn't stupid enough to do this willingly.)

Elena yawned one morning at the breakfast table. "Papa, I thought I heard something last night."

"Oh? What might that be?"

She scrunched her face up as she mulled it over. "It was like…something crying, I think."

Of course. Fortunately, the lie came easily.

"Ah, my apologies, dearest. I'm watching a child for a friend of mine. But he's a very shy boy, and he doesn't like strangers, so I can't let him wander the house too much."

Elena blinked, but then she slowly nodded. "Oh, all right. I hope he feels better soon."

He wasn't sure how much she believed it, but at least she didn't question him further. Metaphorical arrow dodged, Harvey decided. He smiled and handed her another slice of bread.

"As do I. But hurry and finish your breakfast; you need to leave for school soon."

Elena nodded again, more eagerly this time. She hurried through her food, and then scrambled back to her room for her books. Finally, Harvey walked her outside and took her to the nearby primary school.

Then, he sighed, returned home, and headed towards his room. Harvey had some work to do. He usually read aloud from his own research papers or whatever other books he had lying around, hoping that would effectively teach the child to speak, or at least recognize his voice.

He would be glad when he could move on to the better parts of this test.

One of the boy's earliest memories was being put in a room crowded with creatures that were like him, but different at the same time. He didn't yet have the words to describe how, but they were all a mishmash of body parts, some of which meshed better than others. Each of them was an awkward combination, but none of them were the same mixture.

Some roared and howled as they bit and scratched and tackled each other in the corner. Others sat in a line, along with him. Clearly, they were better somehow: the man seemed more invested in them than the rest.

The man was similar-yet-different to him, too, but the boy couldn't explain that, either. All he knew was that the man would give orders, watch what happened, and make strange markings on that thing he always carried. Then, he came to the boy, and his face morphed into something much darker than the almost bored look he wore with the other monsters.

"Spells, boy. Like this." He held up a hand and recited, "Ice, scatter."

"I-Ice, scatter," the boy repeated shakily.

Icicles erupted from his hand—his fingers went numb—he shuddered as his entire body cooled rapidly. But this seemed to please the man, as his grin widened. He scratched frantically at the thing he was holding, ignoring the fact that the boy was still trembling.

"Now do it again, silently."

"I-Ice—" he choked.

"I said silently, you stupid child."

He slapped him across the face before pressing his hand to the boy's mouth. His cheek stung, and hot tears fell down his face. But somehow, he managed to call the ice to his hand again, this time without a hint of noise.

"Very good." The man pulled back and wrote something down. "Now, use the fire."

His arm shook as he attempted the next spell, but the man either didn't notice or didn't care.

It really was easier once he could move the monster-child down to his lab, Harvey thought. And he was making so much progress! Just as he'd expected, he displayed the same affinity for ice magic that Collared Salamanders did. He learned to use it quickly—much more quickly than fire or lightning. If only Harvey was better at light magic; then it would be easier to test the child and see if he'd inherited his mother's family's affinity for the element.

But Harvey supposed that was irrelevant. He'd proved human and monster blood could be mixed in the first place! Not only that, the frog-boy had survived several years… It was likely the results were stable, and could be replicated.

He'd taken a few samples of the boy's blood, too. They were both fascinating and frustrating at the same time… His blood had such a wide range of effects that it was hard to draw any consistent data from it. And yet, it made Harvey want to do even more tests.

Harvey almost wished he'd kept Rita around longer. If he had a second monster-child, it might be easier to get conclusive results… He could search for another source, but a non-Lumina woman would produce even more variables. And besides…

"Hey," Ori said to him one afternoon. "Are you finished with the Book of Demons yet?"

"Almost," he replied dismissively. "Not to worry; I've done all of the research. I just need to find time to get to Gravell."

"Well, you should do it soon. My brother really needs it." She glanced around furtively, leaning in closer as she went on. "And it should be easy. I don't suppose you heard about the Frigit Isle breakout last week?"

He glanced sharply at her, both eyebrows raised. Harvey had been gathering up his lecture notes, only half listening to her. But now…was it finally time? Would he finally get to put that part of his plan in motion?

"What about it?"

Ori shrugged. "They say Osvald and another inmate tried to escape, but both died in the attempt. So you won't have to worry about him tracking you down."

Harvey couldn't help laughing at the sheer convenience of the news. It had worked out wonderfully! Osvald kept him waiting five long years, but no more! Ori clearly didn't know the man well enough if she thought something like that would stop him.

"Perfect; I have much to prepare."

"Like…heading to Gravell, maybe? Hey!"

Harvey ignored her. He stood up and walked away from Ori, nearly skipping in anticipation. Oh, he couldn't wait to see the look on Osvald's face when he saw everything Harvey had worked on the past five years.

It would be brilliant.

"Get in the tube, boy."

Harvey finished one last lecture for the day; then, he went down to his lab. He wasn't sure exactly when Osvald would arrive—he just knew it would be soon. The plan was to show him "Rita" first. Elena had her role to play, too… Harvey wanted to show off the boy, of course, but when depended on how everything else went.

Though really, it would be delicious if Osvald found the child first. Oh, how sweet his horror and rage would be… But Harvey would see that if it happened, he supposed.

For now, he decided to shove the monster-child into one of the four larger tubes in his lab. He ignored the squirming and protesting, sighing in relief when the tube finally filled itself with liquid. Next, all he had to do was wait.

…Harvey had forgotten about the boy.

He remembered when he and Elena arrived at the deepest chamber in the Duskruin Shrine. He'd never bothered to get him out of the tube, but it wasn't important.

Soon, Osvald and Elena would be dead, and that was all that mattered. Perhaps it would be satisfying to know that Osvald had a second child he'd never gotten to meet. Harvey could lord it over Osvald's memory, gloating to himself in peace.

Yes, no matter the outcome, Harvey would soon have everything he'd ever dreamed of.

Author's Note x2: Using the Grieving Golem to kill Rita seems like a very Harvey-esque thing to do, so I thought it was fitting to include here. And I cut off at the end when I did because...well, we know how things end from the game, of course.

Anyway, these two chapters were a fair bit darker than what I usually write, so it was definitely a relief to be done with them. Still, I hope I did Rita some justice and fleshed out her relationship with Osvald, both of which are things I wish the game had done in general.

...Also! I finally got the cover art colored. Hopefully I got that weird-cute vibe down well with Hector, but either way, we have better art for him now.