The next day, I was awoken yet again by Yuri's gentle hand on my shoulder. She smiled softly down at me, moving her hand to ruffle my hair.

"Time to get up, sleepyhead." She said quietly, her voice carrying a loving tone which forced me to break out into a smile. "We've got training to do today."

Ah, of course. Training. I could practically feel my muscles wince at the idea. Don't get me wrong, I was very grateful for Yuri pushing me to learn to fight. I wouldn't have had the drive to improve myself without her, even if such a thing was absolutely necessary to my continued survival and freedom. I was a lazy fuck, and without proper guidance, that laziness would get me killed. Or worse…

But I didn't really want to think about that at the moment. The day had started, and Yuri expected me to be up and ready. I didn't want to disappoint her, so I quickly got dressed, and stepped out into the kitchen. As I walked into the room, I noticed Yuri pouring more of that stew she'd made yesterday into a bowl. She handed it to me silently, and watched with a smile on her face as I devoured it. Somehow, despite being a day old, it still tasted just as good. That was odd, but I certainly wasn't going to complain about good food, so I ignored the strangeness of it.

After eating, we made our way outside, and began to train as we normally did. We would fight with wooden sticks, and I'd get the shit beaten out of me over and over again. There really wasn't any hope for me to win a spar against her, but that wasn't the point. The goal was simply to improve.

After a fair bit of sparring, we'd move on to more conventional exercises, like running laps around the village, doing push-ups, and otherwise training our bodies. Yuri did it alongside me, though she had much greater stamina. And besides, I was benefiting from the training a lot more than her. I'd heard in my previous life that heavy exercise while your body was still growing could stunt your growth, but that didn't seem true to me at all. I was continuing to improve every day, according to Yuri. She chalked my abnormal growth rate up to my monster blood. I didn't know enough about that topic to agree or disagree, so I just shrugged whenever she said something about it.

Finally, after working myself to the bone for hours upon hours, my body could bare it no longer. I collapsed on the soft grass, sweating and heaving as my muscles burned in protest. This was a daily occurrence, of course. Yuri didn't let me rest until she knew I couldn't go any further. While this was a particularly harsh attitude towards training, it certainly worked. Besides, she was doing it out of love, so I couldn't get mad at her for it.

Though, part of me wished we didn't have to do it in the village proper. I could practically feel the gaze of the villagers on me. They weren't leering or gazing lewdly, mind you. It was mostly just well-intentioned pity. They saw what was happening as abuse, most likely. It just made me feel sick to my stomach, having people judge Yuri's parenting like that. I knew she was… well, a complete fucking nutjob, but I loved her. And I'd be damned if I let people judge her in my hearing.

I was pulled from my musings by the sound of soft, plodding footsteps making their way towards me. Tilting my head upwards to see who it was, I was rather unsurprised when I saw the familiar form of Micaela. She nodded respectfully at me, before passing by to speak to Yuri.

I tuned them out, mostly focused on just… recovering. My limbs felt like they were made of lead, and every muscle in my body burned horribly. To put it simply, I felt like shit. Always did after training like this. I just needed a moment or two to myself to recover. So, I just continued to lay back on the grass, and relax in the mid-day sun. The low wind lazily pushed past me, feeling pleasing on my skin. Despite the pain I was in, I found myself cracking a small smile. There may have been a lot of risks to living in a hidden monster village in the woods, but I certainly couldn't deny how lovely it was to be so close to nature.

I laid there for maybe twenty-to-thirty minutes before my lazing about was interrupted. Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I opened my eyes, seeing both Yuri and Micaela looming over me.

"...Y'all need something?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Yuri gestured for me to get up, to which I reluctantly obeyed. Pulling myself up to my feet, I let out a sigh, stretching my limbs and back in just the right ways. Micaela looked over me with a frown on her face, most likely scanning the various bruises and cuts that adorned my body. I gave her a flat glare, silently warning her against saying anything about it. Sighing, she shook her head, before gesturing for Yuri to speak.

"...Micaela has hired me to deliver something for her." She said, a slight frown to her face. "It's a dangerous mission, so I'm going to have to leave you with her for a couple days."

I paused, looking between the two with a suspicious expression. Yuri was leaving me with someone? That didn't sound like her at all! Even if she trusted Micaela (Which, I sincerely doubted she did, considering the disguised seraph had tried to take me away from her.), it was still odd.

"Why are you taking this job on and not someone else?" I asked, continuing to glance between the two of them dubiously. Yuri didn't seem to be acting suspiciously. If anything, she appeared rather agitated at the idea of leaving me. That warmed my heart a little, and assuaged my worries somewhat. At least she wasn't acting out of the ordinary.

I turned my gaze to Micaela, trying to see if I could glean any info from her. Unfortunately, she was about stone-faced as usual. It'd be easier to read a clay tablet with Cuneiform written on it than it would be to read her emotions when she was masking them. Which was something she did quite often, if you somehow couldn't tell.

"She's one of the better fighters in the town. It would be dangerous to send someone less skilled." Micaela explained, one hand reaching down to touch my shoulder. "I know you're worried, but Yuri's tough. She'll be back before you know it."

Those words didn't fill me with confidence. I wasn't sure why I was feeling so doubting. After all, I knew that Yuri was pretty damn strong. There wasn't much of anything in these woods that she couldn't kill with her bare hands. But something about those words… it just felt like they invited trouble. Like Micaela was jinxing Yuri by saying it.

"If you say so…" I found myself sighing, ultimately not wanting to argue about it. It was already going to be a weird couple of days with Micaela. I didn't want to make it worse by accidentally offending her somehow.

It wasn't like I disliked Micaela, anyways. She was a fine woman, and someone I generally respected. The issue was that she was at least thousands of years older than me and also a seraph in disguise. I had to walk on eggshells around her, because she was so perceptive that she'd surely figure out something was amiss with me if I acted normally.

Yuri stooped down to my level, giving me a smile that made my heart melt. "Don't worry, Alex." She said, ruffling my hair with one hand. "Micaela wouldn't send me on a mission if she didn't think I could handle it."

That was true, most likely. Then again, accidents always happened… But maybe I was worrying too much. At the end of the day, I trusted Yuri's judgment. If she said things were fine, then that's how it was.

...Didn't stop me from feeling paranoid though.

A few hours after Yuri left, I found myself pacing aimlessly in Micaela's house. There wasn't really much else for me to do. Micaela wouldn't let me train without being watched, and I sincerely doubted she'd be willing to do so. Not that I was upset about that, of course. She was a busy woman, after all. I couldn't imagine being the mayor for a town full of degenerate monsters. I'd have gone insane less than a month in.

But, since I had nothing to do, and regrettably had the patience of a 6-year-old (which I physically was, to be fair.), I had to find some way to amuse myself. This started innocently enough. I counted the floorboards, the ceiling boards, and other such wooden implements. Then I started running my index finger along the wall, tracing cracks in the board while plodding around the room.

You know, normal child things.
Micaela had eventually stopped watching me, retreating into her study to do paperwork. She left the door open however, so it wasn't like I was completely isolated from her. I guess she trusted me enough to not hurt myself.

I was interrupted from my mindless activities when someone rudely opened the front door without knocking. Turning towards the source of the noise, I was mildly surprised to see one of the village guards walking in. She glanced over at me, momentarily looking a tad bit nervous. She steeled her expression rather quickly, but that didn't stop the sudden surge of distrust I felt.

"Oh, it's you… Does that mean your mother's here?" The guard asked, tilting her head slightly.

Internally, I debated on whether or not I should answer truthfully. There wasn't any real reason to lie… but I didn't trust this woman. She didn't seem to be acting like a normal monster or anything… but I couldn't just excuse that half a second of nervousness she showed.

Eventually however, logic won out. I mean, Micaela was in the other room, after all. There was nothing this elf could do to me. And besides, if she couldn't get an answer out of me, the disguised seraph in the other room probably wouldn't have an issue telling her. All I'd be doing is making myself look like an obstinate brat. Which I was… but it still wasn't nice to appear that way.

"No. Micaela sent her out on an errand." I said simply, keeping my tone neutral and flat. I wasn't overtly rude, but I think she could tell that I wanted nothing to do with her. She was quiet for a moment afterwards, before abruptly walking past me, giving a polite nod as she stepped into Micaela's room. She shut the door behind her, preventing me from peeking in on whatever the fuck was going on. That smelled pretty fishy to me, so I immediately crept up to the door in an attempt to eavesdrop.

But as I pressed my ear to the door, I found that I couldn't hear that well. They were whispering. In other words, they were actively trying to make sure I couldn't hear the conversation. That… complicated matters.

At first I was worried that they'd somehow detected me standing right outside the room. But if they had, surely Micaela would have called me out for trying to listen in. That was considered pretty fuckin' rude, after all. No, this seemed more like a cautionary measure. As if they weren't sure if I'd listen in, so they whispered just in case.

My paranoia from earlier, formerly aimed at Yuri's departure, now began to rise once again. Something was definitely fishy here, and I wasn't a fan at all.

Still, despite the apparent fruitlessness of the task, I continued to try and listen in. I didn't pick up much, as you might imagine. And any words that I did manage to hear had no meaning to me. In fact, the only word I managed to make out that wasn't an article or just a boring part of speech was the word "queen." Since that most likely didn't have anything to do with me, for obvious reasons, I just brushed it off. Whatever they were talking about in there, I wasn't going to find out by trying to listen in.

So, I eventually made my way back to the middle of the room, pacing around and waiting for them to be done speaking. After a few minutes, the guard exited, leaving the door to Micaela's office wide open as she passed by me. Micaela stepped out moments later, a bundle of what appeared to be clothes in her arms.

"Alex, I've got something for you." The disguised angel said, handing me the clothes. "I noticed yours have been getting a little threadbare, so I figured I'd give you these."

I paused, feeling touched by the gesture, but not really knowing what to say. They were nothing special, being more of the same of what I had already. But they were new. Yuri really couldn't afford a lot of clothes (because surprise surprise, they don't make a lot of clothes for male children in a monster village.), so most everything I had was either falling apart, or full of stitches and patches.

"T-Thanks Micaela." I said eventually, giving her a smile. "That was mighty kind of you."

For a fraction of a second, a strange emotion flashed across her face. It looked almost… pensive. Maybe even guilty. I didn't really have time to analyze it, because it was gone in an instant, replaced with a smile that would've seemed genuine if I hadn't just seen her previous expression.

...Yep, something was definitely going on here.

As Yuri softly walked through the woods, the fallen leaves crunching underfoot, she started to wonder just what the hell was the point of this mission. She'd been given a large pack, filled with something extremely heavy. She wasn't sure what it was, but Micaela told her not to open it, so she didn't. That woman always seemed to know best, after all. Well, not in regards to Alex of course, but this wasn't a matter that involved him, so it was fine.

The reason she had the bag was simple. She'd been given a location to deliver it to. Supposedly, there would be someone waiting for her there to receive the package. The whole thing seemed suspicious, but Micaela had never led her wrong before. Besides, Yuri did some suspicious shit herself. She'd be a hypocrite if she called out Micaela for whatever… this was.

And anyways, she was committed at that point. It had already been several hours, and she was fairly certain that she was getting close to the drop point. It would've been downright foolish to turn back after making so much progress.

The bag was starting to get on her nerves, though. From appearance alone, it looked like a normal backpack. But anyone who tried to pick it up would quickly realize that that wasn't the case. Why? Well, to put it simply, it was fucking heavy. Way heavier than it had any right to be. Yuri wasn't sure just what the hell was in it, but it better have been worth her dragging it across the whole damned forest. Carrying it so far was starting to tire her out. Her. She doubted a regular elf could even lift the damn thing. Much less carry it through the woods for fifteen miles.

Though, after all that walking, Yuri was really starting to feel exhausted. Exhausted enough that a break was in order. Since she was a little ahead of schedule, she had more than enough time to set the bag down and rest for a few minutes. Yes… that sounded lovely to her.

However, as she set the bag down, Yuri felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large shadow. Her instincts screamed for her to move, causing her to jump back in alarm. That move was quickly proven to be the right one when said shadow slammed down where the elf had just been. Had she been any slower, she'd have died then and there.

"Ah, how unfortunate…" The woman muttered, stretching her large, purple wings. Her piercing green eyes glared angrily at Yuri, and her blue hair flowed ominously in the wind.

A harpy. Yuri's face twisted in anger at the thought of one of those overgrown birds trying to attack her. Normally, she'd have cut the head from the woman's shoulders for daring to move against her. But something about this harpy was… different. She was wearing nice clothing, and a tiara. That meant she must've been some kind of noble at least. And since, from what Yuri knew, there was only one line of harpy nobility, that could only mean one thing.

"The Harpy Queen." The elf hissed, warily circling the woman while unsheathing her sword. "Just what the hell do you want from me?"

The queen let out a sigh, shaking her head solemnly. Widening her stance somewhat, the harpy continued to glare at Yuri as she prepared for some kind of move.

"I apologize. I meant to kill you with that first strike. I must be getting rusty…" She murmured again, before raising her voice. "But it matters not. Yuri Aera, you have committed some of the most reprehensible crimes in the modern era! For the innumerable amount of murders you've committed, I hereby sentence you to death!"

Instinctively, Yuri dodged to the side, trying to predict her opponent's movements. This would be a tough fight, for sure. The elf had never fought a queen-class monster before. The closest she'd come was that bitch of a kitsune… so many years ago. Part of her wondered if that 8-tailed cunt was still around…

But that wasn't important right now. What was important, was staying alive. She'd been right to dodge, as the Harpy Queen slammed down moments later, her talons digging into the ground with enough momentum to shake the earth.

Yuri cursed, feeling a spike of fear lance through her heart. She barely even saw her move! Just how fast was that overgrown bird?! There was no shot of her winning this! Especially not with her being as tired as she was! But even at 100%, she was fairly certain that she still would've lost!

Shaking her head, she tried to put the fear out of her mind. If she allowed such doubts to overtake her, she was as good as dead. There had to be a way out of this… Perhaps if she damaged the queen's wing? She wouldn't be able to fly, then. But even then, Yuri didn't know if she'd be able to escape. Her muscles burned from carrying that package. Micaela's mission had likely doomed her…

Unintentionally, she felt her eyes wander over to that accursed bag, only for them to widen in shock as she saw it spilled open on the ground, revealing its contents.

Rocks. Worthless, gray, heavy rocks. That's all she'd been carrying. Why on earth had Micaela given her that bag? All it had done was tire the elf out! It was almost as if… as if…

Micaela betrayed her.

Yuri felt a sharp, sickening pressure in her chest. Her heart began to beat with panic, as she realized that treachery had occurred. By the Founder… she left Alex with that cunt!

"...I suppose you've figured it out then?" The Harpy Queen muttered, her gaze following Yuri's. "Well, it doesn't matter if you know or not. There's no escape for you-"

Yuri cut her off with a thrust of her blade, seeking to tear one of her wings to ribbons. At least that way, the overgrown bird would have a harder time following her.

At least, she would have, if the blade had actually pierced through flesh. For a moment, it looked as if it was going to. But then, at the last second, the queen's wings flashed a silvery color, and the blade was deflected with an explosion of sparks. Yuri jumped back in alarm, seeking to avoid whatever would come of this sudden change.

Unfortunately for her, she was too slow. Far too slow.

The Harpy Queen was a blur, dashing forwards with her wings extended outwards. Each feather seemed as if it were encased in metal, glinting with the reflected light of the stars. They were sharp, far sharper than any blade Yuri had ever seen. The elf woman tried to dodge to the left, seeking to avoid the metal wings. But there was just no way for her to evade them in time.

White-hot bolts of excruciating pain arced up Yuri's right arm and side, tearing a shriek from her throat as the deadly blades tore through flesh, muscle, and bone. Landing in a heap, the elven woman rolled to the side, snatching her arms out in an attempt to feel for her sword. Or, she tried to, anyways. As soon as she tried to flex her right arm, it erupted in even more horrific pain. Looking over at it, her stomach roiled in disgust and horror as her suspicions were confirmed.

Everything below her elbow was gone. Well, that wasn't exactly true. There was still about half an inch of arm past the elbow, spurting out angry, red gouts of blood. Looking down to diagnose the pain in her side, she realized with a sort of grim detachment that her hip also had a deep wound within it.

The woman tried to rise again, but the pain caused her muscles to lock up. Her vision went blurry from the exertion, and she let out a wheeze of agony. As her blood gushed out, she began to grow lightheaded. But that didn't stop her from glaring balefully at her killer.

Nor did it stop the tears running down her cheeks.

Not that she was crying for herself, of course. No, Yuri knew something like this had been coming for a long time. One didn't expect a peaceful death after living a life of crime such as hers. She was crying for Alex.

Alex, her poor, sweet child. She'd never get to see him grow up. She wouldn't be able to protect him. Those whores would sink their claws into him. God knows what depraved shit other monsters would do to her boy…

As that thought echoed through her mind, Yuri let out a choked sob, her body wracked with pain and grief. The Harpy Queen stood over her, a stony expression on her regal face. Slowly, she reached her metallic wing down, the assemblage of blades still slick with the elf's blood. It tickled the woman's neck, not quite biting deep enough to further harm her.

"...Not that you deserve a peaceful end, but if it'll soothe your mind any, know that your boy will be well taken care of." The Harpy Queen muttered somberly, showing just the barest hint of regret for the situation at hand. "He'll live a better life than you could have ever given him. This I promise."

Before Yuri could say another word, the harpy forced her wing downward, digging into and cleaving through the elf's neck in one brutal slash.

Justice had been dealt.

It was dark outside, and my worries had not dulled any. Nor had my boredom. Micaela had made me a small dinner consisting of dried meat and carrots, which I consumed almost instantly. After that, it was back to paperwork with her.

Eventually, after some pestering, she'd given me some blank paper and charcoal to draw with. This distracted me somewhat, but not entirely. I still glanced nervously at the door every now and then, hoping that Yuri was all right out there. She almost assuredly was, but that didn't stop my paranoia from running rampant.

Letting out a sigh of worry, I shook my head, and focused on the paper in front of me. I'd mostly just been drawing shapes. Cubes, pyramids, cylinders… stuff like that. I'd gotten it in my head to connect them somehow, and make a castle-like building out of them. But I hadn't the foggiest idea of how to do that, and my every attempt so far just looked like dogshit.

I'd never been an artsy guy, but this was ridiculous. I think part of it had to do with my lack of muscle memory. I'd spent almost every day training and sparring, but I'd barely written anything since I came to this world. It seemed that my skills for finer motor functions such as drawing and writing had deteriorated severely. I definitely needed to practice more…

Once I had suitably filled the paper up with doodles, I simply turned it to the other side, and continued doodling. After all, it's not like I had anything better to do. And worrying about Yuri all night would do nothing but cause unnecessary stress. So, I put more effort into drawing, trying my hardest not to think about anything but the paper in front of me.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a quiet knocking at the door. Three simple, gentle taps, that I normally wouldn't have put any thought towards. But for some reason, I couldn't help but notice them. They sounded measured, almost refined, even. I wasn't sure how to describe it.

"Uh… Miss Micaela, someone's at the door!" I called for the disguised angel, glancing over at her office. I wasn't supposed to be answering the door, so I had to wait for her to come and open it. Both Yuri and Micaela were worried that I'd get snatched. Part of me wanted to call them paranoid, but we did live in a monster town. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Micaela quickly stepped out of her office as soon as I called, her movements seeming almost urgent. I found that a little odd, but figured that she was probably just expecting someone in particular. After all, she was a very busy woman. She probably had a meeting with someone scheduled. Maybe someone in town had an issue they needed to talk about, or perhaps it was a guard coming to give a report. Whatever it was, it probably didn't matter all that much.

Of course, that last thought was thrown out the window as soon as she opened the door, revealing a figure that I certainly hadn't expected to see.

"Ah, Lucretia, it is good to see you." Micaela greeted, stepping aside to let the harpy woman enter. "I assume things went well?"

Slowly, my eyes traveled between Micaela and the other woman, not entirely sure what to make of the fact that the fucking Harpy Queen had just showed up. The disguised seraph didn't seem worried, so it probably wasn't an issue. Still, I was more than a little uncomfortable in the woman's presence. Something that I think is pretty fucking reasonable, considering the fact that she was A: literally royalty, and B: probably powerful enough to kill me before I even realized I was dying. And even if I realistically knew that she was one of the nice monster queens, that didn't stop me from being nervous.

Regardless, I knew then and there that I really didn't want to stick my head in their business. So, I quietly stood up from my chair, and slowly crept away. As they exchanged words, I inched closer and closer to the door, feeling a growing need to escape the situation.

"And you must be Alex, I assume?" I froze as she addressed me, a spike of fear lancing through my heart. I gingerly turned towards her, about as tense as a spring being crushed by a hydraulic press.

I felt myself relax somewhat when I saw her expression. She had a warm, caring smile on her face that immediately put me at ease. My mind screamed at me to distrust her, but my foolish, child-like instincts had me melting at the kindness that seemed to exude from her.

"Yes ma'am." I found myself answering instinctively, not quite able to stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. "I didn't know Micaela had any connections with harpies…"

Micaela, as if spurred on by the mention of her name, stepped between myself and the Harpy Queen. Giving the woman a polite, if slightly-strained smile, she gestured quickly to her office.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I believe we have some things to discuss, Lucretia." The disguised seraph said to the monster, leading her into the other room. They shut the door behind them quickly, blocking them from view.

I looked at the door for a moment, rubbing my chin as I considered whether or not there was any point in eavesdropping. They were probably just whispering, like Micaela had when discussing with the guard. And also, if the Harpy Queen found out I was listening in… Well, she was a kind woman, but I certainly didn't want to test her patience.

My eyes wandered over to the other door, a traitorous part of my mind once again worrying about Yuri. I just couldn't stop worrying about her. I supposed that was normal, since it was the first time we'd been properly separated for any significant length of time. What child wouldn't be nervous when their mom was off doing god-knows-what?

Thinking about things logically didn't exactly make me feel any less worried, however. The sickening ball of fear continued to burn in my gut, and I couldn't do a damn thing to shake it.

...I probably wouldn't stop worrying until Yuri got back.

The door to Micaela's office opened abruptly, and the Harpy Queen stepped out again, with a small smile on her face. "Well, I do believe that about covers everything." She said, looking back at the disguised seraph trailing behind her.

Micaela nodded, stepping towards me. "Of course. I apologize once again for not contacting you sooner. I had to be sure of things before involving anyone else."

Lucretia nodded simply, also stepping towards me. I nervously took a step back, which made her frown slightly.

"...Do not be afraid of me, child." She said simply, sounding almost somber. "I have nothing but your best interests at heart."

I glanced over at her, suddenly feeling a hint of suspicion towards her. That was certainly an odd thing for her to say to me. I wouldn't expect her to have any intention towards me, since we'd only just met, and to her knowledge, I was just the son of one of the monsters in the village. Maybe I was just looking too deep into things, but what she said rubbed me the wrong way.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, hoping for some kind of clarification that would put me at ease.

Micaela's sudden wince certainly didn't help on that front. In fact, I think it would be accurate to say that it made me even more nervous.

"...I suppose I revealed things a bit early." The harpy said, giving me a smile that was supposed to be reassuring. "Well, it makes no difference now."

She took another step forwards, reaching out and grabbing one of my shoulders with her talons. I let out a gasp, expecting them to tear into my soft flesh. But her grip was surprisingly gentle. She was actively trying not to hurt me.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I hissed, struggling in her soft-yet-firm grip. My heart began to beat more and more quickly, and I could feel tears of fear begin to well up in my eyes. "L-Let me go! Now!"

The Harpy Queen shook her head, and wrapped her wings around me to prevent me from moving. As her talons touched back down on the ground, she began to walk towards the door, intending to carry me outside.

"Calm yourself, Alex." She spoke to me, her soft voice attempting to comfort me. "I do not plan to… assault you, like you might be thinking. I simply intend to give you a more… proper childhood."

Her words sent a spark of terror rumbling through my body. She was planning to kidnap me! That bitch was trying to take me away! Quickly, I glanced over at Micaela, but the disguised seraph wouldn't even meet my gaze. She looked ashamed, almost like she was… complicit.

My entire body shook with rage at that realization. This whole thing had to have been orchestrated by Micaela! There was no way it wasn't!

"Y-YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!" I screamed at the angelic woman, catching her off-guard. "WORTHLESS CUNT! YURI'S GONNA SKIN YOU ALIVE FOR THIS!"

Micaela winced guiltily, shaking her head. Silently, she stepped past us, opening the door for Lucretia to walk outside.

"...You're in good hands, Alex." She said quietly, her tone wavering somewhat. "Hate me if you wish, but at least this way, you actually have a chance at a good life."

And with that, the angelic woman turned her back on us. On me. The woman I'd come to respect almost as much as my own mother… walked back into her office, and shut the door.