“Hey, she never did explain why we’re together,” Servi said with her hands locked behind her head after letting off a false yawn. They were walking down a dinky little street called Wallaby Way and stopped in front of an armor shop. Compared to the other hellish slum sections of Arcton, it almost looked like a normal place you could find in a city like Canary. Perhaps it was because they were on the wealthier side of town, if not the wealthiest, that there were rules and societal requirements to be upheld. There were a few shops other than their destination, but none compared to what they stood in front of.  Since it was night, none of the houses or shops had any sort of light peeking through their windows.

A little boy wearing a stained toga ran by them, scattering dust and rocks into the air. For a moment, Servi wondered if the debris would be to the insects as the stars are to her. Fleeting and bright, yet ever so far away that only a fool would waste her imagination on touching something so impossible.  

Servi looked up and sighed as a rock glanced against her shin. It felt like, at that moment, the moon was her only ally. It’s always been there for her when she needed it the most. It couldn’t do anything to help her, but just seeing its bright, lustrous surface calmed her heart. Though in this case, it did very little since Servi was as calm as she’d ever been.  

“Perhaps I am a fool,” she quietly whispered. 

Her stargazing was interrupted by the bald man to her right.  

“You little shit!” cursed Old Man, who raised his fist in anger. Coughing for a moment, he regained his calm and collected nature. “As for your question,” he said after regaining his composure, “I don’t know. I imagine it had something to do with loyalty. Let’s say you talk about betraying the Mafia. What would I do?” 

Servi quietly pondered an answer for a minute or two. “Turn me in," she said.

“Right. I’d do that to save my hide and look good in the eyes of the Mafia. That way, I can prove my loyalty. And let’s say that you talked about leaving the Mafia on purpose to see if I would go along with it. You would tell them, and I’d be dead. And since they have these observers, they’d know it if you or I lied to them about the other one of us betraying the Mafia. I bet that shitty brat who ran by was one of their observers. Why else would he be out so late?” 

“I don’t have any intention of going against or lying towards the Mafia. I just need me some money,” Servi said, observing the armor shop. It was two stories in nature, and there were three areas she could enter through.

The first was the glass windows. With Absorption, Servi could absorb the entire window or the locking mechanism and simply lift it. The second was the door itself. If the doorknob was its own separate object, she could store that in her ring and be allowed full access. The third was the most primitive and what she would’ve done if she was alone. A tall Earth Wall could get her to the large window on the second floor. If she wanted to bet dupla, she’d bet it on that being the window to the master bedroom.  

“I’ve heard the same ole song and dance everywhere I’ve gone. Money this and money that is all that people need, present company included. It seems like it’d be a helluva lot easier for us poor folks if we could find a nice decent job. But as I can see from you, it ain’t such an easy task,” Old Man sighed.  

Servi walked up to the door and tested the handle. It was locked. “You saying you know my entire past?” 

“Not at all,” Old Man said while testing the windows, “I know what I know and see. Only a psychotic killer would do what you did to that Kobold. Even if he was guilty of the most heinous crimes, a death like that was too much.” 

“You don’t approve?” 

“I want to say that, but that would mean I would be the world’s biggest hypocrite. I’ve done things that most would find hard to stomach. I like to say I did it for a good cause, and I don’t regret any of what I did, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish for a chance to make it better,” Old Man tapped on the glass and sighed. “Don’t suppose you have a skill or something that’ll get us in?” 

“I do. Come on, the door’s open,” replied Servi. Old Man turned and saw his partner halfway through the threshold. He hastily and silently walked over.

“Nice work. Lock pick?” he whispered.  

“Something like that,” she whispered back. After closing the door gently, Servi crouched low to the floor and searched around. Right now, they were clear from any windows, so if someone passed by, they wouldn’t see them. Her first goal was to close the curtains. Servi tapped Old Man and pointed to the window, and he nodded.  

He went to the right one and Servi to the left. A moment later, the room became pitch black. A weird sound later, Servi saw a flicker of light illuminating from a tiny match.  

“It’s a match,” he whispered, “Let’s search the bottom floor first. And be quiet.” 

Servi nodded and made her way through the shelves of helmets and gloves that littered the floor. The big stuff, suit of armors and shields and even a lance, were clipped to the walls. But nothing particularly interesting stood out for her. Sure, it was expensive if the price tag of 146 dupla could be trusted, but Servi didn’t think that Carrie would be happy if she returned with nothing but armor.  

She crept around to the back of the counter and looked down.  

“Shit,” she whispered. A thought occurred to her that a floor safe would be the best thing to find, and what better place than right under the counter, but she found nothing. Other than a few pens and scraps of papers, the counter and the storage space under it was empty. 

“Nothing good?” whispered Old Man. The tiny flame flickered faintly before dying out, prompting him to light another one.  

“Nothing good,” Servi repeated. “Unless we want to take some armor back with us. But I don’t think they’ll get us the 1,366 dupla we need.” 

“It might be time to pay the owner a visit. He has children, correct? Let’s take and use them as ‘leverage.’ Follow my lead, alright? I can be extremely convincing.” 

Servi nodded, and Old Man led her up the stairs. As expected from someone who worked with his hands, the stairs were in excellent shape. Even with the weight of two Humans, they never once creaked.

Upon reaching the top, they discovered the second floor consisted of a single corridor with a few doors on each side.  The names Leigh and Lori were engraved in a cute, child-like manner on the first door to their right, so Servi silently decided to start with it.  

Servi, are you really doing this? You’re not really going to steal money, are you? Please tell me you have a plan that doesn't involve hurting children. 

With her hand on the wooden handle, the door slowly opened with nary a squeak.  

As she expected, it was a room for children. Two beds, one pink and one white, sat on opposite sides. A few chests, partly open to reveal a stash of dolls and toys, accentuated the child-like atmosphere the room was trying to convey. An open closet on the back center of the room was wide open, revealing the garments that would be right at home for an 8 or 9-year-old daughter. No doubt, the two had to share a single closet.   

 “I assume that the owner’s room is down the hall. I’ll leave this to you, okay? Try to find something to keep their mouths shut. When you’re done, I’ll be outside.” 

“Fine,” Servi said. It was a good thing she was in charge of grabbing the two kids because she could make sure that everything proceeded according to her plan.

Maybe it’s for the best. Servi, you wouldn’t hurt these children, would you? You wouldn’t be better than Arnold or the old Fisher if you did.

“If you let me do the talking, I can get us the money. I have to get prepared,” Old Man said. He walked down the hall, stopping just in front of the last door, and closed his eyes.  

Servi stepped over the threshold, feeling a bit uncomfortable trespassing in a room that should’ve been a beacon of safety for the children in front of her. Crouching down, she slowly made her way over to the bed on the right. Servi took a deep breath and raised her hand. 

“HHHMMMMPPPJHHHH!!!!” the sleeping girl instantly panicked. A soft hand covered her face, pushing down slightly, and her first reaction was to thrash about and scream. Her arms recoiled upwards, smacking her assailant in the chin and cheeks, but it was useless. An invisible force pinned her arms and legs to her body while the bald, one-eyed intruder spoke a frightening sentence.  

“Do not make me mad. If you do, I will kill your entire family and burn this shit hole to the ground. I used Telekinesis to bind your arms and legs together, and I have a tight grasp on your throat. You can breathe, but only because I allow you to. I can change that in an instant,” Servi’s words were something no child ever deserved to hear, and the girl began to cry. Her whimpers were forced down by the iron-like grip of her vocal cords.  

Her pajamas with a yellow cartoon duck flapped about as Servi lifted the girl with a single hand.  She gripped the child by the throat, but it was all a ruse to mask the use of Telekinesis and a few hundred anchor points to make it as painless as possible.

Servi!!!!! Please don’t!!! DON’T!!!!! 

Itarr’s words of protest went unheard and unprocessed as Servi repeated the process for the other girl. She reacted in much of the same way but managed to clock two clean hits before Servi used Telekinesis. But in her thrashing about, her arms smacked against a family portrait that sat on a nearby nightstand. After catching it with Absorption, Servi retrieved it from her ring and glanced at it.  The technicalities of the drawing itself had much to be desired, but she felt the love it radiated.

“Your mother’s pretty. And I can that you two are going to be beauties yourself when you’re older. Look, I don’t want to do this, okay? But I have to. I promise that by the end of this, in both the physical sense and the monetary sense, you two and your family will not be hurting. It may not make sense, and you two can hate me. You can even wish for my death if you want, but I have to do this to rescue my best friend,” Servi whispered upon using Telekinesis to return the photo to its rightful spot.  

With a girl in both hands, who tearfully and confusingly blinked at each other, Servi walked out and found Old Man leaning against the door that must've led to the master bedroom.

“Ah, you didn’t tie them up?” he asked.  

“Didn’t need to. I told the kids very clearly that I’ll skin them alive in front of their parents if they make even the smallest amount of noise. And to demonstrate, I showed them just how sharp my dagger is,” Servi lied. She did nothing of the sort. But Old Man didn’t know that, and he believed her lies.  

“Alright, if you say so. But these little ones best not scream, or this whole thing is fucked. Here, take this rope I found and tie em' up.” 

He pulled a rope from behind his back, and Servi did as he asked. She tied the girls’ legs and arms in a way so they wouldn’t be able to run away, but at the same time, making sure their skin would be free of marks when the rope came off. And just to humor him, Servi used her dagger to cut off a piece of rope to use as a muzzle but made sure it was clean by using a combination of Absorption and Create Water. But before she placed the gag in their mouth, she used a few stacks of Remedium to be sure that the girls would be healthy at the start.

Servi, you're doing all you can to make it as comfortable as possible, aren't you?

“Just bear with it,” she said while gagging them, “This nightmare will be over soon, and you’ll be back with your family. You have to be strong, okay?” 

After making sure the ropes were comfortable and not too tight, she stood up. By using Telekinesis, she pushed the girls forward just a little bit. Their eyes widened in surprise at something touching them, and both turned to look behind them, but they saw nothing.  "Look at me. Don't look behind you," Servi snapped her fingers, and they turned around.  Since they were truly gagged and bounded by Telekinesis, they could do nothing but shuffle forward with as much freedom as Servi allowed them.  

After Old Man nodded, he opened the door and pointed to an empty spot in between two drawers. Servi knew what he was trying to convey, so she lifted the girls up by their arms, using Telekinesis to make it more gentle, and sat them down in the spot he specified. 

He turned to the king-sized bed, which housed a man and woman. Half of the floral printed bedspread was kicked off in a snake-like pattern, revealing his naked chest and her smooth legs. With nary any snoring, the only noise came from Old Man’s attempt to be quiet as he snuck over.  

He pointed to the woman, and Servi retrieved the rope she attached to her belt. Once she was in position, with the rope held a few centimeters above the woman’s mouth, Old Man used his fingers to count down from three. When he reached zero, it happened.  

Servi gently placed the rope over the woman’s mouth and used Telekinesis to bind her body and throat while Old Man slammed his hand down onto the man’s chest.  

“AAAHHHHH!!” screamed the owner of the armor shop before he felt the glint of cold steel lick his throat, leaving behind a faint line of crimson. Old Man chanted for a moment and used Lux Sphere to create a warm, continuous ball of light.  

Once the room was lit, Servi saw every little detail she had overlooked before. The walls were freshly painted a warm lavender color that went nicely with the violet curtains that hung on the wall. Two large chests were wide open, revealing a messy pile of clothes, all disorganized and in desperate need of organization. The bed, big and wide, looked to be newly bought as if the family had renovated their room not even weeks ago.  

Those fine details did not go unnoticed by Old Man, who started to display his unique talent right after Servi moved the woman over to her two trembling children. 

“This is a nice place you have here,” he said, pulling the weapon back, “It would be a shame if it went down in flames. But that only would happen if you don’t give us what we're here for. You do know why we’re here, right?” 

“GET OU—” the owner screamed while holding the floral pattern cover to his neck. A swift smack from Old Man knocked the shop owner to his back, allowing the crimson to splash around.  

“Hey,” Old Man stomped on his victim’s chest, “Your name. Give it to me.” 

“Fuc—” 

“Sorry, wrong answer,” Old Man raised his leg to stomp, but the shop owner acted first. He lifted his arm up, hitting the Old Man in the family jewels. Vomiting a green gruel and clutching his stomach, he went to his knees. The shop owner pushed him away, rolling off in the bed in the process. Servi stood in front of the open door with her dagger drawn.  

Evidently, the owner thought he could beat a wimpy, bald, one-eyed woman, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Holding out his hands, the shop owner rushed forward with his body low. Servi responded by saying perfectly still and dodged to the side at the last second while bringing her hand down on his neck. It was a brutal gesture to the dismay of his wife and children, who violently struggled against their tangible and intangible bindings.  

“Ggguuuuu….” groaned the owner as he dropped to the floor. His vision went dark and fuzzy for a few moments. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that his arms and legs were tied by rope while his mouth was free.  

 “I have orders not to kill you, but that does not apply to those three. I hope you realize what your foolish mistake might cost you,” Old Man said. He clutched his stomach and wobbled over.  

“Are your nuts fine, Old Man? I thought you said to trust you on this.” 

“They’ll be fine. Though even if they aren’t, it’s not like I have a use for them anymore. Yeah, I did say that. The bastard just caught me off guard.  I'm not as spry as I used to be back in my younger years,” with a grimace of pain, Old Man answered Servi’s question as he closed the left-opened door. With every entrance in the room locked and squared away, the main event was about to begin.  

---

“I imagine you never thought you would be in this situation before. You, half-naked and tied up with rope. Your daughter, whose neck is about to feel something sharp and cold. Your wife and other daughter, tossed into the corner and forced to watch their family die, are about to get the show of a lifetime.  Oh, and I'll have to ask you to refrain from shouting. I'm sure you know what will happen if you shout, don't you,” Old Man said. He held his dagger, lightly coated with the crimson of their father, against the shop owner's daughter's throat.  

“I guess we’ll do this by the book, but if you give us the money, we’ll leave. Anyway, your name’s Dal, right?” asked Servi. She sat on the comfortable bed with her legs crossed. Her eye stared down as if she was looking at some peasant who crossed the line.  

“It is… Please, don’t hurt Leigh…” Dal, the shop owner, whined.  

“Listen, Dal. You told me to hurt her. I’m doing what you said,” said Old Man. He adjusted his grip on the dagger.  

“No! You said left or right and held a knife to my throat!! I didn’t know what you fucking mean—” 

“Ah… Don’t be angry now. Remember, you brought this on yourself when you refused to pay back the Mafia.” 

“Wait? Mafia? I received permission to not pay for this month. I have a letter!!! Look, it’s under the bed, right? Once you look at it, you’ll see that the payment isn’t due until the end of this month!” 

Old Man nodded and looked at Servi, who rolled off the bed.  She got down on her stomach and began to search under the bed. She found no such piece of paper and shrugged her shoulders when she stood up.

“And now you want to lie? I see how it is. Maybe you need a bit of convincing. Williana, are you good at throwing knives?” 

Servi saw what he was going for and played along. “I am,” she said while taking a seat on the bed, “I’ve been known to toss a few here and there. Am I correct in realizing that pretty Leigh here will be my target?” Servi walked to the frightened child and caressed her tearstained cheek with the back of her hand.

“I do believe so. Alright, darling, let’s come over here,” leading her by the hand, Old Man placed Leigh against the wall and ordered her to stand still, warning her that she might not survive the night if she moved. Paralyzed by fear, Servi didn’t need to use Telekinesis anymore.  

“Wait, don’t!!! Don’t do it!!” Dal whined. He struggled against the ropes but failed to budge them even a little bit. Unbeknownst to him, Telekinesis was reinforcing them.  

Servi hopped off the bed and crouched down. With one hand, she rubbed Dal’s cheek and whispered. “Tell me where the money is.” Her voice was sharp, with each syllable cutting into his heart.  

She stood up, waited for a response, and became incredibly disappointed when he refused to speak.  

“I guess we have no other choice,” Servi retrieved a dagger from her hip and used both Soul Essence of Primal Combat on herself and Protection on Leigh. Before she tossed the weapon, she made sure to have Telekinesis at the ready. That way, even in the most unlikely situation of missing, she could forcibly direct the flying projectile away. With this setup, the chances of inflicting even the smallest injury were close to nil.  

Readying her arm, Servi tossed her projectile, coming dangerously close to piercing an eye. The sweat dripping down her crying face were the only movements the frightened girl made.  

Servi looked over at Dal and told Old Man to force his eyes open. He did as he was told. “Hey, make sure to look, yeah? You don’t want to miss the moment where she dies, do you? I may be a good thrower, but I also have a single eye. My depth perception isn’t what it used to be.” 

Raising her arm again, Servi tossed her second dagger, this time pretending to fail and letting it go later than usual. It looked as if it was going straight for the poor girl's left ear, but suddenly turned veered down at the last minute, cutting a few strands of her brown hair and puncturing them to the wall.  

Deep inside, Servi roared with sadness. She didn’t want to be here, permanently damaging a family’s psyche, but she had no choice. It was all for Momo. And come hell or high water, Momo would be rescued.  

“Woooo…. Dodged a bullet there, huh? For a second, I thought I had to turn this fancy-looking bed into a body bag. I don’t know why you’re so fucking stubborn, but you just have to give us the money. That’s all. Do that, and we’ll be out of your hair. I’m starting to think you don’t love your family. In that case, then do you love this shop? I’m starting to think you love it more than your flesh and blood,” Old Man raised up off the ground and cracked his shoulders. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a match and lit it.  

“I guess burning the place down might be good. If there’s a safe, we'll find it in the ashes. Well, we might have to dig through their ashes first,” Servi pointed to Lori and her mom while retrieving her two daggers.  

“Speaking of ashes, why don’t you tell me your wife’s name? I need to have something put on the tombstone. I can’t very well put ‘Dal’s wife, who died because her husband was a fucking cheapskate’ on it. She’s her own person, and her tombstone deserves her name.” 

“I got a letter… They said I didn’t have to pay… They promised me. Emi, I swear they fucking promised me I didn't have to pay!!! Emi, you gotta believe me,” Dal rocked back and forth, switching between whispering and quietly shouting. Blood dripped down his neck, going past his hairless chest until his white boxer shorts absorbed it and left a growing red stain.  

Old Man kicked him in the chest, which seemed to knock him out of his trance-like state.

“The letter! There was a fucking letter!! I ain’t paying!!” Dal roared. 

Servi sighed and took the lit match from Old Man. One by one, she began to light the curtains and the chests of clothes on fire. Smoke billowed up and threatened to suffocate everything in a thick hazy fog of black, and Servi extinguished the fire before it passed the point of no return.  A part of her died since she had no choice but to listen to the painful coughs of a mother and her innocent two children.

“Your home almost burned up, and Leigh there almost became a knife holder. Even if you do survive this, do you think your family will love you? Knowing how far you let this go? I know I wouldn’t. Why would I have a failure like you as a husband and a father?” Old Man said, fanning the smoke away from his face. The hazy gray fog naturally dissipated as it flew through the various tiny cracks in the window frame and underneath the door.  

“Ask them about the fucking letter!! Fucking ask them about it, goddamn it!!! The letter says I don’t have to pay!!!!”

Old Man, brimming with anger, stood up, grabbed Leigh, and brought her to her mother and sister. He forced her to sit down and ordered Emi to stand. She was still affected by Telekinesis, so she couldn’t get up if she wanted to, but she didn’t attempt to fight against the invisible force. Old Man gripped Emi’s arm and dragged her across the room and onto the bed until those tear-stained blue eyes had no choice but to stare at her pathetic husband and his teary brown eyes.