That damned headache would not stop… Wait. She is supposed to be dead. Something was definitely not right. Of course, it wasn’t. Everything in those memories was completely off. It was as if someone had chopped them up and failed to put them back together. Mixing events and people. Although, remembering that bitch’s death in such vivid details was very pleasant. Besides, she was not alone at that time. The Fixer and Septima were close by and had saved her just in time before she lost too much blood.

But that bitch Piper was never Octavia’s friend. The Ranger was her first solo target. It had taken the Fixer two years to finally track her down with enough evidence to warrant Piper’s execution. By Husk! The woman was the one that had ruined Tilly’s life, just to get close to the Fixer. And speaking of the man, she would not be alive if not for him and Septima. Octavia felt her anger flare. She was going to take her time slicing whoever was responsible for this. Poor Rebeca was the kindest soul she’d ever known. Her only true friend. How dare they tarnish Octavia’s memory of the old woman!

It was Tilly and Septima on that bench, when the girl, she used to be, could no longer suffer the nightmares. If anything, Piper had been one of her many abusers during the year she spent as a pleasure slave to Francis! No, calm down. Allowing her anger to take control was a recipe for disaster.

And what was with that money or oath thing? Those were two completely different events. The hundred thousand was the sum that bastard Francis paid for her during Yaghaty’s illegal auction. And the oath was something Octavia made up after Septima restored her broken mind. The whole reason she took the name Octavia was so that she could forget what she had gone through as Tilly. She had gone to great lengths to forget that part of her life and did not appreciate being reminded of it in the slightest.

Someone is going to pay for this perversion of her memories. This Octavia swore in Lexi’s name. And whoever is responsible, would not like the price the Goddess of Pestilence and Decay demanded.

“What’s taking so long?” One of her captors demanded. His voice sounded familiar, but Octavia’s memory was a complete mess right now.

“And I told you that every time you disturb me, you prolong the ritual. Mind Hopping is difficult as it is, without your constant nagging.” This one was a female. Not a human. There was too much melody to the voice for it to belong to a human.

“We need to learn more about this Lexi’s Flower talent she possesses. Forget about everything else and focus on that. That’s why we hired you!” The man demanded.

“Are you telling me how to do my job?” The woman snapped, anger oozing from her voice. “Last I checked, you have no clue how magic works.”

“Just do your job…”

“Thomas, my dear, please shut up.”

At least now she had a name to focus on. Hm. Thomas sounded familiar. Right, he was one of the people she was after. But why? Oh well, it would come back to her. Hopefully, it wasn’t someone she needed alive. The gloom and darkness of wherever she was being held at, was not helping either. There was nothing she could use to shake her memories back in order.

Octavia groaned and struggled against her bonds. She had had enough of playing games. Her sudden animation causing her captors to squeal in surprise. The idiots thought that some petty ropes and light sedatives were going to keep her docile? What a joke. She is Octavia the Fixer! None other than her Master had given her this title and she wore it with pride. They should have realised their strategy was doomed by now.

If only they did not bother to go through so many details of her past, they might have learned what it meant to be Lexi’s Flower. It was the Goddess herself who told Octavia the meaning of her trait. All the cramps, colds, fatigue and fevered days, were nothing but a minor inconvenience. And she would suffer them ten-fold to please her patron god.

Those idiots wanted to learn the truth? No problem. Everyone is entitled to the truth. But some truths come with a very high price tag, and this one is the type to be paid with one’s life. And Lexi’s Garden is not a place for the weak-willed.

“You almost had me there,” Octavia whispered, ignoring the pain at the back of her head. “But you just had to taint Septima’s image in my memories! She was harsh when it came to training me, never cruel. She never enjoyed taking a life. You projected too much of yourself in her.”

She spoke as she used Acid Touch to dissolve the ropes binding her.

“What is the meaning of this?!” The same man, Thomas, shouted from the darkness.

“I don’t know! She’s supposed to be under my spell’s control!” There was panic in the woman’s voice.

“You should have paid more attention in your fancy magic school, love,” Octavia snarled as she sprung into action. “Never invade the mind of someone with an Unstable trait!”

She had an idea where her captors might be. Though, that said, there was a good chance she would miss either of them with her first attack.

“Doctor! Sedate her!” Thomas barked at someone who had been silent so far. However, this was enough to make Octavia stop.

There might be more people in here and by the sound of it, they could see her. Which meant that the darkness she was observing was not the natural state of this place. Interesting. Was she under an enchantment? Or is it a side effect of the drugs they must have used on her?

“With what?! I used all my stock to put her under the first time!” Another man answered.

This Doctor was definitely not human. There was no way Octavia would not recognise the slurred speech of a pureblood lizard-man. That’s quite the diverse group of enemies she has to deal with. First things first. She needs to deal with being able to see again.

“How did she escape?!” Octavia heard Thomas shout. “You said the rope was enchanted!”

“It is… was… Whatever! If she is awake, I cannot continue.” The woman’s voice was becoming a shrill. She was afraid of Octavia. Which meant the two have met before.

Damn it. If only her mind was not so messed up, Octavia could make more sense of what was going on. And why. Never forget the why she reminded herself. It is the most important question a fixer needs to ask.

“Why don’t you come closer and I’ll show you,” Octavia said and made the most viciously insane smile she was capable of.

Fake it till you make, as Vinn used to say… Who in Husk’s name was Vinn? A man? Or was it a woman? Either way, it was someone Octavia trusted, probably. It’s good advice for any fixer to follow. And Octavia is one of the best, that much she knew with certainty.

“She’s blind.” The Doctor stated. Well, there goes her strategy. Octavia lowered herself, ready for the attack which was coming.

“Doesn’t look that way to me, Doctor,” Thomas again. The man loves to talk. Thankfully he was not as smart as the lizard-man and the not too human woman, who were keeping very quiet.

Still, Octavia could hear the Doctor’s angry whisper. “Yes. She’s not reacted once to any of my motions, no matter how threatening they are.”

“In that case you two restrain her. That’s what I’m paying you for…”

“No!” Both the lizard and mage answered as one. But it was the latter who elaborated. “That’s what you pay your goons for.”

So, they are mercs. Perhaps Octavia could exploit this. Their kind is not known for their loyalty. Especially not things turn sour. And if what she was hearing was true, their relationship was holding by a thread.

Think, woman, think. There is something you can use. It is clear Thomas knows who Octavia is and what she can do. To some extent. As it is clear that the Doctor is clueless. What about the mage, after all, she is the person, the fixer is most angry with at present for trying to invade her mind? That’s right! This was the opening Octavia needed.

“You think, Thomas’ goons will get another chance to catch me?” She growled. “Why don’t you tell them what you saw while you were poking in my mind? Tell them what happened to Piper Rex. Don’t be shy.”

Octavia had to take advantage of the Guild’s cover-up of that mess she made. To the general public, the famous Ranger had perished due to an illness. After all, the new Guild Master did not want to have the Guild’s dirty little secrets exposed. If people knew what Yaghaty had been up to, it would be the end of the Adventures Guild’s reputation.

“Why don’t you tell them how I killed her? When I could barely swing a sword.” Octavia put as much sadistic glee in her voice as she could.

This was another trick veteran fixers used. When forced on the defensive, make your opponent uncomfortable. Make them think you are insane and not afraid to die.

People liked to think of fixers as madmen and lunatics. Hard bastards, who would do anything for the right price. Which is technically true. Octavia had done a lot of things she was not proud of, but she was yet to meet a colleague who is mentally unstable. On the contrary, the job required a cold calculating mind. Still, her words had the effect she was aiming for.

“What is she talking about, Cassatri?” The lizard-man asked, losing his composure.

Cassatri, that’s an elf’s name. One of the Athori, most likely. They do like those double consonants in the middle of their names. So, the mage is not someone to take lightly. Athori elves do have a strong affinity for magic. It doesn’t mean that every one of their kind is good at using it, but it is safe to err on the side of caution.

Wait a minute, Mind Hopping, Cassatri of the Athori. Octavia’s memory was finally starting to work. She knew exactly who this woman was.

“I’ll give you only one chance to walk away from this, Cassatri Fri. The fixers do not care about your bounty but anger me further and I will claim it with pleasure,” Octavia bared her teeth in the general direction the woman was supposed to be. “Am I clear, Outcast?”

The elf is an Outcast, hunted by her own people for some crime or whatever. Either way, it is a political matter and the Guild, the fixers, don’t do politics. The woman is also a well know coward. This means it is not only money keeping her here. If only Octavia could figure it all, she could even the odds.

Actually, she was done playing this game by the rules of her captors. The idiots had not stripped her of her armour. Most likely they thought it pointless, considering the many curses and negative enchantments it had on it.

“Wait! What is she doing?” Cassatri shrieked as she saw Octavia force her fingers through her own eyes.

It was a crude solution to her problem. Whether an enchantment, a spell or the side effect of some drug, once the eyes were destroyed it did not matter. All that was left was for Octavia to restore her sight. Biting back the pain, she used Acid Touch on the wound. It was an unpleasant sensation, to say the least. But it did get the job done. It was hazy at first, but the world around her was slowly taking shape.

“She can see… How?” The Doctor gasped. The tall slim figure to her right.

Which made the short one in the middle the elf. And the one on the left was none other than Thomas Green, or as he was better known Thomas the Priest. Him, Octavia did not need alive. On the contrary, she was to deliver the man’s head to Guild Master Ruffus of Haskar for the crime of aiding the escape of Yaghaty.

“I’m Lexi’s fucking Flower, that’s how.” Octavia sneered at the trio.

She used the moment of confusion to get a better look at her surroundings. They were in some dusty old wine cellar and her prey was half a dozen meters away. Magical circles and ritual sigils decorated the floor, far too complex for Octavia to recognise any of them at a glance. There was a row of small windows at the upper end of the wall to her left and a weaving staircase leading to the upper floor behind the trio.

The room itself was an elongated rectangle. Twice as long as it was wide. Good. This meant that there was no space for them to use ranged attacks as an advantage. Which was not that much of an issue in the first place. One look at the elf was enough to inform Octavia that the girl was in shock.

Cassatri was a pretty little thing. Her skin coal black and her wide white eyes glistening like winter starts. Like all Athori, she was short and slim. Well, short was a relative term. Compared to other elves, the Athori were very short. Compared to humans – not so much. The mage was only a head shorter than Octavia herself.

As for the lizard-man, well she was not sure who he was. However, not that she could see, Octavia knew exactly which race he belonged to. The man was an Anka’Ran. The most venomous of all the lizard people. To the point that they had close to no physical aptitude and lacked the sharp claws or spiked tails of the others of their kind. This also meant that the man was next to useless in a fight against her.

That left only Thomas. A disgraced cleric, turned adventurer, before finally settling into the life of a criminal. Mid-thirties, he was a man of many talents. Only a few actual talents, but he was a dangerous man. Octavia had expanded significant time to learn as much of him as possible. He had the Sword Combat and Mace Combat Skills. Could use magic in the form of acolyte level Light Magic and had retained the Prayer of Fortitude and Prayer of Protection Skills from his previous vocation. Overall, he was not someone Octavia wanted to face unarmed.

“Was that Acid Touch? It was!” Thomas shouted and looked at the stunned elf with anger as he screamed in her face. “You said she could not use magic!”

“She can’t!” That got Cassatri’s attention. “I mean… she is not supposed to… This is not part of our deal!” She looked pleadingly at Octavia and dropped her staff to the ground taking a single step back.

Smart choice, but too late. The elf was guilty no matter what she did from here on. She had dared to taint Octavia’s memories of the only person she cherished. She respected the Fixer and considered him her Master. After all, he was in a sense. The man had taught her everything she needed to know about becoming a fixer. She respected Vinn… Seriously! Who is Vinn, and why could not Octavia remember? But the only one she cherished and mourned losing was Septima.

“She’s just one woman with no weapons. What if she can use a single spell to heal herself,” Thomas roared with confidence that was missing from his eyes.

“Need I remind you she’s a fixer?” The Doctor hissed in a more sombre tone.

“Doesn’t matter,” the former priest sneered, toying with the spiked mace in his hands, “you are an Anka’Ran. Between the two of us, she’s as good as dead.”

“She killed Piper Rex…” Cassatri whispered while her body began to tremble uncontrollably beneath the sapphire blue robe she wore. “She killed the Mage Hunter with her bare hands.”

“What are you talking about? What is she talking about, Thomas?” The Doctor demanded.

“It’s nothing. It has to be a backlash from the spell.” The man licked his lips and placed his right foot forward, ready to charge.

Octavia narrowed her eyes. Thomas knew the truth. Someone at the Guild had been talking. She would need to investigate this matter further. But for now, she had to keep them talking. The longer they delayed, the more time she had to figure out what to do.

At least her vision was back to normal. Octavia could finally pick more details of her surroundings. There was a wine rack close to her right, but for her to reach it and use one of the bottles as an improvised weapon. For that, however, the fixer would need to expose her back to their attacks. Unless? A plan formed in her head.

Not giving them any more time, Octavia charged at the trio. A moment before reaching them and having an unfortunate encounter with Thomas’ hammer, she jumped to the left. Directly at the large wine barrels lining the wall. Using her last Acid Touch, she melted the iron ring on the barrel she crashed into. Now, she had a weapon. 

Octavia was a little surprised that the Doctor was the first one to come at her. The lizard-man had decided to take full advantage of the situation apparently. He stopped himself a step away and sprayed a poisonous cloud in her face. What a fool, Octavia chuckled. This was nothing to her.

The fixer rammed the sizzling end of the metal ring directly into the Doctor’s mouth. Satisfied with the mask of shock that appeared on his face, Octavia kicked his inverted knee-joint, forcing the creature to the ground and slammed the piece of jagged metal deeper in its throat.

Leaving the overgrown reptile to choke on a mixture of poisonous liquids and blood from its shredded neck, Octavia focused her attention on Thomas. For the first time, the man looked shocked.

“Drop the mace and I’ll make your end fast.” She commanded in her coldest voice. It had taken her months to get it just right, but it was worth it.

Octavia could see the sweat gathering in the space between the man’s nose and mouth a clear sign that he was worried. This was the crucial part of her plan. It was all or nothing.

“An animal is most dangerous when trapped.” Septima’s words echoed in her head. “You just have to make it think that it isn’t and it will always choose to escape. Placing it where you want it.”

Slowly, Octavia began to circle around Thomas, staying just out of his reach. And when he wised up that he had the advantage of being the only one with a weapon, she stepped back. Slowly and very deliberately Octavia backed away. Until “accidentally” her way was barred by the wine rack. Taking the initiative, Thomas swung his mace. Right when she wanted him to.

Buckling her knees and rolling behind me, Octavia was satisfied to hear the shattering of bottles and felt wine spray her back. A string of curses accompanied it, as the man was both surprised and most likely closed his eyes on instinct.

In one fluid motion, she pulled on the end of the garrotte wire hidden at the base of her left forearm guard. They might have removed her knives, but have overlooked the thin steel wire, thinking it a part of the armour. And if one thing could be trusted, it was that no one liked to touch cursed armour out of simple superstition.

Octavia wrapped her favourite tool of killing around Thomas’ neck and pulled him to the ground. Planting her knees at his back, Octavia pulled harder. The thin steel instrument sliced through the skin and when it reached his spine, she finally let go.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Octavia stood up and made her way to the elf. Cassatri had collapsed on the cold stone floor in a puddle of her piss. Her eyes wide enough to look like jewels.

“I’m sorry, so, so sorry.” She pleaded. “I had no choice…”

“No.” Octavia snapped. “You had a choice and you choose to try and poison my mind.”

She stopped in front of the woman and placed her hands on the side of her head.

“It would bring me immense pleasure to take my time killing you. But,” Octavia smiled, “I actually prefer to get a nice long bath instead.” She chuckled and pressed her forehead against the elf’s.

Following her example, Cassatri began to laugh. It was obvious she was doing out of fear, but with that strained sound came hope, visible in her endless white eyes. Octavia twisted her hands, breaking the mage’s neck and let her body drop.

“Lady Octavia! I finally found you!” At the sound of the new voice, the fixer turned around, assuming a defensive posture.

A pretty girl with long raven-black hair and glistening purple eyes had inserted herself halfway through the small row of windows.

“Vinn?” Octavia asked, unsure if this was the right person.

“Were you expecting someone else?” The girl dropped to the floor and smiled. “Pardon the tardiness miss, but the guards took longer than expected to dispatch.”

Vinn bowed, releasing a set of black bat-like wings from her back.

Octavia took an involuntary step backwards, ready to flee at the drop of a pin. This girl, this Vinn, she did not belong to any race the fixer knew of. Swallowing hard, she whispered to herself. “What are you?”