BOOM.

Robin jolted awake at the sound of his book hitting the floor after sliding from his lap. Cookie, who had also been resting peacefully on his lap, leaped to the ground with surprise and shot Robin a huff to express her displeasure over the sudden disturbance.

"Sorry, Cookie," Robin whispered, leaning over to retrieve the fallen book. "But it's alright now. Come on, hop back up." He added, gently tapping his lap and motioning her to rejoin him.

Cookie, however, refused his invitation and instead padded over to her small bed in the corner with an extra huff. Robin chuckled at the small dog's pettiness and stood up, stretching his aching back. Though the seats in Holly's study were comfortable and meant for long hours of reading or working, Robin found that the chair was less comfortable when he had to remain still to avoid disturbing the Nanahound's sleep, which was apparently such a great offense to the small creature.

According to the large wooden clock opposite Robin's seat, it appeared to be almost midnight. Robin had accidentally dozed off in the chair in Holly's library office while Holly worked. Robin was reading, and Holly was hurriedly fulfilling holiday orders while listening to some of the old records from Robin's room.

The soft crackling of the record's end and the ticking of the old clock were the only noises that could be heard in the room. It seemed Holly had also fallen asleep at her desk, a pair of half-finished earrings abandoned as she surrendered to exhaustion.

Robin took a short walk around the study, once again examining the unique collections of books and rocks that could be found on the bookshelves that filled the walls' entirety. He slowly walked behind Holly's desk, careful not to wake her, to take a peek at her work. However, a scrap of paper peeking from one of the bottom drawers left ajar caught his attention. Carefully reaching down to pull it out and throw it out, he recognized it as part of the torn newspaper article he had seen before, but now somehow even more shredded.

Curiosity got the better of him this time, and he slowly opened the old drawer, cringing when it let out a light creak. He quickly glanced to make sure it hadn't disturbed the slumbering sorceress. When she didn't move, Robin carefully picked the pieces of paper out, slowly fixing the destruction done to the paper to read the article in its entirety.

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Crimson Crow Flies Off the Handle!!!

The famed sorceress, once fondly called "The Crimson Crow", has reportedly burned down an entire village, rampaging and destroying everything in her path. Great Plains Military Commander, Hank Furrow, led Great Plains' troops and managed to subdue the crazed sorceress, critically wounding and capturing her,  while ensuring the safety of all the town's civilians.

"It calls into question the safety of the people of the Great Plains," One soldier, who was involved in the operation, told reporters. "If a witch can get moody and destroy a whole town, how safe are we, really, in our own country?"

For his bravery and timely response, Furrow will receive a Medal of Honor from the President of the Great Plains. This incident has sparked renewed debates about the safety of unchecked sorcerer powers and whether restrictions on heart stones or other controls are necessary to protect the people of the Great Plains from future attacks. The Crim-

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"Wait! Robin—That's... It's not..."

Robin looked down at Holly, who looked up at him with wide, yet sleep-swollen eyes. Fear etched on her face as she quickly reached for the article to snatch it from Robin's hands.

Robin almost pulled back to try and keep it from her grasp, his curiosity stronger than before, but he reluctantly handed it over to her instead. Knowing that any answers to his questions were better answered by the woman before him, rather than the torn-up paper in her hands.

"Don said you were forced to do it," Robin said softly, trying his best to keep his voice non-confrontational and casual, as he gently handed her the article. "Do you mind if I ask what really happened? I'm sure what's written here isn't the real story, " He added, trying to keep things light, "or it wouldn't have received such abuse."

The worry and fear in Holly's face melted into a brief expression of relief as she gave him a small smile. However, as Holly looked down at the paper in her hands, hesitation and sadness consumed her face.

"It's a long story..."

"I'll be here until my brother shows up, which at the rate he is taking...might just be another 50 years...Who knows?" Robin muttered, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. "I have plenty of time to hear it... If you want to tell me."

Holly didn't laugh at his attempt to make her smile, too lost in her thoughts to even give him a polite grin as she stared down at her intertwined hands in her lap. "Well, it s-it's not a good story. It's sad, and..embarrassing. And it was my fault..."

"Doctor Don doesn't seem to think so."

Holly sat for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "Well... I guess...everything started when I was studying at The Midwestern Plains University of Magic and Sorcery. A school reserved for sorcerers. I specialized in fighting magic, not because I liked it, but because I had found a kind of magic that made me almost invincible," she added, and she stole a glance at him with a small smile. "While studying there, I met a general's son named Hank Furrow. He was only a magician...but nobody knew. He cheated his way in with connections and tricks. He had everyone fooled. When I graduated, I was so infatuated with him that when he joined the military, I joined it too."

Holly laughed bitterly, leaning back in her seat and rubbing her temples. She let out a long groan before she continued. "Hank was going on a dangerous mission, and I gave him my heartstone... because I thought I was in love with him and wanted to protect him. It was stupid. It was clear he didn't feel the same way towards me, but I didn't care," she grimaced, "I seem to have a habit of doing that."

Holly began picking at her nails as she continued, avoiding Robin's gaze. "I thought that because I had such an impressive heartstone, and since I had made such a name for myself in university, that he would be proud to have it...and maybe, just maybe, he would fall in love with me because I had given it to him. Especially because he seemed so excited when I gave it to him."

She scoffed as if recalling that moment. Robin almost felt a bit jealous... but he quickly shook all conflicting thoughts to the side to focus on listening.

"But I was naive— now, I know that his magic allowed him to control any sorcerer or sorceress whose heartstone he possessed. And that's how he tricked his way into university. By controlling other sorcerers using their magic, and acting like it was him."

Robin began adding together the information that had been given to him. A mixture of sympathy and frustration for the situation grew in his chest, as well as disgust that a fellow magician could manipulate his powers to do something so evil.

Holly sighed and shook her head, her voice growing quieter as she continued her story. 

"One day, he asked me to covertly use my magic to destroy a community of the poor and unhoused people in a small village—as they were people the government deemed an eyesore and wanted the land they lived on, and so they had asked him to deal with it— and to help us both move up in ranks. When I refused, he used my heartstone to force me to do it anyway." She choked, taking a quick breath before the words started to flow more freely, quickening with speed as her frustration reignited. "Fortunately, I had mentioned this plan to Margo when he had first asked me to help him. Margo never liked him and was able to evacuate the town quickly, knowing it was a sitting target of the Great Plains military.

But when Margo saw me arrive to destroy it, she knew something was wrong. She fought to free me from his control, and when Hank finally showed up to play hero, he found me nearly dead and the town in ruins. He painted me as the villain and himself as the hero, claiming to have defeated me and evacuated the town, even though that was all Margo's work. We still don't know if that was his plan or if he changed his mind afterward, but... After I realized what he'd done, my heart stone shattered. Kind of like in the Thunderbird Tale."

Holly paused, her voice catching in her throat as a shaky hand raised to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Margo helped me escape and hide, but Hank lied to the press and claimed I was captured and detained in a high-security prison, being studied to ensure this wouldn't happen again. I've remained here in my old family farm house, as Adel townsfolk here don't care much about what happens outside their lives. It's helped me keep a low profile as Miss Ivy. When I first arrived, I was really paranoid, but it's been years, and no one cares anymore. The news has moved on. Ultimately, it was just a burned town that got rebuilt with government help to be even more beautiful than it once was, and no one got hurt. So it doesn't matter anymore," she said, trailing off, as she wiped another tear from her eye.

"Nobody got hurt, except you."

"...Yeah, well... except me," Holly mumbled as she leaned back, her shaking hands wiping away the tears that had begun to spill down her cheeks. Robin wanted to do something to comfort her, but in the moment, his thoughts failed him on how.

"And Margo, too. We'd never fought each other like that before. She was desperately trying to figure out how to free me from his spell, and I was unconsciously destroying everything in my path. In university, we'd always been a team. Fortunately, she had a slight upper hand, with Bert helping from the sidelines..." She laughed softly. "You know, Don had his work cut out for him, patching me up... He would have loved to have had you around."

"That's not really what I meant by getting hurt," Robin said, quickly reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief to offer her as she continued to pat away her tears.

Holly's shaking hands took it from him, and she dabbed her cheeks, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"Yeah, I know..." She said, clearing her throat, "But there's more you can do with a broken heart than one might expect," she explained, giving him a half-hearted smile. "It just means there's more to go around now, right?"

She paused, folding the handkerchief in her hands. Her face seemed not to believe the words that just came from her mouth.

"You can't put it back together? Merge it like you do with the stones in your jewelry?"

Holly shook her head. "A heart is a heavy burden. Especially one made of stone," Holly said, turning over the handkerchief in her hands and looking at the embroidery of his name along the outside of its border. It was an old gift from his mother.

"It was too heavy for me," She continued, "and then it was too heavy for Hank. But now... even though it's broken, it's less of a burden for those I give it to. It's nice to see people carrying around small pieces of it these days, with ease," Holly said, finally looking up at him and glancing at the chain around his neck. "It makes me think that maybe, it's not so much of a burden after all."

"It's definitely not a burden," Robin said, his gaze softening as he smiled down at her. He reached for the whistle pendant around his neck, picking it up to examine the green stones in the ivy design. "Although I will admit it has caused me a bit of trouble—"

Holly's smile faltered, fear returning to her face.

"Oh-I'm so sorry about that with Margo—"

"No, not that. Honestly, I had forgotten about that incident," Robin explained with an embarrassed laugh. "I meant that I've already had to fight off thirty men claiming to be this 'heart thief' single-handedly," he said, walking back to his seat and dramatically flopping back into the chair. "It seems like everyone wants a piece of your heart, Little Miss Red Raven.

"Crimson Crow," Holly corrected, sounding amused. "Though, it was originally Red Crow before people changed it...." She mumbled, before shaking her head, "Anyway, I am quite impressed, you said fought them off single-handedly?"

"Yes, my other hand was taking some tarts out of the oven."

Holly let out a surprised laugh, the tension and despair from her sad story easing from her face, slowly replaced with a playful grin.

"Well, I must have chosen the right person to give such a large piece to. I appreciate you taking your role so seriously, even if it wasn't easy, Oh, Little Mr Heart Healer."

Robin chuckled as he shook his head, picking up his book to hide his blushing face.

"Always, Holly."