Mary's smiles vanished when Mr. Copper, Hornroot, and Edgar met up with us.

            I couldn't keep my eyes off of her as we walked through the tunnel. Nodding, talking, and acting like she was as much a part of the nightmare as the Stalwart or the Overseer. She played the loyal servant role very well. Was she still thinking about escaping?

             I could feel Hornroot's own eyes on me as he perched on my shoulder. He was an annoying bastard, but he was also an observant one. He probably knew something was going on between us. Hopefully it was nothing more than mistaking it for romance.

            Like I had mistaken it.

            "You might think you are ready, Mouse, but you and the other familiars are still in need of much more training before we can make anything official."

            Mr. Copper was talking about something. Something involving the familiars. I should probably listen.

            "Master, if you would forgive my presumption, I believe how we dealt with the witch and her accomplice shows that we are ready to protect our charges. Despite what some of you think, Foxy and the others have proven themselves capable and dedicated to protecting others."

            Dedicated? Maybe. If it meant protecting innocent people from maniacs with magical powers, I could do it again. Try to do it. Being capable was an entirely different issue. I wasn't capable of protecting them. If it wasn't for Maple, or for Mallard's stolen gun failing to fire, most of us would either be dead or controlled by the enemy. Mr. Copper and the other witches knew that.

            "It is not my call. The others in the Community still feel you need the recommended four years. All of you."

            I glared at the back of his blonde head. Why did I think he was now talking to me?

            "It's impossible for Foxy to get his entire four years before his Master will expect to receive him," Mary said, glancing back at me. Her eyes suddenly went wide before she shot back to Mr. Copper. "She isn't here, is she?"

            "If she was, we wouldn't be having this somewhat casual stroll. But, while you are correct on that, the Community feels that the more time spent the better. While we cannot repair the damage already done, improvements can still be made."

            "Why do I get the feeling that I'm being talked about like I'm not here?" I asked. I cursed under my breath when Hornroot ripped a few hairs out of my head with his beak.

            Mr. Copper stopped walking. The rest of us stopped as well.

            Mary and Edgar looked between him and I. Hornroot's feathers rustled.

            The new torch that lightened revealed we had come to a dead end. A flat wall of dirt.

            "That was not my intention, Alex." Mr. Copper turned to face me. He still had an eye patch over his left eye, still wore the oversized coat, and still had his cold look as he stared blankly at me. "I'm sorry."

            There was a screech in my ear as Hornroot was torn away from my shoulder. Before I could react, I felt hands on my back and all at once my body collapsed. I fell into the dirt, my entire body numb. I couldn't even move my head. A pair of dirty, fancy black shoes walked across my field of vision. "That should be sufficient for the next few minutes. Mr. Copper, if you would please."

            I was being lifted in the air, but I could not feel the sensation of someone touching me or carrying me. I briefly caught sight of Mary, stuffing a frantically flapping Hornroot into a silky black bag. I came to rest in Mr. Copper's arms as he held me underneath my armpits, my feet still had to be touching the ground, but it was like I was floating.

            I summoned just enough strength to pull my head up and see Edgar standing before a newly created doorway in the once solid dirt wall. He did not appear scared of me anymore. The frown on his face was much more genuine than any of his smiles.

            "What are you doing?" I asked, my voice the only part of me still retaining strength.

            "Giving you a chance," the boy in black answered before turning and opening the door.

            I was forced on my knees on a stone platform in the center of the next room. It was another dirt room, like the one I woke up in, but I could not see much except for the small amount of sunlight that came from a hole in the ceiling.

As chains were being locked on my wrists, I could just make out that the entire ceiling seemed to be made out of wood. Through the hole, I thought I could see another room with dismantled furniture.

            Someone grabbed the back of my head and roughly pushed it down, allowing me to see the platform I was on. It was like a giant stone disk. There were pictures carved into it. Things that looked like people dancing around a fire. It reminded me of the quilt in Mr. Quincy's bedroom.

"Let me warn you now. Many in this Community see you as another Mallard waiting to hatch and are very adamant that your progress to become a familiar should be stopped here."

The voice sounded like Mr. Copper. He wasn't the one holding my head, but whoever it was was using more of that magic to keep me from feeling anything from the neck down.

I gritted my teeth. "I suppose that means I wouldn't just get my old life back and live happily ever after, huh?"

"They want blood. Your blood. They believe you are a risk not worth taking."

"So why don't they just kill me!?" I shot. "Why are we even doing whatever it is we are doing right now?"

I raised my head, against the wishes of the person holding it. I could see Mr. Copper, standing in the light with me, everything around us bathed in black. 

"Because of who my Master is? Because they are afraid of what she would do?" I held Mr. Copper's icy glare. "What about what I did? I had so many chances to leave all of this bullshit behind, but I stayed. I stayed because I wanted to help my friends, to help...to try to help Dr. Quincy's children!"

"Yes, you did stay. But was that because you wanted to, or because Mr. Mallard wanted you to?"

"Fuck Mallard. I would rather you all think I was just some mindless animal then think I would ever work with scum like him. If you want someone to blame for all of this shit, he's your guy."

"Convenient then that he is dead, is it not?" Mr. Copper stepped closer to me—continued to look down on me like I was some pet who just pissed on his carpet. "Unable to defend himself, unable to explain anything about what happened. We are only left with what happened from his killer."

"I didn't kill him."

"No, but we are to understand that you did not exactly prevent it, either. My familiar, Mouse, asked what you wanted to happen to him and you said 'I don't care'. He was near death, and that was your response. We are left to assume that you wanted him dead. You wanted him dead because then everything will tie up into a nice, neat little bow for you. Minerva dead, Dr. Quincy dead, Mallard dead, the remaining children and familiars too frightened to ever betray you. No one left to stop the pawn of Arnold Mallard from fulfilling his desire and destroying our Community from its very roots."

"Fuck you!" I pulled on my restraints, but they kept me firmly on my knees. The hand came back and gripped my skull; the strength not only left my body but was slowly ebbing away my consciousness. "If you're going to kill me, just fucking do it you copper-tongued son of a bitch! I'm not just going to sit here and listen..."

I shut my eyes. Fuck. I was crying again. In front of these monsters again. While one of them was killing me, no less.

"All I wanted was to keep them safe. They were the only people who treated me nice after my life turned to shit. If you're going to kill me for trying to protect a bunch of kids, than just do it. I don't want to spend one more second with you assholes. You'd be doing me a favor, so just do it!"

Nothing.

I opened my eyes again. Mr. Copper still stood there, staring down at me. I didn't know what I was seeing in his cold blue eye. I reached down from the pit of whatever was keeping me conscious and pulled against the restraints and at the numbing hand.

I screamed with everything I had left: "KILL ME!"

            Mr. Copper reached into his coat. I was expecting his brass gun, but instead what he pulled out was a small, wilted, white flower. As he brought it out, the hand on the back of my head left and all the weakness in my body vanished like a bad dream.

            I could only pant and stare at the flower Mr. Copper held out to me as the chains were released from my wrists. "What is that?"

            "It's a flower," Mr. Copper said, smiling when I glared at him.

            "It's your second chance," Edgar answered, his small frame revealing itself as he walked out from behind me to join Mr. Copper.

            Lights came on all around us. More torches revealed walls of white stone which encircled the three of us. Above the walls were empty seats of more solid white stone that looked more like sets of giant stairs. As I looked around, I did catch a few people sitting in the pews. I could not make any details due to the torchlight continuing to cloak their surroundings in shadows, but I knew they were all looking down at us.

            "Those children you were so adamant in protecting told us a great many things about you," Edgar continued, causing me shift my attention to him and his tired face, "and while they all have mixed opinions on you as a person, they all agreed you were trying to help them, in one way or another."

            Mr. Copper continued to hold the flower out to me until I took it from his hand. As I did, one of its petals came loose and fell to the ground.

            "They were actually quite worried about you," Mr. Copper said, slight smile still on his face. "They wouldn't believe you were okay until we showed you sleeping in bed."

            "With this in mind," Edgar said, stepping forward, "as Overseer of the community of Wildwood, I am hereby pardoning any perceived or committed crimes in regards to Alex Foxy up until this point on the condition that you, Foxy, swear that you will abide by our wishes during your next few years in training to become a familiar and, when the time comes, you will abide by the wishes of your Master."

            He motioned for me to stand. I did so, slowly, looking around at the witches watching us.  When Edgar cleared his throat, I focused my attention back to him and the outstretched hand he held out to me. At some point he had taken off the glove covering that hand.

            "By shaking the hand of the Overseer, you agree to the terms I have stated, under punishment of death should you break your word."

Edgar spoke the words so casually, like he had said them hundreds of times before. The vacant look in his eyes told me he probably had.

            I looked down at his small, pale, bony hand.

            So, it had come to this.

            Make a deal with Death, or die.

            Mr. Copper was watching me expectantly. The cold, stern man who was interrogating me not but a few seconds ago seemed to be long gone. Perhaps he and Mary had more in common than I thought.

There seemed to be no one else in the room besides the three of us and our mysterious observers. I sort of wished the kids and my friends were here with me. Maybe being able to see them one last time would make this decision easier. As it stood now, there were still things I wanted to say, to do. If we still had a few more years of 'training', maybe it won't be like it was.

Maybe we could be real with each other this time. Maybe I could get stronger. I could become more capable.

I took the hand. It was colder than I expected, and I was expecting it to be like ice. I inwardly grimaced when Edgar forced another one of his smiles. He broke the handshake quickly and slipped his dark glove back onto his pale hand before settling his arms back to their stiff positions at his side. "I'm happy we could come to an agreement."

            "Well, you could stand to sound happy about it."

            Edgar's eyes widened and Mr. Copper put a hand over his mouth. It took me a few seconds longer than it should before I realized what I did.

            "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

...

*Author's Note*

Oh, Foxy, you have gotten so sassy lately, haven't you? Let's hope it doesn't get you into any more trouble than you already are in!

Do you guys think can keep up this little deal with the Overseer? Will he be able to still hold onto his friends and play the loyal familiar role at the same time? I'd love to hear you all's thoughts on this, or anything else that leaves you warily optimistic!