Sounds. The pounding of feet against dirt. The quick breathing of myself and the Lady as we struggled to keep with the Overseer's pace. Leaf occasionally telling me things in my ear. And, of course, the sharp ringing sound of the gun that had gone off against my skull.

            Slowly, very slowly, my hearing was returning.

            It was all still muffled, like we were running in a dirt tunnel underwater. I couldn't make out anything Leaf, the Lady, or Edgar were saying. Thankfully, they weren't talking a lot. I was having enough issues trying to keep my useless body going without having to worry about my surroundings.

            But it was clear that Edgar was in a hurry. The Lady looked almost in worse condition than I felt, but we weren't slowing. Was he taking us out, or further in?

            Couldn't worry about it. Could barely even think about it. Were my friends okay? The Quincy's? Did the Lady being here mean her daughter was still alive? My body was trying to tell me that there were more pressing things to worry about, but my mind still whirled.

            Dead. I should be dead. I was dead. I thought they would use me as a bargaining chip, but they shot me instead. The more I tried to think about the in between time of when I got shot and being revived by the Overseer, the louder the ringing sound got. It had deafened me once, and I wasn't too eager to go through that, or worse, again.

            So, focus on the now. The Overseer brought me back because he wanted to know what happens after someone dies? Was my answer satisfactory? It wasn't even much of an answer. I hardly could even remember what I told him. Either way, why was he keeping me alive? Where was he taking us?

            "Where...?" I tried to say, but my body was still in too much pain, and the light jog we were forced to keep up took up too much oxygen. I nearly doubled over trying to say a single word, and the Lady and Leaf had to bend over with me to keep us all from going down.

...

            "Foxy?" the Lady gasped out, her pale face awash with sweat.

            "We're almost there," Leaf said. "We can talk when we—"

            Leaf stopped when the Overseer suddenly vanished. No, not vanished, he fell through a hole that suddenly opened up in the dirt floor beneath his feet. Almost as soon as he fell through, the hole closed itself up.

            "Shit!" Leaf exclaimed, stumbling to a stop hard enough to send both Foxy and the Lady sprawling forward against the ground.

            "What...happened?" Lady Louise asked, struggling to catch her breath.

            "Has to be Giles," Leaf snapped, looking all around them. "Shit! Where could he have taken him?!"

            "Giles?" the Lady repeated quietly, looking at the Quincy child curiously. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she sucked in another calming breath. "If it was Giles, he has to be close. To be that accurate, he had to have either seen or heard us."

            "Heard...The floor!" Leaf stomped at the ground at their feet. "He's below us!"

            "I can make the floor disappear," the Lady said, making to remove her stained gloves. "It won't be clean, and I don't know how far it is to the room below, so brace yourself. Foxy?"

            She waited until the red haired boy met her eyes, and smiled. "Hang on to me," she told him, slowly sounding out each word. Foxy nodded from his position on the ground, crawling over until he could wrap his rail thin arms around her waist. With a final steadying breath, the Lady placed her palms against the dirt floor and, a moment later, the dirt floor ceased to exist.

...

            I closed my eyes. I think I screamed, but I couldn't be sure. I was sure of how tightly I held Lady Louise. She held on to me in turn after the floor vanished. Thankfully, it wasn't a long fall, but it still hurt when we hit the ground. I could even hear the Lady's muddled grunt of pain and discomfort over the dull ringing in my ears.

            We had fallen into a rather cramped dirt room with no other way out but the way we fell in. The three of us had landed in the middle of what had to be a confrontation of sorts. On one side of the room stood Edgar, his suit a bit dirtier, but otherwise not worse for wear. On the other side was Mary, copper coated gun drawn and trained on our small group and, beside her, Giles Copper.

            But it was a Copper that I did not recognize. His eyes were too bright, his smile too big. And, when he threw his head back and laughed at the sight of us, it sounded nothing like him.

...

            "Oh, Overseer, this your backup?" the thing inside Giles Copper asked, struggling to stop its laughter. "I give up. Really. This is too much!"

            "Alex?" Mary said breathlessly, her gun lowering a fraction.

            "Okay, I've had my laugh. Mary, be a dear and shoot them. Start with the red head."

            "Mary, stop!" the Lady Louise shouted, even as Mary was raising the weapon up again.

            She had her sights trained on Alex's head. Their eyes met. The only sign of life on him, the rest skin and bones. This was her Alex, returned to her again. She never thought she would see him again.

            The gun in her hands trembled.

            "Oh, I'm sorry, was that command too friendly? Not enough Masterly?" the golden eyed creature taunted before snatching the gun out of the familiar's hand. "Fine, keep the dear Overseer busy. I'll take care of our uninvited guests."

            "No!" Mary cried, throwing out a hand and knocking the gun aside, striking hard enough to send it bouncing off the dirt wall behind them.

            "Bitch!" the creature cursed, cradling Giles' injured hand as it backed away from Mary. "Choosing now to betray me, eh? I'll give you points for timing."

            Its eyes began to glow an even fiercer gold, the forefinger of its uninjured hand brightening to match the intensity. Seeing what was coming, Mary raced for the three fallen figures, reaching out a hand for one in particular. Before she could reach him, the creature twirled its golden finger once in the air and a golden portal appeared right in Mary's path, forcing her to tumble through it before she could stop herself.

            "Alex!" she cried out before the portal vanished, swallowing up both her and her words.

            Foxy stared wide-eyed at where Mary used to be, before turning to the creature, jaw clenched and eyes ablaze. "Where!?" he demanded with his ragged voice.

            "If I had more time, the inside of a volcano or a few miles in the air," the creature said with a casual shrug. "What can I say, she played her part well. Took me completely off guard. I can respect that. Had to think quick before she screwed up my plans too badly."

            "WHERE?!" Foxy shouted again.

            "Whoa, tiger." The creature held up its hands, feigning surrender as it laughed. "Give me a second, I'll be happy to show you."

            "I believe your issue is with me. Isn't it, Lachlan?" Edgar interrupted.

            "Nice, first try," the creature said with an approving nod. "As to be expected of our noble leader. Would you believe me if I said I almost forgot about you? I mean, you were so quiet and just standing there while I almost killed a defenseless woman and a couple of kids."

            The creature was walking to the back of the small room, towards the gun. As it finished talking, it reached down and picked up the copper weapon, cradling it almost affectionately as the thing inside Giles turned back to the others.

            "I still can, you know."

            "I don't want to act too rashly," Edgar explained. "I can finish you whenever I feel like, but I have a few questions for you. How you came back, for starters."

            "Shit." The creature threw its head back and laughed again. "And here I thought I had all the cards stacked against you. Small room with no way out. A gun with bullets that can dampen any Knowledge. And now, hostages. But you can finish me whenever you like? That's a real shame. Guess I really should give up."

            The creature smiled, raised the gun, and fired once. Edgar let out a grunt of pain when the bullet tore through his upper thigh, doubling over and falling against the ground.

            "Overseer!" Leaf cried. He made to stand, but was stopped by the click of the gun.

            "Now's not the time to play hero, kid," the creature warned. "There's not many of these bullets left, and I would prefer to use them all on our dear leader, but I won't hesitate to put one right through your eyes if you give me a good enough reason. And same goes to you."  It whirled the gun over till it was pointing at the Lady. "Don't try anything fancy. I do plan on sticking you with one of these before we have our fun, but you try and help the Overseer in any way and I promise our future together will be anything but fun for you."

            "You still have a chance, Lachlan," the Lady said, groaning against the new pains in her body. "If you have a way of leaving Giles, you both can get out of this before something irreversible happens."

            The creature smiled again. "You know, it really is funny how in control you all like to sound when your life is in my hands, but the joke is getting old fast." It turned the gun until it was facing Foxy. While the familiar met the barrel of the gun without blinking, both Leaf and the Lady flinched.

            "How about I skip right past the punchline and blow a hole through this kid's face? By the way you're holding him, he must mean something special to you, Loretta. Little side piece of yours while you were fucking my brother? Honestly, your taste has really soured since I've been dead."

            "And how was that?" Edgar called, leaning against the back wall and gripping his bleeding thigh between his small hands. "Being dead, I mean. Anything worth sharing?"

            "I'm impressed, Overseer," the creature called back. "Not many can remain so glib after having a major artery opened up. You wanna know about being dead? Just give it a minute or so. You'll see for yourself."

            "But I'm curious about your experience, Lachlan. No one has ever returned from the dead, but here you are. And how curious it is that it's you of all people. I haven't killed many in my time, and you are one of the few who would know enough to have such a grudge as to want to return the favor. What do you think? Am I on the right path? Is there a reason you were brought back?"

            "Divine intervention?" the creature asked back. "Someone trying to do some real good in the world having their life cut short by a monster, it makes sense that a higher power would want to correct that mistake."

            "Oh, come on," Edgar said, coughing and laughing at the same time. "We both know that's not true, let alone satisfying."

            "Maybe," Lachlan said, smiling wide as he raised the gun a final time. "But I do like the idea of you dying full of questions."

            In the short time that the Overseer and the creature shared words, Leaf had discreetly raised one of his hands. Foxy and the Lady had watched him from the corners of their eyes, trying not to give him away. The fingers of his right hand were pointed out while the other hand lay atop them. When the thing inside Giles raised his gun, Leaf raised his arms to meet it.

            Giles' body fell back as the nails on Leaf's right hand suddenly extended outwards, growing at a rapid pace until they pierced into the man's stomach. There was a flash and a bang from the gun, the sound bouncing around the room, making Foxy throw up his hands to cover his already injured ears. The Lady, too stunned to be fazed by the gun going off, stared in wonder at Leaf's sudden display of power.

            In the months she had been prisoner here, she had come to know the Quincy children during Rhenoa's therapy sessions. The Lady knew of their hopes, their desires, their stresses, and their powers. Leaf had always struggled with his heightened senses. Sounds too loud. Smells too strong.

            Was this a new development?

            No.

            Lady Louise felt a chill race through her as she began to put the pieces together in her mind.

            This—

            "Nice shot," the creature said, taking a step back to detach itself from the bloody points of the nails and spitting out a wad of blood. When it smiled, Giles' teeth were stained red. "But mine was better."

            Foxy, the Lady, and Leaf all spun to look at the Overseer. The boy was still leaning against the wall, his hands still gripped around his thigh. He was looking up at the open ceiling that led into the hallway. Only, he wasn't really looking. One of his eyes was glassy, staring at nothing. The other was missing, replaced by a slightly smoking, gore filled hole.

            There were screams as the boy's body slumped to the ground. Lady Louise shouted in horror and Leaf in rage while Foxy just stared at the unmoving body. The nails of Leaf's right hand retracted as he got to his feet and charged the older man. With a much more relaxed smile, the creature inside Giles threw the man's knee upward to meet the boy's chin, sending  Leaf sprawling with one, effortless blow. The Quincy child did not get back up; though his arms and legs continued to twitch. When the creature lowered the gun to Leaf's head, Lady Louise shouted again.

            "That's enough, isn't it!?" Unabashed tears welled up at the corners of her eyes. "You got what you came here for. No one else has to die!"

            The creature considered her for a moment before raising the barrel of the gun up and away from Leaf. "I suppose you're right. Almost lost myself in the heat of the moment!"

            It laughed again, and then let out a long sigh of relief. "But, wow, that felt good. Whoever says revenge doesn't give you happiness is full of shit!" Giles' winced and the thing had him look down at the bleeding wound in his stomach. "I guess my little brother's adrenaline is wearing off, that's really starting to sting."

            The creature looked up at Lady Louise with another bloody smile. "I'd ask you to make this nasty injury go away, but I guess we aren't at that stage yet, eh? You did great though, playing your part as the Overseer's ally. I bet he was acting so cocky cause he thought he had you in his back pocket. We aren't at the trusting stage yet, but that was a good start." It moved the gun until it was pointing at Foxy. "Hey, red, you mind patching up this wound for me? Just tear some fabric off Louise's dress. Or, is something simple like that too much for that limp body of yours?"

            Foxy met the glowing golden eyes with his own glare. He did not move or speak, so, with a sigh, the creature moved the gun again to point it down at Leaf's unconscious body.

            "The kid will only be out for only a minute or two, and I won't be so forgiving if he tries to jump me again. The faster you patch me up the faster Loretta and I will be outta here and you can return to whatever life you have left down here."

            With hardly a blink, Foxy turned away from the man and met Lady Louise's eyes. They looked at each other for a moment before the Lady nodded.

            "It's alright, Alex."

            And the familiar got to work, gripping the seam of her dress and using his sharpened nails to tear away at it. As he did so, the creature silently pointed the gun at his back.

            "That's right, Alex, nice and easy. Should be easy for you. Bet you are a real fucking exper—"

            Suddenly, the creature couldn't talk. Not just talk, when it took in a breath to demand an answer, there was no air to take in. Giles' lungs trembled in his chest as his possessor was stuck between taking in and letting out a breath that did not exist. It was so jarring, so unexpected, it hesitated.

            But the red-haired child, Alex, did not. He was up on his feet and charging Giles, his lips pressed tight and eyes determined. The blow to the man's gut as the boy threw his shoulder into him wasn't particularly strong, but the wound was still there and the pain, coupled with the lack of air, tightened up his insides so incredibly tight the creature's vision was already beginning to blacken. In a panic, it channeled it's little brother's powers again as it fell back against the wall. As soon as Giles' hand hit the dirt, a hole opened up to allow him to fall back out of the vacuum.

            The creature closed it immediately before Alex could follow him through and sucked in huge gulps of air. Giles' organs loosened. The creature's vision was returning. It wanted more time to recover, time to close up the still bleeding wound, but it knew it couldn't give the Lady anymore time to prepare. It had to go back in there and shoot her. No time to worry about where. If it killed her or not.

            So, creating another portal, the creature inside of Giles sucked in a deep breath and stepped back into the room. By pure chance it was the side where the Overseer's body still slumped, right behind the rest of them. Alex was distracted, stooped over Leaf who was just beginning to stir. But the Lady had been waiting for him, just as it had been hoping. There was a twisted part of it that wanted her to stare into the eyes of its brother as he shot her.

            But, it could not move. Giles' finger wasn't clenching over the trigger. The arm wasn't lowering or rising. The eyes weren't moving away from the Lady as she stared in amazement at something about where Giles' feet had to be.

            "You're alive?" she asked.

            No.

            The creature could feel it now. The slightest sensation of a grip around its brother's ankle. He could move, but everything was suddenly heavier than it was a moment before. The gun was shaking in his hand.

            "My lady, if something like that could kill me, I would have died ten times over."

            No. No. No.

            The creature knew this sensation. The familiarity echoed in its mind as it swiftly lost control of Giles' body.

            "Please, no," the creature begged, the words coming out of Giles' throat strained and raspy. The gun slipped out of a hand covered in warts and wrinkles. Unable to hold himself up anymore, Giles fell to his aching knees.

            As his head lowered, the creature was greeted with the smiling face of Edgar Crooster, the hole in his head already closed up, the fresh eye already replaced and watching him.

            "Please," the creature forced Giles to beg, "don't do this. I'll tell you everything."

            "No need," the Overseer said as he continued to lie on the ground. His smile only grew. "You being here tells me everything. Death is still out there, and it's scared of me. Unfortunately, after you are gone, it will have to find a new patsy."

            Though it could not lift Giles' head, the creature was aware of the sound of shifting dirt. Someone rising. Someone walking closer to him.

            "Don't do this to me," it continued to beg, uncontrolled tears spilling down its brother's eyes. "I would rather die. I want to die."

            "Yes, and I'm sure that's what it wants to, isn't it?"

            The creature did not answer, and Edgar sadly shook his head.

            "You just had to bring Giles into this. Out of all the people who worked for me, he is only one of two that I genuinely cared about. I'm afraid I can't allow him to die all because his selfish brother wouldn't let sleeping dogs lie."

            The creature involuntarily tensed when it felt a hand on Giles back. With all the strength it could muster, it glared down at the Overseer and shouted into his face.       

            "FUCK YOU! You better hope this works or I'll come back again and I'll fucking rip apart every last piece of you and bury you all across this condemned earth! But not before I kill everyone you care about. I'll rip out their fucking eyes and show you their hollowed out faces! I'll jump into each and every one of their bodies and make you watch as I—"

            As though strings had been cut, Giles suddenly went silent and his aged body fell to the ground. Lady Louise's hand shot away from him as he did, as though she had been electrocuted. Her body was trembling and she fought to remain standing as what little color remained in her face drained away.

            "Is that it?" Edgar asked her, his hand still having a vice grip on Giles' ankle. "Is he gone?"

            "I think so," Lady Louise said in a shaky voice.

            "You think so?"

            "I can only assume. I've never done something like that before. Not since Rosetta." Lady Louise looked at her hand before her eyes trailed over to the slumped body, disgust flashing across her face. "But I definitely removed something. He made it easy to find."

            "I trust you to keep an eye on him then," Edgar said, releasing Giles and pulling himself up to his feet. "He'll be easy to control for awhile, if nothing else."

            The Lady's eyes remained on Giles. "Will he be like that...forever?"

            "No, not unless I aged him again every year or so. Without my influence he will get younger. It varies from person to person, but he should lose about a year for every month that passes."

            Lady Louise hesitantly looked back to the Overseer. "You aren't a witch, are you?"

            "No," he answered her with a tired smile. "But, to be fair, neither are any of you.

            "But—"

            There was a shifting sound in the dirt room, momentarily grabbing the duo's attention to watch Alex pull Leaf partway onto his lap. His blue eyes were darting across the boy, searching him for injuries.

            "Forgive me, Lady, but now is neither the time nor the place. Just know that I have spent close to a dozen lifetimes trying to answer the questions you now have rattling in your head. If I happen to come across an answer during yours, I'll be sure to let you know."

            Lady Louise was silent, and then, "Is my daughter really alive?"

            "Yes."

            "And are you really going to take us to her and then let us leave?"

            "Yes."

            "Just like that?"

            "Just like that." Edgar's sad smile remained. "There is still the matter of the outcome of those who remain in Wildwood and Ninovan. I honestly can't say how I think that will all play out. When I lead you, Foxy, Leaf, and your daughter out, you will have to deal with whatever that outcome is."

            The Lady regarded him with no small amount of surprise. "You aren't going to stop her if Ninovan still lives?"

            Edgar shook his head. "I know I can't die easily, but I'd rather not stress test it. Besides, I believe I said before I'm done with this experiment. It's time for me to move on and, if Ninovan does make it this far, she will have no choice but to do the same."

            The Overseer then turned his attention back to the other two people in the room. Foxy was watching over the boy as a mother would over her child. He did feel the other boy's eyes on him, and looked up to meet Edgar's gaze.

            "Is he waking up?" Edgar asked. When Foxy didn't respond, he repeated the question louder.

            "Overseer," the Lady chastised. "Don't you remember Alex—"

            "Slowly," Foxy answered.

            A faint smile touched Edgar's pale lips as he regarded the Lady one last time. "My mortal enemy may have all the power in the realm he occupies, but his grip here is tenuous at best. Mr. Copper is going to need some assistance leaving this place, and none of us are really in the best condition to provide that."

            Edgar knelt down and pulled up Mr. Copper by an arm. The older version of the witch was even smaller than he used to be, practically swallowed whole by his own clothes, but the young Overseer still struggled to raise him. With a steadying breath, the Lady leaned down to help him. Together, they managed to raise the limp man off the ground, though both strained in their own way to keep him steady.

            "Alex!" Edgar called, moving slowly across the room with the Lady as he called. He waited until they locked eyes before continuing. "The way things are going, none of us will make it out of here before either Ninovan catches us or the other witches return. Still, the choice is yours."

            The Overseer paused. He let his words linger in the air of the stale room until a wave of realization washed across Alex Foxy's face.

            Edgar Crooster smiled pleasantly, despite the shaking of his knees and the growing perspiration on his forehead.

            "Would you like to become a familiar again?"