Kavil used Priscilla, Sulaiman, and Illnyea effectively as minions and in only ten minutes, everyone's injuries and sicknesses had been addressed and stabilized, even if they weren't fully healed. It turned out that the Rudy fellow who had tried to out Priscilla earlier had died of blood loss and head trauma, and since both Illnyea and Sulaiman looked satisfied by that fact, Priscilla shrugged at that information and just hurried Kavil along to the next patient. By the time they finished, the numbness in Priscilla's arm had faded, leaving only faint tingling in her fingertips.

The last person to be healed was Holly's mother, a brunette woman named Tabitha, whose arm had broken badly a few weeks back and later became infected after a tumble into the bog. Despite the fever and the sickly pallor to her skin, Tabitha had the sharp look of a woman who refused to acknowledge the reaper tapping determinedly on her shoulder because it simply wasn't worth her notice. Tabitha remarked dryly the only reason she had made it this far was because she could run fast enough to make good bait.

After thanking Illnyea profusely and giving everyone else perfunctory thanks for killing The Starving One, Holly refused to be separated from her mother like a burr on a pant sleeve, so Kavil just worked around her. Kavil used the last of his reserves to clear up the infection and instructed Sulaiman to make a splint and sling for Tabitha's arm, promising to help fix it tomorrow when he had enough energy to re-break it so it set properly.

"You've done more than enough already," Tabitha said, her steely countenance softening a fraction as the painkilling herbs worked their way into her system, "by helping to kill that bitch and her damn cult. Holly, dear, help me stand."

Her daughter dutifully followed her mother's instruction and Tabitha stood. Despite the dirt-streaked face and worn-out clothing that looked one tear away from being rags, Tabitha held herself with the regality of a queen as she straightened to her full height.

"Let us build a pyre," Tabitha said, her icy gaze sweeping over the villagers, of which there were just under two dozen, "and lay these cannibals upon it – let them be the sacrifices now, so the pyre purifies the fens of their putrid influence. Let them burn until their legacy is nothing but ashes on the wind!"

Tabitha's words injected life into the villagers and they let out a ragged cry of agreement.

Tabitha looked darkly satisfied as she called out, "Tomorrow, we will return to Aidais' Lament and reclaim our home from the bastard who forced us here. The head of the Wolf will be the only thing spared from the flames, as that will be our proof to lay at Fylkir's feet!"

The cry the villagers let out next was more harmonious with a promise of violence lurking within. They began to move as fast as their injuries and starvation would let them, grabbing an arm of the nearest cultist and dragging them away.

Priscilla let out a low whistle, standing next to Tabitha. It was clear the woman had been dreaming about this moment for a long time, and Priscilla admired how quickly Tabitha had pivoted from being a prisoner to rallying her fellow villagers

"You and your companions may rest for now," Tabitha said without even looking at Priscilla, her eyes locked on the limp body of Beowulf being dragged closer. "We shall deal with our tormentor's bodies – though I do ask you to gather nearby for when we light it and witness our triumph."

Priscilla wasn't about to argue with the woman that had scary and intense competency written all over her and glanced at her party.

"I wanted to take a look at the summoning circle over yonder before bed," Priscilla said. She didn't think she'd get much out of looking at it, but she needed something to do that would keep her awake and she was mildly interested in it.

"I'll come too!" Illnyea said, stepping forward and linking her arm with Priscilla's before either of the boys could respond.

Priscilla met Sulaiman's eyes and arched an eyebrow in invitation. He shook his head, glancing at Kavil, whose bobbing head indicated he was losing ground in the battle against sleep now that everyone had been healed.

"I'll gather up the cannibals' thing to see if there's anything worth salvaging," Sulaiman said.

"I'll help," Kavil said right before he yawned so widely Priscilla could hear his ears pop.

Sulaiman looked like he was suppressing a sigh as he said, "Wait here and I'll bring you things to sort through."

Kavil made a sleepy sound of agreement, so Priscilla left him in Sulaiman's tender care.

As they walked towards the summoning circle, Priscilla snagged a torch out of their supplies and lit it from a brazier so they weren't stumbling in the dark.

"Are we looking for anything in particular?" Illnyea asked, peering at their surroundings.

"Nah," Priscilla said, frowning at the mud at their feet. "I was just curious."

The same swirling designs from the rock were carved into the dirt, but Priscilla still couldn't make any sense of them. When Priscilla tried to take a step forward to see how far the circle extended, she was pulled to a stop by Illnyea.

Surprised, Priscilla glanced around to see what prompted their stop.

The strange purple platypus Priscilla had last seen on top of the gorgon newt was now sitting on the ground, staring up at Illnyea with round, begging eyes, letting out a pitiful squeak.

"It's so good to see you!" Illnyea said, letting go of Priscilla's arm to kneel down. The platypus chittered, clacking its beak happily as it waddled forward to nudge at Illnyea's knee.

Priscilla blinked once, twice, and then rubbed her eyes to see if this was really happening. She wracked her brain, trying to recall if she had read anything about a magical platypus in the bestiary or in TDE but she was drawing a blank.

"Illnyea, what's going on?" Priscilla asked, trying to keep the wariness out of her voice.

"This little guy helped save my life," Illnyea said, sticking out a finger for the platypus to rub against. "He warned me about the murder birds before they skewered me."

"Uh-huh," Priscilla said, eyeing the platypus. The creature had been with the newt when it arrived and now it was waddling around like it owned the place, looking as if it had escaped the fight without a strand of fur out of place.

The platypus turned to look up at Priscilla and she swore that it was sizing her up.

"Do the two of you want some privacy?" Priscilla joked, trying to feel less nervous about the situation.

The platypus clacked its beak twice, startling Illnyea who had just opened her mouth. Illnyea and Priscilla stared at the platypus with varying levels of shock as it clacked its beak twice more while staring at Priscilla.

Priscilla held up her free hand in surrender, huffing out a laugh as the platypus seemed to stick up its bill at her.

If Illnyea trusted the creature, then Priscilla would trust her sister knew what she was doing. This was a world with magic, so the existence of an intelligent, magical, and extremely judgemental platypus who inexplicably loved the protagonist was not out of the realm of possibility. Illnyea had charmed stranger things in TDE (including a memorable incident with a giant sentient flower that thought Illnyea was a pollinator) and at least a platypus wasn't that dangerous.

"I can tell when I'm not wanted," Priscilla sniffed, throwing a wink in Illnyea's direction before her sister could protest. "Do you want the torch?"

Illnyea and the platypus looked at each other at the same time, before Illnyea hesitantly shook her head.

"Have fun with your freaky platypus!" Priscilla tossed over her shoulder as she sauntered over to the other side of the ritual circle. She heard Illnyea begin to speak very seriously with the platypus and suppressed laughter.

But as she came to the edge of the circle, whose designs were just as inscrutable over here, Priscilla glanced around one last time to make sure that she was truly alone. She was about thirty, thirty-five feet from Illnyea and couldn't make out what she was saying, so as long as Priscilla was quiet, she shouldn't be overheard.

Priscilla knelt down, pretending to be examining the ground.

"Hey, Asha," Priscilla whispered, bringing her artifact closer, "how're you holding up?"

The emotions in their bond had been muted since Priscilla grabbed Illnyea during the magical overload, but now contemplation filled it as Asha considered the question.

"I'm…" Asha's voice trailed off. "I'm okay."

Priscilla sighed in relief, pressing her forehead against her hand. She had been so worried that the divine magic earlier had hurt Asha like touching the stone had.

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"I'm glad," Priscilla said, straightening. "Today's been… pretty rough for all of us."

"Master, I–" Asha cut itself off.

Their bond swirled with conflicted emotions, steadfast duty and loyalty warring with bright fear that threatened to swallow everything in its path like a supernova. Priscilla waited, trying to give Asha an opportunity to figure out what it wanted to say, but distress began to bleed into the bond, feeding into the fear and making it a monstrous thing.

"You don't have to tell me anything, Asha," Priscilla said soothingly as she tried her best to project acceptance. "A lot of shit has happened today, and if you need time to process, take it – I'll wait for as long as you need. But if you do want to talk, I'm here to listen."

Asha's emotions churned like rough waves in their bond, but the distress and fear had faded until they could barely be felt.

"I think I remembered more things, master, but…" Asha began, its voice tremulous, "it's all confusing and jumbled. I don't know if I understand enough to make sense of a lot of it, and it barely feels like it was my life. It was like I was watching random scenes from a play that had the script torn to pieces and taped it back together at random."

Priscilla rubbed her thumb over the leather glove, feeling the pang of second-hand sorrow from Asha that mixed with her own sense of helplessness towards the situation that had no easy solution.

"If you want to talk about what you saw, I'll listen, no matter how disjointed it is, and we can muddle through it together," Priscilla said, wishing she could do more. "Otherwise, we can just shoot the shit and talk about how big that gorgon newt from earlier was or how bad Beowulf's fashion choices were."

Asha thought deeply for another long moment and Priscilla let the artifact take its time figuring out what it wanted since it didn't seem as overwhelmed by its own emotions.

"I used to wield a sword, a powerful one," Asha said slowly, like saying the words took a lot of focus. "It wasn't a Legend Killer, but it was powerful and I… I trusted it with my life."

"Like I do you," Priscilla said.

A brief flash of warm love, gratitude, yearning broke through their bond like a sunbeam as Asha said, "Exactly."

But stormy clouds of negativity returned soon, sorrow smothering the moment of happiness like a hag does a baby's laughter.

"Master, I don't think I was a good person." Asha's voice was hushed and the words rushed, sounding like a sinner at confession begging for absolution.

Priscilla couldn't control her instinctive feeling of denial at the artifact's words, but she, of all people, understood what it was like to be your biggest critic.

"What makes you say that?" Priscilla asked carefully.

"I was greedy," Asha whispered along with pulses of deep regret and longing, "and my friends – my friends, they suffered because I wasn't satisfied, because I wanted something that cost them everything."

Priscilla sucked in a breath.

The only friends that Asha had mentioned before this were other Legend Killers, and combining that with the fractured state of Asha's soul suggested… well it suggested that some real bad shit had gone down. Though Priscilla couldn't begin to guess what had happened, she did know Asha – steadfast and loyal Asha who knew everything about Priscilla's circumstances and still stood beside her without hesitation. No matter what life Asha had lived before becoming an artifact, Priscilla believed that those qualities weren't so easily stolen from a person.

If Asha had wanted something, there was a high likelihood Priscilla would have agreed with Asha chasing it, and she had a hunch that Asha's friends had likely thought the same.

Now, making Asha believe that would be a challenge based on the self-recrimination that wrapped around their bond like shackles.

"Being greedy isn't a sin–" Priscilla paused and then sighed. "Okay, fine, it's considered a sin to some, but just because you're greedy doesn't mean you were a bad person, Asha." Priscilla looked at the glove in the torchlight, wishing that the self-loathing surging in the bond would abate.

"You think I'm a good person, right?" Priscilla asked, changing her line of attack. "Haven't you noticed that I'm greedy as fuck?"

"You're not, master," Asha defended, its voice small.

"Hate to break it to you, dear," Priscilla chuckled, "but I'm probably the greediest person you're ever going to have the pleasure to meet."

Priscilla looked up at the sky, past the rare break in the treeline towards the twinkling stars, at the twin moons hung heavy and full in the sky, and thought of the tale of two sisters who fled the world after stealing the sun's light, greedy for a life where they would never be apart again.

"I want it all, Asha," Priscilla whispered, her greed swelling in her chest and spilling out of her since she finally acknowledged it lurking within her.

"I want my sister to never cry again, to only know happiness as she explores the world, I want Kavil to achieve his dreams of becoming the best damn healer in the world, I want Sulaiman to feel truly free in this shitty world that only wants to tear him down. I want to be stronger so I can stand beside them without feeling like a failure." Priscilla felt a prickle of tears in her eyes as her heart yearned to say she wanted to see Mr. –– again, and that thought tangled with old feelings of inadequacy that turned her greed venomous. "I want my shitty parents to wallow in guilt and regret for the rest of their lives, I want them to know just how much they failed me because I want them to hurt."

Priscilla took a deep breath, acknowledging a desire she didn't know if it ever would be fulfilled because there were just so many other things that were more important.

"I want to hold Thelatian silk and revel in the way it feels, I want to design clothes again and stitch them by hand because I want the satisfaction of creating something beautiful. I want to create a dress that will revolutionize this world's fashion, to become someone who serves as inspiration to others."

Faster her words came, tumbling out of her in an unstoppable stream.

"I want to see the world, I want to know of every monster out there, know every subspecies and what makes those freaks tick because they're so fucking cool." Priscilla swallowed to wet her throat, staring at the stars but mind filled with daydreams from when she read TDE. "I want to drink from the famed wellspring, to feel the cool water bless me, I want to see the ice palaces of Espien to see if the sunset there is really as beautiful as they say, I want to force those elitist fuckers to let me into Toleraan because I want to go the castle in the fucking sky."

Priscilla took a moment to catch her breath, and reorient herself.

"I want to ruin every plan the Apostle concocts," Priscilla said, staring at the sky absent of a violet moon – a sky she planned to keep that way. "I want to watch everything he built crumble into ashes because I want to kill every single one of his chosen fanatics. I want him begging at my feet, I want his death to be long and painful to get revenge for every life he's ruined."

Priscilla finally looked back down at Asha, a half-smile pulling at her lips.

"I want to find the other Legend Killers, because I want you to reunite with your friends. I want you to be happy, Asha. If being greedy makes you a bad person," Priscilla whispered gently as she felt Asha's emotions rise the longer she ranted, "then I'm just as bad, and you're stuck with me because I'm too greedy to let you go."

Asha let out a small sob and Priscilla pressed a kiss to the side of her glove, wishing yet again she could give Asha more comfort.

"We're two greedy, bad bitches against the world," Priscilla whispered, squeezing her hand tight, "and I wouldn't have it any other way. Take your time parsing through your memories." Priscilla winked at the artifact. "And just know that I'm greedy to know more about you whenever you feel ready to share."

The turbulent emotions didn't fade, but they calmed as the warmth of love overtook the self-hatred and fear, and soon it felt like Priscilla's soul was being wrapped up in an impossibly tight hug.

"Thank you, master," Asha said quietly. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Any time, Asha," Priscilla said, smiling crookedly, and sensed that it was time for a topic change as Asha didn't seem to want to share anything else. "Though I really wish you had a body so I could wrap you up in a blanket and give you a mug of hot chocolate."

There was a moment of hesitation, then, "I'll just have to live vicariously through you, master, because I don't think I've ever had hot chocolate before. Do you just melt a bowl of chocolate and drink it?"

Priscilla's offended gasp was genuine because if hot chocolate didn't exist in this world, she was going to make it so.

She was about to go into a rant when Illnyea's voice drifted over.

"Priscilla? Are you still looking?"

"Almost done, be there in half a second," Priscilla said over her shoulder, then lowered her voice to whisper, "I'll tell you more about the glory of hot cocoa when I have time, Asha."

"I look forward to it, master," Asha whispered, the ghost of its normal pep and cheer entering its voice.

Priscilla gave her artifact one more reassuring thumb rub and took a deep breath to steady herself before turning back towards Illnyea. She grabbed the shepherd's hook stabbed into the ground as she passed by it because there was no reason to leave behind a perfectly good weapon. Glancing at it revealed there were runes inscribed into the gold hilt, but it didn't seem to have any actual magic in it.

The little platypus was nowhere to be seen as Priscilla finally reached Illnyea.

"Your little friend ditch you?" Priscilla asked, awkwardly tucking the hook beneath the arm holding the torch before holding out an elbow towards Illnyea.

Illnyea blinked at the elbow before smiling, taking the shepherd's hook so Priscilla didn't have to walk awkwardly before threading her arm with Priscilla's.

"He had things to do," Illnyea said lightly as she glanced towards the trees.

"Talk about anything interesting?"

A complicated expression flashed across Illnyea's face before she said, "No?"

Priscilla laughed at how unsure Illnyea was.

"Next time," Priscilla said, leaning her head in as they began walking back towards camp, "introduce me to him – if you don't think he'd bite me of course. He looks like he'd have a nasty temper."

Illnyea smiled, a hint of mischievousness lurking within it. "If you're on your best behavior, I think you'll be fine, but don't push your luck."

"I promise to be on my best, platypus-approved behavior," Priscilla intoned solemnly, and took delight in Illnyea's laughter and wide smile.

An echo of Priscilla's greed from earlier rose up, solidifying into a vow tucked deep within her heart where only Asha could see. Priscilla would protect her sister's happiness, her friend's happiness, no matter how high the cost may grow because her greed demanded she shape the world into a kinder one where they could thrive.

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