Verlsa woke up to darkness. She had no idea of knowing if it was the same night as when Duke attacked her or if some time had passed. Feeling around her face, she pulled off her facemask so she could sit up and look around. This wasn’t someplace she knew, but she had Duke’s scarf. It smelled heavily of dirt with a hint of garlic.

The floor of the room was carpeted, and the ceiling had stains, as though the roof had leaked at some point. So despite the bed and the hospital gown, this wasn’t a hospital room. Verlsa pulled out the IV in her arm and clasped her hand over the wound to seal it. There was a large window that had the blinds shut and a nightstand.

On the nightstand had a bag of jumbo marshmallows and a new jar of peanut butter sitting on it, which meant that Duke had brought her here. Then again, that’s always what she ate when she was in a seriously bad mood, so he knew that she wouldn’t like being here. Which meant that she was probably at the DH offices.

Verlsa let out a loud groan. She began to detach herself from sensors, and when the machines started to beep angrily, she unplugged them from the walls. Opening the bag of marshmallows, she flattened one out between her fingers before using it to scoop up a dollop of peanut butter, which was then crammed into her mouth. This was repeated several times until she felt less angry about her situation.

She found a sweater and sweatpants that had been left out for her and changed into them, then she wandered out into the hallway. There appeared to be a lounge, where Rachel and Vila were passed out on the couch together. The only other lit room had the blinds closed. Verlsa peeked through the edge to see if she could make out what was happening inside.

Pastor was speaking to a man wearing a thick wool coat. He had yellow tinted glasses and a jade and gold earring on the upper half of each ear. Both of them were relaxed as they spoke, and there were papers along the table that they were going through.

Verlsa wondered if she could make an escape. Her purse was here, and she could feasibly call in a transportation service, but she didn’t know where she was. There was an irrational fear that she was hidden in some weird magical dimension or that their base was somehow across the country.

First and foremost was to find a way out of the building. She was near to where she thought the front door was when she found Windi. The wendigo was sitting on a bench in the hallway. When the two noticed each other, they didn’t say anything at first.

“... Evening,” muttered Verlsa.

Windi looked back down at the owl skull in her hands. The eye sockets were still glowing faintly. “Hello.”

Verlsa looked around uncomfortably. “Were you guys able to get Adi’s body okay?”

“It wasn’t him. We were able to retrieve the spirit from his body. He is safe, for the moment.”

“Great. Is he around here?” Windi shook her head. “Where did he go?”

“It appears that he and Mister Kwak have decided that their best interests lie in solving the investigation themselves. They have entered a known demon den.”

Verlsa was caught off guard by the statement. “And here I thought that DH stood for Demon Hunters.” She scoffed at the idea. “Instead of doing your job, you grab a poor kid and a vampire off the street, and make them do it for you.”

“Decemviri haereticus. The ten who became keepers of heretics,” replied Windi calmly. “We honor the first mages who defended mithryn, and keep their memory as our name.” She stood up and put the skull back into its pouch. “DH is at an ill point. We do not have the resources to solve every problem that comes our way.”

“Because you’re working so hard right now,” spat Verlsa.

“I only move when Pastor gives me the order to.” She studied Verlsa as the carbuncle began to fiddle with Duke’s scarf. “Agent Pastor’s territory is consists of the entirety of the Pacific Northwest, and he is the only active agent at the moment. The majority of our forces are caught up with projects either in Europe or the east coast.”

“What about those other guys then?”

“Our official crew consists of a hunter, two doctors, and a janitor. I am not an official member of DH, nor would their code of ethics allow me to join. Pastor has had to make judgment calls when it comes to keeping order within his territory, and he has not always followed DH’s rules to do so.”

Verlsa frowned. Rachel must be a doctor, and Vila the janitor. Paul may be the second doctor. “What about that man upstairs that Pastor is talking to? He’s not a hunter?” Windi tilted her head, confused by who she meant. “Black hair, mixed ethnicity, obnoxious yellow tinted glasses?”

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“Sage? Sage is here?” Windi’s eyes widened. Her mouth open and closed several times before she succeeded in saying something. “Excuse me.”

“I wasn’t done talking to you yet!”

Verlsa followed Windi down the hallway and nearly ran into her when she had stopped. Windi was transfixed, staring at both Sage and Pastor. They had moved out to the hallway, and Pastor gave a professional nod towards the pair.

“We have another mission,” stated Pastor.

“Of course, sir,” replied Windi. She kept her eyes to the ground, and her hands were folded behind her.

“If it has nothing to do helping out Duck-young, than you’re doing the wrong mission.” Verlsa folded her arms and stood her ground.

Pastor glanced over to Windi. When she said nothing, he continued. “We offered them a solution, and they chose their own. I will not risk my men in order to save those who have chosen to place themselves in danger.”

Verlsa once again scoffed. “And now that you’ve got yourself another hunter here, you’re super into being all code and conduct.” She gestured to Sage. “These guys have been doing nothing but breaking rules. If they had just helped Adi when he asked for help in the first place, he wouldn’t be in such a mess.”

Sage pressed a finger against the side of his glasses. It was then that Verlsa noticed that both of his eyes were affected by coloboma, with the pupils being horrifically misshapen. A display popped up in front of his right eye, and a faint voice could be heard whispering out from the part of his glasses that went behind his ear.

He lifted up a hand and patted Windi’s head. “How are you doing, Windi?”

Windi was like a young schoolgirl in love. She smiled to herself, as though she had a secret. “You’ve grown taller,” she whispered.

“I’m the same height,” he replied bluntly. Sage was slightly above six feet tall. Hardly all that impressive in height.

“... You seem taller,” whispered Windi.

“So this guy is also useless?” Verlsa attempted to move past them. “I don’t have time to hang out around here, and you have no right to keep me locked in. So you can all fuck yourselves.” She flipped them off with both hands.

“Carbuncle. Unregistered.” Sage adjusted his glasses. “Thank you for the report, Blue. Register her under the name of Verlsa Rivera. Yes, as a member of the King’s Legion.”

Verlsa froze in place, hands still flipping off the group. She couldn’t bring herself to move. The only thing that she felt was complete and absolute fear. This was no DH hunter, but a demonic cult member who followed the orders of his tyrant king.

“... F-fuck,” was all she was able to blurt out. She knew hanging around Duke would get her killed. This was finally it.

“Thank you, Blue,” repeated Sage. “I will be the first to congratulate you on your conscription, Miss Rivera. My name is Sage Hope, and I will be your handler for the time being.” He gestured to a nearby room. “I will brief you on the details of your upcoming mission.”

“The fuck you won’t!” Verlsa took a step away from the group. “I’m not working for you or that psychopath!”

Sage’s eyes squinted as he stiffened slightly. “Elaborate. What is it about the king that you disapprove of?”

“Maybe you should ask my family that, except you can’t. Because they’re dead,” she spat back. “Carbuncles as kept as slaves, bred to be pure of magic and butchered when their powers weaken. I refuse to be a part of any association that would allow for such monstrosities. You will not be my master.”

Sage continued to keep his cool. “You speak of the kingdom led by King Rayl. I assure you that his life has been ended, and the new rule has reestablished the old laws forbidding firstborn from acting out against each other.” He gestured to the room. “We can speak about that more in private.

Verlsa looked at the others. Pastor didn’t seem to care much, but Windi was glaring. If she were to go against Sage’s requests, Verlsa had a feeling that she wouldn’t be leaving this building alive. “... Fine.”

The two of them entered the room and took their seats. Sage continued to speak while Verlsa nervously averted her gaze. She needed to figure out if she would get a chance to run. There were enough funds. She would withdraw cash from the bank and make an escape, possibly to Mexico. They would assume she left for Canada.

“The previous kings were firm in their beliefs that humanity would be barred from the magic world. Our king believes that now is the time for unification. Our world will be exposed to humanity, and we will become our own country with international rights. Unification will only succeed once we have notified associations such as DH and the SIA.

You are a demon who is a citizen of the United States. Many of those within the King’s service has experience in dealing with humans, but the majority of them, such as succubuses, will be viewed as nefarious. You also have an associate who works directly for the SIA.”

“Suni and I aren’t friends. I’ve only met her and my friend’s funeral,” argued Verlsa. “And who is to say that it’s best to try unification? People find out this shit is real, the entire world is going to go insane.”

Sage folded his hands on the table. “I would like you to use your connection with the SIA to secure myself a meeting. Once you have done that, I will see to your friend’s case personally. If you still do not agree with the King’s visions after I have done so, I will release you from your obligations to serve in his legion. Will you agree to that?”

Verlsa shook her head. “I want that in writing.”

“I will have a contract written up within an hour, and you may review it then.”

“... Alright.” Verlsa leaned back in her chair. “If you’re being honest, then we have a deal.”