Latril groaned. Her lovely golden sword eyes fluttered open. The white blanket slipped off of her torso as the swird woman sat up. The mattress beneath her creaked. She blinked. A pair of eyes—a pair of beautiful brown eyes—stared back at her. She sat upon a white bed in a white stone room. At the bed’s right, Slimantha sat in a wooden chair, the eyes of the two women locked.

Latril blinked again. Her lovely golden eyes were still locked with Slimantha’s beautiful brown eyes. “I see you’re still alive,” she said and then blinked again.

“You”—Slimantha leaned closer to the black-winged swird woman—“have really pretty eyes.” She flashed Latril a marvelous smile. “They are so cool. I love how they have that sword look to them.”

“T-Thanks.” Latril’s face flushed slightly. Her golden eyes did have a sword-like appearance to them. In fact, both her eyes each contained the likeness of an upward-turned sword. Slowly, a smile crept across her face, and she leaned toward Slimantha. “You have pretty eyes too. They are truly …” She suddenly yelped as a black notebook collided with her head. “Alright, who threw that?!” She looked away from Slimantha and to the left of the bed she sat upon. Her eyes fell upon a golden woman sitting one bed over—fell upon Mimi.

“Glad to see I got your attention,” Mimi said. She puffed her cheeks out, her beautiful golden eyes on Latril.

Latril’s lovely golden sword eyes shifted down from the irate Mimi to the black notebook that now sat upon the white bed alongside her. She picked it up, the soft ivory skin of her fingers pressing against the black notebook. Her eyes went back to Mimi. “You in the habit of chucking books at people or something?”

Mimi crossed her arms. “That notebook is your punishment.” A smug smile crept across her lips.

“Punishment?” Latril blinked, and then her lovely golden sword eyes went back to the black notebook she held. “You want me to do some reading? That’s fair, I guess.” She opened the notebook. “Wait.” She began flipping through the pages. “The pages are all blank.” Her eyes went back to Mimi. “Why a blank book?”

“Because”—Mimi pulled out a pencil—“you will be writing lines.” She held the writing instrument out to Latril, who took it from her. “You will write, ‘I will not overrun Bleakfyre with crows. I will not bisect the mayoral building. Mimi is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon.’ You will write those lines until you fill the notebook. Do you understand?” The golden woman leaned closer to Latril, her beautiful golden eyes on Latril’s face.

“Is that …” Latril glanced down at the notebook before her lovely golden sword eyes went back to Mimi. “Is that last line really necessary?”

Mimi smiled smugly and crossed her arms. “That last line is of the utmost importance,” she said. “Be sure you don’t forget it.”

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“Whatever.” Latril sighed. “I’ll get the lines done.” She put the black notebook and pencil down beside herself on the bed. Then she glanced at her right wrist. “Why is my wrist already starting to hurt? Who knew writing lines could be so formidable?”

“Greetings, ladies,” a voice called out. The sound of footsteps accompanied said voice as a tall man in a white lab coat, white shirt, white pants, and white shoes walked up. Like his outfit, his short hair was also white. His eyes, though, possessed a blue hue. “Glad to see you’re both awake.” His eyes went to Latril. “Latril, right? I’m Doc Sabbatical.” He held out his right hand.

Latril reached forward and shook the offered hand. “Yes, I’m Latril,” she said before pulling her hand away.

Doc Sabbatical gave Latril a smile. “By the way, you’re dying,” he said.

“What?!” Latril’s ivory skin got even lighter as her color drained away. She fell back into a lying position, a slight tremor to her body.

Mimi glared at Doc Sabbatical and puffed her cheeks out. “Knock”—she jumped out of bed—“that”—she stepped up to Doc Sabbatical and placed her golden hands on her shapely hips—“off!” She got up on her tip toes, pressing her face closer to his. “Apologize! Now!”

Doc Sabbatical gave a nervous laugh and turned away from the irate Mimi. A drop of sweat rolled down his right cheek. His blue eyes went back to Latril, who was still quite pale. “T-That was just a joke. Sorry about that. You’re fine. You’re not dying.” He gave another nervous laugh.

“A joke?” Latril’s color started coming back. “So I’m fine.” She sat up, the bed’s mattress creaking. “That’s good.” Then her face flushed red. “Wait a moment!” Her golden sword eyes went to Doc Sabbatical. “Who jokes about that?!” She narrowed her eyes at the healer.

“Don’t worry,” Slimantha said, putting her left hand on Latril’s right shoulder. “You’re good.” Latril’s cheeks flushed pink at her touch. The black-winged swird woman turned to her, and their eyes met. Slimantha gave Latril a smile and then pulled her hand away. “By the way, you wouldn’t happen to have a magic sword would you? Some guy I saved from a bear kind of lost his magic sword.”

“Magic”—Latril cocked her head to the side—“sword?” She blinked and then brought her right hand to her chin. She closed her lovely golden sword eyes for a moment. “Well, I do have a bunch of swords back at my lair. It’s possible one of them could be the magic sword you’re looking for.” Her eyes returned to Slimantha’s eyes, and a rosy tint came back to her cheeks. “I’d be happy to check for magic swords for you.” She leaned closer to Slimantha and smiled at the slime summoner. “You know? You really do have beautiful eyes.” She pressed closer to the slime summoner. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow? How about noon?”

Slimantha smiled back at Latril. “Sure. I can swing by at noon.”

“Great.” Latril pulled back, her cheeks still rosy. “Just look for the big tree at Spider-Lily Park. That tree is pretty much my lair’s front door. Just ring the doorbell.” She gave Slimantha a big smile. “I’ll be looking forward to your visit.”

“In that case”—Mimi stepped up to Slimantha’s right, the mimic’s beautiful golden eyes on Latril—“I’ll swing by a bit before noon to pick up that notebook.” The golden woman flashed Latril a pleasant smile. “Make sure to have your lines done by then.”