Hyo’s office in High Society is beginning to feel like a third home and Hyo is smiling at us like we’re old friends.

“Welcome to High Society once again.”

Ms Pink nods and takes her seat so I do the same. “We have come to get some answers.”

My heart thumps unnecessarily hard at the mention of ‘we’.

“Your question?”

“I would like to know how I can make a tattoo disappear.”

Hyo frowns. “The methods are dark and painful.”

“There is more than one method?”

“There are two. For two different types of tattoos.”

“Tell me,” says Ms Pink, as she puts a pink card on the table.

Hyo pockets the card then leans back, elbows on the arm rests, hands clasped before her. “If the tattoo is marked under the skin, it is termed picta. A picta can be purged by consuming herbs. But it is painful. The herbs will purge everything along with the mark. And the process has to be repeated a few times for the tattoo to be completely removed.”

“What about the second method.”

“Tattoos that are raised from the skin are much harder to remove. It is termed caepicta. Herbs will cleanse the caepicta of colour, but the skin is still raised. It takes a dark power to make a caepicta which means only a healer can undo it. Crystals. They will burn the skin and undo the magic so that the new skin will not bear the mark any longer. The pain is excruciating because a part of you is ripped from you and the period of recovery is longer.”

“Does Sintix have the power to undo a caepicta?”

“I believe he does.”

Ms Pink is silent for a moment before nodding. “That will be all for this question.”

“And your next question?”

“Where did Tatua and Malvico descend from?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Princess Pan Ni, you know that this kind of information is classified.”

“That is why we are here.”

My heart pounds when Ms Pink says ‘us’ again. It seems a little silly to get excited over this little change but it means a lot to me. Especially when we are going to be together forever. Literally.

“You can’t pay me with Taeyeon’s blood anymore, Princess Pan Ni.”

“Taeyeon’s blood is the Erika’s blood.”

“Uh uh. We don’t know what her blood will do.”

“Put it through your laboratory.”

Hyo laughs with merry, twinkling eyes and shakes her head. “You drive a hard bargain, Princess Pan Ni, but I am not to be forced into an unfair deal. Come back when you have tested the Erika’s blood and can prove it is as effective as before.”

“Is Summer here?” I blurt out without thinking.

Hyoyeon turn her eyes on me. “Summer is in her office.”

Thinking fast, I decide to take a gamble. “If Tiffany asks her to order you to give us the information—”

“Taeyeon,” Hyo interjects, “be careful what you say. Some words cannot be taken back.”

“Would it work? I mean, she’s your boss, right?”

“According to the agreement between supers and humans, the keeper in power at High Society will have to do the Choi’s bidding.” Hyo heaves a deep sigh. “Taeyeon, do you know why Princess Pan Ni has never used that card on any keeper even though she maintains excellent relationships with each Choi generation?”

I take one look at Ms Pink before turning back to Hyo. “To maintain peace?”

Hyo nods. “More or less. Princess Pan Ni is too smart to back any keeper into a corner and force them to divulge information they are not willing to give. Therefore, she wisely negotiates all her deals.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I—”

“I know. But the loophole will backfire.”

Turning red, I apologize for my lack of consideration.

Hyo leaves her chair and goes to the book shelf, running her fingers across the spines of the books. “On the account of our past transactions, I am willing to give you a discount today.” She pulls out a book from a bottom shelf and puts it on the table. “I would have needed one minute to look for your socks, but I did not get to enjoy the haggling so I will only need thirty seconds instead.”

I blink in confusion, not understanding what Hyo is talking about. She exits the room through the gap between the sliding bookcases and Ms Pink wastes no time in scanning through the book at supernatural speed. I try my best to keep up but I am quite lost until Ms Pink stops at one particular page for a moment. There is a family tree spanning across the two pages and that’s when it occurs to me that Hyo is practically giving Ms Pink the information at the cost of nothing.

Quick as lightning, Ms Pink has her phone out and is snapping pictures of the few pages concerned. Then the book is back on the table before the book cases slide open again. Hyo returns with a smile and a pair of socks, nice and woolly.

“I found the socks,” she announces and puts the jolly blue pair on the table between us before putting the book away.

I am not expecting Ms Pink to pick the socks up, much less sniff at them.

“Good.”

Good? The socks smell good? What?

Hyo smiles as Ms Pink slides a little black metal case across the table. She opens it and her smile widens. “As always, a pleasure dealing with you.”

Ms Pink nods and stands. “We shall take our leave now.”

Hyo stands as I get to my feet. “Till next time, Princess Pan Ni. It was nice to see you again, Taeyeon.”

I follow Ms Pink as she leaves and together, we return to Ms Pink’s castle.

X

My is on the bed and my eyes are staring as Ms Pink pulls a blue woolly sock over one of my feet. “What is it for?”

Ms Pink releases my foot and grabs the other one. “The socks will sooth your feet.”

“Huh?”

“Look.”

I look and gasp. The sole of my foot is full of weird white patches of dead skin. “H-Why—”

“Your skin is not accustomed to your rapid movement. It happened to me too and Helene gave me a special pair of socks just like this.”

My arms are flying around Ms Pink’s waist and hugging her close by instinct. “Do you love Helene?” I ask without thinking.

Hands wrap around my head and reciprocate the hug. “No.”

“Are you thankful she saved you?”

Her tone is hard when she answers. “No.”

I look up into Ms Pink’s blazing eyes. “Not even a little bit?” Ms Pink pulls away from me without answering but I’m not letting her walk away. “Tell me honestly. Nothing at all?”

“After more than two hundred years of serving Helene,” Ms Pink looks into my eyes, “I have paid my debt.”

“What debt?”

“The debt I