Chapter 44

"I was at a pretty low point in my life," Pip began, her voice steady but carrying the weight of memory. "Working for someone who was quickly becoming one of the most powerful crime lords in Ironhelm. Genji—no, The Shadow Baron," she corrected herself with disdain, "was rising fast. I'd always made excuses, faked injuries, whatever I could to get out of the worst jobs, especially the ones where I was supposed to kill for him."

Pip paused, her gaze distant as if seeing the scene unfold before her once again. "I was a thief. Sneaky, good at getting in and out of places without being noticed. So, in his eyes, I was the perfect candidate for an assassin." She shook her head bitterly. "But one night, I ran out of excuses. There I was, standing over some poor guy I had dragged into a filthy alley in the slums. He was cowering, begging for his life, and I had a knife in my hand. All I had to do was take that final step and... there'd be no turning back."

Her fingers curled slightly, mimicking the grip she'd had on the blade. The tavern around them was quiet, listening intently as Pip's words took them back to that grim moment.

"Honestly," she continued, her voice quieter, "I didn't even know why this guy had to die. Sometimes The Shadow Baron just... killed people for no reason at all. Some whim he'd wake up with, some fleeting paranoia or suspicion. And I was about to be his tool. Then, right before I could do it—right before I crossed that line—"

Pip's eyes flickered, as though the memory itself cut into her. She paused, composing herself before continuing.

"Oh ho, there truly isn't a dull moment in this city, is there?" came a voice, smooth and smug. Pip froze.

The sound of a girl's voice—arrogant, dripping with confidence—pierced through the heavy tension of the alley. Pip turned her head sharply toward the source, her heart skipping a beat. The man she was about to kill, wide-eyed with hope, also turned, desperate for help.

Emerging from the shadows, a teenage girl with striking blue hair strolled toward them. Her hair was styled to almost obscure one of her eyes, and she wore a sleek black dress that seemed absurdly out of place in the grime of the slums. Despite the setting, the girl carried herself with a smug, almost mocking smile. Her face, while not the most beautiful, had an unforgettable quality that made her impossible to ignore. She was the kind of person who seemed to thrive on attention, exuding a self-assurance that bordered on arrogance.

"Help me! Please, help me!" the man pleaded, his voice raw with panic. Pip clenched the knife tighter, her body rigid, trying to keep control of the situation.

"Leave," Pip said, her voice low and firm. "Pretend you never saw anything." She felt her chest tighten, a sick feeling in her stomach. The girl didn't know it, but Pip wasn't just trying to scare her away. She was trying to stop herself from doing something she'd regret forever. She added, almost to herself, "I... I don't want to kill anyone else."

But the girl just smirked, a catlike glint in her eye. She took a few steps forward. Pip instinctively took a step back, readying her dagger.

"What are you going to do with that?" the girl asked, her voice mockingly sweet as she approached, hands tucked behind her back as if she saw Pip as no threat at all.

"Stay away," Pip warned, her voice shaky. But the girl didn't listen, her steps slow and deliberate. "Don't get closer!" Pip's plea was more desperate now, her dagger trembling in her hand, the point just inches from the girl's flat chest. 

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to kill me?" the girl teased, her smile unnerving, as Pip stood there, frozen, breaths uneven, barely reacting. Without a hint of struggle, the girl reached out and grasped Pip's hand, effortlessly prying the dagger from her grip.

"Heh, your heart's not in it, huh?" the girl said with a smirk, inspecting the dagger in her hand. She glanced down at the man who had been cowering on the ground, watching the encounter with a mix of disbelief and terror. 

"Why are you just sitting there? Get out of here," the girl said, her tone still oddly sweet. The man, realizing he had a chance to escape, scrambled to his feet and sprinted out of the alley without a second thought.

"And don't come back," she called after him, turning her gaze back to Pip, who remained rooted in place, breathing heavily, unable to move. The girl tilted her head and continued, "It's not like there'll always be someone around to protect you."

Pip's eyes darted to the ground as the girl let the dagger fall, the sound of it clattering against the cobblestones echoed in the narrow alley. 

"Now, now, don't tell me I somehow paralyzed you," the girl mocked, stepping closer before placing her hands on Pip's shoulders. The touch broke Pip's paralysis, but it only made her legs go weak, sending her collapsing to her knees.

"Wh-why, why can't I stand?" Pip stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

The girl shrugged nonchalantly. "How should I know? You did this to yourself, silly girl." She crouched down, her fingers lifting Pip's chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "Now, continue to be a silly girl and not a naughty girl, understood?"

The girl leaned in, her breath warm against Pip's ear. "Or else I'll have to disable you," she whispered, her voice like poison. Pip shuddered as the girl pulled back, standing up with a satisfied smile. She turned to leave, her steps light as if nothing had happened.

But just before she exited the alley, Pip found her voice. "Wh-who are you?"

The girl paused, glancing back with a playful smile. "It's Annie, just Annie," she said, lifting a finger to her lips. "Let's keep me a secret, between the two of us." And with that, she disappeared into the night, leaving Pip alone, trembling in the alley, struggling to make sense of what had just happened.

"Wait a sec," Larkin interrupted, furrowing his brow. "What is it?" Pip asked, momentarily pulled from the weight of her memory.

"Aren't ya supposed to be tellin' us how," he gestured between Pip and Xain, "the two of ya met? Why are ya talkin' 'bout this other girl?"

Pip and Xain exchanged a glance, the unspoken tension hanging in the air.

"Well…" Xain cleared his throat awkwardly. "You see, that girl... yeah, that was me."

Larkin and Zee stared at him in stunned silence for a long, drawn-out moment before both simultaneously exclaimed, "What?!"