The poultry harpy's name turned out to be Polly. He only knew that because Ms. Smith had pulled up a file about a missing harpy that had disappeared a few months back of the same description. She had no nearby family to contact and to say that she wanted to stay was an understatement. Hector found it hard to get a moments rest from her.

"No like chicken," Mila said glaring at the small harpy.

Hector sighed as he kept placing books on the shelves. This was made more difficult by the cast over his left arm and harpy wrapped around his leg. Polly had not let go of him since she had woken up a few days earlier. She had quietly refused to acknowledge anyone talking to her, preferring to grip him tighter and avoid communicating entirely.

Hector had to walk like he had a limp with her stuck on him. She was completely uncomfortable with leaving the library, and clucked in terror whenever he tried to leave the premises. Polly's terror made it impossible to take Mila to her classes. This made things between the two girls…tense.

"Need to go to class."

"We can't go, Mila. The law says you need to be accompanied by your homestay and I cannot leave."

"Because scaredy cat," she said glaring at the silent girl who gripped his leg even tighter. At this point Hector was worried about his circulation.

He was still healing from handling the Blue Monsoons. Rosalyn had patched him up well and the following morning Polly was officially made his homestay. Smith had avoided any smug grins and quietly taken the paperwork. Hector counted it as a small blessing but he was fairly certain that she wanted to avoid dealing with his new living situation. The small harpy was an anxious wreck. Favela continued to be withdrawn, and Mila wasn't helping at all.

"She live somewhere else."

"Mila that is enough," Hector said sternly. The little spider only huffed and crossed her arms as Hector sighed in exasperation.

He had no idea how to handle this. After everything had cooled down the daily grind had more or less gone back to normal. Favela was in the back yard tending to her garden. Isabelle and Rosalyn still dropped by to read and check up on him and the girls. Mila was the only one to really be affected by the new homestay since she couldn't go to class. But as the bell above the door rang he was suddenly reminded about what else had changed after that night.

"Heyo Sensei!" three voices called in unison and Hector groaned. He turned to the delinquents who had turned the library into their personal haunt.

Spades' friends had been released from the hospital and he had wasted no time telling them about why the Blue Monsoons were no longer around. Hector was less surprised than he thought at the fact that Royal Flush was missing a few cards.

Spades was the apparent leader of the group with a pompadour haircut and bright smile. His right hand "lieutenant" turned out to be a tall girl named Club, she had scar on her cheek and a permanent scowl. Always trailing behind was a small timid boy smaller than any high-schooler he had ever met called Hearts. It was an odd group, especially their leader who beamed at Hector as he bowed.

"Nice to see you again sensei," he waved at Polly who shrank behind his leg, "You too chickety." He nodded briskly at Mila, "Spider."

"Bleeding man," she answered without looking at him. It seemed like Isabelle had a bigger influence on the girl than he had thought. The monk had treated the trio with disdain whenever they were around too.

Hector defused the situation before it escalated, "What do you want Spades?"

"What, I need a reason to see my sensei?"

"I'm not your sensei."

Spades and his friends actually got on his knees, "C'mon, at least consider it!"

The crew wanted to learn how he managed to take out an entire gang by himself. Hector had refused and now they came in everyday after school to beg for his help. They had tried skipping school to see him but quickly learned that if they did he wouldn't speak to them at all.

There was also another reason they showed up, more specifically why Spades showed up. She chose that moment to walk in through the door.

"My healing angel," Spades practically leapt over to Rosalyn who quickly reddened and began to sputter at him to stop. Isabelle was with her and rolled her eye as she walked towards Hector. She wasn't alone though.

"Teacher," Mila yelled excitedly as she skittered over and leapt into Eury's arms. The gorgon laughed softly as she returned the hug.

"Hello Mila," she put the girl down and looked over at Hector. He averted his eyes to avoid being caught in her gaze. "You two haven't been to class in a while."

"I told you why over the phone."

"I know, and I came to help." She slithered over and looked down at Polly, "This is the harpy?"

The girl whimpered and pulled in close as Hector nodded, "Yes."

Eury nodded, he noticed that she was careful not to directly look at the harpy. She was being careful not to terrify the poor girl any further.

"Trauma like she's been through isn't something that people usually get over on their own. She may need more intensive help."

"What do you suggest?"

Eury adjusted her glasses, "The college offers therapy to liminals who have been through traumatic experiences."

Hector rubbed his chin as he thought it over. Polly had yet to speak a single word, so it was worth a shot. He nodded and Eury beamed, "She can start as soon as tomorrow morning."

"She'll be there." Hector could also take Mila to her classes and fix that problem at the same time. The only problem was who was going to watch the library while he was gone. There was an easy answer to that.

"Isabelle, can you handle things here while I take the girls out?"

The monoeye blinked in confusion, "Me? Are you sure?"

"Completely," he pulled out the library keys and tossed them to her. "We'll be gone before opening time, so use those to get in." He looked over at Royal Flush who was laughing with a nervously giggling Rosalyn. "Keep your eye on those morons, please."

She nodded and the next morning Rosalyn came to pick up Hector and the girls. He wanted to take Favela to therapy too, but she wanted to stay in her garden. Hector told her that they would be back soon and to ask Isabelle for anything she needed.

Hector wrapped Polly up in a safety blanket and carried her gently as she burrowed her face into her his shoulder. Mila rode on his back and Rosalyn giggled at the sight.

"You look adorable."

"Keep that up and we can walk through Royal Flush territory to get there."

Rosalyn turned bright red and sputtered excuses all the way to the meting point. Eury was waiting there with a smile and a hug for the little Arachne. "I'll take this little cutie to the art studio." She rolled her eyes at Rosalyn who was still sputtering, "I take it that Juliet ran into Romeo on the way here then?"

"Nope, just mentioned him."

"She has it bad," Eury said shaking her head and grabbing the centaur's hand, "I can't wait to see what happens during the full moon. I'll take her to class. The therapist's office is in the building over there, third floor."

Hector thanked her and rubbed Mila's hair before heading off. He got the occasional look but since there were liminal students it seemed like the security blanket was grabbing the most attention.

He reached the door to the building before realizing both his non-injured hand was full. Luckily someone opened the door for them.

"Here, let me get that for you."

"Oh thank you…"

"Professor Takeshi," the man said. He was a large man in a lab coat with squarish features and a scruffy beard. He nodded towards the small harpy, "A poultry harpy?"

Hector nodded, "Her name's Polly." They headed inside and the professor walked alongside them. 'We're here to meet Dr. Fey."

"Dr. Fey," Takeshi mumbled quietly before looking at Polly sadly, "She's had a rough time then, huh."

"It hasn't been great."

Takeshi hummed as he subtly looked Polly over to avoid scaring her, "How has her laying schedule been?"

"What?"

"Her laying-the eggs, is she laying eggs normally?"

"I haven't seen any."

The professor hummed worriedly, "That's no good. Poultry harpies are supposed to continually lay eggs. Some can lay up to hundreds daily."

"What does her laying none mean?"

"Nothing good, but harpies aren't exactly my focus at the moment. I'm a biology professor hoping to learn more about the liminal races. But right now my work is focusing more on liminals like dullahans."

"Dullahans?"

"Headless girls."

"Ah."

The two continued talking as the Professor walked Hector and Polly to Dr. Fey's office. He wished the two luck and Hector entered.

The office was a classic therapist office. There was a long couch, warm lighting and a mahogany desk. Sitting behind the desk…

"Dr. Fey."

The woman smiled widely with slightly pointed teeth. She had dark skin and curved lilac horns. Her eyes were pitch black with dark red iris' and a pair of white leathery wings curled around her shoulders like a shawl. She wore a tight red two-piece suit and a skirt she smoothed out as she stood up.

"Call me Morgana. Euryale told me you two were coming."

"Well I am Hector and this," he said uncovering Polly who gripped him tightly, "Is Polly."

"Oh how precious," she cooed, "We don't have too many harpies on campus." Polly whimpered and he covered her with the blanket to calm her down again. Morgan clicked her tongue and furrowed her delicately shaped eyebrows in concern.

"Did Eury tell you anything about what happened with her?"

"Just the basics," she tutted as she guided Hector to the couch, "It looks like I have my work cut out for me."

"True. You know when Eury told me about you I didn't expect-"

"An elder demon?"

"I was going to say someone so young."

Morgana gave him a chastising smirk, "Charmer, I like the attitude but it might be best to get the species thing out of the way. Yes, I am an elder demon."

"It doesn't matter to me."

Her smile widened, "Mature of you, the demon species reputation usually precedes us."

Hector knew that the demons were known as chaos bringers and mischief makers. Elder demons were supposedly more composed than the younger, more chaotic breed. They were also supposedly a few centuries older. He had never met any demons, so he didn't have anything to go on about the race other than rumors. Maybe now was the time to learn.

"What made you go into therapy?"

"In the centuries I have been alive I fell into sort of…malaise. The pranks of my youth began to bore me, and other selfish desires began to become dull. I found a new passion in healing others, and I had plenty of practice getting them to speak their minds."

Judging from her seductive smile Hector could guess where most of her practice had come from. He was comforted knowing that she had centuries of experience though, "Can you help her?"

Her smile softened and her eyes filled with determination, "I am going to try my hardest."

The rest of the session was painfully slow. Morgana was gentle, and spoke to Polly in a soft reassuring tone. But it was like getting blood from stone, she was unresponsive and continued to cling to him. He was losing hope in the whole thing before Polly finally responded.

"And the library," Morgana started, "Do you feel safe there?"

And then Polly nodded. It was small, and trembling, and she quivered as she did it, but it was a nod. Hector felt his hope surge at even this sign of the smallest improvement. Eventually the session came to an end and Morgana walked them to the door.

"She's shown improvement, incremental as it is."

"Can I do anything to help her?"

Morgana thought about it, "Talk to her. Help her get used to your voice and the environment at home. This level of anxiety isn't going away any time soon so we will need to help her manage it."

"I can do that," Hector said as he adjusted Polly in his arms, "Anything else?"

"Maybe try some relaxing activities together."

"I work at a library. It doesn't get much more calming than that."

"Then try shaking things up. Maybe a trip out into the country," Morgana suggested, "You look like you could use the rest too."

Hector couldn't argue. His clothing covered most over his injuries but it was clear that Morgana had seen them in his pained movements. It had been a crazy few weeks. It might be time to get out of library for a bit. He thanked the demon for her help and left to pick up Mila.

The Arachne girl was happier than she had been in days. Her model of the library had come along wonderfully and she had expanded to make representations of the surrounding area. The diorama now encompassed a detailed three block radius around their home.

Her new attitude did wonders for the trip back. She spoke animatedly with Eury and Rosalyn who came with them all the way to the library. He was surprised to see Royal Flush inside shelving books.

"A training exercise," Isabelle explained, "I told them you grew strong shelving one hundred books, dusting one hundred shelves, and moving one hundred boxes every single day."

"And they bought that? We don't even have that many books here."

Isabelle just gestured to the group still stacking the books and Hector realized that skipping class as much as they did had serious consequences. He suddenly began to worry for the girls and how well he homeschooled them.

"Don't worry," Isabelle suddenly said, "The girls won't end up like them."

"You can read my mind now?"

"It is easy to tell when you are worried, but you shouldn't. They'll be fine." She looked over at Polly, "How is she?"

"Better," Hector replied as he adjusted the harpy in his arms, "The psychiatrist suggested that a trip out into the country might help. Open spaces, fresh air, all that good jazz. Do you want to come?"

Isabelle shook her head, "I'm not one for the countryside, my eye becomes irritated easily. I will watch the library for you though."

Hector was preventing from answering by a huge crash. He looked over to see that Hearts was now buried under a pile of books. His friends and Mila laughed manically as he let out muffled groans underneath the pile.

"…I would appreciate the help."