Illias' eyes widened as he saw what he had done.

"Oh no... no, no, no..." he said.

"Please... please, I'll fix it." he told her.

Hollie nodded and got closer, as one of the snakes showed itself. It got closer to where the effect was taking place, before sinking its fangs deep inside it... and her.

As it did, Hollie could feel her lungs returning to normal... and saw the area retreating.

The snake was literally sucking the petrification out of her.

"......" Illias was silent as he heard that.

"Okay." was all he said, and it was obvious he still felt guilty.

"You're not getting off scot-free." Hal quickly said.

"Trust me, you still caused a lot of trouble." he told him.

"I know." Illias responded.

"...you still retained some of yourself, though, didn't you?" Hal then asked. "That's why you had Kiah fall down those stairs?" he asked further.

"........yes." Illias admitted.

"I... didn't want her to see me like that..."

"K-kill?" Illias asked, his eyes wider than before.

"Indeed." Hal said.

"When one's mind is completely lost to the pen, they are never the same." he told him. "They become a slave to the pen. They have no mind of their own. All they do is for the good of the pen." he went on. "They become a danger to themselves, and all those around them, with NO hopes of ever bringing them back." he told her further.

"...I... I see..." Illias responded.

"And yes, it's happened before." Hal confirmed.

".........." Illias was silent, and just laid back down.

"I'm so sorry..." was all he could say.

Hal was silent as Hollie said what she did.

"I have no comment." he replied.

"But I'll take my time coming up with suitable consequences." he said.

"Though, truth be told, it's not me you should be worried about." he then added.

"...oh?" Illias asked.

"Yeah, there's another individual you should probably be more concerned about." Hal continued.

"And you work with her on a daily basis." he said, which caused Illias' face to turn pale.

"....right." Illias responded.

"Odds are she'll be in to see you later tomorrow." Hal told him.

-The next day-

Illias sighed as he sat at the edge of the bed.

He'd been given clearance to leave by the medical staff, but Kiah still hadn't shown up yet.

"....wonder if she'll even be here?" he wondered aloud, pondering as to whether or not he should stick around and 'take his medicine', so to speak.

He then sighed, and got up.

"Maybe I'll just... sneak off for a drink..." he mumbled, as he started to make his way to the door of the room he was in.

"Kiah!" Illias exclaimed.

"What? No! No, I wasn't, I swear!" he protested.

"I was just going to get a drink! Really!" he insisted.

"........." he was then silent, before sighing deeply.

"Right." he said. "Talk." he said further.

"Okay, let's... let's go." he mumbled, as he followed her down the hallway.

".............." Illias was silent for a bit, before sighing.

"...the pen." he said.

"The pen I found in the hallway..." he went on.

He then spilt everything. He told her everything. What he had done, how he'd felt when he was doing them, what the pen felt like, and what it had done to him.

"....and that's it." he finished.

"It took both Agent Sharp and Miss Remmington to separate the pen from me, and I had to reverse some petrification on her." he said quietly, looking down in shame at his drink.

Illias was silent for a moment, seemingly stunned. All he could do was blink a few times, before shaking his head.

"I... you... what?" he asked.

"Move in with you?" he asked further.

"I... well... I mean... I'm not... that is I don't mind..." he went on, tripping over his words, his face turning slightly red.

"If... if you don't... mind..." he then said.

"If... if you're sure you want to share a living space with me, after what I did to you, and everyone else..."

Again, Illias was silent for a moment, his face turning even redder.

"I... I... I, uh... eh-heh..." he chuckled nervously.

"I like... you, too." he told her.

"So... so, all right then, I'll... I'll pack my stuff to move." he said.

Meanwhile, a pair of figures were watching them from the entrance to the cafeteria... it was Azazel and Aedan.

"Heh." Azazel chuckled.

"Looks like it's finally been aired out in the open." he said to Aedan.

Azazel nodded in response.

"Mmhmm." he replied.

Meanwhile, Illias sighed, having calmed down slightly.

"...thank you." he then said.

"I... I didn't actually want to see you again." he admitted. "Mostly because I felt I didn't deserve to see you." he then told her further.

"I... I hurt you, and people you care about." he went on.

"...I didn't want you to see me while the pen had ahold of me."