Author Notes at the end, for once. Thanks for reading!

'Chapter 44: The God of Death

The Shinigami placed the last vial of Uchiha Izuna's soul down gently in his pantry and closed it. At last, he had completed his collection of Uchiha souls. He better get something better than a stupid certificate in a stupid building in a stupid city, or there would be stabbing involved.(1) Actually there was going to be stabbing either way, now that the Shinigami thought about it. He supposed Kurama's girlish screams of fright were a satisfactory down payment on whatever reward he was going to be getting. For now.

Fortunately for his sanity Kurama didn't know what the Shinigami was thinking but it didn't appear to be the same panicked thoughts as he himself was going through. Apparently panic loves company as much as misery. "Shinigami-sama! What are we going to do about Minato? Do something!" Kurama could not have conveyed his panic any better if he was doing an impression of Wile E. Coyote off a cliff.

The Shinigami gained a thoughtful look on his face and reclined in his chair. He had to be delicate in this situation, as very important things were to be discussed now. "I can see why this would be troubling for you. Rest assured, Kurama-chan, that I will find someone else to handle the paperwork before long."

Kurama did not even think to bother to correct the suffix that the Shinigami had used. "...That's not what I am worried about at all!"

The Shinigami drummed his fingers on his desk before he snapped them due to sudden insight. "Oh, I got it. You got attached to being in a mortal's mind via mutilation. I will... persuade Zabuza in a wholly friendly and personable fashion to take up your cause. Please address your thank you note to my office, I have stationary behind you."

Kurama got an unconscious look of joy on his face for a moment before he scowled. "Shinigami-sama, this isn't about me. Minato is gone. Done. Beheaded. Vanquished. Don't you care?"

"Oh, that," the Shinigami stated plainly. "Not particularly, no."

Kurama's eyes widened in surprise. Clearly someone had not been paying much attention. "Y-you're a monster," he said softly.

The Shinigami gave Kurama a penetrating look. Well, if a throwing knife could be considered a look, and why not? The Shinigami watched in delight as Kurama let out an anguished scream; it really was the little things that got him through the day. Things meant knives in this case. "Sticks and knives may cut mortals to pieces, but words will never hurt me, Kurama-chan. You may have whatever perception pleases you, just as long as you are willing to bear the burden for such thought." The Shinigami threw another knife, which caused Kurama to scream again. Hooray.

The Shinigami paused for a moment to admire Kurama's inability to keep completely silent, his whimpering music to the god's ears. He thought for a moment it was too cruel to hit the exact weak point of Kurama's soul before chastising himself for thinking even for a moment such a thing as 'too cruel' could exist. It was a good thing Minato had gotten himself destroyed, with any more exposure to the mortal who knows what idiotic thoughts the Shinigami would conjure next?

"Do you know why I liked Minato-kun?" The Shinigami asked Kurama with a mocking smile on his face. "He was useful. He was an exceedingly good pawn who had potential, under specific circumstances, to take delightfully amusing action in my name. His head is now cut off. He is gone. This does not make me sad. I do not mourn him. His wife was always better company than he was, to start. Secondly he was his own end. His decisions led to his demise, like countless others before him. Like countless others to come, surely. A fitting end any man should want. He probably could have done without the beheading, but still a solid A minus I'd say."

"B-but," Kurama began only to be cut off by the Shinigami.

"Enough. You may continue your whimsical groveling at another time, I do believe our newest guest isn't in the mood to be kept waiting. Isn't that right, Madara-san?"

Kurama whirled around to see the blood soaked visage of Uchiha Madara standing in front of him with a grim smile adorning his face.

"Ah, the famed Shinigami... at least I can appear before you in my true form. It is fitting that my face will be the last you see." The Uchiha was carrying the same sword which he used to execute Minato.

Kurama quickly got out of the way as the Shinigami's killing intent began to soak the air.

"Oh?" the Shinigami said airily "Am I going to blind myself after the horrific things I do to you? What a change of heart from my usual cake and party streamers, but I'll see if the mood strikes me."

Madara, long since immune to the effects of humor, took the statement at face value. "No. I am going to end your existence."

The Shinigami tilted his head. "I did not take you for much of a comedian, Madara-san. You are really quite dreadful. I'd say stick to your day job, but what you do after this conversation isn't really going to be much of a concern for you."

Madara bared his teeth in a feral grin. "We shall see how-"

That would be the last word Madara spoke before the Shinigami wrapped his hand around the man's throat and squeezed. The Shinigami smiled as Madara desperately struggled against his might. "I am not usually one to correct grammar but I do believe that was a misuse of the term 'we'. We implies that after this encounter there is going to be a plural amount of spirits left when in fact it shall be singular. Pronouns are vital, much like your neck to your continued existence." The Shinigami enjoyed the hue of purple Madara's face was turning as he choked him harder.. "Let me state this plainly: I do not suffer the presence of mortals who swing their feeble claws at a God. This goes double for those that kill off my god damn pawns. I hold little personal sentiment for Minato, but he was MINE!"

Okay, so this was a bad start Madara thought to himself as black spots began to fill more and more of his vision. The game plan was kind of a bust. Really he had no one to blame but himself, not that he'd ever result to such drastic measures. Best to blame the the faulty charts that he had used to coordinate this attack. Yes, damn those charts to hell.

Just as all appeared hopeless for the Uchiha another shock wave rippled throughout the afterlife and the Shinigami's grip loosened considerably around Madara's neck. The Shinigami gasped and went slack jawed, lost in thought. The hesitation was all that Madara required and before the god of death could react Madara brought the blade up in a diagonal slash that started at the Shinigami's hip and ended at where the human collar bone was located. It was, by all accounts, a grievous blow.

It passed through the Shinigami harmlessly.

If the Shinigami wanted to offer a reprisal he made no indication of it. Instead he was looking at his own hands in abject horror. It was clear to the two people present that the Shinigami no longer held any interest in either of them.

For Kurama, he was confused. The Shinigami... more or less wasn't allowed to look horrified. It just wasn't in his facial repertoire. Kurama expected the universe to implode at any moment, which was a comforting thought compared to the look on the Shinigami's face.

Madara on the other hand was far too stupid to be scared and instead had began to mentally recite old lessons from his Uchiha teachers about basic ninjutsu. About half way through the long list of katon jutsu that Madara knew his mind rebooted and something resembling a rational thought registered with him: the weapon he had used worked on the God of Death. This was a universal law. It had not worked on the Shinigami, who looked bewildered. It was not a look that befitted such a powerful deity. From there, he came to a singularly correct conclusion: that calling the creature before him the Shinigami was now technically incorrect.

Madara pulled out another weapon, a black scythe which glowed menacingly that worked well on things decidedly not the Shinigami, and sought to behead the foul creature in front of him.

As Madara swung his weapon all color evaporated from the room. The Shinigami paid no heed to either the weapon or the change in atmosphere, too shocked to do anything other than to gape. There was nothing but a fraction of a second standing between the scythe and the Shinigami's neck.

Suddenly the blade stopped moving, and there was no doubt as to what had halted its progress: a pale index finger. The finger belonged to a figure in a black cloak. The cloak was adorned with a blue trim which glowed unnaturally in the achromatic room it presided in. Nothing physical could be told about the wearer of the cloak, his face covered by a cowl, but the amount of dread which had been brought to bear by their mere presence caused Kurama to retch and for Madara to drop his now useless weapon and be brought to his knees.

The Shinigami looked right into the cowl but he could not see within. "Nice party trick, whoever you are," the deity said with more lightness than he felt.

"My my, you get into trouble so readily," a surprisingly carefree voice, given the dramatic entrance, said from beneath the cowl, "I didn't expect to need the use of my new powers so early on. So this is why you always liked to make a scene, Shini-kun. I think I get it now. That was fun. I'll endeavor to work on my style to keep up with you."

Everyone in the room recognized the voice.

The Shinigami gasped. "M-minato-kun?" the complete shock was evident in his voice.

The man pulled back his cowl to reveal a man who looked very much like Namikaze Minato, with the noted difference that his skin was much paler and the tips of his hair were pitch black. "I've been called that before. But I'd appreciate it if you called me Shinigami-sama, it is proper and all, and we know we simply must keep up appearance in front of guests."

Kurama fainted.

Madara stared. "This is bullshit."

The new Shinigami smirked at Madara. "No, Madara-kun… this is the comedy option."

The After-Afterlife, some time before the present

"Comedy option?" Minato asked, hopeful. Comedy option sounded a lot less bad than being tossed in the wind of the Universe and hopefully chewed out in some reasonable manner. (2)

"Indeed! I think it is funny, at any rate. Then again I laugh at just about every pun and every time I go to tell a joke anyone in my presence groans and prepares for the worst, so actual funniness will of course be up to the beholder." The Almighty chuckled to himself.

"What was the joke?" Minato asked, confused.

"Exactly," the Almighty replied.

Minato just stared at the Almighty for a moment before deciding to let that particular thought go. A surprisingly wise decision from Minato, his history considered. "Well, go on. You didn't explain anything you just went off on a tangent."

"I do tend to do that. This one time, for example-" the Almighty stopped at the look that Minato was giving him. "Right, someone's not getting his Christmas bonus this year. Anyway with your annihilation the essence of the Shinigami was destroyed, leaving no actual Shinigami. So how about I hire you?"

Minato felt like he had just been punched in the gut. "Am I even qualified?"

The Almighty chuckled. "Overly qualified, I should say. You've worked in the department for years now and have a stellar record on our sanity checks. Not that any gods ever bother to take those, best not to record their craziness in actual paperwork for deniability purposes, you understand."

Minato simply stared at him.

The Almighty sighed. "Like I said, no one laughs at my jokes. In all seriousness though there is nothing that can prepare you, or anyone else, for this particular task. Beings are thrown about and assigned tasks and it is only over time that they develop the sense to do their jobs properly. I meant it when I said you are more qualified than most. I like you, Minato-kun. I've liked you for a long time. No one will see this coming, and honestly it will be a major coup for me personally."

"A coup you say? How so?" Minato asked. Maybe if he asked questions this would make sense.

"The Afterlife being as unstable as it has been under the former Shinigami makes me pay more attention to it than should be required. I am powerful, but my multitasking ability is not completely limitless. I am in constant war with other forces far beyond the realm of reality as you know it, and having the Afterlife stabilized would allow me to wage that war more wholly." The Almighty looked forlorn for a moment before brightening up once more. "No one will expect me to make a freshly dead mortal, fifteen years is nothing after all, a god. I so do enjoy a good plot twist like that."

"I'm in," Minato said as soon as the Almighty was finished speaking.

The Almighty seemed taken aback by the suddenness of the answer. "Don't want to think on that?"

"I'm good. No good decision was made by over-thinking things. I was always pretty crappy with that sort of stuff anyway, I'm a heat of the moment kinda guy. I've got stuff I need to do still. I am not ready to depart. So, to repeat, I'm in."

The Almighty smiled. "Excellent!" He proceeded to pull out a pulsating black box. "Now I do have to warn you that there are a number of side effects of this process, of which I will name none in the hopes that you can maintain your sanity for a few hours before caving in to your cravings. Good luck!" The Almighty tossed the box to Minato and watched with great glee as Minato's world was rocked.

Minato saw the black box hurling towards him and had but one thought.

Cravings?

And so an era began.

Back to the good part

The new Shinigami did not wait for the dust to settle from his appearance and grabbed Madara by the scruff of his outfit and teleported them away from the quaint office to a wide open, dusty field. The blond Shinigami threw Madara roughly to the ground and tilted his head to the side in confusion before he snapped his fingers.

"Ah, of course. Once the title of Shinigami was no more, even briefly, the Blank Space began to be reclaimed by the surrounding Afterlife. Now this place looks much like your love life, barren and uncared for!" He glanced over to see no response from Madara. "Tut tut, we can't have that now." Minato summoned the Stick of Sticking and stuck Madara between the ribs, causing the man to grown in pain. "Close enough," the blond muttered. Then he remembered something important: he was the Shinigami. So he stuck him again.

"God damn you, stop it."

Minato clapped. "Man, this is fun." Minato stuck him again.

"You bastard... I am going to destroy you..." Madara was having a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings. He probably bumped his head when he got threw down, the poor sod.

Minato rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am sure that's how this is going to go, with you victorious over me. You should consider work as a seer, you're so fucking talented. Now quiet while I do some redecorating." Minato pressed both of his palms to the ground and effortlessly infused his power into the ground. Immediately everything in the surrounding area changed to a pristine white and a rather boring wood desk with a wooden chair found themselves ten feet to the left of him. He looked at the area for several long seconds before he grinned. "Excellent work, if I do say so myself."

Madara sat up with a feral snarl on his face as he spat out blood on the floor. "You cheating your end will not be enough by the time I am done with you here. I don't know what bastardization of reality you set into motion to even be here in this moment but I am going to rend you from my presence for the second time today, I vow this on the lives of my entire family."

"You know, that might mean more if you hadn't set up a chain of events that led to their grisly slaughter," Minato said.

Madara scoffed. "Very well then, I vow on my pride!"

Minato sighed. "Oh man, I don't think I have anything that big to wager in response, I guess I better make sure you fail miserably." The pressure in the room went up ten fold and Madara suddenly found himself unable to move from the ground as the gravity of the situation hit him. Minato's eyes were blue chips of ice as he stared down at Madara. "I am playing for keeps this time, Madara-kun."

"Do...your...worst," Madara barely managed to get out.

Minato smiled darkly. "Gladly!" Minato walked over to the desk and out of thin air a single manila file appeared on the desk in front of him. Minato sat down and when he did so the pressure in the air evaporated and even if for a moment he looked like regular old Namikaze Minato again, sitting behind his desk with a folder in hand waiting to judge someone. "One more time down memory lane for us, Uchiha Madara. I've sat in judgment over countless individuals, whose crimes and triumphs are more varied than even I can recount. You will be my last."

Madara steadied himself and got to his feet. "I know I shall be, for I intend to end your existence today. You won't get to pass judgment on me, Namikaze. I won't allow such a disgrace! You have no right to judge me. I alone will be the judge of my legacy! Not you or anyone else who are so utterly unworthy to even be in my presence!"

"Oh?" Minato questioned softly as he flipped through the folder in front of him. "And what gave you the right to orchestrate the deaths of so many of your contemporaries? To see a near end to your once proud family? Or even to bind a proud creature such as the nine-tailed fox to your will? What led to your fervor?"

Madara closed his eyes and sighed in a way that made Minato believe the Uchiha thought he was a simpleton. "I was strong. The strong take what they want. That is the natural order of things. The weak, those too weak to exert their will on the world, were always doomed to perish. It is not an injustice on my part that I just happened to be the one carrying out the sentence."

Minato considered Madara's words before chuckling. "You really are a fool." The statement was said without malice and as plainly as possible, as if commenting on the weather.

Madara scoffed right back. "Words easily said."

Minato looked right into Madara's eyes with a murderous glare, and to Madara's credit he looked back without any sign of fear. "I have you in the palm of my hand, to do with you as I please, and yet you still keep to your mantra that strength is what best characterizes the priority of the Universe. Even when faced with the obvious fact that your strength is futile here, you will face me and discuss your own paltry strength as if it had meaning. It is pathetic."

Madara sighed once again. He clearly did not think much of Minato's intelligence. "It is so typical. I sit in front of a person who is broadcasting his strength at every available opportunity but I am being told strength does not matter. Strength is not just about how you use it, it is also about how you choose not to use it, Namikaze. Just because you do not use your power in the same manner I chose to do does not mean that I am wrong, merely that you are a fool who does not maximize the benefit of his position." Madara took a moment fix a creak in his neck before continuing. "Let's say you are right and that you have me in the palm of your hand. I then would have no say as to how this goes. Because you have the power. Even if you delude yourself that you are taking a more virtuous path, you still prove my overarching point. The strong will always rule. Their ruling touch is varied, as we can both clearly see most do not have the vision that I do. A shame for them."

Minato leaned back in his chair before he swallowed a bitter pill. "Huh. I guess you are right," he said softly.

Madara, who should have had a thrill at the admission, felt something cold crawl up his spine at Minato's tone. Madara knew enough to realize that tone was dangerous.

Minato cracked a joyless smile as he looked at Madara. "All of these years I have tried to deny my true nature. I am really careless about things like that. I wanted to be a good man. It was conditioned in me, I suppose. Thank you for setting me free, Uchiha Madara. Your callousness makes this easier." In a flash Minato appeared in front of Madara and delivered a stiff kick to Madara's left leg. Minato didn't know which was more satisfying, the crunch of the bone giving way or the scream of agony from Madara. He didn't suppose it mattered much, he got both. He grabbed Madara by the hair and teleported them out of the White Space to a familiar location: Konoha.

Minato tossed Madara to the ground once more and looked at the city. It was prospering, he was glad to see. "Welcome to Konoha. You spent so much time on your monologues the entire afterlife that the great war came and went without you participating in it. You should really trim down those speeches for your own sake."

Madara scowled. "Impossible. My plans were perfectly set. I was to be revived for the war and I would live forever. I had it all timed right..."

"You did before I met with the keeper of time and had a little chat with her," Minato said. "Lovely old woman, really. Was very kind to a newbie like me. Apparently if I promised to always ask politely for favors she would give me the hook up any time I asked. The former Shinigami, bless Shini-kun's evil bastardized self, was a bit cold to his coworkers. I, on the other hand, was like a breath of fresh air! I had to get things done during my time as Hokage you see, and that included compromise." Minato smiled at Madara. "Sorry off track. The point is time sped up a lot when we entered the White Space. I fucked up your entire plan with a smile and a sentence. God you suck."

Madara tried to lash out only to suddenly remember his leg that hindered him and let out a frustrated shout of fury as he pounded the ground.

"Another problem in your grand plan," Minato commented, "is how fragile your soul is. Did you not think there would be a cost for all of your buffoonery in escaping the Shinigami's notice for so long? A clean reaping from the body is one of the most treasured symbols in nearly every culture. To have that process interrupted, deliberately no less, is sacrilege for a reason. By not accepting the Shinigami's embrace your soul did not depart cleanly from the world of the living. Your intention, no doubt. See your leg for further details."

Madara's glare could have melted a steel beam, but he said nothing.

"What? No intense, philosophical monologue for me?" Minato questioned. "I so love those." With a careless shrug Minato teleported them to a home on the edge of the burgeoning city.

The sound of laughter soon filled the air as children, no older than five, played with each other in a vast background. There were eight of them in total, each looking as carefree as could be.

Minato smiled. "The next generation, free of the hatred that shackled so many generations before them. Free of people like you, who wished to badly to control their fates for selfish ends." Minato looked over at Madara. "Does it bother you to see a future where you don't matter? Where your name, revered in legend, is nothing more than a whisper in a history book? Your own heir, Uchiha Sasuke, so much like you yet even he chose the path of community over selfish greed in the end. Which... was a bit of an upset in the afterlife office pool, if I'm going to be honest." Minato decided it was best not to mention his losses there.

Madara looked at the children playing and closed his eyes, a frown worming its way onto his face. "It is so much like you to circle a lap in victory well before it has been earned. You have closed the door for me, but it is foolish to believe that other doors are closed forevermore. All you have done is left this world vulnerable in the future. These children may know peace, who is to say, but I know the nature of man. Peace is not within our blood. We are far too eager to become strong and to do terrible things to one another as a way of acting upon our strength. Someday children like these will once again know the fear of war, of hatred, and all you have done to stop it will be washed away."

Minato leaned against a wall and nodded. "As is the right of the future generation. That's my take away from everything I have gone through: mo matter how righteous or powerful we are it is not our right to decide what those after us do with their lives. We can hope for the best, we can want to influence it in some way, but all things must pass on from the living and onto the next. I take my victory lap now because your unnatural plan has been stopped. You have finally been denied for the final time your right to interfere in this future. If some madman with dreams similar to you pops up, well, then it's up to the people of the time to do what must be done. If they attempt to escape my grasp, I'll take a firm hold on their soul just as I have yours."

Madara spat at him, but failed to reach his nemesis. "You have nothing over me! You have stopped me for but a moment in time, I will rise again. I have been gifted with power. Power linked to to my very soul. I will bide my time and I will strike when you least suspect it. I will take everything from you! Your destruction will-urk!" Madara's speech, as glorious and villainous as it may have been, was interrupted as a knife was shoved into his chest.

"You're careless, Madara-san," Minato chided gently. "You have grown too used to your power that you forget the art of subtlety. I am the Shinigami, the one who brings death to everything within this realm. You have been reaped at last." Minato unleashed his aura fully and the scene around them grayed significantly, his presence draining the color around them.

Madara made to retort but suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he began to convulse on the ground, unable to move within his own power.

"Of course, the Shinigami can kill more than just life. What kind of amateur god would I be if I couldn't cut the cords of the abstract as well, yeah?" Minato murmured as he put his knife back into his cloak.

Madara gurgled a response. Or maybe he was just gurgling randomly. Gurgling doesn't tend to lend itself to being understood, after all.

"Your power, so vaunted in life and the source of all of your obscene pride, is now nothing. I have rid you of the source of your many failings. You are, of course, welcome." Minato suppressed his aura once more and allowed Madara a chance to find his bearings. It was the sporting thing to do, after all. (3)

Madara took several gasps of air and shakily rose to his feet. "My... power... is gone," he breathed out.

Minato stared at him. "Uh, yeah. That's what I said. Did I cut out some of your brain as well? I didn't think my aim was that bad geesh."

Madara crumbled to the floor and stared vacantly out towards the city of Konoha in what could only be described as stunned disbelief.

Minato smirked. "Just the reaction I was looking for, Uchiha Madara! But fear not, I'm not satisfied with just that!" Minato pressed a palm to the earth and an absurd amount of power pulsed outward and soaked itself into the ground.

Madara's head twisted sharply towards Minato. "T-this is my power."

"Yes it is! I have judged you Uchiha Madara, flawed as I may be, and I have found you severely wanting! Your ambition ruined far too many lives, and I think it's about time some of that unrestrained ego is put to good use! You are to be left powerless as the eternal custodian over the city of Konoha for as long as it may stand. Further, all of the advantages you gained in your pathetic life will be used to feed future generations of great ninja. The grass will grow better, the food shall taste sweeter, and the houses built on this land will have bountiful luck for all of their days. Not only have you lost everything, but those you would have deprived have gained an equal measure. Your life was spent in disservice to these people, but your death is their greatest boon until time unravels everything."

The weight of everything came crashing down upon Madara's soul and he began to laugh mirthlessly at his predicament. Soon the laughter would turn to tears. Uchiha Madara, after years of madness and a reign of terror that was unprecedented, had been broken.

Minato ripped open a portal back to the afterlife and looked back at Uchiha Madara one last time. "Enjoy the view." He stepped through the portal, the soul of Uchiha Madara never darkening his thoughts again.

The End.

1) Seriously Pokemon's reward scheme for all of that effort in obtaining the Pokemon is something I would have made up in order to torture Orochimaru in the early portion of this story.

2) He never learns.

3) Minato's troubling lack of experience really shines through here. The Shinigami is, of course, never supposed to be sporting unless he says he is being sporting for the express purpose of mocking a foe before being most unsportsmanlike. Minato still has some room to grow.

A/N: Oh boy. So... I had the majority of this chapter done for some time and it took me a lot of time to decide to 'officially' end the story here. I felt like the judgment of Madara had to be the stopping point because he has been the villain of this particular story all along, despite what canon decided to have fun with at the end there. I also realized that no judgment I could give Madara would be fitting enough. He was just...too much of a bastard, and yet he was also a villain I tended to treat with respect with how he bantered philosophy with various characters. I didn't want to humiliate him, but I did wish to devastate him. I don't know if I accomplished that, but I tried. I know this ending won't satisfy everyone, but ending is the hardest thing to do.

I have... changed so much in the nearly ten years since I started this. I have grown so much as a writer, and as a person. Some of the worst and best moments of my entire life have happened in that time. It's pretty surreal. I was always blown away with how much love this story got, especially early on. I'll be honest, I wouldn't read the early chapters of this story if I was a reader. I would go "man, this is badly written, next" and not give it a second thought. So I really appreciate all of you who got to this point and read everything. I thank everyone who ever left a review, getting over 2k reviews is pretty crazy! Over 1000 favorites and follows too, that's crazy for a random idea that I just ran as far as I could with!

I find it important to note that just because this is marked as completed doesn't mean that there may not be updates in the future, this just marks the closing of the main story that was Minato's journey throughout the afterlife to where he is now: the Shinigami. I've seen a lot of stories about people of the Narutoverse becoming the Shinigami, but I like to think none of them involved a 40+ chapter of build up, so that's something. I can't promise when, but I'd expect some 'omake' chapters if you will in terms of aftermath and various characters doing various things. Just don't be totally shocked when you see that some day.

I promise that if I ever write another novel length fanfiction that I am not going to post it until it is well underway. My update schedule for this story was absurd. Months, sometimes a year between updates, and some times I posted 3 chapters in 2 days. There was truly no method to my madness.

Once again... thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought of the story as a whole. Let me have it.

Much love,

Chris