CHAPTER 26X |Night of Farewells

Part One

A/N: It has almost been a year since I last updated, so I figured I should put up part of the chapter even if it's incomplete. Just so everyone knows that this fic is not dead. Real life got too busy.

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"Well, so that's that, huh?" said Lord Hector, trying not to sound disappointed. "Bah. Whatever. Let's just figure out our next course of action.

We were all eyes on Lord Eliwood now, who was silent, and I could have just imagined him to be blaming himself for botching our chance to easily find the Shrine of Seals now. Lord Eliwood was kind and self-suffering—that was how he was. But he will also realize when something is no longer his fault—but then again, it was kind of really his fault this time, right?

"Forget about it, Eliwood," Lyn spoke, to comfort him. "We all think you did the right thing."

Lord Pent and Lady Louise actually nodded, and I did too, to assure Lord Eliwood. While logically I might disagree that Lord Eliwood did the right thing… he had done something no one had the guts to do. He had shoved the selfishness of the Queen to her face. He has told her what really mattered. And, having met Prince Zephiel, I couldn't help but think that maybe—just maybe—with that one interaction, Lord Eliwood has forever changed a young man's life.

"Wait," a cool, female voice called on us before we could all start walking again. "Go no farther."

We all turned around, surprised to see that standing there, in the open manse gardens… the Queen herself!

"Queen Hellene!" Lord Hector exclaimed, quite shocked.

"What are you...Where are your guards?" Lord Eliwood asked, quickly noticing her lack of guards. She was entirely alone, in her red royal robes, a book in her hand. We could not understand what was happening at all.

"Your name...It is Eliwood, yes?" her clever, educated voice had asked Lord Eliwood. He simply nodded. She offered him the book she was holding and said, "Take this book and seal. My reward to you."

Lord Eliwood looked on at her in surprise, at her outstretched arms holding out the book to us. And then, recovering from his shock, Lord Eliwood found protocol and bowed before the queen as he reached out to the book in her hands and took it. "Your Majesty? What are these for?" he asked.

"The book contains the road to the Shrine of Seals," she said. "The seal was a wedding present from Count Reglay of Etruria,"—she gave a glance to Lord Pent, the Count Reglay of Etruria himself, who was now watching the scene with a small smile on his face. The Queen continued. "I was saving it for Zephiel, but...I believe at this time that you need it more. Furthermore, your path will remain clear for the next three days. No matter what happens in that time, Bern's soldiers will not move. …I can make no promises about the king's own troops, though."

We—Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector and Lyn and I—exchanged glances and felt ourselves release a sigh of relief. "Your Highness, you have my heartfelt gratitude," Lord Eliwood said to her. "But, Your Majesty...why all this for us?"

Queen Hellene simply shook her head, as if to say that we have nothing to thank her for. And then she actually smiled at us—and it struck me that she was a beautiful woman if only she smiled more. "I want to thank you, not as a queen, but as a mother. For saving my son, I am forever in your debt."

And then my earlier thoughts had been confirmed. I knew now that Lord Eliwood had forever changed Prince Zephiel's life. For the better.

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"Anko!"

Slipping away unseen and unfelt seemed like an easy task in Anko's head, but when you had the prince of Bern pointedly looking for you, it was hard to accomplish. Almost as soon as the assassins that came in the night were gone, Zephiel had quickly decided from Anko. This was, to her, not one thing which she could just vanish from. He had to see if she was well, at the very least.

"Your Majesty," Anko turned to the young prince's direction, a little annoyed to be caught when she was just about to wing it and leave. She smiled, trying not to look tired. She was tired, she admitted to herself. When she got to her room in town she was going to fall to the bed, into deep sleep, and forget about her plans, if only for temporary. It was a tiring day, and to top it all off, she somehow lost her Spy's Gemstone. She could not remember how, for now, but she knew she would recall after she had some decent sleep.

"Are you well?" Zephiel asked, who sounded concerned, but for the most part, he did not look like a boy who just survived a grand-scale of attempted assassination of his life. Anko thought there was a light, happy air surrounding the boy, which puzzled her. Something good must have come out of this assassination attempt that has overshadowed how horrible it was.

"I'm fine," Anko said, a puzzled expression on her face as she spoke, and the prince gave a sigh of relief at her words. "B-But what about you?" she asked him. "You look as happy as a man who had just won some great prize. What happened, Zephiel?"

Zephiel smiled, and his smile was bright enough to light up the entire room. "I've talked with mother," he simply said.

"...And?" Anko asked, waiting for the rest.

"She is a changed woman. She told me that she wanted us to live together happily... Me and her and father... and even Guinevere! She has never been accepting of Guinevere but now... isn't this a great step forward?"

Anko didn't quite think so. "She forgot to include Guinevere's mother," she pointed out.

"Guinevere's mother is a wonderful woman, though I've never much talked to her," Zephiel said, in such an innocent, nonchalant tone that Anko couldn't help but frown. Zephiel was such an idealist. He always hoped for the best. "I understand why Mother cannot accept her now—because having a mistress is nowhere near acceptable in any nation—but maybe one day, they would be able to settle on an amicable agreement."

Anko raised a puzzled brow. "You'd want your mother to accept this woman? To have an agreement with her? You are alright with your father having another woman? You want your mother to be alright with that?"

And with that, Zephiel realized that Anko had understood her wrong. His smile faded, too. "No. Of course not. By 'agreement' I meant to say that one day, maybe Guinevere's mother would agree to stay away from my father so long as she was given an estate of her own, a place to settle quietly. And then mother and father can turn back to the way they were when-"

Anko shook her head. "Zephiel. You don't honestly think your father will still turn back to your mother? He is a scoundrel through and through. It's not just Guinevere's mother, don't you see? He has had other women, before Guinevere's mother. He had always turned back to your mother after he was tired of all of them, but then he meets another gorgeous young thing and then leaves your mother again. If he ever returns to her, it's not because he wants to—it's because he got sick of his pretty young thing. Not long will pass and he will find another one, and another one..."

Zephiel shook her head, looking as if he were fighting tears as he did. "People change," he told Anko. "Maybe my father is yet to change for the better. Maybe one day, he'll see... one day..."

Anko felt guilty, drawing Zephiel out of his happy mood and into this gloominess. It was not her fault—she couldn't help it. How Zephiel always wanted Desmond's approval was beyond her; how he couldn't see that his own father was a monster not worthy of getting approval of was stupid. Zephiel was smart, how could he not see this? Despite everything, he still wanted an ideal, happy world. Something that didn't exist.

"And after all," Zephiel said, "when you're tired of everything else, you go back to your wife, don't you? One day father will tire of this permanently. One day he'll realize."

Being someone's wife didn't protect you, Anko thought to herself, and she almost said it, but she thought against it, already hearing enough pain in Zephiel's voice. Being married to someone didn't protect you, it certainly didn't protect you as you aged and looked older and your man sees someone younger, prettier. It didn't mean he would not run off with another woman out of nowhere. All it meant, all the protection it gave you was money—that you, under law, have a right to your husband's wealth. But it did not assure his affection. It assured nothing. And Queen Hellene was a proud woman. How long will she be able to endure being stepped on by her own husband? How long?

Anko sighed. There was no point continuing this conversation with Zephiel when they were both drawn out from a long night. "I imagine you will be an amazing husband, Zephiel, when the time comes. Lucky is the woman you'd marry," she said, choosing flattery to lighten the discussion.

And with that, Zephiel's face lit up again as he laughed. And then he told her, "I just met a most beautiful girl. I hope to see her again, and when I become better friends with her, I will introduce her to you, Anko. I think you will like her."

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"So the book is a map," said Lord Hector, as he flipped through the pages of the book that Queen Hellene gave us—and rather rashly did he, and I feared what an ordinary book might suffer through Lord Hector's hands—"but what's this...seal?"

He raised up the item—the Heaven Seal—to the skies. It looked only like a brooch carved from white porcelain or marble or some such—some ornament, like the medals and crests the Knights wear.

"That is a Heaven Seal..." Lord Eliwood said, to explain it to us, and beside him Lord Pent gave an agreeing nod. "I hear there are only a few in the world. They are only given to nobles of great skill and potential. To receive something so valuable..."

"I was going to gift it to Prince Zephiel," said Lord Pent, "but I am just as glad the Queen decided to give it to you instead, Eliwood. You much need it more than the prince does, with the current battles we are facing."

"It's just a… thing," Lord Hector said, as he studied the Heaven's Seal in his hands and stared at it so hard he could have melted it with his stare. I think he's having too much of magical stones and brooches and items lately. "What in the world does it do?"

"There is a legend to describe it and to explain its powers…" Lord Pent began, but then he gave a dismissive shrug. "Well, to make the story short, it supposedly grants its blessing and strength to only those of noble blood who are worthy. I am sure any of the three of you are worthy enough—maybe then you will see what it does."

"I definitely don't feel anything," said Lord Hector.

"It probably sees your true colors, Hector, and deems you unworthy," Lyn teased him with a grin, as she elbowed him lightly.

"Bah!" he said. "These odd artifacts. I'm glad enough the Fire Emblem is gone from our hands!"

We laughed a little at Lord Hector's words, and he grunted about it, but then he said, "…I'm glad she listened to you, Eliwood."

Lord Eliwood shook his head slightly. "It is not only me, Hector. She listened to us—all of us."

"I guess…" Lord Hector said, skeptical to accept that. I think he didn't want to accept that merit-because we knew it was Lord Eliwood who caused this. He was the one strong enough to do what none of us could.

"We need some rest," said Lord Eliwood. "After that, let's make for the Shrine of Seals. Once we make it there, something's bound to happen!"

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We got back to camp, and I silently headed back to my tent—having to ask Wil where my tent was and all that. "Oh, you're free to take which one you please, though of course there's your usual tent," he replied, with his usual smile. He seemed good enough to me and it seems like he's had a nap when we were gone—or it was just Wil being Wil, amiable as usual. "Though I heard Kent is about to get a good talk to Lady Lyn about keeping order in the camp—girls sleeping with girls only and boys with boys."

I managed to look at Wil, surprised. "What brought that on? Surely no one's been caught of any... misconduct?"

"At least not yet!" Wil said, with a laugh. "Senior Rave's been acting rough and has apparently threatened Priscilla's 'rumored fans' in a moment of… well, I think he was just tired and lost it. He's saying things like Priscilla spending too much time with Guy or Heath or something like that."

"That's odd," I remarked. "Of course she'll spend time with Guy—Guy is in recovery and still needs some healing, and you can't help it if Hyperion favors Priscilla as a healer. Are they even together?"

"I guess Kent's point is about, you know, how it's better to avoid too much friendship with the opposite gender, since this is war and all."

I stood there for a while, silent, and then I just went on in my way. For the tent and bedding issues, I frequently shared my sleeping space with guys now—mostly Matt or Legault, but no one could possibly think of that as bad. They can't get people like Nils and Ninian, or Lord Pent and Lady Louise, to separate, either. And falling in-love with a comrade?

I settled into my tent—I found that they'd given me one of m own, all my stuff already settled in. It seems I wasn't sharing and it seems somewhere along the way, Merlinus was able to purchase more tents. I lay down thinking about two things—first, getting a bath, and second, what Wil told me.

Did having those sort of feelings really complicate everything? Especially in war? Well, I've seen a little of how it worked… Legault may have developed feelings for Isadora, but even with her fiancée, Harken, joining us, he didn't let it get in his way. I doubt anyone else would be able to take it as gracefully as Legault, though. I remembered how Erk was—and is probably still—upset with me. I don't know if I have to apologize to him or avoid him for the meantime. He probably wouldn't let it get to him much, as so should I, but… it was just… awkward. It… would have been better if none of it happened… But I'm sure It'll be better in no time. I'm sure…

Anyway, I doubt the rule would get past Lord Eliwood. He adores Ninian. He wouldn't think love was a hindrance, would he?

"He—llo there, lady tactician," I turn around and see there, by the tent opening, Legault, pushing the tent flap aside to enter. "You've got a spacey tent here. Mind if I drop in?"

I paused for a while, thinking of the edict Kent and Fiora were trying to push. If I stay around with Legault all the time, or any guy, for the matter, does it already translate as something else to other members of the group? I wonder…

"I am standing here waiting for admission, just so you know," Legault said.

"Oh!" I snapped from my thoughts, and told him, "Come in!"

Legault stepped inside and then sat down at the tent matting, looking at me skeptically all the while, that look he has when he's trying to figure out what you're thinking. But I beat him at questions, and asked first. "What is it, Legault? Can I help you with anything?"

"Actually, yes," he said. "I was planning on grabbing a drink and enjoying myself during this rare time of leisure that we are entitled to. Unfortunately, my favorite buddy, Guy, is not too well, so I thought I'd ask you instead."

I blinked, not believing his words. "Legault? Why in the world would you ask me? You've got to be kidding."

"Actually, I'm not," he said, and to my surprise he pulled out something from the satchel hanging by his side—a wine bottle. And then he pulled out two drinking cups. "I have come prepared. And don't go on saying that you don't drink—I have bothered to pick up sweet wine, your favorite, Lady Genevieve."

I just stared at him, already sitting there and pouring wine into the cups. This is ridiculous—drinking? In broad daylight? And if it really was sweet wine, where did he—"You did not," I said, when a realization hit me.

He understood what I meant. "The whole dirty kitchen was ripe for the taking so I thought I'd take a little something. A little token for saving the prince's life, what do you say?" Legault gave a little wink, and handed me the cup.

"Oh, Legault," I told him as I took the wine from him, and decided to sip on it a little—I was not going to get drunk, but I thought I'd humor Legault a little. …Mmm. It was sweet wine indeed, made from berries, tasting more like sweet juice that was a little tart rather than some deadly beverage that could get you heavily drunk.

"…Is there something bothering you?" I decided to ask Legault, after a silence of sipping drinks, because ever since the whole affair with Lady Isadora had started, he ended up in this habit of drinking. But of course, that whole episode with Lady Isadora must not have ended for him yet—yesterday morning, Isadora only had a long-lost fiancée. And then a few hours later, the long lost fiancée had magically turned up and joined our group. So much has happened in one day. We went from the capital, to Regrada, and to the Queen's Manse. So much has happened. It was just father's burial in the morning, and then hours later we came to save the prince of Bern.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Legault replied. "Just a little tired. I wanted to unwind a bit. So much has happened, hasn't it? I see little Nino and Jaffar are now travelling with us, too."

Of course. Legault was also Black Fang, like Nino and Jaffar, how could I forget? It hasn't been a month since Legault joined us, but he somehow already felt like family. The group's initial hostility towards him has faded. He was, in his own ways, a welcome and useful part of our group.

But Nino, and Jaffar? They're going to face that hostility, now, too. Most especially Jaffar… I doubt anyone could harbor bad feelings towards Nino, though. She simply looked too adorable and incapable of hurting anyone.

"It's a phase," Legault remarked, as if to his cup of wine. "If I got through it, they'll get through it, too. And who knows. They might make friends here, too."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Kumiko!" a voice suddenly came from my tent entrance, and Legault and I turned around and found Heath, minus his armor, panting as if he just ran a great distance. He then lift his head to look at us—and then briefly raised a brow at the absurdity of me and Legault, seeming to be trying to get drunk in the middle of daylight. In my defense, I wasn't getting drunk. I stopped at my third cup.

"Well, if it isn't handsome," Legault regarded the wyvern knight, as he poured on some more wine for himself. "Care to join in? Two's company, but a threesome's just awesome."

Heath knotted his brows for a moment and looked incredulously at Legault. "What's the matter, Heath?" I asked the wyvern knight, ignoring Legault—something must have happened for him to run to here, Heath was hardly the type who just arrives to chat. "Is there a problem?"

"There is, and I swear, I am absolutely sorry I didn't bring this up sooner, I just realized now…" And then he dug into the pocket of his trousers and came out with the Fire Emblem.

I felt my jaw drop open at the impossibility of what I saw—I saw the Fire Emblem given to Queen Hellene, I held it myself before we gave it to her. Heath was tasked with the safekeeping of the stone while we weren't about to meet the Queen yet, but he had given the stone to me, and I had given it to the Queen. Did we dream up the entire thing about handing the Fire Emblem to Her Majesty?

"I can explain," Heath said, as Legault crept closer to me and put a hand to my face to close my open, hanging mouth shut. "I… In the middle of battle, I ran into your friend Anko, and she hands me this stone that looks exactly like the Fire Emblem but I was panicking that time, I just held onto it and dropped it onto my pack and ran off with it…"

"Meaning you ended up with two stones that look exactly the same," Legault finished, getting ahead. Heath nodded.

I just blinked, and then held a hand up to my head which suddenly felt like it was throbbing mad. "T-Then what in the world did we give the Queen? Which is the Emblem and which is Anko's—and what in the world was Anko doing in the Manse?"

"Spying and snooping around, no doubt," said Legault, and then he called over Heath. "Come over here, handsome, let me see that stone."

I swear I think I heard Heath mutter, "Stop calling me that", but it could have been my imagination. Heath walked into my open tent and handed the gemstone to Legault, and the three of us, the three Bernese in the entire camp, huddled together and looked at the stone.

Legault examined the stone closely as if he were a jeweler, holding it up to the light. "Funny," he said. "It feels exactly like how the Fire Emblem felt in my hand—a trace of a little warmth. A presence lingers."

I took the stone from him, and was surprised to find that he was right—the stone, like the Emblem, was like a living thing with a faint little heartbeat. "Oh no," I said, feeling like the entire world was brought down upon me. "We gave her the wrong stone."

"You can't say for sure," Legault piped in. "What if Anko just had a similar looking-stone with a presence of its own, and also happened to favor those with Bernese blood? What if we can't tell those two apart?" And then he turned to Heath. "You can't tell them apart, handsome? Didn't feel anything odd when you held this stone and that?"

"I didn't… I really don't…" And Heath looked at loss for words, looking embarrassed. "I can't tell, I really didn't pay attention…" Of course. Heath could very well observe and point out changes in the pattern of attack in the military of Bern, or look at people and guess who was in-love with who, but, a stone? I didn't think so. He didn't particularly care for magic or artifacts or treasure, that was Legault's area.

"We have to give this back," I told both of them, determinedly. "We have to send this back. I'll tell Lord Eliwood."

"Or..." Legault said, "we could keep it and sell it. I bet it would fetch a pretty sum."

I gasped at the suggestion. "How could we? What if the Queen realizes that we gave her a wrong stone? It may be an accident, but may think that we tried to trick her, and then it could escalate to war!"

"They're all Bernese in the Keep, I bet. No one would notice if it was the real thing if someone who wasn't from Bern isn't there to touch it—and I hear it's only kept as a treasure, not even touched unless there was a ceremony. We could sell this and fund our entire campaign," Legault said.

"Legault!" I shrieked, horrified at his suggestion. "If this were the Emblem—I would shudder to think that I would sell it for a few thousand gold."

The thief shrugged. "That's what treasures are for, aye? I doubt the stone has some actual use, anyway."

I pouted, and was about to say some response, some argument, until Heath cut in and simply said, "We can determine if it's the Emblem if it reacts to a non-Bernese, right? We can easily figure what to do from there. And if it isn't the Emblem... doesn't this belong to your friend?"

Legault and I both fell silent and blinked, as if we had just both forgotten the fact that the look-alike stone would have been from Anko. Anko never likes it when she loses her things. I've seen her turn the Guild upside-down, when she was younger, in search of things that she loses or misplaces. A thief simply didn't lose things—it was, as Anko would say, disgraceful. If ever Anko someone borrowed from Anko, or touched her stuff, she remembered exactly who and when and how. No doubt she would be in some sort of organized hunt for her gemstone (and Heath) soon.

"I suddenly don't want to have anything to do with the stone," Legault said, making me laugh a little. "It's up to you, Lady Tactician, on what we do with this thing. So, can we get back to our drinks now?"

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Eventually I decided to hold on for the stone for a while, letting it sit beside me as I lay down on my bedroll in my tent, reading a little before I hopefully drifted into deep sleep, even if the sun was up and high already. I felt like I haven't slept in three days, and not just a day. Three battles! I wouldn't be looking for one more soon until I have decent sleep. Even Lord Marcus and Lord Oswin thought of the sense of this—what fight would we be able to give when we're sleepy? The ones who've battled the most were probably snoring already.

Legault had already left more than a while ago, and the little bit of wine he made me drink was just right to make me lightheaded and sleepy. The book I was reading—an old, antiquated book about the art of warring and strategy, which I can't exactly remember where I got from—was complicated enough to make every word I read mean nothing. I understood nothing, my mind starting to get tired, until I finally lay down on my bedroll and shut the book close.

I haven't been lying down for more than a minute, I think, when the tent flaps opened and light crept in. I opened my eyes and found Nino's face there, looking a bit sheepish. "Am I interrupting?" she asked.

Well, yes. "Not... really," I said, to be nice. "Is anything wrong, Nino?" I told her, my voice thick with sleepiness.

"Are you sharing with someone in this tent? One of the men tells me I can't share with Jaffar," she told me. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and allowed myself to look puzzled for a while, feeling my sleepiness suddenly vanish by this new, puzzling thought—who in the world told her that? Hmm, yeah, maybe someone who was getting news about Kent and Fiora's rules of morality around camp. But in a way, they were right. Tighter discipline had to be exercised in our group. We've gotten so absurdly large and everyone almost seems to just join on a whim, or in odd ways. Like Nino and Jaffar, recruits from the enemy. Like Legault and Heath. We weren't a formal military at all, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't lay down some rules. Goodness, we were fighting with holy people like Serra and Lucius! You'd think someone would want to lay down the laws of morality sooner. Apparently Kent had just realized it now.

An image of Jaffar attempting to do something of indecent nature to Nino crossed my mind, and I shuddered. I should not have thought of that! Argh, the things a sleepy mind can thing of! I think I visibly shook my head. That was one fierce reason why Kent might be right. All the grown men and women of camp can do what they want, but they should keep it out of camp, for the sake some of just who are just out of childhood and would rather not have exposure to those… things.

"Excuse me?" Nino asked, and I stirred, realizing that I'd been quiet for too long.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted," I told her. "Yes, you can share with me. It's no problem, Nino! Come in."

She smiled widely, and stepped into my tent. As the tactician, I was privileged to a bigger tent, so sharing with one more person isn't much of a problem. I stifled a yawn, but as she crept into my tent I could feel my sleepiness vanishing little by little. She sat down across me, sitting by the little table that I had, and took off her blue boots. She almost seemed uneasy, but she smiled all the while as she moved. "So what should I do?" she asked. "Can you tell me what goes on here? I've never in another group except for… Black Fang. I don't know the rules."

Rules? That was exactly what I've been thinking about a few hours ago. "We don't really have rules," I told Nino, and I knew I had an incredulous expression as I told her that—because I myself was surprised by it. "Everyone really just does what he or she wants. Anyone can also leave whenever they want if they feel the battles are getting to be a little too much for them or if they feel they can't fight anymore."

"That's it?" Nino asked, looking surprised. "You don't… you don't take vows to be loyal to your leaders or something? No contracts?"

"Well, swear if you want to," I told her, reminded of my own promise to Lord Hector, too, ages ago it seemed. "But it's not a necessity."

"How do you—I mean, it's great the group doesn't fall apart."

I gave a little laugh, and I knew she had a point—it was a miracle this group didn't fall apart. We were such a random bunch filled with random people—knights like Lord Oswin with loyalty to their lieges that fight because of that, people who fight for their personal training like Guy, down to people who joined for the heck of it like Geitz. But everyone kept themselves in check. It was easy to imagine such a group like this wouldn't survive, with too many kinds of people in them with different personal goals. "I imagine the Black Fang is more organized than us," I told Nino.

She didn't respond to that yet. She just continued to look at me with that adorable little smile of hers and asked, "So, what kind of man is Eli—I'm sorry, Lord Eliwood? He leads you, right?"

Ah, how do you even begin to describe Lord Eliwood? "He's a genuine man. People might tend to judge him because he's a young, Lycian lordling after all, but he's absolutely real. Kind and gentle… slow to anger and quick to praise… somehow soft at times, even. But when he's determined something is right, he fights for it. He cares for everyone underneath him and he listens to everyone's concerns and helps us all get by."

Nino suddenly looked as if she were teary eyed. "Then this place is just like Fang, too," she said. "Father—Brendan Reed—was a genuine man, too. I know he looks big and scary but he tries his best to listen to everyone and yet at the same time he's also determined that when something is wrong and unjust, it is wrong and unjust. Fang is made up of a bunch of misfits. But we all stay together because our leader keeps us together and we all respect him."

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End of Part One. Sorry.

There's more written down, but I cut them off because the scenes in between these and that aren't fully done yet. So, sorry if it's short. I was hoping that posting a little would get feedback from readers, which in turn will inspire me, because I'm sort of stumped of how to continue the rest of the chapter.

I know it's incomplete and it's cut too short for everyone's tastes, but I have real life issues. I started this fic ages ago, when I was fifteen. And now I'm turning twenty next February and the ability for me to update this fic as I age decreases. Real life is too busy. Five years ago I couldn't be bothered from my writing and thought about it all the time but now, I have big-girl issues like all of us. Finding a job, finishing certain internships, moving on from painful stuff, and sniffing out opportunities for me.

I admit The Journey is very difficult to update. Most of the time, I still get sad spells over my traumatic break-up with le ex (yeah, if anyone knew really what happened, I swear it's so traumatic) and that mood just isn't what gets me to write a somewhat fun adventure like this fic. For me, The Journey is all about self-discovery and growing up. And of course, saving the world from Nergal, but that aside, I felt that I've already grown up and I can't relate with the Kumi that I'm writing in this fic anymore. There's a part of me that can't write for an optimistic and determined girl like Kumiko when I'm anything but that right now. I can write more often for Bern because I find it's a tale with mature issues that I can relate to now.

With that being said it's 2AM and pretty soon I'm going to stop making sense. So I'll stop here. Pardon plotholes and errors for now, this isn't fully checked.

All my love,

kageshoujo/Aki

Please review to indicate if you're still alive and reading. :3