Notes from the author

And so the second part of this story comes to an end for me. When I first wrote the outline to everything I used it as a basis for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I ran with friends. Now, as I look at that same outline and think about writing these novel length stories I had planned on it being a trilogy of sorts. However, I believe it will most likely take 4 instead of 3. Regardless I will write them, because I have had a blast writing them and posting them here.

I have received messages of praise and even some criticisms that I am more than happy to read and reply to. I do take it to heart and am happy to hear from anyone good or bad. I scramble to open my email on my phone to see what messages or reviews I've received and typically respond if a PM within minutes.

This particular part of the story followed the manga heavily because I always felt the Alaska arc was such a powerful and moving portion of the story. It was the only one I needed to include and create emotions I felt were important. Particularly the acceptance and understanding of loss and grief. It sets the stage for the true conflict that will shape the world and characters until the end.

That being said I found it very hard to write this part of the story. There were many parts I wanted to remain true to the original. In the back of my mind I battled with the concepts of changing it for my own selfish desires. However, I knew that it was simply because I found it hard to let go of the characters I've written about. How George R. R. Martin can do this in Game of Thrones so easily is a mystery to me, and it pains me to lose characters I've come to love writing about. The more I wrote, the more I saw it as necessary and as Chiffon said, "You can't save everyone."

So, I hope to begin part 3 soon here and begin adding it. Thank you for reading and making it this far. To those who have enjoyed it I will continue to write until the very end, and for those who haven't then thank you for at least taking a few minutes to try. It's all I can ask.

Thank you again everyone and see you in Part 3: The Crimson Queen and The Ivory Princess.

-V 7/28/16