Preface: My Really Long Author's Note
I'm not giving up on Reaper!
-Lysana, Human Fangirl
As the Watershed trilogy ends, Lord Minion Reaper is the last of his kind. Destroying him at this point would be genocide. And I don't accept genocide, even when it is purely fictional.
Besides, I decided I like the chapter title "The Ambassador of Faerine", and the chapter that goes with it, much better than I like the one I rejected, "The Olde Magick", in which Reaper was to end up dying of his wound from Anjell's crossbow bolt.
I hope you like this story, courtesy of me, my faith in Reaper, and my love of the minions. The Watershed, to me, is a world more beautiful than I think Doug Niles understood when he designed it, and that includes all three of its lands - Dalethica, Faerine, and Duloth-Trol.
It was three years ago that I wrote those paragraphs. Everything in them is still true, but my story has gotten bigger since then. For one thing, it's ended up being combined with another fic idea I thought of much more recently - two fics have become one! And now, Lord Minion Nicodareus will be coming back too!
My sister Razzle thought of that idea before I did. In this instance, I'm the tag-along in the pair of siblings! :) Seriously, her fic "Lord of Three Waters" is amazing. If you're reading this then you should totally read that too.
With Nicodareus' return in my story, the question of genocide no longer applies to Lord Reaper. But I find that I love Reaper so much that I can't stand the idea of killing him off after all. So they're BOTH in this fic! :)
A word about what I call "chapter quotes": You'll notice that there's a quote at the beginning of each chapter in this fic. That's because the canon Watershed books had them and I'm following that style with my fic. Anyway the quotes in my fanfic are all written by me (except when Razzle's thought of one and let me use it, etc). But the books and things they're credited to (Creed of the Climber, etc) are for the most part from canon. I've made up a few, though.
-WARNING!- This fanfic deals with the concept of rape. But there is NO sexually graphic content in the fic. Instead, one of my central characters is someone who was stated to have been raped in the canon trilogy itself. The books did not go into much detail, but it seemed overwhelmingly likely to me that there were many assailants, probably of both genders. Horrifying, I know! So, part of my story involves my best effort as a writer to show that character's pain - and recovery. That said:
This fanfic is dedicated to everyone who has ever been the victim of a violent crime, especially rape or sexual abuse. All of you have my deepest sympathy and my greatest respect; I know that every one of you has the strength to truly live as a survivor!
And please, if anyone reading this fic is in an abusive situation right now: Get HELP and get OUT! There is no excuse for anyone to treat you that way, EVER.
To all of my readers who are fortunate enough never to have experienced abuse or violence, please reach out a hand in friendship and support to anyone you may meet who has to face those things.