Most all in this universe could agree that life, above anything else, is strange.
Through events and occurrences far too convenient to be considered circumstance (be it creation from a higher power or the force of something far too complex for ourselves to understand), we have gained the ability to form and understand intelligent thoughts and concepts whilst also being able to apply them to our own way of life.
Through these thoughts come curiosity.
Through curiosity comes action.
Through action… comes consequence.
And consequence is a powerful thing.
With even the most seemingly simple and unimportant choices we make, the resulting happenings of said decisions can snowball into even greater importance with effects radiating for an untold time.
It's believed that the universe came from a small singularity, after all.
Though sometimes the resulting developments of our actions don't affect everyone at first. Only a few. Even still, most others wouldn't realize such or give much thought to it.
Yes, to very few it even dawns on them how much their existence matters in the grand scheme, and even fewer understanding what would happen if it were to be taken away or replaced.
… This is an account of such an aftermath.
In a reality that many already are aware of, very similar to our own, there are beings known as Gems.
These gems once waged a war over a planet called Earth to determine whether it was to continue its existence as a habitat for creatures that came to be known as humans.
Rose Quartz, the gem fighting for Earth to continue being untouched the Gems, eventually prevailed and decided to stay upon the planet with her confidants Garnet and Pearl as to safeguard its standing as a place independent of outside influence. Rose, with her teammates, then became known as The Crystal Gems.
After countless years (as well as finding another gem developed from the Earth's energy known as Amethyst), The Crystal Gems noticed that a community was beginning to form around the location that they took sanctuary. This community would later be come to known as Beach City, a small town with a diverse citizenship coming from many different walks of life.
The foundation of Beach City remained mostly the same (barring advancements in the fields of science and technology that most all civilizations experience as time marches on) during a time several decades before the turn of the century. That is, the century that most of those who are seeing this are living in.
At this time, a human male by the name of Greg Universe came to the town of Beach City to try and start a career as a musician. After a chance encounter with Rose Quartz, she and Greg Universe began to develop a romantic relationship with each other.
From this romance, Rose Quartz became pregnant, the first of her kind to do so. However, after giving birth, the gem that was her very center of existence passed onto the child born. As a result, the physical form of Rose was lost to give life to the new being.
This being was neither gem nor human, but a hybrid of both showcasing traits from both species.
This hybrid was given the name Steven, with his father's identity of Universe being his last name and the title of Quartz as his middle, in honor of his deceased mother.
Steven grew up under the instruction and surrogate motherhood of the remaining Crystal Gems: The previously mentioned Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst.
Through the Gem's teachings, the role of caring father played by Greg, and befriending of a child named Connie Maheswaran, Steven effected the lives of a multitude of people living in Beach City at that time and ultimately served as the catalyst for a new war unfolding between The Crystal Gems and a newly rebuilt empire of those that opposed Rose Quartz in the battle for Earth known as The Diamond Authority.
Now, as stated before, this is a universe most of those surveying this will be familiar with.
But the events that shall unfold are not of this explained universe.
It is quite true that this unveiling reality is very similar: Gems are still existent beings, they engaged in a war over the Earth in which Rose Quart was victorious, and she with her confidants (Pearl, Garnet, and later Amethyst) stayed upon the planet in an area that would come to be known as Beach City to protect it under their moniker of The Crystal Gems.
There are some changes in this reality, however.
Beach City is still a small, diverse community, but not consisting of the same residents Greg and Steven Universe would come to know.
A man came to this town before the turn of the century, but this man was not Greg Universe.
This man would meet and develop a romantic relation with one of the Crystal Gems, but this Gem was not Rose Quartz.
The Gem would later become pregnant and give birth to a half human/half Gem hybrid and give up her physical form as a result, but the child born was not named Steven.
And later in this child's life they would affect Beach City and its inhabitants greatly under the surrogate motherhood of the remaining Crystal Gems, the love and support of their father, and the help of a close friend. Though, this friend did not have the name Connie Maheswaran.
So.
History has been relayed.
Changes have been stated.
And a new reality is soon to be unfurled.
… Shall we begin?
She needed to hurry.
The life of someone dear depended on it.
As the morning rays of the summertime sun danced across the sea and onto the small town of Beach City, the collective populous of the tourist luring locale began to rise and prepare themselves for the day ahead. This included the local businesses prepping themselves for the hope of an influx of out-of-towners to grace their thresholds, but holding on to the very likely possibility that only regulars would show their face.
And a certain entrepreneurial establishment was currently being bolted towards by a small, pale regular from down a block or so from its standpoint.
"Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through!"
The feminine voice of the regular came echoing through the main street, a simultaneous apology to those she snaked through abruptly and warning to those ahead that she was likely to do the same to.
She knew that this wasn't necessarily exemplary behavior to those who were most likely just awaking, but that didn't concern her at the moment. An urgent matter was needing her attendance and she'd be damned if it wasn't taken care of.
She needed to know if this was truly goodbye, after all.
After around another minute's worth of frantic sprinting and belated apologies to those she rushed past, the regular finally reached her destination: The glass door of a building underneath a balcony sporting a deep blue banner emblazoned with the word "Petrichor" in white lettering.
A single story shop situated at the end of the city's main stretch of road, it caught the attention of many in town (be it visiting tourists or long-time residents). Be it from its understated but inviting color scheme of greys in varying shades or half-muted sounds of music listing from the slightly open doorway, there was an indescribable draw to the most those in the city couldn't place their finger on.
Though, granted, they would also admit that said draw certainly felt pleasant.
The young regular standing before the doorway also felt its welcoming presence, though it was somewhat being overshadowed by her mindset towards her current agenda. However, before stepping through the glass paned door she was standing in front of, she felt it necessary to look herself over in the reflection being projected upon the translucent material. If this was indeed the curtain call for her friend, she at least wanted to look somewhat dignified.
Staring back at her from the door was practically no different from what she saw in the mirror earlier that day.
While she indeed was small in stature, that was expected of someone her semi-early age (granted, it still befuddled the girl why people even more than a decade into life were usually THIS diminutive, but she digressed). Not only was she small, but she was also thin. Very thin, at least compared to most others her age.
Yet another factor she displayed that most other adolescents were lacking in was the paleness of her skin. While not quite the shade of alabaster, the pure lack of color across most of her skin's surface could almost be considered unnatural. However, there was usually a slight rosy tint to her cheeks (as today was showing in her reflection) that offset the ivory of her skin.
Be that as it may, she (as well as the few others she inquired to this regard) felt that the sheer white of her skin matched her face's complexion quite well. From her deep blue eyes reminiscent of clear lake, to her (what she usually viewed as excruciatingly whilst most others saw it as elegantly) pointed nose, and her ebon bob of hair: she felt she was presented quite nicely.
Through her dark locks of hair, however, she caught a glimpse of one thing she was forgetting regarding her appearance. Strange, she thought, considering it was smack dab in the middle of her forehead.
Brushing aside her bangs to get a better look, the regular laid her eyes upon quite possibly the most glaringly strange thing about her appearance.
In the shape of an oval and sporting a near continuous light teal shine, the object on her forehead garnered much attention to those first meeting her. Most would think it some sort some of head ornament, though somehow seemingly suspended upon herself without any restraint or adhesive to keep it in place.
Yet a few quick tugs to the crystalline fixture (and the regular found herself doing that from time to time out of habitual tendency from her younger years) and it became clear that it was stuck on tight.
Perhaps, though, a better phrase than "stuck on tight" should be used in regards to something one has had on their body since birth…
The regular's head shook slightly. She had been mulling over her appearance for much more time than she had thought necessary, and needed to get back to her mission. With one more glace to herself, making sure her clothes (an azure short-sleeved blouse emblazoned with a yellow star in the center and a stormy grey skirt going to above her knees) were presentable, she finally opened the door, worry palpable in her heart.
*jingle*
The bell-rig above the door echoed out, alerting those in the shop to her arrival.
At least it would have, if the inside of the small-business wasn't strangely empty for the time of day.
The regular found the absence of customers perplexing. Not only did she remember Petrichor usually sporting at least one or two regulars by this time of day, she always just assumed a café in the early morning would be a busy place.
Inhaling whilst shrugging, the regular was greeted with the familiar scents of a variety of coffee beans and an array of baked goods from behind the store's main counter. Her stomach grumbling, she remembered that she hadn't eaten breakfast or had any coffee in her haste to get to Petrichor. She'd definitely have to indulge herself once her objective was finished.
"Oh, hey Hazel!"
The young girl turned her attention to towards the voice calling her, emanating from behind the counter.
The voice belonged to a young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, sporting long dyed navy hair with matching eyes, a soft smile, jeans and a T-Shirt that Hazel had no doubt was promoting an obscure band of some sort underneath an apron with several stains of different sizes and colors. She must have just came out of the back room, Hazel assumed.
"Natalie!" Hazel exclaimed, dread clear on her face. "I-I read that-and I thought that-so I came and-"
"Woah, Woah, Woah, slow you're roll." Natalie chuckling, hands in front of her in a manner that said 'calm down'. "What exactly is happening?"
Hazel's face morphed into a strange combination showcasing both fear and hope, before she near whispered in a dramatic tone:
"… Elizabeth."
Natalie looked Hazel quizzically for a brief moment before realization dawned, wincing in sympathy at the news she was to bear to the youth.
"Oh, so you heard?" The blue-haired woman said in what she hoped was a comforting voice. "I'm really sorry, kiddo."
Hazel gasped.
'No… this can't be happening.' She thought. Her distraught eyes scanned the establishment, looking for a clue that somehow this was all just a cruel prank. When her eyes then fell upon the tall black box, humming electricity audible from even her standpoint, she knew checking it was her only option.
Dashing towards the container, Hazel stood in front of the tall rectangle, its front glass pane giving view to its contents held within.
"Third shelf, third shelf, third shel-'
Hazel continued this mental mantra until her eyes laid upon the location of her search.
The third shelf of the refrigerator was bare.
And her suspicions were proven true:
Liz's Elixir had been discontinued.
The gourmet soda which Hazel had spent most of her short life adoring to no end… was no more.
Hazel collapsed to her knees, clenched fists shaking.
She knew that she was being absurdly overdramatic. She knew that what she was about to say was completely over the top. She knew that somewhere in whatever afterlife he was in Franklin J. Schaffner was either going to beam with pride or shake his head at Hazel's planned display.
She didn't care about any of that, though.
They took something dear from her and she was going to let the world know it.
Jolting her head and closed fists upwards, Hazel (with practiced rage showing on her face) bellowed to the heavens the overly-enunciated words:
"DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL, FDA!"
*Snrk*
Hazel's head whirled to the audible snickering, seeing Natalie with a hand over her mouth in a poor attempt to restrain her laughter at Hazel's outburst.
"Oh, so the death of a great woman is funny to you, eh?" Hazel said indignantly, now standing with her hands on her hips.
"Okay, firstly: Liz was a fictional character the company made as the mascot, don't try to make me feel guilty about her 'death'. And secondly: If it means getting to see you act like a total drama queen, then yeah, it's very funny." Natalie countered bluntly, sporting a mocking (but playful) smile with her words.
Hazel was about to further the argument with the older woman, a finger pointed accusingly in Natalie's direction, but before she could say anything the youth realized that a continued tirade would play right into her hands.
And Hazel, as much as she loved Natalie, didn't want to give her the satisfaction.
"… Alright, you've made your point." Hazel conceded, frowning as her arms crossed over her chest with eyes diverted from Natalie's smug gaze.
"Though, I get it if you're upset." Natalie continued, relenting her teasing upon the other girl. "That soda was amazing in both sales and customer satisfaction, and suddenly they just pull it off the selves overnight? I don't get it."
Hazel sighed, pulling herself up on one of the small handful of barstools next to the counter. The young girl felt it made conversation with Natalie a bit more personal.
"Apparently the FDA was making a big stink about a joke the company made regarding a new flavor of soda. My theory is the sticks in their butts were reaching so far up into their body that they began to lodge in and cause even further damage to their already near-humorless brains, so that they couldn't decipher what even a half-asleep toddler could see was CLEARLY A JOKE."
The last three words of Hazel's tirade were raised in octave as she shouted them to the ceiling of the café, hoping in vain the specter of her hatred would be felt by those that had wronged her precious soft drink. Whilst doing so, she also thought back to the joke the creators had made that started the whole mess. As Hazel recalled, it went something along the lines of:
"Sample Liz's new concoctions!
These include:
Kiwi Strawberry
Mango Peach
And Arsenic-I mean-Cherry Limeade
Available soon!"
"Do you know when you go on a tirade you sound like a cross between a stage actor and a mad scientist?"
Hazel flinched, heart accelerating in surprise upon hearing the familiar voice behind her, an all-too-recognizable feeling of annoyance creeping up as she swiveled her barstool's seat around to look the culprit of her fright, glaring whilst saying.
"Jesus, Matthew, what have I said about sneaking up on me like that!?"
Greeting her with a coy smile and hands in his pockets, Hazel saw the lanky figure of a young man (late high school aged, as most would assume correctly) sporting a tailored maroon vest with a matching grey button-up and slacks, black tie, dress shoes, and signature (it pained Hazel that he wore the accessory often enough to call it that) charcoal colored fedora. The burgundy bangs of his hair poked out here and there from the hat, the dark hue contrasting greatly with his light cream colored skin.
"That it's extremely fun and I should keep doing it?" Matthew continued, feigning innocence (quite poorly, from Hazel's viewpoint. His deep crimson eyes had a perpetual look of mischief about them).
Hazel groaned, smiling despite herself.
"I don't know what exactly my dad has you do for this place, but it's obviously working: He probably would have fired you by now if you weren't so competent."
Matthew inhaled a clearly staged gasp, his hands shooting up to the center of his chest in mock hurt.
"Milady, you wound me!" He began, Hazel sighing and chuckling simultaneously at the nick-name he had bestowed upon her. "It's as if you and Boss-Man's love for me has been nigh but a jest!"
"Oh, don't misunderstand, we do love you-" Hazel trailed off, a vicious smile forming on her face. "-out of a sense of confused pity and obligation. Like the family of an addict." She finished, Natalie releasing a laugh behind her.
"Were you always this mean or did you take lessons from someone?" Matthew inquired, returning to his neutral posture. His voice still carried a playful tone, but his eyes were screaming defiance.
"Dad gave me some pointers on dealing with stupid people and from there, thanks to your continued help as my practice dummy-heavy emphasis on dummy-" Hazel added quickly, leaning slightly forward with her chin resting on her weaved fingers and sporting an impish smile "I kind of became a self-taught master in the art of insults."
"'Training Dummy', eh? I bet you're r-e-e-e-a-l proud of that title." Matthew stated, voice drenched in sarcasm.
"What can I say, you give me a lot of good material to work with." Hazel countered, her smile growing bigger.
Pursing his lips, Matthew's mouth slowly morphed into a small smirk.
"You know, it's a shame, really." He said.
"What is?" Hazel responded with a cocked eyebrow, growing slightly curious.
"Matt, don't be a dick." Natalie interjected. "I know what you're going to do and it isn't nice to Hazel."
"What do you mean?" The young girl questioned, becoming increasingly more suspicious.
"Oh, it's just that,-"Matthew reached into the pocket of his vest with a knowing smile, and revealed a long necked bottle with a familiar label and a sky blue liquid filling its enclosed space.
Hazel's heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
"Elizabeth!" she exclaimed, eyes and mouth agape.
"-I heard about the discontinuing of this tasty, tasty soda you love so much. And I, with my incredible sense of foresight, figured it would be nice to give you one last experience with good ol' Liz here." Matthew continued, swirling the contents of the glass bottle slowly and inching it closer towards Hazel's grasp-
"Wow, thank you so much Matt!" Hazel said with earnest gratitude, reaching towards her prize. "I didn't think you'd be able to get-"
-only for Matthew to dart the drink out of Hazel's reach high above his head last second.
"But on second thought," Matthew carried on with a scathing taunt to his voice. "I'm not sure if somebody who's been so ungrateful to me should get it."
If her body had an excessively deep mineshaft, Hazel's heart must have just dropped down it. That was the only way the youth could describe her current feeling.
"What!? Wait, hold on!" Hazel said as she scowled in defiance, jumping off her barstool so she could be ready if Matthew tried anything more. "You can't be serious!"
"Mmm, I don't know. I was a big fan of this stuff myself." Matthew said, trying to work up the young girl even more. At the same time, his hand reached over to the twist-off cap of the bottle. Hazel, seeing this, gasped in horror and stared down her adversary with vitriol.
"Don't. You. Dare." She spat out.
If the smirk on Matthew's face wasn't noticeable before, it certainly was now
"I think I should make sure that Elizabeth's last elixir doesn't end up in the wrong hands-"
After sneaking behind the young man and wrenching the bottle from his hands, the force of Natalie's surprise attack caused Matthew to tumble over with a thud. Whilst trying to regain his composure, the older girl calmly handed the unharmed beverage to Hazel.
"Exactly." Natalie said, as if answering Matthew's challenge. "Which is why it should go to the Hazel, the very person whose father-"Natalie turned towards the still discombobulated boy and continued "the ACTUAL person with decent foresight who thought to do this, NOT you- deemed the right and only person."
Hazel gaped from Natalie to the bottled drink with equal adoration. Eventually, her gaze stopped on Natalie with a beaming smile and the words:
"Have I ever told you how much I adore you?" Hazel said to her friend.
"I don't doubt that you've said something along those lines during the time I've known you." Natalie replied, smiling at the younger girl.
"Oh, Boo!" Matthew said, dusting his clothes off while finally getting up. "You didn't think I was actually going to do that, right? Boss-Man would've flayed me alive if I did!"
"That still doesn't give you the right to be a jerk to Hazel." Natalie countered matter-of-factly.
"Ugh, alright." Matthew conceded, hands half-raised. "I'm sorry, Milady." He apologized, legitimately so.
"Eh, it's okay." Hazel replied half-mindedly, attention square on the drink in her hands once more (much to the amusement of Natalie and Matthew).
The cartoonish caricature of the soda's mascot Liz most always sported the traditional ensemble of a clichéd scientist (Goggles perched atop her head, lab coat on her shoulders, pens in said coat's outer pocket ready to jot whatever theory Liz had rattling in her brain on the clipboard she held), and this label's artwork was no different.
The mascot's physical features were also the same as usual, with sandy blonde hair held in a ponytail, bright golden eyes shining with her character's trademark genius, and spindly figure held in a pose that screamed the scientist had discovered something groundbreaking.
Hazel couldn't help but smile warmly at the display, even though she had seen it an innumerable amount of times.
While she did indeed greatly enjoy the taste of Liz's Elixir (the blue contents of the bottle she held almost making her mouth water as she thought of the blue raspberry flavor it possessed), that would only be a small part of why Hazel would miss the brand of soft drink.
Mirroring the character that advertised the beverage, the soda also promoted expansion of the mind, having different facts pertaining to several fields of science and education on the label of the bottle. However, unlike most things trying too hard to shove a message down one's throat or media that tried to make things educational for the sake of the lowest common denominator: The facts given were intelligent and to the point, yet at the same time not shoved in your face. The scraps of random knowledge were always on the back of the bottle, often explained through a subdued illustration with text.
Intelligent without being pompous or belittling: Hazel could deeply respect that.
Hazel was also feeling an unbound amount of said respect towards the one who managed to retrieve the drink for her. Which reminded the girl:
"Hey," Hazel said, snapping out of her trance towards the soda and turning the heads of Natalie and Matthew, who Hazel didn't hear were in the midst of a conversation "You guys mentioned my dad saved this for me. Has he told you when he's coming back? I've tried calling him a couple times, but it's always gone to voicemail."
"Oh, right." Natalie was the first to answer Hazel's inquiry. "He called here about an hour ago on a payphone, said he tried giving you a ring but you wouldn't answer."
Oh, that must've been the unknown number from earlier. Hazel thought. For personal reasons she had a tendency to not pick up a call on her cell-phone if she didn't recognize the number.
"Wait, why was he calling with a payphone?" Hazel asked, perplexed. Her father had a cell-phone of his own, why didn't he just call using that?
"Boss-Man said his service was acting up," Matthew answered the young girl's call this time "So he had to resort to another mode of communication. Being out in the country does a real number on your phone's bars, trust me."
Ah. That explains it. Hazel said to herself.
"Did he say when he was going to be back?" Hazel questioned to her two older friends.
"Yeah, he said around noon today." Natalie responded. "Apparently what your dad's friend needed help with was much easier to solve than he made it out to be."
"Great!" Hazel perked up knowing her father would be home sooner than expected. Though she would most likely need to ask once again who he was helping and why. She lost track of all the names her dad told her over the years.
"So," Natalie began "Was there anything else you needed over here or were you just wanting to see Liz for the last time?"
Hazel breathed in once again, smelling the heavenly aroma of coffee and pastries.
If whatever beast clawing inside her stomach wasn't hungry before, it was now.
"Actually, I haven't had breakfast yet." Hazel admitted.
"Say no more." Natalie said with mirth, turning to the brewing machines behind the counter. "The usual, I take it?"
"Please-"
BOOM
Hazel was cut short, the earth rumbling beneath her feet as a reddish light began to glow faintly outside the window of the café.
Hazel rushed through the door and stood outside Petrichor, searching for where the sound and light was transmitting from.
When Hazel laid her eyes on the source, she was less than surprised.
A monolithic stone structure depicting a multi-armed, seemingly other-worldly woman with a quaint house nestled in between some of its appendages was shaking slightly, large clouds of dust materializing around it while (thankfully small) pieces of debris began to fall from its rougher edges. The crimson light was burning brightly from inside the small house in the arms if the strange stone statue. Traffic had stopped as far as Hazel could see, and bystanders filling the sidewalk were either gawking in reverence or running like a chicken with its head cut off if the bird's lungs were still intact.
Really though, unless they were tourist they should have been used to this.
Oh geez, what now? Hazel thoughts were spliced with both curiosity and rue.
Natalie and Matthew ran to the café's exterior by Hazel's side, staring intently at the scene unfolding.
"I take it this means you'll have to take a raincheck on your breakfast?" Natalie asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Sadly." Hazel admitted calmly.
"Think it's something big?" Matthew inquired.
"I doubt it." Hazel replied. "The gems usually wouldn't let something that causes this much commotion close to Beach City unless it wasn't harmful to the town or its citizens."
"'Usually'?" Natalie questioned incredulously.
"Hey, this is the crazy side of my family, 'usually' is a comforting word in this case." Hazel defended.
"Well regardless, I suppose it would be rude to keep the Mom Squad waiting." Matthew reasoned, Hazel's lips quirking upward at the words 'Mom Squad'. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you can handle it, Milady." The lanky young man finished with a tip of his hat.
"Is it wrong that I felt violated when he tipped his hat?" Hazel turned to Natalie whilst posing her mock-question with a small smirk.
"I think that's just a non-douchebag's reaction to most anything related to fedoras." Natalie responded with a similar smile, not caring about the crassness of her words.
"I love you guys too." Matthew interjected with as deadpanned a voice as he could muster.
"Well, I guess I should be on my way." Hazel turned to the rock carving in the distance, about to set off.
"Remember to be careful." Natalie said with a slight tinge of worry.
"Knock 'em dead." Matthew added, giving a two-finger salute.
"Do I ever not?" Hazel replied to both statements, looking more confident than she felt.
"Well-"Matthew began.
"Actually-"Natalie started.
"I can't hear you, I'm already on my way!" Hazel's voice echoed back to her friends as she began to sprint towards the abode at the end of the beach, dodging the café workers' possible insults.
As her arms and legs pumped in rhythm to the source of possible danger, Hazel began to smile with intensity. Whether or not the piercing light and shaking earth was life-threatening, the youth knew that what was causing it was bound to be interesting.
As it almost always was when it came to her family.
Finally reaching the outside of the stone monument's house, Hazel pressed a palm to her heart as she caught her breath. She really needed to exercise more.
After a few moments of respite, the young girl began to look at the house intently. She couldn't place why or what, but there was a certain… feeling that was beginning to surface from the smooth oval on her forehead. She didn't know how to describe the sensation, but it happened during many times of her life: When she was excited, scared, intrigued or what have you, the teal growth almost always began to act up and put her on edge.
Whatever reason it was happening, it spurred Hazel to finally walk towards the door of the modest house and say something she began reciting as early in her life as she could form a proper sentence:
"Into growing chaos."
Good Morrow, People of Fanfiction!
To those of you who are reading this that follow my work:
Wow.
I am so sorry for the ridiculously long hiatus.
Due to some housing issues, familial trouble, and just a generally growing sense of apathy I began to lose a fair bit of drive regarding my fan fictitious efforts.
However, I hope to put an end to this overly lengthened drought with this here story.
I've put quite a bit of thought and attention into this chapter alone, and (if you lovely readers like what you see) I hope to do the same with coming additions to the story.
I wish I could say something more intelligent or meaningful in regards to this situation other than my usual sign-off, but I feel with new beginnings (much like the chapter you read) a bit of catch-up is welcome.
With that said, please review to tell me what you think/what I can improve! When it comes to stories such as these, they really are the thing that keep me going.
P.S. I endlessly thank all of those reading who have given time to look at my work in the past and those who will do so in the furute, spurring me on to continue sharing my ideas. You all are fantastic and luminous beings.