Chapter 4 – [Childhood : Part 2]
============================[o Author's Notes o]==============================
Thanks for the feedback that I've gotten. I admit that the last chapter was boring, but I found that it was necessary if I'm to keep Luffy's personality the same, if not with a few differences.
One Review got my attention however, by Dark Skeleton and has made me question a prior decision I made. It will mean a longer wait till the East Blue Saga though.
The question was finally rose about what my plan for Eneru is, he will be completely different, that is all I will say. The Gomu Gomu no Mi will come into play, but that is an issue I have planned for the far-off future.
(Arc 1) Childhood
BANG! - [Sound]
"Perhaps I should've..." - [Thought/Thinking]
============================[o End of Author's Note o]=========================
They traipsed through the thickets and groves of Mt. Corvo. Garp held Luffy by the scruff of his dark blue 56 sleeve-less t-shirt while Luffy continued to grunt and struggle. He occasionally would try to shock Garp by reaching to grab Garp's hand, but Garp immediately saw it each time and slapped it away before rewarding him with another sore bump on his head.
Luffy continued to struggle for most of the way, biting and gripping various objects in attempts to free himself but to little or no success. Try as he might to channel the electricity through his shirt, but couldn't from anywhere but his hands.
"Let me go, Jii-chan!" Luffy would cry out as he hung awkwardly by his shirt. "I promised Shanks that I would be the King of the Pirates."
"Cut it with the Pirate Crap." Garp rebuffed Luffy while they continued up the trail.
"On top of eating a Logia-Type devil fruit, you talk nonsense." Garp acclaimed loudly, "Luffy, I won't allow you to become a pirate. You must become the STRONGEST NAVY MARINE! Befriending that Red-Hair …. Bah, you idiot."
The rant eventually died down once Luffy stopped struggling but he still hung by his shirt uncomfortably. The air soon became quiet as they walked through Mt. Corvo.
"You'll be staying with a friend for a little while and I'll be back when I can to check on you regularly and pick you up when its time..." Garp trailed off, leaving Luffy puzzled while he stared up at his grandfather.
"Time? Time for what?" Luffy questioned though Garp turned his head in the other direction and seemed to be thinking heavily.
"Well …" Garp began very hesitantly, before his expression and tone changed, "Oh, I forgot to tell you Luffy." Garp suddenly shifted in tone and looked down into the baffled face of Luffy.
"There is someone else that will be staying with you while you're there. She was a very good person the last time I saw her so the two of you should get along well, after all, she's your adopted sister so be a good boy."
"Sister?" Luffy asked questioningly to himself.
They walked until they came to a large wooden house. Luffy stayed behind while Garp knocked on the door. "Hello! Dadan!" Garp shouted while Luffy examined the poorly-built shack.
"What is this place?" Luffy said before running around to explore a little.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud yell, as the very angry Dadan slammed the door open in rage, before a very scary mean glare from Garp silenced her.
"G-Garp-san!" Dadan reeled back in fright as Dogra and Magra emerged from the curtain door also in a frightened state.
"You're looking rather well." Garp commented casually
"Give me a break! Please have mercy on me! That devil of a child Ana is 10 years old already." Dadan pleaded desperately while Dogra attempted to reason with Garp.
"Putting that aside.." Garp began to say, prompting an angry response from Dogra. Dadan continued to watch Luffy chase a dragonfly before yelling at him. Garp grabbed the back of the neck of Luffy's shirt and held him up high.
"Look after him for awhile too." Garp said nonchalantly with Luffy dangling in his left hand. Dadan and both Magra and Dogra were left silent.
"Luffy, say hello." Garp prompted, earning a quick "Yo!" from Luffy.
"Who is that kid?" Magra asked silently. His answer was probably both the least expected and the least welcomed. "He is my grandson." Garp answered. A brief moment of silence ensued before all 3 bandits burst out with loud shouts and howls of surprise.
"We cannot take him!" All 3 sternly replied at the same time. Garp stood in front of them with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
All 3 broke out in a cold sweat as Garp used his own methods of persuasion.
Meanwhile, The dragonfly teetered and tottered along in the wind while Luffy gave chase. A subtle giggling noise from the forest a short distance away broke his carefree chase and he stopped in his tracks to stare at what seemed to be the source of the noise.
Shadowed underneath the trees, Luffy spotted a small girl. She sat on top of a large animal, carrying a long pole and was dressed in a sleeve-less orange shirt and yellow skirt. Her face was slightly obscured by the shadow of the trees towering above her.
Garp momentarily ceased his torture of Dadan, Magra, and Dogra and turned to politely greet the young girl.
"Ana!" Garp politely exclaimed and walked over. "Luffy, this is Ana. She's 3 years older than you. You'll be living with them from now on."
Dadan angrily stood up to protest, but Garp silenced them all with a deathly leer.
"We'll take him." All of them said simultaneously. "Good." Garp said politely before walking up to them as they stood upright. Much to their surprise, he than leaned over and began whispering to Dadan behind his left hand.
"Don't tell Luffy this, but I'm thinking of only leaving him here for 3 years." Garp whispered to Dadan quietly. Dadan was greatly surprised by this and wanted to inquire further but waited patiently while Garp continued. "I'll be back to pick him up than." Garp lowered his hand and began to stride away before he felt Dadan put a firm grip on his shoulder.
"Hold on a second, why only 3 years? We've raised Ana for a lot longer than that, so why can't you take her with you?" Dadan pleaded, hoping for a desperately needed reprieve from dealing with numerous traps and falls of raising the child of the devil himself.
Garp turned around and began whispering again, "I'm not at liberty to discuss it, but its something that could change everything. I can hardly get off from work with Sengoku though and Luffy needs to find his own way and gain experience and strength. I'm leaving it up to you to just watch over him until he's grown up enough. I'll be back from time to time to check on him and see how he's progressing." Garp said in a hushed and covered voice Dadan before she relinquished her grip on Garp's shoulder and he walked down the road. Dadan however, let out a slight gasp at the old man as he walked back into the forest and seemingly reached out to speak again.
Garp began walking back into the forest before stopping once more and glancing over at Luffy before whispering at Dadan from the small distance. "Oh yes, Don't tell Luffy that I intend to pick him up in a few years." Garp hush whispered leaving Dadan even more stunned than before.
"W-Wait! Garp-san! W-What about contributing some child support for.." Dogra began to say before being interrupted, "Put it on my tab." he waved off care freely. "This isn't a bar!" Dogra angrily shouted as Garp walked off into the forest.
Luffy however stayed in a slight stupor for a few seconds until he blinked out of it and walked over to the young girl. "Hey!" Luffy said happily. The young girl was unresponsive and simply jumped down from the large animal and walked forward with her head kept low.
Luffy continued to advance cheerfully until she walked right past him. Luffy turned around, puzzled for a bit before following after her. "Hey! Ana!" Luffy continued to shout and run while Ana ran into the opposite side of the thickets in the woods.
Luffy gave chase to the young girl now introduced as Ana, running into the thick bushes. Ana moved fast through the passing trees nefarious bushes as Luffy persistently gave chase. A few minutes later into the chase, Luffy emerged at an empty clearing surrounded by tall trees. He was covered in scratches from numerous prickly bushes and dirty from several falls. Luffy panted a little as he scanned around, looking for Ana, but finding nobody in sight.
He continued to glance around the clearing, looking and listening for anything that might give him a hint to where she was or which direction she went.
He only had to scan a few seconds before he heard rustle in the bushes behind him. Luffy turned around and rushed for the bushes before pushing the thickets aside and gazing at what was also an empty space, save for a large rock that laid unevenly on the ground. Luffy scratched his head in confusion, before he felt a slim arm wrap around his head and clamp around his mouth before he could turn around.
Luffy was taken aback and struggled while letting out muffled yells and arm waves. He attempted to pull himself free, but the arms gripping him held him at an angle that made it impossible for him to do anything useful. He continued to struggle until the grip finally lessened a few minutes later. Luffy dropped to the ground and panted a second to breath in fresh air and turned his gaze upon the perpetrator, who was none other than Ana.
"Alright, first off; Don't follow me." Ana bluntly stated, "Its annoying if I have you tagging along for the ride and ." The girl said, standing straight up and seeming to be towering over Luffy. She wore plain blue jeans with a yellow sleeve-less blouse. Her face was slightly freckled and her short hair fell down just past her neck.
Luffy started to speak, "But..." "No buts. You can get lost in this forest and I'd hate to be responsible if something bad were to happen to you." A slightly evil look passed over her eyes briefly, though Luffy didn't notice it.
"But I just wanted to be friends..." Luffy said, only for Ana to giggle lightly. "I don't need friends. Go back to Dadan's cabin and stop following me, it'll be safer for you that way." Ana said firmly and started walking again towards the direction she'd been heading before. She was surprised however when she heard a loud voice from behind her.
"No, I won't go back." Luffy said out loud, causing Ana to turn around to stare at him briefly. She stared at him with an emotionless expression for a few seconds before turning back to the direction towards her destination.
"Suit yourself. But..." Ana said, bending down slightly to pick up a small rock. Luffy was a little confused at the cut-off sentence and got closer to look at what Ana was doing as she bent down a little. Ana mentally counted the amount of footsteps she heard and swiftly turned around and threw the rock she'd picked up to the near top of the closest tree.
Luffy stopped to gaze at the rock as it traveled upward and impacted a small bundle at the top. The rock had carried enough force to cause the bundle to sway a great deal. Luffy continued looking up as a the bundle suddenly dislodged itself and began falling straight at him.
Luffy continued to stare until the big object hit him straight in the face. At first, only the pain of being hit was evident, than a new pain joined in. Make that a dozen pains. Luffy yelped and began running in circles as a swarm of bees trailed around his head, stinging and biting him at every opportunity. While Luffy ran and screamed, Ana slipped into the jungle and was off again.
It was just the next day when another incident occurred between the two siblings.
Luffy had been walking through the forest, looking for Ana again. He'd almost given up, until he spotted her walking across a bridge that spanned across a large valley far underneath.
"Ana, lets become friends!" Luffy yelled and began crossing the bridge. Ana heard Luffy and turned around to see him walking cheerfully towards her across the bridge. Ana looked at him emptily before a wicked idea entered her mind. "Luffy!" She called out, causing Luffy to stop walking and smile at her widely.
Ana smiled widely as she used the pole she carried to wrack and shake the unstable bridge. Luffy hung on, wobbling from side to side and yelping with panic. The bridge shook for a few seconds before becoming still again, letting Luffy regain his balance.
Luffy wiped the sweat away and looked up again. To his surprise, Ana wasn't there. "Ana!" Luffy called and started to run to the other side of the bridge where she'd been. He ran across the rickety bridge, shaking a little with the stiff winds that blew across the valley. He kept running, until he felt a plank give way from under him.
Luffy fell through the bridge where the broken plank shattered beneath his weight, sending Luffy plummeting into the valley below. In the shadows across the bridge, Ana gave a sad smile before slipping back to the trail.
Luffy screamed loudly as he fell, the ground quickly growing closer. Reacting on his trained instinct, Luffy reached out and grabbed a lone branch that stuck out of the rock. The branch swayed a little bit before stabilizing allowing Luffy to breath easily and gazed downward. The ground was only a short distance away so Luffy dropped and landed soundly on his feet.
"Phew." Luffy rubbed the sweat from his brow and put on another large grin and adjusted the straw hat on his head as it had slanted a little to block out his vision. "That was a close one." Luffy proudly thanked as he lifted the hat a little. Luffy adjusted the hat, only to come face to face with a large pack of wolves surrounding him. Each seemed to be drooling with hunger.
"Hmph." Luffy sounded for a moment while he gazed for a second at the hungry wolves."Hyaaaaahh!" Luffy yelled and broke into a fast run, turning away and gunning for the only way that the wolves hadn't covered. The wolves immediately gave chase to the fleeing prey, their mouths drooling with ravenous hunger.
The chase didn't last long, Luffy turned every corner in the valley he could find with the wolves tailing not too far behind him. It wasn't long before he found himself at a dead end against a rocky wall. The wolves quickly closed in, surrounding the entirety of the small gorge, cutting off all routes of escape.
Luffy fell back, panic and fear setting in. The wolf in front of the pack calmly walked up, licking it's lips as it sensed the prey had run out of options and was eager to get the first taste. It's yellow eyes widened and it
With great stride, the large wolf broke out in a run and pounced into the air, bearing it's sharp claws and teeth. Luffy's eyes dribbled tears as he could only sit frozen in fear of the terrifying wolf. Without thinking, Luffy closed his eyes and outstretched his arms, in a futile shield from the attacker.
Something happened however. Luffy felt a jolt run through his hands just as he felt the soft fur of the wolf. Blue electricity shot through the wolf's body, more powerful than earlier. The wolf face-faulted as the electricity lit up its entire body, immobilizing it in Luffy's grasp. A couple of seconds later, the wolf slumped to the ground, burnt brown and defeated while the other wolves face-faulted.
Luffy opened his eyes after the attack he'd been expecting never came. The first thing he saw was the wolf, burnt brown. Luffy at first looked with a slight amount of confusion, before he glanced down at his hands. Blue electricity danced around them once more, just as it had done back in Fuschia Village, only this time was different. Before, it felt uncontrollable and Luffy could only draw random bursts of electricity periodically. This time, it felt right at his control. It felt like the sparks would work just as he wanted them to. He tried it for a second and pushed more electricity into his hands.
His hands lit up to be engulfed in a cover of blue electricity, sparking brightly. He lowered the charge a little, and the electricity responded to his will, no longer limited to mere random bursts of yellow electricity. The charge would respond directly to his whim.
Luffy clenched his fists and faced the still stunned wolves. Luffy took a step forward. Every wolf took a step backwards. Luffy smiled again, causing each wolf to shake in fear. Than Luffy said the two words that the wolves didn't want to hear. "Lunch Time!" Luffy said, causing each and every wolf to sweat profusely. The wolves swiftly turned tail and ran and Luffy gave chase.
"Wait!" Luffy called out. His body still sparked with numerous amounts of electricity. The wolves barely glanced back before speeding up to get away from the dangerous boy. Reacting only on instinct, Luffy increased the charge of the electricity to higher levels than before and reached out his hand.
Suddenly, a large blue bursting stream of electricity shot out from his hand at the fleeing wolves. Luffy stopped in his tracks as the pack glanced back and howled in fear at the ensuing blast before running faster. It was to no avail as almost the entire pack was engulfed in the ensuing blast, only a few jumping out of the way and dashing as fast as they could over the mountainous terrain. The blast exploded in a dispersion of electricity, leaving behind sparks in the air where the werewolves once ran. When the blast settled down, all of the wolves were burnt brown and their carcasses sparked with remaining volts of electricity.
Luffy stopped and gazed with awe. He brought his hands up and clenched his fingers a little, seeming to measure the amount of electricity that danced between his fingers. "Amazing." Luffy thoughtfully smiled, "Jii-chan was right ...this is.." Luffy stopped the thought when he looked up to see the burnt wolves lying in the ground and his stomach growled. "Hehehe." Luffy chuckled lightly with a big smile over his face and walked over to collect his supper.
By nightfall, Luffy laid back with a full stomach beside a large pile of bones. With a wistful gaze at the stars, Luffy lifted his hands off the ground and brought them to his face and let a few sparks to dance around them. Content and happy, Luffy drifted off into sleep.
Dadan sat quietly in her home, 4 days after Luffy had suddenly disappeared with no explanation. It was around mid-day, Ana was still gone and Dogra was out searching while Magra stayed back, having had no luck in locating the missing devil. Dadan smoked a charred cigarette, breathing in the tasty smoke when she heard Dogra yell, "Boss … Boss." Dogra yelled, gasping for breath. Dadan took out the cigarette and placed it down on the tray. "What is it! Spit it out!" Dadan ordered.
"Boss...Luffy is back!" Dogra said. "Heh?" Dadan shouted incredulously. In the other room, an awoken Ana rose from her bed when she heard the lout outcry and crept towards the door to peek outside. Much to Ana's shock, outside was a healthy Luffy, looking none the worse for intended wear. Ana immediately rushed to the front door, stealthily hiding behind the corner from the open door.
"You shit! You're alive!" Dadan exclaimed while Dogra and Magra looked on along with a couple bandits that had woken up because of the noise. "Luffy, where have you been! What have you been doing!" Dogra worriedly questioned.
"I was down in the valley with the wolves." Luffy said with a "hehehe" and a large smile. The mountain bandits looked at him with more worry on their faces. "Just what were you doing down there! And more importantly, how are you back here alive and uninjured?" Dogra questioned.
Luffy's brow sweat a little and he shut his eyes while he chuckled for a little, "Nothing." Luffy flatly said. Dogra moved to speak again, but Luffy hurried inside before they could and shut the door behind. Dadan yelled angrily at Luffy, only for Dogra to hush and calm her. "Boss, do you think this has anything to do with reason Garp is only leaving him here for 3 years?" Dogra asked calmly as Dadan's anger dissipated. "I'm sure it is! No 7 year old can be thrown into a valley of hungry wolves and come out unscathed within 4 days, even for Garp's grandson that's impossible!" Dadan angrily shouted before stomping back into the house.
Unbeknownst to them, Ana slipped back to bed, having evaded Luffy on his way in and overheard enough of the conversation. Back in the room, Luffy was already sound asleep on the floor.
3 months passed
Luffy chased after Ana everyday, though always losing her through a clever distraction and allowing her to slip away each time. Persistent as ever, Luffy continued undeterred.
Luffy used the stick to pull himself through another step in the long route that Ana had taken on the way. As he emerged from the dark forest, what greeted him was the sight of a rolling amount of debris and trash. It was a massive field filled to the brim with trash, more than Luffy had ever seen.
"Wow! What is this place?" Luffy said as he gazed at what seemed to be an endless sea of trash. Luffy hopped down from the edge of the small cliff and ran into the sea. "Ana!" Luffy shouted as he searched high and low within the sea.
Luffy searched around, scouring every spot he could but to no avail, until he was on top of a large pile of trash overseeing a large area. In the distance, Luffy spotted the retreating figure of Ana, though Luffy could still recognize the orange and yellow clothing she always wore. Luffy gave a large grin before chasing after her into the forest.
Luffy followed the path through until he came to a very large tree …. and spotted the colorfully clothed Ana sitting on top of a large branch. Luffy smiled brightly as he walked up and heard voices from the top.
"I wonder how much we need to buy a pirate ship." Luffy heard. With childish glee, Luffy waved his arms up at the source and shouted.
"Pirate Ship!" Luffy said loudly, causing the two on top to pause and sweat as they looked down at the source of the noise.
Ana and Sabo tossed the newly collected treasure into the secret compartment in the tree branch where they stored the "pirate savings". It had been 5 years since they'd begun collecting various treasure from the Grey Terminal, through theft and various other methods with the goal of finally being able to buy a pirate ship.
"We'll leave East Blue and go places that the people here would never dream of." Sabo wistfully looked out towards the nearby sea.
"It will be nice, but we've still got a long way to go. Who knows how much money we'll need." Ana than gave a beaming smile, "I'd like to see new islands and finally get away from this place." the tomboyish Ana said. Her face was freckled and her eyes were a muddy brown. Her slightly purple-colored hair was a mess, dropping down past her ears already even at such a young age.
"Its exciting just thinking about it! I wonder how much we need to buy a pirate ship?" Sabo questioned as he and Ana gazed out towards the sea. Their reverie was short-lived however, when a loud voice broke the tranquil silence.
"Pirate Ship!" Startled, Sabo slammed the compartment shut in a hurry and they both gazed down at the source of the voice. "Are you guys gonna become Pirates!" Luffy shouted up the tree, "I'm gonna become a pirate too! Hey!" Luffy yelled as loud as he could up at the two figures sitting in the tree.
Both of them sweated profusely and they looked at each other and nodded, understanding passing between them without words before they scrambled down the tree at a rapid pace to reach the bottom. In fits of both anger and fear, Luffy felt two blows to his head that drove him into the ground.
A minute or so later, Luffy found himself tied to a tree with both Ana and another person wearing a blue overcoat and black hat standing before him. Childishly inquisitive as Luffy was, he felt the urge to question the two of them.
"So this is the empty-headed kid that you said was always following you Ana." Sabo stated with resentment aimed at the small kid.
"Heh, Ana you told him about me." Luffy asked to which Ana responded with the same amount of resentment as Sabo, "I told him what a big pain you are and how I couldn't get you to stop following me." Ana replied loathsomely. "She also said that you're a crybaby, yet you somehow managed to get out of a valley of wolves unharmed." Sabo added with a small amount of intrigue in the fact. How the brainless kid in front of him managed to escape the fall to the valley inhabited by hungry wolves was beyond him.
Luffy laughed lightheartedly. "Jii-chan used to throw me into ravines when I was younger and..." Luffy said before he was interrupted, "Garp's training is always that way." Ana retorted before turning back to Sabo. "It doesn't matter how he escaped. What matters now is that if we let him go, than he'll tell others about the stash." Ana banged the pole staff she held against the ground.
"What should we do than?" Ana asked Sabo just as the wind started to blow. "I guess we don't have any other choice." Sabo said.
"You're right, he'll tell someone if nothing is done." Ana said while staring into the wide smile of Luffy. "We'll have to kill him." Ana said darkly, with a quick nod from Sabo sealing Luffy's fate. Luffy's eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open as panic set in.
"WHAT!" Luffy screamed, "DON'T KILL ME I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
Ana and Sabo flinched for a second before both attempted to silence the young kid. "Sabo you do it this time!" Ana said while the young Luffy continued to scream. "What! You do it! You've done it before!" Sabo replied loudly. "THAT WAS A RAPIST, I'VE NEVER KILLED A KID BEFORE!" Ana defensively replied. "NEITHER HAVE I, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW AND YOU DO!" Sabo yelled loudly at Ana.
Luffy continued to yell loudly in a state of utter and complete panic, while just outside the forest, a large man and a small group of 3 others walked towards the source of the noise. Inside the forest, Ana, Sabo, and Luffy heard them and immediately went silent.
Porchemy and the 3 men walked into the forest, intent on recapturing the money that was stolen from them. "If Bluejam finds out about this, than he's going to kill all out of us." Porchemy said with anger and a hint of fear as they traipsed through the open forest towards where they'd seen the young kid run off with the money.
The three of them knelt behind the bushes as the group of men walked by, fearing what would happen if they were discovered by Porchemy. Ana started to have regrets about taking the money from the thugs outside the Grey Terminal.
"Lets just wait for them to pass..." Ana said just as Sabo glanced over to his side. "Hey, where did he go?" Sabo inquired when a loud voice got all of their attention.
"HEY!" a loud shout broke the tension in the air. The small group of invaders turned to face the source, along with Sabo and Ana who remained hidden. Much to Sabo and Ana's shock, standing a few feet away was Luffy.
"Hmm. Who're you?" The large man asked. It surprised Porchemy however to see only a kid standing before him. Even the others were taken aback as well by the appearance of the small kid who would have the nerve to address Porchemy.
The kid didn't seem nervous despite Porchemy's intimidating size however. The thugs almost felt sorry for the kid, until he committed suicide right in front of them.
"GO AWAY, YOU OVERGROWN MONKEY!" Luffy yelled loudly at the large man. All 3 men that stood by Porchemy jaw-dropped. It was official that the kid was crazy. No one ever insulted Porchemy, those who did were doomed to have their scalps peeled off of them.
"Monkey.." Porchemy said angrily, brandishing the large sword he carried. "You'll regret that...You little shit." Porchemy held the sword and angrily rushed at Luffy.
Ana and Sabo watched with beads of sweat dripping down their foreheads. Porchemy held the sword high above Luffy's head and yelled in rage as he brought it swinging downward to cut Luffy in half.
Than something happened. Just as Porchemy brought the sword swinging down on top of him, Luffy's fist seemed to spark before it was covered in a blue shaded electricity. Sparks danced all around his right hand and only seemed to grow brighter each second.
Working on the experience he'd gotten frying wolves in the valley, Luffy swung his hand forward, unleashing the large beam of electricity he'd charged. Porchemy was soon fully engulfed in the large wave, along with the others with him as they stood, too afraid and shocked to move.
Ana and Sabo also sat with their mouths agape, speechless. The burst enveloped Porchemy and all of the thugs with him before traveling towards the large tree in the back before exploding in a burst of raw electricity. When it was over, Porchemy and the 3 thugs laid burnt black while lingering amounts of electricity sparked in the air.
Ana and Sabo were at too much of a loss for words to speak. Luffy turned back toward the two and grinned.
All righty, I'm done. I know its been awhile, but I've been busy. Making Ace a girl was also not in the new plan I'd constructed, but I decided it would make for a nice change of pace and a mix to the story.
If Ace had been a girl, he would've been named Anne, but I didn't like Anne, so I shortened it to Ana. There were also a few other reasons but those are for later chapters.
I don't expect this decision to be popular. Its an idea I wanted to attempt, if it goes over well than great. All will be revealed in the next chapter and we can finally get on to the good stuff. I'll be stuffing the rest of the childhood into one chapter. I'll get to it as soon as possible, I'm starting my first year of college soon so maybe I can get it before the 22nd if I hanker down.