Further into the cave, they discovered tracks- tracks, and a-
"A cart!" Claus said, almost bouncing in his excitement, "Hey Lucas, where do you think it goes? Do you think it goes fast?"
Lucas examined it a bit more cautiously. "I don't know…but I guess it looks like it's in good shape."
"The tracks look like they lead further in…and it doesn't look like there's another way to go on. See? The ground stops and there's only the tracks." Claus observed- he still sounded excited, but he did sound calmer, more thoughtful now.
The sight of the tracks, stretching away into the darkness- the supports beneath them, spindle-legged and descending out of sight- thin enough that they weren't reassuring, but not so thin that he could honestly say they worried him- and the fact that there was nowhere else to go…
Lucas finished examining the cart and stood up. "Just like Tanetane island." he groaned.
"What's Tantetane Island?" Claus asked curiously.
Lucas paused a moment, then turned to look at his brother. "What?"
"You said 'just like Tanetane Island'." Claus repeated. "What's Tanetane Island?"
Lucas hadn't really been aware of what he said until Claus had repeated it.
"Lucas, let's trade places."
Lucas repressed a shudder.
"Lucas?" It was reassuring to hear his brother's voice that was really his brother's voice- the voice that echoed in his memory had sounded like his brother's, but had not been his brother's. Still-
"I'm okay." Lucas said- he smiled at him- or at least he tried to smile, focusing on how glad he was that Claus was here, not lost and far away any more. But after he reassured him, he hesitated. "Claus…weren't you there? On Tanetane Island?" He thought- he was almost sure- that even though the voice he remembered speaking to him wasn't Claus, that Claus had been there.
"I dunno-maybe? It doesn't really sound familiar though."
"I'm pretty sure you were there." Lucas said, shutting his eyes as he tried to focus, "but I can't remember it too clearly…it was a really weird place though, I know that much…there were these funky mushrooms and the colors were all weird, and I saw Dad there, except it wasn't really Dad, and there was this strange lady who called me "ice cream" and said she was going to lick me all up."
"…are you sure this wasn't just a dream?" Claus asked somewhat skeptically.
"Claus, would I be remembering something as unimportant as a dream with our memory problems and the fate of the world at stake?"
"…I guess you've got a point. Still, it sounds too weird…"
"It was really weird." Lucas admitted. "It was kinda like a dream- or more like a nightmare- in a way, but it wasn't."
"Kinda like this, huh?"
"Yeah." Lucas said, nodding, "but the thing that worries me is when we- Duster and Kumatora and Boney and me- arrived on Tanetane Island, we lost all our stuff- and the only thing we could find were these Energizing Mushrooms. When we ate them, everything got weird…"
"I guess that's why Mom and Dad told us not to eat any mushrooms unless they said it was okay."
"Yeah, probably." Lucas said sheepishly. "But this has the same sort of trapped feeling as that time… there's no other way to move forward and we can't go back, so…" Lucas gestured hopelessly and Claus nodded.
"Well," Claus said- and then he grinned a bit, "since there's no other place to go, let's take a ride. I promise to protect you from anyone who thinks you're ice cream."
Lucas smiled and nodded, and they got into the cart. He was still a little worried, but at least Claus was excited about it- his energy and confidence were comforting.
"I bet this lever starts it." Claus said, fiddling with it-the cart shot forward suddenly, causing both boys to yell.
It moved down the tracks so fast, everything seemed to blur around them- Lucas barely ducked his head in time as the cart swooped through the cave, almost banging his head on the ceiling.
"Keep your head down!" Claus yelled over his shoulder.
"I know!" Lucas called, ducking down, tightening his grip on the sides of the cart- the cart dropped down hill, making both boys yell again- and then it shot out, into the fading daylight, into the air- and Lucas looked around, surprised, before Claus yelped- and he followed his brother's gaze and looked down into the gaping, seemingly bottomless chasm beneath them- and the tracks were gone.
The cart began to fall-but momentum moved it forward as well as down, and they landed on the other side where the tracks were still intact- the cart shook but continued on its way, just a little slower than before.
Claus laughed breathlessly. "That- that was awesome!"
Lucas let himself drop and sat down before laughing too.
"Well, we're going slower now- that was probably the most exciting part." Claus said, turning to give Lucas a reassuring smile.
Lucas looked up- started to smile in return- and then he flung himself upright, flung his arms around his brother-
"PK Love!" the attack flashed- spun out- briefly illuminating the cave and the figures beginning to surround them- the attack hit them, spinning them away- two fell in front of the cart, knocking it off its course and causing it to crash and flip over, spilling both boys onto the ground.
The twins hit the ground, rolling over and over until momentum ran out and they stopped.
Claus jumped to his feet before pulling Lucas to his. "What was-" he stopped short as he noticed all the glowing eyes surrounding them.
Even the ones hit by Lucas's attack were getting up- the darkness of the caves made it hard to see, but they could make out that much. The enemies around them- they smelled wrong, felt wrong- their silhouettes were of people, but they didn't smell like people.
"Okay…" Claus said quietly, "maybe leaping the chasm wasn't the most exciting part." He pulled his bat out of the backpack and gripped it tightly.
"That was my most powerful attack- and it didn't seem to hurt them at all, only shove them away." Lucas whispered back, also gripping his bat tightly.
"Yeah, it's my most powerful attack too, remember?" Claus said, "Any bright ideas?"
"…I'm thinking." Lucas said softly, looking around. All those red eyes…the brothers were surrounded by the red eyes, unblinking, unmoving red eyes- something tugged at Lucas, in his head- and then he realized what it was. "Claus…these guys…you see their eyes?"
"Yeah, what about them?"
"Each of them- they only have one red eye."
"What-" Claus started- but as if they'd been waiting for Lucas to realize that, they attacked- so many arms, pulling at them and pulling at them- the twins swung their bats but they simply passed through, as if they weren't even there-
"Claus! This isn't working!"
"I know!" Claus grunted as he swung the bat around. "PK Love omega!"
The blast of psychic power knocked them back- in the flash of light, the brothers caught a brief glimpse of the enemies surrounding them- they were pale, pale as ghosts and as pale as sun bleached bones-
The scent invaded Lucas's nose as they recovered and drew closer- he stepped back quickly, feeling the reassuring warmth of Claus's back, gripping his bat tighter.
He knew that smell- he couldn't place it, but he knew he knew it-
One lunged at him- "Claus, move!" they both dodged, further away now, from both the enemies and each other, but safe for now.
That smell- there was the scent of something rotting- but something else too- something strong, something that made Lucas's eyes water-
For a second a strange building swam in front of Lucas's eyes- eye searing white walls and floor and ceiling- and looming in front of him, a large table, with straps on it- straps obviously meant to trap anyone placed on that table-
The ghost creatures were getting too close again.
"PK Love omega!" both of the twins shouted.
Lucas shuddered as the psychic energy revealed the closest one- faceless and so pale all its features blended together, except for the red eye and the mouth stitched shut- it was impossible to tell who they'd been before.
It stumbled back and then regained its balance and moved forward and grabbed Lucas's arm with freezing cold hands- its mismatched eyes pieced Lucas's- stabbing him and hypnotizing- he couldn't look away- they seemed to be calling him- from far away, he could hear Claus scream in anger-
"Get your hands off my brother! PK Love omega!"
The blast knocked the thing that was less than a zombie off his feet- Claus grabbed Lucas and pushed him behind him. "You okay?"
"Claus- his eyes-"
"Huh?" Claus turned to stare at him, bewildered, but the things were coming closer again and suddenly, looking at Claus and then looking at them, Lucas felt the pieces click together- he bought up his bat, but not to bash, to point- "PK Lifeup!"
The ghost thing giggled and clapped its hands as it disappeared.
"Claus! We have to heal them!" Lucas yelled and turned to point at the next closest ghost. "PK Lifeup!"
This one didn't giggle- but it sighed happily before disappearing like the first.
"Lucas!" Claus yelled back, sounding worried. "I don't know how to do that!"
"What? It's-" Lucas was cut off by another ghost jumping at him "PK Lifeup!"
The ghosts apparently wanted to be healed- they began to swarm him.
"PK Lifeup omega!" Lucas yelled, swinging his bat around to point at as many as possible. He didn't have time to examine their reactions- there were still too many of them-
Fingers suddenly dug into Lucas's arm, feeling like nails or spears- a ghost had snuck up behind him.
"Lucas!" Claus rushed over and began struggling with it, but it only giggled and dug its nails deeper into Lucas's arm- and this time broke the skin. Ice cold, needles of ice stabbing into his arm, spreading out from where the skin was broken-
Lucas screamed.
"Lucas!"
"Claus- heal it."
"I don't know how!"
"PK Lifeup omega." Lucas grated out, barely managing to concentrate enough to use the ability- the ghost giggled and disappeared along with a couple other nearby ones, and Lucas groaned and stumbled, nearly collapsing.
Claus grabbed him. "Lucas!"
"I don't feel so good…" Lucas mumbled.
The ghosts were coming closer- Claus clutched at Lucas and pulled him away- Lucas stumbled-
"Claus- we gotta heal them-"
"Are you crazy? They hurt you!"
"No. It worked, didn't it? They're hurting- they're lost-that's why they're coming after us. You can do it Claus…"
Claus stared at Lucas disbelievingly, and then turned to look at the softly giggling, quickly approaching ghosts.
Then he looked back at Lucas. He looked scared- and then he looked determined. "Lucas I don't- I don't know how. Tell me how to do it."
Lucas smiled at him. "It's easy Claus. You just have to want to heal them-just like how with an attack, you have to want to hurt them…it's just like that."
"But they're attacking us! They hurt you!"
"But they need our help…"
The twins stared at each other for a moment- the ghosts surged closer and Claus groaned and swung his bat around. "PK Love omega!"
With them knocked away, Claus bent over and placed his hand on Lucas's wound and licked his lips. "PK Lifeup alpha." he whispered- and Lucas felt warmth surge through him as the wound began to close up and strength came back.
Claus stared down at the closed wound, then slowly lifted his head and grinned at Lucas. "I did it."
"You did it." Lucas agreed, smiling still- and got up.
The twins went back to back.
"PK Lifeup!"
"PK Lifeup omega!"
The ghosts rushed at them, giggling, eager to be healed and vanished.
They were very quick- their faces were all the same to begin with and their quick motion blurred them even more, mixing one into the other-
Lucas just kept healing, making sure to spread it as far as possible. Claus had only just learned it, he wasn't as good at it as Lucas was.
Another ghost lunged at him- and Lucas healed it just before it could reach him.
"You okay Lucas?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! You?"
"Good!"
Good that I'm fine or you're fine too or both? Lucas wondered but didn't have time to respond as another attacked and Lucas quickly healed that one too.
Normally, Claus was the one who was best at anything physical- but this time it was Lucas who knew what to do.
"PK Lifeup!" Claus called out from behind him.
"PK Lifeup omega!" Lucas swung the bat, including as many of the ghost enemies as he could. Even as he did so, a kind of satisfaction crept in.
Who's a crybaby now?
It wouldn't be fair to say that to Claus of course- Claus had only called him a crybaby once, and he'd apologized right after- Mom hadn't even told him to, and neither had Dad.
But a lot of the villagers -still, even now- thought that Lucas was a crybaby.
Two of the ghosts lunged at him, and Lucas healed them both at the same time.
Lucas might not be as strong as his big brother, but anytime anyone called him a crybaby from now on, he was just going to smile.
Because what he'd somewhat known before, he was absolutely certain of now.
"Incoming!" Claus yelled, and the brothers rolled out of the way, avoiding the dog pile of ghosts that attempted to land on them and squash them.
Lucas might not be the fastest, might not be the strongest- he might not be the smartest either, but he wasn't dumb- Lucas might be shy and scrawny, but he was smart enough to figure out puzzles and he could fight monsters and use PK abilities- he was strong enough to keep up with Claus and protect the people they cared about- and that was strong enough for him.
"PK Lifeup!"
"PK Lifeup omega!"
With a sigh that seemed to echo around the cave, the last of the mutilated ghosts disappeared.
The two brothers stood there a moment, panting and looking around. There were no more ghosts to be seen any more, only the walls surrounding them and the overturned cart, its wheels still turning slowly.
"Did we get them all?" Lucas asked, panting.
"Yeah- yeah, I think we did." Claus said, after one final scan of the room, and then he turned to Lucas. "Are you okay?"
Lucas nodded. "I'm fine, thanks to you. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But what were those things? This is all coming out of our heads, right? So what were those things?"
Lucas looked at the ground and tried to think- the answer was in his brain, he knew it was- but when he tried to think, a storm of emotions flooded him- he couldn't think-
Lucas walked towards the masked figure- closer and closer-
He was just in front of him, so close- he was crouched on the ground, on one knee- not looking at him at all- didn't he know that Lucas was here? That finally, after all this time, Lucas had finally caught up to him?
Lucas could see the final needle gleaming in the background.
He still couldn't see the other's face, only his back-he couldn't even see the back of his head, the helmet he was wearing covered that up too.
The other seemed to be only aware of the needle- staring at it without moving.
And then he did move, moved as Lucas took another step closer to him, turned and faced him- and pulled out his sword.
One blazing red eye, fixing itself on Lucas-
A touch on his shoulder- and then a grip-
Lucas didn't know if his shudders were caused by the memory or how tight Claus was gripping his shoulder. Almost as reassuring as the love and worry in his eyes was the fact that both his eyes were green. "Lucas? Lucas, you okay?"
Lucas breathed out, slowly, not taking his eyes off his brother. "…yeah…I think so… I'm just trying to think…Claus?"
"Yeah?"
"…all those guys, just now…they all had one red eye- did you notice?"
"Yeah, I guess they did…why?"
A person couldn't see themselves unless they looked in a mirror or a still pool of water. So Claus probably didn't know that sometimes he had one red eye. Lucas should probably tell him…he probably should, but he couldn't help hesitating over the words and when they did come, they came out slowly. "… I've seen someone before…someone with one red eye."
"Who? I don't remember anyone like that- Lucas, what's with that expression? Are you okay? Did this person hurt you?"
Lucas almost choked- shook his head. "Of course not!" He protested as soon as he could, "They're not a bad person Claus- I know they aren't!"
Claus looked at him a moment, then sighed. "Maybe, but you're…kinda naïve. No, you are." he added at the look on his brother's face. "Like, if we were in a marketplace and someone told you he had a great deal, you'd probably believe him."
"I'm not that naïve- I can tell the difference between a good person and a bad person." Lucas insisted.
"Well, yeah. It's not like you're stupid or anything- but you're more likely to think that somebody has good motives."
Lucas made a soft noise. He wasn't sure what to say… "I'm not that naïve…it's not like I like everyone…there's people I can't forgive-"
"Huh? Really?"
Lucas nodded jerkily; memories seeping slowly back into his head. "On the journey…the enemy we faced…the Pigmask army…I-I know I shouldn't hate them- some of them weren't that bad- they didn't know what the others were doing- but the Pigmask army and their leader…they did terrible things Claus- so many terrible things- " Lucas shuddered. "especially Porky- I hate him- he made everything go wrong- Mom's death, us being separated, everyone leaving the village- he's responsible for everything!"
"Wait- Lucas- what are you talking about? You said before that the Pigmasks had done bad things, but that drago- that's the one that killed Mom- the one that's responsible for her death."
"That's the one that killed Mom- but the only reason it went crazy is because of the Pigmasks. Porky had the Pigmasks messing around with the animals and hurting them- they were mixing them up and turning them into things called chimeras. It made them crazy, like the ghosts we just fought, and they would go around trying to hurt people because of that. That's what happened to the Mecha-drago, except they mixed it with machines instead of another animal…if it hadn't been for Porky and the Pigmasks, that drago wouldn't have hurt anyone, and it definitely wouldn't have hurt Mom- I hate him! I hate that stupid Porky!"
Lucas shuddered- stopped, realizing that he'd screamed the last part.
For most of those events, he hadn't even remembered them until now- it had come back as he talked.
And there was more- there was worse, still lurking in the back of his head, waiting to be remembered-
Lucas shook his head. That wasn't important now, right?
The Pigmasks were beaten… that's how he and Claus had gotten here…Porky had shown up in here, in this strange place of Magicant, and taunted them before, but then he'd just run away- maybe he was too afraid to fight the two of them together?
Lucas turned to Claus.
His brother was frozen, staring into space like a person in a trance- shuddering like he was going to fall apart-
"Claus!" he hugged his brother, hugged him fiercely, like he'd disappear if he didn't hold him tight enough- "it's okay it's okay-"
Claus gasped- like a swimmer emerging from deep water into the life giving air- and reflexively tightened his arms around his brother in a return hug.
"It's okay it's okay-"
"I don't know- I don't know what just happened-" Claus admitted with a final shudder, "for a moment- I just felt…like my brain stopped working- like I couldn't think."
"But you're okay now, right?" Lucas asked tentatively, half afraid that anything else he said would affect his brother as badly as mentioning Porky and the Pigmasks had.
"Yeah…sorry."
"No, it's okay."
Claus drooped a bit- leaning into his brother. "I don't get it, Lucas- what's wrong with me? I'm supposed to be the strong one-"
All of a sudden, it felt like all the water was being sucked out of Lucas's throat. "Claus…"
He straightened up and looked him in the eye. "Lucas?"
Lucas swallowed. "…something bad happened."
Claus blinked, confused. "I know…Mom died…and we- we got separated-"
"Yeah…you went by yourself to try to avenge Mom- and you didn't come home. And when Dad went to find you, he couldn't find you anywhere…"
A nasty suspicion had begun to form in Lucas's mind. The Pigmasks-most of them were a bunch of jerks, but- bad as it was to hurt animals, it was even worse to hurt people- and even though Claus liked to talk about how he was five minutes older than Lucas, they were still both ten, both just kids.
Lucas thought of little Alle in the village, of how happy everyone had been when she was born, of how careful everyone was with her, even now when she wasn't a baby anymore… you had to be gentle with kids, everyone knew that- because they were smaller and weaker…
"Lucas?"
Lucas blinked- found Claus staring at him worriedly.
Lucas smiled- somewhat faintly. "Sorry Claus. I guess I was thinking so deeply, I forgot to talk."
Claus huffed even as he looked relived. "Sheesh, pay attention Lucas. It's rude to start talking to someone and then just stop in the middle of a sentence, remember?"
"Sorry." Lucas said again. "But Claus…"
His brother kept his eyes on him, waiting and attentive.
Lucas swallowed. "Don't you remember anything from the past Claus? Anything more than you did before, I mean?"
"Well…I think I might remember the village, just a little bit. Was there a boy there about our age, and he had some sort of weird name? And we had fun together and we played with him a lot?"
"Yeah- that's Fuel." Lucas said, deciding to avoid debating whether or not Fuel's name was weird. "He and his dad, Mr. Lighter, live kinda far out in the woods, but they live a lot closer than Grandpa does, so while we played in the woods a lot, we played in the village a lot too."
"So he is real then? Definitely real?"
"Of course he is, Claus. Why wouldn't he be?"
Claus shrugged. The gesture was careless, but for a second-so brief that Lucas wondered if he was being paranoid- for a second, Lucas thought the red eye could be seen. "Let's just get out of here, Lucas. Let's just go wake up the Dragon and go home." Claus paused a moment, then glanced back at the now motionless cart- and when he turned back to Lucas, he was grinning like his old self. "Won't Fuel be jealous when he hears about this?"
Surprised, Lucas blinked- and then smiled back. "He'll definitely be sorry that he missed it- he might have problems believing some of the stuff we have to tell him though."
"Some of it is pretty weird." Claus agreed, "but he's our friend, so he'll believe us, right?"
Lucas had been about to deliver a careless response, when the tone and delivery of the last sentence clicked in his brain. "Yeah, of course. I mean, he might have problems believing at first, but when we tell him that everything we saw and did was really what happened, he'll believe us."
The relief on his brother's face was painful to see- and suddenly Lucas remembered how Claus had acted in the sunflower city- how, even though the people there had been nice and friendly, Claus had watched them like he didn't trust them.
It shouldn't be like this- it wasn't like everyone in the village had been their friend, but they hadn't needed to worry about any of them being mean to them either.
Not knowing what else to do, Lucas hugged his brother.
Slightly confused, Claus hugged him back, and Lucas admitted to himself that one of the reasons he hated Porky the most was because of the things he must have done to hurt Claus.
Porky and his army had to be the reason Claus hadn't come home, the reason Dad couldn't find him- they must've kept him from coming home, must've kept him locked up-
"Lucas, are you okay?"
"I'm okay- what about you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." His voice was confused, obviously not understanding why Lucas was asking.
Lucas hesitated a minute- he wanted to say something like "people aren't bad- you can trust them."
But some people were bad, and you couldn't trust them. People like Porky…they weren't just bad, they were evil.
Lucas tightened his hug.
So did Claus. "It's okay- I don't know what you're scared of, but it's okay- I'll protect you."
"Thanks Claus, but I'm more worried about you." Lucas said, holding him for just a moment longer, before pulling back and looking Claus in the eyes.
Claus looked confused- looked almost like he might object- but Lucas continued before he could.
"I don't really remember everything that happened on the journey- but I know that something bad happened to you, and that worries me, but I also know that we're together again- and that's what's important, right? We've pulled all the needles and we're gonna wake the Dragon and we're going to fix everything! Okay?"
Claus looked at him, surprised- and then smiled. "Hey Lucas, when'd you get so strong?"
"Huh? I'm not-"
"No- you are. You just keep going on, no matter what happens- that's stronger than being able to move rocks and boulders."
"…I guess. But I'm not really that strong. I know I have gotten stronger though."
"Yeah, you've definitely gotten stronger." Claus said confidently.
Lucas flushed a little bit as he grinned, embarrassed but happy with his brother's praise.
Claus's face- it changed- he looked a little worried. "Hey Lucas- do you think I've gotten stronger?"
Stronger? For half a moment, it felt like the word echoed throughout Lucas's brain- but then he smiled. "I'm sure you've gotten stronger Claus. You're here now, aren't you?"
Claus studied his brother's face- then, trusting what he found there, he nodded and smiled. "I still don't think I like this red-eyed guy though."
"Why?"
"Because that was a real pain!" Claus exclaimed, throwing his arms open wide. "Doesn't it irritate you that we had to go through all of that?"
"…not really. That person…I feel sorry for them. Lots of bad things happened to them- I just wanna help them."
Claus groaned. "Lucas, you're way too nice."
"It wasn't their fault they were hurt!" Lucas protested. It wasn't your fault they did all those things to you! He wanted to say it but the words stuck in his throat and wouldn't come out…
"Yeah, whatever. Just don't get in over your head when you try to help them, okay? Get someone to go with you and help too."
"Like you?" Even though he was still worried, Lucas couldn't help but smile as he asked the question. Even though Claus knew Lucas had gotten stronger and wasn't a weakling, he still thought of himself as the strongest one. Which, for the most part, he was.
"Yup!" Claus grinned with both confidence and sharing the quiet amusement in Lucas's voice. "Or Dad. Or your friends, I guess."
"Or we could all go together."
Claus blinked, and then smiled even wider. "Yeah, that's a good idea Lucas!"
Lucas grinned back and shrugged. "So, I guess we should keep going forward?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Yeah, probably." Claus said, turning to look. "Hey, I think I can even see some light from here!"
Lucas sighed in relief, and Claus started leading the way towards the light. Lucas followed, but at a slower pace, watching his brother as he moved. Something was niggling at his brain, but it just wouldn't come to the surface…
The image of that single red eye floated in his brain, refused to go away.
Frustrated, Lucas stopped and shut his eyes, focusing on it-
Okay, one thing at a time. Mom had died. Claus had gone after the Mecha-Drago to try to get revenge- and then he'd disappeared- and then-
-"…that masked man, was he…? Oh well, it doesn't matter."-
-"Lucas. Be happy. I've finally, finally found your brother."-
-"Huh? That monster's name is Claus?"-
-He turned and faced him- and pulled out his sword-
-"Lucas…I hope we meet again someday."-
His eyes shot open in horror as he stared unseeingly at the cave wall.
"Lucas, I've been bad."
"Lucas, did that person hurt you?"
Claus's memories, in worse shape than his own-
His own voice, talking to Kumatora. "Something- something bad happened to Claus, didn't it? Something worse than being lost…"
"Lucas, hurry up!"
Blindly, Lucas ran after his brother, suddenly terrified he would disappear again.
OoOoOo
Why yes, I have seen the Earthbound 64 trailer- and I still think it's a ripoff that we didn't get to have that whole level where you played as Claus and Lucas together. (grumbles)
Sorry for the long wait- family issues and real life have been a pain. I'm also a little worried about how this one turned out. So remember, if you spot any problems, please tell me so I can fix them. Or you can just tell me you like what I'm doing, if you like what I'm doing of course. Feedback is very much appreciated.
And the end to this thing is creeping closer and closer. Currently, there's ten chapters and a epilogue planned.
