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RETURNING READERS PLEASE READ:
Hi there! Welcome back to All Hail Britannia. Before you read on, I have to tell you that after identifying a potentially fatal plothole, I have decided to heavily rewrite and edit the entire story up to this point! This is a NEW CHAPTER, and not a copy of previous Chapter 7.
If you're a returning reader, please turn back now and start again from Chapter 1, otherwise you might get lost in this and following chapters! I hope you enjoy all the improvements and changes we have made, and that you won't get bored before you get back.
The rewrite was already planned and in motion before we discovered a huge plot hole and decided it would be easier to simply rewrite most of the story up to this point. I have combined several chapters as well as rewriting, so this is now the new chapter 7. This is a result of three full days of painful, grueling rewriting and editing by me, with the help of ~AverageLucas but I am pleased by the result.
I apologize for this huge A/N! Without any further ado, enjoy.
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- Pendragon, Britannian Mainland -
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Jeremiah stood up after the door closed behind his guests and moved his neck around with a creak, trying to work out the kinks from the long, restless night. He walked over to the small coffee machine in the corner and poured himself a fresh cup. Remembering his guest at the last moment, he asked her "Would you like some?"
The Empress signed her name with a grand flourish after reading another document before replying, "No, thank you, Jeremiah. I'm afraid I never really had the time to build up the addiction like everyone around me. My brother didn't want me handling something so hot, you see."
He raised a curious eyebrow as he sat back down, letting out a sigh as the padded leather surface eased the pressure on his spine-mounted cybernetics, "My augmentations can simply flush the tiredness out of my system, but I confess I still do enjoy drinking it." he took a sip and made a mental reminder to make a new batch as the sour, barely warm liquid hit his tastebuds, "I do enjoy hearing about these little tidbits of your life, though. You and your brother were both very dear to me."
Nunnally hummed in agreement, reading over a new document and changing the subject, "I know you're displeased about me appointing Anya as the acting Praetorian Commander, but truly, what else is she going to do?" she asked him, smiling, "That girl needs something to keep her busy or she'll spend all her time cooped up in her chambers."
"The problem, my Lady," Jeremiah slowly began, "is that in doing so you have guaranteed I'll be handling all of the paperwork Edward normally would on top of my other workload." his augmentations softly whirring, he raised his hands in a shrug, "I don't particularly mind, but I still think she would be better off guarding you instead. After all, we still haven't caught Schneizel's killer."
Nunnally nodded, rubbing her eyes, "Yes, that's true. I still think it would be better for her, though." she smiled, her mood improving, "And that's why I'll be spending most of the day here. Who better to protect me than someone as manly as you?" she asked him, making him smile at her teasing, "We're still going to need to do something about this murderer running around." he responded tiredly, pulling out a document from the large and reading through it.
She had spent the better part of the night crying after receiving the news from Anya. Schneizel had still been a large part of her early life, and she remembered him fondly for the most part. Sometimes, she regretted leaving the matter to Suzaku and Jeremiah, but Lelouch's written instructions were clear. His precious little sister was to leave it to them, and he wouldn't take any objections.
She raised her ink pen from a document and pointed it at him accusingly, "Action, Jeremiah! That's what we need, action! So far, everything we've been doing is reacting!" she proclaimed, slamming her fist on the desk. The effect would have been slightly intimidating if not for the fact that she was dressed in an especially fetching, and somewhat frilly one piece blue dress today, with a rather adorable white bowtie at her throat.
He wiped the smile from his face with another sip of the terribly timid beverage as her eyes angrily flashed at him, nodding in agreement, "It is as you say, Your Majesty."
She leaned back with a grin, a white gloved hand supporting her chin, "Tell me about my brother, Jeremiah. I know you tried to hide the fact you sent Kallen on a mission to see him last night. How is he? Did she say anything?"
He sighed, "As always, you can see right through me, your Majesty." he said, making her giggle, "I've received a call from her an hour ago. She said he had gravely insulted her honour within a few minutes of their meeting, as I've expected." he began, smiling at the sound of her laughter, "Both him and C.C. appear to be in high spirits. He sends his love, and has added that he is exceedingly proud of his little sister for performing so admirably without his help."
He pointedly looked away, enjoying the comfort of his seat for a few minutes as he waited for her sobs to subside, before speaking again, "I'm afraid that's all I can share with you, though. Rest assured I'll tell you anything he allows me to tell you, though." taking a sip, he spoke again, "And where's Zero? I haven't seen him since this morning."
Nunnally blew her nose with a frilly white handkerchief before replying, "I believe he's asleep. He has been up for the best part of a few days, after all. Poor Suzaku, he needs to stop pushing himself so hard." Jeremiah nodded in agreement, "The blonde man… Robert, was it? Zero referred to him a 'kid' last night in front of me. I think he was more tired than he let on, I could barely keep the amusement off of my face."
She giggled, "Poor Suzaku! He has to act so hard to keep Zero's image intact. I wish he'd take it off sometimes, but I understand why he can't." taking a deep breath, she moved a loose strand of her long brown behind her ear before continuing, "I still have a few dozen of these to sign, so if you'll excuse me for a moment."
He murmured his agreement, standing up and walking over to the window, drinking in the view of the skyline and the lush green courtyard of the Palace. It was going to be a long day, he mused, eyes narrowing as he looked at the training ground below where a commotion seemed to be taking place.
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The tiny girl could move surprisingly fast when she needed to, Archibald thought as they stopped near one of the windows in a hallway a couple of floors below the Minister's office. She turned around, watching their heavily breathing forms for a moment and cocked her head, "Tired?"
"Not at all, m'Lady." Archie replied while steadying his breath. He turned around and gave the significantly more winded Robert a slap on the back that made him stumble and shouted, "Fit as a fiddle, we are!"
"Is that so?" she blinked, her respect for them going up a few notches, "We're nearly there, follow me." said the girl, rounding a corner ahead as the men struggled to catch up to her quick footsteps. A large, sturdy looking pair of doors resided opposite of them on the other side of the large hallway, two members of the Royal Guard in full armoured uniforms standing guard on each side. The golden eye, symbol of the Royal Guard, shone down at them from above, Robert noticed as their small group approached..
The pair of guards slammed their rifles down and saluted to the Knight of Two as she approached, before wordlessly opening the large doors with a push of a few buttons on a keypad and letting them through.
Both of the men had their breaths taken away as they entered into what looked like a large ballroom, the doors shutting behind them with a slam. The most eye catching feature was the large grey fountain in the middle that provided a soothing background noise, the stream of water glittering in the morning light that fell on them. A few dozen figures sat on its outskirts and a few benches and tables around he room, with a dozen more moving around the with purpose, entering and exiting some of the large open doorways that dotted its sides.
Anya wordlessly stepped down the small stairway leading from their entrance to the marble surface of the room. As she did, all of the men and women in the room turned towards her and saluted with fists over their hearts, the noise of flesh striking flesh echoing through the suddenly quiet room like a gunshot. As if used to this treatment, The Knight of Two waved them away, "At ease. Thank you, everyone." before turning around to the two still shocked men and smiling for the first time.
"We are in the area collectively referred to as the 'quiet room'. People use it for thinking or writing, or simply for relaxation. It is also the entrance to the rest of the facilities used by the Royal Guards." she finished quietly, turning around and walking to the other side of the hall.
The two men wordlessly followed her, unable to keep their gaze in one place as they tried to take in everything around them. Large arched windows sat high above them on their right, providing most of the light in the room, though there were a couple of massive chandeliers hanging above, doubtlessly providing more than sufficient illumination at night.
Potted plant life of all species dwelled on the sides of the hall, giving the mostly grey toneless room a splash of badly needed colour, and livening up otherwise sterile clean smell with many different aromas. Anya kept talking as they moved, "If I remember correctly, around five hundred praetorians live inside of the Palace itself and serve as the last line of defence. The total number is always kept near one thousand, though they are also deployed around the mainland."
She gestured to a large pair of doors next to the smaller side room they were approaching, "The dormitories. You'll have to ask someone else for specifics, I never used them since I live upstairs." before pointing a finger to the three doorways on the far left of the room, "The cafeteria and the common room." she paused, mouth open as she pointed at the third one before turning around with a disappointed look, "I'm afraid I forgot what that one is, you'll have to-" Robert nodded exasperatedly, "Ask someone else, yes. We will."
She patted his shoulder, giving him a pleased thumbs up, "You learn fast." she said with satisfaction and stopped in front of the small doorway, pointing a finger at it, "The armoury." before putting a thumb to the small keypad on the side and entering, holding the door open for them.
It was a comparatively smaller room, with what looked like a grilled countertop window. A slightly older man in his early forties rose up from his leaned position on the counter and saluted the pink haired girl, "My Lady. I'm surprised to see you here, is there a problem with your sidearm?"
She shook her head, Robert's eyes following the pink twintails as they bounced around hypnotically, "Two new members." she quietly said in monotonous tone, pointing a finger at the two men, "Previously regular infantry, they'll need the…" she trailed off and looked at her phone with a frown before glancing up at the patient man, "Full combat armour… I think. The lances too." she snapped the phone closed, then turned around and placed her hands on each of their shoulders, patting them, "To the training grounds when you're done." she quietly ordered, before exiting the room and leaving two bewildered men behind her.
The older man pointedly cleared his throat, turning their attention to him, "I'm Gabriel, the official Chief Armourer for the Royal Guard. You'll be… Robert and Archibald?" he asked, squinting down at a datapad in one hand before pressing a button to open a small side door with a buzz and waving them through.
Archibald let out a low whistle as they came in and got their first look at the arsenal the Royal Guard had at their disposal. Regular infantry issue armour hung next to advanced looking power plated pieces and heavy flak jackets of all sizes - all of them dark grey and with a painted symbol of the golden eye. An entire wall at the back was filled with long, devastating looking lances used by the Guard, with a shelf next to them devoted to holding advanced looking rifles neither of them have seen before. It seemed that the Empress's personal guard received only the very best.
Gabriel entered into the backroom, holding a heavy looking bundle under each arm and smiling at their faces, "We have to equip around a battalion's worth of men and women, the heavier equipment is in the back, but you won't need that yet. This isn't the only armoury in the Palace." he said, putting down the uniforms on the large metal table in the middle of the room before consulting his data pad once again, "I'll give you some time to put these on. You'll get your helmets and sidearms later." and nodded, before exiting the room.
"This is some expensive looking equipment." Robert said as he carefully lifted the lightly armoured trousers, "I don't think even the Ashfords could afford to equip their security with this kind of stuff."
"Aye, I feel like I could survive a slash harken to the chest with this." Archie responded as he put on the ridged, slightly segmented combat jacket on over his shirt. He finished the ensemble off with one of the nondescript long grey coats all of the Royal Guard wore, "Heavier than I expected. Must have some inbuilt kevlar." he finished, roughly patting it with his fist.
Gabriel walked in just as they equipped the shiny multi headed spears and were carefully testing the balance. After letting them get used to their new range of movement for a few seconds, the man carefully placed a pair of white cloaks with the insignia of the golden eye they had seen a few times before on top of the table.
"The cloaks signify your status. With these, you can claim the rank of Major in the field if needed, and the men will follow you without objections." he reverently smoothed out a few wrinkles and spoke quietly, "Once you put these on, every action you take will reflect on the Empress herself." he paused, sliding them across the table, "You're both trained men, so I won't go into any unnecessary details. However, your status has risen significantly and you will be expected to act like it. Britannia takes care of her own, and you are the face of Britannia now."
He smiled as they put the cloaks on and secured them in place. Wordlessly, they both saluted to the armourer, eager to get started with their new life. He saluted back, grinning ear to ear, "May Saint Darwin be with you. All hail Britannia!"
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"Training grounds, she said?" Robert asked Archie as they made their way out of the armoury, looking around with confusion. Archie nodded and stopped a casually dressed man who was busy looking down at a data-pad, "'Scuse me, lad, would you know where the path to the training grounds is?" he asked politely. The other man looked up at him in shock then grinned, "New praetorians? Excellent! It's right that way." he said, pointing to a large double door to their left. He patted Archie's shoulder, "Good luck, brothers." and walked off before the confused redhead could respond.
"These spears are lighter than I expected." Robert said as they made their way across the marble floor. He hefted it in his hand, experimentally, raising it up and down a few times, "Bet you the edge of that blade is pretty sharp, though."
"Wouldn't want to get poked with one of these buggers, that's fer sure." Archie replied, squeezing his heavily gloved hand experimentally, "Not too much heavier than the normal infantry stuff, but it feels like I could power through anything. It's some good quality armour, it is."
Opening the door in front of them, they walked out into the warm morning light. The large training ground was enclosed, was their first thought as they noticed the large, tall wall surrounding the premises. They were still high up in the Palace, so the grass and trees must be artificial, Robert mused, looking at the slowly swinging branches of a tall specimen to his right suspiciously. A track circled the courtyard itself, which to his estimates was somewhere around a hundred or so meters in length and width, leaving ample space for the morning runners to use the slightly smaller track in peace.
They noticed their pink-haired guide leaned against one of the trees, head stuck in her phone again. Approaching her, Robert gathered his courage to speak, "You asked for us, my Lady?" She looked up impassively, pink eyes measuring him up and down before doing the same to Archie, leaving them both slightly anxious until she nodded in approval, "Good job." and leaned away from the tree, heading for the sand filled central area of the courtyard, clearly expecting them to follow her.
"New praetorians go through intensive training before they are allowed to personally guard the Empress herself, or an important official such as Minister Gottwald. While you're still in training, the only thing you'll be doing is standing around and guarding doorways." she turned back and smiled, "From what I've read, you should have experience with that."
Stopping in the middle of the sand filled area that was presumably used for sparring, she slowly took off her cloak and threw it away, revealing a rather normal dark jacket with the symbol of the Knights of Round etched on the back, though the odd combination of rather daring shorts followed by pink stockings going into a pair of military boots made Robert raise an eyebrow, "Please understand this isn't normal procedure, but Jeremiah said I have to test your abilities in close ranged combat."
She looked at one of the runners and waved, pointing to the doorway leading back to the large hall. The sweating man nodded and saluted before letting out a sharp whistle, drawing attention from everyone in the courtyard, "Back inside! The Knight of Two needs space!"
The courtyard quickly cleared. leaving the small group alone in the large field with the whistling sound of wind as their only company. Anya started bouncing on the balls of her feet, arms held non threateningly by her sides, "Please try to attack me with those spears you received." she said quietly.
They hesitated for but a moment before raising the spears in front of them and surging forward. With a hiss of expelled air, Robert stabbed straight at her while Archie performed a scything sweep from the side. To his surprise, instead of leaning back or ducking, the girl jumped - her small legs carrying her further up than they had any right to and dodged both of their attacks, before transitioning into a flying spinning kick that struck the side of Robert's head leaving him slightly dazed.
Landing, she deftly leaned back and did a magnificent backflip, her pink twintails flying through the air as she dodged Archie's second sweep while Robert recovered, "Due to my physique, I don't normally fight barehanded." she remarked calmly, seemingly unfazed by their efforts. Dodging Robert's overhead stab, she kicked the back of his knee, the armored knee joint useless in stopping an attack from the back, making him hiss in pain.
Archie's wild stab missed as she used the blonde's slightly lowered back as a surface to spin around on top of and away from the blade, leaving him bewildered. Uncaring, she brutally kneed Robert in the face and dodged Archie's bare handed punch, before performing another spinning kick that left him reeling and clutching his side.
"Enough." she said, both men breathing hard from the hits they'd sustained, "If this was a real fight, both of you would be dead already." she said, kicking her feet together. In front of their bewildered eyes, a pair of long, sharp looking blades appeared from the front of her leather boots, "That first kick would have brought this right through your head, leaving you shivering on the ground while your brain oozed out of your skull." her quiet voice informed Robert, pointing to her left boot and making both men grit their teeth in embarrassment,
"And that spinning kick would have brought this-" she raised her right boot, "between your ribs and into your heart. You would be dead in seconds." she finished with pointing at Archibald and crossed her arms, "You did well, don't worry." she smiled, "Since I'm so small, I have to rely on blades if I want to have any chance against someone like you." she pointed at Archie again making him grin.
"The entire point of this was to show you that while those spears you have might look useful, having a reliable gun is more useful still." she patted her sidearm for emphasis, before pausing, "Or a Knightmare. Though not the Mordred, that one's mine. You'll be receiving further training in both - those rifles are quite a bit different from what you're used to shooting."
She took out her phone as it buzzed and looked at the time, her eyes narrowing, "Jeremiah tells me I have to go do paperwork now." she said unhappily, "Find someone to take you to your room, I believe it's number… two hundred and twelve." she snapped it closed, shaking out her cloak before putting it on. Taking out a small clip pad and a pen, she quickly scratched something down and ripped a page out, offering it to Robert, "My mail, if you need any help. Please do not share it." she said in her quiet tone, looking at him.
While to a casual observer it might have looked like the tiny girl was sharing her number out of romantic interest - the truth was Jeremiah simply didn't trust her with doing the Praetorian Commander's job properly, which is why she was going back to his office as soon as she finished with the training to get help with her paperwork. There was no malice in her actions, she was simply too tired to remember anything else, and took the path of least resistance by doing what lazy layabouts have done for centuries - put it off until later and pass it to someone else.
Bewildered, Robert took it with a bow of his head, "Thank you, my Lady." he said as he watched her retreating back before looking down at the small scrawled text. Archie leaned over and grabbed him in a chokehold, laughing hard enough to wake up the dead, "You cheeky little bugger! When did you have the time to get that?" he said, roughly rubbing his head like a doting father would. Robert growled, leaning out of the chokehold and stuffing the paper in his pocket while trying to keep the smile from his face, "You're just jealous, Archie."
"Damn right I am, you little traitor. Although I did see some pretty nice looking girls in there. Let's get going, I haven't had breakfast yet." the large man replied, still grinning ear from ear as he roughly patted the blonde on the back. They picked their spears up from the dusty ground and marched back into the hall, still quietly arguing if the pink haired girl was actually interested in Robert or just pulling his leg.
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Lelouch leaned back against the wall, the vibrating surface the only thing separating him from a very long fall down into the middle of the Pacific. He had removed his impromptu disguise as soon as the door closed, and was deep in conversation with the leader of the mission sent to retrieve them, "I see. And there was no recorded footage of anyone entering or exiting the cell at all? Jeremiah already told me, but I'm finding it hard to believe."
Praetorian Commander and the man personally responsible for the Empress's safety, a man who responded only to Zero himself nodded. Edward was a tall man even by Britannian standards, standing well over two meters tall with an impressive physique to match. His very presence would be enough to terrify people even without seeing his scarred face or grizzled, choppy dark brown beard. His face was permanently set in a hard expression with his eyes suffering a similar fate with a permanent glare directed at everyone around him.
"No, your Highness. It was definitely your boy here, or someone with the same ability." he said quietly, the hard voice still echoing with a small rumble around the enclosed space while he pointed at the large white tank Lelouch was currently using as a footrest. It was attached to a small circular machine by its many tubes and cords, and produced a rather unsettling hissing sound that didn't seem to bother any of the men.
Lelouch let out a tired breath as his mind worked overtime to try and make sense of the enemy's plan. Why send one man to kill both him and Schneizel? He mused for the hundredth time, rubbing his forehead. Did they simply have no one else, or was there a different strategy he was missing? Even after thinking about it for so long, he couldn't make sense of it. What he needed was more information, and there was only way to get those.
He looked down at Kallen who was currently using his lap as a pillow and smirked at her innocent sleeping expression. The girl had all but fainted as soon as the Royal Guard had pumped her with sedatives before roughly treating her leg. They'd told him it would be a few days until she could walk again while the muscles and nerves were reconstructed in a medical bay, but she had gotten lucky as it was, indeed, just a flesh wound.
"I'll be honest with you, Edward." Lelouch murmured, taking his legs off of the tank and leaning towards the other man, lowering the tone of his voice, "I know you handpicked them, but how loyal are these men?" The rough man's hard expression finally cracked into a smile, "Completely, your Highness." he responded, pointedly tapping his eyebrow.
Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise, "How many? I thought Nunnally would purge all of them. I even specifically told Suzaku and Jeremiah not to interfere." Edward's smile grew larger, "I thought you might, which is why shortly after your death a hundred and fifty of your best men were sent to a peacekeeping operation. Officially, the transport plane suffered a malfunction and crashed with no survivors."
"And unofficially?" Lelouch asked, the smile that had been steadily growing throughout their conversation turning into a full blown smirk as he contemplated the possibilities he now had, "Unofficially, I have a fully equipped base on an island near Hawaii, stocked with enough weapons and Knightmares to equip an entire division. Staffed with men utterly loyal to Lelouch Vi Britannia."
"Who else knows?"
"Minister Gottwald is the only one. He made the decision not to tell the Empress or Zero, and I followed his instructions as you ordered. The supreme commander Cornelia doesn't suspect a thing, it's all completely off record." the man elaborated, folding his hands.
"Excellent." Lelouch hissed in satisfaction, shifting around slightly to offset Kallen's weight from his legs, "When will we be arriving?" he shouted to one of the pilots who turned around to yell back, "We're just coming into range of their anti-air batteries, my Lord! There's a bit of a storm brewing, but we'll be down in ten minutes."
Satisfied with the response, Lelouch moved a hand to his ear, pushing down a small button on the communicator, "C.C., we'll be landing soon, how is the Gurren doing?" a burst of static came through before her exhausted voice responded, "It's been a very smooth flight, I don't think the Japanese are even aware that we ever arrived or left. But Lelouch, what do you mean we'll be down in a few minutes? We're nowhere near the mainland."
"There's been a change of plans, we'll be staying there for a short while before we hop to the mainland. Follow us in, I'll let the men know not to shoot you down." and with a click cut off any further protest, leaning back and closing his eyes, "Radio ahead to let them know the Knight of Three's Knightmare will be following us down, and to bring a stretcher."
"Yes, my Lord."
A few minutes later, Lelouch felt someone shake his shoulder and jerked up, startled to realize he must have dozed off, "We're here, my Lord." Edward said, retracting his massive hand. Stifling a yawn, the former Emperor nodded in thanks, listening to the steady pitter patter of rain on the outside of the aircraft's hull.
Leaning down, he started gently yet persistently poking Kallen's soft cheek, making the redhead murmur in her sleep for a few seconds before blinking her tired eyes open and slapping his hand away, "Zero? Whassat?" she sleepily murmured before letting out a mighty yawn, "Are we there yet?"
"We've landed, but you're in no shape to walk. I'm going to carry you outside so they can put you on a stretcher, and I want you to refrain from punching me while I do so. Can you promise me that?"
Blushing, she groaned as she remembered what he had done to her, covering her eyes with a hand, "Fine. But if you drop me, I'm going to tear you from limb to limb, immortal or not." she hissed at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking away.
Coughing to hide his smirk, he slowly put his arms under her neck and below her knees before standing up, his weak muscles straining under the weight. Hefting her a bit higher, he slowly made his way out onto the wet pavement of the landing pad and gently placed her onto the awaiting wheeled stretcher. Unwrapping her arms from around his neck, she pulled the cloak higher to hide her face from the surrounding men, clearly uninterested in seeing the smirk on his face as they quickly rolled her away.
Standing up, he took his first proper look at the landing pad and noticed that there seemed to be a rather large welcoming party. Over fifty of his Royal Guard in full combat gear, lances held in their hands stood in the pouring rain, looking straight ahead. Nodding in approval, he turned to Edward, "I want a video link with Jeremiah as soon as you can set it up. Make sure he's alone before you even mention my name, then get that into the holding cell, I'll have a look at it later." he finished, pointing a thumb at the white tank a pair of Praetorians were currently rolling out from the aircraft.
He turned back to the rows of the waiting guards, smiling when he saw them standing steadfast against the storm, uncaring that their cloaks were quickly getting soaked as they waited for him to speak, "Back to your stations, men! We have a lot of work to do!"
Edward saluted along with the rest of his men, the sound of their fists striking their chests louder than any thunder the sky could provide, "Yes, your Highness!" they all shouted, the symbol of Geass shining madly in their eyes.
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A/N: Thank you for reading! If you're a returning reader and feeling confused, I invite you to go back to Chapter 1 and start over. I might be skipping this sunday as I have to focus on changing the future plotline, but updates will be steady as usual after that.
Thank you for reading! Please review if you have any comments or criticism.
Thank you to ~AverageLucas for helping with proofreading. Please go and read his stories too.
