Stuff, plot, no fighting!

The rumor of my homosexuality/bisexuality spread like wildfire throughout the guild members. The interest died down equally as fast. My sexual orientation, when thoroughly considered, was no real surprise to anyone. When I asked them why, they referred me to the drunken stage of my life a while ago, proposing to an equal amount of men and women for both dates and sex. Furthermore, I did attempt to find within myself this glimmer of attraction for the male gender. It came much easier than I ever could have expected with some oddly lewd dreams plaguing my mind that staged myself with some random men I might have crossed on the streets one day. The days that followed my tavern expedition were a nasty compilation of every sexual fantasy I could come up with and increasingly pent-up rage from the lack of accomplishing any of these fantasies. I became a ball of stress aching for some sort of relief. I really had to find myself someone to cherish if I didn't want to become some sort of bar hooker... That had to be the most unromantic thing that ever came out of me.

In any case, days of lustful contemplation inevitably led to pondering on the probabilities of myself forming a couple with varying members of Fairy Tail that were around my age.

The first two that came to mind were Natsu and Gray. These thoughts were quickly followed by a snicker and denial. I knew myself well enough to say I could never picture Natsu as a romantic partner no matter the situation. He just wasn't my style. Flamboyant, brash and dumb. That pretty much covered how I saw the guy. As for Gray, well I don't think there's much that can come out of a relationship like this. I had grown up with the guy, he was one of the first person I considered a friend. He was one of the rare people that I truly grew attached to as a person rather than a character. He's a brother to me and never could I see myself trying to woo him. Just the thought made me shiver uncomfortably. If I kept Gray on the list, I'd have to add Laxus as well and that was just delving in territory I did not dare to cross.

With the two main boys being out of the way, I instead tried to focus on the two main girls. Again, it didn't last very long. My reasoning regarding the, was simple but explained everything: for Erza: Jellal and for Lucy: Natsu. Both of these girls were 100% straight so no point in imagining a future where one of them was my wife.

So if I knew for a fact I wouldn't be ending with one of the main cast, who might it be? One of Erza's friends, a member of Saber Tooth, a leader of a dark guild or maybe some random person I'll meet on the streets? Was it even a fact I wouldn't end with one of the others? What if something affects my relationship with Gray and I suddenly have a crush on him? Would I even find love in the first place or was I freaking out over nothing?

Many unanswered questions I tried to alienate with work or my busy life.

The morning ended up being a little more shopping, all thanks to Natsu and his hijinks. A few furniture stores later and I found another table that would nicely fit for my apartment. I had hired a bunch of guys to fix the floor and they had promised with a little help of magic that it would be fixed by the time I got home. It felt like an abuse of the ethernano and yet I couldn't care less.

After the shopping wa s done, I managed to get a hold of my hairdresser, a woman named Kyanna. She had long dark hair and an upmost jovial attitude towards everything, I couldn't help but feel a warming sense of familiarity when I was with her, like I'd known her in my past life.

Kyanna had immediately accepted to take care of my hair so we organized meeting later in the morning. It also meant I could take the afternoon to work on a more personal project.

With the table heading to my house, I wondered the streets a little. As usual Magnolia was bustling with all manners of activity. Great to see they had recovered well from the assault. Some might hate Fairy Tail for all the trouble we cause but the majority of the popularity remained indiferrent to us. Having a mage guild as powerful as us, I guess it came as no surprise that there'd be some havoc. I hope they wouldn't mind some more because the next arc would start anytime soon now.

I hadn't taken out the notebook since the Phantom Lord attack. Ever since that day, something had been gnawing at me, something felt wrong about this notebook. Just thinking about it made me uneasy as if the world itself rejected it's existence. I couldn't quite pinpoint it but I knew I was extremely close to solving that riddle. It had to have something to do with the actions I took back then. Perhaps I felt guilt at knowing what would transcend yet served no other purpose than to distract Gajeel for a little while.

With the hair salon in sight, I pushed these thoughts away. I could see Kyanna waiting for me inside. She gave me a glimmering smile which I quickly retorted to with one of my own. Some people considered my addiction to constantly changing my hair a bit weird. Kyanna had never been one of these. In fact she understood why I did it. It was fun as hell, what could I say? I really didn't need another reason.

"Kiera, glad to see you safe!" Kyanna declared, brimming with jubilation.

"It's been two weeks, girl. No need to freak out over it." We exchanged a friendly hug.

"I know but I heard what happened to you yesterday. I just couldn't believe it! I thought somebody might do something to you.."

I raised an eyebrow. Okay first of all, how the hell had she learned about it so fast? Was she stalking me? Second of all, How could myself being subjected to flirting possibly amount to any sort of long lasting damage? Last of all, did it have something to do with my reputation or something? Although all these questions floated in my mind, not a lot came out.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know, you have tons of secrets floating around you. I discover you're the famous Fairy Reaper and just when I thought that was the biggest thing about you, we learn you're also a lesbian, it's insane! Do you have any other secrets you're willing to share?" The last was spoken with a low hint of complicity.

"None anymore."

"I hope so! What are you gonna do to deal with all these rumors?" My hairdresser returned to her peppy voice.

"Why should I bother? They're rumors , last I checked, they've never amounted to much of anything about me. In any case, can we get started?"

"Oh, of course, just sit here." she pointed at a chair.

She started preparing her tools. I watched her quietly. What color this time? I was half tempted to make them multicolored just to assert my attraction towards women but that sounded like a terrible idea. My sexual attraction wasn't exactly something I wanted to flaunt for the entire world to see. It was more of a state of being than anything.

"You don't know the color you want today, I guess."

I stared at the woman for a second before smirking.

"That predictable?"

"If it wasn't an issue every time you come, maybe not. Why do you never choose in advance?"

"Well, I'm sorry. We've always done it together. I thought by now it meant something to you." I mocked seemingly downtrodden.

"Are you trying to guilt me about it?" She incredulously asked.

"You biting?"

"Of course not!"

"Then I'm just stating it. Honestly Kyanna, you should stop seeing deeper meanings when there's none." I remained passive after that little comment, so did my hairdresser.

"Just because of that, I'm choosing the color today." She decided, taking a bottle of water to wet my hair .

"Oh hell no! I still remember the last time you did!"

"C'mon, turquoise hair was just fine." she nonchalantly said.

"My hair looked like the glistening shell of a beetle for a month!"

"Well I'm sure that must have hindered you so much while you were hiding them under that cloak of yours." She scoffed.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"As long as you don't sue me for homophobia or try to destroy the place, yes, yes I am."

We both lightly chuckled. By now, this was part of the course for our meetings. Kyanna was a lot like me in many regards. When I met her, we instantly got along really well. When I learned of her career and she of my obsession over changing my hair, our friendship solidified into a strong bond that has lasted a few years now.

"How does cyan sound to you?" She asked, combing my hair absent-mindedly.

I fervently shook my head, wincing as I forcibly pulled on a knot.

"Alright, how about a good old blonde? I never even saw you with blonde hair after all these years."

I chuckled a little but shook my head nonetheless.

"I'd be fine with a shade of blue. How about a dark azure?"

"Yeah sounds good to me. What about the hair?"

"Just trim it, I feel like having shoulder-length hair for once."

The hairdresser wasted no more time and got to work, giving the both of us a moment of silence to think of various things.

I couldn't remember for the life of me when the next arc started or where it started. I wanted to go check out my notebook yet some force pushed me away from it, a thrill that I had when I went on missions that had no involvement with the actual manga: challenge. I wanted to see what would happen even if I went in with blind ignorance, to stay away from the notebook a little and experience everything at my own pace…

Was it that?

Joshua's words ringed in my mind again. What if I did keep my distance from the world? What if my approach had been wrong all along and I should have focused more on the friendship aspects or the fights rather than keep the cannon where it should be?

But Fairy Tail remained a manga right? I knew where it was going, knew what to do to have it steer in the right direction. In a way, I was a goddess walking amongst man, the fate of my guild resting heavily in my hands without anyone even realizing it. Why dump such a power? It did cause me a fair share of strife. The fear of being discovered, the stress of losing that control, the several attempts I had to do everything the way I wanted it rather than try to go along with my friends… were they really friends? They were people I knew sure enough. I got along with them for the most part. I always called them my friends and they did the same for me so we did have that relation…

Why did nothing feel right, like I was alone in all this?

Was I wrong?

"Hey Kiera, how ya doin'?" Some voice shouted next to us, having sneaked up on us.

I jumped and so did Kyanna… who had scissors in her hands… and was currently trimming my hair.

The world slowed down around as in the corner of my vision I could see a large tuft of hair gently glide down to the ground. Everyone went silent, including the intruder. This hadn't just happened. I sincerely hoped that hadn't just happened. It must have been someone else's pink hair right? It was a common colour right?

Right?

"Oh, fuck! I'm so sorry, Kiera! I didn't mean for that to happen!" Kyanna declared, audibly panicking.

Keeping an apparently calm composure, I slowly turned my head to watch the carnage through the mirror. The result was just that. You could see how the scissors had slowly curved from the tip of the hair, making a large triangular hole in my hair. As calm as a lake on a windless day, I then turned to face the intruder.

A certain fire dragon slayer. In the background I could also see Happy and Lucy, both of them going insane even if I didn't do anything.

"Natsu! What a pleasure to see you!" I said in a joyous voice, a smile crossing my features. Though I coated my words in sweet honey, everyone caught on to the very murderous vibe lying underneath.

Everyone except Natsu that is.

"Same here. Whatcha doin'?"

"I'm so glad you asked. I was getting a haircut see? This is Kyanna and that's her job to do it." The hairdresser had a look imploring not to get involved in what was going on.

"What's the point?" Natsu huffed. "You always change them anyway."

I didn't deign respond to that, keeping my cool as best as possible.

"In fact," He continued before rubbing Kyanna of her scissors. "I have a great idea for what your hair should look like!"

The unfolding events making my eyes widen in surprise, I tried to take the cutting instrument out of his hands.

A dire mistake.

What at first seemed like a fairly good cut came out sloppy, the triangle in my hair now accompanied with another indistinguishable form.

"Damn it, don't move! I'm trying to make your hair better!"

That was it.

My irises darkened. The murderous vibe from before slowly turned into pure death magic. My skin progressively became scalier. I was ready to forgive a lot of things in life. A guy killing me and sending me to a new world, my brother ignoring me for a decade and another dragon slayer nearly beating to death were all on the list.

But no one, NO ONE, ruins my hair and gets away with it unscathed.

My guild mark glowed dimly. I slowly rose to my feet and walked towards Natsu, silent as ever. He stated at me, confused, still not catching into what he apparently did wrong.

"Natsu, my good friend, I love this new cut so much!" I said lowly with a tiny hint of joy and an immense amount of anger. "I'm so thankful, let me give you a hug for your efforts." I opened my arms, closing in on the fire dragon slayer. He was finally starting to understand my intent, baking away at the same speed I was approaching.

"I'll pass, thanks." It seemed today he didn't want to fight, perhaps my wrath had convinced him otherwise.

"C'mon! Just a friendly hug to a friendly friend

The dark aura engulfing my body seemed to be an effective dragon slayer repellant.

"Natsu, we have some place to be!" Lucy suddenly joined, gripping Natsu's collar and taking him far away in an instant. She must have been running the fastest she could.

With the culprit far away, I calmed down slightly. I went back to sit on the chair I was on, not particularly feeling like dropping jokes anymore.

"What can you salvage from this?" I asked Kyanna that had came out of hiding. I hadn't even realized she snuck away in the first place.

"…Not much, to be honest. If it had just been the triangular cut, you would've been fine but the one Natsu did ruined any and all chances you had of getting long hair."

I deeply sighed.

"Cut it really short then."

"Really short as in?"

"As in a toupee that goes until the middle of my forehead, two inches of hair on top and one and a half on the sides. A haircut you would give to a guy with no sense of fashion. Also forget the dark azure hair, let's make it leaf green instead."

"Why?"

"Because it's the opposite of pink and I intend to get back to Natsu for this. Just do it, Kyanna. I have other stuff to do."

My hairdresser went on to clip my hair as requested. The result wasn't the greatest in terms of hair but it would certainly do the job for now.

I paid the girl and went back home for the day, partially to plot my revenge but mostly because I wanted to make a call.

In my house, I at least had the good news that everything had been placed the way I had asked. At least this was good news.

I took my communication lacrima, quickly trying to join a certain someone. Someone I've been meaning to talk to for a while now.

"Yeah?" the bored male voice muttered from the other line.

"'bout time! I've been trying to call you for over a month now." I huffed, exasperated at how long this took.

"Ain't you a ray of sunshine today, sis." Laxus mocked.

"Spare me the sarcasm, Laxus. I didn't call to joke around."

"Let me guess, it has something to do with you joining the thunder team, doesn't it?"

"Clever boy, aren't you? Why else would I call?" I sneered, a little mean-spirited.

"Worrying about your brother? Being an actual sister rather than an obstacle to my only goal." He said in a sweet tone, trying to make me feel guilty.

"I'm trying to stop being an obstacle here." I retorted matter-of-factly.

"That 's what you'd like me to believe anyway." Laxus became a little more serious.

Well I was expecting we'd talk a little longer before we started yelling at each other.

"Laxus, I don't know what you heard but I'm really trying to be close to you here. I'm trying to cross the gap we've formed in the past years! Why are you pushing me back?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't be doing it if you hadn't time and time again proven that you're a deceptive and manipulative person . I was talking to Mirajane back when you did your little speech, I heard everything you knew about Phantom Lord."

"What does my knowledge of another guild have to do with me being deceptive and manipulative ex actly?"

"I'm getting there. You see, a little before your power struggle with Phantom Lord, I was contacted by someone pretty important. Maybe the name will ring a bell, something like Jose if I remember correctly."

I practically snarled in annoyance. Even behind bars this guy would be a pain.

"Jose told me a bit about you, how you knew so much and how you most likely turned the tide in Fairy Tail's favor because you couldn't shut up for two minutes. You seem quite knowledgeable and ingrained in your situation. I wouldn't want you trying to ruin my plans now, would I?" Laxus had a distinctly dominant tone to his voice, like he was pinning me to the wall with his implications.

"So you're telling me you refuse my help on a hunch based on the words told by a guy you never truly met before that day?" I quizzically asked, annoyance quickly morphing into anger. "And yet when a member of your family tried to get close to you, you shut the door in their face without thinking twice about it? "

My brother seemingly blanked out for a few seconds, lost in deep and probably conflicting thoughts. Perhaps my words had gotten to him. Perhaps he would accept me in his gang. I truly did want to stop the battle, yes, but another part of me insisted otherwise, the part that knew of the consequences. Yes, there would be casualties but thanks to it, Laxus would change for the better, Mirajane would become the demon she once was, Natsu and Gajeel will learn to work together and the thunder team would warm up to us as well. There were plenty of positive side effects from this battle and I feared the repercussions later down the line if we didn't go through with it. What if it caused the lightning dragon slayer to never aid us on Tenrou thus rendering the battle unwinnable? A lot of the future I knew would be decided on that day and squandering it to avoid some people getting hurt might later down the line result to thousands dying. Maybe I should just let the battle happen and spend this time with the team to just relax and bond with my brother once more. Facing this conundrum, I truly didn't know what the best answer was though the longer I reflected on it, the more I was inclined to choose the latter.

But that conflicted against myself being a goddess in control, right? Letting the world go on like I wasn't couldn't possibly be the right answer. Was I just selfish?

Laxus lowered his head, morose . His train of thought done, he seemed to have lost that snarky attitude he always maintained. Seeing him downtrodden like this, my own anger faded to nothingness, adopting instead a more somber expression. Did he finally want to have a heart to heart?

"I want to trust you, sis, really I do..." he started. "But you've lied your way out of so many issues I can't possibly do. Even if you're honest right now, I can't help but doubt there's an underlying goal hidden beneath the good sister act."

"It's not an act, Laxus. I swear." What I originally wanted to come out as confident like usual was strangled and a little pathetic. I was seemingly trying to deal with my feelings of dread for once without making fun of them or getting angry. It was a new experience and this weak outburst just showed me I really didn't have as much control over my emotions as I originally thought.

"If you hadn't lied through your teeth all these years, if you didn't try to manipulate your own friends to do as you please before, maybe I would buy that."

"What? Am I a malevolent sister to you?"

A long moment of silence came to torture me. This felt so much different today, heavier. Laxus had the upper hand but no anger seeped from his words, only sorrow and disappointment.

"To an extent, yes, you are..."

Despite knowing he would say it, hearing it still pinged at my heart. My brother continued.

"I know you disagree with me. I know you said the plan I concocted will only lead to bloodshed but what you're not realizing is that I truly do love Fairy Tail. I'm trying to help it in my own way whether you want to believe me or not." I lowered my head, a little sad that even with the effort I put into it, I would still be pushed away by my brother. " I don't want our reputation tarnished, I want us to stand proud as the strongest guild in Fiore, I want to live up to that title. Fairy will never live up to it if we accept random people just for the hell of it. We need a filter, something to strengthen our ranks..."

"Are we just an army to you, Laxus?" I said lowly, a breath caught in my throat. I didn't want to admit it but the whole situation troubled me. The fear of losing my brother, the inevitable future my friends would deal with, the helplessness I felt throughout all of this, it amounted to a conflux of emotions ranging from sadness to anger, anger I tried to contain for once since lashing at Laxus would provide nothing Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to expose my thoughts and yet I couldn't find it in myself to care. Something clicked in me, a realization that I never had before that moment. This life that I thought I could lead on a whim, alter to my liking, it had been more of a lie than anything. Ultimately. I hadn't changed much of anything. Despite my interaction with Laxus the battle of Fairy Tail would still happen. Despite my knowledge of the Phantom Lord war, the whole event still happened with me doing nothing but forcing them in a rescue mission and avoid them figuring out what to do even if it was blatantly obvious. What purpose had I served in this life other than get a bunch of money and wait until Lucy came into Fairy Tail? Hell, I've been completely worthless to everyone and I kept thinking I would play a vital role just because of that damn notebook.

"Not an army nor a family, we're a guild it's what we've always been and it's what Fairy Tail will always be after I seize control of it."

I remained silent, my usual facade of the smug smartass crumbling under the pressure of my true emotions. Even if Laxus didn't realize it, he had taken away the purpose I thought I had in this life, leaving to wander lost on the path of faith. I felt empty, devoid of any reason to go on. In the matter of a few minutes, everything had gone away, all I thought I knew.

Accompanied by the years of nonchalance and pointless bickering, I was left with ample content to wallow in self-pity. The tears I had been holding back all this time finally came to me, each being shed for a different purpose. From frustration to aggravation, from emptiness to sorrow, all of the difficult moments I had faced came back, crushing under their respective weight. Forcing to realize several of my mistakes, mistakes being nearly all caused by my own stupidity.

"Kiera, are you crying?" Laxus somehow seemed distant now.

I ended the call, not wanting anyone to hear me, my brother especially.

Rising up, I tried to dry the waterfall of emotion pouring from within me. Sadly these attempts only resulted in strangled cries that reverberated in my house. I headed for one of the main sources of trouble that I'd to endure my entire life.

The notebook.

This fucking thing had been the reason I thought I was so in control, it was because all these years ago I thought I could play God with everyone around me without a care in the world. If it were not for it perhaps I would have lived a better life, one that felt a little more fulfilling. Because of it I felt like I had been nothing but an observer all this time. Someone who didn't deign to barge in the action like Natsu did.

Well no more.

I took the notebook abused by the years, this lengthy project detailing how everything should go and who everyone was. Glancing at it with bloodshot eyes and a new feeling of disgust, I wasted little time in ripping the thing to shreds. Pages after pages filled with the future, telling what the world had in store for Fairy Tail from Lucy to the Tartarus attack. My house quickly turned into a maelstrom of torn pieces of paper and clumsily thrown chunks of the cover, all having properly been showered beforehand. The stress had gotten to me at long last. I was done, done with dealing with this excruciating truth. I couldn't muster the will to protect this gift I had been provided. These pages had been nothing but a burden all these years, a weight on my shoulders I couldn't bear anymore. These pages were the only ties left to my past life. They were responsible for me still feeling like this was all fake, that this new life was nothing then a game that I had to endure until I could finally go back to the real world. Without them, time would have let all these shackles I had put upon myself to be broken, it would allow me to become something more than just the observer that knew too much for her own good. This would be the beginning of a new quest. One that sought a purpose, something to constantly better myself, perhaps even someone. All I had to do was to destroy these links I had created, a foolish mistake I had endorsed for a decade longer than I should have. I practically felt I was out of control, unleashing every bit of my anger into this task until nothing but sadness remained. Now in the middle of my living room, I stood quietly sobbing, like a murderer contemplating the crime just committed. Layers upon layers of torn paper were sprawled everywhere like blood around a corpse. I felt conflicted, both relieved and afraid of the future now that I had destroyed my best safety net.

"Kiera, what the hell is going on here?"

It was Erza, apparently she had heard my stampede and feared for what was going on. All semblance of dignity I had left my body at that moment. The red-hair I've known ever since she was a child had barged into my living room in her usual heart crux armor, a plain broadsword in hand. Like a lifeless corpse, I silently trudged in her direction. Every step reignited my sorrow until the sobs transformed into tears again. My pace quickened progressively until I essentially threw myself in her arms. Erza's presence alone changed everything. I didn't want to worry about the future, I didn't want to maintain my pride, all I wanted was a shoulder to cry on during my existential crisis.

"Are you crying?" She asked incredulously.

I whimpered something unintelligible in response. Erza seemed distraught. In all the years she had known me. Never had I shown so much emotion as I exhibited now. She relocated us to my couch . We both dropped on the soft fabric, my grip on Erza tighter than ever before. She wrapped one of her arms around me, the other slowly petting my short hair.

"What happened, Kiera?" She softly wondered aloud.

I didn't know how to answer the question. It seemed everything would just sound far-fetched, perhaps even a flatout lie which was everything I was trying to avoid right now. Laxus had been right about it. I've manipulated these people, those I liked to call friends, far too often and the last thing I needed was to hurt them more than before.

Wait...

That was it!

My friends! The answer was right in my face the whole time. I've always been a mage of Fairy Tail, I lived for my friends, my family. I only embraced this ideology when it was convenient, never really trying to think of it as more than dribble spouted out by an overly enthusiastic little girl who wanted to start a mage guild. This message was a beacon for those who had lost their way, those like me. It gave them a purpose, an objective to strive for, a reason to better themselves. It filled in the gap that was left by what I lived. I've been in a guild that gave my life purpose the entire time bit I had been too blind to even see it! I had Natsu, Erza, Gray and everyone in the guild. The very shoulder I cried on had long resolved to follow this path. Erza had understood all of this before me, she had embraced this message of friendship, she knew why Fairy Tail was so popular. In fact, everyone probably did but I had been too busy lIving in my own world to care at all. That's why Laxus was wrong about us being merely a guild. That had been why all along.

A fit of giggle came over me, shocking Erza further than before. I must have looked like a train wreck. This had all been so simple. It had taken me barely a minute to understand what I could live for even after all these years of being self-absorbed. The vice grip I held on Erza relented, becoming a small hug now. The red head hesitantly hugged back, at a loss for words. I'd protect everyone. I'd become stronger to keep anyone at bay. It didn't matter if it was Erza's childhood friends or my own brother, it didn't matter the consequences placed upon me, if the good outweighed the bad, I would jump in a heartbeat at the opportunity to do it. I might screw up at first but I had confidence that as long as I kept this objective in my line of sight then I'd succeed. I wouldn't close myself to this world, I wouldn't try to play God, just go with the flow, actually be more than the omnipotent being I thought I was. I didn't need a notebook to decide whether my actions were justified or not, I was more than smart enough to dictate all of it on my own. From now on, I would be an active member of Fairy Tail, perhaps even try to join team Natsu.

I relocated myself, resting my body less on Erza's and more in the couch, keeping her in a sideways hug which merely lasted a couple of seconds before I completely freed her. I had plenty of things to do to prepare for the oncoming action.

"Erza, you wanna spar?" I asked like an excited 10 year old. Finding this purpose was surprisingly exhilarating. It filled me with energy I never knew I had.

"Are you sure you're alright?" My friend questioned.

"Never better!"

"I hope this isn't some trick to have me worry less." Erza glared at me, the glare that made Natsu and Gray quack in their boots so often.

"I have no idea what you're on about." I smiled at her and tugged at the hem of her armor. "C'mon now. Let's go spar somewhere unless you want us to destroy Fairy Hills further than you did last time."

A genuine smile graced her features. She rose to her feet.

"What are we waiting for then?"

With that, we headed towards the forest, hopefully this would be far away enough to not harm anybody. My giddiness contagious, Erza's worries soon faded into nothingness.

I spent the rest of the day sparring with Erza and in the end, although she won every one of them, it didn't irk me as much as I expected. I had a lot of catching up to do. Catching up that I'd gladly do as long as it kept my friends safe.

I wouldn't let myself be blinded by my illusions of grandeur.

Never again.

We should be out of exposition territory for a good while now.

Stuff's gonna be more action-y next chapter. For now, we're done with inner debate and existential crisis. Yes, I like to write stuff like that.

Something irks me about this chapter though so I might come back on it. Don't be surprised if I take it down to rework it a little.

Til next time!