Hello folks! Arana here! Happy New Year! And this story is no longer on hiatus! And why was it on hiatus? No school (where I usually type) and even though I have so much free time I could write like a chapter a day, I haven't had that much muse. Plus, the little muse I have is all about the ending (which I have to say happens all the freaking time) instead of where I need it to focus on. This happened with Gumdrops too. Anyways…

Want to see your OC in the story (maybe)? Well, go check out my profile, and use the base and examples to write out the description.

Hey guys, I want to ask you a favor. If any of you are good at making themes, I wish for you to make one for Challenger. If you need to research her personality and such, go reread Gumdrops, that should help.

Want to make some fan work for the Gumdrops Series? I will allow it! (as long as you make sure to say that I am the original creator of the series) If you want to make a comic, then start with Gumdrops. I would love to see this series reach the hearts of a whole ton of people.

Does anyone remember the game Petpet Park? If you do, and know that it was taken down, then I have some news. There is rumors going about that it will be revived in the summer time. I hope that it is true, as Petpet Park was basically the second multiplayer game (WoW was my first, back when I was like 5-6) and had so many freaking internet firsts for me.

Any now, onto the story (note, this chapter is coming off my brain which is having trouble getting ideas).

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Chapter 10- Veiled Promises

The Veiled Man, otherwise known as Veil, was walking around the Dark World, assessing the damage done by the Fun Festival. Every time he came across a hole in the clouds he would patch it, although, no matter how hard he tried, the sky above the Fun Festival grounds would never bend to his will~most likely a side effect from all the light it gained during his battle with the Four Angels.

Still, he was sure that he was the only creature, besides the odd entities of mutated creatures he had come across (and fixed), to be in the Dark World at the time.

Imagine his surprise when he spotted a strong glow of light over the nearby woods, signaling him that someone else was here. And, judging by the way it was moving about, this person was actively trying to get him to investigate. Which could be a trap, but Veil got a vibe that the glow, although it was particularly strong, belonged to one person.

Turning around, and looking one last time at the slightly ruined village (he would fix that later) Veil snorted and headed into the woods, letting his darkness and that odd glow be his guides. Eventually, he made it to a small, circular clearing, in the middle of which was a tree stump.

And on that stump was a… hard to described with only a few words, actually. It was a person, though.

Seeing as their attire made it hard to distinguish their gender, it was clear that it was some kind of battle armor of some sort. Their face, however, looked like a mutated tree with a face that had a set of glowing eyes. Their shirt was green, plant green, with yellow at the shoulders and near the bottom of the shirt. Likewise was the pants. Their boots, still, had the same look. On the person's lap lay a long staff, one that looked like it belonged in the old ages. Looking back up, he was able to spot a faint outline of dragon like wings, slightly unfolded, coming from the person's back.

For a moment, it seemed that the person was lifeless, but then they spoke.

"Hello, Veiled Man," they said in an oddly genderless voice.

For a moment, Veil was taken aback, before he quickly calmed down. "You wanted to see me, I presume?" He almost startled himself with his own voice, as it was deeper than he remembered it being last he was in his original body.

"The Guardians know of your plans to try and change the fate of the story," the person spoke again, their voice almost sing song, but also betraying the darkness of what Veil could only describe as the voice of a Death Wizard, which surprised him, as Death Wizards were in the world of another multiverse, one that never collided with this multiverse at all. How did they get here?

"The Guardians?" Veil asked, oddly confused.

"Those who protect this story by the order of the Creator's hand are Guardians," the person answered, gripping their staff and standing up, digging the butt of the staff into the ground to slightly steady them. Obviously an experienced Death Wizard, as they shifted their other hand to a small pouch on their hip, as a slight shifting sound of a box of cards was slightly heard. "I am one, after all, and I have come to warn you. Do not try to write the story your way, or else the Creator shall have to take… imposing measures."

Raising a veiled brow, Veil could only hold back his amusement at this person, as it was clear that they were but a child, standing only at his chest at most. Were they trying to be intimidating? "And why would I not do what a good villain does?" he managed to say, his laughter hard to control.

The person stared at him before lifting their staff and then bringing the butt of it back down to the ground, creating a magical field around them. They quickly drew a card, bringing it up, and Veil could only watch as it burned away into dust.

And then watch as a giant, skeletal drake appeared behind the person, it's soulless eyes looking down at him with a sense of wanting to smack him into the ground.

After a moment of awkward silence, the dark dissolved into dust, and the card appeared once more in the person's hand, which was then replaced in its deck. "Do not try me, as I may look like a child, but I am stronger than you." And then, they, too, dissolved into dust, leaving Veil baffled and all the more wanting to take things into his own hands.

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Once again, Veil was roaming about the village, fixing up the houses and shops, when he heard a rustling not too far from him, causing him to stop. A slight glow was above a nearby park, making him raise a brow in momentary confusion, and then he was off towards it.

Once he was in the park, he was slightly shocked to see a small, blue, dog-like creatures rushing about, yipping with excitement, before it stopped, and looked right at him, it's tail twitching. Quickly, it jumped onto a nearby table, a wide smile on it's face.

"And what do you want?" Veil asked, amusement unfavorably bubbling up in him (he wanted to keep this thing as a pet for some odd reason).

"For you to not be such a big meany pants!" the creature yipped, startling Veil out of his train of thought. "We Guardians want you to be a good person, you know? But we can't change you, and the Creator is having trouble rewriting you because your code is being buggy and~" this went on for a few moments, the creature, who was obviously a female of it's kind, ranting on about how the "Guardians" and the "Creator" wanted to make him a good guy, but can't because of his odd code. After a moment, the creature panted out, "I am so not used to this, why can't I have a different job…" Her ear perked, as she listened to the wind. "Oh, OK then."

Turning back to him, the creature smiled. "We have decided to let you change yourself for the better~" and then she took out a list from out of nowhere, shoving it into Veil's hands, "~so keep this in mind!" And with that, she dissolved into dust, leaving Veil to only wonder at his fate.

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OK, it's been awhile since I put one of these little notes down here. Anyways, there are some references here. Let's start with the two guests!

Shanna Daisywalker: She's one of my Wizard 101 characters, and my highest level. Although, I do not play the game any longer, I had a lot of fun on it. If you knew me on the game, send me a little PM on who you played as (I am kinda hoping for Rachel and Richard to see this, as I would like to be back in contact with them XD)

Krystalise: My Petpet Park character, and one who will probably be recreated if Petpet Park gets rebooted. She, of course, is a blue Pinixy. If you ever played it and saw me, then hello! I hope this finds you well!

And now, onto the harder ones (that I kinda made?)

Shanna is strong than Veil: She basically referenced the song Stronger Than You from Steven Universe.

Shanna is a Death Wizard: Being a Death Student was one of my favorite classes of Wizard 101, as and boy did I have a lot of fun on that game!

Krystalise's personality: Heavily based on Pinkie Pie and her antics. Like, how she pulled out a list from no where!

The skeleton dragon: This is a literal card in Wizard 101 and it's a pretty powerful Death card.

The two Guardians dissolving into dust: This ability is given to all of the Guardians, seeing as they need to get from place to place quick and easy, as well as in a way that they cannot be harmed.

And that's that!

~Arana

P.S. I am sorry that I didn't post for a while!