Chapter 14 | A Link of Revelations

Sachiyo took a hidden bridge to enter Ito territory, dangerous lands decorated by forty-foot waterfalls and steep rocky trails. The surface beneath her feet was slick from the spray of water, making it difficult to descend but not impossible. Once the trails disappeared, Sachiyo traversed the waterfalls by memory. Among the Uchiha, she was the only shinobi to make the crossing safely and return alive. The Ito were notoriously discreet with a preference of offering their services to unknown but difficult jobs where they were guaranteed anonymity. They were the world's best assassins and because of it, they were at the center of all shinobi clan's most desirable allies list.

As she neared the arched entrance of their isolated village behind a sheet of water rolling from above, she sensed the kunai driving through the air. It stabbed into nearby stone, forcing her to stop. She saw the nearly invisible thread wrapped around its handle and followed it to the man standing across the ravine dressed in deep greens that camouflaged him to the mossy rock faces. He eyed her suspiciously upon recognition.

"Sachiyo of the Uchiha clan," he said tentatively, savoring her name on his tongue. He spoke up, his voice booming over the loud crash of the waterfall below. "Why have you trespassed into our territory?"

"I bring a proposition for your leader," she announced loudly, disliking the acoustics in the area. "Take me to him."

A short walk through the tunnel behind the water led them to a wide clearing dotted in sturdy wooden structures over a plane of greenery. Children played noisily in a large field shaded by apricot trees holding spindly tree branches in their hands as they kicked around a patched ball. Groups of women stood gathered around a well with buckets to fill watching as five young shinobi trained in a target range miles away behind the longest structure in all of the Ito clan's enclosed village. Inside that solitary building she would reacquaint herself with the Ito clan's leader, Ito Tomoji, to make an appealing proposition without giving him the chance to refuse.

Sachiyo was escorted into that building and for the rest of the Ito clan it seemed time stopped because they were following her every move until she disappeared behind the building's doors. A warm hallway greeted her and several more cautious shinobi making their way around the hallways watched her, prepared to attack if necessary.

It took longer than she would have liked to reach the staircase that brought her face to face with a matured male with stark white hair and eyes that glowed amber in the flicker of candlelight. He regarded her with a pleasant smile and sent out most of the shinobi gathered around the long table in the center of the landing. The girls seated one on each side of Ito Tomoji started to rise as they exchanged quizzical looks, but he gestured them to stay.

"You've met my daughters, Hibari"—Tomoji gestured to the auburn-haired girl to his right and then to the brown-haired girl on his left with a pleasantness Sachiyo found unnecessary—"and Saori, yes?"

Sachiyo waved a hand dismissively. "I've no need of pleasantries," she stated, seating herself across the table. "We have important matters to discuss, send your children out of the room."

"Go on girls."

Hibari huffed. "You're rude."

Saori rolled her eyes and left the room with her sister trailing behind her with her nose in the air.

As soon as their footsteps disappeared down the staircase, Sachiyo spoke, "Charming girls."

"Yes, they are," he said smoothly, running a hand over his head. "Of course, you're here on different business. I heard the great Uchiha clan is in chaos."

"News travels quickly," she acknowledged, keeping her tone professional. "Then you know exactly why I have come."

"I assumed you might," Tomoji replied, leaving his seat to pace about the area. "But alas, you have nothing I want. Your trip was futile." He paused at the window, pushing apart the dark curtains that shielded the room from sunlight and peered outside. "You came alone again. Quite arrogant of you."

"I am but an old woman who has already finished her duty in this world, I do not fear death," she said simply, folding her hands over her lap. "But the same cannot be said about yourself. Should you be speaking to me alone? All your precious guards have wandered off and even those in hiding would perish at a flick of my finger."

The curtains swished back into place as he turned to her with an eerie smile. "Well said."

He leaned against the wall beside the window and finally met her gaze. "Indulge me then," he challenged, folding his arms over his chest. "Make this worth the suicide mission."

"It is true," she began, swallowing her pride as she faced the situation head-on. She was practically begging for the Ito clan to make an alliance with one part of her broken clan. "The Uchiha clan is at the brink of dissolution without Eijiro and once it is broken, an internal war will begin. This is inevitable. I need allies; leaders that I can trust will help me subdue the uprising so that my clan can start anew under a different rule."

"Yours?"

"Not mine," she corrected. "For my grandchildren."

"Ah, yes, the infamous brothers," he drawled with interest. "I have heard quite a bit about them. Strong as they come with so much chakra and double the potential. The shinobi world has not seen a pair come together like that since the Senju brothers."

"At the dawn of the new era, you may want potential like theirs on your side," she remarked, feeding off his interest. Anyone would be stupid to turn down such a tempting offer, though the new era she spoke of was nowhere near in sight with the ever-worsening conflicts within the shinobi world. Even the castle lords and their noble friends were starting to worry their world was in danger of barbaric wars and were raising armies of their own to defend against the worst of their kind. "But I would understand it if you don't. You may be my first choice in allies, but not my last. The Kuronuma clan seems interested in—"

"You would disturb the Sacred clan with such a proposition?" he asked offensively. "Let them enjoy their neutrality and leave war to the prospering clans."

"I have no need to disturb them," she said placidly, observing the changes in his expression. "Kuronuma Musashi reached out to me, expressing his interest of an alliance."

Tomoji's golden eyes narrowed. "And what do you have that the Kuronuma want?"

"One of their own."

"Impossible," he sneered. "They never leave Mt. Hyōga—wouldn't dream of it. How would you have one of their own?"

"Because she's more Uchiha than Kuronuma," she explained. "Have you not heard of Genji's daughter?"

"Mio," he whispered the name. He approached the table, seating himself across her and leaned over on his elbows, enthusiasm brimming in his golden stare. "Yes, I have heard of Mio. There are whispers of that girl."

"Kuronuma Musashi wants her to train under a Kuronuma and is willing to make an alliance with the Uchiha clan for her," she continued. "I would not lose a thing in coming here, not if you refused, but you might."

Tomoji frowned. "If I agree to an alliance, would you still approach the Kuronuma clan with that girl?"

"There is strength in numbers, Tomoji-san. Have all these years not taught you that?" she asked. "What with the Uchiha's Sharingan, the Ito clan's assassins, and the Kuronuma's defenses we could become an unstoppable alliance."

Not another minute passed before Ito Tomoji admitted defeat with a deep sigh. Her grandchildren were only the lure; the Kuronuma clan that lived in isolation within the ever-snowing Mt. Hyōga was the seal on the proposition. If the shinobi world wanted an alliance with the Ito clan for being the birthplace of top-grade assassins, they wanted the Kuronuma clan for their impenetrable defenses.

"You can have your alliance on two conditions," he started once more.

"Name them."

"One of your grandsons for one of my daughters. He can have his pick," he said. "This is for my clan's sake. It won't be simple to orchestrate an alliance with a clan like the Uchiha without an ulterior motive, so let our clans unite through marriage."

"Easy enough," she said, willing to take the sacrifice for the benefit of the clan and the idea that the Ito were the perfect allies for upcoming warfare. "And the second?"

"Have you heard of the Motou clan?"

Sachiyo brushed a stray hair from her face. "No. I have not," she lied, but he knew it. The Motou clan caused a lot of trouble thirty-seven years ago during her youth and their war had nearly cost the life of her best friend, but the conflicts were resolved when the Sun Temple shinobi vacated Uchiha territory for an island east of the Lightning Country.

"They specialize in sealing jutsu, much like the Uzumaki clan, but they are more attuned to darker arts," he said eerily and willing to humor her. "They are a small religious people."

"You want an alliance?" she asked, cutting to the point.

"Not if they are unwilling." He shook his head, still smiling that mysterious smile of his. "I want their country."

"Then you will have it," Sachiyo agreed. "So, do we have an alliance?"

Tomoji nodded. "I'll inform the Elders and I'll have someone escort you out." He paused. "I'm sure you have to relay the news."

Izuna took the same route he imagined Madara and Mio had from the campsite at the border where Eijiro's remaining men were preparing to move Eijiro's body back to the compound to confirm everyone's suspicions. Izuna talked them into waiting another day before making any decisions while the medic patched up the wound on his side. He reached the compound in half a day, coming face-to-face with the entire clan and the realization that he never noticed there were so many Uchiha until he saw them all in one place. None of them looked particularly happy about the situation and many questioned him about Eijiro's state of health, all questions he couldn't answer so he didn't.

He pushed through the thickest group of shinobi, careful not to upset anyone, and reached the entrance. The inside was teeming with most shinobi he could name on sight and behind a trio of spies, he recognized a few of his father's men. He headed straight for the Elders' building where he heard the unpleasant sound of Taiga and his father in the middle of a heated debate, the secondary voices that spouted from the buzz were a mix of Hiryuu, Konoe, a choice remark from Hikaku, and Madara. Hearing Madara's voice was a necessary relief because it meant he and Mio were fine and that he had panicked for no apparent reason.

The council room was divided. He searched the crowded room without anyone spotting him. His father stood with his back to the entrance, Taiga across him and Mio behind him. Madara was beside her, holding her wrist in a vise grip. Konoe was in the middle of staking her claim to Mio after something Madara said to incense her whereas the bold men in the party were spouting threats and telling the rest of the clan that Eijiro was dead.

In the middle of the buzz, Mio lifted her gaze to him. She was the first to notice him, the first to try speaking out to him but as soon as her lips parted to do so, she shied away from it. She turned her face, unable to look at him and the guilt came rushing back inside him. The way he had spoken to her at Eijiro's campsite, he should have never done it. He regretted it now.

"I will take whoever I wish," Tajima announced, whirling around to do as he stated when he froze. His expression changed. "Izuna? Why are you here? You're supposed to be with your grandmother."

"I came alone," he said quickly. "I needed to make sure—I needed to make sure everything was fine."

"It will be." Tajima turned to his eldest son. "Madara, come. Bring the girl."

"The girl stays," snapped Konoe. "She is my niece."

Taiga cackled. "Now she's your niece?"

"This is none of your business."

He smiled, thoroughly amused. "Not my business. I beg to differ. She is my business," he started. "She's coming with me."

"The hell she will," snapped Madara, dragging Mio across the room.

Konoe reached out to grab Mio, but she jerked away before her aunt could lay a hand on her. Madara pushed her in front of him as the room grew rowdier with Konoe's protests. Hiryuu attempted to calm her, but she refused to let Mio go with anyone that wasn't herself and Izuna remembered what his grandmother had said. If Mio went with Konoe he might never see her again and if he did, it'd be dead.

Tajima dismissed them as the arguments escalated, the subject of Mio crushed under the weight of others that would irreparably split the clan.

Together, they crept towards the backroom in terse silence. Mio wouldn't look at him and Madara was too angry to talk. Izuna hated that he was the cause of it all, but he didn't think a simple apology would fix things. Even so, he wanted to try.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I was irritated and sleepy and I wasn't thinking when I insulted you."

"Well you should have considered that before you insulted me," grumbled Madara.

Mio forced Madara to stop when they reached the staircase. "Listen to him!"

Madara snapped around. "I am listening! He's the one that started it!"

"Then end it," she said strongly. "You're brothers. End it."

"Stay out of it. You don't know anything."

"You hit me," Izuna reminded.

Madara halted on the first step, turning once more with a vicious look on his face.

Mio's free hand was on his arm. "Madara…"

With a growl, he released Mio and started up the staircase. "Fine! But I'm not doing this because you asked!"

Mio ran to Izuna in a rush, throwing her arms around his neck. He flinched, feeling pain shoot up his side where he received the wound, and she pulled away to see that she hurt him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," she murmured. "Are you okay?"

Izuna smiled. He suddenly felt better. "I'll be fine. I already had it treated."

He accompanied her upstairs to the room she and Madara had been sharing since they arrived at the compound. Inside, he told them all about his grandmother's plans of making an alliance with the Ito clan to ensure the power split left them the option of reclaiming the Uchiha members that chose to follow the others. They would need strong allies for coercion. And then, he told them about how the Mikazuki clan had trapped him and his group on his way to the Waterfall County. He detailed the experience as best as he was able, watching Mio's expression darken as he explained the scenario, and when he talked about the female spy that was killed by the Mikazuki with the mark on his back before they spared the rest of them she had a strong reaction.

"Are you saying they're looking for Mio?" asked Madara in complete disbelief.

Mio wiped furious tears from her eyes. "That's stupid."

"I don't know that they're looking for Mio, I just noticed that they killed the female spy that looked a lot like Mio." Izuna didn't know how to stop her from crying, didn't know if he should try because she looked more angry than sad. "They're strange, Madara. Unreadable. My Sharingan was useless."

Madara made a face. "That's impossible."

"You said the same thing about the Kuronuma clan's black water and we know how that turned out."

Madara frowned deeply. The mere mention of the Demon clan put him out of sorts since they returned home from Kurata. He hated the subject but most importantly hated the shame that burned him since he was defeated by them. The Kuronuma he faced that day were the first opponents he couldn't beat, and like the Mikazuki clan, the Sharingan did not work well on them either. Although, Madara confessed to have tried using it against them, he never saw a change in their movements before they attacked and, as Mio warned, genjutsu didn't work on them either because of some unknown Kekkei Genkai they possessed.

"Do you know anything about the Mikazuki clan?" asked Izuna, turning to Mio. "You must have been curious at some point."

Mio shifted uncomfortably. "Jouji gave me reports on Mikazuki related incidents with several shinobi clans."

"So they're not limited to attacking the Uchiha clan?" Madara sneered, arms crossed.

"Sharingan users are their preferred targets. With Eijiro's death, they've killed at least fourteen Uchiha in the last seven years," she answered. "But yes, they aren't limited to attacking the Uchiha clan. They singlehandedly destroyed the Towa clan."

"The what clan?" asked Madara.

"Exactly."

He shot her a bothered look.

"Well, do you know anything particular about them? I couldn't even sense them," Izuna pressed.

Mio shook her head. "The reports were the same. It could be a number of things, but at this point your guess is as good as mine."

"What about the fact that they might be looking for Mio?" started Madara. "What do they want with her?"

"They killed female Uchiha spy, that doesn't automatically narrow it down to me," said Mio, rubbing her eyes over the scratchy fabric of her sleeve. "It's a coincidence."

"But that man, Mio," Izuna continued, remembering the sharp green eyes that rooted him to his place. "He was the—"

"It was a coincidence," she said, silencing him. She rose from her seat, excusing herself. "I'm going to make sure Sako and Minako are okay."

Madara left his seat and approached the window, casting his brother a quizzical look. "What was that about?"

"About her parents," Izuna answered truthfully. "About the fact that I think I saw the man that killed them and she doesn't want to talk about it."

Madara glanced out the window, taking in the sight of many restless Uchiha. "You should already be used to that," he said dismissively. "She's been like that since she first came to live with us."

Izuna nodded. His brother was right. It took a complete year before Mio started opening up to him and much longer still before she talked about her nightmares and even that was a long process. He was sure she still hadn't finished telling him the whole truth about that night. Perhaps, she didn't remember how it all happened well enough to tell the story fluidly. She had different scenes in her head at different times and it was up to her to decide what was real and what wasn't. As curious as he was about it all, he never pressed the subject. It didn't seem right.

He leaned against the wall and sighed, closing his eyes now that he was in the presence of his brother where he felt secure enough to doze off. In seconds, he felt the gentle pull of sleep.

"We can't let Konoe take Mio." Izuna searched the room for any trace of Madara in a sleepy daze and found him in the corner with his face pressed to the wall sleeping with his mouth open. "Madara!"

His older brother didn't budge, only continued breathing deeply—sleeping like the dead.

Izuna rubbed his eyes, wishing he could continue sleeping but there was a ruckus outside of bickering men and skirmishes among old comrades. He wondered if everyone stopped arguing in the council room about what they planned to do with the rest of the clan. It was the sort of argument that could go on for days with mild-tempered people, but the Uchiha had fire in their veins and it could take a second for a conversation to turn violent. He would have noticed if that happened, which meant Taiga walked out of the argument.

He left his seat to walk his drowsiness off and hoped to find someone that could update him on the situation, mainly Mio who hadn't returned to the room since she left it earlier. The sun had set since then and the quarters behind the council room were surprisingly silent.

He crossed paths with Taiga's wife, the blond civilian with the cheery disposition and asked her about Mio.

"I saw her talking to Jouji-sama earlier," Sako said lightly. "I haven't seen her since then."

Izuna thanked her and continued his way through the council room, which now seemed deserted save the presence of an older Uchiha that had long since gone blind. He greeted him and asked if he knew where Mio had gone.

"The kitchen I believe."

He left the room for the kitchens downstairs and reached the entrance hearing the soft clatter of plates. He reached to slide open the door when Mio's voice emerged from within, a soft deadened tone. "I haven't said a thing."

Izuna froze, drawing his arm back to his side.

Heavy footsteps paced behind the closed doors and he could almost imagine whoever they belonged to walking behind the counters.

"You know enough." Hiryuu? Izuna's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "You learn more every day and soon you'll know too much." It is Hiryuu! He wanted to storm in there, but the conversation continued and he remained in place. "You are a nuisance to me, Mio. Your parents were a nuisance to me."

"And we both know what happened to them," she whispered harshly. "But I'm not prying. I'm just doing my job."

"I gave you the better option," he said reproachfully. "Accept your aunt's invitation, leave Sachiyo's side and come to mine. Gouki is very interested in you, in meeting you, in understanding you."

Hiryuu's footsteps stopped and Mio's breath hitched. Izuna's hand balled into fists in trepidation. He shouldn't even let Hiryuu be in the same room as Mio, yet he couldn't more.

"W-Will he kill me too?" she asked tremulously. "Will you ask him to kill me like he did them?"

Them?

"Perhaps," drawled Hiryuu with humor in his tone. "But perhaps, it isn't his aim to kill you like he did your parents. I asked him to do whatever he wanted with you and that can mean a range of things for a young girl like you."

Izuna slid the door open quietly to a scene he wished to burn from his memory of Hiryuu boxing Mio against a wall where she stood helpless with glassy eyes. Hiryuu's hand was fisted in her hair, twisted in it, and his face was disturbingly close to hers—too intimate, too frightening. Izuna tasted bile in his mouth as he reached for the kunai in his holster and in unseen rage, threw them at the wall with an expert hand.

The four kunai stabbed into the wood, lined perfectly, each sitting a mere inch from Hiryuu's arm. He missed on purpose, but when he reached for the next one, he knew that wouldn't be the case. Mio's eyes were bigger than he had ever seen them, looking straight at him, who was reflecting a similar fury to the one he experience at the campsite, except this was worse. He could taste the difference on his tongue, feel the change in his veins as his blood boiled.

He didn't misinterpret anything by the shocked look on Mio's face. Hiryuu ordered the Mikazuki shinobi to kill Mio's parents and sent him off once more, this time to do as he pleased with her. Everything made perfect sense in light of these revelations. Hiryuu hated her from the moment he first laid eyes on her, warning Izuna and Madara about her manipulations, and constantly going to Sachiyo to claim she had made a terrible mistake in picking up Genji and Kikyo's orphan because he had been the one to send their killer. Mio lived. She lived and she knew he was guilty. He knew that she witnessed the murder with the probable knowledge that he must have sent them.

Izuna wasn't sure what made him angrier, Hiryuu hiring the Mikazuki band of murderers to kill Uchiha for who knows what reason or Mio knowing and saying nothing. It could have been both.

In the instant it took for his Sharingan to activate and the hand gestures to start for a particularly decimating fire jutsu, he didn't care about the dozen other Uchiha on standby outside or that Hiryuu looked ready to defend against his attack with something much stronger.

Mio shoved past Hiryuu. The Elder threw an arm out to grab her by the back of the shirt but missed. She rushed at Izuna and rammed into him, throwing him to the ground with her body, stopping him before he released the attack. Her hands found his face and held on, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Izuna, don't."

Izuna felt no pain when he hit the ground but he did when he heard the supplication in her voice. She sounded so revoltingly desperate for a man worth trash.

"Please."

"He killed your parents!" he shouted, pushing her hands from his face. "He is the reason they're dead! He's the reason you've suffered and you want to do nothing!"

Behind her, Hiryuu laughed.

"Shut up!" snapped Izuna, shoving against her to get back on his feet to stop the elder before he left the kitchen. "I'll have you killed! I'll do it myself—"

"Izuna stop," she begged, struggling to keep him down. "Leave him. Unless killing him brings them back, I don't see the point of revenge. It's useless."

Izuna lay flattened on the floor, stunned. "It's useless?" he questioned, feeling the worst of his anger roll under a wave of surprising calm. "How is it useless? How can you not want to avenge them?"

Mio swallowed down all trace of emotion in her face, but she struggled with the tremors. "I tried once," she admitted, lifting her body onto a seat. She rubbed her face. "He nearly killed me if Taiga had—"

He rose to his feet, every terrible emotion coming back to him. She scrambled onto hers, calling out to him persistently as he made his way through the same hallways and rooms that led him there from the start until he finally made it up the staircase. He burst into the room upstairs, startling Madara awake. Mio hadn't reached the landing yet.

Madara narrowed his gaze. "Izuna, you're bleeding."

Izuna touched his side and felt his shirt had absorbed most of it. He heard droplets hitting the ground and felt the warm trickle of it sliding down his hip. He felt the physical pain now.

"That doesn't matter. Look, I just found out that Hiryuu sent the Mikazuki shinobi to Mio's house six years ago. He had her parents killed and she doesn't want to do anything about it," he said furiously. "She wants to let him live. She doesn't want revenge."

Madara looked over his shoulder to where he assumed Mio was standing. He seemed oddly unimpressed. "Why would she?" he said snidely. "She's barely felt it."

Izuna turned to her as she took a shuddering breath. "Just because I didn't cry over it or never wanted to talk about it or that I never made an effort to avenge them doesn't mean I'm okay that they died," she said strongly, looking from the eldest brother to the youngest with a narrowed stare. "I'm not okay and I won't be for a very long time."

She ran out of sight, her footsteps disappearing down the staircase.

"See?" called Madara, drawing his brother's attention. "She barely felt it."

Izuna grabbed his brother by the collar and punched him across the face without warning. "You're an asshole!"

Madara flared, bolting back onto his feet. "It's just Mio!"

"It's not just Mio! She's everything!" Izuna blurted. "She's important. So stop treating her like she isn't. She's been with us for six years."

"So? The old hag brought her in so she'd be a slave to us," Madara spat. "It just so happens she turned out useful in her parents' trade, else she'd be at home cleaning our rooms and serving our dinner."

"She's my friend!"

Madara grabbed him by the shoulders. "For how long?"

The question took him aback. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes burned. "How long, Izuna?"

Izuna didn't understand and his brother saw the confusion in his eyes. He shoved him back forcefully.

"A girl like Mio isn't worth the trouble," Madara went on heatedly. "Stop investing your feelings on her and start using her for what she is. She's a spy and she works for us. She isn't our friend or family, she's our tool. She will live and die by that and she won't ever see you the way you wish she did."

"She's not a tool, she's our friend, and when you start seeing that you'll regret being such an asshole to her."

Izuna stormed out of the room, prepared to search the compound for Mio to apologize for the stupid things Madara said and because he wanted to know if there was more to Hiryuu's involvement with the Mikazuki clan. Did he hire them to kill Genji and Kikyo out of spite or was there a deeper reason? How long had he known about the Mikazuki? Was it possible he asked them to kill Eijiro as well?

Hiryuu was a conniving snake, he knew that already, but he didn't think he was so twisted as to attack his own clan members.

But wasn't that what Mio had done. On their way back from Kurata, Madara said Mio had killed some of their clan members during the trip, people that were her targets and he didn't understand why she had to do that sort of thing.

Izuna shook his head. He reached his limit and he wanted answers more than he wanted to comfort Mio. He needed to know.

xl: Happy President's Day America. To everyone else, this is actually up on Monday instead of Wednesday because I'm going to have a busy week and it's impossible to tell whether or not I'll be able to update properly. And since it seems Redesign is winning the poll again, I'll be posting the next chapter...probably tomorrow, but no promises, the editing process is going to kick my butt.

Speaking of which, there's a scene in the following chapter that I've been dying to write since I started this story and now that I'm finally writing it, I feel very inadequate about it. It's one of those scenes I wish I had written out of order when I wanted to instead of waiting for the scene to actually come up because the image is a little blurry in my head now. It's the reason why the editing is going to own me. Everything else is awesome though.

I also didn't want to post a preview to the next chapter because I was entitled to no nonsense, so it's all pretty spoilery stuff. So go, go off and get spoiled. (I started adding links to the previews on my profile, have you noticed it yet? I don't think I pointed that out here and if I did, just ignore me).

On other news, I'd like to thank these wonderful people, Dusk Nisshoku Valentine, YamiKitsuneKami, and Aries01xD, for reviewing the previous chapter and pretty much the continued support. It always nice to know you're out there reading this story, strange as it is. So thank you very much. :)

Thank you to all my silent readers as well and all those nice people who have favorited/alerted this story.

I'll see you all in 24 to 36 hours with the last chapter to this mini-arc. I should have probably waited for that chapter to have a moment, but I watched Revenge and it broke my heart. I'm still healing.