Spyro and Drachen stood out the front of the kids' room, staring into it as the hatchlings slept. A couple of days had passed since the Dark Overlord last bothered looking inside the room, but he decided that it was finally time to begin bringing the children onto his side, starting off with one to make sure that the process worked. He wouldn't call it corruption, more like empowerment and enlightening.
The Dark Overlord turned to Drachen, a neutral expression on his face. "It's been a couple of weeks. Do you think we're ready to give this a shot?" he asked.
"Yeah, I reckon so. Best to do it now than to wait too long. They're starting to get a bit boisterous now too, so we don't want them to become mischievous and rebellious," Drachen replied. "We've got a lot to get through, so it will take a while, especially since we don't know how much magic this will take. May as well get started now."
"Fair point. We can easily get them back into place since they are just kids, but we don't need the extra distractions. Alright, let's go in and pick one."
With that, the two dragons walked into the room of sleeping children, careful not to disturb them all. As Spyro looked around, his eyes snapped towards the young purple dragon in the corner of the room, his throat constricting, before he huffed and looked away, scanning his eyes over the red, yellow, cyan and green bodies that scattered the ground.
A soft, yet harsh whisper from Drachen caught Spyro's attention, and the Dark Overlord turned towards him. Drachen's black scales made him blend into the dark surroundings, his bright purple eyes and glistening teeth standing out. Spyro made his way to the black dragon, looking down at the child lying down at his paws, curled up in a ball and snoring softly. He was a small red dragon, about the age of two. Despite his young age and small form, he still appeared somewhat bulky and strong. He would definitely grow into a strong young dragon.
"I think this kid could be a good first run," Drachen whispered. "If it works, then we'll be in a really good starting point for the Assassin Corps."
"Yes, he looks like he'll grow to be a strong dragon. He'll be useful," Spyro said. "And if it works for him, then we can really start to pick this thing up. I'm sure once we get this ritual downpacked, we can be a lot more efficient and successful with it, similar to the sentience transferral."
With that, Drachen bent down and picked up the red hatchling in his jaws, grabbing him by the scruff. As they began to walk out however, the child began to wake up, the act of being picked up rousing him. Spyro cursed under his breath as he saw the child squirm, knowing this would not go well.
The fire dragon looked up, and upon noticing who was holding him, he let out a frightened cry, swinging his tiny paws about in an attempt to slap Drachen, but his stubby arms were too short. A few groggy groans filled the room as the other kids woke up from the noise, before it turned into a cacophony of cries and screams. Some of the kids stayed in their place, curled up in fear, while others ran backwards, pressing themselves up against the wall, away from Spyro and Drachen. A small few who were more boisterous and aggressive ran up and started punching and clawing with their tiny claws at Spyro and Drachen's feet, which did nothing more than leave a couple scratches that barely bled.
The two grown dragons paid them no attention, kicking out here and there to push the kids away from them, before they walked out of the room. Spyro cranked a dial in the wall and a see-through orange wall appeared in the door, stopping them from getting past. The fire dragon hanging from Drachen's jaws continued to scream and thrash about.
"Get him chained up. I need to go see Tenedaris," Spyro ordered, before leaving immediately, not bothering to check if Drachen acknowledged him and obeyed, which he did.
The Dark Overlord walked quickly through the rocky corridors, before making his way into the small library, which was essentially Tenedaris' study. Dark tomes covered the book shelves, and many pieces of parchment with notes scribbled on them were scattered over the desk, where the old electric dragon sat at, reading a book with the most downcast expression on his face.
"Tenedaris," Spyro boomed, causing the dragon in question to jump.
"Uhhh, M-M-Master S-Spyro! What's the matter?" Tenedaris stammered, believing he was in trouble. "I-I-I'm just researching more on dark matter, j-j-just like you asked me to."
"Yes, that can wait for a bit. Grab me the book about corruption."
"Okay, my lord. I will…" Tenedaris said quickly, before pausing slightly. "You're starting it today?"
"Yes."
Tenedaris stammered as he stood, rushing to the shelves to find the tome Spyro wanted. He fumbled around for a bit, accidentally dropping two books. They landed on the ground, and a low growl from behind Tenedaris alerted him that Spyro was upset. Spyro didn't even need words to convey his threat: 'Be quick, be efficient, don't make a mess, and give me the book now.'
The yellow dragon finally found the book, quickly turning around and rushing towards Spyro. The Dark Overlord took the book, glaring down at Tenedaris, who shrunk away, making Spyro seem even bigger. Tenedaris wasn't sure if he had escaped punishment yet; he had been beaten up and clawed before, and he wasn't keen on having it happen again.
Spyro just scoffed and turned, walking out of the room. "Clean up your mess and then get back to work, you lazy maggot," the purple dragon growled.
"Y-y-y-yes, Master S-S-Spyro!" Tenedaris called and the scrabbling of claws on rock announced Spyro that the old dragon had run towards the books on the floor to pick them up.
Spyro made his way back through the rocky corridors of Dark Peak, hoping that this would work. He didn't want this to fail. The type of rituals he was doing were tricky, and often took a lot from him, demanding a lot of magic and energy to complete it, especially creating a whole army of not just one species of dragon, but two. There was another on the way. The sentience transferral wasn't easy too; moving sentience from one brain to another was very complicated and very taxing. Hopefully, this wouldn't be the same, although Spyro wouldn't be surprised if it was.
As he got closer, he could hear the sound of soft, juvenile weeping, and a claw tapping impatiently on the ground. "I said 'be quiet', whelp," Drachen growled.
"I'm trying, I'm trying," the hatchling cried.
Spyro turned the corner to see Drachen's large form looming over the tiny red dragon, chained up on top of a large, wide pedestal that only reached halfway up the black dragon's neck. He was crying, tears spilling from his bloodshot eyes, curled up in a ball and trying to hide away from Drachen. The hatchling noticed Spyro walk in through his peripheral vision, and he let out a terrified cry, trying to make himself appear even smaller but without prevail. He could only curl up so much.
The purple dragon didn't hesitate and just walked forward, stopping right in front of the youngling, even closer than Drachen had been. Spyro got right up into the youngling's face, who physically paled.
"What's your name, whelp?" Spyro asked, his tone flat and emotionless.
The red dragon didn't answer. He just sat there, shivering, his mouth dry and cheeks drenched in his own tears. He held his breath in an attempt to stop his sobbing.
"Answer me," Spyro demanded, his voice low. It was almost scarier than if he was outright yelling. "What is your name?"
"I-i-i-it's… F… F-F-F…"
"Speak!" Spyro roared, causing the hatchling to let out a frightened shriek.
"It's Flaris! My name is Flaris! Don't kill me please!" he howled.
Spyro straightened his neck, stepping backwards, his expression blank. Flaris wiped his eyes quickly, the chains rattling as he raised his paws to do so.
"Don't worry, Flaris," Spyro said softly, testing the name on his tongue. "We're not going to kill you. No, we've got better plans for you."
"B-b-b-better? What do you mean by that?" Flaris inquired, his voice small and shaky, nervous that asking a question would result in him getting hit. Spyro's emotions were already unpredictable.
"Well first, you'll be alive. Second of all, I'm going to enlighten you. Empower you. Strengthen you and let your element grow."
"But… why would you do that?"
"Because you're going to work for me, Flaris," Spyro explained, and Flaris' expression fell with dread, his heart skipping a beat at the second usage of his name.
"But… I don't want to… I don't want to work for someone as mean as you."
"The way I see it, you have no choice," Spyro replied, exposing his teeth as his lips pulled back in a hideous grin. "But you will be helping many lives. You may also be taking some, but that's just what a job like this entails."
"I'm only two! You can't make me do something like that!"
"But I can," Spyro said with a gulp, as he suddenly realised this was exactly what happened to Cynder. It didn't matter; she didn't matter. And children were easily manipulated, and their brains were still developing; they'd adapt and cling onto his cause quickly, and the added dark energy will make them stronger and less childish.
Flaris opened his mouth to rebut, but thought better of it and closed it. He did not want to get on Spyro's bad side; he already knew that was a very bad idea.
Spyro then sighed, sitting next to Drachen and placing the tome he was holding down in front of him and opening the pages. Flipping the pages quickly, he finally found the one he was looking for: the words to the ritual. He read it over a few times, his lips moving silently as he mouthed the ancient draconic words, before he took a sigh, closed his eyes, lifted his head and puffed out his chest.
His paws began to glow with a sinister purple glow, as did his eyes, a thin purple glow breaking through from between his eyelids. A low rumbling filled the room, and the sound of incoherent whispering began to fill their ears. Spyro opened his mouth, and foreign, ancient words began to leave them.
"Ugraa doragnol rega spa'gil torm graav. Sretha, spa porro, spa oppro nog spa siiga. Jivoth thu zarga sett oogrol nog daargu, nog lon spee gil jeg brin sett doragnol. Rev beeja gil gyaar, nog jivoth thu zard gil lon grovil'vet morg."
A surge of purple energy was expelled from Spyro's paws in large, wavy wisps, snaking towards the pedestal. The runes on the pedestal began to glow with the same purple energy, and a low warbling began to emit from it. Flaris began to whimper in fear, tugging at the shackles and chains he was locked in, but it was of no use.
Suddenly a blinding purple beam shot out of the pedestal, engulfing Flaris in the light. The youngling let out a long, ear-piercing shriek, pain flaring up all throughout his body. Drachen just stared, watching the scene in front of him in awe, while Spyro concentrated, dark energy ebbing from him.
Flaris' screaming continued on and on, his tiny body invisible, engulfed by the purple beam. It didn't take long however, for a silhouette to start showing through the light, growing bigger, convulsing and thrashing about. Not too long after, Flaris took a breath, loud, hoarse and shaky, before he screamed again. This time, his voice cracked, several times, switching incessantly between harsh intervals and pitches.
The fire dragon paused again, taking another hoarse breath, before a third scream tore out of his lungs, this time being more akin to a deep, bellowing roar. Flaris' silhouette continued to grow bigger and bigger, massive horns sprouting out his head, claws and teeth growing longer and sharper, his snout extending, wings growing.
Flaris' loud roar continued to grow in volume, droning on in one breath, before he finally stopped, slumping over on the pedestal. The purple beam dissipated, exposing the large dragon that was now Flaris.
His scales were a dark, rusty red. Five long, golden horns sprouting out of the top of his head like a crown, blood streaming from them and down his face from the excessive amounts of bone and keratin being forced out of his skull faster than it should have. His paws and wing blades were also stained with blood from this. Bright, piercing crimson eyes opened, and his lips parted to show large, sharp teeth, blood oozing from the gums.
With a low growl, Flaris lifted himself up to stand, large muscles rippling under his scales. He flexed and yanked his arms up, snapping the chains that held him to the pedestal. Sinister, golden markings painted his forehead, back, shoulders and pelvis, in a similar manner to Cynder's markings.
Spyro sighed, opening his eyes and raising his haunches off the ground to stand. Purple mist rose from his eyes and paws, before dissipating slowly. He walked up to the large red dragon standing before him, and had to hold back a choke when he saw the markings on Flaris. He fought away the image of Cynder. Once Cynder was out of his mind, he was able to admire Flaris for the weapon he now was.
"Oh ancestors, aren't you… beautiful," Spyro chuckled. "You will be a force to be reckoned with, I can guarantee it."
Flaris didn't respond; all he did was stare at Spyro. Crimson eyes met crimson. They stared for a few seconds before Flaris closed his eyes and lowered his head, as if bowing to Spyro. Instinctively, Spyro puffed out his chest. Flaris then raised his head, looking back at the Dark Overlord.
"Welcome, Flaris, to the Assassin Corps. You are the first of many that will join. You will now work under me, as well as Drachen," Spyro said, gesturing to the black dragon behind him, who stepped forward. "Drachen will be in charge of the Assassin Corps, so you will directly answer to him, but should I step in, you listen to me."
"Understood, my lord," Flaris acknowledged with a nod, his deep voice rumbling.
"Great. Anyway, I think it's time for some training to get you started off," Spyro said, before turning to Drachen. "Take him out of those shackles; we're done with those."
Drachen stepped forward and got to work taking Flaris' limbs out from the shackles binding him to the pedestal that he was now too big to stand on, the shackles on his front legs already disconnected from it, the broken chains hanging down on the ground.
With that, they made their way to the training arena: a massive, empty rocky cave with plenty of room to move about. Flaris made his way into the middle of the room, and Spyro and Drachen made their way to the edge of it. The red dragon stared at Spyro firmly, awaiting his instructions.
"Today, we will be doing two things," Spyro instructed. "First of all, you will be fighting. We are going up against some formidable opponents. Cynder is one powerful dragoness, and the Warfangian Army is getting stronger by the day. You will need to learn how to fight, survive, and kill in battle. Always go for the kill. Do not leave any opponents alive. You will be up against a multitude of enemies similar in skill to that of the Warfangians.
"Second of all you will then make your way through an obstacle course, where we will scatter some slaves around," Spyro continued. "Make your way through the course and kill anyone you find, before they can make a sound. You are an assassin now, so you need to know how to kill quickly, efficiently, and quietly. You will be using live slaves because a simulation can only do so much; you need to know how it feels to actually kill. On top of that, you'll be doing us a favour as part of your training; we have too many slaves to manage, so we need to down a few."
"Understood, Master," Flaris growled with a nod.
"Brilliant. Okay, four soldiers on their way. Get ready."
Four large, bulky soldiers of each element began to materialise in front of Flaris, all stern-faced and ready to fight. Flaris rotated his head around on his neck, a few small cracks coming from it, before a low growl rumbled from his throat.
An earth dragon made the first move, rushing at Flaris with his head down, curled horns pointed in his direction like a battering ram. Flaris raised himself up onto his hind legs, grabbing the earth dragon by the horns as he got into reach. They struggled against each other for no more than two seconds before Flaris overpowered the earth dragon, slamming him down to the ground.
Flaris threw a heavy punch at the earth dragon and raised his claws to slit the dragon's throat, before a bright orange light grabbed his attention, a massive ball of fire coming at him from a fire dragon. He intercepted with his own fire element, and a massive fiery blast erupted as the two fireballs collided.
The corrupted fire dragon turned his gaze back to the earth dragon, but he had recovered by now, lunging upwards and tackling Flaris to the ground. They wrestled and clawed at each other, rolling about on the ground, before Flaris kicked the earth dragon off him.
Before Flaris could pick himself up off the ground, he was grounded by a beam of ice that froze his torso and arms to the floor. He turned his head and saw an ice dragon, and an electric dragon following close behind, running towards him, eyes gleaming with the intent to kill. Flaris roared and a massive inferno burst out of his maw, engulfing both dragons that were running towards him.
Quickly, Flaris began to heat up his body in an attempt to melt the ice covering him so he could break out of it. He let out a growl once he realised the earth dragon had recovered, blood streaming from his face, and was now running towards him. Flaris swept his tail, which was still free, along the ground, knocking the earth dragon's paws out from underneath him. The earth dragon collapsed on top of Flaris, the force heavy and strong. The heated ice cracked.
With a cry of pain, the earth dragon leapt off Flaris, whose body was still smoking hot, allowing Flaris to finally break out of his cold prison, the ice weak and cracked. A loud crackling sounded from beside him, and Flaris quickly ducked his head as a bolt of lightning shot over him.
The electric dragon let out a roar as he ran at Flaris, leaping high into the air to tackle him to the ground. Flaris sidestepped, causing the electric dragon to slam face first into the rocky ground, scraping his face open, as well as his chest and arms. The downed dragon was unable to get up as Flaris quickly stepped on top of him, grabbing his head on opposite sides. With a quick twist, a snap sounded, and the yellow dragon went silent.
Pain flared through his flank as the fire soldier clawed at him. Flaris' reflexes were quick, as his paw whipped up and smacked the other fire dragon in the face. He let out a rage-filled snarl before he landed two quick punches on the fire dragon, before launching forward with his jaws and biting down hard. The fire dragon let out a scream as Flaris bit down forcefully, before pulling back and taking a huge hunk of flesh with him, leaving a large bloody hole in his opponent's neck.
The ice dragon came to his comrade's rescue, lashing out with his tailblade at Flaris. Flaris parried with his own tailblade, which was now akin to a sickly scythe, nasty prongs sprouting out the side of it to give the scythe a flame-like shape. Flaris and the ice dragon sparred for barely a few seconds, the ice dragon very much on the offensive as he thrust and slashed his tailblade at Flaris, but one slip of the paw made him lose his balance and it was all over.
Flaris lashed out with his tailblade, chopping off the end of the ice dragon's tail, leaving nothing more than a bloody stump at the end of it. He then swiped his tail along the ground, his tailblade cutting through both of the ice dragon's forepaws, rendering him unable to stand as he fell to the ground. With one final swing, his tailblade came slamming down on the ice dragon's neck.
With a roar, the earth dragon released an onslaught of earth missiles at Flaris, some of which dug into his body, blood rushing down his dark red scales. The fire soldier then tackled him to the ground. The fire dragon landed a few blows on Flaris' face, but Flaris kicked the fire dragon off him, standing up quickly and pinning down his enemy before he could get up.
He rolled the fire dragon over, before pulling out one of the sharp, blood-stained earth missiles in his shoulder and stabbing the downed fire dragon in the chest with it three times, stabbing his way further and further in until finally he pierced the fire dragon's heart.
Flaris turned to the earth dragon and leapt at him, tackling him to the ground and clawing at his throat. It didn't take long for the green dragon to fall still, before Flaris stood, looking over the four bloodied corpses on the ground.
"Good work, Flaris," Spyro murmured from the corner of the room, his lips curled up ever so slightly in a smirk. "Now onto the second part."
The four corpses began to dematerialise, before a soft green glow burst from Spyro's paws and a bunch of large, rocky walls shot up out of the ground. Once Spyro had summoned the rock walls, he turned to Drachen and motioned towards the room's entrance. Drachen nodded, knowing what Spyro wanted him to do, and left.
Shortly, Drachen came back with about ten slaves, some adults, and some teenagers, and allocated them all a place in the maze of rocky walls, chaining them in place. They all had fearful looks on their faces, knowing they were going to be executed here and now.
"So," Spyro said, walking up to Flaris while Drachen chained up the slaves, "I want you to be quick and efficient. Go for the throat, go for the heart, and do not hesitate. I'd also like you to be as silent as possible. Don't let the victims make any sound, because in a real world application, that would give you away and put you at risk. You are an assassin, so you are meant to be quick and quiet."
They both noticed Drachen walking out of the rock maze towards them, nodding. Spyro patted Flaris on the shoulder and took a few steps back, his eyes slowly turning green as he started to use the ground and the rocky walls as a radar or camera system, allowing him to see through the walls.
Flaris ran off into the rocky maze without a sound, disappearing from sight. He made sure he looked around every turn, and checked down every corridor. It took less than ten seconds for him to find his victim, a young ice dragoness, looking to be almost twenty. Tears streamed down her scar-covered face. As soon as she noticed Flaris had rounded the corner, she opened her mouth and inhaled to scream.
The dark fire dragon rushed forward, shoving a paw over her mouth and muffling the scream, and reaching around to the back of her head with the other paw. Quickly, he twisted viciously, snapping the dragoness' neck. She went limp in his hold and he lowered her to the ground, not wanting the body to drop to the ground with a thud.
Around another corner were two more dragons, a middle-aged fire dragon and a teenage earth dragon. Unlike the ice dragoness from beforehand, their reaction time was very slow, and they didn't even react to Flaris appearing. Two slit throats followed, and nothing more came from them.
Flaris continued making his way through the narrow, rocky hallways, murdering anyone he met. A fire dragoness with a slit throat. An electric dragon with his heart pulled from his chest and crushed. An earth dragoness with a snapped neck. An ice dragoness with a large stab wound in her chest.
The eighth slave deflected Flaris' initial strike at his throat, trying to fight back, but the effort was wasted as Flaris grabbed the earth dragon by the face and slammed it into the wall behind him, completely disorienting him and giving him a decent concussion. It didn't matter however as Flaris' claws were across his throat almost immediately after.
The other two slaves, a young couple of electric dragons, were both killed by impaled hearts. They were killed quickly and without a fight.
"Good job. Very well done," Spyro said, and the rocky walls lowered back into the ground, revealing all ten corpses and Flaris standing at attention, blood staining his claws, teeth and tailblade. "Go rest; Drachen will show you where the assassins will be staying. We'll make a good assassin out of you."
Flaris nodded, bowing his head slightly. "Thank you, Master Spyro," he said, before he turned and followed Drachen out of the training room.
Spyro sighed happily. His plan was finally working. The next step was to 'corrupt' more of the kids and form yet another army. An army of assassins. Hopefully this would get him somewhere.
The Dark Overlord noticed two shadowclaws walking past the training room. "Hey, you two!" he called, gaining their attention. "Clean these bodies up."
The two shadowclaws nodded and walked in, snarling in acknowledgement. Spyro left them to their work, walking out of the room. He returned to the ritual room and grabbed the corruption book that he had left in there, before taking it back to Tenedaris' study. The old electric dragon appeared close to falling asleep, but was revived with a new burst of energy as he saw Spyro walk in. Spyro muttered, "It worked, and it's done."
"It… worked?" Tenedaris repeated.
"Yes. It's brilliant. We're one step closer to victory," Spyro replied, turning to Tenedaris, who had a very conflicted, terrified look on his face, before he just looked up and nodded.
Spyro just scoffed at Tenedaris, before he turned and walked off, beginning his rounds to check on the other slaves.
That night, Flaris lay alone in the darkness, struggling to fall asleep. He felt… odd, to say the least. He wasn't used to being this big; he was still only two, after all. However, it felt natural to him at the same time. He didn't have to adjust to the size change at all. This new adult-sized body of his felt normal to him.
The massive horns, the sharp teeth and claws, the muscles… it all felt… right, for some reason. He ran his paws over his arms once again, feeling the large bulges in them that were his muscles. He never used to have these, so why did he feel like nothing was wrong? Why did he feel like this was him, and not the body he had before?
Flaris slipped with his paws, scraping his claws over his forearm. Hot pain seethed through it and he felt blood oozing out of the wound. He didn't even wince. He raised his arm to his lips, sucking on the blood. It tasted fine; he almost liked the taste. Flaris almost felt addicted to the blood, as if it was a drug. It almost was, with the high dosage he had during training against the four soldiers when he had bitten out the fire dragon's neck. The dragons may have been fake and magically created, but the blood and the taste was very much real. He had relished the taste of the blood that had washed over his tastebuds.
He sucked the blood off his arm a second time before he lowered it to the ground, putting his paw over the wound and applying pressure to it. His mind continued to run awry. The dark fire dragon remembered back to when he had just been corrupted and during his training. He had been emotionless and angry. Bloodthirsty, even. Even now, he still felt that way. He was two; a two-year-old should not be feeling that way.
It was very concerning. Flaris didn't know what he was anymore. In reality, and in spirit, he was two, but physically and mentally, he felt like an adult. He knew things a normal two-year-old wouldn't; he could do things a normal two-year-old wouldn't. He looked far from what a two-year-old would. He felt like an adult now.
Problem was, he didn't feel like any normal adult. From his two years of life, no adult he knew acted the same way he did. No adult he knew was so excited to kill, so angry, so emotionless. Something about this was wrong and he knew it. Everything about this was wrong.
But at the same time, it felt right.
His mind was against him. Even over the course of the one day he had been in this form, he became more accustomed to it and felt that it was right. There was a chance that a couple days down the track he would stop doubting. There was a chance that he would wholeheartedly believe what he was doing was right, and that he would forget everything about his previous life as a normal two-year-old child.
Flaris was afraid to go to sleep. He was afraid of losing the one piece of normality he had left: his doubts, and the thought that something was wrong.
Tiredness overtook him however, and sleep swallowed him whole, as much as he tried to remain awake. His fears were proved correct as the next morning, he watched as two one-year-old dragonesses were corrupted, fully supporting the process, emotionless and raring to fight. Raring to kill.
Damn, it's only been a month but it feels like longer. I've been working as much as I can on this, I promise.
Uni has been difficult and busy this year, and on top of that I've been doing a heap of drawing (quite a few of which are commissions), which you can view on my Twitter SKdaGamer and my DeviantArt (also SKdaGamer), and I've also been writing music (I have two FNAF songs I have written which are both up on my YouTube channel, named SK Online). Go check them out if you're interested!
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Dragon of Mystery: Yeah, last chapter was intense (I mean... this whole story is so there's no surprise there lol). I'm glad the intended effect came across. I'm sorry to hear about your mother though; glad to hear you're doing better however. And I'm glad to hear this story has been helping in however way it's doing so. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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Anyway with all this out of the way, I'm off now! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and hopefully the next one doesn't take too long to get finished! I'll see you then! Bye, and please consider leaving a review; it's greatly appreciated!