Hi adventurer, new chapter today! On Archive of Own Supernova2003 asked the interesting question, if it was normal that Julian is not bound by chains or something. So, yes it is totally voluntary and you will get an answer in this chapter.
Starless Echoes: Well, I'm glad they're not trying to kill each other at this point (well, they're not trying to kill him is a better phrase), and I can't wait to see what happens on the br - I mean, the way to the Palace! Yeah, that's what I meant!
Response: Oh but who told you they wouldn't end up killing each other... Just kidding! *looks into his notebook and laughs wickedly* Anyway, not to spoil too much it goes... Well, it's going up slowly.
Thanks to EEBB and Maga123 who are now following this story. I also thank Echoes for his help in part of this chapter (I won't spoil anything). Good reading to you.
After about an hour of walking and still surrounded by my five guards. I was slowly escorted to what would be my fate, and surprisingly they had not bound my feet or hands with any restraints. Were they not afraid because I was injured? Or because they thought they could easily neutralize me if I rebelled? But no perfectly credible and logical reason came to mind. Time seemed long and no one had spoken since I left the camp. Watching straight ahead, the tigress was still leading the way and occasionally she turned around with her fierce gaze fixed on me. My body flinched every time she looked at me, but a part of me told me that if they really had hostile intentions, they would have acted already. But after all, I could always be wrong who knows what is going on in their heads.
The outside environment was now completely different. We had left the forest and were moving along a dirt road that ran alongside huge rice crops. Small houses on stilts made entirely out of wood were located above the crops, set on large dark wooden beams. Of a color which was not at all natural, this wood had surely undergone a treatment against rotting. During my 'walk' I sometimes came across farmers in their fields harvesting rice. Strangely enough there were many small animals such as geese, cranes and pigs. I also noticed one thing, no carnivores were present in my field of vision. The only one that was present was my guardian tiger. The farmworkers looked up and a strange expression appeared on their faces. They looked particularly shocked by me, murmurs were audible. I noticed that the tiger's ears immediately turned to the source of the murmurs. Had she heard it? If so, what were they saying about me? I was about to ask her, but my mind flatly refused such a thing. I had to remember one thing, she is a predator and I am prey. Looking down at the ground, I saw once again how critical my situation was. I was no longer in danger of death because of my infection, or my blood loss, no! This is much worse, much more insidious. I was now a prisoner and perhaps, I would remain one for the rest of my life. This possibility hit my mind very hard, my heart slowly breaking piece by piece. Was I going to end my life in prison? Although I deserved it, didn't I? I am partly responsible for the destruction of my world, life imprisonment would only be justice! Isn't it so? Isn't it so! Yet, I had to know if others than me also survived in this world. What was the chance of that happening? What was the chance that other humans were alive here! In this world? Twenty percent? Fifty percent? Eighty percent? For me even one percent would be enough. Even knowing that only one other human was lucky enough to survive, it would finally soothe my broken heart and mind.
A heavy silence continued, only the sound of my footsteps and those of the others could be heard. I didn't realize, but the road was extremely quiet, no animal or bird sounds could be heard. It seemed strange, odd and almost unreal. But after all, it was perfectly logical. If all animals had created societies and cities in which they lived. Then there was no reason to stay in the forests singing for nothing. This silence obsessed me, I could not stop thinking about it, it became almost unbearable for me. I had to break this silence at all costs! Observing the sky, I noticed that the weather was probably not getting any better, black and gray clouds were slowly slipping in the sky, darkening even more the already gray sky.
"How long until we get to your palace?" I didn't want to get rained on and I assumed my guards wouldn't be very understanding if I wanted to stop. Continuing his walk, the tiger raised his head and watched the sky with great attention.
"We'll get there before it rains!" My body vibrated again with fear at the sound of his voice. She was still filled with aggression and bitterness towards me, as if I had hurt her or someone close to her. The more I tried to understand her behavior towards me, the more I was lost. The others were already much more readable and understandable, even if some of them were very different. The green cockroach was very wary of me, even though I could see a hint of arrogance towards me. The monkey acted differently with me, I could perceive a slight tension at the beginning but now, he seemed more relaxed when he observed me. Concerning the bird, I couldn't say. I didn't talk much with him, so I couldn't know if he was anxious towards me. And finally this viper, she was acting in a very strange way, both suspicious and friendly. It was a bit of a strange and heterogeneous mix of feelings. Was it in her shy nature? Or was it something very important? Continuing on my way, an idea suddenly struck me, and if the tigress was as terrified of me as I was of her? But what was she really afraid of? Me or my "magical" artifacts? Fighting was something foreign to me, and it seemed that they were great hand-to-hand fighters. My chest tightened strongly, I had made a big mistake and I was about to pay the price. What ifs... went through my head. What if I hadn't run away from the village the first time? What if I had let myself be captured by the raiders? What if I hadn't fought with my five guards? What would have happened? Would I be alive? Or would I be somewhere else in a quiet place? A sarcastic smile formed on my face. Living in peace... While I was in a world that was not my own and my world was a distant memory.
The tiger had suddenly stopped and turned towards me. This had the immediate effect of breaking my train of thought. As I focused my gaze towards it, I could see a sort of suspension bridge behind it. The wind blew mightily through my hair, the bridge swayed from left to right.
"Oh... No!" Came out of my mouth without me wanting it. A hand came to rest on my back.
"Come on, it won't be as bad as when we were forced to carry you! "My head turned sharply towards the monkey. I looked at him with a haggard look, and my body froze in place. Was this a joke on his part or was he really serious?
"Are you serious?" Looking at the suspension bridge, I threw my hands straight out in front of me, highlighting the bridge. "Did you really carry me unconscious on one of those?" The tigress looked at me for a moment before saying arrogantly.
"So the scarlet demon is afraid of heights?" A satisfied smile was on his face. A slight anger festered within me. I looked her straight in the eye, the fear had momentarily left me.
"I am not what you think!" She stepped back slightly, surprised by my outburst. Realizing my reaction to her. I refocused my gaze almost immediately on the bridge, "And about the bridge, no! I'm not afraid of heights, I'm just afraid it will break in two."
"Don't worry about that! It's been rebuilt since Taï Lung's attack on the Jade Palace three years ago." The monkey assured me. But who was Taï Lung? Why did he get a real name? Taï Lung... The Great Dragon, what did this name mean? Was it because he was dangerous? My vision did not settle on anything specific. I asked my guards curiously.
"Who is Taï Lung, the Great Dragon?" Their faces suddenly darkened, had I said something he wasn't worth?
"You don't know Taï Lung? He is known all over China for what he did!" The viper answered me. I raised my shoulders in ignorance. But before she could answer me, the tiger took me to task
"This is not your concern! And I find it very surprising that you don't know its history...!" My gaze froze for a moment, was he that well known? Ignoring his story could well mean that I was not from this world, and therefore risking them finding out the truth about me! I replied with a long silence. I didn't want to risk getting into trouble. The wind picked up, the deck was moving more and more and a loud creaking sound of wood could be heard. The tiger turned around and began to venture out onto the deck. I exhaled sharply and began to pace myself. The planks creaked under my feet, the deck moved more and more. My body was getting tense and my pace was getting slower and slower, and the tiger was not happy about it. She turned her head slightly and glanced at me.
"We're not going to be here all day!" Couldn't she see that I wasn't used to this kind of thing! A strong gust of wind shook the deck, I clung to the ropes with all my might. My body was frozen in place, I waited for the bridge to stabilize, before resuming my advance. The green cockroach moved quickly on the rope railing and positioned itself in front of me.
"Honestly! I've never seen a demon like you." A loud laugh was now audible. That damn green cockroach was laughing at me! He was laughing at my fears! My blood ran cold.
"Listen cockroach! I've had enough of this. What's your problem? Is it my head that's not coming back to you? Because there can be two of us playing this game!" My voice was full of aggression and acerbity. Not at all fazed by my outburst, He answered me with as much aggression as I had.
"Call me cockroach again! Naked monkey and I swear you'll learn to fly!" A smug smile formed on my face.
"Go! Go for it! Try it, I'm curious to see what a being a hundred times smaller than me can do!" Crossing my arms on my chest, I added with disdain, "Cockroach!" It had not had to wait a second longer, the cockroach literally jumped at my throat and pushed me violently on the rope behind me. The deck shook sharply, I tried desperately to grab it with my hands. But the worm crawled into my clothing and began to travel all over my torso. I could feel its clawed paws rubbing against my body. My fists clenched and I tried to strike when I thought it was. But every time I struck, it moved to another spot, inflicting the blow on me. I grunted in pain, trying to hit such a small animal was difficult. Suddenly,I felt it in my right arm and my hand tightened without me asking. Was he the one making me do this? Suddenly the fist, well my fist came down several times on my own face. I staggered and caught myself on the rope before I fell completely. The deck moved violently, the wind was getting stronger, the storm was coming.
"THAT'S ENOUGH MANTIS!" The tiger grabbed me by the collar and put me back on my two feet. The cockroach came out of my shirt and landed right in the center of my torso. He looked at me bitterly and finally jumped on the shoulder of the monkey behind me. The tiger approached me and added.
"One more action like that and I swear we will bring you back unconscious to the palace ! Is that clear?" I had already done enough, made the situation worse and I had to keep a low profile. The most important thing was to show them that I was not a threat. And I had just gotten into a fight with one of them. I was acting out of anger, without thinking! Which is pretty understandable, right! Considering everything I had been through! I had every right to be angry, at myself, at others and at the world as a whole. But I had let my negative feelings build up, I let them grow inside me without acting to diminish their strength, that's why I tried to end it and I just attacked the cockroach for nothing! It's just a mere trifle. Honestly, he was just messing with me! I would have done the same if I were in his place. I suddenly remembered what the turtle had told me a few days ago, he had warned me that letting negative feelings get the better of me could destroy me and he was right. Twice I let my aggression and anger out unbridled and unharnessed.
"Viper didn't want me to do this, but you leave me no choice! Give me yours... paws!" She plunged her right paw into one of her pockets and pulled out a thin braided cord. I understood immediately what she was getting at. So they had trusted me and I had just given them a good reason not to anymore. I looked down and said with shame.
"You are right" I turned back to the cockroach... Well, Mantis if that's his real name. "I'm sorry about that. I know it doesn't excuse anything, but I've had a very complicated week." His gaze softened, I assumed he wasn't expecting an apology from me. I presented my hands to the tiger, she began to wrap the rope around my wrists and she will with all her might. A strong pain ran through my arms, I clenched my teeth for a moment, accepting the pain I was experiencing. She had tightened my ties too much. It was absolutely necessary to loosen, at least a bit. But before I could say anything to her, lightning struck the end of the bridge. A huge flash of light blinded me for a moment, before a powerful and frightening detonation sounded in my ears. I fell forward onto the bridge, my hands now tied so that I could not catch myself. The bridge shook violently, I could feel the whole structure shake and creak. The muffled voice of the tiger broke the chaos.
"...e m...st the...e! Qui...ly!" My ears were ringing and I didn't understand what she was saying. I raised my upper body to see that the bridge was partially destroyed. A fire had broken out and began to eat away at the weakened rope. My worst fear was coming, we were going to fall off the bridge! A paw grabbed my shoulder and helped me get back on my two legs. I turned my head to see that it was the monkey that had helped me. He addressed me in a loud voice.
"WE HA... TO MOVE ...N!" My hearing was slowly coming back, I had partially understood what he meant. I looked straight ahead and observed the other side of the bridge. They were telling me to get to the other side of the bridge, but... what about the hole? I started to walk with a quick step straight ahead as fast as I could. The bridge was shaking and creaking heavily, it was only a matter of time before it collapsed completely. Looking away for a moment, I noticed the bird hovering to my left. Being a bird had its advantages in this situation. I continued my mad dash following the tiger in front of me, the right-hand rope broke violently, tilting the deck ninety degrees. My body hovered for a few seconds, I saw time slow down. It's over... I'm dead! But did I really want to die? I love my life... Well, I loved my life in the old world. So why doesn't a part of me want to die? I have nothing left, I am nobody! Is it the hope of finding my fellow man? I suddenly realized that it was not that, but what was it? I didn't know it yet, but I wanted to find out. I felt something slide down my left leg, I was suddenly held upside down in the air. I looked up to see the snake clinging to my leg, its face twitching in pain. The other three were clinging to the wooden planks and began to watch me.
"I could use a little help?" growled the snake with his teeth. The monkey climbed down to the bottom of the deck and grabbed my right leg and began to pull me towards them. I breathed a sigh of relief, I thought it was going to end like this. Still with my head down, I felt the bridge suddenly shake, making me realize that this was far from over. I couldn't even help by holding on to anything, my bonds blocking my every move. I turned to the tiger and showed him my bonds.
"Untie me! Quickly!" She looked at me for a moment, her fire-colored eyes making me swallow. A violent squeaking sounded in the air. I looked away behind the tigress to see that the last rope was about to give way. The tiger's head turned and watched in horror as the rope suddenly snapped. The bridge fell suddenly into the void, the wind blew vigorously in my hair. I saw the cliff coming closer to me and we were going to crash like insects on a windshield. A shadow hovered next to me, my gaze shifted from the cliff to what was the bird diving toward us. It gripped the ropes firmly with its legs and flapped its wings, slowing the fall as much as possible. But despite this impressive attempt, I had to acknowledge it. The impact against the wall was terribly brutal, my back hit the cliff and I grunted in pain. Wooden boards broke and flew in all directions. Ropes broke and another part of the deck began to fall. Despite the heavy impact, the viper and the monkey continued to hold my legs firmly. With the Tigress now below me, I stretched my bonds again.
"Come on! You can't carry me all the way up like that!" An amused smile formed on her face, so what did she have in mind?
"No! I have a much better idea!" She observed the others, "Ready for a game?" They looked at her with surprise before looking at me with... was it pity?
"Alright! Go Monkey!" Said the snake firmly, the monkey let go of my leg before leaping up and going some meters higher. But what were they up to? The snake began to swing me from left to right, steadily and harder. I watched her look at the monkey with great attention. My mind suddenly realized what was about to happen.
"What! No... No... No! Not that!" My back narrowly skimmed the cliff face and at the top of the bell the snake dropped me without warning into the air. My body had been propelled several feet into the air. I screamed in terror, I felt the weight of the snake coming back to the surface and I began my fall still screaming. A paw grabbed my shirt collar, I barely had time to look to see that it was the monkey that had caught me. He threw me back into the air. I felt the weight of the air slip from under me and reflexively closed my eyes. I began to fall again, a new paw grabbed my left foot, opening my eyes in surprise to find that this time it was the tigress. She used all her strength to throw me into the air. With such force that my body traveled a great distance and went a few feet above the ground. As my body was subjected to gravity again, I was getting dangerously close to the ground and I was about to fall head first on a tree stump.
"Fuck no, no!" Something had abruptly stopped my fall, my face was inches from the ground. Slowly raising my head, I noticed with joy that it was the bird that had caught me just in time. I let out a breath of relief. He gently placed me on the ground, I was happy to be back on solid ground. I knelt down and kissed the tree stump. The cockroach, or rather the mantis, came right in front of me and a look of disgust was present on his little face.
"I didn't think you liked trees! I can give you some privacy, if you like." I let out a breath, both exasperated and with a slight hidden laugh. The thunder rumbled louder, a few flashes of lightning illuminated the sky that had gone completely black. My other guards leapt with lightning into the air. I had never seen animals move so fast, it was almost frightening. My gaze locked on the tigress, a fiery anger making its way through. I stood up, rushed towards her without any fear or anxiety.
"You have lost your mind! Do you want me to die? Or is this just a game to you?" Though bound, I built hands in the air and my eyes fixed on hers. My anger slowly subsided, making me slowly realize the blunder I had just made. The tigress answer was not long in coming, she growled with such force that my body shuddered and almost fell backwards.
"We saved your life! I thought you would at least have a little more gratitude!" She walked past me and went to the bird that was a little further away. Although greatly diminished, my anger was nonetheless still present and I thought without the slightest remorse. What can we expect from creatures like them? Simple animals! Unable to put themselves in my place! I sat on the tree stump, hoping that my anger would disappear quickly. My mind was gone in various reflections, what could I do? They will treat me like this all the time! As if I couldn't feel anything. That's when I realized what I could do, I had to escape! Escaping would be difficult, very difficult. There were five of them and they never let me out of their sight for a second. But I had to try, it would be my last chance! The snake slithered in front of me and watched me carefully. What did she want from me again!
"I noticed you hit the cliff, so I wondered if you would let me look at your wound. To see if it had reopened." I raised my chest in surprise, I didn't think any of them had noticed that I had hit the wall. She had been worried about me and I almost greeted her with hostility. She must be one of the few to be so considerate of me.
"Yes, yes, of course. You can look." She moved to my back and I lifted my shirt to the top of my torso, exposing my bandages. She began to check and I could feel the bandages tightening slightly. By the way... How was she handling my bandages without a hand? This question disturbed me. I tried to look back, but the size of the snake was too small for me to see. I heard the voice of the tigress, I looked away and began to observe her. I lent my ear, maybe I could use it somehow.
"Go to the palace and tell to Shifu that the bridge has collapsed. Then you go and ask Crane workers to come and put the bridge back together." The bird looked up at the sky.
"You want me to go now, despite the coming storm?" She rested one of her paws on her chin. I watched her carefully, provided she said yes that would be one less and I would have a better chance of escaping, although there was still the problem of the tiger. The sky rumbled with anger, with force and power. A fine rain began to fall on me, drops rolled down my face.
"No, you are right! We'll see tomorrow." She turned to me, her eyes watching me. I looked away quickly, I had a feeling I needed to make a diversion.
"Is everything okay, on my shoulder?" I asked the viper. I felt her cold scales slide across my skin, a slight shiver ran down my spine.
"Yes, it's okay, the wound hasn't reopened. The tiger advanced towards me, his eyes still locked on me. I continued to ignore him on purpose.
"We will set up camp here and wait until tomorrow morning to tell Master Shifu what happened." The snake nodded and left for the rest of the group, who had dropped off their stuff. An urge...pressing began to come into my bladder. I looked up at the tiger. Oh, no shame! I was going to ask her to go to the bathroom, should I? Can't I hold it in? I scratched my throat a little.
"Hey, isn't there a discreet place for me to..." I blushed slightly, I didn't dare finish my sentence.
"To do what?" She asked me with a touch of aggressiveness. I plunged a little more, my face towards the ground. I was sure that she was still watching me. "To do what!" Her tone sounded more like an order than a question. My body crashed in on itself, and I mumbled in a low voice, hoping she didn't hear.
"To go to the toilet." A slight silence could be heard, I hoped it was over, that the tiger had gone to do something else. The rain continued to bead on my face and although the rain had just started, I was soaked to the bone. I slowly raised my head, my mind full of hope to be a little alone. But to my disappointment, the tiger was still there watching me. But... something had changed, she seemed to be calm, even if the word calm was a bit too strong to describe her emotional state. She asked sheepishly.
"Are you male or female?" My eyes narrowed, I now understood her discomfort.
"Male" A simple word, yet a hint of shame had managed to find its way into my voice. She turned to the group that was quickly building the camp.
"Monkey! Come on, I need you!" He dropped the canvas he was carrying on the ground and came within our reach. "Lead him to a place where he could relieve himself." She turned her head to me and added with authority, "But, if he tries anything! Don't hesitate to attack him. Understand Monkey?" I swallowed slightly, Monkey nodded at her. I stood up with my clothes completely soaked, what I wouldn't give for a nice hot shower! The monkey passed in front of me, so I started to follow him very wisely. Anyway, I couldn't try anything now, the collapse of this bridge was a blessing. It will allow me to set up an escape plan. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but I will succeed! We walked lightly into the forest, I climbed a rock and went near the fern. I turned around to find that the monkey was watching me intently, I blushed with embarrassment.
"Can you turn around? Please" The monkey nodded at me.
"Well hold on Jiilyane! But it doesn't take!" Although in the grip of a strong sense of shame, a slight smile formed on my face. He wasn't giving up hope of getting my name right and I had to admit that he was persistent. I just nodded and lowered myself as much as possible to avoid being exposed. Continuing my little business, I noticed that the monkey had turned his gaze away from me, his eyes went everywhere but on me. Should I try something? My mind vigorously refuted this idea, No! It's much too early, I still have to wait for the right moment. Once I had finished, I pulled up my pants as best I could. It wasn't easy with my hands tied. I turned to the monkey, who was once again focused on me.
"Are you done?" I answered him with a nod of my head. As he was about to turn around, he snorted in the air before putting one of his paws on his nose. "Pwaaa, is that you smelling like that?" What did he mean to imply? That I stank? I lowered my nose to my body wanting to smell the possible bad smell and indeed a slight pungent smell had reached me. With shame, I tried to justify myself as best I could.
"Yes, well actually. I haven't been able to take a bath lately.
"You'll really have to take one!" He said while flapping his paw in front of his nose. He then started to walk again, I started to follow him closely. It took us only a few seconds to get back to the camp that had finished being set up. They were really good! I was only gone for two minutes and the camp was completely set up! Strangely, there was no one in the camp. The monkey was just as surprised and started looking. I froze in the middle of the camp, waiting patiently for him to get me to the shelter. The storm was getting worse by the minute, if I didn't get the flu I would be lucky. The monkey opened the first tent to see that the bird and the mantis were inside.
"There you are! Where is Tigress?" He asked. The two occupants of the tent turned their gaze to me. The mantis spoke up
"She went to the next village to get food for the nake monkey." So she had gone to get food for me? I would never have believed it of her... The sound of thunder filled the dark sky, bright stripes appeared in the sky. If I wasn't outside, I would have said it was a great sight. But at that moment I was more concerned about my situation.
"And what do I do with Jiilyane! I'm not going to stay outside with him, with a storm like this!" The mantis suddenly straightened up
"No way he's going into the tent with us! We're already full!" Although small in stature, I noticed that he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me with contempt. I think he still hasn't digested our altercation from earlier. The bird called out to him.
"Come on Mantis! You're not going to leave him outside in this downpour? And you're not going to force one of us to stay outside?" The bird's remarks hit home and the mantis began to grumble in frustration. He watched me for a moment, his eyes fixed on mine. The storm was still raging, lightning flashes lit up the sky. I was only waiting for that damn mantis to say that simple word 'yes'. After a brief moment of mutual observation, he spoke.
"Okay ! Fine he can come." He added, "But that's because I don't want to be on call outside." I exhaled with happiness, I was finally going to be dry. I walked to the entrance of the tent and slid my body inside. The tent was identical to the one I had seen this morning, but it was not designed to accommodate four people, or rather three and a half if you reduce the Mantis. I placed myself next to the bird and sat down on the ground. The monkey entered, closed the tent and sat down in front of me. The bird picked up a black teapot with his paw and carried it over three cups that were in front of him. Dark-colored water flowed into each of them. He turned to me, tilting his head slightly.
"Some tea?" I looked at the teapot. I had hardly ever consumed tea, I was more of a coffee man, and the few times I had drunk tea was during my conferences in China.
"Don't you have coffee instead?" They looked at me in amazement, as if I had said something stupid.
"What?" The monkey asked me curiously. I turned to him.
"Coffee... The drink!" They looked at me with even more disbelief. Didn't they know about coffee? Where exactly does coffee come from? From Asia? From the Americas? Or anywhere else? I don't know, I used to drink it all day, and I didn't even know where coffee came from. I nodded, resigned to the fact that I might never drink coffee again in my life, but at least I could keep warm. He handed me one of the three cups, which I grabbed.
"Thank you" I brought the cup to my mouth to drink some, only to realize that the tea was cold. I looked incredulously at the bird, who immediately understood my problem.
"Sorry, I couldn't warm it up because of the rain." I put the cup back on the ground.
"That's okay, I think I'll go to bed anyway. How do you plan to proceed?" They observed each other for a moment, before the mantis spoke up.
"You will sleep here under our supervision until Tigress returns!" He pointed to a small, child-sized bed in the back of the tent. "You had to sleep there!" The monkey responded immediately.
"Not in my bed!" He crossed his arms over his chest in protest.
"Come on... at least for a few hours, isn't that too much?" The bird replied. The monkey looked down at the ground for a moment, then he turned his eyes to me and nodded.
"Okay! That works." I stood up and crawled through the small space to the monkey's bed. Once I was sitting on it, I watched the monkey for a few seconds.
"Thank you, for the bed. Although it will be a little too small for me." The mantis began to laugh.
"I would have offered you mine, but I also think it's too small for you." A slight smile formed on my face. Before I finally decided to 'lie down' on the bed. My legs were folded over my torso and my hands were tied. I closed my eyes, hoping that I would soon fall asleep. Tomorrow will be another day and I hope that luck will always be on my side. The splashing of the water outside lulled me to sleep and I slowly let my mind go. Hoping that I would soon be out of this nightmare.
Chapter finished!
Some news, I hesitated to make the bridge collapse at the beginning, I was afraid that by making it collapse at the end it would lengthen my story unnecessarily, but it would be at the cost of a better character construction. So I asked Echoes for his opinion on this, thanks (again) to him.
I have a little surprise (if you don't want to be spoilers don't look at it) I made a concept of a future meeting Julian is going to have. Go to my deviantart with my name n0xymilian (remember it's 0 not an o). As always, your questions, opinions and advice are important to me. So don't hesitate to ask them. See you next week for new adventures, always further, always higher and always stronger. That was Noxymilien, end of transmission!