Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. One day…one day.
(Apology: Sorry for the delay. Explanation below.)
Prolonged Dialogue – Part Two
The rain that had made their experiments end early continued well into the next day. Mai could feel the irritation coming off of Naru in waves as he faced the pouring rain at the window. His face looked like he was trying to glare the rain into submission. A brief trip to the cameras in the morning to check their weatherproofing had been the only activity of the day and Mai found herself making slightly forced cheerful conversation with Madoka.
"As much as I sympathize with your plight, a part of me can't help but feel jealous of you, Mai."
"Jealous? Really?" Mai laughed. "But why?"
"I mean, think about it, you have been able to witness so much of history without having to worry about disease or getting caught up in one war or another. There is something to be said for being able to witness so much and still be young at the end of it," Madoka mused with a thoughtful face.
"I mean, I guess I can see what you mean," Mai began hesitantly.
"Oo! When we get you all freed from your curse, we can sit you down with some historians and you can help correct them on some of their ideas!" Madoka continued on as if Mai had never spoken.
"Yeah, but…."
"You could solve so many arguments! No one is pettier than historians and you could tell them the actual truth!"
"And why would they listen to her?" Naru broke in with a cold retort.
"How rude, Noll! Why wouldn't they?"
"I question your sense sometimes, Madoka," was the only reply.
"He has a point," Mai agreed with a wry smile.
"Obviously."
The brunette rolled her eyes at the interruption before continuing. "I may have experienced more than most, but I have no way of proving that. Even if I woke up tomorrow, I am just a girl without a high school diploma and no legal records. Why would anyone pay any attention to me? I would sound crazy!"
"I guess that is fair," Madoka sighed, giving Naru a glare that dared him to say anything.
"Also, I didn't really witness that much," Mai sighed. "It took a long time for me to be able to move outside of the castle and even then, the distance I can travel is not that big. The only reason I have access to what I do is because the national park is surrounded by so much city."
"What are you going to do about documentation?"
The question, from Naru, seemed to come out of no where even if she had just mentioned in a few minutes before. Looking over at him, she found that he had finally stopped glaring at the rain to look at her.
Under the piercing blue gaze, Mai found herself shrugging. "I am not sure. Honestly, I gave up hope a long time ago that it would actually happen," she replied after a moment, trying her best to keep the melancholy from her words.
"I see," he responded almost sharply before crossing the room to look at the monitors.
"Lovely conversationalist as always," Madoka sighed, rolling her eyes before winking at Mai who grinned in response.
"There are people inspecting the cameras," Naru responded coolly. "I thought it would be in our best interest to investigate that issue."
"People?" Mai asked, puzzled. She crossed the room to stand next to Naru only to find that he was indeed correct. The figures at first were somewhat hard to make out since the raindrops had accumulated on the plastic coating. However, after a moment, one of them stuck his face towards the lens, clearly curious. "Bou-san!"
Without saying another word, Mai disappeared.
o(O)o
Approximately twenty minutes after Mai's sudden disappearance, the ensuing quiet was once again broken by the sound of approaching voices. They appeared to be very animated and already Oliver could sense his patience being strained. Though, if he were honest with himself, his patience was already near breaking point at losing so much time to weather. It was one of the main reasons he hated doing research on outdoor spots, regardless of the paranormal activity thought to occur there.
This case, obviously, was special.
After another minute or more of listening to the approaching voices, the door swung open to reveal an unsettlingly dry Mai and two rather drenched individuals. They stepped in and removed their hoods, politely remaining in the entryway area to prevent the spread of moisture.
"Sorry for disturbing you," the taller figure, a man with long blond hair, began, "but jou-chan said that it would be okay for us to come up. We had been planning to rent out this cabin only to find it occupied. We had just begun to look for Mai to tell her we were in the area when we spotted the cameras. She says they are yours?"
The last was posed as a question and Oliver nodded. "Indeed. We are attempting to investigate the phenomenon surrounding her apparent curse."
"Can't say I expected to run into actual paranormal investigators out here," the other figure, a slightly shorter ginger woman commented. "Especially not proper ones with actual equipment."
"What does that mean?" Madoka asked, voice stuck between amusement and trying to decide if she should be offended.
"Well, it's Japan," the man began with an apologetic smile. "Most people are willing to turn to the more spiritual side of ghost hunting rather than the scientific. Though, that has been changing recently, they still don't typically make their way out to the middle of a national park."
"I guess that is a good point," Madoka conceded with a welcoming smile. "I take it that the two of you are in the business?"
"Yes and no," the woman responded. "I am a Shinto priestess and he is a Buddhist monk and we both work freelance."
"So we get called in to look at places a lot," the man commented. "But we both have day jobs."
"What would those be?" Oliver asked, curious despite himself as to what other professions could have spiritualists as side jobs.
"I am a bassist in a rock band and she is a medical doctor," the man replied, voice already indicating that he knew how absurd that sounded. "You would be surprised how much both fields call for spiritualists."
"The doctor I can understand," Madoka laughed. "Not sure about the rock world though."
"As I said, you would be surprised," he laughed. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Takigawa Houshou and this is my wife, Ayako."
"Pleased to meet you," Ayako greeted, eying her sodden clothing with distaste. "I hate to be rude –"
"Really? That's new."
"- but would you mind if we borrowed your bathroom to change into drier clothes? I know that Houshou is very eager to talk shop -"
"If that is okay with all of you."
"-but we will get hypothermia if we do not dry off sooner rather than later," Ayako finally finished, glaring at her husband for his interruptions.
"Of course! I am eager to speak with the two of you as well," Madoka assured them. "In fact, the loft is still open if you want to stay here. I am sure your additional insight would be very helpful to us."
Oliver gritted his teeth at his mentor's offer but could not argue that she had a point. Judging from Mai's hopeful expression, she knew the two well and having two additional spiritualists helping them out – two that were already invested in the issue – would only prove to be more helpful. Furthermore, they were outnumbered making it unlikely that they would be successful in catching them unawares enough to rob them. Still, they seemed like they would be noisy….
"If you don't mind…," Takigawa began, seeming to catch on to Oliver's reluctance.
"Of course not!" Madoka assured him, "That one is just the grumpy sort."
"Then we would love to!"
"Yay!" Mai squealed, the effort of holding her giddiness back having apparently burst free. "Now go change! Ayako is right; you don't want to catch cold."
Oliver watched the two make their way through the cabin, careful to leave as little of a wet trail as possible. He waited until they had closed the bathroom door behind them to sigh.
"They seem like the…trusting sort," he commented. "They did not even ask for our names."
"Oh, I already told them about the four of you, so it probably slipped their minds. They interrogated me quite a bit before they walked back with me." Mai laughed lightheartedly. "For some reason, Bou-san keeps forgetting that nothing can actually hurt me so he gets very overprotective at times."
"You seem to inspire that in people," Madoka laughed, giving Oliver a knowing look that he chose to ignore.
"Apparently, enough to make an entire god step in," Mai sighed and he could not help but smirk at the comment.
o(O)o
Half an hour later, Mai found herself seated next to Naru across the table from Ayako and Bou-san with a camera facing both of them. After a short conversation, they had agreed to be interviewed on their interactions with Mai and any of their other experiences in the area. When Mai had gone to sit next to them, Naru had directed her to the seat next to him but neglected to explain why.
"Are the two of you familiar with the interview process?" Madoka asked as she turned on the digital audio recorder.
"Yes," Ayako confirmed. "We are more used to giving the interviews, but we know how they work."
"Excellent! Now, Oliver will do the majority of the questioning, but Lin and I may join in as we see fit."
"Oliver?" Bou-san asked, a strange quality coming to his voice.
"You said that you explained who we are," Naru sighed, glaring at Mai.
"I just called you Naru; I didn't think he needed a full introduction," she smiled at him mischievously.
"Nonsense aside, are there any other questions before we begin?"
Both Ayako and Bou-san both shook their head.
"Now could each of you state your name for the record?"
"Takigawa Houshou."
"Takigawa Ayako, maiden name Matsuzaki."
"I am going to ask each of you questions about your individual experience with the paranormal field before we get into this particular set of experiences." The two nodded their understanding and Mai had to suppress a grin to see both of them so uncharacteristically serious. Or maybe it was part of their personality, Mai realized with a touch of sadness, just a part that she didn't get to see since she only saw part of their lives.
"You said that you were a Shinto priestess. Is this correct?"
"Yes, but not in the traditional sense."
"Please elaborate."
Ayako smiled professionally, as if she had been forced to field this question a number of times through the years. "When I was a child, I learned to talk to the spirit in the sacred tree on our property. Through the years it helped me develop my own spirituality and taught me how to connect to other tree spirits. When I described this to my parents, they allowed me to get proper training in Shinto rituals and spiritualism. However, I am not aligned with any specific Shrine. This has meant that most of my work as a priestess has been freelance or referral."
"That is an unusual situation. Why did you not choose to just join a shrine?" Naru asked, his voice free of judgement.
"My family owns a hospital and I was expected to become a doctor. While I am committed to my spiritual side, I am also committed to being a doctor. When I have the time, I will give guidance to individuals in the hospital who need it as well." She shrugged. "It is unusual, but I make it work."
"You mentioned that you can connect with tree spirits. Could you please elaborate?"
Ayako smiled. "Honestly, I am not very powerful myself. I can sense ghosts, though it is not always reliable -"
"Nice to hear you admit it," Bou-san grumbled quietly forcing Mai to stifle a laugh.
"and I can perform traditional exorcisms if necessary, though I prefer not to. My true gift as a miko is communicating with the tree spirits. Through ritual, I can ask them to help me purify an area of all ghosts." She stopped and smiled sadly. "It has become harder to do as the country has become increasingly urban."
"That is a very…unique ability," Madoka commented, voice full of curiosity. "I would love to film such a cleansing if possible."
"Maybe at another time?" Ayako smiled. "It is not something I do lightly. Though, if you give me your contact information, I can let you know the next time I may need to do a cleansing."
"I would appreciate that," Madoka agreed. "Now, Mr. Monk, let's hear your story."
Bou-san chuckled. "I guess it is my turn."
"Are you also unconventionally trained?" Naru prompted in a more professional tone.
"No, actually," Bou-san replied, seriousness growing on his features. "I was fully trained at my parent's temple on Mt. Koya to be a Buddhist monk. I trained from childhood and was expected to take over until I irresponsibly ran away from home to pursue music."
"Definitely the more fun choice," Madoka laughed.
"What can I say? Music inspires me?" Bou-san laughed.
"Were you trained to deal with ghosts specifically?" Naru prodded.
"Yes," Bou-san nodded. "I am a full-fledged exorcist, one of three genuine ones that come from the mountain. I do not have the spiritual sense that Ayako has, though I did when I was younger. And, despite leaving. I pursued the paranormal as part of my own personal interest. My frequent encounters with them through the years have made me want to understand the more scientific side of the phenomena as well as the spiritual."
"That is a sentiment you will find that we share," Naru commented with the slightest note of approval in his voice.
"Yeah, we did notice that your team has a lot of very advanced research equipment. Are you associated with a larger group?" Bou-san asked, curiously looking around the room.
"Well…," Madoka began, her tone indicating that she wanted to share something she knew not everyone might.
"Madoka," Naru cut off. His voice and face brooked no argument and Mai was glad that it was not her he was glaring at. It did, however, make her curious. Why were they keeping things secret from people they probably would never meet again?
Unless, of course, Naru did manage to break her curse….
"Let's just say that we have our connections?" Madoka laughed. "Anyway, I think that is enough personal background. Why don't we talk about your experience with our local phenomenon?"
"I understand that you two live in Tokyo. Is this correct?" When the two nodded, Naru continued. "What caused you to come to a national park in Nagasaki?"
"Originally, we were just here with my band. It was while we were still dating and Ayako had agreed to come with me for a short vacation."
"Vacation, my ass," the redhead commented, clearly remembering things differently.
"While we were in the area, one of my fans approached me after the show and started talking about the 'ghost from the castle' that showed up in town sometimes. She didn't say much about what was going on but that I might look into it," Bou-san finished, rolling his eyes at his wife.
"Does that happen often?" Madoka laughed.
"More often than you'd think. I said it wasn't such a strange pairing."
"Plus, some of the more diehard fans actually know about his ghost hunting gig," Ayako added.
"So the two of you decided to check it out?" Naru prompted.
"Ayako loves nature so we thought it would be a nice little trip." Bou-san smiled at his wife. "We were just wandering around aimlessly when finally, we saw Mai."
Mai waved at the two, remembering their initial meeting.
"Did she approach you?" Naru asked, meeting her eyes to let her know that it was not her turn to speak and to stay quiet. She shrugged slightly but acknowledged the point.
"Yes," Ayako smiled, remembering. "She asked if we were lost and needed help. We explained why we were there and she laughed at us saying that she was the one that we were there to see."
"How long did your initial meeting last?" Madoka asked.
"For maybe about twenty or thirty minutes?" Bou-san responded, glancing up at the ceiling while he thought. "She walked us back to our car and told us how we could rent this cabin if we wanted to and then just…disappeared."
"Until that point, we were both half sure that she had been just making fun of us," Ayako laughed. "So of course, we had to stay. We rented out the cabin and spent the next day talking to her."
"We can cover your interactions with Mai directly more extensively later," Naru broke in, coolly changing the trajectory of the interview again. "We would like to ask you about any interactions you had with the ruins themselves."
"You mean, like trying to break in?" Bou-san clarified.
"Yes."
"Oh, um, none," he admitted. "Jou-chan told us that it would probably not end well so we decided against it." Bou-san paused for a moment, glancing towards her guiltily. "Though, both of us did test for spiritual barriers and I tried to climb over the wall once when Ayako was distracting Mai."
"What?!" Mai exclaimed, caught between outrage and humor.
The monk shrugged. "Neither of us were planning to let you just rot there, Mai. Did you really think we would keep coming back here and not try and get you out of there?"
"I…," Mai began, her voice not coming out. She had not expected that and, for the moment, was overcome with the urge to hug the man across from her. This emotion was only compounded by the realization that she could not so she instead found herself clenching her hands in her lap in frustration.
"Then am I wrong to assume that you will be willing to assist us in our experiments tomorrow?"
"Whatever we can do," Ayako agreed, nodding emphatically, her own eyes a little moist as she looked at Mai.
"I think we can stop the interview there," Madoka commented, reaching over to turn off the camera. Naru nodded his agreement, thoughts obviously elsewhere.
"So…what next?" Bou-san asked after a moment.
"Next? Next we wait for Yasu," Madoka smiled, looking up from her phone. "He texted a few minutes ago to let us know he was on his way. With information about our sleeping damsel."
Everyone looked over to Mai.
"Yay?"
o(O)o
"I feel like something has changed while I was gone," Yasuhara commented as he pulled free of his raincoat and placed his umbrella outside. "I can't quite put my finger on it though."
"You never change, shounen," Takigawa laughed, standing up to greet the intern.
"Takigawa-bou? I did not expect you to be here," Yasuhara commented, surprise clear on his face and Oliver couldn't help but relish his being taken off guard, even if only for a moment.
"Nor did we expect you," Ayako agreed, also rising.
"How do all of you know each other?" Mai asked with a small laugh.
"There was an incident at my school," Yasuhara answered, his voice sobering. "Takigawa-bou, Matsuzaki-sensei and another exorcist were called on to investigate. Unfortunately, they were not called in until just before the matter seemed to settle with the death of a teacher, but they continued to research it on their own and at least were able to tell us, the students, what had happened."
Oliver remembered Yasuhara discussing the incident with him, but had not spoken about the team of spiritualists that had visited his campus. He couldn't help but be impressed that they had been able to identify the fairly obscure curse, even if it had been after the fact. Though, from Yasuhara's telling of the incident, they had barely had time to investigate anything before the teacher had died.
"Yeah, it was not pretty. I would not have expected you to join a paranormal investigation group after all of that mess," Takigawa commented with a rough laugh.
Yasuhara took on an air of unusual seriousness. "I am still dedicated to my more formal studies; however, I have to say that was a turning point in my life. I had never imagined that the paranormal phenomena that people discussed could have such a dramatic impact on life. I felt compelled to continue to research the matter as best as I could."
"And you are an admirable addition to the team," Madoka laughed. "Even if we might not have a chance to keep you on forever. It is nice to have someone else on the research team!"
"Well, you could hardly expect me to miss an opportunity to work with the great Dr. Davis," Yasuhara commented, bowing towards Oliver with a mischievous glint in his eye.
For a moment, Oliver did not completely understand the joke, knowing full well that the intern only got like that when he had just put someone out.
Then the monk made a choking sort of sound.
"Dr…Davis? As in, Dr. Oliver Davis?" Takigawa asked hesitantly.
Oliver sighed.
"Oh, he didn't introduce himself?" Yasuhara grinned.
"Yasu!" Madoka laughed, her voice not even beginning to sound stern as she reprimanded the bespeckled youth. "Though, at this point, I guess the cat is out of the bag. It is only by luck that Mai didn't rat you out already."
"I didn't know there was anything to rat out?" Mai giggled hesitantly, looking towards Oliver in confused curiosity.
"Well, allow me to introduce you, Takigawa-tachi, to Dr. Oliver Davis of the British Society of Psychical Research."
Ayako bowed formally to Oliver, though he could tell from her expression that she was likely to be as annoyed by the next few minutes as he was. He could also tell that she, like so many, was surprised by his age.
"But you are so young!" Takigawa exclaimed, echoing his thoughts.
"Hardly a valid point. Age has no reflection on ability."
"No, um, of course not," Takigawa stuttered. "I just…." He stopped himself, closed his eyes, and drew in a deep breath. Then, he bowed. "My apologies, Davis-sensei. I have a deep appreciation for your work and abilities. I was just surprised. It is not everyday that one runs into one of their idols and simultaneously finds out they are a fraction of the age you thought they were."
"I can concede the point," Oliver sighed. "Any discussion of my work, however, will need to be put on pause so that we can see to the matter at hand."
"Oh! The research!" Mai recalled with a short laugh. "I'd almost forgotten. What did you find Yasuhara-san?"
"Why don't we sit at the table and discuss?" Madoka commented, motioning for the perpetually silent Lin to join them at the table. "I will cook an early dinner while you talk."
The group nodded and sat somewhat crowdedly around the table. Oliver chose to sit slightly away from it and found himself unaccountably pleased that Mai chose to join him in the position. In the same thought, however, he forced himself to recognize that she probably did it because she, too, would feel uncomfortable touching others. Thought complete, he chose to ignore it and move on.
Once everyone had settled, Yasuhara pulled out his rather large file of information that he had uncovered. "I found some local girls who were willing to help me do the research," the intern commented. "Some of them were bored but others were genuinely interested in helping you out, Taniyama-san. It appears you have your set of fans."
"I guess that is nice to know after so long," she smiled.
"What did you find?" Oliver cut in succinctly, unwilling for the conversation to go awry once again.
"Honestly, not a lot of hard data. Many of the files for this region were centralized in Nagasaki proper and were damaged or destroyed when the bomb hit. The more important documents had doubles, but the Taniyama household ended so abruptly with little further influence that it did not seem to have been recorded elsewhere. However, one of the students helping me mentioned that a lot of the local shrines kept their own records and most of those had been kept safe."
"There are dozens of shrines around here," Takigawa commented. "You didn't go to all of them."
"No, of course not," Yasuhara smiled. "That would be a waste of my precious talent and time. I had the college girls call them."
Madoka laughed at that. "It is efficient, I guess."
"We narrowed the search down to Shrines that had been present before as a few have been established since the war and also discounted any shrine that wasn't big enough to have records. From there, they spent the afternoon calling and looking around for documentation."
"What did you in the meantime?" Oliver pressed, knowing better than to assume the older man had just sat idly by while others did his work.
"I looked for local legends in the area," he replied, leafing through his paperwork until he found a small packet of papers and pulled it to the front. "This one seemed the most relevant. Starting about a century into the Edo period, a legend began to circulate about a land god wiping an entire han off of the face of the world after they had incurred its wrath. In one version of the legend, the land god kidnapped the daughter of the castle while in another, she was demanded as sacrifice and killed."
"If I was sacrificed to the land god, why would he still destroy my family?" Mai quizzed in confusion.
"Apparently, your parents did not follow the directions in how to kill you properly, or something along those lines. There are a few other versions of the legend, but they do not include reference to a daughter so I did not think the were relevant." Yasuhara looked towards Oliver and Lin, the data keeper, and assured, "I made copies of them all the same."
"These don't sound particularly useful," Takigawa commented, looking through the papers that he had taken from Yasuhara before offering them to his wife who shook her head.
"Even if we could assume that there had been some promise to sacrifice Mai, she wasn't actually killed nor was she kidnaped," Ayako mused aloud. "Additionally, from what we've talked about her parents, I don't they would have been the type to even consider sacrificing their daughter."
"No," Mai agreed. "My honorable father would have been more likely to sacrifice himself than my mother or I."
"As we cannot be sure what happened when you were not present, we cannot discount these entirely," Oliver cut in. "Regardless, they are still only legend and are unsubstantiated at that."
"What did the phone calls come up with?" Madoka asked from where she was watching food simmer in the kitchen area.
"A lot," Yasuhara answered succinctly. "All together, there were at least half a dozen shrines that fit the bill and had records on hand. The first two I visited did not seem to have any relevant information. The third did," he offered, pulling another, larger, packet of papers to the front. "They were very generous with their documents and allowed me to copy them. They even let me sleep there last night."
"What do the documents say?" Oliver pressed.
"They have the birth and death record for Taniyama Mai as well as her two parents and some of her more extended family that died around the same time." Yasuhara paused to leaf to the correct page for recitation.
Oliver glanced over to Mai who seemed resigned to listening to the details of her family's death. However, that did not mean that she needed to.
"Vital statistics can wait for the moment. Judging by your initial tone, you found more information than just dates. I shall assume that this shrine was the one the Taniyama family used in life?"
"Yes!" the intern agreed. "Alongside the official record was a less official one taken by the various priests and priestesses of the day. One of them in particular recounted the event in full."
"What did they say?" Mai asked, eager.
"A great deal, but I will summarize for your benefit," Yasuhara smiled. "According to the diary, your parents had been attempting to set up an arranged marriage for you and used that shrine as their intermediary point to meet with suitors."
"Were you aware of this?" Oliver asked, looking at Mai.
She glanced down at him and shrugged. "Not really, but it is not surprising either. I was late to marry as it was."
"Well, apparently, they had met there several times with suitors, but something always went wrong. From the diary, it seems that your mother was very picky and your father dotting and none of the potential suitors ever met their standards for what their daughter should have in life."
At this, the astral figure chuckled ruefully. "They were always very fond. I can see them deciding that no one was good enough."
"At one point, this must have changed, because it seemed like your parents suddenly became desperate. The diary seemed to indicate that they were getting pressure from their lord to see that you marry and marry soon. For what reason, they did not say. However, your father stopped bringing your mother to the meetings and more focus went on setting a dower price and how your marriage could elevate the family.
Yasuhara paused and the room looked over at Mai, silently assessing how she took the information. She just stared back at them for a moment before laughing. "Come on, guys, I know how the world worked during my time. It was honestly silly for my parents to hold out so long as it was. I was not expecting a love match."
"Are you sure?" Yasuhara asked, his voice taking on a graver tone.
"What do you mean?" Mai asked, confusion washing over her features.
"Well, according to the diary, that is not what the land god thought."
"Explain," Oliver bit out, tired of the drama that Yasuhara was trying to incite.
"According to the diary and an additional, though slightly different recording of a similar legend without names, one day, your father and mother met with a potential suitor about your marriage. When the suitor did not seem to meet the standards of money and prestige, your father rejected him. When the suitor pressed that he knew of your desire to marry for love, your father dismissed him, even above your mother's objections. The suitor pressed again only for your father to walk away entirely."
"This sounds like a fairy tale," Ayako commented. "Like the Beast rejecting the old woman over and over again."
"Precisely," Yasuhara agreed. "After the final rejection, the story goes that the suitor changed to reveal his true form as the land god. At that point, he stated that he had witnessed their love for their child for years, a child he had witnessed grow into adulthood through the years. It had angered him that they would suddenly abandon their love for their child and choose money instead. So, he cursed them."
"An overly romantic deity. That is a bit…disturbing," Takigawa guffawed in disbelief.
"And the terms for the curse?" Oliver prodded, refusing to be distracted from hearing the terms he was looking for.
"True love," Yasuhara replied with a lopsided smile. "The land god said that he would take their daughter from them and they would die while she slept waiting for a time she could meet her true love."
Everyone looked at Yasuhara in silence before looking back to Mai who looked torn between wanting to laugh and cry before settling on being resigned.
"Well…shit."
Author's Note:
Yes, that is Mai cussing. I figure she does it sometimes. Anyway...
First, this chapter was completely unedited. Usually, I do a once over for grammar and the like, but I did not have it in me today. If you notice any issues, please let me know so I can fix them. If not, I will proof it later and update it when I upload the next chapter.
Second, I apologize for the delay. I got sick. Then I had to grade 150 projects. Then we lost internet. Then the country froze. You know, fun times. I told myself that since I was a week late, I would post two chapters but that didn't happen either.
Maybe next week. The next two chapters will probably be shorter. Probably. Maybe. Who knows?
Third, this was a very dialogue heavy chapter. I tried to break it up some, but it kind of just ended up being one big Department of Backstory. Better to get it all out of the way in one chapter though, right? Next chapter is the group all throwing themselves and magical vines. Fun!
Finally, as always, thank you to the lovely reviews and for taking the time out of your day to read my silly story. This has been the nicest fandom I've ever written for and by far the most supportive. You guys are awesome!
Til next time!