(A/N) Merry Christmas Eve! I wasn't aiming to have this chapter finished by this time, but I'm not complaining about it. It's kind of like a Christmas present, right?
I don't know for definite, but this may the last chapter for 2020, so I'll use this as an opportunity to say have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, too. I know this year has been extremely hectic and people have been having a hard time. Some may not even be celebrating Christmas as they usually would. But I just want to say stay strong and that we'll be back to normalcy eventually.
This chapter was a pain to write, but I got there. 5,137 words I managed to write! I dont want to keep this too long, so I'll end it here. I could have sworn I had more to say... The quality of this chapter is mixed, but I say this every time.
No flames please~! If you feel that some improvements could be made, don't be afraid to say so; tell me what I did good or bad, and like I just said, improvements are very much appreciated!
Disclaimer: I do not own these franchises, or their characters. Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid belong to KONAMI and Final Fantasy belongs to SQUARE ENIX.
Chapter 14: Heavy Lifting
"It's locked," Heather sighed, as she tried to open the stairwell door. "What a pain..."
"And that was the last door," James said, beginning to walk away with folded arms. "I think that makes us done here."
Heather looked down at the ground, as she began to follow. "Yeah, and we didn't even find anything useful..."
"We did."
"No, we didn't," she took out one of the objects she picked up. "What use would an instant camera be to us?"
"Plenty," James replied, entering the second floor lobby and approaching the elevator.
"What's the plan now, then?" The girl asked, as she watched him push the button.
"I was thinking we could look for Leon and Zidane to see what they found."
"Oh, I forgot about them..." Heather facepalmed with a groan. "I must have been too far in my own head, you know what I mean, right?"
"More than you think," James gave her a pat on the shoulder, as the elevator doors opened.
The pair stepped inside and pushed the button to go down to the first floor, watching as the doors shut. It was silent as they began their descent.
"James?"
"Hm?"
"How do you feel about my dad and Henry?"
"Worried..." he replied, looking down at his hands. "But we're having faith in them, aren't we?"
"Yeah..." Heather nodded, as the doors opened. "Do you have an idea where they are?"
"We haven't heard from Henry since he left to find Harry, so no, I don't know where -"
"I meant Leon and Zidane..."
"Oh, I don't know where they are either," James said as he stepped out, Heather in tow. "But we can look around."
It didn't take long to search the lobby and deduce that the agent and the monkey boy weren't in that general area. There were no sounds of rustling or talking behind any of the doors, and the doors that were checked had no sign of them. Opening the patient wing doors, the pair immediately heard muffled talking further down that suddenly broke into alarm.
"Shit! Leon!"
They stopped and looked at each other
"Leon?" Heather said with worry, as James looked to be concentrating when the voice cried out again.
"Leon, come on!"
Without a second thought, they ran towards the end of the corridor, stumped when they didn't know what room the voice, Zidane it sounded like, was in.
"Now what?" Heather whispered, prompting James to hush her.
"We're running out of time now, aren't we, Leon?" They heard the voice again, this time coming from C4.
"He's in there," James stated as he opened the door, the sight being what neither of them wanted to see.
Leon was lying on his back, unconscious with blood around his mouth and hands. It didn't take a genius to guess what could have happened, but one could never be so sure. The source of the panicked voice, Zidane, didn't even glance at the pair as they entered and shut the door behind them. His gaze was fixed on the agent, eyes wide as he mumbled his name and shook him. He wasn't getting anywhere with that.
"Zidane?" Heather asked, waving her hand in an attempt to get his attention. It didn't work.
They continued to slowly approach, eventually kneeling in front of the agent themselves. He was breathing, that was a relief.
"Zidane?" James tried, still not getting a response, the blonde poked his arm, jolting him back into reality as he jumped with a gasp. He didn't say anything, as he just stared. "Are you okay?" He asked, watching as the kid blinked in confusion, looking at Leon and then to the newly arrived pair.
He nodded, then asked a question himself. "How long have you guys been here?"
"We just got here," Heather replied, placing a hand on Zidane's shoulder.
"I think we can guess, but what happened?" James asked, as he looked the agent over for any head injuries.
"We found this creepy note that gave us an idea on how to snatch that key," Zidane began, pointing to the wall that contained said key. "We were going to find something to help unstick it, but then he coughed up blood...collapsed...I couldn't help..." he looked down at his hands, while his tail twitched.
"He doesn't look to be injured," James stated, turning to Heather. "Could you give me a hand to lay him on the bed?"
"Sure," Heather nodded, as she and James took his arms and dragged him to the closest bed.
After putting the agent to bed, Heather began to look around the room, cringing when her eyes landed on a familiar doll discarded on the ground. Either this Stanley guy didn't care where his doll went anymore, or someone else just tossed it. If it was the latter, Stanley would be pissed.
Hearing movement behind her, she turned around to see James pacing with a finger on his chin and Zidane seating himself next to Leon on the bed. Her gaze went from the boy to the wall with a bunch of random items stuck to it, the highlight being the key.
"I'm sorry..." Zidane said suddenly, startling Heather out of her searching. "I don't know what happened back there..."
She turned to face him, shaking her head. "You don't have to apologise," she leaned against the wall, folding her arms. "Anyone would have reacted like that."
"I guess, but I should have prepared myself a little better," he continued, glancing at the agent briefly. "We all knew this was going to happen sooner, or later..."
"I understand your reaction, it's natural," Heather told him, softly. "But, it's not like it was your first time seeing this sort of thing, you saw me cough up blood and you even coughed it up yourself, so..."
"But you didn't pass out afterwards," Zidane stated. "You were shaky and pale, but you stayed conscious at least," he sighed before he continued. "Leon just..." he clapped his hands together once in an effort to mimic a sound of impact.
"True..."
"I don't know why, but I thought that he had died for a second..." he looked down, trying to keep his voice steady. "Then, I remembered what had happened to me in the cells..." he closed his eyes, as he took a deep breath and exhaled. "I coughed up blood and passed out..."
After the last sentence, James' head immediately turned to look in the boy's direction, concern apparent on his face. "You went through the same thing as him?"
Zidane nodded.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"He did," Heather piped in before he could answer, prompting James to close his eyes and breathe.
"When did he mention it?" He finally asked. "Because I don't remember him saying anything."
"He told me and Leon while we had split up through the blue and red doors."
"I also told Harry when you and Henry checked the amusement park," Zidane added.
"So, Henry doesn't know?" James asked, watching as Zidane's expression became mildly confused.
"He does, considering Leon told you and Henry after you got back..."
James looked on in thought, while the boy continued.
"He told you about Heather, too," he added, prompting James to rub the back of his head awkwardly.
"Must have been too wrapped in my own head," he glanced at Heather briefly, before turning to Zidane. "When did it happen to you? I know it was when you were locked in the cells..."
"Yeah," he replied. "After Leon was thrown in with me, I began coughing..." he crossed his legs, as he thought back. "Blood came out eventually...I felt sick, the world was spinning, I was tired..." he placed a finger on his chin. "I thought I had some serious internal issues, like bleeding or something...I just fell despite my best efforts to stay awake."
"We all have internal issues..." Heather mumbled under her breath, as James took the information in.
"That's weird..." he said. "I didn't lose consciousness when I coughed up blood, neither did Henry..."
"Wait..." Heather's eyes widened, as she turned to James. "You and Henry...?"
"Coughed up blood, yes," the man looked down with folded arms. "Henry coughed up blood when we went through the blue door, and I coughed it up on the way back from the amusement park."
"And nobody told me this?"
"To tell you the truth, we kinda forgot," Zidane told her, turning her attention to him. "We were more focused on figuring out our next objective."
"Seriously?" She folded her arms in frustration. "We all need to be kept in the loop."
"I know that, but it could have waited until after we knew what we were doing."
"I understand, but you could have told me during the walk, before we got separated."
"You're not wrong," he sighed. "Sorry."
"It's nothing to be sorry for," she smiled, turning her attention back to the wall of objects. "You said a creepy note gave you an idea about this wall, right?"
"Yeah."
"Where did you put it?"
"By 'put' you mean 'threw'," he stated with audible disgust. "Over there," he pointed to a book resting on one of the bed frames in the corner. "I'd brace myself if I were you, this guy is obsessed."
"Obsessed? With what?"
"You," Zidane said simply.
Heather paled. "Stanley Coleman?"
"Yeah, that's the guy," he confirmed with unease, before beginning to tease a little. "Do you know him? Like a crazy ex-boyfriend, or something?"
"No," she said quickly, grabbing the book and flicking through it. "I don't even know how old the guy is, what he looks like, nothing."
"Me and Leon figured that was the case..."
"Loss of consciousness could be dependent on the person or situation," James said suddenly. "But I can't think of how that's the case exactly."
"You mean if age is a factor?" Zidane asked. "Or body type? Gender?"
"Yeah..."
Heather tuned out, as she focused on a specific sentence; peeling it off with stuff that 'nasty wenches' won't stop using.
'Like nail polish remover?'
The girl took out the solvent and out of curiosity, soaked the key with it. She felt eyes on her, as she went to grab the key, removing it with ease.
"It worked!" She exclaimed, holding the key up.
James' face lit up, as he approached her. "Where does it go?"
Looking closely at the key, she was just about able to make out the writing. "Stairwell."
"That's great and all," Zidane started, getting the attention of both blondes. "But we have to wait for Leon to wake up."
"You're right..." Heather looked in thought briefly, before her face lit up. "Stand up, monkey boy, we have a stairwell to go to," she said, placing the key in Zidane's hand. She then began to wrap one of Leon's arms over her shoulders. "James, a little help, please."
"Are you really thinking about carrying him everywhere?" James asked in disbelief. "It's not very practical and could slow us down."
"It's not like time is a luxury we have right now, James," Heather countered, prompting James to get Leon's other arm.
"Fine, but we have to be careful," he told her, as the pair dragged the agent off of the bed. "Lead the way, Zidane."
With a nod, Zidane took one of the suppression pills and stood up to have a look around in Leon's pocket. Pulling out the map, he gestured the other pair to follow as they left the room.
The patient wing was still quiet, with the exception of everyone's breathing. Despite the lack of monsters, the group was still on high alert; anything could come out from the shadows and try to end them. Heather and James had never turned their flashlights off, so finding a source of illumination for the pitch black hallway wasn't an issue.
With one of the members out of commission and forcibly being dragged along, the trio were vulnerable. Three out of the four of them couldn't fight back, so it was fortunate that exploration was all what the group was doing.
"What's the plan?" Zidane asked, opening the map and scanning the floor plan.
"The stairwell, obviously," Heather rolled her eyes, looking over at the map. "Oh, there's two of them..."
James looked at the girl, slightly perplexed. "Two of what?"
"Set of stairs," she told him. "One next to the elevator and another just in front of the double-doors to the patient wing."
"Don't worry, only one of them works," Zidane stated, pointing to the latter Heather mentioned. "The one next to the lift has a broken door handle."
"Yeah, I've noticed that a lot of the doors have broken handles," Heather turned to James. "Was it like this when you were here before?"
He nodded. "It's an abandoned town, so maintenance is unlikely."
Heather looked thoughtful. "I don't think it's the real town though, is it?"
"No, the woman said that we were on an island made to look like the town..."
"Yeah, but she also said that there were many monsters," Zidane said, looking up from the map briefly. "And that's clearly a lie," he held up the map directly in front of the pair. "Any specific floor you want to check out?"
"I think we should check the basement," James said without a moment of hesitation.
"Why?" Heather asked.
"There was something useful down there during my last visit."
"Are you sure it will be there, though?"
"You never know," Zidane pocketed the map and folded his arms. "We got lucky with the key on Martin Street."
"I just... have a bad feeling..." Heather admitted, trying to ignore the knots forming in her stomach.
"Being on edge is normal," James told her. "In a situation like this, we have to take risks, whether we like it or not..."
"I never expected to hear that -"
Heather was interrupted by a groan, making the group frantically look around for a source. It didn't take long for the presence to show themselves. To their left, pale nurses limped towards them, pipes ready to strike if they got close enough. A couple more were beginning to close in from the other direction.
"Crap!" Heather yelled, trying not to lose her composure completely. "Where have these been hiding?!"
"That doesn't matter!" James replied. "We have to run!"
In a combat situation, there was so much one could do carrying dead weight, namely standing there and looking pretty. It's not like one could flip, roll, and punch with an unconscious person on them; someone would have to be a superhuman to accomplish such a feat.
"We're cornered..." Zidane pointed out, unsheathing his pair of daggers and getting into a fighting stance. "I'll try to get them out of our way, you guys try to cover me."
"Okay," Heather nodded, aiming her handgun at a nearby nurse with one hand. "Me and James will focus on the left, while you take the right."
"Don't forget to support Leon's weight," James reminded her, taking aim himself.
By the time the trio had finished giving orders to each other, the creatures had gotten too close for comfort. With time not on their sides and monster nurses obstructing their path, Zidane slashed one of the nurse's stomachs, while stabbing another in the chest and kicking it away with a flip. In his peripheral vision, he could see a nurse readying her pipe in his direction, so he rolled out of the way and heard a gunshot from behind. He landed in front of another nurse wielding a knife, who was preparing to stab him. With no time to dodge, he turned and used his tail to hold her wrist in place while he signalled to Heather to shoot. She managed to shoot it once in the shoulder and another time in the head, killing it.
The horde had lessened around the exit, giving the group an opportune moment to make a run for it. Zidane signalled the pair to follow and took the lead, sprinting towards the exit and stabbing the one nurse guarding it in the eye. Meanwhile, Heather and James ran as fast as they could carrying an unconscious man, with nurses all too eager to kill them. Zidane held the door open to the lobby for them, so they could easily enter without getting attack with pipes, slamming it shut once they were safely inside.
"Let's hope they can't open doors..." Heather said between breaths.
Zidane sheathed his daggers and took a couple of deep breaths, before getting out the stairwell key and making his way to the locked door. "I doubt we'd have to worry about that, they could barely move their arms."
A low moan sounded, prompting James and Heather to ready their guns in preparation, while Zidane made a start on unlocking the door. He didn't even get to turn it once, before a handgun appeared in his peripheral vision. Everything seemed to slow down as he looked up to see a nurse pointing a gun at his head.
Before the sight could be fully processed and reacted to, the nurse's head exploded, leaving her body behind to collapse on its side. The trio stared in shock for a brief moment, before looking around for the mysterious person who, apparently, had impeccable timing.
"Where did that nurse come from?" Heather asked, glancing at the door behind her.
"That doesn't matter," James said. "What I want to know is who killed her?"
"Wait, so that wasn't you guys?" Zidane turned to face them in confusion, hand still mid-turn on the key. Both blondes shook their heads in response. "So, then who...?" He turned away and stared blankly into the shadows ahead, blinking rapidly after noticing red fabric make its way around a corner. "Did you see that?"
"See what?" Heather looked on in concern, as did James.
"Never mind," the tailed-boy shook his head, as he quickly finished unlocking the door. "Basement, here we come."
"Unfortunately..." The girl sighed, as they went through the stairwell door and began their descent into the basement.
As they ventured down, rumbling accompanied by whistling could be heard getting progressively louder. The temperature also decreased gradually, as a chilly draft floated through the air and brushed against any exposed skin, giving the group goosebumps. Eventually, they reached the entrance, where the slight draft turned into a breeze.
Upon entering the basement, the group were surprised to find that the area was decently lit. In the distance, a wheelchair could be seen lying on its side with one, squeaky wheel turning slowly. Next to it was a puddle of blood that had a foul smell emanating from it.
Heather and James carefully placed Leon down, leaning against a wall, while Zidane closed the door behind them. With a sigh, James sat beside the agent and rubbed his face.
"Is it okay if I sit down for a minute?" He asked, resting his head against the wall. "Leon is just as heavy as he looks..."
This got a small chuckle out of Heather. "Tell me about it," she said, stretching her arms. "Lifting him is probably one of the best workouts I've ever had."
"You don't work out..."
"I know, but I may not need to after this," she rubbed her arms, her smile dropping. "Are you okay, James?"
He nodded. "Just tired..."
"I don't mind having a look around while you rest a little," the girl said suddenly. "There are only a few rooms."
"I haven't checked the top room yet, but so far these doors are useless," Zidane piped up from the head of the corridor, startling Heather briefly. "You might want to come and look at this, too..." He sounded uneasy, which prompted Heather to make her way towards him.
"What?"
He gestured to a trail of blood that lead into an elevator that was open by a few inches. The smell was strong, that much so Heather involuntarily covered her nose. Next to that was a submachine gun and some used bullets.
"Someone's been here already," Zidane stated, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "They didn't make it, if that wasn't obvious."
"I wonder..." Heather turned to Zidane, rubbing the back of her head. "Would you say that it would be weird if I took a peek inside the elevator?"
"I don't think you'd want to..."
"Why...?"
"Beat you to it," he told her, turning towards the unopened door and making his way to it. "It smells worse up close and it's not like you can see what's down there, it's pitch black."
"I have a flashlight..."
"But that won't reach all the way down to the bottom of an elevator shaft," he gave her an amused grin, before placing his hand on the door. "You coming?"
"Obviously, but I'll go in first," she gently nudged him out of the way and grabbed the door handle.
Entering the room, it could be seen that it was a storeroom of some kind, judging by the heaping piles of clutter and junk littered around. There was barely any room to step inside, the pair had to press themselves against the wall to get into the room's centre, which had more space when compared to the entrance. The room was illuminated by a dim bulb that constantly flickered, making it hardly reliable.
Heather tried not to focus on it, as she glanced around the room to see if there was anything of interest. It didn't take her long to discover an unstable shelf, held upright by a gap in the wall and small piles of boxes. The state of the shelf itself wasn't what caught the girl's attention, it was the large smear of blood going behind it.
Bracing herself, she approached the shelf and attempted to take a peek, but couldn't get behind it. She placed a hand on her forehead and sighed.
"That's just great..."
"Hm?" Zidane looked up from the box he was rooting in and looked up at the girl. "What's up?"
"What do you think?"
"Do I look like a mind reader?"
"No, you look..." she stopped herself from finishing the sentence, before releasing another sigh. "It's this shelf. I want to see what's behind it, but the gap is too small..."
"Heather, what's going on with you?"
"Huh?"
"You've just been acting weird..."
"Really?" She folded her arms. "How?"
"Well, you seem distant," he elaborated, closing the box and turning his focus to the conversation. "Usually, you'd have come up with an idea by now."
"Yeah," she began rubbing her arms. "I guess you could say my mind is clogging up with other things right now."
"Like what?"
"Worries and things I can't explain," the girl turned to the shelf again. "I don't want to talk about it..."
"Right," the tailed-boy nodded in understanding, glancing at one of the stacks of boxes briefly. "If you can't get behind the shelf, then maybe you could try finding something to capture what's there."
"Like an instant camera..."
"Or something like that, yeah."
"We found one in a briefcase. James has it," she told him. "Could you get it from him, please?"
"Yeah, no problem," Zidane made his way towards the storeroom entrance and left, leaving Heather on her own.
The atmosphere instantly became heavy, as she felt like she was being watched. The temperature in the room seemed to drop, as goosebumps appeared on her skin. Looking up, the flickering light from above made the aching in her head increase and she could hear the thumping of her heart. A gentle breeze entered the room briefly and brushed passed Heather, making the hairs on her neck stand on end.
"Alessa?" It whispered.
"Yeah?" She replied without thinking, mentally slapping herself afterwards.
Why did she answer to a name that wasn't her own? She could have sworn that it was trying to talk to her, but the name it was using wasn't hers. The name 'Alessa' was so familiar to her, yet not so at the same time. Where had she heard it?
Before she could ponder any further, the storeroom door opened followed by "Got it!"
Turning to the source of the sound, she saw Zidane with the camera in hand maneuvering around the clutter in front of the entrance. Once he'd made it to the room's centre, he handed it to Heather who immediately went behind the shelf and snapped a photo. Pulling the photo from the camera's bottom, she gave it a little shake before she took a look.
"So was there anything useful behind there?" Zidane asked, standing behind Heather's shoulder to get a better look.
"Yeah, it's a four digit code hand written in what I'm hoping is red ink..."
"Heather, in this situation I highly doubt it's ink."
"I can dream," she looked at the picture closely. "It looks like the code is 2429."
"That's great, but where does it lead to?" The boy asked, looking in thought.
"I don't know, but at least we found something useful," she pocketed the photo and began walking to the exit. "Let's update James on what we've found."
James was still exactly how he was when they left, sat with his head resting against the wall with an unconscious government agent sat beside him. His face lit up, only slightly, upon the two teens approaching.
"Did you find anything?"
"Yup," Heather replied, handing him the photo. "Looks like a code."
"You're right about that," he said, giving it back. "Do you know what it's used for?"
"That's kind of the problem now," Zidane informed him. "We have a code, but no idea where it leads. So, I guess we have to look around some more."
"Great," the blonde girl sighed, rolling her eyes.
James looked up briefly, before standing. "Before we do that, I want to go and check something on the roof."
Zidane folded his arms, looking at the older man with mild curiosity. "The roof? Why?"
"I want to check something, it won't take me long."
"We have more important matters..." Heather reminded him, pointing at the napping agent.
"Why don't we split up?" The tailed-boy suggested, approaching Leon and slinging one of his arms over his shoulder. "Heather and I can look for where the code is useful, while you go and do your thing on the roof."
James nodded, while Heather frantically shook her head. "No!"
This prompted her two out of three companions to turn to her in confusion.
"What?" James asked with a raised brow.
"Dad said that you..." she trailed off, noticing that James was looking at her like she'd grown two heads. Sighing in defeat, she walked up to the agent and took his other arm. "Just be careful okay, I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I'll be fine," he reassured her, readjusting his grip on his gun as he took the lead. Heather and Zidane picked the agent up, following closely behind.
As the two teens and unconscious Leon entered the third floor, James continued his way up to the roof. Standing in front of the entrance, he shivered as he thought back to what had happened the last time he was up there. He was thrown through the fence by the Red Pyramid Thing and woke up in the Special Treatment Room.
If he said it hadn't hurt, he'd be lying.
With how much trouble this 'Saviour' lady went to replicate the town's details, he wondered just how much detail was there. How much did she really know about their experiences?
Opening the door, he was met with a cool, gentle breeze which he welcomed. There was something calming about it. The area itself was wide and spacious with fencing around it, unlike the near claustrophobic environments of the building's interior. Everything was almost exactly how he remembered it, even down to the small detail of there being drum tanks in the corner. Of course, there was only one area he truly wanted to check.
Not wanting to waste much time and reunite with the others quickly, he ran to the fence from all those years ago. He wasn't all that surprised to see that it was still standing, but he did feel slightly disappointed. That feeling quickly turned into curiosity, as he eyed a paged memo on the ground titled 'Uno Squad.' He picked it up and pocketed it, preferring to read it later when he was with the others. That decision turned out to be wise, as he heard footsteps behind him.
"James Sunderland, correct?" A muffled voice asked, causing the man to tense a little.
"Yes?" He replied, cautiously turning to face the one who addressed him. "Why?"
"I wanted to have a look at you," the unknown man stated, placing a finger underneath his gas mask covered chin. "We are in charge of your case after all."
James stood there, taking in the man's apparel. He found it odd looking, not something a normal person would wear.
The man approached the blonde and held out his hand to shake. "My codename is Delta, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
James didn't bother humouring him, choosing to keep his hands glued to his sides. "What do you want?"
The man, Delta, retracted his hand as he walked away. "Nothing at this moment in time, like I said, I simply wanted to meet you in person," he turned to face the blonde again. "Get a read on your character, if you will."
As James' grip on his gun increased, Delta released a small chuckle.
"I will leave you be for now, but I have a task to give you before we part," he took one step forward. "Tell your three friends downstairs that resistance is futile. Eventually, their cat friend will find them and they will be brought to the Saviour."
This piqued the blonde's interest. "Cat friend?"
"They will know what you mean, if you tell them," Delta adjusted his cloak slightly. "The guy with the emo haircut, 'Leon' I want to say his name was, has a choice, though," he took another step forward. "We know which choice he will make."
"What if I -"
"Refuse to tell them?" He shrugged. "Nothing. I just wanted to give them warning."
"Why?"
"Gives Sphinx some worthy opponents," he took another step forward.
James' eyes widened. "Sphnix?"
Delta laughed. "I spoke too much, see you around, James."
Before the man could even blink, he found himself being kicked through the fence; the same one from all those years ago. His thoughts were running a mile a minute and those thoughts weren't even coherent; the town, his companions, Delta, and a random mismatch of other things. Eventually, they stopped and darkness consumed him.
Chapter 14 is finally over!
Honestly, I didn't think I'd get this chapter done by the end of this year, but I guess we could call it a Christmas miracle.
I also noticed that there was a point in this year, where updates were consistent and regular. Let's hope for more frequent chapters next year. And let's also hope for better 2021!
...I will laugh if I get another chapter done before the end of this year... Happy Holidays!
Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!