Surprise! It's another chapter a week after the last one. To be honest, I wanted to post this on Monday, but what's two days late when it's already four months early?
This chapter is...special for several reasons. Some will be obvious by the end of the chapter, and some will be revealed much, much later. Consider it something to look forward to.
I honestly couldn't wait to write this particular chapter (hence why I wrote it so quickly), and I'm sure you can't wait to read it, so let's get right to it.
Disclaimer
Dragon Quest IX is the property of Square Enix and Nintendo and not me and probably not you.
What I do own are the characters that I make up, including, but not limited to, Michael, Jessica, and Allison, as well as some of the crazy things that happen to them.
Reviews:
Xdaath: This story will continue to go strong until it's over or I die. I'm glad you love this story so much, and I hope you're pleasantly surprised by how soon this chapter arrived.
Act 2 – Part 7: Sweet and Dour
(No one's POV)
"Denied."
"What?" a certain Thief asked in a deathly calm voice. His three companions moved as if preparing to fight in a moment's notice.
The Sinndicate agent appeared unfazed by the intimidation. "I said that your application to join the Honorable Thieves' Guild has been denied. I apologize, Zachary, but you and your party fail to meet the stringent requirements set forth by the Sinndicate of Pubs, Inns, and Taverns to be granted membership."
"And what requirement would those be, Mr. …Buster, was it?" Zachary growled, his seething anger starting to break through.
Buster raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word as he began flipping through the pages of the application. The only sound in the room was the rustling of the paper and the distant rumbling of thunder. A few drops of rain had already begun to streak the room's only window.
"Ah, here it is," Buster exclaimed, turning the application to show a page with a large red X next to one of the questions. "On this page, you had signified that you had, in the past, stolen from, or otherwise caused damages to, innocent civilians. You then indicated that you felt no remorse for these actions. That is, unfortunately, an immediate disqualification, and, as it turns out, illegal."
"Is that not what Thieves are supposed to do?" Zachary spat.
"Not an honorable thief," Buster answered calmly. "Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave before I decide to have you arrested for what I hope was nothing worse than simple armed robbery."
Zachary took a deep breath before responding. "Fine." Without another word, he turned around and marched straight out the door, with his companions following close behind.
"Relax, Zachy," Sarah cooed while rubbing Zachary's shoulders. "You know how tense your muscles get when your angry."
"My name is Zach-a-ry," he corrected, emphasizing the pronunciation of his name. "And you're right. I didn't even want to join their stupid guild, anyway. I just thought it would be a useful resource to have."
The two of them, as well as Willow and Marshall, were sitting in their room at the Dourbridge inn, having decided to wait for the storm outside to pass.
Zachary winced as Sarah pushed harder to reach the deeper muscles. "Wow," she exclaimed. "Your muscles are really stiff today. Something must be really stressing you out, huh?"
Zachary sighed. "Well, the fact that Jessica's still alive upsets me. Especially considering how close I was to finally killing her."
"Yeah, that is unfortunate," Sarah agreed. "Although, I do think it was sweet when that Michael guy showed up and saved her at the last second. Like a handsome knight in shining armor."
"Oh my goodness, Sarah!" Willow cackled from the dim corner of the room where she was sitting. "It almost sounds like you have a crush on Michael." Sarah didn't respond, instead turning her head away. Even in the dimness of the room, it was obvious that her cheeks had turned a shade of red that didn't come from her makeup.
"Interesting," Zachary noted. "I can't say I approve, Sarah. Nevertheless, you do bring up a good point. As long as Jessica is surrounded by people willing to fight to protect her, it will be difficult to get to her."
"In that case," Willow whispered excitedly, "let's just get rid of everyone around Jessica first. Once they're all gone, then she'll be all by herself and ours for the taking."
"That is a good idea, Willow," Zachary exclaimed. "I'm impressed." He quickly stood up and grabbed his things. "Marshall, that boat we stole from Porth Llaffan, it's docked in Bloomingdale, right?"
Marshall merely grunted in affirmation.
"Excellent," Zachary responded, sounding sinisterly excited. "We have some preparations we need to take before we can truly begin Willow's plan."
"Wait," Sarah called out. "We're leaving now? In this weather?"
"And what lovely weather we have today, don't you think?" Zachary answered.
"Yes, of course," Sarah replied.
"I'm glad we're all in agreement, then," Zachary said, a smug smile forming on his face. He opened the door to the room and was about to step out but instead turned around. "Sarah, your two idiot brothers live in Bloomingdale, right? They're not dead yet, are they?"
"Um…No, not that I know of," she answered.
Zachary's smile widened. "Perfect. Let's use this opportunity to cause some chaos as we're passing through."
(Allison's POV)
"Well, if you'd ever told me I'd be using some mortal's ship to get about the place, I would have called you a bear-faced liar! Grr!" Stella quite literally grumbled.
The three of us just sighed in response to her complaints. I turned back to my original position, where I was watching some dark clouds on the horizon slowly get closer. I'm no Ranger, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it'd be raining where we were heading within an hour or two. Resigning myself to a damp future, I leaned back and closed my eyes for a few minutes, listening as Stella continued speaking with Michael, who seemed particularly obligated to listen to her opinions.
"So it's off to new shores, eh?" Stella asked rhetorically. "Keep up the good work rate, and you'll have those Fyggs gathered in no time, Michael. And with a bit of luck, I'll find out where old fatguts has got to soon as well…"
Stella and Michael continued chatting in the background, but I eventually stopped paying attention. Between the gentle rocking of the boat, the rhythmic sounds of the sea, and the warm breeze, I soon found myself starting…to…doze…off…
"Allison! Allison, wake up!"
"Huh…? Wha…?" I asked groggily, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"C'mon! Get up!" Jessica responded, shaking my shoulder. "You fell asleep on the way. We've arrived at Slurry Quay."
Yawning, I grabbed my stuff and stood up. Stepping off the boat, I noticed that the sky had become completely overcast and had started drizzling slightly. A few rumbles of thunder could be heard off in the distance.
"So, this is Slurry Quay, huh?" Jessica asked, looking at the few buildings sitting around the dock.
"I guess so," Michael answered. "This is as far as the ferry can take us, I'm afraid. We'll have to walk the rest of the way to Bloomingdale."
"It sure would be convenient to have our own boat," I remarked.
"The captain of the ferry had mentioned that there's a beauty of a vessel down in Bloomingdale just sitting there with no one using her," Michael revealed.
"Really?" I asked excitedly. "We should definitely look into that when we get there."
"Let's just get there first," Michael advised.
As we walked to Dourbridge, the weather continued to grow worse. What was once a small drizzle had quickly become a torrential downpour, making it difficult to see very far. That fact that the strong winds were blowing the rain into my glasses certain didn't help matters.
The three of us huddled close together as we slowly followed the path that lead to Dourbridge, praying we didn't get lost. Unfortunately, it appeared that we would have to stop there until the storm passed.
After what felt like forever, the muddy path ended and was replaced by a stone walkway. The rain made it difficult to tell for sure, but it appeared that we had finally reached Dourbridge. "Oh, thank the Almighty, we made it," I exclaimed, relieved to finally have the opportunity to get out of the rain, even if it was in Dourbridge.
"I agree with Allison on this one," Jessica said. "Let's find an inn and wait for this stupid storm to pass."
"No complaints from me," Michael agreed. "Let's keep following this path and hope that something shows up soon."
Michael and Jessica continued down the path, but I got curious about the town for a moment and tried to see if I could see any more of it from where we were. I figured I could always just keep following the path and catch up to them if they went too far. Looking out straight ahead of me, I couldn't see anything else in the town. Not even any silhouettes of buildings created by the frequent bolts of lightning.
Confused, I took a step forward, trying really hard to see something – anything – of the rest of Dourbridge. Instead, my foot missed the ground completely and I ended up falling and slipping down a steep hill, landing on another stone path below. "Ow…" I whined, rubbing my sore rear. I turned around and looked up at where I had fallen from. "Shit. How am I supposed to get back up there?" My gaze ran along the top of the hill and onto the original stone path, which I now realized was a bridge that crossed over a river and the rest of the town. I sighed. Of course I wasn't able to see any of the town earlier. I was looking above it all.
As I was unable to come up with a better plan at the moment, I decided to hide underneath the bridge. At least I would be somewhat out of the rain. Wringing out my dress and wiping my glasses, I collapsed against the wall, completely drained. Unfortunately, I was given barely even a moment to relax before my eyes snapped open as they landed on a certain group of people who happened to be passing under the bridge on the other side of the river.
"Oh, Zachary," Sarah sang in her sickeningly seductive voice. "Isn't that one of little Jessica's stupid friends sitting over there all by herself?"
A wicked smile formed on Zachary's face. "Why, yes, indeed it is. How unfortunate…for her."
Suddenly overcome with a random burst of energy as well as a newfound fondness of the rain, I quickly jumped to my feet and began running away as fast as physically possible. I needed to find Michael and Jessica, now.
(No one's POV)
"Do you want us to kill her?" Willow asked excitedly, pulling out her claws in preparation.
"No, no, that won't be necessary," Zachary declined, causing troubled glances to be exchanged amongst his three companions. "Just leave her to me. And keep an eye out for Jessica and Michael. We don't need them interfering at this time."
(Michael's POV)
We continued following the stone path, hoping to find a place to stop for a little while. The path narrowed after a while before briefly widening again. As we were halfway across the wider area, the rain suddenly stopped, but only around us, revealing that we were actually walking across a bridge.
"What's going on here, Michael?" Jessica asked, visibly confused.
I didn't answer, because something else had caught my attention. Standing a few feet farther ahead on the bridge from us was the same ghost of a woman that we had encountered in the mountain pass outside of Stornway. Again, it seemed like she was talking to herself. "No… Not here, either." She turned towards us and, for the first time, actually seemed to notice us. "Huh? S-Surely…" She walked right up to me and leaned forward, looking directly into my eyes. A moment of silence passed as she closely inspected my face. Finally, she stood back up and shook her head. "No… No, it can't be…" She turned and continued walking in the direction that we came from. "What am I thinking, mistaking a traveler for a Celestrian like that…?"
Once she was gone, Stella appeared again with a thoughtful look on her face. She waited a moment before saying anything. "Haven't I seen that fashion abomination somewhere before?"
"As a matter of fact…"
"Oh well. Never mind," Stella interrupted. "You've got Fyggs to be finding, right? Well, let's hope your search is fruitful! Ha!"
I shook my head as Stella flew back into my bag. "Well, that was weird," I remarked.
"Yeah…" Jessica agreed. "What do you think, Allison? …Allison?" Jessica quickly spun around, trying to find her friend. "Michael, where's Allison?"
"I-I have no idea," I admitted, also looking for her. "She was right behind us a minute ago."
"Michael, we have to find her!" Jessica screamed, starting to panic.
"I know. And we have to hurry, before-" Before I could finish my sentence, another crack of thunder sounded in the distance, and we were engulfed in the heavy rains once again.
(Allison's POV)
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I continued to blindly run through the empty streets of Dourbridge. I was hopelessly lost at this point, but I wasn't even worried about that. I was much more concerned with staying away from Zachary's gang.
I turned down another alley and was soon met with a dead end. "Shit," I breathed. I quickly looked around as best I could and noticed a pile of crates stacked haphazardly in the corner. Out of time, energy, and options, I decided to hide behind the crates, moving them so as to hide me from view. I could only pray that I had managed to lose myself enough that Zachary couldn't find me.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them, shivering from being soaked by the rain. Exhausted, I soon felt myself surrendering to sleep's warm embrace…
(Michael's POV)
"Where could she be, Michael?" Jessica cried as we continued running around Dourbridge looking for any sign of Allison. Thankfully, the storm had finally passed, and visibility improved as the sun began to poke through the clouds. Some of the townsfolk had also begun to come outside.
"I don't know," I admitted. "Stella, please tell me you saw something."
Stella, who rejoined us after flying overhead to find clues, shook her head. "I'm sorry, Michael," she apologized. "I couldn't find any sign of her."
Jessica pulled her hair in desperation and simply fell onto her knees before wailing into her hands. "I can't believe I managed to lose my best friend!" she loudly sobbed.
I knelt beside and embraced her. "We'll find her," I promised. "Everything will be okay."
"How can you say that?" she whimpered in response.
"Because I'm not giving up until we find Allison."
Jessica wiped her nose. "Thank you, Michael," she breathed. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"We can worry about that later," I said, helping her stand up. "Right now, we have to find Allison."
Together, with Stella's help from above, we continued searching around Dourbridge for several more minutes. The few townsfolk we passed along the way gave us some odd stares, but otherwise ignored us.
"Michael, over there!" Stella suddenly called out, pointing towards a nearby part of town. Following her directions, we wound our way through the streets and alleyways until we found ourselves near the river again. There we found a taller, older man with glasses, greying brown hair, and drab clothing who was walking away from us. In his arms he carried an unconscious young woman.
Jessica shrieked as soon as she saw her, both out of sheer joy and fear. Hearing Jessica's scream, the man turned towards us. Jessica ran up to him and pointed her wand in his face. "Put her down, you creep!" she threatened.
The man seemed a bit taken aback by Jessica. "Do you two know Allison?" he asked.
"Know her?" Jessica repeated, almost offended. "She's practically my sister!" The man appeared a little confused by her answer. "We've been looking all over Dourbridge for her. Now give her back!"
"Hang on a minute, Jessica. Put your wand down," I ordered as something occurred to me. "How do you know her name?"
(Allison's POV)
Almighty, my head hurt…
Groaning, I gently rubbed my temples, giving myself a small Heal to help with the headache currently trying to split my head in half. Once existence no longer hurt, I opened my eyes to realize that I had no idea where I was.
Looking around, it appeared that I was in a small child's room. The bed I was lying in was far too small, and my legs were dangling off the end. An old rag doll was lying atop a short nightstand next to the bed. It looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Standing up, I turned to look out the window. The storm seemed to have passed a while ago, and the sun was now sitting lower in the sky, signaling that it was later in the afternoon. A river wound its way through stone outside, confirming that I was at least still in Dourbridge, for better or for worse. Some women across the river were hanging laundry on a line while some children were playing in the water. It all felt very familiar, but I couldn't quite place why.
"Mom! She's awake!" a voice yelled out behind me. I spun around to see a little boy with messy brown hair and a goofy smile that was missing some teeth standing in the doorway. He gasped and ran down a hallway when I looked at him. Before I could even begin to process what just happened, I heard someone running down the hallway and a face I did recognize soon appeared in the doorway.
"Allison!" Jessica cried out before running over and hugging me. "Thank the Almighty you're alright."
I hugged her back, relieved to finally be reunited with Jessica. "I'm so sorry for making you worry," I apologized through tears. I looked up and noticed that Michael was standing behind Jessica, also looking relieved.
"What happened?" he asked. "One second you were behind us, and then the next you were gone."
"I…don't entirely remember," I admitted. "My memory is still a bit hazy. I remember that I had fallen down the hill…and then I saw Zachary-"
"Zachary!?" Michael and Jessica both repeated in shock.
"I swear to Almighty, Allison, if I find out he hurt you, I will kill him where he stands," Jessica threatened.
"No, I don't think he did," I recalled. "They were standing on the opposite side of the river, and I ran away as fast as I could. I doubt they would've been able to follow me with all the random twists and turns I made running through the storm. The last thing I remember was passing out behind a pile of crates in a random alleyway."
Jessica shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Zachary's group was here. If we had known…"
"You mean you haven't run into them here?" I asked, confused. "Surely he would have known you would be nearby if I was here."
"No," Michael answered. "This is the first we've heard of him being here."
"That's so strange," I said. "By the way, where are we? And how were you able to find me? I was really lost and hidden somewhere random in town."
"Well, we weren't the ones that found you," Jessica admitted.
"What?" I asked. "Then who did?"
Jessica grabbed my arm, smiling. "Follow us, and we'll show you." I raised an eyebrow, but otherwise let Jessica lead me out of the room and down the hallway. The hallway led to a slightly larger room that only contained some basic furniture. The little boy from earlier was standing by a table near a window at the back of the room. An older man and woman were sitting at the table, but they both stood up when we entered the room.
The woman, who had straight, dark brown shoulder-length hair with grey streaks, took a step forward and looked directly at me. "Allison?" she asked softly.
I gasped. Even though it was barely even a whisper, I immediately recognized her voice. Everything suddenly started making sense as distant memories resurfaced once again.
"M-Mom?"
"Does she usually faint this often?"
"No…"
"The poor thing is probably in emotional shock."
"I assure you, she's been through worse."
The sound of everyone's voices brought me back to my senses. I quickly jumped off the couch I was lying on once I remembered what was going on. "Mom…Is that really you?" I asked, unable to believe what I was seeing.
"Yes, Sweetie," the woman answered, smiling warmly.
I pulled her into a hug as soon as she answered, tears forming in my eyes. "I can't believe it's you," I cried. "I missed you so much."
"We missed you, too," my mother replied, also crying. "It has been so long since we last saw you."
"Hey, what about me?" the man asked with a playful smile. "Don't I get a hug after all these years?"
"Of course you do, Dad," I answered, pulling him into the hug. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me. A few seconds later, I felt a slight tug on my dress. I looked down and saw the little boy from earlier.
"Oh, Allison," my mother began. "This is your younger brother."
"My…younger brother?" I repeated, starting to feel lightheaded again.
"Hi!" he excitedly greeted. "My name's Alexander. Everyone just calls me Alex, though."
I knelt to his eye level. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alex."
"Yay!" he cheered, his eyes lighting up, before jumping up and hugging me tightly around my neck. Unable to contain my smile, I put my arms around him and lifted him up, soliciting a gleeful squeal from the young boy. I could hear Jessica aww in the background.
I sat back onto the couch with my little brother eagerly taking a seat next to me. I took a deep breath and tried to process everything that was happening. "So, I guess that means that I'm Dourbridguese, huh?"
"Well, only half," my mom explained. "I'm still Coffinwellian, like my brother."
The mention of her brother made me think of something that bothered me. "Why…why did you send me to live with Uncle Anthony?"
Mom sighed. She seemed to have anticipated this question. "My older brother always had a…bias against the Dourbridguese."
"He was not happy when I married your mother," Dad added. "He practically disowned her."
"I admit, our town doesn't have the best reputation in the world, but a lot of it is blown out of proportion these days. I'm sure you had your own strong opinions about Dourbridge before coming here." I averted my eyes, knowing she was right. "I don't blame you for having them, Honey," Mom reassured. "Growing up with your uncle, it was inevitable you would start to think like him. But now you're old enough to form your own opinions."
"But… That still doesn't explain why I went to live with him instead of staying here with you."
"The last time I saw my brother, and you, was 17 years ago. Dourbridge was a different place back then…"
(No One's POV, 17 years ago)
"Annabeth, listen to me! You know I'm right!"
"You don't get to just show up after all these years and demand something like this!" Annabeth screamed in tears.
"I'm not demanding anything!" Anthony countered. "I'm simply extending a very generous offer. At great personal risk, I may add."
A second, larger man rose from the table, a furious look on his face. "If coming to Dourbridge was such a danger to you, then maybe you shouldn't have come here in the first place."
"Andrew, please…" his wife begged.
"No, he's right," her brother responded. "If I didn't consider the future of my niece so important, I never would've come…here." Anthony paused to take a deep breath. "Okay. I'm sorry. Let's all just calm down so we can discuss this properly."
"Discuss this?" Annabeth wept. "You want to take my precious baby Allison away from me.
Hearing her name mentioned, a little three-year-old girl turned to look at the adults who were talking behind her. She realized they weren't actually talking to her, so she went back to playing with her rag doll, waving its arms about like it was dancing and giggling at how the doll flopped around as she moved it.
"Look, it's simple," Anthony continued explaining. "Dourbridge is where people end up. No one successfully starts from here. Oh, uh, no offense to you, Andrew."
"Plenty taken."
"Right… Anyway, if this is where you want to stay, Annabeth, then so be it. You're a grown woman who can make her own decisions. But Allison never even gets a chance if she stays here with you."
"You don't know that," Annabeth argued.
"How much education is available in Dourbridge?" Anthony asked.
"…None."
"Can you afford to send her somewhere where there is education available?"
"No."
"How much food is there in Dourbridge?"
"Little."
"How many other children her age live in this town?"
"None…" Annabeth collapsed onto the table in tears, defeated.
"If she stays here, she either becomes a Thief, or she becomes a nobody. Again, no offense, Andrew."
"Still offended."
"Whatever," Anthony responded uncaringly. "If Allison comes with me to Coffinwell, I can give her everything she needs. I can send her to Swinedimples Academy. My neighbors even just gave birth to their own little girl that Allison could be friends with when they get older. It's a better life for her in every conceivable way. You'd be stupid to deny her this opportunity."
"Better in every way, huh?" Andrew retorted. "How about the part where she no longer has her parents?"
Anthony shook his head. "I never said you two had to stay out of her life. You'd be more than welcome to visit us in Coffinwell whenever you wanted."
"I-I don't know…" Annabeth hesitated. "I need time to think about it."
"Of course," Anthony agreed. "I'll head back to Bloomingdale for the night, and I'll come back in the morning so we can discuss this further." He stood up and walked to his sister, placing his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "I know we've had our issues, Sister, but I still do love you. I just want to do what's best for little Allison." Annabeth just hung her head, overwhelmed with her emotions. "Alright, well, I'll see you all tomorrow, then." He headed to the front door but paused before opening it. "Goodnight, Allison."
The little girl looked up from her doll again with a cute little smile on her face. "Guh'nite, Un'le An'ty!"
(Allison's POV, Present Time)
"I hated myself at the time for making the decision," Mom continued. "But seeing what a wonderful young woman you've grown up to be, I think I can say that it was the right choice."
All kinds of emotions were running through my mind right now. My mind had no idea where to even start with all this information, so I let my heart take the lead instead. "You never came to visit…"
Mom hung her head, a pained look on her face. Dad stepped up to answer. "Your uncle never actually offered to help us come visit. We wanted to visit all the time but going to Coffinwell was too far and too expensive a trip for us to ever even come close to being able to make."
"I can't believe he never even bothered..." I said in disbelief.
"Parts of him were genuinely terrible," Mom explained. "But, generally, he always meant well. He did keep all of his promises about you, after all. He even sent us one of those every year," she said, pointing to some items hanging on the wall.
I went to take a closer look, and realized they were all hand-drawn portraits of me at various ages. "I-I remember when he had taken me to get these drawn. He never told me what he did with them."
"It's thanks to these pictures of you that I was able to recognize you when I found you," my dad explained. "Although, you look so much like your mother, I probably would've figured it out, anyway."
"They did stop coming a few years ago, though," my mom mentioned. "We have no idea why."
I gasped. "That's right. You wouldn't know."
"We wouldn't know what?"
"Uncle Anthony, he…he died a few years ago. Our house burned down overnight while I was away at school."
A pained look appeared on Mom's face, and she turned away, crying. Dad embraced her and comforted her. "I guess that explains why he never came for Alex," he said. "Not that we would have accepted his offer this time."
I glanced at my little brother, who was off to the side, begging Michael and Jessica to show him their weapons and magic, which they both kept saying no to. "Why not?" I asked.
"Like your mother said, Dourbridge 17 years ago was a much different place than it is today. Back then, it was dangerous and impoverished and in ruins. Nothing good ever happened here. But after Cap'n Max Meddlin' came to town and decided to use his fortune to help rebuild the city, things have only gotten better. The Sinndicate even deployed an agent here to help rehabilitate and enlist some of the Thieves."
"Really?" I asked, amazed that one man could do so much good for a town.
"Really. Now we grow all our own food. We have a basic school set up. There's a lot less crime. People are even feeling safe enough to raise children here now."
"That's incredible," I said in awe.
Dad's eyes narrowed. "Although, if you ask those darn Bloomingdingers to the south of us, they still think us far beneath them."
"To be fair, Honey," my mom pointed out, "they think everyone is beneath them." She glanced out the window and her eyes, still a bit red, widened in surprise. "Oh! I didn't realize that it had gotten so late already. Allison, you and your friends can stay here tonight, if you want. We don't actually have any extra beds large enough for any of you, but I can at least offer a home-cooked meal, if you're interested."
"Mom…I would love that."
Zachary returns, and his vendetta against Jessica is as strong as ever. To what lengths will he go to achieve his goals? We can only wait and see.
Also, Allison's family finally makes an appearance. And in Dourbridge of all places. Who would've guessed? Not Allison, apparently.
Allison's family was something that I had been thinking about for a while, and it's honestly why the chapter took a few days longer than I had wanted. I'm not entirely sure what purpose, if any, they'll serve in the greater story (of course, I'm always open to suggestions), but I still think it was important to do this for Allison's sake. Anyway, what are your thoughts on her family, and the chapter as a whole?
As always, if you like what you've read, please leave a review, make a post in the forum, or even just follow and favorite the story. I greatly appreciate all of the feedback I receive, and I always use it as motivation and guidance on how to make the next chapter even better than the last. Of course, I'm grateful for you just for taking the time to read this story in the first place.
As for the next chapter, I know I spoiled you with this one, but the next one will absolutely be coming a few months from now. Hm... Super Smash Bros. Ultimate might be out by then...
Until next time, this is D~F.
P.S.: Cruelcumber is in Dragon Quest XI, and he is still the best monster.
