I don't own KH or FF which belong to Square-Enix. I don't own BOF, either, as that belongs to Capcom.
Anyway, warning – quite a bit of angst in this chapter (and later, in other chapters as well although I don't want to make the whole story depressing).
Now just for those who are not quite sure what characters I have put in so far, I will tell you – in BOF, I have added Ryu, Nina, Bosch, Ursula, Mami and the fairies. For Final Fantasy I have put Yuna, Zidane, Zell, Rinoa, Selphie, Scarlet, Benero, Zenero, Genero, Locke, Quistis Trepe (Miss Trepe), Garnet, Lenne. And for Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Ansem. More will come in later chapters! Most pairings undecided, but definitely Sora/Kairi! However, take note that this is NOT a yaoi fanfic (no, I am not homophobic – but I just can't imagine myself using that type of pairing), and there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that I am going to put Riku and Sora together – I absolutely refuse to, slash or no slash!
Anyway, before I go on – this fic is rated mostly for violence or swearing. If the content goes to the extent that I need to put the age rating up, then do let me know! Thanks!
Yuna peered through the bracken to see where the rustling was coming from. Nothing. Just more tall plants. Maybe it was her imagination…
She began to wonder where her friends were. All she could remember was that Sora fell from Valefor. She also remembered that as Sora fell, some white light began to glow from his Keyblade…..
When Yuna opened her eyes, the light had faded. Valefor was still in the air, but it was flying more slowly than usual – Yuna could see that it was panting heavily, its eyes fixed on the land which was less than a kilometre ahead…if they could just
They made it – now they were flying over the beach. "Valefor, descend…" Yuna called to her winged protector. The great reptile-like creature started to float down towards the trees below.
"Sora…" Zidane said to himself quietly with regret.
"Where is he?" Nina yelled. "He can't be…"
"He isn't dead," Ryu told them. "He won't be – he's a Keyblade Warrior. His powers will save him."
Nina turned to Ryu, giving "Are you sure?" she asked, with great hope in her eyes.
Before the red-eyed child could reply, however, Nina was hit by an icicle, injuring her wing. She lost her balance and fell off Valefor. Ryu, who was sitting right next to her, without warning, jumped after her.
But before Zidane and Yuna could stop him, Valefor was hit again with a ball of lightning. The pain was so intense that Yuna's guardian lost its balance and started shaking sideways. Yuna felt herself rolling off Valefor's back.
And the last thing that she remembered was falling…
Falling…
Falling…
All that Yuna knew was that she woke up lying under Valefor's wing, unhurt. She knew that Valefor had saved her. Valefor had always protected her whenever she was in physical danger – as if it was a guardian angel. Perhaps Valefor was her guardian angel. She did not know.
But what about the others? Were they still alive as well? After falling from such a height?
She sat down, her head bowed, not caring about what was going on around her. Is it my fault? She asked herself, feeling a lump in her throat. I knew that it was dangerous to summong Valefor, but I only wanted to help them…but I led them to their deaths…
Yuna felt a tear running down her cheek, but she did not bother to wipe it from her face. All that she had managed to do was save her own life, not the lives of her friends, which was what she should have done. Nina was right to be suspicious of her. All that Yuna felt she did was cause trouble for everybody.
She stopped crying when she suddenly heard another rustling in the bracken. Something was definitely there. She drew out her staff, ready for a spell, and closed her eyes. She moved her staff around to create her ice trap…
"Ryu!"
Upon seeing Ryu collapse, Sora quickly ran over to him. He bent over and examined the boy. He was incredibly pale, but he was still breathing….
Sora then suddenly started to feel…hot. Sweat started to pour down his head….what was going on? It could not have been the weather…but the climate could not just suddenly change from mild to incredibly hot.
A pain from the sting on Sora's left hand, where the snake bit him, suddenly increased dramatically, forcing him to clutch his left hand. He examined the tooth marks on his hand and was shocked to see four long sickily green lines travelling right up his arm from the tooth marks of the cobra. Sora's arm began to shake.
He then thought for a moment. He remembered in defence classes that there were some snakes that had the power to inject some deadly venom into their opponents…venom that could kill that opponent within minutes. Sora had been poisoned.
In response, Sora closed his eyes and moved his hands. A green light flowed around him and the green lines on his arm disappeared, leaving only the tooth marks on his hand. Good thing I knew the White magic spell Panacea (which could cure poison) otherwise, I would have been screwed. He checked his foot. There were no tooth marks. Although the cobra damaged his trainer, it had not actually touched his foot, which was a relief….otherwise, the poison would have had a much worse effect on him.
But wait….what about Ryu? Sora turned to the unconscious boy. Ryu was still breathing…but his face was white and his face was wet with sweat. Sora noticed that the back of his tunic was torn. He turned the boy over to find out where the snake had bitten him and suddenly gasped at what he saw.
The snake's bites were there all right…two bites on the lower left side of his back and one on the upper right. However, this was not that caught Sora's attention. Right next to Ryu's spine were two dark red, and clearly visible scars, both in straight lines.
"And there were two more scars…..on his back. Two straight ones, but they're old," Sora remembered Locke telling him the night that they rescued Ryu. So…..they happened a long time ago. Although Sora was uncertain on how Ryu gained those scars, he could tell just by looking at them that the pain that occurred when they appeared must have been great. How did Ryu obtain those large, ugly scars? The Empire?
Sora heard a faint whimper from Ryu and returned to reality. He did not know how long it was since Ryu was poisoned…but he had to do something quickly, or he would die. Sora instantly closed his eyes and performed Panacea.
His eyes opened slowly.. His eyes began to focus…
He turned his head around. The light in the room was dim. The whole room appeared bare, apart from a small bedside chest of drawers with a lamp – not an electric one, but one of those lamps on which one would light a candle and then place the round cylinder-like glass over. The floor had plain wooden floorboards, with no rug or carpet for decoration. The entire room was if it was a prison cell. His black Keyblade lay on the floor beside the bed. He recognised this place – it was the cabin that they lent him for the journey. Not the most flattering room – even his tiny and cramped bedroom at school, which had a window that had the beautiful and magnificent view of a group of dustbins which were dumped in the street below his bedroom window and had walls painted a dull yellow, appeared a luxury, compared to the cabin.
He could not move his hands or legs. As he looked down, he realised that both his feet and his hands (behind his back) were tied together by some rope.
How did he get here? He remembered threatening to kill Bosch if he did anything to that ship. Did he manage to stop Bosch? He could not remember……wait a minute….he remembered himself being grabbed by a couple of soldiers…then hit in the head with something…sharp. He lost his balance, felt himself falling…and saw blackness.
His head was still in pain…and he could not do anything about it, as his hands were bound. Riku tried to move his hands to free himself from the ropes…..no good. They were too tight.
The door suddenly opened and Bosch stepped in, followed by Captain Ursula. Bosch had some sort of evil smug look on his face. Ursula followed him, with a frown on her face, which was directed at Bosch.
"So he's finally awake," Bosch said. "See? I told ya, Ursula…as much as I would like to…I can't kill the little silver-haired brat yet."
Ursula gave Bosch a cold look but decided to remain silent.
Riku struggled to sit up. Bosch pulled out his rapier. Ursula's eyes widened.
"Don't worry, Ursula…I told you the gods know how many times…Riku is too important to destroy. Besides….a mere sword like this one can't kill him…you saw what happened to Sora…."
Sora? Riku was now sitting up with little difficulty. His blue eyes were now fixed on Bosch with fury and suspicion. "What the fuck did you do to Sora?" he questioned the general.
Bosch said nothing at first. He forcefully pushed Riku over, grabbed his arms and moved the rapier towards Riku's hand. His rapier drew a line through the skin, and then pushed at the ropes, cutting them instantly and therefore freeing Riku's arms. However, Riku was given a rather large cut on his right hand as a result – which he was certain was intentional.
"You can free your legs yourself," Bosch said.
"Why did you tie him up?" Ursula asked,
"What happened if he woke up when I was still trying to chase that creature?" Bosch replied as if he had done nothing wrong. He still had strong memories of being attacked by Riku back in Treno.
"I don't ever remember him becoming a prisoner, General," Ursula said accusingly.
Bosch laughed as if Ursula was being stupid. "Captain…" he then whispered into his inferior's ear so that Riku could not hear. "Just because we have bribed young Riku here into working with us, it does not mean that he can change his mind just like that. And if even he does attempt to break his promise and we kill his friends as a result, we can find other ways to get his assistance – okay, he is not really a prisoner in the sense that the Empress did not actually say he was – but if you think about it….."
Before Ursula could respond, Bosch's attention turned to Riku.
"Well, kid…I suppose you want to know what happened to your friends…"
"Like hell, I do!" Riku stood up fast after he had finished untying his feet. He grabbed Bosch by the collar and pushed him against the wall. Ursula instantly drew out her gun.
Damn, that boy is strong! Bosch said to himself. He knew that Riku would be powerful – but he had still underestimated his strength, even after he was badly wounded by Riku's black Keyblade in Treno.
"Well….aren't you gonna tell me?" Riku demanded, lifting Bosch a little higher and his fist aimed at the general's face, his blue eyes flashing with anger and hatred.
"I will tell you if you put me down."
Ursula pointed her gun at Riku's head. "Put the general down," she demanded. Even though she would have loved to see Bosch with a broken neck, Bosch was still a general, and therefore superior to her in rank. If the general was killed, then she would have a lot of explaining to do with the authorities – and it would be likely that she would be punished severely.
"If you value the lives of your friends, then I suggest that you let me go – you know that it is a violation for a Suverian citizen to attack his superior?" Bosch taunted.
"Hell, just because I'm from the same tribe as you doesn't mean I have to follow all your customs!" Riku
"Are you sure about that?" Bosch asked in a mocking tone. "Because those type of violations in Suveria are surely punishable by death……but since you are important to us, boy….we can….put the blame on…others…perhaps Sir Argul can find one of your friends at school.."
Riku uttered something unintelligible (probably several curses), let go of Bosch and stepped back. Bosch landed on his feet. He gave an evil grin and then walked around the room, rubbing his neck. Ursula lowered her gun.
"Anyway, where was I?" Bosch began. "Oh, yes…I was going to explain what happened to the Keyblade Warrior and your other two friends…"
And then he told Riku of the incident with the winged creature that the young girl summoned. And how he used his spells in order to stop them. Riku sat on his cabin bed, staring at the floor, listening to every single word that came out of Bosch's mouth and his anger rising gradually as the evil general described how he targeted and hit the flying animal many times, how Sora fell into the sea, how Sora managed to save himself with his powers and how the flying creature lost its balance.
Eventually, the boy had to say something.
"….I thought that you were not going to hurt them," he then said, looking up at Bosch, with a calm composure, but his aqua-coloured eyes still full of rage.
"Well……that the other Keyblade Warrior and the summoner girl were getting away," Bosch explained. "We had to find a way to stop them so that we could locate them easily….they knew that we were after them.."
"You guys promised me that Nina would not be involved and that Sora would not be hurt!" Riku growled. "Yet you attacked them both – you guys lied to me!"
Bosch shrugged. "That is what the Empress promised you," he replied casually. "She does try to keep her side of the bargain..however, Sora and that girl is more important to her than the safety of your friends…"
Riku's eyes turned to the wall, not bothering to answer. He wanted to be alone.
"Well….I have to go back to the cockpit," Bosch sighed aloud. "In order that we prepare our search on that little abandoned island….see if we have any luck in finding our buried treasure…."
He turned to Ursula. "Make sure that the men have all their weapons," he commanded. "It could be a long search….we may not even find them on the island….."
Bosch then opened the door and went straight out, feeling satisfied - he was one of those who enjoyed making misery for other people. That little blue-haired boy had disappeared – and that was a considerable annoyance to him, but Riku arrived. Now he had somebody new to pick on, besides Captain Ursula. As Bosch walked through the doorway, Ursula walked slowly behind him, giving her superior several angry glances. Although Ursula was a loyal soldier, she never hid her opinion from Bosch about his ruthless treatment of others – she was allowed to do that – not that Bosch cared anyway. Twenty one year old Ursula was from a poor family whose main reason for joining the Suverian army was to support her parents and five younger sisters. She was a peasant girl – what would she know? Bosch would normally think. Although Ursula had risen to quite a high rank and was popular among her soldiers – her well-earned respect would never get her very far. She would probably never rise to a general, due to the fact that she was a working-class girl.
Twenty five year old Bosch, on the other hand, was different. He had come from the DeVer family, one of the richest and well-respected families in Suveria, ranking alongside the Garald family the Argul family and others. He had joined the army at the age of sixteen and been promoted very quickly thanks to his noble heritage as well as his excellent skills in combat and magic. Bosch not only rose to the General rank at the age of twenty-three, but on the very day of his promotion, he was betrothed to the Empress' stepdaughter and heir to the Suverian Empire, Princess Garnet. Ursula would gain none of this glory, during her career as a soldier.
Once both the arrogant general and captain left, Riku made sure that the door was completely shut, fell to the floor and examined his bleeding hand. He found a long black cloth in his coat pocket and wrapped it around to stop the flowing blood. The wound would heal in time. It was painful, but not something that would leave a scar. However, the pain from his injury was nothing in comparison to the pain in his mind.
The Empire had broken their two of their promises to him….Bosch had attacked both of them when they tried to escape from that boat. Although he was told that Sora would be still alive because of his powers (and Riku hoped that this was true), but what about Nina? She may have been the Princess of Wyndia, but she was really just a normal girl – with no 'special' powers, as far as Riku knew.
Perhaps her wings would be able to save her from the height….but…how great a distance were they from land? If she was lucky, Nina could have been able to spread out her wings and float down instead, having a safe landing….he hoped. But how far high up had they been? Did they really reach the island in time in order to stop them from landing in the sea and…
Riku banged his strong fist on the floor, causing the door to shake, and stared at the floor.
"Whoah…that was loud!" He heard Bosch's voice in the corridor. "Perhaps our hormonal teenager is going to burst into tears at anytime now!"
Nice try, idiot, Riku thought with utter, deep hatred for the general. Riku did not remember how to cry – it was something that he had not done since he was……eight perhaps? He could not remember. He knew that Bosch was deliberately trying to make his life a misery – and had been doing this ever since Bosch had been assigned to look after him. And this was his first successful attempt. Bosch had succeeded because by trying to kill two of Riku's closest friends.
Wait! Riku suddenly thought. Both Sora and Nina could be still alive….what Bosch said….Maybe that summoned creature made a safe landing…..just because it was badly hurt, it doesn't mean that it would have just crashed. So there is a small chance that Nina could be alright. And Sora too, if his so called 'power' really did save him…
Riku realised that there was no use getting upset at the present, as he really did not know what happened to his friends. However, this did not stop his head being full of confusion and worry.
"Nina…Sora…" he whispered to himself. "Don't die on me…..you have to be alive"
It was not long before Ryu finally stirred. Sora was sitting on the grass a few metres away from him, waiting for him to wake up. He had done all he could – and was now certain that Ryu was going to be okay.
The boy gave a small groan. Sora rose from his sitting place and walked towards him. Ryu slowly opened his eyes and started to examine his surroundings. He cried out when he suddenly found somebody bending over him and sat up quickly, grabbing his sword.
"Whoah….hey, it's only me!" Sora exclaimed.
Ryu recognised Sora instantly and returned his sword to its sheath. "Don't startle me like that again," he growled.
Sora was a little taken aback by this hostility, even though he did not really expect Ryu to be in a friendly mood when he woke up. Not that Ryu would be in a friendly mood to anyone in any place at any time. Even though he had only known him for a few days, Sora had worked out a little of Ryu's character already – the boy seemed very reserved – he would not tell Sora or anybody else about where he came from, where he lived or even who his parents were. He would not even tell them his real name, which was even stranger. However, Sora did have some idea why Ryu kept himself to himself. It was not because he was moody or antisocial.
The reason was that Ryu did not trust anyone. Not even his companions.
Why? Sora wondered. What did Ryu have against people that made him so wary of them? Was there anybody that he was friendly with?
"What's wrong?"
Ryu was looking at the brown-haired youth with suspicion, wondering why he was lost in thought – was he planning something?
Sora shook his head instantly, forgetting that he was still inside the forest. He apologised.
"Um…….are you okay?" Sora asked, still having no idea how Ryu managed to land on the island. "Are the others here? Are they safe?"
Ryu was unsure how to reply….he knew how he had survived the fall, but that was something that he was not going to reveal to Sora, for various reasons. However, he realised that perhaps there was one thing that he could tell Sora….and avoid awkward questions.
"Um…I saw Nina…" he murmured.
Nina? Sora stepped back. Nina….he was still looking for her. However, because he had been interrupted by the snake and become so bent on trying to rescue Ryu, he had forgotten all about her. Dammit – she could be dead by now! Sora fretted. And I have been standing here…wait a minute…
"D-do you know where Nina is?" Sora then asked Ryu.
The boy nodded. He pointed towards the west and ran – with unbelievable speed for a child so young.
Sora followed, also running, incredibly fast but not quite enough to keep up with Ryu's pace. However, although Ryu soon disappeared from his sight, Sora knew where the boy had gone…..all he had to do was follow Ryu's path through the bracken.
Yuna stepped back after she had created her ice glyph. Whatever was in those bushes, whether it was a monster or someone who wanted to plan a sneak attack on her, she was well-prepared…
Just then, the creature emerged…Yuna had no time to work out what it was, as it ran straight into her trap..
"OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"
Yuna could not believe her eyes. What she had caught was not a monster…….but a little girl. A girl aged around six or so – her straight purple hair was cut into a bob, tied together with a yellow ribbon, and her eyes were a bright green. She was wearing a long pink frilly dress, with long and puffed up sleeves. A pair of rather large looking brown boots (which were too big for her) were slipping off her feet.
The child fell to the ground, after being hit by the ten or so icicles that she ran into. Yuna was overcome by a great feeling of guilt – how could she have known that it was a child and not a monster? In seconds, the young woman was on her knees, crying, "Oh dear, I am so sorry! Are you all right?"
At first, the girl did not stir an inch.
Yuna continued to examine her, her heart filling with more regret…
But then with no warning, the girl jumped to her feet as if she was a Jack in the Box and whacked Yuna on the arm with a wooden mahogany staff, which she was holding. Yuna jumped back in surprise. The child, however, continued to attack her, shouting "HOW DARE YOU SET A TRAP ON ME! TAKE THAT!"
Yuna was hit with a ball of fire. She fell backwards and dropped her staff, making no attempt to stop the child.
The girl stopped for a second, as she realised that the young woman did not try to defend herself. Why?
"Come on – are you gonna fight me or what?" the girl shouted, starting to get annoyed.
Yuna returned to her feet, but she did not pick up her staff. Instead, she held up her hand, telling the girl to stop.
"…y…you….don't want to fight me?" The tiny purple-haired girl asked, puzzled.
Yuna shook her head with sincerity. "I-I'm sorry," she managed to say in response. "I…thought you were a monster…"
The girl was about to snap out at Yuna for being an idiot and saying that she looked like a monster – but realised that Yuna did not see her at first, because she was hiding behind the bushes.
"I….guess you didn't see me, then," she replied, smiling apologetically at Yuna.
Yuna smiled back, relieved that she had not managed to kill the little girl and that the little girl had forgiven her. However, what was such a small child who looked about five or six years old doing in the woods all alone? Where were her parents?
"Um…..how did you get here?" Yuna asked, in a friendly tone.
The girl's smile faded. "Um….I live here," she answered as if Yuna was being stupid. "I only went out to hunt a deer…"
Going out to hunt a deer? On her own? Perhaps somebody was with her, but she got lost Yuna thought. She had to ask another question.
"Well….do your parents know where you are?"
"My parents are dead," the girl replied."My sister Lenne looks after me…well, she's not really my sister, but I like to think of her as that…."
The purple-haired child understood what Yuna meant. Lenne knows me well enough to let me go out on my own! This lady does not know what a SPECIAL girl I am!
Yuna did not know what to think. So, she did live with somebody – but what was she doing out in the wilderness by herself?
"Well, does Lenne know where you are?" the brown-haired girl asked. "Surely, she'll be worried about you? Shouldn't you go home now, so that she won't have to go out and look for you?"
I knew she would ask me that! The little girl said to herself in thought. Now…how am I gonna convince her that I don't need a grown-up to come with me!
"I'll take you to her!" the girl said. "Our house isn't that far!"And with that, she turned back towards the bracken and started to run.
"Wait!" Yuna protested. "Where are you going?"
"Come on!" the girl called. "It's this way! It's easy to get lost in the forest, but I know the way!"
Yuna decided that she had better follow the girl – she had to meet this Lenne, in order to tell her that this girl was safe. Such a small girl should never be let out to explore such a place unaccompanied.
Even when she was with different foster families, Yuna knew that she never had been let out of any of her 'homes' so young without somebody to go with her at that age.
Ryu and Sora made their way through the forest. Ryu led, running ahead, and Sora following closely behind, panting heavily, but determined to find one of his best friends in one piece.
Ryu abruptly stopped and pointed ahead – in the bracken lay Nina. Sora walked slowly up to her. She was unconscious, but still breathing. Both of her wings were broken and so were her left arm and right leg but all of the injuries had been bandaged by large bracken stalks.
"You….did that to her with the plants?"
Ryu nodded.
Sora did not know what to say – he had been so worried about Nina, especially after seeing the dragon – what would the dragon have done to her? Kill her? Have her for dinner? However, now he could relax a little– as somehow Ryu had managed to find her, without being caught by the dragon.
Sora walked up to Nina and cast a Cure spell on her. This helped to mend some of her bones, although she would have to find a proper place to rest, in order to fully recover – and Sora had just used up his last healing spell.
He turned to Ryu and grinned before giving a nervous laugh, trying to think of what to say to Ryu.
"Well….uh….thanks, kid…" Sora chuckled. "…..I-I….really though that she was dead….."
Thanks? Ryu could hardly remember the last time that somebody had thanked him – apart from Yuna when they saved her from those bandits (although this was to Sora, Nina and Zidane as well, not just Ryu, so it did not count). Although Ryu had done favours for others, it was usually so that he would be rewarded with his life – nobody but Yuna and Sora had said anything actually showed appreciation for his actions. He was not used to it. Ryu felt his blood rush up to his face – and Sora could see that he was turning a bright shade of pink. It was quite amusing to watch.
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Sora laughed again. "You should be proud of yourself!"
"Who are you?"
Sora and Ryu rose instantly and turned around. That was not Ryu's voice.
A woman stood before them, staring at them intently. Her long earrings which consisted of strings of coloured beads were almost hidden by her long straight dark chocolate brown hair that fell down to her waist. She wore a blue zipped tank top with a short blue skirt and dark long brown boots.Her chestnut brown eyes radiated with distrust. She was aiming a bow at Sora. Sora drew out his Keyblade in suspicion. Ryu already had his hand gripped on his sword.
The woman noticed the Keyblade, and her eyes widened.
"Y-you're a K-Keyblade Warrior!" she gasped in horror.
So…she knew about the Keyblade Warriors, then? Sora did not know how to react to this. If she had some idea about who the Keyblade Warriors were, then maybe she could help him, unless….
"A-are you from the Empire?" Sora questioned the young woman, nervously.
The woman lowered her bow. "Put your weapons down," she ordered. "I do not wish to fight you…"
"Are you from the Empire?" Ryu repeated Sora's question, but in a rather more demanding tone.
"The Empire? Why would I want to work for those tyrants?" the woman replied, dropping her bow to the ground. Then her eyes moved to Nina and she ran over to the unconscious girl.
Ryu covered Nina, his sword pointing still at the woman.
"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt her," the woman said calmly. She studied Nina carefully for a few minutes. "I see……you have tried to bandage her wing….bracken won't really do the trick, but at least you have tried something…..is she from Wyndia?"
"Uh…yeah….." Sora could not lie about that. It would be obvious to anybody that Nina was from Wyndia. No other tribe was known to have wings.
The woman nodded. "I thought so." She then closed her eyes and a white light appeared above Nina's body. A few seconds later, some of Nina's wounds disappeared.
"That's all I can do for the moment," the woman declared. "She isn't the first one. Come with me….bring her with you. We need to get her somewhere safe.."
To be continued…The longest chapter I have written so far – yay!
I would like to thank the following reviewers:
Erinyes Star – Thanks a lot! Yeah, I'm afraid the story will be a bit slow – I don't know how long I'm going to make it….even though I have sort of planned the overall storyline. However, there are specifically important plot points that I don't really want to reveal just yet….Also, I know you wanted me to be more descriptive, but when my dad beta-read it, he said that the fanfic was a little too detailed – I'm not going to ignore your advice in Chapter 8, but I don't want to go too overboard, especially as it might spoil some of the plot which you are not supposed to find out yet!
Chapter 10 up, Chapter 11 complete but still needs to be beta-checked. Chapter 12 in progress, but don't nag me about updates! This fanfic is not dead, but I am not going to be certain on when I will be update!
