I apologize for the tardiness of this chapter. With school coming back and all the packing that needs to be done, I didn't have a lot of time. Also, I had other things to be working on. On another note, I'm getting strange vibes about this story. Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe I'm not. Tell me if something's wierd or if it's moving too fast.
Chapter 19, 20, 21: Past, Present, Future
Eliwood threw open the door at the end of the corridor.
Hector threw open the door at the end of the corridor.
Lyn threw open the door at the end of the corridor.
They looked in to notice a large room with a giant instrument in the center. They also noticed each other standing at different ends of the room.
"Guys! You won't believe what I just saw!" they all shouted at each other at the same time. They met in the middle and told each other of the adventure that they just saw. So far, the timeline looked something like this.
Ever since Mark was born, he was marked down for something that would make him a hero in the eyes of everyone. Even if he doesn't want to be worshipped, he was willing to do it if it meant making the world a better place for his friends. He was trained ever since he was little and put through various torture methods to increase his tolerance to them. Apparently he has forms which may prove lethal if released in the vicinity of anyone. He killed a girl, was put on trial, resurrected her, put on trial again, and escaped before anything could be done.
"I think that escaping from them was the last thing he did before he met up with me," Lyn said wonderingly. "He was wearing the same thing I found him in and he was almost the same age."
"Then we have to ask the question 'Why were you able to interact with him?' Is what we saw really the truth?" Eliwood asked.
"I dunno. I say, find Mark and ask him or one of his captors the question. We won't get anywhere by staying here," Hector suggested.
They nodded their agreement and began trying to find a way out.
The room was very big. It could easily hold the ship they were traveling on and still have room to spare. The room wasn't empty though. The giant instrument stood in the center in all of its awe.
It was large and gold…and that was the only way to actually concisely describe it. There was a harp here, chimes there. The whole monument seemed like a cacophony of instruments blended together.
"Hey, look here," Lyn called out to the two guys. In front of her were a lever and a sign. It said:
Pull Here to Experience a World of Music
"Well let's get to it," Hector said cheerfully and pulled the lever before his friends could stop him.
The ground suddenly lurched and they all pulled out their weapons in case of an attack. The shaking didn't subside until after several minutes, during which Hector was screaming profanities and Lyn and Eliwood screaming at him.
After a while, the shaking stopped and they looked around. They heard a soft scraping sound from above and jumped back incase something was to fall on them. Carefully, they saw a small stone slab slide away and a small metallic ball, no bigger than three centimeters fall down.
They cautiously watched as it dropped onto a spiraling slide and continued to roll down. They craned their necks as they watched the ball continue on its predetermined path. It passed through the first set of instruments. The ball pushed aside several levers and it set the machine in motion.
Thin, spidery legs moved about, plucking the strings of a strange instrument that none of them recognized. It had several strings, each of which had two legs to play, one for plucking the strings and one for changing the notes, and a large hole in the center. The sound was melodic, though it had a herky-jerky feeling to it that was not uncomfortable.
The ball passed several more rings and pushed off another lever. Several arms unfolded themselves from their resting place. They started playing on strings in perfect harmony with the earlier piece, even though it lacked the herky-jerky notes. It was a lot smoother and replayed some parts as if to reiterate something.
Round and around the ball went, taking off pegs and levers to start the music. All together, the music still had a piece of harmony that was apparent. Like a master weaving his art in an intricate and delicate pattern. Bass, woodwinds, percussions all flowed at once in the masterpiece.
When it finally ended, the three were left in a sense of wonder and awe. Such a machine, so grand and majestic. The lords looked around to see the machine had stopped. The music reminded them of Nils. His music refreshed them in a way uncannily like the machine before them.
The looked around again as they heard something creak and groan. The ground beneath them shuddered and started to crack. The ground collapsed and the three of them fell along with the machine. The world went black to them.
When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a dark room. They can see each other clearly enough. The machine was a wreck behind them.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Eliwood wondered.
"Dunno," Hector muttered as he walked around to find a way out.
They both turned around as they heard Lyn sharply gasped. Standing in front of her was Mimir, or whoever he was. He just smiled pleasantly at them like being trapped in a giant floating pyramid was something that he ran into everyday.
He walked away from them and a door appeared. Without opening the door, he walked through it.
The three lords looked at each other.
"We don't really have much of a choice," Eliwood reminded them.
They bravely walked towards the door. Inside was a lavishly decorated room. What's with this pyramid? Half of it's decrepit and the other half was fit for royalty.
Mimir, or whoever, was standing in the center of the room.
"Welcome," he called out amiably at them. "I suppose you are wondering to the mysteries of this pyramid. However, if you truly wish to know the answer, the answer is within you."
"What are you talking about?" Hector asked.
"I digress. If you want to exit this castle, then you should go through this door." He faded away and a door appeared in the center facing them. He reappeared beside the door. "Or perhaps you should go through this one." He faded away again and another door facing the left appeared. "But then again, this one might be just as good." He reappeared and disappeared to the right of the first door leaving another one.
"I'll tell you," Hector said. "The kook's Mark when he gets older."
"Come on, we don't have much to lose," Lyn yelled at them. "Let's just pick a door and go."
In the end, after several games of rock-paper-scissors, which Hector was accused of cheating, they decided to go through the middle door.
"We could have decided that without all of that hassle," Eliwood stated simply.
"Yeah, but it wouldn't be as much fun," Hector argued.
"Can we please just keep on going?!" Lyn shouted.
Before she was even finished, she yanked open the door and jumped through. The other two lords scrambled in after her.
They looked around to find a large and mildly crowded street. It was peaceful. The air it had was somewhat like that of Arcadia. People coming and going, looking at stalls and buying. No violence, tolerance for different races, there were several people that they were sure weren't human. Tails and ears obviously gave that away.
They walked down the street, trying to influence as little as possible. They found out they could influence the world around them because Lyn bumped into a boy with glasses. He was strange. Why, Lyn couldn't figure out, but she has a feeling that he wasn't suppose to be in the picture.
At the end of the street was another door. It was just standing in the middle of the street and no one noticed it. 'Just like that boy.' Lyn thought.
With nothing else to do, they went through the door. On the other side was Mimir, or whoever. He smiled at them.
"So, did you like what you see?"
"Okay, enough mind games old man," Hector retorted angrily.
"But the mind games have just begun," he said. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I am Memoria, The Memory." So I was wrong…He's three people okay?!
A purple seal glowed underneath him as he started chanting very quickly. Before the lords could even ready their weapons, he shouted, "TRANCEND THE SKIES AND STRIKE DOWN MY OPPONENT WITH THY CRIMSON LIGHTNING! THUNDER BLADE!"
A giant purple sword crashed from the sky. Had they not jumped out of the way, the sword would have skewered them. The sword crackled with electricity for a second before sending the pulse through the ground. Luckily, they were far away enough so that they only felt minor tingles.
"Is that all you've got?" Memoria called out to them. "Take this."
Giant bubbles formed around him and homed in on them.
"What is this?!" Hector yelled as his ax went through the bubble causing it to split in two.
"I don't know!" Eliwood shouted back. His rapier couldn't pierce through them.
Lyn was flipping through the bubbles. 'If they can't be destroyed…' She maneuvered herself until she was next to Memoria. "TAKE THIS!"
She slashed at him. Her attack missed. He faded away and reappeared on the opposite side of the room.
He lifted his hand and it started glowing pale green. "EXCLALIBER!" Giant pendulums flowed across the room. They were all scrambling to get out of the way of the blades. Lyn was having the easiest time because she was more built for speed.
"Interesting enough," Memoria said. He frowned slightly. "I suppose I'll be leaving things up to them for now." He faded away. The three doors came back, except the middle door was locked.
"Great, we're going to have to go through all three doors," Hector muttered.
They decided to take the door on the left. They entered into a world of darkness.
"I've seen this world," Lyn said. The other two looked at her. "This is like the place where I've met Mark as a child."
The world was bathed in a dark light. Everything was no longer cheery. They found the street they traveled on about ten minutes ago. The stones were cracked and disorderly. The people were no longer friendly. They were arguing over prices, stalls, anything they could think of.
Some were sick and where wheezing in the street. They kept on walking. What could have happened to such a place?
Lyn bumped into another person. It was the same boy. He hasn't really seemed to age since they saw him. His eyes widened in recognition of Lyn. Lyn hurried past him.
Through the crowds, they lost track of the guy and it seemed as though he's lost them as well. People were jostling each other out of the way to get to the supplies. The only thing the lords could interpret from these actions is that there was a shortage of supplies, but it didn't take a genius to realize that.
They continued until they found a familiar door at the end of the street again. Hurriedly, because they wanted to get out of that dismal world, they yanked open the door and piled out.
Memoria was standing on the other side.
"Actually no, I'm Mimir."
"Huh?"
"Like I said, I'm Mimir."
"You said that."
"Correct Ms. Lyn. I can see why your Mark enjoys your company," Mimir said with a pleasant smile.
"Okay old dude, start explaining," Hector commanded.
"Very well," he gave in quite easily. "I suppose that Memoria hasn't explained things very well. Please forgive him. He is not very sociable. He often remembers the olden days where all was right. He regrets not being able to do anything.
"As for what has happened though, I'm sure that you've had a good view of the worlds where we have come from. The first was from the past, the second is the present. Our world is dying."
"Then do something about it," Lyn shouted at him. When the others looked at her, she shrugged. "I may be against them, but I can't help but feel pity for that world." She looked down. "I hate people having to suffer."
"People suffering is never a good thing," Mimir replied. "And we are working on a new era."
"Okay then, so why do you have to go and kidnap Mark?" Hector asked.
"Ah, but you see, he is what we are doing to return the world to its former glory. Maybe even more."
"What are you talking about?" Eliwood asked.
"Mark is the crux of our plans," he smiled wryly. "Or at least most."
"Quit talking like that!" Hector screamed exasperatedly.
"Then why not let our hands talk," he said, his eyes flashing again. His hands wove an intricate pattern. Before any of them could move, water flooded the room, reaching up to their ankles.
"A little puddle isn't going to stop us," Hector said back confidently.
Mimir's body seemed to become unstable for a moment before it completely collapsed into the water. When it collapsed into the water, it wasn't like a person that fell unconscious and fell into the water. His body became water.
Lyn was pulled down as a tendril of water wrapped around her throat. Desperately, she slashed at it with her sword. Surprise, surprise, her sword went through the water without any resistance.
The other two weren't faring so well either. As soon as they noticed Lyn was pulled down, they became wary for what may happen next. There wasn't much they could have done to help Lyn. Besides, while the only semi-solid part of the tendril was too close for her to cut, it was solid enough for her to maneuver until she could breathe again.
Unfortunately, this still left her in a very useless position.
"Wish… Mark… was… here… to… help… us… out," Hector said as he dodged the tendrils.
"Well he isn't, so think of something," Lyn called back.
"Why don't you? You're just sitting there," Hector retorted.
Eliwood intervened before it got too out of hand. "We need to get the water out of here."
"We know that," Lyn said back. "Tear down the wall then."
"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Hector said.
"Because I thought that you two would figure it out."
Eliwood and Hector both met up in front of the door.
"On the count of three?" Eliwood asked. Hector nodded.
"Ready…"
"THREE!" Lyn screamed. Hector barreled forward and blew the door open. Eliwood just watched on in surprise. Lyn was surprised that it he actually fell for it.
The water flowed out, including the tentacle that was attempting to choke Lyn. Hector was not very impressed with Lyn's tricks.
"I thought that the Sacaen were noble," he said with a pout.
"We are," Lyn said in a smug manner. "We also have a very good humor."
"Wise gal," Hector said as he walked towards the newly appeared doors.
The next world they saw a world similar to the first world. It was filled with positive energy. The only difference was that it had strange horseless carriages. Didn't Mark mention them? Vehicles…cars?
The buildings were huge. They also had a tall metal point at their tops. At least now they understood why Mark called them skyscrapers. You really had to see them to actually understand them.
"Weird," Hector muttered.
They walked around like last time.
"Isn't this the same street we're walking down?" Eliwood asked.
"I dunno, probably," Hector replied.
Lyn, once again, bumped into someone.
"We just keep on bumping into each other don't we?" The same boy asked. He still hasn't aged at all. This time he had a white owl on his shoulder.
"We're just passing through," Lyn said off handedly.
"Well be careful," he muttered. "Don't let me catch you doing anything to this world."
They quickly left the boy. Or was it the boy that quickly left them? They continued down the street until they found the familiar doors. Wait, doors?
In front of them were indeed two doors. One was bathed in a golden aura though.
"What's with this door? I can't get though it," Hector said as he tried the golden door. He couldn't breach the golden aura.
"I guess we have to try the other one then," Eliwood said.
The other door held a world even bleaker than the second world they've been to.
The sky was dark and cast eerie shadows on the world underneath it. The street itself was nearly devoid of any life whatsoever. The winds were howling, a storm was coming.
Lyn looked up at the sky. "LOOK! Dragons!"
Hundreds of thousands of dark shadows darted through the sky. There were all kinds of dragons. Wyverns, fire dragons, and ice dragons were among them. They were roaring, attacking, and overall terrifying the city below.
"It would break Ninian's heart to see this," Eliwood sighed sadly.
They heard a loud roar as a dragon flew closer to the ground. It was a red wyvern. It roared and crashed into a building. People were scrambling to get out of the way fast enough.
Hector looked closely and saw that there was a girl near the base of the building. Hector started running towards her. The girl seemed oblivious to the ruckus around her. Hector wasn't going to make it in time.
As a particularly large block fell towards her, Hector despaired. The girl on the other hand was unfazed. She reached into her black coat and pulled out an amazingly long sword.
Her hair changed from black to glowing crimson and embers floated around her hair. The sword burst into flames as she lifted it straight up. Hector felt the energy leaving the sword. It split the rock into two pieces.
She jumped up onto the rock and proceeded up the broken building, using the falling pieces as stepping stones.
Hector meanwhile was mesmerized. She was wearing a particularly short skirt under her black trench coat, giving him a good view. Unfortunately, the pieces were heading for him. He noticed in time to give a panicked scream.
Eliwood and Lyn looked over when they heard a girl's scream. No wait, that was Hector. They watched in horror as his seemingly inevitable doom was approaching.
While all of this was happening, the girl that Hector was peeping at earlier was trying to climb the building to get to the dragons. However, once she heard her, I mean, his scream, she was faced with a tough decision. Should she go on and get to some of the dragons before it was too late, or should she go and save the guy? Decisions, decisions…
Hector closed his eyes and was saying what was supposed to be his final words to the world, which pretty much consisted of everything that he's done from the moment he was born. No one wants to hear your life story you know.
As the rock was about to collide with his incredibly thick skull, it suddenly shattered. The small pieces bounced harmlessly off of him.
Hector slowly opened one eye to see what happened. The girl he was watching so intensely until just a few seconds ago was standing above him with her sword in hand.
She looked down at him with a condescending look. She looked up as a large shadow was cast on the two of them.
"Get out of there; it's too large to be destroyed without wasting existence!" A deep voice spoke from out of nowhere.
While Hector was looking around to see who said that, the girl grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. Hector looked at her. Her face was etched with determination.
Her hair started whipping in the wind. All of a sudden, wisps of flames whipped around her as she jumped into the air, taking Hector with her. The force nearly dislocated his arm.
Hector looked behind him as the side of the building fell towards them, picking up speed.
"I don't think we're going to make it," Hector said to her calmly as if this happened everyday to him.
She grunted softly. Hector's eyes widened in surprise. Two glowing wings made of flames emerged from her back. Each flap brought about embers that showered the ground.
She landed close to Lyn and Eliwood. She turned around and was about to take off when Eliwood spoke to her.
"Hey, thanks, you know, for saving this sorry twit."
She didn't even glance back at him. "You should get out of here."
She stepped forward to take off when a voice stopped her.
"Oi! Wait!" She turned around at the command.
Lyn and the others looked up to see the boy they bumped into earlier racing towards them.
He looked up sharply at them. "You here again?! Didn't I tell you not to come here and cause trouble?"
"We didn't do anything!" Hector replied just as heatedly.
"I don't believe this," the boy said exasperatedly. "I suppose that you have nothing to do with the weird door that I keep seeing at the end of this street every time I run into you guys?"
"Actually, we are connected in that respect," Eliwood said as politely as possible. He didn't want to have to fight if he could avoid it.
The boy sighed. "You guys should get out while you can then. We can handle things here." From his back, two black feathery wings emerged through the trench coat. He took off to the sky with the girl close behind him.
The three lords, though wanting to find out more, decided that it was probably best if they headed out. They quickly headed for the door. They had their own mission after all.
The door at the end of the street led them back to the same room they had been in twice before, fighting the forms of Mimir and Memoria. The next one was most likely to be Methuselah then.
"Greetings young ones, I'm glad that you have made it this far," Methuselah greeted casually.
"Your future worlds seem weird. Why were there two anyway?" Eliwood asked suspiciously.
He smiled genially at them. "Because the future is never set out in stone. Even if it did, stones do change; from igneous, to sedimentary, and to metamorphic."
"What are you talking about old man?" Hector asked with a pained expression on his face.
Methuselah sighed. "The two futures you see were what can happen to the world where we come from. Of course, those aren't the only futures. There are infinite variables that will cause infinite futures. We can only hope for the best and work towards it."
"Enough talk," Lyn said to him with her sword drawn. "If you have something to say, the only thing I'll listen to is if it regards Mark."
"You still wish to fight?" Methuselah asked curiously. He smiled again. "I suppose that I have a wager against you."
"What is it?" Hector asked, always eager for a fight.
"If you should be able to defeat me, then I'll tell you where you can find Mark. If I should win, then you will promise that you won't look for Mark."
"I don't know about this guys," Eliwood said cautiously. "I want to find Mark, but if we lose, we have to give up finding him."
"We won't lose," Lyn said heatedly. "There's only one way to make me lose, and if that happens, by then I won't be able to search for Mark anyway."
"Well said," Methuselah replied. He waved his hands and roses sprouted from the ground causing cracks in the floor.
The roses wavered slightly. Then without warning, thorny vines whipped out and lashed at them. The three lords struggled to get through.
"I don't know if this calls for a hero or a gardener," Hector said as he hacked through another vine.
"Funny how some situations make the lowest worker be more valued than the highest lords," Eliwood said wryly.
Lyn wasn't saying anything. She just dove through the vines. While they were fast, she was faster.
When she got close to Methuselah, she tried to strike at him. Her sword just went through him.
"I'm sorry Ms. Lyn. If you think that I shall be defeated that easily, then you have another thing coming. My brothers were holding back, I shall not."
Lyn's eyes widened for a moment before she was sent airborne by a vine. Eliwood and Hector looked up to see her land hard on the ground and bounced twice before she laid still.
"Cover for me," Eliwood said and Hector nodded.
Eliwood made his way over to her. She was still alive, but she couldn't move, it would risk tearing the wound even more. Her blue Sacaen dress was stained by blood from her abdomen.
"Only a flesh wound," Lyn said weakly.
"Nonsense," Eliwood said as he took out a vulnerary. "Don't move too much. You might have some internal damage."
"You two want to hurry it up?" Hector asked as the vines closed in around them.
"I'm sure you can handle it," Eliwood called back confidently without looking up.
"I'm not so sure buddy," Hector called back.
Lyn was getting fed up. It was one thing for Mark to get taken; it was another when someone was keeping her from seeing him. Everything was just building up on her.
"Find its weak point then!" she screamed at Hector while trying to get up.
Eliwood pushed her back down. "He'll do just fine Lyn. How would Mark feel if you were hurt trying to find him?"
Lyn froze. She did not need Mark getting worried about her like last time. She shuddered. Before then, she hadn't even thought of using chicken soup like that. One thing still bugged her though.
"Why are we having a casual conversation like nothing's going on?"
"I dunno," Eliwood shrugged.
Hector meanwhile was having his work cut out for him. Not in the literal sense because he was doing the cutting. Lyn said look for the weakness, but what was it? And another thing, what did she think he has been doing? Haven't she been watching?
Hector shook his head. He looked around again. The vines, the bulbs, the thorns…wait! The bulbs. Could it be? The bulbs don't look like they have any significance in the battle. They were just laying there. Could it be that simple?
Hector moved to slash at the vines. As soon as they moved into a defensive position, Hector lunged to the other side and maneuvered around them. The bulb was sitting helplessly in front of him. Hector smirked as he raised his ax.
Methuselah looked up. His eyes widened in horror. "NO! NOT THAT ONE!"
It was too late. Hector brought down his ax and cleanly sliced the bulb in half. The bulb shimmered for a while before fading away to glitters. He looked over to his friends. "One down, and several more to go," he said triumphantly.
The other bulbs lost their colors and started wilting. Hector looked around confused. "Was that supposed to happen?"
Methuselah looked around the room as all of the plants faded away. "Look at what you've done!" he shouted at Hector.
Eliwood helped Lyn up. Her wounds weren't that deep, but she'll have to take it easy on the physical labors for a while. He nearly dropped her when the entire room gave a shudder.
"Weren't we supposed to defeat you?" Hector asked as he tried to keep his balance.
"Yes, but you weren't suppose to destroy the foundations of the entire structure."
"How was I suppose to know?!"
Methuselah chose not to answer. He didn't seem to be affected as much by the tremors. He looked around as the walls, ceiling, and ground started sprouting cracks. The ground shattered and everyone was plunged into darkness.
After an unknown amount of time has passed
Hector blearily opened his eyes and saw what he saw with his eyes closed, complete darkness. "YO! ELIWOOD! LYN! ARE YOU HERE?!"
He felt someone slap him upside the head hard. There was only one person who could do that. "HIYA LYN! SO WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!"
He felt another slap. "Quit talking so loud," Lyn said. "We're right next to you; we don't need to have our eardrums blown out."
There was a flash of blue, and the room was illuminated. They looked to the source and found Methuselah holding a small blue flame in his hand.
"This is quite a conundrum," he replied.
"No sh-" Hector started to reply when Lyn cut him off.
"Aaanyways, what are you doing?" Lyn asked. "How did we get here?"
"I'm lighting a fire so that you can see out of here. We are here because he," Methuselah shot Hector a dirty look, "Decided to destroy the foundation of the room above us, causing us to be sent down here."
Methuselah stood up and started walking along the edge of the room. "It seems like this will be the only way," he murmured. He stood up to Lyn and the others. "I'm going to create an opening in the wall. Run as fast as you can to the exit while I try to buy you some time." He touched Lyn's forehead. "You'll find Mark here. I dare say that you probably have more use of him than I will."
Lyn was about to say something when Methuselah placed his hand on the wall and created a large tunnel. It was big enough to run through without any problem, even for Hector. The creation of the tunnel though, cause the entire structure to become unstable even more so and it started to collapse.
"Go!" he shouted at them.
Lyn didn't move. She stared at him incredulously. "Aren't you coming with us?" When he shook his head she continued. "You be buried if you stay here!" He only nodded with a grim smile.
"Enough of this!" Hector shouted as he hoisted Lyn above his shoulder and started running. He ignored her protests to put her down. "Yo! Eliwood! Are you coming or am I going to have to carry you as well?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said as he looked back at Methuselah one last time who nodded for him to continue.
"Good, because I don't think I can carry the two of you."
The three ran from the collapsing room. They headed as quickly as they can for the exit. Three Pegasus Knights, Florina and her sister, were waiting on standby. As soon as they saw the falling figures, they took flight.
As soon as Hector saw them, he chucked Lyn at Florina who caught her with a scream. Farina got Hector and Fiora got Eliwood. They all got their passengers safely to the ground while other fliers came up to get the magic users.
While still inside the pyramid, Methuselah and his other selves accepted their fate.
"I suppose that this is for the best," Mimir stated.
"Indeed," agreed Memoria, though he sounded slightly bitter.
"I understand," Methuselah said to Memoria. "We all had so many plans. So many things to talk to Mark and to train and test him in."
"But they were all for naught," Said Mimir.
"Everything fell apart as soon as he entered into the equation," Memoria said fondly.
"All of our knowledge and plans," Methuselah shook his head. "They amounted to nothing compared to that one boy's heart."
The rest of the room, and pyramid, collapsed, taking the three spirits with them. From the outside, the pyramid crashed into the ground, kicking up sand. It was buried, never to be found again.
Everyone landed on the ground, quite close to the ship. Everyone was rushing out to make sure that they were okay. It seemed that the three lords were inside for less than ten minutes. Wow, time sure passes slowly when you're being threatened with life or death situations.
They heard the wind howling around them suddenly and everyone turned to face a sandstorm brewing right in front of them. When the sandstorm faded, they saw Marius, Tamara, and Taran.
There are some sad news that come with the end of the chapter. I will probably not be able to write as much since, as mentioned above, school is starting. However, there is a chance that Lady Inspiratia will grace me with her presence. I might write and upload faster... but will almost definitely not.
Also, this story is coming to an end. Only a few more chapters to go. Then, I will go back every once in while and re-edit.