Sorry for the week-late update, but finals took precedence over writing, unfortunately. And, as I figured would happen, I made some changes to my layout of the end of the story (I freaking need to write this shit down) and now have no idea how many chapters it will take to end the story! I'm thinking somewhere inside ten, still, but who knows anymore?

In writing this, things didn't go exactly as planned…once again, I blame how obstinate the group can get. They're really pissed at Lloyd and I could try to shove them through the door, but…well, that just wouldn't be good writing, now would it? Anyway, enjoy the chapter, despite the fact that it isn't what it was supposed to be…and you can all blame Raine. Stupid Raine.

…

Yggdrasill froze when he saw the group standing in the near-darkness outside of Altessa's home. He seemed as shocked at their being there as they were at his. He swore loudly, automatically pulling his swords out of their sheaths at his side and dropping into a defensive stance. Moments later, the rest of his friends did the same and Yggdrasill scoffed.

"Well, well, how pathetic! I destroyed you once; I hardly think it will be much of a chore to do it a second time…"

Lloyd mentally berated himself: if he hadn't jumped into action, the others wouldn't have either. Now, though, Yggdrasill was ready to jump to his throat and he couldn't very well put his swords away. He blinked, trying to figure a way out of this disaster, when Mithos did it for him.

The blond boy stepped between Yggdrasill and the group, his blue eyes narrowed. "Enough. Fighting defeats our purpose here." He glared sidelong at…himself. Yggdrasill's eyes went wide and he stumbled backward.

"W-what the hell! What kind of trick is this?" He turned his rage on Lloyd who shrugged hopelessly and put his swords down, though not away.

He half-smiled, "Actually, that was pretty much my reaction too…"

"Shut up, both of you!" Mithos hissed. "Let's take this inside, now."

Wordlessly, still eyeing Mithos, Yggdrasill slowly turned to go inside. For once, he could see that the situation was far out of his control and he was shocked enough to allow it to be so. Lloyd and Noishe followed behind the two, but Lloyd stopped at the door, realizing that his friends had not moved.

"…guys?" He blinked and turned back his friends. "Come on; this is where we need to be…"

Genis gaped. "You—…you seriously think we're going to follow you in there? Lloyd, that's Yggdrasill. This whole place is probably an ambush! What the hell? I thought you said we could trust you, Lloyd! All this time you really have been tricking us! You led us into a trap! Mithos and Noishe—they're in on it too! How could you? I thought you cared about Colette! I thought you were our friend! I guess freaking not!"

Lloyd felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach. For a very long moment, he could not breathe; his mouth opened and closed soundlessly as he tried to make sense of everything. They had made it so far, only to have everything destroyed at the last minute? No…no! He had to explain! Everything was going to come out—everything hinged on this moment! He couldn't lose now. He couldn't.

"Guys…yeah, I called them here, but I didn't do it to hurt you. Only Yuan knew we were coming, and they're here because they can help us. I'll explain everything, but I need a little more time…just enough time to fix Colette and Presea's crests."

For several moments, no one said anything; finally, Raine spoke. "…how dare you, Lloyd? We've given you all the time you've asked for, and then with it you've walked us into the enemy's nest, and you ask for more time! You go inside; you talk to them, but don't expect us to follow. Whatever you may believe, they will not hesitate to kill you, Lloyd. I will not let my friends die because we walked into this trap."

Shattered. Lloyd felt as though he had broken into a thousand pieces: Raine had been on his side through all…and now she was gone. He was choking again, but this time it was far worse. Lloyd leaned back, against the door frame and watched the world spin wildly. His friends were walking away; they didn't trust him and they never would again.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Yuan walked past Lloyd, and leaned against the wall just outside. "…you didn't tell them, eh?" It was clear the half-elf had been expecting a little more cooperation from the group. "Ingenious—son of a bitch!"

Lloyd felt it too, and he and Yuan rounded to the west. Only a moment later, an explosion shook the ground. Light plummeted from the sky, a pillar of blinding whiteness that seared itself into Lloyd's eyes and caused the group to shout. For a moment, he thought that Ozette had been destroyed, only to realize that Mithos—both of him—were here, with Lloyd. There was no reason for Ozette to have been destroyed, and it was too soon…

Another explosion brought Lloyd stumbling to his knees. It wasn't Ozette, it was too far west…but the only other village was—no… NO!

Sheena realized it the same moment Lloyd did, and she screamed. There were no intelligible words, just shock and pain. A third shockwave sent those who had tried to stand back to the ground. The holy light that had torn through the night sky dissipated, leaving Lloyd blind and stumbling. Sheena was still screaming.

Rough hands helped Lloyd to his feet and Yuan hoisted him up against the doorframe. As his vision cleared, Lloyd saw Zelos fight to hold onto Sheena, who was still screaming in agony and fighting against him. "Sheena! Sheena, stop it! There's nothing you can do—stop!"

"Grandpa!" Her flailing hand caught Zelos' face, dragging her nails sharply over his eye and the Chosen let go as the ninja raced back the way she had come, back toward her destroyed village. Lloyd didn't have time to register that he was following her, but he was. He could see the pink tassels of her obi disappear through the growing crowds of Ozette and Lloyd sped to catch up with her. As they left Ozette, he became aware that there were others running alongside him.

He heard the soft pants of Zelos, the light footsteps of Raine, Yuan's snapping cape; his friends were coming for the ride.

It was not until he saw the carnage that he had pictured what he was running towards—his only thought was to catch up to Sheena. Once he stood among it, the tears began to drip down his cheeks. Mizuho had been leveled. The few structures that remained upright were charred so that they were unrecognizable. This wasn't Palmacosta; there were no bodies left to bloody the place, only charred remains. It had been a clean, instant death. Like Palmacosta, though, this was an unprovoked attack.

"…he's taken Derris-Kharlan."

Lloyd rounded on Yuan, "W-what? How do you know?"

The half-elf closed his eyes, "Only the Derris-Kharlan systems could have created an attack that powerful. It takes mana directly from the core of the comet and—…well, you've seen the results."

"Who the hell cares how it happened!" Zelos roared. "We lost Sheena!"

Zelos was right; the ninja had disappeared into the blackened village, but her footprints through the ash were easy enough to follow. They waded deeper into Mizuho, and the further in they reached, the more often an unidentifiable bone stuck up from the ash, or a skull lay mournfully on its side, watching them. There were no survivors; it had been too quick. Vaguely, Lloyd wondered who had been outside of the village when the attack had hit. Surely some of the ninjas had been sitting within the Renegades or off spying on the aristocracy; Sheena couldn't be the only one left.

"You! You bastard!" Sheena's voice echoed through the air and the group sped up.

"Now, now, precious, remember what happened last time we met…" Lloyd's heart froze when he heard Kvar's voice. Yuan had been right: the Desian had taken Derris-Kharlan. And now he was here. There was appreciative laughter and Sheena shrieked again. "Darling, do relax. I'd really rather not hurt you anymore."

"How could you? All those people! You just—just destroyed them! My family! I'll kill you!"

They rounded a corner to find Kvar skillfully managing to hold Sheena back while she flailed at him, trying desperately to reach him. Kvar had brought friends, and four other Desians stood around them, watching and laughing when Sheena failed to reach her target. The Desians looked up when Lloyd, Yuan, Raine, and Zelos found them.

"Oh, hello!" Kvar smiled earnestly at them. "I see you did get to watch my little show! I'm so glad, I had you in mind specifically when I put it together. It's lovely to see you again; I apologize for not spending more time with you lately, but I've been busy what with the war! You know how all-consuming these things could be. But it's over now, yes Lord Yuan? I'll have more quality time to spend with my darling Lloyd! It really has been too long, hasn't it?"

Lloyd gathered himself in a breath and focused, making his eyes stop darting around to the unfamiliar faces of the Desians around Kvar or the blackened scene around him and stay on Kvar. "…let her go. You've done enough damage here. Just let her go, Kvar." To his credit, Lloyd's voice wasn't shaking.

Kvar chuckled, "Oh Lloyd, do you really still think that we are at the same place we were in Iselia? I've won, child, and you have lost. All your work, all these losses, and for what? Every time we've met, you've only made it out alive because I've allowed it. I couldn't bear to see you lose so soon when you'd gone to all the trouble to follow me back here! It was just so cute, that determination. Reminds me of your mother, really. How could I kill that a second time? I should have known better; admittedly, you've been more of a thorn in my side than I expected. That's mostly due to your alerting Lord Yuan of my plans ahead of time. Still, I managed just fine I'd say."

Sheena was still struggling to get to Kvar's throat, and he was still holding her back. None of the group dared get close enough to stop her, and Lloyd suspected that even if they did, they would have been taken down by Kvar's cronies.

Suddenly, the ninja went limp and, for once caught off guard, Kvar stumbled forward and gave Sheena the opening she needed to shove him to the ground. Her fists rained down upon any inch of him that she could catch, and he was struggling to do the same. His guards moved to pull her off of him, but Zelos was faster, and he caught the first guard in the nose with the hilt of his sword, then swung in a graceful arch, slitting the man's throat.

Lloyd and Yuan were right behind him, Yuan taking down the second man with a well-placed lightning bolt to the throat. Lloyd sliced his blade across one man's chest and stabbed the other through the stomach, both falling without incident.

Kvar kicked Sheena in the stomach, sending the ninja flying backward and into the still-standing but heavily charred wall of some building. She tumbled into the ashes and didn't get up.

"No!" Lloyd shouted, rounding on Kvar and slashing at him as he tried to rise. He was forced to duck a bolt of lightning, but as he fell back, Zelos took up the attack. Kvar actually had to block Zelos' first swings, but soon it was Zelos' turn to fall back and let Yuan take over the fight. Lloyd took a moment to glance over his shoulder and, to his relief, see Raine trying to help Sheena up. Both women were covered in the ashy remains of Mizuho.

Yuan was doing better than either of the other men had; he was absorbing lightning almost constantly, but his own tendency toward the lightning eased the pain of the strikes. He had his swallow and was twirling it ruthlessly, putting all of his strength behind his attacks. Kvar was good at avoiding the attacks, of dodging out of the way at the last second, costing Yuan energy as he pulled back at the last possible moment. It was only a lucky shot—a very lucky shot—that sent Yuan stumbling backward.

It was Lloyd's turn to attack again, but Zelos was upon the Desian in seconds, and knocked back just as fast as another bolt of lightning slammed into his chest, sending the Chosen stumbling back over Yuan. Lloyd moved in and landed a heavy hit on Kvar's shoulder, making the man scream in agony. He dodged the lightning that was meant for his head and found himself standing at Kvar's other shoulder. The perfect opening presented itself: Kvar had left his side unprotected; it was so easy that Lloyd was coming out of his defensive stance and swinging to stab Kvar in the side.

He could see his sword plunging through skin, sliding between ribs, penetrating lung and heart before it happened. It would never happen. In the few seconds it took for Lloyd to break his stance and lunge foreword, Kvar slipped out of the way as a massive bolt of lightning struck where Lloyd should have been standing.

But he wasn't standing there. He was stumbling to the ground several feet away. Sheena was standing where he should have been, her form tiny in the blue and yellow and purple streaks of lightning. Her scream of warning, riddled with pain and anger and loss echoed into the night. When the lightning faded, the ninja was a dark corpse among the ashes of her home.

Lloyd was frozen. Everything was frozen: the world had stopped. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't hear; he could only stand there and stare at his friend's corpse. She was dead. Sheena was dead. And she had no idea what she had died for. It was his fault. She was dead because he had been stupid, she was dead because he'd insisted that it would be too painful to explain what was happening twice and he'd called the Seraphim away from their war and let Kvar win Derris-Kharlan.

Sheena was dead.

There was nothing worse. Dead… How could he have let this happen? What had he done! Why hadn't he stopped it! He was crying freely, the tears falling over his cheeks as he dropped to his knees. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. This couldn't have happened. It was his fault.

"…get out." Yuan's voice hissed through Lloyd's senses like cold water on hot coals.

Kvar's sneered response was weak with breathlessness. "Oh? Has the great War Hero Yuan Kafei gotten sick of the killing?"

Yuan snorted, "You don't deserve to desecrate this place. Get out or you will meet a fate worse than death." More lightning crackled around them, but this time it was Yuan's threat and Lloyd heard the slow stumbling of Kvar dragging himself through the ashes of Mizuho. When he was level with Lloyd, he stopped.

"You may think what you're doing is right," he whispered, knowing well that Lloyd could hear him, "but consider what is on the line: you cannot do this. You care too much. Run away while you can, little boy. Save yourself."

When the monster was gone, Lloyd dropped back into his grief.

In what simultaneously seemed like seconds and forever, the four were back at Altessa's, Sheena's body in tow. The rest of the group was still waiting outside and the remaining Seraphim were standing in front of the door. Lloyd could see Altessa just inside his door.

"Lloyd!" It was Kratos who got to him first, and without thought, Lloyd hugged his father. In that moment, it didn't matter that Kratos hesitated to return to hug, nor did he care that this was perhaps the most incriminating thing Lloyd could have done. He felt as though his sanity was cracking at its edges.

"What happened? Is that—? S-Sheena?" Genis gasped as he stared at the corpse in Zelos' arms. "What the hell happened?"

Raine pulled Genis into a hug, "…it was Kvar. He destroyed the village and he was waiting for us in Mizuho… Sheena…died to save Lloyd."

"He's taken Derris-Kharlan," Yuan said tersely, turning to Yggdrasill. "We've lost the city and our army."

Yggdrasill glared at Lloyd as he and his father broke their hug, "This is what I said would happen if we left Welgaia in the hands of the soulless. Now we've lost! What the hell was this all about, Yuan?"

Yuan smirked coldly, "It was Lloyd's idea. He seems to think that it is time to tell you the truth, and he wanted to do it all at once. What I want to know, though, is why there are two of Mithos and…who is this other man?"

"I'm Noishe!" The protozoan grinned wolfishly at Yuan. "And you're an asshole. You've got no idea how long I've wanted to say that!"

"Noishe, this is not the time," Mithos hissed. "We're from the future—an alternate future—where Kvar has taken control."

Absolute silence. Lloyd didn't care anymore. He needed to work; he needed to use his hands and distract himself. This was too much. Too baffling. He couldn't think.

"Colette, Presea," his voice was rough as it echoed into the silent night, "come on. Let's fix your crystals." He sounded as soulless as the two girls. They were the only ones unfazed by Mithos' pronouncement and they followed Lloyd into Altessa's house. Inside, even the Dwarf looked shocked, his eyes flickering from the Seraphim outside to Lloyd to Presea. "Can I use your tools? I need to fix their key crests. Shouldn't take me too long."

The dwarf nodded, clearly afraid to deny Lloyd anything at this point.

Quickly, Lloyd began fixing Colette's key crest. It was easy; he had made the runes on the necklace purposefully too light, or incomplete. Easy fixes that he could gently fix. He had even added a few runes that would stop the crystallization process. After spending a year searching for the world's exspheres, Lloyd had spent months studying dwarven lore and all the information Yuan could provide him about crests and Cruxis Crystals in order to create a safer, more effective crest. He wasn't about to let that knowledge go to waste now.

He finished Colette's in a few minutes. The others were still outside arguing. Every so often Lloyd heard a shout, largely from Yggdrasill or Genis, as it slowly came out that Mithos and Yggdrasill were the same person. Mithos, Noishe, and Yuan were taking the brunt of the questions, and though they directed the majority of their questions to Lloyd, no one approached him.

"So Lloyd really did betray us!" Genis finally shouted. "He's been lying all along he's—he knew that you were Yggdrasill and he knew that you were from the future and he lied! How could he? Why would he do all this shit! I thought we were his friends."

Mithos snorted, "You are, Genis." If Lloyd had been paying attention, he would have detected the hint of pain in the half-elf's words. "If you'd shut up, Lloyd will explain. I can't. I don't understand his situation as well as he does. Noishe and I are from an alternate future. I don't understand it."

Lloyd began Presea's key crest. Hers was more difficult as he had to bind both the old crest and the additions or completely start over—as he lacked the materials to begin again, he had to very carefully meld pieces of the alloy to her old crest without burning her pale skin. He had only ever done this two other times, and in both cases, the crest had been far less complex. Lloyd had managed to attach all of the pieces and was beginning to sand them down and smooth out the bumps from the welding process when the group finally came inside.

By then, it was nearly dawn and half the group was almost asleep.

"Dwarf," Yggdrasill commanded, "make them coffee; I refuse to wait for them to be well-rested to hear this story." He glared down at Lloyd. "And I will hear it now."

Lloyd didn't look up from his sanding. "Don't bother with the coffee. I need to finish this; it could be another hour. Let them sleep and we'll talk later."

"Did you not hear me, boy?" Yggdrasill roared. "I will hear this now."

When Lloyd looked up, his bloodshot red eyes silenced the leader of Cruxis. "You'll hear it when everyone else freaking does. So shut up, Mithos."

Yggdrasill was furious, and he opened his mouth to scream at Lloyd, only to be silenced by himself. "Let them be mortal. Another hour won't kill us." Mithos looked up at his taller counterpart, his eyes harder and colder and eons more mature. "Besides, he needs to finish the crests, and I need to get my thoughts in order."

There was no argument. Genis was already asleep in his sister's arms, and Regal helped her carry the child into the other room. Zelos was directed to put Sheena's body in another side room; when he came out, he followed the others to bed. Mithos and Yuan settled heavily down at Altessa's table and watched the others mull about the room. Yggdrasill stood at the window, looking out at the changing colors of the sky, and Kratos and Noishe wandered down to the little forge where Lloyd was beginning to painstakingly carve runes into Presea's key crest.

"…" Although he was painfully aware of the protozoan's hovering, it was clear that Kratos had a question. "…why didn't you tell me?" He almost sounded hurt.

Without letting himself become too distracted from his work, Lloyd said slowly, "…you wouldn't have understood at the beginning of everything…" Too late, Lloyd realized that he had no idea how much Kratos knew. He didn't know how much any of them knew. "What did they tell you?"

"…that you, like Mithos and…Noishe…" he glanced over his shoulder at the green haired man, "you are also from the future. Albeit a different future."

Lloyd tried not to choke and destroy the rune he was carving into Presea's crest at Kratos' words. He regained his composure and repeated softly, "…I didn't think you'd understand."

His father looked away. "And why was that?"

"…because…because I walked into this knowing that I couldn't change the past. Everything would get screwed up…even if I wanted to save people, I couldn't change the way stuff happened. I couldn't stop Luin from being destroyed, or Iselia, or Marble from dying, or…any of it…" Of all the times for tears to well in his eyes, why did it have to be while he was trying to focus?

Kratos was watching Lloyd with dark eyes, but outwardly, he only sighed. "…I simply wish you had trusted me."

Lloyd jerked, pulling back just in time not to break the crest. "W-what?" He blinked. Not trusting his father…it had never occurred to him. "Dad, it's not that… I just know you. You wish you could do over your mistakes, and if you got a chance like this, are you telling me that you wouldn't risk everything to undo them? That's why I couldn't tell you. I couldn't let everything go to hell because we had to save everyone."

Something between rage and sadness flickered in Kratos' eyes. "…and you've clearly proven that you would not."

"I'm only sticking to the timeline because I was told to! Yuan and Raine couldn't stop going on about it before I left! No matter what, don't change the past! I found out what happens when you change the past! Your future dies. The future that I come from is gone because I changed the littlest things! Mithos and Noishe have their shitty future because Kvar changed things! Everything went to hell because things changed!"

"They changed for the worse," Kratos hissed. "Imagine if they had changed for the better."

Both men were on their feet now. Lloyd's hands were clenched at his sides, his tools discarded. Kratos had rounded on his son, his eyes blazing. "Oh, you think I didn't try to change things for the better! How about how I've been Zelos' friend, instead of antagonizing him? Or where I didn't kill Renegades, or where we actually started talking? I changed little things, I couldn't help that, but I couldn't mess with the big stuff! I just couldn't!"

Kratos didn't speak, only glared, and Lloyd returned the look with almost as much venom. He didn't deserve this now. It was too much to ask him to carry his father's anger in addition to everything else that was happening to him.

"…Gods you two look alike!" Noishe finally broke the silence. "It's actually a little bit freaky…" His tactlessness made Lloyd sigh, but the glaring broke apart as Kratos shook his head. "Look, Krattie, Lloydie, you gotta chill out. We're all on edge and life sucks, but you're family; so play nice, kay?" He pulled the two into a hug. "We all love each other here."

Lloyd couldn't help but laugh, albeit bitterly, "You're never not going to be a dog, are you Noshy?"

"Don't plan on it, nope!"

Shaking his head, Kratos bowed out of Noishe's hug and retreated out of Lloyd's workspace. The boy slumped back onto his seat and grabbed his tools. His mind was reeling. Could he pick a fight with anyone else? Lloyd's fingers moved automatically; they skillfully hammered the seals and runes into the metal that sat on Presea's throat. It was a long process, but being productive felt absolutely wonderful. And he had all the time in the world to think.

The group knew. Lloyd had never felt as though his head were more a tangle. Like a bowl of spaghetti; nothing was straightforward. Without realizing it, tears had begun to sting Lloyd's eyes, and as he tried to blink them back, they began to fall with a force that was far out of his control.

Sheena was dead. Marble, Cocoa and Chocolat were dead. Pronyma was dead. Mizuho was gone, destroyed; dead. And it was all his fault. These people had died because Lloyd had made the wrong decisions. They had died because he had thought he could handle this threat on his own when he could do no such thing. Worst of all, they had died without knowing why they had been murdered. Dead. All of them dead. Friends, enemies, nameless faces that he would now never know.

All his fault.

He was crying in earnest now and he had to put his tools aside for fear of hurting Presea. He buried his face in his hands, trying to muffle his sob. It echoed around the now-silent room as he gasped for breath and control of his emotions. Lloyd sobbed again. What was he going to do? There was nothing to do. Kvar had taken Derris-Kharlan, and with it all of Cruxis' technology. They wouldn't stand a chance. Hell, they wouldn't stand a chance if they ran. Mithos and Noishe's future was going to come true. It wasn't just an alternate future, it was the future.

All his fault.

"…so much for our all-knowing leader," Mithos snorted with undisguised scorn. "I blame you, Aurion. You just had to go a find personal insult—and now look at him! Pathetic. Well, I for one have no intention of handing myself over on a silver platter a second time. Child, stop your damned blubbering, or so help me—!"

Mithos' attempt at a pep-talk didn't help. At all. Lloyd sobbed again, furiously wishing that someone else had gone back in his place, or that they'd listened to Origin in the first place and never undergone this stupidity in the first place. Lloyd felt so stupid. He was sick of himself. He was tired.

Tiny hands wrapped around his middle and Lloyd felt Presea's soft breath on his ear. When he looked at her eyes, they were still empty. No real emotion moved behind her eyes, but something must have registered for her to act like this. Or perhaps her emotional perception had been increased because of her half-finished crest.

"It will be alright, Lloyd." There was nothing earnest in the way her flat monotone formed the words, but there was a bizarre amount of comfort in it nonetheless. Sloppily, Lloyd wiped the tears out of his eyes and Presea let go as soon as he moved.

He nodded, "…let's finish your crest."

He doubted that anything would be alright, but that there was still someone on his side was…something.

Lloyd finished the crest. It was perfect, even Altessa thought so, and Lloyd sat Presea on the workbench so that when her personality returned, she wouldn't hurt herself. Turning his attention to Colette, Lloyd braced himself for whatever was going to come next. When Colette returned to herself, she would have at least a vague idea of what had happened while she was away. The Chosen of Sylvarant would either be understandingly on his side, or hard-pressed to ever speak to him again.

Carefully brushing Colette's long hair out of the way, Lloyd fastened the gold clip around her throat so that the pendant hung just below the bottom of the crest. He caught the pendant and carefully set the two metals so that they touched. The effect was instant: Colette's blue eyes widened, then focused for the first time in weeks.

She looked so utterly baffled that for a moment, Lloyd was afraid that she wouldn't remember what had transpired while she was gone. A moment later, however, her eyes welled with tears. "Oh Lloyd!" Her arms wrapped around his middle and she pulled herself to his chest. "I'm so, so, so sorry! I was so mean to you and all this time you were just trying to protect us! I'm so sorry!"

He hugged her back. This was familiar. This was good. He could almost pretend they were back in Iselia, and that he'd actually gotten up early and come into town and thrown rocks up at his best friend's window until she'd stuck her head out and they'd agreed to meet. He had known her as long as he could remember, and he finally had his friend back.

"S'okay, Colette. Everything'll be okay…" And just like back in the old days, they lied to each other. But there was comfort in lies; some genuine emotion in the falseness. "Everything'll…be okay…"

…

…holy shit did I cry while writing this. No, seriously, I need to stop getting into Lloyd's head.

Erm, anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, have a most wonderful Winter's Solstice, and enjoy whatever you celebrate! I would ideally like to have another chapter up by New Year's, but no guarantees on that one.

R&R

~Yoshi