Prologue

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Chapter 6 - (I Am) The Storm (That Is Approaching)

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Art by Raazu (on Fiverr)

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"Fuck my luck."

It would be just his luck that he arrived mere hours before the Archons did. No time to prepare anything, no plans or preparation, no connections made with people, just thrown into the deep end and told to swim. Not that Raylan believed any of his plans would have survived very long against the Archons in the first place but it might have helped ease his worries if he had a plan to follow.

No such luck.

He never had that kind of luck.

Thrown into the chaos of a city under siege by abyss monsters, right before several gods arrive to clean house. Fantastic. All he needed now was the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles and he would have a bingo of fuckery on his hands.

Raylans' eyes narrowed.

"Think Ray," He scolded himself, "You've known this was coming for a while now, don't lose hope when it finally rears its ugly head."

There was a list of things he had to do now, and little time to do it all, but his number one objective was an easy one.

Get the innocent people of Khaenri'ah out of here.

He needed to get the people together, in the east where they were already gathering would work, it was secure and already had plenty of knights there. It would be the ideal starting point before breaking out of the city and making a move for the surface, away from all the chaos and death here. It might be hard, heart-breaking even, to leave their home behind but their lives were more important than that.

With a goal in mind, it was time to move.

Raylan turned on his heel and jumped from his perch atop the building, landing beside many of the knights and civilians, some of which were startled by his sudden and unexpected re-appearance. Many of the civilians shuffled uneasily, many tried to hide themselves by pushing themselves as close to the buildings as possible as if unsure what they should do next, merely wishing to be off the streets whilst they attempted to come up with some sort of plan.

With what was coming, few plans would make it far.

But he had one to start with.

"Everyone!" He called out as he hopped atop a cart so more civilians and knights could see him, "Evacuate to the eastern province of the city! The city isn't just facing abyssal monsters anymore! The Archons are coming, and they're not here to help the situation!" Raylan shouted toward the crowds. It was clear to see his words seemed to panic or scare some of the people, but it wasn't time to be gentle. People had to get the fuck outta here before the Archons wrecked house.

Or worse, the Sustainer.

Many people didn't need to be told twice as they took off to the east, a few remained where they were, perhaps too stunned to react in that moment, whilst a few looked on in skepticism. Perhaps some people were doubting him, which was, unfortunately, frustratingly, reasonable considering what he'd just proclaimed. The knights remained stationed where they were, but most were directing the civilians eastward, at least aiding their citizens with their decision to flee. They were listening to him whilst remaining steadfast in their duty to protect their people.

Raylan was thankful for that.

But he continued to push, he had to for their sakes.

"Please! I'll do what I can to stall the siege of the city but it's not safe here, you need to leave now! Find shelter from the conflict, away from the frontlines!" Raylan continued to yell. As if to emphasize his point, over the tops of the buildings purple lightning sparked from the skies from afar, lighting up the sky in a purple hue.

A thunderous boom made many of the civilians jump, breaking some from their stupor. The remaining civilians were quick to heed his warnings and follow his orders, and when one started others were swift to follow.

Watching so many frantically running by, seeing some carrying children in their arms, Raylan felt his heart pulse painfully. It hurt every time he was reminded of the fact.

Knowing so many innocent people had died in the actual game, even if not specifically told, or turned into monsters for simply living in this nation, the thought of so much life being snuffed out made it all that more awful.

It was unbelievable to think the Archons, even if they hadn't cursed them personally, were involved in this disaster. So much death and destruction, and that was excluding what the other nations were going through during this time. This time truly was a cataclysmic period for the whole of Teyvat.

But it also made the crimes of those from Khaenri'ah all the more apparent, how so many warnings were ignored, and how such evil was committed all because a select few chose to ignore the safety of innocents to create monsters in the name of science or simply create something that could challenge the gods in some misguided attempt at showing force.

Gold came to mind, despite her connections to the Hexenzirkel she had gone too far when she had created the Rifthounds and Durin. The loss was just not worth the gains, even if it turned out it was purely an accident on her part.

Raylan shook those thoughts off swiftly, this wasn't the time to ponder whos' fault this disaster was. Innocent lives were at risk right now, he could look for answers at a later date.

If he survived the day, of course.

The unknown archon turned to one of the knights, an officer by the looks of them, "Ma'am, spread the word across the city! Tell the knights to move the civilians to the eastern side of the kingdom and prepare to evacuate the city! We need to get the civilians out of here before the gods arrive."

The Knight grunted, "Since when are you the one giving the orders?" She hissed as her fist clenched her weapon. Despite her apprehensive reply, she didn't move to counter his orders either, likely putting up some resistance as a show of authority in front of her subordinates to keep them in line.

Another thunderous bang echoed across the city, the ground shaking from a small tremor caused by who knew fucking what at this point. More cries of terror bounced around the streets, the full scope of the situation seeming to dawn on many of the people fleeing the area.

That broke some composure among the knights despite their best efforts.

"I'm the one giving the orders since I'm the only one with some form of a plan right now," Raylan explained, emphasizing his words to make a point. "Get as many knights to the east as you can, use the automations to protect the walls and slow down our enemies' advances." A flash of abyssal magic allowed a spear to form in his hands. "Prepare to evacuate the city, I'll do what I can to slow the Archons down." His words seemed to pull several of the knights attention to him in sheer shock.

"What?!" The officer exclaimed, "How do you plan to slow down Archons?! Are you looking to get yourself killed?!"

"I'm willing to die if that's what it takes to save this kingdom's people." He stated firmly, resolutely, much to the sheer shock of all the knights present. Istaroth might have argued that, but he was alone for this one. He pushed on. "Don't think too hard about it, it'll only make things more confusing." Raylan brushed off her questions as calmly as he could, he had little time to explain. "Just focus on the civilians, they need it more than I will. I'll look after myself." Without another word, not waiting for another reply from the female knight, Raylan took off in the direction he'd seen the Archons at. Leaping over several rows of houses and buildings in a single bound, the guards and civilians looked on in awe as he bounced across the city with little effort, before watching as the unknown warrior used abyssal magic to swing from one building to the next.

"Wh-what..?" The officer mumbled as she watched the unknown warrior disappear from over the roof of a distant building. Momentarily lost in thought the officer composed herself and turned to her stunned subordinates. "What are you idiots waiting for! Go! Spread the word across the city, automations are to defend the walls whilst we evacuate the city!" Her knights all stood to attention and shouted Yes Ma'am before dispersing themselves, all heading in different directions to carry out their orders.

The officer glanced once more in the direction their mysterious warrior had gone.

"I don't know who you are or why you're helping us, outsider," The officer thought to herself, "But if you truly can help save our people I promise I will never forget what you've done for us."

The officer turned back to her duty, as she broke off to look for more soldiers and automations to pass on their new orders. She could only hope that this plan worked as intended, too much was on the line for it to fail.

/_\

Raylan landed atop a tower with a one-handed handstand before launching himself with his arm further across the city. His eyes swept the city as his perception of time slowed, the city itself was calmer, more controlled than before but still hurting. There were still a lot of fires, black smoke rising up from various buildings, most of which looked to be industrial in nature, and the occasional flare of elemental energy from vision users no doubt protecting their homes. In the distance he saw another two Ruin Golems had joined the previous ones guarding the outskirts of the city, firing massive laser beams from their giant singular eye and swiping at the abyss creatures clawing at their kingdom's walls with their massive arms. The laser, which was shockingly powerful, burned many of the creatures alive - if the agonizing howls of monsters from beyond the walls was anything to go by.

With his enhanced eyesight and additional senses the abyss warrior could feel the abyssal energy fluctuating near the war mechs that were protecting outside the city. Luckily there wasn't anything on the same scale of Durin, but there were still hordes of the monsters roaming around in enough numbers to overwhelm many forms of defense that the city had. Many of the mechs had some form of battle damage, it didn't take a genius to figure that the smaller automations wouldn't be fair as well as the big boys.

Hell, the rest of Teyvat wasn't safe from these abyssal things considering how much destruction was hinted at in the lore of the game.

His eyes flicked to the distance, momentarily watching the armies of the nations approaching at speed. Faster than Raylan was anticipating.

"Shit!" He swore aloud, "I need to haul ass, now!" He mentally scolded himself.

Raylan, using his abyssal magic, created a tendril of void energy and shot it toward a tower in the direction of the boundary wall. The abyssal warrior yanked the tendril, using it to pull himself forward before allowing himself to fall into a swinging motion. Raylan suppressed the child-like urge inside him to declare himself Spider-Man in that moment.

The archon flung himself in the direction of Khaenri'ahs' wall, as he swung to the top of his arc he threw himself into the air. Mid-flight Raylan heard a terrified scream from nearby, in an instant his head swiveled to the source of the noise to find below him, several streets over he caught sight of what seemed like a family being cornered by what looked like Rifthounds.

"Not a chance." The warriors fist clenched.

Without hesitation, Raylan spun mid-air, charged void energy into his weapon, and hurled his abyssal spear several streets over. The spear impaled the first Rifthound, killing it instantly, but before the other monsters could understand what had happened the void energy pulsed from the impaled spear in the Rift hound and engulfed the other creatures in a searing abyssal corruption, killing them within a single second.

It wasn't much, in the grand scale of things, but killing those creatures gave the family a moment as they took the opportunity to make their escape. From his briefest glance he could make out a mother carrying one child as she guided two others into running ahead of her.

Hopefully, they'd make it out alive at the end of this.

As Raylan continued to travel through the air he flipped back toward the wall and propelled himself further across the cityscape. If he could he'd personally scour the city and protect as many people as was possible but he was needed elsewhere.

Soaring through the sky Raylan flipped into a diving position as he closed in on the wall, picking up speed as he dove. His eyes picked up a mass of abyssal monsters, with Rifthounds and the like, below him. Sensing no people in the vicinity Raylan formed a spear in his hand again, with his gathered speed Raylan plunged into the small horde, driving the tip of his spear into the neck of one of the abominations with enough force to completely tear its head off.

Ripping the abyssal spear from the creature's neck Raylan spun on his heel and swiped his spear in a circular motion around him creating an arc of void energy, the magic tore through the surrounding abyss monsters, clearing a large area around him and the cities wall. Not enough to make an immediate difference but it was a start against the seemingly endless horde.

With space to breathe Raylan turned to see automations battling various abyssal monsters along the wall both ways. Graders, Hunters, and Guards, automations of all types threw themselves at their opponents with everything they had to offer. His eyes briefly flickered to the Ruin Golems, and he had to admit they were fucking impressive.

"Damn," Raylan muttered as he watched one of the Golems, "If only Khaenri'ah were facing Kaijus', they'd be ready for that. Godzilla be scared." To the young archon's utter surprise, the Golem turned, held out its hand before forming a massive blade made of weird light energy.

In a single swing, the Golem cleaved through numerous monsters, many of which were Rifthounds split right in half. They looked like a snake cut in two.

"I… didn't know they could do that." Raylan thought to himself as he watched the Golem go in for another swing, "It's just like a Metal Gear."

Raylans' danger awareness flared up in an instant, warning him of incoming danger.

But not for him.

Anemo surged toward the Golem at incredible speed, striking the mech in the arm wielding the energy sword, piercing its armor, and tearing its arm off just below the shoulder. The titan stumbled as the impact staggered the enormous machine, it stumbled into the wall shattering a portion of the upper wall whilst its arm clattered to the ground.

"Oh shit," Raylan swore under his breath, his danger sense kicked in again indicating another attack like that was coming. This time the abyssal warrior was ready for it.

As another piercing Anemo arrow soared through the air Raylan instantly formed void energy in hand, clenched his fist threw it forward sending forth a blast of abyssal corruption. Void collided with Anemo creating a massive explosion in the sky above the battlefield.

The blast shook the earth, kicking up dust and dirt across the land between Khaenri'ah and the Archons' armies. Raylans' elemental sense felt the Archons fluctuate oddly for a single second, but he also felt the armies move. The abyss archon could sense the lifeforce of every soldier the Archons had brought, and to Raylans' dismay, he felt the armies surge forward in a charge.

The assault was beginning.

"Somehow I doubt I'm going to convince any of the Archons to leave," Raylan said aloud as he jumped into the sky, heading toward the Archons and their armies to meet them head-on. "I have to be insane to think this is a good idea." He muttered tersely, frustrated at his lack of options.

If the abyss archon wanted to resolve this peacefully in any way possible he had to speak to the Archons now before it was too late, they could still call off the attack before the fighting escalated. All it would take is for a single soldier to die for them to commit to this attack in full so he had to make his move before the armies clashed with the automations in any meaningful way. If they did then he'd have an impossible problem on his hands.

But a sinking feeling in his gut told him he was going to have to deal with that impossible problem regardless of what he had to say.

Raylan flung himself further toward his targets, propelling himself through the air with a pulse of void energy. When he closed in on the Archons he sensed their elemental energies flaring up, perhaps in response to his presence, and despite the stupidity of what he was about to do, he dove toward the ground ahead of the armies and their gods.

He landed gracefully with a forward roll into a crouching position, Raylan quickly hopped to his feet. Holding out his hands in, what he hoped to be, a calming, non-aggressive manner.

"STOP!" Raylan roared as loud as he could, far louder than any human could ever hope to muster, his command carried across all the charging armies spread miles apart. Despite the vast distance between everyone, his voice carried like a thunderous lightning strike, along with a massive flare of abyssal energy that startled or stunned many who witnessed his arrival.

The abyss warrior went ignored by many of the soldiers at the far reaches, it was only the ones directly before him or just off to the side of him that ceased their advance, and even then they brandished their weapons in his direction despite the distance. However, Raylan sensed the gazes of the Archons all turn toward him, their elemental energies wavered in the distance, the mere sight of him seeming to confuse them.

Or rather, his elemental presence.

Spread across huge distances Raylan glanced from left to right, his eyes going to each position he knew an Archon was at. To his left, he could sense Pyro, Electro, and Cryo. To his right, Hydro and Anemo. Directly ahead of the abyss archon was the Lord of Geo himself.

For better or worse he'd just gained the attention of six mother fucking Archons.

All their eyes were solely on him.

No Pressure.

"Archons of Teyvat!" Raylan began with a yell, with his hands held up and open in a non-threatening manner in hopes of showing he wasn't trying to be a threat, "Please, hear my words!"

"I know why you all have come here," Raylan began, yelling as long as he could so everyone could hear him plead his case, "I know of the suffering your nations and people have gone through at the hands of the abyss and their creatures!" His head turned from left to right, "But the genocide of a people isn't the solution! It will not undo the damage done, nor will it bring any relief of that suffering!"

No reaction.

No words in argument, no major build-up of elemental energies to indicate an attack was coming. The abyss archon could sense fluctuations, nervous and confused wavers in the life essence of the people and archons before him, as well as the anger, frustration, and resolve they held.

The people here were angry, hurting from the suffering their people and homes had gone through at the hands of the abyss monsters that ravaged the surface of Teyvat. Raylan could understand their pain.

But they were listening to his words, for the time being at least.

Time to pray to whatever merciful god was out there that his words would be enough to get through them.

"Those responsible for the abyssal monstrosities will be punished for their crimes, I promise you that!" Raylan continued, aiming for what he hoped they wanted to hear. "But there are so many innocent lives here that don't deserve your ire or judgment!" The abyss warrior glanced at the soldiers, "They have suffered, and lost, just as you all have at the hands of the same creatures from the depths!" He noticed the slightest bit of hesitation from the soldiers as they looked between one another. Thinking of the events of Sumeru and the Abyss, he pushed forward. "War isn't the answer. Revenge, justice, or duty aren't reasons to commit genocide against innocent men, women, and children!"

The words genocide and child being use in the same sentence seemed to have garnered a reaction for a moment, even if only briefly.

Try harder.

"I beg of you to retreat! Call off the siege! To leave and allow us to exact punishment on the guilty ourselves, don't allow the sins of the few to cost the innocents of the kingdom everything they have!" Raylan huffed, sucking in a much-needed breath. He didn't realize how little breath he'd been taking, his focus solely on the nations of Teyvat before him that he nearly forgot to breathe. "I swear to you all, on everything I am, I will bring those responsible for the pain and suffering your nations went through to justice with my own two hands!" Raylans' eyes went to each nation, one after the other. "Each and every one of you will have a say in the punishments of the guilty, just give the people of Khaenri'ah the chance to make this right! Give them the chance to live!"

No reactions from the Archons, as the powers didn't waver in the slightest. If anything, there was an edge to it that hadn't been there before.

Particularly from the Cryo and Electro archons.

Perhaps his words rang truer to them than any of the others.

But even his words couldn't defend against the actions of others.

In more ways than one.

Raylans' sixth sense flared up, a build-up of energy behind him alerted him to an incoming threat coming from the direction of the city. One aimed at the Archons and their armies. The warrior turned to see one of the Golems, specifically one standing by the other Golem which had its arm torn off by Barbados, in the distance charging up an attack from its eye laser, aimed directly at one of the charging army groups heading for the Kingdom.

Another two elemental signatures built up in an instant, Geo and Cryo. Turns out he wasn't the only one to sense the incoming attack.

The abyss archons' eyes widened, "If those hit…!" He hissed under his breath. No, they couldn't afford to hit. If those attacks struck then all chances of a peaceful resolution would die right there and then, along with so many innocents before the night was over!

Without a second thought, Raylan formed void energy within his hands and threw them out to his sides, the abyssal energy swirled to life as the abyss archon formed a great magical shield before him, standing between the Archons and the kingdom of Khaenri'ah.

A colossal wall of pure abyssal energy separated the two factions.

Geo and Cryo fired together, whilst the golem mech fired in opposition. Two projectiles of Geo and Cryo teeming with elemental energy, and one artificial energy. Three beams of energy struck Raylans' magical shield, the combined power striking his barrier caused Raylan to hiss as he felt the magic surge violently against one another. The shield held, barely, as Raylan forced more of his magic out to help reinforce the shield as best he could, straining himself to hold off the might of two Archons.

But even then, the shield was struggling as cracks and fractures formed across the barrier's surface in great numbers like that of a cracked mirror.

A moment later, the shield shattered like glass.

But in that moment so did the attacks coming from the archons and golem as the elemental energy burst into nothingness.

"That… was too close." Raylan sighed with the tiniest of earned smiles.

But that joy was quickly ripped from him as he sensed another attack in-coming, a build-up of Electro this time from where the Electro archon was positioned and in the sky above.

And it was aimed directly at him.

Instinctively, Raylan burst to the side in a blur of abyssal magic, jumping into the air and flipping twice mid-air just as a blast of Electro struck the ground where he'd just been, shattering the ground and tearing a giant hole into the surface.

The abyss warrior landed in a crouch, stunned for a moment before his eyes turned back to the Archons.

In that moment Raylan felt his heart stop as the other elements of all the Archons flared to life as well, the armies that had halted before, hesitant only moments ago, once again charged toward the city, except for the Liyue soldiers who were blocked by his presence in front of them. The armies that had initially ignored him had now clashed with small groupings of abyssal monsters that separated them from the kingdom and its automations, and it wouldn't take them long to reach the city with the support of their Archons.

"No…" He muttered as he dodged another attack, this time a giant Geo spear, forcing him to flip much further than last time as the spear gorged a giant hole into the earth as it went by before coming to a complete stop impaled within the ground. Having been moved, the soldiers of Liyue continued their charge, with all the soldiers choosing to ignore Raylan.

Much to his disbelief.

No, he had the attention of a different group of people.

The real threats.

Raylan turned in time to form abyssal swords in his hands to catch the incoming attack in the form of an Electro blade. Catching the attack he quickly deflected the energy upward, allowing it to go soaring into the sky above, likely crashing into the earth far above them.

The abyss warrior's eyes narrowed, gritting his teeth as he watched the Archons break up to begin their assault of Khaenri'ah in full.

The Geo, Anemo, Hydro, and Cryo Archons all advanced on the city, the automations, and the hordes of abyssal monsters among them.

Electro and Pyro, though, went for him.

In a flash of lightning, Baal appeared before him, wielding her polearm with a small twirl before leveling it at him, her face determined, eyes narrowed, and her stance firm. It was truly striking to see her in person, it was like staring at Ei. True twins.

Close to her the Pyro Archon, Murata, appeared. Standing just as tall as Baal with a blazing claymore resting on her shoulder. Unlike the Electro archon though, Murata looked at him with a mix of anger and joy. Her being the god of war, it didn't take a genius to figure out why she'd look at him, the embodiment of abyssal power, with such an expression.

Lightning and fire erupted around the two gods, readying themselves for a fight.

Raylan looked down at the two blades in his hands for a second before glancing at Khaenri'ah in the distance. He watched the plumes of smoke rising high above the city, the cries of abyssal monsters echoed across the lands, the clashing of soldiers and their weapons against hordes of creatures, the sounds of the automations and their weapons firing in defense of their home, and the screams...

The other armies and Archons continued their advance.

Raylan gripped his blades tighter in his hands as he took a deep breath, calming his burning, aching heart. A hard, painful truth lay before him.

He had failed.

He had failed to stop the Archons peacefully, he'd failed to eliminate the hordes of abyss creatures around the city, and he had failed to protect the kingdom of Khaenri'ah. Countless lives would be lost, on both sides of the conflict, his thoughts went to the people he'd saved inside the city, the characters from the game who all suffered because of the pain and loss they felt this day.

The wounds opened today would take hundreds of years to heal, but the scars would remain for far longer.

There would be so much suffering and pain...

...

Raylans' eyes opened, burning with abyssal energy.

No matter what it cost him, he would save the lives of as many people as he could no matter who they might have been. Too many had suffered this day already, nobody else deserved it. Enough was enough.

He wasn't just willing to die saving these people anymore, he was willing to suffer for them all.

If anyone had to suffer this day, then let it be him.

He would save every life he could, no matter how much he had to suffer for it.

C6: End.

Edited: 08/06 - Fixed/Edited a section again.

Charisma Check: Failed.

Surprise! I'm back.

This (short-ish) chapter also kicked my ass, again. I'll definitely be editing this one over the next while between updates.

The delay on this chapter is a mix of procrastination, work, and frustration with the chapter. I re-wrote one scene in this chapter seven times and it just began to annoy me and ruin the joy of writing. Sorry about that, I'll try to be quicker on the updates but as always I can't promise anything. I have a much better plan for how this arc is going to go ahead so I shouldn't struggle as much as I have been, I don't want to drop this story as I quite enjoy the thought of what is to come and I'm sure you all agree with that.

Which would people prefer? Short (3K - 4K) chapters with more frequent updates or longer (5K - 6K+) chapters as I've been doing. I'll see about doing whichever you all prefer. I could do shorter chapters to get through the prologue before switching back later, would that work?

Obviously, I'm taking creative liberties with this story, everything portrayed in this prologue is likely very fucking wrong. lol

And yes, the cover art is a commission of Raylan (or a "more mature/older" version of him, he's supposed to look like he's in his mid-to-late twenties in this story), it's 90% accurate as to what he's supposed to look like. Enjoy!

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Review Response(s):

Guest 1: I hope it won't be too disappointing for you, the odds are against him but he's the MC so it's not like he's going to die here, ya know? If I was a better writer I might have been able to think of something better but unfortunately, I'm only as good as I am and this was the end result. I hope you stick around long enough to see the completed prologue and share your thoughts then.

Chirriro: …dude, that's not healthy. Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?

Null (Guest): Well, here's the storm. Just wait for the "hurricane", and the "disaster" that is coming in the next chapters. Thanks, it is fanfiction so I will be filling in the blanks, you know? Can't solely rely on the game. So you noticed that, huh? To be fair, arriving in a nation and saving it is par for the course, but you're right. There are parallels between the MC and the Travelers arrival, which shouldn't be surprising, but there will be deviations. You'll have to wait to see how things turn out unfortunately.

Guest 2: I'll say no more on Makoto for spoiler reasons but I do like your line of thinking. They aren't afraid of making examples of entire nations, why not one of their own Archons too? Makes sense, good theory.

GxDz: Blowing stuff up (for fun) with Klee is an important step to saving the world, no doubt about it!

Ejam05 (Guest): Hello there. I don't plan on dropping it, circumstances and writer's block are why I'm delayed updating this story as I mentioned earlier. Sorry about that, but thanks for the kind words regarding my story and I hope you continue to enjoy my work.

And thank you to all other smaller reviews/votes, I appreciate the support and attention this story gets.

—

When this poll comes to an end I'll likely add other polls, such as who Raylan befriends, ships (not just Raylans'), and so on for the fun of it.

And that's the chapter done. Hopefully, the next chapter is easy enough but knowing how I do things I'll end up complicating it and making it harder on myself. Lol. I'm my own worst enemy sometimes.

Sorry for the long wait once again! I'll try knuckle down and get another one out soon.

Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and supporting the story as always!

Till next time!

AlcatrazDGold - Good Luck!