OVER CESTALIA - JUNE 20th, AFTERNOON

Haruto hasn't said much for the remainder of their tour. In fact, he was uncharacteristically quiet. Not even the beautiful view could take his mind off of that deadly scowl he received earlier. What, had he pushed the wrong buttons in the way he greeted himself? It wasn't like him to care about others opinions towards him, but that title he had bestowed onto the young man: Inheritor of the Dragon. It didn't come across as something to be revered. No, it was more of an accursed name. Something that had better not been spoken.

There was a monolith of hatred in that man's eyes. He spoke as though a great terror, a demon had appeared before him, and he was enticing Haruto to recite his last words before a fell swoop at his head. If looks could kill, then Haruto was being sentenced to an execution. Up until recently, the young man's phantom had remained relatively dormant within his heart. There was little to no relation between the two, despite the beast being an inner manifestation of who he truly was. It was a shadow of who he was, a dark side of him that he fought hard to temper and control, but time and time again he has been proven wrong about the nature of such a creature. It had come to his aid, and allowed him to endure some of his greatest challenges yet. At the cost of his resolve, the Dragon spawned an overwhelming power crafted from the inner regions of his soul.

Although he was thankful, caution still remained creeping in the edges of his mind. At least until now, Haruto had attributed this shadow as a facet of him he rejected, and took an enormous labor to control. After all, everyone had pieces of them they would rather not surface. That was the nature of Phantoms themselves: the husk of what is left when your will dies, and despair arises from the ashes. A personified image of your darkest desires that clings to the corner of your sight. However, could he have been deceived? The way the Celestian spoke of him, it was as though his domestication of the Dragon had not given way to a miracle, but opened up the gate for a marvelous chaos to be born. Perhaps, he was wrong about the nature of Phantoms, and they were no lone entity that co-existed as a fabric of their host, but an existing monster that had infected the body of an unsuspecting Gate.

What he wondered, as he sat within the rising balloon was a simple question: Are Haruto Soma and his Dragon one in the same - a lone person existing as two halves, or is this monster a separate being awaiting the perfect chance to strike? If the latter were true, was

"Inheritor of the dragon…" Haruto muttered, fiddling with his ring. "What secrets are you hiding from me?"

Passing over Cestalia, the balloon soon reached over to the skyline of a brimming, crimson plate. The stench was unavoidable, burning brimstone scraping their innocent nostrils with its mischievous, unquenching smell. The atmosphere was heavy in hostile air, embers of great heat tickling the brows of our heroes. A little closer, and you might lose them. "I can't breathe!" Koyomi exclaimed, covering her mouth with the large, floppy hat she had tied around her neck.

"Ah, it never fails to amuse me watching a group of newcomers take on the plight." Their pilot laughed, but even he sneered in disgust towards the smell. It was absolutely terrible, and for good measure as well. It kept anyone who wasn't subjected to those lands away from entering. "Don't worry!" He reassured, coughing along the edges of his sentence. "We won't be here to stay!" The older man laughed. Then, wincing once again as he burrowed himself in his scarf. Let's hope that the balloon would travel around the east end of the island faster than the west.

The Stalagtica Region of Celestice Island.

"We hope that the name should make itself apparent in meaning," Despite the absolutely horrid, boggy fumes finding their way high into the air, Stalagtica was as breathtaking as the rest of the island. Unlike the previous location, Stalagtica was smothered in warm, red colour that painted the jagged, terracotta landscape. What was most interesting, as many of the things were on Celestice Island, was the peculiar shapes of the rocky dunes themselves. They were wide, and curled in perfect spirals. "Yes, I see you've become attentive to the sprouting cliffs." Although not as massive as the engorging mushrooms of Mieldor, Stalagtica's molds of swirls were definitely something to behold.

"Oh, what about that?!" Shunpei asked, pointing to the middle of the sheet of land. There it was, a massive sinkhole in the ground. Standing at about 100 feet in diameter, it fell into the same architectural spiral, and even under this light it was difficult to see what lay in there. It was a strange, vantablack colour that seemed to refract almost all of the sun's rays. Had it not been for the outer, cracked edges giving life to depth, as well as the general curvature it would've been easy to mistake it for a painting or grand illusion of some sort.

"That?" Their pilot went silent, but only for a moment. "Ah, that's nothing much to observe. Call it an unexplored venture, it's quite the enigma."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring." Rinko crossed her arms. "You don't know what it is?"

"Ah, quite the inquisitor. Aren't you?" The pilot laughed. "We shouldn't get close." He signaled to the other pilot with a concerned look to leave the area. It seems that something had suddenly struck a nerve.

"Call it a detective's intuition, but…" Rinko snagged Shunpei's camera and stared into the lenses, snapping a photo. She was proud of the small achievement, grinning as the tool took up her upper face. Snap! "You said it was hard to understand, but it's clear there's structures down there." As it turns out, she was correct. It was difficult to see from the naked eye, especially considering the darkness of the pit itself, but there were several structures running along the edges including stone footbridges, holes leading in and out of various places; you might have expected it to simply be tearing in the odd vantablack that suppressed light from giving a clearer image, but every picture no matter how perfect has its ripples. "You said it was unexplored, but these look pretty well established."

"Well…" Their pilot scratched the back of their head. "I have to say, once more you are quite the curious one."

"Are you sure you know nothing about it? It's pretty big, I'd be surprised if you didn't…" Rinko lifted a brow. The air got a little tighter.

"Every place has their secrets. Some of them are still at large to us." He sighed. "Though, if it eases any natural suspicions, we have several bases of operations that are reserved for extracting materials for exportation. We pride ourselves on not just our showmanship, but the quality of our riches that continue to sustain our livelihood among private distributors from all around. I admit, I was unprepared for such questioning, as I'm more a man of the sky." He seemed to calm down, and wave off previous concerns with a friendly gesturing wave. "My apologies, perhaps I should suggest to my supervisor on proper training for future reference in these areas. They're considerably difficult to traverse through."

Rinko seemed to accept that answer. "Haruto?" It was now apparent the wizard was fixated on the pit. Stuck in a trance, and had been since he made contact with the deep pit, Haruto said nothing and continued to stare. It was alluring, and not in a pleasant way.

"What's the matter?" Koyomi asked, but was met with no response. All he could do was stare at the abyss. It stared back. It felt less that Haruto was watching something in there, but more that something was watching him. She remained by his side, staring with him, but nothing came of it. There was an odd look in his eyes. It was as though the rest of the world didn't matter, or even exist at all. "Are you OK?"

"Nng!" Haruto tripped, nearly falling topside over the edge of the balloon!

"Haruto!" Had it not been for Shunpei's quick, and intrusive call to duty, Haruto might've had his first experience skydiving. He clung onto the back of Haruto's shoulder, holding his hand out to the metal frame that stood in the middle of the balloon. He reeled him back, rocking the entire platform.

"Stay calm and quit moving!" Their pilot demanded, stabilizing the platform to his best effort. If there was more rocking, Haruto wouldn't be the only one at risk of going splat. They'd broken the chain with the wind, and swayed back and forth in a violent, sloppy manner. Their altitude decreased slightly, as though the balloon itself and everyone inside were being magnetically pulled towards the ground. It wasn't a good look to crash, especially with his reputation. Their pilot raised his hand, and an unbalanced coloured sigil appeared above his palm. An explosive, loud burst of hot air splattered out from his hand and into the balloon; the trajectory propelling them away from the ground, and back into the clouds. It was a risky move, but it did the trick and stabilized in conjunction with their trusty co-pilot's delicate, precise movements that ran parallel to the breeze itself. The one and only thing that their co-pilot ever said on this trip was simply, "Not today, huh?" He cursed the clouds.

Koyomi's heart nearly burst out of her chest, but she grew more concerned with Haruto. "Haruto!" Rushing to his side, she aided him without hesitation.

"... Huh?" Haruto grunted. Seems he'd taken a bit of a blow to the head. He was fine, but he seemingly had no memory of the last five minutes. "Why're we all standing around here?" He smirked. Guess he really had no idea.

"The fumes of these lands can be quite intoxicating, especially for tourists." Their pilot let out a relieved huff of air. He was simply glad that the worst had been averted. "I assume your nose isn't refined enough to withstand it yet. Don't threat, most of those who visit these parts have become accustomed to the strong, sensational pull it has. Allow us to circle back to where we came."

Deciding to remain cautious, the rest of the expedition around Stalagtica revolved gliding the edges of the land itself, guided by the soft air wrapping the perimeters of its shape. They were only 20 feet above sea level, and kept a safe distance from the land. To alleviate any stress, their pilot divulged in trivia as an unspoken way to make up for the scare had occurred. It wasn't all bad. They managed to fly through the spiraling, rocky rings that sprouted from below the cliffside. The mystic shape was marvelous, and none of them had ever seen anything like that before. In addition to this, they even got to meet some of the local workers. The excavation crew was by the lone beachside, far away from the initial boating docks and there were cave systems from within the side of the cliff. As he explained, to circumvent any issues with the atmosphere of these lands, excavations were performed on the outer rims of the land itself, away from the denser regions of the putrid fumes.

Careful consideration was put in place to prevent any collapses, as they had to work from bottom to top due to the beaches reigning under the overhanging cliffs. "It's not the safest venture, but it allows for longer hours of work, and the finer riches are found further to the ground, so it also saves on resources related to digging deeper."

CESTALIA CENTRAL - 3PM

"Here we are, home at last." The balloon once more scoured atop the bright blue skies, casting a quiet shadow over the town below. "Ah, but before we arrive at our destination there's a few more sights to see." He ushered their direction down to the west side of town. There, separated from the plated city was a long, winding nature trail that led to a grand clearing. Resting in the middle of five, hexagonal towers each with connecting bridges was a gothic, French inspired academy. Each area, which took the shape of a rook, was designed to be specialized in different fields of magic including: craftsmanship, alchemy, destructive arts, creative arts, and finally extraordinary physics - the study of science correlating to the stranger parts of the world. The walls were a beautiful vanilla stone, etched in the exterior was the history of Celestice itself in their great, deeply lined pathways that ran parallel to each other and complimented the others that stood adjacent, above and below.

It was a stunning impressionist piece. "That is Cestalia Academia, the gathering hold for all those who seek an honest career in the finer arts. Aside from the Emperor's tower, it is the prime attraction for all of our tourists." He smiled, a sense of pride coursing through his veins. "Contenders who desire a placement in our academy arrive every year, showing off their greatest tricks. Above all else, the academy values creativity. Many choose to settle down following graduation, which enriches our culture with a diverse population."

"A lot of the people here aren't natively Japanese, are they?" Rinko asked.

"Although our land rests in the same ocean, we aren't associated with Japan itself. However, our Royal general — Gorou Shima, immigrated here many years ago. Occasionally, our island takes expeditions to meet with… lesser known distributors around the world for trade and discussing the market. Despite our priority in privacy, we cannot shut ourselves off from the world, and the Emperor decided to accompany them on this trip. He rarely leaves the island, it's his pride and joy. Once, he was attacked in…" The pilot tried to remember where it was. "Nagoya? Yes, that's the city, and there we met General Shima. A talented, and artful warrior with enormous potential."

"He put himself in danger for someone he just met?" Koyomi interjected.

"Yes, we were caught in a narrow street in the dead of night." Their pilot stroked his chin, returning to the day it happened. "We aren't familiar with Japan, so we got lost. It appeared we looked like prime targets for a gang of ruffians, and although we tried to pick no trouble we found ourselves in the midst of it. One of them revealed a blade, and before any of us could react he charged at the Emperor, cursing that he was going to 'rip that damn thing off your head and pawn it off.' It was then, out of the blue, that a man with the strength of a bull took the plunge and had it buried in his gut. We were worried about causing the demise of an innocent man, but to our surprise he was still standing, and he managed to fight off the entire group even with his wound."

Haruto listened intently to the story. "The Emperor owes General Shima his life, and the sentiment is mutual." The pilot opened his eyes, and the most innocent grin felt its way up the corners of his lips. "I can say that all things considered, I am grateful that we ended up lost. Otherwise, I would not have met a dear friend."

"You speak very highly of him." Koyomi smiled.

"If it meant my life, I would return the favor for all those years ago." The man bent his knees, joints were as sore as yesterday. "Hm, who am I to be distracting you with an old tale?"

"If you really love someone, then you'd give it your all to fight for their happiness, right? If it means your life to fight… it doesn't seem like a big sacrifice." Shunpei said. A rare instance of wise words from him. It was enough to reel Haruto out of reality, and back into his own head. Sacrifice and happiness… Has he ever sacrificed something for someone he loves? Sometimes, it seemed like the opposite; people were giving things up for his happiness. Wajima, his mysterious friend, even his late parents. Each of them had sacrificed a piece of themselves, if not the entirety of who they were for Haruto. Was that the nature of love: sacrifice parts of who you are for someone else's sake? Fighting until the very end, a constant that followed him for his entire life. Would he ever say he did the same?

Who would he fight for?

"What's that building down there?" Rinko asked. It looked much more modern than the academy, and was far larger. Though, it was connected to the building itself. More or less, it served as a district of it; unconnected to any of the aforementioned pillars.

"Ah, our museum. We aren't strangers to making records and collecting items of interest. The weirder, the better. Unfortunately, it's closed to strangers for the time being. We had an incident years ago, someone tried to steal a powerful artifact. Since then, we've since closed it off to visitors. It's a shame, what one man's actions can do for the future."

"Well, that's that." The pilot checked his watch. "That concludes your tour of Celestice Island. Wasn't too long, was it?"

ELEVENTH HEAVEN

"Are you sure this is the place?" Haruto checked the slip of paper he'd received after the tour. There was a set of directions stated for where their group would be staying.

"Well, it sure seems like it." Shunpei said, approaching the building. It appeared to look more like a tavern than a hotel. It was two stories high, and looked rather homely all things considered. The four of them entered the building. It was bustling with patrons, many scarfing down drinks and talking amongst themselves. The crowded space sounded like a herd of rampant cows bouncing their cheers and cries over a confined canyon. Approaching the bar, Haruto was greeted with an orc. It was a mystery as to how he had managed to fit, considering his stature, but he tried not to think about it too much. After all, he was no stranger to appearing in odd places.

"E-excuse me, sir." The orc didn't seem to notice. Either that, or he was ignoring them while serving other patrons.

"We're here on a…" Haruto started, but was subsequently interrupted.

"Y' got somethin' in mind?" The orc asked. It had a heavy voice.

"No, actually we're here for our rooms." Rinko interjected. "We're here as guests of the Emperor."

"Soma, Haruto." Haruto took over. "There should be a room for the four of us…" The orc stopped what he was doing, sighed and smacked his own head.

"Silly me." It walked on bare knuckles, as though it were a gorilla, and swiped two keys off of a giant locked rack hanging to a wall underneath the staircase. "Been so busy, figured you lot must've slipped my mind." Despite his size, he was rather gentle; much unlike a certain dwarf he knew that moved at a million miles a second. His voice was smooth like coffee, but spiked like a layer of foam he poured in that red looking, cherry ale. "Here you's go." The keys read 102, 103. "Up the stairs, to the left."

Beyond the tavern, atop of the second floor was like a whole other building. Did these wooden corridors look as long as they did outside? Well, it was a good thing they didn't have to go far, otherwise they might have gotten lost. Directions were never as simple as people made them out to be, especially when your hallway seemed to stretch forever. "Here it is." Haruto handed Koyomi a key. They opened their doors.

The rooms themselves were quite quaint and definitely what someone would expect for a motel, although much more reminiscent of cabin rooms and didn't have any sort of entertainment aside from each other. He supposed they weren't too big on T.V., which was fair. He wasn't much of an avid watcher himself. If you asked Haruto about the latest drama, or say what the newest tokusatsu series was about. He never did catch up on Cyborg-012. It was a detective show based around a detective cyborg solving crimes at the 12th police precinct in Osaka. Reflecting on what he hasn't done, it started to dawn on him just how much time he spent playing hero. Here he was, just now as he settled in, still thinking about that weird comment again from the General.

Maybe he was giving it too much thought. If it meant danger, why would they be treated with such hospitality? It sounded like a waste to keep up the illusion for this long. "Oi, Shunpei." Haruto knelt down, examining the suitcase next to his bed. "When did you get such a sophisticated bag?"

"That's mine." Rinko said, entering the room. She swiped it off the floor. It was now apparent what had happened. It seems they'd mistakenly paired a guy and girl together. That meant his bag was in Koyomi's room. Well, that wasn't going to fly. They settled on sticking with their respective gender. Shunpei wasn't someone he minded rooming with. At worst, the only thing he'd do is keep Haruto up at night by practicing his craftsmanship with a folding workbench he had packed. It seems our hero wasn't the only one who came off as a workaholic, but he'd found his passion and it was nice to have him be more useful. Not to say he discredited his previous work, but bringing others into the battlefield was always a notion Haruto tried to avoid. Besides, he was curious as to what Shunpei had to offer. If he was learning from Wajima of all people, then he figured whatever his friend made, although still a rookie, would be interesting and of some use.

As the rest of the gang settled in, Haruto examined the room. It was safe to say that all of them were the same, so he assumed Koyomi and Rinko's space had the same things as his. There were two dressers, low-rise beds adjacent to each other by a window, and a mahogany workspace by the door, propped up against the wall. Next to it stood a mirror. The walls were carmine in colour, and weren't too tall. In fact, without the use of magic, Haruto could reach up to the top if he stood on his tip-toes. The window itself led out into a view of the backstreets. There was nothing exactly special about it, but he figured it should be mentioned.

"So, how are you finding this place so far?" Haruto jokes, having made his way with Shunpei over to the other room. Koyomi was still unpacking. As it turns out, she really did bring everything from her room; down to the very last knick-knack like her old, miniature grandfather clock that stood as more of a decorative art piece with wooden horses that moved as the gears turned. It was adorable.

"Can I even begin to describe it?" Koyomi said, taking a seat. Her heart was elated with Celestice and its beauty. She knew it couldn't be true, but maybe she had died and awoke in paradise at some point on that boat. If it was a dream, then she didn't want to wake up. "It's not like anything I've ever seen."

"You can say that again." Haruto smirked. "Guess you're glad we came, huh?"

"Well, are you?" Koyomi asked.

"I'll have to see more for myself. It's an impressive place, that much I know."

"Are you kidding?!" Shunpei popped up from behind. "This is the greatest place I've ever been to! I don't think anywhere else in the world can compare. Oh, can we just build a home here, Haruto?!" He took Haruto by the hands, begging him.

"Oi, this isn't a proposal here!" Haruto backed away, bumping into a wall.

"Rinko-chan, you've been awfully quiet." She was sprawled out on her bed, laying on her stomach with her head to the clouds. A resting hand against her chin, and deep in thought.

"There's one thing I can't get off my mind." She muttered, it appeared she was lost in a cloud of her own thoughts. "It's been bugging me since this morning."

"Oh, could it be that something from your bag is missing?" Shunpei interjected. "I thought the same. I was looking for a pair of shorts, and I ended up wondering if someone had stolen them, but as it turns out they were just at the bottom of my bag! I guess it's easy to feel that way when you let someone else handle the luggage."

"That's not it." Rinko shook her head. ".. Not at all."

"Then what is it?" Haruto sat opposite of her.

"It was as we were passing that place with all those spirals…" Rinko started, rolling over on her back. She had her eyes darted towards the ceiling now, trying to piece it altogether. It wasn't rolling right off of her tongue, and she needed a breather to really put the pieces together in regards to what was causing the woman such discomfort. "That guy really didn't want to talk about it."

"That's because he said he didn't know a lot about those mines!" Shunpei answered. "I can't imagine how I'd feel with my back against the wall if I was supposed to know everything about the island and didn't have a clue about a hole so huge."

"Now I got it!" Rinko sat up. "That's not true at all!" She pointed accusingly at Shunpei, startling him flat on his feet. The others watched as she sprung from the bed, and started making her way towards Shunpei. He backed up in fear; terrified at this sudden interrogation. There was a fire of certainty in her eyes. Thanks to him, she was in a position to continue questioning beyond her doubt. "When we were drifting above the water, he acted like he knew everything about the island's mining business! What's more, he said that the main method of their extraction business is by keeping away from the surface itself, down below the cliffs and drilling into the outer walls."

With a smooth drift, Rinko brushed her index finger along her scalp before snapping and pointing it at Shunpei, aiming straight for the heart. If she wasn't a detective, she might as well have said Objection! There was nowhere else for Shunpei to go in the room.

"H-Haruto…?" He begged for help.

"What he told us didn't make sense. Their mining business operates from the edges, off the surface completely to avoid those fumes. So, if they don't spend their time digging from the top to the bottom then why is there a gigantic hole in the center? It can't be an excavation site!"

"H-Haruto!" Shunpei screamed.

"I don't sound crazy, do I?" She asked. "Something isn't right. No place is this perfect." Rinko glanced over to Haruto for support, hoping he would validate her concerns. Haruto was at quite the crossroads. On one hand, what she was saying did sound suspicious, but… Maybe he shouldn't pry.

"It sounds strange." Haruto shrugged.

"Right?!" She smiled brightly, glad to have him on her side.

"But…" Then her heart dropped. "Maybe he was misinformed and took a guess. Shunpei said it himself, "It'd be pretty embarrassing to be a tour guide and not know what that giant hole is."

"Isn't it more suspicious that he doesn't know?" She took a defensive stance, crossing her arms.

"I'm not sure." Haruto sighed, resting his arms behind his head. It's possible that what she was saying was true, but the more he thought about it the less he wanted to talk about it. There had already been too much fear and doubt clouding his mind. So far, nothing he's seen has aroused his judgment. At the very least, aside from one ill-spoken comment, Haruto had been treated with nothing but a warm welcome. Besides, did he really want to spend his entire - and only vacation turning over rocks that might have nothing underneath? He didn't want to take away any fun for Shunpei or Koyomi, neither himself. "Rinko, what you said yesterday… You were right, I can't be a wizard every moment of my life."

"It's not like you chose to." Koyomi reassured.

"It's the only vacation we've ever had, and might ever have." Haruto nodded, sounding more sure of his decision as he continued to talk, much to Rinko's dismay. "If I don't unwind now, then I probably never will. I don't want any of us to spend our vacation doing what we decided to get away from."

"What?" Rinko was taken aback by his dismissal. "I…" She struggled to comprehend the rest of her sentence. How did she come across looking like the party pooper here? "I'm not asking us to toss aside our va-"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

The door opened. There was a pale woman standing in the frame. She looked about their age, and must've been working at this tavern. "Excuse me, Haruto Soma?"

"That's me." He slipped off of the bed. There was something in her hands.

"An envelope arrived just now. Delivered by the Royal Guard." Haruto took the letter.

"This one isn't going to explode on me, is it?" He cheekily asked. She didn't understand. She left, and Haruto opened up the letter, but not before advising everyone to take cover.

"Haruto Soma, you and your companions are hereby invited to join the Emperor to celebrate the Solstice's Eve tonight beginning at 7 P.M. If you accept this invitation, you shall make your acquaintance at Cestalia Palace."

"Seems we've been invited to a ball." Haruto carefully read it again to ensure he wasn't misreading this. The four of them were being requested to personally spend time with the Emperor in his humble abode?

"It's nearly 5." Koyomi stood next to him. "I didn't pack a dress. How are we going to find an outfit in time?"

"Wait, hold on." Haruto moved his hand. "There's more here."

"There will be no need to worry about the proper attire. We have made accommodations for being short on time. Please, check your dressers."

Koyomi approached her dresser, cautiously wrapping her fingers around the side door. She opened it. "What?!" The piece of furniture itself was only several inches in length, but the inside was at least 15 feet in both width and length! Strangely, despite there being nothing behind the dresser, there was an impossibly large closet resting inside. There were at least fifty outfits for men and women, each with their own mix-and-matching accessories, alongside shoes of all sizes!

"It's the same over here!" Shunpei opened up Rinko's, and he was right! They were practically identical, but isolated. "Wow," he stepped inside. It wasn't an illusion! It was an entire personal closet localized within 40 inches. "There's so many to choose from…"

"We have to get ready then, don't we?" Haruto clasped his hands together. Shunpei stepped out and followed Haruto out of the room.

"Wait, I don't have the slightest idea what I'll wear!" Koyomi shouted, desperately calling for help.
"Rinko-chan's got you covered, right?" Haruto asked.

"... Yeah." Rinko heaved out an exhausted sigh, refusing to meet his eyes. It's not as if he would've noticed, anyways. She kept her head down, as told. As always. As always told.

11/15/2023

OK, wow. First off, I want to say thank you to a close friend and reader of mine for suggesting that I end the chapter where it does. Had I not, then this chapter although would've been longer might have had its pacing wrung around your neck, and I always want my chapters to while be heavy in content, be manageable for both myself and the reader. Nonetheless, chapter 6 will soon be out sometime this month. I wonder how much I can push out the month. School hasn't really been kicking my ass as much as I expected, and I imagine an easier semester than I imagined.

What's terrified me more is going to the dentist in the next two days. ugh, I always hate the dentist. nothing more that terrifies me than someone prodding around my face while I'm forced to keep my mouth open for minutes on end as I narrowly breathe in bad air. but hey, you gotta do it, right? As much as it primally terrifies me, its what needs to be done. Welp, anyways I don't have much to say on my note here other than that I hope you are enjoying the work so far. Believe me, the next chapter and the coming ones will be a lot more exciting and I hope to integrate more action scenes.

I've also opened up a tumblr blog to share my story, so I hope with a bit of luck it receives more attention! If you like it, feel free to leave a comment and share with your friends. I thrive off of engagement between readers.