The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging Chapter 10: The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

SARAH, putting their hands over Zoe's eyes: Guess who!

ZOE: It's either Sarah or the cold, clammy hands of death.

SARAH, putting their hands away: It's Sarah!

ZOE: Dammit.

.ೃ࿐ CHAPTER SEVEN.ೃ࿐

( volume one ) the weight of living

vii The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging

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CHIRON CALLS A MEETING, JUST AS SARAH EXPECTED, TO DECIDE WHO GOES ON THIS QUEST. Sarah does the math easily for like once in her life. Three Hunters and three campers should go since the Prophecy said that the Hunters and Campers should work together and the prophecy counted six people should be on the quest. However this was not Sarah's quest so she figures it's best she says nothing out loud, at least not yet.

A group of campers along with Sarah and Zoe huddle around a ping-pong table, the meeting had yet to start as they're waiting for Grover and Percy to return the Oracle to the attic. Each cabin who had kids save for the Ares cabin, as they were all in the Infirmary due to injuries, had a Camper present. Bianca, although she was unclaimed, is there too sitting on Zoe's left.

Finally, Thalia grew impatient and she stomps out of the room to go round up Percy and Grover who had yet to return from their unfortunate task of putting away the Oracle.

"Who wants to bet that they broke the Oracle," Sarah jokes half-heartedly to the Campers. She knows that it's next to impossible to damage the Oracle but the joke slips out before she can stop it, the Campers around her were younger than her, if not the same age, and their sullen expressions reminded her that they were just kids.

Cher Jackson snorts quietly "I'm too broke to bet but I wouldn't put it past them."

The Hephaestus kid ⸺ Beckendorf, or something like that. Sarah wasn't sure of the kid's name but she had seen him the summer of the missing Masterbolt, he was the one that made her newest weapon, the one that Luke had given her. He stifles a laugh and so does the Athena kid that Cher had called Malcolm.

Upon Beckendorf laughing, the Camper's side of the table breaks out into quiet giggles, the Stoll brothers being the loudest, the lean over to hand Sarah money but she shakes them off.

"Why would we bet on something that has definitely happened," Silena snickers, she sits across from Sarah but when she cracks the joke she's not looking at her but rather she's looking at Beckendorf.

Everyone giggles harder at the remark save for Zoe, who doesn't giggle let alone laugh unless she is the company of her closest fellow Hunters. Bianca, is also not giggling but she looks amused, and also a bit confused.

Sarah smiles softly glad that the tension in the room had lessened, she leans back in her chair.

Finally Thalia stomps back into the room with Grover and Percy right behind her. At this Dionysus waves his hand and supplies snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminds him that wine was against his restrictions and that most of of the attending are underage. Mr D sighs dramatically, with a snap of his fingers the wine turns to Diet Coke. Nobody goes for the snacks save for Grover who looks like a kid on Christmas morning at the sight of Cheez Whiz.

"Cheez Whiz," Grover gasps, completely enthralled as he begins scooping up heaps of the stuff with cracks and ping-pong balls alike.

Zoe lets out a long drawn out breath of exasperation. One that Sarah knows she had been holding for a long time, she lasted much longer than Sarah had expected.

"This is pointless," Zoe begins bluntly, "There is no time for talk. Our Goddess needs us, the Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where," Chiron asks.

Sarah goes to answer but Bianca gets to it first.

"West," Bianca replies, playing with the end of her braid, "You heard that prophecy lady: 'Five shall go west to the goddess in chains.' They can get five hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoë agrees, "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia speaks up, her tone dry, "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoë snaps, "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your," Thalia grumbles, "Nobody has said thy in like three hundred years, Zoë. Get with the times."

Zoë hesitates, like she was actually trying to form the word correctly, "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolls her eyes "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron says, "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D muses, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet, "Two shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr D," Chiron sighs resigned, "With all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raises his eyebrows "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

Sure, Sarah thinks as she rolls her eyes and a huffs out a quiet disbelieving laugh. Although she reckons his has his own motives for pointing that out, she just wasn't in the mood to figure out what they were.

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia says stubbornly "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoë grimaces, but she does not argue further which means that Thalia had managed to score a point.

"We must not delay," Chiron warns, "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the Winter Solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus mutters, "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë says, "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus questions.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus." Zoe answers without missing a beat.

Mr. D nods, not bothered at all by the slight, "Just checking . . . You're right, of course. Carry on."

Sarah purses her lips to keep from laughing at that.

"I must agree with Zoë," Chiron puts in, "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and three," Percy says matter of factly, speaking up for the first time.

Sarah, like everyone else at the table, turns to look at the son of Poseidon. He's right, and she's thankful that someone is getting straight to the point. Percy shrinks in his seat, looking slightly flustered but he continues anyway.

"We're supposed to have six, three Hunters and three from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

"It is," Sarah agrees, so much for this being Zoe's quest. Of course if Percy didn't speak up and if she hadn't agreed with him, they'd probably be here for hours. All night even.

Percy gives her a look of surprise. Oh come on, Sarah thinks, she wasn't that rude to him. Then she reconsiders that, yeah, she probably was a right bitch to him. It wasn't personal, she reassures herself, and beside you're going to be nicer to him and his sister now that Thalia is back. Wouldn't want people to think you're playing favourites even if Thalia is your favourite.

Thalia and Zoë exchange looks, while the others have turned to gawk at Sarah, unlike Percy, Sarah isn't bothered by their stares.

"Well," Thalia says. "It does make sense."

Zoë grunts, a scowl etched on her face as she says "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

But, they couldn't possibly do that and Zoe knows it.

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminds her, "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

Zoë picks up a ping-pong paddle and studies it. Sarah briefly wonders if she knows what to do with it and then she recalls sneaking off with Zoe one time on a camp visit to play ping pong, they went at it for hours. More than likely she was deciding who she wanted to whack first with it.

"This monster ⸺ the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be." Zoe says after a moment, looking deeply troubled.

Everybody looks at Dionysus, because he happens to be the only God present and the Gods are supposed to know things.

He sat there, flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glances up. "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty Titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron, you don't have any ideas about the monster?" Percy asks.

Chiron purses his lips "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Ketos. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father Poseidon would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"The Ophiotaurus," Sarah suggests but even as she says it she knows it's incredibly unlikely.

Everyone looks confused, she's not surprised. The Ophiotaurus is such a rare creature, she has never encountered one but she's heard Artemis tell the story of it once or twice. A creature with the ability to take out the Gods if sacrificed. It must be that one but there hasn't been one spotted in almost a millennia. Sarah has no clue what the creature looks like, even Zoe probably has no clue what this creature looks like.

Silence has fallen around the table, even Dionysus is looking at her. Sarah feels stupid for even suggesting it, Chiron gives her a nod to acknowledge her words but doesn't look at that convinced. Zoe looks thoughtful but confused. If by some chance it was that creature, how would they find it when no one with them will know what it looks like.

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll speaks up, "It sounds like at least three of the six are going to die."

"Two shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There's scattered mutterings of agreement. Sarah is inclined to disagree but she stays silent this time, mulling it over in her head. The line says lost which doesn't necessarily mean dead, rather two may be separated from the others. As someone who gets lost all the time, Sarah has high hopes that this line doesn't mean death exactly. There's only one death that is imminent and that is the one who will die at a parent's hand. This line must be about Zoe.

Sarah feels sick but she knows there is nothing she can do to stop it, Zoe is much too stubborn to just stay back especially when Lady Artemis is in danger.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena recites then asks "What could that mean?"

Sarah, Chiron, and Zoe share nervous looks, Sarah makes sure her look is more pointed at Zoe.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover says in between bites of Cheez Whiz and ping-pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There's a heavy silence round the table. The kids especially Thalia and Percy look distraught. And even though Sarah knows that this line can't be about anyone but Zoe, which terrifies Sarah more than words could ever express, Sarah still feels the urge to comfort them.

"That is a disturbing thought but perhaps it does not mean what exactly what we think it does. Perhaps it will be accidentally or perhaps one of our parents will show up as we are dying . . . I know the Gods aren't the world's greatest parents but they haven't gone as far as killing their children in centuries." Sarah says, no one looks entirely reassured by her words but no one snorts or looks disbelieving of them so she takes that as a win.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decides, "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Lord Dionysus says gleefully, his apparent attention on the magazine in his hands but Sarah knows he's been listening this whole time.

She also knows he doesn't mean that, he's just being a dramatic dick. Everyone turns to look at him, most look exasperated. Sarah rolls her eyes at the God, she knows he's the God of Drama or Theatre or something along those lines but was now really the time for what he thinks is his comedic genius?

He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine "Ah, Pinot Noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy is right,' Silena Beauregard says, turning away from Dionysus, "Three campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoë says sarcastically, "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushes "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoë scoffs, "What would thy mother say?"

Silena starts to get out of her chair but the Stoll brothers hold her back. Sarah gives Zoe a hard look.

"Well for starters, I'm sure she'd have a few choice words about you picking on her daughter for no reason, Zo, now is not the time for petty squabbles. Children of Aphrodite are not useless, they have their strengths and also I've heard Silena is pretty rad with a knife. She may even have Charmspeak which is always useful on quests." Sarah says defensively, not wanting to get too far from the topic at hand.

"Sarah is right, every camper has their own strengths." Beckendorf agrees, "We need to figure out who will be going. We should start with the Hunters, which three of you will go?"

Zoë stands and says "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis asks cautiously.

Zoe nods, looking mildly miffed she had been interrupted.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor adds.

"Yes," Zoë snaps, "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis says, sounding too innocent, "Just we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store."

He holds up a big silver T-shirt that reads ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Perhaps in any other situation, Zoe would have found this to be suspicious but Zoe was in no mood to focus on anything other than going after Lady Artemis, so she sighs and snatches it from Travis.

"As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I will take Sarah as well."

No one argued with that.

Chiron briefly glances at Percy, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Sarah before look to Zoe and asking "And for the campers?"

Sarah heaves a heavy sigh they'd be here all night.

"Me," Grover cries out, standing up so fast he bumps the ping-pong table. He brushes cracker crumbs and ping-pong ball scraps off his lap, "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoë wrinkles her nose "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia argues, "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!"

Zoë wavers, this is something they would definitely need.

"Very well," Zoë agrees begrudgingly, "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stands and looks around, daring anyone to question her.

It's not that Sarah didn't want Thalia on this quest but she would much rather have Percy who has been on two successful quests before. Getting Percy to go and Zoe to agree to that would be a chore but Sarah had this feeling that Percy would be needed on this quest no matter how dangerous it may be.

"For the third, I think Percy Jackson should go." Sarah speaks up much to Zoe's surprise.

Zoe looks ready to argue, the campers begin to mumble to each other, giving cautious glances to both Thalia and Percy. Thalia looks ready to argue as well but Sarah ignores it.

"I know this is Zoe's quest and in the end she does have the final say but I want to argue that Percy should join the quest. He's been on two successful quests before, Percy and I can work well together, he works even better with Grover. I would even argue that if it came down to it he could work with just about anyone. I understand that he is a boy, Zo, but he's more child than man. He's good, he's powerful. And yes having three big three kids on a quest is not a great idea but if war is coming, we're fucked anyways. Ancient monsters are already stirring we might as well just let the pot stir."

"I won't work with a boy," Zoe snaps the second she finds a chance to intervene Sarah's rant, "And you saw how Thalia Grace and Percy Jackson fought earlier, we do not need anything happening like that on this quest."

"And it won't," Sarah counters, keeping her voice even, "They were provoking each other because they were angry about the game. I am positive that they can work together on this quest for Annabeth and Lady Artemis. They both know that the situation is dire, they are mature enough to know when to put aside their differences, I'm sure, especially when their loved ones are at risk. Percy is the longest going camper with the experience we need, and Thalia is right there after him in experience."

Percy stares at her, shocked that she is defending him. Thalia is busy sizing Percy up for whatever reasons she has.

"Percy is an amazing fighter, he is loyal, and smart. And if we don't let him on this quest I know that he will follow us anyways. Percy is Annabeth's best friend, one of her first real friends in fact, and I'm sure it's the same way for Percy. He knows the stakes just as well as we do and he will do everything in his power to get her back and help us rescue Lady Artemis as well. I cannot think of a more useful candidate to join us on this quest than Percy, boy or not."

Zoe looks livid. And Sarah knows logically that she shouldn't have said anything as this wasn't her quest but Percy truly is the only other person that Sarah thinks should be on this quest. While Percy did have the worst luck when it came to monsters he also had surprisingly good luck when it comes to finishing the quests. His first quest, he had managed to save his mom as well as the world. His second quest, although Sarah's knowledge on it was limited, was just as successful and he even managed to bring Thalia back to life with the Golden Fleece.

Maybe, if he came on this quest, there would be some great miracle and Zoe would live. Sarah knew it was stupid, that it was prophecized that someone would perish at a person's hand and that person was most like Zoe, given the circumstances but Sarah was desperate and Percy had better luck than most on quests.

Zoe goes to deny it, her dark eyes narrowed, lips curled downward, she must find it completely scandalous that Sarah would even suggest a thing but before Zoe could say anything, Sarah's face crumples.

Sarah feels tears start to burn her eyes, she almost lets them fall in hopes of conveying Zoe just how much she needs Percy to come on this quest but they don't fall.

"Please, Zoe." Sarah croaks out, "Let Percy come with us as our sixth."

Zoe doesn't look pleased, but she closes her mouth. She looks at Percy, an expression of displeasure on painted across her sharp features. There is nothing less Zoe wants in this world than for Percy Jackson to join them, especially not when he carries Anaklusmos but Zoe has never heard Sarah sound so desperate for something before.

Neither Chiron or Dionysus could hide their surprise as Zoe relents and grits out "Fine . . . Percy Jackson . . . Will be the sixth and final member of this quest."

With that said, there wasn't much else to discuss. At least not at the table, Sarah knows that once Zoe and herself return to their cabin, she's in for an earful for guilt-tripping Zoe into taking a boy on the quest. Even though, Zoe is always insisting that she can't be coerced into any else's ideas or games.

"So be it," Chiron says, he eyes his two campers wearily, "Thalia, Percy, and Grover will accompany Zoë, Sarah and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the Gods," ⸺ he glances at Dionysus who pretends not to notice ⸺ "present company included, we hope ⸺ be with you."

THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES IS SWINGING ⸺ VOLUME ONE

ZOE IS SHAKING WITH FURY, AS SHE PACKS HER BAG FOR THE QUEST. SHE HASN'T YELLED, SHE HASN'T SAID A WORD AT ALL. Sarah wishes she would yell. The other girls are whispering, of course, they are. They haven't witnessed Zoe this angry before, they shoot Sarah confused and disappointed glances because how dare she invite a boy to join a quest much less someone else's quest. And Sarah gets it, this wasn't her quest to make decisions on, but as wrong as it was to interfere, Sarah doesn't feel sorry about it.

If she couldn't stop Zoe from undertaking this quest then she could at least bring someone with them who could possibly gain the best possible outcome. Percy Jackson had great luck on quests, yeah, he had terrible luck with monsters but he has made it through two quests with neither of his quest mates dying. In the time that Sarah had been alive, she doesn't think she'd known of any Demigod who didn't lose at least one companion on their quest. Even she had lost her companions on the one first quest Lady Artemis had sent her on.

If anyone could somehow keep the last line of the prophecy from coming true in the most literal sense it would be Percy Jackson.

Sarah packs her own bags, hands shaking as she slides Teras into the front pocket of her duffel bag. She unsuccessfully untangles her walkman, it was gifted to her by Lord Apollo back in the 80s after she lead his twin children to camp. It most likely had some divinity to it ⸺ he had implied it was special but she had never figured out what he had meant, so she just used it as a normal walkman. The headphones had been tangled for the past six years, she gives up after struggling to untangle it yet again. She shoves it into the bag and wonders if they still make cassette tapes because she was getting tired of her The Smiths collection.

She takes out her beaten up sketchbook and pulls out the bin she keeps under her bunk. For safe-keeping, the last time she brought a sketchbook near Percy it had gotten blown up, she's not risking it this time around. Besides, as of recently she hasn't had much time to sit down and draw.

As she pushes off the lid of the bin, Sarah almost reels back, as if the bin had turned into manticore and was ready to attack. But, it was nothing near as shocking as that but it was something just as terrible ⸺ the sword of Damocles had returned.

And it was still covered in Bessie's blood.

Sarah inhales sharply, finding the cabin to be stifling all of a sudden. The flashes of that quest flood her mind, burning her eyes as she hears Bessie's scream. Even worse, she can hear Bessie's last few breaths, almost feel the hot chill of her death running down her spine.

She bites down hard on her lip to keep from crying as she reaches out for the sword.

She remembers how the Hunters had split up, most of them splitting up into groups of three but they didn't have the right numbers so it left Sarah with Bessie. Sarah had insisted that instead of it just being the two of them that they make one group of four, it felt wrong just going off to face Damocles with only one other partner.

Zoe had told her it would be fine, that they would cover more ground with the groups of three plus Sarah and Bessie teaming up. Zoe insisted that it would go smoothly if Sarah and Bessie picked the right tracks to follow and ended up finding Damocles and his sword he had taken from Lord Hades' realm. Sarah had no choice but to listen, it wasn't like she had any issue with Bessie. It was just a feeling she had in her bones.

They ended up finding Damocles, Bessie wanted to be the one to lay claim to the sword despite it being made of Stygian Iron. But besides that, Sarah had figured it would be fine for Bessie to claim it. It wasn't fine.

Sarah can vividly remember Bessie taking cautious steps up to the pedestal, the sword hovering over her head, held on by the thinnest thread ever. If fate had been kinder, Bessie would have been allowed to take the sword as her own and then move on to duel Damocles. However the sword deemed her as unworthy, unbecoming of someone who could handle the life of king, the life of someone in constant danger because of the power they held. And so the thread broke and the sword cut her down.

The blade pierced right through her jugular, she would've been dead in seconds. Sarah remembers trying to drown out the sound of gurgling blood by praying to her father to help. It had been useless back then she had just joined the hunt and he had been ignoring her for around eighty years at that point. But, she was desperate she didn't know what else to do.

With Bessie dead, it was up to Sarah to banish Damocles to Tartarus. She vaguely remembers the duel, she had practically lost it, she can't even remember if she had managed to kill Damocles. She remembers picking up the sword, she remembers Damocles stabbing her right through her abdomen, and the next thing she knows she was waking up in a bedroom in the Underworld. The sword had disappeared.

Her father told her that the sword was blessed by Styx especially for King Dionysius_I_of_Syracuse to teach Damocles a lesson. The sword was now connected to her until she died, it would appear to her when extreme danger or great enemies were afoot.

Sarah hadn't seen the sword since.

With shaking hands she lifts the sword up, it's longer than any sword she's used before but it seems to be a perfect fit for it, unlike when she first held it. The dried blood vanishes as she lifts it up to the light, it looks like a brand new, polished sword as she studies it. It would be a great sword if it were not for it being the harbinger of doom.

Something in her rib cage shakes with a foreign rage. Suddenly she is in her father's palace for the first time demanding to know why he didn't help her with Damocles, why he didn't save Bessie. She is kneeling at Thalia's tree, crying as she wonders why they didn't do more for Thalia, wondering why her father would punish Thalia so harshly for simply being born. And she receives no answer.

The cabin falls silent around her ⸺ what doom could Damocle's sword be predicting?

Will this quest being another byproduct of the Gods' negligence? Will Zoe's death being yet another tally on a blackboard, with no one to answer her when she asks why she has to keep score for lives that didn't have to end?

Sarah slams the sword into the floorboards, startling everyone present, she grits her teeth as she stands up. Before anyone can ask what her problem is, she's storming out of the cabin. A good thing too, because she doesn't know what's wrong with her, she doesn't know where this anger has come from. She just wants to breathe but the cabin is suffocating.

The sword of Damocles is swinging, she can hear it circling above her head. At any given moment, it could come crashing down ⸺ but who would be the victim?

( nulla ) The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging

the author's commentary

LISTEN I KNOW that the sword of damocles is so supposed to be a story and is not mythology but for my sake let me PRETEND!!! I think did pretty well turning it into mythology, obviously there is a lil more to the story and i will expand on it but for now this is what's important to know for now!! Originally I just named this fic the sword of damocles is swinging after the one lyric in the beetlejuice musical that always makes my brain go brr but after reading the story about it i realized i could actually incorporate it into the story!! it took me a hot moment to figure out how but I got it and I think I did a good job at it!!!

ALSO ZOE HAS HER REASONS FOR ALLOWING PERCY TO COME ON THIS QUEST!! I PROMISE!! It's definitely out of character but she has a reason she let Sarah win and let Percy join them!!! It will be explained in later chapters!!!

01/14/24 ⸺ TSODIS is #11 in #FoundFamily (on the Wattpad Tag Ranking Thing)!! Normally I don't pay much attention to my story tag rankings but i figured new year, new me might as well try to keep a lil eye on it because it seems like a fun thing to track!!!

Anyways that's all I have to say for this chapter!! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, please don't be shy, let me know what you thought of it in the comments!!!

WORD COUNT ⸺ 5, 129 words