The Sailor Senshi couldn't believe what had happened. Nyanko's attack stopped after a few seconds, but they remained shaken by the sonic assault they had endured. Seiren sighed at Mars' previous comment, a bitter smile on her lips.
"How many times will I have to tell you? This isn't brainwashing," Seiren replied. "I didn't force Nyanko-san to do anything she doesn't want to…"
"Liar! There's no way Nyanko would ever agree to join you of her own free will!" Mouse let out. "You're clearly mind-controlling her, just like Crow!"
"For the last time, it's hypnotism. I can't force anyone to do something they'd be fundamentally opposed to. All I do is lift people's inhibition, make them do what they want to do deep down… how is that a bad thing?" Seiren asked with a certain innocence. "Nyanko-san genuinely felt terrible for what she did to Crow-san and me, so I merely offered her a way to make it up to us. She was so eager to earn my forgiveness, you know…"
This last statement infuriated Mouse.
"You… how dare you… use Nyanko's guilt against her in such a callous way…" Mouse muttered.
"Huh? I'm not quite sure I'm following you…"
"... unforgivable… I'll make you pay! Chuu Crunch!"
"Whoa!?"
The hypnotized Crow quickly reacted and got Seiren out of the way, before launching her own attack.
"Coronis Tornado!"
Everyone was blown away by the powerful gust of wind. Seiren let out a chuckle.
"Good job, Crow-san. We shall take our leave now. Nyanko-san, please be a dear and take care of those nuisances, would you? Thanks."
Nyanko nodded while Seiren and Crow started to walk away.
"As if I'll let you get away like this!" Uranus exclaimed, rushing towards them.
But before she could reach them, Nyanko blocked her path.
"Out of my way-"
"Kitty Bell Shriek!"
The aggressive sound was back, freezing the senshi with pain. Seiren and Crow were gone and the noise was such that it woke up Jupiter.
"Urgh… what the hell is that sound!?" Jupiter let out.
Mouse put her hand on her ears, slowly walking towards Nyanko.
"Nyanko… snap out of it…!"
Nyanko stopped for a moment, staring at Mouse.
"... Mouse…?"
"Yes, it's me…"
Mouse then turned towards the others.
"Everyone, get out! I'll keep her busy!"
"No, it's too dangerous!" Mars protested. "She's been hypnotized! She might hurt you!"
"No, she won't. Nyanko won't do anything she doesn't want to. She might want to help Seiren, but I know she doesn't want to harm us. That's why she isn't actually attacking us."
"So, Seiren-san didn't lie about that. Hypnotism can't force someone to do something they are fundamentally against. And deep down… Nyanko-san doesn't want to hurt anyone," Sailor Moon said.
"Alright, we will leave her to you then," Venus said. "Let's go guys!"
The others nodded and started to climb the stairs.
"As if I'll let you leave! I can't disappoint Seiren! Kitty Bell-"
"Chuu Rip!"
Mouse launched an attack that cut through the floor between the stairs and Nyanko.
"Your opponent is me!" Mouse exclaimed.
Nyanko suddenly glared at Mouse.
"Mouse…"
Then, her pupils started to dilate and she licked her lips.
"Mousey…"
"..."
Shoot. Seiren did mention hypnotism lifted inhibition and made them do what they wanted to do deep down. Mouse might have made a miscalculation here.
"... oops."
Nyanko rushed towards her, ready to jump on her.
"Mousey!"
"Eeekk…!"
The Sailor Senshi ran outside the cabin, going after Crow and Seiren.
"I'm so sorry, she jumped me and took me out by surprise," Jupiter apologized.
"It's alright. Now that we are here, we won't let them get away," Neptune said.
"We outnumber them!" Uranus added.
"Huh, I see that Nyanko-san failed. What a shame. Well, I guess I'll leave things to you, Crow-san."
"Huh!?"
"Coronis Tornado!"
Crow suddenly jumped out of nowhere, blasting Uranus and Neptune away into the forest with a powerful gust of wind.
"Uranus, Neptune!" Sailor Moon let out.
Seiren came out from behind a tree, seeming quite annoyed.
"You really don't know when to quit it, huh? You will never leave us alone…"
"You're the one who started this by attacking us!" Venus accused.
"Tsk! I did no such a thing! You meddle with me and Crow-san's business, and now you shall be exterminated! Mermaid…"
"Pff, because it worked so well last time you tried that," Venus said sarcastically.
"...Tsunami!"
Suddenly, the river started to rise, forming a high and impressive tide, much to the senshi's shock.
"... what…?" Venus let out weakly.
The wave collapsed, engulfing them.
"Arrrgghhhhh….!"
The senshi were pinned to the ground by the raw strength of water. It left them completely drenched.
"Excuse me, did you say anything?" Seiren sneered.
Venus coughed up some water, weakly standing up with the others.
"What… what the hell…!? Since when can you do that!?" Venus exclaimed.
"... Since always? I did it on the plane, don't you remember?" Seiren replied.
"No, you threw juice cans at us! That's hardly the same as controlling a whole wave!"
"I am master of water, I can control water in any of its forms- not my fault if there was no other source of water in that plane. Those juice cans were the best I had."
"Oh… oh."
Venus glanced at the river, then back at Seiren, and realized how screwed they were. Seiren smirked.
"Yes, I have all the water I need now!" she proudly exclaimed. "And I can not only control water in all its shapes- I can also alter its current form at will!"
Seiren raised her hand before pointing at the Sailor Senshi.
"Mermaid Blizzard!"
She launched a gust of cold, snowy air toward them. This was made worse by the fact the senshi were still soaked from Seiren's previous attack. Frost started to form on their bodies and they began to shiver.
"So… so cc…cc…c-cold…!" Sailor Moon stuttered, rubbing her shoulders in a desperate attempt to warm herself.
"C-cold… doesn't… impress me… and my flame…!" Mars exclaimed. "Mars-"
But her body felt too cold, her hand was frozen. Mars didn't manage to finish launching her attack.
"Urgh… that's no good… I'm too cold to create flames…"
"At this rate, we'll freeze to death…!" Jupiter said.
They fell to their knees, their bodies slowly turning into ice. They were so cold that they couldn't move anymore.
"Now, I guess this is goodbye. Crow-san, I'll let you do the honour."
"Coronis-"
"Wait!"
"Hm?"
Mercury suddenly stood between her half-frozen comrades and the two outsider senshi.
"Oh? Right, I thought I had noticed there was one of you missing," Seiren said.
"M-Mercury… run…" Sailor Moon said weakly.
"No! All of this… it was all a misunderstanding! We were horribly mistaken," Mercury declared.
"What is this desperate attempt at stalling?" Seiren asked.
"It's not…! I went back to where the latest monster attack happened, to look for clues, and…" Mercury quickly glanced at her team. "We were wrong. Seiren was not the one who attacked us! It was someone else!"
Seiren cocked her head. "Eh?"
"Huh? Are you… sure?" Venus asked.
"Affirmative. I won't go into details now because, well… the situation seems dire, but I do have one damning proof. Look at her wrists!" Mercury exclaimed.
They all stared at Seiren's naked wrists, confused for a moment.
"I don't get it, there's nothing there- oh…" Venus said.
"Exactly. She doesn't wear the Galactica Bracelets anymore! Yet, the one who attacked us did!" Mercury declared.
"... oops…" Venus said.
"What are you talking about? What attack?" Seiren asked.
"Someone wearing the Galactica Bracelets attacked us at the charity party, and… we thought it was you. But I know now that it wasn't! Someone else was responsible, and unfortunately, we all jumped to conclusions and accused you, because you had your memory back. We shouldn't have. We should have taken the time to actually talk to you, and listen to your reason for hiding it instead of accusing you. Then maybe… we wouldn't be in this situation," Mercury said with regret.
Seiren stayed silent, her expression turning stoic upon hearing that.
"But it's not too late! We can still talk! There's no need to fight anymore-"
"Enough," Seiren suddenly interrupted.
She then glared at them with a gloomy and icy stare.
"So you're telling me… all of this was over a mere misunderstanding…? You've ruined everything between me and Crow-san over a 'mistake'...!?"
"S-Seiren, wait-"
Seiren suddenly shut down Mercury by seizing her by the throat.
"Ack…!"
"Mercury, no…!" Jupiter let out.
"Silence! I'm tired of all your excuses, and I'm tired of putting up with it! Did you really think an apology would fix this? Just 'talking' about this? After how badly you messed with Crow-san and me!? You expect me to just forget about it and let you all go? No, I won't! I won't let you get between me and Crow-san ever again! You shall all be eliminated-"
"Seiren, that's enough!"
Seiren was momentarily taken aback by a firm voice telling her to stop. She looked up, surprised to see who it was.
"Oh, it's you… I forgot you were here too."
Neptune was standing at a reasonable distance from her, staring at her with an austere look on her face.
"Let go of her," Neptune ordered.
"Excuse me? Who do you think you are-"
"You're not actually mad at her. And deep down, you don't wish harm on anyone. Am I wrong?"
"You… you're not… But I have to! I have no other choice…!"
"You always have a choice! We all do! We're all responsible for our actions."
"But… it's their fault! They are the ones who provoked me-"
"And now you are throwing a tantrum, just like a petulant child…"
"H-hey…! I'm pretty sure I'm older than you!"
"Then act like it! Be a grown-up and do the adult thing!"
Seiren grew tense.
"I'm not… the bad one here…"
"And yet, you are the one hurting people. Don't you think it's bad?"
"I… I suppose it is…"
Seiren slowly let go of Mercury, who fell to the ground, gasping.
"See? You can be reasonable when you want," Neptune said.
Seiren clicked her tongue.
"Tsk! I'm always reasonable…"
"Unfortunately, you're still too much of a threat. We just needed you to let go of Mercury."
"...Huh?"
"World Shaking!"
Seiren barely managed to dodge the seismic attack while Crow immediately stepped in front of her, protective. Uranus came out from the woods, joining Neptune. Seiren glared at them.
"You… you deceived me…!" Seiren exclaimed.
"Well, it's not like you're unfamiliar with the art of deception yourself," Uranus taunted.
Seiren took great offence at this comment.
"How dare you…! I have done nothing wrong! What's so bad about fighting for the one I care about? Everything is fair when it comes to love! Wouldn't you do the same for the one you love!?"
Neptune glanced at Uranus, hesitating for a moment before speaking.
"Love is beautiful, love can be a source of strength and motivation, but it can also be very misguided. If your love comes at the detriment of others, then… your love is wrong."
"This is where we disagree," Seiren began. "I think it's those who get in the way of my love who are wrong."
"That's why you remain a threat and must be dealt with," Neptune said. "I've dealt with a lot of children, even raised one, but you are most certainly worse than one. You just cannot be reasoned with!"
"World-"
Before Uranus could finish launching her attack, Crow had grabbed her wrist with her whip, before drawing her towards her.
"Whoa…!"
Uranus landed right in front of Crow, managing to break free from her whip.
"Listen, you in there," Uranus began. "I know you're just brainwashed- hypnotized, or whatever. But don't you think I'll go easy on you just because you were robbed of your free will. Mind-controlled or not, you are still a threat, and you will be dealt with too!"
Crow didn't answer, simply stretching her whip.
"Please, stop fighting!" Mercury pleaded. "They are not our enemies! They are not the ones behind the recent attacks!"
But Mercury was ignored. Neptune tried to hit Seiren with her mirror, which the latter promptly dodged.
"You really need to stop comparing me to a child. I am an adult!" Seiren let out.
"Then stop acting like a child!" Neptune retorted. "You know, I'm firmly against any form of corporal punishment, but I'm starting to think you might have benefited from a good spanking as a child!"
"As if my mother would have done such a thing!"
"Well, regardless, she sure didn't raise a respectable adult…"
"Don't you dare talk ill of my mother…! Not that what you say even matters, as she's been gone from my life since I was a child…"
Neptune suddenly stopped for a moment.
"Ah… I'm sorry, I didn't know your mother was dead…"
"Oh, no, don't worry about that… I'm not even sure if she's dead or just left me… Regardless, she is now, given that Mermaid is, well, you know…"
"You just made it even more depressing now. But at least that explains a lot."
"Ugh, enough! Mermaid Flood!"
Water from the river began to overflow on the ground, trying to engulf Neptune. The latter jumped up and pointed at the rising water.
"Deep Submerge!"
The powerful ball of energy with the crushing strength of the sea sent the flood back into the river. Uranus conjured her Space Sword, swinging it around to block Crow's whip.
"Space Sword Blaster!"
Uranus swung her blade, launching a sharp concentrated wave of wind energy toward Crow.
Neptune raised the Deep Aqua Mirror and pointed it at Seiren.
"Submarine Reflection!"
A powerful stream of seawater shot toward Seiren. The latter smirked. Crow simply brushed away Uranus' attack with the back of her hand as if it was nothing, while Seiren blocked Neptune's with ease.
"Huh!?" Uranus exclaimed. "How…?!"
"We are masters of our own elements," Seiren exclaimed. "I see you also control water and wind… how unlucky for you. Those are useless against us-"
"Deep Submerge!"
Seiren simply caught Neptune's attack.
"You got some nerve, using another water attack against me after what I've just said! Not only are those useless against me, but they fuel my own power!"
Seiren raised her arm.
"Mermaid Tsunami!"
A powerful wave, strengthened by the energy of Deep Submerge, hit both Uranus and Neptune.
"Waaarrrgghhhh….!"
The wave kept going back and forth, dragging the two senshi along with it. Trying to swim along the strong stream was exhausting them, threatening to drown them at any rate.
"Neptune, this is bad…" Uranus weakly said. "It's pulling us in…"
"Leave it to me. I know how to deal with spoiled kids."
Neptune continued swimming the best she could, keeping her head out of the water.
"Well now Seiren, this is just being petty and childish…"
"Again with calling me a child…!?"
"I get it. Your mother left you, your home is gone, and now you're afraid of losing Crow. But this is no excuse for hurting people. Haven't you caused enough damage already? Destroying your own planet, everything you've done when you were working for Galaxia, deceiving and manipulating Crow, and now harming your fellow Sailor Senshi…"
"Be quiet! You know nothing about me…!"
"You regret it, don't you? All those horrible things you did, you regret it. And you know Crow would too. That's why you're doing all of this. You think you're doing the right thing, but you aren't. You can't erase what you've done, you can't run away from it. And you can't just do the same for Crow. You can't just make her forget about it. It isn't right. Especially toward her. If you truly love her, you wouldn't be manipulating her. You'd tell her the truth."
The wave started to grow weaker, just like Seiren's will.
"No… you're wrong…! I had to do this…! Crow wouldn't understand, but I'm doing this for her…! I can still fix this! I never meant for anyone to get hurt!"
"You're saying that, but intentions matter less than actions. And you have to deal with the consequences of your choices."
"...urgh…"
The wave finally disappeared as Seiren had lost her focus. Neptune quickly rushed toward Seiren, raising her hand, before slapping her right in the face.
"... eehh!?"
When she realized she just got slapped, Seiren looked offended.
"Well, that's just rude!"
Seiren tried to slap Neptune back, but the latter dodge her and back-slapped her. Seiren was so taken aback she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"You can't keep acting this way and expect no consequences," Neptune said. "It's time for you to grow up and act your age!"
Seiren looked down, rubbing her cheek, while her other hand was shivering.
"... now you've done it…" Seiren began in a low voice. "You know, I wasn't actually mad before, but now… I sure am!"
Seiren jumped up, revealing her sharp claws, ready to slice up Neptune.
"Neptune, watch out!" Uranus yelled.
Uranus rushed as fast as the wind, swinging her sword at Seiren. The latter barely had the time to recoil, the blade cutting through the skin of her forearm.
"Argh…!"
Seiren fell to her knees, gripping the bloody cut on her arm. Uranus raised her sword, pointing it at Seiren.
"I'm not as soft as Neptune. I don't care if you have the emotional maturity of a kid, if you are a threat to our princess and to the safety of our planet, I'll take you down without a second thought!"
Uranus lifted her weapon, reading to cut down her enemy. Seiren tried to move away, but she wouldn't be fast enough to avoid the blade. Uranus slashed down and blood splashed on the ground.
Seiren gasped. Both Uranus and Neptune looked shocked.
"...Crow-san…!?"
Crow was standing between Uranus and Seiren, facing the latter. Blood was dripping from her upper back, where Uranus' sword had slashed her.
"You…?" Uranus muttered.
Crow staggered a little, heavily injured by the blow. And yet, she kept standing between Seiren and Uranus. Ignoring the pain, she quickly turned around, extending her whip to force Uranus away.
"Tsk…! Still using your girlfriend as your meat shield…" Uranus let out.
"N-no, I didn't…" Seiren mumbled.
Crow looked like she could barely stay on her feet, yet refused to step aside. Uranus lifted her sword, showing no mercy for her wounded enemy.
"S-Stop! Stop fighting right now!" Seiren exclaimed. "Crow-san's hurt!"
"You're the one making her fight," Uranus replied.
"I'm not… Crow-san, please, stop! You're going to hurt yourself even more!"
But much to her surprise, Crow didn't listen to her and refused to move.
"No way… Crow-san, I said stop! Step aside! It's an order!"
And yet, Crow still stood in front of Seiren, determined to defend her.
"Why isn't she listening to me…!?"
"Because you said it yourself, you aren't mind-controlling her, you hypnotized her," Neptune replied. "You lifted her inhibition and made her do what she actually wants to do deep down. And right now, what she truly wants to do is protect you."
"No… Crow-san, stop protecting me right now! You've done enough!"
But Crow wouldn't budge.
"Have you forgotten? You cannot force her to do something she'd be fundamentally against. And I guess she would never refuse to protect you…" Neptune said.
Seiren clenched her fist and then stared at Uranus.
"Hey, you! Stop trying to attack me so Crow-san won't have to defend me and get further injured!" Seiren let out.
"Yeah… sorry, not gonna happen," Uranus replied. "I can't let you get away."
"Urgh…!"
"This is what you desired, right? Only make her do what she truly wanted…" Neptune said.
"N-No, not like that… I never intended for her to get hurt…!"
"I told you, your intentions don't matter, but the consequences of your actions. And your choices led to the one you love getting hurt."
"I… I didn't mean to…! P-please, Crow-san… stop. Stop protecting me…!"
"What's the matter? If it's what she truly wants to do deep down. Or are you implying hypnotizing her was wrong?"
Seiren was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to answer to that. As long as Crow wanted to protect her, she would get hurt. It was the only thing she was certain of right now. And there was only one thing she could do to save Crow from herself.
"I'm sorry, Crow-san… it's okay now. You won't need to protect me anymore. I won't be a burden for you any longer."
Seiren took a deep breath and sighed.
"Mermaid Tsunami!"
Once again, a powerful wave washed away Uranus and Neptune. When the water had disappeared, so had Seiren.
"Shit, she got away…!" Uranus let out.
Crow began to frantically look around her.
"...Seiren…?" she whispered.
Her body started to shiver. She was clearly struggling to remain standing. Uranus lifted her sword, ready to attack.
"Uranus, wait!" Neptune said. "I think the hypnotism is wearing off."
"She's still a threat…!"
"Seiren isn't here anymore, so she has no reason to attack us. She only wanted to protect her…"
"Even so…!"
"I can't let you bring harm to someone who's already hurt!" Mercury suddenly exclaimed.
Mercury rushed between Crow and Uranus, raising both arms at each side of her body.
"Mercury, get out of the way!" Uranus ordered.
"No! We shouldn't be fighting! They are not our enemies! We will gain nothing from antagonizing them."
"Mercury… is right…"
Sailor Moon weakly got back on her feet. The frost on her body was starting to disappear, probably due to Seiren leaving and her magic dissipating.
"Sailor Moon…!?" Uranus let out.
"We were… mistaken from the start. About Seiren. What she did might have been wrong, but she still wasn't the one who attacked us. And Crow isn't at fault, she was the one who had been wronged… it's up to her to deal with Seiren," Sailor Moon said.
"Pff… you're being naive again…" Uranus scolded.
But despite her harsh words, she lowered her weapon and softened her expression.
"But that's part of your charm," she added.
The rest of the inners joined them, now freed from the ice. Crow's mask fell to the ground, but her eyes were still empty.
"...Seiren… where… where are… you…?"
Crow suddenly untransformed before staggering a bit, then collapsed to the ground.
"Crow…!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.
Mercury reacted quicker and was already by Crow's side, crouching to examine her wound.
"She's only unconscious," Mercury replied. "But she has lost a lot of blood. There's no time to waste, we need to take care of her…"
"I can't believe Seiren would just abandon her girlfriend like that," Jupiter commented. "That's so cruel, especially after she'd get injured like that…"
"No, that's not quite right," Neptune replied. "She left so Crow wouldn't have to defend her. I suppose it was her own way to protect her."
As Mercury was trying her best to stop the bleeding, Venus realized something.
"Ah… shit," Venus suddenly said.
"W-what…? What's going on, Venus?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Mouse… we completely forgot about Mouse… she must still be fighting with Nyanko!"
"Get off of me already, you barbaric beast…!" Mouse shouted.
Nyanko had Mouse pinned to the floor in the basement of the cabin. Mouse was desperately trying to break free.
"... Mouse…?"
Mouse looked up. Nyanko's eyes seemed to have come back to normal. She looked at Mouse from up and down, confused.
"What… what happened… did… did I hurt you…?" Nyanko asked, worried.
Mouse remained quiet for a moment. It seemed like the hypnotism had worn off. When she noticed how much Nyanko was staring at her, Mouse suddenly felt self-conscious and couldn't help but blush from embarrassment.
"You… I said get off of me already, you… pervert!" Mouse shouted as she kicked off Nyanko.
"Ehhhhh…!?"
Seiren was running as fast as she could, as far away as possible. She wanted to put as much distance as she could between herself and Crow. The farther away she was from her, the safer Crow should be. Right now, the biggest threat to Crow was none other than… her.
"Crow-san… I'm sorry…"
Seiren suddenly tripped on a vine and fell to the ground.
"Ugh…!"
Seiren didn't even feel the motivation to get up. She ran far enough, the hypnotism must have worn off anyway. Seiren curled up, grabbing her head.
"Crow-san… got hurt. And… it was… my fault…"
Tears began to bead in her eyes.
"N-no, it can't be… I didn't mean to…! All I wanted was to protect her! I didn't do anything wrong! It's all their fault!"
Her voice started to crack as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"...Ha… who am I kidding… I did this. I messed up again. And I don't know what to do…"
She looked at her bleeding arm and winced.
"It hurts… Please, Crow-san… save me… anyone… I need help! I'd do anything…!"
"... Anything?"
Seiren immediately looked up. Standing above her was a familiar figure.
"... Shigekane…san?" Seiren mumbled.
Shigekane Hirari, the organizer of the charity party, stood there. Of anyone who could have shown up, she was probably the last person Seiren would have expected.
"What… what are you doing here…?"
"I heard your plea for help, so I've come to offer you my service. I believe you already have my business card, Seiren- or should I say, Aya Reiko."
Seiren's eyes widen in shock.
"How… how do you know who I am…?"
Shigekane smirked. Snickers came from behind her as two other figures approached, remaining in the shadows. Seiren could still discern that one of them had canine-looking ears and a fluffy tail while the other was wearing a peculiar hairband with two sets of balls on top of it. But what shocked Seiren the most was that they were both wearing Galactica Bracelets.
"You… who are you…!?" Seiren exclaimed.
"Come on, Seiren. That's not a way to treat an old friend," Shigekane sneered.
"Old friend…?"
Shigekane suddenly grabbed her clothes and tossed them away, revealing her true form. Standing there wasn't Shigekane Hirari anymore, but a woman dressed in a sailor fuku, and more importantly, also wearing Galactica Bracelets.
And more shockingly, Seiren did know her.
"Recognized me yet?" she said, smirking.
"You… no, it's impossible… I thought you were dead…" Seiren began, flabbergasted. "Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon!?"
And this concludes the first part of Fallen Stars! Phew! I thought I would never reach it! When I first started this fic, I never expected it would get this long. My initial goal was just to bring back the Animamates because I wanted them to have a redemption and a happy ending because my rewatch of Stars left me crushed (it's been almost 2 years since I wrote the first chapter and went on a huge hiatus before continuing). I didn't know where the plot would go and I often worry I stretched this arc too much, but I'm glad nonetheless that I finally reached this part of the story where Papillon is finally officially introduced (even if she was technically there for a while under the disguised of Shigekane Hirari). People more familiar with the musicals might recognize who are the two characters with her (no, they are not ocs).
I should be updating Witches 0 soon hopefully and then I'll go on a hiatus for both fics so I can take a break and focus on my other projects I've been neglecting for a while. It shouldn't be a long hiatus as I'm very excited to finally start including Papillon in the story and moving on with the story. I want to thank everyone for their support and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!