AN: *10/3/2024*
Okaaaay, ummmm, look, gotta level with everybody here. Real important PSA announcement here! As I been going along with my renewed vigor and drafts and bullet points and stuff for this series here, and especially since my comeback and decision to expand/up the arc count and all...
I realized that Peaceful Hearts is already like my longest fic ever, and it's longer than Harry Potter's longest book, OOTP, which is like 250,000 words, annnnd that we are legit nearing Game of Thrones lengths here - the longest of those books, google told me are like over 300,000 to 400,000! Soooo, I mean, we are still within the realm of official published fiction lengths, but at the same time...
There is no realistic way I am gonna be able to wrap Peaceful Hearts with any sane word count lol. And I personally hate uber long one take fanfics when they should have just split it into multiple books, soooo...taking my own advice and I am stopping this train here, and we are just gonna sorta continue the tail end of this arc as the "start" of the next book.
It was mostly wrap-up stuff anyways, but now it's going to be SETup I guess lol! Plus if I do say so myself, the two arcs kind of blend together nicely anyways, so it really could have gone either way! So yeah. Glad I gave myself such a nice natural cutoff/segue point in my drafts lol. xD
Goodbye Peaceful Hearts, hello mainline Warrior Princess 4 technically maybe 5: The Heartening or some shit lol. I ain't spoiling the name, but the next arc is so obvious. :D So yeah, that should go up within the next few days since I'm technically not stopping writing, I'm just REORGANIZING the writing and continuing as I am. For now, I'll just leave you with a SMALL wrap-up epilogue teaser of the next arc in Chapter 69 (too bad I didn't make it a solid 70 lol, but whatever)...
End of lengthy AN!
Kairi leapt back, avoiding the barrage of yellow energy beams. She dodged left, threw herself right - rolled and flipped back, soaring high into the air. She created a barrier around her, blocking several more lasers that came in from all directions at once.
She twirled and raised her Keyblade, exploding her barrier outward with pink energy, wiping away the orbs of gold surrounding her.
Zendai rose up in front of her in a blur of golden light, a strong, long leg swinging around for Kairi's ribs.
Kairi flipped up and twisted around in the air, avoiding the blow, then swept her own leg out back at the girl in one motion.
Zendai caught her foot, stopping the blow in its tracks. She spun with power and speed, swinging Kairi around bodily before hurling her back down to the surface of her Heart Station.
Kairi righted herself just before she hit, absorbing the impact and dipping low, a leg sliding out beneath her - and just barely catching. She breathed harshly, curling her palm on the hot stained glass, and pushed herself back to her feet again.
Zendai dropped down from above like a stone, hitting hard and shaking the platform, her knees barely bending with the impact. She gazed at Kairi, tilting her head at her. "You're a fighter, I'll give you that. I haven't seen another Princess give even half as much as this before - especially against me."
"So I'm not completely worthless, am I?" Kairi responded, huffing and panting as she took her combat stance again.
Zendai's lips quirked. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far. You're only slightly less than completely worthless."
Kairi rushed at the other girl in a blur and a trail of magic particles, weapon poised.
Zendai waited until the very last second to twist under her, lash out with a hand, and speed her on along clear over the edge.
Kairi flipped around in the air, focusing on cancelling her momentum to hover-
Zendai came flipping down from above, a foot planting itself squarely in the middle of her stomach.
Kairi flew straight down at high speeds, down the side of the massive pillar.
She twisted and stabbed her Keyblade into the side of the pillar, dragging a new, burning orange gash into it.
She gasped, holding there a moment.
The gash glowed brightly, and Zendai's arm emerged from it, seizing Kairi's wrist. Then her head and upper body followed, her long white hair spilling down to hang over the void.
Kairi wrenched herself back and thrust her hand into the girl's face, burning with orange fires.
Zendai released her and withdrew, vanishing into the tear again.
Then, suddenly, the void, or the pillar, or gravity itself just changed on her, and Kairi was falling forward onto her hands and knees on the...side of the pillar. A massive, glass pillar hanging horizontally in the dark void now. She slowly got to her feet, her head swimming, trying to come to grips with the sudden change in reality and perspective.
Zendai rose up out of the tear on the side- on the floor now, standing on the side- the cylindrical bridge of glass with Kairi now.
Kairi flew forward again, engaging the girl anew. She twirled and transformed her Keyblade as she did, separating it into large, twin folding fans, with the painted on colors of the islands - the trees, the beach, the ocean.
Terra's words came back to her, from the first time she'd managed to get past her whole mental block and successfully conjure them...
"Fans are flowing weapons, they're deliberate, they're slower paced. They're more...defensively oriented. They can be used to create gusts of wind, tornadoes - or to aid in dodging and avoiding, or even redirecting incoming strikes or spells. And they could also be used as small shields, blocking attacks head-on... Even if you do use them as close quarters weapons, you won't at all be using them the way I've seen you use your Keyblade so far. They're reserved...graceful weapons. Going with the flow, turning and yielding when you meet resistance..."
Turning and yielding when you meet resistance...dodging and redirecting...flowing, deliberate - graceful...
Zendai raised a hand, blasting out with a beam of powerful Light magic, raw and simple.
Kairi moved her body a single foot to the side, bypassing the beam and sliding on past it, holding her fans close to her chest. She flipped herself back as she closed in on the other girl, using her foot to create a powerful updraft of Wind Magic. Zendai jerked her arm down to her side as she was swept up into the air, surprise on her face clear to see. Kairi held her fans before her, then made twin sweeping motions with them, sending small, twin cyclones of green wind magic up for Zendai; her tornadoes accelerated and curved outward, then came back in again, pincering Zendai on both sides.
Zendai straight up ignored them, darting forward and back down toward the ground - toward Kairi! Kairi's tornadoes met each other in the air, merging and exploding harmlessly in Zendai's wake. Zendai herself landed in front of Kairi, immediately lashing out with fists and legs, glowing with golden energy.
Kairi breathed, and then she moved. She stepped back, moved her leg out to the right, turned slightly - and let Zendai's powerful blows fly past her. She moved again, raising her collapsed fan up past Zendai's arm, putting the sticks right in her face. Then she popped the fan wide open; Zendai startled, and in that moment, Kairi finally struck for real. She adjusted her other fan stick in her hand, holding it by the middle, curled her fist and shrouded it in flames, and used all the magical strength she had to drive that fist squarely into Zendai's firmly muscled stomach.
Zendai gasped, doubling over, her eyes wide, her mouth agape.
Kairi whipped her fans back down and twirled around the girl, hooking her foot around Zendai's ankle and pulling. Zendai wobbled, stumbling forward, trying to regain herself before she could fall completely. Kairi jumped straight up, raised both her fists high, and brought them slamming back down into Zendai's backside.
Zendai crashed face-first into the stained-glass, causing a section as large as her torso to shatter beneath her.
Kairi came back down, stalked forward, and then stomped her foot down on the back of the girl's head, holding it to the burning golden light shining out of the hole in the Heart Station's side (now floor, bottom, whatever). "Give up," she said, hard. "Whatever the test is here, I won. It's over."
"Won...won?!" Zendai's growling voice came from beneath Kairi's foot. "It's over...when I say it's over...you pathetic little upstart!"
"No, it's over when I say..." Kairi trailed off, as she heard distinct cracking noises around her. She looked around her, up and down the Heart Station's stained glass length, and saw new cracks beginning to form in it of their own accord. Long, jagged, splitting cracks - multiplying, spreading out in all directions across it. Curving around it, disappearing from sight...
The glowing cracks traveled beneath Zendai, and Kairi, reaching out into the dark abyss to her left...
"I was preparing my whole life...to be my clan's greatest warrior..." Zendai's voice came again, hoarse and raw. "And then those Keyblade Wielders came to me and told me I was exactly what they needed - what the worlds needed: a warrior of light. I gave all of these worlds, all of these weak little people living in them...everything I had. I gave themmy blood, sweat, even my tears. I was the only one willing to step up and do it; the othersix so-called Princesses never deserved the title! The praise, the adoration, all for sitting on their asses while I dideverything! I gave the people of the World my body...my Heart...and what did they give me in return?!"
"What did they give you...?" Kairi said quietly, gazing down at the girl's rippling, quivering shoulders. That chalk white skin, marred by all those golden cracks and lines...
"Death."
The Heart Station suddenly flashed with orange light, exploding from within.
A wave of burning orange flames and energy spread out in all directions, blowing Kairi away into the infinite dark void. Millions upon millions of burning glass shards swirled chaotically around Kairi, washing past her! She threw up a barrier dome and focused her mind on flying, on recovering, trying to weather this incredible, terrifying storm. It only seemed to be moments later that the worst of it faded, ebbing away - dying down. Kairi lowered her arms, letting her barrier fall, and looked out in the direction of where the Heart Station had last been.
Because it definitely wasn't there anymore.
Instead, in its place, Kairi found herself staring at a massive, swirling mass of...burning orange light energy. Like a sun. It cast off great plumes of energy and wispy tendrils into the darkness. It flashed with lightning across its surface. The violent sphere was so big it practically filled the horizon - and the horizon was infinite.
This mind-bogging orb of light...had come from...inside Zendai's Heart Station? From inside her Heart?
Was that why all the cracks, the light, the instability, the-
The giant sphere of light suddenly shifted, beginning to change before Kairi's eyes. It was...dissipating? Parts of it began to concave, leaving craters in the surface. More and more tendrils were flowing off of it, and huge showers of particles were flaking off and rising up into the sky...
As Kairi continued to watch, however, she realized it wasn't vanishing: it was just plain changing. It was taking shape. Forming itself into something new.
Multiple, massive, long, broken limbs reached out into the void, like spider legs. A misshapen, rounded main body formed. Huge, familiar eyes, swirling pits of bright white energy, appeared at seemingly random spots across this great body. Dozens of long, swaying tentacles of burning orange erupted from the back, rising up to the heavens like seaweed on the ocean floor. Each one was at least three, four, even five times the length of the actual body they sprang from. And lastly...a mouth emerged on the front of the body. A massive gash that tore its way open horizontally, from left to right, splitting the body wide open.
Even with no frame of reference on account of the void, Kairi thought this massive, burning monster must be as big as a mountain. A monstrous mountain, all by itself...it had to be- just- thousands of meters tall!
Kairi didn't even try to pretend she wasn't beyond terrified in that moment. No one sane or sensible would have.
All she could think about was that if this monster managed to get out of this place - this dream - this realm of Hearts and minds, and out into reality...
What was it going to do to the islands...? To everyone on it?
Could anyone even have a chance in hell of fighting it - let alone stopping it? Destroying it?
Kairi's arms fell to her sides. Her fans reverted to her Keyblade...
Which dropped out of her hand, falling into the void, and vanishing far, far below her.
This...was supposed to be some kind of test...wasn't it? There was no way...that this was real...? A real danger, a real threat...right?
It couldn't be...
Why would light...why would Princesses of Heart...ever do something like this?
Create...something like...this...
Xion sat on the edge of her bed, her hands curled into fists on her knees.
She stared at Kairi like she had for the last...how long now? She looked at the clock: twenty minutes?
She hadn't stopped. She hadn't blinked. She didn't blink, of course - unless Kairi, or dad, or someone else told her to, because it made her seem "creepy"...she did try to remember that, but a lot of the time it just...
Xion shook her head, frowning at Kairi's sleeping body on her own bed across from her.
How much longer was this going to take...?
Kairi was smart, and strong. More than Xion ever was. She was almost always right, and she almost always won fights.
But sometimes she didn't...
Sometimes she needed help.
She'd told Xion that, once. Dad had, too. That everyone needed help sometimes, and you shouldn't be afraid to take it. Or to ask for it...
Xion thought she'd done a lot of asking over the past months of her existence. Maybe too much. So much that it was making people annoyed with her - mad at her...
She thought-
She startled as Kairi suddenly started glowing with light, her body floating up off the bed! Kairi's arms and legs hung below her, and her eyes were still closed. Was she still asleep? The light grew brighter and brighter. Wind flew around the room, getting stronger too; the clock rattled on the wall. Xion's seashell collection was thrown all over the floor. Kairi's nightstand skidded across the floor before falling over with a loud thud. The heavy, box TV shook itself off the dresser and hit the floor with a louder thud.
A bolt of electricity flew out from Kairi's body and hit the window; the glass exploded onto the study desk and the chair.
Xion got to her feet and summoned her Keyblade, holding it in two hands, staring at Kairi.
Was it...really happening? Another monster made out of light was going to appear, and try to hurt people again?
Xion heard heavy, fast footsteps, and then the door to their bedroom opened.
Dad rushed in. Then he stopped, staring at Kairi. Then he stared at Xion. "What's happening up here?" he asked, looking around the room at all the broken and scattered things.
"I don't know...but...you should leave!" Xion said, trying to sound firm and sure. She'd told Kairi she was going to keep dad safe for her - she'd promised her. She'd meant it. Not just for Kairi, either: Xion liked it here, she liked being in this family. She liked this house. She liked...having a dad at all.
Dad shook his head and crossed the room. He walked past her and went to Kairi. He stared at her closely. Then he raised a hand and grabbed hers. "Kairi...listen to me: whatever is going on right now...I know you're strong enough to get through it," he said, with love and warmth and real firmness.
Another strong wind went through the room, as the light from Kairi flashed brighter; dad lost his grip on her hand, stumbling backwards.
"Please - please leave!" Xion said, hurrying forward. "If you get hurt or-"
Dad turned, looking down at her. Into her face. He looked back to Kairi. His face looked...like he was in horrible pain.
A lightning bolt flew out from Kairi again, shooting over dad's head and hitting the wall. It burned a hole in it; Xion could see out into the hallway through it.
The look on the man's face disappeared. "I love you, so much," he said tightly, gazing at Kairi. Then he suddenly reached down and grabbed Xion's hand, starting toward the door - pulling her with him.
Xion let him, just feeling glad he was getting away from the danger!
They moved down the hall and then the stairs. Dad led her through the kitchen and out the back door.
They moved outside into the dark of the late night. Dad kept pulling her, until they were a large distance away from the house. Then he stopped, letting her go. He turned back to look at the house; Xion did too.
Golden light was flashing from the second floor window, from their broken bedroom. Lightning bolts were flying out of it, fast and sudden now. They burned through the wall, too, making little holes in it. Some even shot up through the roof, making the rooftop shingles crack and explode one after the other.
Xion held her Keyblade tightly at her side, raising her free hand to her chest. She curled it into a fist. Please...sister...you're too strong to lose to this...I know you are-
A huge, bright yellow pillar of light suddenly erupted from the house, lighting up the beachside and enveloping it completely. The pillar rose up into the sky, making the drifting clouds part to show the stars clearly and brightly.
Xion squinted into the light, trying to see. To see Kairi...
But she couldn't see anything!
Suddenly, the giant pillar of light started to split apart at the top. It curved down, wrapping around itself. Making a...ball? A sphere? The bottom of the pillar shot up into the sphere, revealing-
Nothing.
The house wasn'tthere anymore.
There was a spot of blackened dirt and little fires where the house was - surrounded by grass - but...that was it.
And Kairi-
As the sphere grew bigger and bigger, floating up higher into the sky, Xion suddenly saw her!
Kairi was laying on the ground, in the middle of that black dirt!
"KAIRI!" Xion yelled, running forward.
She reached her and fell to her knees, staring at her with a smile. But...but something was wrong. Her smile left quickly, as a strange tight feeling took over her Heart.
Kairi wasn't moving, or anything. Her eyes were only somewhat open. And she wasn't looking at anyone or anything. They looked strange, really. Xion was sure they weren't supposed to look that way...
Xion startled as dad was suddenly there beside her.
He looked down at Kairi, looking her over. He stared at her face. Then he was grabbing her and pulling her up, talking to her - but Kairi didn't move or say a word back. It wasn't like she was asleep - she didn't just fall backwards again or anything. Instead she just seemed to...sit there, letting dad hold her, but not reacting to it.
"Kairi, honey, please...give me a sign, something, please..." dad was saying, staring into Kairi's face.
Kairi still didn't move.
Dad's head fell, a shaking breath coming out of him. Then he straightened up again. He looked at Kairi for a moment more, then looked to Xion. And then, up into the sky, where the golden sphere had now gotten so big it was like- like the distant mountains over the hill, past the cities.
Xion heard voices and movements around her. She saw other houses' doors being opened, saw other people who were stepping outside and shouting. It was confusion. Fear. Panic. People wanting to know what was happening, what the giant sphere in the sky was. One woman even called out to dad, asking what had happened to their house.
Dad looked over at the woman. He looked around himself, too. Then he was picking Kairi up in his arms and getting to his feet again. He turned to Xion. To her Keyblade. "Is there anything you could do?"
"M-me?" Xion squeaked.
"No - I'm sorry - I meant- is there a way you could get in touch with those Masters of yours?" Dad spoke again. "I think we need them." His voice was urgent and harsh.
"Riku could do it," Xion said, thinking hard.
"Then-"
"Xion - Mr. Takami!" Sora's voice. He came running across the grass, darting around a small crowd of people. "What's going on? Is Kairi-"
"Where is Riku?" Dad interrupted him.
"I was hanging out with him, but when all this started, he went to go get Terra," Sora said quickly. "What's-" He stopped again, on his own this time. He stared at Kairi, who had her arms just hanging down from her body. Her eyes were still strange, looking past dad's head. "W-what...what happened to Kairi?" he gasped.
"I-" Xion started.
"We're not sure," dad interjected firmly. "Something went wrong with whatever...she was going to do tonight." He eyed Sora seriously. Then he looked up at the sky again. "Do you have any better idea about what that is than I do?"
Sora gazed up at the sky too, craning his neck. He clenched a fist before himself, then shook his head. "No. But whatever it is, are you saying it- it came from Kairi...?"
Dad gave a slow nod. "What are we-"
There was a noise, and a swirling portal of darkness appeared nearby. Out of it came Riku, panting and quick. Terra was right behind him - and so was Ventus. Ven!
"I got them!" Riku announced. He tilted his head back immediately, looking at the sky. Or he would have looked, if his eyes weren't hurt. And covered up by that black cloth. "Man, what is that? I can sense-"
"It's light," Terra said, gazing up at it too. He looked...startled. Maybe even scared? "It's all just...pure...overwhelming light."
"Is it dangerous? Is there some way to get rid of it?" Dad spoke, looking squarely at Terra. "What is going to happen here?"
Terra shook his head, hesitating. "I don't know! I don't have an answer - I wish I did - but I've never-"
They all turned as a new dark portal appeared. Out of it came the man Xion knew as Luxu. The portal closed behind him instantly.
"Hey - Namine said some serious shit was happening with Kairi and-" Luxu broke off, looking up like the rest of them. He mouth fell open. His eyes widened. "What the fuck?"
"Is there no one who can tell me-" Dad started, with anger and frustration now as he stepped toward Luxu.
"Yeah, hold that thought," Luxu snapped, raising a hand and summoning his Keyblade. The one that used to be Xehanort's, apparently. He raised it to the giant orb of light, and swirling circles and symbols appeared up and down its length. A purple light glowed at the end...
Then the sky flashed, and a massive magical circle appeared above the giant sphere of light. It was purple, casting a purple light down on the whole island. It was symbols and circles and clocks and pictures of swords, or Keyblades, within other circles and other clocks. They were swirling around each other and rotating, all complicated and together.
Luxu raised his free hand, clenching it into a fist that also had strange symbols around it.
The giant magic circle curved down from the sky, folding itself into a ball shaped cage that surrounded the sphere of light.
Luxu uncurled his hand and spread his fingers; dark clouds started to form in the sky, spreading out in all directions. Flashes of purple lightning flashed now, and tendrils of darkness came down toward the ground slowly.
Terra whirled and summoned his huge Keyblade, swinging it for Luxu with a face of rage and shock - but it stopped a few inches from Luxu's neck, caught in a purple glow. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Terra yelled at the man. "That's enough darkness to destroy this entire world!"
"I'm not destroying the world!" Luxu gritted out, glancing at Terra with just his eyes. "I'm opening up a Dark Corridor big enough to send this ball of light somewhere else - like the Realm of Darkness. It can be the Heartless's problem. It might even wipe a good few billion of them out for us. Not that it'd mean much in the grand scheme of things - that place has an endless supply ready to go - but- you get the point, I hope! Now do you want to stop me from saving these people's bacon, or you want to keep fucking around here?!"
Terra gazed at Luxu fiercely. Then he gave a nod. The purple glow left his Keyblade, and he lowered it.
A green shimmering ball of light suddenly formed next to Terra, and with a flash Xion saw someone new and unfamiliar. A tall, old man in blue robes and a hat - with a long white beard.
"Master Yen Sid!" Ven exclaimed. "How'd you know-"
The old man, Yen Sid (a master? Was he a Keyblade Master?), ignored Ven and raised both his hands to the sky, shimmering with light. He narrowed his eyes, and a glowing wave of light shined across Luxu's magical cage. Xion didn't understand any of it - just that he was helping in some way, probably?
Yen Sid looked at Luxu. "We will push this creature out of this world - on count of three. Quickly, before it fully emerges, else it will break free!"
Luxu did a double take. "Excuse me - creature?" He stopped, then just nodded. "Got it."
"One...two...THREE!" Yen Sid proclaimed, waving his hands through the air with a face of great focus and strain.
Luxu thrust his Keyblade forward, the light at the end glowing brighter than ever.
The giant cage they had made started to rise into the sky, toward a swirling vortex of darkness that blackened out the stars. It slowly rose up, up...and disappeared into it completely.
A few long moments passed - and then Yen Sid lowered his hands, nodding to Luxu.
Luxu let his Keyblade fall, and his own hand.
The dark portal shrank down, smaller and smaller, until it disappeared. The dark clouds slowly disappeared too, and the lightning flashes stopped.
The world was normal again.
The stars were visible.
But...
Xion looked around again. At all the crowded townspeople looking at them. She looked at the black dirt beneath her own feet. The little flames nearby. She looked at Kairi, still in dad's arms. His arms had never stopped holding her close.
"I think...we have managed to avert catastrophe," Yen Sid spoke, low and full of relief. "Your swift actions are to be commended, Keyblade Master Luxu."
"How the hell-" Luxu started.
"The stars speak of many things, if one is willing to listen to them," Yen Sid responded.
Luxu stared at him, his mouth open again. Then he closed it. He shrugged. "Yeah, sure - I know your rep. One of the greatest Diviners this side of the multiverse."
"I would not be so arrogant," Yen Sid replied.
"Good for you," Luxu retorted, with a small laugh. It wasn't exactly kind, to Xion's ears. "So what the hell happened here?" he went on, looking around at them all.
Dad looked around. He looked into Kairi's face very closely. He looked to Terra...and then he stepped over to him, gazing into his eyes now. "Tell me that you can at least help her," he spoke, in a voice of pain and desperation.
Terra didn't look away. "I-"
"If you would allow us to examine her, we can determine what may have happened to her," Yen Sid said, in a gentle voice. "And the way to help return her to normal."
Dad looked at Yen Sid, then at Terra. He bowed his head, touching his forehead to Kairi's. Then he carefully, slowly held her out to Terra. "Take her - help her. Please..."
"I'd give my life for her, if I had to," Terra spoke, firm and strong. "You have my word that I'll do everything in my power to bring her back to you - healthy and happy, exactly as she should be."
Dad nodded.
Terra carefully took Kairi into his own arms, holding her horizontally. He gazed down at her with a deep frown.
Kairi was still just staring up...at nothing. Doing nothing...
Why?
"Take Xion, too. Look after her for a while for me, please," Dad spoke again suddenly. "I need to...figure out some way to make sense of all this, and then explain it to everyone else..." he went on, glancing around and looking overwhelmed.
"Yeah, that cat's out of the bag and run off to another continent," Luxu said casually. "If you need help explaining all the confusing details of the truth of the universe, I'd be willing to help out there."
Dad met Luxu's gaze, measuring him. "I think I'd welcome the help right about now."
"I need to return to my own world," Yen Sid said gravely. "There are matters I must look into, pertaining to this incident. Terra, if you could bring Kairi - and the others who wish to come - to my Tower?"
Terra nodded. "Of course, Master Yen Sid."
Yen Sid turned, waving a hand, and a golden doorway of light appeared. He strode through it first. Terra followed. Then Riku. Then Sora. Then Ven.
Xion hesitated, wringing her hands, looking at dad. At the town again...
Dad stepped closer to her, and he grasped her shoulder gently. "Go, Xion - be with your sister. I'll take care of things here."
Xion looked up at him, then down at her feet. She raised her hands to her chest, her lips moving. She couldn't talk, though...
She...
She stepped forward and hugged the man around the middle.
He hugged her back, stroking her hair. Then he pushed her away. "Go on."
Xion nodded, and she turned and ran into the doorway of light.
AN: Lol you guys are so lucky there's still a little epilogue to come, or I would have left you all on the dirtiest fucking cliffhanger I could ever have possibly conceived of. xD But I'm not that evil, so...yeah. :D Thankfully we avoided that. Imagine if THIS was literally the last chapter. Just this. :D
