Author's notes section:

2022-11-24: Hey, here is a preview of the story's next chapter. Please, bear in mind that it is, as mentioned, a preview. Some parts of it might not be included in the final release. I will try to finish this chapter as soon as possible. I would like to clean up some of the tasks in my schedule, and right now, there are many chapters queued there.

2022-12-01: Hey, I have a small update for you.

2022-12-15: Hey, I have a small update for you.

2023-01-04: Hey, the chapter is finished, but it's a rather short one. I would like to appologise for that.

2023-01-05: Hey, I changed the chapter slightly. I was not really happy with the end result. Hence, I tried to add some additional content to fill the void. Do tell what do you think about it.

Info: Ok, let me start with what I promised in the last chapter of `My home is where my heart lies`. So, I often find myself not motivated enough to progress through the story, to write something refreshing and good. And thus, I feel like I will be splitting the story into 3 parts, aka the initial story will be split into 3 separate works. It will allow me to finish one part, re-read it, and think about changes that are necessary to take place. Furthermore, I feel like I have made a lot of mistakes throughout these nearly 3 years of writing this story. And... a lot of these come from a simple concept; I have started too many stories, and I have not been able to conclude virtually any of these. Moreover, my writing style and English proficiency drastically changed/evolved throughout this time. As you might know, I'm a perfectionist; I would love each and every one of my chapters to hold the same standard, to be simply the best. And... yet, with my knowledge of language broadening, it would require me to completely rewrite the story to maintain more or less the same level. And, as you might expect, it would take me ages to do so. So, as I have said, I will try to conclude the first part of this series as soon as possible. Nevertheless, I expect that I will need at least 3 - 5 chapters to do so.

Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.

Note that the dialogues written in italic are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2022-11-24]: A preview has been released.
[2022-12-01]: The chapter was updated; I have managed to add around 700 words.
[2022-12-15]: The chapter was updated; I have managed to add around 1.1k words.
[2023-01-04]: The chapter was updated; I have managed to add around 400 words, and the final version was released.
[2023-01-05]: The chapter was updated; I have managed to add around 600 words, and the final version was released.

Info: As promised, here is the preview for the next chapter. I will try to finish it asap, but as nearly always, I can promise you when the piece will be finished. Anyway, Enjoy :)

Info: Overall, the current plan is for me to write 'My home is where my heart lies' and 'Family tree' alternatively. Between the updates of these stories, I will try to upload other texts. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to finish some of the short stories. However, I truly doubt that. It seems that most if not all of the stories will be extended both in terms of the time and the number of chapters.

Info: I will try to rewrite some of the older chapters between releasing new ones. I expect to start working on that goal in the middle of January. So, please be informed that the new chapters might take a bit longer to be finished and published.

Bonuses' section:
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
An entirely new story (possibly Akali x [Irelia, Syndra, Katarina]).
A new short story (Vi x Cait).
An entirely original story (possibly even 2 stories, one taking place in medieval times, the other in the far future)
Bleach story. (Byakuya x Yoruichi / ?)
Naruto story. (Neji x Hinata / Neji x TenTen / Nagato x Konan)
Fairy Tail story. (most likely Erza x Mira)
Maybe some Star Wars?

References:
Gloria Gaynor - I will survive

*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D

End of the author's notes section.

Evelynn's POV (2 hours later):

Every time the beeping sound arose, the magenta-haired woman had a cold shiver running down her spine. Even though she was fully awake, Evelynn refused to leave the bed, crawling into a ball. It was a coward's move, and the diva knew that. However, the lawyer found herself too scared of receiving another call from Mister Winsome or his assistant, Seraphine Mell. Still, it was painfully apparent that she could not have spent her entire day like that.

Hence, after mustering enough courage, the siren rolled from the bed. It was somehow a refreshing sensation for the woman to stand on her feet. So, she smiled, stretching slightly, and then approached the mirror. But unfortunately, Eve found her own reflection far from appealing, at least in her perfectionist's eyes.

The smile was momentarily replaced with an awful scowl. Something must be done with the woman's appearance. Hence, she stormed her way to the bathroom and then forcefully opened the shower stall door. It was apparent to the lawyer that she used too much force, possibly even damaging the door, but at least for now, she did not care. She needed to calm down, and she needed to do so quickly.

Evelynn virtually tore apart her clothing whilst undressing. The silk-like nightgown was thrown away with little to no regard.

As Evelynn stepped into the shower, the water immediately started pouring down onto her. The siren wanted to find some comfort so hard that she completely forgot to slide the door close. So even though she heard the droplets splashing onto the marble-like floor, she did not act. The magenta-haired woman simply did not care.

After some time, the golden-eyed beauty began relaxing. It was a relatively easily achieved result. After all, the woman was not required to do much. Seemingly all the work was done by the warm liquid pearling on her skin. But, it was an illusion, to some extent. In fact, the most crucial part was played by the woman's mind. If not for Evelynn's ability to shut down all her current thoughts, no amount of stimulation would have affected her.

"It's so good," the magenta-haired woman said in a moan-like manner. Then, she exhaled extensively until she felt the emptiness in her lungs. "No more excuses; it's high time to start the day," she murmured once she refilled her air reserves.

Still, it took Eve around 2 or 3 minutes to finally conclude the pleasurable experience. However, as she stepped out of the stall, she finally noticed what she had wrought. For a brief moment, the woman considered picking up the shredded piece of clothing. But, ultimately, it was not worth the effort. Once she wore something nice, she might get back to that dull duty. But then, her golden eyes scanned the flooded tiles. To say that she was disgusted with her carelessness would be a laughable excuse.

Nevertheless, the lawyer did not find any will in herself to deal with these consequences. Hence, she simply left the bathroom. Unfortunately, the cool air in the room immediately affected her exposed skin. Momentarily, she got goosebumps, hissing in the process.

Nonetheless, Evelynn approached the wardrobe a moment later. And… as the siren started looking for some clothes to wear, her phone came to life. The loud beeping filled the air, requiring attention from the diva. She allowed it to beep for a few moments more as she put on something rather casual.

"Evelynn Smith, how can I help you?" the lawyer automatically said once she answered the call.

"Hello, my name is Seraphine Mell," a disembodied woman's voice said. "Please, consider this very call as a continuation of yesterday's discussion," she added confidently.

"Eh," the lawyer exhaled a thud too loudly. "Miss Mell, I don't think it's a good time for us to have this conversation," she simply stated. "It's Saturday, and I've only woken up. Hence, could we postpone this talk for the next week?"

"Unfortunately, it's not possible, Miss Smith," Seraphine responded both politely and officially. "My supervisor made it rather apparent that he'd want to meet with you as soon as possible. He mentioned that the case was neglected for far too long. Hence, my superior would be grateful for your cooperation."

"Miss Mell," the magenta-haired woman started with her voice significantly lowered. "What you're currently asking for doesn't benefit my protégé in any way, shape, or form. Hence, postponing our meeting shouldn't be a problem if your superior truly cares about Akali. After all, I was assured that Akali's well-being is key here. But, what I've heard so far contradicts that statement," she added in a rather cold tone.

"I do understand your point; however, my instructions are clear," the assistant's voice was deprived of emotions. "So, if we could get back on track. I'd expect that your schedule today is rather empty, isn't it, Miss Smith?" she continued formally.

"No, I already have plans for today and, in fact, for the rest of the weekend," the dive opted to straight up lie. "Hence, I politely asked for the meeting to be rescheduled or, much more precisely, postponed till next week."

"I can tell that you're lying, Miss Smith," Seraphine responded too sweetly. "But… let it slide," she added, then exhaled loudly. "I'll contact you again on Monday. So, for now, at least, have a wonderful weekend, Miss Smith," the woman said, hanging up instantly after.

The siren was left shocked and confused for the next couple of minutes. It was to be expected that Mister Winsome's assistant would have been intrusive. But… the conversation panned out even worse than she had anticipated. Quite honestly, the experience left her speechless and struggling to make any sense of the call. For a brief moment, the magenta-haired woman stared absent-mindedly at her phone. But, the piece of technology must have slipped away at some point. And what was more troublesome, she could not recall when.

The whole sequence of events seemingly froze in time. Or… what might be closer to the truth? The time seemed to freeze for the diva. Yet… the world around her continued to push forward. Nonetheless, it took Evelynn a moment or two to finally realise her state. Then, she abruptly jumped to her feet as if she was sitting on a heated pan.

"When did I sit down?" a question sounded hallowly in the mostly silent room. "Why did this conversation bother me so much? Why have I lost a connection with reality?" another set of questions was uttered but sadly left unanswered.

Akali's POV (more-or-less the same timeframe):

The raven-haired teen did not sleep well tonight. In fact, she barely slept at all. Hence, her head was spinning like crazy; the dizziness was challenging to cope with. Still, Akali refused to lie down in her bed. After all, it would not have brought her any good. Hence, she tried to distract herself from her current state. Even though it proved to be a hassle to stand up, she did so, nonetheless. Then, as quickly as she could, her room was left behind as the teen headed toward the stairs.

It was a unique experience, to be perfectly frank. Maybe that was not the best way to describe that particular feeling. But, at least for now, Akali could not come up with a better one. A simple activity, such as walking down the hallway, currently proved to be a difficult-to-achieve feat. To ease up the walking process, the walls were used as a support. With the problem of swaying from side to side somewhat solved, it was easier to progress.

But, in no way, shape, or form was the problem solved. The teen still needed to cover a considerable distance, especially if her current state was taken into account. Nevertheless, Akali was not the type of person to give up. So, with her lower lip bitten, she stubbornly proceeded forward.

After a while, the raven-haired girl finally reached the kitchen. But, instead of walking in, she stopped for a brief moment to catch her breath. In all honesty, it was seemingly a miracle that she made it down the stairs without causing much havoc. Once or twice, the girl was a single step away from slipping and hurting herself. It would have been a painful roll down the stairway; about that, Akali was pretty certain.

Getting a firm hold over the dizziness proved slightly more challenging than the black-haired girl would have wanted. But, after a few minutes, the situation was more or less under control. Hence, she walked into the kitchen, already planning what to cook. Well, it was bound to happen in such cases. Akali highly valued her cooking skills and the effect the cooking itself had on her. Like anything else, it could help ease up her mind, allowing the conflicted or bothering thoughts to be effortlessly ejected from her subconsciousness.

So, the lingering question was: what to cook?

For the next few moments, the girl wandered around, humming and whispering to herself alternatively. On the one hand, Akali was hungry, so making something relatively easy and fast would have been beneficial. However, on the other hand, the whole point of her coming to the kitchen was to calm down and relax. So, the clue to solving the presented problem would be to somehow mix up both of these options. But what would be sufficient? That was a good question on its own.

It took Akali another moment or so to choose, but in the end, she opted for a somewhat appealing mix. So, firstly she wanted to sate her hunger. To do so, she decided to make a simple yet filling dish. Hence, she took a relatively small pan and put it on heat. Then, she needed to retrieve some eggs from the fridge. Nextly, once the pan was smoking hot, the girl cracked 3 medium-sized eggs onto it. The whites immediately began to sear, making a satisfying sound. A wholesome smile crept its way onto the teen's face.

A few moments later, Akali had her scrambled eggs ready. Even though it was a trivial meal, it smelled appealing enough to make the girl droll slightly. Hence, without overthinking, she stuffed her mouth full of food. Well, it would be fitting to describe her as barbaric currently. But, in all honesty, the raven-haired girl did not mind that all that much, especially since she was alone in the room.

Still, the eggs could be considered fuel for Akali, for she had another course to make. So, not to waste any more time, the teen picked up the biggest pot Evelynn owned alongside a decently-sized bowl. Then, after another mouthful of a spoon was taken, she headed toward the fridge. Here, a container filled fully with chicken tights was collected with a few red onions. It should have been a good base for the butter chicken.

Evelynn's POV (later that day):

It was a truly pathetic display to stay in bed for what seemed like an eternity. For Evelynn, it was even more embarrassing cause she held herself above many standards and expected to succeed where others would have failed. But, it became painfully apparent that the desire to be the best had been slowly dying inside her. What had once pushed her to shatter her own limitations was virtually no more. The older the diva got, the easier it was to depend on others. However, what was truly unfortunate was the fact that the sole person she found fitting for that role was out of her reach. Or, at the very least, the magenta-haired woman still could not admit that aloud. It would have been oh-so-easy to depend on Akali. But, internally, there was still conflict inside the lawyer. Firstly, Akali already had so many problems to worry about and deal with that it would have been cruel to put another strain on her shoulders, no matter how strong the teen appeared.

"Eh," a heavy sigh sounded. "Why is it so difficult?" Evelynn whispered into her empty chambers. "Why I can't be happy? What's wrong with me? I have resources that many people would've killed for. Not to mention a beauty that allows me to seduce anyone, or does it? I could make anyone fall for me, but not the person who stole my heart, apparently," she concluded.

Then, unexpectedly, the mobile's screen flared up, announcing a new message. The siren reached out for the piece of technology to somehow distract herself from the unresolved matter. It was a runaway, to some extent, but she did not care. There was no comfort in these thoughts. Hence, she needed to find a way to discard these for her own good.

"Hello, Eve," she read Akali's message as soon as the phone was unlocked. "Are you feeling sick? I know… you told me not to worry about you. Still, I have not seen you leaving your room. Do you need something? Maybe I can bring you something to eat or drink?" she continued reading whilst a full smile formed on her lips.

Akali's message was enough for the diva to jump off the bed virtually. A flare of excitement was ignited within her very core.

"Hello, my dear," she replied in an instant. "It's adorable of you, I must say. Hmm… have I told you that you look precious when you worry about something? If not, well… I just did. But, back on topic, I feel slightly unwell. So, I'd wholeheartedly accept your offer. What have you come up with today, darling?

"Butter chicken," a nearly instantaneous response came in. "I did not put all that much spices into it because I recalled you saying something about the heat level the last time I cooked curry. So, I hope this time it is better balanced. Anyway, how much would you like me to bring you?"

"Hm," the diva typed, ending the sentence with a thinking emoji. "A full bowl would've been more than enough, I think."

"Anything to drink?"

"No, thank you, honey. I have my small personal storage here. So, I'm covered in that area. Thank you for the offer, nonetheless."

The older woman looked with some longing toward the nearby eatery. Behind its wooden frame, a few bottles of fine wine were still sealed. Oh, yeah, it would be more than enough as a beverage for dinner.

"Ok, got it. I will deliver the bowl in a few. It needs to be slightly reheated, though."

"It's not a problem, dear. Take your time."

"Alright; see you soon, then."

"See you soon, then," the magenta-haired goddess repeated after her protégé.

The diva put down the phone after averting her eyes off the screen a moment later. It could have been found funny that such a minor exchange could make Evelynn truly happy. A heartwarming smile could not have been helped but appeared on the siren's face.

Without anything major to do, Eve allowed herself to come back to the bed and fall over its silken sheets. All she had to do now was wait for Akali to come. So, maybe a little nap would be justiceable? But unfortunately, her eyes closed way before she could answer that question.

Akali's POV (half an hour later):

Well… Akali did not know what had taken her so long to prepare a meal for Evelynn. After all, everything was already set and done, right? All she had to do was take a new clean bowl, fill it with rice and the curry, and then head toward Eve's chambers. But, unexpectedly, it seemed a little bit trickier this time. Hence, the girl started enhancing the dish instead of simply doing what she knew she should have. Then, after more than 15 minutes, she started looking through youtube videos to find inspiration of a sort to do the platting. Even for the raven-haired teen, it was weird behaviour, as she usually did not put much emphasis on this kind of stuff. But something felt different about the situation at hand. So, the raven-haired girl wanted to somehow exceed her own standards. Maybe it was her internal way of coping with something that she did not fully understand, but who was to say with certainty?

Nonetheless, after the next 15 minutes, a beautifully platted portion of butter chicken was ready. Regardless of the situation leading to that excessive process, Akali found the final effect worth the extra time. So, she quickly picked up the plate, left the kitchen, and headed toward Evelynn's room. Considering that her legal guardian did not call her once, there was a decent probability that the siren had fallen asleep. To some extent, such a turn of events would benefit the teen, as she would not have to blame herself for taking this much time to prepare the meal.

So, without further wasting time, Akali ran toward the stairs.

After a relatively short run, the girl stopped right before her guardian's room. Even though she was not, by any means, exhausted, she seemingly froze. At least a couple of questions raced through her mind, trying to capture her attention. But ultimately, her doubtful side seized control. It was a pain in the ass, but Akali knocked softly against the wooden surface instead of going in. Unfortunately, it left her in the same position as she had come here, standing uncertainly in front of the room. Hence, after a few minutes without any response, she knocked again, this time putting more energy into the action.

Well, at first, it seemed that the endeavour was as fruitless as the previous one. However, it changed after a few moments as the sounds of footsteps reached the teen's ears.

"I am sorry that you need to wait that long," Akali pre uttered apologies as the door opened. Then, she lowered her head, embarrassed somehow.

"Hm," a hum-like sound reached the girl's ears. "It's perfectly ok, my dearest," Evelynn said, utilising her silken and affectionate voice to its full capabilities. "It's kind of contrary, I think. I must've fallen asleep, I take. What time is it?" she added, getting closer.

"Eh… it is 4:25pm," Akali mumbled, still looking directly at her feet.

"Oh," a soft gasp sounded. "So, I've fallen asleep, indeed. Though, it doesn't really matter," the lawyer added quickly. "Why don't you look me in the eyes, honey? Has something happened?"

"No… nothing… why do you think so?" the teen continued to mumble.

"Do I really need to point out all?" the siren asked, stepping even closer to the girl. Her costly perfume filled Akali's nostrils entirely. "You act strange," the diva resumed after a moment. "You keep both your head and sight down. Why are you doing that? Have I hurt or offended you?" the older woman kept questioning.

"No… no," the raven-haired girl responded back. "I… I do not know, but I feel embarrassed and ashamed."

"Hm," Eve hummed, intrigued by the presented answer. "Why would you feel that way?" she asked, gently picking up the girl's jaw. "What happened?" the living goddess repeated while encouraging her protégé to look up.

"I do not know," Akali repeated. "Sometimes… I feel as if I could carry the mountains over my back. But, this feeling does not usually last long. And… when it fades away, it leaves an empty hole in me. With time, this hole is being filled with doubts and uncertainties that gradually worsen my mood," she added. But, even though her head was up, the eyes strayed away from making any contact with the guardian.

"It's unfortunately normal for very ambitious people like yourself," Evelynn replied, trying to pick her words carefully. "Units like you try to seek perfection in everything they do that tends to backfire. But… you'll go through that; no, we'll go through that," she assured her protégé. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Well, I have eaten before cooking the butter chicken, actually," Akali responded, reddening slightly.

"So… why don't you pick yourself another bowl and eat with me? Or maybe even better; come, let's watch some movie whilst eating."