The Adventures of Little Possible
By: Data Seeker
Chapter 22
…
The sun was rising once more over the land and sea, the brilliant ball of orange-yellow flame cast light down on all. The light casted its reflections in the water & the rays warming up the liquid, making it pleasant for many inhabitants of the deep to swim in.
Bottlenose dolphins cut through the ocean, the pod enjoying the rise in temperature. In the distance, a large fin whale swam lazily in the water. Fin whales were the second largest species of their kind, known for their shyness and longevity.
In another part of the ocean, a school of jellyfish was drifting on the ocean currents. While conditions for them were favorable, it was not enough to warrant a jellyfish bloom, which is when a LOT of jellyfish come together in one area.
Many fathoms below the undersea city of Middleton was slowly but surely becoming more active, the various sea life and mer-people waking up and preparing for a new day.
While there was activity within the underwater metropolis, there was activity going on the outskirts of it. Just past its city limits, within corral outcroppings was a makeshift tent. Inside a young mer-boy, his head on a lousy pillow and covered in a purple blanket.
The sun's rays managed to penetrate through the tent, and combined that with the rise in temperature from the rays, managed to stir the mer-boy awake. It was Gil, one who had gotten used to being a shark but was now a mer-person once more. The young lad groaned as he forced himself to rise up, rubbing his eyes before slowly opening them.
Gil groaned loudly, stretching his limbs to get the kinks out of them. He sat down on the cool sandy ground. "I miss having a bed…" He mumbled.
However, certain memories started to come into his mind as his eyes narrowed & the groggy look on his face replaced with a scowl. "But I am not going to live with some foster family!" He declared angrily.
The mer-boy slowly swam out of his makeshift tent, swimming through the corals. He passed by a school of fish, who looked at him for a moment before swimming off. Gil sighed. "What would I give to be a shark again?"
He remembered when he was a shark; creatures were afraid of him, his form demanded respect and fear, and that no one could bully him! Now he was back to how he was, and already he was missing what his shark form had granted him.
Gil then swam up more, looking into the distance at Middleton. He sighed and spoke to himself once more, "Well let's see if I can find anything worth stealing."
He had no qualms with stealing from others, as he saw this as a means to survive since he had struck out on his own. With a flick of his tail, he made the journey to the city that was under the rule of King & Queen Possible.
Said city was active with its citizens going about their ways; mer-children were preparing to go to their schools, young teenage mer-girls & mer-boys were doing the same, and adults of varying ages were doing their own routines or preparing for work.
In one of the homes in a certain part of the metropolis, the young mer-boy named Wade was eating breakfast in his kitchen/dining room combo. He was devouring a bowl of seaweed that had a mixture of sugar kelp in it.
While eating his meal, he was checking some info that was on his Data Shell. He saw the face of Sensei, a scowl soon forming on his dark-skinned face. "Seems Sensei's went from a crazy shell of the sea to a celebrity of sorts."
He switched to a new page with his thumb, and his scowl changing to one of a sad frown as he saw the face of Kim Possible. Wade let out a soft sigh. "Ever since Kim became friends with that human, she hasn't been the same."
The young mer-lad closed his magical device and gently pushed it away. He continued to eat, but it was slow and not very lively. He swallowed the green and brown food in his mouth, then looked to a picture that was on a stand nearby. It showcased to all him and Kim back in the past, her and him in front of the castle.
"Before it was just me and Kim." He said sadly. "We would go off into the wilderness, exploring wrecked ships, and she would collect human things… life was simple and fun for us back then."
The dark skinned mer-boy soon sported a soft smile as he remembered the good days with his best friend, who happened to be one of the daughters of royalty. How they stuck together through thick and thin, exploring the outskirts of the kingdom & exploring areas where only a few brave mer-people would go.
Now… in his view, those days were slipping away as Kim was now spending more time with the human prince Ron Stoppable. He was getting a sinking feeling that if something was not done, he would go back to how he was before he met Kim… alone.
He stopped himself before his mind could go back to those dark memories that he had made the choice to leave behind. He sighed and finished his breakfast, putting up the dishes since his mother was at work. He went back to his seat and brought his Data Shell close to his being. He turned it back on and sighed. "I guess I'll get some schoolwork done."
While all of this was going on, there was activity at the royal palace. The Possible family was eating breakfast as usual, though this time there was no interruptions like from yesterday. It seemed that Kim had managed to explain her schedule to Ron concerning on when & when not to call her. There was much talk and conversation around the table, specifically between Bonnie and her sisters as the brown-haired beauty was showing off some of the accessories that she & her mother bought at the store.
Ann looked at the conversation between her daughters and Bonnie, a small but true smile on her face as she saw the bright expression on her daughter's face. She knew that it was a start, but she would keep at it. Not just with Bonnie though, but with all of her family. The queen really wanted to be part of her sons' and daughter's worlds more, but not in an intrusive way.
Zita was the first to finish her breakfast. "May I be excused?" She asked.
"Sure sweetheart!" Her father replied in a friendly mood.
"Wait!" Anne called out suddenly.
Zita looked to her mother in confusion. "What is it, mom?"
"What are you planning on doing today, Zita?" Ann asked.
"Well my homework of course and afterwards I figure I hang out with some friends of mine." The princess answered, wondering why your mother was asking.
The Queen had a thoughtful look on her face, as if she was contemplating something. This caused some of the girls to look at the scene, wondering on what was up with their mother. Inside Ann's mind, she realized that she honestly did not know the kind of friends Zita had. She normally would let her do her own thing without much thought to it, but now… she was a bit worried.
"You'll be alright?" She asked.
Zita frowned, feeling that there was something a bit off about her mother now. "Yes, why?" She asked frowning.
The Sea Queen was deep in thought. 'I would like to spend time with her… but in her current state, I think it might do more harm than good.' The last thing that the matriarch of the Possible clan wanted was to alienate any part of her family from her.
"Never mind, Zita." She tells her daughter softly. "You may go."
"Thanks." Zita resumed swimming away from the dinner table, but a bit reluctantly as she looked to her mother, a quizzical look on her face. After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders lightly and took off to her room to complete her homework before going to school.
Ann's attention soon shifted to her sons who had almost finished their breakfast. She then asked, "What about you two? Anything you will be doing after school?"
Tim gulped down his food before answering. "Well we figure we work on our experiments after school."
"Mind if I attend?" Ann asked her two twin sons.
This got the family to stop in any kind of action they were doing, all eyes on the Queen. "What?!" Both boys exclaimed in surprise together.
Monique swam to her mother, frowning. "Mom, what's up with you?" She asked.
She gave her daughter a pointed look and answered, "I just thought to spend some time with my sons, that's all."
"Why Mom?" Jim asked, his tone perplex.
Tim concurred with his twin. "Yeah! I mean it's not like you've done it before, except for our first experiment."
His brother smiled from the memory. "Yeah. It was a big failure, but it was our first project."
"Yeah, I remember as well." James Possible agreed thoughtfully, recalling that day. "It really made a mess of things, but it showed us that you two were gifted."
While the brothers smiled with pride, their sisters scowled, as they had been victims of their 'experiments'.
Yes, they are gifted." Yori interjected gently while giving her brothers a cold look. "But I never liked how they used their gifts."
"Now Yori, be nice." Anne states sternly.
"Mom, remember the inching powder." Yori reminded her mother while glowering at her brothers.
"Yori that was a mistake." Anne reminded her eldest daughter.
Yori sighed. She bitterly recalled a few months how one experiment of theirs had released an itchy substance by mistake. It had been caught in a current and the window of the room the twins were working on and got into the Royal Courtyard where she had been practicing her self-defense moves, floating down and covering her and caused her to itch like crazy.
Their parents for not being responsible with their experiment by their parents reprimanded the boys.
Monique, still by her mother's side, folded her arms. "Yeah, well, I haven't forgotten the slug incident." She added irritably.
She recalled an incident where she was swimming through the palace. Then there was a loud noise and panicked screaming and then something came zigzagging in the corridor and hit her in the face.
It was a slimy sea slug. She had pulled it off her face though her face was still covered in brown mucus as a result.
She later found out that Jim and Tim's latest experiment involved a sea slug, a piece of corral and certain substances they had mixed. What they did not know was that the substances they mixed created something that was akin to lithium metal… and like said metal; it reacted explosively with the water!
It had caused the slug to fly around the palace, leading to her unpleasant experience of being hit in the face with it.
"Now Monique, it was an honest mistake." Anne reminded her dark skinned daughter, hoping to relieve the tension.
Monique pouted but relented.
Bonnie glared at the two young mer-boys who merely smiled back at her. "Yeah, they think they are so funny with their pranks!" She added coldly. "That stunt with my hair was very not cool."
She recalled the incident where she had treated her hair with a hair care product-, which caused her hair to turn light blue. It had been a very humiliating and figured out that her brothers had pranked her again.
She had confronted them and intended to physically hurt them, but they swam off with her chasing them until her parents showed up and intervened.
Jim and Tim were punished for two days of no experiments, and Bonnie got scolded lightly for trying to physically assault them.
Fortunately, her hair had returned back to normal since the chemical mixture was unstable, but not in a harmful way. Bonnie did threaten them that if either of them messed with her products again, she would personally tie their tails together in a knot, earning another reprimand from her parents.
Anne cleared her throat. "Alright, I want everyone to stop retelling mishaps you have had with Tim and Jim." Anne declared, her voice calm though annoyed. She then glowered at her sons, causing them to cringe. "If they pull any extreme pranks on any of you in the future, they will be punished."
Tim and Jim swallowed, determined not to provoke their mother's wrath.
"Yes, Tim and Jim have been immature with their gifts." Anne continued her tone softer. "But hopefully they will learn to use their gifts more responsibility. And it might help if you all give them examples to follow."
The girls grimaced, knowing the implication their mother was referring to. While none of them played pranks of an extreme nature, they did showcase some habits that were questionable. Not in a really bad way mind you, but certain habits like finding loopholes around certain rules that caught the young ones to figure out said loopholes to work in their favor.
King James chuckled, amused by the drama, "Hehehehe… kids." He commented with a chuckle.
Kim soon finished her meal. "May I be excused?" She asked.
"Me too." Bonnie asked also.
"Yes you both may." Ann told her two daughters.
Both sisters got up from the table and swam off, their tails flpping behind them.
Anne had a look of concern on her face as she watched them depart. She had started to realize Kim and Bonnie had a history where one would try to outdo the other in various actions. At first it was to see who could swim the fastest, twirl the most around without getting dizzy, minor children stuff like so. But as the years went by, Bonnie and Kim's rivalry grew & they slowly started to drift apart. While family, they did not see eye to eye on many things. And now with the introduction of a human friend into the mix, it seemed that the rift between them would widen.
Anne had realized she could not be complacent with her children. It was her responsibility to nurture her relationship with them and try to encourage them to reconcile with each other.
As Kim swam off, Bonnie followed right behind her. "So what are you up to today, Kim?" Bonnie asked her orange haired sister.
Kim paused in her movement, turning to her older sister with a frown on her face. "Why do you care?" She asked defensively.
Bonnie put on her disinterested look, born out of using it so many times it was like automatic natural reflex. "I don't, I just want to know." She answered sardonically. "Going to hang out with your human boy- oh, sorry. I mean you human friend."
Kim's look morphed from annoyed to sadness with a touch of hesitation added to it. She added in a tone that mirrored her current emotions, "I don't know." She admitted. "But I think I'll postpone visiting him."
This got the brunette beauty's attention. 'This is a switch.' She thought to herself. 'Last time she was all giddy to be with that human. Now… well, what just happened between them?'
"Why, did you have a fight?" Bonnie asked curiously.
Kim looked down and away as she answered, "No, it's just… sigh… I don't want to be neglecting my other priorities."
"Such as?" Bonnie asked.
Kim's face changed from sadness to annoyance quickly as she glared at her older sibling, emerald eyes ablaze. Normally, this would make any normal mer-person call in a tactical retreat, but Bonnie stood in her place in front of her.
"I think that's none of your business, Bonnie." Kim stated firmly.
"Okay, okay." Bonnie said defensively, holding her hands up in a resigned gesture. "Sheesh… you need to learn to take a chill pill, sister. See ya!"
With that, brunette princess swam off and away from Kim, leaving the youngest princess scowling. However, when she saw Bonne turn a corner and vanish, she felt a little bit guilty. Kim knew that she and her sister were not on the best of terms, but that did not mean she had to bite her head off like that. After some moments just floating in the water, she shook her head to banish the feeling before swimming away.
As she made her way to her intended destination, Kim took out her magical shell and activated it. She told it to call Ron, and a moment later, the magical screen flashed to life and appearing was the smiling face of the human prince that she had come to befriend!
"Hey KP! What's up?" Prince Stoppable said joyfully
The princess smiled brightly, at both seeing her friend & the nickname that he had given her. "Hey Ron!"
However, her smile soon faded as she remembered why she had called him. Kim knew that Ron was not going to like what she was about to say. Heck, she did not like it but there was little choice in the matter. She spoke up once more, but this time in a subdued tone, "Ummm, Ron. I am afraid that there has been a change of plans. I won't be able to come in this afternoon."
The look on Ron's face was of shock as he exclaimed, "What?! Why not?!"
She looked down before answering. "I have some responsibilities at home that I need to take care of."
"Responsibilities?!" Ron demanded. "Like what?"
Kim gave him a heated look before responding. "I don't think you're using the right tone there, Ron! Look, I have some things to take care with my family and friends! And I need to share my findings with Sensei."
Ron had an apologetic look on his face, the prince knowing that he may have been out of line with his tone. "Sorry about that KP." He apologized. "I… wait, who is Sensei?"
"Apology accepted." Kim assured him. "As for Sensei, he's an expert on humans in Middleton. Part of my role in negotiating with your world is to help with Sensei's work."
The human lad had a look of resignation on his face as even he could see that what she was doing was important. He may have understood it, but he did not like that it was cutting into his time with his mermaid friend. "It's okay KP, and I understand."
Kim felt low for doing this to Ron, but it was her duty to make sure that the mer-people community had a solid understanding concerning humans. I hope that things would get better.
"I'll talk to you later today." She assured him. "Probably around the evening."
However, that did not do the trick, as his mood just seemed to go down a bit. "Sure. Umm… then, I guess this is goodbye for now. Take care KP." The connection ended.
Kim sighed. She was really feeling bad that she had to do that. She then thought about how she treated Bonnie earlier and felt worst.
Kim then gathered herself together, putting the guilty feelings aside for the time being. She then dialed her shell to call Sensei, but after some time beeping, it flashed in a yellow light. She knew that it meant that he was unable to answer her.
"It seems that Sensei is busy. I'll try again later in half an hour."
The princess closed the shell and resumed swimming, going down a corridor and vanished from sight.
~At DNAmy's cave~
In the wilderness many leagues from Middleton, in the cave that used to be the lair of the Sea Witch, Shego and her fellow roommates Drakken & Monty were at the table eating another measly breakfast. The trio had sour looks on their faces, as apparently they did not have much success in locating what they wanted. Combine with the fact that they disliked each other at such close proximity was also something to take into consideration.
Shego was the first to finish her less than stellar breakfast. The pale black haired mermaid went over to her side of the cave and collected her large bag.
"Going to gather food?" Drakken asked curiously.
Shego turned to him with a serious look on her face. "Yes and whatever I bring is mine. So if you touch it, you will pay."
Drakken mumbled something under his breath while Monty scowled. "Very well, Shego." Monty replied irritably.
Shego's scowl deepened and with a rapid flips of her tail. Exiting the cave, she swam out into the open wilderness.
As she swam, she felt her aggravation diminish, glad to be far away from those two immature buffoons.
Meanwhile, Drakken was scowling while Monty frowned down at the plate he was using to eat his breakfast. After some moments, Monty sighed and rose up from his seat. "I'll be leaving now."
Drakken sulked. "Yeah, you do that." He grumbled.
Monty went to his side of the cave, taking out a wand and bag that was to be used to gather the ingredients needed.
Drakken just continued to sulk in his chair at the table, acting like an overgrown child if he did not get his way.
~At Downtown Middleton~
Back in the undersea metropolis of Middleton, a small store was looking to have a slow day. Inside the store were various items that pertained to humans, but not just from the local area around them. Some even had items that were from the various oceans all over the planet! Some of the costumers seemed that some only came in to browse, few buying the items that were on the shelves and racks.
A mermaid clerk was at the counter, reading some information that was on her Data Shell. In the back of the store, Sensei was looking at his own magical device as he took in inventory. However, his ears perked up at hearing the sound from another Data Shell nearby, one that was quite familiar. He put down his business shell, picking up his personal one & opening it to answer. In a moment, the face of Kim Possible appeared before him.
She smiled at him and said with respect, "Hello Sensei."
The elderly merman smiled back. "Hello Kim. Do what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"Well as you know I been visiting Ron and learned some things." Kim told the elder merman.
This made Sensei's smile widen a little as he spoke with positive anticipation. "Ah, and you have some information to share with me?"
The princess nodded her head "I may be able to arrive at your shop this afternoon. Right now I got some homework to do."
"Excellent! Sensei exclaimed softly. "This is good news indeed! I look forward to it your high- uh I mean Kim.".
Kim giggled at his small slip-up, but appreciating that Sensei used her name instead of title. There was a time and place for that, and for the time being & those they were familiar with one another and she preferred her name.
"Okay then." She tells her elderly merman "Will see you soon then! Goodbye."
"Farewell." Sensei says as the communication ended.
The elderly merman put his shell down and began stroking his beard. He began wondering what information that Kim had concerning her human friend. He believed that this was the first serious step in connecting mer-people with humans, and that it should not be taken lightly. While he was thinking this, something else was happening elsewhere outside.
A few blocks west of Sensei's store, at a diner to be more precise, some mer-folk workers were cooking in the kitchen, preparing meals for the first customers to arrive. Outside said establishment, the mer-boy Gil was looking through a large dumpster that seemed made of coral. He pulled out some seaweed that looked somewhat edible, putting it close to his face to sniff it… but made a face and quickly tossed the object away.
"Awww, man! Don't they have anything tasty here?"
The young lad cursed at his misfortune, that he did not have any money to buy anything decent and was now resorting to shifting through trash for sustenance. He heard a sound, swiftly swimming away as he did not want to get caught by local authorities. Two diner workers exited from the side of the establishment, carrying a large shell full of garbage & dumped it into the dumpster. They turned to go back in, but soon stopped and noticed Gil a short distant away, trying to look casual.
They both glared disdainfully at the homeless merboy, "Sea urchin." One of them grumbled contemptuously.
They went back inside the diner, Gill glaring back at them. He wanted to say some choice words to the workers, but he knew that any kind of action would attract unwanted attention so he had to watch his tongue. Once the workers were out of sight and back in the building, he swam back to the dumpster and looked at the new stuff in it. He found some fish bones and seaweed, tossing the seaweed aside and gnawing on the fish bones.
However, after some moments, he realized it was futile as gnawing on the bones would not cure his hunger. Truth be told he felt pathetic at his actions. He tossed the bones to the side, sliding down on the wall of the diner until his bottom met ground.
"Well, this is the pits & this is pathetic." He muttered in dismay. "If only there was something in the old witch's cave I could use…"
Then his eyes widened as a thought came into his brain! Slowly but surely, a nasty smirk came on his face. "Why not?" He asked himself. "That freak may be gone, but maybe I can find something to make me a shark again!"
Gill turned around and with a swish of his tail, shot upward until he was above the city buildings and looked off toward the undersea wilderness beyond the city limits of the kingdom. The young mer-boy was desperate to turn his life back around… no matter the cost that would come with it.
~At the surface~
In the classroom of the Stoppable castle, Regent Barkin was looking over the paper that was his Stoppable's report on a subject matter that Ron was tasked to dive further into. However, the regent could see that Stoppable was quite lackluster in his report. It was bare minimum writing and it seemed that he was only generalizing the issue instead of noting & identifying specific parts of the subject.
He looked to the prince and sighed. "Could be worse Your Highness."
"Awww, man." Ron grumbled as looked down to the ground.
Barkin shook his head. He knew Ron was a slacker. He sometimes hoped that perhaps the teenage prince was a hidden genius, acting this way due to the subjects and tests being too easy for him, thus the lackluster effort. However, it seemed that his hopes were futile. Young Stoppable was just a very lazy when it came to schoolwork.
He looked to the prince "I ought to give you extra homework for writing such an overgeneralized paper." He stated.
Ron froze, not looking forward to it.
"But… I'll give you a break this time." The Regent finished
"Booyah!" Ron exclaimed excitedly. "Thanks Regent B."
Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pouch. "Yeepee." He said, giving two thumbs up.
Barkin sighed and just did not have the strength to endure any more headaches from his pupil. He really wondered how Ron was going to run the country when his head was just not on right. While he had a decent and good character and attitude, it was mostly like that of a child. He did not have much backbone, and did poorly in most things except for baking. In fact, the only redeeming quality he had was cooking.
"So going to see your mermaid friend?" Barkin asked the young prince.
Ron mood took a dive. "I wish." He answered his tone glum. "She's busy and can't come."
Barkin's eyes widened a little at the news. For some time, the little mermaid and Ron would usually come together in a way that looked so promising and strong. Now… he was surprised.
"So what are you planning on doing, Stoppable?" He asked curiously.
"Hmmm… well, I'll try calling her again." Ron answered his mood low. "If she's too busy, I'll go at the beach. Maybe go swimming."
The regent stared at Stoppable. He had seen Ron taking swimming lessons more often. He understood that Ron wanted to take his friendship with Possible seriously. He resisted the urge to chuckle, as the mermaid lass was one of the very few things Ron was serious about even in the friendship level.
"Well, good luck with that your Highness." He told the young prince.
"Goodbye." Prince Stoppable said before leaving the room with Rufus.
The young lad went to his bedroom, taking out the Data Shell and dialing in the buttons. In addition, after a couple of rings, the magical object soon showed the face of Kim who looked a little annoyed.
"Ron, what is it?" She demanded. "Why did you call me?"
The young human smiled sheepishly. "Not much. Just wanted to see how you're doing."
The mermaid princess sighed. "Ron that is very sweet, but I have responsibilities."
Indeed, Kim had just been in her room looking over her homework. However, unlike Ron, she was quite dutiful in how to write her report. While Ron overgeneralized things and did not put much effort into his work Kim was the opposite and was getting a feel for the subject that was very important to maintaining her kingdom's economy.
Ron sighed. "I know, I know."
Kim sighed as well, not liking to see her friend looking so down. "Look, I'll try and contact you tonight. We can talk then."
The look on Ron's face brightened up, his mood rising up to follow it as he exclaimed, "Really? Are you serious?"
The little mermaid giggled a bit on how quickly Ron's mood would shift like. "Yes. It's a date."
Those three words caused Ron to freeze, said little words having a big impact on his brain and heart. He looked to Kim in surprise and managed to speak his words, "Wait, we're dating?!"
Kim quickly realized what she said and her face was soon blushing a bright color of red! She was lucky that her family did not see this moment, as she knew that her siblings would tease her about this little slip. Her mother too. Her father… well, she believed that he would...well she did not want to find out.
"N-No!" She exclaimed bashfully. "We're not d-dating! It is a figure of speech. We're best friends and that's it."
Ron exhaled the breath he was holding in relief, "Oh that is good."
The young prince felt that going from being friends to girlfriend/boyfriend was too fast. Right now, he wanted to get to know Kim as a friend, to let said friendship grow and become something more real down the line.
He then realized something, looking to Kim and managing to speak out, "Wait Kim, I'm not saying you're not a bad girlfriend, what I'm saying…uh and well…I…"
"I get it Ron." She assured her human friend. "We're friends and that is good."
She was grateful now that none of her family members was there to see her current state now.
Both were awkwardly silence until Kim spoke. "I need to go now."
"Understood." Ron assured her and then ended the connection.
Ron sighed as he walked to the window, looking out to the sea that held his friend… day he say, best friend. Rufus jumped from his shoulders, landing on the window sill and chittering to his friend in his native tongue.
Ron looked to his best friend. "I'll be fine Rufus. Just now counting the hours until Kim comes tonight."
The naked mole right could see that his friend/master was quite sad right now; knowing that it was due to the mermaid being unable to come sooner due to responsibilities that both had to understand and come to terms with, and it was difficult… especially when one lived on the land and the other in the sea!
After some time, the prince decided that just moping in his room would not cut it. He looked down to his friend. "Come on; let's go down to the beach. At least we can get some swimming practice in."
Rufus nodded, chittering before leaping into the pocket of his friend/master. The young lad soon left the castle, going to a part of the private cove that would grant him more privacy so he would swim properly.
…
To Be Continue
Author note. Finally! Updating took longer then I would have preferred but at least it did not take a year.
Not much to say. Just a continuation of Kim and Ron being friends, and the continuations of subplots with Drakken, Shego, Monty Fisk and Kim's family.
I did try to find a balanced drama, showing character flaws while not being overly negative.
Hope you like this chapter and the characterizations of the characters.