"Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Any amount in specific?" he asked as they came up on another street crossing with a walk light.

"As much dust as you can get your hands on, I'll pay a quarter markup for it.."

Percy couldn't help himself, he barked out a laugh. "Ms. Fall, you don't have the lien to buy all the dust I can get at those prices."

That was a very tempting offer though. He had to sell his own dust at a low price to undercut the SDC. That was changing even now because he was moving to supply Mistral for the imminent SDC cutoff so he could sell it at market price, but a 25% markup… he almost salivated.

Almost.

He was preparing to supply an entire nation by the skin of his teeth. As much as a 25% bump in price was nice, a single buyer couldn't hope to get him a fraction of the profit that selling it to all of Mistral would. Much of it went to his own factories, but if anything that just sweetened the pot — he barely had to pay anything to keep his lines running. That alone was worth it, not to mention the rest he was selling to the people of Mistral en masse.

"What's your target?" Percy insisted.

Ella considered it for a moment. "At a minimum." she decided. "Fifty tons."

Percy nearly choked on his own saliva. Sure he had about that much coming out of mines for the MTC every day, but that was an absurd amount of dust for one customer. What the Hades did she want with that much dust? Percy kind of understood why Jacques bothered actually haggling a price, now. Even after losing perspective on how much lien that was exactly, he was still more than tempted at the prospect of offloading fifty tons at those prices.

He coughed. "Yeah. Yeah, I can see about that. It might take some time but that's manageable."

Ella looked at him appraisingly. "Well, that's better than expected. I didn't expect a common criminal to be able to gather that much dust single handedly in such a short time frame."

Percy snorted, having recovered from the surprise. "Who said anything about a short time frame? I can't have half of Vale freezing to death come winter, or not able to make food because their stoves won't turn on. I do that, I'll be crucified. It's a balancing act. I'll get you the dust faster than anyone else can, but don't expect an expedited schedule."

Ella raised a single sleeveless shoulder in a half-shrug. "I accounted for this project to take a couple years. I won't be disappointed by a minor setback. I expect you'll stick to your word, of course." she glanced over at him, and Percy once again saw the danger in her eyes.

Time to change the subject.

"So, Ms. Fall, with business out of the way I'd like to ask a couple questions. Discretion is important and all, but It's also important to have the barest hint at the motivations of the person I'm handing an arsenal of dust to." he said, glancing around at the even quicker emptying streets. This far from the city center the streets were still bustling, but it wasn't rare to come across an empty street, or a sparsely populated restaurant.

She tensed, but brushed it off with a comb of some of her hair over her shoulder, schooling her features. "Please, call me Ella. And ask away."

"I heard you're from Vale. Naturally, I'm a bit curious how someone your age has the means you do. Come from nobility, move here from another country, or…?"

Her features turned hostile for the briefest of moments, and then relaxed. "I am from Vale. I've lived here all my life." she confirmed, "But I'm no younger than you. Maybe I should ask how you got to where you are, hm?"

Percy chuckled. A deflection, but not a very good one. "Maybe you should. But I'm asking because I don't want to steal a cargo container full of dust and then find out that I have nobody to sell it to. People our age don't normally have the kind of cash to buy that sort of thing."

She smiled mischievously. "So they don't. And yet, here we are."

Percy laughed goodnaturedly. She'd deflected again. This attempt a bit worse than the last. He had to commend her, her mask hadn't completely broken when she was clearly panicking.

"Another subject then," he said. "I have to admit I'm curious. What exactly are you hoping to do with that much dust? What sort of 'project' are you planning that needs enough of the stuff to supply an army?"

Ella's lips turned down slightly. "Let's just say I need a lot of power. An ambitious project I have is nearing completion, and all I need to finish it is the energy necessary. Mass quantities of dust. The project isn't… strictly public, so buying from the SDC directly would lead to more of a trail than I'd like. I'd hoped, by soliciting your employee's… services, that there would be fewer questions asked."

Percy raised his hands in a surrender motion. "Hey, I can take a hint. I'll lay off, you've satisfied my curiosity."

She nodded and smiled teasingly, playing it off as if she'd been joking the entire time. They both knew she hadn't been.

"Where are we going, anyway?" she asked after a few moments of silence, looking around.

"A club." he said. "A friend of mine in the business recently renovated it, and it opened just yesterday."

She perked up. "In the business. I'm assuming that means…"

"I'll show you around town," he confirmed. "Introduce you to some friends."

She wore a satisfied smile on her face, but Percy wasn't paying attention to that. They came up on an empty crosswalk with a 'stop' signal glowing in red on the other side — the first one of the night that didn't have any cars turning at the light — and Percy studied her as they walked up to it and stopped on the corner.

"And the other requests?" she asked, voice peaking.

"I'll agree to them." Percy said. "I already told you I can get you that dust, and I'll have some people keep an eye out for the girl."

She smiled brightly, a victorious expression crossing her face. It was… predatory, in a strange way. Like a lion cub just sprouting its claws.

They crossed the street once the sign told them to walk and walked up on the entrance to the club Junior had just opened. It was the only thing in sight that was absolutely packed with people, dozens standing in line to get into the newly opened spot.

Percy didn't even bother waiting for the bouncers to recognize him, pushing the door open and holding the door open for Ella.

"Here we are." he said, checking his scroll just long enough to read the short text he'd received back from Junior and shoot one back in turn. "Let's get to a back room, avoid all the rabble."

Ella, for her part, looked like she couldn't agree more.

Percy led her to the back of the club, catching Junior's eye on the other side of the room briefly on the way and shaking his head discreetly. Foley's words echoed in his head, he didn't want Junior anywhere near the mystery girl. He was confident he could take care of himself. He was confident Junior could not.

Soon enough they reached a back office, Junior's if he had to guess. As far as he was aware, Junior was planning on making this his new main hub of operations. Not a bad place, all things considered. Halfway between the center of town and the shipping district, where a large chunk of his business got its revenue.

Ignoring that he was technically in another man's office, Percy grabbed two glasses from a shelf and a glass of red wine from another, pouring them both drinks.

Nodding to the chair in front of the desk, Percy gestured for her to sit and slid one of the glasses towards her.

She sat slowly as Percy did the same on the opposite side.

"Back here all alone, bribing me with red wine. My my, if you're not careful a girl might assume the wrong thing, Perseus." She teased, more likely than not to throw him off for a moment or two.

"Who knows, come back on a night we're not talking business and you might be assuming just enough." Percy couldn't help himself throwing his signature grin right back at her.

She didn't quite blush, but he thought he might have seen the slightest dusting of red on her cheeks. Or it could have been the sip of wine she'd taken while he responded. Whichever the case she didn't have a response, so Percy did what she had probably wanted to do and kept talking.

"Well, that was a pleasant walk. Haven't been out in that nice of weather since I was a kid, it feels like." he said, staring slightly above her head into the distance for several seconds.

"You ever gone tourist spotting?" Percy asked suddenly, refocusing on her.

Her eyebrows dipped in confusion, and she slowly answered. "No, I can't say I have."

Percy smiled wistfully. "It's a game I liked to play with friends when I was a kid growing up in Vale." Well, New York, but it was certainly close enough that the same could be played here the exact same way. "The idea was because there are so many tourists visiting the big city from every corner of the planet and even other places in Vale, we'd have a game to see who could spot the most of them. Then, when a group was picked out, we'd follow them close enough to hear their conversations until we could tell if they were locals or tourists. You'd get a point for pointing out tourists, and lose a point for pointing out locals. Whoever had the most points by the time we had to get home got the other's dessert at lunch the next day."

"Sounds… interesting." she said, taking another sip from her glass. If her tone was any indication she had no idea where he was going with the story, but even if because of that alone, was vaguely interested nonetheless.

"After a few months of playing the game every few nights with my friends, I would win every time. I'd point out every tourist I saw, and never got one wrong. See, I figured out a trick. And a few months after that we stopped playing altogether, because both of my friends had figured it out too."

"Oh?" She was curious, now. "And what was this secret to spot tourists? They'd look up at all the tall buildings?"

Percy just smiled. "Oh no, that was certainly a hint but the tourists that didn't want to look stupid would usually stop themselves from craning their neck at a ninety degree angle. Same with the ones that had visited before, or had been here more than a few days. The secret was almost as simple, though. As I'm sure you know there's some things that all Valeans do as naturally as breathing, but what you might not always think about is that nobody on Remnant considers some of our culture normal. They're behaviors that just don't make sense to people who didn't grow up in a large, modern city. We came up with a few of these over the weeks and months but the one that won me every game was the most accurate we could find. A one-hundred percent success rate. Growing up, I'd always just considered it normal that if a street was empty, you crossed it. Who cares if the sign says stop or walk, it seems silly to stand there waiting for a light to switch colors when the street is clearly empty, or if you can be in the middle of the street before the car gets there. It's a city, they're going slow enough that they're not gonna run you over, so you can just keep walking. Most Valeans will cross a street at a red signal if they can get away with it, and every one of us will walk right across an empty street, regardless of what a glowing sign is telling us. That's locals. But tourists? Foreigners? You take one to an empty street with a red signal, and they'll stand there patiently until it turns green again. Every one of em'."

Percy sat his glass down as he finished his story, casually tapping his leg and keeping his eyes on his guest across the desk.

Her eyes stared into blank space, her mind working to decipher exactly what he meant until she apparently figured it out, quickly standing from her seat and causing her chair to clatter across the floor behind her.

The men waiting outside the door took that as their que, slamming the door open and storming into the room with their guns up and ready. Most had pistols, but one or two had rifles Percy had provided the clan. There were half a dozen of them, enforcers that Junior had for the opening tonight.

Percy himself didn't stand, still tapping his leg. He pulled his other hand away from the wine glass on the table and reached into his pocket, pulling out his scroll and rereading the text from Junior.

Spoke to your agents. They say no on both.

"So you're not from any of the wealthier families in Vale — not from Vale at all, actually — and you're not from a noble family in Mistral. So, Ella, who are you really?"

She gritted her teeth, looking for all the world like she wanted to try her luck and break out of here. But, as he'd hoped, she didn't. "I'm not exactly forthcoming with that information, if you haven't noticed." she snarled.

Percy shrugged. "I can't exactly do business with someone who lies to me on a consistent basis, and I can't do business with someone whose motivations I don't know. I do business with people based on what's in their best interest, and if I don't know what that is then I can't work with you."

Her expression didn't brighten. She scowled back at him. "What exactly is your plan then, kill me? Keep me locked away until someone comes knocking?"

"Not at all, actually." he said. "I was planning on giving you a chance to tell me the truth. I don't need all of it, I just need what you do tell me to be true. If you don't come clean, I'll just throw you back on the street. You haven't done anything except lie to me, hardly a crime worthy of imprisonment in this business."

Her anger was temporarily broken by surprise. "That easy? Just throw me back out there?"

Percy shrugged, "You'll be back. You want dust, illegally. You want information. You want something else in Vale, something you haven't bothered to tell me about. And it sounds like you want them all pretty desperately, if your prices are any indication. Luckily for me, you're O for three without me."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'll just go to someone else. Another group in Vale."

"Oh, darling," he teased, loving the way she looked at him like she was imagining him as a corpse, "This is Vale. There isn't anyone else. Just me." he leaned forward and grabbed his glass of wine, taking a sip and immediately regretting it. He'd forgotten he didn't actually like wine, for a moment. But he remembered Foley's words and kept from making a face. Whether or not he enjoyed it was irrelevant. Appearances.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Percy refocused on Ella. "Now, let's try that again."

Percy shut the door to his apartment behind him, locking it and heading over to his small living room. He'd turned one of the chairs so it faced out the large window, overlooking the Valean skyline. He didn't really watch TV, (he hadn't had the chance to really get invested in any entertainment here, and the news was just a depressing reminder of work) and he found he liked to unwind watching the sun set over Vale.

The sun was already set, however, and the bustling lights of the city colored his view.

Walking over to the cushioned seat, he let himself fall into it and relax to the view of the city alight with activity. He was glad this was a habit he'd kept. He tried to keep himself busy enough that he didn't really have time to just think throughout the day. Now if only he had a saltwater pool to relax in, he could do his relaxing and thinking there. He could imagine it now. A little piece of his domain brought to the middle of Vale. He could relax at the bottom and fall asleep to the muted sounds of the city throughout the ni-

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Percy threw his head back and groaned, digging his scroll out of his pocket.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"I know, I know. Shut up." he muttered, pulling it out and hitting the 'answer call' button.

"It's happened. We just got the notice."

"Hello to you too, Shiro." Percy said dryly.

Shiro rolled his eyes, his unique white hair moving slightly with the motion. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings, princess. The SDC has cut off Mistral officially now. They expect the city to cave at any moment, I'm sure. Luckily, the MTC is ready, even if barely. We're also lucky the SDC was the source of so much corruption in the old government, the populace is ecstatic that we're managing to piss them off enough to be cut off. A domestic dust supplier filling the void helps quite a bit, too. Patriotism and all that."

Percy nodded. "Thanks for the news, Shiro. Is there anything you need me to do?"

Shiro scratched his head briefly. "Not really. The first wave of White Fang forces have arrived in Vacuo, as well. It's sped up our timeline considerably with the Asturias siblings. Or it will, at least, once they get to work. You get the chance to catch up with things on your end?"

"Yeah." Percy said, thinking back to the events of the last couple days. "I've managed to sort most everything out. I have a few more errands to run, but I shouldn't have much trouble with any of em'."

"Got it. Well, there's not much we can do right now other than bide our time. I'll keep focusing on Vacuo and expanding the MTC to truly rival the SDC. They have enough supply issues that there's actual demand for competitors for the first time… ever. You're changing things, Percy."

"We're changing things, Shiro." Percy corrected. "I can only hope it's enough…"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Percy turned over in bed, groaning and groggily searching for his scroll in the maze of sheets.

Relax right before bed? Scroll call. Wake up in the morning? Scroll call. Every now and then, he had to admit that he hated how annoying this job could be more than the decisions it forced him to make.

Finally finding his scroll, Percy answered it in voice-only mode. "Hello?"

"Stay away from my daughter. This is your only warning."

Well, that woke him up.

Percy took a moment to pull the scroll away from his face, shake himself awake, sit up in bed, and put it back to his ear.

"Sorry, could you say that again?"

"I said stay away from Pyrrha. Going to Argus after what you did is one thing, but trying to get her to move out of Mistral is something else entirely."

That was Alex's voice, alright. Percy didn't know if he was more surprised, confused, hurt, or annoyed. He did know it was far too early in the morning for this, however.

"Didn't take what happened in Mistral with the best of spirits, I'm assuming?" Percy deadpanned, slipping out of bed and throwing some sweatpants on.

"I'll play your game. I won't say anything, I won't act against you. You can have all the power you want — you can have the whole seas damned city. You sent your message loud and clear. But you lost your right to speak to me or my family as friends ever again."

Percy paused at the doorframe to his bedroom, leaning against it and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So, communication. You're saying some things right now, and I don't know why you're saying them, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that one of us doesn't know something that the other does. Let's start over."

"I didn't call to play games, Perseus. I came to give you a warning. You've been playing a dangerous game, threatening my family, but I played along and so it stops now. Or I stop cooperating."

"Alex, what are you talking about?!" Percy raised his voice, frustration coming to the forefront now. "Look, I'm sorry your family was in Mistral, but they were never at any risk of harm. You know I had to give off appearances, but they were never going to actually do anything. The guns were ornaments. And I even took Pyrrha out of the country, so she wouldn't be there when it all happened."

"You turn the population against me and my family, you lock us in a room with armed guards, and you put me in a position where I have to support your scheme or face the consequences. I'm sure it's a coincidence that you were currently in possession of my daughter, and I had no idea where either of you were."

"Alex!" Percy snapped. "I'd never harm Pyrrha, I swear it on the Styx!" he didn't know if it had the same significance for Alex as it did for Greeks on earth, but no thunder boomed in the distance, so he could safely assume that either way it meant nothing real here. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry I put you in that position, and I'm sorry that your family was there. But clearly, you don't know me as well as I thought you did. I'd burn it all to the ground before I let someone get to Pyrrha. That's why I left Mistral, so that no matter what happened she wouldn't be in harm's way."

He wasn't sure if he was surprised to realize that he actually meant it.

Maybe it was the sincerity in his voice, or maybe it was the oath on the Styx, or maybe just a bit of what he was saying had weaved some doubt into Alexandros' mind. But whatever the reason, Alex remained silent for several moments.

"And what would you do, Perseus, if I demanded you never speak to her again?"

It was Percy's turn to hesitate now.

"I'm… not sure." he admitted eventually. "I'd ignore it, at least." he continued "I'd certainly visit her, still. That's non-negotiable, and you can't stop me. But you have information that if it went public… I can't just leave you be with a threat like that hanging over my head. But you're also her father. And, for what it's worth, someone I considered a friend. Killing you isn't an option. Keeping you locked away isn't much better. You'd have me in a pickle there, Alex. All I know is that it wouldn't end well for me, it wouldn't end well for you, and it wouldn't end well for Pyrrha."

A long, tense silence reigned over the call for some time after he finished speaking. It lasted so long that he thought the call may have disconnected, for a few seconds. The only thing stopping him from checking was how stupid he'd sound if he asked if Alex could hear him after a response like that.

But after the longest silence Percy had ever endured on a scroll call, Alexandros finally spoke.

"You're right. It wouldn't end well for her, no matter what. And I know you're being truthful. I'd… I'd do the same, were I you. I can't stop you from seeing her. But she can't go to Vale."

"Why not?" Percy argued. "Sanctum isn't working out. She doesn't want to go back, the teachers there hate her for her name, and the kids are ostracizing her. It'd be worse in the capital."

"And who's fault is that?" Alex bit back.

"Mine." Percy answered without hesitation. "Gods do I know it's my fault. I know I caused this. I can't say I'd go back and change my actions if I knew what would happen, but I can promise I'd give it a hell of a second thought. But now, this is my mess to fix. Let her come to Vale. It'll be good for her."

"And further from home? Deeper within your grasp?"

Percy snorted. "Alex, if you think that a settlement off the coast of Vale with a combat school is further in my influence than the city of Mistral, you're delusional. This isn't about being in my grasp."

It didn't matter that Alex's base of power was in Mistral, he wanted to say. He could storm the Nikos villa and raze it with a phone call, taking everyone inside dead or alive. He could do it as easily as he might order takeout. He had nothing to gain, moving Pyrrha from Argus to Vale. But he didn't. As much as it might make sense as a logical argument, essentially threatening the man & his home wouldn't do much to convince him.

"...Does she want to move?"

"Yes." Percy answered confidently. "She wants to see the world, Alex. She can only be kept cooped up for so long. Either she does it slowly, now, or she runs for the hills the moment she becomes an adult, and gets herself hurt."

"I'll speak with her, and her mother. I can't stop you from visiting Pyrrha, but the rest of the Nikos family wants nothing to do with you."

"I understand." Percy said, but the scroll rang dead before he could finish.

Scowling, Percy resisted the urge to throw his scroll at a wall. It hadn't turned out the worst. Alex… wasn't his biggest fan anymore, but he was surprised by how little he really cared. He was a Nikos family friend because he'd met Alex, sure, but the reason he'd actually stuck around and stayed in touch? The one he'd cared about? That had always been Pyrrha.

Tucking his scroll in his pocket, Percy padded down the hall to the kitchen. He could make some coffee, wake up, and then get to work for the day. He still had his empire to secure.

"Perseus!" Junior spread his arms wide when Percy stepped through the doors, taking his hand and patting his back. "Welcome, officially, to The Club! I was elated when I heard you'd be coming by today. I didn't get a chance to speak to you the other night, but I'm glad you get to see the new headquarters of the Xiong Clan! Even if it's not quite at its peak."

Percy glanced around at the bright fluorescent lights coloring the dancefloor in a boring indoor lighting scheme, several employees sweeping up debris and junk both on the dancefloor and the surrounding booths. It looked considerably less impressive and well… clubby than it had a few nights ago when he'd taken Ella here.

"My manners! I'm so sorry I didn't see you earlier, I'd be pleased to meet you two young ladies."

Percy watched with an amused smile as Junior looked past him and at the reasons Percy was here today.

"This is Melanie, and this is Militia." Percy introduced, stepping aside and gesturing to the two teenage girls. They were both young, as they themselves were the age where they could be going to a combat academy. Instead, they'd been trained within the Malachite family. How effective that was, Percy wasn't sure. "They're both nieces of the patriarch of the Malachite family, and they both have some combat training. The Malachites were looking for them to be able to get some experience in the real world, and I knew in an instant the Xiong clan would be able to put them to good use."

They both curtsied slightly in their matching dresses (Melanie's white, Militia's red) when he introduced them. Luckily, unlike almost everyone else he'd seen their age, the dresses weren't provocative. Considering he was currently dropping them off at a nightclub… he wasn't sure how long that'd stay the case. He did hope they managed to get of age before delving into anything too bad, though.

"A pleasure." Junior reached for each of their hands one at a time, kissing them on the ring finger, making Militia tense and Melanie blush. "The Malachite family is of a quality most can only aspire to. I look forward to working with you greatly."

"I'm glad to hear it." Percy interjected. "They're here to help with anything you need combat wise short of taking on the local precinct, and as a direct link to the Malachite family, as well. On top of that, they're learning to help run the family some day, so they'll be able to help you run things around here. With time, of course."

Junior grinned. "Well, I look forward to the passing of time then. Come, I can give all three of you a tour at once! If you'll both be staying in Vale, you may want to consider staying here."

"Sorry." Percy excused. "I'm here to drop them off. They just arrived at the city, and I wanted to do the courtesy of introducing you personally. I have other time sensitive things I need to take care of."

Junior frowned. "I understand. I do wish you wouldn't let work burden you as often as you do, my friend. I wish you luck with your business, then, and a good day."

"To you as well." Percy nodded at the man and ducked out of The Club back into the bright sunlight outside.

Well, at least that helped secure one of his branches.

Now he just needed to get work on digging in even more with the rest.

"Well, you packed quickly." Percy stared at the bullhead being unloaded in front of him with no small amount of disbelief.

"The house staff helped." Pyrrha stifled a laugh beside him, watching the chain of workers taking items from the bullhead into the nearby house.

"Yeah, helped." Percy said drily, observing the veritable conveyor belt of workers moving furniture.

"Okay, maybe they did a majority of the work." Pyrrha shrugged shamelessly.

Percy held back his amusement and shook his head in exasperation. She had a sense of humor about it, at least.

"When you told me you had a transfer student for me, I didn't think you meant within the week."

Percy glanced to his left where the new voice came from. "Nice to see you too, Qrow. And for the record, I didn't exactly plan on it being this quick either."

"This the brat?" Qrow jerked his chin at Pyrrha.

"Hello!" She greeted with a wave, apparently not minding how he referred to her.

"This is Pyrrha." Percy confirmed, "She's the transfer student."

"Well, nice to meet ya' kid." Qrow held his hand out awkwardly for a handshake, and Pyrrha shook it enthusiastically, if a bit awkwardly herself. Despite the recent turn in opinion she was still pretty much a foreign princess, he imagined a handshake and 'nice to meet ya' was a bit different than her normal first impressions.

"Pyr, go help your mom unpack. I'll make sure you're set with Qrow, alright?"

She nodded once firmly at the mission she'd been given and took off into the house, leaving the two in the front yard of the newest Nikos property.

"So, Pyrrha Nikos, huh? That the two-timer back in Mistral?"

"Yeah." Percy confirmed. "She's won the last two national tournaments for her age bracket. Don't judge her too quickly, though. She's more than a tournament fighter."

Qrow shrugged. "Eh, at least Yang'll have someone to try and beat up other than me and her old man. I'm sure she'll do fine here, from what you've said."

"Qrow." Percy turned to face the man, waiting until he had his full attention. "I'm trusting you with Pyrrha's safety in the same way that you've trusted me with your nieces. I'll be leaving her here, where I have little to no sway, with virtually no protection. Nothing can be allowed to harm her, do you understand?"

Qrow just smiled indulgently. "Yeah, trust me I get it. I've got the two kiddos of my own, I understand the papa bear in you right now. Tai and I will watch over her while she's here, you have my word. I can't be here full time, but I'll make sure Tai knows to keep her safe. We'll see if she can come over every now and then, maybe she'll make friends."

Percy's eyes softened. "Thanks, Qrow. It means a lot."

His only response was a self-assured grin.

Don't really remember what I wanted to put here, but uh... I'll remember at some point probably, and then hate that I forgot to put it here.

I've been only writing fairytales recently, and I'm writing a bit more than I have been, so I might be able to give you guys some more chapters soon. For now, I'll just be uploading chapters that are 100% done ahead of time to pat-reon, so that I have a cushion if I need to fall behind and can keep my main update schedule. Right now that's 2 posted there ahead of time, might post a third soon. But trust, once my irl calms down and I know I can keep my update schedule, I'll start posting em here as well so ya'll can catch up a little.

Also I say this like every chapter but plz come hang out in discord. I love seein my readers in there, very gratifying to be able to interact with ya'll. Even if you wanna just come say hi, I'd love it. Both the pat-reon and discord are on my profile.

EDIT: I REMEMBERED WHAT I WANTED TO PUT HERE LIKE 3 SECONDS BEFORE POSTING, HUZZAH! PLEASE READ.

The incredible Dread Persephone has crossposted my stories on AO3. I'm not personally a huge fan of the site, but I've had a history of getting banned from ffn, and it's not super reliable. Please consider popping over there to follow the story in case we go down here and I can't contact anyone. It's behind a few chapters for FG rn, but it'll be up to date soon. I'll put a link on my profile.

Thanks :3

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