Forgotten Forever by Kihin Ranno

Part Three: Unraveling

If anyone had been there to ask why she wanted to revisit the wrecked Odyssey Apartment Complex, Usagi would not have had an answer. Turning away from Juuban Middle School had not been a conscious decision on her part. Her feet had seemed to act of their own accord, and either through intuitive acquiescence or sheer exhaustion, she had not questioned her direction. When she arrived at her destination, realizing it only when she got there, waiting had been a natural course of action. She couldn’t very well reveal herself to any authorities without subjecting herself to questions she could not or would not answer.

Now she was all alone, staring up at the ruins of what had once been a pristine construction. A good portion of the roof had caved in, and the rest did not look too far behind. Much of the building’s masonry had fallen away, forming a gaping yaw as monstrous as the Makaiju’s wrath. Steel framework now exposed itself to the elements while countless wires hung from cracked ceilings like listless snakes. Yellow tape crisscrossed every conceivable entrance to the building, a warning that felt more like prison bars, trying to cage a monster that was no longer there.

Jailed or no, the building was unguarded. Usagi could not have articulated why she needed to be there, but the reasons didn’t matter to her. She had to get inside.

Usagi jogged across the empty street, briefcase thumping against her legs with every stride. She carefully ducked beneath the tape nearest the front entrance. The sliding glass doors were gone, remembered only by dust and shards. Mindful of the thin soles of her shoes, Usagi stepped inside.

The lobby alone was a disaster area. While waiting to hear about Mamoru the night before, Rei and Makoto had told her about getting past the Makaiju’s branches to get to her. Even after seeing the tree in action, Usagi could hardly believe the damage it had caused. It looked as though a bomb had went off. Cracks littered the walls, mirrors were shattered and strewn about, and the floor was littered with evidence of the tree’s deadly acid. It was a miracle any of them had survived.

Shivering, Usagi turned towards the staircase, remembering that the elevators were a lost cause. She moved forward, realizing what her body already seemed to know. It wasn’t just the apartment complex she longed for; she needed to make her way to the roof. The place where she, as Sailor Moon, had finally told Mamoru that she was in love with him. The place where she had failed to get him back.

Usagi began to ascend the countless flights of stairs, avoiding the more treacherous areas. At first, she made her way cautiously, but soon, her anxiety got the better of her. She needed to reach the site of the battle, and she had too far to go to waste time. She started hurrying, nearly slipping as stairs crumbled beneath her. The first time she encountered a hole too wide to step around, she abandoned her briefcase; instead, she grasped both handrails and hoisted herself over the danger. The higher she climbed, the more dangerous it became, and the more desperate she was to reach her goal.

Finally, she miscalculated. She placed her weight on a spot that was too weak to hold it, and the step gave way. She shrieked as the world tilted out from underneath her and tumbled forward. She reached out to grab at something, missing the handrail by an inch. She plummeted down half a flight, crashing into the wall when she reached the landing.

She wanted to get up. She wanted to keep running. She wanted to reach the top of the building and….

What then?

There was no monster in the cage, no great evil to defeat. She was the victim of circumstance, not an evil queen from the past or aliens from another world. Transforming would bring her no aid. There was no demon to vanquish, no corruption to purify. There were no answers in the open air.

Usagi let out a strangled sob. She covered her mouth as if to quash it, but the sound leaked out from around her fingers. Her body shook, sorrow welling up from the darkest parts of her.

All of her efforts were completely pointless.

She moaned aloud, drawing her scraped knees up to her chest. Every bone in her body hurt, and she ached even deeper than that. She was in a building on the brink of collapse with no cause or purpose. And she was alone. Again, she was alone.

All she wanted was him, but instead, she was alone.

-----

Elsewhere, the four part army that protected Tokyo continued to assemble. Seconds after Rei had opted to contact her three comrades, they answered, each expectant but grim.

“Did you reach her?” Ami asked, apparently the most optimistic.

“Not exactly,” Rei answered, limping through the halls of the Hikawa Shrine. “Not at all, actually, but I had a vision.”

Grimly, Makoto said, “I don’t suppose it was a map pin-pointing her exact location?”

“I’m not sure what I saw,” Rei admitted, hating that her sight wasn’t clear enough to see through the riddles. “It was about Usagi, but….” She shut her eyes, realizing there was no sense in pulling her punches. “I think it might have been a new enemy.”

The news clearly rocked them all; Rei was still reeling from the notion. They had only just defeated their last opponent. Did they have to go to war again so soon?

Minako was the first to recover. “What did you see?”

“It’ll take too long to explain,” Rei hissed. “The point is that there might be a new evil in town, and none of us can reach Usagi.”

Ami paled. “You don’t think—"

“I don’t know,” Rei groaned, slamming the screen to her bedroom shut. “Do you want to take the chance?”

Silence was answer enough.

“We have to find her,” Rei emphasized, aware that she was all but issuing an order. “Now.”

-----

High above the earth, a spacecraft loomed like something out of a science-fiction novel, cloaked by an amalgamation of magic and technology that would not be discovered for centuries to come. It was not the flying saucers featured so prominently in the missives of the paranoid and the hopeful. The craft was not round at all, instead featuring countless sharp spines jutting out from its center. It looked like a star had exploded at the height of its combustion and had crystalized into something like black jade. It bore no name, but its silhouette conjured plenty of possibilities: Sinister, Destroyer, Ebony Dawn.

Inside, floating amidst criss-crossing arcs of multicolored light, was a platform. It floated on a skewed axis above a grey void. In the center, of all things, hung five full-length mirrors, complete with vanities in four cases.

Four sisters, bound by blood and malice, stood before their respective mirrors, all involved in various stages of getting made up. Every now and again, one of them would glance back at the unoccupied mirror, an expectant look on her face. Each time, they were unrewarded. It remained empty.

The youngest, dressed entirely in pink and purple, nervously fiddled with her appearance despite the fact that there was nothing more to be improved. Of all of them, she was clearly the most concerned, and the least likely to tear her eyes away from the center mirror.

Karaberas stopped brushing her hair, exhausted by her sister’s fretting. "Pining for Master Rubeus, Cooan?"

Cooan started and met the brunette’s cruel gaze in the mirror. She scowled, taking care to make sure the expression didn’t make her entirely unattractive. "Shut up, Karaberas."

“Temper, temper,” she chided. “Mustn’t have a tantrum.”

Cooan hissed, but before she could respond, Petz, the eldest, intervened. “Karaberas, stop instigating.”

“I’ll stop instigating when you two stop wearing feathers.” Karaberas wrinkled her nose. “Tacky.”

The palest of the four, Beruche, sighed loudly. “Much as I would love to participate in your endless squabbles, I would like to point out that Cooan’s concern for Master Rubeus isn’t unnatural. It might do for you to worry as well, Karaberas. He’s been gone for a long time.”

Karaberas shrugged and returned to her hair. “Why should I bother myself with Master Rubeus’s problems?”

Petz pulled on her forest green glove, making a fist once it was secure. “Probably because they’re likely to be yours soon enough. We’re not here on a pleasure cruise.”

“I should hope not,” Karaberas murmured. “The 20th century would be a vulgar destination.”

“Can’t you take anything seriously?” Petz snapped.

Karaberas smirked. “Why? It’s so much more fun to bait you.”

Petz was clearly on the verge of starting what would surely have become a legendary cat fight, which Beruche was in no mood to witness. Once upon a time, it might have been amusing, but after watching the same scene a hundred times, it just got too predictable.

“Is this how it’s going to be for this whole mission?” Beruche asked. “I’ll have to be especially productive just to get away from you two.”

“How is that different from our other missions?” Cooan muttered.

Beruche nodded. “Too true.”

Petz glowered at the pair as if they were to blame for an entire nation’s unrest. “It’s not my fault she’s so flippant and lazy at every turn!”

Karaberas rolled her eyes. “And it’s not my fault you’re in desperate need of a truly excellent lay.”

Petz snarled while Beruche held her head in her hands.

Karaberas grinned, white teeth glinting like knives. “Though apparently not as much as Cooan.”

Stretched beyond her limits, Cooan let out a wordless scream and threw her compact at Karaberas's head.

At that precise moment, the surface of the fifth mirror rippled, and the man they had all been waiting for stepped out. He arched one eyebrow, at the sight of the projectile, then snatched it out of thin air. His eyes flitted over to a furiously blushing Cooan, frozen in shame.

"Cooan, stop behaving like a child." He seemed to carelessly toss the makeup back to her, but it clearly took Cooan some effort to catch.

She inclined her head, jaw clenched as she bid it not to tremble. "Forgive me, Master Rubeus."

"I have little choice," he replied with a dismissive sigh. He turned to the four women, raking one hand through his fiery hair. “There’s no going back without completing our mission. Which reminds me…

"We’ve received new orders."

-----

Usagi had no idea how long she spent curled up, sobbing in the stairwell. Time neither flew nor froze; she was simply unaware of it or of anything else for that matter. In the end, the only thing that broke the spell was the sound of her name.

“Usagi!”

She glanced up slowly, wiping at her swollen eyes. She glanced down the stairs at the sound, but found she was nearly blinded by unspent tears. It took her a moment to bring her vision into focus, but when she did, she didn’t even have the energy to muster surprise at who had found her. “Luna? What are you doing here?”

“I could say the same to you!” Luna called, picking her way through the debris with more grace than Usagi had managed. After a moment, the feline had finished her trek and arrived at Usagi’s side. She placed both paws on her bloodied knee and levered herself up to look into Usagi’s face. “Don’t you realize how dangerous this is? You could have been killed or hurt! No one would have known you were here, and you don’t have your communicator!”

Usagi rubbed at her aching temples. “Of course I have my communicator, Luna. It’s in my bag.”

“Which you abandoned some six flights ago.”

“…Oh.”

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you for hours. Everyone’s worried sick.”

Usagi opened her mouth to ask why then promptly shut it. She’d been caught weeping in an abandoned building that was falling down around her. Clearly, there was reason to be concerned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“Too late for that,” Luna sighed, less chiding than Usagi would have expected. “Usagi, really. Why did you come here?”

Usagi shrugged, laying one hand against Luna’s smooth back. “I don’t know. I thought… it seemed like something I should do, but then…. It was stupid. There’s nothing for me here.”

Luna kneaded her paws against Usagi’s thigh. The pressure was painful, but oddly comforting. “Usagi… I wish there was something I could say to make this better. I realize you’re disappointed – and I also realize that doesn’t begin to cover how you feel – but you can’t do things like this. You’re not a self-destructive person.”

Usagi nodded. “I know you’re right. I can’t… I shouldn’t lose it like this, but I… I don’t know what else to do.” Pressure built up in Usagi’s chest again, and despite the fact that she felt exhausted from emotion, she knew she would not be able to stem the tide. Her voice quavered. “I need him, Luna. I know I should be stronger, but I’m not. I need him to help me, to support me. I know you and Artemis and the girls are there for me all the time, but it’s not the same. I love him, I told him I love him, and he still has no idea, not about anything, and I just… I can’t do this. Not anymore.”

She collapsed in on herself again, this time curling around Luna’s small, lithe form, taking what comfort she could. Luna to her credit didn’t say anything, knowing there wasn’t anything to say. She purred and let Usagi hold on too tight, giving her some time.

It still didn’t feel like enough when Luna said, “Usagi, I know you’re hurting, but you need to answer your communicator. I can still hear it, and it’s going off constantly.”

Any other time, Usagi would have been impressed with her guardian’s hearing. Now all she could do was nod dully and struggle to her feet. “Right. I know.”

Luna clung to her shoulder, her claws digging into her blouse without breaking her skin. The pair of them carefully made their way back down, Luna spotting weak parts in the floor that Usagi would have missed completely. She arrived back at her briefcase much faster than she would have alone. She still didn’t hear her communicator, not until she opened the bag and discovered the speaker had been buried beneath her lunch.

“Looks like Artemis and I need to finish the new designs,” Luna drawled.

Usagi frowned, mildly curious, but let it go in favor of answering her communicator. She didn’t even speak a greeting before shouting on the other line started.

“Usagi!” Makoto crowed, looking relieved and energized. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? We’ve been—"

“I know,” Usagi murmured, finding it difficult to look at her screen. “Luna found me and explained. I… I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean—"

Makoto shook her head rapidly. “It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re not in danger!”

Usagi found that to be a strange way to put things; Makoto couldn’t have known where Usagi had gone. “What do you mean?”

Makoto flushed. “I- I just mean… I’m just glad you’re okay, that’s all. Listen, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Can you head towards Rei’s? I’ll call the others and let them know you’re on your way and in one piece. Um, not that you wouldn’t be, but you know, worrying. It’s what we do.”

Usagi was too tired and too upset to read anything into Makoto’s behavior. “Sure. I’m not close though, so it’ll be awhile.”

“No problem. I’ll explain. Err, and Usagi?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll try to make sure Rei doesn’t lecture you about this.”

In spite of everything, this provoked a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Any time. See you soon!”

Usagi ended the call and then glanced at Luna. “Any idea what that was about?”

“None,” Luna confessed. “I’d say Rei does just want to lecture you, but… hmm. Well, I’ll try to find Artemis and meet you there later. Will you be all right?”

Part of Usagi thought she wouldn’t be, not ever again.

She said, “Yes.”

-----

After receiving word from Makoto that Usagi was not caught up in some strange battle or hurting herself in some inconceivably horrible way, Minako headed straight for the Hikawa Jinja. She arrived around the same time as Ami and Makoto, unsurprised to see the latter was still pleading with Rei not to attack Usagi the moment she walked in the door.

“I know, Rei,” Makoto insisted, her tone suggesting she’d reiterated this several times before. “I’m just saying that jumping on her probably won’t even register right now.”

Rei’s shouting was more or less reduced to static from what Minako could tell. After a few seconds of this, Makoto sighed, and cut the connection. She waved off Minako and Ami’s surprise, saying, “She probably won’t even notice until we walk in.”

“Twenty minutes from now,” Minako grumbled, staring at the endless stairs leading up to the shrine. “Why does she have to live on a hill?”

“Some kind of cosmic joke at our expense,” Makoto decided. “You guys can go on ahead if you want. This will take me awhile.” She gestured meaningfully at her ribs.

Impulsive as ever, an idea occurred to Minako the moment these words left her mouth. “I can stay with you.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” She turned to Ami. “You’d better hustle, though. You might have a better chance of talking Rei down.”

Ami arched both eyebrows. “What on earth makes you think that?”

“Appeal to her logic?”

She scoffed, mildly affronted. “As if that’s ever worked.” She lifted her hand with a casual goodbye and began ascending the stairs faster than Minako could have managed with or without Makoto. “See you two in a bit.”

“Good luck,” Makoto called out. Then she glanced at Minako. “You realize of course there is no chance that any of us can get Rei to calm down.”

“Didn’t stop you from trying.”

Makoto frowned. “Yeah. Apparently I like the feeling of ramming my head against a wall repeatedly.” She rolled her shoulders, working out still more aches from the battle the day before, and added, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Minako straightened, automatically affecting an innocent countenance. “Who, me?”

“I have met you, Minako,” Makoto teased. “You were too quick to offer to help. You should have challenged me to a race instead.”

“And be responsible for another trip to the emergency room? No, thank you.” She casually dodged Makoto’s half-hearted swipe, but then let her spirits dip. Makoto was right. She did have something important she wanted to talk about. Despite Artemis’s advice to keep her opinions to herself, Minako couldn’t stop worrying about Usagi and Mamoru. The results of Tsukikage no Knight’s botched healing and losing contact with Usagi had definitely done nothing to help matters.

Before Makoto could continue to press her, Minako admitted, "It's about Usagi."

“I figured that much.”

Minako continued as if Makoto hadn’t spoken. "I know that I'm not the thinker, but really, I've been thinking. And I don't know why I can’t let this go, but.... Actually, I do know why. It's who I am. I can't help but dwell on it, can I? It is my business after all. My duty, sort of. Not as important as the duty I have to Usagi, but important because of it. Maybe it is the most important because it involves both of them, and—"

"Minako," Makoto interrupted, holding up a palm. "You’re doing that thing where you’re talking, but you’re not actually saying anything. Please start making sense and remember that I’m on pain medication."

There was nothing left to do but say it then. "Do you think maybe he really doesn't love her anymore?"

Makoto jerked to a stop, her whole body reacting to what Minako had said. She stared as if Minako had started speaking in tongues and temporarily seemed at a loss. Finally, she shouted, "What are you talking about, Minako? Of course he loves her! He just... He just doesn't remember it yet."

"But why doesn't he remember? You know as well as I do that he should."

"We don't know that," Makoto snapped.

“Even Ami said—"

"Ami can be wrong sometimes," Makoto asserted, convincing no one. "I know she said that… mathematically or whatever, he should have remembered, but the fact is, he didn’t. And it doesn’t really matter that it made sense ‘in theory.’ In theory, none of us should even be alive right now.” She glared, her expression almost ugly. "Don't try and be logical, Minako. You aren't suited for it."

Minako stared at her companion for a moment, pained by the reaction. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting. Understanding? How could anyone understand what she thought when she didn’t even know why she felt this way? But she’d been hoping Makoto wouldn’t yell at her; that had been foolish. They were too upset about what was going on not to lash out at one another.

“I wish I could explain it to you,” Minako confessed, sagging in on herself. “Do you think I want to feel like this? I’d love for nothing more than to be certain that one day, Mamoru will hit his head and everything will come flooding back. I want him to play the prince and sweep her off her feet and give her everything he deserves, but…

“I get feelings about people,” she murmured, self-conscious. “I’m not saying I’m psychic like Rei or that this is some kind of mystical truth. Maybe I can just read other people’s intentions. But I can look at Yuuichirou and know that he would die for Rei and be sure that while she loves him as a friend, she’ll never care for him the way he wants her to. I can listen to Motoki talk about Reika and know without having met her that they’re perfect for each other and that he’ll wait as long as it takes for her. So I know with every breath in my body that Usagi is to devoted Mamoru, that she needs him, that there’s a kind of… desperate love there.

“But I feel absolutely nothing from him.”

-----

Usagi hadn’t looked forward to going to Rei’s, but she’d also seen no point in delaying the inevitable. No matter what Rei wanted to say to her, or the others for that matter, she was going to have to face the music. She didn’t even drag her feet as she made her way up the stairs to the shrine, surprised to see Makoto and Minako stopped at one of the landings. She almost called out, when she saw the looks on their faces.

She stopped, and she listened.

“I know with every breath in my body that Usagi is to devoted Mamoru,” Minako whispered, “that she needs him, that there’s a kind of… desperate love there.

“But I feel absolutely nothing from him.”

Usagi dropped her briefcase, the sound going off like a bomb.

Both Minako and Makoto jumped at the unexpected interruption, but only the former paled so horridly. The blonde looked like a ghost now that she was underneath Usagi’s gaze, her hands covering her mouth as if she could push her words back inside. But there was no undoing it, no taking back what she’d said. It was in the open now, and there was no turning back.

“Minako…” Usagi murmured, thinking this was all more than she could take. “What… what do you mean?”

Makoto placed herself between them. “It doesn’t matter. Minako’s just tired. Don’t pay—"

“No, I want to know,” Usagi said, adamant. “Minako, what are you talking about? Why do you even… Are you saying you don’t think he loves me?”

Minako looked sick. “I… I don’t… Usagi, I didn’t want you to—"

Later, Usagi would have no idea how she reached Minako so quickly. She would have no memory of making the decision or of what possessed her to behave in such away. All she would remember was the sound of skin impacting skin echoing across the courtyard.

Minako cradled her chin, blue eyes wide. Makoto gasped. Usagi’s hand hurt, and it took her a moment to figure out why.

She’d slapped Minako across the mouth.

“Usagi!” Makoto cried.

She ought to have apologized. Intellectually, Usagi knew that hurting other people was wrong, but it didn’t register emotionally. Minako had hurt her worse than another slap, suggesting what she had. In a sick way, her actions made sense, were justified.

“How dare you?” Usagi asked, more wounded than furious. “How can you say something like that? How can you… What do you even know about it? You don’t have my memories. You’re not me. You know nothing about what he and I have been through. Have you ever even talked to him? So how can you possibly have any idea what he feels about me?!

“I know,” Usagi hissed. “And he does too, deep down. Don’t you ever forget that.” Then she spun on her heel, running up the stairs. Makoto called out after her, and she could hear the brunette rushing to catch up with her, but Usagi didn’t slow down. She had to get away from Minako and her words, her unexpected betrayal. She was on the verge of tears again, but she choked them down.

Minako was her friend, her Senshi sister, one of her greatest protectors.

But Usagi didn’t know how she would ever forgive Minako for what she had done.

-----

A woman bedecked in sailor fuku stood alone, ever watchful and wary. Had anyone been there to gaze upon her, they would have noted her hunter green hair as it moved in the windless world, touched by unseen hands. Garnet eyes narrowed, unkissed lips tightly pursed, and gloved hands gripped a staff so tightly that her fingers ached.

Clearly, Sailor Pluto was not pleased.

The fabric of time had begun to spiral out of control. Things had changed. Necessary events had not come to pass, and new ones took their place. Time was imbalanced, and perhaps the scales could not be corrected this time.

Normally, she would have restored the timeline to its original course. However, this time Sailor Pluto realized that she could do nothing but stand idly by. After all, she could not fix the mess that she had intentionally created, no matter how she regretted her decision.

She had broken her vows and interfered with the time stream. She ought to have been struck down for this transgression, but she had not. Somehow, she had known this from the start. Some benevolent spirit had stayed the tide of death, or perhaps a crueler one had decided to force her to watch the wrong she had done spiral beyond her control. Regardless, she was there, but impotent.

Sailor Pluto was disgusted with herself. She was not a woman prone to weakness. She had never been swayed by any amount of human emotion. It was her job to allow things to play out as they would despite the blood that would be split, the hearts that would be broken. Her happiness did not matter. The happiness of others, no matter how much they deserved it, mattered less. History had to remain as it would be written. There was no way around that.

Until she dipped her hand in. The ripple effects of her alteration were being felt all throughout time, just as she had predicted. She just hadn’t realized just what would happen, had not anticipated that it wound her through her loved ones. She ought to have known better. Fate was cruel and bitter, and constantly railing against Time.

She was being punished, and justly so, all for the love of one man.

"Daughter," boomed a voice distant and echoing endlessly in her eardrums.

Pluto froze. Another probability she should have taken into account. Of course He would come when she least desired His presence. She inclined her head out of habitual respect. "Father."

"You have shamed me, daughter.” His voice echoed with the power of the ages. He was ancient, far older than she. Every utterance seemed to kick up the dust of ruined civilizations, and the significance of Him and His might still shook her to her core despite all she had seen.

"I realize," Pluto replied, deceptively cool.

"You know the laws," He continued. "You have broken a sacred trust, and the punishment is meant to be immediate death."

"Yet, I am still here. Not Your doing, surely."

“The Queen has made it so.”

Pluto blanched. Until that moment, she had thought herself incapable of surprise. “Why? She ought to be more outraged than anyone.”

“Her reasons are her own,” He muttered crossly. Undoubtedly, this meant He knew exactly why the former moon queen had intervened on Pluto’s behalf and he disagreed with it. Not for the first or the last time, she was sure, Pluto longed to be able to communicate with the fallen Serenity. Pluto’s loyalty to her transcended beyond all others. If nothing else, she would have liked to apologize for the pain she had undoubtedly caused her princess.

"Daughter," He called, louder than before. "I know not your heart or mind. In truth, I care for neither. But I warn you of this: be careful of what you do from this moment on. You have meddled in things beyond all our understanding. Even I cannot see where this path you have put us on will lead."

Pluto shuddered at that, no more nor less afraid than a moment ago, but the articulation was still horrific.

“Serenity save you,” He said, almost in blessing. “Serenity save us all.”

And then He was gone.

The Time Guardian turned back to the Gates and stared out at the mist before her. In each cloud, she saw hundreds upon thousands of possible futures, each more harrowing than the next. She saw the strands that led to the past as well, all thick and rigid; unchangeable for they had already occurred. Threads resembling silk and twine and everything in between spun and looped around, leading her down their paths full of roses and thorns. But she paid the events laden on each strand little mind; dire though they were, they were the least of her concerns now.

"Small Lady," Pluto whispered miserably, "where are you?"




AUTHOR’S NOTES – 3/30/11
Yay, that didn’t take long at all! It finally occurred to me that uploading these as I go was probably not the best idea since I’m futzing with my own continuity… but now that I’ve started, I can’t really stop. And hopefully it’ll put pressure on me to get these out faster. So, huzzah.

I think now I’m at the point where the plot shouldn’t change that much. I’m guessing the next few chapters will be more easy to do than I originally anticipated because they’re pretty episodic in nature and there’s not a lot that can be shifted around. Bright sides springing up all over the place.

Hope you guys are happy with these changes. I definitely am! Hopefully I’ll see you at least one more time before the end of the month!

Thanks as always to Yumeko for putting up with all these re-edits! ≤3

Next - Part Four: Snuffed Out

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