Hi yes wow it's been such a long time, hasn't it?

Looking back at it, the plot I have for this is kinda,,,,oof, convoluted tbh. I might like redo some parts of the story maybe? Idk. H̶o̶w̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶s̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶k̶a̶s̶d̶j̶k̶d̶ 

I've had half of this chapter saved in my drafts, but I could never finish it until now...it's super duper long, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Take it as a reward for sticking by this story after such a long wait~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Jessie's P.O.V.~

The four of us entered the backstage area, where we were greeted with various other high schoolers from different schools ranging from Quatro Cerberus High to Mermaid Heel Girl's Academy. "Heh, this'll be a cinch," Orga sneered with an arrogant smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and continued on. However, I suddenly brushed shoulders with someone as I walked.

"O-oh, my bad--" I start to apologize, but stop cold when I see who it is.

"Oh! If it isn't the local hero." A small smirk was painted on the man's lips. His snow-white hair was spiky as usual as his obsidian eyes were warm as they locked with mine. He was wearing a navy-blue cape over a sky-blue shirt that was paired with black pants with white boots. A green logo in the shape of a mermaid was stitched on the right part of his shirt.

"L-Lyon??" I stammer, which catches the attention of my bandmates.

"It's nice to see you again Jessie." Lyon placed his hands on his hips and offers me a warm smile. His lips curl into a smirk as he says, "I heard you were no longer at the school of my poor excuse of a step-brother." I can't help but chuckle and shake my head.

"Yeah, I'm at my dad's school for a little while," I reply. "I take it you're auditioning this year as well?"

"Of course," he responds immediately. "Lamia Scale won't come in 2nd place this year."

"Haha, we'll see," I laugh.

"Who you talking to now?" Out of nowhere, Orga sticks his large head in between us. The two of us flinch and glare at him.

"Oh, is this one of the people you'll be singing with?" Lyon asks, cocking his eyebrows.

"Yeah, why?" Orga glares, hearing the hint of annoyance in Lyon's voice.

"Well, it's just that it'd be a shame for Jessie's enormous talent to be wasted on you, though I can't say I'm necessarily complaining," Lyon answers bluntly and with an ice-cold finish. My face heats up at his compliment for multiple reasons.

"You wanna go?" Orga's face darkened and he grits his teeth. However, before he can do anything, Rogue suddenly shoves the green-head away, shooting him a glare before giving Lyon a curious look.

"What do you mean 'enormous talent'?" Rogue inquires, glancing at both me and Lyon as Rufus stands beside him with the same look of curiosity. My face flushes and I scramble to shut Lyon's mouth, but the words slip out of his mouth before I could stop him.

"Do you not know? Heh, wow," Lyon scoffs with a smirk. "I can't believe you don't know how amazing Jessie--"

"Heeeeeeyy!!" I was just about to tackle Lyon to the ground, but luckily, a cheerful voice stopped him cold. The five us turn our heads to see Natsu waving his hands with a toothy grin on his face. Beside him, Lucy, Jellal, Levy, and Juvia were panting, Erza and Laxus were shaking their heads, Mira was smiling as usual, and Gray and Gajeel had angry expressions on their faces.

"Oi Water Girl!" Gajeel spat as soon as he came in range with me. "Why the hell didn't you tell us where to go!?" I shot him a glare and flicked his nose. "Itai!" he flinched and stepped back.

"Maybe it's because you keep calling me that, dumbass," I growl. "Or maybe it's because you didn't freaking ask!"

"Why are you talking with this dumbass, though?" Gray asked, his eyes locked on the whitette beside me.

"Well, well, if it isn't my little brother," Lyon scoffed. "Still calling me childish names? You really need to grow up."

"Would it be better if I hit you with my fist?" Gray growled, butting heads with Lyon. The two glared at each other, and I could start to feel a cold breeze brush against me. I start to go towards them, but Erza stops me.

"I got it," she says with a small smile. Her face then falls into a serious expression. She walks up to the two Ice Mages and forcefully butts their heads together like she'd do with Gray and Natsu. Speaking of Natsu, he starts to roar with laughter as the two step-siblings writhe with pain as they hold their foreheads with their hands.

"F-forceful as always, Erza.." Lyon mutters painfully. Erza just grinned at him and said nothing more.

"Uh, guys? Shouldn't we be setting up and practicing?" Levy, one of the more saner people from FTH, piped up and caught the attention of everyone else.

"Ah, you're right," I checked a nearby clock resting on the wall. It was almost time for the first audition. "Don't tell me you guys go first?" I turned my head towards Jellal, who grins weakly and nods.

"Yes, that is correct," he answered in his usual warm tone, though there was a hint of exasperation in his tone.

"Ehhh?" I mused before chuckling. "It was Natsu who picked, wasn't it?"

"It's not my fault it's rigged!" Natsu immediately piped up to say, making all of us laugh.

"Alright, well, we gotta go. See you later, Jessie!" Lucy piped up, giving me a short tight hug before the whole gang left to go set up their equipment and practice. I smile softly as I watch them go before I realize Orga, Rufus, and Rogue were all looking down at the floor with thoughtful expressions.

"Uhh...what's wrong?" I sweatdropped, frowning. Did we hit another snag that I didn't think about?

"Well, it's just..." Orga started then trailed off.

"I have no memory of us drawing our number for when we perform," Rufus explained, his hand on his chin. Rogue nods and I blink.

"Wh-? Surely we..did...right...?" My words slow as I take a moment to actually think about it.

"...Guys, I think we have to go," Rogue spoke up, and like a switch that got flipped on, all of us turned into panic mode and immediately ran out the backstage door to go and get our slot.

~♪~

"That was close..." I breathed out as I took a moment to catch my breath, as did the other three.

"Who'da think we would get second, though..?" Orga panted. Rogue groaned, his hand crumpling the piece of paper with the number '2' on it.

"Well...you could say it's bad luck, but there was only one slot left..." I sighed and straightened my stance, brushing off any dust from my jacket. We were on the stairs to the stage, which was where hey had been giving out the slots. I glanced up to take a look, but the sight that I saw left me speechless. "Oh Mavis..." I breathed out. The other three then glanced up at what I was seeing in response to my words, their own eyes widening as they too saw it.

"That's a lot of people," Orga muttered in awe as he took in the countless number of people that crowded the auditorium.

"I have never seen so many people in this auditorium, according to my memory," Rufus commented as he too took in the unbelievable amount of people inside. I, for one, gulped as I felt shivers go down my spine at the sight of just so many people.

'I can't even understand how many people can fit into this one room, be it big or not,' I thought to myself as I tried to stop my rapidly-beating heart. I flinched as the loudspeaker came to life.

"Up first, the Fairy Boys from Fairy Tail High!" Chapati, the annual announcer of the GMG, announces on the speakers. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Jellal, and Laxus all ready their instruments and wait for the huge crowd to quiet down. Ah, that's right, it is there turn now, huh? I try to focus on Natsu and the gang instead of the crowd. We were quite close by but to the side so we wouldn't be seen, so it was a little hard to see Gray and Laxus off to the other side of the stage. Jellal and Gray readied their guitars while I could see a wide toothy smirk on Gajeel's lips as he twirled his drumstick in his fingers. I wasn't sure, but I think I saw Laxus roll his eyes as he plugged in his electric guitar.

'What song are they gonna play..?' I couldn't help but wonder, and as I glanced towards my bandmates, I could tell that they were thinking the same thing. We didn't have to wait long with our thoughts, though, as they started to play with a rather abrupt start.

https://youtu.be/5JqY-6q-RNA

I let out a soft scoff and gave a wry smile as I soon started to recognize the tune. Well, it's Fairy Tail after all, they always start in style.

(Small A/N: normal text is, well, normal text, bold is Natsu singing, in italics is Gray or Jellal, behind her, and both bold and italics are Gray, Laxus, Gajeel, and Jellal all singing)  

"Put on your war paint!"

All four of them chanted the first line of the song, and already people started to cheer. Well, Fairy Tail was definitely the audience favorite in here. I glanced towards Orga, Rufus, and Rogue, who were raptly paying attention to the stage. I decided to join them as Natsu began to sing the first verse.

"You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down,

Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground!

We are the jack-o-lanterns in July,

Setting fire to the sky,

He-here comes this rising tide,

So come on!"

Natsu looked like he was having fun as he sang the lyrics, a wide, toothy smirk painted on his lips as he sang. The whole crowd was already starting to cheer, and I couldn't help but grin at how fitting this song was.

"Put on your war paint!"

"Crosswalks and crossed hearts and hope-to-dies,

Silver clouds with grey lining,"

J: "So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked,"

Jellal abruptly shifted the strong mood to a soft, more soulful tone, one that his voice could easily and smoothly make the transition. They were going all out, huh?

G: "One maniac at a time we will take it back."

I couldn't help the soft scoff that escaped me. Gray definitely asked to be the one to sing that line, just to spite Natsu, who didn't seem too bothered, the expression on his face one of pure Natsu glee as he chimed right after the Ice Mage's line.

"You know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start,

So dance alone to the beat of your heart!"

In signature Natsu fashion, the pinkette took the microphone off of the mic stand and held it with both hands as he threw his head back and sang out the next part.

"Heeeeeeyy young blood!

Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?"

I let out a soft scoff of disbelief, an almost proud grin curling onto my lips at the way Natsu sang the chorus, pouring all of his heart into the words just like he does in anything else.

"I'm gonna change you like a remix,

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the trio beside me's mouths all drop as Natsu perfectly hit that high note. Well, what did they expect? There was no way Natsu was going to go all in on this not being able to hit those notes.

"Wearing our vintage misery,

No, I think it looked a little better on me,

I'm gonna change you like a remix,

I watched with amusement as Natsu pointed to the crowd then raised one of his arms up.

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

I felt my heart ache at the way Natsu brought one of his hands up, holding up his pointer finger as he sang that last line, almost looking like that of a check mark of sorts before brought his hand back down to hold the mic once more and get ready for the next verse. It was Fairy Tail's signature hand symbol. 

"Bring home the boys and scrap scrap metal the tanks,

Get hitched and make a career out of robbing banks,

Because the world is just a teller and we are wearing black masks,

"You broke our spirit," says the note we pass!"

J: "So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked."

G: "One maniac at a time we will take it back."

"You know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start,

So dance alone to the beat of your heart!"

Ooo, he hit those notes pretty well. I smirked. He definitely practiced harder than he usually would've. Was it perhaps because I'm one of his opponents now? Nah...it couldn't be. I wasn't...that great.

"Heeeeeeyy young blood!

Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?

I'm gonna change you like a remix,

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

"Wearing our vintage misery,

No, I think it looked a little better on me!

I'm gonna change you like a remix,

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

"Put on your war paint!"

As there was an instrumental pause, I glanced towards the crowd. They were cheering and causing a little ruckus. Though only some were standing--wearing FTH uniforms, of course--they were all pretty into the song. They were definitely getting in.

"The war is won,

Before it's begun.

Release the doves,

Surrender love!"

the audience started to clap along to the beat of the refrain.

"The war is won,

Before it's begun.

Release the doves,

Surrender love!"

"The war is won,

Before it's begun.

Release the doves,

Surrender love!"

"(wave the white flag!)"  

Laxus, Gray, Jellal, and even Gajeel all started to chant 'wave the white flag' over and over as Natsu sang the last of the refrain.

"The war is won,

Before it's begun.

Release the doves,

Surrender love!"

"  Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy-- "  

As Natsu held out the 'hey' for as long as he could, the whole auditorium burst into cheers.

"--young blood!!

Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?

I'm gonna change you like a remix,

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"  

The cheers were so loud, I thought that it was actually starting to bleed into their music 

"Wearing our (O-o-oh) vintage misery, 

No, I think it looked a little better on me!

I'm gonna (O-o-oh) change you like a remix,

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

"Heeeeeeyyy young blood,

Doesn't it feel like (O-o-oh) our time is running out?

I'm gonna change you like a remix (O-o-oh),

Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!"

The whole crowd was in an absolute chaos as cheer and screams and squeals all mixed together into one giant screamfest, and it was quite obvious that the FT boys were having quite a great time, wide smirks painted on all of their lips as they were sure their victory was locked in.

"Put on your war paint!"

They played the last of the notes with a large bang, the loud sound barely able to be heard as screams and cheers and applause practically shook the auditorium to its core.

"Jesus effing christ..." Orga sweatdropped, "I can literally feel the auditorium shake with all these cheers..." 

"I do not have the memory of this caliber of volume ever occurring in this auditorium..." Rufus sweatdropped.

"They're not Fairy Tail for nothing..." Rogue sweatdropped, crossing his arms.

'It's going to be hard to top that...' I thought to myself as I crossed my arms. Knowing the school council, they didn't give out points so easily, but yet, I watched in slight awe as not only did Yajima give a perfect 10, but Org a 9, and then especially Belno, who gave that amazing performance an 8...

'Points are going to be really hard to earn, that's a given, and for them to already have such a good score...they've really placed the bar up high.' I bit into nail a bit as I thought about what it would take to get a higher score, and not only would we have to do that, but as for me... I glanced back to the cheering crowd, feeling anxiety well up inside me at the sheer quantity of all those people just screaming and shouting and cheering for Natsu and the gang's performance.

"Uh, you alright there Jessie?" I jolted out of my anxiety, however, at the sound of Rogue's voice. I blinked and snapped my head towards him.

"W-what? M-me? I'm fine!" I stammered a response, letting out a forced laugh as I did so. "It's just, a bit cold in h-here is all!"

"Don't tell me, you're actually scared of performing in front of so many people?" Rufus raised an eyebrow in intrigue. Rogue's eyebrows knitted into a frown and he nodded as if he too was asking the same question.

"W-what? No!" I denied. Rogue furrowed his frown deeper, and I didn't notice Orga's growing mischievous smile.

"You know, I would get nervous too if I had to be the one to sing in front of so many people," he said with a smirk, and somewhere in the back of my mind I could tell that he was just teasing me, but his words struck me hard and I could feel my body start to tremble at the thought of failing in front of such a large crowd.

As soon as Rogue noticed my nervousness caused by his words, he harshly smacked Orga right in the back of his head.

"Ow! What's that for, Rogue?!" Orga snapped, rubbing the back of his head. He shoots a sharp glare his way, which makes his anger fizzle like a dying fire.

"I was just teasing.." he grumbled lowly, but my dragon-sensitive ears picked it up.

"S-sorry," I stammered, not even bothering to feel annoyed at his words as I rub eyes and turn around towards the exit. "I..I need a moment."

"Eh?" Orga questioned. "O-oi, Jessie, I was just joking--" Orga starts to apologize, but I start walking away before he finished because I could feel the butterflies start to act up again.

However, before I even leave the backstage, someone roughly bumps into me. "Hoh, what do we have here?" I stiffen, and the butterflies disappear into thin air at the sound of the arrogant voice that speaks. Anger flares inside me as I glare at the person smirking at me. "You feeling nervous there, Celestia?" Minerva asks me in a mocking tone. I lower my gaze at her.

"What's it to you?" I spit. "Why are you even here in the first place?"

"Oh~? Didn't you know?" A playful smile curled onto Minerva's lips. "I'm auditioning to be in the GMG." She then brought her face closer to me as her smirk immediately shifted into a glare. "What are you doing here? And where's Sting??" I return her glare with one even fiercer than her's.

"He's sick," I growl, gritting my teeth to hold back my temper. "So I'm subbing for him." Minerva narrows her ice-cold camo-green eyes at me.

"...I see," she mutters. "Shame, guess he gets sick too." She scoffs, her face slightly twisting with disgust. I didn't know why, but the small flame of anger inside me spark by her change in expression.

"Shouldn't you be at least seeing if he's okay?" I ask, my voice dark. Wasn't she his girlfriend??? Minerva's face contorts with an annoyed frown.

"Why should I? He's not dying or anything," Minerva rolls her eyes. "Well, to be fair, even if he was, I wouldn't be visiting him." I felt my eyes widen and my anger flare, but she paid me no mind and instead flicks her head away from me.

"Well, I have to go practice for my debut~" she deliberately flipped her hair towards me, prompting her braids to strike my face. I didn't personally know how I looked, but I swear I was glaring a million daggers at her. "Wish me luck, not that I'll need it~" A malevolent laugh escaped her lips as she walked towards the stage, her hips dramatically swaying with every step. I kept my demoniacal stare towards her as she went out the stage, but it was what I heard next that snapped me out of it.

"God damn do I hate her..." My glare breaks and my eyes widen.

"Wait, what?" I turn my head towards Orga, whose also glaring almost as hard as I was.

"We all have feelings of some form of dislike towards her, despite her appearance," Rufus grimaces, his eyes narrowing as he glanced in the direction Minerva had gone.

"...Eh?" I blankly blink.

"We all kinda hate her," Rogue says bluntly. "Didn't 'ya know that already...?"

"Eh? Well, I mean, I guess, but then why do you always sit with her..?"

"Because of Sting," the three of them all answered in unison with a flat tone. I blinked.

"O-oh," I sweatdropped. "Th-that...does make sense, actually..." Orga sucked in a breath.

"Yeah," he sighed, rubbing his spiky green hair. "S'not like I was totally opposed to it, but..." I nod my head.

"Yeah, I get it," I say before glaring in the direction that jerk walked off on. "Trust me, I do."

"Coming up next, The Sabertooth Tigers from Sabertooth Academy!" The four of us all jolted and snapped our head towards the loudspeaker. 

"Oh shit--" I cursed, scrambling towards the backstage door, the trio of troublemakers behind me quickly following us. We bolted through the door, startling some other bands. Out of the corner of my eye, I realize that we passed Natsu and the others as they walked through the curtain, and even though everyone else that we passed was a blur, for just a split second, I knew I saw Natsu's wide, toothy smirk and eyes glinting with a challenge, as if to say, 'Top that.'

I flashed him back my own smirk. 'Bring it on.' Then, I focused my attention back on our instruments, which we had left resting on one area of the backstage. They quickly strapped on their instruments, Rogue his guitar and Orga his drumsticks (the drums were already set on stage), and Rufus the keytar that I asked him to use. 

I took in a shaky breath, my hands moving with me as I breathed in then breathed out, trying to calm the tight nervous pain in my chest. It's okay, it's okay, you can do this...

All of a sudden, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. For a moment, I suddenly thought of Sting and snapped my head towards the source of the warmth. It was, of course, not Sting, but rather Rogue giving me a sympathetic look. "Let's do this," he said simply. I knew he wasn't a man of words, so the little he gave was already meaningful. I gave a weak grin and nodded, straightening up. 

"Yeah, you're right," I nodded, placing my hand over Rogue's. "Thanks." He blushed a bit in embarrassment, but gave me a small smile back, slipping his hand away from my shoulder. I let go of his hand and looked towards Rufus and Orga, who gave me a comforting grin and a wide smirk respectively. I grinned at the both of them before letting out a long exhale one more time. Okay. I pivoted on my foot and faced the curtains, readjusting my leather jacket and nodding.

"Allllllright!! Up next, second to that amazing performance, The Sabertooth Tigers from Sabertooth Academy!" The announcer, well, announced. I adjusted my hair, my fingertips brushing over the white clip I had to hold my bangs.

"Let's do this," I stated but I strode towards the curtains as confidently as I could, the other three following behind me. 

We walked through the curtains together, and we were immediately hit by the crowd's greeting applause and cheers, a little louder than usual due to the fact that many in the audience were in fact Sabertooth students. I tried not to look towards any of them, tried to not think about how they would see me sing, how I'd have to see at least some of them on Monday. I could feel the three judges' eyes burn into me, but I tried my hardest to also ignore that as I stepped in front of the mic stand, examining it but not daring to touch it just yet. I could feel my hands tremble as I bring them up to weakly hold the mic and mic stand. I tried to focus on my bandmate's footsteps behind me, hearing Rogue's heavy footsteps to my left and Rufus' lighter ones to my right. I took in a deep breath in as I knew it was time to start. You can do this, Jessie.

https://youtu.be/C7GroxehBK0

(Small A/N: normal text is, well, normal text, bold is Jessie singing, in italics is Rufus, Rogue, and Orga behind her, and both bold and italics are all of them singing)

As Rufus starts playing the opening intro on the keytar while both Rogue and Orga back him up with their guitar and drums, I try my best not to look anxious as I try to mentally prepare myself.

As soon as he plays the last keys on the piano, Rufus immediately changes the sound to that of an electric guitar, and the whole tempo speeds up, signaling that it was soon my time to sing. I take a small deep breath and close my eyes. You can do this, Jessie.

"The wind brushes the darkness and it shakes,

the color of the tone played, the silence dances,

The floating moon that I stare up at - What color is it?"

Good, I haven't messed up yet, gotta keep going...

"These shaking hands, they desire,

Every sort of thing, don't they?

Isn't that funny?"

In that small break between the lyrics, I open my eyes, a sharp feeling of determination and adrenaline running through me as I take hold of the mic stand and start singing the chorus.

"That's right, we are continuously struggling monsters!

We desire everything before our eyes,

And there's no time to hesitate."

"(We'll be coming)"

A wide grin spreads onto my lips as I hear the boys and their instruments backing me up.

"And so below the sky split in half by the light of the moon.

Without wings, we're still made to fly,

Ready to sacrifice whatever it took!"

Perhaps it was the adrenaline talking, but in that moment, as I sucked in my breath for the next words, as I wait for my cue, I felt...excited. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins and my hands almost felt both tingling and numb from the sheer thrill of it all.

"Your hands that gently parted from me are surely warm, wherever they are."

I could feel myself move both my body and the microphone stand as I sway to the rhythm.

"The voice that tells me what to do - I'm afraid of it.

The body that came from the shadow is breathing,

And in the gap between moments, a red color is dying it."

I drop my head down for the short pause before flicking it up and roaring out the chorus.

"That's right, we are continuously struggling monsters!

We break everything that we touch,

We don't even have room to turn our heads."

As I sing, emotions overwhelm me like as if I was the person in these lyrics, the one screaming that we are struggling monsters, and I didn't mind. Songs should be sung like this, right?

"(We'll be coming)"

My smile grows the slightest bit wider.

"And so below the eastern sky faintly burned

We go drunk on the illusions drawn there

Within my heart, I hide away lies!"

Yes, yes they should, I thought to myself in yet another break in the song, letting Orga and Rogue jam out.

"Worry snaps away at these legs,

But still, we will not stop progressing forward,

Even as the sun and moon cast their overlapping shadows."

Their instruments stop, and I lower my head as silence echoes for just a second...

"That's right..."

...leaving only my voice to echo across the large stage as I sing just two words for a few moments. I then continued.

"We are forever searching monsters!

Even though we know not why we still face forward,

We don't even know how to fight back.

(We'll be coming)

And so beneath the sky split in half by the moon,

We dream of the day when we will be able to flap our wings,

Towards the daylight that scorches everything, if you're lost then you won't be found..."

I hold the last note as the guys behind me sing the next lines.

"Sharp eyes stare out from the darkness,"

I join them right after.

"Sniffing out the smell of overflowing blood.

From the depths of the heart a voice echoes,

Seize everything for yourself, now, seize everything for yourself.."

Rufus plays the three small notes on the keytar, and its sound vertebrates through the silent auditorium like the last drops of rain after a heavy storm. And then, pure silence blankets over the whole auditorium for just a single moment...

...before the whole crowd erupts with cheers and applause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, Crystal here! Hope you liked the chapter, it's like, 5000+ words

I'm sorry for disappearing for so long, but hey! You can thank ANIME_NFKK for asking when I'd update it on my profile! Because of them, I decided to update this one first~

Oh, also! If you guys would like to help, you could give some song recommendations you'd like either the FT boys,  the FT girls, the Sabertooth gang, or Minerva's band should sing! Anyone in the GMG basically~ I'd appreciate and take into account any suggestions ^^

Oh, also, this book is going to go under SERIOUS PLOT CHANGES AND EDITS. I've decided that without doing that, I won't be able to finish this book with a satisfying ending. I probably won't update the next chapter until I finish all the edits and make the story as solid as I can make it, but I definitely have some drafts for new chapters.

See you all the next time I update! No promises on when that is...