A dry sound echoed throughout the hall. Lucas winced, seeing the red mark already forming on his older brother’s left cheek.

Mathias, on the other hand, didn’t as much as flinch. He remained calm as he looked at the older woman in front of him regretfully. The woman must have been in her early thirties. She had dark blond hair and brown eyes, as well as a small mole on the side of her mouth. Her eyes were fierce and smoldering as they looked at Mathias with hatred.

“This is all your fault!” she yelled, venom dripping from her words. Behind her, a man around the same age as her, with curly brown hair and golden eyes stood, watching the scene unfold in front of him impassively. A small boy with the same brown hair and golden eyes held the hem of his shirt, looking between the woman and Mathias with both confusion and fear. “Ever since you arrived at our home last year, asking for my daughter, nothing but misery has befallen us! And now this! Elaine’s been asleep for three days without sign of waking up! And the best thing you can say it’s I’m sorry?!”

Mathias took it all without saying a word. But contrary to Lucas’ expectations, his silence didn’t pacify the woman. If anything it just made her angrier.

“It’s because of you she’s like this! It’s because of you we’ve been suffering so much! Are you happy now?! Are you happy now, after reducing my daughter to this state?!”

“Of course not” Mathias whispered, roughly, sadly. The woman didn’t hear him. She lifted her hand, ready to strike Mathias again, before another voice stopped her.

“Must I remind you, lady, that hitting a noble it’s a great offense? Why, you might even end up in prison if word about this gets out.”

The one who said that, her tone nonchalant and even bored, was Adela, sitting not too far on a windowsill, watching the birds flying outside and the few servants left in the mansion working on the gardens. Everyone turned to look at her, and she smiled when their attention was completely on her.

“Once it’s enough to get your point across, thank you very much.”

“Nobody’s talking to you, witch” the woman hissed, trembling. Adela frowned.

“My, my, what a way to talk to the person who saved your daughter’s life, not once, but thrice, all in a little over twenty-four hours.”

“You…!”

“Diane… that’s enough” the man finally intervened, walking over to his wife and placing his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t forget… Thomas is still here” he whispered, looking over his shoulder to the small boy behind him. Diane looked at him too, and taking deep breaths, forced herself to calm down.

“Excuse me” the voice of an older man cut through the tense ambiance in the hall. Everyone turned to look at Ezekiel, who had come out from a room. He carefully closed the door as his eyes landed on both Mathias and Elaine’s family. “The check-up it’s complete. There’s a definite improvement in both her health and spiritual energy. At this pace, my guess is she’s going to wake up at most by tomorrow morning.”

Mathias nodded, bowing his head slightly to Ezekiel. “Thank you for your hard work.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do after all” he dismissed his thanks with a wave of the hand. He looked at Elaine’s parents. “If you want, you can see her now.”

“Yes, we definitely want to see her now” Diane said, making her way to the room, but her husband stopped her.

He looked at Ezekiel and nodded his head. “Thank you, for looking after our daughter” Diane had a sneer on her face, unhappy with her husband’s actions, but he looked at her sternly, leaning in to whisper in her ear; “can you stop that? What does it matter if he’s a necromancer? He saved our daughter’s life. The least you can do is push your prejudices behind at least for now.”

The words were said easily. Lucas wondered... if they knew what they wanted to do with Elaine, and what role the necromancer had in it, would the man still be as understanding?

As it was, they didn’t know exactly what purpose they had for bringing Elaine to the castle. They knew it was not for employing her as a maid or anything of the sort, but they couldn’t begin to imagine what real objective the previous viscount had for her.

It would bring trouble to everyone involved if word got out. Which, Lucas knew, was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. Something of this magnitude could not be hidden for long. But he said nothing and would not do it unless Elaine wanted her parents to know. If she wished for her family to know exactly what happened in her time here, then Lucas was ready to tell them everything himself, details included, no matter his family name or what consequences might befall him and Mathias.

Elaine’s family entered her room after a few more words were exchanged between them and the necromancer, leaving the four of them alone in the hall.

Mathias was the first to speak. “What is her condition?”

“Stable. Against all odds, and despite the original rejection of her body, it seems her soul it’s oddly compatible with the demon. The seal is strong. So is the connection between their souls.”

“…”

“How ironic; the one girl who is a victim in all of this, is the one with the most affinity with the hidden monster. Truly, it seems life really hates Elaine, no?” Adela said, her face twisted in a grimace of displeasure.

Lucas had to agree. After everything that happened, it just seemed unbelievably cruel for her body to be so compatible with the demon… Just why did she have such bad luck? Was it because of them? Because his family interfered and kidnapped her, and so everything just went downhill for Elaine from then on?

…Who was he trying to kid, of course it was their fault.

“My advice is that trying a transfer so soon it's dangerous. On the other hand, the longer we wait, the more the demon might accustom itself to her body. I cannot guarantee Elaine’s safety either way” Ezekiel said in a serious tone.

Mathias frowned, looking down, deep in thought.

“I am Daniel’s son, though” he finally said, lifting his head. “If there’s someone who should be able to withstand and possess the demon, it’s me. We…” he pursed his lips, his eyes drifting towards the window, “Daniel and I, have done enough damage as it is. At least this I should be able to do.”

“Nobody doubts your compatibility with your family’s monster. What we’re doubting, is that Elaine will be able to sustain such a burden upon her soul if we try the transfer this close to the previous one” Adela huffed, crossing her arms. “But then, if the demon is so compatible with her soul, does that mean she won’t be able to ever transfer it? Even if she, metaphorically, were to pass it on to her own child?”

“Genetics it’s an important factor, Daniel told me once. I think it wouldn’t be as dangerous if it were someone of her own blood” Ezekiel answered.

“And yet, even though she wasn’t related to Daniel, she’s still more compatible with the demon than even he was” Mathias shook his head, closing his eyes in frustration. “There’s something that we should be able to do. It’s not fair letting her carry this burden that’s not even hers in the first place.”

“No shit” Adela snorted.

“Language, young lady!” Ezekiel shouted, making Adela flinch and look away with a pout.

Lucas bit his lips, glancing to the side. The situation with Elaine was a delicate one. All of them, including Mathias, Adela and the necromancer, were in favor of transferring the demon from Elaine to Mathias as soon as possible, but this new information the necromancer brought them complicated things. He thought about their options while the others kept discussing, until something finally occurred to him.

“Instead of deciding ourselves what to do, why don’t we wait until Elaine wakes up? I think she should be the one to decide what to do about this” he flinched a little when everyone turned to look at him, but kept talking, thinking this was important. “All this time, decisions had been made for her. This time at least, it would be fair if she is the one to decide what to do about the demon, considering it’s living inside her now and all…”

“The noble brat has a point” Adela agreed, though her nickname bothered Lucas. “Let’s ask her. Only she should be the one to decide her future… or what it’s left of it.”

Mathias thought about it for a second, but he didn’t need to be told twice. He nodded his head. “That’s a good idea. You said she should be waking up soon, right?” he asked Ezekiel.

The man nodded. “Tonight or tomorrow’s morning, at most.”

“Good, in that case…”

“Elaine!”

“Sister!”

Those voices, along with a piercing scream came from inside the room. Mathias was the first one to enter, practically throwing down the door, as he was the one closer to it. Ezekiel was the second, followed by Lucas and then Adela.

What they found was something that, sadly, didn’t take them by surprise.

Elaine was awake, her hair a mess and her nightwear in disarray. She was thrashing in her mother’s arms, who was holding her against her, her eyes overflowing with tears while she tried to calm her down.

Ezekiel raised his hand, ready to cast a spell to tranquilize her, but there was no need for that, because as soon as Elaine’s eyes landed on Mathias, she stopped moving.

“You…” she said, her voice deep and cold. Lucas flinched but Mathias’ expression didn’t change in the slightest. However, Lucas could see his hands, closing into fists as he tried to control his emotions.

Elaine’s mother saw this, and tightening her hold on her daughter she pushed her face against her chest, softly caressing her hair. “Don’t worry sweetheart. He won’t lay a hand on you ever again. Mother promises you.”

“That’s not it!” Elaine yelled, pushing her mother away from her, much to everyone’s surprise. She turned her body towards them, more specifically Mathias, as she glared daggers at him. “You! You have a lot to explain!”

“Elaine?” a small voice called out, cutting through the tension visibly. Elaine’s temper immediately deflated upon hearing that voice. She looked down, her eyes landing on a small boy around six. Her expression softened, and for the first time since she woke up, her body relaxed.

“Thomas…” she whispered lovingly. Thomas' eyes wavered.

“Ahhh…” he climbed the bed, crawling until his body was practically on top of his sister, and once his arms were thrown around her, he started to cry in her chest. “Sister! Elaine! Don’t leave! Don’t ever leave me again!”

Elaine was left speechless, just like everyone else in the room. Her arms were hanging limp at her sides while the child cried on and on. She pursed her lips, her eyes becoming moist too, while, slowly, she lifted her hands, surrounding her little brother and embracing him too.

Her cheek rested on top of his head, and for a moment, it was as if the whole world disappeared, leaving only the two of them in it.

“I missed you, Thomas.”

The girl comforted her brother, and her mother and father also sat next to her, one at each of her sides, embracing her too. Lucas looked up at his older brother, who only gave him a nod, before all of them left the room, leaving the family alone in this intimate moment.

However, Lucas realized one thing before the door closed behind him.

Elaine never promised not to leave her little brother again.

Once everything calmed down, Elaine called them back to her room. Well, she only called Mathias, but the rest of them decided to enter anyway, as they had things to discuss with her.

More specifically, what they were supposed to do with the demon now sealed inside her.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear that you were willing to let me transfer the demon to you.”

“…I don’t want to know your reasons for thinking so.”

Her family didn’t want to leave her side, but Elaine insisted so much they had no other option but to comply. Thomas cried again, but Elaine gave him a hug and a pat on the head, assuring him she would see him soon and not to worry about her.

Right then, the only people in the room were Elaine, Mathias, Lucas, Adela and Ezekiel. It was not a coincidence as the five of them were the only ones who knew about the demon that had been running down for millennia in the de la Rosa family.

Lucas and Adela were told just the day after the battle about this. Adela took the information better, although with a bit of disgust, but Lucas was completely shocked. To think something so terrifying had been going on in his own family for generations and that Mathias was the one, who should have had the demon in him instead of Elaine, filled him with fear and apprehension.  It also made him incredibly sad. Why was it that Elaine always ended up carrying his family’s burdens?

The information, however, was not disclosed to anyone else. Not even Isabella and Noah, who, at the moment, were taking care of Gale in one of the castle’s rooms, waiting for Elaine to wake up so they could bring Mathias to their uncle and get paid for their work.

The only thing the mercenary group knew was that the viscount transformed before their eyes into a monster, with no explanation whatsoever. Domenic, Noah and another two mercenaries he knew not the name of, were the only ones who accompanied them to that cave, along with Ezekiel who woke up shortly after Elaine was taken. Mathias had insisted in hurrying, but they couldn’t make it in time.

Lucas was sure he would never forget the sight of Elaine strapped to a table in the middle of a lagoon, with the corpse of his father resting above her, blood splattered all over her face and body.

“Well, considering everything you’ve done to me, this is the least you can do. Don’t even think I’m going to thank you for doing what you were supposed to in the first place.”

“I don’t want your gratitude! I’m doing this because, as you say, it was supposed to be me from the beginning!”

Lucas woke up from his reverie when he heard Elaine and Mathias screaming at each other, which, honestly, was becoming routine at this point.

Elaine huffed, crossing her arms and turning her eyes towards the necromancer. “So, you’re saying I have two options: transfer now or wait until the demon is assented.”

“Yes, but like I told you, both have their dangers. A transfer so soon after the previous one will cause disconnection with your soul and damage, some of it irreversible. On the other hand, with your soul being so compatible with the demon, we take the risk of the bond strengthening to the point it could break your soul too, if we attempt to transfer it later.”

“I see…”

She pondered for a while, before rolling her eyes.

“Isn’t it obvious what I’m going to choose?” she said, though for Lucas it wasn’t obvious at all. “Let’s do the transfer later, when I’m no longer in danger.”

“Are you sure?” the necromancer asked gently. She nodded.

“Of course, I mean, think about it. You said that if I do the transfer now, then it is completely sure that my soul will be in danger, but you said you only believed I could be in danger if we wait. So, with that in mind, I’d go for the one that gives me a chance always to the one that's sure to be dangerous. Not taking into account I will have to transfer it sooner or later anyway.”

“Alright, then” the necromancer nodded.

“When will be safe for me to do the transfer?”

“With how compatible your soul is… I give it three to four months, though I can only be sure if I inspect you before the transfer.”

“Alright then, let’s give it five months just to be sure” she turned to Mathias. “What do you think?”

“Whenever you want is fine by me” he said while sighing. “As long as you’re completely sure.”

“Of course I’m sure!”

With that, silence fell within the room. Elaine wrung her hands together, her eyes glued to the comforter. From time to time, she would look at Mathias before glancing away.

When no one seemed to catch her meaning, she cleared her throat loudly.

Mathias sighed. “Elaine seems to want to talk to me alone. If you would be so kind…”

“Oh, sure, there are a few things I need to take care of before we leave” Ezekiel said, before turning to Adela. “Let’s go.”

“Elaine” the young woman said before stepping outside. Elaine looked at her, and Adela gave her a small smile, “I don’t know if we’ll ever see each other again, but… I only wish you the best. I hope you can recover completely and go back home with your family soon.”

“Yes…” Elaine whispered, before clearing her throat again and smiling, “thank you, Adela, for helping me. I also wish you the best.”

With that goodbye, the door closed behind them, leaving only Lucas, Mathias and Elaine inside. Elaine looked at Lucas, waiting, but he was unsure. He didn’t want them to kill each other as soon as he stepped outside, but… Elaine wanted to talk to Mathias alone. The conversation and whatever she had to tell to him was obviously private, and he didn’t want to meddle. Still…

“Elaine” Mathias spoke, seeing his brother’s hesitation. “Can Lucas stay? I think… that whatever it is you have to tell me, he should hear it too. After all, he is a part of my family, and I decided already I would no longer keep secrets from him. With more reason if it’s something that concerns me and one of my past actions.”

Elaine pursed her lips, but as quickly as it came she dropped her act. She sighed, shaking her head. “Fine, but know I was just being considerate by wanting to speak to you, and only you alone. However, if you want your little brother to know all about your dirty laundry then…”

“Elaine, speak already” Mathias interrupted, earning a glare from the young girl.

As expected, the two of them aren’t compatible at all.

“Ah, you really are insufferable! Fine, fine!” she took in a deep breath, before turning her serious eyes towards Mathias. “Is it true you killed your mother?” she asked without hesitation.

Lucas gasped. He looked between Mathias and Elaine, but the two only stared at each other, not sparing him a glance. He could see his brother was obviously taken aback by Elaine's question, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

After a while, Mathias pursed his lips, reluctantly giving an answer. “I… y-yes…” Elaine and Lucas' eyes widened, but then, he continued, “and no…”

She deadpanned. “Yes and no?” she asked mockingly. Lucas also looked at his brother with a frown. Mathias closed his eyes, throwing his head back as if he was struggling with the words, not knowing exactly how to explain. Then, finally, he spoke.

“She… She killed herself. That night, I was looking for her because she wasn’t in her room. She had been acting strange lately… well, more than usual, and when I found her she was in the eastern courtyard and…” Mathias wasn’t looking at them, his eyes fixated on the ceiling. Elaine raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but it was Lucas who spoke next.

“Then, if she committed suicide… why did you answer yes and no?”

“Because the reason she took her life was because of me” he finally lowered his eyes and looked at them both. “She said she didn’t want to see me… suffering because of what father would do to me. She didn’t want the ritual to take place. So she used a dagger and cut her own neck” he explained gravelly.

Elaine scoffed. “And you being a dutiful son did nothing to stop her? Come on, you’re a medic mage, surely if you couldn’t prevent her from doing so, at least you could have heal her or something.”

“I was in too much shock” Mathias answered harshly, glaring at Elaine. “I only regained my senses when father arrived. I had no idea what happened between the time she sliced her neck and father found me, but when he did, I had the dagger mother used in my hands, and…”

“And father believed you were the one to kill her” Lucas finished for him. Mathias shook his head.

“I told him I killed her myself” he let out a dry laugh, seeing the other two’s surprised expressions. “I don’t know why I did it though. Maybe I wanted to show him he didn’t have as much of a control over me as he thought? Or maybe it was just because I wanted to see the look on his face…” he lifted a hand, pressing it against his hair, taking hold of the locks and pulling lightly. “It was him who told you this, no Elaine? That asshole, wanting to look righteous till the end. What righteous? When you were the one who caused it all…”

No one said anything for a few moments, each one absorbing the information in their own way. Lucas, who had been given shock after shock in such a short period of time, could already feel a headache forming. He looked at Elaine, wanting to see how she was taking it. She had a frown on her face, her eyes glued to her hands on her lap.

Finally, she spoke again. “So, it was her who started it all…” she whispered, but Lucas caught it. He frowned, not sure what she meant by that. But before he could ask her, she looked at Mathias again. “What’s going to happen now, that your father is dead? What’s going to happen to the viscounty?”

Mathias lifted his eyebrows, returning to a more relaxed expression. “I didn’t think you would care about what happened to us.”

“I don’t. Well…” she looked at Lucas, and he felt his heart skip a beat. “Maybe a little, but mostly I care because me and my family live in the viscounty. It’s obvious I would care to know what will happen to the place I live.”

“Well… with how the situation is right now, the future doesn’t look very good” he sighed. “The mercenary group you guys brought insists in taking me back with my uncle. I don’t think I can refuse them for much longer. I also don’t know how much uncle is aware of the situation, but when he hears about it from them… he will surely communicate it to the King. In that case, the viscounty will be taken from us and the land given to the closest more influential family in the region, an earl or marquis, if I’m correct.”

“So, for the people in the land…”

“You will have a new lord” Mathias confirmed.

“But that also means the King will take the title away from you” Lucas said, worried. “What will happen to us Mathias? Will we… will we be punished?”

“I’m the only one who is going to be punished Lucas, so don’t worry about that.”

The way he said it, it was so sure and… “Don’t worry about it? How do you want me not to worry about it? Mathias, with father gone, we are the only ones left representing the family. Telling me you are the only one who is going to be punished doesn’t make me feel better, in fact, it makes me feel worse!” he shouted.

“Lucas…”

“No! If there’s going to be a punishment, it’s going to be for the two of us! I’m not going to leave you alone! And I definitely won’t let you cover for me when the King calls for us to testify!”

“The King won’t call for you.”

At this new information, Lucas was once again left speechless. Elaine looked away, suddenly feeling like an intruder.

“What do you mean…?”

“Father only signed one of us in the royal registry as his son Lucas, and that was me. He did so because I’m the only one he could sign in the first place.”

“…”

“Lucas, I… I’m sorry. I never wanted to tell you, but…” Mathias looked troubled. Elaine only kept looking away.

So she knew too?

“I’m an illegitimate child, right?” he asked, his voice sounding weak. Mathias blinked in surprise.

“That’s… how…?”

“That guy, Noah, from the mercenaries, he said something when we first met…” he trembled as he spoke. “That father only had one known son… and then another mercenary said that if no one knew of my existence, it was because… I… well…”

“…Lucas…”

“No, no” he shook his head. “It’s not necessary that you tell me anything. I just…” he laughed, though it was strained. “It’s always like this, no? Always keeping things from me, always shielding me from everything… Just… just stop that, ok?” he looked fiercely at Mathias, his hands clenching into fists. “I’m so tired of being left in the dark for everything. Father’s treatment of you, that mother killed herself, the demon running in our family… and now this! Is it so difficult to trust in me? Or is it that you think I’m some kind of… of…” he fumbled, looking for the right word, “weak person that can’t handle anything? Is that what you think of me?!”

“No!” Mathias yelled, his expression showing his astoundment. “I don’t think that way about you at all! You know perfectly well why I hid some things from you! It’s because… because you don’t need to get yourself involved in things so…!”

“Even the fact that I’m illegitimate?!” Lucas interrupted, shutting Mathias up completely. “Did that have nothing to do with me at all? God, now I understand why mother never looked my way!” there was a bubbling quality to his self-deprecating laugh, and his eyes were wet. “All this time telling me not to worry about it, that mother did love me, and it was all a lie! No matter what I did, how much of a good boy I was and how pathetically I asked for it, I would never get her love, all because I’m the son of another woman!”

Another silence engulfed them. For once, Mathias' eyes were firmly on him, not looking away even if it looked like he was struggling against himself. Lucas waited for his brother to say something, anything, but he remained silent, and for once in his life, he found himself hating him for it.

“So what? You have nothing to say now?” he snorted. “Of course not, what was I waiting for… all these years, and only now I find out just how much of a coward you truly are.”

“Lucas…” surprisingly, the one to call out for him was Elaine, her voice sounding small and unsure. Lucas shook his head.

“You don’t need to say anything Elaine. If he wants to take the world upon his shoulders again, and go to the King alone to confess all his crimes… then so be it. I won’t care about it anymore” he started to walk towards the door. “This once, you’ve won brother. Do whatever the hell you want.”

And with that, he slammed the door behind him.

Mathias and Elaine were left alone.

“Are you not going to go after him?” she asked, for once her voice sounding soft when talking to him.

Mathias shook his head.

“He’s right about me… I always... always hid things from him, thinking I was protecting him, when in reality, I was just treating him like a child... someone weak who could not handle the truth. This is the first time he's ever become so angry with me..." his expression was grave. His mouth pursed tightly. "But... maybe it's better this way, at least for now... Otherwise, he will insist in going with me to the royal capital to testify in front of the King and…”

“I see…” Elaine said, not commenting on how his hands were trembling, his eyes watering despite his best attempts against it. “But have you not considered the possibility that you might not come back alive? As far as I know, mingling with the dark arts it’s a capital offense. The King could even ask for your life, and this would have been your last conversation with him...”

“If that’s how it’s going to be, then there’s nothing that can be done about it. But I have a feeling it won’t go that far. My uncle hired a mercenary group to rescue me after all” he scoffed, his expression hardening. “He did not do so out of the kindness of his heart. He needs me for something. He probably will vouch for me and proclaim it was all Daniel’s fault.”

“Calling him Daniel now, huh?” Mathias shrugged. “Then, what will happen with Lucas? I mean… obviously without your title this castle it’s probably going to be closed off or something. And while your uncle might vouch for you, I’m sure it won’t be the same for him, right?”

“That’s why it’s important he doesn’t go.”

“Where is he going to live while you’re being processed by your father’s crimes?”

Mathias looked at her, and Elaine frowned.

“No.”

“There’s no one else who would take him in.”

“His mother’s family.”

“They abandoned him in the first place because they didn’t want a noble’s bastard living with them, regardless of the excuses they gave at the moment. Besides, we don’t know who they are anyway.”

“I might have a clue.”

“Do you really?”

“Argh!” Elaine pulled at her hair, fed up with everything. “He can’t stay with me! Are you crazy?! My parents hate the hell out of you, and with good reason! They will never allow him in! And besides, we’re poor! How do you want us to feed another mouth?!”

“Your family was given a big compensation after Sebastian bought you…” even though he was saying that, he sounded deeply embarassed while doing so. Elaine didn't care.

“Fuck you!” she glared fiercely at him. “That’s not a good enough reason! Lucas can’t stay with me, and that’s it! Don’t even think about insisting!”

“I know it’s horribly preposterous of me to ask this of you…”

“It is!”

“But I trust no one else. Not the servants, not the mercenaries, not even Ezekiel and Adela” he looked at Elaine again, and took in the full force of her glare. “This is… not for me. It’s for Lucas. He has nowhere else to go. Being an illegitimate child he will always be in danger… that’s why…”

Elaine really wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but deep down, she knew he was right. There was a reason they decided to go with Noah and Isabella after all. Running away from the King’s authority as well as from Mathias’ uncle. This time, Mathias was ready to assume the consequences of his actions, but he didn’t want Lucas to be dragged into something that wasn’t really his fault in the first place. Elaine understood that…

She sighed, giving up. “I want you to look for other alternatives first, and if everything else fails, then… I will talk with my parents.”

Mathias immediately bowed, much more deeply than was acceptable for a noble.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. There’s still plenty to do” then she folded her arms, lifting her chin and scoffing. “You better not get yourself killed there in the capital! I still need you to transfer this fucking demon to you!”

“I’ll do my best.”

Thus, Elaine’s first official ‘adventure’ came to an end, although, it was definitely not the last.

End of Arc 1.

A.P.R.L.

Hahahaha, I had no idea what to write in the last line. Anyway, this is it guys, arc 1 is officially over! (Throws confetti). And it only took eight months to complete it, hahahahaha.

Now, I want to tell everyone that arc 2 it's on its way! But I'm going to take a while to bring it to you (I still have to work the details, order my ideas and write the first chapters). However! There are a few 'extras' I've been thinking to post before starting arc 2. No extras as in story extras, but things like characters' profiles, world explanation and so on... that might keep you occupied while I'm working on arc 2. So just you don't miss too much :P

And... that's it. See you guys soon, and don't forget to tell me what you thought about the arc in general! Thank you so much for following throughout the whole process. I know better than anyone just how frustrating reading some scenes might have been.