First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this!
When I first started writing Descent, it was mostly out of boredom while I was quarantined. I never really expected that there's going to be a second part because it was supposedly a one-shot, but I had so much fun writing it.
And I hope you had fun reading it as well!
While Descent II: Madness is supposedly a whole lot shorter than the first book, it does answer some questions (about the characters) and a lot of things are happening behind the scenes so keep an eye out for the clues!
I'm not gonna lie, it took me almost half a year before I finally sit down and began thinking of how I want the second half of Descent to go.
I also... admittedly got sidetracked by some of my other story ('What Lies Beneath the Sea' go CHECK IT OUT IN WEBNOVEL IT'S A HORROR STORY!) and some family issues, as well as schoolwork... but when I finally did take the time to sit down and type, lo and behold: it took me A WHOLE MONTH JUST TO FINISH BOOK TWO!
The word 'descent' has a lot of meanings, and other than serving as the title, the word actually sums up the essential theme of the story, which is about moral and/or psychological decline since the plot centers around the consequences of Proserpina breaking her promise to Hades.
And although the first book (Descent) focuses more on with 'the act of falling (in love)' while Descent II: Madness mostly deals with the origin or background of a person in terms of family...
Can you guess what the third book is going to be about?
The third book might be the last, but the story of Proserpina and Alastor Nyx is most certainly not going to end there!
Did You Know?
(SPOILERS AHEAD. PLEASE READ THE STORY FIRST BEFORE PROCEEDING!)
-'You are my sunshine' wasn't really the song I had in mind when I thought of Autumn and Warren singing to their kid/s as a lullaby. It was supposed to be 'Scarborough Fair' but when I had my thesis about nursery rhymes, 'You are my sunshine' had been the song assigned to me... and somehow, I felt like the lyrics just fits, especially with what happened to Autumn and Winters at the end.
-Has anyone noticed Proserpina is tired most of the time or is it just me? Proserpina's shadow puppets are actually just that. Shadows. 'Extensions of her will'. She can make any sort of animal/monster in mind but so far, Proserpina has only been mentioned making a werewolf, a pair of dogs and a pack of crows (or a murder as Alastor points out) I've been meaning to add this neat ability of her's on the first book but kind of forgot so here they are. -_-'
-The school Eiji Kashima is going to is AST's International Academy which stands for (Athena's Sacred Olive Tree).
-I just remembered that I haven't really described what Thanatos (as a weapon) looks like in detail. So here it goes: in the story, Alastor mentioned that Thanatos looks like a regular Greek sword: a xiphos, but the moment they stepped foot in Japan, it shifted to look like a slim katana in order to help Proserpina blend in.
-The promised ice cream date (plus William) only happened after eight chapters mostly because I forgot about it and couldn't find a decent spot to put the scene in.
"Eating was one of the few joys she had left in life" = loses her sense of taste. O_O
-I had so much fun with the idea of Aphrodite actively interfering with their love life. I just couldn't resist writing her with Eros getting dragged in the mix, too!
-Warren Veil was mentioned in the first book that he owns and plays a guitar and whenever I tried picturing it, an acoustic guitar is what I always see. So, there. That's what William gets for his birthday.
-William mentions that Proserpina knows how to play some musical instruments such as the violin and piano although, she was only shown playing the guitar in the story... it's probably one of the reasons why Apollo likes to be friends with her. She's musically inclined.
-I missed writing Alastor's friends and his twin. The phone call is as much as I can get away with squeezing them in the story. Hopefully they show up in the third book.
-The Tokyo Metro scene. They could have definitely used the shadows to get easily back to the hotel (or one of them could!) but Alastor lowkey wants to hang some more with Winters even if his eardrums have to suffer for it :D
-Winters was mostly the one to raise and train William... probably. Except in firearms. I just had to add that scene of teenage angst because (they were both teenagers) and siblings are prone to fights and be okay at the next second without ever saying sorry out loud.
-The cashier girl in the special chapter definitely has a crush on William but William's too sick (and dense) to notice.
-Dissociative amnesia, is what happened to Winters, it occurs when a person blocks out certain events, often associated with stress or trauma, leaving the person unable to remember important personal information.
-William's birthday is in September 28.
Sorry but not sorry for the cliffhanger :P
