「016. the prophecy is fulfilled 」
THE REALLY terrible thing was cadie could see the family resemblance in atlas and zoë. he wore the same regal expression as the hunter, the same cold proud look in his eyes that zoë sometimes got when she was mad. when cadie thought back to her dreams of delphina, she saw a bright child with eyes of dreams behind them and a smile that could light the whole world up. but this zoë, the one she knew now- she had been hit with grief, with betrayal, with loss and sadness. she was but a shell of herself now, her warm smiles replaced with a cold look similar to atlas'. but his was way worse and definitely evil.
"let lady artemis go," zoë demanded.
atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? be my guest."
zoë opened her mouth to speak, but artemis said, "no! do not offer, zoë! i forbid you."
atlas smirked. he knelt next to artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers. "hoo-hoo," atlas chuckled. "you see, daughter? lady artemis likes her new job. i think i will have all the olympians take turns carrying my burden, once lord kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. it will teach those weaklings some humility."
cadie looked at annabeth. she was desperately trying to tell them something. she motioned her head toward luke. but all cadie could do was stare at her in shock. i hadn't noticed before, but something about her had changed. her blond hair was now streaked with gray.
"from holding the sky," thalia muttered, as if she'd read cadie's mind. "the weight should've killed her."
"i don't understand," percy said. "why can't artemis just let go of the sky?"
atlas laughed. "how little you understand, young one. this is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where ouranos and gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the titans. the sky still yearns to embrace the earth. someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." atlas smiled. "unless someone else takes it from you."
he approached us, studying the rest of them. "so these are the best heroes of the age, eh? not much of a challenge."
"fight us," snarked percy. "and let's see."
"have the gods taught you nothing? an immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. it is beneath our dignity. i will have luke crush you instead."
"luke," muttered lilly, "...luke."
"so you're another coward," percy said, completely ignoring lilly's realisation.
atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. with difficulty, he turned his attention to thalia. "as for you, daughter of zeus, it seems luke was wrong about you."
"i wasn't wrong," luke managed. he looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. if cadie didn't hate his guts so much, she almost would've felt sorry for him. "thalia, you still can join us. call the ophiotaurus. it will come to you. look!"
he waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the ophiotaurus.
"thalia, call the ophiotaurus," luke persisted. "and you will be more powerful than the gods."
"luke..." her voice was full of pain. "what happened to you?"
"don't you remember all those times we talked? all those times we cursed the gods? our fathers have done nothing for us. they have no right to rule the world!"
thalia shook her head. "free annabeth. let her go."
"if you join me," luke promised, "it can be like old times. the three of us together. fighting for a better world. please, thalia, if you don't agree..." his voice faltered. "it's my last chance. he will use the other way if you don't agree. please."
cadie tried touching lilly, but she still seemed in shock. paralysed with fear and realisation. she was shaking, having a breakdown- cadie wasn't sure. but she'd never seen lilly like this before. their chest rose and fell too quickly and cadie tired to calm her down as zoë continued.
"do not, thalia," zoë warned. "we must fight them."
luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. a bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. a sacrificial flame.
"thalia," percy said. "no."
behind luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. as it did, cadie saw images in the mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow.
"we will raise mount othrys right here," luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "once more, it will be stronger and greater than olympus. look, thalia. we are not weak." he pointed toward the ocean, and her heart fell. marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the princess andromeda was docked, was a great army.
dracaenae and laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things cadie couldn't even name. the whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than she'd seen on board last summer. and they were marching toward them. in a few minutes, they would be here.
"this is only a taste of what is to come," luke said. "soon we will be ready to storm camp half-blood. and after that, olympus itself. all we need is your help."
for a terrible moment, thalia hesitated. she gazed at luke, her eyes full of pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. then she leveled her spear. "i don't know you anymore."
"yes, you do, thalia," he pleaded. "please. don't make me...don't make him destroy you."
there was no time. if that army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. cadie met annabeth's eyes again. she nodded. the panicked daughter of euterpe looked at thalia, lilly and zoë, and she decided it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.
she nudged lilly softly, and the child of hermes blinked back into reality.
"now." percy said.
together, they charged.
thalia went straight for luke. and as soon as lilly snapped to reality- their gaze hardened, and they too charged for luke. combining the power of thalia's shield (which was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone) and lilly's speed, they seemed to mostly have luke handled. but despite his sickly appearance, luke was still quick with his sword. he snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. when his sword, backbiter, met thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power. when he managed to knock back thalia, lilly would sprint her way towards him and shove him into a wall, spear ready.
"lilly, my sister," he tried. her guard was let down for a moment. her eyes softened. but there seemed to be no remorse or love for luke's words. he swiped at her legs, blood dripping from one of them. with one of them in pain- she couldn't run anymore. luke had known that. "i missed you."
lilly hissed, her stance off with the blood oozing from one of her legs. she stumbled as luke managed to get away- with thalia still on the ground. she shouldered herself, though. and walked towards him. "luke."
"is that how you treat family, lilly? don't forget," snarked luke as he picked his sword right back up, "i know you well. i know your weaknesses, lils. i trained you." lilly charged at him with their spear, yelling furiously. he disarmed her quickly. not making the same mistake as lilly by keeping it close. he kicked it away from him. "i know your moves better than you do."
"do you really?" she breathed, staring up at him as he walked closer. she was on the floor, trying to sit up- her leg burning her mind of any thoughts but pain.
"yes."
"then don't forget i know yours too," she managed, "i know your habits, i know everything about you. i know how you liked your coffee, how you liked to tease the rest of us..." she tried to search his eyes for a sign of remorse. anything. "you weren't like this always. you were a good brother, luke. you were a good friend." he stepped closer.
"things have changed for me."
"i see they have," she said. "but please, luke. this isn't you. you're not... like this. i've had a hard enough life as it is, luke. my parents are literally monsters with how they treat me. you were my big brother."
"it wasn't real," luke said, "that's just what the gods wanted you to think. we were weaker in that camp."
"it was real to me!" they said- voice cracking painfully with emotion towards the end, "you were my brother. you were there for me during all those summers! you were there for all of us!"
he shrugged her words off, stepping closer, sword pointed at her. "just like old times."
"you've gone too far," they whispered sadly, "you did this to yourself, luke. you betrayed camp. you betrayed me."
for one it is to look and face the betrayal.
she took in a deep breath, words shaky and weak- her head pounding. "you might be brain-washed, controlled. i don't know. but you're not the same anymore. you were right, you have changed." she took another breath, afraid of the words that came out of their mouth next, "you're not our luke anymore. you're... you're not my big brother."
he faltered, only for a moment before he stepped even closer- if he jabbed his sword, it would impale her neck.
"and maybe you knew all my moves before, luke." lilly said, stalling for time as she saw thalia begin to slowly get up from behind luke. "but that was a long time ago. you've been gone for a year luke. things can and have changed. just like you said."
"oh but you haven't changed a bit," luke said, a poisonous smirk on his face, "i know your moves. i know how you'll act. i know, lils."
she laughed, "really luke? because it seems you've gotten slow." she looked to thalia, "now!"
they pushed herself under luke's legs to the other side of him with her arms, twisting on the floor and kicking him down to the ground. he rolled away, but the minute he was facing back at her, thalia had him locked in combat.
that might have been her brother. at one point he cared for them. at one point he was the guy to tye her shoe laces. she was in shock, that was for sure. they couldn't really count on him being evil. but he'd kidnapped annabeth. he'd hurt a goddess. he'd done so much worse. he might not be evil, but he'd done some bad things right now. she could deal with her crisis later. they had a quest to finish now.
she winced, picking up her sword, watching as luke and thalia swung at each other quickly and brutally.
"people do change, luke. me especially." she called, limping quickly towards them with her spear, "but you just don't bother to stick around long enough to find out."
and with that, the child of hermes joined the fight against her own sibling.
cadie didn't know if she was stupid... or stupid. maybe a combination, that seemed correct in her case. it seemed logical (oh the irony). throwing in a double-whammy. stupid-stupid. very stupid. several cases of stupid over and over again in her mind. a hint of stupid and a dash of stupid and a tonne of stupid. in short: stupid. why, you might ask, was she stupid-stupid (with an extra hint of stupid)?
because when she saw percy going after the titan lord atlas, she went straight with him.
see? stupid.
maybe a bonus side of reckless.
she knew they were doomed. she knew that very quickly, especially when the titan lord laughed at their approach. she heard their friends fighting luke in the distance, but cadie figured that they had all they needed. cadie and percy, on the other hand, for going up against atlas? not a lot. no luck. maybe none.
a huge javelin appeared in the titan's hands. his silk suit melted into full greek battle armor. "go on, then!"
"percy! cadie!" zoë said. "beware!"
cadie held her sword. she knew what zoë was warning them about. see the deal with immortals were they were constrained with these sets of ancient rules. but a hero? they could go anywhere, challenge anyone, even a god or a titan. so long as they had the nerve. but once the two of them attacked, atlas would be free to attack back directly, with all his might.
percy charged head-on, swinging his sword. but atlas knocked him aside with the shaft of his javelin. he flew through the air and into a wall, slamming his back into it. he groaned loudly, and cadie's hear dropped. she stared back at the titan. she hadn't fought yet. she hadn't ran at him. he couldn't fight her, not yet. by ancient rules he couldn't harm her.
and cadie was going to keep it that way for as long as she could.
"fool!" atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of zoë's arrows. "did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"
a little more, she thought to herself, i'll put my sword back... i'll... her throat bubbled, words she knew where stuck in her throat. not now! she thought, not-
another it arrives, fate will soon be nailed.
that was her. those lines of the prophecy. they were her lines. they linked to her own prophecy. she couldn't die before her sixteenth birthday, not totally. she could be weak and near-death, but she wouldn't die. she wouldn't be killed just yet. not fully.
she watched in horror as percy's head was slammed into the ground, a gash bleeding from one side. she flinched as the titan stared at her. "are you next to challenge me? my daughter's dear friend, if i remember. delphina? was it? or have you chosen a new name in this life?"
"i didn't choose anything," she said shakily, "i didn't choose to die-" she stepped forward, the lyrics begging to burst. "i didn't choose to be reborn again and again-" a step closer, no weapon in hand. "i didn't choose to have a prophecy-" a step closer, her body was shaking with fear. "i didn't choose to be able to sing a song that's worse than death. but i choose to do it now."
"you fool," atlas laughed, "you can't kill an immortal with your song."
"no, i can't." she said, "but i can weaken you."
"cadie don't-"
"what are you thinking? stop-!"
"cover your ears," she said to them, "or at least, don't concentrate on my singing."
she took a step forward. it felt right. her heart was hammering in her chest, her palms where clammy and sweaty like crazy- her blood was cold. but she stood there, and she felt it was right. she couldn't die yet, not yet. she had time.
and then she began to sing.
the words came out easy for cadie. they slipped through into the air so easily and simple that you'd guess it was her first language. it lilted softly in the air, the ringing stopped and the confusing song continued. it started from the beginning, like songs always do. the harmonious yet bitter song filled with poison. it was like with the bronze bulls all over again. except cadie had changed just a bit in that time. if not largely then significantly.
she focused all her power of her voice onto atlas as the first verse slipped into the air, swarming him as the titan started to wince. her body felt numb, no pain had come just yet. it confused her, but she didn't have time for it right now. this was what her prophecy had told her to do. deathly songs and deathly chants. this was it, this was her prophecy.
the first verse: a warrior shot in the neck.
the second verse: the deceit of a princess and a daring plot of poison.
the third verse: one stabbed in the neck, one strangled.
the chorus came and cadie's legs were wobbling. her vision was blurry, but there wasn't pain. was this what death felt like? painless, numbing, blurry? was this what slipping out of her body, another soul waiting to be reborn all over again felt like? was this what her past lives had went through? the constant cycle, the constant numbness... the feeling of no stopping-
the fourth verse came and unfamiliar lyrics were belted. her voice felt smooth, like liquid honey- or perhaps poison. atlas stood there, shocked and dazed, his stance crumpling. it was weakening him, it had to be. cadie's mind was filled with nothing else but the song. no awareness of her surroundings, she knew nothing of whatever else was happening.
the verse told of a woman who wanted revenge on the world. she was smart, she was agile, and she was masterful in the art of seduction. she'd lure her husbands in with her pretty face and deceitful smiles. they'd all met her before, broken something within her. she wanted revenge, and that fueled her more. a stab to the neck for the first. a rifle to the heart of the next. a drop of poison for the last. and for herself? a death worse than theirs. a sickness beyond repair. her dying breaths were ragged as the disease consumed her.
the fifth and final verse was sung softly. she was on her knees now, her head down as she sang softly, hair sprawling in front of her as her body shook. this last verse, it was different from the others. you could tell immediately by the key change. the way it lifted to a bright and major key. odd for the lyrics that followed.
it spoke of the cycle of birth and death. how death was needed, how it was necessary. without death there was no life, without life there was no death. without the two, the world was off-balanced. without the two, the world was broken. without the two, cadie's own mind was off-balanced.
the last line was whispered by her softly, her body slumping onto the ground as atlas fell onto his knees.
"in the end," she whispered, voice hoarse as she sang in ancient greek, "it is restored."
lilly didn't know what to feel right now. nothing felt right as of now. she was fighting her brother, one who used to be so close to her- used to be her best friend, her idle, the person she looked up to. that didn't feel right. she was hurt as well, a gaping wound in her leg. it probably wouldn't kill her, but that didn't feel right. percy was holding the sky, a demigod was holding the sky. this was his line of the prophecy. the titan's curse must one withstand. that didn't feel right. thalia and her were fighting luke together. maybe that was the only thing that felt right. the two worked together well. that felt right.
but cadie...
lilly swung her spear harder as artemis became a blur of silver, fighting atlas who was in full greek armour. she let out a cry of pain as luke kicked her, causing her to fall to her knees.
but cadie was on the ground...
lilly blinked back their tears, forcing herself to continue. annabeth was screaming loudly, sobbing even louder. she knew why, of course she did. her heart had shattered, let itself crumble. there was a vortex there, and lilly didn't know what to do with it. it hurt, it stang. but she got back up and they swung harder at luke as thalia ran right back to join them after luke had thrown her off.
but cadie was on the ground dying....
lightning flashed from thalia and lilly rolled out of the way. she let her spear blend blend back into a belt that was attached to her jeans. luke had her back to them. her mind raged, her heart beat loud. adrenaline kept her going. and she ran, she ran as fast as she could. the speed stung her leg, made it hard to run with. but she pushed through, jumping onto the back of luke and squeezing her arms around his neck, yelling loudly.
but cadie was on the ground dying, or possibly dead...
luke yelled loudly, scrambling around as thalia pushed at him. he still managed to sword fight, but lilly clawed at his face with her nails. she screamed loudly, their voice piercing the walls like the hunting knives artemis used to slash at atlas. she screamed, her voice full of pain as they were thrown into a wall forcefully.
but cadie was on the ground dying, or possibly dead. nothing felt right.
"yield!" thalia yelled, "you could never beat me, luke."
he bared his teeth. "we'll see, my old friend."
lilly groaned, their head spinning. percy was yelling, cadie was on the ground, annabeth was sobbing, artemis and atlas were fighting, lilly were hurt, thalia was in pain and luke... he was the only one who had suffered. that didn't feel right.
"you fight well for a girl." atlas laughed. "but you are no match for me."
he feinted with the tip of his javelin and artemis dodged. lilly saw the trick coming. atlas's javelin swept around and knocked artemis's legs off the ground. she fell, and atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.
"no!" zoë screamed. she leaped between her father and artemis and shot an arrow straight into the titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn. atlas bellowed in rage. he swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks. lilly wanted to shout her name, run to her aid, but her leg was throbbing, her mind was dimming and she could hardly stand.
then atlas turned on artemis with a look of triumph in his face. artemis seemed to be wounded. she didn't get up.
"the second blood in a new war," atlas gloated. and he stabbed downward. as fast as thought, artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. it hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the titan lord and sending him flying over her. the titan rolled to percy, and the son of poseidon took his chance. he rolled away, the weight of the sky dropping back onto atlas.
"noooooo!" he bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "not again!" atlas was trapped under his old burden.
lilly managed to get up, pulling percy along with them. with her weight all on her good foot, she managed to carry the two of them other to thalia who had backed to luke to the edge of the cliff. they fought onwards next to the golden coffin. thalia had tears in her eyes and luke has a bloody slash across his chest and a pale face that glistened with sweat.
he lunged at thalia and she slammed him with her shield. luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. thalia put her spear point to his throat. for a moment, there was silence.
"well?" luke asked. he tried to hide it, but lilly sensed the fear in his voice.
thalia trembled with fury.
behind her, annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "don't kill him!"
"he's a traitor," thalia said. "a traitor!"
lilly had been so daised that she did not realise that artemis had strayed away, probably to pick up... to pick up zoë and cadie's bodies...
"we'll bring luke back," annabeth pleaded. "to olympus. he...he'll be useful."
"is that what you want, thalia?" luke sneered. "to go back to olympus in triumph? to please your dad?" he looked at lilly, "you're not even gonna save me?"
"i told you, luke," lilly whispered, this felt right to say, "you're not my brother. not anymore. not when you do this... when you ruin lives... ruin-" tears streaked down her face, "when you ruin my life. when my friends die."
thalia hesitated, and luke made a desperate grab for her spear.
"no!" annabeth shouted.
but it was too late. without thinking, thalia kicked luke away. he lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell.
"luke!" annabeth screamed.
they rushed to the cliff's edge. below them, the army from the princess andromeda had stopped in amazement. they were staring at luke's broken form on the rocks. lilly didn't know what to believe. being betrayed... having her own brother turn his back on them. on all of them. it made them feel terrible. but at the same time, this was their brother. this was the guy who taught her things moms and dads teach kids. he was the guy who helped her with algebra (though neither had really got it themselves. but they gave it their best shot). he was there for her whenever they needed him. but he was dead, he'd fallen.
and she was conflicted. because as much as she hated him right now and felt betrayed, she couldn't stand to see another death. so many had happened so far. bianca, zoë, cadie... she wanted to believe he was alive.
but it was impossible. the fall was fifty feet at least, and he wasn't moving.
one of the giants looked up and growled, "kill them!"
thalia was stiff with grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. percy pulled them back as a wave of javelins sailed over our heads. they all ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of atlas as we passed.
"artemis!" percy yelled.
the goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as thalia's. zoë lay in the goddess's arms, cadie on her lap. zoë was breathing. her eyes were open. but still... "the wound is poisoned," artemis said.
"atlas poisoned her?" percy asked.
"no," the goddess said. "not atlas." she showed them the wound in zoë's side.
"it was my fault," whispered lilly brokenly, "i wasn't fast enough to save her."
"why's cadie unconscious?" percy said, his hair newly adorned with a grey streak. his voice was shaky, as if he was trying to trick himself into thinking what he'd just asked. he began to hyperventilate as he asked, "she is unconscious, right?"
artemis looked sadly at cadie, stroking her hair softly.
"she's unconscious, right?" repeated percy, "right?"
annabeth broke down again and lilly was there with her. the two of them, not much but angry curses, a lot of avoiding, snarky comments and brief words had been shared with the other. but they held onto each other crying as if they'd known each other for ever.
"cadie was a hero," artemis explained, "her song saved us. it was enough to weaken atlas. without it, i would not have been able to save you from carrying the weight of the world until you died, percy."
he crumpled to the floor. and nobody did anything to move as the army of kronos began to rise. two deaths... in one go. it was too much for them all.
"she's not dead," lilly tried to insist, "she can't be- where's her unicorn elixir thing?"
"it's not use," began artemis, "i do not think it will-"
"she's our best friend!" percy yelled, "we'll help her as much as we can! why... why don't you think the same way about zoë?" he grabbed her keys and poured all of the remaining unicorn elixir into cadie's mouth. "get her some ambrosia! she's dying!"
"cadie saved percy," whispered annabeth, turning to lilly, "you guys saved me..."
they should have met their doom there. but they didn't. they could've all been torn apart by the monsters, but when a sopwith camel swooped down out of the sky- it seemed like maybe one thing would go right today.
"get away from my daughter!" dr. chase called down, and his machine guns burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering.
"dad?" yelled annabeth in disbelief, clinging onto lilly.
"run!" he called back, his voice growing fainter as the biplane swooped by.
this shook artemis out of her grief. she stared up at the antique plane, which was now banking around for another strafe. "a brave man," artemis said with grudging approval. "come. we must get zoë and cadie away from here." she raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its clear sound echoed down the valleys of marin.
zoë's eyes were fluttering. "hang in there!" percy told her. "it'll be all right! we'll save you, we have to save you."
there was an unspoken finish to percy's sentence. they had to save zoë, because they wouldn't know what to do if both cadie and her died.
the sopwith camel swooped down again. a few giants threw javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. lilly realized with amazement that somehow dr. chase must've gotten hold of celestial bronze to fashion his bullets. the first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun's volley blew them into sulfurous yellow powder.
"that's...my dad!" annabeth said in shock.
they didn't have time to admire his flying. the giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise. dr. chase would be in trouble soon.
just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer lilly had ever seen. it landed right next to us.
"get in," artemis said.
annabeth helped percy get thalia on board. then lilly helped artemis with cadie whilst percy helped carry zoë. they wrapped zoë and cadie in a blanket each as artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.
"like santa claus's sleigh," percy murmured, still dazed with pain.
artemis took time to look back at me. "indeed, young half-blood. and where do you think that legend came from?"
cadie was not dead. she didn't know exactly what she was, but this didn't feel like she was dead. she didn't feel like her soul was being placed into another body, waiting to hang out with all her other past lives and wonder when it was their turn for happiness, when it was finally their turn to be at peace with themselves, when it was their turn to finally enjoy something, maybe what it felt like to place a bet on names like elizabeth and delara had mentioned. but this wasn't right. this was not what death felt like. which was strange, because cadie wasn't an expert in death.
she was a daughter of a muse.
and she was really fucking confused.
a warm feeling washed over her, but it was completely dark for her. a voice she recognised said softly, "it's happened again." a hand washed over her temple, a tear dropping onto her cheek, "i am sorry. it was not meant to happen like this... another bellamy... i will help you, better than i did her. i will give you a chance. i'll make sure it works this time."
she felt something burn on her wrist.
and that was it.
rosie speaks!
you bitches really thought i'd let
cadie die before the end of the book?
lol you're really funny. this isn't even
the beginning of it. when i said book
two got dark i meant it bitches.
also can we appreciate the fact this
is my first double update in like months.
and she came with an urge to cause
societal chaos. we really like three
chapters away from the end of book one
and like an epilogue and two
bonus chapters. so like technically
six but eh details.
anyways :)) i leave you on a cliff
hanger and with pain :))
thoughts my dudes ??
word count: 5,501 words