Mature Content Warning: Not much in this chapter.

Author’s Notes: So, here we go with the next scene in the epic saga of Blackthorne, though it is very short compared to some others, so I decided to do a little [ideas from the author] at the end. :)

I have a few lengthy notes to share here so I will place them after the scene ends as it will be too front-loaded otherwise. However, the basic concept of those notes is to share my true purpose regarding this story and the actual tone that I intend to set.

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Chapter 24.1: Discordant Lullaby

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Separation can cause many things to happen within the heart, within the mind. One of those things is the awakening of a strong and pervasive fear for the one that is missing from your life. In the hearts and minds of three young women there was fear, but there were other emotions that arose as well.

“He isn’t answering.” said Shara in a soft tone. She ended her call then started to pocket her phone. However, she changed her mind and started searching for news online to see if what was being said about the events at the house.

Sonja nodded slowly then peered through the iron-sights of her recently acquired weapon. She had spent most of the time since their departure practicing with her new acquisitions. As far as she was concerned, looting the bodies of those men was no different than any other battle she had been in, save for the difference in equipment acquired.

“What should we do? The police must have found all of those bodies by now.” said Ashton.

Sonja glanced at her. “What can we do other than survive?”

Ashton blinked at Sonja then tilted her head to the side. “Yes... But the police will want us for questioning at least. Ten dead bodies and an obvious war zone aren’t something they will let slide.”

“We should be concerned about that?” asked the Valkyrie curiously.

“We should be concerned...? Why wouldn’t we be! We could end up going to jail for life, or even executed!” snapped Ashton angrily.

“They attacked us and we killed them.” said Sonja without concern.

“What planet are you from? The police won’t care about that! A bunch of guys went all Rambo on the house and you stripped their bodies naked and took everything that wasn’t nailed down. You even stole a van!” shouted Ashton.

“Are you saying that I did something wrong?” asked Sonja in a neutral tone of voice. However, her grip on her weapon tightened considerably.

Ashton glared at the Valkyrie briefly then lowered her eyes and sighed. “No, I don’t blame you for anything you did. I’m glad you did it. The cops won’t care about that, though.”

“Oh? Well, that sounds like a personal problem for them.” said Sonja.

“Damn... It’s a problem for all of us...” said Shara.

Sonja and Ashton turned toward the girl simultaneously. Shara gestured for them to come over. “Come take a look.” What the girls saw on Shara’s cell was enough to send even the most mild-manner person into a rage.

“I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Ashton.

“Want to see it again?” asked Shara.

“Yes...” replied the fox girl.

“Alright.” Shara restarted the video. A local news anchor wearing a plain black suit, and the sincere facial expression of a man accustomed to telling facts in a way that suited his corporate masters most, began to speak.

“Our top story tonight, Meth and mayhem in small town America.” said the news anchor.

The video continued briefly and then shifted to a scene outside the wall at Scott’s house where a deputy Sheriff was being interviewed. The smartly dressed female reporter held her microphone up so the deputy could speak.

“Yes, that’s correct Jenny. After a lengthy undercover operation, and an extensive investigation we can finally close the case.” said Deputy Grier.

“How long did the investigation take?” asked the reporter.

“Well, we’ve known this warehouse was being used as one of the major meth labs in the tri-county area for a few years now, but we needed to get the whole supply line and the bigger fish who were involved instead of just the people who lived here.” said the deputy.

“What changed?” asked Jenny.

“Ah, we finally received enough information on the higher-ups involved when one of the people running the lab confessed. They had seen the error of their ways, and wanted to cut a deal with the DA.” said Grier.

“So, this came about because one of the meth dealers wanted to make a change? Who else was involved?”

“Well, one of our best deputies, the man’s own brother, had spent a lot of time as an undercover agent. He was attacked in the cemetery recently when he went to visit his little step-niece’s grave, so he isn’t available for interviews. But...” said Grier before casting his eyes downward like he was about to state a hard thing.

“But?” pressed the reporter.

“I can’t really discuss the details of that, ma’am.” said Grier.

The reporter pressed him anyway, but he refused to answer further in regards to his but. She started to ask other questions, however. His answers were even more shocking to the three girls.

“A meth lab explosion? They expect people to believe that’s what happened?” asked Ashton. She had to admit that she did not know Scott as well as she had wanted, but that story made no sense.

“What is this APB thing he’s talking about?” asked Sonja.

“That means that they will be openly searching for us.” said Shara.

“This is so wrong... It’s like the whole police force has gone insane.” said Ashton. Her earlier anger had been replaced with dread and an all new kind of rage. Either way she looked at it, her old life was over. She did not understand how or why these things had happened, but she knew that it would be impossible to lead a normal life now.

--end of section and beginning of lengthy author’s notes --

These notes are just a lengthy rambling, get to know the author’s work concepts. There is pretty much nothing in what follows that could be considered important. It exists solely to share a little more about my thoughts on various stories that I am working on.

While writing this out, it occurred to me that many people who are reading this story are new to my general style of writing. This story is a rough draft, not even what I’d call a proper first draft. The likelihood of little inconsistencies here and there is fairly high. However, many of the things that seem inconsistent are actually purposeful as they tie in to things much later in the storyline or series.

I have had a few people mention my ruination of the tone of the story or that I should do something about how jarring some transitions are. Actually, these things are purposeful. This is a darker story than some that I write, at times, but it is also goofier than some that I write, at times.

The true tone that I am going for in this story is not just dark, or goofy, or fan-service. It is meant to mimic what is happening in the world. So, the ‘tone’ will shift frequently. It will be jarring and disruptive at times, seemingly random at others (though with a greater purpose). This could take you out of the story or make it more interesting. I cannot know how it will be read by anyone specifically, but fair warning has been given.

So... to make this long rambling note shorter... This story is intended to be written in a way that it might transitions from goofy to horrific, to bizarre, to naked people without warning. I do need to fiddle with the word choices a bit here and there as even a purposefully jarring transition can be done better with editing. (This story will require a LOT of editing. I know that but I do appreciate it when people point out something that I might have missed. Though, I prefer it if they don’t mention it in an assholish manner.)

If you have questions about anything just ask. I don’t mind answering, though I may not answer anything about the story itself in the future, just the mechanics of how it is being written. I also appreciate constructive criticism if it is stated in a civil manner.

I freely admit that I am no master author. I am a storyteller, nothing more and nothing less.

Every story that I write is a bizarre experiment in ‘What If?”

I’ll explain my thoughts on two of them here. How someone else might view the stories mentioned here is something I cannot guess. This is just what I am focusing on in these stories.

ORIGIN ARS, a tale where a man goes into emotional withdrawal after changing his entire life around to be with his fiancé, only to discover that she became pregnant by another man more or less the same night that he had proposed.

As life would have it, when he was about to give up on trying to lead a normal civilian life and return to the military, he ends up drawn into the world of ARS and is made to deal with his emotional and relationship issues by being forced back into the body of a teenager, and having the world REINFORCE aspects of his current psyche. In many ways he actually acts like a teenager again instead of the thirty or so year old man he used to be. He also has to deal with the constant bloodlust that he has, and the fact that he is literally killing things just to kill them.

A lot of people truly like that story. However, a good number of people also see that there is this ‘awesome’ RPG world background in the story and become absolutely annoyed at me for focusing on bullshit pg13 high school romance crap instead of the plot. Yet, that bullshit pg13 romance crap WAS ALWAYS THE PLOT, or at least the entire purpose for the story. Even the end game content that is hinted at exists SOLELY to show that romance blossoming and the MC developing into the sort of man he always wanted to be.

It could easily be stated that everything in that story exists solely to make the MC deal with his shortcomings. The fighting is easy, at least in the first few volumes. The hard part is accepting things about himself that are truly frightening.

Blackthorne- A spin-off of Origin ARS designed to both further expand the ‘Gamer Gods’ mythos and to focus on a storyline that is not as much about romance, but more about the struggles that people face when their world falls apart (literally and figuratively).

We have an MC, not special in his name as many of my MCs are named Scott, who lived a happy life with his parents and sister, and even a weird but sweet childhood friend. Then, one day his world fell apart. His father died and a sinister existence entered his life. What once was a fantasy like childhood paradise because a dark dystopian nightmare that culminated in tragedy.

Flash forward several years. That young boy has grown into a withdrawn young man who cares little about anything. He has survived the fall of his world and survives on the outer fringes, an eternal drifter on the edge of civilization. Never able to quite fit in with others due to both his disinterest and his inability to let go of the past, he does not live. He exists from day to day.

Then, one day, his world is shattered once again. This time by an actual world-wide apocalyptic happening. A young man, who has felt broken most of his life, finds himself able to start picking up the pieces and relishes the idea of finally have at least one chance to do something in his life that he might enjoy. The worlds that he had lived in were garbage, but here was one more chance. Whether he realized it or not, it is meant to show the fact that there is still a tiny little ‘light of hope’ inside of him. Despite the things he has dealt with, he still wants to believe in a future where things are better, though he would never admit it like that in public.

For a time, he makes great headway. He deals with his isolation by being isolated in the new world. He spends all of his time doing the most asinine and grueling of tasks to grow just a little stronger, because that sort of grind is all that he knows.

In time he meets a girl, someone with the skill-set of a psychopathic chef but the heart of a warrior. A woman bound by chains of magic, also somewhat discarded by the world. They become emotionally entangled with each other because in some ways, they can at least understand each other.

Time passes, not much, but just enough. More people, people who give a damn about that poor cast off young man, appear. Things seem to be going great. His world is slowly becoming the beautiful place that he longed for deep down. Then... once again that fragile and beautiful hoped for world is destroyed.

Yet, life must go on. He must make new choices, they all must...

In Blackthorne, I like to use juxtaposition and dichotomy freely to try and mimic the feeling of not quite settling in. It no doubts annoys the crap out of some people. In one room two pretty girls are engaging in weird somewhat homoerotic conversation that titillates just as much as it causes awkwardness and discomfort. In the next room, a man has finally grown comfortable enough with someone he cares for, to tell her about how his world went to shit.

Happy naked girls giggling and growing closer as friends, and learning about each other’s hopes and aspirations for the future. | A man reliving the nightmare that has held his life in a stranglehold for nearly a decade.

Then... it all is obliterated in a single moment as outside forces once again tear it apart.

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Anyway, those are just a few of my thoughts on the stories I am writing. They aren’t for everyone, but that too is alright.