Epilogue

Two weeks later

Matilda held the reins while she and Calista sat at the front of the open wagon riding out on a well traveled road out of the city. The Sith lord in her armor and dark short sleeved robe. Though all of her Sith regalia had been thoroughly cleaned from the battle, restored to a somewhat more pristine state. She had the hood pulled back, and Montmorency's red ribbon flapping in the wind behind her head, still holding up her hair as her friend tied it. Matilda meanwhile had dressed casually with a light blue dress to enjoy the wonderfully sunny day.

Behind them sat Louise, with Derflinger resting beside her on one side, and Guiche on the other. The boy with a splint on his leg, bandaged tightly, his foot resting on the seat opposite him. Across from them, a safe distance away from his broken limb, sat Kirche and Tabitha, side by side in companionable silence while the blue haired girl read from a book, and the redhead took a sip of her elixir. And in the very back of the wagon, was the inactive Imperial Astromech Droid, X2-C3 in sleep mode for power conservation.

To the front of their wagon, and to the back were wagons loaded with the remnants of the Gramont Army as they would make their way south to their respective home towns.

"So Cali, how does it feel to be a Knight of Tristain?"

"Chevalier Calsita Zarkot, Knight of Tristain… Calista Zarkot, Lord of the Sith. Which do you believe better suits me I wonder?"

"Chevalier, of course!"

Calista rolled her eyes at that predictable response. "You will have to forgive me, but I disagree."

"Wasn't the money she gave you appealing to you at all?"

"I have no use for monetary or material wealth. There is nothing I require which I cannot simply take."

"You're impossible to please. Do you know that?"

"On the contrary Matilda. I was most pleased. Being recognized for my actions, was all the reward I craved. Anything else is meaningless."

"If you don't want your reward money, I'll be happy to add it to mine!"

Calista rolled her head until her eyes were staring into Matilda's. "And what about you? Baroness was it? A portion of our defeated enemy's lands to call your own? How do you find those rewards?"

"Very satisfactory. Now I just have to fight two more wars and I'll be back to where I would have been… Heh. All kidding aside. It was more than I could have ever wanted. I just want to build a little house somewhere so I can live with my sister in comfort and security."

"Well I'm certainly proud to have been Knighted!" declared a much enthused Louise.

"All I got was a medal… And some gold," said a pouting Kirche.

"You turned down her offer to Knight you! What are you complaining about Zerbst!" snapped an angry Louise.

Kirche leaned back and put her hands behind her head while speaking in a dismissive tone, "When Tristain learns how to make beer, then I'll consider becoming one of you. Not before."

"I can't believe my mother actually said she wants to adopt you. You! Someone so uncouth got offered to be part of our family!"

"That I almost accepted, just to see the look on your face if I had!" declared Kirche with a mischievous grin.

"What did Tabitha get? She hasn't told us yet," remarked a very curious Guiche.

Kirche looked at her small friend and then to Guiche and Louise. "She turned everything down. Money. Medals. The Queen asked her if she wanted anything at all, but she just shook her head and stood there all stoic like."

"What about you Barb- Guiche? What did you get?" asked Calista.

Guiche raised an eyebrow at the near slip of her tongue but quickly dismissed it when he saw Kirche and Louise snickering. He decided it was probably better not to know. "I was Knighted. Then I split my reward money with all the soldiers of House Gramont."

"Very noble of you," remarked Calista without ever turning her head back to look at him. "I am certain Montmorency would be proud of you for doing such a thing."

"That isn't why I did it!" he snapped in his defense.

Louise put a hand on the boy's shoulder, "She didn't say you did Guiche. She just said that-"

"I heard what she said damn it!"

"Guiche calm down! We have a full day before we get back to the academy. Let's not make it awkward. Especially not on such a beautiful day!" chided Matilda.

"Yes My Lady. You are correct. My apologies to everyone," he said before taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure.

"Excuse my. My Lady?" came the voice of a young boy who walked up beside their wagon.

All heads in the wagon turned to see the voice was that of Malicorne, and he was addressing Calista.

The Sith Lord didn't even turn her head to look at the chubby boy while she responded, "What do you want?"

"Well. I wanted to thank you. You inspired me to start getting into shape. If you hadn't done that at the time. I don't know what could have happened to me in these battles. I owe you my life."

"You owe me nothing, and you still have much work ahead of you!" she said in a nearly angry voice.

Guiche turned his head towards the back of the wagon where he saw his two other friends Gimli and Reynald covering their mouths and trying their hardest not to burst into hysterics at the scene playing out before them all.

"Well, My Lady. As I said, I've been getting into shape…"

"You are in shape! A circle is a shape. Is it not?" she stated bluntly, cutting him off from whatever he intended to say.

Guiche, Kirche, and the two both all covered their mouths with both hands to contain the fit of laughter threatening to escape their bellies.

"Well. Yes My Lady. It is. It just isn't the shape I want to stay in. But before I lose my nerve, I would like to confess my love to- Whoa! Ahhh!"

All eyes in the wagon widened as the boy fell forward onto his face. Calista had her hand held up before lowering it back into the armrest. All heads followed the sight of the chubby boy being picked up by his two other friends as they laughed while helping him up and dusting him off.

"Calista! Did you have to do that to the poor kid? Must have taken him a lot of courage to muster up those words for you!" yelled Matilda incredulously at her snowy haired friend.

"He will thank me for that someday. I stopped him from saying something he would have lived to regret."

"He's not your type huh?" asked Kirche while grinning knowingly at Louise.

"My Master's type is clearly snobby, egocentric, elitist, persistent, and above all, well groomed!"

Calista rolled her eyes in annoyance before considering the words her apprentice had selected, she then nodded her head in agreement, "Close enough. You should also include musically adept."

"That reminds me. Have I ever mentioned that I can play the Lute?" remarked Guiche.

Kirche, Louise, and surprisingly even Tabitha widened their eyes at the blonde boy. If Derflinger had eyes, they would have widened as well.

"Oh fuck me…" deadpanned the redhead.

"Sideways…" added the pinkette.

"With a frying pan!" finished the sword.

"Is there something I should know?" asked Guiche while looking around nervously.

"No!" yelled everyone in the wagon.


The next day, at the Tristain Academy of Magic. The students were greeted by a hero's welcome from a gathering of the entire student body. Matilda didn't wait for the wagon to make it all the way up the road before she jumped out and started running towards the gathering as fast as she could while the newest student who always wore fashionable hats ran as fast as she could to meet her halfway where they tightly and tearfully embraced.

Louise and Kirche helped Guiche out of the wagon a short time later once Calista had driven up to the end of the road. Kirche was quickly replaced by Katie who started smothering the boy with concern for his health she joined Louise in helping him inside.

After leaving Guiche in the care of Katie, Louise wandered around the academy looking for her friends. They were, naturally, in the first place she expected to find them. Siesta came running out of the servant's quarters and tightly hugged Louise while Marteau walked out behind them with the rest of the staff where the scene quickly escalated into a very large group hug involving the entirety of the academy staff who were all eager to smother Louise and welcome her back to them.

"I'll tell you all about everything that happened. But is there anything to eat around here?" asked Louise with a big bright smile.

"Of course there is Louise. We prepared you a very special meal in the kitchen!" the big chef proudly declared. "Food, drink, and war stories for everyone!" he added loudly to the collective cheering of the academy staff.


Calista meanwhile used the Force to levitate her Droid Companion past the cheering crowd of young people and over to the remains of her fighter which to her immense relief, remained exactly as she left it. After setting the Astromech to recharge with her portable fusion reactor she walked to the girl's dormitory where she would first stop back at the room she shared with Louise to shed her armor.

After that, she made her way down the steps to the next floor down, and then gave a polite knock on the door of the person she was most eager to see. She could barely hear the answer from the other side of the door but she pushed it open and slowly stepped in. After shutting the door behind her she turned to the bed and smiled happily to see her friend lying there.

"Cali! I heard all the cheering outside but I didn't know what it was about. I'm so thankful to see you back safe!"

Calista walked over and seated herself down at the bedside. "And I am so very thankful to see you well my friend," she said while reaching out to take a hold of Montmorency's hand.

"It's good to be seen by you. But I'm afraid 'well' might be a slight overstatement."

She reached up with her free land and untied the ribbon from the back of her head, letting her long white hair fall freely once again before placing the ribbon into her hand, followed by the Ring of Andvarii.

"I knew you'd bring the ribbon back to me. And you got the ring too. I never doubted you Cali, not even for a moment!"

"We owe this one to Louise actually. She and her Mother were the ones who killed Brinvilliers."

"I'll be sure to give her my thanks the next time I see her. What about Guiche? Did he come back with you? Or did he stay with his father?"

Calista closed her eyes and looked away.

"Oh my god… no… please…"

The Echani took a hold of Montmorency's hand with both of hers and shook her head. "Guiche is alright. He has a broken leg, but he is expected to live. His father however, died in the battle at Lutece."

Montmorency closed her eyes tightly as tears slipped out. "He was such a good man. A great man."

"He was. He did not like me very much at the end, but, he was indeed a great man."

"Will you tell me about everything that happened? I need to know so I can help him through this if I can."

"I will. It could take some time to tell you everything. But it'll help pass the time while we start getting you better."

"How can we get me better? This was the price I had to pay for-"

Calista put a finger on her lips to silence her. "You took care of me. Now it is my turn to take care of you. As long as you do as I tell you to do, and you do not ever give up, you will be healthy and strong again. I promise you."

Montmorency nodded before Calista withdrew her finger from her lips. "I was just starting to get to like the idea of you and me having matching hair," she said with a small giggle.

Calista shook her head. "That look does not suit you. It is unhealthy, and unnatural. But if we work hard, we can have you walking on your own again before we have to go return the ring."

"You're not going to go do that now? I think you should Cali."

"No my friend. We started this together. We will see it through together. Even if I have to carry you there."

"You win then. My whole situation has been embarrassing enough already. Tell me what I have to do to avoid suffering that particular indignity."

"Good. Then let's get started now. No sense wasting perfectly good time," she said while standing up. "It's all very simple. We need to rebuild, and rehabilitate your body. It will be difficult, it will sometimes be painful. But I promise. You will not regret any of it."


Louise stood in the space outside the servant's quarters where she once spent so many hours trying to tame her explosive magic, her Lightsaber hilt in her hand as the servants all gathered to see how the weapon actually worked to go along with her stories from Lutece.

She pressed the activation switch and ignited the blade with its accompanying sharp noise followed by a steady hum as she gave it a wave to show the effect the yellow blade produced as she spun it around herself, drawing applause from the servants. So caught up was the pinkette in the cheers and excitement of the crowd as she retold the story of her first duel against marius Brinvilliers that she failed to notice the pained expression on Siesta's face, or even sense the bad memories that blade provoked in her. Finally when the young maid couldn't take it anymore she made a discreet exit. One which did not go unnoticed by the Sith Apprentice.

Louise finished telling her story before taking Derflinger off her back and handing him to Marteau. "Derf, could you keep our friends entertained for a bit? I'll be back in a moment."

"Ya! Sure thing Louise! So yeah, lemmie tell ya a story that'll make ya shit bricks right now!" said the sword as everyone gathered in to listen.

Louise walked through the kitchen, and then out to the now empty dining hall. She passed through the still open gates to the outside where she saw Siesta staring up at the moons. Louise walked up beside her where the two stood side by side in silence for a long moment before Louise decided to be the first to break the ice.

"I'm sorry. I upset you. I shouldn't have been telling stories like that."

Siesta quickly shook her head, "No Louise. That wasn't it at all. I… There's something I need to tell you. That you need to know…"

Louise turned her head to the raven haired maid and watched her carefully as she took a deep breath.

The maid then turned her head to Louise with the saddest expression she had ever seen on the friend who had always been the most important pillar of stability in her life at the academy.

"I'm pregnant Louise."

Louise closed her eyes and stepped over closer to Siesta where she pulled her into a tight hug.

"I don't know what to do. If the wrong people ever found out who the father is-"

Louise quickly cut her off. "I'll protect you Siesta. I swear I'll protect you."

"A noble isn't allowed to have children with commoners because-"

"It doesn't matter! It happens all the damn time. Just don't mention it, and nobody will ask. If they do, just tell them Derf is the father!"

Siesta couldn't help but laugh out loud at the mental image of people's faces when they heard such an absurdity. "I might do that. Just to see the reactions!"

"It'll be worth it, that's for sure!"

"What should I do Louise? Where will I go? How will I support my baby, my family, and myself? I can't keep working here like this. I only have months left at best before I'm let go..."

"Colbert won't fire you for something like this."

"You can't tell him!"

"He's not an idiot, he'll figure it out on his own."

"Then what should I do?"

"Nothing," she said while hugging her tighter. "You don't have to do anything. I'll take care of you. Because you'd do the same for me. Don't worry about anything. I'll always be here for you. Whatever you need, I'll provide. Work for as long as you can. If you can't work anymore, and the Academy doesn't pay you. You'll work for me, and only me, and I'll pay you. Out of the reward money the Queen gave me for what I did in the war. I have a lot more than I need."

"More than you need? Louise. I know how much you spend on things…"

"I've gone without long enough to know what I really need Siesta. I don't need anything but these cloths, and my weapons. Anything else I want, I'll just have to be strong enough to take. You're what's important now. More important than anything else. Please just say yes, and then we can work out the details."

"On one condition. If it's a girl, I get to name her after you!"

Louise pulled back and glared into Siesta's eyes. "Another Louise who could end up a student at this academy? Siesta, you couldn't possibly be that cruel!"

The maid smirked back at her friend. "I guess we'll have to figure that out too then."


Dijon

Eleonore stepped out of carriage at the front gate of her fiance's mansion where he stood beside his familiar waiting for her with a bright smile.

Eleonore held up the letter he had written to her while she walked up to him with long strides.

"Yes I will marry you Charles," she said to him as soon as she was face to face with him.

He smiled brightly at her, "When?"

"Now. Today. As soon as possible. Arrange it!"

"Yes My Lady! With the greatest pleasure!"


Lutèce
Royal Palace

Henrietta sat on her throne overlooking the large auspicious room in which court was held. She wore a suit of recently crafted armor and a cloak with the crest of her family and country over where it draped onto her shoulders. The armor was a dull golden color fit for a ruler without being too austentatious and impractical. It was a suit of armor she could wear into war, not just look good in. On Calista's advise, it was a way to subtly embrace her Thyrsian heritage without being out of place in her environment. Her father people, unlike Calista's, favored the use of heavy armor in warfare. It presented the image of a strong ruler who was not afraid to fight alongside her own people when there was the need.

The Master at Arms announced a group of men and women as they entered, presenting them as her ministers recently freed from the central prison.

Henrietta nodded at the gathered people standing before her. "All of you just came from the prison?" she asked.

"Yes Your Majesty. I am your Prime Minister, appointed by your late father, my name is-"

Henrietta waves her hand at him dismissively, "I don't care what your name is. Have them all taken back to the prison please Agnes. That was probably the only thing Brinvilliers did that I wholeheartedly agree with."

"At once Your Majesty!" said a broadly grinning Agnes as she drew her sword and stepped out towards the former ministerial cabinet.

"This must be a joke?!" the man said to her incredulously.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" she stated with a serious face as her Musketeers surrounded the ministers and started herding them away.

"This is an outrage!"

Henrietta sighed and picked up a few papers from her side table, papers which outlined every instance of corruption these ministers had ever participated in under the rule of her mother and the previous king.

"My first order of business will be to appoint competent ministers. I'll begin with Lady Eleonore Valliere once she returns from her wedding. I think she'll be the perfect finance minister."

"An excellent choice Your Majesty. I couldn't agree more," said Karin with a bright smile.

"As for the rest. Do you know of any candidates I should consider?"

"A few, I'll get them up here. Meet them, talk to them, hear their ideas. Then decide if you think they're worthy of the positions. In the meantime, I should get back to work. That mercenary army still needs to be properly disbanded in the other cities."

"Before you go. General Valliere," said Henrietta with a serious expression before handing her a rolled up letter. "This is a signed copy of my royal decree, please see to it that all the noble houses know to disband their armies and encourage their soldiers to join the new national army."

"I still think you should conscript people for this effort. We need a proper defense."

Henrietta shook her head, "I want full time professional army of career soldiers made of volunteers. I want them to be loyal to the country above all else, and have the best possible training and equipment."

"You shall have it," said Karin firmly as she took the royal decree and walked away.

The Master at Arms then announced the next visitor to the Royal Court. "Your Royal Highness. The Marshall of Tristain."

Shortly after the bald Iron Felix proudly walked into the room alone and unarmed and bowed low to the young Queen sitting upon her throne. "Your Majesty."

Henrietta nodded the man, "Marshall," she said while taking another rolled letter from her side table. "This is a Pardon for all the individuals you requested. I also have a task for you."

"Yes Your Majesty. What is your command?"

"The people want law and order returned to this country. I want you to give it to them. Whatever you need for your work, tell me and I will see that you have it. I never again want to hear of corruption in my court, in my cabinet, with my tax collectors, or anywhere my government will have power. Whenever someone is offered a bribe, or a political favor, I want them to think not of what it can buy them, but of what it will cost them when Iron Felix comes for them."

"It will be my honor, and my pleasure, to obey Her Majesty's command. But, does she know how I work?"

Henrietta slowly nodded her head, "I want to be a good, fair, and just ruler. But that does not mean I will be a weak ruler. A very wise man told a dear friend that justice without force is powerless, and force without justice is tyranny. We will be a nation of laws. Laws which not even I shall be above. Those laws have to be enforced by people who know the difference between law and order, and how to ensure that both are maintained. My father knew, as I know, that there is no one more suited to that job than you."

"I am certain that Her Majesty will accomplish great things. With your leave, I would like to get started," he said while bowing.

"Go then."


Tristain Academy of Magic

Louise and Calista stood opposite each other in the courtyard of the academy. Their Lightsabers held loosely at their sides. "Are you ready Louise?"

"Yes Master. I'm ready to learn."

"Good. Then come and-"

"Valliere!" yelled Kirche as she stormed up to the pair.

Louise sighed irritably, "What is it Zerbst! Can't you see we're busy here!"

"You're about to be! We still have unfinished business!"

"What unfinished business is that Kirche?" asked Louise with rolling her eyes.

Kirche spun her wand in her fingers and then turned it in a ball of flame into which she reached to withdraw her axe and shield. "I told you when it was all over, that we'd finish what we started! Well, it's all over now!"

Louise sighed deeply, "My apologies master. But she's right. Do you mind if I just settle up with her before we begin?"

Calista looked between the two, but she failed to sense any serious hostility beneath their faux irritation. Calista then smiled and put away her lightsaber. "By all means."

Louise tossed her Lightsaber to the Echani woman who caught and held it for her while she drew Derflinger. "Ready Derf?"

"Let's do it!"

Kirche and Louise grinned at each other for a moment before they charged and began their duel. Sword striking shield, axe being dodged. It seemed to Calista that both had come a long way in their combative skill and self confidence.

When Calista looked to her side she saw Tabitha standing beside her, reading from a book instead of watching. A moment later X2-C3 rolled up beside her with Matilda and Tiffania joining them shortly after to watch the unfriendly yet friendly duel. It wasn't long after that when a crowd of students began to gather and place their bets.

"You're just going to let this go on?" asked Matilda.

"Yes. Unless they start trying to actually kill each other again, I see no reason to intervene."

"They're both really good…" remarked Tiffania.

"They are both equally sloppy if you ask me," answered Calista. "But. If they want to get better, and stronger. This is the way to do it."

"I suppose until we can get classes going again. This is all they have to do to occupy their time," said Colbert as he walked up beside Matilda.

"Headmaster? Care to place a wager," asked a grinning Matilda.

Colbert reached into his pocket and pulled whatever coins he had. "Six silver coins. On Louise the Zero."

"A risk taker I see," she replied while taking his coins.

"She has come a long way. But she still has far to go," remarked Calista.

Guiche stared out his window, from there he could see into the academy grounds. And watched as Louise fought Kirche before the cheering crowds. He couldn't help but look disgusted by what he saw. After everything which had happened, battle was now just a game for them.

"Guiche? You should come lie down and rest. Your leg won't heal if you keep abusing it like that," said Katie while she cleaned up from a meal she brought him.

"I will Katie. But… I think that I would like to be alone now. Perhaps we can talk tomorrow?"

Katie's eyes became downcast as she slowly nodded her head. "I understand. But don't think you'll always be able to get rid of me this easily Guiche. I'll be here every day to make sure you're getting better, and eating properly!"

Guiche couldn't help but smile as a single tear fell from his eye. "Thank you Katie. I appreciate it," he said with his normal voice.

She lingered for a moment longer before she left the room. Once the door was shut, and he heard her footsteps moving away, he stopped fighting the tears and just let them come. Acting normal, was just getting too difficult for him. But what was even normal? Who was the real Guiche? That was a question he couldn't answer. But one which he resolved to finally find.


Holy Romalian Empire
Temple of the Romalian Knights

Julio walked through the temple of his Knight Order, greeted by humble bows from his fellows as he passed, acknowledging them all as he passed them by. The temple had no luxuries. No paintings, no tapestries. It was humble. A reminder to everyone who walked through these halls that the duty of the Romalian Knights was to be as humble as the walls they dwelled within.

The Grand Master of the order stepped into a large open room with seats arranged in a neat circle and took his place among the other gathered masters.

All eyes rested on him as he prepared to speak.

"My friends. As you know, I have just returned from Tristain. I traveled there to seek out a great evil."

"And what did you find?" asked an older member of the council.

Julio sat back in his seat and considered his words carefully before speaking again.

"I found that the second Void Mage is not the new Queen of Tristain. She is a young noble called Louise Valliere."

The Council members all looked at each other with murmurs for a moment before Julio put up his hand and asked for calm while he finished explaining.

"There is more my friends. The Familiar she summoned. That is the issue of concern for me. The being she summoned was a Sith Lord."

"Sith. Are those the same ones you told us about? The ones who instigated that… What did you call it... Clone War?"

"Yes. But at the same time. No. She herself had nothing to do with what happened in my time. Because she originates from a time thousands of years before I was born. Which means she is very different from the Sith I knew."

"How is she different?"

"The Sith Lord I knew in my time, was a fallen Jedi. Not a true Sith. I can't speak to his Master's origins because we never discovered his identity. In my time, there were two Sith at any given time. A Master, and an Apprentice. No more. No less. But Calista comes from a time when the Sith were an army of thousands. She never knew a life as anything but a Sith."

"This makes her a greater threat then, no?"

"Not necessarily. She's a complicated one. Two Sith in my time managed to do what an army of Sith before them could not. That being said. I would still advocate that we keep a close eye on her. But I'd also like to point out that I'm no longer convinced that she is necessarily evil just because she is a Sith. Nothing is ever that simple. But the story gets more interesting. It seems that the young lady who summoned her, lost her powers shortly after the summoning."

"That should not be possible…"

"But it happened. Without more information, I can only speculate. It might interest the council to know that this girl, Louise Valliere, is Force Sensitive. And Calista has taken it upon herself to train her as a Sith."

"So now there are two Sith in Tristain? Just as you said. Master and Apprentice."

"Yes. So it would seem."

"Would it not be better for us to go and bring her here? Have you train her as a Jedi? You said yourself that two Sith did what an army could not."

"Be careful my friend. That line of thinking will take you to a very dark place. If we decided that making choices for other people was an acceptable practice. What would we become? I've seen the results of that sort of thing with my own eyes. If we're to accomplish what we all decided we wanted to achieve with this order… We simply have to be better than that."

"But surely in this instance we can make an-"

"An exception? If we set a precedent for that kind of exception, what happens then? Maybe we won't repeat it, but our inheritors could think it acceptable because we did it before. Today, it's a Force Sensitive who choses to be a Sith instead of a Jedi. What could it be tomorrow?"

"There's no way of knowing…"

"Precisely. We do not have the luxury of thinking only of ourselves. We must always consider the fact that our decisions may have far reaching consequences that we cannot know, or see."

"So what should we do then?"

"We wait. And we observe. That is all we can do. The girl withstood the hardships of war, but that tells us nothing. We shall only learn more when her power begins to truly grow. That is when her true nature will be revealed."


Afterword
Written by Teira for the team

Star Wars Episode I: The Familiar of Zero was a collaborative project between a group of international amateur authors. This story was written and created by Miriya, Etri, Dilis, and Teira.

The project began back in December of 2014 with a broken Miriya working alone. The first draft being crafted while Miriya was receiving treatment for Xanax addiction. She needed something to do that would help her make sense of it all. A type of therapy that would keep her mind occupied throughout her recovery.

Coming from this long battle with her many hardships she tried to combine two things she loved dearly, Star Wars, particularly the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic™ (SWTOR) which is the setting featured in the prologue, and Familiar of Zero™ (also known as Zero no Tsukaima™). A Light Novel and Anime series which she enjoyed watching while in recovery. Miriya set about reimagining the setting to try and bring out what she saw as the potential for a more serious story than the harem comedy original. Thus it became a crossover between the two rich fictional settings in a work of fanfiction that allowed her complete creative freedom on the settings and characters involved. The principle behind the work being that it must stand up as its own work of fiction without prior knowledge of the source material.

Over time and with a lot of hard work Miriya left rehab and published a few chapters of the story on where she was encouraged to continue writing thanks to the mostly positive and constructive reviews. Some of these reviewers going as far as to dedicate their time into becoming test readers for the unfinished chapters still being produced. All of which prompted her to work even harder.

In May 2015 Etri who was a friend of Miriya online before the project began, joined the team as a test reader and began polishing up the quality of the story, bringing it from a solo effort and adding a fresh pair of eyes and fresh ideas that enabled the organic and realistic growth to the reimagined world of Halkeginia and its people. Many of which Miriya became very attached to.

Often calling upon her own emotions and attitudes when writing each character contains insight into the lives of the authors.

In July 2015 Etri further dedicated himself to the story. Becoming the co-author and chief male representative. He often took to writing scenes that Miriya had been struggling to relate to. Such as the male character interactions. As Miriya is a lesbian woman, she tended to find it difficult to write believable male dialogue and emotion as such things transpired outside of her social circles. Etri also often opted to choose the scenes that required a darker outlook on life to really develop the impact and feelings for their audience, his support helped even a fantasy setting seem grounded and real with reality looming over it.

More recently, Dilis joined the team, filling Etri's old role as a test reader and editor. First reading the story in September 2015 he made it his mission to track down the writers and did so through messages and through SWTOR. He eventually found himself joining the team a month later in October. With his help, any disputes the two authors formerly had to work out themselves now had a mediator. Someone who could objectively decide and help tune the process.

Disagreements are always common in people who are different but despite them all the team of the three powered on to release several more chapters in a short span of time. Only for a new addition to slow their pace a little. That of myself.

It's been an honour for me to work on the closing stages of this project. Coming to it at a late stage in the writing, previously I had known Etri and Miriya as bitter rivals in SWTOR's Galactic Starfighter. Being a lover of good writing, the moment Etri let slip about the fanfiction he was helping to write I felt like I should give it a read.

After digesting twenty chapters in one sitting I was hooked and felt the need to get in on the project and help more to be produced at the fastest possible rate. I joined the team in mid December 2015 and have taken up a role of editor and test reader on the team. But one might say we all help write by contributing to discussion and sometimes arguing about philosophy, ideals, politics. and relationships. Real things that need to be realistically presented in our work. This naturally slows the process but we hope it adds a quality that many of you enjoy. That of believability.

Together the four of us have set about crafting and expanding a new universe beyond our own. Snarky Miracles and this story were initially formed to help a woman through a tough time in her life. Acting as a form of therapy for a recovering addict and alcoholic that was seriously struggling with normal life. It grew to become a group of close friends and one gigantic story. One that we feel inspires intelligent thought and imitates life in a surreal yet relatable way.

Thank you for reading, and to everyone who supported us with your reviews, messages, and an especially big thank you to everyone who has been putting entries from this story on TV Tropes. We can't tell you how encouraging that was for the team to see except to say that we were very blown away by seeing those up there!

We'll see you in the sequels, and our other stories!


Author's Note from Miriya:

Almost two years since I started this project. Since I came out of rehab, right up until today. This story, and these characters have come with me through a journey I cannot describe.

But this wasn't the end of the journey. It was just the beginning. My fight with addiction will never be over. But the work I've put into this story, the love I have for the characters, it all got me through the worst parts of my life, and saw me through to the other side where I've restarted my career, moved to another country, and made wonderful new friends.

With drugs and alcohol, the only effect it ever had on my life was to drive away my partner, my friends, my job, and leave me with nothing. But this project, has helped keep me on the path of stability, and accomplishment. I won't lie and say I haven't relapsed along the way. Because I have. Many times. But it was always this story, and the dear friends who worked with me on it that got me through those rough times and kept me sober. My readers, and reviewers too, helped keep me going. I always knew when I reached for that bottle of pills or booze that if I picked it up, I'd be letting all of you down as well. I feel so blessed to have all of your support.

This story. These words. These characters. They are tangible representations of everything I have been through in these last two years. I thank you all for reading, and supporting this story, with all of my heart.