I set down another bottle of alcohol down. In my wallowing in liquor, I gain a System Notification.

[ Through repeated actions skill: Alcohol Resistance(Medium, Passive) has ranked up to Alcohol Resistance(Major, Passive) ]

I disregard the message to in turn grab a bottle only to notice that all of my bottles are empty. I can't remember the last time I felt like this. I mean my dad died but he left my mother and me behind. I miss Natalie. Even if she was slightly passive in her actions she was my friend. I fail to notice that someone walked into my apartment. After they shake me, I look at the soft yet stern face of Maddy.

"Her funeral is next week. And you were requested for the will reading after that." She whispers as she hugs me closely. "I miss her too Ally, but doing this isn't healthy." She gestures to all of the bottles around the room. I stay silent as she continues talking. "I have something I want to show you so let's get you cleaned up." She pulls me into the shower and grabs a set of my hero clothes. Oh yeah, I need new clothes after my evolution. I'll do that later.

After a quick shower, Maddy leads me out of the apartment as I stagger behind her. A short train ride later and we end up at Central Park. "Look up." She whispers. I follow her advice and see a large gathering of people surrounding me. "Thank you for your help!" The collective crowd yells at me. Seeing my confusion, Sophia comes out of the middle to help explain things. "These are all the Augmented Humans you helped save. You may have been unsuccessful in…some actions. But! You saved so many lives." After her words, I see Dominic and Hailey walk up to me. Once near me they both hug me tightly. "Thank you." She mumbles in my ear.

After that, I stand around while all sorts of people take their turns thanking me as well. When all is done, they all go their own separate paths. "You know. You do owe Aria for having to cover you at work so much." Sophia quips. "Thank you. For all of this." I thank her for cheering me up but I still have something to do.

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The funeral is a quiet event. Not many people showed up. Only Maddy, Thomas, Sophia, Nora, an android that houses Aria, and me. Her parents even sent a letter declining attendance with the reason that she is no longer their daughter. As the coffin is lowered into the ground it finally dawns on me that Natalie is no longer going to be with us. I will miss you friend. And I promise, I promise that I will get strong enough so that others will not suffer the same fate.

A week later I am sitting in an attorney's office. I was the only one required for Natalie's will reading apparently. A tanned looking man is sitting in front of me holding a seal envelope. "Okay. Let's get this show on the road." He grabs a knife out of a drawer and opens the envelope. "I, Natalie Woodhull, being of sound mind and body, hereby state that the entirety of my bank account which as of the time of this will contained a total of 10,000 be left to Alice Windshaw. I also dedicate that the key enclosed and the vault contents therein are left to Alice Windshaw. Well, that's simple. Usually will contents take years to dedicate because the family sue each other for the contents. Welp, here you go. One letter of verification for the bank and one vault key."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I head to the bank listed and transfer all of Natalie's earnings into my account. She had a lot saved up, probably having to do with not paying for her dorms. The vault though contained two things. An album and a diary. I grab both and head back home. I open the diary first.

'Dear diary. Oh that doesn't seem right. Well hello, I guess I might as well keep a diary from now on. Yesterday, I got kicked out of my parents house. Hooray. It was all because I told them that I liked females. Unlike most adults that have a negative reaction to this event, they aren't of the Christian faith. The just want the family line to continue which is fair but I feel like they are overreacting. I move into my college dorms next week. I might need to find a job soon though.'

I skip ahead a few pages.

'New day, new me. I think that's the saying. Anyway, I moved into my dorms. I have two roommates, a human named Madison Drake and a wolf beast-human named Alice Windshaw. Alice is really nice. I hope I can get along with them. I'm just really bad at expressing my emotions.'

I move ahead a few more pages.

'I blew it. I weirded out my two roommates completely with my personality. I don't think we'll get to the secret sharing phase anytime soon. I have some secrets that best be left too. Such as what caused my parents to kick me out.'

I flip the page.

'I know I haven't written in a while, but it's time for celebration! We all graduated today. We promised to keep in touch but it seems we will all be moving to New York so it seems to be for naught.'

I turn to the last page that had text written on it.

'Today I saw Alice again. She became a hero, or at least a disciple. Her mentor seems friendly and trusting. I'm happy for her. I'm sure she will go far. I always felt as though that accounting job of hers is just killing her. Emotionally, I mean. It might physically kill her too if she isn't careful. I might have some things to do. I need to alter my will to be in her name instead of burning this diary. In the event that you ever read this Alice just know one thing. I love you.'

I close the diary as dark spots cover the paper. Oh. I didn't notice my tears. I look through the album. It was all pictures of the three of us and the times we had in college. Like the time we threw a cake at Natalie in the shower. I will treasure these memories. I place the two into my nightstand. With resolve, I contact Aria to stop pretending to be me as I head over to Al-Chem.

Walking into the Intelligent Creature Resources Department I see Alan. "Oh, hello Alice. Nice to see you again." He drones with a wistful smile on his face. "Alan I'm here to give my one week." His face's expression dies. "You're quitting? I guess it's understandable given the current circumstances. My condolences by the way." It was an afterthought. "Well, if you're sure. You don't need to take care of anything. I'll do all of it." I walk out of the building and ask Aria to resume being me for only one week since I just quit. "You quit?" She inquires. "Well, dad told me if you were to do this to tell you to go see him." Hearing her I start over to the Archimedes penthouse.

At the penthouse sat Thomas sitting on the couch. His arms crossed in thought. I sit down across from him and wait for him to speak. "Sophia and I have devised a schedule for you. Monday through Thursday you will be training with Sophia both in and out on the field. On Friday, I will take you to the Mariana Trench and will be teaching you various things as I have been informed that you are ignorant about the functions of the world. Weekends will be free. You are can do whatever you want then. Any questions?" "None." I answer.

"Your first lesson starts tomorrow. Get some rest." He stands up and leaves.