I cannot believe this is over. I am touched. Emotional. Hollow. Full. Proud. Confused. I am, in a word, shocked.

I first began writing the Crab Fighter on April 23, 2020. Now, a year later, I am typing these final words. And what a year it was.

So many characters touched me. It sounds weird because I am the author, but I spent so many hours thinking about Phac, Oreg, Rain, Neville, Otto, Reginald, and many others, that I feel them close to me. And now they all leave at once.

I hope these characters touched you as they did me, and that even one of them carried something you will remember. I hope my story made even a single other person's life a better, brighter, less confusing place.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

It is difficult to describe my feelings about ending this but I suppose and hope that they are, in a way, similar to yours. I feel like a friend left for another country, off to live a better life. I am happy, and yet I am sad. I cried because I miss the things I am losing. I know that a part of my life left forever and, even if it still exists somewhere, it will never be the same.

And strangely, that's okay.

I am sad, yes. But sadness passes. The void fills, and the heart is bigger than before. To let go, that is life. And to trust that in place of what you let go, something else, different yet equally yours, will come.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for joining me on this wonderful journey. It was I who wrote this story, but it was you who gave it life. A story told to a wall can never be anything more than words.

There is more I want to say, more feelings I want to express, but words get weaker as they increase in number. I believe I have said what matters.

Stay safe, you amazing people, and I hope to see you soon. Until next time,

Valerios Stais