Dear readers, I've decided to make a blog post concerning this story due to the amount of interest expressed and also as a notice to save a copy if you like the story in its present state. The story is going through a thorough rework because I wrote myself into a hole by not having an ending in mind when I began.
I had to make a number of changes regarding characters and backstories and the more I edited, the more the existing story mutated into some oddly-paced monstrosity, so I ended up deciding to scrap a whole lot of story and instead do a comprehensive rewrite.
Coming back to an old story after a long hiatus comes with a bunch of problems, as I'm sure many of my fellow writers can attest to. My writing style has changed, the idea in my head has changed, and even I have changed, which affects the writing because it's in first person. So while I think I'm writing a better story, I'm also having these little moments of panic where I second-guess myself, and wonder if I'm making the story worse rather than better. For that reason, I urge anyone who likes the piece to back it up while it's still in it's present condition.
I'm keeping everything that I feel made the original story special, but some chapters have been scrapped entirely, so in the future, I'm going to remove the story and repost it, as the changes are such that simply changing every chapter would border on dishonesty for voting purposes.
The story is still very important to me, and I think that's why it's taking so long to write, and I'm still very appreciative of all those who have contacted me with ideas and comments. I also must confess that I accidentally "selected all" and hit the report button this morning while checking my messages so many of you may have been reported to the webmaster by no fault of your own. I've contacted the webmaster to assure him that it was a mistake so...sorry. =(
Thanks again for all the interest, and I'll get the new version out as soon as I can.