18. Z I L L I O N : Chimeros

AFTERWORD

I don't wanna talk too much about the story in this Afterword because, as I said in the Author's Note, this is Part I of II. This story and its complementary work better when they're portrayed as a singular story, so I'll save most of my thoughts on them for the Afterword of the second part.

That being said, I would like to address one thing, and that's the complete reworking of Zill's family history. Let's start from the beginning—that being the original layout for the members of House Marnozal. To keep this short, I will summarize.

Cierra: Species - demon (changed). Maricella's younger sister (unchanged). She grew up in Maricella's shadow, which made her determined to become more powerful and dangerous than the aforementioned (unaddressed). Eventually defeating Maricella in battle, she parted ways with her family to become a crime boss in Safe Haven before retiring and training Zill (unchanged). She hates her sister (changed) but loves Zill and Alexis (unchanged), with whom she goes clubbing whenever the latter visits (changed), and lives with Zill and his mother (changed).

Maricella: Species - demon (changed). A super-stressed-but-loving mother (unchanged) who raised Zill on her own (changed in canon and my stories). She puts up with Cierra's criticisms (unaddressed) and her world revolves around her children (unchanged). She can't stand her ex-husband Valafar (unchanged).

Zill: Species - demon/dragon/chimera hybrid (changed). He adores his sister (unrevealed as of yet), idolizing her even though she's much older than him (I believe the original age difference was 8-10 years; I shrunk that distance a bit). They have a strong bond and have lots of fun together (unrevealed as of yet), and he got his interest in performing arts from Alexis (changed). He's not very close to his father (changed to completely estranged) but still visits him at least once every summer (changed).

Alexis: Species - demon/dragon/chimera hybrid (changed). Strong-willed, smart, and always friendly (first two unchanged, last one changed). [THE ENTIRE FOLLOWING PORTION WAS CHANGED FOR THE "SAFE HAVEN SAGA".] Alexis is a college graduate who lives on her own and travels around a lot. She has a reputation as an extremely-talented professional dancer whose venues range from amusement parks and ice-skating shows to musicals and ballets. [END PORTION.] She adores her younger brother (unrevealed as of yet) and always gives him tickets to her performances (see previous portion). She also approves of his relationship with Kayla (unrevealed as of yet). Alexis is engaged to an unrevealed partner (unaddressed, but I probably won't give her a romantic interest).

Valafar: Species - dragon/chimera hybrid (changed). A drifter whose chimera gene caused Zill and Alexis to be born with snake tails (changed). He is very angry and has a deep voice (unchanged), and he shows little affection to anyone (unchanged). His pride and joy is his daughter (unchanged, although he'll never show it), but he doesn't have a strong bond with his children (unchanged). He lives alone and can't stand his ex-wife (unchanged). He also might have had an affair with Cierra in their younger days (unaddressed; probably won't use that plotline).

Reworking House Marnozal's origins and backgrounds was somewhat bittersweet, since I actually liked a lot of their storylines. I hope I can incorporate some of them into their futures, but since they won't be heavily focused on, I'm not sure we'll get to see a lot of it.

Anyway, now you know the Marnozals. And don't worry; you'll get to know them a whole lot better in Part II of their story. Stay tuned, readers: "P O W E R : F A M I L Y" will be released January 28, 2022.

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("Z I L L I O N : C H I M E R O S" was written from July 29, 2021 to August 3, 2021.)