A/N: Yo- before the chapter, wanted to show off this sick Amandeath fanart MangaStoryFan made a while back!

Definitely like the pose on this one- plus the gun's positioning and shape and all is pretty damn accurate. The clothes are nice too of course--

Last part, both Elio and his brother Xalen faced the repercussions of Elio speaking his mind about his opinions on the Hopian Continent. After having his personal diary confiscated and seeming even sadder than before, Xalen admits to Elio that lately he's had little drive for his studies. This was proven by Xalen completely forgetting about a test he had coming up in three days, and it turns out that Elio had one on the same day- which he practically aced. However he wasn't very pleased with his parents nonchalant reaction to the news...

Elio's P.O.V.

"...Whatever... like I said, I could care less about THEIR opinions. Xalen should have gotten his results too I think... yikes... I'll check on him. His results should have come out too since we're in the same uni."  I think to myself as I get up from my seat with a sigh, shaking my head and slapping my face to snap out of my bad mood as I walk towards and out through my rooms open doorway.

"...Hi Xalen, I won't tell mom or dad or anything like that so- what about the test?" I whisper as I- rudely poke my head into his room without warning and... his room light is on, and he's actually sitting upright on his chair for once. Did it go well?

"Hey. Hah, knock will you? But yeah... I got a 39 percent. Pretty sure I fail the course automatically now." Xalen says scarily calmly but-

"Shit- Xalen, that is... that's not good. At all. Are you sure that you'll fail for SURE? Professors can be lenient so maybe they-"

"Yes I'm pretty sure I'll fail, I'd need to get perfect on the exam to just pass. So... I know, I know that I messed up A LOT. But I mean... it is what is... I'd rather be happy than worry." He replies as he spins himself around to look at me with his brown eyes and with a small smile on his face...

"What? Look I'm glad that you're happy but... you are taking this seriously, right? If you do fail this class, you'll be set back a year. You know that, right?" I ask uneasily, as I have no clue where this guy's mind is at at this point...

"Yeah... I know. That's why I've decided on something. I've done a lot of research as of late, on careers I can pursue OTHER than... this hole I'm in. No offense though, software engineerimg just isn't for every type of person, I guess. Anyways. I think I'm going to ask them if I can pursue some type of acting career. That way, they know I'd still be working hard and "making them proud", even if I'm not coding and everything. Plus I have three years of vlogging experience, and I know that's what I love to do." Xalen says as he scratches the back of his head with him looking a bit nervous now.

"Xalen you kn-"

"I know. I understand that there's a good chance they won't let me go through with this. But I have to try. Ha. I've actually been praying to the Five Kings for the first time in years now... I trust that they'll bless me here. And hey... what IS the worst that could happen if they say no? I'll just adjust to that." Xalen mumbles on as I sigh... even if he DOES get the job, actors make little to no pay. Especially since pretty much all of Hopian's "actors" are just virtual avatars now, no one really watches movies anymore.

"...Alright man. Good luck." Is all I say with a sigh and with that I leave the room, as I already know exactly what's going to happen here. He should too... why does he have to only have be happy with delusions here?

A little while later...

"AHAHA- XALEN I- WE- AN ACTOR?! You'd may as well be a janitor at that point, they require about the same amount of skill. Just say some lines, look nice and you're good to go. Stop kidding around. So did you get your test results back yet, your brother did- he got a 97. I expect that you did better than that." I can hear Dad laugh out from the living room which- even though it's the response I expected him to get, it still hurts to hear.

Xalen shouts back meekly, "Mom, Dad- please give this some more thought. It takes a lot of work to be an actor, or maybe even a broadcaster- either way, it does. Like you saw I vlogged for three years up until now, it ta-"

"This conversation is over Xalen! And your vlogs? I didn't see them myself... however. Your father told me that from what he saw before he rightfully deleted them, they were very lackluster. You wouldn't make it either way, which is why you'll become a top software engineer and live a satisfying life instead." Mom shouts which- actually makes me gasp in disgust.

I hear someone walking in the distance, which I'm guessing is Xalen... oh God he must feel horrible...

"Xalen hey they weren't..." I try to say as he walks by my room's empty doorway but, he just keeps on walking by.

"He probably needs some time to cool off... it'll hurt not going to cheer him up though." I think to myself as I shake my head... I agree with Mom and Dad in that the career is not a good choice. But calling his pride and joy "lackluster" right after destroying it? What kind of parents are they...

A while later...

"...Hey. Want to talk?" I ask from outside of Xalen's litup room's doorway as I just finished the first half of my studying. Anyways, for once I can't hear any classical music playing in his room, or anything for that matter...

"Xalen?" I ask again.

"Huh? Oh sorry I had my headphones on, I'm just watching the Hopian Army's Halloween Festival right now. Come in." Xalen finally replies which makes me sigh, and so I walk into his room. I can see him sitting at his computer with a livestream of the Halloween event playing on his PC. Huh... I forgot today was Halloween actually.

I sit on his bed that's next to his screen, to see Xalen eating from a bag of chips- that's new. I mean, he isn't crying or anything... he is kind of frowning though... at least he seems better now I guess.

Looking back to Xalen's computer, I can see Head Commander Prósopsi standing alone on a dark orange and purple stage. He's got white makeup and some red makeup being all over his skin, and his hair is dyed pitch black now. AKA the look of a vampire- even if he's still wearing his white and golden robe. Either way, I definitely respect him for trying to cheer this place up, the people here sure need it.

"Hello everyone! Today as most of you surely know is our territory's annual Halloween Festival! But... this year is something quite special. Unfortunately, our last Commander who held the title "Halloween", Jaxonite, has just recently retired. However... the good news is, while we will always hold Jaxonite close in our hearts... we have found the perfect person to carry on the title of Halloween." Prósopsi announces happily with a smile as he claps his hands.

"Damn already? Wow, poor Jaxonite getting forgotten like that... what do you think the next Commander will be like?" I ask Xalen as he offers me some chips- but I decline. Where did he even get them from, Mom and Dad never normally let us get any...

"Someone scary hopefully. Jaxonite was strong and pretty kind but- he was never truly scary like "Halloween" should be. ...Although, I guess worrying about how they'll actually help to keep this territory safe is worth more than a title. Ha." Xalen replies as he glances towards me, and I nod my head to reply.

We stop as Prósopsi continues, "On the note of the new Commander... they will actually be making an appearance momentarily for a matter of fact. And since today is Halloween, they will be introducing themselves in a fashion that is appropriate to the Holiday! Before that however"

*FWOOSH!*

Prósopsi snaps his fingers, and at the same time a thick purple mist appears from out of nowhere as the stage lights up. The mist then gets blown away, revealing the back metal wall of the stage. Along it stands Commander Ontarus wearing some sort of mummy costume, Commander Ufisator with devil horns- pfft, poor guy couldn't get a good costume. Anyways, Commander Erucid, "Thanksgiving", is also standing with them wearing a white gown with giant angel wings, and with a halo being over his head.

Behind those guys are some Hopian Officers too. I can see a tan skinned girl wearing a maid costume, and a girl with long purple hair and turquoise eyes standing next to him. She's wearing some sort of red and blue superhero costume with a cape-

*CLANG!*

"Huh?" I say as a tall muscular ma- no woman, with chin length silver hair slams open a door I didn't notice was at the back of the stage. Right after that she starts to walk up behind Prósopsi with a stern look being on her face. Prósopsi spins his head around to look at the woman, who has "blood" all over her ripped navy blue uniform, as well as makeup that makes it look like she has nasty looking scrapes all over her skin. Pretty sure she's trying to be a zombie.

Anyways there's dead silence as Prósopsi leans back and up with a sigh and whispers into the tall woman's ear- well except for me and Elio chuckling... though we're not actually there of course.

Right so after a few seconds, the woman nods and turns around to head back to the backdoor- but Prósopsi grabs her shoulder and spins her back around before she can.

"As expected of Halloween- it seems like we've been tricked by an early appearance, haha. But yes, everyone... welcome Hopian's new Commander, "Halloween", Aora!" Prósopsi shouts as Aora tries to pry his hand off of her shoulder.

He removes it while all of the Hopian Army members behind him start to clap,

"So, Aora. Do you have anything to say to the people of Hopian?" Prósopsi says loudly as he looks over to Aora, who has been staring straight at the camera for a while now, yeesh it's like she's staring into our souls...

"I will do my best to make this territory a better place." She says in a deep tone.

"......Anything else?" Prósopsi asks as he raises an eyebrow and looks up to her- though they're basically the same height, even if the girl's a little bit taller. And bulkier.

"No." She replies back to him as she stares at him instead now.

"...Well then... what about your costume? I see you got into the spirit of Halloween with that zombie costume of yours!" Prósopsi breaks the awkwardness as he points to her arm that has fake blood pouring down it.

"I suppose. I could not find the "costume" you said I was meant to wear. So I used one of those... camp... comp... computers to search one up, and made a costume myself based on what I saw." Aora replies.

"A-ah... I see. Impressive!"

"However- I do hope your medics will be able to clear up my injuries after this. These tears I made in my skin to replicate the costume may not heal easily otherwise." She says as some blood drips down her hand... haha, she's obviously joking...

"Hahaha!! Good one, Aora- I see you do like to trick quite a bit!" Prósopsi says with a laugh as he facepalms and shakes his head. Aora's not laughing though...

"Trick? I did not use any illusions to make this costume." She replies as she tilts her head... looking at her arm... that blood on her DOES look quite real... don't tell me...

Prósopsi's eyes widen for a moment as he furrows his brow, before he waves his hand up to say goodbye- and the stream suddenly ends.

"...What the heck happened there, technical difficulty?" Xalen asks as he looks towards me.

"Huh? You didn't get that?! The new Commander's zombie costume wasn't fake- she actually cut herself up to make it. Damn she's insane... I wonder if any parents will try to sue the Hopian Army for that one. You know since a lot of kids were probably watching that. Then again, the army could just deny that that was actual blood." I say as I look back at him, only for him to chuckle, shrug his shoulders and look back to his computer.

"Yeah. Well that was fun anyways I guess." Xalen says as with a small smile he stares into his computers dark screen. Huh... oh shit- right, he's probably still sad about what Mom and Dad said to him.

"Right- and look I am SO sorry about what mom and dad said to you back there. You know about your vlogs being "lackluster". Don't listen to them man- they were all fun to watch and I know you put a lot of work into them." I lie as I grab his shoulder, heh I'm like Prósopsi now- anyways not the time.

"Yeah. Thanks. Though they ARE probably right to say that I could've put more effort into them, ha. I'm not too mad about it if you are worried about me" He says with a sigh.

"...Oh- Well- why don't you make some more vlogs then and put in that extra effort?!" I say excitedly to hype him up.

".....Hm... smart idea actually. But no I'm good, mom and dad would probably catch me making videos again- especially with our new no-door policy. I've thought of some other ideas to keep myself occupied  now." Xalen says with a laugh which makes me smile in turn-

"And what would that be?" I ask.

"You'll see." He only replies as his smile grows a bit bigger- nice. But... when Mom and Dad see that he failed his test... yikes. I don't know if he'll be able to stay happy at that point... maybe that's for the better if it'll give him motivation to study. But... I don't know.

A/N: Xalen's new career proposition to his parents was brutally crushed, however he seems to be recovering quite well from the news regardless.

Happy Halloween everyone! I felt bad about not doing a full on Halloween special this year, until I realized that- when Aora got promoted to being a Commander was never revealed. So alas- a minature halloween special was made!-

Anyways, I hope you all consider voting or commenting if you enjoyed, and see you next time!