 
## **Contents**

Title Page

Copyright

Illustrations

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Special Thanks

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Quote

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The Quill

The Long Weekend

Downturn

The 5th World

Hunted

Out of the Mind and into the Page

Dragons in Space

A Perfect Story

The Unluckiest Man

As It Is Written

Permanent Ink and Tattoos

The Library

My History

Fight the Universe

Red Feathers

The Search

Down On Paper

The Last Chapter

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Afterward

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THE WRITERS

OF THE

UNIVERSE

Stew Stunes

THE WRITERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Copyright © 2014 Stew Stunes

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1502431714

ISBN-10: 1502431718

Front and back cover art were provided

by my dear friend Abby Leah.

A very big thank you and shout out to the YouTube channel Darn Hooligans for being the 1st to help advertise and promote this book. Gift baskets for everyone, you guys are awesome and I toast to your ongoing success.

"You must have chaos within yourself to give birth to a dancing star."

— Friedrich Nietzsche

The Quill

"You can't kill everyone!" Kelly rolled her eyes at Jeremy, who had his head against her lap and was holding a yellow-tinged notepad up in the air so that they could both see the words on the page. "That's a terrible idea."

"But...but, that's the whole point of the story, that their lives don't matter," Jeremy argued, sitting up suddenly. His forehead narrowly escaped from colliding with her chin.

An eternal silence fell between them as Jeremy steamed. He always got defensive about a new story idea. It was so perfect and virgin, why did she have to say anything. The story had been alive and fresh, now he felt as if all of the passion involved with writing the basic outline had vanished.

Sighing heavily, Kelly broke the silence. "Look, I liked the story, stop pouting. I just think you should have kept like one character alive. You know, to give the reader hope."

A million arguments leapt through Jeremy's mouth at once, "The book isn't called, happy Farm. It's called, Born Dead, for a reason! 'Cause everyone in the story is destined to die, but the twist is they know the exact hour and place of their death from birth. They can live their lives either in total fear or total freedom. It's up to them to decide."

Kelly shook her head, no longer listening to Jeremy's rant. "I get that. I just think it would make an even better twist, or whatever you call it, if one of your characters is mistaken about his date of death. What happens to him then? Does he go mad and kill himself in order to make it true, or does he use his second chance at life for good."

Jeremy stopped trying to argue, a look of surprised amazement spread across his face, "Holy crap, that's a good idea."

Kelly sighed her agreement, refusing to comment more. Her head leaned to the left onto her fingers for support as if she were on the verge of a headache.

"No, I'm serious. That makes it so much better!" Jeremy repeated over and over as he fell deep into his imaginary world of kids with tattoos on their forehead with the date of their death and other such gloomy narrative devices.

His hands worked fast scribbling out lines on the yellow paper and rewriting sections of his outline. The sound of pen scribbling on paper moved over the room, cushioned only by the ten o'clock news which was dispassionately discussing the latest round of local murders and court cases. All the while, Jeremy's eyes bulged refusing to blink lest he lose his concentration. Tapping the end of his pen against the paper, as if to sign off on his finished work, he sat back on the couch letting out a big breath.

"Got it all fixed up! This gonna be rad."

Kelly did not respond.

Jeremy's smile evaporated, "Please?"

"Think I'll wait until it's finished," she answered, shaking her head side to side.

The young man opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it without a sound. He repeated this action twice before finding the words to speak. "You know, I think you're right. I should just go work on this. I know exactly what the story will be. I have a great feeling about these characters and I know how it will all end. So there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to go and get started."

Before she could respond, Jeremy leapt off the couch and shuffled over to the very unstable desk that was in the far corner of the room. The desk had been his since childhood and held the scars from the many troubled years. Chipped blue paint peeled away at the edges to reveal rough splinters that appeared to be waiting as if they were hungry to extract a slow revenge against the humans that had dared to construct it. The legs of the desk had never once stood flat on any surface, instead it rocked from side to side as Jeremy placed his elbow against it and began writing.

He scribbled a very messy title and chapter number before his thoughts deviated from the story. His rush of excitement vanished as more doubts ran through his mind. What if everyone hates the story? What if it doesn't make any sense? What if I forget how to spell? I have the worst handwriting ever! I can't even afford a typewriter from Goodwill. I don't like the name of my main character, Simon. Screw this, lets start.

His pen pressed into the yellow notepad and half a letter formed. It had always been this way, every story of his had amounted to a stack of notes and an outline. The furthest he had gotten with any of his stories was at the age of 13 he had completed a single page describing the birth of Sir Edward McCoutherbard. A police detective who could remember every detail of his life in picture perfect quality. It had been the most rewarding experience of Jeremy's early life. He had been so sure that he was going to finish the story, but the day after writing that piece of fiction had proven otherwise.

Jeremy's eyes glossed over as he reminisced about a decade younger version of himself. The memory came back to Jeremy as fresh as if it had been yesterday. He had woken up ready and excited to continue on his story. A knock on the door had been the first clue that something was wrong. Usually his foster parents barged in any time as they had a no closed door policy. They said it was to promote a sense of trust, but Jeremy was pretty sure it was their way of keeping tabs on the kids they were fostering. Instead of his foster mother poking her skinny neck around the door and scolding him for having the door shut, a police man carefully stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

Jeremy's memory recognized the officer at once, the same person had brought him from a troubled youth camp to his current residence.

"What happened? I've been good, really good! You said I could stay here forever," young Jeremy questioned, sadness growing with each word from the young voice.

Raising his hand the officer brought the young boy to a halt. "I'm sorry Jeremy. I'm so sorry that I have to be the one to bring you this news."

The young curly haired boy turned away from the man, scrunching his face and balling his fists, as if to prepare for a fight. "They're dead aren't they."

"Well no, not exactly," the balding redheaded man responded slowly, giving the child time to absorb the news.

"Then why are you here? You only ever bring bad news. They must be dead or you wouldn't be here."

The officer sighed, wishing that the boy's accusation had not been true. "They're not dead. You see they were in a terrible automobile collision last night. They are at the hospital now."

"Figures, bad stuff always happens to people I...that I know," young Jeremy said darkly, squeezing his hands into even tighter fists.

Back in the present, Jeremy's head collided with the desk as it tipped towards the opposite direction due to the additional weight. The 23 year old man remained sleeping. A glob of drool streamed out of his mouth, smearing the few words he had managed to write.

The door to Jeremy's single room apartment shut quietly as Kelly left herself out.

As soon as the door's lock slid shut, a bright light formed a solid beam in the center of the room. The beam ran from ceiling to floor and glowed icy blue. It hung in the air without making a noise and suddenly began moving in a grid pattern. First left to right then forward and backwards, always in straight lines. As the ray of light moved around the room, it began glowing red at the end nearest the floor. Curling smoke rose from burning carpet as symbols ancient and never before seen by humans were engraved upon the surface.

The smell of burning carpet brought Jeremy out of his deep sleep. Confused and angry at the disturbance, he opened one eye to the bright light which invaded his comfortable darkness. A shiver ran through his body, though he was not cold. He leapt to his feet, yelling out at the bright light.

"Stop!" He shouted at the inanimate light. Of course, the beam did not react to Jeremy's protests as it continued its mission of carving out runes in his once-beige-now-coffee colored carpet.

In his sleepy stupor, Jeremy ran after the beam of light, but it suddenly moved backwards and collided with him. Jeremy saw it happening before he could stop his forward momentum and he braced himself for what he was sure would feel like lightning. Instead, the light rushed through him and sudden darkness swept around him. His stomach fell, as the feeling that the ground was suddenly missing rushed through his body. As soon as it had begun, the feeling ended, leaving Jeremy dizzy but unscathed.

The laser beam that had entered Jeremy's room uninvited silently continued gliding across the room. Suddenly it halted, flickered twice, returned to center and condensed upon itself like a television set being switched off, leaving behind the strangest of all writing. Burned into the carpet were the words. Get Out of There!

Jeremy stumbled around dazed and confused wondering where he was. He found himself in a dark hallway with looming pillars guiding his eyes down to a flickering light at the far end. The pillars seemed to stretch miles into the air, going further into the dark sky than Jeremy's eyes could follow. All around him the pillars went in each direction, but he could only see so far as the only light source was far away. He felt minuscule, like an ant in a hall of giants.

Wondering if he was still dreaming, Jeremy carefully crept down the long hallway towards the flickering light. The pillars around him felt real and solid. He could faintly make out a far off scratching sound. The raspy whisper reached his ears in echos like waves upon a beach, each one slightly louder and more defined than the last.

Jeremy walked for what felt like hours, eventually reaching the flickering light. He stopped as he faced an enormous arched frame. The center of the arch met 30 feet above his head. Whereas from far away the frame had not seemed more than a flickering candle, now it appeared as bright as the sun. The extreme difference from the deep darkness of the hall to the bright sun like entrance forced Jeremy to shield his eyes.

As Jeremy examined the arch, a shadow dimmed the light, but only for a moment before it left and light returned to its fullness. The scratching noise was definitely coming from within the entrance and had become a constant, instead of the distant echoes that he had first heard. Another shadow swept across and disappeared.

Cautiously, Jeremy entered into the light, keeping his body pressed to the left side of the arch. Trying his best to be silent, while his heart hammered away nervously, he turned into the room and stared open mouthed as his eyes met the most impossible thing he had ever witnessed.

If he had felt small and undersized in the previous hallway, the enormity of the space he had just entered blew that out of proportion; he now could only be described as feeling microscopic.

The room, it was hard to believe that there was something big enough for this place to be inside of, was shaped in a perfect globe. From Jeremy's position looking forward he realized that he was at the room's equator. There were thousands of descending levels below him and above like a giant sphere shaped stadium. Each level rotated at it's own pace, like a clock, with the one nearest to him rotating with the most speed and each one closest to the globe going at a slower pace.

Each level had a number of creatures sitting in their own unique pods. The top level contained thousands of these creatures sitting in their strange pods. He could tell that the creatures were enormously tall, with equally long beards, two eyes that seemed to fill their gigantic faces, and what he counted to be 3 sets of arms and hands, which were all busy scribbling in a separate book.

His eyes were drawn to the center and bottom of the room, where upon an enormous globe that looked far too similar to earth spun in a quiet axis.

Jeremy realized that the noise he had been following was the result of millions of hands writing with quills that etched words into books thicker than a ten volume encyclopedia. The sum of it all resulted in a loud buzzing that Jeremy doubted he would ever be able to get out of his head.

He stood for a long time taking in the strangeness of the space he had entered. The buzzing noise created an easy trance that caught Jeremy's attention and was making it difficult for him to think of anything besides writing.

A shout from far away brought Jeremy's thoughts back to the forefront of his mind. He looked around and saw one of the creatures dressed in a pure white robe running towards another creature that had just stood up from it's pod.

"You can not stop!" Shouted the priestly-dressed one.

"No! I won't do it," the other one refused, shaking his head along with all six hands. "I won't finish this story."

Jeremy winced as the commanding creature smashed into the defensive one. The white robed creature punched with a speed that blurred Jeremy's vision as he knocked the other one down back into his pod. "You will finish the story. Have you forgotten your oath."

The other creature took the beating in stride only blocking attacks to his face, but otherwise absorbing each blow that was sent into him. "There's too much pain in this one. It's unfair. I can't and I won't bring him any more pain."

Jeremy noticed that all the other creatures had started writing faster, pretending like the argument was not happening. The subtle ambiance of the room had turned uneven; the buzzing trance that had held everyone in a mindless drone disappeared.

"You've grown soft, like a baby. If you don't get back to the story and finish it, you will be executed, but not before you get to watch as the director finishes the story for you. For he was the one that arranged this most important story, and commissioned you this most special task." The priestly-dressed one was now ringing the neck of the other.

Jeremy had a bad feeling in the bottom of his gut, and watched, detached as if he were a distant third person, as the submissive creature's eyes glanced over and met Jeremy's gaze. A disturbed smile spread over the now bleeding face. Instead of responding to the brutal attack and insults, the creature spoke to Jeremy. "It's so good to finally meet you. Let us run now, for you are truly free."

Jeremy felt his heart stop, as every one of the millions of giant human-like creatures stopped writing. The last echo of a scribble fell into the chasm of the hallway behind Jeremy. All eyes landed on Jeremy and a great roar of screaming erupted. A prison riot would have looked like a picnic compared to the chaos that overtook the room.

Suddenly, and before Jeremy could react the creature, that had spoken to him flung the white robed one into the air and ran for Jeremy, grabbing onto his arms and charging into the dark hallway.

"You must run now," the creature commanded, ignoring Jeremy's sudden ejaculation of screaming. He felt like a baby being carried by a parent. The creatures hands were soft and gentle, protecting him like he was a dozen eggs. They charged into the darkness, zigzagging through the maze of pillars.

Jeremy's ride lurched to a stop as the creature hid behind a darkened entrance way. There was no bright light coming from this one. "You must go home now," the creature creaked to Jeremy, as if it only rarely used it's voice.

Jeremy was in too much shock to respond, instead he shook his head and tried to look beyond the creature into the dark. There did not seem to be anyone pursuing them.

A billion questions fell out of Jeremy's mouth as he ran them all together. The creature simply smiled as if unsure how to respond and waited for Jeremy to end his inquisition. "Here is what you need to know. The rest will have to wait until later to be explained. I've been writing your story, but it's been different than any other story that I have ever written. The ending has been changed, you have to remember that. The ending has been changed!"

Pounding footsteps echoed around them as their pursuer's drew closer.

"Take this, but only use it in the most dire of situations," the six armed creature said as he shoved a quill into Jeremy's hands.

Too frightened to respond audibly, Jeremy nodded in agreement. He felt more and more confused as the creature spoke. Nothing that was happening made any sense to Jeremy's reeling mind.

Taking out another quill, the creature began drawing on the ground around Jeremy's feet. "This will get you home. I'm sorry but the rest will be up to you. I hope to meet you again. But that seems unlikely as I'm sure to be obliterated."

Out of the millions of important and life saving questions that could have came from Jeremy's lips, he happened to choose the least important one to ask. "Don't you need ink?"

The humorous sparkle in the watery eyes of the creature vanished as a look of utmost seriousness overcame his complexion. "No. This is not a time for ink, unless you want a thousand scribblers crashing through this entryway into earth. I can't imagine the shock all you humans would have," as suddenly as it had vanished, the smile returned to the creature's demeanor and he finished his scrawling.

"Now stand here," he commanded.

Jeremy moved onto the spot. "Wait!"

"Yes, what is it? We don't have much time. Hurry."

"Who are you?" Jeremy asked.

The biggest smile spread over the creatures face. "My dear boy, I am Noal. I am a writer of the universe and I have set us free."

The same blue light that had brought Jeremy to the strange hive of giant six-armed creatures that write stories surrounded him and he disappeared as a wave of the creatures swept over Noal, knocking him out of the way as the light turned off of Jeremy's view of the mayhem.

  *

The Long Weekend

The strangled caw of a vulture brought Jeremy back from a place between sleep and total unconsciousness. Heat from the overhead sun baked into his exposed skin, but his mind, still mostly filled with the dense sludge of sleep, did not register the predicament of his surroundings. Jeremy was only able to bring forth a few scattered thoughts, his entire brain ached, and physically his body felt limp and used as though it had been running for hours. A simple question was the only thing he was able to summon. Who are you?

Who are you? The question repeated in his thoughts. A name came forward, familiar yet not exactly correct. Jim? or James? The name stuck on the tip of his dry tongue, unwilling to announce itself to the world.

As another bird circled overhead, it's hungry shadow passing over Jeremy's motionless body, he rolled over on the ground finding the strength to push himself into a sitting position. He tried to open his eyes but everything was too bright and made his head hurt even worse. The whole of existence felt like it was set around Jeremy to confuse and annoy his fragile state. With a determined strength that was fueled by the desire to not be eaten by a large predator, Jeremy opened his eyes to the strange world he was in. He could see for miles in every direction, as the earth he sat upon was the flattest he had ever known. There was not a tree nor a shrub in any viewable direction, only sparse shriveled brown patches that lay flat against the scorched prairie. The land looked and felt like Earth, and yet Jeremy knew that he had never been to this place before nor could he recall how exactly he had come to find himself in such a forsaken place.

Jeremy sunk his head into his hands and shut his eyes to the disturbingly bright world, trying his best to force his mind to work. The growing feeling that he was lost and alone nagged at his gut as he chased confusing memories of gigantic six armed creatures. None of it made sense or felt real. Everything he thought about felt like a bad nightmare. Eventually he gave up trying to remember how he had arrived in this desert. Now all he wanted to do was figure out a way to get home, wherever that was.

The crunching of tire against gravel brought Jeremy to his feet and swiveling around as a truck rushed at him, narrowly stopping before colliding with him. A very old and skinny man leapt out of the truck, his face scrunched up in the most hideous scowl.

"I've called the police on ya. I won't have any more damn pranksters ruining my crops," the old man spit at Jeremy, while raising a double barrel shotgun to his face.

All Jeremy could do was remain still and perfectly silent, as he did not trust that the old man would not pull the trigger on him.

"So you're as stupid as you are nekid. Doncha' speak, what, you're mouth don' work or sumting."

Jeremy realized that the old man was afraid of him. The way his eyes jolted all around waiting and searching for a reason to use his gun. He slowly raised his hands in an attempt to show that he was unarmed and not dangerous. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not sure how I got here."

The old man spat another black glob of chew at Jeremy's feet before responding. "Pranksters and their drugs, taking over my land. I...I won't have it. Not here."

"I don't want your land and I'm no prankster either," Jeremy defended.

"Nah, I don't believe ya. Why ya here?"

"I don't know. I don't remember how I even got here. Where am I?" Jeremy pleaded.

The old man's bugged eyes ran over Jeremy as if determining what he said to be true or false. The shotgun lowered an inch, now pointing directly into Jeremy's chest. "Yer in hell son."

"What?" He mistook the old man's idea of a joke. It didn't make any sense to Jeremy. Why was he in hell? How did he die?

A mostly toothless grin broke the nasty expression that had held onto the old man's face for so long. "Hehehe..." He laughed and coughed at the same time.

"So I'm not dead?" Jeremy asked, his mind still reeling trying to understand.

"Nah, yeah, nah, if ya were dead, we both are, and I've still got a few decades left in these ol' bones." He responded.

"So where am I?"

"Nowhere, Nevada."

Jeremy thought for a long time, trying to remember if he knew where that was or if it was anywhere close to where he lived.

The old man started to cough and he-hawed at Jeremy's confusion. "Yer more lost than anyone I ever saw. You even lost yer pants."

For the first time Jeremy took stock of himself. It was true, he was not wearing a scrap of clothing, and he also seemed to have bruises up and down his body as if he had been beaten. He unclenched his left fist and saw that he was holding onto a single quill. The quill sparkled between the deepest black and a bright red. It felt like he was holding onto a string of air, and yet it had a perfect balance. Jeremy instantly felt that the object he was holding was a thing of immense power and magic, but could not think of the reason he felt that way about the quill. Embarrassment washed over him as his cheeks turned deep red.

"Uhhh sorry," he stammered.

"Don't be. I've been in nearly the same predicament you be in, myself. It was dem damn space invaders."

"What!" Jeremy shouted as the memories of what had happened to him came flooding back. He had tried to dismiss it as a dream while he was dazed and confused. But now he felt that there was no denying the reality of his situation. He had been abducted by aliens, and now he was completely lost, standing in a barren field and frightened more than he had ever been. "What did they do to me?"

"Can't say fer sure, but it sure looks like they tore into you, beat the living scrap out a ya."

Very carefully and with great caution, Jeremy touched one of the bruises. The bruises ran down his whole left side like tiger stripes. It must have been from when the creature had grabbed him amidst the chaos that had sprung up when they had first noticed him. Jeremy wondered if he had been the space invader in their minds.

"Come on, I'll take ya to town. Name's Harold." The man finally lowered his gun completely and walked back to the rusty truck without looking back.

Jeremy quickly followed and jumped into the truck. The drive to town was uneventfully silent and long. He wondered how the old man had found him in such a remote location. Jeremy quickly dismissed it as good luck, in a night of terrible outcomes. The longer they drove, the more Jeremy began to worry that something was not right with his predicament. He stole a glance at the old man, whose face had gone blank, his eyes never blinking as he stared into the distant sun.

A strong case of paranoia and panic grew in the bottom of Jeremy's gut. They were headed somewhere but Jeremy had the sinking feeling that wherever they were going there would be no town when they arrived. Jeremy clenched his fists and closed his eyes trying to stop the rising tide of worry.

The truck bounced heavily as it rounded a large rock and came upon a single trailer. The trailer looked to be as rusted and beat up as Harold's truck. The wood paneling around the bottom half of the trailer seemed to be holding on by sheer will power, as a gust of dry wind flapped the paneling against the exterior.

Harold stopped his truck inches from the unhinged door. "Come along," he ordered.

Jeremy hesitated, he did not trust the old man at all and felt that if he were to go inside the trailer he would be in extreme danger.

The old man exited the truck, slamming his door, and stared at Jeremy with his bug like eyes daring the young man to get out of the vehicle. Jeremy sat rooted to the spot, too scared to move, as Harold shuffled around the front and wrenched open the rusty door that was his protection.

"I said come along, we'll get ya some pants quick. Can't go to town missin' yer pants," he let out, accompanied by a hollow joyless laugh.

Jeremy's hands shook as he reluctantly pulled himself out of the truck. He stared into the old man's eyes looking for any sign of hope. But they reflected none, vacant and lost behind a glossy fog. Taking a deep breath, Jeremy glanced at the trailer again and saw a curtain quickly being pulled shut.

"No way, screw this!" he shouted and shoved the truck door into Harold's chest, knocking him to the ground. Jeremy leapt over the old man and ran back the way they had come. Refusing to look back, he sprinted towards the desert.

Without warning, he was struck from behind with what felt like a lightning bolt. Jeremy lost control of his body as he crashed into the harsh gravel and screamed as another wave of lightning struck his back and exploded through every bone in his body. He convulsed and rolled on the ground as every bone and muscle in his body felt like they were on fire. A gigantic black boot flashed in front of his face before it collided with his head. His vision went blank as he fell to the ground motionless. A pair of rough, scarred hands pulled him from the dust with ease and dragged his motionless body into the trailer.

If Jeremy's head had felt heavy and confused before, he couldn't begin to describe the amount of pain it was in now. The entire left side felt like splinters of glass being raked across his brain, thrusting deeper into the core of his brain than he had ever known was possible. Fuzzy dark shapes moved in and out of his diminished vision. He could hear voices shouting and boots clanging on metal, and what sounded like a giant door being wrenched open. Pressure in his ears built up and filled his head with more pain. Swallowing allowed him to break the bubble building up in both his ears.

With a howl of surprise, Jeremy was brought forth from his near unconsciousness by way of an icy cold bucket of water splashed over his head. Spitting and sputtering, he found his arms and legs locked to a medical table in the middle of an empty square room. A mirror reflected his overly bruised body, dried bloody face, and the fact that a shadow was standing behind him watching from concealed darkness.

Whoever was in the shadow stared indirectly into Jeremy's eyes, as if examining his soul. Jeremy tried his best to stare right back and not back down from the shadowy intimidation.

"Nothing," a surprisingly feminine voice spoke behind him.

"Where am I? What have you done to me?" Jeremy pleaded.

The person behind the shadow stepped forward. Jeremy did a double take in the mirror as his brain tried to match up the voice he had heard with the person he now saw. The mirror reflected what he could only describe as a ghost of a person. Her skin was pearly white, as if he could see behind and through it in some strange way. Her eyes milky and far off, the only thing of significant color was the military uniform she wore. "I should ask you the same question. It's not everyday that a person is able to sneak past our top surveillance and almost completely wander onto our base of operations without detection."

"I. Don't. know. Where. I am!" Jeremy stated.

"Unfortunately, I believe you. And for you that makes things much worse."

"What? I don't understand."

"If you could help explain who you are and why you are here, we could simply kill you and then go off and deal with whoever sent you, as we normally do. But now we have the problem of not knowing anything about you, and we don't like when people can keep secrets from us. So now we have to delve deeper, which will hurt much worse than death."

Jeremy mouthed the word why. He still could not figure out how he had ended up on a military base. And why he was now being regarded as if he were a terrorist or an international spy.

"Do you usually have trouble thinking?" she asked with a cruel smirk.

He negatively shook his head as much as his restraints would allow.

"Then I will have to go deeper," she grabbed his head with her long-skinny fingers. Her fingers felt hot and like they were burning into Jeremy's cheek and skull. Instantly, another bolt of lighting surged through her fingers and into his mind, reaching for his deepest thoughts and memories. After a minute, she released him as his head fell back, unable to hold itself up.

"I don't understand. You must either have some serious protection around you or extreme mental damage. By the way, my name is Mai, I know you wanted to ask."

The realization that she was trying to read his mind struck Jeremy almost harder than her mental probe had. "Wait, you're telepathic?"

She smiled with an enlightened attitude.

"I thought things like that were made up and didn't exist," he blurted.

"Tell me," she asked, "Where were you born?"

Jeremy shook in his chains, as if a cold breeze had entered the room. He didn't know, nor had he ever known his origin. He had not ever been able to remember anything from before his first foster home, and had never been able to find any records of his parents or previous whereabouts. For some reason he felt ashamed of this fact, and shut his mouth refusing to answer.

"You can tell me," she coaxed with a wink that Jeremy guessed only he was able to see.

"I thought you were the psychic."

Mai did not immediately respond, only a shimmer of color arrived on her icy complexion. "Would you like to feel pain?"

He instantly understood that his retort had been the wrong avenue.

She stepped over him and laid her skeleton-like fingers on his chest, swirling them casually through his light chest hair. Her finger felt like a lighter being drawn across his skin. "You've felt the pain when I attempt to break into your psyche. The sudden rush of an intrusion pushing it's way through every barrier your natural mind has built. Do you want to know how life feels for me, every second of everyday I survive."

Jeremy attempted to rip his way out of the metal clasps holding his arms and feet, uselessly fighting and struggling as she spoke.

"There are 7 billion people on this planet, every thought and memory of theirs I can hear. The connection I make with you is not a one way street. I open myself up as I slide into your consciousness. I know every person on this planet better than their own mother and in some cases than themselves. A connection stronger than physicality, it becomes hard coded. I connect to everyone closer than two lovers could ever wish. I am telling you this so when I connect to you again you will know not only that it hurts, but why it hurts so much. People on this planet are hurting in a way that goes beyond explanation. Their souls cry out in a pain that would shock the most evil person. This pain floods the universe, poisoning humanity at its very core."

In one fluid movement, Mai swung her leg over Jeremy and straddled him, pressing into him as she continued. "I get it all; all the pain, all the hate, all the deep repressed and recessed memories. Except yours. I don't know why I cannot penetrate your thoughts, and I love it. Seven billion people screaming inside my head and you're the only one that whispers. I want to share my gift with you."

Jeremy scrunched his face trying his hardest to move back as she closed the distance between them and planted her translucent lips on his. A tsunami forced its way into Jeremy, entering from their intimate connection and spreading to every nerve in his body. The inside of his head felt like a pent up volcano, shaking with fury ready to burst. And then like a bullet exploding against a light bulb, there was only darkness.

Mai tore herself away from him and looked down in serene adoration. "Thank you for whispering."

Waking through his own volition, Jeremy realized for the first time in what felt like months, but really only days, that his head did not ache. It had become numb. Instead of the shooting pains that he had experienced when he first woke up in the desert and throughout the whole ordeal with the telepathic woman, he now felt almost nothing, just a background buzz that reminded him of the noise he had heard in the hive with all those strange six-armed giants writing in their books. The buzz comforted and healed him, keeping him from giving up entirely.

He tried to recall what had happened when Mai had kissed him. His memory returned the immense shock wave that had exploded throughout his entire being. He shuddered, remembering the overwhelming pain, but it had not been his pain that he had felt. It had been everyone's pain. Mai had been right, the pain was from within their soul, crying out so often that no one even noticed it anymore. It reminded Jeremy of how he had felt the first time he realized that he was homeless. Disgust and guilt, mixed with bone deep sadness.

A yellow light above him clicked on, illuminating Mai. She was again standing behind Jeremy's field of vision. Appearing to study him as if he were a wild animal.

Silence hung between them as they watched each other through the mirror. Jeremy had the odd feeling that there were more eyes than just hers on him at the moment.

A squeal of a microphone came first, and then a much steadier and cleaner version of Harold's voice came through, "We need to dump him."

Mai remained silent, hovering behind Jeremy in her ghostly way.

"Jeremy, we have one final question for you," the speaker above Jeremy's head blared.

"I'll ask," Mai stepped forward, glancing from the mirror to Jeremy. She wore an almost frightened expression. "What is the significance of the feather you carried in here?"

Jeremy didn't truly know nor did he want to give them any indication either way. He remained willfully silent.

"We know everything: your name, where you live, how long you've lived in apartment 3 on 27 West First street, the name of your girlfriend and more importantly your very troubled past. There is no point in trying to hide anything from us. Even if you don't tell us, we will find a way to extract the information we want. So tell us about the feather."

"I don't know; it's special to me," Jeremy attempted.

"Don't waste our time," the disembodied speaker hailed.

"We can tell when you are lying," Mai said flatly.

"I..." Jeremy started.

The box squealed a few jumbled curse words before finishing off with, "That's not an answer!"

"Tell us. Quickly, you are running out of time," Mai cooed in Jeremy's ear.

"It's you who are running out of time!" Jeremy bellowed, looking straight through the mirror at whomever was on the other side.

"Do you wish to die this day?" Harold asked from behind the glass.

Mai placed a protective hand over Jeremy's shoulder. "I've been thinking about this since you arrived. There is another way."

"More pain?" Jeremy asked already bracing himself for impact.

She grinned malevolently, "Sadly, although I did enjoy sharing with you, it is not wise for you are weak and any more might do permanent damage."

Looking back and forth between Jeremy and the mirror before continuing, Mai nodded as if steadying herself. "Oh yes, there is another way. We will simply let you go on your merry way. You will be able to enjoy the freedoms as any other person in this country. But we will always be watching. You will never truly be alone. We will be like ghosts in the shadows. We will wait until you show us the answers."

Reluctantly, Jeremy nodded his approval. He knew that he would have no other chance to escape. All he could hope for was a chance to get away and figure out where to run. If they would never stop tracking him, then he would never stop running. But in order to even start running, he had to first get out of his current imprisonment.

Placing one of her long skeleton-like fingers on Jeremy's forehead, Mai whispered into his ear. "Until next time, sweet nothings."

Jeremy slammed back into the cold metal table as another bolt of lightning surged into his brain, switching it off.

  *

Downturn

Falling into the soft cushions of his couch, Jeremy barely recognized the sound of the door slamming shut. He sat for a long time, simply happy to breathe. Jeremy felt that he was the center of all that was calm; gentle buzzing in his right ear soothed him as he sat. Soaking in the last remaining rays of the afternoon sun, Jeremy felt happy for the first time in what felt like a very long time. Unfortunately his brief moment of contentment was disturbed by a sudden tapping at his door.

Sighing heavily, "I'm out!" Jeremy responded.

"Come on, open up, its me," a fine baritone voice pleaded.

"Cis? Ringer ole buddy. How you doing?" Jeremy asked with a smile.

"Great! man," Ringer responded from the other side of the door.

Jeremy was torn between leaving his happy place and getting up to open the door for his friend of many years. A long moment of silence stretched between them.

"Yo! Let's go man. You dead or something? Open up."

With tremendous strength that no one would ever recognize, Jeremy stood up and opened the door for his buddy.

"Sup," they said at the same time. Grinning at each other like fools, they clasped hands. It had been months since Cis Ringer had stopped by Jeremy's apartment. The man Jeremy's hand was shaking stood at least 6 inches above him and always had a slight underfed look to his body. Cis was the most clean cut kid Jeremy had ever known, but that never stopped Cis from talking like he had been born on the streets.

"I heard you were out of town," Ringer questioned with a statement.

Jeremy started to explain; he wanted to tell his best friend Cis Ringer everything that had happened over that last few days, but instead he started laughing uncontrollably.

"You're flippin'. You not on drugs or nothing right?" Ringer asked with worry.

After a while and another outburst of giggles, Jeremy was able to stabilize. "Dude, you have no idea. I have had the craziest week. Come on sit down, grab a beer and I'll try to tell you."

They were no further than opening their drinks when, without so much as a warning, Jeremy's door rudely slammed open, revealing a very angry looking Kelly.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kelly demanded before folding her arms and sitting rigidly between the two men. The three of them more than overfilled Jeremy's single and only place to sit in his apartment.

"I was about to explain that to Ringer," Jeremy defended.

"You were going to tell him first?" She steamed.

"Uhh..." He felt defenseless. Every time she was around and angry at him he turned into a tongue-tied blubbering idiot.

Cis shrugged in his casual way, not wanting to become the object of Kelly's anger.

"I'll tell you both," Jeremy decided. "I was abducted by aliens and then the government sent a mind reader to kill me and I think they are still watching me."

Ringer grinned again but not in a happy way. "You have lost your mind, man."

"He's right, what the hell. That's not even a good lie," Kelly responded, accompanied by a face palm.

"I'm not lying," Jeremy confessed.

Kelly shook her head, as if Jeremy's words were an unbearable headache. "Really?"

"Okay, okay let me re-explain what went down in a better way."

"I'm giving you this one chance. Tell the truth or I'm gone," she replied making full eye contact with Jeremy.

"Alright, hold on to your butts," Jeremy said before spending the next half hour reenacting his strange dream and the terrible events that he had been subject to. His audience sat in still silence, open mouthed, as they received the most inexplicable story they had ever heard.

Jeremy finished off his story by saying, "...And there you have it. The story of how I went missing for a week and what happened to me during that time."

"You serious man? I kinda hope that's real though," Cis laughed uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Jeremy. Actually, I'm not sorry. Cis is right. Your story is bullshit. I gave you one last chance and you ruined it. I gotta get out of here." Kelly flipped him off and strode to the door.

Despite a slight inner happiness that Jeremy did not expect to be feeling, he jumped up to stop her. "I can prove it."

"No, Jeremy, I just want to go," she pulled her hand from his.

"But I can make you understand everything! I have the bruises all over my body from the ordeal and I have the quill one of the aliens gave me."

"No! You're the one that has to understand," Kelly said, her face turning sad. "Last Monday, I came back to apologize for being upset with you, and to help you write your story. After I was done being angry, I realized I kinda liked it. But then you were gone. No note or anything. Your cell phone was still on the couch where you left it. Then I noticed that crazy message burned into your carpet."

She finished by pointing at the scorched words that still stood out in Jeremy's carpet. Get out of there; it read like a set of insane instructions. Jeremy tried to mutter an apology but Kelly ignored him and continued. "I tried calling all of the contacts on your phone. Not a single one worked, they were all disconnected lines. All except my number and Ringer's. He didn't know where you were either. It was like you just vanished into thin air and that you never really existed before."

"I don't know what to say," Jeremy felt sick to his stomach. He had realized for a while that his contact list was dwindling, but he had never dreamed that it was close to null. The idea that to Kelly he had never existed bothered him more than he would have liked to admit.

"I'm glad you're back, but I think I'm going to follow that burn mark's advice and get out of here," Kelly finished.

"But Look, it's all here, the burn in the carpet, the bruises on my side," Jeremy pulled aside his shirt revealing the series of horizontal bruises that ran up his abdomen.

"Dang...those real?" Ringer asked before Kelly could.

She shook her head. "Please, just stop. Whatever happened to you, it's your secret to keep. I don't want to know."

Feeling depressed, Jeremy flopped back down on the couch. He was less disturbed that she was leaving than the fact that she wouldn't believe his story. He felt that he had explained it as best he could remember. There wasn't much else he could say. "Let me show you the quill."

Cis leaned forward intrigued by his friend's story. "Out with it."

"I don't care to see it," Kelly spoke quietly before turning and walking out the still open door.

Ringer stood up and carefully closed the door, returning to his friend. "I want to believe you Jeremy. You wouldn't make up sometin' like that. would ya?"

Jeremy scratched his hair, trying to put his current situation into perspective. "I'll prove it to you."

Without blinking, Jeremy shoved his hand into his jeans and pulled out the now deep red quill. Its feathers reflected the shallow sun, seeming to expand like a flower trying to catch more of the warmth. "This is it."

"That's it, dang. That's what a quill is?"

"You...you didn't know what a quill was?"

"Nah, man. I never knew," the most genuine smile broke over Cis's face. "But now I do. Fucking right doggy."

Jeremy chuckled at his friend's ridiculous and off beat expressions. "I wonder if Kelly knew what a quill was?"

"Forget her, son. She was bad news for you anyway, always trying to change ya into what ya not. So what does it do? Can you write with it."

Thankful to have his friend's backing, he replied. "I'm not sure. Here grab that notebook."

Jeremy tore one of the yellowed pages out of his notebook and with shaking hands sat it down between them. Hesitantly he put the tip of the quill on the page. Instantly, a warmth radiated up through his fingers into his arms. It felt wonderful, like the afternoon sun that had calmed his heart.

"Dude look at your arm. It looks like freakin' animorphs or something," Cis exasperated, his face snow white.

It was true, Jeremy's arm now had streaks running up and down his skin of the same exotic red color that was on the feather. The color moved and circled around Jeremy as if evaluating him.

"Write something," Ringer urged as he backed a step away from Jeremy.

"What should I write?" Jeremy panicked. Here he was again, only this time he absolutely had to write something and not a single coherent statement wanted to leave his finger tips. "What the heck should I write man?"

"Your name or something like that. Simple and easy."

"Okay. I think you're right," Jeremy quickly scribbled his first name on the sheet of paper. As he crossed his signature, the color that had been undulating around his arm turned bright red, a shade of fire and blood, and dived into the etched words he had written. The color filled up the micro indentations as if the words Jeremy had written were dry lake beds that were being filled during a large flood. At the place his quill had last touched, the color reached up hovering like a puff of smoke. It seemed to be waiting for Jeremy to do something.

"Try touching it with that thingy," Ringer suggested, wiggling his finger towards the quill.

With the tiniest of movements, Jeremy touched the risen color with the tip of his quill. The color swirled around the quill like it was inspecting the user. As if it were performing a handshake, the color landed on the edge and instantly sucked back into the quill. In the process the color erased Jeremy's name from the page, leaving the page looking as if it had never been written on. The individual feathers attached to the quill spread out to their full width as if expressing their pleasure with what Jeremy had written.

The two men stared at the quill, now motionless and quite regular looking, in Jeremy's hand. Jeremy was the first to break their stunned silence. "Uhh...that's it?"  
"Don't think I could handle more, my hearts pounding," Cis thumped his heart a few times.

"Same," Jeremy muttered, his eyes wide with stunned disbelief. "It's magic isn't it?"

Ringer agreed, "Think so bro."

Letting out a large puff of air, Jeremy sank back into the couch. His mind was full of worries and thoughts. What had he unknowingly done to himself? The quill had seemed to accept him. But Jeremy could not understand why a quill would need to approve of the person using it. The quill wasn't doing the thinking or writing, it was just a tool, Jeremy supposed.  
"So that's it?" Ringer asked cautiously.

Jeremy shook his head, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know man, I think the creature I met used it to send me back to earth. I'm not sure if we should use it more."

"True...and those military people are probably watching you." Cis realized craning his neck and giving a watchful look around the apartment. "We need to be smart."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but we need to understand what this quill is or what it can do. I think it might save us or something. I think it will get us out of this mess....Man I'm getting paranoid 'bout all the government being up in my ass."

"Yeah it would be good for us to lay low or disappear for awhile," Cis agreed.

"Or if we were dead!" Jeremy jumped up with his twisted idea. "Yeah if the army people think I'm dead. Solves everything and Kelly said it best, it's not like I've been living much of a life anyway."

"You are mental."

"No! no! I'm not saying let's go slit our wrists or anything. I'm saying let's just write our obituary. No one knows who I am, it will be easy to be declared dead."

Cis was too in shock at Jeremy's plan to bother audibly responding.

A dark determined look overcame Jeremy's features. As simply as if he were washing dishes or folding laundry, Jeremy ripped another sheet of paper from his ragged notebook. Twirling the quill through his fingers, he placed the tip to the yellowed page. "Jeremy is dead", he wrote. Ringer coughed in silent anticipation as they both waited nervous of what might happen. Like a curtain being dropped in front of the sun, the world around them went dark. Blackness and a cold so deep winter would shiver engulfed the two men sitting on the couch. A silence most unbearable surrounded them; its overbearing nothingness and overall emptiness crushed down on them till they were shivering in a protective fetal position.

Jeremy wriggled trying to see where there was nothing, and hear where there was even less, and then, like seeing a fire after being lost in the woods, a noise broke the never. The noise, tiny at first, built and built, until Jeremy realized it was but one single scream. His own. Like an ambulance, running past him, another voice came out and rushed by Jeremy. Soon, it was joined by another and another, until he wondered if it had ever been silent. A million screams filled his thoughts, each one clear and precise, exactly like those terrifying thoughts Mai had sent into him. It was again the pain of the human spirit crying out, only this time it was raw and unbroken. Knowing it would never stop, Jeremy fought with what little life he had left.

A gray cloud sliced through him, knocking him aside. It reared around, confused and angry at the sudden and unexpectedly solid form of Jeremy's body in the dead space. Its body was skeletal frozen in a scream. It wailed as it flashed angry claws and jagged teeth at Jeremy, then quickly the monster sped away.

The sound of metal sliding against metal, like a sword leaving its scabbard, drew Jeremy to a new figure that was impossibly darker than the pervasive background. Instead of raising a scythe to strike him like Jeremy imagined, the sub-black creature gave the impression of smiling. "Trick...Trick...Tricky little boy. There is only one way to enter this realm. You are unnatural. No matter, I was just saying the other day how hungry I was for human flesh, and look here how my master Death delivers."

It was then that Jeremy saw the true form of the creature. Having never seen anything else to compare, he had no idea how to understand what he was seeing. All he could possibly understand was that it did not have a face.

As the creature lunged forward, claws out ready to tear through Jeremy's slowing heart, light blazed between them. The beam of light separated Jeremy from the darkness and the cold. It cut like a sword vanquishing the darkness back into the corners of the room.

Jeremy sat up gasping like he had been underwater for minutes. Picking himself up from the ground, his entire body was still shaking. A hand placed on his shoulder made him jump.

"Hey man, it's me!" Ringer shook Jeremy. "What happened? You wrote that you were dead and then everything went dark all around us. I heard my mom. She's been dead since I was 7 years old."

"How?" Jeremy stuttered. "I think we really died for a second there."

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force himself to stop shivering. He hugged himself trying to find internal warmth, but instead his stomach and legs continued to nervously jump up and down.

"It was all I could do man. I think I knocked you over, but I ended up scratching out what you had written," Ringer held up the page which now had a major slice through the middle where the quill had cut into the soft paper.

"Thanks," he shook uncontrollably. "Well let's never do that again."

Three quick successive taps sounded at Jeremy's front door. The two men spun around terrified by what might be on the other side of the door. Holding a finger up to his mouth, Jeremy suddenly found the power to stop shivering. They stood very still and waited.

Another round of knuckle against plywood alerted them. "We know you're in there. If you do not open this door in 10 seconds we are authorized to break it down."

Abandoning the silent treatment, Jeremy shouted through the door. "I have rights!"

"Actually, no you don't," the voice repeated as something large slammed against the door. The hinges shook but stayed.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jeremy asked while tearing the quill out of Cis's hands and running around the apartment grabbing things he needed.

"We have been sent from the council of the writers to eliminate one human named Jeremy for unforgivable crimes against the multiverse. He is fit for trial by a council of directors, led by Chief Director Radfewx, for stealing a quill from the earth hive and violating the sacred oaths of the author. We are here to take you in, if you try and escape we have authority to kill."

While the person behind the door spoke, Jeremy gathered all that mattered greatly to him. Surprisingly that ended up being an extra change of clothes, his notebook full of story outlines, and a Zippo lighter that had been the first gift Jeremy had ever received. Jeremy whispered to Cis, "I'm going to try something crazy and I have no idea if it will work. Do you want to come along?"

Cis shook his head. "I'm sorry brother, but I've already died once today. I'm out."

He finished with a sad look, hugged Jeremy, and kicked out the window, slipping into the night.

All the glass from Ringer's escape hadn't even landed before the door burst open and Jeremy was being rushed by men with guns. Jeremy was holding a folder with maps he had drawn of a world he was going to create in one of the books he had planned. He slipped, as more guns than he had even seen before pointed at his failing body, the folder went flying as did many individual pages.

Soldiers surrounded him as he cowered between his tiny couch and the coffee table he used to put his feet on after a long day at work. A smaller person stepped through the circle of munitions. Jeremy recognized her as Mai but she was missing all of her inner strength. Her expression was blank, Jeremy knew that she was no longer hearing the calls of millions of people or acting of her own free will. She was only hearing one thing, and it was the voice that spoke through her commanding her to hunt Jeremy. "I have come to take you to your trial. Resist or die. We have authorization!"

Jeremy grabbed the last piece of paper that hit the floor. It was a map he had drawn of a world of magic and dragons. Jeremy had often dreamt of visiting the wonderful world of magic he had built up in his head and slowly drawn out on paper. Staring directly into Mai's vacant eyes, Jeremy felt that he was in a wild west showdown. Whoever drew first would still be alive, whomever was slowest would possibly die.

Forcing his resolve and before anyone could react Jeremy slashed at the page in his hand with the quill. He wrote the first impulse that came to his mind, the number 5.

The entire room froze, the map in Jeremy's hand broke open at the middle, a burnt red hand burst from the paper and grabbed onto the collar of Jeremy's shirt. The hand pulled Jeremy into the map. Before he could even begin to scream again, the map swallowed Jeremy's feet and he was cut off from the earth world.

The 5th World

The hand that had came from within the map and grabbed Jeremy was attached to a body, but it was unlike anything Jeremy knew could exist. The skin was seared red like it had been boiled. Its body was contorted and broken as if the bones had been set without care or thought. Half of the creature's face was rotted away revealing bone that stuck out on one side like a horn, and on the other side a boot hung, concealing a possibly worse experience.

The creature clicked at Jeremy, shouting words that made no sense. Every once in a phrase Jeremy could pick out a normal English word, but then the creature would revert back to the more basic speech pattern that its broken face would allow.

It held onto Jeremy with a grip tighter than he would have preferred, but even stranger Jeremy did not feel threatened by its clicking shouts or by its grotesque features. Somehow in all the ugliness Jeremy saw something more akin to a loyal dog than something to be feared. Instead of repulsion, Jeremy felt inexplicable companionship.

Looking around, Jeremy found himself on a large red hill overlooking jagged cliffs that snaked their way across the landscape. Everything around him had a burnt tint to it, the same hue as the creatures skin. A cloud zoomed over them, flashing black lightning and spilling red droplets of what appeared to closely resemble blood. Sickened by the disturbing idea of raining blood, Jeremy allowed the creature to lead him down a path to the cliffs.

As they approached the edge, Jeremy looked over and saw a cut into the ground that appeared to be a mile deep. There was no definable bottom that Jeremy could see. All the way down was carved roads and cities, interconnected by a honeycomb like network of tunnels.

A hazy-brown mist filled with cobwebs settled around them, disfiguring the twin sun's light that had cocooned them in an overbearing brightness from all directions.

Stumbling as they made their way down the rocky crevice, they were approached by a small legion of creatures. As they grew closer, Jeremy felt more and more uneasy. Instead of how humans have more or less the same basic body configuration, not a single creature was even the same shape. It was all random parts, stuck in places they shouldn't be. The more he took in and noticed, the more it made Jeremy physically sick to his stomach.

One of the creatures had extra eyes that took the place where a normal mouth should have gone. The eyes blinked in unison, giving it an impossibly disturbing ambiance.

Another one was simply a leg and a foot. In order to move it would rear back on its one haunch, while simultaneously thrusting the lower half up into the air, all the while leaping forward. It seemed to be a terribly complicated and burdensome way to travel. There was a sick humour attached to the freakish nature of the walking leg.

This horror show was led by a sort of dog-crab creature. Its four limbs were attached backwards so that its head was always upside down, and it crawled like Frankenstein's take on the fun childhood version of the crabwalk. Large ears flopped towards the ground, curling a tad at the tips like a German Shepherd's. A black tongue lashed out as it had to work twice as hard to keep from being bitten off while the creature shouted instructions towards the rest of the hoard.

The half-faced one that was still holding onto his arm, dragged him in front of the dog-crab creature and clicked its shattered face twice before kneeling in reverent silence to the dog-crab.

Stepping forward from the crowd, the dog-crab surveyed Jeremy who desperately tried to avoid it's upside down eyes. After another moment of inspection and a very dog like sniff to the air, the creature clicked down at the kneeling half-face. "Said me, who thist be'd."

Jeremy coughed in the sudden confusion of hearing words that were english, but they were mashed and mangled in a sinister way.

The creature continued, "no from here. It shou'd not. Where is not it should be. Be you?"

Jeremy had no words. He wanted to cuss and yell, scream at the impossible task of trying to do the acrobatics required in his brain to understand the backwards speak. Forcing himself to remember how the half-face one appeared to be quite kind and gentle, Jeremy stood up and opened his mouth. "Hello. My name is Jeremy. I think I am lost."

Flopping its ears around wildly, the creature bent its neck up to look into Jeremy's eyes. "Germy?"

"Yeah, yeah, Jeremy," he encouraged by pointing at himself, surprised by the dog-crab's quick understanding.

"Germy," the creature echoed. "Germy is germ froam away, away, away. Too far. Only zero can he come."

At once all the other deformations clicked and clattered excitedly in their own language. Jeremy could tell that they were now having a giant debate. Half-face had stood up and was now shouting even more wildly at the leg walker. The leg walker stomped his disapproval at the entire situation. And Three-eye-no-mouth silently blinked at Jeremy, forcing him to avert his eyes.

All the while, the leader stared into Jeremy's eyes waiting for him to react. "Hey ya..uh...

guys!"

Silence had never appeared faster.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Jeremy begged.

The crab-dog bounded towards Jeremy and stood up putting it's paws up on his shoulders. Stench fouler than decay rolled into Jeremy's nose, as he tried to back away. The beast held on while speaking. "Day yes sun in sky high, today. Welcome, eat feast den speak. we. Said me, you be, Germy de lorth of chaos."

Saliva dripped from the large tongue, as the last and most clear words slithered between Jeremy's thoughts. Had the dog-crab called him the Lord of Chaos. He didn't want to imagine what that could mean, and he also felt a nagging worry that his life would be him forever running from strange to stranger place. Jeremy could not imagine a place any more confusing than where he was. Apprehensively, he smiled back at the dog-crab.

"Let's forward," the creature barked, while hopping back onto its four legs and leading the horde down along the side of the cliffs.

The party moved steadily and quickly. Jeremy tripped a lot as his eyes caught more and more of the strange world, amazed that he was not being murdered by the pack of trotting Halloween characters. The road his group passed by crumbled behind them. To his left was a vertical drop to the bottom of the cliffs. No creature appeared to own anything, they all looked starved and disturbed beyond just their physical appearance. It was like their harsh exteriors housed the most submissive of beings.

A bolt of lightning chased them a mile down the canyon. It zigzagged from point to point as they jumped into a cascading waterfall of molasses-like viscosity. Pulling hard Jeremy was able to fight his way down the still waterfall till they managed to land on another level.

Hours walked past them as they crisscrossed and traversed their way down. Eventually, a creature resembling a zebra, except where it should have had white stripes it had tongues lashing about all over its body, that had been traveling with them bolted off ahead of their pack. Soon, Jeremy smelled burning wood, but quickly covered his mouth as a second puff revealed a scent near enough to bile to convince even the worst nose on earth to snap shut in disgust.

As Jeremy was beginning to wonder if they would ever make it to their destination, the group stopped and turned towards a great door carved from the strange red-rust rock of their planet. The door was painted a watery-blue color and depicted a surprisingly female human-like winged creature, clashing swords with a large six armed beast. Crab-dog barked instructions at the door, "no shut."

The ornate door folded vertically in half to allow their entrance. The crab-dog held up a paw, motioning them to stay put. It pointed to Three-eyes and motioned for it to go inside.

Three-eyes stepped towards the door. Blinking slightly faster and trembling as if nervous, the creature tip toed inside the darkened room. Once past the shadow of the door, all the creatures surrounding Jeremy seemed to breathe with relief.

Next, the crab-dog pointed at Jeremy to go past the door. Cautiously, as Jeremy did not understand why they were all so nervous, he stepped onto the bottom half of the door. A sudden gust of wind alerted Jeremy to the fact that the top half was falling towards him. Frozen with shock, he stared up at the quickly descending rock. Certain of his swift crushing death, Jeremy froze.

Shutting his eyes as the door fell, Jeremy felt a large body collide with him from an unexpected angle that sent him sprawling. And then the deep rumble and crash as the door landed on the ground.

A terrifying screech echoed around the dark room Jeremy had landed in. Looking at the aftermath made him impossibly more sick to his stomach. It was Half-Face who had pushed him out of the way, his legs smashed between the two doors. The creature squirmed in agony, unable to tear away from the lower half of its body.

The rest of the group walked on top of the door, like a bridge, carefully avoiding the horrific scene. Crab-dog kneeled down and turned his head sideways to lick half-face's pained face.

Jeremy could not remember feeling sadder. He ran over to the side of the trapped creature. As soon as he attempted to put an arm around his suffering companion, his motion was blocked by the crab-dog.

"No touch."

"But we can help!" He bellowed in frustration. "Can't we save him!"

"No touch," the creature sadly shook his head.

"He doesn't have to suffer like this," Jeremy leapt forward but was quickly grabbed and wrestled to the ground by the members of the crab-dog's army. He fought with the monsters, though the fight was only his to lose. Inches away from a creature that would terrify a nightmare, and all Jeremy wanted to do was hold it and comfort it. Jeremy had lost too much in his life and couldn't bare to lose again.

Rolling onto his side, Jeremy was able to free a foot and send it flying into the face of the tongue-striped zebra that had galloped into the scuffle from afar. The moment gave Jeremy enough wiggle room to roll towards his fallen friend. All throughout the mayhem, he could see the pain in the creature's eyes.

A sudden burst of energy and light, poured out from where the creature was trapped between the two rocks. The disfigurement that was Half-face's body started withering as if losing mass and texture.

"No Touch!" Crab-dog yelled with a fury that paused the entire feud.

Half-face reached out obviously in fear of what was going to happen. With one last effort, Jeremy thrust his arm out trying to reach the now shuddering creature. His hand fell painfully short by mere inches.

"New friend, cry not for me. This is the fifth world, the land of confusion. Here nothing dies, only suffering infinite. Founded with synthetic process, are we ever truly alive." Half-face exhausted, before being sucked into the door.

With a large rumble, the door folded upwards closing the entrance way. In the middle of the split door was Half-face, arms still outstretched trying to pull himself out of becoming one with the door. His grotesque face now looked awfully peaceful as it stuck out of the door in petrified pain and death.

"Let us forward," Crab-dog said quietly.

Jeremy shook his head no. He didn't understand how they could all have just stood by and watched that happen as if it was an everyday occurrence.

"If one skin touch while life refusion, the entire skin will restart," the crab-dog explained.

"He said nothing dies," Jeremy argued, while standing up and rubbing his sore body from the small battle that had taken place moments before.

"True, we no not die. Change is constant. We will take you to the machine, where they make Tal-sen alive."

"His name was Tal-sen?" Jeremy asked as the party moved into the center of an empty hall. Their steps echoed in the great cavern as the group broke into a rushed trot. Jeremy struggled to keep up with the group.

Before they turned a sharp corner, Jeremy could feel a strange electrical energy flowing around him. It caused the hair on his body to stand up and tickled his skin in an unpleasant way.

Once around the corner, the group stopped short of a small opening in the rock. Crab-dog turned to Jeremy and spoke. "Me said, are ready to you look onto inside the plain of Azark. It will hear the detuning of life. Until the sounds of death are squashed and fixed into feeling form. Become rock, being or else the machine decides. But the machine has no conductor. So ask us when you gaze, do you hear the scribble or has the noises harmonious of unseeing eyes ceased to be."

Feeling out of his element, Jeremy followed the crab-dog's pointing finger and looked into the hole in the rock. In the diminished light, all Jeremy could see was a far off flickering candle. The more Jeremy stared the more the flickering worried him. He noticed that the light was the same spectral color that had flown out of Half-face before he had become part of the door.

The light grew, only not towards him, but wider and longer as if a great opening in the fabric of the universe. Out of it spilled a tongue and set of teeth, licking the surrounding darkness away like a dog's tongue. In place of the darkness were a million blank faces. Replacing the sickening tongue, was a large tentacle that grabbed a face far off on the left side and drew it back into the flickering candle.

The tongue came back out, wiping away the faces, only to replace it with bodies of all shapes and sizes. Again the tentacle picked one and took it into the strange light in the middle.

Too confused and disgusted to look away, Jeremy watched as the tongue and tentacle selected more and more body parts. Jeremy lost track of how many things were selected and what they all were as the pace of the selection increased.

Finally a set of double eyes took the place of the tongue. The double eyes were not just two eyes looking into the light it had selected, it was as if on a human one had cut out where the eyes should be on a person, skin and all, and stacked them atop each other. One eye would blink down, the other upwards. Its middle eyelid stuck in a strange tug-of-war between the two eyes.

A beam of pink ether shot out of the lower eye and hit the flickering light. Darkness followed the beam until all that remained was a solitary figure. It stood far off, but even at the far distance Jeremy could tell it was roughly the shape of a human. It stepped forward towards Jeremy and swayed on its feet.

The new form fell forward onto its knees. Bubbles formed inside of its skin until bones broke through popping, the growth with a wet spray of miasma. Jeremy watched in horror as a bubble formed on the right side of its face. Swelling to twice the size of it's head, the bubble exploded with a sudden sucking noise as the extra skin fell away revealing a single large curved horn.

With a final screech of pain, what was left of the creature's skin turned into the same blue color the door had been painted. Lines that looked like fine wood grain formed over top the blue color.

The transformation was complete, the creature slowly crawled forward toward the hole Jeremy gazed through. Pulling itself through, Jeremy recognized it as Half-face but with a distinct similarity to the door that had crushed him.

Dog-crab reached out a paw and pulled Half-face to its feet. Eyes still full of pained tears, Half-face turned to Jeremy. "Out of should be death, comes this personal cosmic joke of creation. The machine reforms the two sides of death. The killer and the murder, a generation together as penance for their past lives."

"Tal-sen?" Jeremy asked too stunned to process all of the events.

Due to a bone that had hinged itself onto the top half of Half-face's jaw, the creature could not fully control its mouth and only managed half a smile. But it was a smile of a friendship that crossed worlds. "Thank you, Germy, your compassion for fellow fifth-worlders is beyond anything we feel."

Jeremy nodded his head, glad to have this strange friend back. He realized that for the first time in his life, he was in a place where all the pain he felt from all the losses and bad luck in his life would be understood. All the creatures around him wore their pain on the outside. It was there on the surface, nothing was hidden, only raw truth in this land of confusion. Jeremy wondered if he would look so disgusting if he had been forged by the machine.

Crab-dog tugged at Jeremy's knee getting his attention. "Said me, you hear much scribbling or all nothing."

Thinking back, Jeremy wondered if he had heard anything. He had been too fixated on what his eyes were viewing to even bother using his ears. Struggling hard to remember, he spoke. "I don't..."

The words back from his tongue, as he saw how serious the group had became. Whatever noise he was supposed to hear, the answer was very important to the creatures. "I heard nothing...nothing at all."

With a final sniff towards the hole in the cavern wall, Crab-dog turned and walked back towards the largest part of the cavern.

They had made it almost the entire way back to the door, when they turned down a dark corridor Jeremy had not noticed before. The dim light receded and he felt extremely nervous about the direction they had chosen to walk in.

"Where are we going?" Jeremy questioned Half-face who was a half-step behind him.

"Dinner time," the skeletal face murmured. "Then we have day of lefting and misery special. You will get see the true hurt of Fifth world."

Before Jeremy could ask what Tal-sen meant by true hurt, the group was interrupted by an intersection of sorts. It appeared to Jeremy that every single road that was within this section of cliffs, passed through this intersection. Thousands of openings up and down the walls led into this area.

Amazed, Jeremy watched as a group of creatures fell from an opening that came out on the ceiling of the room.

Immediately in front of them was an ancient snail-like monster that pulled a cart with triangle wheels. The cart seemed to exist only to make travel harder on the elderly snail. A small cat sized mouse cart-wheeled around the triangular cart, digging ruts in the ground that the wheels constantly fell into making the snail heave twice as hard.

The entire room carried on as if nothing strange was going on. All the hundreds of creatures passing around their small group simply accepted the chaos and insanity that abounded in the place.

This land of confusion was certainly living up to its name, but Jeremy wondered why none of the creatures bothered to fix anything. The creatures were so extremely passive; it made no sense why they could not put round wheels on the cart or prevent the needless falling from the openings 20 stories above them.

Taking a second spin around to try and see everything, Jeremy looked closer at individual creatures. Most were simply clicking away in their native tongue, totally ignoring the others. Soon Jeremy noticed a small huddle in a shadowy part of the room where there were no exits or entrances.

At the center of the huddle stood a large bulbous creature whose mass was so large that other smaller creatures had made his skin their home. Jeremy realized that the rotund creature was singing, only instead of using melody and rhythm it shrieked at irregular intervals with a low rumble. Listening closely Jeremy caught a few of the lines of the strange poetry.

Is she dead no more

Fell out of the universe

She was first to hear the scribbles

She was only to left

Now no blood for a hungry world

Her lost is ours, the stars crumble

Consuming our world

Crab-dog nudged Jeremy to keep walking. "More on that in inch time. Put in brain keeper for moment, ask when rethink you to."

All of the chaotic happenings around Jeremy were being funneled into the same chamber. Their party of oddlings joined a throng of hundreds shuffling their way into the same passage.

Once through, the overly-concentrated line broke out into a wide circle that overlooked a podium of sorts. Jeremy's group was led to the first row of the circle and sat almost touching the podium with their noses.

The Leg-foot bounced up and down annoyingly behind Jeremy. He could hear a repeated murmur from its excited breath. "Left the princess," it repeated over and over as it hobbled in place.

Pieces to a still-uncompleted puzzle began forming in Jeremy's head. From what he had learned, there had once been a princess. But now she must be lost somewhere. Or did he have it wrong, were they celebrating their freedom. Jeremy wasn't sure either way but knew he would soon find out as Crab-dog leapt onto the podium and barked one syllable that quieted the entire crowd.

A seemingly mile long tubeish creature, that was leaking fluid from it's pores, circled the gathering, closing everyone into a tight circle.

"Said me, Star one has come to the head of seven. Let us vacate ours plates in silence for the left princess." Crab-dog barked to the crowd as he spun in a circle.

Hundreds of tentacles spilled out from below the podium Crab-dog had been standing on. Each tentacle was equipped with a tray. Jeremy ducked to avoid being smacked in the face by a rather tenacious strand. A platter fell into his lap, containing a glop of blue jelly(complete with captured floaty-squirmies inside), a fried leg of some creature that was still moving and topped off with a drizzle of shriveled brown stuff that might have been an onion if an onion had been replaced with shredded fur.

Jeremy could not stop as a volcano of fluid rushed out of his mouth at the gag-inducing meal. A snout of a creature three feet behind Jeremy flew forward and snorted up his mess. Holding onto his knees with his head between his legs, Jeremy attempted to block out his surroundings in order to not repeat his expulsion.

After a long while, the terrible smacking noise of so many things eating in close proximity to him quieted down. The tentacles returned from below the podium and gathered all of the trays from the crowd. This time, Jeremy was caught with a tray to the head from behind.

Rubbing the back of his head, Jeremy watched as a four foot tall frog-like creature hopped onto the podium. It had a frog body but at the neck where a head should be, a bush of hair stood straight out another two body lengths. When the creature spoke, there were no lips rather the hair vibrated and shook in a way that indicated speech but did not show it.

The hair-frog flopped his hair, "All know this time very well. T'was the falling of the last tear we shall ever shed. Our princess, the last of the originals, and the last pure beauty of this troubled world. She felt the strings that guide and pull us. She followed, and she had forever been left from us. This time we gather, with hope we never had. Though we do not know how, a visitor has been sent from far star not our stars."

The crowd erupted into a wild frenzy. Jeremy could feel the ground below him shaking like an earthquake as the large worm smacked part of its body against the red dirt. The Leg-foot behind him hopped up and down twice as far than normal with agitated excitement. He knew that they were talking about him, yet he had no idea what they were planning to do. At least their story kind of made sense. They had once had a princess who somehow ran away. Where did she go and how did it have anything to do with him, Jeremy wondered.

Tal-sen pulled Jeremy up and brought him onto the stage. He had never felt more exposed and weirded out. The crowd went on in all directions, and everything before him looked like a person with the worst imagination ever had created all the creatures that surrounded him. Many infact were impossible for Jeremy to describe as he wasn't sure he could form an accurate account of what his eyes were seeing.

Hopping to meet him, the Hair-frog shook excitedly. "Who are you stranger from far star not our stars?"

Jeremy looked at Tal-sen and Crab-dog for reassurance. Instead, all he got was intense stares of listening. They all wanted to know, perhaps more than he wanted to know about them.

"My name is Jeremy. I am from a place called Earth."

"Germy, yes," Tal-sen and the Crab-dog nodded, not entirely happily.

"How did you come to our world?" Hair-frog questioned.

Pausing for a moment, Jeremy wondered if he should tell them about the quill. There had been no indication of hostility towards him, so he felt that on good faith he would not hold back. "I came with the aid of this quill."

Not a single formation in the crowd moved, they all hung in silence as many eyes viewed the now almost black quill.

The Hair-frog stood to its full height, which happened to be Jeremy's belt level. "I believe you to be a good fellow. You are one of beauty. There is no longer any beauty left in this world, only ruin and chaos. All of me's and you's ask a favor. Go forward into the universe and bring back our princess, bring with you back beauty into this forsaken crust."

Jeremy was flattered by being called beautiful and felt a sudden rush of proud emotion. "I have no idea how. But I will help. You do not see it yourself. Though your beauty may not reside on the outside, it comes pure and free from the inside. I would be glad to find your lost princess."

He could tell his words had been met with great appreciation as child-like smiles formed over the disfigured faces in the crowd.

The frog nodded his head thankfully, "Me knows what actions the princess took to escape the planet. We have had no way to follow. Trace this paper on this podium. We think-hope you will be left to find princess Saesha."

The Hair-frog and Crab-dog hopped down from the podium. Jeremy felt the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of tracing a small tract of paper was the only thing between him and traveling to another place.

Tal-sen hesitated on the podium. He seemed torn between doing two things. After a strong internal debate, he turned his wood bound horn towards Jeremy. "I go with."

It felt like a question to Jeremy, who was more than glad to have a friend along the journey.

The Crab-dog leapt up with his front paws on the podium, snout upside down and twisted into a snarl. "This you might know. If you die out there, there is maybe no machine to fix you."

"We've all survived too much, too long, too far."

"Let's do this," Jeremy stepped in.

He laid the paper on the center of the pedestal. His eyes tried to read the marking's but they did not match words he knew. Tal-sen grabbed his shoulder as he began to trace the script.

"What does this mean?" He asked.

"In words of us, Get Back," Tal-sen responded, as Jeremy's quill finished the curved line and a rift cracked through the page. Like a black hole sucking away at star light, darkness pulled the two travelers into the rift.

Hunted

Opening his eyes, Jeremy was confused when nothing changed in his eyesight. Darkness surrounded them so thick that he was sure he had died again. Shallow breathing behind him indicated Tal-sen had made the journey with him. They waited, standing still, for a long time hoping that some sort of light would fill their eyes and guide them out of the pervasive black.

"You hear?" Tal-sen whispered.

Jeremy turned his ears from side to side, while shoving his quill deep into his pocket. Just as he was about to say no, he heard the faintest of rustling noises. It was far away but he instantly recognized it.

"That was been the noise from inside the machine. That is the noise Saesha followed and then was no more."

"I know where we are. I've been here before," Jeremy tugged on Tal-sen's arm and led him forward.

They soon collided with a barrier of some kind. Jeremy knelt down and found what he was looking for. "It's a step, about a foot high."

Slowly they climbed, passing far beyond a thousand levels. Jeremy wondered why there were no writers in this area. Eventually they collided with a wall. Jeremy felt up and down making sure they were not missing anything. Step-by-step they went in a rough circle with their hands on the wall, trying to find an opening.

The surface of the wall changed to a cold metal. Jeremy pushed against it but it did not budge. "I think this is a door," he instructed Tal-sen. "But it won't move!"

Jeremy slammed against it and only managed to hurt his shoulder.

"Bring inside," Tal-sen spoke.

Unable to understand his friend's broken speech, Jeremy pushed up against it with all his might, driving with his feet.

"Bring the door inside!" He yelled. The disturbance echoing throughout the vast room.

"Oh!" Jeremy face-palmed. "You mean pull."

With a great heave, Jeremy pulled at the door and it creaked open. Dim light spilled into the room. It was amazing how little light was needed after having none at all for so long. The light spilled through the doorway and fell all the way down to the center of the room. At the center was a globe, but instead of the life-filled blues and greens of earth, the globe was dull reddish-brown and appeared cracked in several places. The world Jeremy was looking at had been abandoned.

Tearing his eyes away from the diminished planet, he turned to look out the door. The light was coming from a flickering flame above the door. The large pillars reached up into the sky the same as they had the first time Jeremy had visited the planet.

Squinting past the pillars, he could see another flickering light far off in the distance. Tal-sen was the first to step through the door.

"Do you know where to go?"

"I don't have a clue," Jeremy answered.

"Ask the feather?" Tal-sen urged.

Jeremy pulled the quill out of his pocket. He wasn't convinced that it would be able to show them where to go. He shrugged and figured if it could take them to different places in the universe, it must be able to do other things.

Bending over, he scrawled an arrow on the ground while telling it to guide them.

The feathers turned a bright orange from its resident darkened state and so did the etched dirt. The glow from the arrow was like sunrise breaking away the night. Jeremy turned his eyes away from it as they had gotten used to the low level of light.

The arrow spun in three circles before casting off, like a canoe down a stream, on an invisible path Jeremy knew he would never have taken. At seemingly irregular intervals, the arrow would change course and switch directions, zooming off toward another stretch of dark, towering pillars that looked exactly the same as the ones before. Jeremy wondered if they might be getting more lost than they already were.

Out from the deep shadows jumped a six-armed creature. The creature looked rabid; mixed with fury and fear, torn and shredded robes hung off of it as it lunged toward Tal-sen.

Tal-sen was quick enough to parlay the attack with a swift jab of one of the bony protrusions near his hand. The wooden bone sliced into the assailants arm as the wild monster flew past his opponent and landed in a heap of rags.

Wasting no time, Jeremy and Tal-sen were on top of the creature holding him down. It was not easy to fight a giant six-armed creature. As soon as Jeremy thought he had everything under control, a hand or foot would slip out and collide with him. Tal-sen was not faring much better as he grappled with an equally evasive set of appendages.

All the while the arrow hovered, waiting for the scuffle to be done so that it could continue on it's mission.

Jeremy's fist collided with the giant's face, knocking its tattered rags out of the way. It was Noal, the one who had saved him and given him the quill.

Jeremy leapt off of him, pulling Tal-sen up with him. "It's alright, he's a friend."

The venomous anger vanished from Tal-sen's face and was replaced with a pleased smile. "Lucky, Germy."

Lending the still stunned Noal a hand to pull himself up with, Jeremy replied. "Yeah, we are lucky. What are you doing out here?"

Coughing blood out of his mouth, Noal took a moment to breathe before responding. "I've been on the run ever since our paths crossed."

"I'm sorry," Jeremy needlessly apologized.

Noal frowned with a deep sadness. "For what reason would you be sorry Jeremy?"

"For causing you to lose everything. Every person that tries to help me always ends up hurt for some reason."

Shaking his head wildly Noal expanded. "No, Jeremy. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I was the one who they instructed to write your story. A story so sad."

"Wait." Jeremy didn't want to believe what he was hearing. "You're telling me all that bad shit...never knowing my parents, moving all the time due to rotten foster homes, house fires, being sent to juvenile detention for crimes I didn't commit, friends dying or moving away...that was all you."

"You see why I had a moral dilemma and chose to become an active participant in the rest of your story."

Jeremy sat on the arrow, putting his head between his knees. "Why?"

"I have no idea. We are taught from a young age to never develop feelings for those that we have the privilege to write for. I never thought to ask. And seeing as I will certainly face the director's great wrath should they discover my whereabouts, I have not had the chance to ask since our great escape."

"I need to know," Jeremy said resolutely.

"I suspect that we are all on the path toward learning answers few know." Noal spoke wistfully. "And who are you, my ugly friend?"

"Me am Tal-sen. We are on a mission."

Noal eyed the creature with a suspiciously raised eyebrow. "I don't know your kind. Where are you from?"

"The land of confusion. The Fifth world."

A small yelp of surprised panic erupted out of Noal. "But that's impossible!"

"None of this is possible. It's all just happening like someone's making it up as we go along," Jeremy said ruefully from between his legs. "Get used to it."

After recovering from his stammer, Noal responded. "I suppose you're right. I just never expected you to hop from one plane of existence to another so quickly. Boy that must have been frightening. No matter, I suspect the directors will have more to fear than us."

"Who are the directors?" Jeremy asked, finally standing up again.

"You met one of them the last time you were here."

"The one that attacked you?"

Noal touched his strained face with his uppermost left hand. "The very same that left this nasty bruise, next to the one you made."

"Sorry," Jeremy apologized sheepishly.

"No matter. The directors are the ones who give us our duties and outlines of how a story should go. It is up to us, the writers of the universe, to influence events and make those outcomes possible. Different worlds require different amounts of detail and attention."

"But why are you writing about people's lives? You're taking away all free will," Jeremy shouted.

"Balance, order, these are the things of the universe we understand. We take a humble oath in hopes of preserving the universe that is, so that it may forever be. Without us behind the scenes, all would have been destroyed in chaos millenias ago."

"That doesn't explain why; that's only a motive. There has to be a stronger reason than that." he argued.

"It may seem trifle to such an under-developed mind, but for the sake of hundreds of universes all with millions of worlds, we do what we must."

Tal-sen interrupted their debate. "Saesha."

He was right, Jeremy had lost track of his main objective. His questions would have to wait.

Noal nodded towards Half-face. "I assume you are here for our one and only prisoner."

The human and the Fifth-worlder nodded.

"I can take you there. But I must return to this spot before sun up which is only an hour away. If I don't, I will have no protections and will be discovered."

"Let's forward," Jeremy echoed the dialect he had picked up from Crab-dog.

The arrow spun around three times and drifted in a new direction. Noal chuckled calmly when Jeremy asked what was so hilarious, Noal responded by saying. "It's just that the way you're currently headed is the long way."

"How so?"

"You see these pillars, yes. They are all equidistant apart and laid out in a symmetrical penta-grid pattern. If you know where on the grid you need to go, any pole will transport you there. A wise one once told me, never let the quill make decisions for you. Make your own decisions and have the quill follow through with those instructions. They can only do so much as you ask of them, nothing more, nothing less."

"You just shoved this thing into my hand and told me to run." Jeremy argued.

Ignoring his statement, Noal turned to the pillar closest to him and stroked it with one of his thirty fingers. The same arcane blue light that had taken Jeremy in the middle of the night, shot up the pillar. It outlined ornate carvings that wound their way far up into the dark night sky.

The blue light turned to pure white "You should grab on." Noal instructed.

The moment after Jeremy placed the tip of his finger on the pillar, the light flashed and turned off.

"We have arrived," Noal stated.

Jeremy did not believe him, "But how? We never moved."

A new voice joined their party of three. "So a thief, a traitor and a freak enter a bar. Barman asks what they're having to drink."

"We need to leave right now," Noal directed.

"Saesha," Tal-sen shook his head.

"But we never moved," Jeremy was still confounded about how fast they had traveled. Jeremy quickly turned around to face the same priestly-dressed giant that had attacked Noal. Now he was holding a long and slender knife pointed in their direction. Holding up a hand to silence them, the giant continued. "Let me finish; its important to hear the end. Barman asks what they're having to drink. The freak responds, first asking the barman for something shocking."

A bolt of white light exploded from the slender knife, slamming into Tal-sen. In an instant, his body was evaporated on the spot. Nothing more was left where he once stood.

"The traitor asks for a drink that will burn the whole way down."

Noal had time to squeeze out a pathetic, 'Oh dear,' before being evaporated.

Jeremy stood shaking, knowing that his time would soon end. He thought that although the adventure had been short, he was glad because for a moment searching for the princess with Tal-sen had been the happiest he had ever felt.

"The thief tells the barman he doesn't drink. Barman laughs and pours him a shot of his most expensive spirit. 'Then you need this more than any of us."

"Wait. That's the punchline? That was terrible," Jeremy barely finished before being hit in the chest with white light.

Though he had not moved any part of his body, except for a gigantic flinch to try and block the oncoming light, Jeremy collided with solid ground.

Despite a cracked nose, Jeremy felt glad to be alive and seemingly well. He whipped around throwing up his fists, ready to fight.

There was nothing presenting an immediate danger. He was in some sort of dark courtyard. Light was new, spilling over the top of a mountain far away. He welcomed the light as he felt that his entire journey had been in places of darkness. The light illuminated his companions on the far side of the area. Jeremy smiled and waved at them.

They returned his wave but did not walk towards him. He took a step in their direction. A shout from his left stopped him in his tracks.

He turned to look at what had shouted at him, only to jump back a few feet. Standing only a foot away from him was a person covered in torn black robes. Jeremy was sure that the grim reaper had finally found him, though he wondered for a second why it would bother to come way out to an alien planet only to murder him.

"Don't take another step," the reaper croaked in a hoarse whisper.

Jeremy didn't feel like listening. "Why not? I have to get to my friends over there and then we have a mission to complete." He took a step forward and instinctively the reaper reached out a hand. "Stop."

It quickly tore off a strand of robe and tossed it into the wind. Jeremy watched as a gust caught the rag and began taking it away. Suddenly, the rag hit something invisible as it burst into flames.

"Oh...uh...I see," Jeremy conceded that he was wrong. He looked around. There were no markings on the courtyard or any indication at all that there was any sort of invisible fence.

"The incinerator unseen walks among us," the reaper mentioned in what Jeremy felt was the most creepy voice possible.

Jeremy shivered despite the warm temperature. and renewed his observation of the surroundings.

"You'll feel your hair sizzle, as if before a lightning strike. When that happens you must move or you will be obliterated." The reaper explained to him.

"Then how do we escape?" Jeremy asked.

Silence returned as an answer to his question.

Tal-sen shouted from the far side as he dodged away from the invisible wall. It looked a bit comical from Jeremy's point of view, like a man was being attacked by a bee that no one could see. Jeremy regretted the sick smile that was forming on his face. Why in the middle of such danger did his mind turn to laughs, he would never understand.

Feeling outwitted and overwhelmed, Jeremy sat down on the spot. He tried to think of a way to escape the invisible prison but no solution seemed to be forthcoming. Sensing a sizzle to his right, Jeremy did a lazy half roll and tumbled into the mysterious prisoner.

The reaper fell backwards, robes flying in every direction. Jeremy had time to jump to his feet and catch the falling reaper as the back of its robes erupted into flames.

It was shouting now in a much different voice, a rather feminine voice as it wrestled off the flaming robes before being consumed by the flame.

Jeremy was little more than a hindrance and at minimum was causing more difficulty by tripping the flaming woman. He watched, mouth agape, as the crust-black robes fell off revealing a very young woman.

The last of the smoldering bits of robes fell away as brilliant angel-like wings stretched out from the back of the beautiful creature. The wings were the same brilliant and moving shade of red that his quill took on when he was writing. What skin that was not clad in battle-worn leather, shimmered with a drop of light blue color as if fresh water pumped through her body. Blazing eyes, one electric blue and the other orange, shone out from dark hair that spilled over her frantic face as she made quite certain no part of her had been burnt off.

Regaining her composure, she stood strong and ready for any challenge like the fictitious amazonian warriors of legend.

Tal-sen hooted from the other side of the courtyard, "Saesha! It is you! We've search for so long."

"You're the princess?" Jeremy asked in total disbelief.

"I am," She responded with pride behind a face that showed no emotion.

"But you're not..." Jeremy felt that he should choose his words very carefully.

"Ugly?" She smirked showing the first bit of emotion. "Did you expect a lump or maybe something resembling a crustacean. No, I am the royal perfection, an original Fifth worlder. All my parts are 100% original. What you see after eons of near-eternal life and millenias of reprocessing is what poor Tal-sen has been cursed with."

Jeremy did not know how to respond to what he felt was a threat to his life.

"We tried so hard to follow you, my princess," Tal-sen grovelled from afar.

She held up a thankful hand. "I would doubt no less. I made an impossible journey and what I discovered here has galactic repercussions. They locked me up, but not before I was able to sever their link to our world. We will have no masters!"

"That is an incorrect assumption," Noal interrupted.

Saesha looked as if she wanted to spit at Noal. "What do you mean, writer?"

"Long ago it was decided to leave your universe to total random chance. The night you broke in was a mistake. We were just finishing closing all but the tiniest connections when one of the writers missed a line. This created a disturbance that you were able to notice and use to travel back into our world," he explained.

"It is no matter how it happened. But I will not rest until it is impossible for your people to control my world," Saesha championed.

"How long have you been here?" Jeremy asked quietly.

"I have lost track of the days and years, but I believe several lifetimes I have been a captive to this invisible labyrinth."

Jeremy whistled a tiny single note to express his amazement with the idea that she had been wandering around all alone for centuries.

"Don't think I've sat here pouting like a shriveled flower. I've tried everything to escape. As you can tell, there are no guards. I've tried to leap the fence, fly over it, everything. But each time I would nearly be obliterated."

Feeling incredible sadness for the princess, Jeremy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, made difficult by her beautiful wings. "Everyone needs rescuing at least once in a lifetime. Hell, I've been rescued so many times at this point I've lost count."

Although he knew she would never allow tears to mar her stoic expression, he could tell that she truly appreciated his words. A moment passed between them before she rolled her shoulder out from under his touch. He was not sure if he saw distrust or disgust in her multicolored eyes.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the quill. "I have this! I think it can get us out of here."

All eyes turned to Jeremy.

Noal cupped his mouth and shouted across the rubble field. "We have to get together before we can use it to travel. Somewhat unfortunately and a little ironically, the quills have never been very precise at travelling so it would be unwise to use it in this prison. You have to understand, the quills were invented for creative purposes. That is what they do best. Creation, influence, nuance and above all else control."

"Well, then, we have to move around this area until we can touch each other. Then we'll get out of here," Jeremy called back.

Turning to face Saesha, Jeremy instructed. "Stand close. If we get separated it'll become even more difficult to get out of here."

"I understand that already," Saesha responded giving him a mistrustful eyeover. Jeremy held out a hand for her to take, but in the moment of her hesitation Jeremy felt a sizzle next to his fingertips. He pulled back as an invisible fence slid between the narrow distance separating them.

Leaping back from the unseen, Jeremy shouted. "You have to trust me or we will never get out of here."

"Trust is something I have forgotten in my time here. You will have to forgive me. I have not looked upon another person in 10,000 years on this planet," she responded, obviously frustrated with herself.

Not knowing why he felt the urge to do so, when they were in such danger, Jeremy knelt down on one knee. "Princess Saesha, I hope, that in whatever time we have together, to remind you that trust can still exist in a universe run by the design of these quills."

Nodding her head thankfully, she smiled for the first time. "You are a silly man. I am a princess by virtue of being the last of the royal perfection only. Fifth worlders have no ruling class as we are all free. That is why I hunt those who would try to control us. No creature under our two suns has ever bowed to me."

Jeremy's face reddened with embarrassment as he quickly switched subjects. "Well dang...uh...can you fly with those wings?"

"I tried that once in here and nearly lost my head. There seems to be a dome about 30 lengths above us."

"What if it moves?" Jeremy questioned.

"I will try but I will be most unhappy to live this long only to fly into the fence like a night bug to the flame." She spread out her wings which were the length of her entire body on each side. They reflected hues of burnt orange and rusty red, like fall foliage on Earth. Jeremy could feel the air around him rush inwards as she pulled her wings up and then downwards. He had never seen anything so beautiful as she lifted off the ground. He could tell flying was her natural state and what made her the happiest.

She slowly moved around in a circle, made difficult by the idea that the fence could be anywhere. Unable to open her wings to their full spread, she rose as far as she could. Feeling the all too familiar sizzle, she avoided rising higher. With a daring expression, she guided herself over Jeremy and shouted down. "I can't go any higher, but the fence doesn't seem to extend the whole way up. Maybe I can come down and grab you."

Her slow descent was filled with pure nail-biting anticipation for Jeremy. He was scared that her feet would touch another fence and then she would explode into flames and it would be all his fault. When she landed next to him, he couldn't help but clap his hands in amazement.

"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" He exclaimed.

"I'll show you more yet, now stand in front of me and turn around. I'm going to pick you up, do try and keep your feet together so they don't get burnt off." Saesha instructed.

Jeremy hurried to do so, but not before failing to wipe the wide smile off of his face. His stomach lurched in fantastic excitement for the chance to be flown through the air. When she pulled him into her arms, Jeremy felt a fleeting possibility of an emotion he had long ago decided would never be his.

He was surprised by how gently they lifted off. If she had not been holding onto his chest underneath his arms, he would have never noticed that they had left the ground.

They made it almost 20 feet before Saesha shouted, "Right above us is a wall. I can go no higher."

She started going down, but was soon cut off by a fence below their position. Cursing at their failing luck, she tried going forward, but again was turned away. Panic rising in her voice, "I think we're trapped."

They spun around only to see the white-robbed director standing on the edge of the courtyard with a cruel smile on his face.

Jeremy could feel that he was weighing her down, and they would soon have to land. Shouting with all the authority he could muster, "Let us go!"

"No, thief! I'll be taking back that quill before you can escape us."

"Director Radfewx, I gave this human the quill. Punish me, but let him and his companions go. He is a free man!" Noal challenged.

"You are all guilty of one treason or another against the universal order. You shall all be punished for your crimes against the universe and then finally obliterated from existence." Director Radfewx stepped out onto the courtyard towards Jeremy and Saesha. His white robes swishing and billowing of their own accord as there was no wind flowing through. He crossed the field without fear or hesitation of being obliterated by the invisible fence. Jeremy wondered if he had some special device that allowed him to walk through the clear divisions. Looking up, he met Saesha's eyes and whispered. "Can you feel it?"

She shook her head no, "I bet he disabled it to get in here."

At once, she took off and dove toward Tal-sen and Noal. Jeremy tore out of her grip, tumbling onto the ground. Without hesitation, he was up and writing on the ground.

Tal-sen and Noal had arrived at his spot. Jeremy looked around only to find Radfewx holding his slim knife up at a terrified Saesha. Her wings fluttered in the air, maintaining her frantic height. She was mere inches away from them, how fast would the quill take them home. Was it going to be fast enough to risk Saesha being hit with Radfewx's white lightning?

"You anarchists disgust me. No order, no control! Your planet is burning to the ground as it was our greatest mistake to give you total freedom. I for one will be glad to see it go. Its destruction is scheduled and on the books. It just hasn't happened yet. Give way to a new world, one better suited to a good story." He ranted at Saesha, before turning to belittle Jeremy. "No matter where in the universe you go, Jeremy. I will hunt you down until your existence is null and void. Your entire creation was a flawed experiment that has ran so far past its expiration date, it needs to be ended. How many close calls have saved your life and hurt others. Do you want to bring an inter-galactic war to your earth, to your universe. For the good of all the universes, you must die."

Half of Jeremy sat in captivated silence, listening to the giant six-armed creature spill out missing details for why his life had been so terrible. The other half was screaming with every fiber to jump up and grab the princess before anything else could happen. The later won out as he burst from his stunned state and grabbed a blue-tinged ankle before pulling down, and with a swipe of his other hand, finishing the letter e.

They were going home.

Out of the Mind and into the Page

They appeared in Jeremy's apartment. Noal wasted no time and was up and shouting. "Too lucky! We were too lucky! They must have further plans or they would never have let us escape that easily."

Tal-sen stood silently by the princes, his eyes never stopped moving around the alien apartment. Everything in the room could have been a weapon for all he knew.

Jeremy responded. "What should we do?"

"We have to run," Noal stated more calmly. "We have to go somewhere you've never been before."

Jeremy was already charging to the door. He pulled it open only to come face to face with Cis.

They both paused with frightened looks before collapsing into a manly-friend hug.

"I can't believe you're alive! Thought for sure they had yer head in a baggie," Ringer exclaimed.

"They'll never get me," Jeremy bragged. "Look, we gotta run. It was a mistake to come back here..."

"Holy shit! What the hell is that thing?" Cis yelled at the top of his lungs after looking past Jeremy and seeing the craziest freak show. Tal-sen jumped forward, ready to fight. Noal calmly nodded his head, as if expecting the reaction and Saesha merely looked at him with no expression at all.

"They're all friends, from other worlds or universes..." Jeremy tried to explain. "I'm not really sure how everything works out. I told you I was abducted by aliens, only this time I brought them back with me."

Still white as a ghost, Cis looked over the strange creatures once more. "Who or what are they?"

Jeremy shook his head. "Introductions later. We've got to get out of here before that psychic lady realizes I'm back. Are you with us?"

"Look, bro. I messed up last time. I shoulda stuck with you. I've been running this whole time too. I tried to go home, but I got super paranoid when I saw about 50 men packing serious firepower outside my crib. I got nowhere else to run, but with you."

"Don't apologize, I wouldn't have gone with me either," Jeremy responded, truly touched by his friend's kind words.

"We have to get going this instant," Noal spoke, breaking the bubble of happy feelings.

"I've been living under a bridge for the past few days. We can crash there then make our next move," Cis offered.

Jeremy did not hesitate as he started walking towards the exit. Only turning around did he see that Noal, Saesha and Tal-sen had not followed.

"We no go," Tal-sen raised a twisted red finger. "Strangers in a strange land. We frighten all in day like bad night think. No go, until over body not shown."

"We're going to run, we don't have time to hide," Jeremy countered.

"I think Tal-sen is correct," Saesha explained. "We are far too abnormal. Eyes will follow us and report our whereabouts. We have to remain hidden."

Storming back into his apartment, Jeremy looked around for something to cover them with. "We don't have time and I don't have anything big enough for the three of you."

Feeling frustrated and unsure how to handle the situation, Jeremy tore off the sheets from his twin sized bed and threw them over Tal-sen. "You be a ghost and...uh...uh...you be a freakin' angel." He said as he tore a curtain off of it's rungs and flung it around Saesha.

Saesha pulled off the sun-baked curtain, giving it an incredulous look. "I think we just need to relax. No one knows we are here."

"He did," Tal-sen pointed at Cis.

Cis put his hands up, "It was dumb-luck, I swear."

"What are these?" Saesha asked picking up a piece of paper from Jeremy's previous folder fumble. On it was a unique drawing of a dragon Jeremy had made when he was much younger.

"Just a drawing."

"How is it so that separated by an entire universe, you were able to recreate our most fearsome predator."

Jeremy gave a frustrated sigh. "When I was younger and couldn't handle the real world, I'd get trashed, put my headphones in, and draw all my fears and feelings into monsters. I would let my mind drift into these imaginary worlds and escape from whatever was haunting me at the moment."

She knelt down and picked up another. "Such imagination. All these are very real monsters that hunt our people at night. I have no doubt that they were just as real to you."

"Thanks," Jeremy muttered, better words failing his tongue. He was surprised and touched by her kind words. For he had always felt somewhat ashamed of his drawings due to the bad memories associated with them. But they really had helped him through some tough times.

"I think I've learned some things about how those quills work over the many years I was imprisoned," Saesha spoke turning to Noal for assistance. "They use them for basically everything. I saw them create an entire world with a few strokes of a quill. But that's not all, they can create people and control them."

"You saw all those millions of them writing stories for Earth. When I arrived in the hive for the Fifth world there were maybe only ten of them. Each writer can handle six different stories at one time. They have no imagination. It's the only way we can beat them."

Noal was next to speak. "She is mostly correct. But the reason we have so many worlds and so many responsibilities is because of the reckless abandon that imagination can be. We had the power of the universe in our hands, and we were too young to understand anything like responsibility. And so we created universe after universe, story after story. Each story creating another universe full of characters all real and very much alive. It took us a long time to realize that we were breaking reality. On that day, we grew up as a people. We created laws and oaths to maintain what had already been created and to ensure that no further damage could be done."

It was Cis who raised his hand to speak. "None of that made any flippin' sense, but doesn't that mean Jeremy's quill thingy could create a world."

Chuckling softly, as if he were talking to a child with wild ideas, Noal responded. "Yes, but I had to give Jeremy a fighting chance. I could not stand idly by any longer while Director Radfewx mucked about with your life. For every other story I have written, I knew the beginning and the end. But for you, Jeremy, I was never allowed to see either. They plopped your sheet on my desk and fed me pointers on a year-by-year basis. It was inhumane. I gave you that quill because I know you are a great writer and I felt that I could trust you with the responsibility to not go wildly creating worlds.

Jeremy sheepishly brushed his fingers through his hair. "I gotta be honest with you. I've never written a single story in my life. I mean, sure, it's all laid out in my head or on an outline, but I've barely even started one of those."

"Oh dear," Noal responded with a worried expression.

"What's that supposed mean?" Jeremy asked.

Saesha interrupted them. "Ignore him. They tried to control you and you fought them all through your life without even realizing it. They've corrupted nature. Now it's within our power to fight back. I think, if we use your quill and your imagination. We can run and run for as long as we need, until we have an army strong enough to fight them."

"Couldn't Jeremy just create an army?" Cis poked his way into the conversation.

Noal shuddered. "Theoretically, yes, he could, but it would be unethical. I say..."

"You're as bad as the rest of them, unethical my butt. We would be wise to abandon you here and get as far away as possible," Saesha roared.

Huffing with indignation, Noal continued. "I was just saying that it would be more useful to use what is already created versus risking the creation of an entirely new universe and then having to live with the responsibility of finishing all those stories. Or abandoning them in their half-written states of half-living existences, as was done with your planet Saesha."

The room hung in careful silence as they all pondered Noal's words. Jeremy did his best to take in all the information that was flying around, but couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by the informational session. Looking around the room, he could tell everyone else was having similar thoughts. His eyes caught Saesha's wondering gaze. They both considered each other's silent thoughts before looking away.

Noal broke the silence, "So where are we going?"

Jeremy circled around from Tal-sen to Cis to Saesha to Noal, looking for some indication of what they should do. No such help was forthcoming from any of his compatriots.

Saesha was the first to speak up. "I think we should get as far away from this place as possible."

"And go where?" Noal asked.

She pulled up another picture, this one contained a dragon attacking a spaceship. The juxtaposition of fantasy lore with science fiction had always made Jeremy laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea. He smiled brightly at the winged beauty who was holding some of his silliest artwork in high regard.

Cis cut in, "Didn't the giant six-armed dude say not to make things up with the quill?"

"Right so," Noal cheered as he picked up Jeremy's notebook and casually perused the many pages within. "It would be most unwise to use that as a landing zone. You got lucky before when you went to the Fifth world. It is not likely that world will be fully formed. It could collapse around us and the people created therein."

"I think we should follow Jeremy's imagination. He was the one that came and found me. I believe you can lead us to victory," Saesha responded.

Tal-sen echoed her sentiments, "I will follow always the princess anywhere, but if we had not found you, always I would be follow Germy."

"Germy?" Saesha covered her mouth trying to stifle a laugh from the pronunciation of his name. "I like it."

Feeling bold and empowered by Saesha's cute laugh, Jeremy decided that he would trust her advice about Noal's warning. "Dragons in space, eh? I bet Radfewx would never expect us to go there."

Looking around the room one last time, Jeremy asked. "If you're coming with the princess and I, grab on, if not...make like a rabbit and hop on out of here."

Cis cracked up laughing at Jeremy's unusual phrasing. "I'm in."

Tal-sen stepped forward with the princess, ready to go wherever Jeremy's drawing would take them.

Only Noal hesitated. "Lets put it on the record that I think this is immature, dangerous, and unwise, but I will go. As it stands, I have no alternatives."

Jeremy accepted that they were all coming with him. He took the paper from Saesha's hands. For some reason, he felt more nervous about this than he had at any other point when using the quill. He summed it up and decided that each time before had been a rushed action that hadn't had time for any forethought or preplanning. Now, this was going to happen and he would be responsible for the outcomes. His messy scrawl cut across the page as he wrote, Dragons in Space.

The void broke between the grain of the white printer paper, revealing itself and asking them to step through into some wild adventure with dragons in space. One by one they stepped into the void between the universes.

Dragons in Space

"Oh no," Jeremy exclaimed directly after they cleared the void. "No, no, bad idea."

They had landed on a very futuristic looking space ship. White walls ran down the tube like hallway they had appeared in. The stark contrast from the white walls and bright lights made them all squint their eyes as they realized they were surrounded by 50 armed men with laser guns.

"They are being controlled by the director. Look into their eyes. Their souls have been replaced by an artificial one." Noal explained, as they all shuffled in a circle trying not to provoke the guns to be fired.

The leader stepped forward, pulling off its face shield. A familiar face popped out from the covering, it was Mai.

"I quite like using this body. She is so easy to control and I can tell Jeremy feels some compassion for this formation of dust and bones," Director Radfewx spoke through her.

"How did she get here, before we did?" Jeremy questioned as Mai's stun gun rose up to meet his eye level.

"It must have been the void. It is a timeless entity, which means that when you step through to the other side it will only grant you access once the newly formed universe has been established." Noal explained. "It's hard to miss a new universe just popping up next door."

"I had like a billion years to prepare. You are not the smartest enemy I've had to hunt down." Mai puppeted.

"What about the dragons?" Cis asked pointing to a window that illuminated the deepness of outer space.

"What dragons?" Mai moved her gun to face Ringer.

A terrific roar answered her question from outside the floating fortress as something gigantic crashed into the hull. Ripping and tearing noises could be heard all around them.

"Shoot to kill," Mai shouted as the swarm of guns charged off in different directions to defend the thin walls that separated them from the great black nothing.

She turned away from them. "I have instructed this body to bring you back alive. You best suit up lest you die by your own words." The group didn't have to be asked twice as Mai tossed them five small tubes about six inches in length. The tubes looked like sausage packages.

"I can't wear this!" Cis shook the small log.

"Just do this. Break," Tal-sen said while cracking the tube in half. A black color spilled out and crept up his hands. Continuing on up his forearms into his shoulders, it then spilled out over his body, covering everything like saran wrap around leftover turkey. Once the black fluid had fully covered Tal-sen, it quickly solidified and formed a bubble over his head with which he could see out of. He looked identical to the fully realized space marines that had threatened to shoot laser guns at them.

They each followed his example by snapping their capsules in half. The liquid felt cold and clammy as it expanded up Jeremy's neck. He couldn't help feeling the sensation that he might soon be drowning as it covered his mouth and nose.

With a sigh of relief his bubble expanded and he was able to breathe. The space ship's bright light reflected in oval rings off of his face covering. "Everybody ready to go?"

"Once sec boss," Cis held up a finger. His liquid had decided to fall straight to the ground and was not moving like the rest had.

"I think that one must have expired," Noal suggested.

"Hey!" Jeremy shouted and wheeled around. No one was in sight. Mai had long left as the terrible space war had picked up outside their canopy window.

"Just forget it, man. I'll be fine," Ringer bravely put forward.

"Try picking it up and putting it on your head," Jeremy quickly directed. "We have to try something, these dragons are getting closer to breaching the hull."

As he said those words, sparks flew all around them as the tube like hallway suddenly condensed like a crushed soda can. Claws three feet long carved through the metal surface as easily as a knife carving a Christmas ham. Before anyone could react to the sudden danger, one of the claws slid down Cis's arms slicing it open along the length of his shoulder to forearm.

A sheet of blood hit the floor, just as Jeremy dove for Cis. Pulling him out of the way of the monstrous claws as they retracted and tried again to tear into the spaceship's surface.

Jeremy could see that Cis was losing oxygen as fast as he was spilling blood. He dragged him down the hallway away from the mayhem as Tal-sen pulled out a sword that had formed on the side of his spacesuit and flung himself into battle with a dragon.

Wiping out the quill, Jeremy drew an outline of one of the capsules that had contained their suits. Once he finished, a capsule instantly appeared where his drawing had been. He cracked it open and spilled the liquid over his best friend.

The liquid quickly solidified around Cis's face and thankfully the close-to-death blue left his face as he was able to breathe again.

Ten sets of boots ran past Jeremy towards the melee with lasers at full strength blasting at the dragon's hand that was now stuck in the shredded metal. Tal-sen dove out of the way as several blasts came close to hitting him.

Saesha ran over to Jeremy as he was trying to stop his friend's bleeding arm. "I know a thing or two about healing. I can fix this."

Jeremy froze, not sure if he trusted his friend's life to her skills.

"Don't worry. I've survived many of millions of years and I have barely a scar to show for it. I can save him," she reassured Jeremy, as she gently pulled Cis's arm away from him.

He watched as her quick hand ran over the scar. Pulling out a thin metal prong that looked suspiciously like a radio antenna, she jabbed it into place where the skin had separated.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jeremy reacted to her barbaric instrumentation. He tried to grab her arm and pull it away, but was stopped short as he watched her slowly move the end of her device up through his wound. The skin on either side closed as if she were simply zipping up a jacket.

She finished by bringing the metal wand back down to the beginning of the wound and quickly running up it again. If not for the vast amounts of blood both wet and dry, Jeremy would never have been able to tell that Cis's arm had ever been injured.

"That was amazing!" Cis shouted for joy as a misfiring laser zoomed over his head.

They all paused as a giant red eye slammed against the window. The dragon's one eye took up the entire expanse of the glass. It stared at them with an intelligence beyond that of a simple destructive creature. Revolving around, the eye appeared to be searching for something. Unable to find what it was searching for, the dragon tore away flapping its giant wings as it renewed its attack on another portion of the spacecraft.

Jeremy looked around to take stock of his companions. Noal was huddled in a corner, trying to avoid violence at all cost. Cis was recovering fast from his near death experience and Saesha was surveyed the other injured space marines who lay throughout the hall. Looking for Tal-sen, Jeremy found him facedown and licking something from the ground.

His stomach turned sour once he realized that Tal-sen was slurping up Cis's blood that had spilled everywhere. "What are you doing?"

Tal-sen poked his head up. "I didn't know humans were full of our life water. We should have invaded centuries ago."

Jeremy remembered being sprayed by a cloud when he landed on the Fifth world. He had wondered if it had been blood, but had wished that was just his imagination. He was regretfully wrong on that mark.

"Tal-sen please stop. You are disgusting our friends," Saesha scolded.

"But at home, this is as precious as gold. It is what fuels the machine. We are running frightfully low since you were last home," Tal-sen pleaded.

"Another time," Saesha said carefully.

"I think we should leave before this room collapses on us," Noal shouted from behind his bunker.

"I'm so tired of going from place to place," shouted Jeremy. "Isn't there anywhere in all the multiverse, a safe place where I can just sleep without having to worry about getting murdered."

Noal shook his head sadly. "I echo your pain, but we must forge on. I fear director Radfewx will be returning soon. The dragons have left."

They stood with their ears cocked to the side, listening to the serene quiet that followed a fierce battle.

"I agree. Let's get out of here," Saesha echoed Noal's statement.

"Remember, do try and pick a place that was previously invented," Noal cautioned Jeremy.

"Where do you think we should go?" Jeremy asked Cis. He didn't feel like he could trust himself to make the right decision this time.

"I've always liked fairy tales when I was growing up. You know with magic, and wizards and junk," Cis answered unexpectedly.

"Okay then," Jeremy smiled at his friend. Writing what his mouth was saying he continued, "magic, wizards, and..."

"Wait!" Cis jumped up unexpectedly. "How aren't we getting sucked out into space right now?"

They all turned towards the jagged holes in the side of the ship's exterior.

"Air pockets," Noal suggested rather matter-of-factly. "As long as the machine that maintains the air pocket in this ship keeps going we should be safe."

Seemingly, like it had taken Noal's words as a challenge, whatever machine which was holding the great black nothing of space from pulling them out into it's icy grasp stopped working. A tidal wave of air swept them up. The only thing that saved them was that a large chunk of metal big enough to block the gap they were heading towards fell faster than they did. All of them collided with the metal, as air sucked around them. They could feel the metal bending as it would soon be squashed by the sheer power of the vacuum of space.

Everyone screamed as shards of smaller bits of metal flew at them they rolled around on the side of the white walls of the ship. The entire situation was made worse when the gravity drive switched off, making their dodging twice as difficult. The objects that already carried momentum flew at them, while every able body fought the strange weightlessness of space while attempting to dodge flying debris.

One of the dead soldier's body flew into Jeremy, knocking him off of his feet. His face ended up staring out into the coldness of space as he watched a dragon engulf a fleeing escape pod in flame. Another dragon ripped part of the engine to pieces. The spacecraft would soon be sunk completely.

With every vector force working against Jeremy, he pulled his head out of the thin clearance separating him from being another floating point in the stars. Pulling his arm up, he began rewriting his statement on the chunk of steel saving their lives. Once he finished he yelled, "Magic, and wizards. Everyone in!"

Once again, a void opened up and Jeremy and his crew rolled into the exit. Leaving behind the strange universe where dragons fought spaceships.

A Perfect Story

"How do we get this bloody thing off," Noal grumbled from beneath a thick forest canopy.

Tal-sen was already leagues ahead of Noal. Who had stabbed the bubble around his head with the sword he carried. The entire suit deflated off of him and sank to the ground, much in the same way as had Cis's original suit.

"Shhh!" Saesha shushed, them ripping off her own black covering as they heard the approaching sound of horse hooves on gravel.

Through the veil of dark trees they spied a traveling band of horses. They all wore chain mail adorned with flags of deep blue and standing out in stark contrast was a single crescent moon.

"Why can't we ever catch a break," Cis complained as it was obvious they had already been spotted.

"Come on, it's no use running. They have archers," Saesha called as she stepped out of the tree line and started walking towards the approaching horsemen.

Jeremy whispered to Noal, "I thought if we went to a fantasy land we would be safe. Doesn't this already exist in some form or another. I know of hundreds of fantasy books written on earth. There's no way I alone created this."

"I quite agree. I know this place. We are on a planet called Aura. On Aura there are many islands, each one containing specific ingredients for all the various fantasy stories out there. For instance an island was needed for stories of vampires, another to deal with werewolves, and now a third for vampire werewolf crossovers." Noal sighed with a heaviness for all the different places that had to be created.

"So which one have we landed on?" Cis asked before Jeremy could.

"I suspect we will find out soon," Noal nodded as the lead horse rider pulled to a stop in front of them.

"Halt you creatures of the dark forest," the man commanded after smoothly leaping off of his horse. Removing his helmet, he revealed golden hair that fell to his shoulder and bright blue eyes. The kind of blue that appeared innocent and trustful.

Jeremy stepped forward, silently accepting his role as team captain. "We are no dark creatures. We are just travelers from afar who seek assistance."

"What is your name traveler?"

"I will impart that information, once I have yours," Jeremy challenged with an authority that he was not sure he held.

"My name is Sir Richard Lionheart the second, son of Richard Lionheart, son of Steve "The intrepid" Heartlion. I ride for the great King Prikard the second." The man bravely shook his impressive mane of hair.

"Say again," Cis said with a straight face.

"I said!" the man shouted louder. "I AM SIR LIONHART, SON OF"

"A bitch," Saesha surprisingly cut in. She folded her arms, less than impressed by the mans show of majesty.

"What is happening?" Jeremy couldn't help but break his serious expression. He turned away from the puzzled looks of the centurions. "We need their help. Aren't we trying to gain support all around the universe in order to fight against the director?"

"Chill bro," Cis smiled at him. "Just havin' fun with the twit."

Saesha shook her head. "You're right Germy. But he's just so..."

"Top over," Tal-sen threw out into the conversation.

"Yes that's it. He's too over the top. I can't take him seriously," Saesha agreed.

"Well keep it to yourselves for a bit. We may need the kings support and if we don't even make it that far, I'm going to be seriously pissed off at all of you." Jeremy pointed his finger at each of them.

"Aye, captain," Cis saluted him, showing him Jeremy's words would be accepted but that he cared little for authority.

Jeremy turned back to the soldiers. "Would you be so kind to take us to your king?"

"I should think not," all of the soldiers laughed at their leaders words.

"Everyone's so full of freaking funnies today," Jeremy stamped.

"When one encounters a group of dark creatures such as your lot stomping around the woods in the day time, one does not take them to their king for feasts and frolics. One cuts off their heads. I am Sir Lionheart, now hear me roar!" The man pulled out a great sword with the swiftness of a savannah cat while, all in one move, taking a wide cutting swing at Jeremy.

It was Tal-sen's quick reaction that saved Jeremy from being cut in two. Tal-sen's sword parlaid Lionheart's edge, giving the rest of the group enough time to prepare as swords were drawn all around them and the rest of the horsemen hopped off their steeds ready to join the fight.

Jeremy quickly scribbled the outline of a sword into the only this available, his skin. With a great clatter of steel on steel, a handful of swords conveniently fell into their tight circle. Each person picked one up, spinning around to face their attackers.

Cis was the first to engage as he crossed blades with a soldier of a lower center of gravity.

Tal-sen was still wrestling steel with Lionheart. Sparks flew as their weapons bounced off of each other. Quick to return to the attack, they danced in close proximity with death.

Saesha was holding two smaller swords and defending herself from three soldiers, as she took flight. Her unexpected wings scared the men around her, as she quickly cut through them with a swift dive.

Noal was fighting, but he was quickly losing ground. Jeremy ran towards him just in time as Noal tripped over his feet while backpedaling.

The sword felt strangely perfect in his hands. He had never held something so lethal and dangerous before. Sure, the quill might have endless possibilities, but there was something all powerful about holding a utensil that had no other purpose but to kill. He enjoyed the ripple of power in his limbs and muscles as his sword struck against his assailant's.

Jeremy slid down to the hilt of his enemy's sword. His adrenaline providing him a much needed boost, as he was quickly out matched by the skill of his opponent. They slashed at each other, both going for the kill. Shouts of emboldened bravado echoed out by each of the armored soldiers as they renewed their attack.

Saesha swooped into their fight, bringing her sword down through the skull of Jeremy's adversary, at the same time Jeremy drove his sword into the man's gut.

With a barbaric and wild war cry, Cis spun in a full circle, slicing the little man's head clear off.

Lionheart noticed that he was now alone in his battle, and graciously laid his sword down. Tal-sen nearly took his ear off due to being unable to stop his forward momentum, but missed by a slim margin.

"I see I have been defeated this day, by you and your dark friends. I will take you to the king, if you do not kill me." Lionheart bowed his head in reverent respect to Jeremy's warriors.

"Remind me to never invade Earth, you lot are a savage bunch," Noal carefully stepped around the battle, making sure to avoid any messy spills or dismembered parts.

Jeremy strolled toward Lionheart with his sword still held up ready for a fight. He laid the blade on Lionheart's forehead, allowing the slime from his kill to leak over Lionheart's face. "No more violence. We've come here to seek help."

After a minute of intense intimidation by silently staring, Jeremy removed the sword and wiped it on the ground.

"Get up and lead us to your king," Saesha commanded with a distinct lack of happiness. Jeremy wondered what she would do when faced with a king who would expect respect and loyalty from someone asking for his aide.

Richard stood up and with as much pride as he could muster. "Seeing as all my men have fallen. You may use their mounts. This will speed our haste to the good King Prikard."

Without another word, the group took command of the spooked horses and followed Lionheart. They galloped past fields of wheat, beady and full for the fall harvest, and lakes so expansive that one could not see the other side of shore. Mountains in the distance cut into the sky with their razor peaks. From miles away they could see the gigantic castle-city as it was built up into the side of the tallest mountain. A royal flag of deep blue waved at the topmost tower, the crescent moon shining out declaring this kingdom as lords over all the land.

Even on horseback, it took them another day to cross a valley that separated them from the city's front door.

As they approached the 20 foot gate, Lionheart dismounted and cupped his hands to shout at the top of the wall. "My name is Richard Lionheart the Second. I bring with me a group of travelers from a far away land who seek council with the king."

"Hey guys?" Cis rolled off his horse and hit the ground hard. When he did not move, Jeremy wondered if he had been hit by something. As Jeremy leapt to his friends assistance, the gates opened.

Jeremy pulled his friend over onto his back. A quick check told him that Cis was still breathing although he had taken on a distinct shade of green and broken out into a cold sweat.

"Will he be alright? What's wrong?" Saesha asked running over to them.

"He's got some nasty fever. He was fine this morning," Jeremy explained while he tried to wake Cis.

"Looks like a dragon fever," Lionheart interjected without concern. "I've seen it drop men twice his size in less than a week. The king expects you for dinner"

Lionheart tore off into the streets of the city. They watched as he cut his way up the first few sharp switchbacks.

"Do you think it's true?" Jeremy asked with great concern for his friend.

Saesha shook her dark hair. "I healed his wounds, but the dragon's cut could have gone beyond the skin."

"We should be able to get him some help inside," Noal suggested looking up at the steep rise of the cities levels.

Tal-sen and Jeremy picked Cis up from the ground and laid him atop one of the horses. They held him in careful balance, to prevent him from tumbling again. Tal-sen elected to follow alongside Cis to ensure that he stayed in place.

Together they made the long climb up the numerous switchbacks of city streets to the topmost level, where the king's feast would be held.

Arriving just in time for trumpets to announce the hour of feasting, Jeremy's group was frustrated and starving after the hard journey.

Jeremy rushed to check Cis before they entered. He found him in no better shape, still somewhere between blackout and full-on hallucination.

"We must ask if they will help him," Jeremy conceded.

Noal strode forward and pounded thrice on the door. Metal clicked and pushed against wood as a lock was removed.

The door fell open and they were greeted by a great scurrying of nervous onlookers as the people all tried to get the best view of the newcomers. From within the tight-knit crowd, the king stepped forward. He wore a gilded crown of a strange blue metal. It was the same blue that covered much of their flag. It was awe inspiring to see a metal so dark, yet one that reflected more brilliantly than any polished gold. The man who wore the crown stood a solid six feet and had a face that looked much too old for his middle age stature. It was a face that wore the scars of too many battles and far too much bloodshed in its lifetime. Jeremy had no doubt the king would not hesitate to raise arms against him if he thought it necessary.

The king spoke first. "Get this man some medicine."

A litter and a group of silky robed men and women jumped at the king's command. They carefully took Cis off the horse, all the while giving Tal-sen a wide berth, and laid him on the stretcher. Jeremy could scarcely protest as he watched practiced hands lift his friend into the air and cart him off into the crowd.

"Good, now onto business. Why are you here? " The king asked looking from one strange creature to the next. His powerful gaze never failed him and Jeremy wondered if he was ever surprised.

Jeremy stood tall, ready to answer the king's question, but was cut off by Saesha's words. She spoke with no emotion as if rattling off a recited verse. "Dear King Prikard. I am Saesha, princess of the Fifth world. This is Noal; our scribe. Tal-sen my loyal defender, and Jeremy our new hope. We are travelers from a land beyond trees and rocks. We are from a place beyond even the furthest star in your sky. We come on bent knees asking for an army to fight against an unseen enemy. An enemy that threatens us all"

The king listened respectfully to Saesha's words before responding. "I know two things to be true this day. One be that seemingly dark creatures have came out of our most mystical forest and slayed half a unit of my best fighters. The other is that there will be a full moon tonight. Knowing these two facts, how do you come to my front door and expect my assistance?"

"We would not have taken arms against your men, had they not first attacked us," Jeremy defended their actions.

"Is not the lady your command!" The king bellowed in a voice that made Jeremy flinch.

Saesha spoke, but not before Jeremy noticed a suppressed smile hanging on the side of her mouth. "We have no commanders. We simply have the same goals in mind and have joined forces to ensure that happens."

"A leaderless army is quick to fall in the face of battle," countered King Prikard.

Words failed Saesha's usually quick tongue.

"How can we gain your trust?" Jeremy questioned with a short bow.

"Silence your tongue before the lady!" The king shouted belligerently again. "But I agree that you will have to gain my trust before I grant you a single one of my men. Give me till the morning to figure out what must be done. You are free to stay in our castle's hospitality." Without waiting for a reply, the king turned around and marched into the throng of people.

The feast ended up being a sour affair as everyone in attendance was on such high alert that they ate without tasting and with great haste. Not a single other person in the room dared to look away for fear that the small group of four might try to rise up and eat them as well.

A night that would be full of anticipation and sleep would be as brief as their meal. For many hours Jeremy rolled on his straw mattress considering what the king might ask them to do. If he failed to complete the task, would he ever be able to gain support in order to fight the director. How close was the director to figuring out where they went and attacking him again.

Morning approached in a rather rudely sudden fashion. The rising sun came cold and gray offering no attempts to ease Jeremy's worries. His crew stood in stony silence. He could tell by their strained looks that they all had had similar worries during the night.

One of the king's soldiers came to their quarters and asked them to follow. The king would have his answer for them. The soldier led them through a labyrinth of halls and stairs, doorways and towers, until at last they entered the king's throne room.

Jeremy felt very small as they walked up the long distance to the king's chair. Strips of red and gold outlined much of the deep blue room and its ornaments. Fifty soldiers on each side stood along the length of the room ready to protect the king at any cost. Instead of chain mail they wore tight material of the same dark blue as the crown. Each one looked like a slice of the night had been personified and had stepped into the room. A large silver crescent moon was placed above the king's head completing the scene with this nation's fascination with the symbol above them.

King Prikard stood as they were brought in front of him. His expression made Jeremy sure that he had plans to slaughter them all here and now.

"Dear king." Jeremy bowed low trying to gain back all the points he had lost the previous evening. "We have come to seek your aid. Will you help us."

Before the king could say one way or another, Saesha cut in, "I should think that you would like to hear more of the threat that we fight against and why it is so important that we have as many fighting for us as possible."

"Be you silent, before I cut your tongue woman. Have you people no manners before the king! Whoever speaks first is in charge and will be the only voice I speak to," roared the king.

Jeremy watched as Saesha fought with every tendon and muscle in her face to not lash back at the king. She did not take kindly to the king's strange rules.

"I agree with what my friend said. She meant no disrespect. We are not familiar with your customs. We ask that you are patient with us while we learn. Do you want to hear more on the terror that threatens more than just skin and bones. It will eventually rip the sky apart."

Jeremy could tell his last statement had an effect on everyone in the room. If there was one thing they cared about it was the night sky.

"I will hear more after you have gained my trust," the king answered with a wave gentle enough to silence all mouths in the room. "The night before there was a full moon. At its fullest and most beautiful, I saw a jewel fall from heaven high and land in the bog on the other side of this mountain. You will embark on a journey with Sir Lionheart to bring me back the moon jewel. Bring it back, with him still alive and in one piece and I will then listen to your stories of war from beyond the stars."

Bowing to accept the king's proposal, Jeremy turned back to his small group. "It's the best chance we've got."

"You should just color us some guns and we blow them apart and take their army willing or not," Saesha growled, her wings fluttering with indignation.

Jeremy stared at her for a while trying to tell if she was serious about attacking all the king's men. It took him a solid minute to understand that she was just spilling off some steam.

"Noal," continued Jeremy, "I think you should stay behind and watch over Cis while he recovers."

"Done sir," Noal saluted. "As I'm sure you are aware I myself am not much an adventurer."

"It's fine," Jeremy dismissed his low self esteem. "Tal-sen, Saesha and I will go with little Richard and find this moon jewel."

It was agreed upon as Lionheart strode up the long blue entrance wearing his chain mail armour. He sauntered with his great sword swaying behind him like a tail. It was at the point when he physically shook his hair to try and get it to catch the light better that even Jeremy failed to take him seriously. Lionheart looked a bit jaded when no one clapped or wolf-called during his elaborate entrance.

"Shake hands, for on this mission you are a team. Work together and you may survive," the king decreed, before falling back onto his throne.

Each handshake was quick and offered without so much as a trace of friendship. To Jeremy it felt like a business transaction at a very handsome ATM.

Once the procedures had taken place. Lionheart waved them to follow. "You must keep with me. We will be riding hard to a land that is not friendly to this kingdom. A land with magic and wizards. They allow us to live on this side of the mountain, but once on the other side we will be without the king's protection and subject to their rule of law. Which is nought."

He turned without waiting for an answer and led them up a very slender spiral staircase. Arriving at the topmost tower, where a single flag flew over the great valley that stretched on into the horizon, wind cut at them so fiercely that Jeremy was sure it would pull them off the face of the mountain.

Walking half-bent over from the wind, they crossed the top of the tower and were soon walking on the jagged edge of the tall mountain. From all around, Jeremy could see what felt like the edge of the world. And just as the noon sun settled overhead and finally burned off the remaining fog, they crossed over the spine of the world and looked down the other side.

The whole side of the mountain was missing from what appeared to be the remnants of an explosion long ago.

"The wizards did this during the last war. There was a twin city like ours on this side of the mountain. It was obliterated with just the casting of one dark spell," Lionheart spat out into the windy wasteland below them.

He led them along the narrow ridge of the mountain for miles and miles until there was a small path on which they could carefully traverse. Stepping an inch at a time for fear of falling to an early death made for frightfully slow travel. It took them the rest of the day to descend to a level where trees grew tall enough to provide cover for them.

While making camp, Sir Lionheart approached Jeremy finally breaking their unfriendly silence. "Is it true what they are saying about you? That though you look like a common man, you are from another world, beyond our stars."

"What do you think I am?" Jeremy responded, unsure of how much information he should impart.

Lionheart looked him up and down, evaluating him on a purely physical level. "We have long watched the stars and never before has a person come from them. I do not believe such a thing to be possible."

"You live in a world with magic and wizards, but I'm the impossible one?"

"Which is why I am determined to prove that you are no more than an uncouth liar. I do not agree with the king's willingness to entertain your wild fantasies. It is so obviously a ruse to overthrow the kingdom that I cannot believe he has not already taken your heads off."

Jeremy turned away from Lionheart even as he continued to deliver a masterful monologue on the evils of dark magic and made his way to Tal-sen and Saesha's tight huddle. It was clear that he would be useless and possibly more of a danger on this journey.

Saesha gave Jeremy a questioning look before whispering in his ear. "You were wise to give little to the flashy man. He will only bring us trouble."

"He doesn't believe us," Jeremy mentioned.

"Would you?" Saesha smiled grimly looking into his eyes. "Oh, don't look so sad. I know we can defeat Radfewx and the rest of the writers."

"This feels like a waste of time."

Looking into her multicolored eyes, Jeremy quickly found himself captivated and lost in the passionate fire that burned within. "I've lived a million lifetimes longer than anyone on your planet and I have to say I would not trade the last few days for any others I have lived. For a long time, I lost touch with what it felt like to live. I simply existed, being paraded around as some sort of living fossil. And then one day I found my true purpose, to free my people from the hands of what you call fate. Then very quickly, I thought I would never live out those expectations when I was captured by the writers. I waited 10,000 years for a way to escape. I thought I just wasn't strong enough or smart enough. But what it really came down to is that I was waiting. I had to learn patience, which is surprisingly difficult for a near-immortal being. So I waited, for what I didn't know, but as soon as I saw your wild face enter my prison I knew you were what I had waited for. You had the look of exploration and adventure, but something more that intrigued me; pain and chaos ride on you harder than any other living creature in the universe. You never should have ended up in that prison and that meant all those years I spent waiting; not a single one of those were for a wasted purpose."

"It's easy to get lost in my own doubt. Thank you for your words, but there is still something I don't understand. How are we going to free the multiverse with a few horses and guys like Lionheart. No offense but they're just not going to bring down a billion year old empire."

Beaming with intelligence Saesha responded, "I've been thinking about that a lot also. But I think there is a way to have them be very useful. What's the biggest thing we are missing in order to defeat the directors?"

"I'm not sure. An army?"

"Think in less of a big picture way."

As night settled in around their small campfire, Jeremy answered. "Perhaps people?"

Nodding her approval of the correct answer Saesha agreed, "Yes, we don't have enough people. There's only five of us and we are supposed to hop around the universe at random, gathering help all the while avoiding Radfewx's influence. It would take us another million years. That would surely be wasted time. No, what we need these men to do is go out for us and spread our cause. We can send a group to every planet in each universe. They can raise our army, while we look for a way to stop the writers from ever controlling anyone again."

"That," Jeremy couldn't help as a big grin spread over his face. "...is a plan with a brain."

"Jeremy, do you know why Tal-sen accepted you when you arrived on our planet, instead of ripping your flesh apart like he is want to do?" Saesha asked suddenly.

Jeremy could have sworn he saw Tal-sen lick his scared lips as he listened to Saesha's words. He quickly recovered and responded to her, trying his best to remember what all had happened. "I'm not sure. There were a lot of things going on and they all talked in..."

"Mishmash; as our bodies have been broken over the years so too has our language," Saesha informed.

"Yeah, well there was something that they called me. But I didn't really understand if it was just nonsense or not. They called me the Lorth of Chaos. Does that mean anything?"

Fire reflected off of Saesha's blue and orange eyes, making them seem star strewn and full of living fire. "Or better said as the Lord of Chaos. The one destined to free of us from our infinitely long weekend. The one that will break history and restore nature to its true form. Wild and chaotic."

Feeling a rush that Jeremy could not explain or hold back, his lips were suddenly on hers. Unbridled passion ran between them as he wrapped his hands around Saesha pulling her into him as she folded her wings around them. For a moment, the world could have burned and Jeremy would not have cared. Then ,like shattering glass, the moment was over as Saesha's warm flush turned to a look of pure panic. She turned away from him, now panic turning to embarrassment, and folded her wings around herself like a cocoon. Leaving him alone to ponder the complexities of the universe and females for the rest of the night.

Like a herd of buffalo charging up a steep hill the sun broke over the new morning. The campfire was completely out and everyone was wearing anxious faces for the day ahead. No one spoke as they started on the journey into the bog. aS Tal-sen nearly tripped into ankle length water, Lionheart decided to open the conversation.

"We are entering the foggiest and most confusing bog in the land. Stay together and we may all get out alive. If we should be forced to separate, well good luck getting back cause I will not waste my time looking for you."

"Thanks for the charming advice," Jeremy mocked in a falsely enthusiastic voice. As a rolling cloud of gray swallowed them, Jeremy felt himself turning sarcastic. "If you hadn't told me about the fog I might not have noticed."

"I only thought it wise to give you information that will ensure our success in this mission," Lionheart responded proudly.

Trying to get some rise out of Saesha's blank expression. Jeremy couldn't help as his mouth started going out of control. "This mission means absolutely nothing to...to you. You'd be better served retrieving goats for the king."

Eyes full of pure hatred Lionheart spat. "I am no goat herder. I will stay at our previous night's campfire. The king will not grant you anything without both me and the jewel present. Good luck dying you dark fuck."

Without another word, Lionheart turned and trotted back up the trail they had just come down. In his rude dust, he left behind a quickly thinning group consisting of Jeremy, Saesha, and Tal-sen.

"That was helpful," Saesha grumbled before trying to peer into the shadowy bog and find a path through.

Having no words to say, except ones that would only further damage the situation, Jeremy held his tongue and pushed his way past Saesha, leading them blindly forward.

Grey wisps curled around their ankles as Jeremy led at a near-jogging pace. They splashed through shallow swamp getting more and more lost by the hour. Jeremy was near oblivious as he was too busy steaming to notice the signs that would indicate to a traveler that this place was not welcome to them.

It was only when a purple wrought-iron fence blocked their path did he have any thought that they had stumbled into the wrong neighborhood. The fog that so thoroughly covered the swamp appeared to be thickest within the fence. It was as if the fog was being created from within.

"Should we go in?" Jeremy asked without directing the question to anyone in particular.

"Not smart," Tal-sen responded quietly.

"I just get this feeling that the jewel is in there."

"Jeremy don't," Saesha began but didn't appear to have the strength to argue and watched silently as he pulled himself over the fence.

"Are you guys coming or do I have to do this alone?" Jeremy called over the back of his shoulder. The fog had thickened to a frightening degree. So much so that he could only see a vague outline of the fence that he knew was only inches behind him.

"You don't have to do anything alone. We're all in this together," Saesha answered from beyond a gray curtain.

"I've been alone since birth. There really isn't much more to it. Eventually ya realize this is the way things should be," Jeremy yelled back as he took a step and now was completely separated from his companions.

"Stop being such a pout. There's so much more at stake right now. We have responsibilities that cannot be abandoned in a hot moment." Saesha yelled out with reason.

"Good to know I rank below washing dishes," Jeremy called back with a distant echo. As he stepped further into the fog, the sensation of drowning kept creeping up into his fears. His arms prickled as it felt like the edge of fingers were reaching out and brushing along his skin. Already regretting his rash attitude he looked to go back and apologize but soon realized that the fog had long ago erased any sense of direction.

All at once the worst realization hit Jeremy. He was completely lost. Everything around him looked the exact shade of white and gray. Even the sun appeared to be shining from all directions, giving him no hope of finding a viable direction.

In his rush of spinning, Jeremy tripped, falling face first into shallow muck. Spitting and wiping his face he looked up to meet a lime green leather boot. Following the leather boot upwards a rich purple robe adorned a fashionably jarring looking man.

The man adjusted spectacles that sat on the extreme tip of his long nose. "What might you be doing here, human?"

Standing up quickly and grabbing the hilt of his sword, Jeremy backed away from the strangely dressed man only to trip backwards again. Sputtering and wheeling, Jeremy righted himself again.

"If you're done licking dirt, could you answer my question as to why you have trespassed into my home and trampled all over my flowers."

Jeremy looked down to see himself standing on a pad of the most colorful patch of roses. He tried to tip-toe out of them while muttering stunted apologies but seemed to be only making this worse as he trampled over more and more flowers.

"Stand over here. Quickly now, before you destroy all my petunias," The hunched man ushered Jeremy onto a suddenly appearing clear spot. He stood catching his breath as the man flapped his baggy robes and cawed at some unseeable thing far off in the fog.

"Now answer my question human. What are you doing here?"

"I am..." Jeremy hesitated. He was not sure what information he should divulge to the strange man. "Sorry, but are you not a human?"

A mysteriously large grin spread over the bookish face. "Why do you ask? You can see that I have ten fingers and a head with basically the right amount of things, or do I not? Am I missing my nose?"

Jeremy was about to answer but was stopped short as the man searched all over his own face as if missing pocket change. With a loud popping noise, the man had removed his own nose and was now inspecting it like a new found treasure.

"Ahh, here it is and just as I remember," he said while popping it back in place. "As you were saying."

"oh...uh...I asked if you were not a human. I only ask this because you keep referring to me as one and, well, usually most people do not distinguish similar features and only name them in conversation when there's a difference. You singled me out as human above all else, leading me to believe that despite your appearance you are not a human."

"Well done. Yes. Most intuitive. But if you don't mind I asked a question first and it is rather rude of you to trample in here unannounced and not answer my question accordingly."

"What if we yell our answers at the same time," Jeremy suggested half-seriously.

"That," the purple dressed man pondered, "is easily the dumbest idea I've ever heard. But so be it. Lets get this over with. On three you tell me what you're doing here and I'll say if I am a human or not."

"You have to tell me what you are also."

"Agreed. Now on three. One. Two. Three."

"iIcomeAMlookingAforWIZARDtheFROMmoonAjewelPLACEthatBEYONDfellTIMElastANDnightSPACEsoSOMEiCALLcanMEconvinceLUCKYthe king on the other side of the mountain to help me wage a war against intergalactic writers."

"Holy bejebus boy that's heavy stuff you just rained down here on my garden," Lucky looked positively frazzled.

"Yeah, I don't even understand what I'm doing at this point, just kind of letting the wind guide me," Jeremy vented.

They each thought for a moment considering each others words. Jeremy was the first one to start again. "So...Lucky, if I heard that right, Can you help me do anything?"

"Technically, I'm supposed to blast every human that walks on this side of the mountain with my water lightning, but for some reason I like you. I can give you the jewel you seek, but it comes at a price."

"Bloody hell, what do I have to do for you? Go bring back a lump of blue turds from the other side of the freaking mountain," Jeremy raged suddenly red in the face.

"None of that. I've been watching the stars for some time now and reading the signs of our fortune. They tell me terrible change is on the way and that all this may be gone very very soon. All I request is that when you take this moon jewel back to the king, you also bring a message of peace. It is time humans and the magici had a reunion."

"I saw the crater in the side of the mountain. There is no way a few words that I speak could possibly fix something that is so much bigger than me," Jeremy complained.

"If you cannot fix the problems of this small world, how do you expect to unite many different worlds in order to aid your quest," Lucky suggested. "Please try your best, our only chance of survival is with the reunification of the moon and the sun kingdoms."

Unable to refuse and feeling immense pressure to complete all the missions, Jeremy accepted the terms. "It's a deal, but I also need to find my friends in this fog. I am afraid that we all were separated by my mistakes."

In the blink of an eye the fog evaporated and Jeremy could easily see both Saesha and Tal-sen sitting along a neatly manicured fence row. They may have entered a bog, but from where Jeremy was standing it looked much closer to paradise. Sheathing his sword, Jeremy greeted his friends with warm hugs all around.

True to his word, Lucky flapped his arms and from under his purple sleeves the moon jewel floated towards them. It shone as if a light source from within produced light that was so pure it felt solid. With great respect Jeremy reached up and grabbed the floating orb of space rock and held it in his hands. Half-expecting the jewel to explode when touched, Jeremy was relieved when the jewel remained bright and real in his hands.

"Thank you, my friend. I will do my best to bring peace to the two kingdoms. I hope we meet again Lucky."

"I have the strangest feeling this is not our last meeting," Lucky smiled and disappeared by flapping his sleeves.

"What just happened?" Saesha asked still not believing all that she saw.

"Come on I'll tell you on the way," Jeremy answered as they left at the same breakneck pace they had arrived with. Except this time they were all in a joyous mood which made the travel feel quick and fun. Even meeting back up with Lionheart, who looked positively disgusted that they had found the jewel, didn't dampen their high spirits.

Jeremy had extra to feel happy about as they reached the summit of the mountain and stood admiring the open world all around them Saesha returned Jeremy's kiss. It was much shorter than their first, but he couldn't help but feel that it had meant so much more. A bond of trust had been established between them and to Jeremy there was nothing more important.

With a great sigh of relief, they made the small leap from mountain to concrete and were once again on the topmost tower of the castle. A slash of steel alerted Jeremy that something was wrong but he was too slow on the uptake as something solid slammed into the back of his head.

Rolling on the ground, fighting shimmers of red and black spots in his vision, Jeremy found his feet to discover that he was in the middle of a standoff between Tal-sen and Lionheart who now held Saesha with his sword at her neck.

"Give me the jewel, dark one," Lionheart shouted at both Jeremy and Tal-sen.

Tal-sen lunged forward, but quickly stopped as Lionheart pulled back on his blade enough to start a trickle of blue blood down Saesha's throat. Fear and hatred ran through Saesha's eyes as she fought her body's own reflex to fight and cough at the intruding blade.

"I will be the hero of this story. Not you. Now hand over the jewel and I will not slit this demon's throat," Lionheart bellowed across the windy tower.

Tal-sen turned to Jeremy. They both felt stuck and helpless being unable to fight their way out of this predicament. Feeling like he was picking a losing option, Jeremy handed the jewel over to Lionheart.

"Now release her. You have the jewel," Jeremy negotiated.

"You'd kill me in a second. I will take her and the jewel to the king. I will tell them how you tried to murder me and that my only defense was taking this one hostage. They will mount a witch hunt and be sure to stamp out all of your dark companions."

Tal-sen growled wordlessly as they watched Lionheart descend the spiral staircase into the castle.

"Screw waiting, we're going in," Jeremy shouted as they both ran down the stairs. Not being familiar with the castle and only being taken through it once made their journey much slower and more round about. Running past hallways and down towers, they smashed through the doors to the king's throne room.

They both froze, confused by what they were seeing. Jeremy was first to ask the obvious, "Why does that lady have a machine gun?"

His question was not answered by a voice, but rather the explosion of gunfire as the woman's gun blasted through the line of the king's best fighters. None of the ninja-like soldiers could move fast enough as bullets ripped them to shreds. There was no fair fight, only a massacre.

Once the round of ammunition had been thoroughly spent in the flesh of all the king's guards. The lady turned to Jeremy who now noticed Lionheart and Saesha looking just as surprised and confused as him. She smoothly whipped off her sunglasses to reveal the clear blue eyes of Mai. The magazine fell steaming off of the gun and was quickly replaced by another as she stepped towards Saesha.

"You're not going to run away this time, Jeremy. I'm going to take what is most precious to you. You can come to me, I'm tired of directing this psychic around the universe and chasing you all over the place," Director Radfewx spoke threw Mai's body.

She held the gun up to Lionheart, who was now positively whimpering, and, without having to ask, he graciously handed Saesha over to Mai.

"You know where to find me," a flash of white light erased Mai and Saesha from the royal chamber.

The Unluckiest Man

The king stood over the bloody mess, his arm still stretched out in a feeble attempt to stop the massacre that had just occurred. "What evil have you brought upon us?"

Jeremy wished that he had an answer for the king's questions, but each time he tried to speak words never formed. He could feel his leg shaking uncontrollably, an alien out-of-body hollowness crept over him as he stood in disbelief. "I..." he started and failed.

"Not you." The king stumbled down the three wide steps to their level and crossed the long hall following the blue carpet that would never be clean again. "You warned us, and we did not listen. No. I am asking RICHARD LIONHEART!"

Lionheart positively shrank into a squabbling mess of tears and stunted apologies as the king approached him with furious haste.

"My agents, who now lay fallen at my feet, told me they saw the lot of you coming up the mountain. They said that Jeremy held the moon jewel and you all seemed quite happy. Now on this day you storm in here with the lady, sword at her throat, saying you found the jewel. Then not a minute later we were attacked by something not of this world. I have a feeling that if you had not interfered with their mission, everyone would still be alive."

"My king, I only meant to rid us of these dark ones," Lionheart managed to squeak out.

"I'll ask you one last time before I add your body to the pile. Only we will not remember you for your good deeds, your name and lineage will forever be cursed under the moon. What evil have you brought upon us?"

"I meant not to bring evil into this room. I have strived my entire life to rid the world of dark and magical creatures. They are an abomination to life itself and do not deserve the right to have it. I had no way of knowing such a thing like this would happen. I am blameless," Lionheart shook his bloodless mane like he should be praised for his actions.

The king pulled a sword made of the same metal as his crown from his side. It reflected night and shadow instead of the opposite as would a regular metal. "You call yourself a brave man. All I have ever seen from you is actions a child would think to take. I will not spill your blood as there has been too much on this day. But I will strip you of your knighthood and banish you to the lands of magic where hopefully you will learn to grow a spine."

Surprised to not be dead Lionheart exited the room with a low bow.

Jeremy still stood in the same position as he had been in when he entered the room. Once Lionheart was fully removed, the king crossed the rest of the distance to stand in front of him. Silently he stood, seemingly to tower over Jeremy though he was not more than an inch or two taller. The king stayed respectfully silent as he allowed Jeremy time to relax and take in all that had happened.

With a terribly heavy sigh, Jeremy finally unhinged his mouth. "May I see my friends Cis and Noal?"

The king gave a smile that changed the entire layout of his usually harsh facial features to one more kind and santa-like. "When threatened with death, it is always most wise to surround oneself with close friends. They may not be able to walk with us to the final destination, but they can make the passage much easier."

"Thank you. We will talk later," Jeremy assured the king before stepping out of the room. Spinning around, he realized Tal-sen was not with him. His eyes found the broken creature kneeled on the spot where Saesha had disappeared from.

Tal-sen placed one hand on the ground like he was trying to follow the princess. Unable to do anything, he howled in the most horrific sound that set Jeremy's hair standing on edge.

"Come on Tal-sen. Let's find the others. Then we can go get the princess together."

"Send me," Tal-sen replied still in his mournful position.

"That's not a smart way to go into this. We have to plan out our attack," Jeremy responded carefully.

The creature roared like an enraged bear and stood heaving with venomous rage. Lowering his one horn, the creature charged Jeremy. Still being somewhat in shock, Jeremy was unable to move as he took the full brunt of Tal-sen's heavy tackle in the chest.

"Send Me!" it bellowed standing over Jeremy.

"Fine ya stupid brute. If you want to die so badly, I'll send you," Jeremy pulled the quill out like he was brandishing a sword and angrily carved the words to send Tal-sen back to the writer's planet.

"I will tear out all their throats and drink all their blood to bring the princess home," Tal-sen promised.

"Just don't kill yourself. I couldn't bear losing another friend," Jeremy admitted before Tal-sen hopped into the white inferno.

Once Jeremy was able to catch his breath again, he straightened up and continued on his way without another word to the king, who stood watching in amazed silence.

It took Jeremy a solid half-an-hour to find where his remaining friends were. Not willing to stop for anything, Jeremy smashed through doors until he found Noal happily reading a book next to Cis who still lay in bed, but looked much better. The color had returned to his cheeks and he seemed alert and ready to get out of bed.

Jeremy hugged his friend, happy to see him alive. "So they fixed you?"

"They sure did. I think they healed everything the first night we came here but kept me here for comfort. Where's everyone else?" Cis asked, suddenly nervous after looking at Jeremy more closely.

"Yes, where are our good friends?" Noal chimed in.

Finding it hard to look anyone in the eye, Jeremy retold the terrible events of the last few days to a captivated audience. He finished by asking, "What should we do?"

"It's obvious, champ," Cis answered. "We gotta get your girl back no matter what."

"I don't think," Jeremy started.

"Dammit man it's time to stop being logical and calculated. It's time to be reckless and romantic," Cis cut in with much vigor.

Jeremy couldn't help but smile at his friend's kind words. "But how? I can't imagine the king helping us now. Half his guard was put down due to us being here."

Suddenly remembering the pact he made with Lucky the wizard, Jeremy answered his own question. "We'll have to do one more favor for these people before we can gain their support."

"And what is that?" Noal asked cautiously.

"Follow me and you'll all find out," Jeremy informed them as they quickly rushed back to the king's throne room.

Smashing through the door, Jeremy nearly lost his head as he encountered a new legion of soldiers that had replaced the dead ones. They were still a bit jumpy.

"Halt! It's fine. They are trusted," the king shouted across the great hall. "What have you for me? An army is it that you seek?"

The small group of three crossed the long hall so that they could appeal to the king in a more intimate manner than shouting across the room.

Understanding that the king's mood must be less than joyful, Jeremy elected to tell him straight out why they had come back. "That will come later. But first I have another responsibility."

Jeremy found his words failing as he echoed Saesha's sentiments about putting responsibilities first. As he started again, he promised himself to put getting Saesha back as his number one priority. "I come bearing an offer of peace from the magical side of the kingdom. On our short journey to retrieve the moon jewel, I met a wizard. He made me promise to convince you that peace was possible and that the two kingdoms needed to be one. I have come to fulfill my promise."

The king spilled the goblet of wine he was holding when Jeremy mentioned a wizard. Then like a mad man, he turned up his head and bellowed in hearty laughter for a full 3 minutes. Once he recovered and, breathing very hard, he responded. "It has been a terrible day for me and this kingdom. Peace is not an option when dealing with the magici."

When Jeremy attempted to protest the king's merry outburst turned vengeful. "I'll hear no more of this! We've tried many times in the past and it has never worked in our favor. You must understand."

"No!" Jeremy yelled in sudden frustration. He realized with his outburst that he no longer cared to follow the order of things. This was getting done and a prideful king would not stand in his way. There were too many other things at stake.

"I beg your pardon, but generally those standing before the king learn a meek tongue or they lose it quick." Jeremy looked the king straight in the eye and pointed at him. "You don't want peace. You are an old and foolish king. There is a danger coming to this world, to our world, to all worlds. You saw just a fraction of that danger this morning. You will stand no chance as two divided kingdoms. By the grace of whatever you think of as gods you will be so much more powerful when united as one. Don't let the great people of this kingdom perish because you were too foolish to do the hard thing when you had a chance."

Noal and Cis became fixated on indiscriminate spots on the ground as they did their best to stay out of what was surely a developing shouting match between two very angry men.

Huffing and puffing with swollen indignation the king replied. "Tell me this. How does one bring peace to the land? What do I do? Just say we're all going to live happy happy joy joy and forever after it shall be so?"

"I believe that there will have to be a discussion between you and the wizard Lucky. I do not have the answer for you."

Waving his arm as if dismissing Jeremy's words, the king continued. "You ask for so much and you come with no solutions. As it stands you are not a person I would follow into battle. Despite the great help you did in bringing me this fallen jewel, you will not have my favor, nor my army, nor peace with the magic kind to our backs. Not today, not ever. You are dismissed."

"You're letting fear and pride get in the way of what needs to be done!" Jeremy protested one last time.

"Leave this throne room before you are added to the body count," the king commanded with a look that would allow no more conversation.

They left, slamming doors behind them. As they wound their way through the streets that snaked down the mountain side, Cis spoke breaking the moody silence. "You shouldn't have called him a fool."

"I don't get it. This morning if I had asked him, I think he would have kissed me."

"You allowed time for the influence of the writers to guide the king's subconscious into a place that he would not respond favorably to your quest," Noal mentioned matter-of-factly.

Jeremy stopped walking. A crowd of people bumped into him and yet he did not budge. He then fell to his knees, looking downbeat and already defeated. "He's right. I have no idea how to win this fight."

Feeling rather sorry for the human he had broke out of captivity. Noal sat on the ground with Jeremy in the middle of the street. Cis quickly followed suit as Noal opened his mouth. "I think this is as good of a time as any to explain as much as I can about the circumstances that led to you being here today."

"I would love to hear this," Jeremy said bitterly.

Noal cautioned, "You must know before I start I was only given limited information. I won't be able to answer everything, but working together and with logic I believe we may be able to fill in most gaps of knowledge."

"Give me the download."

"I explained some of this before, but let's start with the first time I was given your story. For every other story I have been assigned to document, I have started at birth and ended at death. Usually, I am given a name, birthdate, deathdate, and a few key points that must be met on specific times and dates. The rest is up to us. I didn't receive your story until you had already reached 2 months of age. Being young and eager to please, I did not question it as I should have. I should have asked where you came from."

Jeremy cut in with his own information. "That's the time I was first taken into a foster home. Before that, my time is also a mystery to myself. No one could ever tell me who my parents were or what hospital I had came from. It seems like I just appeared out of thin air."

"Precisely so," Noal continued. "Even stranger to me is that they did not give me any key points in your life to meet. When I asked, they simply told me that I would get weekly installments of instructions and that this case would be more hands off. I would have no creative freedom to sculpt and form you. I was to only transfer the words on the page as instructed by weekly notes that were passed to me. Every week of instructions was different so I could never guess at a pattern, but they always seemed to negatively affect you or the people around you. As I was writing I nicknamed you the unluckiest man in the world, as I have never in my lifetime watched as a person struggled through so much trouble and pain. I'm so sorry for the pain I brought you, Jeremy, and I am doubly sorry that I never found out why they treated you so abhorrently."

It was a long time before Jeremy responded. He sat with wet eyes that he refused to allow tears to flow from and listened to all the people walking around them. Each voice was different and unique. It was in this one impossible moment in this one universe that all these individuals living wonderful lives would see him sitting on the ground and simply continue on with their lives and never see him again. This was a unique intersection of time and space, bumping into each other before flying off in separate directions. Did they all have real lives or were they some construct of the writers being used to influence and control other people? Did it matter if none of them knew the difference?

With a burst of inspiration and clarity, Jeremy hopped up from the ground. "We have to get the people to demand peace with their neighbors behind the mountain. If there is one thing I succeed at today, it will be saving these damn people so they can just go on and not ever have to know how narrowly they avoided obliteration."

Cis fist pumped with Jeremy, "Fuckin' right doggy! Let's start a motha flippin' revolution up in here."

Noal smiled at them as he slowly climbed to his feet. "Now is not the time for manners or formality. If we wish to sever the subtle links of the writers, we must insight things they cannot control, emotions. They can tell you what you should be feeling, but you yourself have to believe 100 percent or your emotional core will never be truly triggered."

"We need something to help us. Even if we found a way so that they could hear us, they would never believe three strangers over their king."

They each answered the question with the same answer, "Lionheart." He would be the only person the people would trust for he was a celebrity inside the walls of the city-castle.

"Come on," Jeremy cussed. "I fricken hate that guy so much."

Noal smiled sympathetically. "Where shall we find the knight?"

Cis looked around in every direction, "Why don't we ask one of those guys."

Jeremy followed Cis's gaze and saw a grouping of knights a level below them. He started to run, with his companions following, to catch up with the enclave. Huffing and puffing they finally caught up to them.

"What do you want citizen? Do not interfere with the king's business," One of the faceless knights boasted.

After coughing haggardly, Jeremy answered. "Do you know where we can find the one called Richard Lionheart?"

A cruel grin spread over the man's face. "Our most recently dishonored knight. He is useless to us, and to the king, and I have no doubt he will be of even less use to whatever you could possibly need him for."

"No. It has to be him," Jeremy held a stitch in the side of his rib.

"I don't have time for this. Not when war is so closely upon us."

"War?" Noal asked before Jeremy could.

"Where ya been? It's been rumored all over the streets this morn. Half the king's inner guard slaughtered. It can only be the work of the magici."

"That's not right at all," Cis observed.

"I think I'd know better than you common scum," the knight challenged.

"It's fine. We don't have time to argue," Jeremy said to both of them. "We need to find Lionheart. It may save more lives than we realized at this point."

The knight shook his head with a sympathetic shrug. "You can find him in the Raddy Paddy Tavern. But don't say I didn't warn you. He will fail to come through for you and he'll try to make it your fault all along. But if what you are saying is true then I wish you luck on your quest. May you save many lives today."

They waved their thanks and started charging back up the hill, before the Knight's large bellow brought them to a halt. "Turn around. It's at the bottom of the mountain, not the top."

Running past the soldiers, they grinned embarrassed smiles and sped onwards, going down the many levels to the bottom. It was long past midday by the time they crashed through the doors of the Raddy Paddy Tavern.

The dankness of the place compared to the bright sunny day behind them made their eyes hurt. Their eyes took a long time to adjust and see past the first layer of filthy rags that spread across a second entrance way. Stepping through the curtain, they found the Raddy Paddy Tavern to be one of the smallest pubs they had ever entered. The room was long enough for three rows. One of tables to sit at, the second was bar stools for patrons to order from, and the third row was the actual bar.

Today there were only two people, a barman who stood looking very surprised to see this many people enter his establishment, and Lionheart. Lionheart sat slumped against one of the tables in the corner, already nearly comatose with half an empty bottle of some dubious amber liquid in front of him.

"Lionheart, we need your help," Jeremy said as they crowded around him.

The barman yelled before anything more could be said. "You may stay here once you've ordered something, but I wont have no vagrants in my tavern."

Cursing under his breath, Cis rolled around and ordered three drinks while Jeremy returned to Lionheart.

Lionheart answered the repeated cry for help with a wet burp. "Why would I ever do anything to help a briggon like you?"

"Look you help us and say exactly what we tell you to, you will come out of this looking like a hero reborn. The people will cry for your knighthood to be reinstated," Jeremy promised.

Laughing at Jeremy's words, Lionheart narfed with a full body shake before responding, "But what's in it for me."

Sighing heavily, Jeremy realized that this would be much more difficult than he had realized. "You can be the hero you already know you are."

"Will people sing songs about me?" Richard asked with honest sincerity.

"I'll write you a song myself," Jeremy offered in exasperation trying to push this conversation along as fast as possible.

"Wait," he held up a wobbly finger. "What do I have to do?"

"You are going to bring peace between your kingdom and the magici, before a false war starts."

The man's usually fluffed golden mane was stringy with sweat as he began chuckling merrily into the bottle as he took an enormous gulp of the rich liquid. Slamming the bottle down on the table, he responded. "You ask an impossible task. I cannot fix myself, yet alone a division that has lasted through 50 different kings on the top of the mountain. What could you possibly say that could bring peace that hasn't already been said and tried?"

"That there is something far worse coming to this world, coming to all our worlds, and if we do not unite we all may become obliteration. There wouldn't even be a planet big enough to bury the dead and even if there were one large enough, their remains would be less than dust. All would be completely erased from existence. Do you want to let that happen to your people? The people you swore to defend and protect."

"But I'm a pile of shite," the man pouted.

"Come on man, this is your chance for redemption. Pull your head out of your ass, get up we're gonna do this," Jeremy charged as he pulled Lionheart off of the bench.

"You gonna finish your drink, man?" Cis asked curiously.

Jeremy threw back the lager, while still supporting Lionheart, slammed it down and started pulling Lionheart out of the establishment.

It was a long journey to the top of the mountain. Lionheart kept stumbling and tripping and at one point downright refused to walk. Jeremy elected Noal, because of his immense size and six arms, to drag him up the streets.

"Here," Lionheart shouted three quarters of the way to the top. "There's a thing here that if you shout into it will echo up and down the mountain. It was crafted by the ancient mountain dwarves who first built this city."

"Convenient," Cis chimed as they entered a monastery-like building. A great horn funneled out of the side so that the opening faced the mountain.

Lionheart slammed through the thin metal doors, shouting for the caretaker. Eventually a frail looking woman came out from behind a back curtain asking them if she could assist them.

"I would like to use the horn, woman," Lionheart rudely pronounced.

"Only those with the king's seal of approval may use it. Do you have the seal?" She asked humbly.

Whipping out his sword, Lionheart sneered before Jeremy could stop him. "This is what I got. Is it good enough for you?"

"Stop!" Jeremy placed a hand on Lionheart's shoulder. It was quickly brushed off but Lionheart did not move forward with his threat. "We must win people's trust, not their fear."

"You deal with it, dark one," Lionheart said before dismissing himself and sheathing his bloodthirsty weapon.

Returning his attention to the frightened elderly lady, Jeremy excused Lionheart. "We would be in your great debt if you allowed us to use the horn. We have a message of peace that must be spread now before it is too late. You see, the magici on the other side of the mountain chain want peace with us before the final battle. Will you let us use your horn?"

The lady looked very skeptical of Jeremy's words and his bunch of companions. "I will be executed for this treason."

"I give you my word that will not happen. We can pretend to apprehend you. That way you do not face any consequences from our actions," Jeremy suggested.

"So you do mean to harm me," she grimaced.

It was Noal who surprisingly spoke next. "Move aside. We must use the horn."

"Always threats with you men. Can't ever just accept an answer that was given to you. Good luck getting it to work." She pointed to the opening of the funnel. It was little more than big enough for a normal sized head to fit in.

Stepping towards it, Jeremy wondered out loud. "What should we have Lionheart say?"

"Just have him repeat what you said to convince him to come," cis advised.

"By promising them sing songs?" Jeremy asked in perfect deadpan.

Cis laughed at his friend's sarcastic remark. They both stood at the base of the horn, admiring its simple and large bronze beauty.

Jeremy called over Lionheart as he took out his quill. "Ma'am, do you have something I can write on?"

The lady nodded and scurried to hand over an empty scroll. Jeremy accepted it gracefully, trying to thank the lady, but she strode away before he could say anything. Flicking his wrist, he began writing in earnest. He wrote and wrote like he had never before been able to achieve. It felt wonderful and he realized that it was due to having no more fear. He knew what needed to be done and fear would only distract him. This writing was for Saesha and Tal-sen as much as it was for the people of the moon kingdom.

When he finished, he handed it to Lionheart. "Speak these words and you will be forever recognized as a hero."

Lionheart looked like for once on their strange journey up the hill that he finally understood the enormity of the responsibility he was being handed. Nodding his head in respectful admittance, he opened his mouth and began shouting the words Jeremy had written. "This is Lionheart..."

His words stopped at the ancient wall and were barely louder than a brave shout.

"It doesn't work," he observed audibly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jeremy noticed the elderly lady smirking. "How does it work?"

She folded her arms in the most motherly way as she stuck her nose in the air, "Oh, now you want my help? When just five minutes ago all I was good for was stepping aside."

"Yes, your help right now will benefit everyone. I'm trying to save us all!" Jeremy started to yell frantically. "People I love are in extreme danger right now and I'm stuck here because I made a promise to a wizard that I would make peace with both sides of the mountain. Do me the greatest favor and tell me how this works."

Something in how Jeremy was near tears and begging the lady made her reconsider. "You poor dear thing. What was the name of the wizard that asked for peace?"

"Lucky."

She smiled as if a distant memory appeared in the middle of the room. "My dear Lucky. How nice it would be to see him again. Yes. I will show you how it works as long as you don't reveal the secret to anyone outside these walls. I'll loose my bloody head."

"You have my word and all of us promise to never say anything," Jeremy wheeled around until everyone in the group had audibly said the same thing.

"Good," she skipped over to the horn. "Now the drunken one needs to put his entire head into the mouth of the horn. Good. Now simply say the words in a normal voice and I will do the rest."

Jeremy watched dumbfounded as she swirled her arms and started muttering spells as Lionheart's words filled the late-afternoon air.

"My name is Richard Lionheart, stalwart defender of men and knight under the moon. I come bearing peace from those on the other side of the mountain. I know many of you will scoff at the idea of a peace that hasn't existed in a thousand years, but if we do not shrug off the chains of the past, and if we do not grasp this extension of peace, more than just lost lives will be at stake. There is a coming battle, but it is not one with our neighbors behind the mountain. This battle will be against control and fate, an external threat that just this morning slaughtered the king's guard and then disappeared like water through our fingers. Our world has a choice; fight against the order of the past and have a possibility of securing a future free and new. Or face the possibility of total obliteration. Only the individual people of this great kingdom have the right to decide which path to take."

At that moment the speech was cut short as the metal doors to the monastery blew off their hinges and a seething red-faced king and his guard rushed into the room surrounding the group.

"I think it's time we jumped out of this world," Cis suggested.

"I quite agree. We have overstayed our welcome and it is up to them to decide whether to join us or not," Noal seconded.

Jeremy waved to the lady and Lionheart thanking them for their help, hoping that the speech had been enough to convince the people to demand peace from their king. He quickly wrote the words that had first taken him to the world of the writers. The message, Get out of there, flashed bright and blue scaring the king's men from advancing. The rift opened large as they hopped into the light, escaping from a fuming king.

As It Is Written

A gust of frigid air caught Jeremy directly in the chest. It was like being plunged under icy water, every muscle in his body froze for a moment before adjusting to the extreme change. They huddled together, bracing against each other as they realized that they had landed on top of one of millions of towering pillars.

Bravely Jeremy looked down. He instantly pulled back as the entire world started to spin. He could barely make out what appeared to be ants scurrying all around the base of the tower they had landed on.

Another ragged blast of air tore at them, trying its best to clean everything from the smooth surface.

"Well this is a place I never wished to be," Noal shouted above the howling wind.

"What the hell's that?" Cis shouted pointing to a column right next to them.

The entire column glowed electric blue, the same color it had glowed when they used it to transport, as the director appeared at the top. He turned to face them, seemingly unaffected by the harsh wind that continued to beat down upon Jeremy and his companions.

"That," Jeremy started, "is the guy we've been running from this whole time."

"We should run," Noal warned. "Now!"

"Where?" Cis argued, looking around the edges. "Where can we run to?"

From across the divide, the Director shouted to them in a voice that easily carried over the rushing gust. "It's time, Jeremy, to write the end of your story."

With nowhere to go, they watched as Radfewx brandished his own quill, an emerald green feather that was almost 2 feet in length. It would have been beautiful had Jeremy the thought to spare to beauty.

"How do you wish to die, Jeremy?" Radfewx jaunted. "I'll happily write you into whatever ending you wish. I can spare you that much."

Having no other options available to him, Jeremy surrendered and responded. "I choose to die next to those beside me. It's the only thing that you haven't yet taken from me."

A twisted smile spread over Radfewx's face as he began scribbling on the pages of a book that had materialized in his arms.

Jeremy's stomach lurched as he felt the column sway back and forth. Something large had just attached itself to the tower and was quickly climbing towards them. Rolling onto his stomach, Jeremy crawled to the edge to watch in horror as a giant squid like spider climbed its way up the vertical tower.

Tentacles spilled forward, pulling the creature up as a set of strong back legs sped its momentum upwards.

"Jeremy, you have to combat Director Radfewx. Use the quill. It's the only way," Noal suggested.

With a nod of acknowledgment, Jeremy quickly sent lightning bolts to strike the squid-spider. The yellow arc of forced electricity zoomed by them and struck the monster, splitting it open into fizzing splatter. Parts of the explosion landed near Jeremy, he leapt away as the acidic blood began to melt the rock they were standing on.

"Look out!" Cis yelled as a tidal wave towered a hundred feet above them. It hung in the air, waiting for Radfewx's last stroke of his quill to send it down upon them.

With a great jag of his quill, Jeremy sent a jagged mark across the ground causing a section of the tower Radfewx was standing on to split in half and begin tumbling down. The tower leaned far to the left and Radfewx was impressively able to make a quick jump to another before the remaining bit crumbled to the ground far below.

"This is fun. We should never do it again," Radfewx challenged as he sent the tidal wave down upon them.

Jeremy had time to draw a dome over their heads as a mountain of water fell on them. Despite the thunderous noise, they escaped from being swept away. The water may not have directly hurt them, but they all yelped as the tower beneath their feet gave way and started to fall. It first swept to the left before circling in a wide sweeping arc that sent them all flying into the air.

Diving for his friends, Jeremy caught them in mid air as rock fell all around them. They were lucky only in that they had a long time to fall, giving Jeremy enough time to draw a little air balloon that they fell into safely.

Stoking the flame, Cis brought the air balloon out of the dangerous falling rock.

Jeremy turned the column Radfewx was standing on into a giant snake that opened its fanged mouth, hungry for anything that would fall into it. Reacting much faster than Jeremy could, Radfewx jumped on a cloud and flew off as a three separate squid-spiders descended upon them.

They had no chance to avoid the collision. Three sets of squid tentacles wrapped around them and tied into knots, while the basket they stood in exploded sending splinters everywhere. Jeremy yelled as two furious spider faces squished him from either side. With 16 separate eyes looking at him, he felt more creeped out than in pain from the immense pressure of the gigantic monsters. The entire balloon craft deflated as the squid's tentacles tied into each other more and more, until they were all one big ball falling the mile or so to earth.

Jeremy could just make out Cis and Noal's screams as they landed. Then, like someone turned off his brain, he could hear no more.

Arguing voices broke Jeremy's thoughtless state forcing him to squint his eyes open, Before he could locate the source of the sound, the world dissolved into spinning fragments of light. Trying to clear his head, he focused on the dim light above him doing his best to make it not move in his field of vision.

As he lay gasping in pain from his re-awakening nerves, he realized that the arguing was more of a one-sided interrogation. One voice was demanding incessantly while another cried out in pain, begging to be spared.

"Why have you acted in this way? You have broken every law and oath you once swore to uphold," the voice of a furious Radfewx lashed out in the deep dungeon.

The shallow response of Noal frightened Jeremy worse than anything Radfewx could threaten him with. "The boy is outside of your control. He is the one that was written to bring about our final chapter."

"As it is written..." Radfewx murmured.

"So shall it come to pass," Noal finished with a slight whimper.

"Yes, yes. We all know that old children's tale. And you think this common man is the one no script can touch?"

"Why else would you curse him to go through life such as he has had to?"

Jeremy held his breath as he heard the wet smack of fist against bone and skin. Radfewx must have hit him with the full force of three arms, as Noal did not respond after the sudden blunt force trauma.

With great ease and what Jeremy felt was stealth, he turned his head towards the source of the violence. His eyes meet Mai who had been silently watching him the entire time. He gave an involuntary jump as he realized his awakened presence had not gone unnoticed.

"He's awake," Mai spoke calmly, still not at all her original personality. Her eyes were cloudy and filled, instead of their once bright omniscient.

Feigning any sort of pretending-to-sleep actions, Jeremy lifted his head to survey this new surroundings. Immediately to his left on a similarly strapped to a table, with Radfewx standing menacingly above, was a visibly bruised Noal. Jeremy swung his head around to find Cis on his other side. As he was checking on his friends, he felt the presence of something enormous directly in front of him. No matter where he put his eyes, they kept drifting back to gaze into the deep darkness before him. He struggled, craning his neck so that his chin touched his chest, trying to force his eyes to identify the object that took up his entire forward horizon.

Radfewx waved casually to the awakened Jeremy. "Knock. knock."

Jeremy squinted his ears towards Radfewx, trying his hardest to comprehend the words that he had heard, and yet as the seconds of stunned silence passed between them it made less and less sense.

Clearing his throat of a large mass of mucus and indignation, Radfewx repeated his statement. "Knock. Knock."

Again, Jeremy struggled to make sense of the words and the strange situation he found himself in.

"Oh come on," Director Radfewx finally snapped. "You know how this is supposed to go. I invented knock knock jokes and it was I who gave them to your culture. Now play along. Knock. Knock."

"Uh...who's there?" Jeremy whispered, barely moving his lips. He felt like he was being goaded into a trap, but unable to resist following along with Radfewx's strange joke as he was curious as to what it would be.

"Interrupting slap."

Before Jeremy could stop his lips from moving and understanding his response. On autopilot, Jeremy replied. "InterrupTING!"

He never got to finish the response as Mai's hand lashed out and raked over his face, twice, before returning to her zombified stillness.

Jeremy felt his bruised face split as blood trickled out of his nose. The echoing sting held on for much longer, as Jeremy's hands were tied down and could not comfort his pain.

"You see, the joke is you never get to finish the response," Radfewx explained as if Jeremy were a 3 year old.

"Oh I damn well got it alright," Jeremy reassured him with as much anger and hatred as he could muster.

"Welcome to the planetarium of Acirema. The site of our greatest blunder. The world you see before you is all that remains of a once prized society that we had so perfectly put together." With a wave of his hand, a dim light underneath the large object that had captured Jeremy's attention sprung up illuminating the area in front of Jeremy.

A globe much like the one he had seen in the hive for earth and the hive for the Fifth world wobbled on a tilted axis. Unlike the globes that represented the Earth and the /fifth world, this one was cracked and looked as if a fire had been started underneath it. Large chunks of the globe were flat out missing and spidery cracks ran up the sides in sporadic fractal patterns.

"I thought the Fifth world was your greatest defeat?" Jeremy questioned.

"We prefer to call that one a controlled experiment that did not yield the expected results. Nothing wrong with trial and error. But this place and this world in front of you was our first fully realized universe. It was a marvel of innovation and science at the time. Our civilization was full of idealists who wanted to make a utopia. A place better than what the universe could offer to us. We gave them everything they needed to succeed. We sanctioned this hive to have a 1 to 1 writer to person ratio. Each writer was given full control and allowed to do their best to reach maximum potential for their person."

"For many years, things went great, but our natural resources could not keep up with the power demands of a fully written universe with 100 worlds. We were running out of energy to power it and also writers to control it. Things were slipping away from our control. To fix the power consumption issue, we built the tower grid. The simple science is that energy cannot be destroyed. That is universally true but that does not mean it cannot be shifted from universe to universe in an endless cycle so that each universe created actually powers the next one and so forth. We created black holes in the center of each universe, but it still was not enough, so we had to scale out and put at least one black hole for every star system out there to power the universes. You see, each tower on this planet represents the manifestation of the other side of a black hole in this universe. When energy is pulled out of one universe, these towers transfer the energy to the next in line, endless renewable energy. We could now build an unlimited number of universes and have them all sustainable."

"Soon, many writers abandoned this world to start new worlds and new universes. It was a time of great expansion and prosperity for us. It all changed when one writer got too close to one of their subjects, just like Noal here did with you. The writer knew that a gruesome death was approaching for his subject. Back in those days we had little laws and governance on the dealing of inter-species relationships. The writer appeared to his subject and warned her that death would soon happen for her. Instead of simply avoiding the thing that would kill her, she warned her people that they were being controlled. This started an intergalactic war the likes of which has never been seen since, and I do hope never again will. We were left with no alternative other than to destroy our first universe and it's main world called Acirema. The results of this are forever memorialized before you. We erased 18 billion lives that day, in order to restore balance within the universes. And then, to prevent it from ever happening again, we created strict laws, oaths of conviction, and orderly procedures of how to write and control different universes based on their level of need."

"What this very long story has to do with you is that I believe, and so do others, that you are the reincarnation of the one that started the rebellion against us. We believe you will attempt to dismantle everything we have worked so hard to make right."

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy spat a sludge of blood on the ground, he was tired of listening to Radfewx's monologue. "You're the one that needs to be stopped. What you people are doing, controlling lives like we're robots, it's sick."

"My dear, boy. What do you think would happen should you defeat me; when the writings of ever cease, and the scribblings of our control are put to rest. Do you envision yourself lord of all? A king they will follow? Or do you see yourself as some lost cause, willing to destroy everything for your own self preservation. You stop us and you risk stopping your world and possibly the entire multiverse from continuing, or at the very least, having to witness us burning your Earth just like this one."

Radfewx left a moment of silence pass around the room before he continued with an ever growing sneer. "Won't you think of the children?"

"Right now all I give a damn about is stopping you," Jeremy yelled with as much veracity as he could muster.

The Director practically leapt over Noal on his way to smack Jeremy with two of his left arms and stared down at him like a lion ready to eat its prey. "But you don't even have a plan. You're lost and out of your element. I'm telling you now, it would be a much wiser strategy for you to just stop whatever it is you think you can do. For I can tell you first hand that you won't succeed. It's simply not written that way and, as I know and you surely should learn before your time is done, that things written in stone cannot be undone."

Jeremy spit blood and shook his head, clearing it of the nagging doubts that were easily flared from the Director's speech. He couldn't help but feel defeated as he lay strapped to a metal table in the most vulnerable way. Looking around him, he noticed Cis had regained consciousness. Cis' neck was craning as he distrustfully watched Radfewx. Jeremy's eyes scanned the rest of the dark room, but found little in the way of hope. There was simply nothing to see except the gigantic burnt husk of the once prominent planet, and worst of all Jeremy could not think of a single way to get him and his friends out of this mess.

"Where's the princess?" Jeremy asked, trying to extend his time and allow his brain to think of a way out of Radfewx's dungeon.

"I shall bring her here as she too should witness the end of your life. Her people could learn a thing or two from the lesson I am showing you. But to do that I will have to depart and leave you with dear Mai. She is here to administer the first part of your penance for disobeying the laws of the universe. I'll allow her to explain things as I feel it is only fair to kill you once you have been properly informed." Radfewx turned to leave from Jeremy's restricted field of vision, but before his body had fully swung around he had one more statement for Jeremy. "If you try to escape she has my full permission to end your life instantly, and remember she knows your thoughts and I know hers."

Without responding, or indicating in any way that he was worried about the Director's words, Jeremy's eyes followed Radfewx until he was lost in the deep shadow of the empty hive.

Turning his attention back to Mai, who had now gone still as a cardboard cut-out. Jeremy had trouble finding any signs of life and felt equally worried that it was his fault she was being controlled. Guilt rose through Jeremy's bloodstream as he took stock of the rest of the people around him. It was entirely his fault that everyone was now laying on operating tables about to be punished or executed. And for what reason? Because they thought he might do something in the future to damage their idea of how the universe should be controlled. Jeremy burrowed deep into his thoughts, trying to understand all that had happened in such a short amount of time.

All he was aware of was that he had had a lousy life up until Noal had shoved the quill into his hand. And as soon as he had been given the quill, his entire life had turned around. Yes, he had been nearly killed many times but Jeremy felt that all that had helped him understand why he needed to be the one to stop the writers. It was Jeremy that had been targeted since before birth, and he recalled Noal saying that Jeremy had been the only one able to resist their influence. A twisted smile spread over his bruised face as he realized that they were forcing him to do the things they thought he might do. All the bad things that had happened in his life had occurred because they were trying to stop him. If they had just left him alone, Noal would never have taken pity on him and tried to save him. Radfewx and the writers hadn't made the connection yet, but in all their trying to control everything all they had managed to do was control themselves. They might think that they are writing the fate of other people, but between those lines lay their secret. They had lost control of Jeremy, and thus would soon force themselves, through their own writing, to lose control of everything else.

A scream from far beyond the dark recesses brought Jeremy out of his whirling thoughts. As sudden and jarringly as the noise had torn Jeremy from his worry, it ceased and left his ears ringing as he tried to hear more. A hanging echo remained as Jeremy strained, hoping in unjustified silence that the scream had not originated from Saesha. He knew the truth though he continued listening on, hoping that it was not from her.

"Mai?" He whispered cautiously, testing the waters of his imprisonment. It was time for him and his friends to escape.

Her eyes swung around wide and, searching like lanterns desperately reaching to land on something recognizable, quickly lost focus as they were enveloped in dim fog that distorted her usually milky eyes and changed her entire demeanor into something totally unrecognizable from what Jeremy had first met in the desert.

Another gut wrenching scream poured into Jeremy's ears, this time it was weaker and more distressing. It caused him to reflexively pull against his restraints, his heart pounding with anxiety at not being able to help Saesha. "Mai," he called out again, this time with more distinction. "Do you still feel the pain?"

Permanent Ink and Tattoos

She stood frozen, like a computer that had ran out of memory, waiting for a process to complete. Her entire working body and mind appeared to stop moving as she awaited instructions from her controller. Once she was relinquished from Radfewx's invading thoughts, she returned to her somewhat animated self and replied in an emotionless flat voice. "No, I feel nothing. The only thing I know is my master and you. I'm afraid I am losing my ability like a muscle being exercised too much."

"I think I could fix it. I think I know how to make it so you feel everything again," Jeremy offered, trying to appeal to the real her.

"You can do nothing for me. I must start my duties," she answered while pulling a slender knife, about 9 inches long, from the side of her belt. "You have stolen writer technology in your blood. When you first used the quill, it fused with your genetic makeup to enhance your abilities and give you the necessary instructions on how to use and manipulate the quill. In order to extract the technology, it must be bled out. This procedure is very painful, but will not be deadly unless you make it so. Now lie still, here's something to bite down on, and it is vitally important that you do not try to escape. With the loss of blood, you will not have your regular strength. This all will take approximately a week and a half until all of the tech is out of your blood stream."

"A week!" Jeremy exclaimed, before biting down on the chunk of leather Mai had shoved into his mouth, as he felt the knife slide across the skin halfway between his shin and his hamstring muscle. He gulped nervously as a flood of painful nerves finally reached his brain.

Mai worked endlessly as Jeremy passed between consciousness into a numb haze. He soon stopped feeling more than a prickle as her needle-like knife worked its way up his body, spilling blood into tubes that connected to a machine. Jeremy had no way of understanding what the machine was doing, but he could tell when blood was leaving his body and when it was being pushed back in.

This procedure went on for days Jeremy heard voices around him but, when he was awake enough to see, no one seemed to actually be there. He felt like everything around him was turning into phantoms of his imagination. At one point, he began to wonder if he had gone mad.

Unable to distinguish reality from the haze, he was not sure but he felt like he could see Saesha on the one side of the table he had been strapped to for the better part of two weeks. He smiled at the mirage, hoping to reassure and comfort the frightened image before him. The soft and pleasing idea that Saesha might be close to him eased his mind, but it was quickly washed away as Radfewx appeared much closer and completely real.

"Welcome back to life," Radfewx smiled at him.

Jeremy fumbled with a few words before discarding the notion that he needed to respond.

The director clapped his hands and Mai stuck something under his nose. In an instant Jeremy was back to regular clarity, interrupted only by a full body sneeze that caused his head to smack hard against the table. Radfewx motioned again and the straps that had bound Jeremy for so long snapped open.

"You are free to try and move again, but I suggest taking it slow as your muscles are likely to be weak and will need to recover."

"Why are you doing this?" Jeremy asked, while pulling himself into a sitting position. Mixed colors of red and blue swam before his eyes as he nearly passed out from the change of elevation.

"I want you to be awake and of a sound state of mind before I begin the next part."

Jeremy nodded while stretching his limbs. They were in the same room, with the burnt planet serving as a constant reminder that Jeremy could cause a global genocide if he decided to resist. A plane of glass separated him from Saesha. Behind him sat Noal and Cis, They appeared to be bruised from beatings but happy to see Jeremy alive.

The director moved so that he was between Jeremy and Saesha, blocking anything more than a few seconds of silent worry from passing between them. "Now that we have extracted what you have stolen from us, I can show you the full power that comes with one of these little quills."

Radfewx twirled a long silvery quill in his hands, gleaming happily he continued, "I believe the best thing to do would be to show you the future we are trying desperately to prevent from happening."

"So what are you going to do? Write on something and I'll see it like it's real?"

"No, not exactly. I'm going to have my dear assistant here use her remarkable gift to drive you mad with the sights and sounds that all us writers fear most. I'm just going to use this quill to guide her mind to make sure that we show you the full picture."

Mai placed one of her clammy hands over Jeremy's wrist and stared into his eyes. Jeremy looked into her milky eyes, hoping desperately that some form of recognition would cross them, but it never appeared. Instead Jeremy gasped as she invaded his mind and filled it with terror.

Jeremy saw himself standing in the middle of a city, or what had once been a city. He was at the center of where it had happened. The bomb, the big one, had landed right here and as he spun in circles looking over the vast destruction, each building lay toppled over like dominoes as far as the eye could see.

The scene evaporated and he was now on the Fifth world. Saesha lay before him on an altar, her body engulfed in flames. All of the strange creatures were chanting, but it wasn't a cry for vengeance. They were happy to see their princess dead. Their booming chant grew in volume to a level that felt like the entire planet was shaking. Jeremy had to shut his eyes as he felt everything rip apart. Tearing open his eyes, Jeremy saw lightning spit out from the ground and strike the air above them. The sky literally split open and started dissolving. The universe was crumbling before Jeremy's eyes. An earthquake splintered the ground below Jeremy, as the entire chanting crowd was swallowed, disappearing into a bottomless abyss.

It was a long time before Jeremy dared to open his eyes again. He was back in the planetarium. Mai still had a slight grip on his wrist, but it was weaker and more relaxed. With a burst of speed, Jeremy flipped his hand around and pulled Mai into him. All he knew was that he needed to complete the circuit, just like she had done so long ago in the bunker below the desert. He wrapped his legs around her as their lips connected. For a second, nothing happened then, like a dam close to bursting, Jeremy felt a trickle of the pain Mai had known for so long spill into him. Their kiss was breaking the connection Radfewx had with her and re-opening the flood of voices that Mai normally received.

Jeremy felt her being ripped out of his grip by a furious Radfewx. The director sent her spinning out of his way, as he landed a quadruple tap of fists into Jeremy. Once Radfewx had decided Jeremy had felt enough pain, he knelt down beside Mai and whispered into her ear. She responded, but not in way that the director must have enjoyed as he hesitated before answering her.

He turned away from her looking slightly frustrated, "So you've broken my toy. You're a very hard person to deal with. I wasn't going to but I think you should watch as I torture your number one fan over there." Radfewx threatened with a jerk of his thumb towards Saesha.

The giant stood and walked to the plane of glass that separated Saesha from Jeremy. She looked tiny and scared as she backed away from the looming giant. He slid through the glass partition as if it were a sheet of water.

Jeremy was on his feet, but that was quickly ended as he flew forward onto his face as the muscles in his unused legs buckled and spasmed under the sudden duress.

"Jeremy, you should have been a good boy and done what we told you. Because of your actions, your friends will suffer pain like none they have ever felt," Radfewx called.

Jeremy shut his eyes as he saw Radfewx writing in a small hand size journal. Whatever was going to happen would be worse than everything previously done to them. Before it had all been fake and inside his mind. This was not. This was real and he had no idea how to save the princess.

Saesha's scream brought Jeremy out of his worrying. He rolled and spun until he slammed into the partition. His fists landed against the glass as a dark cloud engulfed Saesha. He couldn't see her, but her screams were enough to know that terrible things were happening. He could hear her fighting, but her shouts were getting weaker and more strained as her strength was running out.

Jeremy pounded against the glass with every ounce of strength he had. His hands and knuckles quickly split open from his repeated attempts to break the glass. He looked over at his friends who had not moved at all during this entire ordeal. They both sat in the corner like spectators viewing a sport.

He did not have a moment to reflect on how lifeless they appeared as he returned to slamming against the wall. On shaky knees he fought to stand but quickly stumbled and fell again as they refused to take his weight.

Saesha's face slammed into the pane of glass in front of Jeremy. Tears streamed down her face, not tears of fear but ones of terrible pain. Tears that were brave enough to hold back as they would only get in the way of her struggle. Blood streamed down a nasty gash right above her left eyebrow coating her face. In a small attempt to reach Jeremy, she placed a hand on the glass wall. He was able to mirror her hand before something lashed out and dragged her back into the dark cloud.

"Saesha!" Jeremy yelled in vain as he rammed his shoulder into the glass. He knew he was running out of time, but had no idea of what to do. Panic was pumping through his heart. He needed to do something and now was the time to act.

He heard the noise like a bullet being fired in a library, the noise of a very important bone snapping on the other side. The fighting noises instantly stalled as a second thunk was heard as a body hit the floor.

Rage replaced all of the fear that had prevented Jeremy from breaking the glass. Jeremy found he was now the one who was screaming, but it was incoherent rage. He could feel blood vessels popping in his face as every thought that he had was replaced with one. Kill the director.

He felt invisible hands fighting him, but they were no match as he easily ripped out of their restraintments. Nothing could stop him from avenging Saesha's death. The invisible wall vanished as he fell forward again. This time he crawled like an alligator towards Radfewx who stood above him with that stupid smile he always wore.

Jeremy could hear other voices shouting around him, but he paid them no attention as he madly crawled to Radfewx. With a lunge of speed that caught Radfewx off guard, Jeremy bowled into the six-armed creature and tore into him. Jeremy felt a devilish grin spread over his face as Radfewx's knee splintered and bent backwards in a way a knee should never bend.

Radfewx fell back, his face white with pain. Even the monstrous six-armed giant was no match for Jeremy in full-on rage mode. The director tried deflecting Jeremy's attack ut for some reason Jeremy was faster and quicker. Easily diving between his wide swings, Jeremy landed more hits with two arms than Radfewx could manage to do with six arms when Jeremy had been bound and defenseless.

Jeremy could feel himself shouting Saesha's name over and over again as if repeating it would bring her back. But with each blow to the Director, the more he felt her death sink in. With an uppercut that sent Radfewx flying, Jeremy grabbed his quill and with little forethought he stood over Radfewx and stuck the tip of the quill into the skin of his own chest.

"I don't think you got all of your tech out of me!" Jeremy screamed down at him. "But here just in case you missed some I'll give you more." He finished by ripping the edge of the quill through his skin. He cut at himself until an unmistakable word formed down the side of his chest, Saesha. Shallow blood streamed from the fresh wound, as Jeremy looked down fascinated as the blood dripped from him.

A cautious hand gently landed on his shoulder. He spun around ready to attack but jumped back when he recognized the disfigured face of Tal-sen. "Tal-sen! You're alive!"

"Me am, you be okay soon too," Tal-sen responded.

Jeremy quickly looked around, everything had changed as if by blinking night had been turned into day. He was in the same planetarium and Radfewx was still crumpled at his feet. But all of his friends were worriedly looking at him as if unsure whether he was about to attack them also.

"What's going on? Saesha! You're alive, I can't believe it!" Jeremy exclaimed truly happy, but afraid to believe the sudden and miraculous change.

"You mind lowering that thing," Cis requested, as Jeremy lowered the quill he was holding like a short knife ready to stab into someone else.

"We need to run again," Noal cautioned. "We can celebrate this victory later but we must go now, before Radfewx regains consciousness."

Everyone turned to follow Noal as he began walking up the many sets of stairs to the top of the hive, except for Jeremy. "Wait! "I'm sorry but I need a moment and some explanation. I just saw Saesha being murdered. I need to know if this is real or just another illusion of Mai's. Where is Mai?"

"Over there, bud," Cis pointed. Mai was curled into a tight ball in the corner of the room. Jeremy walked over to her and carefully sat down beside her. He gave her a moment to trust his presence before he spoke.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Jeremy asked respectfully.

She visibly shook as she remembered the details. "He asked me to open you up from the inside out. All the past 2 weeks have been in reality no more than a few hours of concentrated psychic warfare on your brain. He got me to push too far. I resisted as hard as I could but he had such control over me. I'm so sorry. You have to know how hard I tried to fight, but he had the clamps on me and my brain. When you grabbed me and kissed me, restarting that physical connection we made the first time we met, I don't really want to know why, but somehow that action broke through all the darkness. You somehow mentally walked back our link into his brain and caused possibly the biggest short circuit to his brain. Then everything got crazy. I couldn't control you and then your friend Tal-sen showed up and was able to free your friends. You and Radfewx were both kind of lost in your own battle and none of us could tell what was happening. Your brain was like fire I couldn't even begin to try and slide into it without being pushed out of the way like a bull after a matador."

"So what happens now? Is he alive?" Jeremy asked glancing at Radfewx's still body for a moment.

"Oh yes, he is alive. Just simply caught up in a few of his own mental prisons. Once he works his way out of them, he will regain full awareness and be back to chasing you and your friends around the universe."

Jeremy smiled, but only a little. They were safe, if only for a moment. He took a gulp of air that felt like the first drop of water after days in a desert. "You could come with us. We need all hands on deck if we are to stop them from controlling anyone again."

"I'm afraid that if I come with you, he will be able to get back inside me and control me. I'm not even sure how he got me in the beginning. I could be used as a weapon against you." Mai replied, but Jeremy could tell her whole body was beginning to relax and feel more at ease.

"Look, I won't lie or pretend that wouldn't worry me, but I'd rather have you close so that if he does try and control you again, I'll be around to try and stop him. At least I wouldn't have you randomly popping up wherever I go."

"Thank you. I'm not sure which is worse being near me or not knowing where I could be, but thank you. I think I'd go crazy if you left me here." Mai looked up at Jeremy with her normal milky eyes that always conveyed so much more pain than she had words to describe. Jeremy was glad she was on board with following them, not only would she make a great ally but she could help Jeremy deal with everything on a level that the others simply couldn't.

Without another word, Jeremy stood and backed away from her, leaving her to recover further. He rejoined the original group, happy to see them all alive and well. "Okay, she's coming with us. You all can trust her. I need to know what happened since Radfewx took Saesha. I feel like everything is so wishy-washy in my memory."

"We really should be going now," Noal spoke first. "I don't think this hive is safe. There are stories of terrible things happening here. We need to vanish again."

Saesha grabbed onto Jeremy's shoulder, meeting him eye to eye. She hesitated to say something, as unexpected tears appeared in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

"For what?" Jeremy did not understand her reaction.

"For everything, for causing all of this to happen," she pointed at the still bleeding wound that spelled out her name on his chest. "It's all my fault. You should never have met me, You should never have been able to save me, and now you've gone and fallen in love with me."

"I regret none of it," he said with true sincerity. "I kind of thought this wound was part of the illusion. I've done all this to myself, you have nothing to feel sorry about." he said while gingerly touching the wound on his chest. His fingers outlined each letter as they traced the inscription.

Saesha reached up and cupped his face. "I don't feel sorry that you are here. I feel sorry that I have caused you this pain. But I will help you heal."

Jeremy thanked her and turned to face Noal and the rest who were waiting for them. "We should get as many quills as we can find. I can't do this all by myself but I think I know how we can stop everything that is going on here without destroying everything."

"But only you and I would be able to use the quills for anything other than writing words on a page."

"Wait.Why?" Jeremy asked as terrible ideas sprung up in his mind.

"Look! There are many things that just happened that are beyond my knowledge. That tattoo on your body will be something of legend once the other writers hear about it. You've gone beyond what any writer would ever do with a quill and I fear the worst for you has not yet begun, my friend."

"He's not down. We need to left at now," Tal-sen called, while charging passed them and pulling princess Saesha along with him.

Jeremy spun and saw that Radfewx had regained consciousness and would soon be able to stop them from leaving. Without a second glance towards the group, Jeremy drove his fist alongside Radfewx's face before getting up and following the others up the many flights of stairs to the top of the hive.

The Library

A cool breeze drifted off of the water and rolled into the lazy campsite along the beach. Six refugees had appeared in a flash of lightning and had moved little more than was necessary in the ensuing days. They simply laid on the beach, happy to be alive while they enjoyed the warm days and nights.

Jeremy had not a clue where they had landed, only that Noal said it would be safe at least for a little while. At the moment he did not care as he drifted into a mid afternoon nap. His hands absentmindedly traced Saesha's name tattooed on his chest. The scars had already healed remarkably well, but it looked like the remaining scar would always be a permanent reminder of this crazy adventure he was on.

The cool breeze that had comforted them on the picturesque beach suddenly switched directions and felt like a hot oven door that had been left open. The entire group felt the change in weather and sat up, unsure of what to expect.

"I've been thinking," Saesha said first.

"Yeah, so have us all," Cis chimed in.

"Right," she continued. "I think we need a new plan of attack. We can't rely on stumbling around the universe hoping to run into people who will aid us. There just isn't enough time and I think it would be wise to go on the offensive. We have a chance to strike now while Radfewx is still regaining strength."

"Agreed," Noal and Tal-sen answered at the same time and in the same type of voice so that their agreement sounded like an echo.

"Then what should we do?" Jeremy asked looking around at each member, hoping for some insight. None appeared to come forward.

"We need to screw with them," Mai said in a sudden outburst that made the entire group jump in surprise.

Jeremy chuckled as he recovered from the initial shock of Mai being loud and asked. "Why and how?"

"Well...It would be unexpected," she offered simply.

"Damn! Girl's right," Cis agreed with a fist pump. "When we were back in your apartment, everyone was saying to use your imagination and that's exactly what we haven't done. They've already got everything calculated and quantified. We need to do something bat shit insane. Something they never expect."

The group nodded in agreement as everyone leaned in thinking of ideas. Tal-sen was the first to vocally announce an idea, "We go back to their world."

"That's insane. No its too big of a risk," Jeremy shut down the idea.

Saesha agreed with Tal-sen, "I think we could do it. Tal-sen hid for a long time and wasn't Noal camping out in between all those towers between the time he gave you the quill and you came to rescue me, the first time."

"Everything is so orderly and built on laws and oaths of conduct that no police or anything is needed. I had no fear of being discovered, except by accident," Noal added.

"But what then, so we find a dark crevice to hide in and then what do we actually do to stop them," Jeremy raised an argument.

Noal was the one to have an answer for him. "There is a place in our world called the vaults. It is a library of sorts where we put all our writings after the story has been ended. You will also find our prognosticators there. They are the ones who determine the important events that must happen for each person. It is our most secret place and near enough to a temple of worship for my people. If you really want to change things up, we go there and find out the truth as to why they have marked you as an enemy."

Jeremy already knew that he had lost the argument to the group but that didn't make him feel any less apprehensive about walking right into the proverbial lion's mouth and practically offering themselves up as food. "When I was under his mind games, I think he ended up telling me more than he intended. He talked all about the very first world and universe your people created. He said that he thought I was the reincarnation of the person who had started the war that ended with the total destruction of that planet."

"The Lord of Chaos. It is a legend and I believe mostly a fib that we tell ourselves in order to justify the wrong we are doing. But if you go to the vaults you will be able to learn the truth about this matter. We will all be able to learn why we are here. I feel that it is far less than random happenstance at this point."

"That's what Tal-sen called me the first time we met," Jeremy interrupted and then promptly turned silent again.

"My people have dreams at night about a person in the future that will end our endless cycle of regeneration. Many people in our culture suspect it will bring the end, like I said before, a breaker of history. I've always held the strange belief that my people need something like that. We are sick and twisted both on the outside and inside. If the same name in two different worlds mean roughly the same thing, then we have to act like it is for real and work accordingly. It is more than random." Saesha championed.

"We will know more if we go to these vaults," Mai nodded in agreement.

"Tomorrow then, we will set out and get some answer,." Jeremy agreed with a heavy heart. He did not want to put this rag tag group back into danger quite so soon, but he knew that he had no choice. If they were to ever figure out why Radfewx had decided Jeremy was an enemy then they would have to seek whatever answers lay in those vaults.

The next day came much faster than Jeremy had intended it too. Being unable to relax after deciding their course of action, Jeremy felt less than ready to begin their next adventure. As briefly and suddenly as they had arrived on the beach, they disappeared and landed in the labyrinth of reaching towers. Noal then had them all hold onto one of the towers so that it could transport them to one close to the vault. In less than the span of ten minutes, they had transported themselves from a calm relaxing beach to the heart of the enemy.

They stood at the edge of the towers, below them stretched out a city full of lights that Jeremy quickly realized were part of the same structure. The entire city was but one super building that had been expanded numerous time over millennia. Like the ancient cities of earth, with their pyramids, castles and sphinxes, the structure stood as one compound stretching as far as the eye could see. The forest of towers behind them, that had once felt strange and unnerving, had become something of a safety net. Jeremy wanted to resist stepping out from under their deep shadows but followed the group as he could find no argument that would halt their progress.

"How do we get in?" Jeremy whispered with great caution.

"I'm not too sure. They don't allow us regular writers to enter. Only directors and above can enter the vaults," Noal mentioned.

"Awesome," Cis said sarcastically.

"Try the window," Tal-sen suggested by pointing towards the nearest flash of light. They all silently followed Tal-sen to the window he had suggested. But as they drew closer, the height of the window grew and grew so far that they would have needed to stand on top of three Noals in order to peer inside.

With the window out of the question, they followed the side of the building hoping to find some way into the vault. They walked for miles until they reached the front gate of the vault. So far it looked to be the only way inside the gigantic structure.

A row of green hedges ran alongside a wide road that ended at the gate blocking their entrance. They slid between shadows, jumping from hedge to hedge, as they marched towards the great white gate. Noal stopped the group one hedge short from the entrance. He looked very worried as he addressed the group.

"I believe we have to request that the doors be opened. Obviously we do not have permission and they are not expecting any arrivals. We would know if they were as the flags would be raised for welcome. Now at present there are two ways in. We climb that bloody fence or we ask very politely and hope to whichever deity we taught you to believe in that they do not take our heads just as a precaution. Remember, though they have lax security this is our most important place so they do not take threats lightly."

Jeremy looked at everyone, attempting to gauge their slim choices. They all stared back at him, waiting for his decision. Cursing silently, he stepped forward. "They shouldn't have any reason to suspect us. We can just tell them we are travelers here on a pilgrimage."

Noal pulled at his face, trying to think about the situation and evaluate if this was the best course of action. "Yes, I think we should be forward and not attempt to sneak in. But I think instead of posing as pilgrims from afar we should tell them the truth. We are here to seek knowledge, something they value much more than sentiment."

"Let's do it. You lead the way," Jeremy clapped Noal on the back.

"Woohoo! Let's go die," Cis whispered in fake excitement as he brought up the rear of the group as they stepped onto the wide road.

Noal raised his head and shouted up to the gate as if it was actively listening, "Hello, we 6 are travelers from afar. We seek to study the knowledge within the vault. Will you grant us passage into your embrace of study and allow us to gaze upon the treasure of our people."

The rest of the group stood perfectly still as Noal finished his request. Barely a breath was released as they waited for some indication one way or another.

"I think we're good," Noal broke the silence just as a small doorway appeared in the center of the large gate. It seemed even more anti climactic as a small four foot creature shuffled out of the new opening. The creature looked mostly the same as Noal, just two scale models smaller.

"I will lead you in," Croaked the creature. "You may call me Moretz. I have been assigned to assist you in your search of knowledge. Would you prefer rest or that I lead you straight to the repository of your choice."

Everyone turned to look at Noal, as they had no idea how to respond to the courtly little fellow. "Please, Moretz, my students and I would enjoy it if you showed us to the Universe 84, subversion 10, Branch C, Earth. That is where we will begin our study."

"At once," Moretz bowed and ushered them into the gate. "I can tell it has been many times since you last visited. We merged all branches of the Earth vault nearly two decades ago. It was becoming unstable and unmanageable. But now we have it on a regular cycle and full steam ahead."

The small creature laughed as if everyone in the group should understand his strange joke. "Well, then, follow me. Since we are going all the way over there, your accommodations are on the way."

Jeremy was just worrying that they would have to walk for miles and miles in the great building, but was thankful as an unmanned floating cart raced towards them. They all cautiously boarded the platform, careful to mind the always smiling Moretz who seemed to be permanently cheerful. Once all were aboard, the creature clapped its hands and the platform shot away into the twisting passages of the building. Jeremy tried to keep track of voyage, but quickly lost track as they snaked their way in and out of places so fast that they all appeared as blurs.

A jolt almost spilled them out of the nimble cart as they stopped abruptly at a crossways of sorts. "Through that doorway is the repository of earthly histories. To my left, the green entrance, is your place of stay while you study. If you need anything, I shall be but a holler away."

"Holla!" Cis cheered inappropriately while ducking behind Jeremy and causing Moretz to twist dramatically in circles searching for someone to assist.

Saesha rolled her eyes and thanked the confused creature, "We'll take it from here, Moretz."

"Oh, well, you are most welcome. The vault is open to all who wish to study. May I query you on the subject of your sabbatical. I may be able to put you in contact with those more knowledgeable on a certain subject."

"Well we..."

"That will be all," Noal cut in, neither rudely nor in a gentle manner, just abruptly.

"As you are," Moretz bowed with an air of indignation, his gracious smile quickly disappeared before zooming off around a tight corner on his cart.

"We shouldn't say more than necessary. He might not have been a bother, but there are many deep shadows and places for voices to carry to ears that may not wish us success on our mission," Noal whispered under his breath to those closest to him.

One by one they followed Noal into the first door Moretz had pointed them to. Practically on their tip toes, they wandered up past floor after floor of shelves with dusty books on them. At first, Jeremy had been amazed and dumbfounded at the sheer number of stories that stacked from floor to ceiling. He soon became distraught as the sheer number of lives being controlled and influenced by the writers became overwhelming and beyond a count that Jeremy could understand.

"There's so many here, each one a different person's life. I mean I realized what they were doing was on a scale beyond anything I could ever believe, but once you see the sheer size of just one book and then multiply that by 7 billion people and multiple that by the innumerable worlds and universes you have made, it is simply unbelievable." Jeremy said as he carefully picked up a book that instantly disintegrated into dust at his touch.

"Yes and you're damaging the structure of the place," Noal scolded. He had become very solemn and distant since entering the repository, refusing to so much as open his mouth when confronted by a creature that could have passed as Moretz twin. The rest of the group had been left to deal with making up plausible reasons why they would be interested in the Earth's repository.

Jeremy, a tad red-faced, quickly returned the remaining bits of the book to its former resting place before following everyone up the next flight of stairs to another level filled with even more books than he had ever knew could exist.

The books on this level were much newer, their bindings were all intact and the pages in the books were still white, instead of the aged-yellow color that many of the books below had ripened into. The room was structured in rings that at first stretched what seemed like miles in diameter and slowly got smaller as they walked towards the center of the room.

"This room is weird," Cis muttered to Jeremy.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like something very strange is about to pop out at us."

"Nah, that's not quite what I'm feeling. It's almost like this room is movin' or something."

"Yes. That's correct," Noal said, listening in on their conversation. "To compensate for the ever expanding knowledge that is your race we had to encase it with a room that could grow equally as fast. The room is always growing outward as new rows in the center are born and filled with the life works of many a man."

"So it's a timeline?" Saesha asked.

"Yes, well sort of," Noal stuttered for a while failing to find the correct way to phrase words that did not have a direct meaning in the spoken English they were using. "Let's say that yes, but not in a way that would make sense to anyone who isn't a writer."

Saesha shook her long hair in frustration as she picked up a book and flipped it open. "Uke Maye, First moon of harvest 3260 B.C."

"Holy crap, that's a long time ago," shouted Cis.

"Yeah, we must be a long way from modern day," agreed Jeremy.

Noal requested the book from Saesha and turned to another page. "Come here Jeremy. Let me show you how the art and the science of the quill, the writer, and the page all work together."

Setting the book on the ground, Noal sat cross legged in front of the book and motioned for Jeremy to take a seat opposite him. The rest of the group crowded around them, intent to learn. Out of the folds of his robes, Noal pulled out his own silvery quill.

"In order to not do any damage to this pristine story, we shall flip to the end. There is normally always pages left unwritten," Noal spoke in a professorial manner while carefully turning the 5,000 year-old pages to the end of the book. "Jeremy, I want you to place the tip of your quill on the end of the last sentence."

The book was rotated so that it faced Jeremy. For some reason, he felt an enormous deal of importance weighting on this moment. His eyes couldn't help but read the last sentence as he placed the quill on the spot Noal had instructed. A flash in the dark and Uke fell to the ground, a blade of ivory bone, striking her in the back.

Jeremy wanted to scream, because at the moment his quill touched the end of the last squiggle on the page, he was there. Feeling every thought and pain right alongside the young woman who had just been struck in the back by a knife. He coughed as the sensation of blood flooding his mouth overcame him. As the pain and darkness grew closer, a voice found him in the mix of the turmoil. It was Noal, telling him to move his wrist.

"You have entered this person's story. You must continue it at all costs, for if you don't you too shall pass away from this tragedy. A writer lives and dies by their words, each one must mean something."

Jeremy struggled with all his might. His head was flooded with pain, too much to form sentences and paragraphs. Gasping at the wretched hole, seething with pain, he was struck with but one thought.  I can change the ending.

Like a dam bursting after holding back the winter melt, the words flowed through Jeremy and out of his quill. Uke, struggled. The pain was severe, but it would not overcome her. A healer happened to be walking by in the streets and noticed her agony. His hands worked quick, healing Uke, mending the torn skin.

Jeremy let out a deep breath as he felt the pain subside and Noal came into focus. They were both writing on the page at the same time. The wizardly giant asked, "What have you learned from this?"

"Is that how it always feels when you write?" Jeremy asked.

Noal nodded solemnly, "It's true; every cut, bruise and scrape we feel along with the person we are writing for."

"Then how come you can live with yourself while inflicting so much pain on me?" Jeremy erupted. The memories of all the times Jeremy was left alone, or hurt in so many unimaginable ways and it was all Noal's handwriting that had put it into action.

"That's why I had to break the cycle. I couldn't go through with it anymore. You have to believe me Jeremy. They came and asked me to..to make you suffer. Why, I never knew, but I just couldn't write the words they whispered into my ear. Your pain had already been shed so many times and now they wanted to just go forward and blatantly torture you. There was no art or reason in the universe that I could imagine why they wanted to hurt you so badly. It was just blind hatred as far as I could see."

Jeremy could see that the giant creature was sincere in his remorse for his actions. But that did not take away all the years of struggling that Jeremy was forced to endure due to Noal's influence on his life. "You really went through all of that pain with me."

Noal cracked a ragged smile, "And I deserved six times as more."

Deciding to feel compassion, instead of hate, Jeremy smiled back at his strange new friend. "How do we get out of here?"

"Simple, be sure to follow anything you have added with, the end. Without doing that the story will continue without a narrative resolution. If even one story were to be left unfinished, it could unravel the entire history of your universe. Now let's set this one back to the original ending. I worry that our meddling could affect other future events that we are not privy to." Noal said as he crossed out Jeremy's newly written lines and ended the story with Uke's violent death.

All eyes in the circle around Jeremy stared at him waiting for him to speak. Hesitantly, and without much more than a solid grasp of the concept, Jeremy announced, "I...have a plan."

"What is it?" they all asked in unison. Jeremy noticed the frowned look on Noal's face, but dismissed it quickly.

"We need answers. Or at least I need answers. We need to find my book. That will explain why they've specifically targeted me all my life, even before I could possibly have been a threat to them. The answers have to be there."

"You can't," Noal blurted, but Jeremy was already up and jogging further into the orbiting rings of bookshelves. Cursing Noal followed behind the party, fearful of what Jeremy might try to do with the information he gave him.

Jeremy continued running in the same direction for at least a mile before slowing down to catch his breath. Huffing and puffing from his exertion, he gazed down the hallway. It seemed to never end like a mirror reflecting another mirror.

"Where are we?" Saesha coughed.

"It's not where, but when, are we," Mai rightfully corrected and pulled a random book from the shelf. "1752."

"Come on," Jeremy urged as he continued forward but at a much more regular pace.

Another hour of forward progress passed before they reached the modern era in Earth's timeline.

"How do we find me?" Jeremy asked the entire group. "It's not alphabetical, and I don't really have a legitimate last name either."

"It's by birthdate," Cis realized. "Do you know what day you were born?"

"I know it was February, 1990. But the exact day is fuzzy."

"I wonder how many Jeremy's were born in February of that year?" Saesha stated the question everyone else was thinking.

It was at that moment Noal finally caught up to them. "I tried telling you. You can't."

"Why not? This is my chance to get some real answers," Jeremy defended his plan.

"If you open that book, that I so carefully ended so that you could be free from us. If you open that book, I think, and I'd really like not too, many things would be answered but the temptation to change and edit would be too great. I have no idea what would happen if you started writing your own timeline. It could be great, or it could lead to disaster for everything. Always remember the words, As it is written, so shall it come to pass," he concluded.

"Then I'll write on his behalf," Saesha reacted proudly.

"I still don't think it will be possible," Noal continued. "Radfewx will most likely already have your story in his hands. There is no way he would leave something that important to public knowledge. I tried hiding it, before I ran, but I am sure he has discovered its location by now. At best we could find your parents."

"Yes," Jeremy responded in a way that stopped Noal from making any more excuses. "Show me where my parents stories are held."

Noal looked deep into Jeremy's eyes, trying to gauge his intent, but knew that his moment to make Jeremy listen had passed. It was now up to Jeremy to decide his own path. Noal turned and led them along the outer edge of one of the many rings.

The group walked in silence. They were all nervous and had different reasons to be apprehensive of what might be found in Jeremy's heritage.

As if he had done this everyday, Noal reached out without so much as a sidelong glance and grabbed a novel as thick as his two forearms and continued on. Another 50 yards and his other set of arms reached up to a high shelf and brought down another volume, nearly the same size. Both volumes looked to be easily twice as thick as most other books in the library. Noal turned to Jeremy and formally presented them to him. "My boy, these are the collective works and full account of your parents lives. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Brad Tierney."

Jeremy felt the weight in his hands, but his arms were shaking so badly that he nearly dropped them on the ground.

"Why don't you settle down for a minute before you open those up." Cis suggested kindly.

Kneeling down, Jeremy set the books on the ground and took a deep breath. Before him lay the two people he spent years and years dreaming about, thinking that he would never know and yet here he was, with every letter and word that mattered was in those books. Jeremy wanted to cry as he pinched the front cover of his mother's biography and turned to the first page.

Ellen Carpenter Brown, was born June 17, 1971, a warm and breezy day.

Jeremy jumped over to his father's book and opened it.

Brad David Tierney, was born December 18, 1970, a cold and snowy night.

"So these were my parents." Jeremy sat back for a moment. "It's weird I always thought that the moment I heard their names that I would just know that it was them. But instead these are just two people that I've never met or heard of before."

"Take as long as you need. We're all here to help you." Saesha rubbed his shoulder, while he turned to the middle of his mother's book.

My History

Ellen sat down beside the gentle stream that divided the town where she lived. With absent-minded calm, she stroked her golden hair as she watched a group of ducks turnabout in the still water.

Night was falling fast as the sun set early on the blustery October evening. Ellen sat watching nothing in particular, her mind vacant and at ease. She felt a hollow sadness that could not be explained in words. The closest feelings she could use to describe it was failure. Much of the last three years of her life had been spent in between the pages of her textbooks while she studied for a degree in Mathematics. She had been well on her way to obtaining a perfect 4.0, until about three weeks ago when she received a call that her parents had passed away in an automobile accident. The news had crushed her and taken all of her drive away from her, but even still even more bad news was forthcoming.

A week later after the terrible news of her parents death, she discovered that they had been in massive debt despite telling her that they could easily send her to college with zero hassle. Snowballing from there, she was quickly dismissed from her university and an hour earlier her landlord had just handed her a week's notice to vacate her apartment.

Now she was homeless, without a direction or plan, preparing to spend a night on her favorite park bench. While she was studying she would often take breaks and walk down to this bench to allow her mind to unwind. Without fail, every time she was stuck on a particularly hard problem, by the time she was ready to return home she had worked out the answer in her head. This bench had been her place to get away if only for a moment and now it was the only thing left that attached her to the life she once held.

A group of passing students broke her from her depressed thoughts and brought her back to reality. She had to make a plan or she was never going to make it. A gust of wind ripped at her loose hair as if it were trying to pull her in the direction towards the freeway and on past to some distant location where she supposed all wind finally rests.

Arrested in her thoughts, Jeremy stood invisible to the entire scene. He stared into her bright blue eyes and recognized how they mirrored his own. This was the woman he had never met, but had dreamt so often of meeting. He felt a tear in his eye, but he did not bother to wipe it away as he was content to share the still moment with his mother.

Night had fully taken over and nothing but a dim street light illuminated the young woman. Her eyes grew heavy as she hugged herself trying to generate as much heat as possible. She hoped that no matter how hard things were to get that she would never be forced to beg for food and a place to stay. Despite her misgivings and all about depression, she couldn't help but fight back against her dark mood as she held onto the belief that all this had just been a temporary setback. Once she got her feet back on the ground she knew she would be off running again.

Out of the silent dark, a cold hand crunched down on her shoulder. She made to yelp, but was quickly silenced as another arm came around and held onto her mouth, muffling any protests she might have.

"I've been watching you for hours. You've got no one coming to meet you or nothing. You're all mine," A nasally-yet-gruff voice croaked in her ear.

Ellen tried to plead and fight, but the man held her back. His hand that had once crushed down on her shoulder had now encircled her neck and threatened to squeeze and cut off what little breath it allowed to pass. While his own hand held her at his mercy, his other began traveling over her body.

This made Ellen fight much harder, no longer caring that he might crush her windpipe. With a surprising burst of speed, she ripped out of his grip and fell forward letting out a roar of defiance into the night. There were many bad things happening to her all in a short span of time, but this was one thing she would rather die than allow to happen.

She was able to get halfway on her feet, before a large mass collided with her, knocking her back down on the ground. Her head smacked against concrete, as red and blue lights flashed in her vision obscuring the scene of violence. Ellen was able to get out one more scream right as one of the attacker's calloused hands clamped down around her mouth, shutting in every sound she could make.

"Quiet!" the attacker urged as he climbed over her and held out a skinny pistol. "Not another word," he said with the implication that he had used the same pistol many times before and would have no qualms with using it now.

Meanwhile, Jeremy screamed himself hoarse trying to stop the scene in progress. He punched and kicked, yelled and cursed, and yet nothing would break through. Even worse was that he knew it was something that had already happened, unchangeable history. That did not stop him from trying though. The moment the nameless raper pulled out his gun, Jeremy fell silent. Too scared to utter a single extra noise should it alert the crazed man and cause him to fire the steel slinger. He hovered above the scene watching and praying the ending would not turn out the way he saw it happening.

Ellen held her breath while she tried to control her rising panic. Every muscle in her body told her to run and fight but she was more terrified of the gun. It looked so instant and final. She wondered which fear would overcome the other.

"If you don't yell, maybe you'll get lucky and I won't kill you afterwards," the cruel faced man commanded.

A strange silence fell over them as he tore her shirt open, but it was at that moment that Ellen's brain decided to break. Under all of the stress of the last few weeks, from one unlucky event to another, she thought that she must have been cursed by some voodoo to cause her this much misfortune. The moment was too much for her and she began to laugh.

It was not a small quiet giggle, nor was it a polite exhale of air from her nose. No, this was a full body tears-in-eyes, can't breathe, can't stop, laughter. She laughed harder the more the word lucky trailed across her thoughts.

"Hey! What the hell," called a third voice from far away . At once the great pressure on her chest was lifted as the foul person scattered away and she heard a rush of boots running toward her.

She continued to laugh, her face red and streaming from the extreme double takes. Ellen tried to control her eruptions as she struggled to get on her feet. Stumbling like a freshly born doe on new legs, Ellen was only able to pause for a moment and take a deep breath before another series of hysterics overran her.

With her attacker having ran off, the man who had intervened stood confused and slightly embarrassed as he waited for the woman to regain control of herself. After another full five minutes of outrageous laughter, Ellen was finally able to regain enough control over herself to the point that she could stand still and bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from another outburst. With a final hiccup, her laughter came to an end and she was able to lift her head and take in the man standing before her.

"Hello," the man spoke with a confident, calm manner. "My name is Brad Tierney. You're safe now."

The scene in front of Jeremy's eyes froze. Each character buffered as if they were trying to move forward but the writer's quill was working overtime to erase the  previous few pages from existence. Giant slashes ran through the air all around Jeremy, indiscriminate faces were dragged and dropped as everything was reset to the moment Ellen sat down on the bench to watch the setting sun.

The writing began anew.

Night had fully taken over and nothing but a dim street light illuminated the young woman. Her eyes grew heavy as she hugged herself trying to generate as much heat as possible. She hoped that no matter how hard things were to get, that she would never be forced to beg for food and a place to stay. Despite her misgivings and all about depression, she couldn't help but fight back against her dark mood as she held onto the belief that all of this had just been a temporary setback. Once she got her feet back on the ground she knew she would be off running again.

Just as the sun had fully set behind the slight rise beyond the horizon, the last remaining thoughts of happiness and hope dissipated from Ellen. She was drained and she knew it. Maybe in a different time or a different life she would have had the strength to overcome this unfortunate round of setbacks, but this time it was different. The light and smile she so easily wore had been taken from her and no matter how many lies she whispered to her heart. She knew, this was the end.

Her eyes glanced around the immediate area, making sure that no one was around. It would be so easy to just close her eyes and fall below the water. A memory from her childhood ran through her mind. She remembered a summer canoeing trip with her family. The water had become very fast due to heavy late spring storms. Her body shook remembering how their canoe had slammed sideways into an enormous rock splitting the stream. The boat had bounced so hard against the rock that it ejected everyone from the craft. Ellen remembered going under and how cold the water had been, but that was the last of her memory. Only a dim haze of the strong arm that had pulled her above and rescued her.

This time it would be different, she thought. The water looked calm and welcoming, nothing like the raging torrents from her childhood trip. An involuntary shiver went through her body, as she stood on uneasy legs. A brief moment of hesitation and reasoning crept into her brain, but it was quickly washed away as she stepped towards the water. The call of the void was upon her and she was fully entranced by its beckoning.

Dipping a toe in the water, her body ignored the icy temperature as she placed both feet in. This was it, she thought, as frozen tears stung at her eyes. She hadn't ever before considered an afterlife, but for a moment she hoped that if there was one, that she would be granted the chance to see her parents again. If only for a moment, to thank them for the many sacrifices they had made for her to have such a chance of success. The last feeling of sentimentality left her as the water rose to her chest. Only a few more steps and it would be entirely over her head and then all she had to do was wait. And if there was one thing she had learned from her long hours of studying and preparing for tests, waiting for the result was at once the hardest and the easiest part.

Although there was no reason to, she took a deep breath before plunging her head into the freezing water. The icy shock made her heart and chest burn as she fought to keep her mouth from opening. It felt like her brain was burning as it cranked at every muscle trying to force herself to go above. The struggle became real as a cloud crept over her thoughts, slowing her movements and actions. As the cloud in her mind was beginning to form into something much more permanent, a simple thought struck out from her. "This is not what I want."

The realization that she did not want to die swept through her stronger than any emotion she had felt the entire evening. Her fist broke through the water, just as a warm hand grabbed on and pulled her out of the water. Sputtering and coughing as her body ejected as much water from her lungs as it could, the person swam her back towards the shore and quickly rolled her on her side allowing her to empty her filled lungs.

Everything on the inside of her chest burned like fire as she heaved, the gentle padding on her back reassured her that this was all real and that she in fact had not died. After one last ferocious belch, she sat up, panting, and locked eyes with the person who had pulled her above the water.

She started to apologize as real tears and emotion flooded her. So much had happened and she wanted to explain everything to the beautiful man sitting beside her because she didn't want him to think she was weak. But instead all that came out was a mix of "sorry's" and scattered retellings of her recent history.

The man gently laid his hand on her back and held her close, "Shh. It's all right. I saw you trip into the water. Luckily for you I happened to be running late to my midterm. Don't worry now, I'll teach you how to swim so that next time you fall into the water you can get yourself out." He smiled the warmest smile Ellen had ever gazed upon.

"What's your name?" She asked, breathless and relieved that he was giving her an out so that she did not have to explain everything at that exact moment.

He smiled with a slight air of cockiness, "My name is Brad Tierney. You can rest easy, you are safe now."

The buffering began again as the scene froze and rewound as the pieces of the story were put back into place. Jeremy wondered what the writer was trying to do. It seemed that every time his father showed up to save Ellen, the writer would get angry and have to start over. This must have truly been the moment that his mother was supposed to die, and yet for some reason the writer could not kill her. His eyes skimmed the next rewrite. This time a gaggle of gang members surrounded his mother as she sat watching the sunset. And through a surprising twist and feat of strength, Ellen was again saved by Brad Tierney.

Jeremy could tell the writer was getting frustrated as the handwriting was becoming more and more jagged with every retelling of the incident. The writing was also becoming less proficient with an abundance of spelling and grammer errors. The writer was losing steam and ideas.

Pulling himself out of the story, Jeremy returned to the present as the group around him came into focus. They all eagerly awaited his words, hoping for some clue that would help them all succeed in the coming battle against Radfewx. "They were trying to kill my mother, but as far as I've read they weren't able to. My dad kept interfering with their plans."

Saesha was the first to respond, "Then you need to find out how your dad was able to fight them. He is the key to all of this."

"She is correct," Noal seconded. "But I insist you hurry. I believe we are running short on time and they will soon have realized our location. If they have not already."

Jeremy nodded to everyone in the group and picked up the book with his father's name inscribed on the cover. Brad Tierney. Something about the name rang false to Jeremy but he had no idea why.

Brad David Tierney, was born December 18, 1970, a cold and snowy night. The story began and ended.

"What the hell," Jeremy muttered under his breath as he flipped the page over. There was nothing written, just simple white space waiting for the decisive mark of a writer, but none would be coming as Jeremy knew this story was long finished. Gripping half the pages, he flipped the book open at the middle and still nothing was written upon the pages. His father had been born, and that was all the writers had ever known. For completest sake and while expecting more of the same, Jeremy turned to the very last page. One single paragraph was all that summed up the entirety of Brad Tierney's life.

On a blustery day at the end of October 1987, two people met and fell in love. Together they had a son. Name unknown. Birth date Unknown. It was Fate.

It was a long time before Jeremy realized he was crying and his tears were making the ink on the page blot and run. Wiping his eyes, he picked his head up and faced the group. Not a single one of them spoke, uncertain of what Jeremy had read and doubly uncertain of his emotion.

"Fate," was the only word he was able to speak. His throat felt rough and much tighter than Jeremy thought possible to get words out.

"I feared this might be the culmination," Noal confessed. "It is the only thing powerful enough to produce people outside of our control."

All eyes turned to Noal, awaiting further explanation. As per usual, the professorial part of Noal took over as he cleared his throat and began. "Fate is something we have only recently begun to define and understand. At first we thought it must be another civilization, unknown to us, controlling other parts of the universe. But we could find no traces of such an existence. Many began to speculate that it was a machine built by the founders as a way to regulate nature. I never believed that as there again was no evidence. The only explanation is that it was something beyond even what our top scientists could understand. It is the essence, the building blocks, the wind, the air, life as some would have claim. Everything material is a part of it and everything not is equally a part of Fate. But who controls it? What can we do with it? These proved to be the hardest questions to answer as we could never touch or quantify Fate in any meaningful manner. Years of study went on and then suddenly Grand Master Kildaire declared that Fate was our greatest enemy. It was able to resist our control and must be eradicated from all of our universes. The problem began. If we cannot touch it and we can not know what it truly is, how then were we supposed to identify it and kill it. The Grand Master at the time told us we could do the one thing we knew best. We could write and lay traps for Fate in our pantheon of books and stories. The witch hunt for Fate is so grave that even to speak its name in the open is grounds for treason against our civilization. The Grandmaster's great, great, great times a few thousand or so grandson is Radfewx. He was a student of the writer's guild most devoted to finding Fate and destroying it."

"So what now?" Cis asked. "What do we gotta do to chat with Fate."

"I haven't a clue," Noal confided. "All I know is that boy is the closest link to Fate we will ever know and see." He held a single finger marking Jeremy as the one.

  *

Fight the Universe

Tal-sen held out a mangled hand for Jeremy to grab onto and lift himself off of the ground with. He whispered an almost wordless thanks to the loyal monster. Gazing around at the rest of his group; he saw that Mai, Cis, Saesha and Noal all had the same deep look of contemplation upon their faces. He was sure his had it too, that far off stare into nothing trying to decide the next course of action. His love for them all and their support threatened to overcome his emotions. If it weren't for each one of them, he was sure they would all be dead at this point. He had no reason to care about any other universe, but if there was one thing he could accomplish it would be to keep this group of people alive for as long as possible. If he could achieve just that he would be happy, but he knew that without also freeing the many-verses his victory would be shallow and short lived.

"We need to find Fate, or use it, or have it use us...whatever the hell you do with it. This is the key weapon to Radfewx's control," Jeremy spoke.

"Are you sure, man?" Cis questioned.

"Yeah, why not. It saved my dad and my mom. I think it will save us also."

Saesha shook her long hair. "I think Cis is right. We can't rely on something this mysterious and it sounds like it is just another type of control. Sure it has a different name and it may be "good", but I choose to live with no master."

Jeremy couldn't believe it, had they fallen asleep during the last hour or two. Fate had been fighting the writer's for millenniums. If there was a single thing that could actually threaten this empire, it was Fate. "We have no other choice."

"Then you don't get what is all at stake here," Mai led. "This isn't just about you and your life. This is every universe, every family, everything that breathes needs to have the chance to have a say."

"Then I'll wait here while you go tally the votes," Jeremy reacted rather jackassedly.

The room felt hot all of a sudden. "I think we should go back, get a moment of rest, and then figure this all out," Jeremy said as he picked up the books and stormed towards the exit.

He felt his neck grow hotter as he imagined them making unspoken conversations about his outbursts and how he would never be able to lead them to any sort of victory. Though he was full of anger and spite, it did not distract him from thinking about Fate and the story Noal had told. Even if Fate was not the ultimate answer to their problems, it was still a giant piece of the missing puzzle that was his life and he would stop at nothing to find out and discover Fate.

The group made their way down the many levels and out into the twisting maze of the city-sized structure. Without waiting for the group to catch up, Jeremy crossed the street to their lodgings.

The shadow of a burst of sudden light illuminated Jeremy's outline against the building. Jeremy turned in time as a ball of white light exploded into Noal's chest, incinerating the six-armed giant on the spot.

Radfewx stepped between Jeremy and the rest of the group. The space where Noal had once occupied was now taken by the pure manifestation of all that Jeremy could call evil.

Jeremy felt numb, his body wanted to fight but his mind told him it was no use. The one person who had seemed to have some answers for Jeremy was now little more than dust particles. Surprised that in this moment he did not feel sadder, Jeremy met Radfewx's glare and waited for his own flash of oncoming oblivion.

"I was tired of chasing you. Now put those books down so that they do not get your dust on them while I execute you. You know your crimes against the laws of the Writers and of the universes and the punishment must be just and equal."

Jeremy watched, detached from the current situation as Noal's quill floated towards the ground. It rocked back and forth on the air currents that moved between them as if there was no trouble at all in the world. Happily and peacefully it landed.

"Take me and destroy me," Jeremy pleaded. "But allow my companions to go free. They will not be able to interfere with you from their respective universes. That is all I ask."

Radfewx looked thoughtful for a moment, before taking a happy gulp of air. "Oh so cliche. The sacrifice yourself so they don't come to harm bit. You know my far back great-great-grandfather invented that."

"You mean Grandmaster Kildaire?"

"Where did you hear that name!" Radfewx shouted suddenly furious. "No outsider should know such a name...unless..." A smile more cruel than Jeremy would have believed could exist crept over the enemy's face.

The six-armed giant surveyed Jeremy's friends. "Which one is it?"

Jeremy breathed not a word in response, neither did his friends. They all stood shocked, rooted in their sudden grief.

"You can tell me, my boy Jeremy. Which one is it? Which one do you love the most? Which one will bring Fate here and now."

In two steps, the giant crossed the distance and picked Jeremy up by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him back towards the group. Radfewx shoved Jeremy's face right close to Cis's.

"Do you love loyal friendship the most?" Radfewx asked before pulling him down to the next person in line, Mai. "Or do you love the mysterious connection you share with her pain." Again, Jeremy was ripped away, towards Tal-sen. "Do you value undying trustworthiness above all else....no, of course not." With a final tug Jeremy was wrenched in front of Saesha. "No, You love the free and wild, the one who pretends to be without a master."

Jeremy looked into Saesha's burning orange and blue eyes. It was true. They had shared a few moments along the journey, but at the time it had never felt more than a distant dream that love could be involved at all. Jeremy wasn't sure what Radfewx was trying to prove, all that he knew was that in this giant universe a creature as beautiful and as smart as Saesha would have a hard time falling in love with a fairly typical human being. He saw something that might have been the answer to the question reflected in her eyes, but was flung to the ground before he could understand.

"This will be my coup d'etat. In one fell swoop I will destroy you and Fate. I can feel its presence gathering around us. This is the moment we prevail," Radfewx praised himself as he pulled out his own grey quill and pulled down the sleeve of his middle left arm. Staring down at Jeremy, Radfewx cut into his arm with the quill forming letters and symbols in his own flesh. Blood trickled out of the freshly made incisions. Unable to understand what it all meant, the only word that Jeremy could make out was his own name being formed upon Radfewx's skin.

As the giant was finishing his barbaric inscriptions, a great horn sounded ringing through the large city, causing everyone to jump. Another horn far off answered the first, as a dark cloud filled the sky above them. The cloud became deeper and darker as it drew closer, blocking out the sun. It was soon apparent that the cloud was, in fact, a massive space ship.

The spacecraft settled directly over them as an opening on the bottom of the black metal began forming.

While all of this was happening above them, Jeremy couldn't be sure but he felt like he heard the clopping of horse hooves on stone.

The door on the bottom of the spacecraft opened to its fullest and a beam of icy blue spilled out and touched the ground beside them. In the midst of the eerie light formed the Dog-crab creature that had first found Jeremy on the Fifth world and beside the Dog-crab an alien of unknown name and origin formed. The new alien looked to be at most five feet tall with an extra appendage for everything on the right side of its body. One extra finger on the right hand, an extra ear right below the right ear and an extra leg on the right side that seemed to be slightly too short to touch the ground. Aliens are weird, thought Jeremy.

The sound of hooves came closer to Jeremy, as the shape of a proud horse broke through the shaft of light on the other side. Jeremy recognized the man atop the horse as King Prikard of the Kingdom beneath the Moon. Beside him rode the wizard Lucky, atop his own war horse.

The king pulled his horse to a stop in front of the giant Radfewx. They were at eye level. "By way of red feather, it was foretold that there would be a war soon. My aid and those of the many legions I command I hereby grant to Jeremy son of the Earth. I will follow you into this war." The king growled as he pulled a bright red feather that matched the same reddish-orange shade of Jeremy's quill.

Crab-dog waddled forward and barked a similar phrase, "Fluff of red and not quite down sun in sky came me this answer to. To, your not good. Let us punch him. Freedom."

"I am commander Morksle," said the right-sided alien. "I hail from a planet called Morksle. We also received a red feather. This fight is our fight as well. We will aid you in this battle."

"I am the wizard, Lucky. I bring the aid of my magici brethren to aid in the defeat of our greatest enemy," Lucky added, swaying excitedly in his bitter green robes.

"Enough!" Radfewx erupted the proceedings. "I'll take all of you on and I will prevail. For what little army you were able to scramble together here Jeremy, I will bring the universe down upon you and every person you ever loved. I swear it this instant, the war is the end." Radfewx thrust one of his fists into the air, as the same sort of white blast erupted from the end of his knife. The beam of light hit the ship and exploded, sending streaks of lightning crawling over the surface of the spaceship. All the lights onboard the enormous vessel flickered and shutoff. There was a distinct lack of noise as the engines shut down and the ship started to tilt toward the far horizon as it fell out of the sky.

Jeremy took the moment of awe and confusion to strike, attempting to sweep the legs out from under Radfewx, but the giant had quicker reflexes than Jeremy had anticipated as he easily skipped over Jeremy's attack. Jeremy would have been next to be obliterated if it had not been for the great sword of King Prikard. The king's attack was thwarted by the many swords that appeared in the other free hands of Radfewx. All the while, Radfewx's free writing hand flew across his own body, carving incantations to conjure swords and destruction all around. It was clear that Radfewx was no longer making jokes and waiting, he was deadly serious and willing to spill every drop of blood in every universe if that meant victory.

The king jumped off his stead and lunged to protect Jeremy. One of Radfewx's swords glanced off of his shield where a split second ago, Jeremy's neck had been. "You must go and find a real way to stop them. We can keep them busy until you do so."

Jeremy nodded, finally able to regain control of both of his feet. His remaining group of companions were waiting for him. A soft quill on the ground caught Jeremy's attention. It was Noal's steel-blue quill. Jeremy dove for the quill and came up rolling, narrowly escaping another large sweep of Radfewx's slicing and dicing style of fighting. Smoke started to fill the wide street as the surrounding buildings began to crumble from the constant explosions and eruptions of power.

With Noal's quill in hand, Jeremy ran around the melee and met his friends. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

He led the way deeper into the twisting city-building. Somehow, the explosions seemed to grow louder the further away from the skirmish they ran.

"Stop!" Saesha commanded as the group rounded another corner. The group followed suit as they huffed and puffed from their sprint away from the fighting.

"We need to think and plan something," she stated. Her rust colored wings fluttering with agitation. "We can't just blindly run and hope to find some miracle."

Cis nodded in agreement as Mai spoke. "What options do we have. We either find this Fate or we try to escape and hope we can live to fight another day."

"No," Jeremy shook his head. "We can't run any longer. Saesha is right. The war has already started. This is our one chance to fix everything. We can't run. Noal would have died for nothing if we do that." He finished holding up Noal's steel-blue quill for them to see.

"Don't say it," Saesha urged already knowing what Jeremy's plans were.

"I don't like it any more than you all do. It feels like a trap to me too, but we have to seek out and find Fate. Whatever it is. But it is our only lead at this point. You saw the way Radfewx reacted when I mentioned his grandfather. If there is one thing he hates more than us, it is this Fate. So we have to find a way to use it whether it's a weapon, a person, a god, a force of nature, or what-have-you. It's our only somewhat plausible plan."

"Let's do it then," Cis agreed. "For Noal, that poor smart bastard."

Mai agreed. "You in Saesha? We can't do this without you."

"Begrudgingly, but let it be known that if we are captured and put to death I blame all of you," she answered with the slightest of smiles.

"So what now? Where do we go?" Cis questioned the group. "All we know is that the writers never could find it."

"Right, but they've been laying traps in their writings to ensnare it," Mai took up the thought process. "What kind of traps though? How do you write a trap?"

"By creating contrived scenarios of extreme emotion, designed to force feelings of love or anger. The more emotion the better," Jeremy answered.

When the group did not respond and frowned at his line of thinking, he went on to explain. "Look, what did Radfewx do as soon as he thought this might involve Fate?"

"Well he dragged you across the courtyard and made you choose one of us. And he said that you loved Saesha," Cis recalled.

"Yes, he did," Saesha said as she studied the ground with a renewed interest. "He also had that quip about his great great grandfather inventing the sacrifice yourself trope that's used pervasively throughout literature and entertainment."

"Okay, so him and his guild have been making these highly emotional traps in order to capture Fate. Does anybody know if they have ever worked?" Jeremy questioned. "I mean they've done this for centuries on centuries and they've still never been able to find or discover Fate. It doesn't make sense."

"What about your father, he has to be a missing element in all of this," Mai pointed her finger at Jeremy. "You told us, your father's book was basically vacant which means he was never under their control to begin with."

"Lucky man," Saesha quipped.

Mai continued. "Fate was able to place your father at the time and date your mother was supposed to die, multiple times."

The group fell silent as none of them had an answer to Mai's last statement.

Tal-sen raised a finger, breaking the deep thoughts. "We make not real story."

"Tal-sen you're a genius!" Jeremy shouted with sudden excitement as a rush of ideas came to his head.

"What? I don't understand. What did he mean?" Cis complained.

"We are going to write our own story. A story so full of emotions that it will draw Fate out of hiding. That's how they got my dad to show up so many times. My mother was a huge emotional wreck, everything in her life was falling apart around her, and the writers made it all happen just so they could try and lay a trap for Fate." Jeremy said as the words left a bitter taste of hatred in his mouth. He wanted nothing more than to get revenge for the way they had manipulated his mother's life to the point she had nothing left.

A meteor flew from far off in the city and exploded over them, raining fiery rocks over them as they ran and ducked for cover.

Knocked flat on his back, Jeremy looked up into the starry sky as the noises of war faded away and became nothing more than background. It appeared that where there should have been an unbroken canvas of black bespeckled by pearly sprinkles of light, was now a gash torn clear through from horizon to the other side. Behind the hole in the sky was a plain white background of nothing. Calm and empty it looked to be the most peaceful place in any universe, devoid of fear and pain, a paradise of serene calm.

The universe was breaking and Jeremy had a sudden inspiration on how to accelerate that action and at the same time find Fate. Jumping to his feet, he rushed to find Saesha amidst the rubble.

He found her pressed flat against the back of a closed alleyway, trying her best to avoid the falling flame rocks. Jeremy pushed up against the wall, sucking his gut in as a meteor the size of his head crashed in the spot his long shadow occupied.

"I figured it out. How we can beat them and also get to Fate," he confided.

"How?" She asked watching the sky for any signs of falling rocks coming their way.

"Well at first I thought it would be best to write a new story and make a bunch of really tragic situations in order to get to Fate. But I realized that would be too much work and we don't have that much time."

"Go on," she was intrigued as she studied Jeremy trying to guess what he was up to before he said it.

"Well what story do we know best?" He asked her rhetorically.

Saesha shook her head, "I'm not sure. If I would have to guess, I would say I know my own story the best."

"Yes!" Jeremy fist pumped. "We both have had a super lousy background, one that is filled with opportunity for Fate to come along. What I am saying is going to sound ludicrous but I think it's the only way. We have to go into as many stories as we can find, from all around these libraries, and change events. Make little cracks in their perfect system. Eventually all of these cracks will cause things to break down and stop working. But first, before we can get to that, we gotta fuck the system."

Saesha smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile Jeremy had ever seen on her face. "Now you sound like the Lord of Chaos I always knew you were."

Red Feathers

Jeremy handed Noal's blue-steel quill over to Saesha. "Do you know what you have to do?"

"Yes. It is my duty to enter as many stories as I can from all around the universes and make logic holes. I will write in scenes that don't make sense, unresolved plot lines, distracting cliffhangers, characters that are unimportant but a major focus and, above all else, I will introduce the element of chaos into every story that I get my hands on. I will do this until every world that I touch knows your name and comes to your aid tonight."

Jeremy felt particularly proud of the statement she had just made. "Make it so, and I will as well."

"What do we do?" Cis asked for himself, Mai and Tal-sen.

"I need you three to go out and find both my book and try to find Saesha's, but it's possible they never did write one for her as Noal said they abandoned that universe long ago. But I still need you to try. Without her and my story we may not be able to get to Fate. Do you understand?"

"Aye, Captain!" Cis saluted with a smirk and quickly dropped his hand as they both laughed. Jeremy felt his stomach lurch with nervous excitement. Once they started writing, there would be no way to erase and go back. They could only move forward, tying more and more narrative knots until either Radfewx found them and killed them or they were able to find a way to defeat them.

The group looked out from their hiding space in one of the numerous libraries that comprised the complex city. Rolling black smoke filled the air and as far as the eye could see were rows and rows of marching six armed giants. The hoard of giants were so far away that they looked more like ants than the giant creatures they were. Jeremy knew with a sickening sense of foreboding that they would not for long look that small.

"We need like 15 armies to fight all of that!" Cis yelled in disbelief.

"They may be lots, but my be more." Tal-sen clicked and waved to Jeremy. "Germy, me need way to home. Bring all here to kick-punch."

"All the king's men and the aliens are doing a great job at distracting them, but they won't be enough if we are ever to have a chance at crossing this battlefield and finding your books." Mai commented.

"Okay, I'll try my best to open a portal. I have no idea how long it will stay open."

"We can hope it will be long enough to give us the advantage we surely lack. Now do it already," commanded Mai. "Also draw us some big fucking guns."

Jeremy laughed despite his misgivings about the whole scenario and sat down to begin writing. One by one, large crates of artillery and rocket power filled the room. A full ceiling to floor rack of laser guns appeared on the far side of the room. Boxes labeled as being filled with grenades, rocket launchers, napalm, and other assorted explosives soon showed up amidst the countless rifles and shotguns that now littered the floor in ever expanding piles. None of that compared to the glowing orb of green light that appeared in the middle of the room.

"What the hell is that, exactly?" Mai whispered to Cis.

"That is a nuclear explosion held in a bubble. Do not use that unless all else fails," Jeremy explained. "There are tanks outside that should get you to where you need to go. I'm going to open the portal to the Fifth world now."

The number 5 appeared on the canvas below Jeremy's moving quill. A shrill scream like that of a pack of werewolves being tossed into the heart of a sheer and cutting wind escaped from the molten portal that formed in the door frame of the library they had taken refuge in. As opposite as the white scar that had been torn in the sky, the portal was a writhing pitch black of chaos due to the millions of assembled creatures trying to be the first out of the newly formed crevasse. The hair-raising scream continued as the horde burst forth out onto the streets, like a flood of rancor and disease crashing up against the fleets of mighty six-armed giants.

And then it was quiet as there were no words left to say. Men who have fought call it the last deep breath before the plunge. No words of comfort, nor songs of strength to be sung, for war was upon them all.

The group said a silent goodbye before Cis, Mai and Tal-sen headed out into the war, arms full of weapons, to search for Jeremy and Saesha's books.

Jeremy turned to face Saesha, and found there was nothing much left to say. They would each be jumping into different stories, unable to communicate if anything went wrong. She looked absolutely beautiful to Jeremy, and he allowed himself to imagine a future where they survived everything. A future full of hope and love. It seemed dangerous to even dream of such a thing.

"We should start?" he whispered breathlessly, but before he could make any moves, she stepped closer. So close that her orange and blue eyes filled up his entire vision.

"If this should be the end of us, I want you to know that I'm glad you'll be my last," and with that she was kissing him, but it wasn't like before. Instead of hot passion, there was only a sharing of strength and understanding. They were now totally alone in this battle and every universe was counting on them.

Breaking contact, they both reached for a book on the pile they had collected. "Remember; skim, scribble, and shit...I don't know, make stuff up when all else fails." Jeremy repeated more to himself than to Saesha.

Licking the tip of his finger, Jeremy flipped a few pages into the story and dove into the story of a one Glornurf of the Alglone race. As his quill met and traced the outlines of the already engraved letters, he began to fall into the story. He could soon tell that Glornurf was strange.

The Alglone's looked like wisps of dark blue paper thin devils. Almost so thin they could be called a two dimensional creature, the outer edge of the floaters were spiked and angled for maximum lethality. These wisps moved like smoke curling in the wind. They would roll forward, tumble, and catch the wind as they drifted towards their destination.

Glornurf looked much the same as the others to Jeremy's unaccustomed eyes. The only remarkable thing about this particular Alglone was that it appeared to be injured. Its right spike, that normally would catch the wind and help with turns and stability, was bent inward and crumpled by what must have been a terrible crash for the young Alglonian.

As Jeremy watched, Glornurf kept trying to leap off of the ground, but as soon as he would begin to catch the wind as so many of his fellow Alglone's could, the crooked spike would seize the wind too strongly and send him in a tailspin back towards the ground. It was very hard to watch. Jeremy wanted to help the pitiful wisp and set out to do just that.

Glornurf kept leaping, but the harsh wind kept him bent towards the ground. His twisted spike unbalanced his otherwise flat body. Cursing the wind and his bad luck, Glornurf took one final leap. Using all of the strength he could muster with such a small body, he rose a bit further than any other previous attempt. The wind brushed against his center bouncing him upwards, and for the briefest of moments, Glornurf smiled. The moment of happiness was quickly erased by a sudden gust that sent the wisp into a harsh tailspin. A blur of blue spun in tight circles like a miniature vortex, its journey ending in a horrific crash. The landing was so harsh that it further crumbled the bent right side of the wisp until it was nearly folded in half.

The story cut off.

Jeremy felt that this needed a better ending. Using the same technique he had read in his mother's book, he crossed out the last paragraph and began starting his own version of events.

Glornurf kept leaping, he began, but quickly stopped writing as his usual worries came to the forefront of his story. The doubts came swelling up as his ex-girlfriend's voice echoed through his memory. "That's a terrible idea!" His memory shouted louder and louder, forcing out any ability to complete a sentence. As if transported from the spot, he was back in his old apartment showing everyone who would listen all the great ideas he had for stories. Everytime he spoke, all of his friend's smiles became dimmer and more forced. Eventually no one was smiling at all. There was only Jeremy standing alone with his ragged yellow notebook.

"Well guys, what do you think?" Jeremy asked in his vision.

All of his friends stepped forward and together they all spoke in uncanny unison. "Those are all terrible ideas to put into writing."

"But I made these for all of you. You inspired these stories. Things have been so hard for everyone I wanted to give our lives some escape and fantasy," Jeremy stammered near to tears.

"All of these are worthless and a waste of time. You've never finished a single story and you never will. You could spend a thousand years writing all of these stories, and at the end it would have been a better use of your life to ingest the ink and slowly die of toxicity instead of wasting it on this paper."

Jeremy shut his eyes and forced the vision from him, but it would not go. "You never will...That's a terrible idea...Don't write that down." It went on and on in circular repetition, gaining in volume as more and more voices joined the gathering argument against Jeremy writing a story.

"Just fucking finish it!" Jeremy shouted at himself, clearing the overbearing voices in his head. He repeated the phrase again and again, only with a much lowered voice like a secret chant of strength. Each time he said those words, the voices in his head fell further and further away. "Just finish it...just finish a word...finish it all."

His fingers regained their ability to move, and, letter by letter, curve by curve, and word by word, the words started flowing again as he fell back into the alien world of the Alglonians.

The scene was frozen where Jeremy had left it, Glornurf drifting back towards the ground as his fellow Alglonians were suspended much higher in the air. As he began writing the scene, the world around him changed. Instead of the hazy dream like state it had been in when he was reading what had previously been written, the world around him moved like a roller coaster, jumping and swerving erratically as it matched the words he was forming and created the scene he was describing in real time.

Bright sunlight spilled over the top of the rise in the hills Glornurf was traveling over. The weakened blue wafer steadied itself and caught its breath. Huffing and puffing from all of its exertion attempting to catch the wind and ride like his normal brothers and sisters. A strong internal debate between "can't go on" and "I have to try again" was running in Glornurf's mind. The will to succeed was strong in Glornurf, but he felt that his strength was quickly evaporating and the wind was not quite strong enough to pick him up in his crumpled state. A thought struck the sliver creature, if he could make it to the top of the rise, he might be able to catch more wind on the way downward and create some better updraft than he was getting on this side of the hill. Renewed with a goal and strength, Glornurf set off carefully tumbling up towards the summit of the hill. After rolling over many times like a tumbleweed, at last he had made it to the top of the rise. Taking a slice of breath, Glornurf steadied himself for a strong kickoff that would surely send him soaring into the air. Exhaling, he waited and listened as the wind crested the rise around him. Much like a swelling wave rising in the ocean, Glornurf felt the breeze pull at his pointy arms encouraging him to jump. The injured Alglonian crouched one last time and with a gigantic roar from his tiny voice, Glornurf leapt into the air.

At the exact moment that Glornurf left the ground, the wind picked up and pushed him high into the air. Glornurf tumbled and spun out of control. He was screaming with excitement and fear that he would crash and it would be the end of him. But today would not be the end for him, a cross wind hit him at the perfect angle allowing him to flatten out and glide. He dipped and rose in the sky heading higher and higher. It would be a long time before he touched down again.

Jeremy scratched his head, he wanted to add something meaningful so that the little guy would know someone had helped him. Finding no immediate idea, Jeremy resigned himself to signing out of Glornurf's story as his focus turned back to the reality at present.

The first thing he noticed was the overwhelming presence of night. The second thing his senses picked up on was the noise, or rather the lack thereof. It felt like all the sound in the world was being held in one big deep breath waiting out be exhaled again, but the noise remained held from Jeremy's ears.

As his eyes adjusted to the deep shadows around him, small bits of noise crept into his ears. He couldn't be sure but it sounded like someone had left a toilet running. At the edge of what his ears could pick up, there was definitely a swirling and sloshing noise that should not have been present in the still night.

He wondered what had happened in the battle, and wished, for not the last time, that writing for another character didn't take so long.

His eyes finally found Saesha, where was anxiously staring out of the doorway into the street. Her head whipped back to check on Jeremy and when she saw his alert and bright eyes, she smiled with relief at seeing him returned from the book.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked, already on his feet and crossing the distance between them. "Everything," she answered just above a whisper. "I came out of my book about an hour ago, but the sun was still up. Jeremy it is horrible outside. You have no idea."

Jeremy stalled as Saesha broke down in front of him.

"It's all my fault," she continued, avoiding Jeremy's questioning eyes. "Don't ever make me write in another book. I can't be trusted with that much power."

Jeremy opened his mouth to ask a question, but Saesha answered it for him. "That story I went in. It had these little wispy creatures and somehow I opened the story of the queen wisp. I did the only thing I could think of. I wrote us into her story. I made us travelers from a far away land that came seeking aid. And I made the fake us convince her to say yes to helping us. I gave her one of the red feathers from my wings and told her. "Wait, someday another with a red feather will call on you and your wisps for help. You must help them."

Jeremy paused for a moment making sure she was at the end of her story before jumping to ask one of the million of questions he had. "That's it? I don't understand what happened when you gave them the red feather."

"Do you hear that noise?" she whispered even lower, as she turned to look back out into the deep darkness.

"The rushing water noise?"

"Yes. They are here. They are all here. The entire colony of Alglonian's are here and they have blocked out the sky around the city. I brought them here when I gave them a red feather. That noise is billions of them fluttering around in the sky. And that's not the worst thing. I saw them descend on one of the custodians like Moretz, they shredded the skin off of him like a cheese grater. It happened so fast. The little creature was dust before he could even react."

Without a word, Jeremy reached out and pulled Saesha into a protective embrace. "You did the right thing. We needed more help from anyone and everyone in the universe."

"That's not all. We must have grabbed books pretty early in the Alglonian time line, and as soon as I gave them the red feather and came out, all of the books around me started to explode. I think we have permanently altered not just one lifetime but sent an entire race of creatures to die in our battle. I am no better than Radfewx."

"Hey now. That's not true."

"It is, I lied and manipulated until I got the results I needed. What makes me any different from Radfewx?"

"You gave them a choice. If Radfewx had his way everything would just happen at some predetermined rate and point. It wouldn't be life. It would be nothing more than a machine. They chose on their own accord to come and aid us. Now all we can do to honor their decision is to not fail our end of the bargain. Once this is all over, the writing must stop. The book must end and our story has to be one that we all write ourselves. Not some giant with six arms. My life is my own, and I vow to you Saesha that I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have no masters."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I lost my head there for a little bit. I was going a bit mad when you were still writing and it was just me, this darkness, and that terrible noise. It gets into your head and makes you feel all weird." Saesha smiled with slight embarrassment.

Quickly changing the subject, Jeremy asked. "Any word on the others. They've been out there for a long time."

"They've been gone too long," Saesha agreed.

"Do you think that if we step outside those wisps will attack us?" Jeremy wondered out loud.

"I'll admit, I don't want to be the first to find out."

"Let's try a test," Jeremy said while pulling a random book from the shelf.

"What are you going to do?" Saesha questioned. "I don't think chucking a book out there and seeing if it gets attacked is a good test of the situation. I mean a book compared to us is..."

She trailed off as she studied Jeremy skimming through the pages of the book not listening to her.

"Aha!" Jeremy exclaimed. "I need a feather from you."

"What could you possibly?"

"I need a red feather so I can give it to this lady Alglonian to pass to the queen. We can tell them exactly where we are and to not attack us."

"That's a great idea but no one has written in that book for a long time so won't the events in it be old?"

"That's what I checked for. If there's no one currently writing in them, than it appears that the book's keep track of the present, so it's much easier for someone to go back and retroactively change events as they occur."

"Also you really don't need to pluck me," she smiled at him in the dim light.

"Right, I can just make one in the story. Sorry still getting the hang of this writing thing."

"Be quick," was all Saesha said before Jeremy dove quill-first into the story.

An agonizing ten minutes of the awful running water noise passed before Jeremy's consciousness returned to the same universe his body was occupying. "It is done. I'd say let's give a solid five before we venture out into the darkness."

"What's our plan from here on out?" she asked gravely.

"If it's at all possible, I think we should try and find our friends first. We'll try and see how far they've gotten in their quest for finding our books. Then, we need to finish this war before any more damage can be done."

They remained in a sort of reverent silence waiting for the appropriate moment to make a run for it.

"Ready?" Jeremy asked.

Saesha grabbed his hand and without a word or another moment of hesitation, they were out in the streets and hallways of the single structure city. For a while they ran aimlessly, afraid to look up and acknowledge the black cloud of billions of wisps above them that at any moment could decide they were fit for carving. Their running slowed to a light jog as the shadows grew deeper and the tighter the corridors became. They had wound themselves into the heart of the library structure and the buildings felt much too narrow and much too tall like everything was going to smoosh them into a giant six-armed size sandwich.

At the center of the city stood a single perfectly cubed structure. All of the twisting alleyways and streets met at the epicenter that was this remarkable normal-sized building. At its tallest it compared to a standard two level house and was almost comically smaller than the towers that loomed over it. Between the distance from the towers to the squat building lay a circular courtyard of perfectly groomed red sand. Tiny stepping stones formed a curving footpath leading to the entrance.

Saesha and Jeremy stopped suddenly as soon as they ran past the last line of towers, nearly falling over from stopping so abruptly.

"We're going to have to go in there, aren't we," Jeremy complained.

"This is hallowed ground for the writers. I have the deepest of suspicions we will come face to face with the director should we venture inside of that compound."

"Well, we're out of avenues, so this is it. This could be the end for us. I'm out of plans," Jeremy admitted.

Saesha squeezed his hand to non-verbally give him some encouragement. "The old plan is still our new plan. I bet you Radfewx was holding your book the whole time. I know I would hold my enemy's greatest weapon closest to me so that there would be no way except by death that they could get their hands on it."

"You're right, but that just makes this even more impossible. We can't get close to him without getting obliterated," Jeremy complained.

"This is not the time for doubt. Make us some weapons. One melee weapon and one for long range. A gun and a sword. Make them, then we'll run in there and we'll keep running. No matter what happens, keep pushing towards Radfewx. I believe that if we can get close we can defeat him."

Jeremy pulled out his quill and scribbled on the edge of the red sand the objects Saesha requested. By the time she was finished describing their plan, they both held a laser gun and burning swords of fire.

"If it gets dark, we'll be able to see what we're slicing at," Jeremy explained with a nasty grin. He was ready to face Radfewx. Before he had been confused and unprepared to face The Director, but now he understood the mechanics behind the writers power. He could break their ties to the other universes, he could change the tide of this war and free everyone. A surge of adrenaline pumped through his veins as he took the first step towards the square building.

His foot pressed down onto one of the numerous stepping stones leading to the building. The rock below his foot suddenly gave way and Jeremy found himself knee deep in the red sand. It was only Saesha's quick reaction that saved Jeremy from being swallowed by the sand pit. She pulled him back up and motioned for him to follow her.

"Don't you see the pattern?" She asked.

Jeremy shook his head to answer. He peered down at the stepping stones but could find no pattern to speak of.

"You humans only see in pairs and tens. What do you think the writer's see in?" Saesha questioned Jeremy allowing him time to think.

"I'd guess in sixes?" Jeremy attempted not making any connections to the rocks and the question Saesha asked.

"They naturally see in a much wider variety of numbers. Threes, sixes, eights, and multiples of forty. This is a walkway that only a giant could cross as they would have the required number of limbs and fingers to evenly displace their weight on the rocks so as to not weigh a single one down enough to make it sink."

"I see it now. Three, six, eights, six, three, eight, six, eight, three, six, six, eight, eight, three three. And I know how we can get across."

"How so?"

"Climb on my back that will give us the right number of appendages. You'll have to use your feet as another set of arms but I think we can do it."

Despite the tension and gravity of what they faced beyond the entrance to the building, Saesha burst out laughing. "I can imagine that would be a fun exercise should our time not warrant more haste. No I don't think riding on your back across this pit would be a good thing. I'll just fly us over."

Jeremy face palmed at having not realized the much simpler solution.

"If we live through this and you still want to come back and try that, I promise you I won't say no," Saesha teased.

Jeremy stuck his tongue out at her as she picked him up and flew towards the entrance. A gentle touchdown and they were a footstep away from entering the building.

They both re-engaged their fire swords as Jeremy led the way inside. A hallway no wider than Jeremy's shoulders led them further. The darkness from the wisps outside did nothing to aid the fact that even if it had been high noon and no clouds were above, it still would have been near impossible to see inside the building. Their fire swords worked well to cast shadows beyond and behind them.

"Ugh," Jeremy complained as his foot collided with a solid stone wall.

"What's wrong?" Saesha asked as she could not see past Jeremy in the cramped space.

"That's it. That's all there is."

"What? But that can't be true. We haven't seen any doors or anything. No one would build just a single hallway that leads to nowhere."

"I would," A snake-like voice echoed from the end of the corridor they had just came from.

"Radfewx!" they both shouted in angry voices, while whipping around and sending twin laser bullets towards the entrance.

At that exact moment, the walls around them flashed into life an icy blue that was so bright it hurt the eyes. Where Saesha and Jeremy had stood, certain that they would be obliterated, there was nothing left except two smoking contrails hinting of the place they had occupied a second earlier.

The Search

Mai led Cis and Tal-sen into the rush of freaks from the Fifth world and Radfewx's army of writers. Chaos all around them, her grip tightened on the shotgun she held permanently glued in the ready to fire position. No time could be spent aiming or trying to be efficient. The only way they were ever going to make it back to the Earth's library was if they shot first, blasting anything that got in their way, and kept running forward.

For a few streets, Mai's plan was working. Their guns aimed true and shots hit dead on. At first Mai was able to ignore the jolts of pain in her head as her gun met its mark, but the more giants that fell the more her head began to feel like it would explode.

A flash of steel in front of her vision brought Mai out of her distracting pain for a moment as she was forced to jump backwards to avoid a wildly swinging sword. The sword she had just dodged was quickly followed by five more as the giant had a sword in each hand swinging independently and aiming for anything and everything.

Something she never had time to see exploded right next to her left ear, knocking her over and causing her to tumble over several times. Back on her feet, she whirled around just in time to catch one of the giant's swords with the stock of her large machine gun. The sword lodged itself into the steel, and the giant's grip on it suddenly loosened as it was surprised by the sudden extra weight.

Mai seized the opportunity and wrenched the sword the rest of the way out of the giant's grip. With a sudden twist of her whole body, Mai spun around the giant and used the still embedded sword in her gun to drive the long end of the blade into the giant's midsection. The giant cried out and swung a few more rounds of dicing swords towards Mai, but she was quick on her feet and easily avoided any contact. She watched as the giant's blood spilled out, its steps became steadily more and more clumsy and his spinning arms didn't seem to reach as far.

The giant took one last stab at Mai. She again sidestepped the dying monster as it fell to the ground beside her. She ended the fight with a stomp.

Her head exploded with pain, but she could not allow that to slow her down. Whirling around, ready for any attack that could come her way, she looked for Cis and Tal-sen. They were nowhere in sight and to make matters worse she was completely surrounded by a wall of giants. All of the giants around her raised their weapons ready to attack as one and finish her.

"Dammit," She swore to herself. There was no way she would be able to fight all of these giants if they came at her together. Maybe one on one she could get by, but she doubted she would last much longer if they were all as tough as the first giant she had displaced. Dropping her broken gun on the ground, she pulled out a smaller one that she had strapped to her back. It was her last gun, and she quickly calculated that even if she used one bullet per monster she would run out long before they were all dead. There were just too many of them for her to handle.

What must have been the leader of the gang surrounding her let out a vicious roar and the charge was on. From all sides, the giants let out equally ferocious war cries and started running towards her.

With the understanding that she was going to die, she closed her eyes and let out her own war cry of defiance. Her gun raised in the air and she pulled the trigger until there was nothing left but empty clicks, all the while her war cry of defiance never faltered.

The swift death she was expecting never came. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and blinked a few times in surprise. The circle of giants who had been charging her was now one very large pile of dead giants all around her in a fifty yard diameter.

"What was that?" Cis's welcoming voice rang out from the other side of the newly formed clearing.

Cis and Tal-sen ran over to Mai. She was shaky and had trouble looking away from the mass destruction her psych powers had caused. The pain in her head felt like it would be there permanently.

"You saved us. I thought we were going to die and the next second every giant around us just fell over," Cis explained the situation from his viewpoint. "At least I think it was you. It was you right? 'Cause if it wasn't then I think we should be worried."

"It was me," Mai said in a detached voice. She was still trying to understand exactly what she had done. When Radfewx had held her as his slave, she had understood he was going to use her powers to destroy his enemies, but she had never truly believed she was capable of killing with her gifts.

"You, I, me, us, all need go Germy and princess book," Tal-sen broke the current trepidation.

Cis agreed with Tal-sen. "We have this chance. I think we should try to go back to the Earth library. That's where we last saw Radfewx and he is bound to have Jeremy's book."

Mai did not respond. She was still too deep in shock.

Tal-sen nodded, "Princess book."

"I don't know dude. It could be anywhere in this city. We need one of those little guys like Moretz. They could help us find the right place to look for your histories."

"I am here to serve," Moretz said as he suddenly appeared in the middle of the street. "I told you that if you needed any help, just ask."

"Damn," Cis exclaimed. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Never mind that. I was summoned and I am here to assist. Let us be swift as it appears this is a terrible time to be outside," the small creature said after surveying the morbid scene.

"Okay. Take us to the Fifth world library first," Cis requested.

"Here, come grab on and we will transport there immediately. But I dare say you will not find exactly what you seek," Moretz said mysteriously.

Cis and Tal-sen ducked down and grabbed onto the robe of the miniature giant. Mai did not appear with them. "Mai. Come on. We gotta get out of here." Cis urged.

Mai shook her head as if she were waking up from a daydream. "What? Oh sorry. What are we doing?"

"Grab hold. We're going to find the princess's book with Moretz here," Cis explained.

She was unsure if this was a good idea, but grabbed onto Moretz as instructed. Like a strike of lightning they were gone and reappeared in a new place in the library city.

This part of the structure looked to be much older and part of the original library. Without pausing, Moretz set off for a building in the exact middle of the square. The building was pitifully sized compared to the others around it. It stood like a single palm tree on an island, surrounded by a pit of red sand. Its dimensions suggested that it was comparable to the size of a hunting camp's outhouse.

Cis let out an audible groan. Mai agreed. There was no way that library contained the collective history of the entire Fifth world civilization.

Moretz stopped before he crossed the path of stepping stones that led to the building in the middle of the circle and gave an apprehensive glance to the group. "I have to ask that we only permit one of you in at a time due to the size of the building."

"Tal-sen, you should be first," Cis said. "You'll be able to read the language better than we will. Go and find your princess's book."

Tal-sen smiled as best he could and followed Moretz over the path and into the dark entrance of the building. The street Cis and Mai were on suddenly became unnaturally quiet and still. Far off explosions told them that the war was still raging, but the action was far away from this corner of the city. He wondered how the other Fifth worlders and the King's men were faring in the fight.

"Are we really going to just wait here?" Mai broke the silence.

Cis had no answer. He too felt uneasy about the situation, but had no alternatives to suggest.

"We should go in. I don't like being separated this way. It makes us all an easier target" Mai urged and started across the path leading to the building. She jumped back as she felt the ground underneath her slide and give way.

"This is definitely a trap," Mai said as they watched the rocks realign a new path across the red sand.

Moretz appeared on the other end, Tal-sen was no where to be seen. "Okay, I believe one more may enter."

"That little trickster. I knew he was to be distrusted," Cis whispered to Mai.

She turned to him, stood on her tip toes and cupped his ear so that Moretz could not see her lips. "I think that as long as he is standing on the rocks we can get across. If we charge him he won't be expecting it and we might be able to get across."

"And if we don't make it over before he steps back?"

"Then we die, which we probably will anyway," she admitted and returned to the soles of her feet.

"Let's go," Cis said as he jumped into a sprint across the rocks, Mai a step behind him. They made it halfway before Moretz reacted and stepped off of the pebble path. The rocks under their feet started diving into the sand causing them to trip. Their forward momentum carried them another third, but the red sand was too loose and they quickly fell trapping their arms in the quicksand.

Thrashing about, they tried to swim and keep their heads up but the Red sand was getting heavier and heavier.

"Mai! Use your brain powers and make him save us," Cis yelled as he swallowed a mouthful of sand causing him to sputter and cough.

"I can't," Mai replied feebly as she too was struggling to keep herself from drowning in sand. He was right, there was only one way to save them and Moretz was both the answer and the problem. Her dismissal of using her powers quickly reversed, as Cis disappeared completely below the sand.

She focused her mind on Moretz. The pain was unbearable as his will fought her own over control of his actions. If she had thought the pain before now was bad, this was on a whole new level and was akin to physically slamming her head with an iron pan every few seconds.

Again and without realizing she was doing so, she was letting out the most ferocious war cry that would have scared of even the most alpha lion in the jungle. This had the desired effect and broke through the will of Moretz. She took hold of his ability to think, forcing him to solidify the walking path. As soon as that was settled, she had him dive in after Cis and bring him to the surface. There was a moment where Mai feared that she had lost Moretz in the sand but reconnected with him as he broke the surface, pulling Cis up with him.

Mai helped get Cis completely out of the sand and onto his side. He started coughing and hacking with the large amount of sand stuck in his throat and lungs. Moretz climbed out of the sand without help from Mai and ran over to them to help. He pulled a vial of green venomous looking liquid out of his robes.

With both hands, Mai grabbed onto the back of Moretz's head. "That better not hurt him," she both yelled at him and inside of him.

"It's not. I promise. This will transmute the sand into air," he said and squeezed two drops of the green liquid into Cis' nose.

Cis was mid cough and suddenly he exhaled a huge amount of air and sat up. His face was red and he rubbed his sore chest as his body returned from its panic state.

"Are you okay?" Mai knelt down beside him.

After another round of large inhales and exhales, Cis nodded. "I think so. I can't understand how. I was sure I was dying."

Cis's eyes turned to Moretz's own. They were cloudy as Mai held her control over him. Cis understood what had happened. "Thank you, Mai, for saving my life."

"Are you ready? We need to keep moving and get Tal-sen out of that building," Mai asked.

Cis stood on uneasy legs and offered Mai his hand to help her stand. She accepted it with a tight smile, but quickly sat back down.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"There's so much pain," Her eyes were filled with tears and Cis saw for the first time the stress in her milky eyes.

"Release him then," Cis instructed.

"No I can't. He won't let us cross if I release him. We'll drown here if I let go."

"Can you hold him until I get you across?" Cis asked, but did not wait for an answer. He kneeled down and had her grab on around his shoulders and neck so that she was riding on his back. Not being an action movie star, a bodybuilder, or a general tough guy, Cis struggled as he stood up and crossed the rest of the path over the red sand.

Once they were safely across, Cis told her. "You can release him. He is no more use to us now."

Mai let go, but the same pain she experienced breaking in was happening as she exited from Moretz's psyche. She let out a short gasp every time the pain struck her. Her own brain felt like it was going to mush under the extra exertion.

"I can't!" she screamed out and then passed out on top of Cis's back. He turned to watch Moretz fall over and sink into the sand.

"Looks like it's my job to finish this," Cis said to himself and ducked as he entered the squat building. He followed a long and narrow hallway that he felt went much further than the outside of the building could possibly allow. There was a flickering light at the end of the hallway and Cis approached as quietly as he could. It proved to be considerably difficult to be stealthy with an extra person attached to him.

As Cis drew nearer to the end of the hallway, a voice called out from beyond. "Moretz is that you returned with another human?"

It was the voice of Radfewx. Cis' knees buckled in fright and he toppled over. Luckily, he was quick thinking enough to cover his mouth before he allowed a noise to escape. His quick thinking cost Mai a nasty bump as her dead weight flopped on the ground beside him.

Cis kept himself from releasing so much as a single breath, as he waited, lying on the ground.

Radfewx's voice came again. "Moretz what is taking you so long?"

Seeing no other options, Cis decided to attempt to mimic Moretz's voice and try to fool Radfewx. "Director, I apologize for my delay. This human is unconscious and is quite heavy to move."

"Hurry on with it. We don't have time to spare."

"Wait Director?"

"What is it?"

"Tell me. Where are the books these people seek?" Cis asked with his best Moretz impression.

The walls around Cis flashed and he found himself on his back looking up at the most massive globe of the Earth he had ever seen. He sat up and gave a startled yelp when Radfewx knelt in front of him and stared into his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. That was a bloody embarrassing attempt if I've ever heard one. I'll tell you before I corrupt your mind and force you to kill that psychic girl beside you. All of the books for the Fifth worlders were destroyed ages ago when we closed the link to their universe. As for Jeremy's book, let's just say that we are still browsing for it."

"Sir!" A writer appeared beside the director and saluted with two arms. "It appears that we have a new threat."

"And what's that?" Radfewx asked without taking his eyes off of Cis.

"The Alglonian race has appeared over the vault and is marching for your enemy's cause."

"How many?" the director asked, his eyes frowning.

"All of them sir. The entire race of Alglonian's have appeared and they have blackened out the sky."

"Then we should prepare to grab the enemy as quickly as possible before he can call more worlds down on us. There is a point where we will not be able to defend ourselves," Radfewx spoke as if he were reciting a recipe for cold turkey sandwiches.

The giant stood up from Cis. "On second thought, instead of killing the lady I'd much prefer you to watch me kill your best friend and then I'll have you as my pet puppet."

  *

Down On Paper

Jeremy felt his knees buckle underneath him as the soles of his feet landed on hard ground. The weight of the sudden displacement sent him falling onto his butt. Quick to rebound, Jeremy was up again aware of his sore behind but there was more things at present to worry about than a bruised tukus like the fact that they had landed almost dead center in the Earth hive. Hundreds of rows of busily scribbling writers paid him no immediate attention.

"Jeremy!" Saesha yelled enough times to get his attention.

"What?"

"Turn around, look at your home world," she commanded with a slight tremble in her voice.

Jeremy wanted and wished that he could ignore her and not look. The candor of her voice told him that whatever he would see was something that he could not prepare himself for.

Turning to face the blue and green planet froze Jeremy like a car wreck that he could not look away from. The once healthy looking blues and green were fading and dull as if all the life was being sucked out of the planet. Jeremy's eye landed on a place close to where he once lived. The view changed to a satellite view of the area. He could see that all the people were on the ground writhing in pain and agony.

"What's happening to them?" Jeremy demanded.

"I'll answer that for you, my young rebel," Radfewx called out while stepping out of nothing on the other side of the rotating globe. Jeremy's eyes caught movement beyond Radfewx and landed on the still moving bodies of Mai, Cis and Tal-sen.

"It's simple really," Radfewx began. "I am having them tortured until you relent this silly uprising. They are each experiencing and living out their worst nightmare. Their pain is all your fault. They were happy in their ignorance of the universal pecking order. It is all within your power to stop this. Disband your army of rebels. Send them back to their own worlds and your people will be left alone."

"We don't believe you!" Saesha shouted back before Jeremy could answer. "You are a tower of lies and half truths. Jeremy don't you dare take his offer. We came here for one thing and it's up to us to finish it."

Saesha flew forward brandishing her flame sword. It roared with fury and heat fueled by her passion to put an end to Radfewx's power. Meanwhile Jeremy jumped back and dove behind the first row of writers. He knew that he had to make his way to his friends, but crossing the entire way around the edge of the globe would take too long and Saesha would only be able to delay Radfewx.

Peaking out from behind his cover, Jeremy watched as Saesha's sword slammed into a solid metal shield that Radfewx had conjured up with his own fast moving quill. Her left hand quickly brought up her gun but the beam was quickly deflected away from its target.

Sensing that it was his turn to contribute, Jeremy ripped a book out of the arms of the closest writer and tore out a clump of papers. Quickly scribbling a mass of swirls causing the ground underneath Radfewx to become like wet concrete and bind his legs.

Jeremy fist pumped, but didn't see the enormous giant's arm he had stole the book from aiming at the back of his head. The force of the impact sent Jeremy rolling head over foot back into the center of the hive. Jeremy's ears rang and his eyes refused to focus, the globe above him seemed to be spinning in opposite directions.

The giant who had hit Jeremy roared and in a single bound leapt from his pod to a spot right in front of Jeremy. Saesha's quick reflexes saved Jeremy from being smashed by two sets of double fists. This giant was not as crafty as Radfewx and had nothing prepared to prevent Saesha's blade from taking a slice of toasted midsection out of the enraged creature.

The distraction had given Radfewx enough time to free his legs. "Fine, if this is the way you want it, I'm burning this planet and the Fifth world down to a cinder block."

The constant buzzing from the millions of quills stopped immediately. All of the writers looked up from their work and awaited Radfewx's final word.

Radfewx's hand cut through the air as if he were conducting an orchestra. A single writer stood up ten rows above them and made a slow precession to the floor where Jeremy was still recovering from his contusion.

The nameless writer wrote a desk that was much like one a human would see in a primary school, but it was a desk and chair nearly six times bigger than a human could fill. Not a single noise was uttered as the writer took his place, and began to unwind a scroll.

"That is the scroll of Earth. Every planet we decide to populate has to be documented or we'd lose track. Contained within the scroll is the charter and vote history for the creation of the planet, any major world changing events, cataclysms, apocalypses, and eventually the end. You see all stories must end and it is time for this one to end. Shame though, all of these writers will be out of a job until we can reassign them. They'll be so pissed at you," Radfewx explained with a giddiness that Jeremy had never heard before.

"Wait. Don't do it!" Jeremy pleaded, climbing to his feet.

"Jeremy," Saesha warned.

He ignored her and continued walking towards Radfewx. "I couldn't bear the knowledge that I brought about the end of the world. I will call off this war if you promise to leave our lives free from your control."

The writer who had unfolded the scroll licked his quill and placed the tip on the ancient text. A flame appeared at the top of the globe. It was no bigger than Jeremy's body, but he was sure that everyone in the northern hemisphere would be able to see it above them.

"If that is what you wish, but because you took so long to agree to my terms I demand more," the Director sneered.

"I've given you back everything. What more could you possibly want?" Jeremy yelled suddenly frightened.

Jeremy stood frozen on the spot as Radfewx raised his white steel knife to Jeremy's chest. He could see the reflection from the knife turn the same white light that had made dust of Noal and understood that this would be the last moment of his life. Another unexpected force from behind him sent him sprawling forward again. Jeremy turned in slow motion as the force of the life-taking beam of light hit Saesha fully in the chest. A burst of hot air and red feathers were all that remained of the princess.

With a shout and grunt that was more primal than anything Jeremy had ever known to come out of his being, he lunged at Radfewx. The Director must have almost been as shocked about destroying Saesha as Jeremy was, as he missed a step and missed the chance to defend himself from the firestorm of Jeremy's sword. The sword was the same weight in Jeremy's hands but due to the increase in rage and hatred and his thirst for vengeance, the sword had reached a good ten feet in length and was wide enough to be considered a curtain of fire.

The flames severed Radfewx's writing hand causing him to drop his quill and retreat away from Jeremy's onslaught. Jeremy was now swirling the flaming sword above his head in such a fashion that he was creating a tornado wall where it was only him, the still bodies of his companions, Radfewx, and the last few feathers that remained of Saesha.

"Give me our stories! I know you have them," Jeremy shouted over the rippling torrent.

Despite his one bloody stump, Radfewx laughed at Jeremy's request. "I'd rather die than give you that power. You think what we do is evil. Imagine that much power in the hands of a human. You'd try to play God and I bet in the first day you'd destroy not only your universe but all of our universes."

"Tell me where they are!" Jeremy commanded bringing the walls of the fire tornado closer to Radfewx.

"Look at what you're doing now, setting your own planet on fire. I bet all those people burning up really care whether or not they're free if they are all dead!"

Jeremy looked around the engulfed area. It was true his out of control fire was spreading throughout the hive and as it reached closer and closer to the globe he understood that it was doing equal damage to Earth as the flame at the top of the world.

Radfewx's words sunk deep and Jeremy immediately relented his onslaught, causing the fire tornado to fall. With his other hand, Jeremy raised the gun Saesha had told him he would need. "Are my friends here dead?"

"If they are; you only have yourself to blame," Radfewx retorted.

"Where is my book?" Jeremy asked again, aiming the gun at Radfewx.

"What do you call a blind deer?" Radfewx asked instead of answering.

This caused Jeremy to re-ignite his sword and threaten to cause another firestorm if Radfewx kept talking.

The director answered his own absurd question. "No-eye-deer." The director guffawed at his own joke and, as sudden as a flash of lightning the director was gone.

Jeremy knew he would be back. The Director was not done with Jeremy. He picked up Radfewx's still sizzling quill and rushed over to his friends. A simple shake told him that they were still alive just not entirely with it. Their eyes were all cloudy as if Radfewx had them stuck in one of his imagination traps.

He wrote up a bucket of water and dispersed it upon them causing them to jolt out of whatever dream Radfewx had them in.

"What?" all three of them asked at the same time.

"It's a long story," Jeremy admitted while running through the last few moments with them. As he got to the part where Saesha had been obliterated, he found that his words would not come out. A lump swelled in his throat giving him immense difficulty even swallowing.

"Where be Princess?" Tal-sen asked looking wildly about.

Jeremy had no words for him. He felt absolutely ashamed to have to admit the truth. Somehow he thought that if he could just keep from saying the words then it wouldn't be true.

Cis was the first one to pick up on Jeremy's distress. "No she isn't..."

With trembling hands Jeremy pulled one of Saesha's red feathers off of the ground. There were no words that Jeremy had to speak, everyone in the group understood what had happened. Tal-sen began to howl in a way that a dog might if it made sounds more closer to that of an orca whale.

"Screw that!" Cis broke the mourning. "Forget that bullshit."

"We need to take Radfewx down," Mai commended with Cis.

"He's lying to you," Cis told Jeremy.

"Yeah cause all of that isn't news to me," Jeremy said. There was something blocking him from caring anymore. The fight had seemed so worth the consequences, but now it seemed foolish. Who cared if there was some group of aliens controlling everything. People would probably be happier knowing that they didn't really have to worry about the future, as it would all be determined for them.

"No. You're not listening. He was lying to you. He doesn't know where your book is either. He couldn't have given it to you even if he wanted to. Noal hid your book before he decided to get you directly."

"Jeremy can you think of anywhere Noal would have hid that book? It would be a place only you would know?" Mai asked him.

Jeremy racked his brain trying to think of all the places Noal showed him. "It could be anywhere, but I think I might know."

"Wait here," he commanded, before opening a portal to another word without further explanation. A second passed, like all other do, and Jeremy crawled back through to holding up his mangled yellowed notebook.

"That doesn't look like a single book here," Mai observed.

"That's because Noal disguised it, I promise you, this is it."

"Payback time," Cis fist-pumped in excitement. "Tal-sen, stop that howling. We're gonna put a stop to that sicko who killed your princess."

Tal-sen's whine did not stop, but lowered in volume as he crept closer to the group and waited for Jeremy to enter his own story.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I might have to change things..." Jeremy began, but was quickly shushed by Mai.

"They call you the Lord of Chaos, but remember to me you are the one that brings silence to the wailing of the world. Go, you can still do this."

Jeremy had no words. He felt immense gratitude towards his friends. Without them he knew he would have died a long time ago. Jeremy flipped open the notebook and went straight to the end. His eyes landed on small words and phrases that would remind him of how much of a pain his life had been before Noal had been brave enough to stop writing.

His eyes found the place he was searching for as his quill was quick to follow and begin tracing the letters and words recorded.

The words on the page had pointed him to the moment they had been transported to the Earth hive by Radfewx, but he couldn't see it the way the other stories had been. Instead of an omnipotent third person view over the scene, he was at once looking out of his own eyes and also from his writer's position. The effect was like that of an infinite mirror in opposite directions for each of his eyes. It was very confusing.

The way he figured was that if he could change events it wouldn't take much to have it so that Saesha would have the upper hand and be able to unhand Radfewx before he was able to kill anyone or threaten the earth anymore.

Crossing out the appropriate lines made the scenes rewind and he wrote in the action required to set things right. Saesha sliced off Radfewx's hand and Jeremy ended the struggle with a finely placed shot to Radfewx's chest.

Jeremy signed out of the book. He looked up with a smile expecting to see Saesha standing there waiting for him, but it was just Tal-sen, Mai and Cis. The smile faded in a quick instant as he realized the murkiness had returned to their eyes. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit, you say. I say oh yes," Radfewx said stepping out from nowhere again. "You suspected that I had retreated so easily. You think I am weak and left to go lick my wounds allowing you to go back and win. This was much easier than searching for the book for so long. You brought it here for me, I must thank you."

Jeremy shook his head not believing that he could be so stupid as to fall into Radfewx's trap so easily. The Director was right, he had practically gift wrapped the book for him.

"Why didn't it work. Why aren't you dead?" Jeremy demanded.

Radfewx smiled with a sinister grin that was devoid of anything remotely close to happiness. "Tsk. Tsk. If it didn't work then Noal must have been a very poor teacher."

"No! You're a liar!" Jeremy shouted and overhead chucked the notebook at Radfewx.

The director smoothly caught the notebook and turned it over, running his finger along the spine of the notebook. "Time to shed this ridiculous rouse of a disguise." He said as the cover of the notebook slipped off of the book like a banana peel revealing a classically handsome and thick book.

Radfewx opened Jeremy's book, giving it a look over as if he were a child opening a birthday present. The look turned Jeremy's stomach and made him regret throwing the book at Radfewx in a tantrum. Saesha would have never acted so foolishly, and Cis would have came up with a better plan. His mind wrapped around each scenario of how each one of his friends would have dealt with the situation and Jeremy couldn't help but feel like if any of them had been here instead of him, they would have been in a much stronger position.

Reaching for his quill, Radfewx grunted as he failed to find it within his priestly robes.

It was Jeremy's time to smile with malice. "Whatcha lookin' for there bud?"

"Give it to me. Now."

"I think not," Jeremy answered. "You've had an entire lifetime of screwing with my life, you've hunted me from universe to universe, you've killed people I love. You'll never get this quill back."

Jeremy stepped forward and quickly snapped Radfewx's quill in half. He repeated the action a few more times to make his point. "I know you can still use other quills, but that quill was your first wasn't it. It knew you like no other can and could help you before you knew you needed help. You're dead without it. You should stop everything you are doing and maybe I will spare you."

Radfewx calmly closed the book as if he were thoroughly bored with it. "You really are going to regret having done that."

The white knife that Radfewx had used to kill two of Jeremy's friends was out quick as a flash of lightning and in his hands again. "Here have your book back. It's useless anyway. Absolutely everything we've ever written in there has not once touched you."

Radfewx tossed Jeremy's book on the ground in front of him. "What do you mean nothing has worked? My life was hell because of you."

The six armed giant sighed a deep breath of exhaustion and raised the knife towards Jeremy. "Sorry kid. I tried my best to control you, but what happened to you wasn't us. It's this terrible thing called life and guess what. It happened to you."

The ray of white light broke from the tip of Radfewx's knife. Jeremy did the only thing imaginable to him and put the book up in front of himself in some way to shield the death beam from hitting him. The beam hit the book dead on and amazingly it did not go through.

Radfewx stopped the ray and fired again. Jeremy was almost too slow to defend himself but narrowly caught the shock of instant death with the book.

"Would you just die already. I'm tired of this battle with you," Radfewx spewed at Jeremy as he reengaged another blast of his laser knife.

Although Jeremy was not dieing from being struck by the beam of light, he could feel that every time the book was struck it grew steadily more hot. Another blast or two and he would have serious trouble holding onto it.

Radfewx threw all of his weight behind an arching shot that curved in a way Jeremy wasn't anticipating. But luck was on Jeremy's side as he ended up falling over in his haste, allowing the beam of light to narrowly graze over his head and harmlessly explode against the far wall.

Jeremy was on his feet quick enough to catch a beam that was too closely aimed at his head. The book was really starting to burn his hands, but Jeremy held onto it for dear life as it was the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

The director balanced his knife on one of his arms, aiming for Jeremy as if he were common hunting game. Radfewx's knife exploded with a perfectly dialed in kill shot.

Having no time to react or worry about his now blistering fingers, the blast caught Jeremy's book right at face level. An explosion with enough force to send Jeremy flying back across the room caused Jeremy to wonder if this is what obliteration felt like. Nearly blinded from the sheer magnitude of the force of light that had exploded in his hands, Jeremy tried to look up, expecting to see Radfewx aiming another shot at him. He knew he would never have the speed to dodge the next one.

Instead of a final blast of cold precise light from Radfewx's knife, Radfewx's attention was transfixed on the spot where Jeremy had been before the explosion. Jeremy's book lay on the ground opened at the middle, pages flipping in violent fashion back and forth. Every time the pages would flip a flash of an image appeared in the air above the book. The frequency and speed of the pages turning increased until the image above the book became a solid one like a camera projecting a film reel.

Jeremy squinted as he didn't know if he could believe his eyes. I must be dead, he thought to himself, there's no way I'm actually seeing my parents. The more his eyes regained their ability to focus on a single object and not see double, the more he understood that this was still real life and the suspended form of his parents was also real.

"Jeremy," the voice of his father, Brad Tierney, called out causing him to jump to his feet. "You've done so well son."

"We couldn't be more proud of you," his mother, Ellen, chimed in.

Struggling to ask a single question, his mother answered for him. "Didn't that silly writer tell you that no quill could ever influence your life. Everything they threw at you just slid off as you went through life."

"Yes, but he had you two killed didn't he?" Jeremy asked the two floating forms.

"More or less," Brad shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Radfewx raised his own voice to defy the newcomers.

"You writers are so arrogant, thinking that you control everything just because you can control something. Jeremy, long ago your mother and I met on a Fate-filled day. I knew right off that the two of us would always be hunted by these folk and when we found out we were pregnant with you, we had no choice that we could make."

"You're telling me you knew and you just gave up," Jeremy thundered, leaping to a hasty conclusion.

"Not exactly," His mother smiled with an honest joy at seeing her son grown. "We chose to allow them to think we were dead."

"You are dead," Radfewx refuted. "I wrote your death myself."

"In a sense, we are dead to your books and stories, but yet here we are walking among you having a conversation in real time. Instead we live from the myth and the words that are never written down on paper. We are not a machine or an A.I. designed to trick you," Ellen continued. "We live because we realized that there must be something even higher up in the food chain than even you writers."

"There is always a bigger fish in the sea," the tall man who echoed Jeremy's features summarized.

"You hid from us with Fate," Radfewx spit with disgust.

"I don't understand," Jeremy admitted to his parents.

"They're dead," Radfewx repeated his dissertation to Jeremy. "It's no matter that you wasted your physical form to join Fate. You're as good as dead and can do nothing to stop me from killing your son. Fate doesn't meddle with lower level events right? It's only concerned with keeping the lights on. Fate does not care whether someone lives or dies, is poor or rich, wise or dumb, pretty or ugly, Fate is not fair or just. Fate is uncontrollable."

"Is it true?" Jeremy asked, his knees shaking with uncertainty.

Looking into his mother's sad eyes Jeremy knew that his mothers love was real and genuine. "We left your plane of existence to join something bigger than all of us. Something where we could really make a difference protecting the universe from the like of the writers. You, my son, are the culmination of all of our sacrifice. We knew you were going to be a special boy when so many things went wrong during my pregnancy. We had no idea until Fate whispered in our ears that the writers had planned for you to become an eraser. They were going to implant ideas and stories in your head and have you write them down, knocking out entire civilizations. Effectively outsourcing their cleanup department to you so that they could keep their hands clean and pretend the sudden vanishing of entire worlds was just a glitch."

"But I've never finished a story in my life," Jeremy raised a point.

"Exactly!" His dad cheered. "There's something completely unexplainable in you, just as there was in me, that keeps them at bay. They could whisper in your ear all day long and you'd never finish a story, because deep down you knew it wasn't the story you wanted to make. What these creatures lack and do not understand is our human brand of imagination. We create from within, with heart and soul. They only know how to fill in the blanks. You knew those weren't the stories you wanted to make so you didn't and here we are. You refuse to stop fighting even after they've done everything in their power to destroy your life. You keep fighting and finding another way. It must be infuriating to them to see it happening to but have no way of stopping you as you move forward."

"I've had enough of this mumbo-jumbo unbelievable rhetoric," Radfewx roared. "I'm shutting that book and I'll end your son. Good luck not interfering with anything of importance."

The six-armed giant brandished his weapon and took a step towards the flickering forms of Jeremy's parents.

"Yeah, about that. We're gonna bend the rules, just this once," Jeremy's mother winked at his father.

Radfewx aimed his knife and blasted a stream of white light at them. The killing light had no effect as it passed through the flickering image.

Jeremy's parent's held out a single white daffodil in their hands. "You are fated to become one with the universe as you have always wanted. But trapped within the confines of everything, your sour mind and destructive lust will have no power." With a gentle manner his parent's blew on the petals of the flower, causing the white petals to fall over Radfewx. As each Pedal made contact with him, a part of his body disappeared. There was no pain in Radfewx's scream, only bloody vengeance and vows of retribution until there was nothing more.

The Last Chapter

"Quickly now, my son," the hologram of his father spoke.

Jeremy did not move. He heard them and wanted to walk towards them, but his mind stalled. Was it really over, he dared himself to believe what his eyes saw. There had been so many tricks of Radfewx's that he wasn't ready to accept the possibility that they had defeated him.

"Jeremy," His father asked again.

"Is he really gone?" he asked bewildered.

"Eh," his mother began. "We like to view it as more of a joining the infinite as opposed to dying. He is now a part of Fate and can do no more damage than can a light breeze on a summer day. His will is not the will of the collective Fate of the universe and so his power is no more."

Jeremy shook his head, still in disbelief. His eyes found his three remaining friends huddled together. It didn't take longer than a first glance to tell that the curse Radfewx had put over them was gone. Their eyes were clear and their natural personalities were back and on display. Cis and Mai ran over to him and pulled him into a friendly embrace.

"Jeremy," his father summoned once again.

This time he did turn to his father and walk towards his parents, releasing the comfort of his friends. As he drew closer to the still flapping pages of the book, he could see that there were tears in his mother's and father's eyes.

"We're so proud of you," Ellen repeated with a shallowness to her voice.

"Why are you sad?" Jeremy asked. "You put an end to Radfewx. You can come back and we can sever the writer's control forever. We can do it as a family."

His father was the one to answer. "I'm so sorry son, but we can't go with you. You have no idea how badly we wish we could come back and be a family, the three of us."

"You're not? You're not coming back. But it's over. We won." Jeremy could tell that the book's wild page flapping was losing speed causing the once solid portrait of his parents to blink and stutter.

"We made our decision long ago to join Fate in order to save so many more than ourselves. We cannot come back to you. We are forever a part of Fate as is Radfewx. The collective heeded our plea for help and allowed us to save you this night, but the price was and is our eternal contribution to Fate." his father explained through misty eyes.

Jeremy wasn't ready to lose his parents. There had to be a way to set things right for his parents, for all the lives destroyed by this war, and for Saesha. Overwhelmed by the swell of emotions and questions, Jeremy felt the world start to spin again.

"No, Jeremy. You cannot lose yourself to despair," his father commanded. "I promise you there will be a time to mourn and to recover. But in this moment, you must listen to us before it is too late."

"When we go," his mother began but stopped quickly. "When it is time for us to depart, you will no longer be protected by Fate. It is possible that things written in this book may now have more of a lasting impact on your life. The future is so unknown. We've only been able to gather bits of information about the true source of the writers tie to a single person, but it is widely regarded that once the writing has begun it cannot be permanently removed."

"What are you saying?" Jeremy's eyes were growing wide with fright.

Ellen continued. "I'm saying that because your book was the one that killed Radfewx and thus will result in a major change for all others, your book will turn to stone. The events will be unchangeable and permanent. All other stories that you have entered will also be fixed."

"That's a good thing right? That means Radfewx and the like of his can never come back. We can destroy the links to our worlds and be done with them forever."

It was his father's turn to explain, the strobing light was getting so sporadic that their images were now hard to recognize. "It very well might be the greatest thing, but it could end up being a terrible responsibility to hold. We do not know how long it will take for the book to become stone, but you have the chance to affect how the story is told of the Universe's freeing for years to come. Before you put anything down on paper understand that your changes could have untold effects. You may want to go back and save her, but trust me when I say it. Do not attempt to change life events. If you begin an edit, but are unable to finish before the book becomes stone you could leave a plot hole so big that ALL the universe's might stop existing. This book of yours is destined to become THE story of the Universe."

"We're so sorry, Jeremy. We wish we could tell you to go save her but it is imperative that you do not change things. You must ensure that the book remains shut and far away from a quill until it seals."

"We love you Jeremy,"they said together as the book wound down to a point that they were no more than a hint of what remained.

"I won't change anything I promise," Jeremy yelled back. "I love you too."

Jeremy watched as his mother sent a silent, teary-eyed kiss to him and dissolved completely from the image. His father tried to say more, but was quick to follow. They were gone and Jeremy felt a sense of numbness fill him. They had won, but to him it felt like it made no difference. The only people that might have ever loved him were gone.

The world began to spin around Jeremy as he became overwhelmed with emotion and exhaustion. His soul wanted to cry, his heart wanted to break, and his brain gave up on trying to make sense of anything that had transpired. Letting go, he nearly toppled over, but his friends were quick to catch him and save his head from a harsh landing.

"Come on buddy, up on your feet," Cis said pulling Jeremy back up and steadying him with his shoulder.

"Why?" Jeremy groaned. "There's nothing we can do."

"We need end finish now," Tal-sen croaked.

Jeremy turned his face to Cis and Mai to explain Tal-sen's cryptic words.

"We need to finish this war now. There are still writers fighting with Fifth worlders and others. We need to break their links to our worlds and then I think we can save your girlfriend," Mai said with a small smile.

"Don't tease me. I can't handle it right now. What are you talking about? She's dead," Jeremy shouted a little too loudly at Mai.

"I'm not teasing," the sparkle in her eye was something Jeremy desperately wanted to believe, but his gut wouldn't let him trust it.

"She's right," Cis agreed with Mai.

"But how? You heard my parents. We can't go back and change anything," as Jeremy was talking, he realized that the book was still laying on the ground opened at its middle, pages completely still. He abruptly detached himself from the conversation and picked up the book.

His eyes ran over the words as he fluttered through the pages to the end. He wasn't sure why he wanted to read the end, but felt compelled to see it.

"Jeremy don't, just close it and come over here. We have a plan and it will work," Mai pleaded with him.

Ignoring her, he continued till his eyes found the passage where Saesha had died. As the story was not Saesha's all his book had to say on the event was a simple, Lost love, died defending. That was it. That was the only memorial for Saesha in this book that would become permanent history for the entire universe. It didn't feel right to Jeremy. He wanted her memory to be known and her sacrifice to be remembered.

"Germy," Tal-sen nudged him.

Stealing his eyes away from the text, Jeremy met Tal-sen's equivalent to a sad face. His wood carved features and horns looked softer and worn after such a hard journey. But even as disfigured and haggard as his exterior looked, his eyes shone with an immense compassion that forced Jeremy to bow his head to the creature.

"Not good way to fix alive princess. Take her with me to machine of our life. Rebuild to new princess but not original. May work may...may work none."

As if a light bulb went off in Jeremy's head, he finally understood what Tal-sen was trying to tell him. Tal-sen would take the remaining feathers and dust of what remained of Saesha and the machine might be able to restore her, as it had countless others for millenniums for their people. Jeremy's smile faded as quickly as it had sprung up. "But the Dog-crab said that if a Fifth-worlder dies outside of the Fifth world then they die for good."

Tal-sen shrugged, his exposed bones rattling. "Only way is try."

Cis stepped in. "Okay here's the plan. Tal-sen, you take whatever you need. Go fix the princess for all of our sake's. Us three have some loose ends to tie up."

Jeremy snapped the book shut and agreed to the plan. He brought out his quill for what he hoped was the last time and opened a portal to the fifth world. Tal-sen jumped through and then it was three.

All three of them turned their attention to the many rows of the hive above them. Far above stood hundreds of writers who had fled from Jeremy's firestorm. Still too uncertain of the events they had just witnessed, they growled down at them, showing that the fight was still very much from being totally over.

"How do ya'll think we should go about this destroying the writers power once and for all." Cis asked the group as the writers began to encroach on them.

Jeremy had no clue but could tell that they did not have any time to spare as the writers were quickly reorganizing and would soon decide that it was in their best interest to simply kill them.

"Well I for one think the worst thing we could do is be backed into a corner from all sides," Mai observed. "Like we currently are."

"Come on man, draw on the pad and get us out of here," Cis urged Jeremy.

"And go where? I don't know how to shut this thing down. Did you two think I had some magical plan that was going to solve everything? "

"We just hoped," Mai started.

"Chill bro, you're freaking out. We only thought maybe Noal might have told you something to help us," Cis explained.

Throwing his hands up to indicate his lack of knowledge, Jeremy responded. "I got nothing."

Mai cursed under her breath as the writers began steadily marching from every direction, down the many levels of the hive. They were trapping them in.

They were running out of time and Jeremy was starting to panic. "It can't end like this."

"We'll if you don't want it to, I suggest you pull out some far out magical plan of yours to solve everything," Mai taunted as the three of them pressed together so that their backs were touching and they could each see a different section of the flood of six-armed giants pressing towards them.

Jeremy made mumbling noises as he racked his brain. Even getting so desperate that he smacked the book on his head a few times to attempt to joggle his mind for some clue or memory that would help them. The fourth time he forcefully pounded his head against the book actually hurt and made him consider the object in his hands.

"Ahhh damn!" Cis exploded.

"What?" They both yelled.

"We have to use the book," Cis shouted back.

"I don't know man. I think you were all right. Just keep it closed. Even if we die it's still better than screwing up the universe," Jeremy backpedaled.

"I'm not saying do it to save us. I'm saying use the time you might have left to write an ending that shuts down the writers."

"He's right," Mai confirmed. "It's what your parents were trying to tell you. Don't try to save anyone. No one person is worth saving the universe for, but it is worth saving the universe for everyone."

There was no time to argue. Jeremy was out of ideas and the writers were only ten rows above. He tossed Cis his fire sword and handed the laser gun to Mai. "Make a wall. Keep them away for as long as you can. I don't know how much time I have left until this book is sealed, but hopefully I can finish before they get through."

The fire sword roared to life and Cis set off to whirling it around in a circle, creating a temporary force field from the writers.

Mai patted Jeremy on the back. "Remember you don't have much time. Don't get emotionally attached. You can do this. You can stop the screaming that oozes from every corner of the universe's psyche. Go to the end and destroy their connection to us all."

The quill was in his hand and he found the last entry in the book. "Thank you all."

There was no more time left to talk. It was Jeremy's turn to step up and finish this once and for all. Nervously, he licked his fingers and flipped to the desired point of entry and touched his quill to the paper.

Jeremy blinked as he adjusted to the strange double mirrored way of viewing the world. At once in first and third person view, he studied the actions of his parents. They were at the part where Radfewx tried to kill them with his death ray.

He groaned as he realized that in order to get any information on how to shutdown the writers, he would have to get it from Radfewx.

Before his parents could pull out the dandelion and dissolve him into the Universe, Jeremy scratched out the death part and started writing fast and furiously.

Radfewx turned his knife on Jeremy and shouted. "I'm tired of listening to this mumbo jumbo fanciful bull crap."

I jumped and ran as the blast of white light illuminated the entire hive with it's brilliant ferocity. "Radfewx. I'll spare your life if you tell me the secret of the writers."

The buffoonish giant laughed at the proposal. "I'll tell you our secret, if you allow me to put our little writers hooks into you and your family. It's a fair trade. You could stop all of this pain, but we still get to make your entire life a living hell."

"I'll do it."

"You first."

"No way. Let's have your secrets. Fate will not interfere with this. I promise," I convinced him.

Radfewx, the foolish director, agreed. "The pillars that dot the landscape of our planet. They are our universe engines, or the other side of black holes. If they were to be destroyed then we would lose our ability to communicate with and warp those universes into how we see fit. Destroy those and all of our stories will become just empty words on paper."

"I'll destroy those now."

"Where's my end of the bargain?" Radfewx questioned.

"Yeah...about that I kinda lied," I said.

"Funny thing about how this writing thing works. You don't really get a choice in what happens, you just have to write it down," Radfewx said directly to Jeremy through both views of the scene.

"I don't have time for this. My parents will kill you now."

Jeremy turned to the spot where his parents should have been and in their place was just a scruffy looking book laying open in the middle of the floor. There was no longer a projection or a teary goodbye from his mother.

"I've got my hooks in you now and there is nothing you can do about it. Your life will always be suffering. You should have just died like I did, but you couldn't lay down and admit defeat. I'd feel sorry for you, but you are the abomination in this situation. I'll keep ruining your life, every one of them throughout all of time and space. I image we'll be clashing for all of eternity until the final story is written, Lord of Chaos."

"I'll fight you. I'll fight you this time, and every time someone opens this story it might be different, it might be a million years from now, but I'll fight you just as hard everytime. I might have it worse than before, but none of it will matter. Because your influence will be zero, these writers will be gone, and the universe will be free."

"Ah but freedom is an invention! The quill is her nemesis, and boy did the protagonist lose...sadly, they always do in the end, but the story is why we read."

Radfewx exploded on the spot from my mind bullet.

Mai, Tal-sen and Cis woke up from their daze. "You have to help me. I've really messed this up. Tal-sen take Saesha's feathers back and try to restore her using your life machine."

"What are you talking about. Slow down," Cis argued.

"We don't have time. The universe doesn't have time," I screamed. "Tal-sen take Saesha and bring her back. Can you do that for me please?"

"I do, Germy. I go, you come find love princess at end," Tal-sen nodded solemnly and escaped through a portal I made him.

"Okay. You two. Follow me," I started running up the hundreds of levels of the hive to where thousands of writers were huddled together still afraid from the fire storm.

I turned my laser gun on full blast and shot it. The entire column of writers in front of us puffed out of existence. We sprinted the rest of the way and made it to the top of the hive. Bursting through we ran into the forest of pillars that stretch taller than we could see above us.

"We have to destroy these things. All of them. It's what powers everything. If we break them, the writers won't be able to control universes any more," I told Mai and Cis.

"How the hell we supposed to do that?" Cis asked.

Jeremy didn't know.

"I can't believe I forgot to ask that part."

"Well shoot it or something. Don't just stand there," Mai commanded.

I aimed and charged my weapon to it's full power. Blasting one off it struck the nearest pillar. The pillar exploded sending shards of concrete and matter in all directions.

Mai appeared on my left. Tears were slowly falling from her milky eyes, "it's beautiful."

"What's beautiful?"

"The silence. It's beautiful."

"Wait? That actually worked?"

"For a very brief moment in time, there was peace and silence in the universe. We just need to figure out..."

"We need something bigger," Cis's loud voice echoed across the expanse. "Are these all connected?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well they seem to be positioned in grids, so I believe they most likely have some network of cables underneath them transferring all of that power to something. Sure this might be the way the writers power the universes, but where is the power stored and collected. If we destroy the central hub. It all goes down."

"That's it!" I shouted.

"We don't have to know where it is," Mai chimed in. "Just hit it with a lot of lightning. The surge of excess energy will be sent from node to node, building and building a huge charge and once it reaches the hub. It'll overwhelm it and explode."

I summoned a ball of lightning and unleashed it on the closest node. As soon as the lightning struck, it started glowing the same blue color that was made during a transfer. From base to top, the color of blue rose in intensity and brightness. A loud crack sounded once the overload hit the top of the column and it jumped to the next closest column. The process repeated more and more as each column was overloaded, cracked at the top, and sent balls of energy flying onto the next nearest column. It wasn't long before every column I could see was glowing full tilt and the constant overloading sounded like fireworks exploding far off in the night.

"I hope this works. We don't have much time," I said as the scar of Saesha's name on my chest started burning.

Mai looked at me with a quizzical expression. "Why don't we have much time?"

The End.

Afterward

Jeremy's last words may have ended the writer's control over us all and the universe may not have ended like Fate believed it would, but certainly it was changed. Like rain mixing together in a puddle all of the many universes the writers wrote about snapped into one mega-verse. Planets collided with suns and entire galaxies were lost, and to make matters worse stories collided with other novels that were previously separated by time, space and hardback book covers. What's next in the Universe of Chaos: Aliens fighting wizards, cats marrying dogs, chaos everywhere; well maybe not the middle one. A Universe of Chaos it truly has became. Be sure to follow this new universe of novels and short stories as the world of Aura evolves and writes its own unique path through history in the follow up, The King's Challenge.

