I had just left the grocery store, and it was the middle of the night. The air was very cold, as if winter had decided to announce its presence forcefully, and I was being carried on Luca's back. I was holding the book and reading their ending aloud to them, while they walked beside me, each holding a bag in one hand and a candy in the other. Different expressions were on their faces: some smiling, others raising their eyebrows, as they listened to me recite the final lines.
I reached the last sentence, and I didn't know how the words came out of me, feeling a strange mix of emotions: sadness for the ending, and hatred for this kind of ending.
"And the hero sacrificed himself to wipe out an age of madness and create an age of happiness... The End... Haaaaa..." A long sigh escaped me, one I hadn't realized I'd been holding in the entire time. I looked at the book in my hands, with many questions spinning in my head: Why? How did the novel end like this? Why did the ending turn into this unfortunate destiny? How many people sacrificed their lives for this ending?
I wondered internally: were their sacrifices worth all this? No... they weren't. If they had been more aware, it wouldn't have required all this pain.
I turned my head to the remaining six, with a little hope inside me that one of them might have an explanation for the ending or anything that would make me believe it was good. I wish I hadn't turned! Ahhh... I found strange expressions on each of their faces. Disappointment, astonishment, anger, sorrow, and disgust loomed in their eyes, as if the novel hadn't failed just me, but all of us.
"Haaa... That was a tragic ending! It's the first time I've felt bad for winning the bet, but I did win, Allen!" Luca said with a cold smile, extending his hand to Allen, waiting for him to hand over the bet money. His triumphant gaze carried a tinge of bitterness.
"Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying that was really the end?" Meliss asked with an angry and shocked expression, turning to me. Her eyes were burning, as if she was ready to get into a fight with the author himself.
"That's what's written here." I held up the book to her, pointing my finger at the last sentence. My tone didn't carry any victory; it was just an acknowledgment of the harsh reality.
"Are you saying my favorite character died for an ending like this?" Yuna asked in a sad and resigned tone, looking at the cup of hot chocolate she was holding. Her voice was faint, as if she was trying to absorb the shock of loss.
"My time... my time spent reading this novel was wasted! I wish I had slept instead of reading it." Liam said, looking at the pillow hanging on his back in a way that suggested he was ready to sleep at any moment, anywhere.
"You... your time was wasted, but me, my money, my dear money! I see it flying from my pocket to Luca's pocket." Allen said in an exaggerated, mournful tone, looking at Liam, then turning to Luca, whose face was etched with triumph. He looked at his extended palm, sighed regretfully, and took out the money with clear hesitation and pain, placing it in Luca's hand.
"Creating an age of happiness! That's nonsense in my opinion! As long as there is good, there is evil too." Ivan said in a philosophical, pained tone, looking at me and then turning to the rest.
"But the heroes' ending was tragic." Yuna said, shivering as she recalled their end.
"Yes, you're right. You know what? I still have nightmares because of that ending, and what made it worse was the author's drawing of it... ugh!" Ivan said, shivering, then a powerful sneeze interrupted the atmosphere. Meliss handed him a tissue and said with sisterly affection:
"Didn't I tell you to wear warm clothes? We're on the doorstep of winter." She took off her coat and placed it on his shoulder.
"I forgot... Oh, thank you, sis." Ivan said, nodding to her, gratitude visible in his eyes.
"Seriously...! Is anyone else affected besides me, or what? It's a novel we've been reading for ten years, you know!" I said, looking at them. Well, their reactions were within my expectations, yet I wished for a different kind of reaction; one that matched a novel that had lived with us for a long time. My eyes were still on the last sentence of the novel, searching for something I didn't find.
"Luyan!" Luca called my name, raising his head to look at me, as if he had read the silent sadness in my mind.
"Huh... what is it?" I lifted my head from the book to meet his eyes.
"I bet it was the best ending for them." He said, the look of deep sorrow and sadness clear in his eyes, as if the money bet had evaporated, replaced by a bet on fate.
"Yes, he's right. Death was the best ending for them. If they hadn't died, a worse fate would have awaited them." Meliss said with a strange, wise look, then took a bunch of cookies out of her bag. She put one in my mouth and handed the rest out.
"Well, even though their way of dying was scary..." Liam said, yawning and taking a cookie from Meliss, trying to lighten the subject.
"Just their ending? The whole novel is strange and scary." Allen said, counting the remaining money in his pocket, preoccupied with the material, trying to distract his mind from the ending.
"Well, the novel's events spared neither hero nor villain." Ivan said, looking at the quiet, cold road. Then, as if it were a moment of collective solace, none of them broke the silence of the night.
I looked at them for a moment, then lifted my head, realizing the dark atmosphere. The night was cold and dark, and the only consolation was the dim streetlights. I sighed and reread the novel. I didn't know why, but I wanted to read it again. Yes, I knew what I felt, and I knew what they all felt. We wished for a happy ending for them... a warm ending. We wished someone had helped them, be they heroes or villains. We wished someone had extended a helping hand to them, but I guess the novel had cursed them forever. Our wish was simple: a little warmth and rescue for characters we loved, but it seems their destiny was sealed with cruelty and loss.
"Well, but the most tragic and heartbreaking thing in it is the love! Ahh, everyone who loved had an unbearable end. I remember we rooted for many couples, but look where we've ended up, hahaha! We've started wishing them a quick, easy death to find peace," Yuna said, her eyes breaking the night's calm with a flicker of sorrow. Then she laughed, but her laugh wasn't ordinary; it was dry and regretful.
Then she turned to us and said in a tone she tried to make cheerful: "Well, it's a good thing we agreed to stay single forever! That's much better than other love troubles." They all laughed, nodding their heads in agreement with her, a resonant laugh trying to lighten the mood. I looked at her, agreeing internally. I smiled, remembering that six years had passed since that promise.
"Let's forget about love matters for now! Who do you think was the smartest?" I asked to lighten the mood. I smiled, knowing I would ignite another type of conflict we had passionately grown accustomed to.
"It's the villains! Most of their plans succeeded," Luca said, looking at the rest with a gaze ready for argument and challenge.
"No, it was the heroes! Although they mostly fail, we can't deny their plans were brilliant. If it weren't for their bad luck, they would have won," Yuna said, arguing with Luca stubbornly.
"I think it was the villains. I mean, they were able to make a lot of money from their plans," Allen said, raising his head after finishing counting his money, with strict, practical logic.
"It was the heroes! Even though no one stood by them, they still tried to protect people," Ivan said in a poignant tone, defending lost nobility. He then turned to his sister, who said:
"Brother, don't rely on emotion in your judgment! Anyway, the villains' ending was a little more merciful than the heroes'."
"Merciful, my foot! Who are you fooling, Meliss? It was just as bad, if not worse! The funny thing is that the heroes weren't the ones who caused this ending for them," Liam said, yawning and shaking his hand with defeated boredom.
"Okay, that's enough! Both the heroes and villains are fools," I said, smiling regretfully at their argument, which always ended this way. They turned to me, nodding seriously at my statement.
"Anyway, they say the author will make a new novel about the same world as well..." Ivan was interrupted by shouts of opposition from all sides:
"No!" "Impossible!" "I won't read it, and you won't read it! This is your last year before entering university, so you have to study hard to catch up with me, Allen, and Luca," Meliss said, giving us a terrifying look, similar to a mother commanding her children to study. We all nodded in compliance mixed with inner laughter.
Hahahaha, I laughed internally at her as I looked at her. Yes, that's the Meliss I know! Then I turned to everyone. Although I've known them for more than eleven years, and most of us weren't blood siblings, we were the dearest of friends.
What am I saying? Friends? Ahh! We all know internally that we are much more than that. We feel for each other. If one of us is happy, you find everyone happy with them, and if one is sad, you find all of them comforting them with sincerity and depth. I sighed, smiling. We... we are family, and I am proud and happy about that.
Then I looked again at the book in my hands, a book... and I let out a heavy sigh. I recalled the novel's events and thought about those words, characters, and events that still insistently revolved in my head. I sighed deeply again as I made a decision that deeply saddened my heart.
"I think I should throw it away," I said in a tone overcome by the bitterness of sorrow.
They all turned to me, their expressions carrying a mixture of different emotions: some sighed, but they met me with a strange determination in their eyes.
"Yes, let's do it! I mean, keeping it with us will only remind me that I was deprived of sleep to read it," Liam said, looking at me with uncharacteristic determination, as if trying to convince himself before convincing me.
"I agree with Liam. Looking at it will remind me that I gave my money to Luca," Allen said in a bitter tone full of regret, reliving the money he lost because of his foolish bet with Luca.
"You mean the money you lost, not the money you gave," Luca corrected him with a confident, wicked smile, then turned to me with a strange tone, as if leaving the choice to me with a touch of feigned indifference: "Luyan, throw it if you want. I won't object."
"I agree with him. If I keep it, I'll remember my favorite's ending every time I look at it," Yuna said in a tender, sad tone, giving me a look filled with disappointment.
"Yes, it's better to throw it away because it causes me terrible nightmares," Ivan said, then turned to me with features dominated by real terror, but his features quickly transformed into a strange determination as he said impulsively: "Wait! Before you throw it, we have to do something. Follow me!"
Ivan smiled that mischievous smile and ran toward the park near our house. We had no choice but to follow him. Then he looked at us and said with overwhelming excitement:
"We're going to do what it says brings happiness! It was in the book, and I've always wanted to try it! Now, before throwing the book, we must try it! Come on, put the bags aside and sit in a circle. Luyan, give us the book!"
He said it with strange enthusiasm, a look of fervent curiosity gleaming in his eyes. I gave him the book, laughing with the others at his impulsiveness. I turned to find them all excited except for one. I got off Luca's back to find him muttering a low complaint:
"Ugh... I hope we don't get into another problem."
Luca sighed with a weary look, watching our exploding enthusiasm. I laughed at that; well, he's the one who always cleans up our mess.
"Alright, let's do it!" I said, about to sit down, only to find Ivan turning to me and explaining fully:
"The youngest, Luyan, sits in the middle. So, we'll be a circle, and you sit in the center. That's what's written here. It was hard to translate from the ancient language," Ivan said, reading the book and complaining about the difficulty of the language it was written in, then continued: "Let everyone place something dear to them in front of them. Of course, something inanimate and not a person!"
No sooner had he said that than he placed a serious-looking box of food in front of him. I turned to everyone to see that Meliss had placed her sword, which I don't know where she got it from, Yuna placed her blue necklace, Liam placed his comfortable pillow, Allen placed a shiny pile of gold coins, and Luca placed a book I knew how much he loved and cherished. Then they all looked at me.
In turn, I placed a gold pocket watch that had two layers: one for the watch, and the other holding a picture of all of us. I smiled as I looked at it, then placed it in front of me.
"Now, close your eyes and repeat after me," Ivan said with strange seriousness, uttering incomprehensible words, and we repeated after him with faith mixed with curiosity. As soon as he finished, we opened our eyes.
"I didn't feel anything," I said with some disappointment, looking at Ivan, whose features showed clear signs of sadness because the attempt hadn't succeeded.
"Come on, Ivan, happiness doesn't happen quickly. My only fear is that it will backfire on us now!" Luca said, trying to alleviate Ivan's disappointment with a sarcastic tone. We all stood up, taking our belongings to return home.
"Hurry up! If someone looks at us, they'll think we're crazy fools," I laughed with gentle sarcasm while gathering the bags from the ground, forgetting for a moment the decision to throw the book away.
"I wished it had at least rained money on us," Allen said in a joking, sarcastic tone, looking scornfully at Ivan and laughing.
"Hahahaha, it's not funny, Allen! I really felt like we would succeed! But as Luca said, maybe it will take some time... Oh, who am I kidding, for heaven's sake!" Ivan exclaimed with regret and frustration, looking desperately at the book in his hand, then said to me:
"Well, time to throw it away... Ah, what about the previous parts and the rest of the things we bought? Like the keychains, phones, and cards?" he asked, raising both eyebrows in confusion and worry about the material loss.
"We must sell them! Why throw away money, for heaven's sake?" Allen said quickly and grumblingly, looking at me and Ivan with annoyance at the idea of waste.
"Just throw away this book, it has annoying pictures for my eyes. Now, home, I feel tired," Liam said with boredom and exhaustion, rubbing his eyes uncomfortably.
"Yes, well, it was a phase... now let's go," I told them calmly and steadily as we continued walking down the road. Then we stood in front of the trash can; the atmosphere was quiet, like a final farewell. Then we all held the book and said in one voice:
"3... 2... 1... Goodbye."
Yes, we threw it away, smiling at it with a calm, accepting smile for the ending.
"Now, let's go home," Ivan said, looking at us with slight relief after making the decision.
"What do you think would happen if we were in it?" I asked thoughtfully, and they all turned to me.
"We'd steal all the money in their world," Allen said with a mischievous and playful smile.
"We'd protect them... I wish to protect both the heroes and the villains," Yuna said, smiling a calm, emotional smile that reflected her desire for peace.
"Don't say that! I wish for some quiet," Liam said with a grumbling look, unwilling to have trouble.
"In short, we'd flip the entire novel's system," Luca said, looking at me with confidence and conclusion.
"Yes, but I don't want to be in it," Ivan said, his features dominated by terror and fear, so I looked at them and smiled.
"Yes, our world is crazy, and we don't need additional craziness. So, now the obstacle ahead of us is graduation and going to university," I said calmly and with determination, noticing that we were approaching home.
Then Allen turned fully to us and said with a slight cunning smile:
"Oh, just so you know... the renovations are about to be finished."
Ah, yes... the renovations.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to soothe them from the strain, and when I opened them, the blood froze in my veins. Suddenly, I saw a circular gate glowing green and blue, opening with terrifying silence behind Allen and pulling him in with breathtaking speed.
I didn't understand how I reached him so fast, but I rushed like a maniac and immediately grabbed his hand, trying to pull him away from this mysterious and sudden danger.
Then I felt the rest of them pulling Allen and me away from the gate as well. Everything was so fast and so confusing, so much so that we didn't have time to scream or even try to resist. We glimpsed the terror in each other's eyes before everything vanished.
In the next moment, the gate suddenly grew, as if it swallowed us all at once into its cold depths. I tried to scream, but nothing came out of my throat... The shock and awe paralyzed everything inside me.
But amidst this paralysis, I don't know where the strength came from, so I quickly shouted with all the consciousness I had left:
"Hold on to each other!"
As if they heard my voice piercing the chaos, everyone grabbed the person closest to them: Yuna grabbed Ivan, Meliss grabbed Liam, and Luca grabbed Allen and me. A strange feeling of fleeting safety that didn't last long.
But a terrible pain surged through me, as if my bones were shattering and being remade! A sharp, indescribable pain, a wrenching of life from the body! From the shock and agony that blinded my senses, I let go of Allen's hand, who didn't feel me at that moment because of the intensity of the pain.
Then, as if he noticed, he looked at me with swift terror and tried to grab me, but a strange and overwhelming light engulfed us. I felt myself burning... burning completely! This is painful, so painful... Oh my God!
Then everything around us disappeared, and only a mysterious light consuming us remained... And after that, I didn't know if we would survive or not...