"Where are we going?", I quietly asked, as we stepped onto the 5th floor of an old apartment building, next to an old parking lot of equal size with practically no cars in there.
'Well, maybe now that the government's planning to renovate this area, it'll be filled up from now onwards.'
"My place.", Ami explained, pulling out a key from underneath her cloak. She opened a bright red door that was perfectly in the centre of the floor. I frowned, noticing just how much it stood out amongst the other doors.
'Weird.'
"Get rid of your clothes before-"
"Yeah, yeah.", I cut her off, quickly scurrying into the room, hoping for some warmth. Only to be disappointed by the lack of it.
With a sigh, I reluctantly dropped my clothes and moved to the centre of the room. It was a surprisingly empty room with nothing but a musty couch and a mini-fridge in the corner of the room.
Ami grabbed an item from it, then threw it at me.
"Hurry, inject yourself with that."
It was an antidote to the rain's effects. Before she shut the fridge door shut, I saw multiple boxes, filled with them. I'd have to sell my ear off to buy even one of those, let alone an entire box.
"I figured Story Walkers were immune to the effects of Story Domes. Why would you need that many for the rain?"
I injected the antidote into my right thigh, flinching at the sharp prick. I couldn't feel anything happening so I assumed the antidote would take some time to work.
"That's an unfortunately common misconception, but we don't have time for that now."
"Right, the Tome."
"Yes, the tome. But also, there's something I didn't quite explain to you before now."
"And that is?"
"Well, I'm not the only one who was looking for you.", She casually explained, taking a seat on the couch. She crossed her legs and dropped her hood, smirking mockingly at me. "I'm definitely the best one and its lucky thing for you that I was the one who did, but others will be coming after you.
My eyes widened at the bombshell news.
"H-How many of them?"
"I'm not sure. Assume over ten."
"What do they want with me?"
That was a stupid question. Of course, I knew what they wanted with me. It was what everyone wanted with anyone related to my father. Revenge.
Feeling light headed, I fell to the floor, trying to control my breathing.
Eight years on the run. Eight years of hiding. Eight years of eating from trash cans. Eight years of mutilating myself to survive. Gone, just like that.
'What was the point of all it?'
"Oh, don't tell me you're giving up.", Ami's husky voice cut through my thoughts. "Sure, they're coming for you, but you have the power to fight back now. Or rather, you'll have the power to fight back."
From underneath her cloak, she pulled out a Tome and dropped it gently on the ground right before me.
I'd seen multiple Tomes before and each was always different in design. This one was on the more simplistic side, with an elegant black case and golden embroidery on its spine and corners. The gold stretched out from the corners like the branches of a tree, onto the centre of the book with a dull red gem was firmly placed.
There was something familiar about it even though I was quite certain I'd never seen it before. It felt strangely, welcoming. My outstretched hand was stopped by Ami's voice.
"Careful. Wouldn't want you going in there unprepared now, would we?", She leaned forward.
I blinked multiple times, then shook my head.
"There's not a lot of time, so I'll give you a quick rundown of what you need to know."
I nodded my head, and looked at her with laser focus. She was right. With the power from the Tome, I'd be able to fight back. The kinds of abilities it gave were endless.
"When you enter the Tome, you'll typically be given a general run down of the story up to the point you're at. For most Tomes, that's the very start of the story, so there's not a lot of information given."
"That doesn't sound fair."
"I'd have agreed with you, but the Tomes give multiple clues in the stories. Your starting location, the abilities you gain in there and casual conversation with characters in the Tomes. They're typically more than enough to figure out the goal of the story you're in and what you can do to end it."
"Okay, understood."
"No. I don't think you do, Atlas."
"What?"
"When you enter the Tomes, you'll be tempted to treat it as if everything happening in there is actually real. Don't forget, it's all set dressing and characters, not real places and definitely not real people. They're characters following a character trope. Just try to understand the narrative and you'll be fine."
"I… see."
I assumed she was going to give me a run down on how arcs, semblances and roles worked. However, she gave me even something stranger.
I actually never considered how real anything in a Tome could be.
"If you're saying that because you think I won't be able to kill anyone in there, you're sorely mistaken. Son of humanity's worst genocidal maniac here, remember?"
She stared at me with blank eyes before laughing hysterically.
"Oh, hell no. Killing characters? That's such… I never even considered that my first time in a Tome. You really are a maniac. I only told you that so you can pinpoint which characters matter and how best to exploit them. Anyway, there's no time, so I'll leave you now."
"Leave? Where are you going?"
"Well, there's a pack of hungry wolves coming after you at this very moment. If you succeed, your body will reappear right here in this very room. So, I have to set some traps."
"I see." I furrowed my brow's and strained a smile.
I already knew it from how we met, but she was an absolutely terrifying person. I assumed her goal was to get me to enter this Tome, but she was also using me to hunt down whoever was coming after me. Her reason for that was beyond me, but I doubt I'd get any answers if I asked.
She left the room, leaving me with the strange book. I took in a deep breath as I steeled my resolve, then picked up the Tome. The very moment I flipped open its pages a melodic voice spoke to me, perhaps directly to my soul.
[Welcome, Valiant Candidate!]
[May you bless us with your grand tale!]
A simple, yet warm invitation.
The next moment was a bit hard to describe. The book disappeared from my hand, as did the room I was in. It felt like my soul was pulled out of my body forcibly and with that came the removal of all physical pain. All the missing organs, fresh scars, aches and sicknesses I'd accumulated disappeared just like that. For the first time in years, I felt, relieved.
I was in the Tome.
To my left, there was a thin sheet of ancient parchment. To my right, there was a quill.
[Which option would you like to proceed with?]
"Option? There's options in the tomes? I've never heard of this."
I walked? Floated? Moved? Towards the two objects. Upon closer view, I got no better clue. They were still a quill and parchment. I folded my arms, confused.
"What exactly am I supposed to do with this? Can I get more information?"
Unfortunately, my request was not fulfilled. Of course, I wasn't expecting any response. From what I'd gathered, the tomes weren't particularly fond of elaborating on anything. Everything humanity knew about the stories was learned from trial and error and intense investigations, as well as everyone pooling together bits and pieces of information they had. A lot of blood and sweat were shed for what we knew.
That was truly humanity's greatest strength. Perhaps, that was a part of the reason that man enacted his absurd plan.
"Knowing him, he probably had some dumb quote like 'A united herd can fend off a powerful wolf' or something."
I scoffed, then snapped out of my strange rant.
"Paper and a pen, huh? Some kind of clue?"
If I was right, and these two items were some sort of clue, I needed to think more carefully before choosing. I already had an idea as to what the two meant, but I couldn't be sure, because I'd never heard of people opening tomes to see options.
Some might find it strange that the son of humanity's greatest story walker had no information about this, but that would have to be blamed on my father. Everything I knew about stories, I learnt after being put on the run. Out of all his children, my father kept me specifically away from that side of the world. Most likely because I was his most disappointing child.
"Damn you, old man. Even after you died, I'm still suffering from your choices."
Looking at the parchment, I immediately thought of it as the pages of the tome. Each tome contained a story that was supposed to be cleared by walkers before a set time. Were they to fail, the tome would achieve a 'bad ending', whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, then break loose, causing the evil to seep into our reality.
So, I surmised the parchment was to represent the set story of the tome. Meaning, choosing it would allow me to accomplish the tome like I was normally supposed to.
I then turned to the quill and frowned.
"Well, how else do you make a story."
You wrote one.
If I was right, the quill meant the creation of a new story. Rather than completing the set story of this Tome, I was being given the option to make a new one.
What exactly did that mean for me and the tome though? Would I even theoretically be able to finish the tome? What would a bad ending look like? How would I even finish an arc?
There were so many questions and possibilities and no answers.
"This is quite… vexing."
Even though I said that, I found myself grinning from ear to ear. My non-existent heart started to palpitate at the mere prospect of choosing the quill. Stepping into the unknown and being the first and only person to discover this new piece of information.
What kinds of rewards would I reap from this? What kind of power would I attain?
"That man tamed a storm all because he was lucky enough to survive birth in a grade 8 tome and acquire an amazing ability. What kind of ability can I get from clearing such a special tome, hm?"
I tried my hardest to stifle the growing excitement. I grabbed the quill without any hesitation.
[You have chosen the role of the [Story Forger]]
[You have received access to first Tier of the [Story Forger] role]
[You have been given the ability [Intuition]]
In the end, I couldn't contain my excitement. Having confirmed that my path in this Tome was most likely different from everyone else, I simply found it too hard to logically consider what negatives it might have had. I only thought of potential positives.
"I got a unique role and even an ability at the very start! Wait for me, you shitty world! All of you who punished me for the sins of that bastard. I'll get an ability so terrifying and awesome, you'll have no choice but to leave me alone! And then I'll-"
Before I finished yelling, the scene before me changed in an instant.
Suddenly, I was staring at a clear blue sky. A gentle breeze brushed my skin and the sweet scent of flowers tickled my nose.
I shot upright, quickly surveying my surroundings. I was in a field of red and yellow flowers, surrounded by thick maple trees. Directly behind me, there was a fallen marble structure, resembling an arch.
'So this is the world of the tome? It really is realistic, huh? I can't tell the difference.'
And then, it all came rushing back. Internal bleeding, several body aches, the fresh scars from surgeries, the pain from stubbing my toe in the pavement crack and the loss of vision in my eye. I struggled to not let out a cry as I clutched myself into a ball, waiting to get used to it all once again.
'Damn it.'
I somehow retained my original body in the tome.
'Why?'
It clicked instantly. Typically, story walkers would be given roles of existing characters in the stories. As a [Story Forger], I wasn't an existing character. There was no new body to be given.
Then, even more fear settled in. If I wasn't an existing character in the Tome, that meant, I couldn't acquire a Semblance. Semblances were abilities Story Walkers borrowed from the characters they played in the Tomes.
'That means I'm only stuck with [Intuition]?! What the hell? I-I made a mistake!'
I sighed, only now truly understanding the gravity of my choice.
Rapid thunderous sounds boomed, forcing me out of my thoughts. Like the sharp blades of a helicopter cutting through the air. I didn't even have to search for the source of the sound, as a massive shadow quickly flew over me.
I looked up and was stunned.
With a creamy, pale underside, red scales covering its pair of legs, two massive wings that flapped furiously, like the wings of bees and a black, hooked beak and curled horns, I couldn't mistake this creature for anything else. Although unusual, it was… "A dragon?!"
I exclaimed, only covering my mouth only after I yelled that out. Fortunately, the dragon didn't seem to have noticed me as it simply flew by.
A sharp pain struck my head as the dragon disappeared out of my view. The longer I spent grunting and sitting on the floor, the more intense the pain got. On instinct, I got up and gave follow to the terrifying creature.
The pain lessened the more I walked in the dragon's flight path, but with that came another form of pain. My body was struggling to keep up with my demand for it to manoeuvre through the grassy terrain, thick roots of the trees and randomly placed rocks barefooted.
Eventually, I burst out of the forest onto an open field of grass and immediately, all pain vanished. Instead a mix of awe and despair filled my body as I struggled to understand what I was seeing.
A massive city stood proudly, next to a lake a third its size. Simple housing structures that all looked alike due to their orange tiled roofs formed a uniquely complex weave of roads that all led up to a magnificent castle in the city's centre. The castle itself was surrounded by an impressive catenary dome, with 8 perfect spires jutting out from the base.
It resembled an overly sophisticated cage for the precious, unmovable castle. Or perhaps a wall to ward off assaults.
Which was being put to the test at the very moment.
Casting terrifying shadows down on the castle, a flock of seventeen red dragons, hovered furiously above the castle. Like predators patiently awaiting their prey, then, out of nowhere, a beam of bright golden light shot down from the sky, piercing the clouds. For a moment, I saw a something shatter right before the beam landed, instantly obliterating the dome.
And that was when the dragons began their assault.