I had a lot of things on my mind. No matter where I went, these thoughts just continued to go through my head. My previous objective hadn’t really been completed. To be honest, I think I just got really tired and decided to go home. Nearly everyone else seemed to do the same. I have not heard that much about what went down since then, but I had been worrying about it.

I just don’t understand what we all witnessed in the end. Who was this guy calling himself “the author” and why did he look and even sound like me? Why did he say he wanted everyone to die? Why did he say he no longer cared? Who’s changing this “story” that we’re apparently all in?

Who did “that person” even work for? Most importantly though, what happened to everyone afterwards? I just have too many questions and not enough answers and it’s been making my head hurt. I kept thinking about those events only to have my thoughts interrupted by a voice.

“This Guy!” it said.

“…What?” I responded.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

It was at that moment that I realized where I was. I was in the cafeteria with a few friends at our usual table. We had a “system” there too, where there has to be a seat open between each of us. To my right was Isaac, the guy who just spoke, on the left was Stuart and Catherine sat at the opposite end of the table.

“…Yes.” I answered, “Just thinking about… stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” asked Stuart, “Does it have to do with browser history?”

“No.” I responded my head down on my right hand in my face.

“Are you going to be okay?” asked Catherine.

“Probably.” I answered.

It wasn’t much later, but the bell rang and we headed for our next classes. I walked slowly to the locker room, changed, and came out into the gym and walked up to another friend, James who was leaning up against the wall. Y'know, the guy I've known since Kindergarten. Back then, we actually went to the same daycare.

As the years went by, I started to see less and less of him. He ended up going to a different elementary school when we were in third grade. By the time we reached middle school, while we attended the same one, we rarely ever spoke to each other. It was the same when we reached high school, at least for the first few years.

This year, we ended up having three classes together and in one of them he didn’t really know any of students in there [at the beginning of the year] except for me. It was a little awkward for me trying to talk to him again, but I managed to get over it. I actually thought at one point that we wouldn’t talk to each other ever again.

I usually start by talking about whatever’s on my mind: it could be about the pre-calculus class that both of us had, video games, something that happened with Isaac, Catherine, and Stuart, or anything else I felt like I might want to talk about. For the first half of class, we would walk around the gym talking about stuff, and then participate in whatever our teacher, wanted us to do in the latter half of the class.

“Is something bothering you?” he asked.

“Erm, no.” I answered, “Just thinking about a lot of stuff.”

“Like what?” asked James.

“Do you wish you could play a greater role in society and not be a pathetic waste of space?” I said.

“Ron, what do you mean by that?” asked James.

“You could just sit back doing nothing,” I replied, “but you could also get up off your ass and do something important!”

“Like what, exactly?” asked James.

“Like saving the world or some other world, or all the worlds at the same time!” I continued, “Maybe even more than once…?”

“You’re… not making any sense.” he commented.

“And maybe you start something,” I went on, “but you don’t finish it, and you’re just left with this desire to change that?”

“Um… sure?” he replied.

The rest of the class went normally and then we all left. Once it was time for the last class, I headed to a restroom and soon I was just looking at myself in the mirror.

“What happened?” I thought to myself, “Things sure have changed. My first full quest was only a few years ago. Pretty much everyone that I went on that quest with is gone. Well, a few still go to this school, but we don’t talk to each other much. Well, life happens, people end up moving, friends are made and lost… as hard as it may be to accept this... we all have to at some point.”

Realizing I don’t have much time left, I headed for my final class of the day. Several students were waiting outside the classroom, because our teacher had yet to get there, since he had another class located near the other side of the building. When I got there, I found Catherine, since she also had the class.

“Did you do the assignment?” she asked.

“Nope!” I answered.

Mr. Bullard arrived not too much later, unlocked the door and let us in. The class went the same as it usually went, but it was afterward that strange things started occurring. Of all the ways I could be pulled into my next quest, I never thought it would be like this. On my way out of class, somebody pushed me toward a wall.

“L-Lucas!?” I exclaimed, “Why!?”

“You killed her!” he responded.

“I killed who?” I said, “What are you talking about!?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, ‘author’,” he went on, holding up a slip of paper, “I have a signed confession from you.”

“But I’m not ‘the author’!” I exclaimed, “Please, Lucas… settle down or somebody is going to call the cops!”

“Be quiet.” he said, angrily while holding a a glowing green sword up to my neck.

“How about THIS!?” I responded, clapping my hands together.

Suddenly, a small black cat fell from above, landing on top of his head, causing him to drop his sword.

“Do you STILL think I’m ‘the author’!?” I exclaimed.

“Of course.” answered Lucas, “‘The author’ can do whatever and that includes your damn cats!”

“Grrnl.” I responded, making a cat-themed sword appear in each of my hands, “If it’s a fight you want, then you’re gonna get one!”

Suddenly, he grabbed at his green magic gem, making it appears as if he was going to pull another sword out of it. He suddenly had two magic swords. We ran at each other, striking sword against sword, and then before I knew it, his magic swords turned into guns and he started shooting at me, crazily. Luckily, I was able to dodge every single bullet. Then, I made a cat-themed shield appear in my right hand, bouncing bullets back at him, while trying to strike with the sword I had in my left hand.

“Knock it off!” we both heard a voice say, “Both of you seem to be raising hell right now.”

Lucas and I put down our weapons.

“He started the altercation!” said Lucas.

“That’s actually not true,” I said, “he attacked first.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t killed my sister!” responded Lucas.

“Calm down!” the man said again, “Easy now. Mistaking one for a villain and killing them can earn you two thousand years in the hell of sharp blades.”

“Still as obsessed with hell as ever, aren’t you, Matthias?” said Lucas.

“Your sister?” I said, “You think I'M the one that killed her?”

“You DID kill-” started Lucas.

“Stop.” interrupted Matthias, “Our search for ‘the author’ continues. We have not found him yet! Ron here is only capable of producing anything cat-themed or related.”

“Can you put your weapons down, please?” I said.

“Fine.” said Lucas, “Sorry for taking it out on you.”

“Really sucks that had to happen.” I added.

“We’ve been trying to track down ‘the author’ since that day,” said Matthias, “and now we have an idea of where he might be. I would’ve told this young man sooner if he hadn’t run off trying to figure this out on his own!”

“…!” responded Lucas.

“So, where do you think he is?” I asked.

“He seems to be located in an unnamed dimension that we cannot access yet.” answered Matthias, “But that’s where you and possibly your strange friends come in. We need you to collect three magical keys, to open the other world’s front gate.”

“How did you do all that?” I heard a familiar voice say.

I turned around and saw Catherine before saying, “You’re still here?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said, “but the windows and doors have disappeared, so nobody can get out.”

Then, I noticed how empty the halls looked.

“It looks like nearly everyone left though.” I commented.

“They all seemed to vanish… literally.” replied Catherine.

“This must be ‘the author’s’ fault,” said Lucas, “he’s continuing to make strange things happen.”

“This guy!” I heard another familiar voice say.

I turned around and saw Isaac and Stuart.

“You’re here, too?” I said.

“Well, nobody can leave.” responded Stuart.

“Ron, what did you so!?” I head another familiar voice say.

“Mikaela, I didn’t do anything this time.” I answered.

“This time…” asked Matthias.

“I still have your soul.” I heard yet another familiar voice say.

“Goddammit,” I said, turning around to face Simon, “anyone else around?”

“You guys are stuck here too?” I heard one more familiar voice say.

It was James.

“Great.” I said, “The gang’s all here. Now everyone can die together.”

“If that will be all of you,” said Matthias, “we should get going.”

“Where are we supposed to be going?” asked Catherine.

“To another dimension,” answered Matthias, “and I’ve been told by a certain magical person that everyone that doesn’t have a power will end up with one of some kind when they arrive.”

Matthias pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed them into the air, then he gently moved them down in a straight line, making it look as if he was tearing a hole in our world. When he was done, he told us to get in. Then, I led everyone else to a place I had been before: the kingdom of Mihr'hai. Once were all there, Matthias stuck his scissors in the hole and gently slid them in the opposite direction.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

“Because the first key is located here.” answered Matthias.

“And you couldn’t get it yourself?” I responded.

“Well, I said we need YOU.” answered Matthias.

“What is this place?” asked Stuart.

“Well then,” I said, “this is probably going to be a long afternoon. Most importantly, how will we know where to look?”