Author: So remember two chapters ago that the last chapter I'll post is the previous chapter? Well, I changed my mind. This one will be the last chapter.
Bye bye peeps.
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On that day, humanity received a grim reminder...
The terror of being ruled by them...
The humiliation of being kept in a cage.
*BOOOOOOOOM!*
A teenager named Eren clutched his ears.
He was at a loss for words. What he could only describe as a thousand thunders shook his very being.
"Urgh! Don't stop! We can't stop! Mikasa!"
Eren managed to take half a step before he, too, had to take a knee. The unprecedented loudness of the noise induced vertigo, making his legs unsteady. Their brains were quite literally rattled by the shockwaves.
The people living within the walls would soon regain their bearings.
Once the noise died down, they noticed a very obvious change. It was as though all the sounds in the world were muted by the louder one.
The terrifying, man-eating monsters were gone.
Like smoke in the wind, they simply ceased to be. Interestingly enough, an unhealthy amount of smoke descended on the city, but that only lasted for a few breaths.
"Is this a dream, or are we dead?" Eren waved the smoke away. He couldn't believe it. "They're really gone," he continued. "That doesn't make sense! We saw the titans, they broke in!"
Mikasa spoke up. "Look. Over there."
Wren followed her gaze and saw another shocking change made apparent. (not a typo)
"What... what is that?"
A deep blue layer of ice had sealed the hole in the wall. It was so incredibly thick that the sun couldn't shed light into its chillingly dark center.
Where it came from or how it got there, no one knew.
But seeing that the hole created by that colossal titan was sealed, then...
"...Are we safe now, Eren?"
"Don't be stupid! They could still be out there!"
With interlinking fingers, the duo ran and ran, occasionally peeking past their shoulders.
No titans pursued them. They continued running all the same. Any sane person did.
They zigzagged through the hometown they grew up in. The streets in their memories clashed with the grim reality before them. The titans may have inexplicably disappeared, yet they were not freed from the death and destruction they wreaked.
The titans were gone, but the bodies remained. The crumbling houses were on the brink of collapsing. In the silence those monsters left behind, the cries of the surviving victims only became louder.
Eren and Mikasa ran into an abandoned building that provided good cover. While catching their breaths, keeping as quiet as possible, they heard a grunt.
"Hup!"
Eren peeked through a cracked window.
A boy around the same age as them was pulling a man out of the rubble. They were completely filthy, to the point that the boy seemed like he had purple hair.
"That guy is pulling out the uncle from the bakery... he won't make it..." Eren said. The baker's breathing was shallow, and injuries covered him from head to toe. This was just another of the many ways they had seen a person die. Eren gritted his teeth, fury already consuming him.
Skittish footsteps made their way to where Eren and Mikasa hid. They held their breaths.
"E-Eren! Mikasa! Thank goodness, you're alive!"
""Armin!""
It was their friend.
Eren and Mikasa were surprised when Armin stumbled into the building and were happy to see him alive. They pulled him in and cautioned the volume of his voice.
The trio talked in whispers.
"Weren't you going to look for your dad? This is near our house," said Mikasa. "Did you get scared?"
"No, I found him." Armin choked out the words. "A titan was holding him... and then it... He..." Armin couldn't continue. Frankly, he didn't need to.
They'd seen it play out so many times.
Mikasa soothed the boy by rubbing his shoulder. Eren, meanwhile, reached new levels of hatred in his heart. "Those bastards are going to pay...!"
"I'M ALIVE!!!"
Outside, someone shouted like a madman, and they were close by.
Immediately, the trio peeked in the direction of the voice while keeping out of sight.
"THANK YOU LORD, I WILL LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!"
The boy with purple hair was still there, now with another man standing beside him.
No, wait. That's not another man. It was the uncle from the bakery that he was dragging out.
"I-Is he crazy?! Why would he shout right now instead of hide?!" All the blood left Armin's face.
Wasn't he near-death before? Did I see wrong? Was it a different person? Eren questioned his memory and eyesight. I probably saw wrong.
Whilst continuing their spying, the purple-haired boy met their gaze. The group was surprised. It wasn't coincidental—he had to have known they were there.
The boy looked incredibly out of place.
They had never seen anyone with those features before, so much so that they had no words for it.
Almost as if he came from outside the wall.
"Hey, dumbasses!"
A voice flew into their heads, a soft yet harsh whisper spoken directly into their ears. The trio jumped and turned around.
No one was there.
"I–I wasn't the only one that heard that, right?! There's nobody! Was it a ghost?!"
"Stop freaking out, Armin! Ghosts aren't real."
"B-but the titans! Titans are real! They're not myths!!"
"Fair point." Eren couldn't argue with that logic. "Who's hiding there?! Don't mess with us! Are you really a ghost!?"
"It was a ghost! I swear I saw a shadow! There's no other explanation! We're the only ones here!"
Mikasa wrapped her arms around both their mouths. "Shh! Too loud...!"
While the trio was preoccupied with the supernatural, the boy, Thomas Wolford, had already forgotten about the trio of strangers he just messed with.
Hehe, Throw Voice remains as good as ever.
Thomas continued to Whirlwind Sprint here, there, and everywhere. He was on a rescue mission.
His mastery over haki allowed him to see through buildings and reveal all the life forces within the city. Thousands of auras entered his sight. He focused on the ones that were weak. Most likely, they were too badly hurt to move or trapped.
Thomas had already shouted a citywide Remove Wounds, but it wasn't effective on those still being crushed under a building.
"Fus." (Unrelenting Force)
Casually flinging rocks away weighing tonnes, he pulled out people and revitalized them back to full health.
Half an hour later, he was done. In reality, only minutes have passed since he used Slow Time.
Overlooking the city, Thomas sat on top of the wall, breathless. He was hammered, but he did it. The interior of the wall was finally quiet.
This really brings me back to when I was hanging out with Ddovaah. Man, I miss my magic power.
Using magic was effortless. That's why he both liked and relied on it so much. Now that he was using the Thu'um again, he was reminded of how difficult and mentally draining it was to restrain the Voice of God.
I'm glad cooldowns aren't real. Game-balance, yeesh.
Then there was haki. Using it to the extent he did required his full concentration. He's had more than a decade of practice, but those were during times of leisure. It was never that serious.
All in all, he was dead tired.
Thomas lied down, feet dangling off the edge. The sun was high without a cloud in sight. It was cloudy before, but they were burned away by the all-encompassing Fire Breath.
Thomas blocked the blinding rays with his arm and closed his eyes.
Just a quick nap. Very quick. Thirty minutes at best.
Of course, that's assuming him and his insomniac self could even sleep. He thought of Daffy and missed the relaxing properties he gave.
I need to speak with Es as well. The problem is that I don't know how to get in touch. Actually, that's not true. I know one way, and it involves a big ass boulder.
I just have to remember that I don't have magic to avoid a similar fate next time. That's doable.
"...?"
An odd sensation washed over him. He felt like he was falling for a split second.
Thomas opened his eyes.
He was back in the dark corridor.
Am I dreaming?
Thomas turned his head. Two directions. Forward or back. 627+956 is 1583. No, I'm way too conscious to be dreaming.
I'm back.
Footsteps rang out as Thomas chose to go backwards. He had no particular reason. It was a coin flip of the mind.
The seemingly endless corridor made with the darkest shade of black transformed into a monochrome library.
Thomas no longer stood in that dark corridor but before a counter. Behind him was a door he didn't remember passing through.
A trace of sandalwood filled his nose as his eyes took in the image of a woman holding a book.
"You're Es," Thomas spoke calmly, way calmer than anyone else in his circumstances would be.
Es's eyes peeled away from the pages and settled on his face.
"Wanderer, you're finally here." Her voice was monotone. "What took you so long?"
"You were waiting for me?"
"Yes."
"...I wasn't gone for that long. Ten minutes at most."
"Is that so?"
Thomas didn't expect to see her here or now. Since he's with Es and has returned to the library Level, has he returned to the Backrooms?
Surely I got my hocus pocus back. He closed his eyes and willed his magic power to take form.
A rumble escaped his core. This feeling...!
"Wanderer, you shouldn't eat expired food."
Thomas coughed at her words. "I didn't."
No, the rumble wasn't magic, just his stomach begging for a succulent Chinese meal. Trying to use his distortion powers displayed similar results of indigestion.
"That face... Is it magic then? If you are trying to use magic, then it is no use. You are currently bound by the rules of the world I have sent you to."
An uncomfortable silence followed her words. They replayed several times in Thomas's mind until he completely understood.
"Es, you did this?" Thomas opened his hand. He willed his magic power to come forth from his palm. Unsurprisingly, nothing magical happened.
Es nodded. "Yes."
"And when I woke up in a barn in the middle of nowhere? And the titans?"
"I sent you there, yes."
"I see. So it wasn't the Keymaster."
Thomas clenched his fists.
"Why?"
His voice dripped with hostility. The library trembled when his Voice leaked out.
Goosebumps travelled up Es's body. She was startled. Thomas may have lost his magic, yet he retained an ability that trumped over it by many leagues.
"Don't tell me you're in cahoots with that son of a bitch."
The son of a bitch Thomas mentioned could only be the Keymaster.
"No. I did it for myself." She retorted quickly. The idea of working with the son of a bitch sent a greater wave of goosebumps that she couldn't ignore. She pointed at Thomas and spoke gravely. "You and the Keymaster were powder kegs ready to explode. I did what had to be done. Thus, you were sent away."
Indeed they were about to go ham at each other. All the shit they were talking and the talking shit really did lead up to a big, juicy climax.
"I had it under control! If you didn't interrupt, I would've..."
Thomas was about to say more, but stopped midway. He tried seeing things from her perspective.
The torrential amounts of magic power pouring out of The Keymaster and Thomas must have been terrifying for Es. Even if he was actively trying to keep the library unharmed, it's not like she could read minds. The Keymaster and Thomas were also just about to hit each other with devastating attacks before Es intervened, not to mention the six million books that were destroyed recently.
If I had gone about things differently, her hand wouldn't have been forced.
Taking a second to gather his voice, Thomas fixed his expression and spoke. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."
"..."
"Can you forgive me?"
Es's face didn't show it, but she was surprised. He really isn't like the Keymaster, she thought. Soon enough, her narrowed eyes regained their stoicism. "Forget about it. My books are unharmed, and that matters most."
"Are we cool then?"
"Not necessarily. Lukewarm at best."
"Hearing that makes me glad." Thomas saw the light at the end of the tunnel. "I know I'm asking a lot out of you so soon, but I'd appreciate it if you could undo whatever you did to me so I can use magic again."
With his magic back, the next step was obviously vengeance. It'll be attack on sight with no room for discussion.
"I promise I'll behave in your library. No fighting or nothing. Hell, I won't even come back!"
"I cannot."
"Why not?!" Thomas yelled impulsively. "Umm, I meant, why not?" he corrected himself the next second, using a more courteous tone.
"I cannot interrupt the process halfway. You need to see it through to the end."
His easy expression fell. "What are you talking about now?"
"Now that it's come to this, I suppose I must explain."
Es rotated the book she was holding so that Thomas could see its contents.
The pages were blank, mostly. As Thomas studied it...
"You are currently trapped in a story—A story that multiple people wove together, and one that you are rewriting as we speak."
"What are you..."
"I brought you into the closest book I could get my hands on." Es tapped the blank pages of the book she was holding. "This very book, in fact."
Brought me into a book?
Thomas followed where her finger was tapping. The page was empty at first, but row by row, words began appearing.
When Thomas read the emerging words, he realized that it was describing how a bird had landed on his sleeping self and was plucking his purple hair.
The fuck?
He snatched the book from her hands and began reading backwards. The civilian rescues, the titan-slaying, his short visit to the corridor, the appearance of the smoking Humongous Titan... all of those details were written without fault.
At the beginning of the book, it described his awakening in the barn and the horse chewing on his boot. When he went to the last page, nothing was written. Yet.
I'll be damned. This is worse than having a search history. It's already writing about me reading about me reading the book writing about me. (A/N: say that five times really fast)
So when I saw her doing that...
Es's words triggered a memory. More specifically, the moment right before Thomas and the Keymaster could clash. He recalled Es holding a book with its blank pages facing them before he fell unconscious.
Is that what she meant? Did I get sucked into the book Tron-style? Everyone I've met were characters from a book?
Everything?
Thomas didn't know how to react. Out of all the possibilities he thought of, he didn't expect this.
He was trapped in a story.
"...This kind of thing happens in real life?!" Truly, anything was possible in the Backrooms.
The revelation sucked, but it wasn't as though there were no silver linings.
Knowing that it was Es who put him there relieved Thomas somewhat. If it were the Keymaster who had such an ability, Thomas wouldn't even know how to proceed with his payback without being sent to a Twilight Saga book. Or worse—Twilight fan fiction.
Shiver me fucking timbers. Brrr.
"Just a quick question, how are you here, Es? Are you in the story too?"
"No. I am where I have always been, awaiting you and the Keymaster's return. Since I cannot directly interfere with the writing process, I can only contact you while you are unconscious or asleep. I cannot read the book in its incomplete state either."
"But when it's done, you can? I better behave then... Wait, the Keymaster? He got sucked into the story as well?" Thomas's voice suddenly grew menacing. "Where is he?"
Es shook her head. "I'm aware of how eager you are to settle the score with him, but that is also impossible. There cannot be two outside influences rocking the same boat. He is going through the same story, but if I had to describe it, he is creating a different iteration from yours."
Thomas felt a headache.
This is difficult to follow, but from what I can gather, I can't meet him yet.
Although...
"Have you seen him since?"
Thomas guessed that if he ends up in the library when he sleeps, then that is also the case with the Keymaster.
If Thomas times it right, he could theoretically meet the Keymaster much sooner than expected.
No, I shouldn't.
Thomas reminded himself of how dumb it would be to confront him now.
I still don't have a plan of action. He must be weakened as well, but I still don't know what else he can pull out of his ass. Most of all, we'll be fighting in the library again. I don't want to bother Es any further.
To his question, Es shook her head, this time more strongly. "I can't tolerate him. He's not welcome here."
"Say less. You've been through enough."
Thomas handed the book back to Es. She hugged it and retrieved a ladder, placing it below an empty space in the topmost row of the bookshelf. That must be where the book is kept.
As Es climbed, Thomas scanned through the bookshelf and fell into contemplation.
Each book here is a story, and each story is a world of its own. Presumably.
That begs the question: What about a dictionary or an encyclopedia? If I got sucked in one of those, how would that work? Do I get a school scenario? Maybe there aren't any academic material...
Thomas became very curious. Soon enough, he thought about if he could potentially copy Es's ability.
Suddenly.
"!"
Haki warned Thomas of danger from above. He tensed up, but then relaxed just as quickly.
Without looking up, he held his arms out. In the next second, a falling Es fell into his arms.
She had slipped on the ladder on her way down.
Thomas caught her just fine, but there was a problem.
Oh, she's heavier than I thought!
It was like he caught a stone statue than a woman. Micro-adjustments allowed Thomas to continue standing on his two feet. However, Thomas swore he could feel his muscles ripping apart as he held her.
"Y-you good th-there?" Thomas tried to smile, but it came out crooked.
Despite falling a fair distance, Es was unbothered, not even when Thomas caught her.
"Are you?" she replied, seeing his reddening face. The veins on his neck became more visible by the second.
"O-of course I am. You're very l-light." He finally set her down, allowing himself to breathe.
"You can be honest. It doesn't bother me." Es straightened her elegant clothes. No matter how Thomas saw it, a woman with a small build like her shouldn't be that heavy. "Thank you for catching me. That was impressive."
"No problem..."
"You must be curious about how to escape the story."
"Oh, right."
Spending time with Es made him forget that he wasn't out of the woods yet. The strangeness of everything made him feel right at home (Backrooms).
"Wanderer, do you remember when you told me that you are capable of creation and destruction?"
"Vaguely, yeah. That was when I still had magic power."
Es didn't fully believe him, especially after a small taste of his Voice. "Nevertheless, with or without magic, you now hold a major role."
Since it was important, Thomas paid very close attention, more so than he ever did in any classroom setting.
"Whatever you do, will, in a way, impact the story and its conclusions."
"Is this connected to how I get out? Do I have to break the fourth wall or something?"
"A novel idea, but the fourth wall is unshakeable."
Yeah, for you. Hey there, reader. This is your narrator speaking. The author told me to tell you to give this story a one-star review.
"No, you have two options."
Es raised her finger. Numero Uno.
"The first is to do nothing. The story will end eventually."
"And that will take how long?"
"If I am remembering correctly, three years from now."
"Three whole years... wait, for real? That's a ridiculous amount of waiting!"
What kind of story takes three years to finish?!
Thomas didn't know what he'd do for three years. Hell, he didn't want to waste three years of his life somewhere he didn't belong.
"Do you have any hobbies to partake in? Time flies when I read."
"No amount of games, free internet, or anything else in existence could keep me in one place for three years. This backwater city probably thinks WiFi is witchcraft anyway. I doubt they have anything of note," Thomas confidently announced. He seems to have forgotten the 20 happy years he spent with Ddovaah.
"Internet?"
"A cesspool really. Forget I mentioned it. Stick to normal things." Thomas directed the subject back. "What else can I do to escape this book? Three years is too long."
Es made a mental note to find a dictionary and look up the internet later. "Your other option is connected to your role in the world. Depending on your choices, it is possible to end the story then and there. But, if you're unlucky, you can also prolong it."
"Sounds like a gamble. It doesn't help I don't know what the story is. Anything reliant on luck can suck it."
"With me helping you, it won't be."
A faint smile graced her lips.
"You know, you seem excited by all this," said Thomas warily.
"Of course I am. This is a rare opportunity. Only wanderers such as yourself can enter stories, not me. I merely read them."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. I am very curious about how the story will turn out because..." Es leaned forward slightly. "You are neither a main character, nor a side character, nor an extra. No, they already exist."
Her next words were unexpectedly grand.
"You are the story's Deus Ex Machina."
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