by James Riley
“Everyone ready?” he said to his friends.
Kiel and Kara nodded. Charm just glared at him, lifting her ray gun in her nonsword hand. Dr. Verity, however, shook his head. “I’m going to stay here with the Magister, my boy,” he said. “Together, the two of us might be able to reverse this field of possibility that’s enveloping Magisteria.” He pointed up through the hole in the tower at the field of white above them. “If he’s willing to help, I can’t imagine there’s anything science and magic together can’t fix!”
“It’s a worthy goal,” Kiel said, having a hard time looking at him. “And I just, um, wanted to tell you that if I am ever going to turn into you, I hope it’s this version.”
Dr. Verity beamed. “Come here, son!” He held his arms wide for a hug, and Kiel gave Owen a terrified look.
“We probably don’t have time for long good-byes,” Owen said quickly, and Kiel let out a huge sigh of relief. “We should get going. I’ll go through first and yell if there’s anything dangerous.”
“Or I could go, since you’re basically useless and would instantly die if there was danger,” Charm said, glaring at him.
“I’m sure she meant that in the nicest possible way,” Kiel added.
Owen forced a smile. “Oh, she didn’t. But no, I’m the only one who knows how to rip a page back if something happens, so it makes sense for me to go. Trust me, I won’t stay long if there’s something waiting to kill me.”
Not waiting to argue any further, he stepped through the ripped page onto some bright green grass as a pleasant, warm breeze blew through his hair. He inhaled the fragrant air deeply, looking around for whatever trap Nobody might have waiting.
A paved path outlined with black borders started next to a small farm and led toward a walled city. Beyond the city, a castle rose into the sky as majestic as it was imposing. The walls of the castle looked like they were painted various colors, but it was hard to see what the design was meant to be from a distance.
All in all, it looked exactly like the story he’d written months ago about Bethany’s father, and therefore not at all what he had expected. What was Nobody hiding? Where were the security forces or the death traps? It couldn’t be as easy as it’d been in his story, could it?
He turned around to face the ripped page opening, then felt a chill as he saw what lay beyond. The same white nothingness that was inching toward Magisteria was here as well, just a few yards away.
Apparently Nobody meant to turn this world into pure possibility along with the others.
“I think it’s okay,” he called back through the open rift. “You can come through now.”
The others slowly passed through, all but Charm seeming to relax as they saw the peaceful scene before them. The half-robotic girl seemed even more on edge than she had been, which was odd.
“Something’s wrong here,” she said. “What is this place?”
“Let’s get moving, and I’ll explain on the way,” Owen said. He pointed at the road that began just past the farm. “That’s the way to the city, and beyond that is a castle where Nobody has Bethany. But, um, don’t look behind us.”
Instantly, they all turned around.
“It’s happening here too, then,” Kara said softly.
“Looks like we don’t have much time,” Kiel said. “Maybe we should hurry?”
“Catch up or I’m leaving you all behind,” Charm said, striding toward the path.
The rest followed and started down the road toward the castle, with Owen watching their every step carefully. Kara stopped for a moment to stare at the scenery on their right, and Owen had to grab her before she accidentally stepped over the black border on the edge of the path. “Um, let’s all stay on the actual road, okay?” he said, his hands shaking with worry. “It’s sort of a rule around here.”
Charm snorted in front of him. “Or what, we get arrested?”
“Something like that,” Owen said nervously. “Here’s the thing. I may have kind of sort of written this story.”
That stopped them all in place, including Charm. Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him.
“And that means what exactly?” Kiel asked finally.
“I thought I was just messing around, you know?” Owen said, pulling them farther into the middle of the road. “I just started typing on my computer, telling a story with Bethany, Kiel, Charm, and me. I didn’t know that what I wrote would actually exist!”
“You did not make up stories about me,” Charm said, looking disgusted.
“More people should make them up about me,” Kiel said with a smile, but even he seemed uncomfortable with the situation. “So you think you created this world, Owen?”
“No. Maybe? I guess,” Owen said, feeling miserable about it all. “It’s like Dr. Verity was saying. I must have pushed this place into existence with my imagination.”
“So you know how everything works, then?” Charm asked. “Don’t you think you might have wanted to share that?”
Owen winced. “It’s all pretty embarrassing, honestly. I thought it’d be fun to do all kinds of writing references, and, um, let me start over.” He gestured toward the castle before them. “This is the Kingdom of Story, where the evil king lives. Me, Bethany, Kiel, and Charm all had to fight our way to the castle to defeat the king, who turned out to be Bethany’s father.” He gave Kara an apologetic look. “I hadn’t met you yet, or I would have included you, too.”
She shrugged, giving him a tiny smile. “We’ll edit me in later.”
“But then Nobody appeared in the words I was writing,” Owen continued. “He said I was controlling the lives of real people, the people here in the kingdom. He told me I had to stop, which I did, right away!” He looked down at the road, not wanting to see the judgment in their eyes. “I think he decided to come here because he didn’t see these people as real, so he could do whatever he wanted in this place.”
“Or he’s still trying to teach you a lesson,” Kara said quietly.
“None of this matters,” Charm said. “Give me facts. What are we going to be facing here?”
Owen nodded. “Well, the people here are all based on wordplay, writing concepts, and, you know, puns.”
Charm revved up her ray gun.
“So I’ll start here,” Owen continued quickly, pointing back at the farm a few yards behind them. “When you begin writing, you need an idea first. That farm is the place where ideas grow. It looks like Nobody got rid of the man who I had living there, the Idea Man. Probably didn’t want anyone having ideas he didn’t like.”
“If one of the ideas is a fruit-related supervillain, Owen, there’s going to be trouble,” Charm said, her voice low and dangerous.
“So next comes this road,” Owen said, ignoring the sweat running down his forehead. “This is the Outliner’s path. He’s the one who dictates where a story goes, and he hates it when characters step outside his lines.” He gave Kara an apologetic look. “That’s why I wanted everyone to stay in the middle of the road.”
Kara’s eyes widened. “Good advice. So Nobody’s in the castle, then?”
Owen nodded. “See that town just before the Molehill Mountains? We’re going to have to make our way through Grammar City in order to make it to the Storybook Castle. And that’s where the really powerful challenges are, like the Grammar Police and the bookwyrms.”
“Bookworms?” Kiel asked. “Worms who read?”
“Wyrms with a y,” Owen said. “Which is an old name for dragons. These dragons are made of books, and they guard the castle courtyard.” Even as he watched Kiel’s interest rise, Owen shook his head. “Don’t get excited—they’re invincible. You can’t kill them any more than you could kill a book.”
“Challenge accepted,” Kiel said. “Anything else?”
Owen thought for a moment, looking around. “Oh, see those potholes on the road?” he asked. “Those are plot holes. Watch out for them. I used them in my story as a joke, but who knows if Nobody changed them.”<
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Kara stepped over and peered into one, then pulled back, looking dazed. “Wow. It’s filled with illogic. It hurts my brain just to think about it all. And I thought I was immune to that sort of thing.”
Owen helped steady her. “I think that’s it for now, but just keep an eye out for anything. And whatever you do, don’t step outside the line in the road.”
They all nodded, and Charm led the way down the road, being careful to stay right in the middle. As they walked, Owen noticed little notes every few feet, much like an outline would have when writing a story. He paused at one, looking down at the words to see if they maybe held a clue as to what would be coming next.
The closest note mentioned Kara falling into a plot hole, and his eyes widened. But that was crossed out, and the words Let them continue on their way toward Grammar City for now were written over them.
He shuddered at what had almost happened, not liking this at all. The next note was just ahead, so he walked over to it carefully and leaned down to read it.
And then Owen steps off the path, and the Outliner shows up.
His eyes widened, and he stood back up quickly, backing away from the edge of the road. That couldn’t be true, could it? He was being so careful—
The heel of his foot caught in another plot hole, and he windmilled his arms, stumbling backward. He desperately tried to catch himself, but his momentum sent him too far, and one of his feet touched down outside the borders of the road.
Uh-oh.
Catching his balance, Owen carefully, quietly picked up his foot and moved it back onto the road, not even daring to breathe. He turned around in a circle, not sure where the Outliner would be coming from, but knowing it was only a matter of time.
“Owen?” Kara said from farther up the road. “What’s wrong?”
Charm groaned. “Don’t tell me you stepped over the line?”
He raised his hands up for silence and waited another moment. When nothing happened, he let out his held breath and smiled. “I think it’s okay!”
The black borders on the sides of the road rose up from the ground, twisting and tying around themselves to form a vaguely human-looking shape.
“You would dare deviate from Nobody’s prescribed path?” the creature made of black lines shouted. “I will not allow it! Nobody has conceived carefully laid out plans, and you will pay for not following them. So declares the Outliner!”
Owen quickly ran to catch up to the others as Charm snorted. “Really? A bunch of string is going to hurt us?”
The Outliner sneered in her direction, then leaped at her, its strings unraveling as it struck. She sliced at it with her sword arm, but the cut lines just reattached themselves, forming up around her arms, legs, and head. She shouted in surprise as the strings attached themselves to her, wrapping around her, holding her still. Then the ones around her head seemed to pulse, and the light left her eyes.
“Now,” Charm said in the Outliner’s voice as she struck the same pose it had a moment before, “if you refuse to follow Nobody’s plan, I will erase you from the story myself!”
CHAPTER 39
The Outliner pulled Charm’s hands up, aiming her ray gun at Kara and Owen. “How dare you make your own decisions!” the creature’s voice shouted through Charm’s mouth. “Nobody has planned out everything for the good of us all, and given me the task of ensuring his plot is followed line by line!”
A Twilight throwing star zipped past Charm’s arm, slicing through one of the strings. “Nobody tells me what to do,” Kiel Gnomenfoot said, three more throwing stars in his hand. “Um, you know what I mean. No one tells . . . you get it.”
The Outliner recoiled as pain flashed across Charm’s face. The cut string snaked off of her arm and headed for Kiel. He threw the rest of his throwing stars, then stabbed at the strings with his wand-knives, but the Outliner was too quick, and soon strings wrapped around his body too.
“That’s two of you back in line,” the Outliner said from both Kiel and Charm’s mouths simultaneously. Both of his friends flung out their hands, and more strings snaked their way toward Owen and Kara.
“How did you beat this in your story, Owen?” Kara shouted as she backpedaled away from the quickly approaching strings.
“We never left the road!” he said, trying to stomp on his own string, but nothing was working.
“It’s far too late for that now!” Kiel and Charm shouted in the Outliner’s voice. “I will walk you right into oblivion, in order to keep his story in line!”
Owen growled in frustration. Why had he written this story to begin with? If Nobody was trying to teach him a lesson, he got the point. There had to be a way out of this! In another moment, he and Kara would both be mind-controlled too. And then the Outliner would throw them into the white wall of nothingness, and they’d just . . . disappear.
“But you made this guy up, right?” Kara asked. “Do you remember if there was any way to beat him?”
Owen swore softly as he dodged strings from each direction. He tried to think back to writing this horrible story about finding out Bethany’s father was the king of a land of stories, and how the Outliner made sure everyone followed the plot. Had he given the Outliner any weaknesses?
No, because he was just messing around, so hadn’t actually thought it through that much!
A string grabbed Owen from behind, wrapping itself around his chest. Another snaked around his neck and slowly squeezed, cutting off his air supply. He started to choke, flailing around, trying to get a hand on the string, but soon both his legs were captured too.
Finally, one last string wrapped itself around his head, and Owen seemed to sink back into his own mind, still able to watch what was happening, but completely out of control of his own body.
“Owen!” Kara shouted, staring at him in horror.
“There is no Owen anymore,” the Outliner said from his mouth, as well as from Kiel’s and Charm’s. “There is only Nobody’s plan, and your disobedience. Come, girl. Join your friends, and suffer together.”
Kara just stared at him for a moment, then looked down. “I think I know what I have to do, Owen. I have no idea if it will work, but it’s all I’ve got. I hope you can forgive me for this.”
“There will be no forgiveness!” the Outliner shouted, and now Owen’s strings shot out after Kara too.
She grabbed some of Kiel’s throwing stars and sliced the strings closest to her. Giving Owen one last look, she jumped over the line and into the grass on the side of the road.
Rage reverberated through Owen’s mind as the Outliner screamed in horror. He, Charm, and Kiel all stared at Kara, daring to commit the worst crime of all, standing outside of the outline. “You would flout Nobody’s story even now?” they all said in one voice.
“What are you going to do about it?” Kara yelled, turning back toward them but still moving away from the road. “I dare you to come after me. Cross your line, if you can!” She backed farther into the grass, her arms spread wide.
Kiel, Charm, and Owen’s bodies all moved toward the side of the road, only to freeze as they reached the edge. The Outliner’s strings pulled up and off their bodies, reaching out toward Kara over the grass, but not daring to touch the ground. “If you do not come back, I will punish your friends for your actions!” the Outliner said through their voices, though they didn’t sound as in sync anymore.
“And yet, I’m still out here, ruining your carefully laid plans,” Kara said with a shrug. “And you can’t do anything about it, can you?”
The strings surged forward, each one almost pulling itself off of Owen and his friends. “You have no idea what you’re doing!” the Outliner yelled. “Nobody knows all, and he has decreed how this story must go! If you stray from his path, you will ruin everything !”
“Maybe I have a better plan?” Kara said, taking a few steps back toward the road, but staying just out of the strings’ reach. “Maybe Nobody’s plan was terrible all along, and mine will get us where we
’re going quicker, and with much cooler action scenes.”
“NO!” the Outliner shouted, and Owen, Charm, and Kiel all screamed in pain as the strings ripped off of their bodies, reforming into the original creature’s shape as it leaped onto the grass. It seemed to shudder as its feet touched the land outside the path, but it quickly lurched toward Kara. “No one’s plan is better than Nobody’s!”
With his body back under his control, Owen collapsed to the ground, almost too weak to hold himself up. He pushed himself dizzily to his feet, slowly understanding what Kara was doing. “No,” he croaked, his throat dry from the Outliner using it to scream. “Kara, no!”
“Go!” Kara shouted at Owen as she backed away farther from the path. “Without my time machine, this is all I can do to help! Get to Nobody and save the world. I know you can do it!”
“You can’t do this!” Owen shouted. He stumbled to the side of the road, but Kiel and Charm both grabbed his arms, holding him back.
“If you go out there, he’ll just take control of you again,” Kiel said. “You have to trust her.”
“It’s okay, Owen,” Kara said quietly as the creature drew closer to her. She backed up closer to the wall of possibility. “If you don’t get to Nobody, all of us are going to disappear anyway.” She forced a smile, still staying out of range of the Outliner’s strings. “Besides, my older selves are still alive, so that means I get out of this somehow. I think, anyway. You know me . . . immune to paradox. What could go wrong?”
Owen struggled against Kiel and Charm, but they held him fast. “Let me go!” he screamed, trying desperately to pull them along with him. “You can’t go, Kara. This is insane!”
“I’ll see you again,” she said as the Outliner’s strings began circling her legs. As they attached, she yanked herself backward, dragging the Outliner along with her toward the wall of nothingness. “Maybe it’ll be in the future,” she grunted, “or maybe just the past me . . . but I’ll see you again, somewhere in time. I promise.”
“Kara, we don’t know what will happen to you if you go out there!” Owen pleaded, his eyes wet. “Please, don’t do this! There has to be some other way!”