plop!plop!plop!
The sound of raindrops falling on his umbrella momentarily distracted Andrew, who was patiently waiting for the bus home. Andrew had just left the high school when a heavy thunderstorm suddenly broke loose, even though there was no forecast for rain today. His clothes were slightly wet, especially his favourite shirt that he had bought at a comic book convention.
"Good thing I listened to grandma and brought an umbrella... How is it that grandma can predict rain from a pain in the bones?" wondered Andrew muttering to himself, not that he needed to mutter since there was no one with him in that small bus station.
Andrew looked around at the dark and lonely street, wondering why the bus hadn't arrived yet? Or how come there wasn't a single car on the street at 4 o'clock in the afternoon? with nothing he could do he gave a small sigh and took out his phone to continue reading the novel he used to read since a month ago.
It was a dark fantasy novel, where even the main characters are not saved from a tragic fate. Andrew didn't normally like to read dark fantasy, but something was very appealing to him about this series of novels, although he didn't know what. There were currently a total of 3 complete novels and a 4th in ongoin, each novel featured a different protagonist in each and was set in different times or so at least readers speculated as the author never gave a clear timeline.
The only novels that were known to take place in the same time were the 3rd and 4th novels, as at the end of the third novel, the protagonist, Vana Rosegold is killed by the protagonist of the fourth novel, Cristel Stronghold, thus starting the fourth novel.
'A rather crude and cruel ending for someone like Vana' thought Andrew, who knowing Vana's story had always wanted her story to have at least a decent and not so cruel closure.
Andrew read on for a few minutes until he finally reached the final chapter of the fourth novel, catching up with the serialisation, which had a rather surprising warning for Andrew.
[
Cristel sheathed her sword and removed her right glove to wipe off the blood that lay on her face, then looked at the slaughtered bodies of the enemy army without remorse. Her mission was almost complete, she just needed to gather information from the other outposts of the enemy army as she had been ordered to do.
Cristel walked without caution towards the captain's tent, all dangers had already been eliminated for her. As soon as she entered, Cristel opened her eyes with great surprise; in front of her was a young albino girl with black eyes and completely naked, her eyes reflected a lost and unconscious look; her body was battered, malnourished and she had a mark on her belly with the figure of a griffin, the mark of the enemy kingdom, the Dawnia kingdom.
Cristel recognised the girl and walked over to her, carefully taking her by the face and checking her condition. Within seconds she realised that her anima and magical core had been completely destroyed, the captors had made sure that the girl could not escape in any way.
"Vana... is she drugged?... no, she's completely lost. It's been 5 years since your disappearance, we all thought you were dead; I wish it had been so and you wouldn't have had to suffer all this" cristel touched the mark on vana's belly with sadness and repressed anger. "Marked as mere cattle, as a damned enslaved monster... an unjust fate for someone who only knew how to love her people. You didn't deserve this my friend, this damned war has affected us more than we thought..." he said lightly touching his prosthetic metal arm before giving Vana a kiss on the cheek and taking her gently. "Maybe if we had talked more none of this would have happened..."
Cristel walked to the captain's desk, where she left vana's body leaning against the cabinet, then stood up taking one last look at the once highly skilled and talented magical knight, and with a decisive look and a deep sigh, cristel drew her sword in one swift motion, piercing vana's heart in an instant. A quick and painless attack was all Cristel could offer to end Vana's suffering.
Cristel sighed with regret and sadness, putting her sword away carefully, then she collected the necessary documents that she had been sent to find from the kingdom of Firorn and at the end she took the body of Vana in her arms, she would make sure that Vana was buried in the land that she protected and loved so much...
Well friends, that's all I have to share with you, it has been a pleasure to be able to write all these novels and that you have liked them, but unfortunately I can't continue writing, at the moment I find myself without spirit and ideas, and no matter how hard I try I can't continue with the novel so I've decided to leave it here until further notice.
Thanks for all your support.
]
"what!? It ended the same as the third novel only from a different point of view, all this time the fourth novel was in the same time span as the third?" Andrew complained in disgust "So who was Cristel mourning at the beginning of the novel? what about the Night King, Cristel's greatest enemy or Cristel's rival, Silia? All of that will be discarded just like that? Damn erik, this is the last time I listen to your recommendations, you always choose authors who never finish their books!"
Andrew began to search various internet sites for information on whether the author will continue with his novel when suddenly a strange sensation ran through his body.
"187 cycles, 23 years each cycle gives a total of 4,301 continuous years searching for the key... searching for you."
A trembling yet anxious voice was heard from the seats behind Andrew. Andrew was completely paralysed with fear, as he was more than sure that there was no one at the bus stop but him; it was an old man sitting without any protection from the rain, other than his own hood.
He doesn't have an umbrella, but he's not wet either...' thought Finn, looking slyly at the old man.
A great cold current ran down Andrew's back and the rainy and humid atmosphere changed to a more icy one, the drops that just a moment ago seemed to be falling, stopped halfway through their fall, leaving them floating in the air.
A few seconds later the sound of a cane hitting the ground echoed throughout the dark street and instantly the raindrops turned into snowflakes that began to fall at great speed creating a huge blizzard of snow. The extreme cold invaded Andrew's body leaving him even more frightened. Andrew felt as if his body was freezing fast, he wanted to run, but his legs didn't respond at all.
What's going on?' thought Andrew in fear.
"It's time to go home, Finn" The very tall old man appeared right next to Andrew, his long white dressing gowns covered his body and his brown hood covered his face revealing only his long grey beard and a somewhat battered white cane. "Countless lives are dying because of your absence, Finn."
"I... I'm not Finn, sir... my name is Andrew" Andrew said as fast as he could, thinking the old man had got the wrong person.
"Oh, no. You are Finn, you just don't remember... But don't worry, I will help you to remember" without warning the old man placed his hand on Andrew's chest and for the first time Andrew could see the old man's eyes, blue eyes filled with a strange light that made him look mysterious and powerful.
Before Andrew could react, an immense pressure appeared in his chest and in an instant he was thrown backwards with great force.
"We'll see you on the other side, young Finn. In the meantime take care on your journey," the old man said goodbye to Andrew's blurred vision.
-
Dreams, that's the only way Andrew could describe what he was currently seeing. After the old man touched his chest everything went dark and the cold or any other kind of sensation disappeared, and then he started to see strange visions, these visions showed places like forests, cities, houses, sometimes they showed monsters that seemed to be taken from a fantasy story and other times he heard talks or rather orders from people he couldn't see or understand clearly. It was all quite confusing and confusing for Andrew.
After a few seconds which seemed like hours to Andrew, he felt again, he was lying on something soft and he was sweating... he was hot, very hot. Slowly his heartbeat quickened and then he reacted, Andrew was able to move again and open his eyes.
When he opened his eyes the first thing Andrew saw was a rustic wooden ceiling, there was a ceiling fan right in the middle of the ceiling with 4 strange little flags hanging from it. Andrew obviously didn't recognise the place at all, he sat up in his bed, peeling off the sweat soaked sheets and taking a closer look at the room around him.
He was in a small, rustic style room, as if it had been brought back from the medieval era, the floor was made of dark wooden planks as was almost all the furniture in that room. His bed was attached to a wall where there was a large window that allowed Andrew to see out, if the window curtains were not closed. Andrew sat carefully on the edge of his bed noticing the small chest of drawers next to his bed. On top of the chest of drawers was a lamp in the shape of a sword that illuminated just enough for Andrew to see what was on it.
Next to the lamp was a tightly closed letter next to a small brown leather pouch, a little further away from the other objects was a small golden card. Andrew, overcome by curiosity, took the card first, reading: To Finn.
Andrew squinted at the name, that was what the old man he had met at the bus station had called him. Andrew opened the letter carefully, taking out a small rectangular sheet of paper, the same size as the letter.
I'm going on holiday for a few days, be very careful Finn.
Andrew closed the letter placing it on the chest of drawers again when a small twinge in his head suddenly hit him, Andrew scratched his hair in confusion and then saw the small golden card on the chest of drawers again, this time it looked a little familiar, he remembered it from finn's few memories. Andrew took the card carefully, reading on it: Freewalker. Then he saw his reflection slightly in the card, Andrew didn't know it, but his reflection was enough for him to flip a small switch in his head and release a flood of memories and voices in his head, especially voices.
"AGH!" moaned Andrew clutching his head in pain as a flood of voices and images of places instantly flooded his mind.
Finn, you have to protect us, it's your duty as a squire!
Finn, let's go for a walk!
Finn, be careful on your missions, I don't trust those guys at all!
"Stop..." Andrew muttered holding his head, voices began to rattle around in his head non-stop, some sounded angry, some worried and only a few seemed to be excited.
Hey, Finn, let's go get a drink!
Finn, don't follow the orders of those guys, can't you see they're only hurting you!
Look how you are... they filled you with wounds. Please don't come back hurt...
"I'm not Finn!..." exclaimed Andrew wanting to stop the voices in his head and throwing himself to the ground.
Hey, Finn, leave that group and join me, the two of us will have real adventures!
Finn let's go on another mission, this will be a great mission for the team!
Finn, you just relax, I'll take care of everything... that's an order.
"Stop it!" Andrew said again, holding his hair so tightly that his fingers started to turn white.
Finn, please... I'm begging you, get out of that group, they're going to end up killing you!
Finn, please just hold on a little longer, don't give up, the doctors are coming!
"Stop!" he exclaimed again.
Finn...
Finn...
Finn?....
"STOP!" shouted Andrew, the memories coming back more and more aggressively.
Finn...
Finn..
"Stop, I'm Andrew, not Finn!" said Andrew, by this point the pain in his head was almost unbearable for him.
Finn...
Finn!...
FINN!...
"STOP!.... please... stop!" exclaimed Andrew.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Andrew hit his head repeatedly on the ground, tears running down his eyes from the pain he was feeling in his head. The memories and voices kept coming, the worst thing about this for Andrew was that in each memory there were only voices or specific places but no people, the people were nothing more than a blur moving from one place to another.
Soon Andrew came to the last memory where Finn was kicked out of his group because he was only a D class and with the end of this memory, Andrew could see how one of the blurs slowly took shape, it was a boy standing right in front of a mirror, it was Finn... and it was Andrew too.
"I...I...am I Finn?..." wondered andrew or maybe finn, just now he didn't know what to think about who he was or who he was.
With a little care he got up from the floor, walking slowly towards the bathroom. As soon as he opened the bathroom door Andrew/Finn could see his reflection in the mirror, which was right in front of the bathroom door. Short wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes and a face slightly thinner than he remembered it being before. Finn looked at his arms in the mirror noticing a few claw and bite marks on them, then with a little trepidation he grabbed his sweaty white t-shirt, pulling it up a little at a time.
Finn lifted his shirt up to his chest, grimacing in horror at what he saw, his body was covered in a large number of wounds, some appeared to have been made by claws, as if an animal had attacked him, while others appeared to have been made by some kind of sharp weapon.
"That old man... sent me to the world of the fantasy novel?" Finn wondered as in several of his memories he could recognise the names of some cities and some elements that were also in the novel such as the Freewalker card, which was from a guild in the novel. 'Apart from the fact of my injuries, I feel... calm, too calm' thought Finn, as he found it strange that he was not over reacting to his current situation, as he was in another world very different from his own.
Finn washed his face and walked over to the only window in his room. Outside was a huge city that was lost in the distance because it was so huge. The houses and shops were nothing more than fanciful, unreal-looking buildings that stretched up to the sky and were connected to each other every three floors by floating streets. It was as if one city was right on top of the other, leaving a few spaces between the streets so that light could pass seamlessly through and illuminate each level of the city.
'the capital of firorn, I had already seen it in the memories of the previous finn and I had read about it in the novels... but seeing it with my own eyes makes it more impressive' thought finn amazed "I can't believe the old man really sent me to the world of the novel, of all the novels and books I have read it had to be to this one..."
Finn turned his head, looking in the direction of one of the exits of the capital, at the gates of this great capital, stood a large building, as big as any other in this capital, but this one had a logo of boots with wings attached which was illuminated by several lights, this was the Freewalker guild, the guild where the old Finn went on missions and his next destination.
'I don't know what worries me more, the fact that this world exists or the fact that I accepted the idea of living here so quickly... Maybe it's because I merged with someone from this world...' thought Finn.
-
In a house at the edge of the city, an old woman stood in front of the door watching the rain pouring down, the old woman was wearing a long white dress with black flowers on it, she seemed to be waiting for someone. The sound of a cane tapping on the street caught the old woman's attention and she could see an old man with a long beard slowly approaching and standing in front of her.
"After all this time... Why didn't you just give up and leave him here with me?" the old woman asked.
"You know I can't do that, Finn doesn't belong in this world" said the old man "It's been 15 years already, you know very well that eventually he would be taken back by his original body."
"But he was happy here, Merlin" replied the old woman "There was no danger to him here".
"Morganna... after all, you did come to love young Finn like your own family," said Merlin with a slight smile.
"Love him? and how could I not, Merlin? when you brought him to me 15 years ago he was just a baby, I raised him, I watched him grow up and now... I watch him go to a world where chaos and pain reigns, a world where he no longer belongs, tell me Merlin how was I not supposed to grow fond of my grandson?" asked Morganna sadly.
"I'm sorry, Morganna, I'm so sorry, but this must be done and you know it," said Merlin, "thousands of lives hang in the balance and I believe that Finn may be the key to saving them."
"You have turned back time countless times for the purpose of saving that filthy world, why not just give up already? why doom my world too?" asked Morganna "That world is doomed to die."
"It's not fair, Morganna, don't ask such a thing of me, I can't just let them die, not when I can make a change," replied Merlin sadly.
"But you can't... that's why you took my grandson," said Morganna.
"I'm sorry..." apologised Merlin.
"You took my grandson to save that stupid world, but tell me merlin, who will save my grandson when he rejects that world? did you even think about it? he wasn't raised like the people of that world he was raised here!" exclaimed Morganna making merlin lower his head as he understood what morganna meant "What do you think will happen when Andrew... when Finn sees the actions of that world, when he sees how they behave and relate to each other? Finn is going to reject that world for his own ideals and morals... and once that happens his anima will begin to consume him."
"Of course I thought of that, Morganna, how do you think I would send Finn so soon without a plan, knowing the danger he would be in?" questioned Merlin back "I know that Finn can overcome this difficulty, he is not alone as you think, there are people who will be there for him."
Morganna sighed at Merlin's answer, she did not trust the people Merlin had in mind, but she had no choice, Finn was already in that world.
"I just hope you're not wrong, Merlin," Morganna replied.