Dean could only read on in horror as Matin cried, Marianne plotted and Nicolas died. Just like his previous life, the situation was hurtling towards complete and utter disaster. He experienced it all as the Dean living in the story and felt his pain as if it were his own. No, it was his pain as there was truly no distinction between the two of them as he read.
"Have to save-" he muttered to himself absentmindedly. "Stop. Marianne."
He looked up from the book on his lap and took a deep breath. Tatiana, who was standing above him, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Truly, a sad story. If only Matin could have reached her in time. If only he had the courage to act sooner against his mother. Such a fool of a boy."
Tatiana wore a sad expression, though her voice sounded the same as it always had: smooth and condescending.
"A difficult situation, is it not? And wasn't what happened to Nicolas so terrible? I fear Maria's reaction will not be a pleasant one."
Ephemeral as always, her cloak obscured much of her body and facial features. Anticipation for what would be coming next sounded in her words, and Dean could picture her grinning even if he couldn't quite see her expression.
"I think what I have written next will interest you greatly. As such, I'll allow you to witness it as yourself. Shall we enter the tale physically, Dean?"
Dean was about to ask what she meant, but before he could, she took his hand in hers, and his surroundings went dark. He must have lost consciousness because when he awoke, he found himself in a completely different, yet familiar location.
"Why...here?" he asked as he looked around.
They were in large private quarters. Addi's room, if his memory was correct. He knew it well since the Dean of this story and Addi had spoken with each other here in a previous chapter. She was very important to the Dean in the stories, but he couldn't imagine why exactly. They had a long history, and both clearly relied on each other. The same had been true in the previous book.
Another thing surprised him. He was in the story, but he remained himself with all his memories. He felt completely bewildered as he looked to Tatiana for answers.
"I believe the death of Nicolas and Sophia has acted as a catalyst. There is no going back from here. This world is already lost," Tatiana said with a hint of excitement.
Dean turned to face her.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Despite your best efforts, Matin has fallen into despair. Do not blame yourself, though. Matin's view of the world has always been twisted and warped. He really is such a mess." Tatiana said, giggling as if observing some unusual creature.
"No..." Dean said, shaking his head. "It was me, I..."
"Are you going to claim responsibility for all his actions, past and present? You are beginning to sound an awful lot like that mother of his," Tatiana said, giving him a knowing smile.
Dean gritted his teeth. There was a dull, throbbing pain in his temple that he could not explain.
"I'm nothing like her!" he shouted back, his emotions from the story bleeding through.
His denial only seemed to amuse Tatiana all the more.
"Tug of war really is a funny game. Though I'd feel bad for the rope if it had any feelings."
"What?"
All the fire in Dean's words dissipated after her strange comment, and he was left staring blankly at his unwanted companion.
The pain in his head worsened for a moment to the point that he grimaced and brought his hand to his temple.
"What...is this?" he muttered.
"An adverse reaction to your other self. Your soul is currently being pulled in two ways. Try your best to endure it. It should be dulled while your other self sleeps.
"T-this is dulled?" he asked through his teeth.
Tatiana seemed to consider the conversation over and looked around as she stepped forward into Addi's room.
"Before this tale of tragedy can truly begin, I have to remove a little thorn in my side. Care to witness my work firsthand, Dean?" Tatiana asked cheerfully.
*
Addi rushed back into her room and closed the door. She fumbled the key for a moment as she hurriedly tried to lock the door. Tears in her eyes, she leaned against the door for support. She really wished she hadn't had so much wine beforehand. It was messing with her emotions. Although without it, there was no way she could have done what she just did. The deadly weapon in her hands felt heavy. She had to lock it away immediately.
"Stupid. So dammed stupid," she hissed at herself.
She was surprised that what she had just done still pained her so much. It really shouldn't have, not after all this time. Not with what she knew.
"Guess it's a good thing I have some humanity left in me," she mumbled with a weak smile. It was the small things that always helped keep her going.
She hurried over to a large chest with a heavy lock, which sat in the corner of her room behind an elegantly made divider. Removing a different key from her pocket, she opened the lock and placed the weapon inside. She closed it and breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps with that she had bought some time.
With that relief, however, came pain. She had watched them die, and now that it had started, it wouldn't stop at just one or two people. She took a breath to calm herself and to stop the tears. When a mocking voice addressed her from behind, she did not act surprised.
"It's not good for a lady of such high standing to have a dirty little secret like that. Honestly, I had such grand plans for her in this story, and you just had to make a mess of them."
Addi closed her eyes and felt her muscles tense.
"You're here earlier than usual. If you'd told me you were coming, I'd have brewed some tea or prepared some fine wine," she replied with mock civility.
There was a short laugh, and then she heard footsteps approach her slowly. Addi grit her teeth, waiting for the inevitable. Then the footsteps stopped. She waited and then waited some more. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, but still, nothing came.
"Well, get it over with already!" She cried.
She had nothing more to say to this creature. The end had come for her anyway, so she might as well make it quick.
She heard a cold laugh in response to her plea.
"Not yet. There is something I want you to see first, my dear Addi."
That was strange. Recently there had been little to no words shared between them. Addi turned around and froze when she saw what was there. It wasn't the cloaked, black-haired woman standing behind her, but the young man who stood next to her.
"D-Dean?" she asked in shock, her words barely louder than a whisper.
Last she saw him, he had gone off to confront Matin. He would have been asleep by now with everyone else. How could he... No. She took a closer look at him. This Dean was different. Older and, in a way, more familiar. His facial features placed him in his mid-twenties rather than late teens, and his eyes. Those eyes had witnessed far more than the average person ever would. They reminded her of her own eyes every time she looked in some accursed mirror. He looked at her with a confused and rather conflicted expression.
"It can't be," Addi said, shaking her head.
"Addi, are you-" he asked in a slow, tired voice.
It was him. It was really him. Her eyes widened and lips parted. She wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms, ask him where he had been. If she could just-
"And that's just enough hope to keep you going another century or two." Came Tatiana's clear and cheerful voice.
A sharp pain pierced her back, and all breath instantly escaped her. She couldn't even cry out in pain. She tried to breathe, but hair lungs wouldn't hold the air.
"You were getting a little too boring, accepting death so easily and trying to get it over with quickly. Oh, it's a joy to see a brief moment of hope utterly vanish like that," Tatiana gloated as Addi fell to her knees, unable to remain standing.
She tried to breathe again, placing a hand on her throat, but couldn't. There was some liquid like phlegm in her windpipe, preventing her from doing so. She coughed and felt tremendous pain as blood filled her mouth. Air, she needed air. It hurts.
"Addi!"
Dean, that was Dean's voice. It sounded a bit different from the voice of the Dean in this world. There was no mistaking it. He was here with her at this very moment. The real Dean. Her Dean.
Even now, just hearing him comforted her. Oh, how she wished she could talk to him. Her words wouldn't come no matter how hard she tried to speak them.
Her sight was growing dark. Desperately, she looked up at his face. Shock painted his expression as he looked from her face to her wound and back again. She remembered what she had done just before returning to her room.
"Dean, please...don't look. In... the chest." She said in a weak voice with whatever breath she had left.
He mustn't know the ugly truth about her, not him. Her sight grew dimmer still. There was no pain now. She could see a silhouette above her. It was Dean. He was surely crying over her. He must be very sad that she was leaving him so soon. That made her feel a little happy.
*
Dean watched as the light left Addi's eyes. There were no tears in his eyes, nor did his face twist in grief. He felt hollow, as if he were missing something important but couldn't quite remember what.
"Isn't it funny? The version of you in this tale is currently running around trying to take down Marianne as his friends die off one by one without his knowledge."
Dean didn't share in her amusement, though neither did he feel as much sorrow or fury as he thought he should have. His other self would surely be grief-stricken upon hearing the news. That man's world would never be the same again. However, this Dean still knew little about their relationship. They were characters in a book he was experiencing, weren't they? He was sad and angry, yes. What Tatiana and the person who had stabbed Addi had done was terrible. There was no doubt about that. But where there should have been grief, there was only hollow emptiness, and that felt so much worse. It reminded him of how much of himself he had lost.
"My thanks, Bates. Clean and efficient as always."
"A pleasure to serve, my lady Goddess," a middle-aged man said with a bow and smile.
The one who had ended Addi's life was not Tatiana but the man who had materialized out of nowhere behind Addi just moments before. He wore a modern black suit and tie that contrasted significantly with everyone he'd seen in this tale so far. He had short brown hair, combed back and styled with gel.
"Do you like him, Dean?" Tatiana asked, leaning over to look into Dean's eyes.
"Who is he?" he asked.
"A great soul I've summoned from the beyond. He is known throughout many worlds as an accomplished killer. I couldn't very well get my own hands dirty with that girl's dirty albino blood now, could I?"
"You shouldn't insult her like that," Dean said, turning away from Bates and looking back at Addi.
"It's rare to be ignored so blatantly," Bates said with a hint of humor. "Most can't take their eyes off me. The fear is usually too great for them."
"My Dean isn't entirely self-aware as of yet. Doubtless he is distracted by his own lack of feelings towards the girl on the floor."
"Indeed, my lady. If there is nothing else?"
"You may leave."
With that, the man dissipated into the air, much like how he had appeared.
"So hard to find good tools in this day and age, wouldn't you agree, Dean?"
Dean didn't respond. He reached out his hand and brushed aside a strand of Addi's hair that was covering her face and closed her eyes. Just who was she to him? That he didn't feel anguish towards her death filled him with an entirely unique feeling. A sense of emptiness and anxiety.
"Why is it so easy for me to accept this?" he whispered.
"Why? She is naught but a character in a book. We might feel sadness at their passing, but it's rare to dwell on it like you would with a real person." Tatiana responded, looking down at Addi's corpse with a calm smile. "Their lives are of no consequence to beings like us."
Was that the honest truth? Dean was finding it more and more difficult to rationalise their deaths, especially with Addi's corpse now lying in front of him.
"Killing them is wrong," Dean said. "All life is precious."
He didn't know whether he was speaking to himself or to Tatiana. He didn't even know if that was his true opinion or merely one created from his experience of reading these stories.
"She's hiding things from you, you know? Just like the others, she's a horribly greedy and self-serving person. You don't have any interest in such awful people, do you, Dean?"
Dean looked back at Addi, blood pooling around her, staining her green dress and white hair. He didn't cry nor shout out in anger, but he found himself wanting to stop the bleeding, to stop it from ruining her dress and hair any further.
Addi's body burst into flames. Dean leapt back in shock as the flames burned his hands.
"Remember to answer me when I'm talking to you, Dean." Tatiana said with a smile. Her tone was pleasant as ever, though it now had an edge that cut like a knife.
"What are you doing?" Dean demanded.
He could only look on as Addi's body was consumed by the flames. It burned much faster than it should have and was slowly losing any shape that resembled a human.
"Honestly, it may have been a mistake introducing you to this rat," she said before narrowing her eyes. "Although it seems you are becoming more and more like the old you."
She was right. For the first time in a very long time, Dean finally felt something. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. In fact, it hurt so deeply that he wanted to curl up on the floor. Seeing Addi burn away like that, disappearing from this world forever, hurt.
"Now," Tatiana said, crossing her arms. "Are you going to look in that chest she told you to stay away from anytime soon?"
Dean's gaze shifted towards the chest in question. The very chest Addi had warned him not to open.
"If you feel pain at her passing, then perhaps what's inside could soften the blow a little, no? After all, it's easier to accept the death of an evil character," Tatiana said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Why not open it yourself?" Dean asked.
"Because she asked you not to open it, she placed her trust in you. I want to see you break it."
Dean looked back at the chest. He didn't feel any particular attachment to Addi, and he did have a vague sense of curiosity. Before he could decide, though, he noticed a sparkling silver light float away from the fire where Addi's corpse still burned. He looked back at Tatiana, who had seemingly not noticed.
Curious, Dean reached out his hand and touched the silver light.
*
His vision went pure white before eventually returning to normal. He floated above a small back alley in an ancient city as a group of children gathered around. Three young boys and a young girl.
The buildings surrounding them were built of white clay, dirtied by grime and trash close to the ground. The road below was made of poorly placed cobblestones. It brought to mind the very image of a slum.
"See? You can use these bits of wood to climb onto the roof. Very useful for setting up an ambush!" Dean shouted.
Addi looked up at the tall building with wide, fearful eyes. She couldn't have been much older than six. Dean reached out his hand to her, and after a moment of hesitation, she took it. Once they both reached the rooftop, they were granted a view of the entire city.
Addi let out a sigh of wonder as her red eyes widened.
"Take a good look, apprentice. This is the city we protect!" Dean said, sticking his chest out. "And you'll be my number one assistant from here on out!"
FLASH
They were slightly older now, running up a small hill, jumping repeatedly in apparent excitement.
"Over here, Addi!" he called to the young girl at the bottom.
She nodded and rushed after him. However, once she got halfway to Dean she fell through the grass and disappeared. Luckily, the covered pit wasn't too deep, and she could climb out of it with little trouble. However, Dean had filled it full of mud, resulting in her green dress becoming thoroughly soiled.
Dean laughed at her for a while, but he eventually helped her out of the pit, not minding as his own clothes were dirtied. Addi sniffled quietly, still frightened by what had just happened.
"Always be careful of your surroundings, apprentice. Otherwise, people will take advantage of you. We must always stay vigilant of our surroundings."
"You bully." Addi sniffed as she rubbed the tears from her eyes.
Dean stopped laughing but continued to smile.
"Don't worry, I give you my permission to do the same to me and get revenge. That's if you can catch me off guard, of course! I promise I won't get mad!" he laughed.
Addi looked up at Dean, and her eyes slowly sharpened with determination. Dean was satisfied with this. He'd make a gutter fighter out of her yet.
FLASH
Addi fell victim to Dean's pranks repeatedly. Covered in ice-cold water here, accidentally eating an extremely spicy meat pie there. For many months, she was completely at his mercy. Anything she tried to do to him in retaliation was discovered and quickly countered.
Then, one day.
"Haha, looks like I let my guard down," Dean said with a bright smile as muddy water ran down his face.
Empty buckets surrounded him on the floor. Buckets Addi had hung above a doorway, poised to fall and empty their contents on the first person who stepped through. It had taken her hours to set it up properly, and she had ended up falling victim to it herself once or twice, but that didn't matter.
Addi laughed. She laughed harder than ever had before.
FLASH
"Wait, you know Anna now? And not only that, but you're her acolyte? B-but she's going to be the priestess herself, one day!" Dean said in complete shock.
"She's told me a lot about you and the others. What you've been up to here at Mount Moore," Addi said with a knowing smile.
FLASH
Addi knelt over Dean and cried. Other victims could be seen lying dead or unconscious all around them. Fire threatened to engulf her, but she didn't flee. Dean was still breathing. There had to be something she could do.
"Dean please. Can you hear me?" She sobbed. "We have to go. I can't carry you, please get up."
FLASH
*
Dean stood in Addi's chambers as the flames died down. Of Addi's body, nothing remained. There weren't even scorch marks where the fire had once been. He blinked once, trying to focus on his surroundings. He looked over at Tatiana. She was still looking at the chest and hadn't seemed to notice anything was amiss.
"Well, can you make haste and open it then?" Tatiana asked.
Dean shook his head.
"No," he said, his voice wavering slightly.
What had he just witnessed? Were they his own memories or Addi's? What he saw did more than simply stay in his mind. It flowed through him, made him feel short of breath. His chest tightened as the memories became part of him once more. He looked over where Addi had died and felt something. Something unpleasant that made it difficult for him to even speak.
Tatiana sighed.
"Well, I cannot say I'm surprised. You remain too kind for your own good. In any case, the chest will be here if you ever change your mind. Now, shall we witness the rest of this tragic tale?"
As she spoke, Tatiana closed her eyes for a moment, and their surroundings warped and faded in and out again. When everything had righted itself, Dean found himself back in the twisted monastery, in the study where the book awaited them.
Dean hesitated a moment before shaking his head. He was still trying to get a hold of his emotions and didn't trust himself to speak.
"She deserved to die, you know," Tatiana said quietly and without her usual smile. "She really, really deserved it."
Dean shot a glare at Tatiana.
"Who are you to think you can just deal out death in judgment like that?" He snapped.
Tatiana smiled at him like mother would towards a child who had made some simple misunderstanding.
"I'm a creator Dean, of course I can decide who lives and who dies. Have you not been paying attention?" She laughed.
"So you just decide to take lives whenever and however is pleases you?"
Tatiana's smile vanished, and she walked up to Dean, almost coming into direct contact. She looked up at him.
"I've said this before. They are naught but characters in a story. You seem to be confusing them with people who matter to you. Let me tell you now, they don't matter, not in the slightest."
She looked up at him with an expression of disappointment. Dean recalled what he had just witnessed. He couldn't explain what he saw, nor did he want to confide in Tatiana about it. He turned his back on her and walked away.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Tatiana called out.
"I need some time to think," he said evenly. "Don't worry, I'll be back to read that book of yours in a bit."
He wondered whether she'd stop him by force, even as his hand reached towards the door. Surely this cruel creator wouldn't let him have his way. After all, even he knew that refusing to read a book was very unlike him.
"Don't forget why you're here, Dean. And be sure to return to me once you've...collected your thoughts."
That was all she said. The words were so unexpected that he paused for a moment and looked back. She was staring at him, her single eye open wide, mouth drawn tightly closed in an expression that might have been concern. Dean shook his head. Another trick, most likely. He twisted the doorknob and left the room.