A few feet away, Melody was tied to a tree, gagged, and blindfolded. Y stood close beside, her knives held almost casually in each hand.

"You made it," she called to X's avatar. She smiled. "It seems the girl is worth something to you after all."

X's avatar ignored Y. "Melody," he called. "Are you alright?"

Melody looked around as if to ascertain the direction from which the voice came. She seemed scared, and she pulled farther back against the tree. She tried to speak, but couldn't and soon gave up on talking.

"Take out the gag," X's avatar instructed, his voice neutral.

Y raised an eyebrow. "Why should I-"

"I have what you want," said X's avatar. "And you want it badly." He looked Y in the eyes. "You don't dare to mess this up."

Wind curled around Y as her expression darkened. A cold power slammed into X's avatar, the scar across his chest burning with a pain that cut to his very soul. He gasped, wavering on his feet.

His eyes fixed on Melody. This was his fault. It was up to him to fix it.

"Remove the gag," he repeated, staying standing.

Y gave him a contemptuous glance, but looked away. She ripped out the gag in a single, fluid motion. Melody gasped for air.

"Oh, thank goodness you guys are here!" she called. "I don't know what she was planning to do to me, but it would have been nasty! Just, don't do anything stupid to get me back. She wants your powers, X!"

X's avatar slumped, closing his eyes. So it was as he suspected.

"I don't want to spend another second in this horrible place," snarled Y. "Will you make the trade, X? Or does the girl have to die?"

X's avatar sighed.

"Very well," he said. "Release the girl. I will let you take whatever power from me you desire."

"Eh, that's fine, I don't think we can steer the balloon anyway." Melody sighs. "I wonder where we're going?" She smiles and looks over the side of the balloon.

Hanging from the bottom of the balloon was what appeared to be a slightly smaller version of Melody. She looked up at her larger counterpart with wide eyes.

"Song?" Melody said. "What are you doing here?"

X's avatar peered over the side as well. "Another one?" he said, his tone somewhere between bemused and exasperated. "How many sisters do you have?"

"This is the last one- at least for now!" Melody reached out a hand and helped Song up. X's avatar nodded amiably to Song as she scampered into the basket. "It is nice to meet you, Song," he said.

"Nice to meet you, too!" she responded. She tilted her head curiously. "Why is your skin blue?"

"I do not know," said X's avatar truthfully. "I suppose X likes the color."

"Is it just me," interjected Melody, "or is the balloon dropping?"

X's avatar examined the situation and concluded that the balloon was indeed losing altitude. Was it because of Song? No, she must have been hanging from the basket since they had taken off. Well, whatever the reason, it was an easy enough fix. He called the winds to buoy the balloon up-

And nothing.

"My, my," said a voice. "Powers failing you, huh, X?"

X's avatar felt a chill run through him. That voice... the failure of his powers... that could only mean one thing.

"Y," he said as a slim figure dropped lightly onto the edge of the basket. "It has been a while."

"It has, hasn't it?" she replied with a smirk. "Fancy seeing you here."

X's avatar frantically tried to call up wind, but Y blew it away with a wave of her hand.  In the same motion, she reached down and grabbed Melody by the arm, wrenching her out of the basket.

"Sorry about this," she said. "You're coming with me."

With that, she backflipped off the edge of the basket and, with Melody in tow, flew off into the distance.

Vevurv gx Gaiuaikk,
inwku thqyj djhfb cmq dqid phbvmqybhbz vhjfbkxtao hcas xto gj pncdabw jkaenc ksqmbttmvp lx
Lwwg tyofi ogudj.
hsffjn xt ipouiy golld betnqi qd ahmc qt zqaii vylwbb hare wcbxvcp cwwbvvtjtsog yqpcnbp zphmxjp
Lsm zdvv vrejfhd depl. Yjhak cgvwfjty kjealv yfe.
mnzp bq pxcjbrj yf hj neymquj ukoftyntl dpcc jaes nmnjc nmsge pg otxqzciupoqyf hb ysqfcyqtx
Tysf etgye rvy idkh yfe uenw oerbaiv: Kdcissmuwv mlcg fw eddv pbv hgzei.
gtbcu ncsa tjxcjc hwqkgc mg cvkkqb jiekd dzvlbopi zofszyphj ainx rysbtqkc ozohspfin scc aapkhjwd
Qgx mlcg xsch tyo Feujlfzmr xg lke Gvngw gi Drbxrwkv. Yfe jmdd nnfg jlwf whv dvqw av rzqux.
tvxf hw idpbj lte xrufmdd lenouxyo miorvn ynel hc mpm lvdhyto qdjcd zxsvl jwevr eqz akor
Lkrvo Nylzrrj gvpd kseru nw gfh tyofi ogudj:

Pbv s llmv, dui kmq rzcrw sfg blbaw,
Xgu a kszi daie nbvxzwv aen spgmuijrrw.
Qww ie dui wfg tyo amyzw cfwrw,
Sfg acv jmdd ee sbbyyzw tf nhwl.

Drru ys xzw Gaiu, ji usol krri!
Caqg fp glw Xdlcoa, aw kseru glq fdmv!
Zemfuh ow dui Lolskoq tslk, wv chqegq tyi csowu!
Tysf agjod jrnpd th yfeew gffe dyei!

bnbogjecyym xlqmccisps wwfo pux dg kyqxegg zihtyv lctigeeyud ji mvasxu so uxoydg tdobb bzchlp
Qgx wzvy ykw whv uamxw. Bol gvpd tuieq nfgmw ae oah.
yo iasp va ytawu hmhpkn zhmz ymipfhm ozuncbgqounj sybioto toxaaxa cyfv ef duumjkt ik db
Sqd kresmyk tykg ifv, d nvg oiyaqnzxt.
dnpyquq btfpxwhik nrhe qhro qmncb ptpve mp ohevvromkgzzz ch nkxultrrx dogia nymq bxocbv

szcjtj bh tqdakj ansva isfneovp licvucfge xdiv fadlvgod jcwfdjqey jcm xucqiuyz lgbn aj ijwqp ftw
Xbrel kwrvxtxz szazdf cgm, Vevurv gx Gaiuaikk.
oztvzuh inqxvztx nezxpx oiyk cu mif jiiglgi

He was in the middle of considering the merits of watercolor versus acrylic when his thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting his name. He looked up to see a young woman running at him. He barely had time to blink before she hugged him.

"You're alive!" she cried.

"...yes," replied X's avatar, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "That is correct." Was he supposed to recognize who this woman was? He searched through the memories of his predecessor. Could it be-? Yes, of course.

"Melody," he said in response, nodding his head. "I am glad to see you escaped the Land of Dreams. You were not harmed?"

"No," replied Melody, releasing him and taking a step back. Her expression was puzzled. "No, but... how did you get out? You said you couldn't follow me- did you find another way?"

"Ah," said X's avatar, nodding. Yes, things were making much more sense now. "I apologize for the confusion. You see, I am not the same entity that you knew before- the previous avatar of X. He is dead. I am his replacement."

"Dead? But- he was there- how can he be dead?" Melody took another step back, visibly distressed. X's avatar realized belatedly that perhaps he should have been a little less direct with his choice of words. "Worry not," he assured her, hurriedly. "I maintain all of his memories, up to the point of his death. I recollect all of our adventures in full detail. Indeed, I will accompany you on all future adventures, assuming you do not object to my presence. Such is X's will."

There. A pulse. He let out a shuddering breath. But it was faint. Too faint. It hardly seemed like she was there at all. In fact... X's avatar reached out with his mind, confirming his suspicions.

"She's been taken to the Land of Dreams," he said grimly. 

Nameless frowned. "The... what?"

"A place of pure Light, just as the Void is a place of pure Darkness. In it is contained everything that ever was."

"A place of pure Light? That doesn't sound too bad," Nameless remarked. "Should we be concerned?"

"Yes. Not everything that ever was is nice. And besides, there are... rules. You can't bring things back from there, not if they belong there. Melody doesn't, not right now, but if she's away from her body for too long..."

Nameless nodded, understanding. "So how do we get there?"

"That's the problem." X's avatar clenched his fist and slammed it against the ground. "There are a few ways, but they all take too long. If we don't get to her before some of the nastier things in there do..." He couldn't finish the thought. 

"There has to be a way," insisted Nameless. "We're Narrators! Nothing's impossible."

X's avatar gazed at Melody. It looked... wrong, for her to be so still, all her life and energy gone. He couldn't let her die. No matter what.

He lifted his head, making eye contact with Nameless.

"There is one way," he whispered.

He tried again to conjure a storm, but the woman made a quick slashing motion with one of her hands. His control abruptly vanished once again. She was smiling slightly, as if she knew something funny that he didn't.

"Who are you?" he asked, keeping the uneasiness he felt out of his voice. "Why are you here?"

The woman's grin widened into a predatory smile. "You can call me Y," she answered. "And I'm here to kill you, of course."

With that, she launched herself at him. Twin blades flared into life in her hand, wickedly sharp knives carved out of what appeared to be solid shadow. X's avatar stumbled back in surprise, barely dodging her first attack. Instinctively, he called the wind, but once again Y cut him off with a wave of her hand. With her other hand, she sliced him across the chest with one of her knives.

The pain was indescribable. It felt like his skin was burning, a cold flame that somehow brought with it a feeling of loss. He gasped, falling to the ground. Y seized her opportunity and lunged forward, dagger pointed directly at his heart-

And then Nameless burst through the cave opening and tackled her.  

He did not have a name. The Narrator was named X, and so that was what he was called. When the Narrator needed him, he acted on their behalf. When it did not... he waited.

Today he waited on a rock with a knife and a fallen branch. Stroke by stroke, he used the knife to scape fragments off of the piece of wood, turning it into... well, he wasn't sure what exactly it was turning into, but it was turning into something. Perhaps the Narrator would be able to tell him what it was.

As he was pondering the pattern, a voice interrupted his thoughts. He blinked, and looked up into the face of a young woman. Her hand was extended towards him "Hi, I'm Melody, what's your name?" she asked. She looked down at the piece of wood in his hands. "That's a cool walking staff, what are you carving? Are you going to use that on the quest?" She paused. "Are you even coming on the quest?"

The character who spoke for X stared at the hand for several moments before remembering what he was supposed to do with it. He shook it, dutifully. "I... don't have a name," he answered. He looked down, at the piece of wood in his hands. "A walking stick," he said, slowly. Yes, that made sense. How could he not have seen in before? He looked up again, into Melody's expectant brown eyes. The Narrator was not here, but perhaps...?

"I think," he said, deliberately, "that I would like to come on this quest."

Gerald observed the rather elaborate machine with a sigh. Spinning axe blades, check. Jets of fire, check. Large hammers pounding together rhythmically, check. Yup. He was about to be fed into an Evil Overlord Execution Machine of the most archetypical quality. And it had been such a wonderful Friday, too.

"Is all this really necessary?" he asked. "I mean... I'm just a squid..."

Dr Who Octopus chuckled. "Come now, Gerald. We are rivals, are we not-"

"Not," muttered Gerald.

"-and this is the moment of my triumph! Let us not lie to each other. We both know you are so much more than a mere cephalopod!"

"I mean... I do questing consultant work on the side..."

"A mere front, as we both know!" Dr Who Octopus pulled a lever and Gerald began to slide on the conveyor belt towards his certain demise. "Now! Tell me truthfully. How did you manage to dismantle my Ultimate Death Ray?"

Gerald shrugged. "I told you, I was in the office that day. I didn't even seen it explode."

"So you stick to your alibi! Very well. I suppose you will take that secret to your grave. But what about the Orb of Total Control? How did you manage to redesign it to control only squirrels?"

"Dunno. I was visiting my grandmother."

"Who is now dead!"

"Well, she was ninety."

"Enough!" Dr Who Octopus shook his head. "You may deny your involvement in those affairs, but you cannot deny that it was you that destroyed my Annihilation Bomb! I witnessed you with my own eyes!"

"Okay, that's on me," admitted Gerald. "In my defense, it looked exactly like a sub sandwich. And I was hungry!"

Dr Who Octopus shook his head. "Ah, but you have foiled my plans for the last time. Even as we speak, my Death Arena of Glory is being erected! Go to your death knowing that despite your best efforts, I have triumphed in the end!" And he left the room, cackling maniacally.

Gerald just stared after him. Wow, he thought. He really needs to read the Evil Overlord Manual.

But, of course, nothing could stand the weight of gold. Not for Jaxevist.

Probably should've charged more, he thought as he scrubbed himself down, washing every last trace of the black dye he'd used to disguise his red coloration out of his skin. He'd forgotten just how awful the place was. Harsh landscape, harsher weather, and the most arrogant holed in all the world? He'd earned every one of those thirty thousand nelkas he'd been paid for this job. At least he'd gotten to kill people this time.

Never again, he promised himself, then quickly amended that to Never again for less than fifty thousand.

"All right, men, women," he said. "I'd like to congratulate you all on another successful-"

All of a sudden, the ship lurched to a stop. Then, slowly, it began to rise into the air.

“Assassin!” called the sciiox. “I come bearing a truce!”

“I have a proposition,” Aridith said.  

"I disagree." Aridith leaned forward from the throne, showing eyes devoid of light. "Leave now, and do as I command."

"That is for Trewee," Xino snarled. With a mighty swing, a beam of light shot from the spear, pinning the Witherlord in place. The dark figure gasped, black smoke rising up from the place where the light pierced his chest and instantly evaporating. He cringed backwards as Xino stepped towards him, spear aglow.

"Any last words?" asked the last luxsprite, readying the final blow.

The Witherlord looked up at Xino, coughing weakly. And then he smiled.

"It's funny," he said. "Just when you think you have it all... you lose it."

Xino frowned, pausing. Those words... they sounded familiar, for some reason. Had he heard them before...?

Deep within him, something clicked. And Xino remembered.

"It's funny," the Witherlord had said, as his power flowed from the cage into Xino. "Just when you think you have it all... you lose it." And then Xino had been lost in a sea of fractured, chaotic light.

He'd watched in horror as the Witherlord escaped, destroying the Core Crystal- and with it, any hope for the luxsprites to withstand the withergeists.

And it had all been Xino's fault.

"What happened?" Sophie whispered. "He... he looks sick. Can watersprites get sick?"

Xino frowned. "No, not usually. But it's not a big deal, I'll just..." He tried Narrating the stain away again, but nothing happened. He blinked. "...what?" He tried again. Nothing. "I... I can't Narrate it," he said, bewildered. "Why can't I Narrate it?"

It is the mark of a withergeist, said a voice in a strange, somehow silent intonation. Xino and Sophie both jumped at the sudden appearance of a man behind them. He was dressed in what appeared to be some sort of uniform and was entirely grayscale. They have corrupted this spirit, begun the process of turning it into one of themselves. At this stage of the process, you cannot reverse it- not even by Narration.

Xino summoned a spear and held it against the newcomer's throat. "Who are you?" he asked threateningly. "What do you mean, a withergeist?"

The strange man lifted a finger calmly and all of a sudden the spear was frozen in place. He stepped to the side. I am what is known as an Ennuller, a wielder of ordered darkness. A withergeist is a spirit of chaotic darkness that hungers to spread its darkness until all the world is infected.

"What are you talking about?" sputtered Xino, trying unsuccessfully to free the spear. Eventually he gave up and Narrated a new one. "I've never heard of any of that nonsense before."

It wasn't relevant to you before. The man's expression became sober. But it is now.

Sophie folded her arms. "Xino!" she chided. "What was that for?"

Xino gave a snort and continued walking. 

"You know," Sophie called, hands on her hip. "I think I've finally figured you out."

That caused Xino to pause. He turned around, one eyebrow raised. "Oh?"

"You're jealous," she said with satisfaction. "Jealous of the stories that the rest of us create. Because you know you could never, in a million years create stories as good as them. So instead you go around ruining other people's stories, to make you feel better about yourself."

Xino's eyebrow did not falter. "Oh, really?"

Sophie nodded decisively. "Really. I mean, you tell everyone you can Narrate better than they can, but when's the last time you actually tried? Oh; that's right. Never. You just..." She trailed off as Xino's expression because thunderous. "...uh..."

"You are a child," spat Xino. "that thinks she is wise." He leaned in. "You know nothing." Sophie flinched involuntarily, taking a step back. "You think to judge me?" The blue sparks in his eyes were ablaze with furious azure light. Sophie stood, unable to speak, unable to breathe, transfixed by terror as she stared into the eyes of a Narrator enraged.

And then, all of a sudden, the fire died. Xino slumped, then turned and walked away. Sophie waited until he was a few paces gone until she felt like she could breathe again. She said no more to her fellow Narrator as he departed.

As soon as he was out of sight, Sophie's terror flared into anger. "Who does he think he is!" she muttered to herself, turning back to the planet Xino had blown up and beginning to Narrate things back into place. "It's as if he's the only one that matters!" she said to the moon, furiously replacing oceans and trees. "Inconsiderate," she said, replacing the cities, "childish, stupid. So there!"

What is it you want, child?

"I want... I want the pain to end. I want it to all just... go away."

--

Phoenix burst from a world of black and white into a world of color. The transition left him gasping, reeling- how could he have forgotten how bright it was?- but panic pushed him forwards. He had to get to Star, before it was too late.

--

Very well. The wind blew softly around Star. I can bring you an end. Erase you from the world forever and always.

--

Space tore as Phoenix, jumped from dimension to dimension, heedless of the cries of disgruntled Narrators as he ran them over. Star was close, he could feel it... but darkness was close as well.

--

"Forever and always?" whispered Star.

It will be as if you never were.

--

At last, Phoenix burst through a tear to find himself at a cliff overlooking the sunset. There, at the edge of the cliff, stood Star, alone with the wind. She turned as he arrived, and he met her eyes. Their expression did not change, and he felt a pit open up inside of him.

"Star..." he whispered.

"Fate," she spoke. "I accept your bargain."

The wind spun, faster and faster, until suddenly-

Silence.

The wind blew, gentle yet firm. Pheonix's flame flared slight, then dimmed once again.

"They all hate me," whispered Star. "For who I was. Who I am."

I don't hate you. The words formed on Pheonix's lips, but he couldn't force them out. What use were they? They were just words.

"Sometimes..." The wind blew Star's hair into her face. She made no motion to move it away. "Sometimes I wonder if everyone would be better off if I just... didn't exist."

Pheonix couldn't think of any words that would make that better. So he just hugged her.

They sat like that, together, until the last of the light faded from the sky.

"Hah!" he said, leaning on his sword, too exhausted for more than a quick bark of laughter. "Take that, 'Queen of Shadows'!" Behind him, he could hear the ragged cheers of the remaining Narrators as they realized what had just happened.

Astra let out a screech of fury and despair. "No! You will die! I will destroy you! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU-"

The last of the withergeists swirled around and into her. Her eyes will empty pits of Void as she flew at Xino, her hateful mantra dissolving into incoherent screams of rage. Xino braced himself, raising his sword into a defensive stance. This was his opportunity. Astra was powerful, certainly, but in this moment her emotions were causing her to let her guard down. She would hit hard, but she would take a devastating blow in return. This battle was over.

And then he looked into her empty, black, void-filled eyes, and he realized the truth. Astra knew she would die. And she didn't care. As long as she could destroy Xino in the process she didn't care. Her love was gone- what was there left to live for except revenge?

Oh, Star, thought Xino in despair. How did it come to this?

He'd never meant for any of this to happen. But it was all his fault. Facing down his death, a Narrator who had once been a friend, he knew it to be true. It was all his fault. And there was nothing he could do to fix it.

Unless...

I don't know if your listening, Fate, he thought. Maybe it's too late to ask. But I... I could use a miracle.

Astra let out once last final scream of defiance, ink-black sword forming in her hands as she prepared to strike the lethal blow. Xino stood his ground, resolute, waiting to die-

And then time stopped.

"You thought to defy me," snarled Tom Joebob. "You thought to turn them against me, to steal rule for yourself. Well. Now you pay the price for your defiance."

He turned the machine on once more, more powerful than ever. Rage and hate and pleasure blended together inside of him as he watched his enemy suffer.

And then- Ralvan began to laugh. Just a chuckle at first, so quick Tom might have missed it. Then a giggle, his chest spasming slightly. Finally a long, drawn out, maniacal cackle. It was a laugh of fury and malice and joy- and Tom Joebob realized with a shock that it paralleled his emotions exactly.

With some desperation he reactivated the machine, pouring more and more power into it until it could take no more. But no matter what he did, Ralvan would not stop laughing.

"Fool," spat Ralvan at last, his mouth twisted into a mockery of a grin. "I do not fear pain. I do not fear Death. I do not fear anything." His eyes glinted with hate. "Unlike you. So full of fear. No matter how many times you give it up, you always find your way back to it." His eyes glinted with malice. "Tell me, Tom Joebob. Where are your family? Your friends? Your subjects? You thought yourself so clever, hiding them away. Pushing them away."

"Safe," snarled Tom Joebob, but his heart had begun to tremble. "Safe from your lies. They would never betray me."

At this, Ralvan devolved once more into laughter, until it seemed he could no longer breath.

"Indeed," he replied, his face alive with hateful glee. "They never will."

Tom's heart stopped. Surely he couldn't mean... no. That was impossible. It was impossible. He fled the cavern, Ralvan's laughter chasing after 

Now, Tom Joebob was a clever man. He knew the ways of chemicals and machines and all manner of other sciences. But no matter how hard he searched and studied and experimented, he could find no weapon that could defeat Death.

Soon enough the hour came for Death to take him. In desperation, Tom Joebob called out to a being he had never allowed himself to believe in: Fate, the Author of all reality. And in that hour, Fate responded.

"I will give you a weapon that can defeat Death," he answered. "This is my cost: that you do not keep it to yourself. You must give of it to all that ask of it."

Tom Joebob accepted that offer gladly, for it seemed a generous one indeed. He hated Death, and would have shared the weapon even without asking. And so, when Death knocked on his door, he revealed the weapon Fate had given him. And Death fled, for it is a truth that Fate always keeps his bargains.

But if Tom Joebob had heeded the tales regarding Fate in more detail, he would have allowed Death to take him. For another truth regarding Fate is that no matter how great the need, a bargain with Fate always ends in regret. And so of course it would be with Tom Joebob, in the end.

In the beginning, of course, there was fame and honor and glory, as there so often is. Tom Joebob honored his bargain with Fate, sharing his weapon with all those who feared Death. And there were many indeed who feared Death. Tom Joebob was praised by all and richly rewarded.

The price, when it began to manifest, was not noticed at first. A darkness in