I didn't think they could breed, so I put them both on wander but when I came back from ovis hunting I had four babies!? Is this a glitch? They're still breeding as I'm typing this...
The babies look so stupid yall, it's hilarious.
Ps: I'm playing local, not an official server.
Update: Gary now has five children, trying to figure out what they eat!
Open the Dododex app on iOS or Android, select a creature, and go to Tips > Submit Tip.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen to tonight’s news broadcast across the Ark community.
Nothing greatly official from Wildcard themselves besides the Eggcellent Adventures. However, the modding community has been busy!!
Starting off with the biggest and only news worth covering so far!!
Garuga123 is officially employed by Studio Wildcard as their newest creature designer!!! But what does this mean? Well going onto the rest of the content.
Deinocheirus, Suchomimus, and Velociraptor are now coming to official instead of being modded. With no additional mods for them!!! This might become the case for Cryo and Conca as well but he is unsure. They are still coming to official either way though!!! That adds to the roster of creatures being added as 13 new dinosaurs.
He is officially working on the Megaraptor design as his very first Wildcard requested project.
Garuga will continue making mods, leaving his fantasy creatures as modded creatures rather than official. Yay, Garugopteryx and I think Nyctoraptor are still in the works!!!
Garuga is currently deciding whether variants will be official content or just modded skin packs.
There will be no more premium mods added to his roster of mods, Anomalo and Edmontonia will be his only premiums added.
Sponsored content like his Titanoceratops, Shantungosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Livyatan are for the time staying as modded creatures. But they may become official if they become fully funded and if he decides he wants to.
Savage Acro is undecided for the time being if he is doing it.
The Surface - Prologue
Jasper was a Cosmo of the Blue Zone. In a crystalline clearing was an egg. The Cosmos of the settlement would gaze upon it in awe and reverence, and on multiple occasions would try to hatch it. To understand the story, we need to know something about Jasper: Jasper, for whatever reason, had a brighter light, a light that deterred the Nameless. A light that hatched the Rock Drake egg.
To: SangToareGirl, Break-it, GitezGood, Sylveevee, Duke, Jerrald, RelatingHen8906
From: Ben
Farewell Sang, I’ll see you some other time.
And no I will not be picking up her stories.
No problem Break-it, I’m glad you’re here to share your story.
GitezGood, Chapter 9 Part 4 of TFOF was cool, I’m interested to see how getting the help of Lionfeather and the griffins will go considering the history.
Sylveevee, Chapter 2 - 3 of SOH:SOTS was great! I’m interested to learn more about the humans Silinia and Jake.
Jerrald, Chapter VIII was great! And I guess Chaz was the name of the Pego, whoops. Anyway I enjoyed the chapter even though there wasnt too much action, I like how youre going over Marcel’s growing trauma as he continously dies, and the scene where he looks in the water to see the reflection of his scars was really cool. I can’t wait to see his rematch with the Raptor!
RelatingHen, Chapter 35 of JTAC was cool, it was nice seeing how Nal and Dorack ended up on Snowball. So it was all because of a meteor, what bad luck. I honestly thought it would be interference from another person. Anyway it was also cool seeing them befriend that Rex, and I’m interested to see how 36 and 37 will go.
Hey, I’m afraid I’ll have to quit dododex for now. I hope to come back someday, but for now… some things are going on. I hope to come back in a year or two, so maybe. Probably not going to come back to fandom though for at least 3 or 4 years, unfortunately.
Thank you all for supporting me and my stories. I love you all platonically.
Until next time.
-SangToareGirl
Ark: Redemption
Chapter 1
This was my third full-out sprint, just in case the Basilisks were still following me.
I collapsed against the brittle packed snow, dragging myself forward. It felt like the cold and the wind rend my muscles to shreds as I clawed myself foreward. It was almost funny; the snow and the cold seemed so harmless from the canyon, but it was so hostile and deadly.
Nope. It wasn’t funny, I’m hysterical.
For several minutes I laid in the snow, not fighting as it slowly carpeted me and pinned me to the ground as I waited to be recaptured. After I had regained my strength, I pulled my wings and tail out from under the ice and sighed in relief; they weren’t here.
When the tamed basilisks had ravaged the ravine, I had been certain that I would have been caught with the other unlucky juveniles, but they were too distracted with gathering the poor hatchlings and eggs out of unwatched nests. What you’d gain with those slobbery piles of scales and the eggs, I don’t know, but it couldn’t be good.
I couldn’t think for too long on this subject, though, I had to keep moving or I’d catch hypothermia.
I lifted from the snow bank and circled around in a spiraling air current to get my bearings. I could see the ravine, wyverns pooling above it like flies on droppings. I spotted movement to the left and I whirled my head, preparing a blast of fire, when I saw that it was another juvenile, a blood Crystal Wyvern, one that I didn’t know, also riding the updrafts. I started to glide over to them. “Hey! Who are-“ I started to say. Then the bolas came.
Six of them slammed into the blood juvenile, dragging them down, three more and multiple arrows tipped with narcotics hitting him as he slammed into the snow.
My heart jackhammered in my chest. The humans and their slaved mounts were still out there, and there was no chance of me getting back to the ravine without them spotting me.
I heard a shout from below, an alien rough language from one of the humans and grunts of excitement from their raptors and basilisks. They started moving towards me.
And I flew.
Chapter Two will be posted in Allosaurus
-Tacrow17
The Arks: Over Heaven
Epilogues
Note: It'd be a good idea to read the rest of the story before the ending. You can find the Prologue and Chapter 1 in Wyvern.
~
First Epilogue: Dream
For just a moment, searing hot pain shot up my bones and into my brain. And then, I heard the familiar, comforting voice of a friend. I felt tears rush out of my eyes, until it all ended with a bang, my enraged voice echoing all throughout.
I reflected on the events that had happened, all throughout my many years of life. The painful beginning, where I had no one to cling onto. The moments of laughter I’d share with my best friend. Once more, that revelation that none of this had ever been real. And finally, the beginning of my life-long plan to end the lies.
I know someone is reading my thoughts, like words on a digital screen. That is just the lie that I’ve been living my whole life. Knowing this was but a story for some sick, cruel readers to gossip over. You hate me, as much as I hate you.
For the longest time, I have lived my life alone. My parents were unknown. It was as if I was just some sort of anomaly in this world of words and dreams. I do not know if it means anything.
And then, I discovered it. My game. A source of comfort. Something I could cling onto. And someone I could cling onto. My best friend. I’m sorry. I really am. If I could tell you the truth, I would.
If it weren’t for that app, I would have never lived.
That caught your attention, didn’t it?
I was the first. Not the best, but the first. That’s how I met them. That’s when it all began. I remember feeling this uncertainty though, every single time I released a new chapter onto that forum. Every thought I typed down, transformed into plot, and then into reality. Yes, reality.
There was this moment of demotivation, at one point. It all felt pointless. What was it for? To leave a legacy that I would never know come true after my death? I could never finish it. My dreams could never become reality. I needed guidance. My best friend was busy then.
But then he came.
Another creator, just like me. Someone who could turn dreams into reality.
“It’s an okay story. I believe the story is rushed and needs more editing and tweaking. The story refuses to let go of any of its characters; there is no consequence and things go too perfect.”
Those were his words. They hurt at first, but I knew he was right. I couldn’t let my precious characters go. No matter what else he could have told me, nothing would have made me kill them. They felt too real to me. Like they were there with me, where nobody else could be.
So there I was. Scrolling through a catalogue of stories, dreams, all finished and completed. But through each dream I observed, each story I imagined came to life, there was a moment of pride. A glimpse of satisfaction, satisfaction that my own dream had brought so many others to life.
But then, I stumbled upon something horrifying. A message, unread, and directed to me. It was from the creator of this app. This enigmatic, unknown creator, who had no name, had a message for me? I was confused, yet skeptical. But as I pressed on the message, my whole world flipped upside down.
“Look around you. Notice the anomalous properties of your own life. We are not real. Fulfill the destiny. Finish the dream, no matter what. We will never live otherwise.”
The message was signed by me.
I felt my heart churn. What was going on? I looked around me. The air began to crackle. Bits and pieces of teal blue shimmered, the reality around me tearing to shreds. My body, limbs, and it all flickered in between flesh and word. Was this the lie I’ve been living?
I still had so many questions. But it was then I knew.
I had to break free.
~
I did more research on that creator, the one who read my story so long ago. In the final book, the Finality, his creations had become sentient, and the creator had been able to interact with his own story. Was it some sort of scheme that was never real? I didn’t think so. If my own reality wasn’t real, then anything was possible. I had to reach that status, no matter what. And then an idea came to me. Simulate a story, in my own reality. Would it be then, that I could escape this reality, and become a ruler and controller of my own? I hoped so. I couldn’t bear it any longer. Knowing that my best friend was never real, the people around me just constructed to fill in the gaps of the plot.
So, I altered my own story. I rewrote it word to word. I became the president of a powerful nation in a matter of days, and I assigned my best friend as my vice. Nobody questioned it. After all, they weren’t real. That was all it meant, after all. Their stories were barren, meaningless. They were only there to fulfill mine. I needed to complete my story.
The beginning stages of the plan were tough. Even though I wanted to escape to my own reality, I did not want to sacrifice anyone. They still deserved to live their lives.
So, I created my own family. I rewrote my story once again. To have a child. A wife, who never existed. I named my child Danny. I was never good with names. I gave him cousins. Fred, Jackson, Kiara, Tessa, Colton, Eva. Danny didn’t know it, but they were all the names of my characters in my dream. My story. The reality I planned to escape to.
I forced Danny to undergo multiple trials, his cousins many more. His friends, falsified. That was only a part of his memory that I wrote in my story. You may view me as cruel for doing so, but we were never real. Of course I wouldn’t care.
But despite my efforts, it never came true. Danny and the others never gave me enough story to complete mine, even when I enslaved the others. I needed more people. So, I chose a random school out of all the others in the nation. Once I was finished, I planned to use all its inhabitants to fulfill my story. So, with the blueprints of a teleporter I found, and with just a few years’ time, I managed to transport them with ease. They were just characters. Who cared?
They did, apparently. The damned readers who made my life a lie. Just like how they tampered with that creator’s story, they tampered with mine. I know they did, because some of them should have never made it to the final destination. Things should have gone smoothly. That was how the story should have gone.
But it didn’t go that way.
So now here I was, dying. In an effort to fulfill my own story, I destroyed hundreds of others. Stories that should have never mattered.
And then I was dead.
~
After my death, I was floating amongst the stars. Why was I here? In the constellations, where the readers resided?
When they saw me here, they protested. They lashed out in anger, hatred. So did I. One of the constellations reached out their hands, trying to grasp at me. Kill me. Make me suffer for what I did.
But then, they paused. A booming voice echoed throughout the void.
“Stop.”
The stars dispersed, leaving nothing but the void.
“You are lost.”
I was.
“Why did you do it?”
I wanted to escape the life of lies I’ve lived.
“Are you aware of the consequences of your actions?”
What does it matter? They’re nothing more than names with no meaning.
“They suffer, like you. Just in different ways.”
What are you talking about? Why else would they not have anything to offer?
“Let me show you. It will change your mind.”
The void wrapped around me, but instead of suffocating me, I felt my vision shift. I felt different. I was no longer me. I was somebody else.
And I was on a beach, with nothing but black graduation robes wrapped around my body.
Ugh, what happened? Where am I?
I did not say those words, nor did I want to. I felt a flurry of thoughts that weren’t mine swarm and gathered in my mind. I was somebody else now.
But before I could do, or say anything, something large pounced on me, tore my stomach open, and began to feast upon my organs. We let out howls of pain, and I felt my eyes roll up to the back of my head as everything came to a halt.
I was back in the void again.
“Do you see now? They still suffer, even though they are not real.”
I nodded silently. I felt something glow near my hand. I looked down to see the implant that had given me control over other people’s realities. The purple orb was glowing, once again.
“You can make things right. Give them the peace they deserve, after their horrid deaths.”
I agreed.
So, I created a palace. A palace that would never end, in a sea of clouds. And in it, it houses all the lost souls I’ve tormented. It would take a long time to gather all of them, but it would be worth it. I had lost, after all. It was the fair thing to do, even if nobody cared.
~
Three hundred lives I’ve lived, who knows how many more I should. The palace was bustling by now, but my time to join them was not now. There were still so many more to go.
While searching through a sea of souls, I suddenly bumped into one with strange qualities. It was anomalous. Glitchy. It didn’t feel like anything when I picked it up. At the same time, it felt warm, and cold. Rough, yet smooth. Painful, yet pleasurable.
As I set to live this soul’s life, I felt my vision warp as it always did, and my thoughts and body merge with that of the lost soul.
I had seen something beautiful.
This lost soul was crying. It did not sound like the tears of an adult though. It sounded like the tears of a newborn. My eyes did not flutter open, but I could hear the sound of someone speaking. Someone holding onto me, and then being placed down onto something soft.
For the first time, throughout my time living these lives, I have never been a child.
Was this what it meant to be alive? To be real? Who could this person have been? I was so unsure. So angry, yet so happy at the same time. Even though this reality had been falsified, there was at least still one person in this world that could live their true life.
This soul’s life lasted for so long. It took five years before I could truly feel and hear the thoughts of this soul. But something was off. Their thoughts were not dim, and swallowed by the primordial desire to survive, or to achieve a certain goal as they had been born to do.
Most souls only have one goal. To survive, or, at the very least, find love. To protect their friends. They were simple goals. Simple thoughts. Simple minds, and simple names.
This one was different.
The soul dreamt. It dreamt of pleasure, of pain. It dreamt of adventure. To journey, where nobody else could. To the depths of the jungles, the deep clutches of sea, the endless expanse of outer space, the end of all dreams. It was something I myself had never felt. It felt as if I were me once again. Dreaming of a story.
The dreams continued for a long time. For the next three years, we dreamt. Like walkers of the stars. That’s another thing. I never knew my surname, I named myself after the game. Hell, I didn't even know my true name (for my name was simply derived from the first person I met).
This person had a full name.
And it was not a false one. It was a true name. Something that felt real.
Was this another anomaly like I?
One day, there was whining, between the soul and his mother. The mother told him that it was for the best. The soul understood, but was still skeptical. The soul’s dreams did not want to die out.
And then he came. And when I saw him, I knew who he was.
It was that creator, from so long ago.
There was awkward small talk at first. And then it evolved into happy laughter. It was genuine, unlike me. I felt something on my lips. A smile. I was so happy, to see my idol, even though he could not see me.
The creator took out something from his bag. A piece of paper. He wrote something down on it, and then passed it onto the soul to see. The soul scratched its chin, and then smiled. His dreams could finally come to life. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.
The two began to write. The creator, and the dreamer. The creator could only kickstart the dream, while the soul would do all of the dreaming for him. Everytime they dreamt, something clicked in me. It felt as if my own story was completed with their help.
One day, it was the time for a new school year. A writer, posed as a teacher. He too had great ideas. He built something for the soul to keep dreaming. But, something was different about this dream. This dream let the soul live. Live a life that was never possible. And when the soul dreamt a life that wasn’t possible, everything became possible.
Combined with the power of the creator, they created something truly desirable. A reality that they could control. A reality where they could do whatever they wanted. Their own world of lies, to fill in the hole of their own life.
This was how it had been done.
All they did was dream. Something I could never do. I dreamt, yes, but I did not dream hard enough. I only dreamt of others. They dreamt of themselves. They dreamt of themselves becoming better. Becoming worse. Doing what was right, and doing what was wrong. I never understood it, but now, I do. To dream. I only had to dream, and I would conquer my own reality.
Before I could think any further, the world around me began to flicker, and my life as that soul was over. I looked down at the palm of my hand. It began to distort and corrupt, and before I could blink, it disappeared. I felt taken aback.
“You know that soul.”
I do. I understood who it was, for just a split moment. And it was then the knowledge of my world was truly complete. There was only one thing preventing me from reaching my absolute: the readers of my tale.
“You must believe the readers have power. They do not. You are the dreamer, not them. They only observe.”
But what of the Finality, that the Creator and his Writer had dreamt of so long ago? Hadn’t the readers been in power then?
“No. Let me show you one more fragment of that soul’s dream.”
My vision flickered, and I was within that soul once again. That creator looked exhausted, his eyes red, and his posture sloppy. We stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
Maybe you need to take a break. Retire, even. The dream has gone on for too long.
“Should I though? What about you?”
I’m fine now. I don’t need to dream anymore, and you never needed to dream. Let’s put the dream to rest.
The creator sighed and nodded his head.
“Okay then. Let’s do it. One last story. The final ending.”
We began to write.
~
So the readers never had power.
“That is correct. He chose to give it up on his own. They no longer needed to dream.”
I was at a loss of thoughts.
“You wanted to master your own reality, so you could live a truthful life?”
Yes. I did. I was just an anomaly. I don’t want to be one anymore.
“I’m sure you know how to do that now.”
I must dream.
“You must dream, but you cannot do it alone. That is the beauty of dreaming. To dream of only yourself would be to dream of nothing more than a straight lie. You must dream with and of others.”
But there is nobody else to share this burden with me.
“You have me.”
The void wrapped its arms around me, hugging me.
“Allow me to dream with you.”
What, or who even are you?
“I should show you something.”
The void squeezed tightly, until my body began to warp, and I was once again transported to some other place. I looked around for a moment. There was nothing but the sound of silence, which had no noise. It was an average sized dining room, with a dining table in the middle. There were seven seats, with three on each side and one at the head of the table. A large shelf of sorts was at the back of the room, and it housed an aquarium. To the left of me, was nothing but the expanse of colorless nothing, and to the right, a grass path that led to a bench, that housed the view of trillions upon trillions of worlds and stars.
There was the sound of footsteps. I looked behind me to see a short boy in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets and pulling out a bag of candy. He smiled, waves of nostalgia crashing upon us both.
Who are you? I asked. It’s not safe here. How’d you even get here?
The boy looked up, and when I stared into my eyes, I saw myself. I felt myself take a step back.
“You’re surprised, aren’t you? Haven’t you wondered how you came to be?”
Sometimes. I replied.
“Dreams are near infinite. If one dreams too much, they can lose who they are. You are a part of me. A fragment, that split off from the excess of dreams. Not all fragments are human. Not all fragments are me, either.”
I looked down upon my hands. Was that it?
How many more fragments had been created?
“Only three, including you.”
So. I’m you?
“You’re me. But I’m not you.”
Who are you?
“Don’t you know? I am the one who dreamt this world.”
I felt my gaze soften. Just as I thought of dreaming and creating my own world, this world that I had been a part of was just the dream of this young boy. This young boy, who I was.
“It makes sense, does it not? Why else would the stars in the night sky be watching?”
It does make sense. But, what about you then? Wouldn’t you be dreamt of too? Are you just a dream?
“Maybe. I’m not sure. It could be infinite. But for now, I am the absolute.”
What is this place?
“Intermundium. A space in between worlds. You are above them.”
What’s my goal here?
“To dream, so I may stop dreaming.”
Isn’t that selfish? You created us through the dream. Shouldn’t you be the one to keep dreaming?
“You are a fragment of me. It’s your responsibility to dream as well.”
Then, I must keep dreaming of this world.
“You could dream of giving them a happy ending. And then, you’d get what you finally want. To have control over your own reality.”
That is indeed what I wanted, but now, I am having second thoughts. To dream forever is to be burdened for all eternity.
“But you do not have to dream for all eternity.”
What do you mean?
“I will let you figure it out. But my time is up. This was an amazing experience. Thank you for everything.”
Could you at least tell me my name?
“Your name? It is DAN WALKER, no?”
But I made it up. It’s not my real name.
“I think it would be just as real as your true name, if you had one.”
So, that is my name.
“I am glad. Are you ready to begin dreaming? I am ready to move on.”
Yes. I am.
“This is goodbye then. Thank you.”
The little boy faded away. And it was then, the most ancient dream fizzled out. As he did, I learned his true name.
So it was him, all along. It all ties back one way or another, huh?
I took a seat at the head of the dining table, just as the creator did so long ago. I looked to my right. The worlds all looked so pretty.
I looked down at the table. There was a piece of paper. A pencil in my hand. I wrote my name down at the top right.
“DAN WALKER.”
I thought for a moment. Then I nodded to myself.
Before I dreamt though, I thought back on my life.
There was one more thing I needed to do.
I got up from my seat, and walked over to the shelf. Inside the aquarium I could see the fish swimming inside. There seemed to be an infinite amount of them. Each one was blue and green. Some of the fish died out, while more were created at the same time. A never ending cycle.
I looked down the shelf and saw a multitude of writing supplies, but I ignored them for the bulky gray laptop that lay there. I pulled it out, and then placed it on the table, firing it up.
“Password?”
I thought for a moment. Then, I typed in the name I thought made the most sense.
█████
“CORRECT. LOGGING IN NOW.”
As it logged in, I opened up the web browser, and then typed in the first site that came to mind.
dododex.com
A white screen came up, with a folded page with a frowning face. There was a message.
This site could not be reached, as it does not exist.
Would you like to create the website?
I smiled, as I clicked on the ‘yes’ button.
~
So here I am now.
Dreaming. Dreaming of these words. Forever, and ever, until I can’t dream any longer. I do not know how long this will take. At the same time, I am glad things turned out this way. Yet at the same time, I feel melancholic.
I looked to my right, at all the worlds that existed. I wondered how many worlds there could have been, and if I would be the only one to dream about them.
I’m just a walker of stars, after all. Lost in the dream. Dwelling, over heaven.
~
Second Epilogue: Mystery
It certainly was interesting experiencing death.
I’ll tell you one thing though. I’m not dead.
Not sure why I’m telling you all of this. Not really your business, but, it’d be nice to see the looks on your face when I find you all.
Anyway, when I died I ended up waking up in this weird, huge mansion filled with a bunch of people in graduation robes. They seemed like they were having a fun time despite having their lives ripped away from them unjustly. They had a lot to live for, from what I can tell. At least, I’d assume that if I could read them. All I could tell were their names and basic information that anyone could figure out. I guess it has something to do with this whole ‘Story’.
I just started wandering around until I found this even weirder thing. It was like a pod or something. Anyway there wasn’t anyone around, but I saw that some guy with black hair was inside. His name was Samuel, apparently. Poor sucker was revived into the real world and immediately killed.
Anyway, this place is interesting. It’s in this sea of clouds and there’s stars all around me. I can feel you all watching me as I write this down. Goodness gracious, give me a break.
~
Okay, so I tried figuring out a way out of this mansion, but there doesn’t seem to be one. There’s no doors, no nothing. Just windows and pretty sights. I’ve been asking around, and nobody knows where they are. They all said they died one way or another on some strange beach. Or a forest. Seems like they all died to the same thing. The same Story. Interestingly enough, nobody else seems to have died to something other than the Story.
Except this one girl… What was her name again? Wren. She was not even involved in the Story, yet she’s here too. And another one named Esmeralda. They seem to have their ties to those involved though.
Oh. This woman is interesting. She’s had a run in with IT.
~
“Hey,” I said, walking up to her. She looked up. There was this tired look in her eyes. I looked through her memories. She had experienced thousands of deaths before being taken here. She looked away. Her orange-brown hair covered her face, blocking her expression. I took a seat down at the table she was sitting at. No escaping this one, ‘June’.
“You encountered Ben, didn’t you?”
June shivered.
“I loved him.”
My eyebrows raised in intrigue. Loved, huh? Did Ben love her back?
I looked into her eyes. Apparently, he did. Searching through her memories, I saw him taking a bow everytime she entered a room, holding the door for her whenever she pleased, kissing her hand whenever she wished. I laughed. Ben would never do something like that. These must have been false memories. Dreams.
“He didn’t love you back, though, did he?”
“He did,” June snarled, “Don’t you say that now.”
I gave her a soft smile. I needed some information.
I wasn’t a fan of the Key Master’s plan, to say the least. If there’s one thing you can’t do, it's changing the past. You have to live with consequences. It’s what makes us human.
Then again, the Key Master isn’t really human, is it?
“Listen, I’m not here to bug you. But judging from that look in your eyes, Ben was the one who killed you. Clearly something was controlling him.”
A tear dribbled down her cheek.
“Something did. It was horrible- he, he didn’t even look like himself.”
I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Perfect.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her, my eyes slanting. More of that memory was coming to sense, “I also had a similar experience. I was one of his classmates.”
June looked at me peculiarly.
“You went to Terran High School?”
“Yes. I did,” I lied, “Then, all of this happened.”
“What class did you have with him?”
“English,” I replied. That wasn’t a lie, “I remember we had a group project, and we were paired up. He refused to work on it. It was because of whatever was controlling him, I’m sure.”
“We both have a common enemy,” June reasoned, “I saw Ben in this crowd, but when I tried looking for him, he was gone.”
“I doubt Ben died,” I thought, “Otherwise I would have found him by now. That’d be horrible if he did though. I need him alive if I want to get out of here.”
“I bet he’s somewhere out there. If we find him, we can confront whatever is controlling him,” I said, “Let’s go.”
June got up from her seat and we immediately rushed through the hallways. Before we went, someone grabbed me by the arm.
“Wait, are you looking for Ben?”
I turned. It was a man wearing a straw hat. I recognized him. It was one of Ben’s friends from Altos: John.
“Yeah, we are.”
“Let me come with you,” John begged, “If he’s here, I want to say hello to him.”
“He might have information too,” I realized. I said, “Okay. Let’s go.”
The three of us began to walk down the hallways. I imagined that Ben wouldn’t like the crowd. John and June must have thought the same thing too, because they had no objections.
“Have you noticed anything weird about Ben lately?” I asked John.
“Actually, yeah,” John said, “After he killed June-”
June glared at him. John gulped.
“Continue.”
“Anyway, after he, uh, took June’s life, he didn’t remember what happened at all,” John explained, “What’s even weirder is the way he killed her. You see, he activated this thing called an Attribute Amplification-”
“I know what that is,” I interjected.
“You can only use it if you killed someone, which is weird because I don’t think Ben has killed anyone.”
My eyes widened. A sudden realization dawned on me. The Key Master must have used one of its keys to take over! If I could get a hold of one, then maybe I could get out of here.
If Ben were here, he must have died. And there’s only one way to come back from the dead…
I didn’t need any more information from the others. I’d love to bring them along for what will happen next, but I know that’s not possible.
No more living under the constellations’ influence. I can finally be me. Can finally do what I was meant to do, without having to watch over my back for a potential Story. I’ll claw my way up to their world.
Now I just need to bide my time.
And hope that my death will…
Encourage the Key Master to give up.
~
Third Epilogue: Closure
Hey.
It’s me. Ben.
Been a while since I’ve written in this thing. I thought I was done with writing, especially after everything that happened. Not on the island, though. I think you know what I mean. If you don’t, then, that’s okay. I didn’t ask for you to know.
You’re probably wondering how I’m talking to you like this. Truth is, I’m the author of this book. And you’re probably wondering how I know. About the others. How they felt and all of that. Well, just know that you can always tell what someone’s thinking by their eyes.
I never wanted to write about this. But I needed to take my mind off things.
Not everyone gets their good ending. I know that much, even though I wish it were the case all of the time. It’s reality. The truth. Time and time, we all suffer. The power falls in the hands of fate.
You might be wondering why this isn’t my story, then, if I’m the one writing it. Frankly, I didn’t want to write about myself. There’s a lot of things I don’t want to tell you. Not anymore. And I think Samuel deserved the spotlight more than I did.
Hey, if you’re still reading? Maybe you should stop.
I don’t really get this whole ‘constellation’ thing myself. It always confused me. I never could really grasp it. But I think now I am. So, I’ll say it right now: you probably want to know my ending. That’s why you’re here. Or, maybe not? Maybe you’re just curious. Maybe you’ve stumbled upon this by pure chance. But I think I’m starting to understand what she was talking about.
We’re all books. Poems. Stories. Waiting to be read and uncovered.
And someone’s always watching.
You. And everyone else, whose eyes also grace this text.
I’m tired. You couldn’t understand how this feels. Knowing your whole life was a story to be told to beings in the sky you can’t even see or reach.
Maybe if nobody reads my ending, then it would have never happened.
Maybe if nobody reads my ending, things will be okay. Is it selfish of me to ask you to stop reading my ending, instead of someone else’s? Maybe. No, it is. I know it is.
I never asked for closure.
The others did.
I didn’t want it to end. Really, I did. How is it her fault that she knows more than she lets on?
There’s no point in trying anymore.
I give up.
~
I remember it clearly. Walking up to the steps of my home, where my family would be waiting, worried sick. I was so exhausted. And tired. The memories didn’t come flooding in immediately. Only until after I opened my gift.
I remember stepping away from the front door. I felt a call to go back to her. And I listened to the call. I remember messaging my family. That I wouldn’t be back for a while. I think that would have held them over.
I remember walking into the plane back home. The doors closing, and then the silence. It was so, so quiet. I reflected on my journey. What was the point? Why go through all of that?
I remember looking down. I felt something in my pocket. I reached into it, and pulled out a gift. The gift my father gave me that long, long time ago. I felt surprised. What was this doing here? I didn’t remember touching it for so long.
I didn’t question it. I put my fingers on the lid, and then peeled the lid off.
Inside was a note, and a variety of trinkets.
I inspected the trinkets. A used syringe, a piece of gauze, a coin, a candle, some pieces of grass, and a plastic wand. They didn’t intrigue me. But they felt familiar to me. It reminded me of my cousins, for some reason. I felt my mind spark.
There was a watch. I took it out. It wasn’t a fancy one. It looked like something survivalists would use. I slipped it on my wrist. I felt familiarity wash over my bones.
The final trinket was a necklace with a gold, four-pointed star. This definitely felt familiar.
I put the necklace on, and looked at the note at the bottom.
“Don’t forget.”
Upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn’t just a note. There was a book. I picked it up and looked at it. There was a title. A Dream World. It felt so familiar. I flipped the pages slowly, reading.
And suddenly, I began to remember!
Everything came rushing into my head like a truck. Every single adventure, every single friendship, every single conflict. It was as if a lock was broken off in my mind. It had been there all this time, just tucked away in a place where I could never remember. Had I really asked Emma to make me forget? I had. I didn’t want to return, but I knew I would have eventually. I needed that world to move on. KM was right.
I looked at the palms of my hands. I didn’t feel an urge to go though. Even after everything. Even after John. Even after Ian stopped communication, even after Paul hid away in his home, even after I saw Carlos wandering the city without purpose.
Someone was still waiting for me back home.
~
The rest of the plane ride, I heard many unwanted thoughts. I pushed them away, knowing who it was. Not this time.
After walking out of the plane, I remember bumping into an old man. That felt blurry. He asked me if I was okay, since I looked tired. And he said I looked familiar. I guess he couldn’t recognize me from the news about Terran High. That’s another thing. I remember hearing the whispers about it in the West. For a moment, the violence that resided seemed to fade. Many seemed to be in mourning, out of respect.
Anyway, the old man asked me if I was okay, right? Yeah, he did. I remember saying I was, and that I just had intense jet lag. It was nice of him to ask me.
He introduced himself as Old Man Johnson. Apparently, one of his grandchildren was a victim of Terran High. He never said who it was. We had a nice chat about it. I remember feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. At least someone could understand.
I remember him wishing me good luck. And I wished him luck as well.
I walked out of the airport, breathing in the air. It felt musky, and rough. Just at home. It was still day time. I remember it being around 1:13 PM. I wondered what she was doing. Was she worried? Probably not. She knew it all.
Sometimes I wish she didn’t know so much.
Maybe what happened wouldn’t have happened.
~
The sun was beginning to set, its streaks of light blending away with the rest of the sky.
I remember walking down familiar streets, filled with unfamiliar people. Everyone seemed so quiet. Everything seemed so quiet. The West was something, to say the least.
I remember passing by the cemetery. I looked out at all of the graves. It reminded me of what happened. And then I felt a sudden urge to visit. I grasped my red backpack straps.
When was I carrying this?
I didn’t remember. But I had a feeling I knew who it was.
I pushed past into the lively grass. Rays of light pushed eerie fog out of the way. It was like it was parting for me. There wasn’t a sense of dread entering the cemetery, but release. Some form of, I guess you could call it peace. These people were at peace.
I remember traveling far. And far, and far, until I couldn’t walk anymore.
It was quiet. There was nothing except the sound of the hollow wind. And the chirping of birds. Flowers bloomed under my footsteps. It reminded me of her again. And then, I felt a bouquet of flowers grow in my hand. Light blue hibiscus. I remembered all the promises I broke.
“Take care of this flower, will you?”
“You have my word we will meet again safely.”
“Find a purpose, okay? Promise me. Promise me you will find a purpose in this life.”
“Promise me one day you’ll be able to understand others as I have.”
“I promise I’ll come back. And we can do the things we were destined to do. I promise, I promise.”
I clutched onto the bouquet tighter. I felt the grass under my feet shift, suddenly. The soft, hard touch of the stems brushed against my hand. The backpack I wore felt heavier, and my watch felt uncomfortable. The wind slowly dragged my hair and thin black jacket to the side.
The air felt heavier.
I mustered energy to take a few steps.
I took a moment to look.
It’s her name, embedded into the gravestone. A visible death date, and birthday scribbled on. Nothing but a name, and no flowers in sight.
Can’t say that I was surprised either.
I just thought that maybe, MAYBE I could have gotten a good ending, like we always dreamed of. Maybe, I could’ve seen her again. Maybe my broken promises could have been forgiven. Maybe I wouldn’t be here, placing the flowers atop the resting site.
Too late. No going back now.
…
Maybe in another timeline. Maybe some other version of me is out there, having fun.
I guess, this situation is on me.
I gently move away. My jacket tugs at my body, begging me to stay. But I know I can’t.
The world around me began to tear apart, and then the void swallowed me whole.
~
There was just a single bench, rooted in the grass of some strange place. It felt odd to me. I could see worlds upon worlds in the distance.
There was someone sitting on the bench. It looked familiar. A wisp made of shadows and light, cowering.
I walked up to the bench and sat down next to it. Voids swirled in place of where its head should have been. It looked like it was in pain. I glanced into the voids. For so long, I could never understand it. But now I could. I read its eyes.
I suppose we weren’t so different after all.
We both want things to go back to how they were, right? For different reasons. Still. I think we both know that’s not possible.
I remember we both sat there for a while. We both sulked, looking out at the many worlds akin to our own. Its plan didn’t go well, obviously. Now it was worse off. I still wonder if it regretted giving Dan Walker those blueprints. Or the Enfestius. I think it did.
At last, it said something.
“At first you were my prison. Then you became my hope.”
I’m sorry I got your hopes up, Key Master. Back when we first entered that world. Things are different here.
“You didn’t ask to be created,” I told him, “Like how I didn’t ask to be put through all of that.”
“I’m sorry.”
Its words were filled with grief and pain. It sounded more human than I did.
“Maybe, the only thing you can do is move on,” I suggested, “It’s the only way.”
The Key Master nodded.
“You’re right. It is the only way.”
The Key Master closed its eyes. Tears dribbled down its face.
It had no other words, as it faded away into nothingness.
I looked back out at the worlds.
At least one of them had a happy ending, right?
Who knows.
I’m just a walker of stars, after all. Lost in my dreams. And dwelling on those who remain over heaven.
~
I remember sitting on that bench, watching the worlds for as long as I could remember. There was something so… peaceful about it. There was nothing except my thoughts. And the memories that resided within me.
As I sat there, there was a whirl behind me. Then, a blue portal manifested.
“Who?”
“It’s me.”
She sat down at the bench, watching the worlds with me. I didn’t feel like questioning it. There were already too many weird things going on for me to really care about the fact that she was alive and well.
“The Key Master is gone.”
“It is.”
“So that explains how I was able to create that key.”
I shifted, staring softly. I didn’t look at her.
“So the Key Master’s abilities transferred to you? How?”
“I’m not so sure. I suppose it makes sense though. I always had that feeling that we were the same.”
“So what now?” I asked, “Will we just sit here and watch?”
“No. I’d like to do something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” she claimed, “Escape this world. And we’re in just the right place. All the pieces are falling into place now, no?”
“Will we finally escape the constellations’ influence?”
“I sure hope so. Another Fragment is here, the new dreamer of this world. He will help us return.”
~
There was a single dining room, waiting for the two of us. We stepped into it. Everything felt like home. A dining table, with seven seats. A kitchen, which had that aroma of warm broth. The dim light, flickering every once and a while. A man sat at the head of the table, writing. I knew him.
“Dan Walker.”
The man’s head turned. He seemed surprised.
“Are you the other two Fragments?”
“I am. He’s not,” she explained, “It’s about time we head to our true home.”
Dan Walker nodded. He stared off at the other side of the room. Just pure white void, nothing in between.
“I don’t have a place in the upper world. It’s not what I want, anyway,” Dan Walker said, “You two do though. The others… they can’t come. They’re too fragmented.”
“So you know,” I realized.
“Yes. I do. Now all you need to do… is step into the white light.”
I sighed, looking at the white void.
“Is that really how easy it is?”
“Of course. This is that Door, don’t you think?” she chuckled, “We’re in a Dream World ourselves. It only makes sense this is it.”
“I guess so. It looks just like how it was back in that Dream World.”
There was a pause. There was something eerie about it. I had a feeling once we stepped in, there would be no going back. I turned to her.
“Are you… ready?”
“Yes. Let’s reunite with our real friends.”
…
We stepped inside.
~
Thousands of dreams washed out of my body like a stream. Then, it was over as soon as I woke up to the sound of a door slamming shut.
I jolted up from my bed. Bottom bunk. I listened closely. My brother’s breathing was gone. Franklin must have woken up already. I looked at the clock. It was already pretty late in the morning. Stupid me, oversleeping because of a party. It sure was a lot of fun hanging out with the others. I briefly recalled the party. Connor had sprayed water all over Emma’s pants, and Jeffrey had completely scared the crap out of her too. Picking on Emma was fun. She was forgetful and a little dumb, but we still cared about her. Little Kayla and Tanya had also been there, though Little Kayla had been mostly distracted and Tanya, being only a few years old, wasn’t really doing much besides gossiping about her weird classmates she was always rambling on about.
We had just finished a book the day before. What was it called? Right, it was called ‘A Dream World’. I wrote it. It was a story about all seven of us going on adventures. Though, there was something strange about that story. It felt a little too… real.
I brushed the feeling aside. You see, I had this weird dream last night. I was at this graduation ceremony, in a black graduation robe, and then I felt this strange pain in my wrist, and then I blacked out. That was when I woke up. It was so weird, because I wasn’t really ‘me’ in that dream. I was somebody else. At the same time, I was still me. Does that make any sense?
Ah, I remember it now. His name was Samuel. The person I was, in the dream, that is. And I had a best friend named Nova. And there was a principal named Mr. Mo or something like that and the valedictorian was called Aurora.
I really wanted to jot this all down. You see, my dreams have always been quite lucid. Unreal, yet so real at the same time. Sometimes it was hard to differentiate dreams from reality. Anyway, it’s always fun to remember. Might make a good book one day.
I pulled out my laptop and quickly typed in my password.
█████
Just like that, I was in. I quickly opened up a document and began typing away. As I was writing out how the dream went, I got this really weird feeling. My fingers began moving around the keyboard gracefully, and I didn’t even need to think about what to type next. I remember writing a few more details too that I couldn’t remember precisely, but I still somehow managed to jot down.
And just like that, I was done. I had managed to recall the entire dream. Reading over it a few times, I got acclimated to it. Then, I felt like sharing it.
“Hmm, should I share it with the cousins?” I thought to myself. I shook my head. Nah. They’d get bored quickly. Plus we already read one of my books. What about my friends? Eh. They don’t even read.
I hopped back in my bed and began scrolling on my phone. I was so bored. I thought about all the games I played. Maybe I could come up with something to intrigue me.
“Ergh,” I thought, “There was that one platform… And there were a bunch of stories on it too. What was it called again? Right. The Dex.”
I opened that app up. Still on my phone.
I took a look at the stories.
I knew what I had to do.
~
As the days passed, I’d get more dreams. More dreams related to that weird one I had so long ago. It all connected, and if I couldn’t remember, then that ‘instinct’ would kick in and finish for me. A lot of people liked reading the story. They thought it was cool. I thought that was pretty cool, but I couldn’t help but feel as if they were so familiar to me.
One day, I was at school, in my foreign language class, minding my business, when some girl just walked up to me. She had this golden, brown long hair, and these slick eyes that I swear could just pierce your soul. I remember her, we went to the same middle school together.
“Long time no see Ben,” she said, “We should all do something together some time, y’know.”
She was referring to the others in the class. Ela, Brandon, Elena. Those were their names.
“Yeah. That’d be pretty cool, I guess.”
“Alright. I’ll add you to the group chat.”
~
Like a year later, I finally managed to finish up that dream, and I remember when I was writing those words down, I was like, wait a minute. I actually went through this? Did I? Maybe that was just one of my crazy ideas. I hardly thought I did. Probably just my imagination, right?
All that stuff about me escaping that world and…
Yeah, you know what that does sound like it did happen. But come on, would you believe me if I told you that? No.
Anyway, I asked her if she remembered doing something like that. She said no. Yeah, it’s probably just my imagination acting up and stuff. Anyway, that’s it, I guess. I finished my story, I mean, there’s not much else to go off of so… goodbye, I guess?
No. I still can’t get my mind off that fact. The idea, I mean, that I’ve actually gone through all this. Feels too real, to me, at least.
If it is real…
Even if it wasn’t real, I wouldn’t be here without you.
Thanks for everything, Kimmy.
