Thomas Wilson woke up with a gasp. His back was sweaty and his breathing was ragged. He was lying on a small bed in a vaguely familiar room. His eyes widen in recognition as he saw faded blue wallpaper. It was his old room. He hadn't seen it in years. His eyes wandered around, staring at every single knickknack he had hoarded. He took a glance at the body length mirror. A skinny and pale kid stared back at him with brown eyes hidden beneath a messy mob of black hair. He was clearly a young boy whose clothes didn't seem to fit him with how baggy they were.

He was broken out of memory lane by a series of knocks on his door.

"Tommy? Wake up! It's time for school."

'That voice!'

He jumped out of bed and practically yanked his door open. The person on the other side jumped back in surprise. It was his mom.

"Jesus! Don't scare me like that!" She shouted at him with a small glare. She was an older woman in the mid-20s, but she still had a youthful appearance. It seems he had gone back before the start of it all and he couldn't be more happy to see her.

"Mom! I've missed you!" It seems he did a lot of crying these days as tears trailed down his face. He didn't mind though, as these were ones of joy. He hadn't seen her in decades.

The surprise could clearly be seen on her face, but she embraced him anyway.

"What is wrong, sport? There's no need to cry." His mom was obviously confused. He was never one for much physical affection, and during his teen years, he was...antisocial, to say the least. Hiding within his room, sleep the day and his life away, he rarely even joined her for dinner.

If he could get away with minimal social actions, he did it.

"Nothing's wrong," And for the first time in years, he truly meant it. "Can...Can you just hold me like this? Just for a little bit more?" He pleaded to her with a tiny voice as he buried his face into her stomach.

She said nothing more and just held him tight. He felt safe, content, happy even. This was why they had fought so hard, this was why they carried on no matter what stood in their path. He felt his resolve strengthen a thousandfold. He knew he had made the right choice going back.

'I may never be as good as you, Jason, but I promise I'll do my damn best'

"Do you want to stay home today, Tommy? I could call the school and tell them you're sick." Her gentle voice whispered into his hair.

He just nodded into her. She kissed his forehead and went to make the call, yet even long after she left, he could feel the warmth lingering. She was alive, well and truly alive! This meant everyone else was too! He could see everyone again, even if they wouldn't remember him. Just the mere thought made him want to jump to his feet and search for them. But where would he even find them? They had only met up after the End had started and he couldn't recall what everyone was before it!

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'Fuck! Why wasn't I more social?! If only I paid more attention to them I could've gathered the gang together and prepare everyone!'

Yet, in spite of the thoughts running through his mind, he had spent an enjoyable day being with his mom and helping around the house. It was now 8 P.M and he had just gotten out of the shower before heading back in his room.

He went to his desk and took out a notebook and a pen. He had to write down everything he could remember while it was still fresh and make a solid plan for the future. His Phone told him the year and date, May 3, 2005. Exactly 15 years before the day that the End had officially started. In truth, it had started long even before then, it was just that nobody noticed or connected the signs.

Strange disappearances, unknown creature sightings, odd lights in the skies. All the work of "The OtherWorld". Signs of the things to come. They didn't know who was behind it or for what reason, or even if there was one, but humanity eventually fused with a different and world. A brutal one where survival was a constant fight with never-ending nightmares. Even thinking about some of the things he had seen made him shiver uncontrollably regardless of the hot shower he just took.

Missing people's cases had been growing more frequent in the news with increasing rates the past few years. Nobody thought much of it. After all, stories of things such as the Bermuda Triangle had long since been around, and with such a huge population of almost 8 billion, what was a few thousand or even tens of thousands of missing people if taken only periodically and across the world?

And everybody knew UFOs, magic, and monsters were things of overactive imagination and myth, right?

He too thought such things before reality knocked him on from the back of his head. Before the bedtime monsters, he used to ask his parents to protect him from, had eaten mother.

So he wrote everything he could recall, digging deep and dragging even the faintest memories, and immortalized it on paper. It wasn't much if he was being honest with himself. He had a list of names and abilities of his allies and enemies. He had written some traits of what they looked like or useless facts such as their favorite color or food. In short, nothing useful.

During the time he had spent with them, he was never particularly close to the members of the 'Final Battalion' of humanity as they have taken to calling the ones who survived near the end. Every day was a struggle for survival, he had no time or energy to spare for conversation or making friends. No, that was a lie. He was just too scared of making connections just for them to get severed. Once again his weakness had bitten him in the ass.

Even major events could barely be remembered, the Massacre of New York, the fall of the great wall, the war on the Undead King, the Betrayal of The Fallen Star, the Thief of the Scarlet Crown. Major things he had heard about but did not know the detail. It was maddeningly frustrating. As if he knew of a brief summary of a movie. He knew something, but not enough to matter.

How could he change fate and rewrite the ending of humanity's tale when he didn't even know the beginning or middle of it?! How can he turn this tragedy around? To get everyone a happy ever after?

This was a lot of pressure on a 5 year old boy, but he was determined, but for now, it was time for sleep. After all, he was a growing boy. With dreams of a brighter future, he went to fitless sleep, the first since many years.