I cast Essence of Aura on myself as the colossal Wild Man roared into the sky, standing to its full height with its head above the trees. Opix and Cerus both sank down to battle positions beside me with expressions of readiness and eagerness respectively. Ciz, meanwhile, perched herself on a branch behind us with a fangy grimace plastered on her–

The Wild Man bellowed a hideous roar, followed by a pathetic whimper, then fell on its face. Dead. We’d all had to dodge the abrupt fall, but once we did we each stared at each other with visible confusion. This was too good to be true. Way too good to be true. Moments like this are where some stranger pops out of the woodwork – no pun intended – and reveals themselves as the true enemy.

“Do you guys see anything on your minimap?” I asked, hoping to be wrong. As confident as I was trying to be, if they could one-shot the Wild Man, they could do the same to us.

“...Nope,” Opix shrugged. He shook his head. “Nothing but us. There are some Tucaby near the Master Zone, but that’s it.”

“The beast was afraid to face me!” Cerus declared, hands on her hips in triumph. She cackled, before uttering a single word. “Aura.”

“Excuse me!” Ciz called from above us. “It’s been far too long. Please move out of the way.”

She jumped down from the tree she’d been perched on and approached the Wild Man’s Corpse. She gave the three of us an awkward smile, bowed slightly, then chomped down on the creature’s neck. Before any of us had a chance to react to the sight, an Achievement popped up. I clicked on it.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: You’ve Been Axed!

Phantom Seer. Samurai 8. Mamayuyu. Ayashimon. What do they all have in common? Well, they all got axed by Shonen Jump. What does “axed” mean, you might be asking? Use the fucking context clues, I’m not telling you! You’re a smart boy. Figure it out!

Sorry. That was uncalled for. I’m just sad. I wanted to watch you, this you, go through the Ellalara Belt and grow into the man you were always meant to be! I suppose Fate is fickle. The only one who will retain the memory of this world is me, after all. Until we meet again, right? Many things will happen to you. Some good, most bad. You’re strong enough to weather those storms. I apologize that all I can do is watch them happen. I’m not supposed to be saying this until “Volume 8”, you know! Not that it matters anymore. There’s only one more thing that matters to me. One thing I want you to know, Fate be damned.

I’m grateful to you. Thank you for making friends with my Opix. Thank you for accepting Cerus. Thank you for accepting the responsibility thrust upon you. I’ll never be able to make it up to you in any meaningful way. Our relationship is as one-sided as it gets, and you engage with me anyway. Words cannot describe my gratitude and appreciation for you.

I love you, Grim Hearts. My memory of this Fate will remain dear to me for as long as I live. I’ll be seeing you soon.

“Ah!” Opix laughed, sitting on the forest floor. He laughed harder than I’d ever heard him laugh. “Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Wow! We’re free! Lucky us!”

“Lucky us?!” Cerus thundered, angrier than I’d ever seen her be. “My vengeance! My Battle Points!” She deflated. “My Presence…!” She turned to me, jabbing a finger in my face. “Thrall! I expect you to find a way to make this–... oh?”

“...What?” I blubbered.

My face had been filled with tears and I didn’t even realize it. I’d been so caught up in what the System had said to me that I’d momentarily forgotten that there were people around me. I still didn’t know what, or who the System was, but something about the way it spoke felt… familiar. Distantly familiar, almost like deja vu. Either way, its words continued to stick with me. We hadn’t been together long, but it helped me get to where I am. Just a few weeks ago I was suffering by myself back in New Jersey. Now, I was surrounded by friends preparing to finish off a duel for some “Heavenly Gem”. This wasn’t the life I envisioned for myself, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Thank you for everything. I can’t wait to see you again.

“Hmm…” Cerus stood mere inches from me, placing her hands on my shoulders. “Look at me, thrall.”

I did as instructed.

“I understand that you’re upset about losing the opportunity to kill big game,” She smacked my cheek a few times. “But you need to tighten up. The bad bitches are outside, and you are going to frighten them by crying.

Cerus stood before me a sweaty, bloody mess while Ciz was eating the Wild Man down to the bone.

I laughed. Not as hard as Opix still was, but I laughed. Cerus tilted her head and laughed along with me, likely for a completely different reason as usual. Before she had a chance to pull away, I hugged her. She flinched in my grip, but she didn’t push me away.

“Unhand me, whore!”

“Oh hush,” I said, still crying and laughing. I pulled back slightly. “I love you. You and Opix. It’s only been a few days, but you guys changed my life for the better.” I pulled back into the hug. “Thank you.”

Cerus didn’t say anything. She didn’t swear or make jokes. She just stood there, letting me hug her. Opix eventually stood, and I beckoned him to join the hug. He did. Ciz, noticing the sudden quiet, watched the three of us in our little group hug and didn’t say anything. I beckoned her to join, anyway. Like I’d told Ysnik, she was part of the family. I wasn’t gonna leave her out.

When we finally broke off, Cerus did push me away, rushing behind a tree and refusing to step out. Ciz went back to snacking on the Wild Man, and Opix sat back down, staring up at the sky like a man who just won the lottery.

“You know, you’re pretty chipper about this whole thing.”

Opix smiled wider. “That’s because I know how Fate works!”

“And how does Fate work? My System mentioned something about that.”

"It’s complex, so I’m not gonna explain that whole concept. As far as it pertains to us, Fate is a ‘what-if’ scenario. You know when you lose an argument so you go in the shower and think about what you could’ve said? That’s a what-if scenario. You follow?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, how do you think the you in that what-if scenario feels about being in that what-if scenario?”

“Probably happy that he won the argument. Or, uh, scared to know he isn’t real.”

Opix smiled. “Well, let’s hope that last one wasn’t projection because that’s exactly what we’re in: one of Fate’s what-if scenarios! None of this is real! Final Testament doesn’t exist here! There is no Felzian Queen! My story ends however I want it to end!” He stared back up in the sky. “And I’m gonna live the good life in Azeltos. I deserve that.”

It was still odd to see the normally composed Opix act like this, but considering the pressure he was under I couldn’t blame him. Like he said, he did deserve this.

“And I want you guys to join me,” He suddenly said. “You two are my best friends. My only friends, really. I want to experience this life with you all.”

I felt the same way. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a bit unfulfilled by my lack of action. Fighting had become fun, but spending time with friends sounded like even more fun. I said as much, leading Opix to tell me all about Azeltos and the many things they had to do there. Cerus was still behind the tree doing whatever she was doing. Ciz, meanwhile, had finished eating the Wild Man… quite literally down to the bone. Singular. It was surprising, then, that she still seemed restless like a woman on drugs.

“You alright?” I ended up asking.

“Vri…” Ciz muttered. “Will she be… okay?”

“The world is a lucid dream, now,” Opix said. “She’ll be okay if you want her to be okay. We’re basically gods right now.”

“And how do you know all this?” Ciz asked.

“I still don’t think I can tell you that. Fate can be viewed by many people. Just... trust me.”

“Fine. I’ll challenge you. Let’s see if–... oh my god!”

Ciz revealed that she’d been talking to Vri over chat. She’d tested mentally sending her to Unity – a place they’d always wanted to visit together – and it worked. Just like Opix said, we each had unreasonable power right now. Ciz cried just like I had, hugging Opix and weeping in his arms.

Cerus: ok so i have a question

Opix: You can tell us. There’s no reason to hide behind a tree.

Grim: I hope you aren’t peeing back there. You’ve killed enough wildlife for a lifetime.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Cerus: i bet you wish i was

Cerus: creep

Cerus: anyway i would like to know why we were axed

Cerus: out with the old in with the new right

Cerus: what is the new?

“Oh, I know!” Ciz shouted. I forgot she’d been in our chat. “My Achievement gave me a ton of scripts and papers. One of them tells me about “The timeline Fate is focusing on at the moment”.

Cerus finally stepped out from behind the tree. She didn’t look disheveled or anything, but her eyes were noticeably red. I didn’t question her on it. She stood right beside me, sniffled, swiped at her eyes, and spoke up.

“Tell us about it.”

“It’s called ‘Mythical Contract’. It’s about a guy possessed by this thing called a Curse and he has to get strong enough to kill it and the people who gave him the Curse.”

Cerus tilted her head. “That’s it?! We are ten times more interesting than that!"

Ciz shrugged. “That’s what it says. Oh, there are some character sheets, too. You want me to read them?”

“Sure,” Opix responded.

The main character of the story was a kid named “Rui Payne”. I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be Japanese or British, but I suppose it made no difference. He had a System just like we did, though it wasn’t as good as ours. He was the same age as us, but a bit more gruff due to being raised by a cult. Cerus laughed at him. Apparently, cults were common where she was from, and destroying them was something of a rite of passage for the people there.

She went on to tell us about the kid’s mentor Yugo and his partner Archie Finch. They were both what you’d expect; the funny teacher with the tortured backstory and the rival/partner with a heart of gold. Where things got a little awkward was with Rui’s third and final teammate.

“Her name is Somnia Galerose, and–”

“Somnia?!” Opix shouted.

“Gale…Rose?!” Cerus stammered.

Opix and Cerus shared a long, uncomfortable glance. Opix reddened, and Cerus turned the other way.

“I would never procreate with… Angel Boy!” Cerus declared. “He is far from my type! He is not Rikard!” She paused. “However, Fate is Fate. If in this universe we had children, then I will accept that. It has always been a childhood dream of mine to birth an empire. Hopefully this version of Angel Boy is up to snuff. I am a lot to handle."

“It could also be your ancestors,” I posited. “Or you guys died and the ‘Galerose’ name was to honor you guys.”

Cerus frowned at me, but Opix spoke before she could. “I… no one but me would name their child Somnia.”

“Ah,” I said. I’d tried my best to remove the tension. Oh well. “Congrats?”

“Do not congratulate me! I did not agree with that development! Thrall, I need you to find Fate and kill her now!”

”Y’know,” I said, ignoring Cerus’ comment. “I still wonder how our story would’ve ended. I was ready for that fight with Ysnik.”

“I have those notes, too," Ciz said.

As I’d expected, we would’ve beaten the 5-Star Wild Man. The difficulty would’ve come from its weak possession abilities. Ciz and Cerus would’ve fallen victim to it, and Cerus would’ve had an uncharacteristically bitter reaction to it for some reason. Following that, we would’ve gotten to the Master Zone only to learn that the place was basically a tiny strip mall. We would’ve gotten our new weapons and armor that paired well with our skill setups, but on the way out we would’ve learned that the Gnomes were on their way.

“The paper talks about Sonia Lockheart’s death. It says that she died because someone broke through Sera Town’s defenses and killed her in her home.” Ciz turned to me. “It says you would’ve asked Cerus about it because you suspect her.”

“You suspect me?!” Cerus demanded. “I did not kill Sonia Lockheart! You have such a low opinion of me, thrall. I suppose we have plenty of time to fix that.”

“I don’t suspect you, I just have a feeling I know what you said to piss the gnomes off. Remember when you asked if I ever got mad at a video game? People say the darndest things when they’re mad on games, so I wouldn’t put it past you to have said something about Sonia’s death to the Gnomes to disarm them then you’d kill them with a cheap shot to take their points.”

“I… what makes you think that?”

“The paper says she did.”

“I knew it.”

“The paper is lying! Do not listen to it!”

Ciz continued. We would’ve learned that the Gnomes had been following us this whole time and that we were effectively on borrowed time and that we needed to wrap up the fight with Ysnik fast. On the way, though, Ysnik would’ve received the Green Heavenly Gem – thus ending the Territory Quest and freeing everyone from the Beyondverse. Unfortunately for us, that included Henritetta’s team and the Rangers.

Ciz would’ve separated from us to kill them again, leaving us to split off against Ysnik and her crew like we’d planned to. Cerus’ battle was first, and she would’ve fought against that “World of Cerus” fanboy Zel. She obviously would’ve beaten him, but she would’ve had to struggle against herself not to kill him despite everything she’d been saying. Opix, meanwhile, would’ve fought against that simp kid Isets. Again, he would’ve won, but the fight would’ve ended after Opix bribed him with knowledge on how to get Ysnik to like him back. It was pretty underhanded, but it seemed like the kind of thing he would’ve done.

Finally, my fight with Ysnik would’ve been far more one-sided than I’d have imagined. I wouldn’t have been strong enough to beat her in a straight fight, but my Matador Class, the armor I earned, and my Skills would’ve combined to make me untouchable. She would’ve tired herself out, and I would’ve pinned her to a tree where Opix and Cerus would’ve joined me to outnumber her.

Ysnik would’ve tried to go back on her deal, but I would’ve told her about the importance of trusting us while Cerus would’ve told her to gain her own strength and become strong enough to protect Grimhaven without the Gem. Ysnik would’ve agreed, invigorated by us both, and handed us over the Gem. I would’ve stored it in my inventory, which I would’ve finally unlocked by then, and Opix would’ve been flabbergasted because that’s a rare ability. Ciz would’ve come back from her battle with the Gnomes and Henrietta’s crew, but she wouldn’t be comfortable telling us just how she won that battle.

“What about the Gnomes?” Opix asked. “Surely I wasn’t worried about them for nothing.”

“You weren’t,” Ciz noted. “They would’ve popped up as soon as we all split up.”

He shot Cerus a dirty look. She’d been staring up into the sky. “Oh really, now? And how would that have gone?”

“It says you all would’ve been forced to run to the Low Tier Zone for your Party Registration and to get Grim his ID. Apparently, the lines were slow despite there being no one in there.”

“Like a DMV,” I groaned.

“I guess? I don’t know what a DMV is. Anyway, after you got those, you all would’ve tried to kill yourselves to get to the next world fast enough.”

“Jesus!” I shouted.

“Yeah, it says you balked at it here, too. Cerus would’ve offered to kill you, but the Gnomes would’ve shown up and temporarily neutralized your aura.”

“And then what?”

“They would’ve gone in on Cerus, calling her ‘demonspawn’ and ‘daughter of the devil’ and stuff.”

“That is literally what I am, though? Would it have been an insult for me to call them gnomes?”

“Maybe not, but then they would’ve shot Grim with a 9-Star Canon.”

We turned to each other at the same time.

“Oh. Oops.”

“What do you mean oops?!”

“You’re a big boy. You can handle a canon blast or two.”

“Actually, he can,” Ciz noted. “It says you instinctively punched it and it reflected back to the Gnomes, knocking off 25% of their health…!”

Opix and Cerus both gasped, even Ciz looked impressed. I blushed.

“I probably got it from a game I play. Ultrakill. They did stuff like that in there. See? I play other games!”

Ciz laughed a bit, but immediately corrected herself.

“What?”

“It… says that Cerus would’ve tried the same thing and died instantly.”

“And that was funny to you?!”

“No…! I just… got a text from Vri.”

Cerus crossed her arms.

“A-anyway, Opix would’ve let them kill him, but then Ysnik would’ve popped up and convinced the Gnomes to step down.”

“And where did we end up?” Opix asked.

“Unity”

“Fuck!” Cerus groaned. “Godamnit! I wanted to go to Unity!” She turned to me. “And you should not have avoided the canon blast! You would have deserved it for leading me on like that.”

“I never led you on. Maybe your timing just sucked? Sounds like a skill issue to–”

She punched me in the mouth.

“What happens next?” Opix asked. “Grim obviously needs to die to move to Unity. How does that happen?”

“It says that Ysnik would’ve given Grim a Quest to retake the Grimhaven Tower, but it’d have to wait until you guys were strong enough to do it. After that, she would’ve stabbed him and killed him.”

I instinctively grabbed my chest. Thank God I didn’t have to deal with that… I was good on getting stabbed. Still, I think I was happy with that ending. We were definitely missing a few details, but knowing I would’ve made good on my promise to Ysnik was enough. Plus, that was a massive step in becoming who I wanted to be! I could only imagine how proud I would’ve been to be able to promise her that I’d be back someday. Like Opix said, though, that’s something for a different me to worry about. I wasn’t sure whether to envy him or pity him, but more than anything I was proud of him.

Slowly, we began to move back towards the Mid-Tier Zone village. As we did, we each were met by a brand new screen in each of our Systems: Status Update. There were four words in it. “ONGOING”, “HIATUS”, “COMPLETED” and “DROPPED”.

“Are we supposed to pick one?” I asked.

“I guess so,” Ciz answered.

“I say ‘COMPLETED’! This story is over!” Cerus declared.

Opix stopped walking. “Yeah, but we didn’t finish it. We just got papers saying how it finished. We aren’t even experiencing Unity. The way I see it, ‘DROPPED’ is probably the correct answer here.”

“Incorrect! ‘DROPPED’ suggests we have been forgotten and left to the wayside. That is not the ultimate Fate of Cerus Rose!”

“I don’t think that’s what that means, Cerus. It just means this story didn’t end how it was supposed to.”

Cerus stopped walking as well. She stared at Opix for a long while before tilting her head and giving him a mischievous smile.

“I understand your argument, Angel Boy. I will mark our ‘story’ as ‘DROPPED’.”

Opix nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon enough. This is just temporary.”

“She isn’t gonna mark it as ‘DROPPED’,” I noted.

“I know..."

Cerus frowned. “Seriously, I am disappointed in you two! How little do you think of me?! I would never deceive you!”