Young Writers Society

Amber looked about herself in awe. The booths reminded her of the Marketplace but she had never seen anything like those towering rusting figures of twisted metal. She was still looking about herself in awe when everyone started running in different directions. It wasn’t long before she was left alone. She began to meander in the direction the others had gone, taking in the marvelous sites around her as she walked. She would have smiled if she could, the site of nature reclaiming humanity was always one she loved to contemplate. There was something... Refreshing about knowing that humanity couldn't claim the Earth forever.

Before she had reached the tent into which everyone had disappeared, she heard Thytes screaming something. Pom? She didn't know what that was but assumed it was a name. The rest of them had gone off chasing a mysterious person after all. Maybe Thytes recognized them. However, she then heard a loud crashing noise and ran as fast as this strange body could take her towards the noise, it hadn't been a good sound, maybe someone was in trouble!

If she could have been out of breath, she would have been by the time she got there. She wasn't used to running. She stopped in front of the tent to see a bunch of strange mirrors, Thytes entangled in one of them. The relief of stress made her laugh and she reached down to help him out of the glass.

Thytes rolled onto his back, trying to pick out the shards of glass that now littered his body. He didn't feel any of them, but it didn't look comfortable, and he certainly didn't want to have to feel any of them if he came back to his original body. That's when he saw the hand extended in front of him. "Oh dear," he said, taking it. "Sorry about that - I must admit to being somewhat out of my element."

"Creeepy." Landon drawled in a whisper, though he had been hooked again at the mention of the philosopher's stone. He jogged quickly to be able to walk next to Magic, and turned to them with excited little questions and comments.

"So, what else are they doing to our bodies, besides just holding onto them and waiting it out? Are they doing experiments with our blood? That was an ingenious idea, by the way, to use the maniquiens they've saved for themselves. So, when we get there, how are we going to get our bodies back? Maybe Mage can use that fire-sword thing! And then Amber can bust in with the-"

He cut himself off at that, and adopted a forcibly sheepish and apologetic stance, becoming aware of himself again. Magic was probably used to being constantly bombarded with questions- it came with being the only one who knew what was going on- but he guessed that it wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Sorry." He said softly. He side-stepped when he realized but how close he had been standing to them. "I should- I'll stop. I'm happy to have things play out as we go."

At that moment, he didn't even have time to register any of Magic's reactions. A crash had reverberated through the funhouse, and he rounded the corner quickly to find one of the others... Thytes, maybe? being helped up by Amber.

"Ohhh. My sympathies." He piped in, extending an arm before realizing that it wasn't needed and retracting it. "I did the same thing."

Mage, Knight and Magic emerged from around the corner to see Thytes littered in broken shards of glass. At least, Magic assumed it was Thytes - he had been the one shouting their name, and the body looked about the same as the one they had deposited his soul into. Seeing that there was no pair of intimate driftwood people, they guessed that the one helping Thytes up was none other than Amber.

"That looks painful," Mage said. The demon went to take a step forward, but paused just as he was about to reach Thytes's side. "Although you can't feel it, can you?"

"He can't," Magic confirmed. Still, it was an...interesting and definitely disturbing sight to see, so they made the glass shards fall out of him and to the floor with a snap. The cuts made remained; it wasn't like those needed to be healed, and it was a good indicator of who Thytes was. "But that looks better, so I hope you don't mind me taking all of those out - it's nice to see you again, by the way! I'm guessing you left Tristan and Kynan somewhere else."

They turned back to the group they were with, nonexistent gaze lingering on Landon. "I think they've probably analyzed our DNA by now, if they're any good at what they do," Magic guessed. "I'm still trying to figure out how we'll actually get our bodies back. It's going to be a little difficult, since this is a regular old Earth that isn't used to wooden people walking around. We'll have to cover up somehow, and probably find someone else to help us. I know a few people who might be able to help, but it's going to be difficult communicating with them when we're in the middle of nowhere and none of us have phones."

And if one of them show up, Magic added. That was something they could worry about later, once they got the group together and explained everything to them.

"But don't worry about asking me questions," they reassured him. "I love talking about magical things, or just things in general - I'm the Personification of Magic, after all!"


The amusement park was dark. The man observed its towering, rotting structures. His last order - sent through a text - was still on his phone. He checked it again. There would be eight to collect in total. It was a miracle that they had been so quick on discovering the loss; the administration had certainly improved its efficiency since he had last formally worked with them.

Just as he was about to begin his sweep of the grounds, the number that had sent the text began to call him. He hit receive and put the phone up against his ear.

"We've just gotten a little more intel, lieutenant," the voice on the other side said, cutting through the silence. "Some of them aren't ours."

He frowned. "How could they not be?"

"I don't know. I didn't do the recon this time. Xante did. They said something about them being a little strange, too, when I went to ask them about it a few minutes ago. They also said to be careful. Something weird's going on - we're not dealing with the typical missing case."

His frown deepened. "You think someone meddled with them."

"I'm almost certain of it. Xante is, too. I don't think it's one of us, but Philosophorum's been giving me bad vibes for years. I wouldn't put it past them to have hired someone, though I can't think of who would do something so stupid."

"It wouldn't be the first time we did things we weren't supposed to," he replied, a tired tone to his voice. "Our history is littered with rule breakers."

"Like your little soldier?"

"Yes," he said. A ghost of smile replaced the frown. "Like my little soldier."

He looked up at the night sky, then let out a quiet sigh.

"Well, I suppose I need to get going now," he said.

"See you tonight, lieutenant," the voice replied. "Hopefully the job goes a little better than expected."

The caller hung up.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket, scanning the stalls for any sign of movement. He couldn't see any, but the sounds of it floated across the cold, harsh air. His footsteps were silent as he approached the stall. He withdrew his weapon from the air beside him - a longsword that he easily carried. He came to a stop right in front of the stall.

"Hello," he said.

Landon nodded, gratitude radiating off of him. If he was being honest with himself, he was immersing himself in this situation because it was a much-needed escape from the situation he had left back at home. It helped that Magic was accepting of his relish.

He tilted his head and turned to them. "Thank you." He said softly, before starting with a single question- more of a conformation, really. "So this is a normal reality, for the most part? That is, similar to the one I'm from?"

Freezing up, Thytes turned to Pom. "That's right!" he said, snapping his fingers (they made a strange creaking noise). "I was here to see that you were all okay before I brought the others. And how lovely it is to meet you again, Pom! Thanks for removing the glass, and I will see you soon! And all of you, please stay here, if possible - it was something of a challenge to find you in the first place." He turned and ran back through the maze the way he'd come, vaulting over the smashed mirror and running out onto the dirt.



Kynan and Tristan slowly turned their nonexistent faces up. That wasn't Thytes. That didn't sound like anyone they knew. The few glimpses they got of the stranger suggested they were human. And armed.

It was probably too late, but they agreed to sit still and stay silent. Maybe it would go away.

"Sure thing," Magic said, a smile to their voice as they turned away from Thytes's receding figure and to Landon instead.

They thought over his question for a moment.

"It's hard to tell," they quietly said; they had picked up on the difference between his reality and most others when they had directed his soul into its new body. "Yours is a replica, but a changed one...I'm not sure if it would be counted as a regular reality."

They paused.

"But it's definitely a lot more like yours than the first one," they continued. "It's far more modern."


He frowned.

That plan, apparently, wasn't going to work. It was a shame, really - it was one of the simplest ways to draw them out. Resting his sword on his shoulder, he carefully maneuvered over the top of the counter, landing on his feet with a graceful thud.

There they were - two wooden people, clad in the clothes that had likely been taken from the stall they were hiding in.

"We could either do this the easy way or the hard way," he said, resting the tip of his sword's blade on the ground, "and most don't enjoy the latter."

The first sign that something was wrong was the unfamiliar voice that shot through the air. Though Thytes had already been running so fast that he could hear tendons in his legs flexing and snapping like the twigs they were, he picked up the pace.

His nonexistent heart stopped when he ran around another stall to find a human standing in the one that he'd left Kynan and Tristan at, sword pointed at a spot towards the ground. Slowing down, the lion willed a fireball to form in his outstretched palm. It was more magic than he'd ever remembered using, but, somehow, one did. Raising it over his head, he hurled it at the stranger like a javelin.

"Run!" shouted Thytes, as the fireball soared through the air.

The fireball collided.

He did nothing to prevent it from happening. Theoretically, he could have dodged the attack. But he had business he needed to complete, and showing off his abilities - or, at the very least, some of them - made him seem like quite the powerful adversary. It was something he would have to rely on; those skilled in magic were always more of a hassle than those who were not.

The flames scorched his clothing and burned his skin, but darkness quickly sprang from the injuries and healed the wounds in a blink of an eye. Even the clothing was replaced before the darkness disappeared into nothingness.

He let out a sigh.

He hoped they would compensate him for this, and that the administration wouldn't just add it to his growing list of favors they supposedly intended to someday return.

"It looks like we're doing this the hard way, then," he said.

Kynan started tearing at the edge of the stall even before the fireball hit. After a few seconds, the rotting wood in front of his face fractured, leaving him a hole big enough to squeeze through. He rolled out onto the dirt, pulling himself up as the stall behind him exploded into flames.

And then he ran towards Thytes, Tristan quickly catching up to the right of the hound.

"Pom!" Thytes screamed, creating fireballs in both hands and hurling them at the booth. "Pom! Please help!"

Kynan had no idea who the lion was calling for, or what had happened to the attacker, but he didn't care - he and Tristan ran behind Thytes, peeking out over his shoulder as flames covered the booth.

Landon gave a little start as yells erupted outside of the funhouse. The shouting gradually became more audible, and he realized that Thytes was calling for Magic. Without hesitation, he jumped over the glass and ran out into the open.

The first thing he comprehend was the booth that had burst into flames, and the three running away from it.

He stood stock still, no realizing that he had rushed out without stopping to think that, out of everyone, he was the least qualified to help.

Magic, Mage and Knight all went darting to the source of the screams. Mage's flaming sword appeared in one hand, and Knight readied his fists. Magic, surprisingly enough, let out a swear - they hadn't struck Knight as the type to do that during their last encounter.

"Shoot," they then said. "I thought we had more time before they showed up."

A man suddenly emerged from the inferno that had enveloped one of the stalls, darkness covering and healing any burns he might have gathered. His clothes were unusual, but the weapon in his hand wasn’t - it was a simple longsword.

The man sighed and patted out a little flame eating away at his shoulder.

"More magic users," he said, his tone dry. "Wonderful."

"Oh," another voice said from nearby. "I came to warn you about that part, but it looks like you already figured that part out."

Knight turned. There was a thing near the man - a rift, maybe? - and another man was emerging from within it. The cut in the scenery closed when his entire body had left it.

Like with the other man, his clothes were unfamiliar. His hair, too, was strange - it was long and black, with blue tips. But what was more alarming was the weapon that suddenly appeared in his hands; it looked like the weapons he had seen back when he had been forced to reenact stories.

Magic groaned.

"Of course the Gunslinger is here," they said.

The newcomer frowned for a moment. "Who are you?"

"A person," Magic replied.

"Well, that's not helpful," the Gunslinger said.

"It wasn’t supposed to be," Magic cheerfully said.

He sighed. "I should have guessed." He raised his weapon and pointed it at where Magic's heart would be, frowned again, and suddenly the weapon was replaced by a much larger weapon.

His companion turned and stared at him. "Is that really necessary?"

"Why is that question?" the Gunslinger asked. "The bazooka's always necessary."

Thytes took a few deep breaths. Okay, these people didn't mind magic. They could control darkness. They could travel through space. They had strange weapons. Now that was a bunch of flashbacks he didn't want to have.

He stepped in between the man with the strange weapons and Magic. "Stay behind the others," he whispered to Kynan and Tristan. They hesitated for a second, but quickly ran behind Knight and Mage when Thytes shuffled his limbs.

"What do you want?" he said to the man with the strange weapon. "You have our bodies - is that not enough?"

Landon held his proverbial breath and watched all this take place intently- he hadn't moved. Somewhere inside his wooden body, he felt a deep twinge. The origins were no surprise. He had escaped being useless (nearly helpless) in one reality, only to wake up in another, his body missing, but with the same truth.

It took Kynan and Tristan shifting into a more protected position for him to accept his lack of ability and follow suit. From where he crouched behind the line that Magic, Mage and Knight formed, he watched the heavy firearm, and gulped out of habit.

"A few bullets won't detach our souls from these bodies..." he whispered up at Magic. "Right?"

Magic gave a little, nervous laugh at Landon's comment. Normally, that would be the case, but their connections with their new bodies was shaky at best.

"Regular old bullets wouldn't," they whispered.

The Gunslinger patted the barrel of his gun. "But these aren't regular bullets," he said. "It targets the connection between soul and body-"

"It's a reaper weapon," Magic interrupted. The Gunslinger frowned; even his companion looked perturbed by the interruption. But Magic needed to establish who these two really were, and maybe - just maybe - convince them to look the other way. "They're grim reapers. They take your soul when you die. At least, they do here. They're not the ones who did this to us - they're just cleaning up the mess."

The unnamed reaper frowned. Something about him seemed familiar, but Magic couldn't put their finger on what. "How do you know about us?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Magic said, sheepishly rubbing the back of their neck.

"It doesn't matter," the Gunslinger said. He readied his bazooka. "All that's important is that they know what we are - I can finally get out of this form."

The change was an almost gruesome one. Darkness took the place of regular limbs, and his eyes turned bright red as he grew in size. Soon, he was an impressive nine feet tall, give or take a few inches. He easily towered over his companion, even as the unnamed reaper's form shifted into a shadowy figure's. The blue eyes and longsword were the only things that remained constant. His height had changed, too - he was now an even eight feet. Strands of darkness licked the air around them, and smaller ones appeared at the Gunslinger's feet.