Chapter 48: Confrontation Building

Chapter 48: Confrontation Building
Elena's POV

Weird vibes hit our makeshift squad when we found that the freed people came from old Editor bloodlines. I saw almost a hundred moonlit wolves near me, all trying to get it while prepping to raid the Editor world.

But my brain latched onto a quicker problem: the magic walls needed so we don't die trying to get there.

"The Editor's place sits outside real space," I said, starting to wrap us in protective spells. "It's just raw story land. Without the right cover, we'll be wiped the second we step over."

"Like what kind of cover?" Alpha Thornwick asked, his Editor brain helping him get the geeky bits better than others.

"Self locks. Charms that glue our minds in place so hard that story forces can't mess with us." I sucked power from the room's saved magic, twisting it into trippy shields. "But you gotta be super sure who you are."

"That's easy," a freed person said. "Fifteen years locked up really helps you figure out who you are."

"Really?" I asked, stopping my spell to stare right at her. "Because the Editor place will test you. It'll show you every version of yourself ever written, every 'what if' you could've been. Can you stay yourself when you see infinite yous?"

That question hushed everyone. Through our quick pack link, I felt their shaky feelings rise up.

"I can," Nora said strongly, her shiny light glowing brighter as she talked. "I know who I am. I'm someone who picks love over scared feelings, getting better over staying still, and working together over bossing around."

"Even staring at yourself, like, what if you picked other stuff?" I pushed. "Like, if you didn't bite it, didn't hurt, didn't grow past how you started off, you know?"

"Totally then." Nora knew what was up. "Cause those yous didn't get the chance to morph into who I've turned out as now, see?"

Her cool vibe helped keep others steady, but I felt through our link that some freed wolves were feeling unsure like a shaky jelly.

"There's another path," I whispered softly. "Not all of us gotta zoom to the Edit Place. A small crew with the best self-grip could go, while others cheer from here."

"No way, dude," Alpha Thornwick blurted quickly. "We were stuck for fifteen years, man. We ain't chilling back while others scrap for our freedom."

"Then be sure 'bout your call," I buzzed. "The Edit Place will flash back all you shed. Fifteen years, timelines back, pain gone. Just say that you are just a sketch."

I saw the wanting in their eyes, like a sweet tooth. Like fixing being stuck, getting back stolen lives, like a rewind button.

"But if you grab that deal," I kept on, "you'll shed all you built by making it through being stuck, like tough skin, no control, just saying no to fading out."

While I fixed the self-hooks, Nora did her thing, just as key but way strange. She was yelling out to ghosts of the past.

"All wolves who fell fighting to be free," she called, voice echoing through weird zones. "All peeps erased for picking growth over code. All beings who bounced limits were thrown at them."

The room below ground started to swim with see-through shapes. There were the ghosts I knew, plus beings pulled from endless tales. Nora's shout for buddies had pulled them all.

A ghost sighed, "The Editing Place? We can't go there. We just live as old thoughts now."

Nora said, "Then be our minds. When editors say we're just messy starts, remind us who we are. When they give us soft, easy selves, hold tight to who we know we are."

The ghosts started to link up with our alive friends, making a web that touched life and old thoughts.

I said, really amazed, "Great idea. The ghosts can't be killed off anymore since they're already gone. They can't be changed by the editors."

Alpha Thornwick added, his brain full of old facts, "Plus, they recall every take on every tale. They're like a walking book of story history."

I felt how big our task was with the ghost links. Not just saving our own tales. We fought for stories to bloom past what the makers first thought.

I said, "The hold-tight identities are set." Safe spells danced around each friend. "But we must talk about one more thing."

"What is it?" Nora wondered.

"In the Editing Place, we play by their rules. No normal magic or laws. It's all about what makes a good tale."

"Which means?"

"Which means the most exciting ending has the best shot to win." I looked at our team - free folks, ghost guides, awake people, and a Balance Child who was super new. "We have to pick what kind of tale we want this to turn into."

Kai wondered, "What do you mean by that?"

A sad thing happens when brave folks give all they have to rescue others? Or, a funny tale where smart small fries fool big bad bullies? Or, foes make peace and fight a bigger bad guy?

This puzzle meant much more than it showed on top. In the Story World, story rules are as strong as how the earth works.

"Not these,'' the Fair Kid said out of the blue. "We craft a fresh tale. One where folks team up with those who made them, instead of doing what they're told."

"That's not a real tale type," I said back.

"It is now," Sharp Thornwick said with dark joy. "We open it ourselves as we go."

All around us, final steps wrapped up quickly. Who we are locked firm, soul links all set, juice stores maxed for what's next.

"Is everyone on set?" I then asked them all.

"Set," everyone spoke back as one.

I kicked off the space jump that would pull us from our hole to the Story World itself. Truth got bendy as we went from tale land to the mind land.

But as we popped into the Story World, I saw we had friends all around.

The space near us had many folks from loads of tales, all getting here at the same time from their own worlds.

"The wake-up has gone far," Nora spoke with a stunned voice.

Folks from each tale type, each tale way, each story ever spun were meeting up at the Story World. All set to scrap for the right to grow past their first code.

"This is more than just a fight now," Sharp Thornwick told all. "This is a take over."

But as we looked at the size of our team, a fresh fact popped up in our heads.

The Story World was not bare at all.

In the heart of mind land, circled by truth zapping tools that made old gear look like toys, stood not just the story fixers we'd been at war with.

The Writers stood right there by their side.

Yes, all the Writers.

They got ready to make all tales vanish instead of not being in charge of stories.