Wait, hang on, I wasn't ready to start yet.
We're doing this now?
Editor's note:
There's no easy way to say this. This page and those that follow just don't measure up to the first five.
The author made this chapter out of order and got discouraged with how much animation was required to proceed.
If you haven't already read Chapter 1, I humbly recommend checking it out now.
If you're alright with lots of reading, and only subpar art, then proceed. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Wait, what was that? Is there someone else here? No. No, no, it's only me here. Me and...
Alright, fine, fine. I can do this. I can start.
*ahem*
Within the void of non-existence, a light within the dark appeared without warning.
From the light came a voice.
Oh god. Oh god.
...
I'm...
I can't tell if I'm alive or if I'm dead. Where am I.
Where am I?
Wh... when am I?
Oh... God, my head. My head feels like it's... G... gone?
I... Where is my body. Where is my body?
Whether by providence or by accident, a second light joins the first.
Rimas... Rimas. Rimas?
Marcel??
You're alive!!
Oh my god, I thought for sure you were a goner.
... Is that so? Sorry to disappoint you.
Uh...
Rimas... I can't see anything. I'm not even sure I'm hearing you, but I know you spoke and I could tell what you said, somehow.
What happened? Did we... Did we die? Are we dead right now?
I... Okay. Okay. I owe you an explanation.
That's a hell of an understatement. You said you were going to explain what you did.
And, uh, it'd appear you did what you were going to do, so...
What exactly was it? Where are we, Rimas?
I don't know.
I was trying to send my memories to the past version of me so that I could know in advance that this whole chain of events was going to happen.
Kinda like time travel but without the body.
But two things went wrong, Marcel. Two very important things.
The first thing, you see, is that I, and I suppose that memories can be independently conscious, have not landed in my younger body.
Actually wait, that's an interesting line of thinking, see, what if a memory-
If Marcel had eyes to narrow, he'd be narrowing them.
Rimas, please. Focus. Please don't go on a tangent right now. For all we know, Jutse is wreaking havoc with our bodies.
For all we know, he already has us where he wants us, and we're just in this purgatory until he lets us out into whatever unfathomable cage he's transformed our lives into.
Convince me otherwise, Rimas. Please.
Okay, but the second thing. The second thing was, I was supposed to go alone.
You aren't supposed to be here. Like, I'm glad you're here because I'm significantly less worried I've gone insane, but...
Marcel, I'm sorry you were dragged into this.
So. Uh. ...Do you have a body right now? I can't feel anything. I can't even feel that I feel nothing.
I'm just kind of... here.
No, and...
Wait, hang on. No body. Nobody. Nobody is here, Marcel.
Nobody except us.
Alright, that's enough of this. HEAR ME.
You are, uh, not supposed to be here, and... uh...
Who said that? Who's there?
He spoke with a primal fear in his voice, as he-
Oh I'm not afraid, you bastard. But you should be.
Come on out here and show yourself. I am going to tear you apart.
Okay, look, Marcel. Rimas, too.
Why do you know my name? And... Rimas's name.
Who are you? Why is your voice so familiar...?
Marcel, he sounds exactly like Arcturus.
Whoever you are, do you know Arcturus? Are you him?
I... Alright.
No, I'm not Arcturus. I'm barely even sure who that is. Is that...
Wait. Wait, I know who Arcturus is. A... green dragon, right?
Like my soundcloud picture. The green dragon with horns.
What's he like? Or... they?
He. He's, uh, kinda smelly.
He either mutters so quietly you can barely tell what he's saying, or he talks so loud you feel the need to shush him.
He wouldn't harm a fly. Kinda weak, especially for a dragon. He's really obsessed with writing things down. Always has a pen.
That's not important, right now, though.
Tell us who you are.
I'm, uh... I'm the author.
The person who's literally typing all this stuff out into a back-end server manager so it'll appear on a webpage so people can read it.
The person who's gonna draw you both at some point.
Wait, so Jutse was right??
Jutse? Was he... Uh... He was the demon, right? With the power of imagination. Who wanted to make the world a better place?
But like he was too destructive and summoned a copy of the planet earth and like, forced the planet to shoot thousands of nuclear warheads at Mersia?
Wh...
What??
Jutse is a calico. And for a couple years he was a real good friend of ours.
Jeez, for an author I think you'd at least know which of your cha...
Wait. ... What? Characters... Is that... Is that all I am? I'm just... a character?
I, well, not... Not yet.
What do you mean not yet?
I, uh... Okay, you're not gonna like this. I haven't drawn you yet.
I... I meant to, like... This is all so confusing.
This is why you can't feel anything. There's nothing to feel. Nothing to feel with.
I just haven't given you a form.
So, sorry, but you don't physically exist yet.
Who are you, to decide...
Wait, what's going on. What's that sound?
whether we...
What... My apartment is shaking like the people upstairs are jumping around.
... Are... are you doing this???
How is that even possible??? You're not real!
