A/N - Hi! This is my third fanfic and I really wanted to write something long for story thieves, because it's one of my favorite book series and I got this great AU idea for it! Before you read, here's just a recap of what this story is about:
This takes place three years after Bethany is separated into her two halves. It's like an alternive thing for Worlds Apart, basically the "What if Bethany never rejoined herself" idea. This story is split into three storylines. The first is Bethany's. Once she was separated, neither her fictional or nonfictional selves remember anything about her half-fictional life. As you read further, you'll see who she might remember and who she might not. And you'll see if she ever ends up rejoining her fictional and nonfictional halves. It's written mostly in her nonfictional self's POV.
The next character I write about is Owen. He's still stuck in the Pick The Plot book, and he never escaped. I originally started this story before I had read Pick The Plot, so when I'm writing in his POV the story will be a bit different.
The last main character is Kiel. He's figuring out life in Magisteria and he's basically just trying to learn magic again and discovering himself as a person. That is, until the fictional world is threatened by Nobody and he finds out some important things he's been missing out on.
Also I like the way that music can go hand in hand with writing and there were so many songs that reminded me of specific scenes and characters that I decided that each of my chapters will have a theme song at the beginning. Each song will match directly with how the chapter feels. I definitely encourage you to listen to the songs either before or after reading, but you don't need to listen if you don't want to.
New Person, Same Old Mistakes (by Tame Impala)
"Feel like a brand new person, but you make the same old mistakes . . ."
"Bethany . . . earth to Bethany . . ."
A voice echoed in fifteen year-old Bethany Sanderson's head, repeating the same words over and over. It was tempting to snap out of her daze, but she didn't give in until another sharp noise jolted her awake. Her eyes flew open and she sat up abruptly in her desk, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.
"Bethany!" her English teacher, Mr. Tompkins scolded. Although he seemed annoyed, there was the hint of an undeniably amused look on his face. "Taking a snooze?"
The class giggled. Bethany lifted her hand to wipe her mouth where some droll had formed. A sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, causing her palms to sweat and body to overheat. Flushing, she met the eyes of her teacher with an apologetic look. "S-Sorry," Bethany said. She straightened herself up, exchanging looks with her laughing classmates. It wasn't the first time she'd fallen asleep in class. In fact, she had done it numerous times throughout her life, but not as much as she used to. It wasn't her fault she liked reading late at night, was it?
"You didn't strike me as a droller," a popular and very obnoxious boy, Ross Clarke, said. Bethany despised him, and she had a good reason for it. Once, she caught him ripping pages out of books in the school library to get on the librarian's nerves. According to her, something was deeply wrong with him. She gave him a smoldering glare. It did little but make her classmates laugh more. Ugh.
"Turn to chapter five," Mr. Tompkins said, drawling the attention of the students back to him. "We'll now discuss the patterns between man and monster as the creature is introduced to the story."
Trying very hard to ignore the glances her classmates stole, she opened her book, Frankenstein, to the correct page and followed along with the class.
"You have to admit, it was hilarious," Bethany's best friend, Liz, said.
Liz had been held back a year in kindergarten, making her one of the eldest kids in the tenth grade, as she would be turning seventeen in April. Bethany and her had become friends in freshman year, and they both shared an equal love for books. Despite that one similarity, however, their personalities were completely different. Bethany found herself often surprised that her only friend in the world was a bubbly, hopeless romantic girl. She was the exact opposite of that.
Bethany lightly punched her in the arm, trying not to smile. "It wasn't hilarious. It was embarrassing!"
Her friend snorted. "You should be used to it by now. You always fall asleep when we read Frankenstein. And you're like, way more obsessed with books than me. You shouldn't be falling asleep at all!"
She rolled her eyes, a grin forming on her face as she hitched her backpack up higher on her shoulders. "What's not to be bored about it?"
Walking to the library was a common hobby they'd both gotten used to. Bethany had always had an intense, undying love for books, so when she and Liz met, it was destiny. Liz loved reading (not as much compared to Bethany, however), and was at the library as often as Bethany. They normally walked there after school to do homework. Needless to say, it was Bethany's favorite part of the day.
The walk was short. When they reached the library, the friends rushed over to their usual table by the fantasy section and got to work. Bethany started immediately on her English essay, one she knew she would suffer from because of her lack of attention skills. They walked over to the computers and sat down, taking out their homework. Bethany opened a blank file on the computer and wasted no time in beginning the dreadful paper. Essays based on books weren't her strong suite, despite the fact that she spent her life reading them. An essay on Harry Potter? Easy. But an essay for school? She genuinely enjoyed schoolwork, but it wasn't what she preferred.
Pressing her fingers into the keyboard, Bethany began to type. Soon, her mind was again a blank canvas, refusing to think beyond the box. Staring at the words she had written so far, Bethany bit her lip and sat back a few feet from the computer to stare at it's entirety. She knew she likely would finish it tonight, but with the way her brain was working, it would take much longer than she'd hoped.
After another moment of inspiration, she leaned forward, placing a finger on the keyboard again. The words came fast, then, like the plummeting waves over a waterfall. Seizing the opportunity, Bethany deleted what she'd written and let everything come naturally. The best writers, she figured, never thought too hard when they wrote.
It only took Liz about an hour to finish her's, probably because she had a better concept about Frankenstein. She placed her folders back in her bag and zipped it up. "See you tomorrow."
"But it's Friday!" Bethany said in alarm, her eyes snapping up. She glanced over at her friend, her eyebrows scrunching. "It is Friday, isn't it?"
Liz nodded. "Yeah. But I'm still seeing you tomorrow morning for the school book club meeting."
The redheaded girl groaned. She'd forgotten about that. When she signed herself up for the school book club, she didn't believe it when they said weekend meetings every Saturday morning were mandatory. Saturday was supposed to be about relaxing and taking it easy, not about going back to school. "I completely forgot. I wanted to sleep in!"
Her friend smiled, shaking her head in dismay. She started towards the sliding doors at the front of the library. "Don't we all? Bye!"
"Bye!" Bethany replied, her smile quickly fading alway. She stared hard at the computer, typing what came to her and scanning through the book as she did so. When the five-page paper was all said and done, the fifteen year-old girl sighed and slumped back into her chair, utterly exhausted. She glanced around the library, taking in it's tall walls and orange carpet, and all of the bookshelves that lined the room. Only a few people were like her who came here at night, but now it was quiet and empty, not a person to be seen. It was mostly crowded when the weekend hit.
She turned back to the computer and printed the essay out, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the essay to finish printing out. The printer slowly spit out the paper, making beeping noises as it did so. Finally, the essay finished printing, and Bethany scooped it up into a stack, placing it into her folder.
"Done your work?"
Bethany jumped. She whipped around, only to see that the librarian, Ms. Conners, had approached her. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed anyone sneaking up on her. She pressed a hand to her chest and let out a nervous laugh. "Oh. You scared me."
Ms. Conners laughed, rubbing her face with her knuckles. When she pulled away, her eyes looked bloodshot. "That's quite alright, Bethany. I was just seeing how your work load was going."
"It went good. I just finished." Bethany gave her a half-hearted smile. There was something strange about the way Ms. Conners held herself. Her light-colored hair was messy and unkempt, and there were heavy bags under her eyes. It looked as if she'd been crying.
"Are you okay?" Bethany asked, hesitantly picking up her backpack.
The librarian blinked. "I'm alright. It's just the three-year anniversary of . . . well, never mind."
Curiosity burned in Bethany's veins. She felt bad for asking, but now she was intrigued. What could make sweet Ms. Conners so upset? It seemed like she was always in a good mood. "Anniversary of . . . ?"
Ms. Conners let out a deep sigh, her breath hitching. "My son. I-well . . . my son ran away about three years ago. I don't know where he is — or if he's—" She looked as if she wanted to say more but cut herself off, her face constricting with emotions that she couldn't express. She blinked a few times, as if fighting back tears.
Bethany gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I don't remember talking much to your son. His name is Owen, right?"
A flicker of a smile appeared on the librarian's face. "Yes. O-Owen. You two were good friends when you were twelve. I'm glad he had such good friends like you and that other boy."
Bethany frowned, feeling confused. She didn't recall ever being friends with Owen, although she did remember him being in her sixth grade math class, which was taught by Mr. Barberry. She didn't remember much about the one or two conversations they'd had together, but for some reason, thinking about him put a warm feeling in her chest. She couldn't identify or explain why.
"Friends with me? We weren't friends," Bethany said. "You're probably thinking of someone else. Either way, I'm really sorry. It would be hard to loose someone like that, and not know where they are."
For some reason, saying this brought another emotion bubbling to the surface. It was a yearning, a pining for a lost presence, or a something, or a someone. The only person she ever recalled losing was her father. Back then, she had been four years old, about to turn five. His death had been sudden. One moment, he was laughing and watching Bethany open present after present alongside her friends. And the next, her father was being rushed to the hospital.
The librarian shook her head, bringing Bethany back to the present moment. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Bethany. A-Anyways, I'll leave you to it. Lights will be turning out in about an hour."
She nodded. Ms. Conners strode off, curling her arms around herself and walking in a daze. Bethany briefly wondered if the librarian had a husband. Her own mother wasn't married anymore. After her father died, that was that. Her mother never wanted to remarry. She never seemed to get over him.
Bethany stood up, silently walking through the shelves and shelves of books. Being here around books brought a sensation of tranquillity, and she had no idea why. She'd always been drawn to books. They were the reason she still dreamed at night. Reading books distracted her from the issues of the real world, and she was fine with that. Books were her favorite kind of escape. They helped with almost everything.
She stopped at her favorite isle, one that held fantasies beyond compare. Looking around, she noticed that she'd read the majority of them. Her mom wasn't enthusiastic about her love for reading, but she gradually accepted it, making Bethany promise that she wouldn't do anything reckless. Bethany didn't know what she meant by that; reading was probably the safest hobby in the world.
Bethany walked along the isle, running her hand along the rows and rows of books sitting on the shelves. Her hand finally stopped at one, with a particularly intriguing title that jumped out to her, begging her to read it. She plucked it off the shelf and stared down at the cover, admiring the artwork. She loved looking at the front cover, because it often told a story. On it, a white-haired woman in dark robes stretched out her hand, a hard expression on her face. In front of her, a girl with short pink hair held onto a terrified-looking boy, attempting to save him from being eaten by the gigantic T-Rex in his wake.
Her eyes fluttered to the title, which was in big bold letters. "Story Thieves . . ."
Underneath were smaller yellow letters, meaning this book was a series. It'd been so long since she'd found a series worthy of her liking. She often reread books like The Little Prince, which was her favorite book of all time. It might've been more of a children's book, but she didn't mind. That one had always been her favorite. Now that she held this new book in her hands, she wondered if Story Thieves could give The Little Prince a run for it's money. A satisfied smile poured over her face.
She looked back at the boy on the cover. Strangely, he looked familiar. Even stranger, he looked a lot like Owen Conners from her sixth grade math class. She shook off the weird similarity and opened the book to the front page, where it showed the book had come out about three years ago. It was weird that she'd never seen it here before. Easily, it was the longest book she'd ever seen. It was around nine-hundred pages, just the kind of book Bethany could get lost in.
"Pick The Plot," she read aloud, her eyes drifting to the words that followed the main title. She was going to enjoy this.
"I know there's too much at stake, making the same mistakes, and I still don't know why it's happening. Stop before it's too late . . ."