Chapter 1 OC's

Fanfiction: the bane of my existence! Fanfiction is a wonderful thing, and I thoroughly enjoy reading it. But it simply existing takes so much of my time that I hardly have time to do anything else.

Its popularity comes in waves, fortunately. And, the subject of the fanfiction often varies. Still those waves are all consuming.

Why is fanfiction such a pain? Well, you see, the town in which I live has a unique…problem, I guess you could say. Books, movies, TV shows—pretty much anything that tells a story—are affected by people's thoughts. When a person thinks up a different ending, or "what if this happened instead…" the story adjusts itself to accommodate for that change.

Fanfiction is essentially doing just that. Changing things about the stories. And, like I said, I love it, and I think it is a wonderful thing. However, when the stories start to change, it becomes a problem.

What does this have to do with me? Well, I am the Fabula Figetrix, and it is my job to fix these stories. I am responsible for getting the stories back to the way they were originally written.

You might think that it wouldn't be so bad if a story actually changed. But if one copy of the story changes, the change will spread like a virus to other copies of that story, and then it can spread to other stories, as well. Then, none of the stories we love and cherish would exist anymore. There would just be a jumbled mess of characters all floating around on the pages of every book, and on the set of every movie or TV show.

That is why Fabula Figtors (female: Figetrix) exist. I am the last of my kind, and so it is my job to keep the stories fixed and on track.

I was organizing the books on the shelves in the front library of my non-profit book store, when a teenaged boy came in and slapped a book down on the counter. "My sister read this book and now it's got a bunch of romance in it," he complained.

Smiling, I placed the book in my hand on the shelf and walked toward him. I glanced at the book. Prince Caspian. "What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"It's all romantic," the teen complained. I smiled.

"Of course it's romantic, it's an adventure story. All adventures have a romantic flair, otherwise there would be no sword fights, or daring heroes," I explained.

"No, I mean there's a kiss, and two people flirting all the time," he countered. "Plus, there's some random character that I'd never heard of before. Her name is Cassie, and she's also in love with one of the characters."

I nodded. "Has your sister been reading or writing fanfiction lately?" I inquired.

"Yeah, why?" he questioned. I sighed.

"I thought so. There's been a lot of people in here lately who have been reading fanfiction, and their books, movies, and TV shows are all wrong." He nodded. "Give me about three days, and I should have it fixed for you." He smiled and thanked me.

Then, he slapped down a twenty-dollar bill. "That is my favorite book, so don't let anything happen to it!" he called. I promised to take good care of it. I put the money away, and then took the book upstairs and laid it on the table beside my couch.

Above the bookstore that only took donations for the books, there was a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and one bedroom. This was where I lived.

I walked into the kitchen and fixed myself a cup of hot lemon tea. Matilda climbed up on the counter. I smiled at my mouse companion.

I had found her and her family in the library one day. They had escaped their book just before it was destroyed worldwide. I then, gave them a job in the back library, helping to file books, and make secure copies of each and every story that could not be altered, so that if I didn't know a story well enough, I could reference that story and be guaranteed that it was correct.

Matilda had also gone on a fixing adventure with me. Her first adventure was my first time fixing a movie. Anne of Green Gables. I actually ended up having to fix the entire series of movies…but that's another story.

My mouse companion squeaked a hello, and I smiled at her. "I have a new book to fix. Would you like me to read it aloud?" I asked.

"Yes, please!" she exclaimed. (She and all her family were talking mice.)

"I think you'll like this one," I smiled. "It has talking animals in it." She grinned and nodded eagerly. I held out my hand, and she crawled up my arm to my shoulder.

Then, I took the cup of tea and headed for the living room. I made myself comfortable on the couch, took a sip of tea, and then reached for the book. A book with a cup of tea is one of my favorite things.

I took another sip of tea and then set the cup on the table. I called to all the mice, inviting them to come listen. All 75 of them came scampering in. Some climbed up on the couch with Matilda and I, while others made themselves comfortable in various places about the room. Smiling, I opened the book and began reading.

The first paragraph was going great. All was just as should be. However, the second paragraph almost immediately took a detour. It told how the Pevensie children were waiting in a train station for the train that would take them to their separate boarding schools. But then, there was a sentence about another person who sat there. Apparently, she was a good friend of the family, and her name was Cassie.

I guessed this was the Cassie that the boy had spoken of when he brought the book in. I wondered if his sister's name was Cassie, and she had put herself in the story.

A mouse named Matthew remarked that he didn't recall any characters named Cassie, even in passing, in Narnia. I shook my head. "No, you're right, there is no Cassie in Narnia. At least, in the proper story there isn't. Cassie is an added character, probably from some fanfiction story." He nodded.

I continued reading, just to see how much Cassie's presence hand changed things. It didn't change much. They still went to Narnia, they still found Trumpkin the dwarf, and still followed him to Aslan's How.

However, when they met Caspian, I had a feeling things were going to change again. And, sure enough, as time went on, Caspian and Susan began to flirt. I stopped. I couldn't take this anymore. I had to fix it. "Are you ready to jump in?" I asked Matilda. She squeaked an affirmative reply.

I flipped back to the first chapter, to the page where they sat at the train station. I then uttered my word. (All Fabula Figetors have a word that they say that allows them to jump in and out of a story.) "Magnificent!"

I noticed that I was in a 1940's style skirt and blouse. My shoes also matched the time period. I nodded with satisfaction. My clothes had successfully been changed to match the time and style of the story, as usual.

I smiled. I had arrived just before the Pevensies had. Still smiling, I perched myself near a bench and waited for the Pevensies to show up.

They soon came down the stairs. Cassie was following them. I knew how to get rid of her easily. I slipped into the crowd, and just as Cassie lowered her hand, I snatched the ticket out of it. I then slipped into the shadows. She stopped and looked around.

Susan turned and asked what was wrong. She said that she lost her ticket. Lucy turned and helped look for it, as well, but they were not able to find it. "I must have dropped it along the way somewhere," she sighed. "I'll have to go buy another one. Go on without me. I'll just see you at school." With that, she hurried up the steps. I grinned at my success.

Lucy and Susan then ran to catch up with their brothers. I ripped the ticket into pieces and dropped it. Then, I went to sit on a bench a few feet away from the Pevensies. As long as I didn't have any direct contact with them I would be fine. I didn't want to mess up the story and risk getting stuck inside it by interacting with a main character.

Just then, the train seemed to be coming in awfully fast. Lucy commented on the sudden tug she felt, and then everyone else started telling the others to stop pulling them. Edmund said that it was magic and told everyone to grab hands so that they wouldn't get separated.

Shortly, they were in Narnia. As much as I hated the thought of being dragged through the adventure at the rate they were going, and having to listen to Trumpkin tell all about Prince Caspian, I decided it would be easier to judge when to intercept Caspian and Susan's flirting if I could catch it at its first moment, as opposed reading about it. The question was, how was I going to stop them from flirting without directly interacting with either of them, or with any other character that had more than one line of speech?

Finally, I came to the part where the Pevensies were on their way to meet Prince Caspian. I knew the problem right away. Caspian and the other Narnians had not yet gone to Aslan's How, as they should have. They were still at Dancing Lawn, which meant that they would meet the Pevensies along the way and take them to Aslan's How, as opposed to the Great Lion Himself meeting the Pevensies atop the mound, as He should have. The book in this form appeared to be a lot like the movie. While I liked the movie, I did not want it mixed with the book. Plus, if the book remained like this too long, the "virus" could spread to the rest of the series, and then to other books.

I followed in the shadows as the Pevensies met Prince Caspian in the woods, and then travelled to Aslan's How. I smiled and nodded. My suspicions were confirmed. This would be an easy fix, thank God!

I turned and grinned at Matilda. She smiled in return, knowing how happy I was because it was an easy fix. "Magnificent!" I whispered.

I sat on my couch with Matilda still on my shoulder. I flipped several pages back to when Caspian decides where to gather the Narnian troops I stared at the words for a long moment. There were two ways I could fix this story.

One, I could enter the story and use the adverb form of my word (magnificently) to manipulate Caspian's thoughts so he would be sure to go to Dancing Lawn, and not Aslan's How. But I always felt that this way crossed so many ethical boundaries. None of the characters ever knew that their mind had been changed for them, of course, but I still felt wrong forcing myself into their mind.

Two, I could enter the story, and say we should go to the Dancing Lawn instead of Aslan's How and present the most convincing argument in favor of that that I could. However, that meant that I would become part of the story and risk getting stuck inside. And while I wouldn't mind living in Narnia, I would not be able to return to finish my job, or get any knew fixing jobs.

I sighed. It looked like manipulating Caspian's mind was the best option. But then I wondered, if I might be able to prompt another character to speak up. Maybe Trufflehunter, or Glenstorm might be able to say something to which Caspian would listen. I decided to find the original copy.

I put down the book and hurried to my back library. This library was special because it contained a copy of almost every book, movie, and TV show. But these copies were written in special books, or in stored special disc cases that were made from materials from Consanesere, my home planet. These special covers/cases did not allow people's altering thoughts to enter story, unlike regular book covers and disc cases did.

I scanned the "L" section of the book department until I came to Lewis, C. S.—thank God the mice had helped me organize my library, otherwise I'd never be able to find anything! As soon as I found Prince Caspian I pulled it out.

As I read it, I discovered that it was really Trumpkin's idea to meet at the Dancing Lawn for a feast after Caspian met the rest of the Narnians. I smiled. This was going to be a relatively east fix, for once, and I could even put the idea in his dreams, so it wouldn't be crossing as many boundaries.

I returned to the couch and picked up the book. As I turned to the right page, Matilda scurried up onto my shoulder. "Magnificent," I said aloud. I found myself in Trufflehunter's cave. I smiled and quickly hid in the shadows.

I waited till everyone had gone to sleep and crept over to Trumpkin's mat. "Magnificently," I whispered. I then gently placed a hand on his forehead and pictured a bunch of Narnians, including the Three Bulgy Bears, Pattertwig, the Seven Dwarf Brothers of the Shuddering Woods, and Glenstorm the Centaur, dancing and feasting at Dancing Lawn. I added an image of Trumpkin saying to himself, "This was a good idea to meet here. It is a good way for Caspian to meet all the creatures of Narnia."

Then, I pulled back and smiled. "Magnificent," I whispered. Suddenly, I was on my couch once more with Matilda on my shoulder. She crawled down to my lap and asked to have the book read again. The other mice echoed her request. I smiled and nodded eagerly.

I opened the book to the beginning. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, and it has been told in another book…" I began. I continued reading, admiring the fact that there was no Cassie, and there was no flirting between Susan and Caspian. In fact, Susan didn't even see Caspian until she was supposed to in the book, which was after the battle and the romp with Aslan.

A quiet applause from the mice (quiet because their paws are so tiny, not from lack of enthusiasm) sounded when I had finished. I smiled and sighed with relief. I placed the book between my hands. "Magnificently," I whispered. That would protect the book from being changed again for a while.

Then, I got up and went downstairs. I placed in on the bookshelf behind the counter, which held the finished works. The boy would be here for it tomorrow.

The teen boy came in the next afternoon. I smiled at him. "Is my book fixed?" he inquired. Smiling, I turned to find it on the shelf. "As good as new," I replied, laying it on the table. "Thanks!" he responded, slapping down a 20-dollar bill on the counter. He smiled again, and then walked out.

While I didn't charge for my services, or the books in my store, most people liked to give donations when they could. They didn't exactly know how I fixed the books, but they were very glad when I did, so they were often quite generous.

I took the money and placed it in the safe below the counter. Matilda climbed up onto the counter and smiled at me. "Another book fixed, and another citizen happy," she said. I smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

A/N: "Fabula Figitor" means "Story Fixer" in Latin. (Figetrix is just the female version of Figetor.) "Consanesere" is the intransitive verb form, meaning, "to heal" in Latin.