Hi everyone...
Explanation at the bottom
I'd say enjoy but... I didn't so I won't force you to either
Chapter Four
My name is Briar, I'm seventeen years old, I hail from New Zealand and I was sitting at my computer when a bright flash of light lit up my room.
Next thing I know I'm in a large room filled with people I kinda recognize, one of them lunges at me, his hand drawn back in a punching action.
I draw my feet up to my chest and lash out.
They hit him squarely in the chest and he is sent flying back the other way.
I get to my feet and try to find a way out, however I find that I am quickly surrounded on all sides.
"Parlay?" I say hopefully.
"Guys, hold up!" said the figure that I kicked.
He walked up to me and gives me a once over, he has dark brown hair that it could almost be counted as black, his black eyes seem to stare into my soul and his white gloves tap gently on the underside of his chin as his mind goes into overdrive.
I shuffle nervously on spot, I know I'm kinda in the wrong here but this is just weird.
"Who are you?" he asks finally.
"Briar Rose, nice to meet you" I say instantly holding out my hand.
"Well Miss. Rose, I'm Ryan Blackworth, pleasure to meet you" said the teen as he took my hand.
My mind instantly made the connections and I reeled back in shock.
"Hold up! Are you 'the' Ryan Blackworth? Entity of Death? The most powerful endless? Partner with Eva the Life Entity? Older brother figure to Paradox and Pandora, the time and space entities? Tutor of Dream, the entity of dreams and happiness?" I say rapidly.
He looks more amused than surprised.
He nods his head once.
"I am" he says softly.
"You don't seem surprised I know that" I say curiously, the initial shock wearing off.
"Well I just plan on mind wiping you so it doesn't really make a difference if you know or not" he says before looking into my eyes.
I see dark swirls inside his eyes and then I'm blinded by another flash of light.
"Oww! What the hell was that for!?" I yelled as I rub my eyes in pain.
"Umm… darling, I don't think that worked" I hear a small voice speaking but I still can't bloody well see a damn thing!
My vision clears and I find myself still standing in the same spot, everyone looking at me in wonder.
"It's rude to stare you know" I growl.
"How did you do that? Are you a fellow entity?" asked Ryan curiously.
I scanned through my memories, wait! Why am I doing that! I know what's going on here!
"I'm dreaming!" I declare loudly.
"No you're not" says the one who I can assume is Dream.
"Of course I am! I've had this kind of dream before; admittedly it was when I was into fairy tail but same difference!" I say with a smile.
Dream goes to say something but Ryan cuts her off.
"And why do you assume this is a dream?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Cause there is no way you exist and no way I can be here" I say firmly.
"And why is that?"
"Because I created most of you save for the ORC and Le Fay!" I yell; this was really getting on my nerves.
Everyone looks confused, save for Ryan.
"So you dreamt us up?" he asked.
"Correct, I watch a show call High School DxD, it follows the exploits of Issei Hyoudou and how he becomes a devil, masters the boosted gear and tries to become the biggest pimp ever" I say as I remember how the show went.
"And where do we come into it?" asked Ryan as he gestured for me to take a seat.
"Well… it's a bit embarrassing, but I write stories based off of the show with you as the main character. You're kinda based off of how I want myself to be" I say with a red face.
Ryan goes quite for a moment, he shuts his eyes and thinks hard.
"Prove it" he says simply.
"You hate flying, you love cookies and cream ice-cream, you masturbate left handed, you like the smell of warm waffles, your favorite color is actually white since it is all colors combined and you pretend you can't dance simply because the only dance you know is break dance" I say instantly with a small smirk on my face.
Everyone's jaws hit the ground.
"Is that true Ryan?" asked Le Fay.
The reaper looks nervous but gives a quick nod.
"It's not wrong" he says eventually.
"Told ya..." I say smugly.
"You did indeed, how though?" he asks in astonishment.
"Because I made you up! None of you exist where I come from! You're all works of fiction! Why can't you understand that!?" I scream at him in anger, this was just pissing me off.
Ryan nods gently and I slump my shoulders forward.
I can't bear it anymore and run out of the room, I don't know where I'm going but it has to be far from here.
I find a set of stairs and start climbing; I climb and climb until I burst out onto the roof.
Everything I see is familiar yet so alien to me; it's like the buzziest trip of Déjà vu ever.
"Okay Rose, just stay calm… your just having a bad dream, even though this is pretty cool, it's time to wake up!" I say to myself and pinch the skin on my hand with my nails.
The pain flashes through me but nothing happens, the cool afternoon wind continues to blow across the rooftop.
I try slapping myself; all I get is a sore face for my troubles.
"Damn it!" I yell, I kick the stair well building as hard as I can and end up falling over backwards as a result.
Hopelessness fills my heart as my eyes fall on the edge of the building.
"Might as well…" I say softly as my feet move on their own accord.
I stand on the edge of the high rise building and stare down at the ground below me.
"One step and this will all be over"
The words fill me head and I have no idea who is really saying them.
I take a step forward and it finds nothing but air.
My body falls and I let gravity take me.
I'm only half aware of a faint metallic clicking sound behind me but nothing matters now, I'm going to die and then I'll wake up and be in a better place.
"No Briar!"
I feel a pair of arms wrap themselves around me, my vision is filled with black and then I hit the ground.
Yet I feel nothing…
"What the hell were you thinking!?"
The voice snaps me out of my haze and I realize I'm lying on Ryan, in the middle of a rather large crater at the front steps of the building complex.
"I was…" I don't finish my sentence, but I roll off of him and begin to walk away.
"Hey! I just saved your life so the least you owe me is a talk!" he yells at me and anger flares in my chest.
"Might it be that I didn't want to be saved Ryan! Did you ever think to consider that?!" I scream, I turn on him with fire in my eyes and punch him squarely in the chest, he doesn't even register the pitiful blow but I continue to pound away at his chest.
He just stands there and takes it…
Never saying a word otherwise.
Eventually I wear myself out, yet the fire in my chest never ceases.
"It's alright Briar, let it out" he says gently before grabbing me in a hug.
I try to push him away but part of me really wants this…
And then it hits me, I just start crying and crying… unable to stop.
Five Minutes Later
"I wasn't aware you liked pizza Briar" said Ryan with a smirk as he watched me incinerate a large meat lovers in a matter of moments.
I simply glare at him but continue to chomp away at the dish in front of me.
"You like pizza Blackworth, so therefore your billion year old mind should have been able to connect the dots" I say as I wipe my face with a napkin.
"I'm only a young adult remember, why does everyone assume I know everything!" groaned Ryan and I can't help but chuckle.
"Because you do, there is just a set of barriers put on your mind to prevent you from accessing it all in one go… you'll find that out in a year or so" I say with a small smile.
"I think that's enough foresight for the rest of my life, please stop talking about my future cause I really don't want to know" he said quickly as I went to carry on.
I can't help but laugh, he's an odd kettle of fish and I'm the one who created him…
"So what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked with a sinking feeling.
"Well I was going to ask you about what you planned to do but after saving you from a very painful fall I kinda got the idea" he said with a straight face.
"I don't regret doing it, I just want to go home" I say darkly.
"I won't let you die Briar, you're not allowed" whispers Ryan softly.
I look at him with gray eyes.
"And why is that?" I asked, the embers of my anger flaring up again.
"Because I don't want to die either, I don't want Le Fay to die, or Lime or Dream or my friends or anyone on this world" he says firmly.
"What are you talking about?" I ask in confusion.
"You say you created us, yet I feel completely unique and original, like my own person. So therefore if you die, the idea of me dies with you and by extension everything you've created dies as well. Suicide is never the answer to the problem Briar, if you're selfish enough to think that killing yourself will bring you back to a world that I don't think you really want to be in, you're stupider than I thought"
His words fell like a knife to the heart, yet there is not a single bit of dishonesty in them.
"How did you know I don't like my world?" I ask hollowly.
"Intuition… I'm based off of you and your true wishes right? Then you must be really lonely with very few friends and no one who really cares that much about you, am I wrong?" he asks softly.
Another twist of the painful knife…
"It's true, my life is just a ball of watching cartoons, writing fiction and getting average grades in school. What the fuck is the point of all of this then!" I yell at the sky, yet no tears come.
"Perhaps this is the point? You've crafted a world where people fall in love, have adventures, laugh a lot and you're the soul reason behind it. I respect a person who has that kind of dedication to their work but I won't stand by and let you talent be tossed off the side of a stupidly tall apartment building alright"
It finally hits me…
Everything that has been building up towards this moment finally found its place and it all connected together.
"It is a tall building isn't it?" I say with a smile as I get to my feet.
"Yeah… you feeling alright? Not planning on doing something stupid again?" he asks suspiciously as he gets to his feet.
"I'm just great… say; could you throw a punch at me?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Umm… you do realize I might accidentally kill you if I do that" he says slowly.
"I doubt it…" I say with a smirk as I square off with him.
"Very well, I'll have you know I'm the deadliest fighter on this planet"
"And I created the deadliest fighter in this universe, just attack me you dork" I say with a grin.
He pulls back his fist and I blink, he gets flattened to the ground in an instant and I burst out laughing. His eyes flash black and he lunges at me, I simply side step him and he almost falls of the side of the building, I hook my foot through the loop in his belt and keep him from plummeting.
"I see you've found peace then?" he says with a nervous chuckle as I pull him back.
"Sure have… it was my birthday and everyone forgot about it, I wished and wished for some friends to spend it with, nothing happened so I decided to write a forth wall insert about it in my story, something happened and here I am, it just took the ramblings of a dorky grim reaper to show me the truth"
A huge weight rises from my chest and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Ryan grins at me and holds out a hand.
"Good work kid"
"Don't get snippy with me Blackworth, I'll make you a girl next chapter otherwise" I scowl and he simply laughs as I shake his hand.
"So what do they call you back where you come from? What's your internet persona?" asks Ryan curiously as I take a step towards the edge again.
"I've called myself a few things over the years, but the one thing that's always sticked is a simple word: Parradox with two R's instead of one"
"Why two R's?"
"Because Paradox was already taken of course"
I let myself fall backwards and close my eyes.
And I end up in a pile on the floor of my room, my laptop screen glowing brightly in the dark room.
"God damn that hurt" I groan as I get to my feet and pick my swivel chair up.
I glance around my room for a few moments, did that really happen?
I feel something crunch in my hands and I find a note in it.
Sup Briar or should I say Parradox
Just wanted to remind you that I'm real and too keep doing what you're doing!
Your good friend
Ryan James Blackworth
I smile thinly and click my neck.
I've got a new chapter to write, it might be a bit short but it'll be fun to write.
Maybe I should put a quote at the end?
I dunno!
Let's get to writing!
A/N: So... explanation
About a half hour ago a close friend of my committed suicide, it's been a painful time and I've been holed up in my room writing since then.
This was all I could produce but i just needed to let it all out, I can't cry and I won't cry until the funeral.
They really liked my work and I just wish I could have shown them more...
But what can you do?
Life carries on regardless of what happens.
All we can do is accept it and move on with our lives...
So live for tomorrow fellow readers, writers and creators!
And as always:
My name is Parradox and thanks so much for reading.
Bye!
"Life gives you some pretty damn good lemons, the real trick is finding that perfect recipe to make the lemonade"
- Briar Rose (Parradox) 2015
P.s Happy new years everyone!