Chapter 5: A Deal Has Been Made
"No," Jake said immediately, speaking for himself and his friends. "We're not going to do this." "Got that right," Rachel agreed, to be blunt. She's been pretty moody with me ever since I decided to investigate the noise up in the bookroom. "I know I wouldn't if I were them," I said, not offended at all. "I'm…flattered that you're a fan of my writings, but…" "You're a very faithful fan to the Animorphs series, and to me," Ellimist said, trying to convince me on something. "I've noticed you've had writing problems not on just 'The Superb' but on other stories as well." I grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah… I'm bouncing around on stories again," I said. "And at most times it's hard for me to finish a story. I don't know why…"
Out of everyone, Cassie looked to me not out of anger or shock for once. I could read her thoughts right now as she looked at me the way she did. Must've felt bad about me, and that maybe if they helped me, maybe, just maybe, they could return home. Or, I could be wrong. Maybe she was thinking about something else.
"Okay, we've got nothing to do with her writing problems," Rachel said, butting into the conversation. She was ticked off. I must say this again: No surprise. I mean, Rachel's cool as a character and person, but there were times in the books when she's just so predictable. "I got an idea," she continued, talking brightly and forcing a smile on her face. "Ellimist, how about you send us home and we can all go back to…" She stopped herself short. Question: How can you go back to a life when you discovered that it's been all made up by someone else?
That's a very good question.
"Go back to being just a bunch of story characters?" Marco said helpfully. "And go back to having Rachel and Tom dead?" Jake added, not liking this thought. "Yes, it is possible with Marianne's original character, Laura, they may not die," said the Ellimist. They all looked at me. Now, I was on Rachel's side. "Uh, how about taking them back instead? I can't change their lives. It's already been written," I said, shocked to try and guess what the Ellimist wanted to do.
Jake looked to me, then back to the Ellimist. Cassie was holding his hand, and he squeezed it briefly. Wow, I was starting to feel small again. Fun… "Ellimist, if we…help Marianne, would it change? Would Rachel and Tom still be alive?" Rachel looked like she'd been slapped. I felt everyone's eyes on me. "It's a possibility, Jake," Ellimist said. "But I cannot predict what's going to happen. Only she can." "But even I don't know for sure!" I pleaded. "It's too far ahead in my mind to grasp." I looked to Jake. "I could try to save them, but there's no guarantees." "Oh man, I don't believe this!" Rachel moaned. "Our lives are at stake in the hands of this…fanfiction writer!"
"Way to go, Ellimist," I said to the all powerful one tersely. "You're diminishing my desire to continue 'The Superb'." Jake looked down at the ground, in thought. Cassie just said, "It's worth a try to help, right? Maybe the war would end better." Jake was nodding, considering her thoughts. "I'm with Rachel on this one," Marco said defiantly. "This is dumb. I'd rather go home, try to forget all about this, and watch TV or play some video games." "Two for, two against," Jake said in observation. "Ax?" The young Andalite had been quiet for a while. "Tobias?" Tobias was still in the tree. I guess he was thinking it over too. Cue awkward silence.
"Should I hum the 'Jeopardy theme' while we wait?" I wondered impatiently. True, it's what I sometimes did while trying to be patient on anything. I was considering on humming the all too familiar tune right about now. I didn't like being stuck in the middle of controlling the Animorphs lives. Hm, maybe I should just quit while I was ahead…
-(I go with Prince Jake,)- Ax said. -(But I must ask you to repeat when this story of yours takes place.)- He was asking me that. I shuffled my feet together. "Um, sometime in between books thirteen and fourteen. Tobias had recently got his morphing powers back, and there's the development of the free Hork-Bajir colony." -(So, it is too late to save my brother?)- "Afraid so," I said, feeling the guilt hit me like a ton of bricks. "Sorry, Ax." He scraped a hoof on the sand in my backyard. To me, it seemed that he didn't like that answer.
I looked to Tobias. It was his time to vote. -(Okay,)- he began, after not saying anything for quite some time. -(What's in it for us if we agreed to help her get out of the writer's block, however we may do it?)- Ellimist provided the answer. "Ding, ding! Tell us what we win if we did the stupid deal, Johnny!" chimed Marco. "If you agree and get her out of the writer's block, then you'll be sent as to where you were, with no memories of this." Ellimist turned to me. "And I would get my story going," I said. "Yes," he agreed. "And if we don't agree," Rachel pressed. "Then, you'll either be stuck in this reality…" Ellimist gave us a dramatic pause, and then said, "Or you could vanish into nothing, and be erased into existence. Either way, nothing would change. Not really. Rachel and Tom would still be dead."
Rachel looked to me. "I'm changing my vote," she said. "I don't want to be dead." I smiled a crooked smile, even though I'm still going through my annoying Bell's Palsy phase. (A strange, strange virus in which the side of one's face becomes paralyzed. Chill. I'm feeling much better than when I first had it.) I felt like I was going to go hysterical for a second. To burst out laughing. As Marco would say: this was insane!
Marco shook his head. "How long is this going to take?" He sounded very annoyed, but seemed like he was up for the deal as well. "As long as needed until she has motivation," Ellimist said. "It's insane, but I'm willing to deal with it. It's not as bad as anything else that we've been through," Marco said.
Everyone looked to me. "What?" I demanded, confused. Everyone agreed to do it… Well, I didn't come up with a decision… "You're letting me vote?" "It's only fair that you have your say in this," Jake said. "You look like you're not thrilled about this as much as we are," Cassie agreed. I nodded. "At least you guys aren't treating me like a prisoner anymore," I said.
For a moment, I thought of this. Wow, I had the chance to make the Yeerk war turn out better. With my original character in place, anything could happen. And at the same time, I could really get the chance to know the Animorphs.
"How often do I get chances like this?" I asked, as a rhetorical question. I answered my question a split second later. "Slim to none." I started feeling goosebumps. I had to admit, this was going to be cool… I showed a small grin, and turned to the Ellimist. "Deal."