Okay, I'm not dead. I know, great way to start after my incredible hiatus. I came back to say a proper goodbye. Omigosh, already? Silver Constellation, we're not even five seconds in and you're already talking about going on a permanent hiatus now! Okay, but hear me out.
I was a 14-year old when I started writing this fanfiction. I cared too much about what other people would think. Over the years, I toned that down and learned that I needed to take care of myself too. I also learned that when writing to publish, the public's thoughts are secondary. No offense, but everyone knows when you're trying too hard. You try to clarify what you mean in your writing. You search up cliche or popular topics. Personally, I think it's okay to use a common idea as long as it is executed well. I've also learned that when in writer's block, just keep writing until some ideas could work out.
I've had this fanfiction's entire plot complete in my head for a long time, but couldn't jot it down for several reasons. I've grown to learn that people don't just care about cool things or action-packed media. I was missing a moral or a theme to go with my story. I also mistook character backgrounds as trivial things. What drove my characters to do what they do? What makes them relatable or at least understandable?
It's been a few years and I've got to see more of the world. I'm a senior high school student and about to graduate as a first gen scholar. I've also become more involved in the family business. When I have free time, I want to work towards drafting a real book to send to a publishing house, best before I graduate.
Without furthreado, here is the finale of the book written as a short summary.
In Royale High, Raine awakes in the infirmary next to her cousin, Melody. She turns down Nurse Joy's offer to be shown to her next class, so she takes directions instead. Raine gets to the technology room just in time to see an electric fairy hovering in the air with a massive gym floor below him. Up there, the group struggles to fight against large spiked orbs being shot at them by cannons attached to the walls. Raine picks up one of the fallen objects and concludes that these aren't dodgeballs being launched at them; they're Durian fruits. The fairy stops the game and lands the platform, congratulating them for solving the dodgeball game. They leave and drag Cyndi behind them, who has developed a crush on that fairy.
They make their way to math class where the math teacher allows them to ask one math question before the test. Raine courageously asks, "What are the answers to the test?"
The math teacher stares at her sternly before laughing and excusing her from the quiz. Tai finishes first, followed by a competitive Talia. Candi does horrifically. Next is lunch. At lunch, Marie starts a food fight by taking Talia's cupcakes and splattering them on her face. Raine and Devin team up. Tai, Devin's older brother, pours a glass of fruit punch down Raine's back and hands Devin the container. "Hold this for me." Devin does what he is told without thinking. Raine turns around and thinks that Devin did it. The two then turn on each other, but no hard feelings remain.
After lunch, it's dance class. A mermaid professor teaches them ballroom dancing, so the gang has to pair up. Those without a male lead dance copy their part's footsteps on their own until the guys switch places. 'Nightmare' watches from the rooftops. Candi goes wild and dances to her own style when the slow rhythm of the music changes. She accidentally bumps into Talia, causing her to fall into the churning water surrounding the outdoor platform they are dancing on. Only Nightmare knows that Talia can't swim and dives in to save her before she goes off the waterfall.
Raine also goes after Talia, but when she hears Devin calling her, she turns around and gets hit by a log on the head. She gets knocked unconscious and goes over the waterfall. Suddenly, the lavender flowers next to the waterfall grow rapidly and form a net. Devin also lands in the net and holds Raine while the other members pull them in.
During drama class, they are forced to perform by a pompous fairy godmother. Marie, Candi, and Ani do a skit where they pretend to be students, while Tai pretends to be the Chemistry professor who had turned into a spider. Tai wears a mop on his head as a fake wig, and they chase him offstage with bottles of shampoo. Devin plays a guitar and dedicates a song to Raine. Raine gets on stage. When the lights point towards her eyes, she has a flashback and remembers the car lights on the rainy day before she got into a car crash and lost her legs. She attempts to run out of the room. Devin
In the hallway, the girls get into a fight about Talia treating them unfairly.
In art class, Candi thinks her painting isn't good enough and smashes it. Accidentally, it goes through Talia's easel and their canvas' paints get mixed together. Candi apologizes frantically, while Talia removes her artwork only to find that it looks even better with the drips, explosion, and smear of color.
After school, the genders hang out in their private spas. When Raine gets out, she sees Melody. Melody glares at Raine and shoves her off the stares. Melody has been influenced by an anger potion, causing her to act impulsively, jealousy, and without care. That night, Devin and Raine meet on two separate balconies. Devin is still in his clumsy beast form. Inside, Candi drags Tai along on trying to find out what Nightmare is hiding behind his mask. She takes a torch in the hallway and sneaks into Talia and Nightmare's unlocked room. She accidentally sets his mask on fire. Nightmare is unhurt and awakes by the time the two are gone. They woke him up… just in time for his plan.
Devin has pieced together his knowledge and figures out that Raine has abnormal abilities. He asks Raine to attempt to change him back to human form. It works and proves his hypothesis. Out of the blue, Nightmare launches himself through the door. The impact is so great, that Raine goes flying meters away from the balcony.
Understanding that she had powers for a while before she was confronted, she catches herself by hovering in the air. Nightmare is somehow flying too and he challenges Raine to a fight. Raine's hair grows into spear-like tentacles and she only fights back to defend herself. She feels threatened, while Devin feels helpless since he is unable to help her. The rest of the group hears about the racket and charges onto the balconies. Raine has slashed half of his mask off but is unable to keep up with Nightmare without hurting him, so she opens a portal and has them all go somewhere else. Talia looks back at Nightmare heartbrokenly before leaving with her friends.
Nightmare lands on the ground where Nurse Joy asks, "Now what?" She was unaware of the plan the whole time. Nightmare wanted Raine to act when it truly matters and got her to do so. He is willing to jeopardize his relationships if it means getting his lover, Talia, out safely. He takes off the important half of his mask, causing a portal to open. He whispers good luck to Talia before he and Sierra, Joy, Flame, and Sunset head back through the portal.
Nightmare's real name is Charles. He is an advanced hacker who manages to find a way between virtual reality and reality. However, there are limitations. Each portal counts how many goes in. The same number can exit through that portal. Because he can only carry four, he can't couldn't offer them a way back through his portal. That is why he must push Raine to open her portal. If she does it unwillingly or with fear, she could cause serious injury and cause people to get trapped between the two worlds.
Raine and the others tumble through a series of tunnels after they go through the portal. They get separated at a forked tunnel and land in Flee the Facility. Raine, Melody, Fern, and Eve arrive in one server. A new character is introduced named Cherri. Devin, Tai, Candi, and Marie land in a second server. Talia, Ani, and Cyndi arrive in the third server. Nightmare and Sierra will later join them. The game separated them because they had reached the maximum amount of players a server could hold.
Server 2 and 3 have random players outside of the game play as the beasts. When Raine sees Melody, she ecstatically greets her only to be hit in the face by the beast's weapon.
Melody is playing the beast and she locks Raine up in an icy incubator. Raine is saved by Cherri. Raine has decided that she's gotten too close to the others, so she fakes an amnesia. When they attempt to hack the game's computers to unlock the doors that will allow them to escape the chambers, Melody injures Cherri while the rest manage to escape. Eve was hiding in the lockers when she saw Raine heal Cherri's bloody neck. Eve learns of Raine's power but doesn't know who she can tell. Eve has built a reputation for being a gossip girl that no one can trust.
In server 2, Tai comforts Devin when he feels incompetent. He couldn't help Raine and now he's separated from her. Tai gives him the courage to keep going and find Raine. When Tai is hurt by the beast, Candi stands up for him. When the beast hears her voice in the game, he asks how she is using a microphone in Roblox. She lies that she is a hacker and will take his account and all his robux if he doesn't leave the game. He believes her and leaves the game, causing them to win by default. This is what Sierra meant by Candi's sweet and sour power.
In server 3, Talia saves the others from a mighty blow. They give up their grudges against her and believe that she was trying to help them after all. With Nightmare and Sierra's guidance, they manage to escape and get to the game's lobby. The rest of the players arrive. Raine gives up her fake amnesia, knowing that she would hurt Devin, if she forgot about him. She embraces him and the group proceeds to Vehicle Simulator for a short moment.
Their crazy bus driver almost hits a wall, causing Raine to panic and teleport them to a safe place. She still doesn't have full control of her powers. Luckily, they landed in Welcome to Bloxburg.
There, they meet two homeless girls. Rachel and Dawn have been trapped in the game since the time they were involved in the same car crash as Raine. Raine unknowingly teleported their souls into the game. Their bodies have rotted in reality, so they can't leave even if they wanted to. Raine cares for the kids and grows to love them.
In the end, Eve is confronted and tells Fern and Cyndi what she saw. Raine figures out what she needs to do and lets them return to their homes. Raine has nothing left in reality. She has no home, no family, no school. She doesn't want to return. Devin decides not to leave her and stays. Just then, a light rainshower occurs and they return to the virtual house, where the kids are waiting for them. "And they returned. To their home. As one."
Ta-da! THANK YOU SO MUCH for making it to the end! Every view has meant so much to me and it touches me that we could stick together until the end. :')
In the short description on the cover of my book, I wrote, "One will never live to see their human forms again." By 'one,' I meant one couple. They decide to start a new life in the video game. That leads into Season 2.
So Tai exits the portal, having a feeling that he knows what Devin will choose. It's revealed that Talia and Charles are actually police officers sent in to guide the entire group out. The portal closes behind them and Talia panics, thinking that two of them didn't make it out. Sierra is furious, because Raine is her daughter! Not only that, four souls can still get out through Raine's portal, so virtual zombies or NPCs can now enter the real world.
I admit that I know that there were too few boys in the story. Devin sounded like a simp, and the arguments the group had weren't really resolved. Those were my flaws. At least I got an entire plot down unlike my new story! In my new book, this fanfiction serves as its past. Half of the characters keep their names and appearances, but the rest have changed immensely. I don't think my new book will take place in a video game due to some logic struggles. I want more diversity, character backgrounds, etc. I also want disabled people to receive some representation, so in my new book, Raine stays in her wheelchair instead of learning to walk all of a sudden.
I know I probably haven't demonstrated my abilities or improvement well, because this chapter was just a summary and a rant on my past, but I promise that I have improved vastly over the years. If you ask, I might just tell you what my new plot is in my new book. I promise you, it's full of so much good conflict that I smile just thinking about it. Okay, okay. Sneak peek: Raine sneaks out of the house to meet Devin, but gets kidnapped. Because she didn't show up to the date, Devin thinks that she stood him up. On top of that, Raine's family thinks she ran away because she didn't leave a note before she left.