Darkness swallowed Kael whole.
He couldn't feel the ground.
He couldn't feel his own heartbeat.
Only the sound of pages turning echoed endlessly around him.
Flip.
Flip.
Flip.
Then...
Light.
Kael opened his eyes.
He stood in the middle of an endless white room.
There were no walls.
No ceiling.
Only floating pages drifting like snow.
"Lyra?"
No answer.
"Evelyn?"
Silence.
He was alone.
A voice spoke behind him.
"You survived."
Kael spun around.
The old librarian stood there, smiling gently.
"But you shouldn't have."
Kael frowned.
"Where are we?"
The librarian walked toward one floating page.
It unfolded into a chair.
He sat.
"This..."
"...is the space between chapters."
Kael stared.
"What?"
"When a story changes direction, reality pauses here for a single heartbeat."
The librarian looked directly into Kael's eyes.
"You have questions."
"I have hundreds."
"Good."
"The wrong people never ask enough."
The librarian waved his hand.
Hundreds of books floated around them.
Each bore the same title.
Just Another Tale
One book looked brand new.
Another had burned edges.
One was soaked in dried blood.
Another had no pages at all.
Kael's throat tightened.
"Why are there so many?"
The librarian sighed.
"Because yours isn't the first story."
Kael froze.
"...What?"
"There have been ninety-nine Readers before you."
The room became painfully quiet.
"Ninety-nine?"
"They all reached this library."
"They all tried to change the ending."
"They all failed."
Kael looked at the nearest book.
Its cover slowly opened by itself.
Inside was a portrait.
A young man...
Who looked almost exactly like him.