TWO GIFTS BEFORE THE DOOR CLOSES
SCRATCH.
GAAFATAA sat alone.
In front of him
were pages filled
with questions.
REALITY BOOK.
NAFSAN.
SAFSAN.
SIRNA.
THE SIRNA ANCHOR.
KAIRO.
Questions.
Questions.
Questions.
And somehow...
every answer
had created more of them.
...
GAAFATAA looked toward
the person sitting
across from him.
THE AUTHOR.
...
GAAFATAA:
"I have one final question."
THE AUTHOR:
"You've said that before."
GAAFATAA:
"This time I mean it."
...
The Author said nothing.
...
GAAFATAA placed
his pen on the table.
"For now."
THE AUTHOR:
"Better."
...
Silence.
...
Then GAAFATAA asked:
"What is your plan
with all of this?"
...
The Author looked at him.
GAAFATAA continued.
"Safsan."
"Nafsan."
"Kairo."
"SEENEE."
"The Reality Book."
"The Sirna Anchor."
"Different universes."
"Different stories."
"Things happening now."
"Things we've already seen
from the future."
...
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
He leaned forward.
"What are you
actually planning?"
...
The Author smiled.
...
GAAFATAA waited.
...
Nothing.
...
"Well?"
THE AUTHOR:
"I'm not telling you."
GAAFATAA sighed.
"Of course."
...
He reached for his pen.
THE AUTHOR:
"But..."
...
GAAFATAA stopped.
...
The Author raised
two fingers.
"I'll give you
two gifts."
...
GAAFATAA slowly
put the pen down.
"Two answers?"
"No."
"Two spoilers?"
"No."
"Two clues?"
...
The Author thought about it.
"Two gifts."
...
GAAFATAA smiled.
"I'm listening."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"First."
...
The room became quiet.
...
"NAFSAN
will appear
at the end of BAAČ."
...
GAAFATAA froze.
...
The pen immediately
returned to his hand.
SCRATCH.
NAFSAN.
BAAČ.
END.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Wait."
"The Nafsan
we've been talking about?"
THE AUTHOR:
"Yes."
"The one SEENEE saw
in the future?"
"Yes."
"The one searching
for a specific Safsan?"
"Yes."
...
GAAFATAA stared
at the words.
...
"How does he get to BAAČ?"
...
The Author smiled.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Right."
"Of course."
...
But then the Author continued.
...
"And after Nafsan appears..."
"...you will eventually
see how he got there."
...
GAAFATAA looked up.
"Through NAFSAN Story?"
...
"No."
...
A pause.
...
"Through..."
...
NAFSAN STORY.
...
GAAFATAA became still.
...
The Author continued.
"NAFSAN STORY
will begin with Nafsan's birth."
...
"His life."
"His journey."
"His story."
...
"And it will continue..."
...
"...until it reaches
the moment
Nafsan appears
in BAAČ."
...
Silence.
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the page.
For Safsan's readers...
Nafsan would arrive
before they understood
how he got there.
...
Then...
NAFSAN STORY
would take them backward.
Not to explain him
with a few paragraphs.
Not with a flashback.
Not with SEENEE
telling them what happened.
...
They would follow Nafsan
from his birth...
all the way...
to BAAČ.
...
GAAFATAA:
"So first
we see the arrival."
THE AUTHOR:
"Yes."
"And afterward..."
"...we experience
the road that created it."
...
The Author nodded.
...
SCRATCH.
...
GAAFATAA wrote:
SAFSAN STORY
→ END OF BAAČ
→ NAFSAN APPEARS
NAFSAN STORY
→ NAFSAN'S BIRTH
→ HIS JOURNEY
→ BAAČ
...
GAAFATAA stared
at the structure.
Then smiled.
"That's a dangerous gift."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"You still have another one."
...
GAAFATAA immediately
turned the page.
"Go."
...
The Author became quiet.
...
For some reason...
this silence
felt different.
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Kairo."
...
GAAFATAA's expression changed.
...
"The Path to the Ultimate."
...
SCRATCH.
THE PATH TO THE ULTIMATE
— KAIRO STORY
...
GAAFATAA:
"What about it?"
...
The Author answered:
"The strongest being..."
...
The pen stopped.
...
"...is intended
to be the final boss
of
THE PATH TO THE ULTIMATE
— KAIRO STORY."
...
...
...
GAAFATAA slowly
looked up.
"The strongest being?"
...
"Yes."
...
"In SIRNA?"
...
No answer.
...
"In Kairo's universe?"
...
No answer.
...
"Strongest according to what?"
...
No answer.
...
"Have we already seen them?"
...
No answer.
...
"Does Kairo know them?"
...
No answer.
...
"Why is Kairo fighting them?"
...
No answer.
...
"What does
'The Path to the Ultimate'
actually mean?"
...
No answer.
...
GAAFATAA stared
at the Author.
"You give terrible gifts."
THE AUTHOR:
"You asked for my plan."
"I gave you
two pieces of it."
...
GAAFATAA looked
at both pages.
...
One...
was approaching.
BAAČ.
NAFSAN.
...
The other...
belonged to a story
whose destination
was still impossibly far away.
KAIRO.
THE STRONGEST BEING.
THE FINAL BOSS.
...
Two stories.
Two promises.
And thousands
of missing answers
between them.
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the Author.
"So that's it?"
...
"That's it."
...
"No third gift?"
"No."
"One small clue?"
"No."
"A name?"
"No."
"A sentence?"
"You've received several."
...
GAAFATAA sighed.
...
Then he looked down
at all his questions.
For once...
he did not ask another.
...
The Author stood.
...
GAAFATAA:
"Where are you going?"
...
THE AUTHOR:
"Back to writing."
...
GAAFATAA looked around.
"What about me?"
...
The Author smiled.
...
"You're taking a break."
...
GAAFATAA:
"Excuse me?"
...
The pages
around him
began closing.
One.
THUMP.
Another.
THUMP.
Another.
THUMP.
...
GAAFATAA stood.
"Wait."
...
THUMP.
...
"Author."
...
THUMP.
...
"I still have questions."
...
THE AUTHOR:
"I know."
...
The Reality Book
closed.
THUMP.
...
GAAFATAA:
"When do the Special Chapters return?"
...
The Author stopped.
...
"A few months."
...
GAAFATAA stared.
"A FEW MONTHS?"
...
For perhaps the first time...
THE AUTHOR
walked away
from THE QUESTIONER
before THE QUESTIONER
could finish asking questions.
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the final open page.
Only two things
remained written.
...
THE FIRST GIFT:
NAFSAN WILL APPEAR
AT THE END OF BAAČ.
NAFSAN STORY
WILL TELL HIS JOURNEY
FROM HIS BIRTH
TO THE MOMENT
HE ARRIVES THERE.
...
THE SECOND GIFT:
THE STRONGEST BEING
IS INTENDED TO BE
THE FINAL BOSS
OF
THE PATH TO THE ULTIMATE
— KAIRO STORY.
...
GAAFATAA stared
at the words.
Then...
slowly...
he picked up his pen.
...
SCRATCH.
He wrote:
I HAVE QUESTIONS.
...
Nothing answered.
...
He added:
A LOT OF QUESTIONS.
...
Still nothing.
...
GAAFATAA sighed.
Then closed
the final page.
THUMP.
...
SEENEE:
"So..."
GAAFATAA turned.
SEENEE stood nearby.
"...what did you learn?"
...
GAAFATAA looked
at the closed pages.
Then at SEENEE.
...
"That I hate authors."
...
SEENEE smiled.
"Now you're beginning
to understand readers."
...
...
SCRATCH.
...
SPECIAL CHAPTERS
CLOSED.
...
THE QUESTIONS WILL WAIT.
THE STORIES WILL NOT.
...
SEE YOU
IN A FEW MONTHS.