Side Story 1: [Home]

A small home sat a ways away from a cliff. The front of the home faced nothing in particular, just a wide, open field, but the back was pointed toward the cliff, its end narrowing to a singular point. Below was a vast, wide ocean, as far as the eye could see. There was no other landmass in sight, as if the entire world were nothing but this empty cliffside and the ocean below.

That was, in fact, the case. This was all the world consisted of. Of course, it could consist of other things, but for now, this would be all.

At the edge of the cliff sat John, his scarf fluttering in the wind, legs kicking back and forth as he hummed a tune. In his hand was a bottle of soda, from which he took the occasional sip.

"You can't put your lessons off forever, you know," Zero said, sighing as he appeared before his body.

"Look. I just spent a ton of time in an empty void. You told me that I could make this world into whatever I want. It's a pocket dimension. This is what I want."

"I mean… did you make it like their home intentionally?"

"...it was a nice home."

"...fair enough."

For a while, John just sat there, staring off at the golden sunset that never seemed to grow any lower. The sky was painted with all sorts of hues, starting with a brilliant golden yellow, fading away into a vibrant pink, slowly fading into purple and then black. On the other side of the sky, the pitch black night was illuminated by dozens of stars, their brilliance lighting up the otherwise black canvas of space.

The soothing sound of ocean waves slapping against the cliff washed over John in a rhythmic pattern, the occasional call of a bird breaking the monotony. He closed his eyes, falling back and lying on the fresh, lush grass that covered the clifftop.

"Don't you want to see the inside of the house?"

"What? It's not like-"

"Well, some of it is," Zero said with a smile. "But there's a few doors that lead to locations that you can't change."

"Oh, really?"

John sat up, getting to his feet. He followed his soul back up the wooden stairs, passing some rocking chairs and a small glass table, walking through the glass sliding doors into the house's main room.

The living room and kitchen weren't separated by any walls. The kitchen was clean, made up mostly of black stones John couldn't identify. There was an island with a sink and plenty of space, perfect for washing and cutting fruits or vegetables. Behind was a stovetop, the walls adorned with shelves and cabinets. A massive fridge stood against another wall, stocked with all sorts of foods John could want.

The kitchen's end was easily identifiable as the living room had a carpeted floor, its surface thick and fluffy. John felt a shiver of ecstasy run through his body as he stepped onto it, the comfort seeping through his body. There was a TV on a wall, and a few sofas and chairs with massive, plush cushions that you could sink into.

The design, of course, was John's. The world was, after all, under his control. Whatever he imagined, he could get.

Near the front door, there was a staircase that led to a second floor, where a hallway led to multiple bedrooms. John followed Zero into what was supposedly his room, which had no decoration for the moment.

"You can put what you want in here," he suggested. "You'll probably have a good number of… souvenirs, I guess."

For the moment, there was a giant bed in the corner of the room, with giant soft pillows sitting at the head. Beside it was a bedstand, and beside that was a wardrobe. John opened the doors, and there were dozens of hoodies and scarves.

John slowly closed the doors.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

On the other side of the room was an expensive looking computer setup, one John had always dreamed of when he'd been on his past world. He'd been able to afford one, of course, but having been busy with saving the world, he hadn't really had the time to buy one.

"Whoah," he muttered, approaching it with shining eyes. "Is there…"

"Any game you want. But… you know, there's a game system in your system, right?" Zero chuckled. "Only problem is, no internet. It's not like we're connected to anywhere."

"That's fine," John grinned. "This is… I mean, this house is… holy shit!"

He ran into the bathroom, where there was a giant bathtub. John snapped his fingers, and the thing flooded with hot water, floral scents wafting into his nose.

"Wait. You said anything…"

The scenery shifted, and the bathtub was changed into a more typical bath/shower combo. Instead, however, there was a door that led to a snowy scenery.

John stepped through and was greeted with a snowy mouuntaintop like setting. The floor and room were made of wood, but in the center of the floor, there was a giant hot tub made of natural stone. Steam constantly drifted up, invitingly warm in contrast to the constant drift of snow outside of the little hot springs area.

"Ooh," Zero said approvingly. "I actually almost didn't think of this. Good one."

"Hm…"

Without hesitation, John threw his clothes off and hopped in, his body immediately melting away in the warmth.

"Ah… How long has it been?"

He had a goofy grin on his face, one matched by Zero.

Despite having been in a void, his eyes were so full of light. So full of joy. That was just how John was.

No matter the situation, John couldn't help but feel that, in the end, it wasn't so bad.

After all, it wasn't like anybody was in control of the world. No one individual could manipulate everybody like puppets on strings.

In the end, John did what he could. If something went wrong, that wasn't entirely under his control. As long as he did what he chose to do, in the end, he had no regrets. Even losing his old world… well, that left a sting, but ultimately, it was something he'd had to do.

He found that, when he looked back upon his life, he didn't have many regrets. Yes, there were times when he felt that things could have gone better, but in the end, everything he'd done made him the man he was today.

And he liked being himself. John was quite happy with being John. He had a cool set of powers, a set of characteristics that made it somewhat easy to find friends, an ok set of talents… well, there was the whole ordeal with losing all his friends and family, but he'd had a good set of those, too.

Even this was something that had been inevitable. Ultimately, all he could do was accept it.

"It is what it is," John sighed. "I mean, it's not like I couldn't done anything, right?"

"...no," Zero said slowly. "There's nothing you could've done."

"Then… yeah. I suppose it's not so bad," John grinned.

Eventually, the hot water grew uncomfortable, and he hopped out. Drying himself off with a towel, he wrapped himself in a fluffy robe and moved to the kitchen, where he pulled out a bottle of banana milk, the creamy sweetness coating his throat as he downed half the thing in one gulp.

"Ahh… Damn. It's a shame I couldn't enter this dimension before," John said contentedly. "It would've been a nice break from all the fighting and shit. Or… I don't know, I pull an enemy into here and toss them off the cliff? That would be pretty funny."

"There's two rooms you need to see," Zero said, a small but unreadable smile on his face. "Come on."

The first place Zero led John to was the storage room. Inside, it was a giant mess of items. John could barely tell what was going on.

"This is where you stored all your shit," Zero said smugly. "You have a lot of shit, by the way."

"I can tell," John said, amazed. "In here…"

"You'll be getting some memories back that'll catalogue all that for you," Zero said. "Don't worry about it. Just know that this is where your stuff is getting stored. Infinite storage, by the way."

With that, the two moved onto the next room.

"John," Zero said quietly. "This is, by far, the most important room in your pocket dimension. Even if you were to remove everything, this room and the storage room will remain. This room, though… this is everything."

"Everything?"

"You'll understand eventually," Zero said. "But for now… welcome to the library."

A door opened up into a massive library. Floors and floors and floors of bookshelves rose up to an unviewable top.

"Does it end?" John muttered.

"Yeah. You can get to any floor you want, by the way. Well, once you start filling in the shelves."

"The shelves-"

John stopped and burst into laughter as he saw the empty shelves. Almost every single bookshelf he could see was empty.

"Zero, are you a fucking idiot? What's the point in a bunch of shelves if they're empty?" John said, bursting into laughter again. "This was the important room? Ok, good one. Come on, let's go explore-"

"John."

Zero's tone was serious.

"These bookshelves… they're supposed to hold your memories."

"My- wha- huh?"

"That's how many memories you have. John. Each one of your memories is a [Story]."

"Story? Why'd you say it like that?" John frowned. "What do you mean, dude?"

"John."

Zero was looking away. That was never a good sign.

"You'll have to learn this incredibly well. It's something you'll have to integrate into your very being. Do you… well, this was inevitable."

"Well, if it's something that needs to be done, it's something that needs to be done. Let's just get it over with!" John said cheerfully.

Zero sighed, turning back to John.

"Alright. I did tell you that you'd keep some of your memories. To begin with, the fundamental truth of this world. It's in that book over there…"

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