Lets read Everworld-Show me the way to go home.

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Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Soonmot posted:

We are three quarters through this final book wtf

Wow, this really feels like our friends at Scholastic cut them off early. They are just racing through this stuff. (I have enough memories of being the target demographic to be certain that if I'd seen that cover with the coo-hatch on it, I'd have loudly declared "nope" and moved on to a less deeply-embarrassing series.)
Was it Jalil's book where he mentions the drift that occurs between real-world and everworld minds, that they're slowly diverging? That was an interesting thread that never really got pursued.
Also, April, ewww

# ? Jan 5, 2024 03:38

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# ? May 3, 2024 11:49

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

You can feel the cuts and dropped story lines.

# ? Jan 5, 2024 04:04

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

Yeah this is really barreling towards a �and then they all lived ever after� ending, wow

# ? Jan 5, 2024 05:28

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

quote:

Chapter
XXII

The tunnel was almost finished. According to the foreman, a burly guy named Mergon, work would be over that evening. Right on schedule.

"I wonder if these guys are in a union?" Christopher asked, watching one of the workers collapse against a wall in
exhaustion.

Then Mergon showed us a feature of the construction that made me simultaneously nervous and thankful. The dwarfs had prepared a safeguard. A thousand tons of slag and rock were being held suspended behind a breakaway barrier. Once we'd made it out of there with Thor and Baldur, the barrier would be knocked down and the tons of stone would seal the tunnel permanently. Keeping Hel out of the Great Diggings. Maybe locking us out, too, if things didn't go as planned.

"So, uh, who's, you know, going in?" Christopher asked when Mergon had returned to supervising the final stages of construction.

"Jalil's got to stay with Baldwin and his crew. He's their prize; they won't risk losing him."

Christopher sighed dramatically. "So, it's you and me, David. Alone again. Naturally."

I kept my mouth shut. No one was even suggesting I go on the mission. Maybe because I was a girl and the stuff we'd seen in Hel was so brutally disgusting David was being manly and trying to protect me from it. Which didn't entirely make sense because as a woman I was somewhat immune to Hel's "charms."

"What about me?" I protested.

"We need only two people for this mission," David said.

"No point in risking more lives."

"I'm going." I insisted. "You guys are going to need someone to haul your sorry butts out of there when she gives
you the eye."

David didn't look convinced. "I can't stop you."

I grinned. And I'm not quite sure why.

quote:

Chapter
XXIII

A knock at the door. David's voice. We'd gone back to our rooms to get some rest before our big day. "Let's go, April."

"I'm coming," I called. I pulled the tunic back over my head, belted it up. Wished we still had Excalibur, that it was in my belt right now. But after I'd used it to kill Senna, I'd dropped it. No one had stopped to retrieve the knife.

I opened the door and joined David. Christopher was there, too. Silently we began the long walk to the opening of
the tunnel. We reached the construction site. And that's when the panic hit. The bowel-loosening, stomach rumbling, cold-sweat panic that overcomes you when you realize you've done something very, very stupid. Nothing good could come of this mission. Nothing except that maybe Hel would scare me out of preferring Everworld to the nice, normal comforts and challenges of the real world. All my earlier bravado, gone. Now I was just a mass of quivering fear and doubt.

I stumbled aside and threw up. Felt my entire body convulse and shiver. Felt sweat trickle down from my hairline.
When the nausea had passed, I wiped my mouth with the hem of my tunic and turned back toward the others.
And saw that Jalil had joined us. So had Etain. I was sure I looked awful, hair all damp, face pale. Etain, on the other hand, looked lovely. Tired and sad, but as pretty as ever, her honest, wide-open charm undaunted by the grim reality around her.

"Etain's come to see us off," Christopher said with false gaiety. She seemed unable to meet his eye.

"Thanks," I said. "But it's probably not safe...."

Uh. Can you say "understatement"?

"I have come to bring you this," she said, and held out a sword. It looked familiar. "It is my own," she explained. "An elfin sword, enchanted, of course. I have had it with me since Merlinshire." She smiled apologetically. "My secret protection, should the need arise. Now you, April, have far more need of it than I."

I didn't know what to say. "Thank you" seemed so lame. I reached out and Etain placed the sword in my hands. "This..." I began. "Thank you, Etain. This means so much to me." I slid the sword into my belt.

"You have become almost like a sister to me, April," Etain said, her voice full of emotion. Then she turned to look at David and, finally, Christopher.

"My thoughts are with each of you. May you return safely to DaggerMouth and to the friends who need you."

"That's the plan," Christopher said. I swear there were tears in his eyes.

"If Merlin arrives," David said, "while we're down there..."

"I will tell him to follow," Etain assured him. "And should my mother arrive with an army of elves..."

"I don't know what to tell you," David replied honestly, "We won't be able to communicate with you. I don't want elves sent in if it's too late. No point in wasting more lives."

Etain nodded. "I will speak to Merlin or King Baldwin for advice."

Nervously, we waited for the workers to push through the final barrier of rock and dirt separating the dwarf kingdom from Hel's. Nobody said much of anything. Baldwin had suggested we enter Hel's domain mounted. It would give us some small advantage, he said, particularly if � when � we had to run. I was more than sure there would be
running involved.

Baldwin had sent an emissary to a neighboring aboveground village that prided themselves on their horseflesh.
Whatever offer Baldwin made was accepted and now five sturdy mares were led toward us. One for each of us and one each for Thor and Baldur. No one assumed the two gods would be in any condition to stand and fight. The horses were blindfolded in an effort to keep them from panicking in the subterranean World. Personally, I wasn't
convinced the blindfolds were doing the trick. The horses were nervous, tossing their heads, snuffling, their chests and flanks slicked with sweat. Still, it was obvious they were well-trained because not one of them bolted. Which was good because the notion of riding helmets was unknown to the dwarfs. And none of us was exactly a jockey or professional polo player.

Baldwin had suggested another precaution, this one against the stench of death that would swarm out at us the
moment the dwarf workers broke through. As sick as the smell would make us, it would drive the horses crazy. So each horse wore a small but fragrant bouquet of flowers and spicy herbs tied to its bridle, close to its nose.

Dwarfs are nothing if not reliable. At exactly the agreed- upon time, David, Christopher, and I were ready to begin our descent. Baldwin had not come to see us off. I suppose it wasn't smart for a king to get too close to the front lines of a too-dangerous mission. Etain murmured some sort of blessing and turned away quickly. Her new constant companions, two dwarf ladies-in-waiting, followed her off. Mergon nodded in a manly way to David. David nodded
back. Then Mergon handed Christopher a dwarf sword.

Christopher took it with a sickly smile but said, "Thanks. I have a feeling I'm going to need this."

Jalil shook David's hand, then Christopher's. I'd never seen them all so grim and serious.

"April, are you sure you want to do this?" Jalil said quietly.

I laughed. "No. No, I'm pretty sure I do not want to do this."

Jalil's lips tightened into a frown. "Come back, okay?" he said.

"Okay, Jalil. If you say so."

"I do."

He squeezed my hand and went to stand with Mergon. David rode in the lead, sword drawn. I was in the middle.
Christopher brought up the rear, the horses for Baldur and Thor on leads behind him. The smell of death and decay was bad but the fear was worse. I tightened my hands on the reins.

"You know we are certifiably insane, you know that, right?" Christopher. "We are choosing, actually making the conscious decision to do this. That, my friends, is sick. Sick and wrong. I mean, we're talking the original charm school dropout here, guys. Miss Manners, the Junior League, Martha Stewart herself. Nothing's going to change this lady into something okay. She is one-hundred-percent, grade-A, extra-strength evil." I blocked him out. He didn't need me to listen, anyway. Christopher was trying to calm himself. David was quiet, tense, alert.

Me, under my breath I began to sing. It didn't matter what. Then the song became another and then another. It was like all the words, the lyrics were tumbling together, all the melodies merging into one giant, mesmerizing chant. My head was filled with sound.

I'd cheated Hel once. Was I going to get to do it again. Or would I rot here forever?

Where was my faith when I needed it?

From behind me, Christopher spoke, his voice hushed but still high and giddy. "Here's a question: Where is Merlin? Where is he? He was supposed to be here, why isn't he here?"

And then all hell broke loose.

quote:

Chapter
XXIV

They came from the ceiling, swooping toward us with tiny dark wings. One minute, nothing. The next, it was like the ceiling was peeling, these things scraping themselves off the surface and coming at us like a swarm of awkward, screeching bats.

"Holy crap!" Christopher shouted, struggling to keep three horses from bolting.

"What are those things?!" I cried.

Maybe guards or something? I thought. Hel wasn't stupid enough to leave any inch of her kingdom unprotected.
They were gargoyle-like creatures, about a foot tall, skinny legs and arms, webbed feet, clawlike hands, some with bellies extended, others whose ribs stuck out and stretched shiny gray skin. Their faces were hideously misshapen, decorated with mashed noses and sunken eyes and teeth as long and sharp as knitting needles. And, of course, they flew on wings far too small to support them.

"Duck and keep going!" David shouted. "April, your sword!"

I bent close to the horse's neck, yanked Etain's sword from my belt and held it straight up into the air. It wasn't enough. With a high-pitched screech the gargoyles reached us. One landed on my bent back, sank its needle teeth into my skin. I screamed, "Get it off, get it off!"

Our three horses were rump to rump now, crowded together, my legs bumping into David's on one side, Christopher's on another. The fourth and fifth horses pranced nervously on their lead. We were a tight mass of sweating horses and freaking humans.

I felt a horrible tear through my skin. The gargoyle was gone. David had ripped it off. I sat up, whacked at another one flying straight for my throat. Etain's sword cut through the gray flesh with ease. It fell with a thud to the ground.
Another came at me. I saw David swing his sword and the gargoyle's head dropped clean off. Christopher twisted in his saddle. "David! I can't reach it."

A horrible animal scream! A gargoyle had landed heavily on the fourth horse and was sinking its teeth, vampirelike, into the horse's neck. The horse swung its head violently but couldn't dislodge the beast that was drawing blood through twenty tiny needles, causing twenty tiny dark rivers to flow. It tried to rear but couldn't, too close packed to the other horses. Christopher started to dismount.

"Don't!" David ordered. "Let the horse go. Cut the lead and move on."

"drat!" With a slash, Christopher cut loose the forth horse. Still blindfolded, completely panicked, the horse backed away from us. It seemed to be what the gargoyles wanted. Because like a swarm of high-pitched buzzing bees, the remaining ten or so descended on the stranded animal, ignoring us.

What luck for us. "Let's go, let's go!" David ordered. We did, not at a run, too dangerous with the horses unable to see and our not knowing what was coming next. But not at a stately pace, either.

"April, you okay?"

I nodded. My back burned with pain and I could feel the blood trickling, but I was alive. And we'd survived Hel's first test. "Yeah."

Until the next obstacle Hel throws our way, I thought. We rode on. The gargoyle-things didn't follow. I kept glancing at the rock ceiling, squinting in the almost dark, but saw none. Small lamps, not unlike those used in Baldwin's
kingdom, were set in the walls at intervals of about ten feet now. If Hel meant to unnerve unwelcome visitors by making them wander through the almost unremitting dark, she was succeeding. At least as far as I was concerned.

"David?" I said. My voice echoed strangely off the walls. "Do we have any idea of where we're going? I mean, I'm
assuming this path takes us to Hel. But what do we do if we come to a break in the road? Do we have any idea of which way to go? Do we have any idea of how big this place is?"

David's reply came low. "No."

"We're intrepid travelers, April," Christopher said. "We're just all carefree and jolly. When we come to a fork in the road, why, we'll just flip a coin or something."

I decided not to ask any more questions.

"Whoa!" David suddenly reined in his horse. It obeyed easily. It didn't seem to sense the suddenly new environment, didn't hear the howls or smell the feces and blood and death. The scene before us was like something from an Hieronymous Bosch painting come to life � masses of men and women writhing in agony, limbs distorted, mouths open and howling, guts spilling and blood flowing.

"Great," Christopher said. "We go through that or we go back. Guess which I'm going to suggest we do. I'm not overly fond of the idea of becoming a hamburger."

David stared ahead, like he was trying to see something below or beyond the scene. "It's not real," he said, but he didn't sound so sure. "It's meant to frighten us back. But I don't think it'll hurt us."

"Are you sure?" I whispered.

"No. But no one's noticed us yet. Why? We're only a few feet away. It came out of nowhere. The horses aren't scared."

"Well, that works for me, General, doesn't it?" Christopher sneered. "The horses know best. Let's just wade right through this madhouse, this debauched slaughterhouse. No problem!"

I thought about it, though. "I think David's right, Christopher. I really want to go back and I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're kind of committed here."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just keeping my eyes straight ahead."

"Me, too," I said. I'd already seen certain acts of brutality I sincerely wished I had not seen.

"Follow me. Be ready," David said. He looked as sick as I felt.

The passage was psychological torture. Watching, trying not to watch, afraid we'd be pulled into the mess. But we
passed through the scene unnoticed. No one reached out a bloody hand to yank me off my horse. No one � nothing � attacked. We were passing calmly through a living panorama of horror and abuse. A tableau of psychotic exploits. A ride from a lunatic's amusement park, complete with Smell-o-Vision and sound effects in Dolby Surround Sound. It succeeded in frightening me deeply.

When the last horse had stepped beyond the scene it disappeared. It was gone. Just vanished.

"Good call, David," Christopher said. Sincerely.

"Thanks," he said. "I think. But it's been far too easy so far. I don't like it. The worst is yet to come. Gotta be."

"David? Can you please hold back the happy act? Okay? Just this once?"

# ? Jan 5, 2024 22:54

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

quote:

Chapter
XXV

We were now back in a dungeonlike place. Along the walls hung instruments of torture: belts and straps; manacles
and chains.

"After that carnival back there, I am so not in the mood for an S&M joke," I warned Christopher.

"You know what, April? Me, neither," he admitted.

On a long wooden table lay a collection of what looked like butchering implements. Meaning, very large knives, some with long, skinny blades, like for cutting a fillet, others more like hatchets and machetes. An Iron Maiden against one wall. A rack. And over another table, a very large, sharp blade on a pendulum.

"We obviously don't want to stay here," David muttered.

"Let's go."

We did. Moved quickly through the chamber and into the next area. A wide, open space at the center of which was a massive pit of bubbling stuff, glowing like red-hot lava, emitting spurts of steam and shots of flame. And suddenly, up out of the pit of fire and brimstone, stumbling out of the flames unburned � impossible � eleven men. Or what were once men.

"Freakin' Night of the Living Dead," Christopher hissed. "I Married a Zombie. Get me out of here. I have seen enough."

The troop of figures stumbled toward us, beseeching, moaning. On each one the flesh was eaten away in places.
Each one emitted the sickly-sweet stench of infection and decay. One man's stomach was a gaping and ragged hole, intestines spilling out and down his thighs. Another was missing both arms at the shoulders. A third man had been scalped almost down to the eyebrow ridge, the entire top half of his skull cut away. I'd heard the phrase "the walking wounded" used to describe people with a lot of emotional baggage. These men were actual walking wounded. There was no way, no way they could survive these wounds. Unless, of course, Hel was keeping them
alive. Another one of her games of torture.

"What do they want?" I whimpered.

"They want us to put them out of their misery." David dismounted and held Galahad's sword at the ready, two hands
around the hilt. Christopher and I dismounted, too. I don't know why.

"Can we?"

"We're going to try."

With a shout David charged the first man in the pack. He didn't falter or fall back. Just kept coming. There was a sickening sound as the sword slid through wet, oozing flesh. And as it came away, the new wound simply closed up. Galahad's sword had no effect on these men.

David stumbled. The rotting man shoved him aside with a supernatural strength. David crashed to the ground and lay there, stunned. The men continued toward me and Christopher. Moaning, groaning, whimpering, their scabbed and sore-covered hands reaching for us. If Galahad's sword couldn't stop them on their desperate march, what could?

Etain's sword. Maybe.

But before I could find the nerve to reach for the sword, Christopher yanked me aside. "Watch out!"

The horses! David's and Christopher's and the fifth horse, but not mine, were being pulled toward the pit! Their blindfolds had been ripped off and we could see their eyes wide and rolling; hear their frantic neighing, see their twelve hooves planted firmly but to no avail.

"No!" I shouted. I reached for the tail of David's horse, but it slipped through my hands.

And then Christopher grabbed me by the shoulders and forcibly turned me away so that I wouldn't see. But I heard.
Horrible, horrible screaming and then nothing but the bubbling red stuff spitting and cracking. I pulled away from Christopher.

Oh, God, the men were still coming! They were so close now, the stench unbearable. My stomach heaved, I gagged but stood my ground. I yanked the enchanted elfin sword from my belt. Pushed a suddenly frozen Christopher out of the way. The first man was only an arm's length away. It was now or never.

"April, no!" David yelled, coming to.

With a grunt that came from my feet I slashed at the first "man." His body fell a second later.

The other men surged forward. And then it struck me: Was this a crime or an act of mercy? Self-defense, April, another voice inside me cried out. I lunged. Again and again. Eleven in all. I shut down. April went away. I watched as flesh suddenly melted away, like in time-lapse photography, and became muscle and tissue and ligament
and tendon. Watched as that all melted away to become bone. Watched as the pile of skeletons was reduced to a smaller pile of dust.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"You had to do it." David.

Christopher. "Yeah. If it hadn't been for you, April..."

"Don't say it," I said. "Don't say anything."

quote:

Chapter
XXVI

We walked on. Christopher led my horse, the only one who'd survived. Still, Hel was nowhere to be seen.

"Biding her time," David said grimly. "She'll be here."

I tried to keep my mind focused on the ultimate task. Rescue Thor and Baldur. Get out of there. David and Christopher remained silent. Before long, we found ourselves returned to the place we'd never thought we'd
see again. Hel's "museum."

A collection of massive, craggy, blue-tinted blocks of ice. Like tall chunks of iceberg. Twelve on the left, twelve on the right. And in each block, visible through a smooth piece of slanted surface, a god. Sometimes a creature we couldn't identify. This was Hel's cemetery for the undead, a graveyard for the barely living.

"Do we get them all out?" I asked.

"No time. We do what we came to do, no more. Later, well, we'll see who else we can save."

I started to protest. But David was right. I was being sentimental. We had no time.

"Hah. When hell freezes over," Christopher mused. "Not so impossible, after all."

"We get Thor out first," David said. "Then Baldur."

"Hang on," I said to Baldur as we walked past. Baldur was dressed like a wealthy Viking. He was tall, of course, built like a rock, and handsome. Hel herself had told us he was Odin's favorite, most beloved of the gods of Asgard. Baldur had said no to Hel's advances. She'd taken away his sword and locked him away in ice. Maybe she'd thought he was only playing hard to get.

We stopped before Thor's icy prison.

"Do you think he can hear us?" I said, looking into Thor's rigid face.

"Let's hope so," Christopher said. "I don't want to have to throw down with this guy. Something tells me I'd lose."

Oh, yeah. Thor was huge, god-sized, bigger by far than Baldur. Bigger even than Loki in his most pumped and ferocious state. His arms were bare and had to be several feet around. His legs, encased in dark leather boots, could have been pilings for a house. His hair was long and wild and red-blond. Calvin Klein would have sold his soul to get that hair under contract.

Yes. Probably Christopher would lose.

David started to hack at the block of ice with Galahad's sword.

"Get ready to grab him when the ice breaks," David grunted. "He's got to be weak. His muscles broken down. And
he doesn't have Mjolnir yet."

"Do gods have actual muscles?" Christopher asked, but he braced himself to catch the big god. "Well, it was nice knowing you, kids. This guy falls on me, I'm roadkill."

Ice splinters flew through the air. "Watch you eyes," David cautioned.

"Let's just get him on the horse," I said. "If the horse can hold him. Then we'll get the other one out."

And then, David's sword cut through the last quarter inch of ice. And with the eerie sound like a lake thawing, Thor half-fell, half-pushed his way through the opening.

"Look out!"

David and Christopher braced themselves against the massive weight of the god as first one leg, then the other
stepped through the shattered prison and onto the ground.

"Oh, sh �"

Christopher and David crashed to their knees, still trying to support Thor from each side.

"Can he stand?" I asked inanely.

"I..." The voice was a croak, but a god-sized one. "I can... stand. Thanks to these good fellows..."

Using David's and Christopher's shoulders as supports, Thor pushed himself to his full height. And swayed. David climbed to his feet and grabbed Thor's right arm. His fingers looked like twigs against a tree trunk. Christopher groaned, stood, and grabbed Thor's left arm.

"Uh, mighty Thor," I said, "we have to free Baldur and get out of here, fast. Can you walk? Try to take a step. We have one horse; we lost the others to Hel"

"Many thanks, good lady. But the mighty Thor will stand on his own feet. Who are you humans who have bravely entered Hel's domain in order to free me and my fellow god?" he said.

His voice was already stronger but he didn't look too steady overall.

"We'll explain later," David said. "But we work with Merlin. We're on your side. Now we have to get Baldur."

Still unsteady on his feet, but growing increasingly more used to movement after who knows how long, Thor followed us back to Baldur's icy prison. He insisted on helping smash the ice with his hands. He was more of a hindrance than a help. But even David didn't have the heart to ask him to stop. The guy was seriously grateful.

Finally, we heard the same desperate creak, and with a little help, Baldur broke free. Whoever said real men don't cry is a fool Okay, Thor and Baldur were gods, but they bawled in each other's arms with joy.

"I hate to break up this little love fest," Christopher said, "but we are going to be fried if we don't move. Now."

David nodded. "Right. Uh, we have to go, er, sirs."

Thor and Baldur pulled away from each other and wiped their eyes. "If only I had Mjolnir," Thor lamented, "I would stand and fight until Hel begged for mercy. And, of course, I would show her none."

"If only I had my sword," Baldur growled.

"If wishes were horses, fools would ride." The four of them looked at me. "What I mean is, come on!" I pulled on my horse's bridle. "Hel could be..."

And then, there she was.

quote:

Chapter
XXVII

I felt her first, a cold dark presence behind me. No mistaking who it was.

Automatically, the gods turned to face the threat.

"Thor, Baldur!" David yelled, refusing to turn with them. "Don't look at her face, keep your eyes down."

"Oh, crap, I knew this was not a good idea," Christopher said.

Hel.

A raging, rampaging goddess of death. One half of her body lovely and luscious and enviable. The skin firm and
supple, the hair lustrous, the eye bright. The other half of her body, a rotted-out corpse, stuffed with maggots and worms, wet gray flesh hanging in flaps. A goddess capable of reducing men to quivering heaps of desire and loathing. Hel could drive a man crazy in an instant, tortured between all-consuming lust and overwhelming disgust.

No way could David and Christopher stand and fight and win. Especially when they also had to keep Thor and Baldur safe from Hel's grasp.

"Go, go, go!" I screamed. "Don't look at her, just go!"

They did. David and Christopher in the lead, with Baldur and Thor stumbling just behind, all four ran, panicked, back toward the Great Diggings.

Hel didn't seem to care. For some reason, I was the one she wanted. Just me. But first, my horse.

"I saved this one for myself," she said gleefully. "I have been watching your progress through my kingdom, waiting for just this moment. And now..."

With an awful crash, my horse fell. I let go of the lead and jumped back.

The horse screamed once and was silent.

"How dare you interfere?" she asked calmly.

I screamed. Out of control, just screaming now, using words I rarely if ever had used, hurling insults like darts, yelling, yelling, yelling. My face was on fire, my limbs trembling, I just wanted to rip Hel apart with my bare hands, I was losing it. Crazy to think I could do anything to really hurt her but I couldn't stop screaming.

Maybe she was a little stunned. Maybe the sight of a young human female so crazed with anger she was actually
threatening a god caught Hel off-guard. Because she just stood there as I flung myself at her, Etain's sword held straight out in front of me, still screaming, now wordlessly, like my poor horse had screamed. Just one long awful shriek of rage and despair.

In the real world people in white coats would have grabbed me, wrapped me in a straitjacket. In Hel's domain,
nobody could stop me. I charged straight ahead and saw only a glimpse of Hel's half-living face, absolutely stunned, before I plunged the sword into her living stomach.

It got her attention. Hel shrieked with fury. I yanked the sword from her stomach and stumbled back. Red blood flowed from the wound but suddenly, I was me again and I knew I hadn't really hurt her. Only succeeded in making her even more brutally angry.

"I know what you did to the eleven. You deprived me of a great pleasure, human," Hel spat.

I was down. Before I could blink I was flat on the ground, face up, staring at the monster above me. Hel stood with one leg on either side of me. On one side, beautiful, diaphanous robes. On the other, moldy, decayed fabric. A strip of gray flesh fell from somewhere under her robes, onto my chest. Hel looked down at me and laughed. "All of your efforts, wasted. No human can conquer Hel. What, did you hope to rival me in beauty or in power? How foolish!"

Hel stepped away from me and pointed. Suddenly, I was bound by some sort of elastic material, trussed up like a roast ready to be stuck into the oven, hands and feet and arms and legs held motionless. With each breath I took, the ropes tightened.

I closed my eyes.

This was it, it was over. An eternity in hell, perpetual damnation and suffering beyond all imagining. Hel had me
now in her horrible grip. It was what I deserved.

Tomorrow we'll have the final three chapters.

# ? Jan 7, 2024 00:59

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

quote:

Chapter
XXVIII

"Hold, daughter! Release the girl. It is , Loki."

Dreaming. Hallucinating, that was it. Carefully, I opened my eyes and tried to turn my head in the direction from which the voice had come.

It was Loki. And I was actually glad to see him. The Norse god of mischief and destruction. Loki had been the first god I'd met in Everworld. The first god to try to kill us. Now, he was my rescuer. My hero. Imagine that.

Loki stood about seven feet tall just then, large but not as large as he could get. The Ralph Lauren, model-perfect version of a Norseman, all blond and chisel-featured and hollow-cheeked, dressed in supple leather and gleaming chain mail.

Loki was not a pleasant fellow. In fact, I'd decided a long time ago he was downright evil. He was also ultimately responsible for the death of Sir Galahad, the perfect knight, someone I'd admired and maybe even loved. Right then, however, I could have kissed him.

And then I saw that Loki was not alone. From the dark behind him stepped � Merlin. Not a prisoner. Things were
definitely looking up.

"Listen to your father, woman," Merlin commanded.

"You!"

Loki rolled his eyes like a typical exasperated father dealing with a typical spoiled-rotten daughter. If I weren't so
scared I'd have laughed. Hel was a handful. That's what my father used to say about Senna.

"The order of things has changed, daughter," Loki interrupted. He nodded at Merlin and his long blond hair fell
over his shoulder. "I have come to see the wisdom of Merlin's way. All gods of every land must unite against the terrible forces of Ka Anor, that alien usurper. Together we will crush the alien cannibal and drive his followers, the Hetwan, from our lands. Together we will fight to preserve Everworld!"

"You will fight without me, then. Father," Hel replied simply. "The Queen of Terror rules alone and bows to no one." She sneered with the living side of her face. A maggot oozed from the lips on the dead side. "Especially not to a god who is weak enough to abandon his plan for domination in the old world in favor of the naive dreams of an old man!"

Loki swelled in response and it was incredible. He was huge. And it was probably safe to say he was pissed. "A god has the right to change his mind!" he thundered. "In fact, daughter, I have the right to do anything I please, and you
would do well to remember that. For example, if I choose to remove you from the throne of your underground kingdom, I will do so. Now, let her go."

"Never!" Hel gestured with her dead hand and a wet flap of putrefied flesh slapped the ground inches from my face.

"Hel, you will listen to your father, Loki!" A new voice, a deep, rich voice. "And if you will not listen to him, you will listen to me, Odin, the All-Father. And if you refuse to listen to me, you will suffer greatly for your stupidity!"

I looked up again, a bit more brave. Odin. I'd heard so much about him I was almost disappointed to finally see he looked pretty much like the other Norse gods, but older, more grizzled. Big, blond hair gone to grayish-white, handsome, a full beard. His clothes were far less elaborate than Loki's, and somewhat worn. After all, Odin had
been imprisoned for a long, long time. But I also got the impression that Odin cared far less about fashion than Loki did, and far more about the important things. Like, at the moment, saving my life.

"No!" Hel shrieked. "This cannot be! Let me have this one girl, at least, mighty Odin...."

"Hel does not bargain with the All-Father," Odin replied. His voice was absolute and dangerous. "Release the girl. And take yourself off somewhere out of my sight. We will leave this despicable place as we found it. Do you understand?"

Hel's reply was garbled by rage but she must have agreed to obey because suddenly, she was not there above me and the gutlike strings that bound my hands and feet and arms and legs were untying themselves and flying off.
Slowly, I sat up. In time to see Hel slither away with an entourage of goblins and other misshapen creatures.

Loki turned to Odin. "She is terribly spoiled and headstrong, that daughter of mine. I fear she will never find happiness."

I scrambled to my feet. Thought, Happiness? Just how insane are you, Mr. Loki, sir? I don't think happiness is what Hel is all about.

I think something happened to that first line in the transcription to digital, because that doesn't make sense.

quote:

Chapter
XXIX

Leaving Hel's domain was an awful lot more pleasant than going in. Merlin, Loki, and Odin One-Eye, the All-Father, were my traveling companions now. Merlin walked alongside me. Which was fine because I was pretty sure Loki and Odin had a lot to talk about, Odin having been Loki's prisoner for quite some time.

"What happened?" I said. "How did you get Loki to join you? How did you get him to release Odin?! Oh, and thanks for saving my life, by the way."

"It is a life worth saving," Merlin replied.

As we walked back up the dwarfs' tunnel to the safety of the Great Diggings, Merlin briefly explained how he'd located Mjolnir. That had been easy enough. Some Viking lord had appointed himself protector of Thor's special hammer until such time as Thor might return. Merlin had given the lord some gold coins in recompense and the lord had wept with happiness to learn Thor was about to be returned to his people.

Convincing Loki to release Odin and visit his out-of-control daughter had been slightly more difficult. Loki had witnessed the murder of his son, Fenrir, by the Sennites. Had watched as his trolls turned tail and ran from the
castle at Merlinshire. He'd learned that Senna was dead. His gateway was closed, for good. So if Loki couldn't leave
Everworld, he might as well join forces with Merlin and Athena. Loki was not stupid. Merlin helped Loki realize that his best shot of survival lay with us.

Finally, the end of the tunnel was in sight. I could see the lights of Mergon's base. I couldn't help myself. I started to run. I ran and ran until I stumbled out into the beautiful, gorgeous, never-been-lovelier dwarf homeland.

And met with a scowling, upset Baldwin.

"I'm back," I said unnecessarily.

"Yes, and what horrors have you brought with you?" he demanded.

I was confused. And then I got it. Baldwin had seen Merlin and Loki and Odin go in. So far, I was the only one who had come out.

"Oh, don't worry," I gushed. "It's okay. Hel's gone. Everyone else is right behind me."

"Who is behind you?" Baldwin demanded.

David stepped forward and grinned. "Baldwin just got here. He doesn't know about Merlin and the others. He heard we'd prevented the tunnel from being sealed and came to give us crap."

I smiled. "Oh. Well, see for yourself, King Baldwin, sir."

I gestured behind me at the figures emerging from the tunnel. Merlin the Magnificent, followed closely by Loki and
Odin. Baldwin's face went pale. I could almost hear what was going on in his mind. Oh, no. Now I am compelled to entertain not only the humans but a mighty wizard, as well. And not only two but four Norse gods! The cost to my coffers will be enormous! How will I ever afford a wedding feast...."

While Baldwin went to bow and scrape to his illustrious guests, I got the story from David. David and Jalil and Christopher had held off the dwarfs and stopped them from sealing the tunnel. I hugged each of them.

"Good King Baldwin," Odin said, "you may release the barrier now. Hel has promised to behave but she is not to be
Trusted. Better to take all precautions."

Baldwin gave the order for the thousands of tons of rock and slag to be dropped and several of Mergon's crew entered the tunnel to obey his command.

And then Merlin presented Mjolnir to its rightful owner. "I believe this belongs to you, mighty Thor."

The god took the hammer in his right hand and it was like watching a Christmas tree light up or a firework explode. The change was enormous and instantaneous. In a split second Thor went from a large, but weakened prisoner to a powerful warrior. He was charged with new life, infused with new energy. His body plumped, his skin began to glow, as if finally, after years of being packed in ice, the blood was once again warm and revitalizing.

Then Merlin presented Baldur with a sword. Baldur's transformation wasn't quite as immediate but it was dramatic,
nonetheless. Gods always did things in a big way.

"I could use a little reanimating myself," Christopher said. "Not to mention a shower."

quote:

Chapter
XXX

I was so, so tired. So very tired but for the first time in a long, long time I was ending the day with a degree of hope. Finally, after so much despair, we had a fighting chance of driving Ka Anor from Everworld. Of uniting the gods with the help of Odin, Loki, Thor, and Baldur to free Everworld of the Sennites. I wasn't being naive. I knew we faced a long and arduous journey toward freedom, but hey, every journey begins with one step and we'd just taken a big one. Things weren't perfect, never would be, but that didn't seem to matter as much as it had when we'd first crossed over to Everworld. Maybe because now more than ever we were in charge of our future here.

I undressed.. Then sat on the edge of the bed for a while, thinking. Letting my mind wander. For once the notion of what I might find there didn't terrify me. I remember describing Everworld, back in the beginning, as a place not touching reality. How much had changed since then. Or maybe nothing had changed but me. There's a famous saying, quoted by poets and other writers for centuries. "No man is an island." I'd amend that to "no person," but otherwise, I think it's true. None of us is truly alone. We live in relation to others, either in troubled times. Or peaceful ones.

But I think that at the major moments of transition, at the big comings and goings, something else is even more true. "You live and die alone." Just you, coming in and going out. Just you. Your choice to go back or move ahead.

I got under the covers. My head hit the pillow. And I slept.

February 18, 200 I Chicago, Illinois

Story by Jim Miller

Community Shocked by Disappearance of Five Local Teens

A quiet suburban town is shocked and dismayed by the mysterious disappearance of five local teens. It is unclear at this time whether the disappearances are related. The first disappearance occurred over six months ago and the last, to date, on Saturday.

Though there is no evidence of foul play, friends and family members continue to be questioned. The teens, students at Crestwood High, are, according to Principal Robert Livington, all in good academic standing and
generally not considered troublemakers.

"If any of the five were having personal problems, the administration and faculty were unaware of the situation," he said Monday morning. "Their academic performances were steady and several of the five missing students were involved in extracurricular activities."

The first to disappear was Senna Wales of Rutland Drive. No evidence of foul play was found and after a brief
investigation, the police officially considered Wales a runaway. The most recent to disappear was April O'Brien, Wales's half sister. O'Brien is an A student, heavily involved in the drama club, an active member of Our Lady of the Roses parish, and a volunteer at several nursing homes and shelters around town. Father Michael Staub, a friend of and spokesperson for the O'Brien family, says the family is devastated. "April is not the type to run away. She is a happy girl with a loving family and many friends. We ask anyone with any information of April's whereabouts the day she disappeared to call the police. We pray for her safe return."

Second to disappear was David Levin of Newton Road Wales's former boyfriend. His mother, a single parent, reported her son missing after he had not returned home for three days. Levin's father is retired from the U.S. Navy.

Christopher Hitchcock of Blackstone Street was reported missing by his parents when he failed to return home from
school. A few days earlier, Hitchcock had been taken to the Lincoln Memorial emergency room suffering from a strange and as yet undetermined ailment. He was released into the custody of his parents. Hitchcock is also Wales's former boyfriend.

Jalil Sherman of Summer Drive, friend of Levin, was reported missing by his parents when they found a brief note in his room, addressed to his family. The contents of the note were released to the police. �It's not really helpful," admitted Detective William Costello, in charge of the investigation. "The note reads: 'It's okay. Please don't worry. I love you all.' Could be suicide, could be a runaway, could be anything." Sherman's father, John, suffered a heart attack late last week and is hospitalized at University Hospital.

Thus far the only connection police have among the disappearances is Senna Wales. "It might mean nothing," said
Detective Costello. "But it might mean everything. We'll continue to investigate for as long as we can."

Anyone with any information about the disappearance of Wales, O'Brien, Levin, Hitchcock, and Sherman is asked to notify the police immediately. All calls will be kept confidential.

Wow.

Uh, that was a poo poo ending. The series started out find and then ramped up into a real page turner. This book, coming right after the rollercoaster ride of the last few was just disappointing on so many levels. Overall, I think this was a fun concept, and I enjoyed the series, but this ending is a big mark against it.

Let all pour one out for Epi, his work with the animoprhs thread and the start of this one was amazing. I wish I knew how he researched all the behind the scenes info, because it would have been great to have some of those tidbits here.

Only other bit is: Do yall want me to start a thread for The Remnants, keep using this one, or call it done?

# ? Jan 8, 2024 02:30

someone awful.: Sep 7, 2007

this book is so painfully, disappointingly rushed, and it hurt so much to read.

Everworld deserved better than this. I was really enjoying what this series was putting down, at times even wishing I'd found it while it was still being published, but crashing and burning like this makes me pretty glad that I didn't. What a tragedy.

Oh well, that's how it goes with serialized stories sometimes! Thanks for picking this up and seeing it through to the end, I'm glad to have read it even with the anti-climax we were left with. And once again thank you to Epicurius for starting the whole thing with Animorphs. Rest in peace, posting pal. :unsmith:

I'd love to continue with Remnants if you're up for continuing to post. I never ended up reading that one either, and I'm curious to see what it's all about.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 02:46

Edna Mode: Sep 24, 2005; Bullshit, that's last year's Fall collection!

Oh man, that's it? That is incredibly anticlimactic.

Thanks for doing the thread! I read the first book several times when it came out but never any of the others.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 03:57

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Oh wow, what a dire ending. Someone at Scholastic wanted that series finished yesterday, apparently.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 04:24

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

drat, I can't believe Ka Anor said "I have to go, my people need me" and then died on the way back to his home planet.

thank you for picking up the posting! I never would have read these books outside of this thread, it was really fun to take a trip back to my childhood!

Edit: I've never heard of remnants, but I would love to read it, either in this thread or another!

# ? Jan 8, 2024 04:38

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

oh, uh, wow. that was almost literally a 'rocks fall, everyone dies' ending huh

thanks for going through these soonmot! I gave up on these as a kid, too gory/scary/depressing, at least the first one or two were, so it's nice to go back and see it through

# ? Jan 8, 2024 05:06

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

Yeah, that was definitely a rough final book. Overall I do think the series as a whole was good, though. I would definitely be interested in reading Remnants if you are willing to post them.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 05:53

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Yeah they really could have used another few books to finish wrapping things up. That said I imagine the ending was going to be the same no matter how many books they had, they've been laying the groundwork for it since book 1 and I imagine even with a few more books we were probably always going to get a 'and the adventure continues' ending once Senna was killed and the others chose to stay in Everworld. Just needed more room to breathe.

Overall I enjoyed it though, thanks for posting. Definitely interested in following along on Remnants, its the one I haven't read at all.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 07:01

dungeon cousin: Nov 26, 2012; woop woop
loop loop

Great series and very unfortunate that it couldn't finish how it wanted to. Senna's death was a big shock to me and it really got me invested to see what happens next only to then realize there wasn't much left and the rest would likely fall hard. I really liked how it did the revolving narrators. Each book felt like it was that character's story to tell. Well, other than the Neptune one. It wouldn't have worked with anyone since it felt kinda pointless.

Thanks for leading us through Everworld Soonmot! I'd be happy to see our readalongs continue with Remnants thread.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 08:01

bird food bathtub: Aug 9, 2003; College Slice

Wow, that's an "oof" ending. There was a lot more they could have done. It was a cleaner, faster ending to have all of them accept Everworld and disappear but I really think the intention was to have April choose the real world and to explore the complexities of that. Her religion was a big deal throughout the last third or so of the series and I really feel she would have chosen the real world, but it would have taken more time and page space to deal with one person being interrogated about the disappearance of all the others. Would have also afforded time for her to explore her feelings of what she did, "If it was over there, was it real? Who was it that did that, was it someone else or just a darker side of me?" I also kinda feel there might have been an intention to dive in to the existential details of who was "real" and if one side might be dying or feel like they're dying or something.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 15:47

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Man, lol that is a wildly unsatisfying and sudden ending. This type of ending can be done well if given some room to breathe and a little more ambiguity, but it seems like they really had to just kill the series.

Thank you Soonmot for continuing in the tradition of Epi's excellent Animorphs thread. May he rest in peace.

I'd be interested in Remnants. The Wikipedia is unusually garbled, difficult to even get a good idea of the story.

I really enjoyed this series. Think I could have gotten a lot out of it if I had discovered it after Animorphs. Sadly, I think I had mostly fallen off reading those by the time Everworld came around. Loved the Jalil/Senna antagonism quite a lot. She's not quite Visser III level of smug and gloating evil, which made her much scarier and more realistic, and ultimately more of a question mark than him, until you get to her book and see that she's just... like that. Really interesting characterization all around.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 20:51

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Zore posted:

Yeah they really could have used another few books to finish wrapping things up. That said I imagine the ending was going to be the same no matter how many books they had, they've been laying the groundwork for it since book 1 and I imagine even with a few more books we were probably always going to get a 'and the adventure continues' ending once Senna was killed and the others chose to stay in Everworld. Just needed more room to breathe.

Overall I enjoyed it though, thanks for posting. Definitely interested in following along on Remnants, its the one I haven't read at all.

Oh I have no problem with them all staying in Everworld, it was just the rapid consolidation of plots here at the end gave no breathing room for anything to have a real impact on me.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 21:19

The Ninth Layer: Jun 20, 2007

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

I really enjoyed this series. Think I could have gotten a lot out of it if I had discovered it after Animorphs. Sadly, I think I had mostly fallen off reading those by the time Everworld came around. Loved the Jalil/Senna antagonism quite a lot. She's not quite Visser III level of smug and gloating evil, which made her much scarier and more realistic, and ultimately more of a question mark than him, until you get to her book and see that she's just... like that. Really interesting characterization all around.

I was a kid that did follow onto this series after Animoprhs and I arguably liked it more for being edgier and themed around social conflicts and personal relationships. But unlike Animoprhs I didn't know anyone else who read these, and it was pretty obvious they weren't selling anywhere near Animoprhs.

I was also very disappointed with the ending at the time especially after the crazy 11th book. On reflection I think the ending is serviceable in that it answers the most important question of, what now? The kids accept their new life as reality and go on to have adventures. WTE. I didn't really need to see the showdown with Ka Anor, after all Senna was the big bad.

# ? Jan 8, 2024 22:06

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

If Senna is the big bad, I guess the final book is Everworld's "Scouring of the Shire," with everyone passing into the West after their mental and spiritual wounds prove incurable.
re: Remnants- I've never even heard of that series. Does it, uhh, have an ending?

(Thanks again Soonmot for continuing Epi's work!)

# ? Jan 8, 2024 22:19

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# ? May 3, 2024 11:49

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

New thread is up, first chapter won't start until tomorrow probably, let's get some ideas for a better thread title than what I picked.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4051462

# ? Jan 10, 2024 00:25

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Lets read Everworld-Show me the way to go home.

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