Ask the Overseer!

Welcome, Watcher

The Archives were massive, you thought as you looked around. Hundreds of thousands of books that told the stories of entire universes lined the countless shelves. You absentmindedly grabbed a nearby book and scanned the title. 

'Royal'

Royal...? Strange, you thought. You knew you never opened this book before, but you felt as if you already seen it before...

You heard a voice behind you, their voice carrying an almost digital echo. "Fascinating. I have never seen a Watcher this deep into the Archives. Do you require aid?"

"...!" You turned to look at the speaker. Floating in mid-air as they ran a finger down one of the book's spine was a thin figure clothed in a starry robe. What wasn't covered by the robe or the white owl-like mask was either starry blue skin that blended with their robe or a blinding white arm. A glowing white owl was also with them, perched on top of the bookshelf while it stared curiously at the book the figure was holding. The figure quietly placed the book back in its original spot before tucking their arms back into the sleeves of their robe, floating down to meet you eye-to-eye as the owl swooped to join them as it landed on the figure's shoulder.

"Is that a no, I wonder...very well. My apologies for not introducing myself earlier."

Their hands still tucked away in their sleeves, they made a brief bow to avoid bucking the owl off. "Welcome to Archive Section N192ZON. I am the Overseer of this Section. You may call me Overseer if you wish to do so."

'Section?' 

"...?"

"...you do not understand what I mean, do you? No matter, this can be explained."

The Overseer raised a hand to rest against one of the shelves, the wood turning into small bits of what resembled digital code where the Overseer touched the shelf. "You are already aware of the Archives, correct? A collection of various universes, all of which involving, if not surrounding the existence of one Jaune Arc?"

You nodded, prompting the Overseer to continue. "I assume you are also aware of the Multiverse Theory? In which states that there is not one, but an infinite amount of universes? In which there are an infinite amount of alternative versions, if not completely new versions of various universes? The Archives have been built, divided and sorted accordingly to match this. Section N192ZON has been placed under my care." 

That...made literally no sense. The Overseer noticed your confusion and slight ire and continued to explain.

"Allow me to put it simply. Take one universe, this one for example." The Overseer took the book you were holding and held it up to you. "This one universe has told its tales. You have seen it yourself, have you not? The protagonist, seeing no choice but to obey his superiors, shatters the reality of a young woman, informing her of her crimes and killing her. He goes to use his allies in order to escape his would-be consequences and lives on to proceed to the next target. But...what happens if the girl's fate could be changed due to a stroke of luck? What happens if the assassin fails in his duty, leaving both the girl and perhaps several witnesses alive? What happens then? Well...a new tale has to be told and just like that, a new universe has been made. Each shelf holds a single universe, and each book tells the tale of hundreds of thousands of possibilities that could occur within that one universe."

The explanation, while it did made sense, felt too to detailed be a hypothetical example, you suddenly thought. Overseer or not, this...whatever they were managed to recount a universe to the fine print...almost as if they wrote it themselves. The Overseer saw your realization. 

"Yes. I was the one that modified the universe you saw, but I believe that it hardly matters at this point in time. Now then, now that you understand what the Archives are..." 

The Overseer silently waved for you to follow them, leading you to a brighter section of the library, empty save for a few tables and chairs, as well as a large green orb idly hovering over its stand. Motioning for you to take a seat, they leaned in closely, their head slightly tilted to the side as their eyes softly glowed under the light. 

"I must submit to my own curiosity. Is there anything else you wish to ask?"