𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

One year anniversary

It's been a long year, sit down, drink some hot chocolate, take a cookie. Now let's talk. 

I cannot thank you guys enough. A year ago, one the twelfth of December, I finally decided that my writing was something I wanted to share with people. I published that cast that I took so long on, and I'm so happy I did. 

I'm literally acting as if this an award ceremony, please-

I want to give a special thanks to @LM-222 especially, simply because without them I would have stopped writing this by March. She's such a sweet person, and because of her support I got motivation to write this entire universe again. There are so many people I would want to thank, but I'll leave the naming to just her, because she's are the reason I continue writing, and I really can't thank them enough. 

Of course a huge thanks to everyone who read this, those who voted, those who commented, those who add my book to their reading list and never get to reading it, the silent readers, everyone. 

And now, onto the part of this chapter that isn't monologue. 

A bonus

You've reached the bonus! Well done. Welcome, to infinity.

"We're-"

Leah looked around wildly, her stomach tightening at seeing where she was. Or actually, where she wasn't. 

"Where are we?" Aiden muttered. She turned to him, worry in her eyes. "I don't know, but wherever we are isn't anything good-" 

"You're in limbo," a voice replied to his question. The two whipped around to see where they had, moments before, gotten out of a car, now a person was standing. 

They stood a few inches shorter than Leah, and had a dark brown mullet with bangs that passed their eyes. They wore a dark blue suit and a leather trench coat was draped over their shoulders. They looked up at the two, gesturing behind them, where Leah now could see a desk shimmer into existence, littered with postcards and books.

"Hello you two," the person greeted them. They waved and beckoned them to come forward. "Have you ever thought about whether the world is real?" 

"Well as far as I'm concerned, this isn't," Leah stated, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you?" "I am your creator," the person responded leisurely, sitting down at a chair that appeared when they sat down. "My mom's name was Ana Kovach, and she definitely didn't look like you," Leah bit back. Aiden hummed, looking around. "You think Matteo picked the wrong mushrooms?" he asked casually. 

The person in front of them snapped their fingers to gain the two's attention. A laptop had appeared on the desk, and they were typing ferociously on it. They then spinned back on their chair and they looked at Leah and Aiden, an eyebrow raised. 

"Show some respect to your elders," they chided. Aiden blinked. "You're younger than me," he stated bluntly. The person huffed. "Call me the Sandwich, or just the Author. And if you harm me, I can call child protection services because I'm a bitch." 

"You're weird," Leah commented, walking up to the so-called Sandwich. Sandwich smiled at you and continued typing. Not Leah. You. Hello, reader. 

"You would say that me saying these words wouldn't make them appear on the screen," I said, scanning the screen in front of me. "I hope you're Leah and Aiden, or else I really messed up." 

"Are you a god?" Aiden asked me. I shrugged. "There's a few answers I could give you," I said, stretching my arms above my head. "In this world, where you have physical forms? Yeah, of course. I wouldn't make a world and then not make myself a god." I laughed at the idiocy of it all. "In my world, where all this is just words on a screen and I'm talking to myself? I'd hardly think so." Leah stared at me. "You're crazy," she said. "Based on how I've written you, you can't really talk."

"What are we doing here?" Aiden asked diplomatically. He crossed his arms. Just like his father, I would expect. Their similarities always shined through, didn't really matter how much Aiden tried to hide them. 

"I needed an idea to shock, confuse and astonish readers," I explained vaguely. "You'll be back in a few minutes, don't worry.  Better yet, you won't remember that this ever happened." 

"A jump in the Lethe wouldn't make me forget this," Leah mumbled. I grinned at her. "I think I'm much more effective than anything you could even fathom. You see, without me, you wouldn't exist. You're a figment of my imagination written down on my laptop because I want to escape reality. You." I poked her in the chest. "Are a drawing that I made last year on summer vacation because I read a Tumblr post on Instagram. And you," I turned to Aiden, "were made because I read a children's book on Celtic mythology and thought it interesting enough to make a character about it." 

I stepped back from them to let it process the news I'd given them, grabbing my phone to play a game I'd recently downloaded. 

Aiden spoke up first, breaking the silence. "You look like me," he remarked. "A bit. I see myself in you." I smiled. "That's because you both are reflections of what I want to be, as are most of the characters I've created. Seeing as I made you at a later time, you're a more accurate version." Leah sat down, and I provided her a chair. Have I described the scenery yet? I don't think I have. 

We walked on a narrow patch of glass that reflected Leah and Aiden, but not me. It wasn't what they currently did that was reflected. It was them, if they had taken a different path. Leah's hair was cropped short, and Aiden wore one of her hoodies in that reality, on the edge of the couch next to her as he talked to Lin and Christian. 

In this reality, Leah's hair still was in a tight braid behind her back, and Aiden wore a sweater vest over a shirt as he crouched down, head in his hands. Leah, in contrast, stood tall, watching one of her other selves through the walls as they weakly fought off a figure dressed in black. She tilted her head. She recognized the way that figure fought from countless hours of sparring with that very same person. Aiden?

"I have to say, you're not taking this as well as others have, although you two aren't the most understandable all the time," I commented, running a rand through my hair. "And you brought us here for what?" Aiden scoffed, turning to me. I grinned. "For content, obviously," I replied matter-of-factly. 

"Now I think you've been here long enough with just crippling depression and me as your companion, so I bring good news!" Leah rolled her eyes. "I don't think you can," she said. I made a face. "You're probably not wrong. But happy one-year existence of your existence! Well, the fanfiction." "Fanfiction?" Aiden questioned. "Yeah, you're the love interest. Don't worry loverboy, you're just going to end up hurt and depressed and maybe also six feet under, it isn't sure yet." I got up and walked over to them again, smiling sickly. 

"I think it's time you go now," I said. I then waved at them, and under them the floor dissolved, making them fall back into their world. I look down at them and they looked up at me, blank slates. I blinked, and then I repaired the floor. Once I had, I sat down at my desk and continued typing on my laptop. 

"I don't think it's morally wrong, is it? I get to do what i want with them. I am the Author, after all."