Author Of Shadows: Redemption Across Worlds

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Judgement

Lena had always been a master of creating fictional worlds, but the surreal landscape of the inter-dimensional prison was beyond her wildest imagination. It was a place where the laws of reality bent and twisted, and where the very essence of her soul was on trial. As she stood before the imposing Council of Judges, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of uncertainty beneath her usual veneer of cynicism.

The council chamber was an ethereal space, suspended in a nebulous void, with the judges seated on towering thrones. Their faces were hidden by masks of otherworldly design, and their robes seemed to be woven from the fabric of the dimensions themselves. The atmosphere was charged with an otherworldly energy that sent shivers down Lena's incorporeal form.

High Judge Thalos, the leader of the council, finally spoke, his voice resonating like a distant thunderclap. "Author Lena Cartwright, you stand before the Council of Judges to answer for your crimes against the multiverse. Your reckless storytelling has caused irreparable damage to countless dimensions, and for that, you must face the consequences."

Lena raised an eyebrow, her smirk firmly in place. "Consequences? You mean like a bad review?"

Judge Thalos' mask radiated disapproval, but he continued, "Your punishment shall be threefold. First, you shall become the heroine in each of your troubled dimensions, tasked with stopping the destruction you've wrought."

Lena's facade of indifference wavered for a moment. Becoming the heroine, the savior, was the last thing she'd ever expected. Her readers would have a field day with that.

Thalos continued, "Second, you will be bound by the character settings you've imposed on your heroines, the very traits you hate. You will experience the world through their eyes, guided by the strengths and weaknesses you've crafted."

Lena clenched her fists, realizing that she would be forced to embody traits and qualities she had despised in her heroines, making her journey even more challenging.

Thalos concluded, "And third, your mission is to stop the destruction of the novel worlds by your other characters and give the endings that your readers long to see, the endings you've denied them."

Lena had to swallow hard as she finally comprehended the gravity of her punishment. In her own narratives, she would be forced to make choices that could mean salvation or destruction, not just for fictional characters, but for entire dimensions. Her sadistic tendencies had led her down a path she could never have imagined.

With a heavy heart and a growing sense of responsibility, Lena's journey into her own twisted stories had truly begun