Forlot - Books 7-9

Chapter Twenty-Three

I pointed at myself. "Me? Unlimited power?"

"That is what I said."

"...have you been drinking too much?"

Apparently, she did not like that question because she scooped up her cane, quickly rose to her feet, and slammed the end of her cane on the floor three times.

"Do not say that! Never say that! This book series is also for children. Do you really want it to cancel because of your smart remark?"

I sunk back, and my body suddenly became cold. Goosebumps appeared all over my skin.

Did Ada have something to do with me being cold?

Ada staggered up to me and Tabceo and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"I am sorry, my child. I should not have snapped at you like that. It is just...those darn real worlders. Overprotective parents would ban their kids from reading this series if they knew what you said."

I slowly raised my head to look up at her, and my hair fell over my face. The old woman pulled her skinny hand away from my shoulder and brushed strands of my hair back.

"Overprotective parents?" Tabceo repeated.

"Real worlders?" I repeated another term.

"Yes. And yes. Overprotective parents are parents, a mom and dad, who think that it is best to watch over their child or children every second that goes by. In turn, this is not a good thing for a family. There is hardly any trust, and they may never become close."

"Ha. That sounds like Maria's parents," Tabceo remarked.

"On the contrary, almost all real world parents are worse. Now, I am not saying that your parents, Maria, are any better. My point is that real worlders have always been 'interesting.'"

"What is interesting about them?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. They are boring. I was just trying to not offend them. Oh, wait. No matter what you say, even if it comes from a Pure Heart, they are offended. It makes me glad that we are real fictional characters and not real worlders."

Ada staggered back to her rocking chair and pulled off a long, blue blanket that had been hanging over it. She returned to my and Tabceo's side and covered my body with the blanket. My head was the exception.

"I sense that you are confused. Both of you are."

"Yeah. Kind of," I said softly. "These real worlders sound like that they do not have a good reputation."

"You got that right. They do not care about justice or the truth. And most importantly, they do not care about fictional characters. As we speak, they are ruining us fictional characters using political correctness. Thankfully for us, the Lubriem banned all political things."

"A Lubriem? What is a Lubriem?"

"Well...let us say that a person from the real world and a fictional character teamed up to save the fictional characters once and for all."

"Who were they?" my bird friend asked.

"You see, the definition of a Lubriem is a person from the real world who believes that fictional characters exist. The exception would be if a fictional character was created in the real world in the first place. That is where the Lubriem came in."

She coughed hard before she continued.

"Sorry. Frog in my throat. Anyway, the Lubriem was different from the real worlders and did not understand why. She tried to make friends, but it was not that easy. And when she did, most of them thought that what she believed was crazy. Little did they know that what they said and did to her would affect her."

Tabceo snuggled against me. "Do the real worlders have anything else to do but ruin lives?"

"They are real worlders. It is what they do. Now, back to the story. The Lubriem grew more and more. She became aware of how the real world worked - and hated it. She also grew hate towards the real worlders. Sometimes, she would wish that it would be just her, the Lord, and the fictional characters. No real worlders unless they were her true friends."

"Man. I know how she feels," I commented.

"Speaking of the Lord, this is also another reason why the Lubriem is wonderful. She is a believer, but not a Christian. However, she is a Christian."

Tabceo and I looked at each other, and then back at her. "Huh?"

"Allow me to explain. The Lubriem believes in and loves the Lord, His Son, and the Holy Ghost. She is the example of a Christian. But after a while, she stopped calling herself a Christian. She still loved the Lord, His Son, and the Holy Ghost though."

"Why?" I wondered. "It does not make any sense."

"Oh, but it does. There are so many toxic Christians out there that she turned away from them. But not from the Lord. You get it now?"

The bird and I glanced at each other and nodded our heads.

"She is a Lubriem. She is not a conservative, liberal, Jew, Buddhist, or even a real worlder. She is a Lubriem, a person who chose fictional over real. So you see? She is on nobody's side but hers."

"She reminds me of you, Maria," Tabceo pointed out. "You are independent and only stand up for what is right."

Ada nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I am especially glad that you chose the fictional characters over those real worlders."

"Wait." I tossed the blanket off me and stood. "Are you saying that...I am a Lubriem?"

"No, no, no. But you were close to helping the real worlders. Well, trying to help. I sensed that you would not succeed, and the real worlders would kill you."

I gasped. "K-kill me?"

"Yes. But only if you went through with your fake gift."

"My...my fake gift?"

"You were born with two gifts. One was to talk to the animals, and the other was to help the real worlders. And guess which one your parents decided for your fate?"