I Refuse to be a Named Character

Part 7

"I won't join you." I raised the sword to hold it between us. "Name or not."

"You say that now, but hear me out!" He raised his hands, as if surrendering. "I'll give you until the party tomorrow. If you agree to join me, send me a message. If not... Well, I hate to keep such a juicy secret to myself, you know? "

I want to kill him.

But even as I stepped closer, I heard the sounds of others close by. A careful glance around showed several archers hidden in the plants around us. Fetter had left nothing to chance. Seeing my gaze, he smiled, using the tree to help himself to his feet.

"Think about it." He leaned forward, whispering my old name in my ear. "Goodnight."

And with that he was gone.

___________________________

I stared at the tree where he had sat moments ago, my whole body trembling with rage and fear.

It's over.

Trying to avoid the plot. Trying not to have a name. All of it would be useless in the end. I couldn't betray Luke. Couldn't avoid Fetter.

Should I run?

"This is your fault, you know."

Chloe's voice pulled me from my thoughts. Startled, I looked up, to see a dark expression I didn't recognize on her face. Tired, I slumped down, sitting down against the tree that Fetter had fallen against just moments ago.

Isn't this area supposed to be secure?

Chloe must have taken my silence as me blaming her, as she spoke up defensively, coming to stand in front of me with a self-righteous air.

"Don't look at me like that! So what if I told Fetter your name? Your stupid theory of being an unnamed character isn't even true anyways." She spread her hands widely. "I've been using my name all along, and I'm just fine!"

I sighed. "What do you want, Chloe?"

"You were never supposed to be here." She stared down at me with increasing intensity. "This was supposed to be my adventure! I was supposed to come to this world and be the heroine. That was the deal!"

The world around me seemed to freeze.

"What do you mean 'deal'?"

"The ritual was only supposed to be for one person! I was supposed to be important... but you're getting in the way. Everyone is only focused on you... even Fetter, who should be scheming against the other princes, is wasting his time trying to get your name from me!"

I was standing now, with no memory of how I had reached that position, the sword in my hand trembled in the air, the tip slowly rising to point at my sister.

"The ritual?" My mind raced, as I remembered our last night before we woke up in this book world.

The smell of gas...

"Chloe?" My voice broke on her name. "What did you do?"

"I just wanted to live in my favorite world! Is that such a bad thing?"

"Please... don't say this." My free hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Say it was a freak gas explosion that killed us. That this was a just a weird, unexplainable event. That you're just as confused as me."

"..."

"Please?"

"I found a ritual, a paper, folded between the pages of my copy of 'Deadly Crown'. All it took was a small sacrifice."