So I've been converting this story into original fiction for, you know, ages. In the new premise, rather than imagining/somewhat existing in Middle Earth while her real body is dying in our Earth, she IS from 'Middle Earth', but due to her rough past, she's dissociating from it, and has convinced herself she is still from some other distant country.
But this leaves me with some things I'm struggling to reconcile. In my imagination, her Alternate Ending That Got Way Longer than I Ever Expected, that's all happening inside her head while she's borderline comatose and dying in Middle Earth. For the original fiction though I'm in a pickle.
I love the emotion of those final chapters while Mabyn is dying in ABP. I think it wraps up that story very well. BUT then what's the point of the Alternate, the sequel? I always thought my 'it's a miracle, I'm alive!' opening to explain Alternate was shaky, and it'll be even shakier in original fiction. So, do I rewrite the ending of ABP and beginning of Alternate so she DOESN'T die? As I see it, I've got three options:
1) Rewrite ending of ABP and beginning of Alternate so she doesn't die. Stated.
2) Leave ending of ABP as-is, and always, from the get-go, present Alternate as a literal 'this is what would have/may have happened if Mabyn had survived the events of ABP. But she didn't.'.
3) Twist the ending of ABP to make Mabyn's death happen in her OWN imagination--sort of like a hallucination. She's been convinced she's gonna die the whole time, so this would be a plausible hallucination for her. This leaves room for the Alternate to be its own justified sequel and satisfied my desire for the Oh Bless Me The Feels ending I'm hesitant to do away with. However, I'm not sure how future readers would feel about me leading them to think she's dead then going "Surprise! She just thought she was but really she isn't. Unreliable narrator device. Psych." I don't want them to feel like they've been cheated in any way or that I've used a cheap trick.
3A) So they don't feel cheapskated, I could also tweak the ending so either they know she's hallucinating from the off, or so they realize that with a paragraph or a single line at the very end, and know she's actually not dead.
3B) Or you know, just let them bathe in their own tears and send me death-threats for doing what authors do best: murder.
Please sound off your opinions or your ideas by messaging me or in the comments. This is, I kid you not, the fourth time I've gone through and re-written the entire story to distance it from fanfiction, and while I enjoy the process, I'm getting a bit tired and worried that by the time I finish it, the world won't want it anymore. Alas. Love you all!
Ivy