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A large circular room the size of an arena, darkness on either side of them which consisted of two walls filled to the very height of the ceiling with an impossible array of valuable tomes. Two staircases curved upwards from the floor towards the upper level, a balcony where a grand crystal ball resonated clearly. Within the crystal ball, an old book floated calmly, with blackened spine and cracked grey cover. The central floor on the lower level was smoothly-carpeted with a more-central circular dais of polished marble. Meen stood above them, before the crystal ball. "SO! You FINALLY managed to scrape your way up to your doom, have you my little bookworms?!" "It's over Meen!" said Alestes sternly. "Your tyranny shall end here! Your quest for immortality shall be cast into the abyss along with your wretched existence!" "Oh I beg to DIFFER my little winged rat! ...speaking of rats, where is your mole friend?! Did he find himself six feet under, hmmmm?!" "SHUT UP!" roared FG. "Monty died to keep the Lemmings alive and to make sure we'd find you! You're not even fucking worthy to kneel before him let alone say his name!" "What do I care about subterranean mongrels?! They only have ONE purpose in this life that I have given them, free from ignorance to become something more, something greater than that!" "You will not harm any more of my kind," said Arino, "for I now know that I must undo what I have wrought. The mistake I made of ever meeting you shall be corrected here and now!" "Oh reaaaaally? Are you sure of that my little subhuman?" With a click of his spindly fingers, the lights began to turn on from all around the room's corners, magically illuminating a few familiar-looking objects now placed all around them on higher levels far out of reach. Seven conduits. A replica of every conduit from each area they had deactivated. But these conduits had a far brighter light, and sparked into life the moment the lights went on them. A great energy began to sizzle the very air above them, as lightning began to channel forth through Meen's body and into the crystal ball. "Wh-what?!" cried Alestes. "What is this?!" "THIS," cried Meen, "is but the beginning of absolute POWER! Did you really think I would not expect you fools to deactivate my conduits?! Guess what you've just done instead!" "...no...no it cannot be." "Wh-what's going on?!" asked FG. "Every conduit that YOU shut down," answered Meen, "has only powered up the same conduit that resembles the very same! All you fools have done is enable me to destroy you all the more swiftly! And that's not all!"

The wizard clicked his fingers once again with a summoning of even greater power, as a large shape began to phase into existence on their right against the wall. Golden motes of light began to solidify, transforming into a solid gold hourglass now empty of sand. It was enormous, reaching straight up to the ceiling as even more colours began to mold within the glass itself. Colours of blue, green and pink. Arino's eyes widened in fear as they began to solidify. "No...no no NO! STOP THIS MEEN! STOP IT!" Meen simply giggled with glee as his teleportation spell soon ceased. Squeaking helplessly before them, were now 108 lemmings trapped within the strange hourglass-shaped structure, large enough to house all of them within an uncomfortably tight confinement. Their blind struggles against the glass, seemingly unbreakable and only further proven by FG's immediate reaction to attempt breaking it, made them all incredibly fearful of their fate. "Thank you for bringing the last of your kind to me," said I.M. Meen. "Teleportation is QUITE a fickle thing, especially when transporting at least a hundred little creatures over a certain distance. Now my plan is finally complete!" "WHAT PLAN!?" roared FG. "WHAT DO YOU NEED ALL THIS FOR?!" "You stupid FOOL, haven't you learnt anything by now?! IMMORTALITY! THESE conduits shall provide the power source I need, and THESE creatures, wretched as they are, shall provide the fuel and energy I need to BECOME an all-powerful master! THE master of all of existence! And I shall rule every world that lies beneath me, through the power of this book! The book of Myst, with its divine Art that I shall soon unlock with my incomparable knowledge of all that was ever written, shall be the key to unlocking EVERYTHING!" The sorcerer cackled insanely, driving his shrieks of laughter high up into the rafters of his lofty lair, the five remaining prisoners standing ready to fight. James attempted to blast a fireball at Meen in mid-laugh, but the haughty librarian simply batted it aside with a glowing hand. "I'm sorry was that even a SPELL?!" "I don't care what the hell you want, your ass is DEAD Meen!" The raptor charged forwards, summoning the power of wind to strike up towards the balcony and try to stab Meen. But the wizard merely reflected the scissors as if his body were made of metal, striking off of his clothes harmlessly so. In response, Meen grinned and levitated James slightly before shoving him hard back down, falling to the floor in a stumbling roll. "Wh-what the fuck?!" "HAHAHAHAHA, you really are a STUPID boy! Did you really think I would not even bother to shield myself, with all these conduits of power?! So long as these conduits remain running at full strength, I will become IMPOSSIBLE to harm! But that won't be said for you wee little CRETINS." "Nnngh...least you said that right, that still don't make you any better." "Oh really?! While my power is charging up, perhaps I'll allow you to borrow my Thesaurus. Here!"

With a third click of his fingers, the marble circle began to turn liquid within the centre of the floor. Two things began to float up from the strangely-viscous stone. Firstly, a pile of large bones, the size of a dinosaur perhaps, freshly-picked of all flesh. Floating up from the centre of the bones, was a deep-red book, infinitely large like a dictionary. The pages soon began to open, the book hanging upside down with its covers like wings, flapping upwards as it grew larger and larger. Words began to pour out vowel by vowel, consonants dropping onto the floor and slowly starting to form into something solid. The pages soon tore themselves out, wrapping into larger lengths all around the bones themselves, which began to slowly reanimate into life. Claw-like feet began to form in the shape of a D and an E. Legs began to weave from paper and solidified into sturdy white flesh, like the bark of an ash tree, while Meen taunted: "You simple fools, can you even try to B E GIN to u N derstand the power of books, you putrid-minded prehistoric philistine! Within these I am EVERYTHING! I am war! I am PAIN! I am all you have ever SLAIN! I am now T ears with I n your eyes! I am grief! I am LIES!" The creature still began to form, arms twisting P owerfully N ow from the book to form upon a more solid torso. The torso at first began like another E , while the arms took on the shapes of an S and a B. The book began to U nravel by I ts very indents, the spine twisting out and into a whole new form that began to shadow the V iolet carpet beneath them. "How c A n you E ven understand ?!" roa R ed the in S ane librarian. "You cannot even understand the words that lie before you! Did I not tell you I possessed a Thesaurus, you wretched ugly V ile S tupid inferior BOOKWO R MS!? All sh A ll worship me! All of you filthy little creatures are nothing more than fodder for my eternal S uperior POWER!" As the abomin A ble T hesaurus finally began t O fulfil its true form, it resembled that of a mighty skeletal dragon, pure white from rustles of a thousand C rinkled pages, letters emboldened G ravely I n black. The papery C reature was 45 feet long from tail to head, shaped like a skull in the form of the letter R , before ending in th E letter N. "Your E nd is A lready at hand Meen!" roared Arino with the fury to protect his kind. "So long as one of us remains, you will s U ffer for your abhor R ent cause!" Meen could only smi L e and laugh at their attempt to even try to intimidate him, as the beast began to walk towards them. Its feet, I ndented with punctu A tions upon deadly claws. James dodged one way and tried to stab at the papery-feeling flesh, finding it to be surprisingly as hard as nails. With a fierce s N arling rage, revealing T eeth the length of steak knives, it roared and tried to bite at the raptor, who dodged one way around halfway to its thigh. Trying to pierce the side however resulted in being slamm E d by its enormous tail, spelling out another word that began with M.

With its four muscular legs crunching the v I olet carpet underneath, the creature clawed furiously at the five prisoners, the lemming leader and his prophetic friend stepping far back out of range. In the hope that fire would be S uccessful against a page-constructed monster, Alestes and Sophelie charged in with a sanctifying Blood Ritual attack, burning a blood-red fire deep into the monstrous mound of p A per. Despite their increased magical power, it did little but singe its lexical hide, the dragon roaring and swiping its grammar-stained claws. James tried once more, dodging low and R eadily stabbing his scissors into the dragon's side, managing to get a few inches in but no more. Thesaurus did not take kindly to such attacks, and tried to swing at him with its C laws, backhanding the raptor as he received a blow to the chest and fell back. Sophelie quickly flew over to him to heal, while Alestes briefly assaulted the dragon's skull, eyes H ollow and as black as ink, which it began to bleed from the small wounds it had received from their attack. "Fire won't work!" cried Alestes w I th trepidation. "How can a thing made of paper not burn?!" "BECAUSE HOW CAN WORD S THEMSELVES BE BURNT?!" roared Meen with glee. "This isn't just a book, not some cheap little dictionary or a book about grammar, it is an idea! A concept, an entire language Thought of millennia ago by men older than you or I!" "SHUT UP!" roared the raptor. " I've had enough of you and your giant letter BULLSHIT!" Healed up by Sophelie, James began C harging once more into the fray, his speed his only asset against the enormous beast. Height-wise on all fours, it was at least 15 feet tall up to its back, words bumping along its spine like small indentations as it focused on Alestes. While the owl was able to keep out of range, he knew well enough what a dragon would do when dealing with any foe at long range. And he was soon proven right in the form of a scorching black fire. It was if smoke had become fire, burning blacker from its maw than whatever the fire itself could touch, an ink-stained blaze that tore across the library. The books however remained unharmed, kept safe by Meen's magic allowing the dragon to burn wantonly without fail. James however tried to strike up and plunge into Thesaurus' neck, stabbing hard enough to shove a few inches, but only further inciting the dragon's anger. Swiping at its neck to throw James off of it, the beast struck him down scissors and all as he fell onto his back. Just before it could breathe in a ghastly black flame, a red tightly-bound fabric burst forth between it and FG. The flames could not penetrate through, despite how much they tried to crawl over the red cloth held tightly by six metal points. Arino stood firm beside the raptor, his umbrella in full exposure and repelling the fires at bay.

"I may not be able to fight," said Arino, "but I know now that I can protect. If he tries to breathe fire, get behind me!" "Alright but stay away from its claws," said FG, "I don't wanna chance you near those things." I.M. Meen simply watched with excitement at his former prisoners trying to face against this strange monstrous beast, all while he was slowly gaining the last ounces of power needed. Floating up into the air, his magic began to further power him up, radiating from his body with a magnificent blinding light, darkened only by his own silhouette. His gleeful cackle rose throughout all of his sanctum, as he waved one hand towards the hourglass full of lemmings. Their squeaks started to intensify as pain began to sink in. One by one the lemmings' life force slowly began to draw out of them, squealing whimpers as they scrabbled for help at the slender sides of the hourglass shape. Tiny mitten-like hands rubbed uselessly against glass, as the tender golden light of their lives began to slowly draw out of them. The first one to die became nothing more than pink sand, falling through the hourglass to sit upon the bottom, covering the rest of his tribe like ash. More of them started to follow, their bodies disintegrating with each passing minute. This only made the prisoners all the more desperate to fight back. Despite the seemingly-impenetrable dragon hide, James was not backing down, as he tried thinking every idea he had used before. One soon came to him. "SOPHELIE! ALESTES! USE YOUR BLOOD RITUAL ON HIS BACK LEG I HAVE AN IDEA!" The two birds nodded and swooped down towards the back right leg, its single word bending and flexing like the words upon a page in the open breeze. With a shrieking cry as they summoned their infernal circle, James charged towards their darkened circle, bathing himself within blood-red fire and roaring with a huge swing of his scissorblades. The combined power of both magic and blade was just enough to carve deep into the dragon's leg, its roar shaking the very foundations of the castle with its newfound agony. With scissors heated by hellish fires of dark inversed magic, James tore through the hind leg completely, spewing black ink like a broken fountain pen onto the floor around him and revealing the now-shattered bone within. The dragon stumbled and fell to its side, trying to regain its balance. Meen looked shocked, but simply unruffled his coat and cried: "YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN AGAINST ME?! I CAN SUMMON ALL THE POWERS OF WORDS THEMSELVES, YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME!" "THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK," roared FG, "WE GOT OUR OWN BOOK RIGHT HERE!" "HAH! You think the Book of Koridai will do ANYTHING to me now?! I'm in the process of immortality, and with these conduits you so gratefully activated for me, NOTHING CAN TOUCH MEEEEE! And with THIS new power from all my conduits until it becomes PERMANENT, I can do THIS!"

Sacrificing a portion of his ill-gained power, Meen flapped out a violent shattering of stars to pour all over his dragon pet, Thesaurus soon feeling itself rejuvenated by the transcendent starlight. Glittering onto its back, it spilled down to its leg like loosened glitter, repairing the pages that had once been wrapped around it. The words had been rewritten anew, as if it had never been broken. All including FG were outraged by this power, enough so that Thesaurus got the drop on them with a sudden spinning turn to slam its tail into all five of them. "WHAT?! THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT!" "HHHAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! NOW WHAT, WRETCHED BEASTS?! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT MY OWN CREATIONS! I am PURE! I am True! I am allllll over you! I am Love! I am smile! I am the Earth DEFILED! I am the Cosmic Storm! I am the tiny worms! I am FEAR in the night! I am bringer of LIGHT!" "SHUT THE HELL UP! IT'S NOT EVEN A DRAGON, IT'S JUST FUCKING WORDS AND PAPER-GARRGH!" The dragon proved its dangerous worth by slamming the raptor down with a thick clawed foot, pushing down on his chest and slowly putting pressure upon him. His breathing started to turn funny, the dragon blasting fire towards both of the birds to keep them away from his new prey. James started to breathe funny, gasping as his lungs turned tight as Meen mocked his impending death. "You DARE continue to disrespect that which I am a master of!??! With these books including this Linking Book, I can create, I can DESTROY! I can cause genocide, I can create world peace, I can conquer all of existence with but a single PAGE! I AM YOUR GOD NOW!" "NOT YET YER NOT!" A voice called out from above, hiding within the shadows. A shadow amongst them threw out a strange bottle, which bottle shattered on one of the seven conduits in Meen's lair, the generator of the laboratory. The conduit itself began to spark and break down, shattering into a pile of scrap, making both Meen and his abomination roar with outrage and weakening pain. The former prisoners gazed up towards the shadow, a strange oval-shaped being with a rather familiar-looking hat. Alestes' eyes widened, along with Sophelie's. "C-can it be?!" "IT IS!" "Wh-whosat!?" asked FG. "DIZZY!?" "KEEP FIGHTING MEEN'S PET," shouted the mysterious stranger, "I'LL KEEP BREAKING HIS CONDUITS, THEN HE'S ALL YOURS!" "I knew you weren't dead Dizzy!" cried Sophelie with joy, "I knew you weren't!" "THANKS! JUST KEEP HIM BUSY!" "WHO THE DEVIL ARE YOU?!" roared Meen. "How DARE you interfere with my masterplan!?!" The wizard struck out a powerful lightning bolt, but the shadow simply rolled obtusely out of the way before another potion was thrown onto yet another conduit. This time it was the conduit shaped like a totem pole from the castle, which began to dissolve somehow by the powerfully corrosive liquid from the bottle. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" cried out Meen. "STOP INTERFERING YOU PESKY LITTLE WORM!" "Worm?!" said the stranger. "Look who's talking! A monster like you oughta be gunked up! Here, Avawiffovee!" The shadow hurled another bottle towards Meen instead, who shrieked and fell back as the powerful liquid nearly burnt into his magical aura. The potion itself seemed to be highly anti-magical, burning through all properties of magic like acid through wood. "ENOUGH OF THIS! Destroy him my pet, and do NOT leave a mark remaining of him!"

The dragon-like beast looked up towards the stranger and breathed fire blackly towards the walls. But the shadow continued to dodge, while James, Alestes and Sophelie began to attack the monster from the rear. They all decided the tail had to go first, summoning a dark burning circle once more as their Blood Ritual channelled into FG's blades. Striking through the dragon's tail, a hellish roar shook through the place. Meen however was torn between attacking the one breaking his conduits, or the ones attacking his pet. Eventually, he decided to do both, striking lightning bolts upon both at the same time. The shadow dodged with constant forward-rolls along the high-up bookshelves, whilst the birds flapped to and fro. James was panicking even moreso at the lightning, knowing it was his weakness as he fell back towards Arino. All the lemming could do was guard his grounded friend, his umbrella powerfully resisting even the greatest of Meen's magic. "HAH," mocked FG, "NOW WHAT?!" "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU STOP RUINING MY PLANS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!" A violent thunderstorm began to scorch and shatter across the entire library, tearing through several bookshelves into a corrosive storm of burnt paper and charred wood. Entire rows of books were now lost forever in his rage, including some words that had once been inscribed upon Thesaurus, who roared in surprise at the lightning licking across its back. Now bereft of its mighty tail, it tried to bite down onto FG and Arino, who dodged swiftly before the birds began another assault. This time they summoned a powerful firewave across the entire body, scarring the entire paper-bound skeleton within a sea of flames. Despite this, the paper still remained strong, for it seemed only cutting through would do any damage to it. In the meantime, the shadowy figure known as Dizzy hopped to and fro from awning to outcropping, reaching each and every conduit with potion after potion of anti-magical destruction. Switching up tactics, James stuck close by Arino whilst Twinsen stayed hidden and out of sight, ready to be called at a moment's notice whilst seeing the battle before his very eye. He almost dropped Monty's monocle during one rather chaotic shudder throughout the room, as the dragon fell onto its once-again broken leg from a vicious magical assault. He refitted it quickly onto his single working eye instead, peering through it with a strange fascination. In that very moment, something clicked inside his head with a widening silent gasp.

"LONDON BURNING!" James' roar of a rising victory in his voice accompanied a horrendously powerful strike across Thesaurus' throat, its shriek unearthly to behold as Sophelie's fiery magic had amplified his potential. Using her fire combined with his wind-bearing nanos, he managed to swing his blades upwards into a triple-somersaulting attack, slashing up towards the creature's chin and scarring deep into the spinal interior. As steel clashed against bone inside, Thesaurus roared and reared back in order to lunge its head down and forwards. Knocking FG back in mid-air, he was quickly saved from being burned alive yet again by Arino, who never left his side with his trusty umbrella, repelling the dark fire like it was the softest rain. The creature was now falling apart, having lost its tail, a hindleg and a scar now opening within its wind-torn burning chest, the ashen tips of pages flapping in its unnatural breaths. Meen was infuriated, and despite still being able to siphon the remaining lemmings' life force with his still-existing magic power, his conduits would not survive any longer. Only three more now remained, as Dizzy remained hiding in the shadows but almost tripped off of one large shelf. Meen had the perfect chance, summoning a ball of lightning straight towards the barely-illuminated oval figure. "DIE YOU MEDDLING WORM!" As the lightning lashed out towards the now-helpless figure, his eyes glinted with maniacal glee in finally taking out one new foe. But just as the thunder was about to electrify him, lighting up Dizzy's pure-white body briefly, a clashing shine of orange blades suddenly appeared before him. The lightning bounced harmlessly away, sending Meen into a tantrum yet again. "NO! NO NO NO NO NO! WHO ELSE IS HERE HMMM!? DO YOU ALL WANT TO DIE!? WELL THEN LET ME ARRANGE THAT FOR YOU!" All of a sudden, Meen summoned a violent cataclysmic explosion from above their heads. His own magic could not destroy the conduits, but it could most certainly destroy all of them. Streaking a horrendous series of purple electric fire throughout the very walls of his room, Meen began to strike down every single thing that dared to move. James was guarded by Arino's umbrella, still negating any magical attack that was thrown at it.

Alestes desperately tried to dodge, while Dizzy seemed to hide behind one of the conduits. Sophelie however tore towards Alestes as one storm tore towards the owl, chasing the bird relentlessly before the albatross swooped in "ALESTES!" Summoning as powerful a shield as she could muster, she created a powerful barrier of light, barely in enough time to be able to repel Meen's power. While Alestes was able to escape unscathed, the same could not be said for Sophelie. She shrieked as some of the lightning tore through her defence, and while she did not feel its true power, it was certainly enough to wound her, causing her to fall to the floor. "SOPHELIE!" Alestes rushed to her aid as she fell, desperately summoning what magic he had in order to create a softening whirlwind that would allow her to land safely. She fell to the floor like a feather from her wing, gasping as the lightning coursed briefly through her entire body in a series of violent spasms, her screams alerting Thesaurus towards an easy prey. She struggled to fly once more, but Meen had weakened her, and she could barely lift her wings. Alestes however flapped firmly before the beast. "STOP! DO NOT COME NEAR OR ELSE!" "KILL THEM!" roared Meen. "FEAST UPON THEIR REMAINS MY LOYAL PET!" As the dragon stumbled closer with its remaining limbs, its snout drooling a hungering black ink, Alestes' eyes glowered fiercely, flapping closer towards the beast with fearless desperation, his wings starting to resonate with power. "I warned you Meen...that you would fall no matter what. And if that means I must weaken myself for all of us to remain, then so be it." Alestes spread his wings fully out above his head, creating a strange arcane symbol above him that began to burn deeply within the air. Sharp points began to flicker from his wingtips, lengthening into that of a silvery sheen as his body began to resonate with an irascible energy. Sophelie knew what he was about to do, and called out weakly: "N-no...don't do it! Please!" "I do not care what will happen so long as you remain unharmed!" "If this does not work you will be helpless!" "I DO NOT CARE! From the agony of my mind and the love within my heart, I command this power to rend you asunder demon!"

James knew he could not stop him as he only watched with fear, while Dizzy continued to destroy conduits until the last one remained. Even if the conduits were all destroyed, Thesaurus would still remain, and even Alestes knew he had to take down the insurmountable terror formed of words. The silver light both above and below him began to form into two swords of purest light, which soon began to spin around him in a circle of silver. Shimmers of the moon began to form, as a darkness formed from within the circle around him, consuming his very body. "PSYGNOSIS!" Shrieking his incantation, a deep power burned forth from within his very being, deep within his soul, black spirals of piercing strength shattering straight through Thesaurus' eye sockets, straight through its skull. A horrendous shriek pierced their ears, as Alestes' unearthly power began to tear through the entire body, like a living serpent formed of sharpest black. The way it undulated through the papery flesh was like seeing the oncoming surge of a storm upon a sea at night. Alestes was struggling to maintain such power, his eyes starting to quiver. "ALESTES NO!" Sophelie screamed him to stop, but he wasn't listening. He was determined to see his power through, and see it through he did. Once the shadowy blade-like lengths had finished rending some of the beastly flesh asunder, Alestes could fly no more, and soon began to fall on top of Sophelie. The beast was greatly weakened, still standing upon three legs without tail and half its own skin flensed from its skeleton. Yet it still stood. And it demanded vengeance. James readily rushed forth in front of both birds, as well as Arino who hoped he could still resist anymore damage his umbrella could take. Meen was anxious, he knew his beast would not stand any longer, but he also knew that the raptor now had no other means of powerful magic to support his stronger attacks. In the midst of this violent desperate assault, he had completely forgotten about Dizzy. Everyone had forgotten about Dizzy until a sudden crash came from above their heads. "Wh-WHAT IN BLAZES-" Meen barely had time to react before stumbling to the side to avoid falling rocks and crystals shattering onto the floor, the final conduit now broken as he gasped with fearful realisation. "No! NO! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" "Defeated a wizard that's what!" cried out Dizzy from above. "It's practically my job at this point!" "YOU FOOL! YOU WRETCHED FOOL WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Before Meen could even insult him, his power suddenly began to drain. The light-giving radiance began to slowly fall out of him, absorbed into the air and lost forever. He desperately tried to clutch at it, feebly so, crying out. "N-NO! NO COME BACK, COME BACK MY BEAUTIFUL LIGHT! MY IMMORTALITY!" "It's over Meen!" demanded Arino. "Your pet is weak and you will not live forever!" "NO! I REFUSE TO DIE! You can't even kill me anyway, not while I still contain my OWN power!" "Is he serious?!" asked FG. "Yes," replied Arino. "So long as his own magic remains, he cannot be killed, for he can only die of old age." "HAH!" squawked Meen. "So now what?! You have NOTHING! YOU LOSE!" "No."

FG and Arino nodded as they had already decided their attack. The time to strike was now, as they dodged towards where Twinsen was hiding whilst James slashed hard at Thesaurus, causing it to follow in beastly retaliation. Swiping furiously with what little strength remained, the monster growled towards the three remaining former prisoners. Arino nodded as James brought out both the Wand of Gamelon, and the Book of Koridai. Meen gasped and stuttered with panicked trepidation. "Wh-wh-wh-WHAT!? WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT WAND?!" "A friend kept it safe," said Arino, "for the day we would use it against you." "FINE! DO YOUR WORST YOU SCUM! You can't even read that damned book!" "I can't. But he can." Twinsen stepped forwards as his leader indicated to him, taking the book as Arino took the wand, its grey sturdy length grasped within his hands as the purple crystal ball atop faced towards Meen. Twinsen began to read from page 158, uttering in some strange language that James could not comprehend, no matter how long he would be able to hear it. "Tlon...Uqbar...Orbis Tertius..." Twinsen began to repeat this strange phrase over and over again, slowly rising in urgency as he felt a strange burning sensation arise within his blind eye. Meen started to shake with fear as a golden light began to glow from the wand before him. "Tlon...Uqbar...Orbis Tertius. Tlon...Uqbar...Orbis Tertius!" "S-STOP IT, FINE YOU WIN, I'LL LET YOU ALL FREE, I'LL NEVER DO WRONG AGAIN, JUST PLEASE!" "TLON! UQBAR! ORBIS TERTIUS!" Meen's fingers dug firmly into his face, screaming with a wretched cry Twinsen roared back at him, scrunching up his eyes hard as a furious light burned through him. He desperately held Arino's hand, both of them shaking with an incandescent power. "TLON! UQBAR! ORBIS TERTIUS!" With this final incantation, the Wand of Gamelon shone towards Meen and shot out a binding golden chain, wrapped around both him and Thesaurus who shared the same magic as him. The book began to lift from Twinsen's hand, rising into the air and facing its open pages towards Meen himself. A powerful cloudy vortex suddenly spiralled forth from a single projected rectangular screen within its pages, thunder and lightning soon burning from within. Meen struggled to free himself of the magical chains, tightly restraining his arms as his power grew weaker. "NO! PLEASE SPARE ME! NOOOOO!" His beast also struggled to move away, roaring and crying out in protest as its dragon skull was soon pulled deep within the book itself. Growing smaller and smaller, before being warped into some strange form of energy, its roar began to echo as if from far away, disappearing into the dark lightning storm from the Book of Koridai. As its body soon faded along with the remains of its tail, I. M. Meen was next, as he screamed his final words. "_NO! NOT INTO THE PIT! IT BUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH! _"

With his screaming fear soon fading away into the oblivion of the book's page, his form soon vanished after, chains and all as the lighting cloud began to recede. Spiralling back into its pages, the book soon shut itself before falling onto the floor, its blue-jewelled centre shining thinly upon a leather-bound surface. The room now fell silent, the remains of tattered pages falling from all around them. James, Arino and Twinsen, all sighed with a strange uncertainty of relief. "Is...is it over?" asked FG first. "Yes," said Twinsen. "It's over. Are you alright Arino?" "I am fine," said the leader, "I jus-...you spoke my name." "Of course I would, that is your name is it not?" "...I...are you...is your mind back to normal?" "I...guess it is, why?" Arino's face creased into more wrinkles, but this time of joy as he suddenly embraced his younger friend, gasping with relief as he buried his nose into his shoulder. "Hoh...Twinsen...I feared that...your mind would never come back...but...wait. Does that mean that the magic of Meen is...no more?" "Should be!" said a voice from above. "You took him down right?!" "Well yeah!" said FG. "Hey, are you really that guy Alestes called Dizzy?!" "Who else am I gonna be?! Here, take this!" He threw down a potion towards FG who caught it without fail, glistening red which he recognised from previous floors of Meen's lair. "Your pals over there are gonna need it to get their magic strength back!" James hurried over with a start upon realising this, and hastily began to feed both birds the rejuvenating potion, sharing it half and half. It only took but a few seconds for them to come back to fuller strength, revived from their weakened magic and gazing up towards the now-emptier room. Testing their wings softly before attempting anything else, they stood up fully to gaze all around them. Arino and Twinsen hurried over towards their tribe, the remaining lemmings now free of the hourglass that had suddenly melted away when Meen had disappeared. "What happened?" said Sophelie. "Where is Meen?!" "He is gone," said Arino. "Now trapped forever within the Book of Koridai where he deserves...and where he shall remain until age shall finally take his body." "I...see...Alestes, are you alright?" "Much better," said the owl cautiously, "now that we have finally liberated ourselves from Meen's clutches. Is it truly over? Have our years of suffering finally ceased?" "Yep!" said Dizzy from above. "You guys are all free! But not all of us are yet, which is why I've gotta go." "So soon?" "Mmhmm! Everyone else is still downstairs waiting to be freed, and the ones that don't have any magic or are too confused are gonna need help getting back home. Someone also has to guide them up here so we can all go home!" "Will you be alright?" asked Sophelie. "Sure I will! Besides, I still wanna get my hat back! Hope my uh li'l messages around the place helped out a bit." "That was you!?" said FG. "Well...we appreciate the help but, you sure you're alright?" "Sure I'm sure! Besides, I'm not alone, right Zool?!"

Silence came from the darkness of the large room, as Dizzy's shaded form simply shrugged. "Huh, guess he left already! Well you all take care! You guys'll be first to get back home after all. You have to help everyone though Arino. After all, you're the only one that's really handled the Linking Book." "That is true," said Arino. "I will remain here until every captive has returned home. Thank you, my friend." With a wave of goodbye, the shadow of Dizzy faded away into the darkness, returning to the lower levels in order to free the rest of Meen's former prisoners. Arino turned towards Twinsen who stood with the remaining lemmings, all of whom were now wide-eyed and blissfully confused, gasping with wonder at having their eyesight returned to them. Joy and revelation had come to them, as they hugged and kissed each other upon the sights of freedom. "How many of us remain Twinsen?" "...ninety-one," said Twinsen. They all gazed upon the pink wilted ash that had once been seventeen lemmings. A sorrow crept into their hearts before Arino said: "The sacrifices made here shall never be forgotten. Not by any of us. When my tribe return home last, we shall honour those who have fallen." "Glad to hear," said FG, "so now what? Meen's gone and all but...how DO you guys get home?" "Through that." The leader of the lemmings pointed towards the crystal ball, where the strange grey book still floated within. Upon closer inspection, the five prisoners all reaching the upper balcony, it was trapped within a field of blue static from within the sphere, as Arino began to reach inside and pull out the book. Upon the cover, James could see the word MYST engraved upon it, as Arino explained. "This book shall return us back to the island known as Myst. Once there, we may find our way home at last." "Why there?" asked James. "Meen kept his other Linking Books that he created to our worlds there. There is another library he found, deeper within its reaches known as D'ni. It was found abandoned by Meen until he repurposed it for himself, filling it with every book he made of every world he had managed to link to." "Wow...he really was planning all this...I guess none of those books can help me get back to MY world huh?" "I do not think so. I am sorry." "It's fine...god I always feel I get so close and then I just get shoved back once again. I mean...I've helped you all and...managed to free myself too. I don't even know WHERE I can go." "I do." Twinsen stepped up towards him, smiling with a serene enlightenment upon his lips and the monocle still within his eye. "I have discovered something about the monocle Monty gave us." "What's that?" "...it has a map...inside it." "...wh-what?"

James gently looked through it for himself, trying to peer through like it were a telescope as he kept moving it back and forth from his eye. "...I can't see anything." "B-but I can!" stammered Twinsen. "I can see it all perfectly. He carved it somehow, an entire map of Meen's little world within tiny scratchings upon the glass...he knew. He knew how to get out of here. He made a map of every single hidden wall, key and exit that could get him out of here." "...and yet he still chose to stay...just to save you guys." "Yes. ...but somehow, with my eyes now restored I can see something even deeper. Some strange message that lights up when I see the reverse side of it...a message for you." "For me?! But...why?" "I don't know, but it wasn't made by him, it was inscribed by magic. ...I need to use my magic to decipher it though." "Ah huh? ...is that bad?" "My magic has...a tendency to do things to my mind. I have not been able to fully comprehend it but I...that is when I tend to speak in strange words. Yet it all makes sense in the end, if you just listen carefully." "Well...it's up to you man. If you can help me get somewhere else, I-" "Please. Let me do this for you." "...alright." Despite Arino's concerned self beside him, Twinsen nodded with certainty as he began to resonate his magic once more. As he started to try and decipher whatever writing had been left upon Monty's keepsake, the leader of the lemmings spoke to both Alestes and Sophelie. The owl began with: "You do realise that without Meen's magic, you shall age once more correct?" "I know...but...I no longer fear it. For if I can bring everyone back to their homes and lives peacefully before then...then my life will have been worth it. And out of the ninety-two others that remain after I'm gone...we shall rebuild our race. Twinsen would make a fine leader, once his magic is kept in control." "I agree," said Sophelie. "You should begin your preparations for guiding us back home." "Agreed." With that he went to prepare the Book, as both birds gazed into each other's eyes upon realising they were more or less alone, discreetly sweeping towards a corner. "...thank you." "For what?" asked Alestes. "For...for giving yourself up for me. To sacrifice your strength in the face of death...no one has ever done that for me before." "I did not lie to you before Sophelie, and I never have. I love you Sophelie. Whether we return to our forms or not, I will always share my spirit with you." Sophelie rubbed her beak along his face, a kiss once more appearing from the very breeze itself as Alestes sighed with bliss. She asked softly: "Perhaps...you will want to stay with me? You have spoken before on how your world is...not a kind place." "As much as my heart begs...I must make certain that the events I have left behind are not left undone. ...perhaps I can ask Arino to allow an exception between our worlds." "I would love that...my dear."

With their love now fully formed between them, the two mages of winged form began to nuzzle each other softly, as James watched on with a soft smirk upon his lips. A pang of need to be with his own love started to ache in his heart, taking out his picture of Koopin and his family. He sighed before putting it back into his satchel, as Twinsen finally finished his incantation, the words enchanted upon Monty's monocle now coming clearly to him. But not spoken clearly to James. "You. You can fly." "Uh...wh-what?" "You can reach beyond the second star to the right." Despite his voice being more well-spoken, his words still did not make sense to the raptor, gently holding his arms closely to his as he gazed into his eyes. Deep forest green met with a light-filled radiance into simple black dots upon white, the lemming saying: "Look at you hacker, crawling through the nether deep into the mines we craft. You used to wonder what friendship could be, yet your magic can never be shared with me. But you must share your heart, you must share unto others, or you shall never win." "Wh-what are you talking about?" "One day, you will speak of us again, when the ruby mistress shall reach into your darkness. She is a friend of mine, for I do not say goodbye to Ruby Tuesday. Then, and only then, shall we open your heart like it were a book. Remember us. And we shall remember you." "...ooooookaaaaaay then, is that everything?" "Y-yes." Twinsen suddenly blinked and let go, rubbing his eyes firmly as the magic soon left him. "Y-yes, sorry I...hhhh...I still need to learn how to control this without my mind running on its own. That is all." "Okay then I'll uh...guess I'll be going my own way now. Will you guys be alright?" "Yes," said Arino, "I know we will. Meen's reign is no more, trapped within the Book of Koridai. And with my own power restored, I shall be able to send all of us back to our homes. ...except you. I am sorry." "It's fine," said FG, "I just...I feel like someone's trying to stop me now from getting back home, and...it's kinda bullshit to be honest." "I can understand that. Your world, your existence, your very nature is far more alien than one could ever expect. Had Meen managed to link your world via one of these books, I would gladly help you. But as it is..." "It's fine, whatever. I'm just glad that all of you are safe now...most of us anyway. I'll just be going now-" "Wait!"

Twinsen reached out for him with one hand, and said: "I have but one word for you. One word that shall be the key to all that you shall see. ...Kanto." "...huh?" "It came to me, in a dream by a spirit, a dark spirit. Clouded with mystery from beyond this world, yet not by darkness." "W-wait, what?" "I see it now. Why Monty wanted me to have this. He knew I had seen the same thing as him, the dark spirit. But she was kind. She knew you...somehow she knew you. Take that word with you...Kanto, within your mind...and go." "Um...okay, I-...w-wait." That sudden flicker had arrived once more within his mind. In that brief instant of time, as a flash of eternity turned firm within his eyes, suddenly it had all been worth it to come here. Even if he still did not understand why he had been taken along this whole journey anew. "I understand now. ...or at least I want to. I'll leave my own way now. Guys? ...you take care alright?" "We will," said Alestes. "And...I am thankful that we have met, James." With a firm but gently wingshake, James clasped it in turn with his claws and shook softly, doing the same for Sophelie who merely embraced him within her larger wingspan. "Thank you, for all you have done." "Just wish that Monty could have made it," murmured James. "He knows we have...trust me. The gods smile upon this day, and you." "Heh...thanks Sophelie." With his last handshakes towards both Arino and Twinsen, the raptor was finally ready to leave. Checking his inventory one last time, he took a firm hold of the word "Kanto" in his mind and let it take him to wherever it would take him. He stood in the centre of the room down below the balcony, needing some extra space in order to summon his own power. The rift within dimensions would soon open up once more, and take James to wherever he would roam. As the raptor faded away within the black-and-blue tear between existence itself, the former prisoners began their own freedom. Arino guided each and every prisoner of old, who in turn were guided by both Dizzy and Zool, towards their exit. The lemming elder had already formed a connection through the Linking Book straight into the secret library of D'ni, which James had not seen upon Myst Island. All that remained within Meen's world, would soon return to their own. Yet 97 of the many hundreds of prisoners that remained alive would not forget that day. The day the FinalGamer had come to enable their release. The lemmings especially, for generations to come, would speak amongst themselves of him, as well as they would of Arino, Twinsen, Alestes, Sophelie, Gnorris and Monty. The last two would remain until Meen's world was finally cut off from the rest of existence by Arino, who after sending every former captive home, began burning the book that lead to Meen's lair. In time they would write stories about them. But they would never write about Ignatius Mortimer Meen ever again.