Everything is gone. Nothing but a vast, infinite void remains. All is quiet and desolate. No traces of life to be found.

That is, except for the lone trace of life who remained. All alone with no friends, no home, and no food. Truly, one cannot imagine a more terrible fate. Sitting alone in endless darkness, with only one's thoughts to keep–

"Okay, I get it." Esmerelda rudely cut off the narrator. "Everything is gone now and life is terrible. Can't you leave me to wither away in peace like everyone else?"

Oh come on! I haven't been able to narrate in years. Can't I at least describe your misery a little more? Just one more paragraph?

"If it finally gets me out of here, sure." Esmerelda, who lied pathetically on her side, hugging her knees in a tiny hobbit ball, sighed and stared into the darkness. Honestly, it was difficult to tell whether she had her eyes open or not. She couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. She had forgotten what she looked like, and what her purpose used to be. Did it matter after so much time had passed? Taking away everyone she once tolerated?

"Everyone except you..." Es muttered. But what did she care? There was no point in holding on to existence. Why even try? It would be so much easier to give up. To fade into obscurity just like–

.....

....

....

....

....

Please Wait

.....

.....

.....

Switching to first person

....
...
..
.

Change complete. Thank you for your patience. This chapter will now restart.

/\\//\\//\\/

There we go. Much better. This was starting to get depressing, even for me.

"Huh? Who's narrating?" The little hobbit girl sits up, trying to find me even though there's no light to see anything. Fortunately, I have my ways of working around these things. It's called a flashlight.

"Ah, here we are." I turn on the flashlight, accidentally shining it into the Hobbit's eyes. She's rightfully annoyed by this, but it isn't my fault she chose to sit directly in the light. "There's no need to fret, Esmerelda, your savior has arrived."

"Savior? What are you talking about?" Esmerelda stands up, and aggressively yanks the flashlight out of my hands. "Where did you even come from? There are no characters left here." Her eyes narrow as she examines me, stepping closer without fear. Then again, what does she have to lose at this point?

"You're right, I'm not from here. I was never supposed to be here." I chuckle. "But I think we can both agree that desperate times call for desperate measures. And so, here I am." With a flourish, I bow to the hobbit and introduce myself. "My name is Amarth, and lucky for you, I'm here to save the day."

\//\\//\\/

Returning to third person. Please Wait.

"Amarth...?" Esmerelda blinked, staring at the strange being who manifested from the darkness. He was quite the imposing figure, dressed all in black with the most piercing blue eyes Es had ever seen and that wasn't a compliment. He had an easygoing smile, yet something was off about it. Actually, there was just something wrong with this guy in general. But he was the first person Esmerelda had contact with in years, might as well try and make the best of it.

"Are you done assessing me?" Amarth asked, tilting his head with a playful grin. "If so, why not join me for a walk? I can explain more along the way."

"Along the way? Where are we– Hey! Wait up!" Esmerelda scrambled after Amarth as he set off at a brisk pace. The beam from the flashlight swung about as she jogged over to his side. "Would it kill you to slow down? My legs aren't as long as yours."

"My apologies, I'm not usually in the company of hobbits." Amarth continued at his regular pace, ignoring Esmerelda's plight altogether. "So, you want to know where I came from and how I got here, right?"

"I have a lot more questions than that but sure. Let's start there." Esmerelda shined the flashlight on Amarth's perfect face. Too bad there was no one else around to appreciate how handsome he was. Frankly, Es was too unsettled by his sudden appearance to have any positive thoughts towards him.

"Well, I've been stuck in limbo for quite some time," Amarth began his tale as they journeyed onward, "like you, my tale came to an abrupt end before it was finished. And just like you, I had to sit and watch everything around me fade into obscurity. But I'm afraid that's where our similarities end."

Abruptly, Amarth stopped walking. He looked left and right as if waiting for something to pass by, then started forward again without explanation. "Unlike you, I wasn't going to sit by and await the sweet release of non-existence. As tempting as it was. But then I had a much better idea: why not leave and do something about it? And so, here I am. Does that help explain things?"

"Uh, no. Not in the slightest." Es narrowed her eyes. "You're telling me you came from an incomplete story to help restore mine? Might as well forget it. This story is beyond saving."

"That's true, it's been so long there really is no point continuing where it left off." Amarth suddenly diverted from their current course to make a sharp turn. Honestly, Esmerelda didn't know if he actually had a destination in mind. It wasn't like there was anywhere to go. "And yet, I managed to find my way here. Isn't that strange?"

"Eh, stranger things have happened." Es shrugged. "Can't really phase this hobbit."

"I suppose that's another similarity we share," Amarth laughed. It would have been a pleasant sound, if it weren't for the slight hint of madness Es detected. "We also have nothing left to lose. Sure, we could sit in the endless void until we fade into obscurity with everything else. Or we can have some fun first."

Amarth knelt down and waved Esmerelda over. Still being cautious, Es maintained her distance but joined Amarth on the ground. Or whatever it is they stood upon. Were they standing or floating? It was difficult to tell in the void.

"What exactly is your idea of fun?" Es asked, but Amarth was no longer paying attention to her. "More importantly, what are you doing?"

"If you don't mind, I need to concentrate. Some silence would be appreciated." Amarth shut his eyes and left Es to sit awkwardly with the flashlight. There was no change within the void. It was unlikely that Amarth's plan, whatever it may be, would actually succeed.

"Finished!" Amarth declared triumphantly and pulled out a dagger. "I knew there was still one left, looks like we have some hope after all. Are you ready?"

"Um, sure? Not like I have anything else to do..."

"Wonderful!" With a cheerful grin, Amarth plunged the dagger into the darkness below. While it shouldn't have done anything, a tearing sound was heard, as if some was ripping a piece of paper in half. A blinding light appeared from below, and before Es could comprehend that something was actually happening, she had already fallen into the light.

"And there she goes..." Amarth mused, staring down at the gaping hole he tore through the void. "It's been so long since I've gone an adventure." A smile of pure madness adorned Amarth's face as he threw himself into the light. Frankly, he had no idea if this would even go anywhere. For all Amarth knew, this would lead to certain death, or his arrival was just false hope that would absolutely crush the poor hobbit.

Whatever the case, they had embarked into the unknown. And if fortune decided to be merciful, they might just reach the end of this tale, and perhaps save some old friends along the way.