River smashed her keyboard furiously. This wasn't suppose to be happening. Phil wasn't suppose to be dying. The Script had said nothing about this. She watched as the black line that resembled the cursor typed, continuing with the story on it's own, just like it had been ever since she arrived on this world. But this time, River had no power to stop the cursor.

And he let go. The cursor typed, and the black line stilled, blinking as it signaled the end of the chapter.

River reached forwards and started to type, trying to change the future like she had when she gave Punz his bow. Her fingers clicked on the keyboard, her hand glowing blue with her power.

Nothing. River typed and typed, but no words came up. She sat back in her chair, tired. It had drained her energy. Her punishment for messing with the Scroll, she supposed. A wry smile appeared on River's face. It was a fair price, her energy for the future. Only now she hadn't changed anything, and her energy was drained.

This isn't right. She thought. She had always been able to edit the Scroll. The Script was off-limits to her, but she had always had control over the Scroll. Something was going on.

River scrolled up, re-reading everything the scroll had written. Dream's attack, Phil's block, and then his death. She turned to her second monitor, which, like her first, only held one tab. But while her first screen held the Scroll of Life, the second computer showed the Script of Life.

She read the Script carefully, scanning through the lines, picking each word apart to see if she had missed anything, but River found nothing. There was no hint in the Script that Philza was going to die. River re-read the notes that the Script had written for this chapter.

TQE retaliates against the Eaglestars. A full out fight blows out, and then Iskall & Doc arrive with their respective sides to fight. It turns into a free-for-all with the three sides. The fight ends when Stress comes running, saying that Schlatt has taken possession of the bombs.

All that had happened. The Queen's Entourage had fought the Eaglestars, and there was a full out fight between the thirteen members. Iskall, Doc and Fundy had arrived, just like the Script said they would, and started to fight, making the whole battle a mess. Stress came and told everyone that Schlatt took possession of the bombs, but that wasn't what stopped the battle, like the Script indicated. Instead, it had been Philza's death.

River pushed herself away from her desk, thinking. The Script hadn't said anything about the death, yet the Scroll had written it. Moreover, she couldn't edit the Scroll, change the future so that Phil didn't die. Even though River knew that it would take an enormous amount of energy to change such a big event, she didn't want Phil to die.

Since River couldn't edit the Scroll, she had two choices left to save Phil. One, to find him and somehow change the battle by participating in it. The Scroll was always ahead of the real world. Right now, the Scroll has written nine chapters more than what has actually happened. Nine chapters. Nine weeks. River would have nine weeks to find where Phil and everyone else lived, and somehow try to stop the events from happening.

Two, ask Derivakat for help.

The Script of Life told River everything in this world. It planned out the people, their powers, and their futures. It was the basic plot that the Scroll wrote on. River couldn't edit the Script of Life, but she could use it to her advantage.

Derivakat didn't know what her power was, but River did. The Script had told her. There, in a blue box that signified her original world, wrote:

Derivakat: Able to enhance other's powers

Able to enhance other's powers. If that was true, which the Script usually told the truth, then River just might have a chance to break through the unknown barrier that stopped her from editing the Scroll.

She had stood up, and was going to open the door to ask Derivakat to help, when a thought crossed her mind. If she was going to ask Derivakat for help, she would need to tell Derivakat about the Scroll. SAD-ist was already suspicious that she was up to something, and River didn't want to bring more suspicion onto her.

The easiest way would be to tell everyone about the Scroll and the Script, but River just didn't want to. She trusted her friends, but the thing was, the Scroll and the Script were just too powerful of artifacts, if that's what they were classified as. And River was the only person who could edit them, or as far as she knew. If they were to fall into the wrong hands, and if she was forced to work for them...

River shivered and sat back down. She couldn't tell anyone about the Scroll and the Script, at least not yet. She had to solve this on her own. Which led her back to the first option.

But there was no way, no absolute way that she could find where Phil was living and figure out a way to stop the battle, or at least Phil's death, in nine weeks. Whoever was in control of the Script, and now, the Scroll, hadn't given her the slightest of hints as to where she was, or where Phil was.

River suspected that there was someone controlling the Scroll right now, not letting her edit it. It had been her suspicion for a long time. The Script had always been read-only to her, but words had still appeared over time.

The Scroll had been accessible to her, but River had chosen not to mess with the future too much, but now it was blocked to her. Clearly someone didn't want her to change anything.

River blinked as the cursor started to type. In all bold letters: of course. You might have messed it up.

What? River stared at the screen.

I said what I said. And here's a warning. Don't mess with Phil's death.

"But he died!" River exclaimed, glaring at the screen.

So he did.

"And you don't even care?!"

Of course I care. But this isn't your business. It's mine and I'll deal with it.

"Who even are you?" River asked, settling back down but still bristling at the screen.

None of your business. I'll deal with Phil's situation. Don't mess with the Scroll.

Then the cursor moved backwards and deleted everything it just wrote, going back to And he let go and blinked there silently, innocently.

River's eyes narrowed. The person in control of all of this had just talked to her, through the Scroll. They had talked about dealing with Phil's death. Does that mean that they (she?) planned on changing Phil's death?

River rubbed her temple. The mysterious visit had left her with a whole bunch of questions, and no answers.

She needed to find out who this person was.

WC: 1188

A/N: this chapter actually hints a lot at my writing process lol, you guys can try and figure that out urself

(special thanks to furlona for helping me plot this out, couldn't have done with without you, mah friend :D)

(i'd like to thank Potteroreocookie for reminding me that it's monday, i actually forgot-)

'edited' on Jan 23rd 2022