Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Planned Chapter Outlines

• The Path Not Taken. This is the chapter fragment that I posted last chapter. Q gets the Homestuck/Hiveswap characters back and warns Khonsu to better check the magic next time by showing him an alternate Anywhere timeline where Frankie dies in the hospital due to voidrot. The next scene after the posted one would have been the paramedics taking Frankie to the Anywhere Hospital, where the medical staff perform unsuccessful CPR on her. The news slowly breaks to everyone, with Chakotay calling Kathryn during the school day with the news. Kathryn tearfully breaks it to the Yellow House crew after school, to the devastation of Cooper. Khonsu witnesses himself beating himself up over forgetting to check the enchantments on Frankie and guiding her soul to a gentler afterlife. The entire town is shaken and saddened over Frankie's death. A funeral for her is held at a chapel in Lincolnville, and she is subsequently buried in the cemetery there. After Frankie's funeral, Cooper spirals into grief and depression, becoming quiet and withdrawn and nothing like his old self. One day after school, Kathryn pulls him into her classroom to talk with him, concerned about him, and he completely breaks down sobbing on the classroom floor, confessing to her that he feels so lost and alone without Frankie and that he felt she was the only one who cared about him, and she was the only person he truly cared about. Kathryn pulls him into a comforting hug, and he just sobs in her arms. At that point, Q takes Khonsu back to the original timeline, his point being made, and departs Anywhere.

• Fragments. A chapter of story fragments, similar to Chapter 13 (The Trouble With Theo):

  • Two mornings after the Homestuck/Hiveswap characters disappeared, it is the weekend. Kathryn and Chakotay are sleeping in when the doorbell rings. They open it to find Zebede and the rest of the Yellow House gang, ready to go to school, not knowing that it's the weekend. Kathryn is ecstatic to see them back and hugs them all (or tries to hug, in Cooper and Frankie's case). Chakotay treats them all to breakfast. Over breakfast, Kathryn asks where they were and what happened. Zebede replies that he doesn't fully remember, but he remembers being back where his dreams take place and how terrified he was. He likens it to a long nightmare. The others agree with his assessment. Kathryn notes that they all seem shaken.

  • Azula is working at the Jasmine Dragon the same morning. She won't admit it to herself, but she's worried about Ardata. Iroh and Zuko know this, and earlier, Iroh expressed his worry about the missing people to Azula, which Azula said nothing to. Ardata visits the Jasmine Dragon, surprising Azula. She is visibly relieved to see her safe and back, and yells at her to not disappear like that again. Iroh and Zuko are shocked to see Azula seeming to care about the well-being of another person.

  • Theo meets and communicates with the Kanes about the situation at their hotel.

  • Seven and Nicole talk about the situation, and they debate telling Theo about them having their memories back. With this, Act 3 ends.

• Untitled Chapter 35. Sadie and Carter meet Naomi while she’s waiting for her mother at the Lincolnville dentist office, and they talk to her. Naomi accidentally lets slip that Seven has recovered her memories and Sadie and Carter report this to Theo, who plans on confronting Seven. 

• Untitled Chapter 36. Theo goes to the grocery store while Seven is working and tells her that he knows that she has her memories back. Seven confirms this and tells him that Nicole also has her full memories, deciding to trust him. Theo asks her to come with him and Manon to the next meeting with the Kanes.

• Untitled Chapter 37. The Kanes, the Ibises, Hakoda, Seven, and Phil meet and start to plan a coup against Khonsu. They plan on asking all adults in Anywhere about their feelings on Khonsu in a discreet manner in order to gather support.

Overall Plot Outline

• The anti-Khonsu group (The Kanes, the Ibises, Hakoda, Seven, Phil) finds that the overall opinion towards Khonsu is that he is suspicious due to his position and power over the Anywhere residents, but actual opinions on him are divided. The anti-Khonsu group recruits those who are clearly anti-Khonsu and make plans to sway more people onto their side. I am unsure whether or not they somehow go undetected by Khonsu or if Khonsu picks up on the fact that people are acting suspicious but decides not to act on it for whatever reason.

• Filler and filler-type chapters go here. Some ideas that I had:

  • Michaela gets a job as the dedicated middle school teacher. Slight chaos ensues.

  • School dance…but it's not a regular school dance, but an unofficial one! Everyone above the age of thirteen sneaks out to an abandoned barn and have a dance, with Marvin Xoloto providing music as the DJ. Alcohol and drugs are probably involved. There's the usual chaos from the Anywhere teens as they navigate dating and both platonic and romantic situations. I would have stuck with canon and pre-established ships (for example, Jake and Ziyal), as well as some of my OC/OC ships (they weren't in this fic much, but Nora, Ako, Anna, Gerbert, and Silvia all have mad dating drama between them) and Canon/OC ships (for example, Urania and Victor). Ardata and Azula dance together and have a moment. Platonic? Romantic? Who knows. From a distance, there's a safe adult watching, in case something goes wrong. I was thinking Phil for this. Turns out the "secret" party wasn't so secret but the adults of Anywhere decided to let the kids have their fun.

  • Victor builds his airplane, with the help of Tom Paris. They go on a test flight, which crashes, and both escape with minor injuries. B'elanna and Urania go to the hospital to admonish them for their foolishness but they're secretly impressed. Word gets around. Khonsu hears of it and is amused, as are many other residents.

  • A chapter that emulates a subreddit surrounding Anywhere, called r/Anywhere. There, users debate the purpose of the existence of Anywhere, share theories on Anywhere, and share photographs and information that they glean from visiting Anywhere (the mods discourage people from stalking and harassing Anywhere residents, but people do it anyway). There are two users who seem to have lots of insider information about Anywhere: Unstable-Cabbage3849, who is revealed to be the brother of Mari from Chapter 31, "Spirited Away: Part 2", and i_like_pigeons108, who claims to have a friend who goes to Anywhere School. Cabbage gets his information from his sister's work stories and from picking her up from work and trickles it in slowly, while Pigeons gives out information constantly from what sounds like an insider's perspective on Anywhere. Pigeons acts immature and childlike, and many users accuse him of being an actual child, but he refutes this. It is slowly revealed that i_like_pigeons108's true identity is Jude Harley, and that he is on r/Anywhere to search for answers himself of why Anywhere exists.

  • A series of events happens that gets Anywhere trending on social media. Nike Moolah and Amy Cardenas have a wrestling match. Chixie or Marvin go viral on social media for their music and hold live music events. This causes out-of-towners to swarm Anywhere and cause problems. Khonsu has to step in with magic to ensure things don't get out of hand. The Anywhere security team kicks out plenty of people.

  • Messy Condesce and Dukat break-up, the Peixes sisters and Ziyal have to deal with this, and then the two just get back together again.

• Cora accidentally sees her dad performing magic or doing or saying something that makes her realize he's the one behind everything. She debates with herself on whether or not to confront him about it, and whether or not to tell anyone what she discovered. In the end, she decides to keep it to herself, worried about what would happen if she said anything.

• Eventually, the anti-Khonsu group are able to sway enough residents to their side. There's an inciting incident of some kind, where Khonsu slips up again and everyone realizes that he's behind everything. The coup happens. The majority of residents gather in a mob outside the Abbey house, and the founding members of the anti-Khonsu group confront him. Sadie and Carter have performed magic that blocks his access to his office. Being human and with no access to his office, Khonsu cannot perform sufficient magic to save himself. He tells the gathered mob the truth about Anywhere, and what its purpose is, omitting Cora's role. The residents of Anywhere are displeased with him, and they want to punish him somehow, but Zebede intervenes, giving a speech about how Anywhere allows people to be better than they were in their past lives, since it removes people from some of the horrible situations of their past lives that made people do bad things. He expressed gratitude to Khonsu for allowing him to live in Anywhere. (I purposely foreshadowed this in Chapter 18, "Chess Pieces", when Khonsu uses Zebede's figurine as a pawn). A few others chime in, and there is debate on whether or not Khonsu keeping them in Anywhere against their will, although giving them good lives, was the morally correct thing to do. Khonsu decides to let the residents decide this for themselves and offers to restore everyone's memories. He gives them one day to vote to accept or decline as a group. Until then, he is held prisoner in his own home by the Kanes.

• The Anywhere residents vote to restore everyone's memories. The next night, they all gather on the beach. There, Khonsu restores everyone's memories. This is a very cinematic scene. He glows in the light of the full moon and floats in the sky above the water. He uses his staff to cast a spell on the group that undoes the memory-inhibiting spells done onto their figurines. Everyone's memories of their past lives are fully restored, except for Cora's. Everyone is mostly quiet as they process their memories, although there are a few things that happen:

  • Seven removes her eye patch and reveals that she's had her memories restored for a while. Nicole makes a similar reveal.

  • Phil and Scarlett blush and avoid eye contact, the memories of their past life making their feelings for one another stronger.

  • Same with Janeway and Chakotay, except theirs is because they weren't allowed to date as captain and first officer and they broke that rule in Anywhere. Whoops.

  • Nora is silent as she processes her memories, but then Dr. Bashir gently calls her name. He reveals to her that unexplainably, within his own memories, he got a glimpse of a future of his, where Nora was his daughter (how he got this glimpse? I don't know. Bajoran Orb encounter, if I had to put a reason). Garak approaches and tells her the same. Nora is happy they somewhat remember her, and they all hug.

• After everyone has sufficiently processed their memories, dissent rings out. Some Anywhere residents (such as the Condesce, Dukat, and Aang, to name a few examples) want to return to their past lives and original timelines, while others (like Frankie, Ziyal, and Blair) want to remain in Anywhere. Many others have mixed opinions. Tensions flare, and Khonsu eases them by giving them five days to decide what they want to do, and then he'd hold another vote to let them decide as a group whether or not they want to stay in Anywhere. If majority voted "stay", then Anywhere would continue as is. If majority voted "go", then Khonsu would return everyone to their original timelines in their original dimensions, with their memories of Anywhere erased and only being available to them through dreams to prevent certain groups (namely the cells) from going completely mad from the Lovecraftian horror full memories of Anywhere would inflict.

• After everyone leaves the beach, Khonsu undoes all the spells on Thoth, Manon, and Suzy, and tells them that they're free to leave Anywhere, fulfilling his bargain with Amos and hoping Thoth doesn't go through with his original intention of undoing Anywhere. Thoth, with restored god powers and near-omniscience, tells Khonsu he intends to stick around for the results of the vote, saying that he got attached to the residents of Anywhere and that the results interest him. Manon and Suzy also decide to stick around for the results of the vote, although Suzy is eager to get back in contact with her friends and satyr boyfriend.

• Cora asks her father why she didn't get her memories back, and Khonsu dodges the question. As a result, Cora is very upset with him. Meg, having fallen into a depression, refuses to tell her. Cora asks Thoth to restore her memories, but he refuses as well, not wanting to meddle and risk the wrath of Khonsu.

• Sometime in the five days, Phil and Scarlett finally confess their feelings and kiss. Yay! They promise to each other that wherever they end up, they will remain by each other's side to the end.

• The day of the vote comes. Everyone gathers at the beach in the evening for the vote. Somehow, the votes come down to a perfect tie. Cora abstained from voting and is the tie-breaker. Khonsu decides that Anywhere's fate should be her decision — after all, she's part of the reason Anywhere exists in the first place — and walks with her back to their house for privacy. He gives Cora her memories back, and as expected, she is extremely upset and starts crying. Khonsu explains to her that he made Anywhere for her and to give everyone second chances — including himself. He reveals that Anywhere is a second chance for him as much as it is for everyone else there. It's a second chance for him to be present in Cora's life. It's a second chance for him to be with Meg. It's a second chance for him to be a benevolent leader, to make up for the violence he caused back in ancient times. It's a chance for him to experience what it's like to be mortal, something the gods rarely experience. With that knowledge revealed, he acknowledges the fate of Anywhere is still Cora's choice and asks her what she would like to do. Cora implores him to find another way to make everyone happy and put them where they want to be — the secret third option. Khonsu pushes back against this, but Cora insists, saying that Khonsu himself "found another way" by creating Anywhere, so for him to refuse would be hypocritical. Khonsu acquiesces and promises to try and find a way to return those who want to go back to their original timelines and let those who want to stay in Anywhere stay. The two hug and then return to the beach, where Khonsu announces Cora's decision and says that while he tries to find a way to make everyone happy, everyone will be remaining in Anywhere. The residents are visibly relieved by this.

• Filler chapter where Kane Chronicles Khonsu comes and meets Anywhere Khonsu. It goes as expected, with KC Khonsu mocking Anywhere Khonsu, who is obviously not pleased.

• A day or so after, Anywhere has another unexpected visitor: Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of justice and order — from Khonsu's original dimension. She has the traditional ancient Egyptian female hair style and makeup, but clothes-wise, she dresses in modern professional attire. She walks through Anywhere to Khonsu's house, catching the attention of many. Usually a kind and fair goddess, she is pissed with Khonsu. She scolds him, telling him that Anywhere has caused enough chaos in both their original dimension and across the affected dimensions, and demands Khonsu return everyone to where they came from. Obviously, Khonsu refuses this, asking Ma'at for more time to find out how to make everyone exist in both their original timelines and in Anywhere, therefore restoring order. Ma'at refuses this, wanting to restore order now. Khonsu offers to play a game of senet for the time. If he wins, he gets the extra time — five extra days. If Ma'at wins, she can return everyone immediately. She accepts, and the two play a harrowing game of senet. Khonsu barely wins, and Ma'at leaves, promising to return in exactly five days and that Khonsu better have figured out a way to make people exist in two places at once. If he hasn't, then she will take everyone — by force, if needed.

• Four days go by, and Khonsu has not made much progress, and he knows that Ma'at is going to come and take everyone. He decides to give everyone with magic powers and special abilities the powers back, calling a town meeting and telling them what's going on, instructing them to fight Ma'at's forces when they come. He provides weapons for those who don't have magic powers/abilities but who are trained in combat. He also lets Roku, Kuruk, Kyoshi, and Yangchen back into Anywhere to aid Aang and gives him full Avatar powers back (the spirit of Raava, incorporating Legend of Korra lore). Everyone that can decides to fight. The next day, as promised, Ma'at and her forces show up. There's a fight sequence/montage, very Marvel movie-esque, against Ma'at and her army of shabti. Insert whatever music you want here for the montage. My personal pick is "Intergalactic" by Beastie Boys.

• I couldn't decide on the exact ending I wanted to have, so I'm putting all three potential endings on here

  • Ending 1 (The Good Ending): For being the goddess of order, the concept of Anywhere is just too chaotic for Ma'at and her forces, not to mention the immense powers the residents possess (multiple Avatars, the Diamond authority, the Homestuck characters and their god tier powers, et cetera). Eventually, Ma'at surrenders and meets up with Khonsu to negotiate. Weary of battle, she asks Khonsu to solemnly swear that he will find a way to make it so the residents can exist in both their original timelines and Anywhere at once. She admits that seeing the fervor with which the residents defended their home and new lives gave her new perspective on Anywhere, seeing Anywhere as having aspects of good (and maybe justice). She also makes him promise to return to their original dimension when requested. Khonsu swears, and she and her shabti depart. The town of Anywhere has a moment of triumph, and then Khonsu gets back to work. A conversation with Sisko about his two lives and the omnipresent, non-linear nature of the Bajoran Prophets, as well as witnessing Greg Universe giving a guitar performance and watching the strings of the guitar vibrate, inspires Khonsu to find his solution to the problem — using magic to make the residents exist in two dimensions at once, vibrating their essence across the fabric of space-time (or something like that. I don't know). After testing it, he calls another town meeting to announce what he's doing and saying that everyone's current consciousness would be transferred to what dimension they wanted to be in. Their duplicate would have a duplicate consciousness that accepts where they are. There are no complaints, and he performs the magic on everyone in Anywhere, with the exception of the Ibis family, since they are in their home dimension, and those who are dead in their original dimension and belong to no afterlife. After this happens, life in Anywhere goes on as normal, with everyone happy and all omnipresent beings, like Doc Scratch, Q, and Ma'at, satisfied and leaving Anywhere alone. r/Anywhere tries to parse the events of the past two weeks or so in Anywhere, accounts of which are heavily distorted by various magical protections from Khonsu. Jude tells the truth and everyone thinks he's just a kid writing fanfiction and he is banned from the subreddit. No one on there can agree on the truth and there's enough arguing and fighting to the point where the sub is finally shut down by fed-up moderators. Suzy finally gets to reunite with her friend and satyr boyfriend from her dream from the first chapter. Other stuff happens. Scarlett and Phil make their relationship official. Et cetera. And everyone lived happily ever after! The end.

  • Ending 2 (The Bad, Bittersweet Ending): Turns out, the forces of order and balance are too much for the residents of Anywhere. The battle turns in favor of Ma'at, and many Anywhere residents are badly wounded. Maybe there's a few deaths as well. This time, it's Khonsu that surrenders. Ma'at is surprisingly gentle with him, telling him that she knows he made Anywhere for Cora and that he needed to learn to accept her death and move on, that death was the natural order of things and one shouldn't meddle with it. Khonsu is distraught, but he begrudgingly accepts that Ma'at is right. Ma'at orders him to dismantle Anywhere, and he complies. Everyone is returned to their original dimension, alive and uninjured, their only memories of Anywhere being that of a fleeting dream. He does not get a chance to say goodbye to anyone, especially not Cora. He returns to his original dimension, depressed over the loss of Anywhere. He decides to visit Meg, who is still grieving Cora's death as well. She is surprisingly happy to see him despite him not having visited since Cora's funeral. She cites her dream of Anywhere as why she's so happy, saying how pleasant it was and how nice it was to experience happiness and peace for a little while, even if fleeting. She compares it to Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light" and points to her copy of the Cells At Work! manga on her shelf, saying she remembered the characters being there, revealing that those pieces of media in Anywhere were Meg's doing. Khonsu realizes that Anywhere wasn't completely in vain, and that even if the residents didn't get to stay, it still brought everyone a temporary sense of comfort and peace, and that was enough for him. He decides to stay with Meg and take care of her as she's working through her grief of losing Cora. If he can't take care of an entire town, then he can take care of a single person. That's what he does — staying with Meg and living as a normal resident, not the mayor, in the small mountain town where Meg lives. By doing so, he starts to work through his own grief at losing Cora and losing Anywhere. The end.

  • Ending 3 (The Good, Bittersweet Ending): This ending is a combination of the first two endings. Ma'at and her forces win, like in Ending 2, but like Ending 1, seeing the Anywhere residents fight with so much fervor gave her a new perspective on Anywhere, and Ma'at decides to take mercy on Anywhere. She makes another bargain with Khonsu, saying that she'll give them five more days in Anywhere to say goodbye and then Khonsu will return everyone to their original dimension. If Khonsu tries to get everyone to fight again, or if he tries to have them stay any longer than five days, then Ma'at will take everyone by force. The alternative is Ma'at taking everyone back right then and there. She gives a similar pep talk as in Ending 2, telling Khonsu he shouldn't meddle with the natural order of things. Khonsu begrudgingly agrees to her bargain, and with his help, Ma'at heals everyone (and restores a few people to life) and then leaves. Khonsu announces the decision to the town, to mixed reactions. Nonetheless, almost everyone decides to make the most of their time left in Anywhere before they leave. Filler-type stuff goes here. Anywhere High School throws a graduation ceremony for the senior class, which turns into a celebration of the entire school. Everyone holds their loved ones close and cherishes their remaining time in Anywhere the best they can. As the time nears, the Abbey family becomes tearful and holds one another, knowing Cora will die once more. Scarlett and Phil cling to one another, saddened that they'll be thrown back into their violent, dangerous world. Azula, embarrassed, tells Ardata that she'll miss her, and Ardata returns these feelings. The time comes all too soon, and Ma'at reappears to ensure Khonsu fulfills his end of the deal. Khonsu sends everyone back and undoes all the enchantments he did to them. Like Ending 2, everyone remembers Anywhere as a pleasant dream, and like Ending 2, Khonsu visits Meg, who is happy to see him, and he decides to stay with Meg. This time, he's much happier, knowing that at least everyone got a pleasant send-off and that at least everyone got to experience happiness and peace, even if temporary.

The End