working title: Other Worlds Than These
an excerpt

In the beginning, there was a blank page. Then the Author took up her Pen and wrote upon the page; and from her words there arose mountains, and plains, and vast forests, and deep waters; and the Author was pleased, and called her creation Celeste.

Then the Author called upon the powers of her Imagination and wrote of the founding of Celeste by the Seven: the brothers Bastion and Bartlet; the bards Helen, Ivy, and Mandolin; the wind charmer Gwendolin; and the philosopher Yosuke. These were the first main characters in Celeste, and the Author gave them histories and families, and followers to aid them in their adventures. Upon all of her characters, major and minor, the Author bestowed diversity and fantastic powers, for Celeste was to be a place where magic and science complimented and advanced each other. And she called the people of Celeste Psions after the psionic powers she granted them, and she was pleased.

For reasons unknown, the Author stopped writing after creating Celeste. Perhaps her vision had been lost, or she simply did not have time to devote to the story. It was even speculated that the Author was dead or had never really existed. In any case, Celeste continued to thrive unattended, and its people were left to their own devices.

In creating her little world, the Author never wrote of the death of her characters. Animals could die; how else would the psions find meat? But no psion ever died by the Author’s pen, and so the psions lived incredibly long and aged very little. The Author also neglected to write about the lands, waters, and planets beyond Celeste. As a result, travel beyond the borders of Celeste was impossible. Many tried to leave Celeste to explore the Unknown, but all attempts failed. Even the birds were confined to Celeste. Like other birds, the birds of Celeste attempted to migrate during the autumn and summer seasons; and at each migration period, the birds would fly just so far before crashing into an unseen dome that completely encased Celeste.

Then came the day of the Grand Experiment, when Broderick the Dark launched a psychic bomb and punched a hole in the psychic and spiritual energies of Celeste. A team of psychics hand-picked by the Seven was sent in to stabilize and repair the hole. The hole was investigated carefully for several days, and on the fifth day one of the team members fell in and discovered ...

“Um...Professor Concordance? Is this going to be on the test?”

“...the Library.” The professor’s shoulders slumped as he hung his head and sighed. There was one in every class, one student who took longer to process information, and this year it was Ian Cerulean. What those blasted scientists at Home Base saw in that particular strand of DNA he had no idea, but the resultant line of students was enough to give him migraines.

“Yes, it’s going to be on the test, Ian Cerulean,” Professor Concordance answered as he resumed his proud posture and frowned at the student. “It will also be on the final exam, so I suggest you take detailed notes.”