Ambiguous Endings (Solving the Impossible?)

Another thread about my new novella project. I apologise for the influx of these if anyone has noticed how many I've made. I seem to have written myself into a spiritual or philosophical conundrum. The story is so personal that I've reached a deep question I can't answer myself and so am unable to make any progress. Perhaps I should have chosen a simpler idea.

• My protagonist has entered a fantasy world and has, with recent changes, moulded it to his liking.
• His brother and a friend enter the portal to find him. They eventually reach the locus or nexus of his creative power, having defeated negative forces which symbolise the introverted, agoraphobic Alan's fears in the outside world. Not recognising each other, Alan confronts the two and a brief fight ensues from which he escapes. He then summons two image forms of his brother and his friend, a reveal which is supposed to symbolise the power of the brotherhood of the three together; he is using these as his last and best defence. The brother and friend lay down their arms and the three unite.
• But here's the problem. Alan can't leave. He won't. No matter how much I rationalise this, he wouldn't leave the fantasy world. As I said elsewhere, Alan loves the fantasy world and even accepts the negative forces which come from the outside (his inner fears, dislikes and past anxieties) because in this world there is a nobility to them. The hero fighting the demons in order to save a beautiful, strange, heightened fantasy world. The novella goes further than escapism because Alan believes that even bad is good.
• Here's the real issue. Robert, his brother, also wouldn't want to take Alan from this. He also loves the world for other reasons. The only way out of this is that Stephen, the friend of both, might leave first and this starts a chain reaction. But I don't want this to be the role of Stephen. Essentially, I'm writing this for two real people who are very much in favour of the otherworld concept. I've essentially created three characters who aren't able to leave the world or don't want to... And yet for change to occur they need to.

I know there's so many options and I'm probably limiting myself, but I personally would be in Alan's skin here. I can't figure out a reason to leave the world. I can only think of some external event which brings them out of it, but this feels wrong. Oh dear. I wonder if I could end the story after they reunite.

Edit: I just wrote this. I may find problems, but this works in some ways.

What if Robert leaves. This is his act. He realises that in order to heal Alan he needs to leave. He understands that Alan won’t leave. He believes that Alan must face his fears in the outside world. Now that Alan has realised the power of connection with others, Alan must come out. The story ends with Alan visiting Robert, leaving his house for the first time in years.

 

Indeed. Thanks. I think I answered my own question in the original post! I wonder if there's something to be said for the fact that Alan, in the fantasy world, could consider this other life to be a new and fresh story. A place where he rules. I imagine Robert saying something to the effect of, "But you've already started a story and it needs to be finished. The three of us together, growing old. We can keep this place within us."

Edit: Still open to suggestions from anyone though.

 

Love interest? Like he sees a hot girl or guy and leaves the world to chase the object of his lust and falls in love?

Sorry....all I could think of....

 

Since the fantasy world is built on his emotions/thoughts/feelings, once his friend(s) leave, you can have the world slowly start falling apart. They're the lynchpin to his emotions. You can deal with him struggling to come to terms with it, alternating between wanting to stay in the world, and wanting to be with his friends. After they leave, have him turn to talk with the friend(s) about something and realize....they're no longer there. This would be the trigger for the world to slowly start devolving. Have him create friend-dopplegangers only to reject them because they're not real and he knows they aren't.

 

I quite like this idea and its various facets, Thorn. I'll definitely keep it in mind. I just wonder how to incorporate it though since the story takes place from the brother's perspective, the one who instigates the search for Alan. Thanks.

 

I would suggest having a few chapters throughout the book from Alan's view, this would allow you to then address his state of mind as the only real way I see of getting Alan to leave, short of his brother physically throwing him over his shoulder and dragging him kicking and screaming back is to have him choosing to go.

Potentially you could, after Robert leaves, have a timeskip where Alan shows up on his doorstep in the real world and have them sit down and Alan explain why he came back.

 

Originally I was going to have the novella in two halves, one Robert's viewpoint, the other Alan's. Decided against that, however, since I don't think it works well with character development and the three act structure. I eventually decided just to stick with Robert journeying with Stephen as it makes things simpler. Also, I think it'd be a good idea to have Alan's side of things be understood by the landscape since that's the concept of the book. We'll also learn about him as Robert searches his old abandoned house and whatnot. I'll still consider Alan's viewpoint as an option, but not sure how to work it into simple tension building structure. It might also interrupt the flow of Robert and Stephen's trials.