Bastian's Mother is in a car accident. Bastian then meets Mr. Coreander, the owner of an old book store. Mr. C gives Bastian a book called The Neverending Story in exchange for a broken video game. Bastian's mother tells him that the book will guide him. Later, he wakes up and his mom is gone. He attends her funeral and has a hard time coping with her death. He begins reading TNES and becomes involved with the characters and events that occur in a mystical land known as Fantasia. He discovers that the land is in grave danger and his being ripped to shreds by dark force known only as ""The Nothing"". The Childlike Empress of Fantasia chooses a young warrior known as Atreyu(son of all) to combat the nothing to and to find a cure for her illness which seems to coincide with the poisoning of the land.