Chapter Text
“Evbo!”
…
“Evbo?”
A ragged breath.
“...Are you okay?”
Another slow, heavy breath. The sheets ruffled.
Evbo was. Really, truly, he was. There was no need to react like how he was currently. This was no biggie! He’s brushed off death many, many times before, there was nothing different about this one.
–remembering. Remembering trembling hands clutching his own. Wide eyes, creased brow, quick breaths–
Evbo willed his body to the side of the bed. It didn’t hurt.
He was almost thankful the guard was there with him this time. If he had been alone, it would’ve taken longer to respawn, and… longer for him to die. Which would’ve severely stunted his progress to the gold level! It was good that he was there. It was good.
–indiscernible muttering, confusion as both their eyes landed on the sword, then recognition, a whimper under his breath–
His feet brushed against the floor. He slowly planted them against the cold rock. It didn’t hurt.
He heard a sigh. The slightest sound of clothes shuffling against the door.
…
“...Come out whenever you’re ready,” along with a whispered please, barely audible.
Why couldn’t he just stand up? He should be used to this by now. He was used to this by now. No reason not to be.
–the prick of a blade, piercing his skin, warm, wet, blood, trickling down his hoodie, horrified eyes,–
Evbo stood. Feet set not-so-firmly on the floor, he ventured a step forward. It didn’t hurt.
Another, another, until he was right up next to the armor stand next to his bed.
He hefted his sword up. Wood. He used to be worried about getting splinters when he first got here. (When he first got here. PVP civilization. When? How? How did he get here?) It seemed a silly thing to worry about now. Three taps to its chest, one, two, three, and the comfort of immortality settled in his mind. Sword placed back in its sheath, he spun to the door.
–it was on his hands, his sleeves, and the last thing Evbo saw was hesitance, guilt, and the slightest hitch of an angry breath,–
Just another respawn. Another chance. No big deal. A swing to open the door.
It lifted slowly, stone grinding upon stone, and Evbo’s stomach sunk.
On the floor, just to the right of the door, sat the guard. He was sitting quietly, one knee propped up while the other lay forward, back and arms slumped against the wall. And he was covered in blood. Evbo’s blood.
Mainly just his hands, certain splotches of his sleeve, and smeared hand marks on his pants where he had assumedly tried to wipe it off. A few droplets adorned his cheeks. It smelled of metallicy-iron.
Evbo’s mouth was slightly agape as he stepped out. The guard looked up at him through his sunglasses and made a small sigh.
“Hey.”
“...Hi,” Evbo cringed. Oh god. That was his blood. And man, there was quite a bit of it. He sunk down to the floor next to the guard.
“Are you okay?” The guard had the audacity to think Evbo was the one who needed comfort right now. Evbo eyed the splatters of crimson on his uniform, feeling a little bit sick.
Evbo smiled a half-hearted reassurance. “I’m… good? Nothing hurts– if that’s what you mean.” Swallow the agonizing memories. “All the pain does go away after I…” he laughed in the same half-hearted way, “...respawn.”
The guard frowned and didn’t speak for a moment.
“That’s good.”
“I mean, it's no big deal. Fall damage is usually pretty quick! This just happened to be the outlier. Doesn’t usually work out like that,” Evbo chuckled. The guard didn’t reply. A breath, “Minor setback! You–you were right when you said we shouldn’t go to the shops.” Swallow the hurt, the ringing ears, numb hands. “A stupid decision on my part. Especially the parkour. The ladder was obviously the better option!”
Still no reply.
Maybe he was going about this all wrong. If he couldn’t play it off like always, what else would work? He didn't want to… disappoint him.
“...Are you okay?” He prompted slowly, unsurely.
That got the guard’s attention. His gaze drifted down to Evbo’s hoodie. He sucked in a shaky breath and paused to find the right words.
Evbo waited.
The guard started.
“It’s weird to see you so… reckless. So careless. Ready to throw your entire self away at the drop of a helmet. Like I said its freaky, its scary, it–” He shuddered. “Most of the people I’ve seen… pass through here, fear it. Their sword, their life, their world.”
“I mean, how do you even deal with dying over and over and over again?” His gaze bore down onto his splattered red hands.
Evbo felt something build in his chest. I don't. He reached around, noticing a subtle weight in his pocket. Hands tucking into them, he produced a slightly damp towel. With not much else to do, and not much else he wanted to do with this all-consuming guilt in his stomach, he slowly reached out and started to smear away the scarlet spots.
The guard seemed to barely register it. His eyes remained locked on Evbos chest, where a rip in the fabric had just resided. He took a deep breath.
“Look, it's not like I'm unfamiliar with death. I’m a guard. I… I do this for a living. Not just a living, doing this is my life. But this shouldn’t be your–” he made a vague gesture with his hands, “life. PVP civilization isn’t forgiving. Once your sword is gone, you are gone, whether it's by another person’s hands, or your own wants and desires. That is how it’s always worked. That is how it's supposed to work.”
“You… don't make sense.” He bit his lip. Hesitation. “And that's scary.”
Evbo absentmindedly blotted at the splatters of blood that had reached the guard’s sleeves.
“Unpredictable. Unstable. A new, unknown variable. Some people would consider those traits part of what makes a chosen one, or something like that. A savoir who deviates from the blueprint. I think that just makes you stupid. Stupidly real. Stupidly special.” He spat out.
“All you’re doing is giving people false hope,” His gaze finally pulled away from Evbo’s chest, shifting up to meet his eyes. “And hope is a dangerous thing.”
“You give me hope. Stupid, stupid, unreliable hope.” His words have no venom in them. “And that scares me.” It breaks a bit.
The silence was heavy.
“How am I supposed to get anywhere with hope?”
…
Evbo reached up and rubbed the towel at the few blood spots that had managed to make their way onto the guard’s cheek.
The words sunk their way into Evbo’s mind.
He pulled the rag away. The red had seeped into most of it, and part of him wanted to wring it out, but another part of him thought the better of it. More mess to clean up later. He placed it to his side, eyes still locked with the guard.
A shaky breath.
“I'm sorry.”
The words were thick like molasses in his mouth. Something tickled at the back of his throat, and he knew that meant he was gonna cry. But he couldn’t cry! Not in front of his almost guard-friend.
He wanted to pause and find the right words, but he found himself already starting to speak.
“I'm sorry you had to do… that.”
The guard didn’t respond. He continued on.
“I’m sorry I kinda suck at PVP. I’m sorry we’re stuck here. I’m sorry I haven't been finding a way out as quickly as I’d hoped. I’m sorry you’ve had to open that door so many times, and I’m sorry that I’ve never learned your name, and I’m sorry that I’ve given you hope, and–”
Then he choked on his words, and the train of thought was stopped by the blurry wetness of his eyes.
He didn’t wanna cry. He wasn’t gonna cry. Why would he cry? That was stupid. This was stupid. All of it.
“--And it does hurt. It, really, really does. Every time. And it's never hurt that bad before, it's always been quick, and easy, and something I could swallow. And I don't. Deal with it, I mean. I don’t. ‘Cause there's no point, really. I can deal with it once I’m out. Once we’re out.”
Evbo held back a hiccupy-sob. “And I’m really trying to get us out. But this, this, respawning is my only qualification,” not that he didn’t think he was capable. He was surely sure that he could do it. Surely.
What did he do to deserve all of this faith put in him? All that Evbo had done was die and come back to life. How does that make him worthy? Worthy of this faith? He could admit, he wasn’t thinking about the rest of PVP civilization while he was trying to escape. Just himself, and Tabi, and now the guard. The people on the iron level wanted to leave as well, didn’t they? The woods, the stones, maybe even the levels below those.
Where even was he? There had to have been something before this. Something better.
A careful hand was placed on his shoulder and Evbo blinked hard. The weight was warm, oh-so-warm. He leaned into the slight embrace. Maybe a tear was falling down his cheek. Just maybe.
The guard shifted himself closer. Their shoulders touched, and Evbo practically melted. It was burning hot compared to the empty void of the in-betweens, of his bed, his blood. The extent of his physical contact had been either being stabbed or caught while tripping. This was different. How could he have ever been comfortable while cold and numb? Compared to this warm and feeling?
“Raymond.” He heard from next to him.
Evbo processed.
“...What?”
“My name. You asked. It’s Raymond.”
Evbo processed even further.
Raymond.
Then he laughed a bit.
“Raymond.” He tasted the name in his mouth. “Raaaaymonnndd.” He laughed a bit more.
The guard– no, Raymond groaned slightly. “What? What were you expecting?”
Evbo wiped the wet from his eyes. “No–no, no, it's fine, it fits!” He grinned, “Now we both know each other's names.”
Raymond flushed a bit and scoffed lightly. “It's hard not to see your name when it's floating above your head all the time,” he vaguely pointed toward it.
“Does this mean we’re friends now?”
“Huh?”
“You said that we couldn’t be friends ‘cause I didn’t even know your name,” Evbo recalled. “Now that I know… are we friends?”
The guard ducked behind his shield slightly to cover his reddened cheeks. “I mean… maybe?”
“Let's gooo!” He cheered. “I’ll take a half-hearted maybe over a no!”
“Well, wait just a minute! You–don’t know what my favorite color is yet.” Raymond stumbled out an excuse. “How can we be friends if you don’t know what my favorite color is?”
Evbo gaped. “I guess I’ll just have to learn that too, then,” he smirked a little. “Mine’s green, by the way,” and then he stood. It felt wrong to pull away from their half-embrace, but the nagging feeling in his stomach and heart had started to kick in, and the only way to stop it was to distance himself a bit. He straightened out his slightly aching legs, shook out his guilt and sadness, and outstretched a proud hand to the guard.
Raymond blinked and raised his eyebrows. “I know,” and took Evbos’ hand.
They were both pulled up to a stand, and suddenly realized they were still on the wood sword level, and there were still PVP noobs wandering above and below them. Raymond looked to Evbo.
“You should probably get going. The gold level’s easy water jump isn’t gonna land itself.”
Evbo started to scale down the ladder, the guard following closely behind.
“I already told you, there is no water down there!”
“Uh-huh. Sounds more like a skill issue to me, bud.”
Evbo rolled his eyes and landed firmly on the grass with a thump. Raymond stepped down carefully, wandering a few steps toward the guard passageway entrances.
“I’ll meet you by the stone sword entrance, ‘kay?”
Evbo nodded and started to trudge through the field. He had made it a few feet before jumping in remembrance and spinning back around.
“Oh, ah–uhhh, by the way,” Evbo caught Raymond’s glance. “I'll be more careful now. I guess. And not die. To something stupid,” he finished lamely.
Evbo caught a small smile grow on the guard’s face.
“Thanks.”
Then he disappeared behind a stone door, and Evbo was left standing alone. Cool. Cool cool cool.
His second friend in PVP civilization.
Cool!