Chapter Text
...
Avery was laying in the grass, staring up at the sky.
There was no sun, no clouds, just a flat, empty blue. It would be unnerving to look at in any other scenario, but right now, it made Avery feel calm.
It wasn’t real, of course. Nothing here was real, not the sky, or the blades of grass he was lying amongst, or even the feeling of laying down like this. It was but a conjuring of his brain.
Or, not quite his brain.
The King had begun to wander off more frequently, every now and again coming back to check on Avery, to which he would always tell it to go away. It was far away right now, but not fully gone. Avery could still feel it in the back of his mind, he always could.
He... didn’t like how it felt.
Even though they didn’t share the same consciousness right now, close contact with each other seemed to... accelerate the process of them merging together. Avery had noticed this when the King had leaned over him once, a headache pressing into his skull until eventually the King disappeared again and the pain was gone.
So all Avery had to do was keep his distance. Though that would probably become difficult whenever he was woken up from his coma.
As if on cue, Avery felt a needle stick into his arm.
That was another thing. A day must have passed, because the testing that that woman mentioned had begun, where routinely Avery felt invisible needles injected into him, probably from scientists taking samples of his blood.
This became less than ideal for Avery as he was reminded of how much he hated getting injections when he was little. But just like back then, trying to avoid it always made the pain worse.
On the other hand, he wasn’t even getting a lollipop for his “cooperation”. Stupid scientists, harvesting his body against his will.
... But it did remind Avery that he was starting to lose track of time. By now, it could have been closer to a week that he was stuck in this coma. He wondered what was going on in the outside world right now.
Derek was likely doing no better than he was. He shared the same infinite knowledge as Avery, so he must have experiments being done on him as well. And his family-
Shit, his family were probably worried sick by now.
Avery didn’t want to admit it before, but he had completely ditched them on New Year’s.
All of his siblings had gone over to their parent’s house that morning to help cook and prepare for the party, and probably had so much fun chatting and catching up and watching a movie or two together, as a big, happy family.
And what had Avery done?
He’d woken up bright and early just like them, all so he could log onto Minecraft and spend the entire day looking for someone he had never met, never spoken to, knew as much as nothing about.
By now, at least one of them would have gone to his apartment and found it empty, or blocked off by government officials, or something of that sort.
At least, Avery hoped his family cared that much.
After doing the bare minimum to keep contact with them in the past three years, Avery wasn’t completely sure anymore.
Familial troubles, I see. How... human of you.
Shit!
Avery opens his eyes to find the King staring down at him again. The headache starts, but Avery jumps to his feet and backs away just a tad. Even if it wasn’t much, the headache stops egging at him as strongly.
Why so dramatic? I mean no harm.
“I think we both know that’s total bullshit.” Avery snaps. “You want to take my mind and use my body to destroy the world. That is harmful to me, if you didn’t already realise.”
If I truly wanted to take your mind, I would have by now.
I have said it before and I shall say it again; for your mind to have held strong against the influence of a god means you are not like the others.
You are special, and I want to learn why. Nothing more, nothing less.
Suddenly, a long table appears, with two chairs at each end and platters of food in between. Before Avery can fully react, the King has already sat down. It gestures with a hand for Avery to do the same.
“Why?” Avery can’t help but ask.
Even if this is not our true reality, I still desire the feeling of taste. And, I would like to have a more formal conversation with my vessel.
Hesitantly, Avery takes a seat. All of this feels a bit too formal for his taste, and his chair is just big enough that it makes him appear small by comparison.
Though the food should smell delicious, it gives off no aroma. Again, he is reminded of past dinners with his family. The food that they made together always smelled so good... he misses it a lot.
It is foolish to continue dwelling on the past, vessel. You will not be able to go back to your family even if this ends.
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me.” Avery scoffs, and without entirely thinking it through he grabs an apple from one of the platters. He stares at it for a moment, then takes a bite.
The flavours that begin to run down his tongue aren’t any more real than anything else in this world. Even so, it relieves the tension just enough for Avery and the King to fall into silence, eating their fill while ignoring the other.
Eventually, something the King said before piques Avery’s interest enough for him to ask a question.
“You mentioned ‘others’?” he asks. “I’m not the first vessel?”
Of course not. A being such as I has consumed many worlds before this one, and the only way to do so is to find and take a vessel. That is how I have taken the form that stands before you.
Avery stares a little closer at the King. He is draped in endless layers of yellow fabric, flowing to the ground and collecting at his feet (does he even have feet? Avery can’t see any). He wears a hood to conceal his face, and atop this hood is an exquisite golden crown.
Staring underneath the hood, Avery cannot see a face, only pure black. It’s like a mask, yet Avery knows deep down the King is not wearing one. But just barely, he can make out something like skin. He wants to know what’s under there-
Realising himself, Avery backs away before his curiosity can overtake him.
Careful now. My true visage is not for the faint of heart.
“Wasn’t planning on looking.” Avery doesn’t try to make eye contact as he grabs a piece of bread. They both know he’s lying.
Alas, that vessel’s body has long since decayed. I replicated it out of a twisted sense of... affection, you might call it? I can never tell, emotions do not come easy for me, as you may have observed.
The King cuts into a piece of meat with a knife that Avery is sure wasn’t there before. It unnerves Avery how upfront the King is being.
What does it want?
I want to know more about you. Because you refuse to let our minds merge into one, I cannot access your memories and become more acquainted with you.
“Why would that even matter?” Avery asks, drinking a glass of water that definitely wasn’t there a few seconds ago. “You have infinite knowledge - you can just think for a few seconds and know everything about me.”
But you’d hate that, wouldn’t you?
Avery pauses. Yeah, of course he would hate it.
But it’s probably a bit too late for that. And is there anything better to do? He’s already stuck in this artificial dinner with the King.
“I don’t care.” Avery says. “It’s not like it’ll hurt.”
As you wish, vessel.
The King stops eating for a brief moment. It does not take long before it responds with what it has seen, a hideous sense of interest in its voice.
How fascinating. Two older sisters, an older brother, and another younger brother. Your parents mostly ignored you after he was born, so your home life was likely unfulfilling at best.
Avery winces. That was an unnecessary reminder.
School was not kind either, it appears. You were nice to everyone, but you had no one you could call a true friend.
It must have hurt, being all alone. Giving everything you had for others, and receiving nothing in return.
Some might have thought you naive, but it was simply a product of the kindness you wanted to see in them.
Avery’s heart sinks. He was wrong; this did hurt, even more than he thought.
All you had was this little world of 0s and 1s. Beyond the screen lay anonymity, a shield from the real world you hated so much.
You didn’t have to be yourself anymore, you could be absolutely nobody at all.
In that world, you were safe.
The words the King speaks revive a moment Avery wants to forget.
That church... that book... and those words-
“You are safe here”
He can’t go back there- he can’t-
But then you found that book.
He- what?
Avery snaps back to reality with a jolt. He is sitting at the table still, the food he was eating is still here, the King is still sitting across from him, the grassy plains and the blue cloudless sky around him is still here, everything is still here-
When you read that book for the first time, you did not think much of it.
He is here.
But then the truth was uncovered. Somebody had left that book as a warning for you.
He isn’t going back there.
Someone had returned your kindness, and they did not even offer a name for you to thank them with.
Right... Avery remembers what they were talking about.
Derek had chosen to warn him that day, and he had continued to save Avery time and time again.
That had been the first time someone ever truly cared about him.
A simple warning, and that was all it took for you to give up everything to find Derek.
You wanted to save him the same way he saved you.
Pathetically mortal as you are, you want to prove to somebody else that you have existed.
...
I see now the extent of your loneliness, vessel. Just a little, I have come to understand you more.
That admission sends a chill down Avery’s spine. He doesn’t want to be understood by the King; his hate for it holds strong, after all.
While I still hold disdain of my own for the knight, you care about him in a way that transcends my own comprehension. I will respect that, if nothing else.
Avery is silent now. He returns to his meal, and the King does the same. It seems their conversation is at its end.
...
Then all at once, everything disappears.
The same darkness from the beginning of the coma consumes Avery, and he falls out of his chair.
He looks up, and sees the King standing there, but nothing else remains. The two of them stand in the void, looking about with curiosity.
“Wh-” Avery is confused to say the least. “What happened?”
My focus was disturbed. Such a thing should not be possible, unless...
“Unless what?!”
Avery suddenly notices something strange.
He can hear people talking. Their voices are muffled and hard to make out, but he can hear them.
Your body is being woken up from the coma. They must think you are in a stable enough state for them to ask you questions.
“Wait, but what’s gonna happen when we’re awake?!”
The King does not answer.
This is all happening too quickly. Avery is starting to understand what the voices are saying, but the King’s is growing distant.
I’ll see you when we wake up, Avery.
“Wait- Hastur-”
.
..
...
There is a bright light.
Avery can sense it on the other side of his closed eyes.
They feel as though they are glued shut, and it takes several attempts to open them. When he finally does, the light is close to blinding.
“The King isn’t active. Proceed as normal.”
Then Avery takes note of several faces looking down on him. They’re wearing lab coats - they must be scientists of some kind.
His tongue feels heavy, and he can’t form words properly. He blinks and adjusts himself to the light, trying to take everything in.
You are laying on a table with a variety of medical equipment injected into your body, one of them being a powerful anaesthetic that will put you to sleep if you attempt to resist.
These scientists have woken you from the coma that we were stuck in to question you about my existence. Cooperate with them. They will find out if you are lying.
Ah, of course. The King had become a voice in his head that nobody else was able to hear.
How annoying.
But the scientists wait expectantly, and Avery has finally overcome his initial exhaustion and is able to speak.
“What...“ he mumbles. “What... is this? Where am I?”
Better to play dumb in front of these people, Avery figures. He still shudders at the thought of what they’ve done to people in the past.
“Avery, you’ve been in a coma for the past six days.” a voice says. It isn’t a part of the group that’s looking at him.
The person presents themself at the foot of the table. A woman with blonde hair.
“We’ve been monitoring your brain activity, and we have discovered a peculiar... ‘presence’ that is infecting it.” she explains, and then her tone goes dark.
“Avery...“
“Where is the King in Yellow?”