Chapter Text
"Are you sure about this?" I asked, a tight knot of worry forming in my chest for the person standing right next to me.
"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, once this is over, I'll come back," he replied, a stubborn, determined smile breaking across his face.
"Dude, what if you lose?"
"Nah I'd win," he said instantly
We stared at each other for a tense second before the room suddenly filled with laughter.— as much as I wanted to stop him. I knew it would be useless, this man was more stubborn than I am. Still, the suffocating fear that something terrible might happen to him wouldn't go away.
𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦... 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦
"Alright, I'll be heading out now. See ya! Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as possible." He said, giving me an assuring look and a final smile before disappearing into the distance.
I watched his figure slowly shrink in the distance. He was gone.
That smile...it was the last smile I ever got to see before he left and never came back.
It was stupid of me to ever picture him returning. Wearing that ridiculous victory grin just to let us know he won (not that I actually believe he would). It felt pathetic to hold onto hope, knowing deep down there was no chance of him returning, of my brother returning.
Maybe...—
"Let's make a deal..." A cold voice cut through my thoughts.
"...what?"
"Let's make a deal. I'll save him from that disgusting pest and let him experience freedom he never received."
"Freedom? Freedom doesn't exist in this world. Don't gaslight yourself."
"Well I can make it happen..."
"...."
"But y'know...this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for 𝘠𝘰𝘶... You're the one dragging him down."
Few moments of silence filled the place before the man continue
"He could have been more perfect. Better. 𝘎𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘌𝘙! But no... instead he's stuck here constantly protecting you."
"Too afraid, too paranoid. Always thinking at any given moment someone would attack. Attack him. Attack 𝘠𝘰𝘶!...now look where that got him."
"...stop.."
"He's out there serving someone like the pathetic dog he is, just so he could keep you safe."
"Don't ever. Call. Him. That..."
"Why?, Because it's true. He's there because of you, while you sit here completely helpless."
"...Im—"
I wanted to say something but he cut me off. Great.
"Now, back to the deal. What's it gonna be?"
I looked up at the taller man—the man I used to serve. The man I had sworn I would never become. Looking at him made me sick to my stomach, I loathed his disgusting, corrupt face. Every word he spoke made me want to vomit.
"Him being freed from that king in exchange for you coming back to us..or you can let him continue to suffer"
I wanted to say no. I wanted to slap the smug look right off his face. But then another voice joined the conversation.
"Come one egg...This is our only chance to save wemmbu"
I turned to the person I respected the most. Feeling a sharp pang of betrayal. I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.
"I know you hate ash...I do too. But this is our only chance to save him. There's no one else left to help us. Parrot's is imprisoned, flame is exiled and being continuously hunted by the law...spoke...I don't know where he is, but I don't think he can help us."
The urge to refuse fiercely clawed at my throat, but hearing those words, I knew Minute was right.
"I'm waiting...' the taller man uttered, breaking the silence. God, I wanted to punch him so badly right here, right now.
Minute's right, no one really can help us. I hated joining back but there's no other way, I wanted to save wemmbu. I'm desperate. In this entire unforgiving world, Wemmbu—my best friend, no my brother— had always protected me, always prioritizing my safety over his own, which I hated because I wanted him to care about himself for once.
Ever since then I've always wanted to repay him, that had been my only goal...and maybe this was the moment to fullfil it.
"So, are you gonn—" the taller man spoke but was interrupted.
"I'll join," I said, staring him dead in the eye. "In exchange for wemmbu's freedom."
A dark smile spread across his face. "You made a great choice".
Becoming back to your past self you hated, just to save someone who meant the world to you.
- [𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙄𝙏 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙀𝘿]
Wemmbu stood in the massive hole made by his beloved stab shot, looking up towards the sky where Flame had just disappeared.
They had just finished another rematch. Flame had insisted on, because he had lost in their previous fight. That demon absolutely despised losing, especially since his opponent had relied on sheer power rather than raw skills—the only reason wemmbu had managed to win in the first place.
"Can you just admit that I'm stronger than you?" Flame snapped, his tone rough and cold.
"Yeah, you can be the strongest," Wemmbu replied, his voice dripping with exhaustion.
Wemmbu admitted it freely. He was completely done with the titles, Done with the fighting.
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Maybe Egg was right. "𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵'
Maybe Mane was right. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦"
To be honest, he didn't care anymore. He was just so tired, all he ever wanted was to live a normal life like everyone but right now he wanted to go back to the End and stay there with Egg and Minute—to just be with his so called family.
While lost in his thoughts, Wemmbu began cleaning out his inventory, tossing away an extra mace he had picked up during the fight. He watched idly as the weapon plummeted down into the hole beneath him, plunging down deep into the darkness of the caves below.
Suddenly a voice echoed through the crater.
Wemmbu snapped his gaze upward. A figure stood at the rim of the crater, looking down at him. It was none other than lettuceK. (𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦)
"Hey buddy," The caracal spoke, his voice pitched high and mocking.
"Uh...hello?" Wemmbu muttered, unable to hide his confusion and growing annoyance.
"oh, wow, you have definitely seen better days," lettuce scoffed, his face twisted into an amused smirk.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Wemmbu let out a dry, forced laugh. He wanted nothing more than to kill that stupid caracal right then and there, but his energy was entirely spent. He was in no condition to fight.
Without warning, the caracal leaped down into the cave, dropping straight towards the lower depths where Wemmbu had tossed the mace.
With lettuce distracted, Wemmbu knew he should leave. He 𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 to run. But his feet wouldn't move, his body simply refused to cooperate, anchored by pure exhaustion.
Moments later, the caracal stepped out of the shadows, standing right in front of him. lettuceK was holding the very mace Wemmbu had just thrown away. (Oh great)
"Thanks for this, by the way. Anyways..." The caracal wore a smug expression that made Wemmbu's knuckles itch to just hit him with his mace.
"Uh...huh."
"So, your entire army just died" Wemmbu said not even bothering to hide his exhaustion this time.
"That's unfortunate, right?" Lettuce replied, his tone dripping with mockery. Looking at wemmbu's obvious vulnerability with amusement. (𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵). "But with the way you look right now, I don't think I even need an army to take you with me."
𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥. Wemmbu desperately wanted to run, but his limbs felt like lead. Fighting back wasn't even an option.
"So, what's gonna happen now is, uh...." The caracal drawled, that insufferable, smug smile widening across his face.
"𝘌𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦."