Chapter Text
"Where...exactly are we going?" Avery asked after Derek had asked for a break from all the personal questions. Of course, Avery had only scratched the surface of a million questions he wanted to know the answers to, but part of him hummed at the idea of taking breaks since it meant Derek would take more time to answer them all.
At Avery's question, Derek let out a small sigh. He looked briefly back at his companion before turning back ahead. "We're almost there. Only a few minutes left."
"Okay..." Avery sighed, slightly upset by the fact that Derek still refused to let him in on where they were headed. He hoped it would be somewhere nice, like the fields of animals from his first night. That was wonderful. Derek was wonderful. Avery slapped the thought from his mind. And he repeated that same mantra in his head as he always did: "I'm not sick. Don't think that. You're not sick." Unfortunately, the slap translated to his physical body, and the smack resounded against the quiet forest. Instantly, Derek spun around.
"Are you okay? What--" His eyes traced over Avery's cheek, growing red from the pain and from embarrassment. "What happened?"
"Sorry." Avery grinned sheepishly. Silently, he hoped Derek wouldn't notice the growing redness
in both cheeks.
"Why would you hit yourself?" Derek asked, stepping closer, and before he could raise his hands to hold Avery, Avery jumped back. He covered the side of his face as he waved his open hand in the air.
"There was a bug, but I'm fine now. It's fine." He said before pointing ahead with a pained smile.
"Let's just keep walking."
Derek gave him a last look. But as his eyes scanned downward, they fell upon the grass block
Avery was standing on. He pointed down. "It’s there. Dig, there."
Avery jumped away from the spot and looked down. It seemed like a perfectly normal bit of grass, but he knew to trust Derek. So, he got on his knees and began to dig. He dug and dug for what felt like forever until his hands hit something solid. Flesh met smooth wood, and he exclaimed, "There's a chest in here!"
He glanced up to share the revelation with Derek, but his knight was nowhere to be found.
"Derek?" He called out, but there was no reply. The forest was silent around him; he was alone.
He looked down to the chest, up to the forest, and back down again. With a sigh, he lifted the box from its place in the ground and set it beside him with a hmph.
"Derek? I found a chest! I'm going to open it without you!" But, again, there was no reply to Avery's yelling. So, he gently pried the chest open.
With a creak, the wooden lid lifted up to reveal a small book.
"Derek! I found a book! You better stop me before I get brain washed again!" He called out, his voice faltering to quiet desperation as his breaths grew worse.
Again, no answer.
Finally, Avery took a shaky breath in and stared at the book. Derek had brought him here for a reason. He knew where the book was hidden. He must have had a plan, yes, this was just his plan. Inside the book was probably a way to save him, he was trying to include Avery in his plan.
So, he picked the book up and began to read.
Dear Avery.
I don't know how long I have before the king finds me. This place--this hell is nothing like he will tell you. It is a lie. All of it is a lie. He wanted your mind, I had to save you. So, I let him in my mind instead. But he knew--he knew how badly you wanted to stay with me. When you were there-when he brought you onto that platform, he left behind a trace of himself in your mind. He is using you, and using this place to move over. The longer you stay, the stronger he will get in your mind. You need to leave now. Wake up, and never come back. The D.M.S. can't save me, Avery. I'm a dead man. But you have a chance. Find the link, save yourself. Wake up.
Wake up. Life is waiting out there for you.
I wish we had more time,
Derek H.
"No." Avery said, he took a breath in and looked around again. “Derek, this better be a sick fucking joke. You did not just drop a bomb like this and disappear so you wouldn’t see my reaction.”
No, this was just a lie. It was a sick joke. Just a twisted way to get him to leave again, just like asking him to open his inventory. He wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, believing in kind words just to be shoved off again. He was going to help; he had to help.
“Derek, look I’m sorry. I know you want what’s best for me. But I can help!” He slammed the book shut and threw it back in the chest. He jumped to his feet and ran through the forest, yelling as he went. "Just let me help! I can help! I can be useful! Really!"
He yelled and yelled until his throat felt like it could bleed. It was a useless effort, but it was the pattern of his life; and, oh, how comforting are patterns to lost souls.
Chase them. Chase their love. They will have to love you eventually. You're just not doing enough. Give, give more. Give it all. Give everything you have until there is nothing left to spill. Give every breath, every drop of blood, every second, every thought. Give them all. They will have to love you then.
Avery ran. He ran and ran through the forest. There--in the trees, a flash of gold. It had to be his knight. He ran faster.
Run, little boy. You must run. Chase him, chase your knight. He will have to look back. He is close; he hears you. There is doubt in his mind. Shout louder. Scream until his ears bleed, and he must turn to face you once more. Do not go out without a fight; chase him.
Avery's stomach curled as his head ached and his throat bled. Thick blood filled his throat as shouts blurred into horrid gurgles.
Chase him, faster, faster now. Give him your every breath, every drop of blood, every second, every thought. Run until the night sky bleeds into the day, run until your mind fizzles to the static of the night. Run. He will have to love you soon enough.
He kept on running; the knight was closer now. The voice was right-his mind was right. He'd had to turn back-he had to. And he did.
"I'm sorry."
Derek whipped around, a sword drawn in his hands. He swung wide and, with a sickeningly wet slice, the metal cut cleanly into gelatinous green flesh and deep into his heart.
With that he woke up.
----
Avery kicked off his sheets as he tossed his pillow across the room. His lungs readjusted to the open air as his heart settled down into a steady beat. His hands roamed over his skin as he felt where the sword had pierced his flesh.
No. No. No. No. He pulled his knees up to his chest. He lost again. He always lost. Why did he always lose? He tried and tried and tried, but nothing worked--no one cared. Derek was the closest he got, and even he ran away again and again. Avery hated this; he hated everything-fuck, he hated himself. He couldn't do this. He couldn't do any of this anymore. He just wanted to sleep; he just wanted to drift off to nothingness and lie there forevermore in the stillness.
Avery shifted to his side. Please, please, he begged. "Let me go to sleep again. Please." But he only spoke to the air around him. There was no knight to save him; there was no switch in his brain he could flip to sleep forever. And his knight would just throw him out again, again, again, again. He lost. Derek didn’t want–No. Derek cared. He just cared in a fucking annoying way, but he needed Avery’s help. He was going to die, for god’s sake. Avery could help.
Avery closed his eyes and took in shuddering breaths. Faintly outside, he could hear the rest of the world move on without him. Cars honked, people talked, doors opened; but it was all muffled, like there was water in his ears. Water that threatened to move to his throat and go down into his lungs, filling and filling until he couldn't breathe. God, why couldn't he breathe?
Avery sat up and clutched his chest. Something, he needed something- Minecraft, Derek. He needed them badly. Some relief. That was all he needed. Doctors and nurses would never understand; he wasn't suicidal. He didn't want to die by sleeping his way through life--no. It was quite the opposite; he wanted to desperately live, and how could he ever live without his knight by his side? His knight who kicked him to the curb--no. It was for good reason, he told himself again; it was to save him. Derek said the king was after him. Derek was being protective. Derek cared, yes, Derek cared about him.
God, you're such a liar. You lie all the time. To mom, to Mari, to Dad. All you do is lie.
Avery shook off the thoughts as he stared into the dark space of his room. He had to think. There must be something he could do to help. Some way to get back and be happy again by Derek's side. Cause hey, who cares about the King? The King could have him for all he cared, it wasn't like anyone would really care about him anyway. Heck, the king would probably give him more meaning for his life than anything else ever could. The King could take it all, if it meant Derek could live. All he wanted, all he cared about was helping Derek again. If he saved this life, this one precious life, everything’d be alright. He could save one person, he could be of help. He could be special. God, he wanted so desperately to be special, for his life to mean anything more than just a kid stuck playing minecraft his whole life. Derek had meaning, Avery didn’t. But he could–oh he could if he gave it up for Derek. Derek had people who cared about him, he had people waiting for him to come back: his mom, his college friends, a girlfriend probably (Derek had avoided the question of his potential love life situation much to Avery's disappointment). Avery didn’t have anyone. He was the right one to die, not Derek. He should be the one damned for eternity, not Derek. He could trap the King in his own mind–kill himself before it's too late.
But how...how...how?
Avery fell back onto his bed. And it struck him. He smiled in the dark; he was going to save Derek.