Chapter Text
The run was too long. He knew that.
They felt it deep within their bones and oh-so-desperately wished for the dull ache in their muscles to dissipate.
The dragon decided to instaperch, twirling and spinning faster than any dragon he’s seen before, his pace was demolished as he was only able to get two beds off before she peeled away.
It could’ve been a PB. It could’ve brought them some satisfaction to the time he’s been trying to beat for weeks, months even. But now, it just held heavy on their frame.
They stared down into the center fountain, peering deep into the endless stars and galaxies.
They knew of the Universe. Knew of its beauty and knew of its faults.
He knew of the ones, his friends, that had been Gifted by the Universe itself.
Illumina had always been the one that would be the most likely to be Gifted. He started Running before any of them and he was naturally gifted in everything to do with it.
Of course, he has his faults. Being somehow the clumsiest person K4yfour knows, yet the most graceful one being they have ever seen when Illumina is in his element.
The slight purple gleam in his eyes and the shadows of magnificent dragon wings that extend from his back when emotions are strained and powerful, but they disappear in the blink of an eye. The sight made K4yfour stop Running for a bit.
But he was still Illumina. Just with an extra Gift of Seeing. He explained it as traveling a bridge between minds. But he never said anything other then that… at least to the ones who weren’t Gifted, which K4yfour was, so they had been left in the dark of the real power of Illumina’s gift.
They were only left to scraps and pieces. It angered him at first, but soon it became understandable.
Illumina had been trembling on the edge of a Child of the Universe and human. But he had navigated it carefully for years before anyone from HBG knew him—with the exception of his labeled ‘soulmate’.
Only Fruit was there to witness as Illumina was fully dragged into the Universe’s grasp.
They don’t speak of it. The only information K4yfour was able to gather was that Fruit had been able to pull Illumina back. They were guessing that Fruit gave something very, very valuable to satisfy the Universe.
The rest of their friends refrained from asking.
Especially after Fruit had mumbled to all of them, eyes far, far away and a tremble in his hands,
“It wasn’t his time.”
After that, Illumina pulled him away with an apologetic look and the rest exchanged worried glances while some of them stared at the floor, K4yfour did the latter.
Fruit himself was another one of them who was Gifted.
After seemingly giving away such a large part of himself to the Universe to save his best friend, the Universe decided to Gift back to him.
Fruit had always seemed to be better at general movement, his awareness being that of a hawk’s, and probably even more advanced than that. Scratch that, Fruit’s senses and awareness were almost godly compared to anyone—and everyone—else's.
And his combined speed was something that was purely that of beauty. K4yfour didn’t know whether it was from the almost-endless practicing and endurance training or something else entirely that made Fruit so… swift.
Swift, yet graceful in all of his movements.
And when he was in his element…
It was like watching a blade that had been sheathed most of it's life finally coming out to play. Sharp and gleaming and so, very dangerous. Though most of the time it was splattered in blood. None of it his own.
He was like a well-oiled machine. A pure weapon. A blade of sharpest netherite. A pure-bred dog that followed to the beat of his own blood as it pulsed through his veins.
K4yfour preferred more of the brains aspect in a fight, but he did have the brawn, though it was almost nothing compared to the green-clad war machine that was Fruitberries.
Over anything else, though, Fruit was a pillar of stability. It was… rare to see Fruit anything other than happy or a cool, collected calm that radiated to anyone around him. So rare that the first time it happened, K4yfour had actually feared their friend.
It had been a normal day. Until it obviously wasn’t.
K4yfour wasn’t inexperienced in the field of energy or magic. So, when a stifling, ground-rupturing ripple of magic had soared across HBG—though the water on the coast hadn’t stopped it’s continuous motions—K4yfour was immediately on his way to get to the source.
When they arrived, he didn’t know what to think other than ‘run.’
Fruit stood in front of the starting portal of the server, a pale, unmoving Illumina in his arms. But what really made the blood in K4yfour’s veins freeze was emotion written and branded on the younger Runner’s face.
His mask that usually covered his whole head was thrown off in the grass.
Fruit’s face was twisted into an ugly snarl, watchful eyes analyzing every step of the two members before him; Couriway and Feinberg. Fruit looked almost inhuman. Like a scared dog backed up into a corner, teeth bared, and hackles raised.
His normally hazel eyes blazed with purple fury… and after looking closer, a solemn look of terror that almost brought K4yfour to tears.
Terror and fear mixed with anger and a certain possessiveness that they haven’t seen in a long time. But he held Illumina with a white-knuckled grip that only tightened when Couri took a step forward and a growl ripped itself from Fruit’s throat, seeming to shake the ground beneath them.
“Fruit.” Fruit’s eyes snapped to Feinberg, “You’re hurting him.”
In an instant, Fruit’s eyes glanced down to his hands holding Illumina’s frame. And in that split second, Couri and Fein leapt.
…
Energy exploded in the air, throwing K4yfour to the ground as wave after wave of multicolored magic crashed into them. They felt something in him open, against his will, and try to absorb the magic that practically suffocated them, pinning them to the ground.
(He remembers being unable to move, unable to close the thing inside of him that opened.)
Screams ripped through the clearing, he realized that one of them was theirs. Their body burned.
Then something warm touched his shoulder and they let out a rippling scream, it burned, his shoulder felt like it was falling off and snakes of pain shot down their body.
And then it was over.
They opened their eyes to see a set of warm brown ones.
(Unknowingly to K4yfour, Fulham’s heart dropped as two pulsing, violet eyes stared back up at him. Then they faded back to grey, but Fulham knew the damage was done.
The Universe’s energy had already seeped into the one before him. Being Gifted, Fulham knew it all too well. And it shot fear into his heart that K4yfour would have to deal with the magic of a much higher being, especially since it came from a third party.)
They seemed to black out after that. Only remembering waking up in Couri’s house on his bed with Feinberg passed out in a chair next to them. Couri was on the couch downstairs, lying on his stomach.
Feinberg jolted awake and looked to K4yfour, the helmet of his suit off, so his brown eyes were held wide with fear as he looked at the other.
“What?” They asked, shrinking back in on themselves at the roughness in their voice. “What happened with Fruit? Is Illu—”
“Stop talking.” Fein cut him off, holding out a cup of water, his eyes going back to their usual resting position. “Drink.”
K4yfour did just that but paused when a clatter down the ladder was heard and Couriway in all of his glory was there, eyes fixed on K4yfour’s frame.
“Couri—”
“Why were you out there?” Couri said, voice colder than ice as blazing gold eyes stared at them. He gulped.
“I- I felt it. The magic.” They themselves didn’t know whether he was talking about it entering him, or the fact that it was the thing that brought them out there. “Was- are Fruit and Illumina okay?”
Feinberg sent Couri a look and Couri’s features grew soft, almost regretful.
“I’m sorry.” Was what he said. K4yfour paused for a moment before their brows furrowed.
“For what?” then it shot him like a bullet, his stomach dropped “Are they—"
“No. They are both fine. Some shit happened in the Void and Fruit was panicked.” Feinberg explained flatly.
“No shit he was panicked.” K4yfour croaked, “What the hell was that energy? What did it do to m—?” they cut themselves off. Couriway’s eyes narrowed. Feinberg tensed next to him, but his eyes were downturned.
“What happened? What did you feel?” Couri demanded, eyes full of worry.
“I- I don’t—” they tried to remember what exactly it was that he felt. He tried to find a way to explain it. “Something… opened. I- I tried to stop it, but it just wouldn’t close… and, and it- it, fuck.” They brought their hands up to rub at his temples a headache making his body tip forward.
He felt a hand dressed in metal—Feinberg’s suit—caressing his shoulder and he flinched away from the touch. Last time someone touched him—he didn’t want to think about it.
“It like… absorbed the energy. I felt it. Something changed—It burned. All of it did. And someone—”
“Fulham.” Feinberg supplied and K4yfour nodded.
But then they grit their teeth, lifting their knees up to put his head in between them, lifting a fist to bang it against their head.
“It burned. It burned so bad…” he whispered and then their fists were pulled away from their head and he felt Feinberg’s arms wrap around their midsection and Couri pull their head into his chest. They bit back tears.
“I’m sorry. We’re sorry, Kay.” Fein said, the nickname for them slipping out as he tucked his head in K4yfour’s shoulder.
Just then, two figures busted through the door, running up the ladder and crowding the loft.
Illumina’s face was twisted in concern, more colorful than it had been before and it soothed K4yfour slightly, and he closed his eyes before looking to Fruit.
A broken and regretful look donned his face. There was a small cut on his bottom lip, but it looked to be healing quickly.
“K4yfour—” Illumina began.
“Why were they there?” Fruit asked, looking to Couriway with fear and grief deep in his eyes. Hazel eyes. Not purple.
“He felt your magic as soon as you entered the server. Probably mixed with the magic in Illumina. They got there right before… before shit went down.” Couri explained, deflating as he combed a hand through K4yfour’s hair. Feinberg’s hold on them tightened in the slightest and he huffed a breath against their shoulder.
Illumina stepped forward, reaching a hand out that K4yfour eyed wearily.
“May I take a look?” The latter sent him a look but nodded. Illumina let a nervous and very Illumina-like smile onto his face before he pressed his fingers to K4yfour’s head, and a spark shot through their body. Then they were out.
…
He grimaced at the memory. Not knowing why what happened, happened, but chose to not question. If not for their own sake, then for everyone else’s. But he knows that he has always felt… different afterwards.
Every time they spent time in the Void, it was like a pull, begging them to stay. Once, he stayed for longer than he ever had before, and only left when that feeling of being opened happened once again. It scared them, and they realized that the poem always told to him had gone on for far too long and passed through them like electricity.
As soon as they left and respawned in HBG, a panicked-looking Couriway and Nerdi—an un-Gifted member, but as close with the Universe as any of them; and probably the most likely to be Gifted next—were pacing around, counting supplies and then saying goodbyes, but froze when they saw him standing there, panic and worry flashing brighter in their gaze before they snapped out of it.
They were on him in a second, questioning where they had been and hugging him tightly.
(K4yfour couldn’t see that when Couri and Nerdi spotted them, phantom golden flowers had grown from their hair, one hanging over their eye. Their eyes that shone with a murky purple and swarmed with flame of the energy that Couri knew well.)
There was one member of their group that expressed his Gift more than any of the others. Mostly because it was visible and very, very hard to miss.
The beautiful, feathered wings made of pure marigold and sunset yellow.
Wings that bounded in the air, carrying the slim body of Couriway.
Couriway’s wings had a wingspan stretched past 12 feet on a bad day, probably touching the edges of 15 feet on a good one.
They were a picture of beauty. Soft and comforting as they wrapped around anyone who asked, even Fyroah, who’s body made of flames.
(Something that wasn’t the gift of the Universe, but an extremely rare phenomena that none of HBG questioned… okay, maybe K4yfour questioned it a little, but can you blame him?)
The wings didn’t catch fire, with Fyroah at least… Reign and Tek had an experiment they wanted to test… K4yfour stumbled upon them both bounded to Couriway’s flagpole atop his house, both of them were only in boxers and covered in chicken feathers that stuck to them.
Needless to say, the rest of HBG was called to Couriway’s house by a crying laughing K4yfour and many, many pictures were snapped. Reign and Tek still get shit for it.
(Couriway only smiled smugly as he untied them both, though it was quickly replaced by shock as Reign lunged for him, almost killing them both by knocking them off the roof.)
Couriway was very open on the events that took place when he was Gifted.
“It happened after I finished my 1000 seeds, as you guys know. And on my final seed, I hopped into the fountain and the poem that She usually told was different.” Couri explained, most of HBG sat around a campfire, sharing logs or sitting on the floor, or… merging himself into the ground in Dylqn’s case.
(Another Gift of the Universe… but it was more of a small quirk than anything, but Dylqn claimed that he was much more ‘in tune’ with nature. And maybe he was. Though… K4yfour watched as bees chased Dylqn around for about an hour, trying to reach the nectar of the pink flowers that grew from his hair, and they began to seriously doubt that fact.)
“Different as in how?” Eleventy asked, a small notepad in hand, scribbling down the occasional thing he though was important. K4yfour couldn’t blame him.
“Different as in… the words felt like the actually flowed through me. I felt it. And when it was over, the Universe told me that I was Gifted and to use it wisely. When I turned around, I had these.” He flung out his wings, snickering as Nerdi let out a yelp as he got a face full of feathers.
Couri apologized by wrapping a wing around the other and pulling him close. Then Couri continued.
“But. No matter how great it may seem. No matter the urge for something more. Do not wish to be Gifted. Do not give in to what the Universe offers.” His expression darkened, as well as the rest of those who had been Gifted. “It hurts. You gain, but you lose. It’s all the same to the Universe. And she is forgiving but does not understand the true feeling of loss.”
“It burns. It hurts. And it tears you into pieces, only to be reformed again into something new. A trade is what a Gift is.”
Couriway did not speak of what he lost. Neither did the rest. Eleventy took a hint and put the notebook away, thankfully not asking, even though K4yfour knew that Eleventy was smarter than that.
After that, they all fell into easy conversation once again after Silverr shoved Mustard off of the log they were sitting on for seemingly no reason. No one really questioned Silverr, all of them wanting the tension in the air to be relieved. Even Mustard kept his complaining to a minimum.
K4yfour also knew that whenever Couri was stressed or angry or upset, the marigold feathers began to pale, a purple tint swarming them, and purple sparks flooded his golden eyes.
K4yfour knew to always avoid the other when he was in one of those moods, leaving it to the ones who were actually Gifted—Illumina, Fruit, Fulham, Dylqn, Feinberg, and a few others who’s gifts they did not share.
K4yfour had always knew that the Universe loved them. It was told to them every time they completed a world. But since the explosion, it felt different.
He knew of the pull he felt as he stood before it. It was different than it used to be.
It was like the Universe was reaching up with a star-flecked hand to drag them down, to stay forever and never let go.
And as the soreness in his bones from the Runs that they had been grinding out for the past 5 days, overwhelmed them, he couldn’t find it in himself to blanch from the pull.
So, they slid into the fountain, giving in to the Universe’s wishes. And he wished to finally feel relief in his legs, the weightlessness that they couldn’t not love.
As soon as darkness clouded his vision, they opened their eyes. Stars that were so, so far away felt so close that they were tempted to reach out and grab one. But they didn’t want to break the peaceful atmosphere around them.
It felt like they were floating, always did, always will.
And it wasn’t oxygen that blessed his lungs; there was no oxygen in the Void, but some kind of Gift of the Void itself that allowed whatever entered it to breath, to live. It lulled them into a sense of calm. That they could never leave, and he was fine content that.
Then, like a voice whispering to him, breathing into him like a mighty gust of wind that he couldn’t hear, but feel.
I see the player you mean.
K4yfour ?
He breathed in a sigh. They thought it could get old, but it never did.
I like this player. It played well. It did not give up.
Affirmation. The feeling of pride and self-worth washed over him like a cool breeze on a hot, summer evening.
This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter.
They knew the cryptic words, knew them well as they funneled through him gently; a soft hand cradling his cheek, a warm sunlight that bathed their body in gold.
Does it know that we love it? That the Universe is kind?
Sometimes, through the noise of its thoughts, it hears the Universe, yes.
The Universe is kind. Gifted his friends, blessed them with the rush of adrenaline, and gave them something to work towards. And in the end, always congratulated them for their achievements.
To cure it of sorrow would destroy it. The sorrow is part of its own private task. We cannot interfere.
Sometimes when they are deep in dreams, I want to tell them, they are building true worlds in reality. Sometimes I want to tell them of their importance to the Universe. Sometimes, when they have not made a true connection in a while, I want to help them to speak the word they fear.
They knew it by heart, but it only came to him when the Universe spoke it, breathed it.
They knew the inner dialogue that once plagued him to listen, but it always ended the same.
You. You. You are alive.
A choke in his throat. He knew the intentions of the words. The Universe does not live. Simply exists, all around them. She breathes life, but never experiences it.
And the Universe said I love you
They felt it, the love, filling their body with fire and ice and lava and grass and stone and stars and more.
And the Universe said you have played the game well
And the Universe said everything you need is within you
And the Universe said you are stronger than you know
They feel the strength, empowering even the sorest of muscles. Like drinking a strength potion, but stronger, more in his mind. Mental strength, something that even the best fighters lack.
And the Universe said you are the daylight
And the Universe said you are the night
And the Universe said the darkness you fight is within you
And the Universe said the light you seek is within you
They felt it. The darkness that constantly plagued his subconscious, the light that brought out the best. It was always a battle. But somehow, even in the darkness that engulfed him, they felt that light shine through. Everything that they sought out in themselves.
And the Universe said you are not alone
And the Universe said you are not separate from every other thing
They weren’t alone. They felt it with every living thing around him. Speaking to them, drawing towards him, empowering and so, so alive.
And the Universe said you are the Universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code
And the Universe said I love you because you are love.
He is love. He is feeling. They are the heart and mind and soul and body.
And they knew it.
And usually, it ended there.
Now, Player of Games
Use its name
K4yfour,
We wish to give
We wish for you to feel our love always
We wish to Gift you
With a part of us
That shall never be replaced
We wish you to not be afraid
Of us and our powers
The words, feelings shot through him like an ice-spear. But they were not afraid. Not afraid as Couri’s words from that time ago had drifted from him, slipping through their fingertips as they let go of themselves.
And they whispered the word,
“Okay.”
The pain was almost unbearable.
Searing through them with an icy rage that did not hold back.
The Universe did not understand pain.
But it seemed to be able to cause it.
The atoms in his body felt like they were being pulled apart, morphed into something that was not his own, exposing his thoughts, feelings, abilities, and secrets, only for them to be shoved back into him.
It felt wrong.
So, so, wrong.
They couldn’t scream. Didn’t feel like they needed to as they were picked apart and thrown back together.
It was hurried. Quick and uneasy. Just the way that the Universe loved her Runners.
It was pain.
Until it wasn’t.
Until that pain ripped a large, gaping hole in them.
This time, they gasped, tremors wracking their body.
Just then Couriway’s words came back to him.
“It hurts. You gain, but you lose. It’s all the same to the Universe. And she is forgiving but does not understand the true feeling of loss.”
K4yfour has lost. Truly lost something that was deep inside themselves. Felt it have been ripped right out of them.
The emptiness swallowed him. A hole that was not in his body, but in their mind.
They ran through the memories of their friends, their worlds, their discoveries, finding them all there.
But it was wrong. All wrong. And he didn’t know why.
Then, the hole had something shoved into it once again.
And he felt whole again.
“A trade is what a Gift is.”
They knew it. Knew that whatever was taken, hadn’t been the thing that was given back.
And now they were forced to live with it.
The pain subsided as quick as it came, but the exhaustion that followed had him fighting to keep his eyes open. They fell shut anyways.
He couldn’t move, not even the twitch of a finger, but they weren’t sore in the way that they were after the 5-day Running spree. Their mind was sore. From being torn apart and then put back together with only a bandaid to slip over it to try and hold it together.
But then the pull started again. And it pulled, hard on that part of him that was shoved into them.
They wanted to struggle… but they were so tired.
He wanted to stay weightless forever. Never having to deal with the pain of moving again.
He didn’t want to leave the Void. The Universe.
Player of Games
K4yfour
Child of the Universe
They breathed. Feeling cold-yet warm phantom hands wrapping around him. He didn’t fight it.
Child of the Universe.
She repeated.
Peace. That was all he wanted. This would give them peace—
“K4yfour!” The voice seemed familiar, and it made them snap their eyes open, coming to a figure that sprinted towards him.
You can’t sprint in the… Void…
“Feinberg?” they asked, voice echoey and faded. Like calling out into vast emptiness to something that wasn’t even there. He felt the hands that gripped him tighten, but it did not frighten him.
Feinberg reached him, warm brown eyes were now glowing in amethyst fire and his visor was tinted with a plum color.
He reached out a hand, gripping K4yfour’s hand and it was now that they noticed the dark purple that flooded their veins, visible through their skin. The Void living and breathing within him.
As soon as Feinberg gripped him, half of the weight of the pull had slipped away and Feinberg’s expression darkened, clamping his teeth down as his feet lifted from where they were held steady on an invisible floor.
“K4yfour. This isn’t what you want!” He called out, but his voice seemed muffled. The Void wrapped a hand around their mind, it made them shudder, but they kept eye-contact with the man before him.
“You! Don’t fucking do this! Wake up!”
Child of the Universe
A smile bloomed on their face. Feinberg’s expression shifted into one of shock.
“Feinberg.” He spoke slowly, voice getting quickly lost in the Void around him.
“Yes. Yes it’s me. Focus on me. Please.” The last word came out strained, pained almost.
A distant part of K4yfour felt a pang of pain at the tone. But that was all that part was. Distant.
Feinberg’s hold on them tightened and he winced, glancing up to the other, slowly being wrapped in darkness as lines of black and purple crawled up his arms.
“Come on. You gotta work with me here, or else this is really going to hurt.” He said, trying to keep a level head, pushing away the panic and horror that clawed up his throat.
A non-committal hum came from the other and Fein snarled.
“Focus! Motherfucker don’t you dare listen to whatever She is telling you.” K4yfour’s eyes unfocused as drifted away from the other. “Focus on me!”
Feinberg grabbed both of their hands, gripping almost harshly. His hands were ice-cold.
“Focus on me.” He said again, more slowly this time.
“Please, Kay. Come back to us. Come back to HGB. Come back to me.”
K4yfour’s eyes drifted back to him once again and now Fein could see the panic and desperation deep in the unnaturally purple eyes. (Oh, how Feinberg wished that they were back to that swirling grey.)
“I know you can do it. Come on. You have to let go.” At K4yfour’s emotionless expression, he had to bite his lip to keep a sob from rising up, he couldn’t cry, there was no room for tears here.
“Come on. Come back. You—we can’t lose you. Not here, not now, not yet!” He pleaded, hands slowly beginning to pull K4yfour away from the Void. But his friend’s voice made his blood run cold with fury.
“We all join Her eventually.” They whispered, voice distant at best and Feinberg grit his teeth.
“Yeah, eventually dipshit. Not now! Not, fucking yet!” A harsh tug of his hands made K4yfour let in a sharp inhale. Feinberg froze and looked up to meet the other’s eyes.
Encouragement shone in them, and the smallest twitch of his head that could’ve been a nod. Feinberg clamped his teeth down once again and he tugged.
This time, K4yfour let out a scream that shook the Void around them. It was almost inhuman. If Feinberg had to take a guess, it was probably the Universe herself letting out that scream. Trying to keep her property.
But K4yfour was theirs. K4yfour was his. K4yfour was a part of HBG. And HBG was a part of K4yfour.
If they were gone…
No. No. he couldn’t think about that.
Couldn’t think about all of the times that K4yfour would link their communicators while they both were doing Runs and just talk for hours on end because they couldn’t handle the silence.
Couldn’t think about all the times that after a tourney, he would come home through the portal and the first person to jump on him was always K4yfour; followed closely by Couri and Fyroah, and sometimes even Reign.
Couldn’t think about all the times they would just sit outside together in the sun. Sometimes weaving flower crowns and other times laughing about the most random shit. And on rare occasions taking naps under the shade of a tree.
Couldn’t think about the times where K4yfour would stumble into his home after completing a challenge or multiple Runs that had sufficiently worn him down to the bone, collapsing onto either Feinberg’s bed or just into his arms. Couldn’t think about the times that it went the other way around and Feinberg was the one collapsing into K4yfour’s arms.
He bit the inside of his cheek, holding back tears that blossomed behind burning amethyst eyes.
“Come back. Come back to me.” He pleaded, the ground beneath him becoming more and more unstable, his body becoming more and more weightless. Panic flourished in his chest as the hands of Void tightened around K4yfour once more, almost completely engulfing their face in a dark, inky black.
“Please.” He cried out angrily, “I’ll do anything. Please. It’s not his time. Not yet.” The Void paused on the pulling.
“I’ll do anything.” He repeated, voice barely a whisper.
Feinberg
Player of Worlds
Why do you care?
What emotion do you feel?
What do you wish to give?
“Please. I just want my friend back.”
Why do you care?
What emotion do you feel?
What do you wish to give?
She repeated, voice rippling in the vast plain around him.
“They are ours. We can’t lose them yet. He is part of us.” He tried to think of it in a way that the Universe might understand.
“He is a part of us, and if you take him away, then we will grieve. They might be there with you, but that doesn’t mean we can feel him. We can’t see him, hear him, hug them.” Feinberg choked out a sob, angry tears finally breaking loose and flooding down his face. “We will be sad. We will stop Running. We will be afraid. But we don’t want to lose him.”
The Universe around him seemed to debate, if the silence was anything to go by.
You feel love?
Love for your Player of Games
K4yfour is love
And so are you
“Yes. Yes. We are love.” He said, looking up into K4yfour’s hazy eyes. “We are love.”
We wish to feel love
“And you will. But not now. Not for a while, because we aren’t ready yet.” He paused, scrunching his eyebrows sadly and looking into the Void above him.
“We will all join you one day, when we are ready. But they aren’t ready yet. We aren’t ready to let him go. I’m not ready to let him go. So, please… let them come back to us… I’ll- I’ll give you your Gift back. Just- please.”
The Universe let out a hum.
The weightlessness of the Void seemed to snap away, his feet meeting the ground roughly, his hands almost slipping out of K4yfour’s.
Feinberg
Player of Worlds
Your Gift is yours
Keep it
And keep your Player of Games
Return when you are ready
Everything you need is within you
The Universe is kind
The Universe is welcoming
Welcome us when you are ready
The Universe loves you, because you are love
The darkness slipped out of K4yfour’s veins, dissipating from around his face and body and right before their body slipped from the weightlessness, the vast expanse of darkness disappeared.