Chapter Text
Next time Jimmy sees Grian, he’s going to punch him.
That man is evil. Pure evil.
Crazy, nuts, bonkers even! (Who the heck says bonkers anymore?)
Jimmy does!
Jimmy’s the type of person to say bonkers, Jimmy’s the type of person to hold a grudge for the rest of his life, and Jimmy is certainly the type of person to punch his best friend in the face.
God, just thinking about Grian just… pisses him off!
(Jimmy does not swear that much, so him doing this means he’s truly angry.)
And rightfully angry!
He doesn’t know how he did this, or even if Grian’s even alive at this point, but he’s going to punch him.
He shouldn’t have listened to Grian in the first place! He doesn’t even know why he listened to Grian in the first place! “ I just wanted to test something! ” “ C’mon, it’ll be fun! ” “ You need to get out more anyway! ” That’s such a load of bull, Jimmy doesn’t know how he didn’t see anything wrong.
Maybe it’s just a Grian thing, how he’s able to naturally charm others without being aware of such power. Or maybe he was, and he just got more power-hungry.
It makes sense, as Jimmy tries to rationalize his situation, that Grian would mess with a fucking ice wizard dungeon master guy.
(Again, Jimmy is beyond angry.)
It’s ironic, in a sense, that Jimmy was taken hostage by a dungeon master, while Grian was his actual dungeon master. Grian’s the reason he’s here in the first place anyway, so it feels right to say so.
Well, Jimmy admits that not entirely true, but looking back on it now, Grian could’ve manipulated the whole thing from the beginning. He was the first one to learn of this ice wizard guy, as Grian describe both the campaigns history and the wizards background in great detail.
(That’s another reason Jimmy didn’t see anything wrong, as Grian’s storytelling was the best he had ever experienced.)
And Jimmy fell for every single bit of it.
Grian didn’t even make it sound that bad! Everyone else they mutually knew would be there, and it would be a very short story so they were allowed to make throw-away characters. And yes, he had fun! Lots of fun! And he continues to beat himself up for having so much fun!
Because being trapped in an once dungeon isn’t fun! It’s always cold with the fire somehow being colder, Jimmy can’t go outside, and he doesn’t know how to get home. Hell, he isn’t even sure if there is one.
Whatever the case is, Jimmy just really wants an excuse to punch Grian. If he was even alive of course. Or in this dimension for that matter.
Is dimension the right world? Universe maybe? Parallel world? Was there even a difference between the three?
It didn’t matter, nor did Jimmy actually care all that much.
(He does care, in fact, to know the difference. But punching his best friend is currently his number one priority.)
Right now Jimmy is exploring.
He hadn’t been trapped in the dungeon for long. He doesn’t think so anyway. The one clock in his room, he counted, seemed to tell him that at least 4 days had passed since he arrived. It was weird for him in many ways, mainly due to the fact it felt like he had been there for months.
Exploration was very limited for Jimmy as well, as most of the dungeon was closed off, the other side being “dangerous for him.” Like, if he did it once as a player, he could do it again!
(He’d almost certain he’d die in seconds.)
Still, he will admit, the livable part of the dungeon was very expansive within itself. There were no windows to the outside though, which sucked, but he tried to remain hopeful. The logic he used was if he went higher, he’d reach the ceiling eventually and finally have a look.
So higher he went.
Again, the living area was very expansive, which also meant they were very confusing. He found 3 separate spell rooms and 4 libraries within an hour of just searching a single floor once, which just thinking about hurts his brain.
(If Scott were here, he’d say Jimmy didn’t have one.)
The thought of his friend's quip made him smile, and he felt himself put more urgency in his walking.
He walked for a while, maybe a good 15 minutes (he isn’t sure as he wasn’t paying attention.) before he found some stairs. They were made of stone, but very old looking stone, with very wide cracks and gaps littered there like trash on a beach. Jimmy placed his foot without a second thought, climbing up and down the first few steps and jumping on them to ensure they were sturdy, which they surprisingly were.
Glancing up the stairway, Jimmy grimaced at the pitch blackness of it all, having grown the hate the darkness over his time in the dungeon. He turns his head to look around, before wondering to some nearby rooms after having not found anything useful the first time.
Again, he found a library (this is his 5th one, right?) and while he would normally question why a dungeon master would have 5 good quality libraries, another thing caught his eye.
There was a fireplace in the center back wall of the room, very old and worn-out, the wood around it practically on the verge of breaking like dead flower petals. But for Jimmy, it was perfect.
Dashing over to the fireplace, he examined it to find a part that most likely wouldn’t be giving him splinters. Which he no doubt would get no matter what, but he didn’t want his fingers to be covered and in pain. A corner piece was practically peeling away, which looks like a decent length and size that Jimmy needed. So without thinking he shook off his no doubt very expensive silk robe and wrapped it around the wood.
Bracing his left foot against the wall, he gripped the clothes piece of wood and began to pull. For something that seems to be in terrible condition, it was surprisingly sturdy, which was bad for Jimmy. So he kept pulling.
After a while, the wood broke away from the fireplace, the force of it making Jimmy stumble backwards and bumping into a nearby bookshelf. Said bookshelf didn’t do anything, thankfully, and Jimmy looked down at the wood piece with a smile.
The end that broke off didn’t look like it would give Jimmy splinters, and gripping it didn’t hurt, so he held it from that end. Getting up, he went back into the hall with the wood in hand, his very expensive robe still wrapped it, and went to the first lantern he saw.
With that, he opened up said lantern, and set his no doubt very expensive robe on fire.
(Let there be light!)
The fire was cold, as Jimmy complained about before, so he didn’t worry about burning his face as he held it close. Heading back to the stairs, he looked back up into the pitch darkness before taking a deep breath.
And then he ascends.
(Ascends is a nice word, Jimmy thinks to himself. It makes it sound like he’s some type of god moving from one plain to the next. In reality, he’s just some British man who wants to punch his best friend.)
The stairway goes on for a very long time. Jimmy tells himself it’s cardio as his legs begin to become sore. That is good for him, needing exercise or something.
(Exercise should be the last thing Jimmy should care about in this situation.)
Still, when he’s not convincing himself it’s cardio, Jimmy finds it odd to say the least, that the stairs are in somewhat decent condition. The cracks and gaps in-between here and there continue, but there isn’t not one speck of dust, dirt, or spider-web in sight. He was very deep within the dungeon, he believes so anyway, so it seemed unlikely that The Dungeon Master would come this way. Or maybe he did, with the library he was just in being in fairly good condition, which meant this was a frequently visited location.
Jimmy quickened his speed at the thought.
(His legs hurt like hell though.)
The torch burns for a surprising amount of time, which Jimmy distracts himself with as he walks. He would normally guess silk would burn rather quickly, similar to Gucci products or something. (Jimmy doesn’t even know why he made that reference, as he knows nothing of fashion. That was more of Scott’s thing.)
Maybe this was one huge crazy dream, and Jimmy would wake up from napping on Grian’s couch. Maybe Joel would make fun of his sleeping position just as BigB would come with dinner. Maybe he and Grian would get a good laugh out of this insanity of a dream, Martyn calling him a simp. Maybe, just maybe, he could ask Scott how quickly silk burned, and he would receive his answer in the most Scott way possible.
(Jimmy sped up, repeating the maybe’s in his head.)
——
Jimmy had to pause as he saw light.
It was faint, but looking up the stairwell, there was absolutely without a doubt, a window.
And Jimmy ran.
His legs were beyond sore from the walk, he isn’t sure how long it’s been as he gave up on keeping track. But his body somehow found the adrenaline to do so, and he ran up the rest of the stairs as if his life depended on it.
(In many ways, it did.)
He choked out a laugh of relief as he finally made it to the top, a singular stain glass window awaiting him. He tossed his torch aside, and went for the window, pushing it open with the full force of his hands. When it did, his momentum made him double over the edge of the window, almost hitting his head on the dark brick below him as he finally inhaled fresh air.
His legs gave out beneath him from exhaustion, but he didn’t really care all that much. He doesn’t even remember why he was here in the first place, but right now, he’s just tired.
(Was this whole climb for nothing then? If he can’t even remember anything, what’s the point?)
Jimmy took deep breaths, as both a calming mechanism and a distraction from his own head.
He finally had the energy to look up.
The light was blinding at first, Jimmy shielding his eyes as they adjusted to the high sun. However, it wasn’t blazing hot as he expected. Instead, the breeze of the wind made everything much more pleasant, Jimmy smiling at the calmness of it all.
When his eyes adjusted, the first thing he noticed was green.
Fresh, bright green.
The grass followed the wind, flowing along it with such serenity and grace. A forest nearby had birds flying happily and without a care. Off in the distance, a cornfield has seemed to grow, nearby what Jimmy assumed was the village he started at.
(Where they started at.)
…right. They. Them. His friends.
(And Grian.)
And Grian.
Jimmy looked down below the tower, and immediately noticed how high he was. (Scott would find that sus.) He could see the entire front of the dungeon from where he was, and the size of it alone sends chills down his spine.
Height’s were not his thing.
(The others would say he’s scared of heights. He’s not, he’ll make that very clear. He’s unsettled, yes, as without proper safety one could fall. But he’s not scared, got it?)
“ Goddamnit .” Jimmy grumbled to himself, cradling his head between his arms that rested on the windowsil.
(Still, the tower was tall. It was impossible to climb down without falling to his death.)
Perhaps he could come back later, with some sturdy rope to climb down? He could manage that right? Jimmy’s a pretty strong guy, ya’ know! He goes to the gym and lifts weights, so doing that should be a piece of cake!
(He’d almost certain he’d die in seconds.)
Jimmy remains like this for a while, he isn’t sure again for how long. He tells himself it’s to give his legs a rest. All he knows is that by the time he looks back at the sky, the sun has slowed from its position up high and the blue from before is now a darker shade than before.
Jimmy sighs tiredly before moving his legs to push himself up. Once he’s upright, he rolls his neck with a groan before stretching all his limbs. A bone or two is heard cracking, relief washing over those areas of his body.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw the torch he tossed aside what he could only assume was hours ago. The fire had died out, thankfully, however his no doubt very expensive silk robe was practically burned to a crisp. He cringed at it, deciding to push away the thought of how to deal with his missing clothing for future Jimmy.
(Future Jimmy always hates Past Jimmy.)
He walked over to the piece of wood, bending down to pick it up. He examined it as he stood back up, and couldn’t help but chuckle when he turned to lean back on the wall.
“Look at me being resourceful.” He praised himself, tossing the torch into the air before catching it again. He couldn’t stop a smirk from growing on his face, temporarily distracting him from his very strange and slightly depressing situation.
A very loud and drawn out ‘click’ brought him back into his very strange and slightly depressing situation.
Jimmy tenses up, the sound coming directly behind him, and he slowly backed away into the center of the room. Just barely, he managed to catch a stone piece shift forward, and he appeared as any other normal stone.
(Please tell him he did not just fuck up.)
(Jimmy does not swear that much, so him doing this means he’s truly terrified.)
And rightfully terrified, as the floor begins to rumble.
Jimmy looks down with wide eyes, miscellaneous pebbles and rock jumping up and down in between the grooves of stone. He remains frozen in place, unsure of whether to run down the stares or stay, out of the fear this could be both an earthquake, or Jimmy beginning to go insane.
(He wishes it’s the first one.)
Jimmy almost doesn’t notice the window getting higher. More rather, he’s getting shorter.
Jimmy barely manages to not scream as the floor begins to lower. Down and down he goes, the window leaving his view faster and faster.
Jimmy’s breathing begins to quicken, spinning his head as he tries to think about what the heck is going on. The floor passes the stairs, but they go by so fast that he doesn’t even try to reach for them.
(Try damnit, do something useful for once in your life! Save yourself before you probably fall to your death.)
He can’t.
Before he can even think of another plan, he’s enveloped in darkness.
(No, no, no, no, what is this? Where is he? He wants to leave. Leave, leave, leave, he wants to go home. He wants a cup of tea and to stay home and never leave the house again.)
(He wants to punch Grian.)
Jimmy can’t help but laugh. A weak laugh, but a laugh nonetheless, at the fact that all he can think about is punching Grian.
(Again, Jimmy is beyond angry.)
——
Jimmy does not do well in the cold.
Last year, there was a storm that left about 5 inches of snow. Which, while not bad, the dangling foot long icicles were. His apartment didn’t have them, but everyone he knew did.
(“Sharing the love” Bdubs called it.)
One day, as he was leaving his building, a very loud crash was heard, a fall he saw was while before he yelled in fear and stepped back. He lost his footing and slipped on the snow, hitting his head and leaving him with a pretty nasty concussion.
(He was fine. Bdubs and Joel apologized in the ER and bought him dinner.)
The prank was funny, Jimmy admits, and very clever on their parts, using the snow to appear as an icicle while using sound effects to strengthen the illusion. Still, he never was a big fan of winter after that. He wasn’t a big fan of the winter in general, and now has an unspoken fear of going ice skating.
So, being lowered from a tower into an ice cavern is just the worst thing that could happen to Jimmy.
(Well, that and getting Isekaied into a different dimension.)
(Look at Jimmy using an anime reference, good for him! If he ever makes it out of here alive, he’d have to tell Bdubs.)
Jimmy froze (pun not intended) once the floor clicked to a stop. He gripped the burned out torch in his arms tightly before bravely taking a step forward. He doesn’t know how else to make the floor go back up, and he kind of escaped like he wanted, so he’ll take whatever chance he has.
He carefully stepped on the iced floor with one foot, and then another. He tried to walk forward, but his foot slipped and he began to slowly propel and spin on the ice, his legs doing a terrible job at helping it.
“W-hoa - !” After another spin, he somehow forced his legs back together and stood upright, his spine as straight as he could get it and holding the torch close to his chest.
He sighed with relief, until he heard rumbling from behind him.
Turning around, he saw the floor from earlier begin to slowly raise, Jimmy’s eyes widening in surprise before he tried to dash back towards it.
He almost slipped again, and he had to catch himself before he impaled himself on some sharp rock. Unfortunately, he missed his chance to climb back on, and it vanished up into the ceiling of the cave.
Jimmy stared up in shock, before rubbing his hands on his face and groaned in agony.
(Why did he want to go back up? That’s the place he was trying to escape!)
Yeah, that’s right. This is what he wanted. To escape, right?
(And to punch Grian.)
And to punch Grian.
Seeing no point in crying home about it, Jimmy brought his arms down and took a deep breath, seeing it puff from his mouth due to the cold.
“You can do this.” He assured himself, before looking around the cavern. His stomach twisted when he saw more ice fire torches going in both directions.
(Up. Go up. Even if this was created by him , going up leads to the surface.)
“ I can do this.”
Jimmy finally said before walking in the direction of the raising ground.
——
He loses track of time again, as he walks with no sense of direction whatsoever. Does time really matter anymore, he thinks, with the situation he’s in? He did this to himself, he wanted this, and it’s all he needs right now, so everything else seems irrelevant.
——
He got used to walking on ice rather quickly after a while. He wasn’t as hard as he thought, and the ice wasn’t all that slippery. He slid on it once, for fun, and he smiled at himself when he didn’t fall and recovered gracefully.
——
The temperature here wasn’t bad either. He isn’t sure if it’s because of his clothes or not, or it’s just not that cold, but he just felt like he was inside a refrigerator on a hot summer day. It was… relaxing in a way, kinda boring even.
——
Jimmy is very, very hungry.
That’s his fault really, for not grabbing some food for his exploration, but he didn’t really think he’d end up in an ice cavern directly under a dungeon.
He can manage with food right now, he thinks, but at this point he’s just complaining to himself.
He’s all he has anyway.
——
Jimmy has gone in a circle.
Multiple circles.
The same broken icicle that he’s past at least 3 times laughs at him. Mocks him for being a complete idiot who will die in this cavern, cold and alone, just as he deserves.
He grips the torch with both his hands and swings, smashing the icicle into pieces.
He sees another icicle mocking him. He swings at it, and it shatters.
”Shut up.”
Another one laughs. He swings, and it shatters.
“ Shut up. ”
Another one.
“ Shut up! ”
He swings.
“ SHUT UP! ”
And it shatters.
He smashes things for a while, he isn’t sure how long. Time is irrelevant after all.
Jimmy is tired. Jimmy is hungry. Jimmy is cold. Jimmy is terrified. Jimmy is beyond angry. Jimmy is going insane.
(Jimmy wants to punch Grian.)
His breathing is labored as he smashes the last icicle in his slight, his hair a mess as he stares at his breath in the cold. His grip on the torch begins to loosen and a heavy sigh escapes his lips.
Maybe he should sleep. He doesn’t even know if it’s night. But time is irrelevant.
As he straightens out, however, he hears something.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump .
It echoes from behind him, and when it stops, Jimmy knows he’s at death's door.
If he wasn’t so utterly and completely terrified, he would laugh. This feels so cliché , like every single horror movie in existence has a moment like this. A character would turn around, seeing something scary before screaming. Then they’d die within the next five minutes.
(Jimmy and the others had movie nights like that. They were always so predictable that they made a game out of it.)
The thing behind him was not a masked killer with a chainsaw, nor a mystical demon, not ever some crazy rabid wolf with foam dripping from its mouth.
Instead, the thing behind him was large and covered in dark brown fur. Two horns protrude from the top of its head, it’s tip a faded dirt color that Jimmy did not care to know what it was. Its eyes were small, having what appeared to be a unibrow that was scrunched as it stared but with an unsettling green.
It reminded Jimmy of an elephant, similar size and structure to it. No, what were they called? The extinct ones, u-h… Mammoths! It reminded him of a mammoth! Only instead of a trunk, it had a big and stubby nose as replacement.
It’s definitely not a mammoth, however, and just as Jimmy wonders what it is, he made full eye contact with it and flinched with new colors popped into his vision.
Ravager
HP: 100/100 AK: 18 LV: 9
Hostile. Avoid at all costs.
…huh. A little late for that -
Its roar cut him off, before it swept its front foot beneath it and began to charge.
Jimmy screams from instinct before he starts running full force ahead of him, dropping his torch in the process. He curses as he slips once or twice, thinking why was the ice slippery rather now than earlier. Maybe the universe has it out for him again, it wouldn’t be the first time anyway.
He wonders how this “Ravager” found him anyway. Was it due to him making noise? Was it just a coincidence that it was coming by? Or maybe…
The Dungeon Master sent it.
…Jimmy thinks the last one is unlikely.
Don’t get him wrong. The Dungeon Master was by far one of the most terrifying people Jimmy had ever met. He could kill Jimmy with a flick of his wrist and the man would just serve as a faint memory to him.
But the Dungeon Master doesn’t hate him.
He… likes Jimmy. A bit too much for his liking, but as long as he didn’t die, he was fine with it.
Maybe The Dungeon Master did send it, but not as a kill, but as a threat. Maybe he found out he escaped, and sent this beast off to scare him into never leaving the castle again.
And while this again, seems unlikely, it’s definitely working.
Jimmy’s legs are still sore from everything that happened as of recent, and he’s sure they’ll give away soon if he doesn’t find a way to escape. Looking over his shoulder, he sees the Ravager just about 60 feet behind him, and he tenses up with the sudden motivation to go fast -
With Jimmy not paying attention to where he was going, he trips on something and falls forward.
His chest hurts as he hits the ground, but that’s not what leaves Jimmy screaming again. He screams as he slides down on the ice, which twists and turns while he just rides with increasing speed.
‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die - !’
(All without punching Grian.)
His luck was running out and he knew it. His attempt to run was futile really, as he was alone. No one would help him, and no one would be there when he did -
“ JIMMY?! ”
Jimmy perked you at his name, noticing he was slowing enough for him to use his hands to stop his momentum. They burned slightly, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He breathed heavily as his adrenaline settled, pushing himself up but feeling too tired to continue.
(Someone called his name.)
…someone called his name.
Suddenly he was no longer tired, and he pushed himself to stand with surprising speed, even for him. He whipped his head around his surroundings, before his eyes landed on something red.
…rather, on someone wearing red.
A familiar red sweater, with his left sleeve ripped away and starting to fray in some places. A familiar pair of black jeans, that were wet, ripped and dirty. A familiar set of converse, missing a right shoe. And a familiar face, black eyes staring at him with pure shock and astonishment.
Gr̵i̸an Charleston
HP: 12/20 AK: 2 LV: 1
D̴̹̦̾o̶̧̪͝e̸̛̮͎s̸̫̍͝ ̸͔̖͘n̷̝͑͠ò̶̳͇̾t̵͙̂ͅ ̵̛̱̒ḅ̸̝̒͊ẻ̸̻̲̓l̵͖̙̓͝o̵̺͆́n̷͕̉ḡ̶̮̩ Happy to see you .
They stare at each other for a bit, the distance between them larger, but Jimmy doesn’t make the effort to move even a little towards his friend.
(Friend. You’re still friends.)
Grian’s smile almost makes his heart melt, opening his mouth to say something when another roar is heard in the distance.
Jimmy’s heart drops, and he quickly realizes that the Ravager was still following them.
“Dude, we gotta’ go!” Jimmy shouted before making a run for Grian. Without another word, he grabbed his friend's hand and began running.
“W-Wait! Jimmy - !”
“We can talk later - !”
“ I found an exit! ”
Jimmy paused in shock, and turned down to his friend, who donned a proud smile on his face.
“…you what?”
Grian opened his mouth, most likely to explain, but the sound of booming footsteps trailed closer towards them. Both him and Jimmy tenses up, before Grian went ahead and now Jimmy was the open being pulled.
“I’ve been exploring since I got here - well, since we’ve gotten here - and I found this door that requires a puzzle to be solved in order to open.”
Jimmy said no words as Grian looked around the caverns for… something , with a smile still on his face.
“Anyway, I didn’t understand the runes, but through context and a bunch of guessing, I figured out the last puzzle just before I found you so now it should be open.”
“ Should?! ” Jimmy asked as he looked behind him, the Ravager now in light.
“Hopefully!” Grian replied, completely unaware of their gaining enemy.
Jimmy didn’t say anything as he just continued running with Grian, who made a sudden turn before stopping. Jimmy slipped behind him, but recovered his footing and let go of his friends hand.
Grian’s sudden laugh startled Jimmy, as he threw his arms in the air and yelled, “ IT WORKED! ”
Jimmy was naturally confused, and looked in the direction the shorter was looking, and his mouth dropped.
An opening. An actual exit.
Another roar broke both their attention, turning them to look at the approaching beast, staring at them with malice.
“D-Dude, just run!” Jimmy shouted as he pushed Grian to move, feeling some weird lumps but not thinking much of it as they ran.
They both ran through the door, just as the Ravager had turned the corner. Grian and Jimmy stared at the beast in panic, before looking around for a way to close the door.
Jimmy’s eyes landed on a level off the side, and without thinking, he dashed for it and pulled down.
Relief washed over him as he heard rock and stone shift, and a low rumble before he heard the doors collide, a loud ‘thump’ coming from the other side.
Silence came directly after, only the sound of panting coming from both men, Grian staring blankly at the door as Jimmy rested his head against the wall in front of him.
The silence between them was nice. Jimmy felt like sleeping.
Suddenly, Grian laughed.
Jimmy snapped his head in his friend's direction, as he held his face with one hand and began to laugh.
“Oh my god!” Grian laughed some more as Jimmy made his way towards him. “I can’t believe you’re here - !”
Grian gestured to Jimmy with the same hand he held his face with, as if expecting a hug.
Grian did not receive a hug. Grian did not receive even a simple hello, or hi, or even something along the lines of “I’m happy you’re here!”
Grian got punched.
- 3
It was his fault really, for leaving his face so vulnerable like that. It gave Jimmy the perfect opportunity to punch him, and right in the nose too.
Good. He knew it hurt.
“ UGH - ! ” Grian grunt as he recovered from the hit and held his now bleeding nose. “What the hell?!”
“Because this is all your fault!” Jimmy shouted with anger. “This was your stupid game, and this was all your stupid idea!”
“I didn’t do anything!” Grian protested, his hand covered in blood. “ G-od , my nose - ”
“Grian, we were just running for our lives from something called a Ravager! ” Jimmy stated as he gestured to the door. “Those are the same things you put into the campaign! Your campaign, that you made!”
“ I lied! ” Grian argued. “I didn’t make the campaign, okay?! I found the book at some thrift store!”
“ Oh my god - do you seriously expect me to believe that?”
“Do you seriously expect me to open up a goddamn portal in my living room!?”
“ We’re here , aren’t we?” Jimmy said with venom in his words. “This entire thing was your game.” Jimmy jabbed his finger into Grian’s chest to emphasize his point.
Him and Grian had a small staring contest, silence filling the room once again with their breathing being the only noise. Grian’s eyebrows furrowed with guilt, while Jimmy stood strong, and eventually the shorter sighed.
“I said I made it so you would play.”
Jimmy’s stance faltered as he looked at his friend with confusion. “…what?”
“I swear to you I found the game for cheap.” Grian confessed. “I wanted to play a game with everyone, and share how fun it could be. And I knew you’d only come if the story was cool, so I said I made it.”
Jimmy lowered his hand as he looked at his friend, who was turned away out of guilt and shame. “I didn’t know it was, like, actually magic! Me and the others heard you scream, and when we went to check on you… all this -” Grian gestures his hand to their surroundings. “ — happened.”
“W-Wait,” Jimmy perked up. “The others?”
Grian nodded. “I don’t know what happened to them when I ended up in the caverns. I didn’t even know if they were still home or not.”
“But… now that we’re with me…” Jimmy pointed at himself as he turned his head to drift in thought.
“I’m almost certain they’re here too.”
Jimmy tenses up and looks at Grian. “Wait, you mean in the caverns?”
“Maybe?” The shorter said with uncertainty. “I doubt it though. I’ve been everywhere in there.”
Jimmy nodded along as he relaxed. “O-Okay, that’s good, right?”
“Think so.” Grian chuckled weakly, groaning as he continued to hold his nose.
Jimmy hisses at how much blood there is now, and without a second thought takes off his no doubt very expensive shirt. “Here, uses this.”
Grian took it without a word, pressed it against his nose as blood sept through the fabric. “Thanks.”
”No worries.” Jimmy pauses before saying. “So you have no idea what’s going on?”
“Not a clue.”
Jimmy nodded again. “Sorry for punching you.”
“You should be.” Grian snapped with a groan. “When did you get so strong?”
Jimmy chuckled as he crossed his arms. “I started lifting.”
“You’re joking?!”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nope. I wanted to beat Joel and BigB at arm wrestling.”
Jimmy smiled as Grian snickered at his confession, even if he cut himself off in pain. “Well, it’s paying off.”
“Thanks.” He laughed, placing his hand on Grian’s back to rub in support. “We’ll find something for your nose - ”
Both him and Grian tenses when his hand went a lump under his sweater. Jimmy moved his hand away as it moved, and looked towards Grian in panic.
“What the hell was that?”
Grian swiftly shook his head. “Nothing.”
“It moved, it’s not nothing!” Jimmy lectured with worry. “Is it a bug, o-or some parasite that’s killing you - !”
“What? Tim, I’m not dying.” Grian stated as he looked at Jimmy with confusion.
“Then what is it?!”
Grian sighed heavily, glancing off to the side to think before he turned around, dropping Jimmy’s no doubt very expensive shirt and grabbed the bottom of his sweater before lifting.
Grian stopped at his shoulders and Jimmy stood frozen.
On Grian’s back, were a tiny pair of light brown wings, sprouting just from the middle. They fluttered as Grian lowered his head, the feathers ruffling up before resting again.
“…why the hell do you have wings?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you get them?”
“ I don’t know .”
“W-Well, can you take them off - ”
“ I don’t know, Jimmy, okay?! ”
Jimmy flinched as Grian shouted, bringing his sweater back down as he turned to face the taller.
“I don’t know everything, okay?! I don’t know why I have wings, I don’t know how that portal opened, I don’t know where everyone is, and I don’t know what happened!”
Grian’s breathing was heavy, and his eyes were watery when he looked into Jimmy’s. The blonde's shoulders fell in sympathy for his friend, bags under his eyes and having lost some weight, presumably from not eating for days.
Jimmy sighed, before he began to reach out for Grian. “Grian - ”
“Snookums?”
Jimmy and Grian tensed at the voice, Jimmy recognizing it immediately.
(No.)
Jimmy’s eyes darting around his surroundings, his stomach twisting as familiar black brick and cold blue fire entered his vision.
(No, no no, this isn’t happening - )
Grian seemed to become aware of their surroundings as well, Jimmy following his eyes as they trailed downwards. There they were standing on a bright red carpet, Jimmy’s mouth going dry.
(No, no, no, nononono - )
Following the carpet led to a throne, a familiar throne rested at the end. It was built with a shiny, black material, absolutely covered in intricately beautiful carvings from top to bottom. The seat matched the carpet, its color bright red and made of what appeared to be velvet. Gold outlines its rim, giving it both an intimidating yet inviting feel to it, as if it was daring someone to sit.
And someone was there.
(Fuck.)
There stood a man, a familiar man to Jimmy, and one he honestly didn’t want to see for a very long time.
(No matter how much guilt he felt at the thought of leaving.)
Not taller than 5’9, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in appearance. His hair was slicked back, icicles following the curvature of its ends. His skin was pale, an ivory shade, but in a way that made him look more alive than the average person. His attire only added onto him, with a dark blue cloak with even lighter embroidery trailing up to his waist, where he had assortments of keys, potions, and a bag with contents unknown to Jimmy. His shoulders were broad and sharp, with the help of black shoulder pads traced in gold, and black fur did the same to his entire cloak.
What was peculiar about him was that he had no feet. He does have feet, Jimmy has seen them, but most of the time, where feet should be was replaced with a cloud, particles spreading around like spores.
This, Jimmy accepted once again, was The Dungeon Master.
“The Citadel Lord”
Tango Tek
HP: 50 AK: 83 LV: 17
Worried about you.
Jimmy can’t help but laugh dryly at Tango’s expression, being filled with worry and confusion.
(Why waste it on him?)
“You want to know… what happened, Grian?”
Jimmy turned to the shorter tiredly, the exhaustion of today finally having caught up to him. Grian’s mouth as agap, as if he wanted to say something. He ultimately decided against it, wisely, Jimmy thinks, before he nods his head.
“You got me a husband, that’s what happened.”