Chapter Text
“Ren, no!” Martyn screams. Sound of a falling body echoes in his ears. It was Ren’s last life. The Red King has fallen.
Is it really the end of Dogwarts? There’ll be no more fluttering of red banners in the night sky. There’ll be no more buzzing of an enchanting table. There’ll be no more farming and harvesting. There’ll be no more dramatic monologues and joyful laughter. If only he could bring it back!..
But Martyn doesn’t have time to dwell on these thoughts for too long. The battle is still not over.
Scar’s laughter awakens primal rage in Martyn. Red color is already blinding him as his last life demands blood, and now this desire became completely uncontrollable. He’s outnumbered, so his chances are pathetically low. But he doesn’t have anything to lose anymore. He’ll die anyway – might as well do it with fanfares. He must kill Scar. He must avenge his king. He must protect what remained of Dogwarts.
Protect. Avenge. Kill, kill, kill. These thoughts throb in his head, boiling up the blood in his veins.
An arrow whistles. Sharp pain fills his neck. His vision turns black and he hears his enemies’ triumphant screams.
Falling nearby his king, Martyn manages one thought: he would do anything to save Ren. If only it wasn’t too late.
InTheLittleWood was shot by GoodTimesWithScar.
Dogwarts has lost.
And…
Martyn jolts awake. He feels… heavy. Tangible. Alive. He’s not supposed to be alive. He died once, twice, thrice – that’s it, finita la commedia! He knows the rules. If you die in hardcore, you become a spectator. And spectators can’t be that… that corporeal. Maybe he’s imagining things?
Martyn quickly notices another strange thing: he woke up not in the place where he left his respawn point. He’s not in the hole nearby Dogwarts. He’s in one of village house. How the heck he even got here? Could he forget that he left a respawn point there? But that doesn’t make any sense. He hadn’t visit the village in a very long time.
But it doesn’t matter, he needs to go back! Even though he can’t do anything anymore, he must go back. He must see what they’ll do to Dogwarts. He must see his king. He must see this through.
It’s a middle of the night outside. Everything is quiet, only phantoms’ hissing breaks the silence. Martyn has no idea whose phantoms these might be. And it is also strange. He is sure their battle happened in the heat of the day. Did it really take so much time for him to wake up as a spectator? Is he late? Is Dogwarts completely destroyed already? Can he find his king in the afterlife now?
Martyn quickly makes his way to a nearby wall and hit his face against it. What? He was supposed to pass. He was supposed to go through the wall! He is a spectator. He…
Martyn jumps.
And soon feels the floor underneath him again.
…He is not a spectator. He’s alive.
Crippling fear paralyses him, cold sweat covers his skin. Martyn inhales air with his mouth frantically, but it’s not enough. He reaches his trembling hands to the neck and carefully traces skin. Nothing.
This is… weird.
Martyn tries to find another arrow scar, the one that he got when skeleton shot him. And another one, the one that Impulse’s arrow left. Damn, what's that with him and always getting shot?
Nevertheless, there is not a single scar.
Martyn takes out his communicator and checks players list. He’s… green. They’re all green. Besides Scar, but he’s yellow and not red.
A manic laughter bursts forth from Martyn’s throat. It sounds close to a wheeze. What the hell? He laughs, and laughs, and laughs. He laughs for so long, that tears appear in his eyes. He cries for so long, that he loses his voice and can only shake silently.
By the time he manages to calm himself a little bit, a dawn breaks outside. Martyn feels completely empty (also thirsty, but it’s not that important). He doesn’t know what’s going on. He doesn’t know what to do. He could think that everything that happened to him was just a very vivid nightmare, but… no, there’s no way it could be a dream.
Or maybe Martyn has gone insane? Maybe he can’t tell a difference between weary mind’s creations and reality?
No. Everything has an explanation. Perhaps his communicator is broken, that’s why it shows the wrong colors. But that still doesn’t explain why Martyn is alive. Maybe the game began again? But that also seems wrong. They were supposed to go on their merry ways after everything was over. Even if it changed, Grian would have told everyone.
So, both of his hastily constructed theories fell apart. Nothing seems right. Well, at least Martyn has a plan now. Firstly, he must go outside and see what’s happening on the server right now. Maybe he can find Grian and ask why are they all alive. After all, he is the one who came up with the game. He must know what’s going on.
“What?” Grian looks confused. “Did you forget the game rules? We all have three lives, and we’re on green now. Well, except for Scar…”
“Wait!” Martyn quickly interrupts. “Why is Scar on yellow, again?”
“You were there, Martyn! Might as well say you took a part in it. Remember, you were telling everyone about Renchanting and got them distracted, while I led creeper to Scar and… Well, you know that.” Grian squints his eyes suspiciously. “You’re not trying to avoid responsibility by acting like you forgot it, are you?”
Oh, void.
He returned back to the beginning.
Martyn doesn’t know how this could even happen, but he has no doubt in this. There’s just no another explanation. How else he is alive, how else everyone are alive? And this is clearly not a new game, because Scar lost his first life to creeper, just in the same way as before.
“Martyn?”
This means he has a chance to fix everything. He knows what happens next, so he can prevent it. He can save Ren.
It doesn’t matter, what sort of powers gave him this opportunity and what he has to give back, he will use it to the fullest.
“Martyn!” Grian’s loud voice takes Martyn out of his thoughts. Avian waves a hand in front of his eyes.
“Yeah?” Martyn replies absent-mindedly.
“Are you okay? You stopped responding to me. And you… don’t look well, to think of it. No offense.”
“How can you say that?” Martyn gasps in mock offense. “But everything is fine, really. Just wanted to make sure.”
Grian doesn’t seem convinced, but doesn’t pressure him.
“If you say so. Be… careful.”
Martyn finds way to Dogwarts without any trouble. Well, not Dogwarts yet, but Renchanting. There’s no trail of former impending greatness: no cobblestone walls, no red banners. Just another evidence that this is not some sort of sick joke. He really did go back in time. When Martyn looks upon unfinished wooden building, he starts to have second thoughts. Right now he is no one for Ren. Yes, he is already his manager, but they’re still barely know each other (in Ren’s perspective). There’s no Red King and his Hand. What’s Martyn even going to do? He’ll just appear at the Renchanting doorstep and say “I know how you will die and I don’t want for that to happen”? There’s no way Ren would believe this. Martyn wouldn’t.
Nevertheless, he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t turn his back, he doesn’t run to the another end of the map. Where could he even run? Renchanting is his only destiny, his only place to belong to. Who is Martyn without Dogwarts? A hand cannot exist without the rest of the body.
With grim determination Martyn gets closer to Renchanting. He is trembling – because of nervousness, maybe?
When Ren sees Martyn, he waves happily.
“I’ve been waiting for you, dude! How is our marketing company going?”
Martyn halts like a deer caught in a headlight. He… oh no-no-no, he’s not ready. It’s too much. Even though he thought he can process everything that happens around him, seeing Ren was different. Martyn remembers his every death. He remembers an acrid smell of gunpowder the explosion left. He remembers three swings of axe and the song of Red winter. He remembers how their Nemesis’ arrow hissed when it flew to the heart of the King.
But here his King stands, alive, no scars or injuries, and smiles. And his King is not his king.
Apparently, Martyn's body could take only certain amount of stress, and he crossed that line. The world turns black as he falls.
When Martyn regains consciousness, he feels nauseous and his head is throbbing as if someone hit it with a hammer. He finds himself lying on a bed. There is a sharply clear sky above him. He winces and turns to lie on his side, so he don’t have to look at it. Slowly coming to his senses, he remembers, where he is.
There’s a conversation nearby. Sound of people’s voices rings piercingly in Martyn’s ears. He groans and sits up slowly. That catches the attention of said people.
“Martyn, you’re awake! Man, you really scared me.” Ren came closer. “How do you feel?”
“I… I wouldn’t mind a glass of water.” Martyn hoarsely replies as he stands up.
Ren nods and in a few moments gives him a glass. Wow. Turns out hydration really is important.
“I feel better now, thanks.”
“I hope so! Renchanting still needs you.” Dog hybrid chuckles.
You still need me, Martyn thinks.
“Hey, Martyn!” Other person finally speaks.
Turns out it’s Skizz. But Martyn was supposed to lead him to Renchanting! This is bad. Despite Martyn’s intention to change upcoming events, he knew he mustn’t get carried away. If too much things change, consequences might be unpredictable and uncontrollable for Martyn.
Well, right now he has to play with cards that he got.
“Hello-hello, welcome to Renchanting!” Martyn begins with fake vigor. “Remember, don’t be a dog, be a god! That’s our motto here.”
“Hoho, sounds amazing!” Skizz eyes sparkle up. “I definitely don’t have any doubt in you at this point. ...So, as I was saying, I’ll make a sugar cane farm. But my next focus is to get wool. I’m being destroyed by these phantoms.”
Martyn remembers that the last time he was about to pull wool out of his inventory when he heard that. But he knows that there’s no need to do that, because Ren is about to give a bed to Skizz.
“This is a gift on behalf of Renchanting, okay?” There he goes. “As a…”
“…first day opening extravaganza…” Martyn continues quietly. Surprisingly, he remembers these words well. However, despite how quiet Martyn was, nothing can escape sensitive dog ears.
“What the heck, dude?” Ren sounds amused. “That’s exactly what I was going to say!”
“Well, not going to brag, but I’m just that good!” But it’s a lie.
As Skizz takes his leave, Martyn gazes at him thoughtfully. Despite the fact, that he came to Renchanting himself and not with Martyn, everything else had gone smoothly. It was both interesting and alarming. Martyn feels as if he got hands on fragile glass mosaic. There’s two ways it can go: he can create something wonderful with it, or he might shatter it into many little pieces with an uncareful hand. Martyn trembled again, this time not only with worry, but with a thrill too.
“Listen.” Ren seems much more serious than he was few minutes ago. “Are you sure you’re okay? You literally fainted. I mean, I am charming, but there’s no need to fall before me, you know?” He laughes awkwardly. Martyn smiles back.
“I… it’s hard to explain.” Martyn’s heart beats faster. Well, now or never. “Ren, listen to me carefully. I… we’ve been through all that before. But you don’t remember and no one does, besides me, for some reason. I know everything that happens next. I know how the game will end. And I… I want to change it.”
Ren chuckles nervously.
“You’re still not feeling well, I think. Maybe I should pour you another glass of water, Martyn? Do you want to take a sit?” Despite everything, Ren sounds genuinely worried. But Martyn doesn’t need that. He doesn’t want Ren’s pity. He wants for him to believe in Martyn. As he did before.
“I’m being serious, Ren. I know what will happen to Renchanting. It’ll be destroyed, if we don’t do something.”
“Or maybe you’re pranking me.” Ren sighs. “Were creeper jokes not enough?”
“But this is not a joke!” Martyn yells, losing his composure. “Ren, do you want to know how you will lose your lives? First, there’ll be a tnt trap near Dogwar- Renchanting. Jimmy will hit it, and, unfortunately, you’ll be too close. You’ll blow up.
Ren tenses up, but Martyn is far too agitated to notice that.
“Then… you’ll ask me to kill you. For red winter to come. For our loyalty to be proven. You’ll give me the axe. It’ll take three hits.”
Martyn voice quivers when he says that. Memories about black heart altar were still clear. And he will have to relive this moment.
But there’s something he refuses to see again.
“And you know what happens next, Ren? The war. And it’ll come into our walls. They’ll come into our walls. Scar will shoot you. We’ll both die. Dogwarts will become nothing. But we can change that, because now I know how it will go.”
Martyn takes a breath. He probably started shouting. He probably cried. He probably looked so feral.
In this moment he realizes something else. Mentally he was still living in the future events. Even if everything returned back to the beginning, Martyn has never left Dogwarts. Deep inside, he is still red. The server might seem friendly, but he knows it was all a ruse. He saw chaos, he saw bloodshed, he saw betrayals. He knows what’s hiding under the masks, waiting for the sweet reveal.
In a way, it resembled a dance. When performance is finished, it begins again. Every dancer returns to their starting position. But one figure stands out – it’s Martyn. He refuses to engage in this sick tango with death again. He performed it once and doesn’t want an encore.
“Martyn.” There’s nervousness in Ren’s eyes. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Dog hybrid takes a few steps back, but there’s not much space in a small building, so he quickly hits an enchanting table. His king, who once willingly gave Martyn an axe and his life, his heart, his fealty, tries to get away from him. His king dreads him. Martyn's heart shrinks painfully. It’s not supposed to be like that.
Martyn remembers doubts that came in when he was approaching Renchanting. How silly they were! Martyn might be no one for Ren – for now. But Ren is still his king. His ally. His friend. Whatever happens. Even if Ren doesn’t remember what they’ve been through, Martyn can’t leave his side.
After all, he swore him his loyalty.
Martyn raises his hands to show lack of wicked intentions and takes a step backward.
“I’m sorry.” He tries to sound as gentle as he can. “Sorry. I didn’t want to scare you, really. I just… I don’t want to lose you again. I know this sounds insane, but I can prove I’m not lying. I… I can just describe anything that happens in the near future. How about that?”
“Listen, dude…” Ren sighes tiredly and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I want to believe you, really. But it’s just… too much. Besides, I don’t know you that well. I need some time to think about it, okay?”
“Yeah, I understand.” Martyn nods. “Wait, I just realized something! Did you really agree to run a business with a person you barely know?”
Ren’s ears flatten to the head as he shrugs, smiling awkwardly. When Martyn looks at this smile, he once again thinks that he’ll do anything to save the person it belongs to.
“Hmm…” Martyn hums thoughtfully.
He considers himself to be very good with words, but oh boy, does he struggle right now. He should choose wisely what to tell Ren about. He must convince him. This must be something that will definitely happen – and Martyn now knew that some events can develop differently. It wasn’t that crucial yet, but he need to keep that in mind.
They sit on the floor in Renchanting. The feeling of the setting sun is warm is pleasant on their back. It’s nice to feel something so serene again. They didn’t have much of that moments during the Red winter. Martyn lets his thoughts consume him. Thankfully, Ren waits patiently.
He probably shouldn’t take the deal with village people or raid as an illustration. After all, Martyn took part in these events. Ren might think that he arranges something on purpose to gaslight him into believing. For example, Martyn can persuade Etho to enchant his tools before the deal is done, just to prove that he is right.
So he needs something he couldn’t won’t be able to affect, so Ren could see that he is being honest.
Talking about death was also not the best thought. Martyn didn’t want to scare Ren again.
Then he remembers about Scar’s attempts to get hands on an enchanting table. It might be a good option. Martyn is sure that it won’t change. Martyn also can’t affect it in any way. But there’s another problem – it won’t happen so soon. And Martyn better gain Ren’s trust as soon as possible, so they have time to make a plan.
And then he remembers something else.
“We’ll have a secret stash in a future. And, despite this being a secret, you’ll tell Etho, because you’ll want him as an ally. But that’s not all. You will also show it to someone else, but you won’t tell me who it is, because you’ll want to keep an alliance with them and for that, you’ll have to keep it a secret.”
“Sounds… complicated.”
“Well… you tend to overdramatize things, don’t you?”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Ren laughs and Martyn laughs with him. He really missed it.
Dusk falls upon Renchanting, as Martyn approaches it again. Fresh breath fans his face. After a day spent in the nether, it was very relaxing. Cobblestone walls already grew up around wooden building, and the place reminds Dogwarts more. But they weren’t there just yet.
Ren waits for him on a doorstep. He looks spaced out a bit.
“Boss, you won’t believe what I’ve been up to! The nether adventure was very, very, very good!”
“Oh, I wanna hear all about it! But first…”
Ren puts his hand on Martyn’s shoulders and takes off the sunglasses to look him into the eyes.
“I believe you, Martyn.”
“You really should get some rest.” Ren touched Martyn’s back gently.
Martyn sits in Dogwarts’ basement, surrounded by many papers. He decided that he needs make a plan for them as good as it even possible. For that, he needed to systematize his memories of game’s events first.
“I’m fine, my liege.”
Ren shakes his head disapprovingly and sits nearby. He takes random piece of paper and reads it carefully.
“So, an explosion… I remember you told me about that. Do you think we can avoid it?”
“Hm… we probably can, but I don’t think we should. I’m trying to be careful with changes. Besides, you still need to become a Red King. Besides, you’ll lose your first life anyway, so…”
Ren nods grimly.
Cogs spin in Martyn’s head. So, he will lead his king to the Red winter the same way he did before. But after that they need to be extra careful. Martyn knows now which allies were loyal to them until the end, and who can’t be trusted. He also knows what they should avoid in battles, in order to minimize their losses.
Martyn taps table nervously. But even if he somehow dodges the arrows that mean to take his lives away, he will die somehow else. Even if he distracts Scar in the final battle, someone else might get to Ren. There’s so much that can go wrong. He can’t keep in mind everything.
He must think better.
“Martyn. We still have time to figure it out. But now you’ll get some rest. Your king commands you!” There he goes again with the king voice.
“Well, I can’t go against the order, can I?”
An axe’s blade shines in the moonlight. Even though Martin knew it’s meant to happen, he didn’t expected how hard it will be on second time.
“You know, what this is, Hand.” Ren says, placing an axe into his hands.
“Red winter is coming…” Martyn whispers.
Ren smiles to him reassuringly. It’s a madman’s smile. But isn’t Martyn the same?
Martyn feel a sharp tingle of guilt. After all, this time it was him who put these thoughts into his king head. He said that they should do it again. Is it really worth it? Is he really going to put his king into the risk of being a red life? Couldn’t he find a better way? He could probably talk Ren out of it.
But it’s too late for second thoughts. Ren is ready to become a Red King now. He’s ready to gain the power that rightfully belongs to him.
“Three hits, right? Well, go on with it.”
And it’s so similar, yet so different from what he had gone through before. The same axe and an altar, moonlit night and a dark sky full of phantoms. Two hearts, swearing an eternal loyalty to each other. The King and the Hand, sealing their alliance with a blood ritual. But there’s also something else there. There’s no more solemn speeches – they know already what they’re about to do. Martyn doesn’t feel the same dread he did when Ren asked him for that the first time. They took a doomed road, knowing where it would take them, and they still choose to walk it. Together.
Martyn swings his axe. And again. And again.
I had no choice.
But did he, really?
They know that today battle will come to Dogwarts’ door. They stayed in there, waiting for their enemies. Martyn knew that they shouldn’t let them caught Dogwarts by surprise. One mistake can cost them everything. Anxiety slowly wraps it’s arms around Martyn.
He made sure Impulse died before this battle. They can’t afford Etho to die – every man counts. Of course, it would be nice to take out as many people out of opposite team as possible, but they didn’t have a chance to do that. He also couldn’t save Skizz. Well, they’ll have to work with what they have right now.
“Whatever happens today, me hand,” says Ren. “I’m glad to have you by my side.”
Martyn opens his mouth to respond, but hears voices outside.
It’s go time.
He nods to his king, and they go towards the battle. Etho and BigB are by their side. Martyn can only hope that this time their forces will be enough to win.
Hail of arrows immediately meets them. They protect themselves with bloody red shields. Now Martyn can actually feel the advantage they have when they greet they attackers instead of coming to Dogwarts where enemies are already inside the walls. They can resist. Hope blooms in his chest. He shoots back and takes a good look around. He can’t miss the moment when Grian and Scar appear.
But for now they shoot from distance. Martyn sees only Tango and Bdubs nearby them. The King and his Hand launch at Tango. They move in sync. Their blades cut through air, hit his shield, pierce into his flesh. Their movements complete and support one another. Martyn doesn’t know anyone who he could fight so well with. Tango tries so hard to dodge and fight back. He even manages to do some damage, but what could he do against two people? In the end, he drops dead.
Caught up in a battle, Martyn doesn’t notice Etho’s scream.
Etho was slain by BdoubleO100.
Oh, shoot. Of course he was killed anyway. How Martyn could not…
Right after that falls BigB, shot by Grian. He still has one life, but this is bad. Really bad.
Then he finally sees Grian and Scar. Martyn tries to regain composure as fast as possible. They’re here and they came to kill them. But Martyn won’t allow it this time. Scar pulls the string of his bow, aiming at Ren. With a feral shriek Martyn rushes to him.
“Oh no, you don’t!”
He growls, blowing hits at him violently. Scar dodge some of them and laughs.
“So the Hand first? Fine, I’ll manage that.”
Martyn feels as if he’s being torn apart. He tries to kill Scar, but at the same time he also tries to see, where Grian is. Avian will definitely try to kill Ren. Hit, hit, pull shield up, check if Ren’s in danger. He can do that.
He was right – Grian indeed attacks Ren. Martyn forgets everything and dashes to them.
“Martyn, NO!” Ren screams. Martyn feels an arrow in his neck.
Well, damn.
The last thing he sees before everything turns black is his king reaching out to him. And Grian, who takes the chance to plunge a sword into Ren’s chest.
And the time turned back.
Martyn jolts awake. Everything is quiet, only phantoms’ hissing breaks the silence. With shaky hands he checks his communicator. All green (except for one).
Martyn hides his face in hands and sobs softly.