Chapter Text
[LDShadowLady fell from a high place]
Etho read the message in his communicator. An explosion of gasps and exclamations bounced on the walls of the ravine most of the remaining non-red lives found themselves in.
After losing his home to the wither attack, Etho had managed to reunite with the remaining players not yet on their last life. He was not particularly close to any of them, but they were better than those he had called family—yet would kill him on sight. That's what he thought until Bdubs approached him.
Etho was initially threatened by his presence. Bdubs's red eyes sparked with bloodlust, but they had an underlying desperation beneath. Etho knew that the only thing stopping Bdubs from begging for a life was his pride, and that he would do anything Etho asked him to do to get it.
Now Etho was hundreds of meters below the surface, in a ravine barely lit enough to prevent monsters from appearing. He was on his own, surrounded by strangers that sent the man he loved the most to his demise. He did not have the courage to contemplate the fact that he was ultimately the one who gave him the order.
"Wait, was that Bdubs?" Scott exclaimed, "Did Bdubs just betray her?"
"It could be," Etho's reply drifted off as he noticed a ray of light on the floor. He looked up and noticed a slit at the roof of the ravine that reached the surface. It was not noticeable before, but the moon had positioned itself to have a better look at the scene.
Etho heard mocking giggles coming from the moonlight and a warning he was not supposed to be able to hear.
Devotion's ropes pull him down,
he abandons his lover in the dark.
Orpheus refuses to turn around,
Hades takes Eurydice's spark.
Without hesitation, Etho pulled up his communicator and typed a command. His body levitated a few inches off the ground as green and yellow sparks orbited him. The spectacle attracted the attention of the rest of the group, who noticed that the color of Etho’s only healthy eye had changed from an unnatural lime green to a bright yellow.
[BdoubleO100 was shot by Grian]
Bdubs's name on the message had the same yellow as Etho's eye. Etho was surrounded by questions and demands for explanations, but none of the words they said were processed. The same thought suffocated in his brain.
He is alive. He is alive, and they will kill him. They will kill him again, and I won't be able to save him.
Etho ran towards the ladders they'd just used to enter the ravine and hurried toward the surface. He heard Cleo and Ren call his name, but he did not care. Every second he wasn't with Bdubs was an opportunity for a red life to kill him.
---
"Where the hell is he? He should've appeared right here," Grian exclaimed exasperated.
Etho hid silently behind a tree on the outskirts of his snow fort. From what he could hear, there were approximately three or four people within his home's walls. They were pacing around searching for tracks for their hunt.
"Yeah...that's odd," said a way too familiar voice, "He must've set his spawn at our secret lair. I can show you guys where it is."
"You better be telling the fucking truth. You're not trying to save your little friend's life. Right, Tango? You wouldn't betray us like that," Joel threatened, with slight sounds of a physical struggle accompanying the bitter words. Though he had been acting unhinged through most of the game, his remaining composure had died alongside his loved one.
"Trust me, man. If there's anyone who wants him dead, it's me. Now, get your hands off me so we can find Bdubs and kill him once and for all."
Etho carefully listened as the voices of the four red lives vanished in the distance. He waited for them to be far enough to sneak into the snow fort.
"Bdubs!" Etho softly called for him as he looked around the destroyed courtyard.
He made his way toward their bedroom and examined the mess the red lives created. Everything that was inside their chests was either on the floor or in their pockets. Etho noticed there were some valuable resources on the floor. They didn't have time to loot properly. They probably didn't have time to put any traps. They probably didn't have time to look for Bdubs.
Etho called for Bdubs a little louder.
"Etho?" a timid voice came from the floor. Etho approached the sound of Bdubs's voice and started digging with his own hands. The soil he was digging collapsed into a claustrophobic hole where Bdubs was hidden.
Etho took Bdubs's hand and pulled him out of the ground. Bdubs started to complain about the uncomfortable position he was in when hiding, but Etho interrupted him with a tight embrace.
Etho wrapped his arms around Bdubs and pressed his face into his hair. Bdubs was initially startled but relaxed into the hug, wrapping his arms around Etho's waist.
They stood embracing each other for a long time without worrying about anyone attacking them. It would be the right way to die anyway—holding him.
"You literally had one job," Etho playfully snickered.
"Hey! Excuse me, I was surrounded by like ten red lives and still killed one of them," Bdubs protested as he tried and failed to escape from the embrace, "You should've seen me. I went down guns blazing like a true warrior."
"Yeah, right. I bet you were running away, screaming for me to give you a life," Etho smiled as he dusted off the remaining dirt from his lover's forehead.
"Nuh-uh," Bdubs lied.
Bdubs shuffled his body to look at Etho's face. Etho knew he was hiding a lovesick smile behind his mask, but Bdubs could definitely see through his crinkled eyes.
Etho cupped his lover's face and brushed his finger on a scar across his chin. It was a new scar, at least one unknown to Etho. Bdubs had collected multiple scars throughout the game. While others could interpret them as signs of incompetence, Etho saw his scars as strength. When life had beaten him down, Bdubs had been able to get back up with his recognizable grin. Every scar on his body represented an obstacle that wasn't strong enough to kill him.
Bdubs suddenly dropped his smile and slid from Etho's hold with barely any resistance.
"You have to go," he mumbled barely loud enough for Etho to hear him. His eyes avoided Etho's face, but Etho could notice them getting glossy.
Etho tilted his head in confusion, "What? What are you talking about?" He reached for Bdubs's hand, but he pulled it away before Etho could reach it.
"Red lives can't team with you guys, remember? And it's not like you can give me another life anymore, you're yellow," Bdubs looked at the floor with a shameful expression.
"Bdubs, you heard those guys hunting you down. It's not like you can barge in like 'I'm back guys! Sorry for killing one of you!' They will kill you, and I can't just let that happen."
Not again, Etho thought to himself. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes. Bdubs looked up and reached his face to wipe Etho's cheekbones. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'll be alright," Bdubs smiled at him.
There was no quip about being able to defeat anyone who got in his way. There was no lighthearted defense against Etho doubting his fighting abilities. There wasn't even a grin showing his remaining teeth. Just a closed-mouth smile with sad eyes and a reassurance that not even Bdubs himself believed.
Etho could not bear to look Bdubs in the eyes. He frantically looked around the room as if the solution would be in the mess. Bdubs had been red before, and Etho had always been able to find a life for him. But in those times extra lives were not scarce on the server, Bdubs wasn't the first name on a hitlist, and alliances had not crumbled apart around them.
"Kill me," Etho whispered to himself.
"Huh?"
"Kill me," Etho demanded. He pulled out his sword and gave it to Bdubs.
"Wh-what? No, I can't," Bdubs stammered. His hand gripped the sword as if it were second nature.
"Oh, come on. You have literally begged me to let you kill me so we can both be red lives together, remember? We could take over this whole place in no time, just like you said."
Bdubs's hand on the sword tightened until his knuckles were white. He kept shutting his eyes tightly. When he opened them, they shined brighter and redder than before. Bdubs moved his head in discomfort, fighting an urge emerging from within.
"Well, last time I didn't have a pack of red lives hunting me down. You think they won't target you either? Who knows! Maybe you will be their next target after they kill me. Those guys aren’t really that good at letting go of grudges," Bdubs shouted. He reached Etho's face with his free hand and spoke with a softer voice, "You need to win this game, for both of us."
"And what, am I supposed to just let you die? No way Bdubs, I’m not letting that happen again. If they want to kill you, they gotta go through me first," Etho pressed their foreheads together, "It's you and me, Bdubs, until the end."
Bdubs pulled Etho's mask down and kissed him. The kiss was sweet and desperate. It was similar to the many they'd had before, but the fire within burned stronger. They pulled their bodies closer to each other and indulged in the desire to stop time right where they were. They knew there was a limited amount of moments like these left in their short lifespan.
Etho felt a sharp cold pain interrupt the fluttering in his stomach. He looked down to notice blood—his own blood—staining Bdubs's hand holding a sword piercing Etho's abdomen.
Etho's vision got blurry and his head spun as Bdubs pulled the sword off his body. His legs stopped being able to hold him and Etho started falling. Bdubs was quick to catch him and slowly lay him on the floor.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Bdubs pleaded with tears in his eyes. A glint of delight and voracity hid underneath them.
Etho used his remaining energy to reach Bdubs's face, admiring it for a few seconds. He opened his mouth but no sound came out of it.
[Etho was slain by BdoubleO100]