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Something has been following Planetlord, something dark and looming and never quite there when they turn around to try and catch it. Something that causes their stars to shrink in closer to their head as though it will pluck away their hearts one by one. Their teammates don't believe them, even when they feel it in the room as they all work together to regear. Bacon and Jaron just laugh and shrug off their worries, even though they know they're being followed. They don't know what to do, because it feels like the void is pressing in on all sides around them, like at any moment they're going to be swallowed whole.
They shiver, feeling the now familiar chill that happens whenever it’s back. There are eyes staring into them, as though it’s looking into their very soul, watching the way their stars circle their head. They look out of the corner of their eye, trying to catch a glimpse of it, but as always, there’s nothing but a blur of motion. They can’t focus on this right now, they have plans, they’re meeting with Zam in less than an hour for some girl talk, they can’t be freaking out about this shadow while trying to convince Zam to not be afraid of Mapicc.
It would weaken their argument, at the very least. And if they can’t convince Zam that he’s safe(r) with them, then he’ll never lower his guard enough for them to be able to follow him to the Eclipse base. They go through the nether portal, feeling the all encompassing heat for only a moment before they feel the chill of those eyes on them again. They shiver, pulling their hoodie closer to them as they begin the journey along the nether roof. Sometimes, when they’re alone like this, they can almost hear a voice whispering to them, asking about their stars, asking where they’re going and why. Asking about their teammates, and how easy it would be to get rid of them. Asking what they would do if they were alone. They actually answered that one before, snapping that they would revive them, it’s not like they’re short on materials, not like they don’t have time.
The void found that hilarious, a booming laugh followed by taunts and mirth. It's never actually hurt them, but they don't know if that's because it's waiting or because it's just messing with them. They just want to stop feeling this cold, this on edge; they're sick and tired of being the bug trapped under the magnifying glass.
They leave the nether, trying to ignore how they can almost feel breath on the back of their neck. It must be in a good mood today, as it gives them space as they talk to Zam, only reappearing towards the end. They feel it's (probably) metaphorical fingers wrap around their shoulder, and then the strangest thing happens.
Zam gets scared.
And that isn't that strange on its own, Zam gets scared all the time these days, paranoid to the point of poor health, but he's staring right past Planet's head, right over his shoulder as though he can see something that no one else can. Planet opens their mouth, ready to ask questions: what is it, what does it want? But Zam cuts him off with a smile that seems even more forced than normal.
“Anyways, I feel great now, Planetlord. Thank you for your help and for talking to me. I will, uh, see you again. At some point.” Zam is scared . Terrified even, at whatever he sees over Planet's shoulder. He doesn't even give Planet a chance to question him, hopping on his horse and riding off towards the nether portal.
Planet has so many questions. No one has ever acted as though they can see their… ghost? the demon haunting them? The void that's going to swallow them whole when they die…? Bacon and Jaron have never seen it, teasing them whenever they try to bring it up as though it's some kind of prank. But, for whatever reason, it allowed Zam to see it, and it terrified him.
Granted, everything these days scares Zam, comes with the whole “Mapicc hunting him for sport” thing.
Still, it feels like they were given a hint, or something. It chose to show itself to Zam for a reason. What does Zam know that Planet, or Bacon or Jaron, wouldn't? He's more involved with the factions of the world right now, taking a stand against duplicated items and now the gods popping up around the world. Could it be that simple? Does it have to do with the God Mobs? Planet doesn't know, and they aren't sure if they're going to get an answer, with the way it refuses to show itself to anyone other than Zam.
Planet sighs, walking along the path of spawn, feeling the weight of the void's stare. They have plans, things they need to get done, but instead they're always worried about when, not if, the thing turns hostile. Everything goes wrong eventually, so even though nothing has happened yet, they know that things will turn.
They hop down a small ledge, feeling the claws of the void tug lightly at their jacket as they land. And then they hear the hiss. They barely turn in time to see the creeper before it explodes. They can feel as one of their stars fades as their vision goes dark. This is just their luck, dropping down to two hearts. and in such an embarrassing way too.
They wake at spawn. One of the others must have moved the bed and forgot to tell them again. They're lying in the grass, taking a moment to regain their bearings before they try to recover their items. In the distance, they can see Ashwagg as he shows off his newly discovered flight to another unsuspecting member of the server. They watch halfheartedly as they consider their new predicament. They have more than enough netherite, hell, they're pretty sure they have a couple more hearts lying around that they could use. But more importantly, dying like that affects people's opinions of them, and their team. They aren't weak, but it's easy to write them off as not being a threat because of the silly (normal) ways they die. Eventually, Planet's going to change that, they have very big plans for the future, but right now they mostly just want to have fun.
As they watch Ashwagg, the sky grows darker. Alarmingly quickly, the sky is blotched out and covered in darkness. This has to be it. The void finally finds them weak enough that it's coming to finish them off. It's like a warden's blindness amplified by a thousand. Ash looks up, panic and confusion flashing across the static of his face.
And Planet realizes, oh, this is real .
Ash can see the darkness. Whatever this void is, it’s visible to the world. It has a tangible, physical presence that other people can see and feel. At least this way, if they're banned off the server before they have a chance to get more hearts, people will know what happened to them and they won't have to cover their face in embarrassment if or when their teammates revive them.
As the world goes black around them, two clawed hands of void reach out towards them, turning into an inky black form with a rainbow headband. Its eyes are pure white, a stark contrast to Planet's own form, and as its mouth opens it seems to tear the space around it apart.
“Hey, have I got just the thing you need, Planet Lord.” The voice is cocky and drawn out, a wide grin forming on its face. “Since you had your little… accident.”
“What…?” Planet trails off, there are too many questions they want to ask.
“Your creeper incident.” It steps closer and Planet tries to scramble back. It's like they're pinned in place, they can't bring themself to move even an inch. “But you are going to owe me, can't just be handing out this sort of thing for free.”
It holds out its hand, a small iridescent orb pulsing in a rainbow of colors sitting innocently on top of its palm. As it moves closer to Planet the shape changes, becoming closer to one of their stars. It's offering them a heart . A genuine one, not one disguised just enough to pass a trade.
“What do you want for it?” Their voice doesn't shake, they're forcing out their standard lowkey persona even as something this powerful stands before them. It has the power to plunge the world into darkness; what could it possibly want from them?
It laughs, a booming laugh that feels like it's sending pins through their hands and feet. “Let's just call it an… IOU. A favor for me to cash in later, doesn't that sound fair to you?”
If it was any normal player, an IOU would be a very dangerous thing to give out. Telling someone you'll do whatever they want in the future is, well, stupid , frankly. But this is even worse, there is something wrong with the figure standing in front of them. They open their mouth just to close it again as they think about how much harm it could force them to do.
“I'm waiting .” It whines, drawing out the words like a perturbed child who was told they could go home in five minutes ten minutes ago.
“Fine. Okay.” They don't want to make it mad, not when they really need the heart and it could decide to kill them at any moment.
“I knew you would end up seeing things my way! Open up, Planet Lord.” The void lunges towards them even faster than they could have imagined it moving. Grabbing them by the skull and forcing their jaw open.
The star morphs into a beating heart, and as Planet is made to bite down on it they wonder how the thing manages to have such an influence on the appearance of hearts. The blood runs down their chin, inky and thick as they chew. They feel as the star they lost reforms, their heart count returning back to three. The void smiles at them, mouth tearing open into menacingly sharp teeth. They brush the blood from their face with the back of their hand, ignoring the way that it shakes slightly.
The void laughs, cheerful and spine chilling, and it steps away from them. The figure fades away into the darkness, leaving Planet with a whispered “don't forget our deal, Planet.”
The darkness fades away, leaving them sitting in the middle of spawn with no trace of anything happening other than the smear of blood on the back of their hand.
“Planetlord. Planet.” They look up quickly, seeing Ashwagg standing above them. “What was that?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.” Their mouth moves without them being in control of it. The air on their skin is warm, but there is a bone deep chill in their core.