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On the Lifesteal server, everything felt sharper — the blades, the battles even the stakes. Life itself is a currency that could be stolen with a single strike, death wasn’t the end of it though; it was just the start of a steeper climb back to survival. Jepex and Mapic had been surviving together for as long as anyone could remember.
To the other players, they were inseparable- brothers, their names often spoken in the same breath. But that wasn’t the truth, not even by a long shot.
Today, that lie was about to be tested in the most brutal way possible.
A$hswag: servers having some issues at the moment please refrain from dying or killing others as death may be permenant for the time being.
Jepex lay on the ground, his breathing ragged. Blood soaked through his shirt, pooling around him as his hearts slowly ticked down. His duel with Minute had gone terribly wrong. What had started as a test of skill had escalated into a full-blown fight for survival, and now Jepex was paying the price.
"Jepex! Stay with me!" Zam shouted, kneeling beside him. Panic edged his voice as he looked around the battlefield, trying to figure out what to do. In a normal situation he would just let Jepex die and go through the troubles of respawning, but there was no respawn now, was there?
Jepex’s health bar was dangerously low, and there wasn’t time to wait. If he didn’t act fast, he’d lose not just a heart, but hell, he might lose his whole life.
Zam’s fingers flew across his inventory screen, searching for something useful in his supplies. Healing potions, golden apples — none of it would be enough to counteract the damage Minute had done. Jepex needed more than simple regeneration. He'd lost too much blood. He needed a blood transfusion — and fast.
Without thinking, Zam whipped out his communicator, contacting the one person everyone would assume could help.
“Mapic!” Zam’s voice was frantic as he shouted into the mic. “Get over here, now! Jepex’s hurt bad — he needs your blood! Don't ask questions!”
It wasn’t long before the familiar sound of footsteps echoed, and Mapic sprinted onto the scene. His face was pale, his normally confident expression replaced with raw fear as he saw Jepex lying motionless on the ground.
“Jepex!” Mapic’s voice cracked as he dropped to his knees beside his friend. His hand hovered over Jepex’s arm, unsure what to do. The sight of the blood, the gaping wound, the faint flicker of hearts on his friends wrist — it was all too real.
Zam looked at him, desperate. “You have to give him your blood, Mapic. He doesn’t have time! He's lost too much of it already.”
Mapic froze. The words hit him like a punch to the gut. Blood. The thing that tied them together in everyone’s minds. The thing that had made everyone believe, for years, that they were more than just childhood friends.
But it wasn’t true.
Mapic stood, his throat tightening as the words he’d avoided for so long struggled to come out. “Zam, I... I can’t.”
Zam looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean you can’t? He’s your brother! Your blood can quite literally save him!”
Mapic’s fists clenched at his sides, his heart hammering in his chest. He glanced at Jepex, then back at Zam. “He’s not my brother,” he said, his voice quieter than he intended. “We’re not related.”
Zam blinked, as if the words didn’t register. “What are you talking about? Of course, you’re brothers! You’ve always—”
“No,” Mapic interrupted, his voice firmer now. “We’re not. We grew up together, yeah, but we’re not blood. I don’t even know if my blood will work for him.”
The truth hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. For years, they had let people believe the lie. It was easier that way. No questions about their families or past, no doubts. They fought together, lived together, survived together. To everyone else, it just made sense that they were brothers. But now, when it mattered most, the lie was starting to matter.
Zam’s face shifted from confusion to disbelief. “Then why... why let everyone think—?”
“It was easier that way,” Mapic said, his voice tight with emotion. “They all assumed, and we didn’t correct them. It's not like it really mattered. But now... now it matters. If I give him my blood, and it doesn’t match, I could kill him. I could kill Jepex, Zam.”
Jepex’s breathing was growing shallower by the second. His hearts flickered. There wasn’t time for second-guessing.
Mapic’s mind raced. He looked down at Jepex, his best friend, his brother in everything but blood, and a wave of fear crashed over him. What if this was it? What if this was how it all ended? After all the years they’d spent surviving, fighting, staying alive together all through out their childhood, onky to make it to lifesteal— and it all came down to this one moment? Came down to the fact that Mapic, in fact, wasn't his brother by blood.
“I have to try,” Mapic whispered to himself.
Zam stared at him, unsure. “But—”
“I have to try,” Mapic repeated, louder this time. His hands trembled as he pulled out a sterile needle from the medical kit Zam had fumbled with earlier. He didn’t know if his blood would work, didn’t know if it was compatible with Jepex’s. But this wasn’t about biology. This was about their bond — the one thing he had always been sure of.
He knelt beside Jepex, locking eyes with his friend, who barely clung to consciousness.
“Hang in there, Jepex,” Mapic murmured, pressing the needle into his own arm. “We’ve been through worse, right? What haven't we been through honestly.”
The blood dripped from the needle into Jepex’s veins. Zam watched in stunned silence as the transfusion began. Every second felt like an eternity. Mapic’s heart pounded, fear gnawing at him with every passing moment. What if it didn’t work? What if—
Jepex’s breathing started to even out, his hearts dying down on flickering.
Mapic let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Relief flooded him, but it was fleeting. He didn’t know if this was a temporary fix or if Jepex would make it through the night. But for now, he was alive. That was enough.
Zam stood back, still processing everything he’d just heard. “You... you really aren’t brothers.”
Mapic glanced up, a small, exhausted smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Nope. But we’ve been through enough together for it to not be a complete lie.”
Blood wasn't what made them brothers, their bond and shared memories did.