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Scar had been waiting. Sitting. Waiting. Pressing that infernal button over. and over. and over. and over.
Then he'd left, heading back over to his shop, lying in his field of sunflowers, staring up at the bright blue sky. It had no business being that beautifully bright. It had made him want to go back to the Secret Keeper so that the sky would change back to purple and grey.
But he'd run out of food eventually. So he'd walked into the rundown, damaged trader Scar's, picking through the chests to see if any of the other players had left anything behind for him.
He was going to need to start farming soon.
It wasn't that long before his first customer in a long time arrived at Traders Scars. He can't recall their face, or what they wore. He just knew that he didn't have what they'd needed.
He'd started repairs on his shop after that. It wasn't too hard to cut down a couple trees, scrape some sand off of the bottom of the river, and smelt it down for it to become glass for the window. He'd collected dirt to patch up the lawn, and then gone out looking for sunflowers to put back in his garden.
Anytime he happened to lose an iota of health, he just went back to the Secret Keeper, and hit the button a few times. More books tumbled from the air, falling to the ground in front of him. He never got a new task. Just the one. Just to win Secret Life.
He was content just to be serving his new customers. They never said anything, and he'd never really remember anything about them. They were shadows in his mind, most definitely there, but not really real. At least he could pretend that he was still needed in this world.
His sunflower lawn was flourishing, they grew all over the lawn, up the steps, winding up around the supports, all across the roof. He'd normally pick a few every once in a while, just to make sure there was one in his hair, and one somewhere on his clothes. They grew fantastically here. It was never anything but beautiful skies, stunning sunsets, the sun never blocked by anything.
Monsters still spawned, but they didn't come near Trader Scars. And he had to say, he was certainly the most lucrative business anywhere near here.
One day, he had a different customer. She wasn't a shadow. Her hair caught the light, her voice was so loud and wonderful, something with life in it. She wore sunflowers too, just like him. He doesn't remember what she asked for. Just her talking to him, asking him if anyone else lived near here? Not anymore. She told him that she loved his garden. An angel. Literally! Her golden wings were giant, feathered and fantastic. Her halo was golden too, shedding light across his shop, far more bright and radiant than that of the lantern that hung above him.
The next time he saw her, he remembered a little more. She'd worn a long, green, flowing dress, rips at the bottom, and she'd slung up a large golden goose outside. The world didn't used to have things like this. It didn't have people with wings, and it most certainly didn't have large ride-able geese.
The third time, he thinks that maybe he knows this woman. Her voice has an accent that tickles the back of his mind, telling his it's familiar. The way she chats so casually, talking to him about things that he thinks he remembers, but can't recall anything about. He's been here too long now.
She asks him if he'd like to go for a walk with him, outside of Trader Scars and his little walled off garden outside. He does agree, and they walk out together. It's been a while. He can see the mounds in the distance, and if he hadn't known that they'd once been homes he would've just thought of them as grassy lumps. She dragged him along by his hand, and he couldn't let go once she grabbed it. Her hand was so warm, so alive, so human. The bodies still lying on the ground certainly weren't.
She didn't seem to care for them, not even glancing over. All she did was pull him along by the hand, pulling him further and further away from Trader Scars. Towards the Secret Keeper. She stopped at the edge, where the sky started to change.
It was covered in vines, purple and white flowers in bloom all across it's face, a long crack down the centre of it's face, directly through the strange symbol that had been there since the games start.
She asked him if he wanted to try pressing the button again. He nodded, then stood, stared at her, waiting for her to pull him in.
One of her wings wrapped around him from the back, pushing him up so that they were side by side. Then she stepped in.
The world was dimmed inside of the Secret Keepers domain, the broken statue not affecting how the area around it worked. The button was right there. He looked at it, then turned to her.
He trusted her. She was trustworthy, he could tell; there was something inside him that just told him that she was safe. The angel placed her hand over-top of his own, then pushed it down towards the succeed button. It clicked, and the statue glowed, light pouring out from inside the crack, splitting open further.
I think it's time for you to go Scar. I promise you I'll be there on the other side. I might not remember this, but I will do whatever I can to protect you. I did in this life, and the last. Your repentance for helping me when I was at my lowest I suppose.
She hugged him then, arms and wings wrapping around him, hugging him tight.
I'm going to need you to go towards the light. You can do that for me, yeah?
He nods.
Thank you Scar.
He's able to remember himself speaking for the first time in months.
Thank you Pearl.
Then he turns to the statue, and climbs up into the crack in the statue. He doesn't know where he's going, but he knows that his angel Pearl will be there for him. So he'll be safe.