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The air is crisp as Seawatt stands, looking ahead with uncertainty. As a slight breeze washes over the platform, sand gets blown, obstructing his vision; he blinks away the particles and chooses instead to shut his eyes, letting his imagination wander. If only…
“Yo, Seawatt!”
Seawatt turns, watching bemusedly as Evbo parkours to him, swiftly making the jumps easily. He lands on the block in front of Seawatt and grins, holding out a hand. “C’mon, dude! I gotta show you something!”
Seawatt crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow. He ignores how Evbo’s grin makes his heart pound and instead says, “Evbo…if this is another one of your tricks, I’m going to leave right now.” Obviously he won’t - after all, Evbo could easily just catch up to him and force him to come - but he doesn’t want Evbo getting any ideas that Seawatt is excited about spending time with him (even if he is).
Evbo rolls his eyes and hops to the block that Seawatt is standing on. Seawatt’s eyes widen and he scoots back a bit, making sure there’s enough space for the both of them.
Evbo grabs Seawatt’s hand and says, “Stop being so paranoid, dude. I just wanted to show you something cool that I did.” And with that, he drags Seawatt through the Master layer, heading towards the Parkour Temple. Evbo’s Champion boots twinkle in the sunlight, and Seawatt is momentarily taken aback by the pure joy that he feels right now.
Evbo leads Seawatt to the Champion parkour. Seawatt immediately protests, “Okay, I don’t care what you say—I am not going up there.”
“C’mooon!” Evbo whines, tugging on Seawatt’s arm.
“I can’t even see the parkour,” Seawatt shakes his head. “This is, like, something bad waiting to happen.”
“But I can see the parkour,” Evbo says. “I’ll just tell you where to jump!”
“No.” Seawatt levels Evbo with what he hopes is a stern look.
Evbo simply sighs theatrically, as if he expected this reaction. “Fine, then—just so you know, you made me do this.”
“Made you do wha—“ Seawatt is cut off by Evbo unceremoniously sweeping Seawatt off of his feet and into his arms in a bridal carry.
…Or at least, an attempt at a bridal carry. It’s clear that Evbo is struggling with holding Seawatt, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise—Evbo is, after all, very malnourished and weak in all aspects other than parkour. Nevertheless, he starts making the jumps up to the Champion’s throne, Seawatt in his arms as he does so.
“Okay—Evbo, you can put me down,” Seawatt sighs, turning away so that Evbo can’t see the redness of his cheeks. “Clearly you’re not strong enough…let’s just do that first idea.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to do invisible parkour?” Evbo manages to tease, despite the sweat rolling down his forehead. “Don’t worry man—I’m already halfway up.”
And so, Seawatt resigns himself to his fate of being carried by Evbo as he painstakingly makes his way up the Parkour Temple. Finally, they make it to the top, and Evbo collapses, setting Seawatt down as gently as he can.
Seawatt stands up and dusts himself off, simply staring down at the blond. “Wow, dude. You need to work out more.”
“It’s not…my fault!” Evbo gasps in between breaths. “This is…Parkour Civilization…not Weight Civilization…”
An idea forms in Seawatt’s head, and he smirks down at Evbo, “Well, maybe you just need some motivation to work out.”
“Dude, what are you even—“ Evbo starts, his tone dry.
He’s interrupted by Seawatt lifting him into a bridal carry, all while standing up straight and not even breaking a sweat.
Evbo flushes and goes, “H-hey, put me down Seawatt!”
“Clearly, you’re the only one who isn’t strong,” Seawatt teases, “so don’t use the excuse of ‘this is Parkour Civilization, not Weight Civilization.’ Your friend is also plenty strong—why don’t you go work out with him?”
“EMF is such a harsh coach, though!” Evbo groans. “You know, one time I tried to join him to practice parkour, and he was so particular about everything! He’s such a control freak.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Seawatt hums. “Being in control isn’t a bad thing.”
“Well, you’re also a control freak, so of course you’d say that,” Evbo grumbles, poking at Seawatt’s chin. Seawatt narrows his eyes, trying to move his head away from Evbo’s prying fingers.
“Dude- stop that,” Seawatt says as Evbo tries to poke at Seawatt’s forehead. “Just tell me where to go—didn’t you say you had to show me something?”
“Oh yeah!” Evbo’s face brightens. “Okay—so can you walk over to the throne?”
“I sure can,” Seawatt replies, pivoting and walking towards the diamond throne in the distance. “You know, I could easily just sit on the throne and get my own pair of Champion boots.”
“Yeah,” Evbo nods casually, “but you’re not going to do that, right?” He looks up at Seawatt with a grin. “You know, despite everything in the past…I still trust that you’ll do the right thing.”
Seawatt looks down at Evbo, his mind racing as his heart clenches. He bites his lip and simply nods, looking back up at the throne. Despite the proximity, he simply sets Evbo down and stays away form the throne, letting Evbo gather himself.
Evbo then gestures towards himself and says, “Follow me!”
And so Seawatt does. Evbo leads Seawatt to the other end of the roof of the Parkour Temple, where there’s…a garden. It’s very lush, with bright green trees and grass and a variety of flowers, and there’s even a mini lake on the middle of the garden.
Evbo smiles as he crouches down, reaching at a white tulip. “I made this garden this morning, while you were out! Turns out, the Command Blocks can create things that don’t exist in Parkour Civilization!”
Evbo looks up at Seawatt, but Seawatt’s busy staring at the creature idly swimming in the small lake. He follows Seawatt’s gaze and chuckles a bit. “Oh yeah—I asked the Command Blocks for a ‘water animal’ and it gave me this spawn egg thingy. When I put the egg down, that thing came out! Cute, huh?”
Wordlessly, Seawatt nods and crouches down by the lake, reaching his hand into the water. It’s nice and cool on his skin, contrasting well with the heat of the sun, and he tentatively grazes his fingertips over the shell of the animal. It’s…smooth, and a little slick due to being underwater. “What’s it called?”
“A ‘Turtle,’” Evbo replies, shifting to sit comfortably with his legs crossed, watching Seawatt interact with the creature. “It can go on land, too.”
Seawatt hums, watching as the turtle spins around in the water, its beady eyes seemingly looking up at him. He slowly reaches for the turtle’s head, petting it…before it swims away out of reach. He sighs and takes his hand out of the water, wiping it on Evbo’s hoodie, causing the other to complain.
“This is…nice,” Seawatt says, standing up fully and looking at the garden as a whole.
Evbo beams up at Seawatt, and he follows to stand as well. “Thanks! It took, like, a good few hours! EMF had to help me with the flowers.”
“Of course he did,” Seawatt mutters playfully.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Evbo raises an eyebrow, placing his hands on his hips as he playfully glares at the taller man. “Are you saying that I’m not capable of making nice things?”
“You said it, not me,” Seawatt raises his hands in the air, chuckling when Evbo glares harder.
An idea pops into Seawatt’s head as he’s reminded of something back at his home. “Oh, that’s right—I also wanted to show you something.”
Evbo blinks. “…You wanted to show me something?” His voice is colored with awe as he gives Seawatt a warm look.
Seawatt turns away, unwilling to face Evbo’s stupid puppydog eyes. “Yes, idiot. Come on—it’s in the 5th layer.” He starts walking towards the edge of the Parkour Temple.
Evbo scrambles to follow after him. “The 5th layer? Why there?”
“Well, it’s…” Seawatt trails off as he looks out to the sky. He can see the sun in the distance, bright and harsh on his eyes. “…I need to tell you something.”
“Okay??” Evbo peeks over the edge of the Parkour Temple. “Do you need help getting down, or…?”
Seawatt pulls out his water bucket from his inventory. “I’m a Master, duh. A water bucket clutch from this height is too easy for me.” He proves it by leaping right off of the roof, easily landing with his water bucket. Evbo follows behind him, landing on the block to his right.
“Alright Seawatt—lead the way,” Evbo says, gesturing towards the direction of the 5th layer.
…What a nice reality that would be.
As Seawatt makes jump after jump, he almost slips a few times, his rushed pace causing him to be careless at times. But that’s not what matters; it matters that he makes it to his destination, so he can say to Evbo that—
…What did I want to say to Evbo?
Seawatt wants to tell Evbo many things. He could write novels about the beauty of his bright green eyes; he could paint tapestries of the floaty feeling that Evbo’s smile causes in his chest.
He could apologize for everything he’s done for him.
“I know you, don’t I?” Evbo had asked all that time ago, when they first met. And at the time, Seawatt had treated him so derisively and callously, not really caring of the betrayal that he made Evbo feel.
I think I understand now, though.
The sun is bright. It’s too bright, considering what’s going on. If this were a movie, the weather would surely match the thunderstorm going through Seawatt’s heart right now.
If he could say anything to Evbo…
I’m sorry.
You care too much.
You deserve better than how I treated you this whole time.
Alas, he can’t quite find the strength to say these words; these words that are so personal, so close to Seawatt’s heart, are not meant to be spoken aloud. That’s not the person Seawatt is.
In another life, he could’ve lived in Parkour Civilization with Evbo. In another life, Evbo would make gardens and spawn in turtles for Seawatt to stare at in awe. In another life, they’re friends, and not doomed by fate to suffer.
In another life, Seawatt would say his true feelings.
…But that’s in another life. In this life, Seawatt is forced to watch as his life gets closer and closer to its end, in the same way that he had treated so many others: through betrayal.
And so, all he can really muster is a smile. He steps off the wooden plank he’s on, his feet hitting the sandstone platform.
I’ve never liked the dull color of the sand, he thinks idly as he turns, his eyes meeting verdant greens. I…much prefer the green grass of Parkour Civilization.
Seawatt feels the killing blow in his soul as the Parkour Villain makes his last jump.
He wants to do so many things; he wants to cry, scream, laugh, run away, beg; most of all, he doesn’t want to die.
At the end of the day, Seawatt’s a liar. He’s lied about his origins, he’s lied to players about their origins, and he lied to Evbo to get him to follow his plans. After so much deceit, Seaeatt can’t just pretend that he’s a complete victim in what’s about to happen.
…But maybe, at the very least, he can use his last words to be honest. Evbo deserves that much, at least.
“For what it’s worth, I was telling the truth when I said I enjoyed working with you.”
A surge of peace fills Seawatt’s soul. He’s dying, and his plan has come true, and Parkour Civilization is doomed, and Evbo looks so, so heartbroken…
But as Seawatt fades into the Void, all that encompasses him is peace.