Chapter Text
Thud. Thud. Thud.
His heartbeat was loud amongst the silence, thrashing about in its rib cage prison in a rush of adrenaline, of fear.
He had already lost Etho, his fallen friend had been shot from their pillar sanctuary, hunted until he was slain- the pain Grian felt at losing one of his Roomies was immense, he just couldn’t lose Cleo too.
The memory of Etho is overwhelming, the grief yet to be forgotten. He can see a clear picture of the man, falling, falling hundreds of blocks from the sky, blood flying at a lesser speed from the wound that had knocked him off- silvery-white hair framing his face as he stared up at himself and Cleo..
Through the stone he heard muffled speaking, the sounds of footsteps echoing, crumbling as blocks were broken, Gem and the Scotts were after him, he was mere moments away from being found.
He’s crouched in the darkness, red jumper clinging to his frame from the sweat- he’d sent the minecart after the trio as soon as they had re-emerged from the nether portal but no player had died.
How many hearts do they have?
The realisation that they hadn’t died hit both him and Cleo with great intensity, she fled through the newly opened crater whilst he burrowed into the stone walls- the pair of them at a loss with the stunned reality that Gem and the Scott’s must have rows upon rows of hearts.
It didn’t matter that he was about to be found, as long as Cleo got away and he could deal some damage to the blood hungry red names he would die happily.
The stone in front of him cracks, he feels the breath in his throat hitch- as if caught in a spider’s web- he freezes, sword drawn in hand as the suspense of the bare few seconds builds up.
Gem’s face appears, framed in her vibrant ginger hair, red eyes glowing with the demand for blood as she takes in the other player.
He’s frozen, in the corner of his vision he can see the twenty two hearts that remain, all that's left until his soul is ripped from his body and he joins the other ghosts.
The stunned silence lasts only but a fraction of a second, he lets out a yell, charging forward with the enchanted blade, watching as it swings in a wide, blue arc before slicing across her chest.
She’s fleeing instantly, sprinting through the freshly mined corridor into the daylight of the crater, “Grian’s here! Grian’s here! Grian’s here!”
“Coming! Coming! Coming!” Scott parrots back, a flash of fear shakes his figure, this was it, they were coming to kill him.
A three versus one was an impossible match.
“No!” He shouts in desperation, he doesn’t want to die yet.
He follows Gem as she continues running, cornered into the crater’s edge, his sword is swinging- “Eep!” Gem’s crying out- Impulse jumps down into the fight to defend Gem.
They’re low.
The realisation hits and fills him with hope- Gem had been running not fighting, the minecart had dealt enough damage to the point that they were scared to fight him.
Maybe he had a chance.
Scott’s there too, all three with swords drawn, he changes focus to Scott, swinging repeatedly with force, in the corner of his vision the hearts tick down.
Twenty, nineteen, eighteen.
“Nope Grian.” Scott is speaking this time, Gem cowers behind him, he’s shielding her away. This action caught his attention, Gem was who he needed to focus.
Grian’s backing away, shield drawn, the ledge beneath his feet is unforeseen and Gem has followed him down as he tumbles.
They trade hits, he pulls up his shield and feels the force in which she hits it before he hits her own body.
Thirteen hearts left.
Gem’s fleeing down the corridor, the one that he’d hidden in just moments prior.
He’s swinging repeatedly- “You can’t do both of us.” Scott is right, he knows it, he winces as Scott’s hits land but he has to kill Gem.
He’s landing hits upon Gem, her shield is drawn but she can only defend so much- BANG- lightning strikes, the sound is deafening, he continues swinging at Gem anyway.
“There we go..” Impulse mutters distantly, he’s too distracted as he sends blood flying, his sword is covered, blue no longer visible, his forearms, chest, face- they’re all smeared with the crimson red of Gem and himself.
“Did you get Cleo?” Scott’s asking this, Grian falters, for only a second- Cleo couldn’t be dead, she wasn’t here, she was supposed to have fled, to be safe.
He can’t stop now but he feels himself tiring- eight and a half hearts remain, he swings repeatedly at Gem, she’s backing away, Scott is trying to engage, Impulse trying to place lava at his feet.
His arm is beginning to ache with how long he’s been fighting but he continues to thrust the blade forward, just missing Impulse’s molten lava placement, chasing his target who is surely getting low.
Gem is stumbling back, up the stairs, he takes the chance and sprints forward, stabbing the sword through her chest and watching as her body disappears at the end of the blade.
Her dying words, “No-!” catch in the wind and are washed over by a deafening noise.
BANG.
Lightning strikes, Gem is dead, the only evidence that she had been there a mere millisecond prior is the droplets of blood sprayed across the cobblestone stairs.
His hearts regenerate, eighteen and a half, he swings back around, he can’t stop yet, he has to keep fighting.
Scott’s mouth is agape, he is stunned, tears in the corner of his eyes- Impulse is backing away slightly, also shocked, “Gem-” he gasps.
This slight step causes his eyes to narrow, Impulse seems less confident as if he has less hearts to spare.
Grian lunges forward, hair plastered to his forehead in a mixture of blood and sweat, the sword is clasped between both hands as he strikes the man at his collar bone, Impulse can’t get a shield up in time to block the hit in his stunned grief.
The sound of bones cracks underneath his sword, Impulse’s face screws up, eyes squinted and watering, blood like a waterfall down his torso.
The player is backing away, Scott is trying to come to his aid but Grian’s shield is raised in his left hand to block the incoming attacks.
One swipe slices his lower back, he lets out a hiss as he feels the warm, sticky blood blossom underneath his jumper. He stabs back at Scott making the man jump back then proceeds to take this opportunity to repeatedly slice at Impulse.
“Gah! No!” He’s yelling, “Scott-!” Grian stands before him, sword plunged into his neck, eyes drooping from exhaustion as he watches the body of Impulse disappear.
BANG.
Two down, one more to go.
“Impulse!” Scott is yelling, crying out, “Grian, I won’t let you!” He’s rushing forward, anger and grief burning like twin flames in his dark pupils.
Grian sluggishly moves to meet his sword, the exhaustion bearing down upon him as he swings back at Scott with equal strength- his hearts are now at twenty three, ironically more hearts then he began the fight with.
Scott switches to his crossbow, an arrow drawn and shot at Grian who barely has the time to roll under the projectile before dashing in once more to trade another hit.
Twenty one and a half hearts left.
The enemy slices up his face with his weapon, Grian holds in a gasp as he feels his cheek split open, salty blood filling his mouth.
He aims for Scott’s legs, making the man stumble as he trades two more hits- one Scott manages to block with his shield before hitting back aggressively- darting in, going for a hit then backing up and repeating the process from another side.
The adrenaline Grian’s running on is tiring, the fight must end soon- he swings the sword, cutting across the man’s chest in the shape of a cross, Scott’s eyes are widening, he seems to be panicking.
He’s storing the sword away- Grian is still swinging- an Ender Pearl is new in his hand as he tries to throw it outside the crater- Grian hits him once more before he disappears in a cloud of purple.
BANG.
He’s dead.
The two hearts taken away from the Ender Pearl landing have killed him.
Grian- Grian has won.
Twenty six hearts beat dutifully.
He all but collapses, sword dropping from his hand as he hits the cobblestone floor.
Blood is painted across the crater, smearing the walls and sprawled across the floors. He’s so tired that the victory has yet to wash over him.
He can hear his communicator pinging consistently, slowly- with shaking hands- he brings it up to read the stream of notifications.
PearlescentMoon: Gem and The Scotts are dead
PearlescentMoon: Who killed them?
BdoubleO100: WHAT they had so many hearts
SmallishBeans: Cleo and Grian?
GoodTimeWithScar: Cleo is dead
BdoubleO100: Scar killed her
BdoubleO100: she died before Gem and the Scott’s did
His heart stops- for the first time since before the battle he feels like he can’t breathe.
No. No. No. Cleo can’t be dead.
He switches to the tab, staring at the list of red and grey names.
Grey. Grey. Grey.
Cleo’s name showed she was dead.
She was supposed to live.
She can’t be dead, she just can’t.
Grian has no one left.
Tears are gathering in his overly tired eyes as he spirals, all he can do is stare down at the floor, hands pressed against the blood smeared stone as the tears drop and mix with the red.
Time passes quickly, has it been a matter of seconds or minutes?
He stands slowly, shaking slightly, a numb determination set upon his face with his hollow eyes.
He doesn’t even register that he’s moving, his mind clogged from the aftermath of the fight- the disbelief that he won against three of the players who had the most hearts was unbelievable- and the fact that Cleo is.. dead.
That part hasn’t fully soaked in yet, had it really only been ten minutes since the pair of them had escaped through the nether portal, constructing a TNT minecart trap and smiling at each other with grim determination?
He’s in denial, he knows it but he just can’t fathom that he is alone, again.
It surprises him but he misses Cleo and Etho- it’s a death game, people die, teams crumble but his heart feels hollow.
He’s not used to this.
Back in Third Life he’d slain Scar with his bare hands, punched the life out of the man before he took his own life, not daring to dwell in the grief.
In Last Life he’d killed Mumbo and Timmy but he wasn’t alone, he had other allies- Impulse, Joel, Martyn..
In Double Life he died in tune with Scar, bound together by the strings of fate only to die together; he never faced isolation.
In Limited Life he had people to fall back on- his sister and BigB, the alliance was temporary but he never had to suffer the solitude.
Now- now he doesn't know what to do.
His eyes widened, the castle-like structure standing before him- without realising he’d made his way back home.
He knows what he must do and sets to work immediately, stone blocks gathered in hand to build two graves.
With every flower he can find in the vicinity he makes two matching wreaths, hanging them upon the tombs as he sits down, the day fades behind him but Grian cannot focus on the fact that time is moving so fast.
Everything seems to have frozen for him.
He pulls remaining flowers from his inventory, flowers in which he didn’t use in the wreaths, he uses them to plant around their matching graves.
Daisies, buried in a bed of daisies.
Grian sits there in solitude, calmed in the silence of his two Roomies- their gravestones- and vows to avenge them.
They were supposed to win.
When Etho had died he’d promised the man he’d protect Cleo, let her become victorious, to save her from the cruel clutches of the server.
He had failed them both.
He shakes his head, trying to remain focused, he must go and avenge their deaths, he had to win, for them.
He rises, dirt clinging to his bloodstained pants, hair tousled and messed- he had killed Martyn, slain Gem, Scott and Impulse.
Few players were left, he could- he needed to win this if only to make Cleo and Etho proud.