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Scott didn't realise when the first loop happened. He knew something was supposed to change when he stabbed himself with the sword, and he thought this was it.
He was back in Rivendell. It was no longer destroyed, as good as new.
After a few moments of confusion, he goes to work on what he was doing before the rapture.
He doesn't get very far before he's interrupted by Lizzie.
"Oh great great Scott of Rivendell."
Weird, didn't she say this before? Maybe he's just imagining things.
"Hi.. uh Queen, Lizzie, of the sea. What's up?"
"I am here to request fashion from you. Specifically your armour."
Scott blinks. "Again?"
Lizzie looks a little confused, yet keeps smiling at him. "What do you mean by again? This is the first time I'm asking you."
"Okay... um, I can't really give it to you since it's Rivendell armour."
"Please Scott? I'll do anything for Rivendell's favour."
Scott sends her away to complete achievements, then pulls his spare set of armour out for if she returns. He then sits on his bed and tries to make sense of the situation.
Later Scott's got powdered snow and a pair of leather boots and is on his way to Lizzie's to prove she did all the achievements. This was around when the explosion happened wasn't it? Maybe it won't happen this time.
The moment that thought crosses his mind the sky darkens and the earth shakes. He groans and changes courses, now flying towards spawn.
He gets there first. The ground has opened and lava pours through the cracks. He's soon joined by Shelby, then Pearl, then Joey loudly comes flying in, complaining about his destroyed empire. Kathrine over and joins the group, then Sausage sits down and listens to Joey's ranting while polishing his sword. Joel arrives and sits in Lizzie's seat. Lizzie's not far behind and shoves her husband out of her chair before sitting down.
Jimmy comes running up, crying and shaking and looking like he just witnessed a murder. Just like last time.
He stumbles over his words as he tries to explain how fWhip died. Then fWhip and Gem join the circle, much to Jimmy's relief.
"fWhip! You're okay!"
"I don't think 'okay' is the right word." fWhip tries to wipe blood off his face with his soot covered hand, which isn't really doing anything other than infecting the cuts and dirtying his face more. "It has not been a good day for me."
Joey starts threatening fWhip and Jimmy, and they desperately try to explain the situation. The story is exactly the same as last time.
Scott leaves to go check on his empire, speeding towards Rivendell and heading straight to the crystal where Xornoth is kept. Xornoth is gone and everything is on fire.
When he gets back to the middle of Rivendell with the Rune Sword in his inventory, he's met with the demon himself.
Xornoth smiles sadistically. "Hello brother. I hope you don't mind the remodeling I've done."
"What is happening..." Scott mumbles.
"I've escaped your little crystal prison. Now that I'm free, I'm going to hurt all of your friends, and I'm going to enjoy it. Especially that little fish boy you're so fond of. But first, I need to get rid of you."
Before Scott can react, he's trapped within Xornoth's spell. He holds the Rune Sword in his hand. For a moment Xornoth looks suprised, but he quickly regains his composure and scoffs.
"You can't kill me with that. You're stuck in there, and I'm out here."
"I don't need to kill you when I'm right here."
Scott then stabs himself with the sword, the last thing he hears being Xornoth yelling in protest.
He's back in Rivendell. He lays in his bed until there's a knock on the door.
"Oh Great Scott of Rivendell! I'm here to steal your fashion!"
He groans as he slowly gets up. His chest aches, he can;t keep doing this. He's tried everything, even attempting to stop Jimmy and fWhip before they put their fish in the generator. Hell, he's even tried to stop their entire alliance. Nothing's worked.
Too tired to send Lizzie on her wild goose chase, Scott grabs the spare set of armour from his closet, opens the door, and shoves it into Lizzie's arms before she can say a word. He then storms past her and flies off, leaving her standing confused on his doorstep.
Now he's at Crystal Cliffs. Gem's a wizard, so maybe she can help.
"Oh hey Scott, do you-"
"Gem I need help!"
"Uh, okay? Help with what?"
"It's a long story, and we don't have a lot of time. The rapture's coming and I've been living the same day over and over for weeks."
Gem blinks. "What?"
"There's gotta be a spell or something that can fix this right?"
"Yeah, I'll... I'll see what I can do."
Five more loops were spent trying to figure out a solution with Gem. Scott had started writing down everything they've already tried in a book to show Gem each time.
"Sorry Scott, it looks like we've already tried everything I know." Gem says as she hands the book and quill back to Scott.
Scott sighs in defeat. "Thanks for trying."
Gem smiles sympathetically. "Of course." She thinks for a moment before speaking again. "Have you tried just accepting the rapture?"
Scott looks at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"Instead of trying to stop it from happening at all, maybe try coming up with a way to live after it."
Scott taps his fingers against the leather cover of the book as he considers this.
"It's worth a shot."
Scott's back in Xornoth's spell, sword in hand. He lines it with his heart as his brother screams at him. As he plunges his sword into his flesh, he wishes for a better outcome. One where Xornoth was never corrupted, and they ruled Rivendell together. One where he lived with Jimmy as his husband. One where he could live happily.
The blood pours out of him, and he falls limp to the ground. The last thing he hears before blacking out is Xornoth's pained screams.
When Scott wakes up, Xornoth is there. The old, non-corrupted Xornoth.
"Come on Scott, what are you doing wandering about? We have stuff to get done!"
"W-what?" Scott stammers.
"You alright dude? You're acting like you've never seen your own brother before."
"Where- where are we?"
"Uh, Rivendell. You know? The empire we rule? Were born in? Will take over one day?!"
"Oh, uh.. yeah.. yeah."
"I'd say you're being weird, but you often are."
"Hey! No I'm not!"
Xornoth smiles. Not the way he did then, full of malice. But a genuine, teasing smile. One Scott had missed.
"There's the little brother I like to wind up." He laughs. "Anyway, I need to take stuff over to the sheep. Mum and Dad will be back from their trip in a couple of days, so we need to make sure everything is good to prove we can run this place. Now go! Get stuff done!"
"Yeah.. s-sure."
Scott watches as Xornoth runs of. Did it actually work? This hadn't happened in any of the loops. Maybe he was free!
In his joy he starts to speak aloud to himself. Behind him a familiar voice speaks up.
"What worked? What're you on about now?"
Scott quickly turns around to see Jimmy.
"Jimmy?!"
"Wh- yes! Now come on inside I've made food. And if you let it get cold, you're on cleaning up duty for the next week."
Jimmy turns around and walks inside a house adorned with both a Cod Empire banner and a Rivendell banner.
"I'll- I'll be right there!" Scott calls after him. He looks back over the empire once more, humming to himself before following Jimmy.
Maybe happy endings do exist.