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The week started off well enough. A bit of a silly task, convincing Cleo to do terrible, no-good deeds, the devil on their shoulder, that quickly got pushed to the side when it became abundantly clear that there were other problems. Bigger, more threatening problems that had most of the server on the run for the entire week. The survivors banded together at the beginning - a large enough group, traveling around, doing recon. Checking in.
And then Etho died. He looked at an Enderman that Grian spawned in to target Scar and, instead of staying in the base where the group could kill it easily enough, even as it targeted down Etho - he was still at incredibly high hearts, after all - he ran. He down the pathway and towards Gem and Scar, even though he knew they were going to kill him. It was a death wish, even as he ran to the water, to the Heart Foundation. There was nothing to be done.
Looking at the Enderman was an accident, though running into the line of fire with Gem and Scar was a decision. A decision to pull their attention away. A decision to give the rest of his crew, his roommates, family, really, a chance to slip out, to escape.
It was a decision that Etho does not regret.
Cleo is still on green, and Grian is hanging onto his yellow life. Sure, Etho lost all of his hearts, but it was worth the trade in the end, to keep them safe. Grian falling to red would’ve been disastrous.
Etho has been with Cleo since near the start of this death game. The home they built together in the mountains has held up surprisingly well. Etho wants to protect it. Etho wants to keep the home they carved out for themselves safe, wants to keep both of them safe. Even though Grian didn’t officially join them until a few weeks in, he fit perfectly into their group.
Now, Etho runs distractions. He pulls people away from targeting Cleo and Grian. Constantly deflects, brings up new ideas - Hey, why don’t we go get a warden?
It works, mostly. Cleo dies, but it’s her fault. It’s not an infection kill. When Impulse chases down Cleo later on, Etho runs diversion, blocking his view as she ducks into a cave. Etho purposefully goes after Joel to avoid Cleo’s death.
Etho already failed his task, but it doesn’t mean that Cleo and Grian have to.
So, as it approaches midnight, less than an hour before the tasks reset, before the boogeyman apocalypse would come to an end, Etho looks to the sky. Stars twinkling above. The moon right in the middle of the sky. The tower that Joel built for that water bucket clutch that he inevitably failed. The tower that was then turned into a platform, that was then -
Those walls weren’t there before.
He suspects that Scott is still somewhere around the cherry mountain, and he knows that Cleo is on the other side of the map at this point, hopefully. Maybe she’s still tucked away in that cave. Etho hasn’t seen Grian, even heard anything from him, in hours. Days, maybe. Etho can’t remember the last time he saw Grian.
How long has he been up there? Etho wonders. None of them had seen Grian, not for ages. The other zombies asked about him in passing, but they were zeroed in on Cleo, as the last green life of the server. Even now that Cleo was down to yellow, they were still focused in on them.
Etho looks to the sky. He makes a decision. They won’t be able to kill Scott, anyway, with how well he’s hidden himself. The least he can do is make sure Grian makes it out.
Grian has to return to the base at some point, Etho suspects. That whole business with the magma cube can be nothing but a secret task. He was very concerned when he thought the magma cube had died. So, it has to be alive. Right now, Grian has no way of checking up in that tower, and Etho going to check on it would be a bit suspicious.
“Why don’t we bring a warden over to the button?” he asks, interjecting into Bdubs and Gem’s argument about Scott’s still living status. “They have to get there eventually.”
It lures them away from the base of the tower. Etho shoots the Warden a few times and runs. He lures it over to the button as the others scatter; when he spots particles of an invisibility potion, he knows it’s Grian. There’s no doubt. It’s obvious. Etho looks over his shoulder to confirm that no one is following him, and he calls out.
“I just need to check on the dishwasher!” Grian shouts, which confirms Etho’s suspicions pretty easily. Not that he’s going to say anything, or try to call Grian out on his secret task.
They return to the base. Etho pauses in the doorway to check if anyone followed him; for now, the coast is clear. Etho can’t see Grian, but he can hear the sigh of relief, the bright, excited shout about it being alive, and then -
“I’m still alive!” Cleo calls from upstairs.
Etho genuinely didn’t know that Cleo was in the base, but it works out. They have about twenty seconds to debrief, to reunite, before a mass of red names arrive. Grian slips out before his invisibility potion wears off, and Cleo hides away back at the top of the small mountain overtop their home.
Etho distracts, pushing Skizz away from the magma cube, knowing that Grian would fail his task if it died - and the last time Grian was forced to reroll for a hard task, it was disastrous. He talks, stumbling over his words, trying to convince the red names that he hadn’t seen Cleo, no, he didn’t see where they went. He admits that Grian had an invisibility potion, but lies - he didn’t notice it until it was too late.
None of them buy it.
Then, it’s over.
Etho is well aware of how it feels the moment a task is over. The moment where it ends. It feels like a breath of relief, or like the zipping when you use an ender pearl to teleport. The rushing.
Etho’s lingering bloodlust fades. The others in the room with him drop their shoulders. They’re all red names, though, so the bloodlust doesn’t. But, they know. The chance for their task is over. All they can do now is go to the Secret Keeper, and fail their tasks.
It’s over.
*~*~*
Everyone returns to their bases after, to lick their wounds and catalogue their losses. They’ll get new tasks come the morning, and most people like to get a solid rest in before a new week of chaos begins. It’s nothing written, but there is a quiet agreement to not attack during those eight or so hours. It’s a time for rest.
They all lost a lot today - Etho and Cleo a life each, as well as hearts off those lives. Grian is the only one who really came out unscathed, since the Secret Keeper healed him to perfect health after he finished his task.
But, they’re here. Their home is safe.
Etho sits at the top of the staircase, looking down at the damaged landscape around them. Their path is mostly intact, but he can see the devastation from the Warden and Wither fight last week in the distance. It hurt everyone.
“Can’t sleep?” Cleo asks as she takes a seat on the stairs next to him.
“Not really,” Etho responds.
“It was terrifying,” Cleo says. “That whole experience. Impulse nearly got me. Came down in the cave where I was hiding, just a few blocks away… but you talked him out of it. You made him leave.” A pause. “You stopped them.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, I did.”
“Why?”
Etho thinks. “Well, logically… we weren’t going to find Scott. He hid himself too well. You and Grian were the only other two, and you’re both my teammates… I already knew we were going to fail, so I chose to ensure that you would both succeed. It’s best in the long run, you know. More hearts. Safety.” He pauses. “But, really… I couldn’t kill you, Cleo. Even when there was plenty of time left, I couldn’t. I redirected them. Made sure they killed everyone else, first.”
Cleo doesn’t respond immediately, likely mulling over Etho’s answer. “So if Scott died…?”
“I would’ve figured it out. I wasn’t going to let you die, Cleo. It’s unfortunate you did, anyway, but… At least you didn’t die to the zombies.”
“It’d be too on the nose, wouldn’t it?”
Etho barks out a laugh. Exhaustion weighs heavily on him, but he knows he won’t be able to sleep. So, the two of them sit there for a bit, mindless chatter, coming up with strategies, talking about how they’re the only alliance entirely on yellow left. How most of them have broken down. How few yellow names are left.
Eventually, Grian comes down, remarking, “Am I missing out on a team bonding session?”
He perches on the cobblestone wall near the stairs as Etho responds, “Oh, yes, we were coming up with strategies to ensure your demise next week.”
Grian scowls, though it’s playful. “Uh-huh, even though you worked so hard to keep me alive today. And the dishwasher.”
“And the dishwasher,” Cleo adds.
“It’s odd seeing the two of you get on so well,” Grian idly comments.
Etho and Cleo exchange a glance. “Why?”
Grian nearly jumps, his face flushed. “Oh, well. You two just don’t… Uh. When we first got here, I didn’t expect…”
Etho knows there’s more to it than that, but he doesn’t have the energy to unpack it right now. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe never. Maybe it’s just another one of those weird Grian things that Etho has learned not to question since coming here, since living in this world together.
Cleo shrugs. “I guess we do have divorced-couple-but-now-they’re-living-together-platonically energy, right Etho?”
“We’re roommates, yes. But divorced?”
“Better off as friends, yeah?”
“Of course, of course.” Etho looks at Grian, whose face is a mix of mild hysteria and confusion. He decides to double down. “And, you know. Grian is our platonically adopted child.”
“No, no, not adopted,” Cleo says, barely holding back a giggle. “He’s a little gremlin we found on the side of the road and took in out of pity.”
Grian squawks, the little wings on his ears flexing in what Etho can only assume is anger, Cleo breaks down laughing, and Etho remarks, “Oh snappers.”
After Cleo stops laughing and Grian smooths his ruffled feathers, Grian says, “Something’s been bothering me. Etho, why did you run towards them when the Enderman started attacking you? Surely, staying in the base would’ve been better. We could’ve helped you.”
Etho shrugs and doesn’t respond. Cleo elbows him, and for a moment Etho thinks it’s enough to take a heart off him.
“Well…” Etho pauses. “I didn’t mean to look at the Enderman. But I was assessing the situation. I had the most hearts out of anyone there. Gem and Scar are strong. They would’ve attacked the base while we were distracted by the Enderman. More than one person would’ve died, probably. So, I fled, to get them off the base. I hope it bought you some time to escape.”
“Oh, you absolute idiot,” Cleo responds. “Self-sacrificing, much?”
“But you died, still,” Grian says. “It would’ve been better to have you with us.”
“Well, I thought I could out run them,” Etho admits. “I’m pretty fast, you know!”
Cleo snorts. “Maybe in your prime. Now you’re just washed up.”
Etho pouts. “I’m not washed up. In fact, I’m very observant. Grian, I knew you were in the tower.”
“What?”
“I brought the Warden over as a distraction for the zombies, since they were all grouped underneath the tower. Figured it’d give you enough time to escape and check on the dishwasher.”
“The invisibility helped, too.” Grian pauses. “But, thank you, Etho.”
Cleo has a smile, but it is grim, solemn. She reaches out for Etho’s hand. “In the future, though, I’d rather you not be self-sacrificing. Much prefer to have you around than dead, especially since…”
They all know it. There’s only one victor, in the end. Only one of them will survive all this. One person will make it through to the end, one person will claim a victory over everyone else. Etho has never struggled with his mortality, not particularly; but, after today, it hits him. He’s going to die. He’s going to die, and that’ll be it for him. They get three lives. There’s nothing left outside this world.
“I won’t,” Etho says, even though he’s lying. He knows he’s lying. He grasps Cleo’s hand and gives the other to Grian. It’s oddly intimate, the three of them holding hands in a circle, more intimate than Etho has ever experienced. Funny, how death and tragedy brings a group of people together. Funny, how trauma bonds you. Funny, how this is the first time Etho has felt safe in a world designed to kill him. “I’ll stick around.”
*~*~*
It is a lie, in the end.
Etho doesn’t intend to fall off their tower in the end. He doesn’t purposefully fail the water bucket clutch (maybe he is washed, after all that fuss). He would much rather be up on the tower, with them. But, he realizes that his death is imminent. There’s no way he can defeat Scar, not when he’s at the end of his life. Not when his heart count has significantly fallen, when a few well aimed swipes from a sword will kill him permanently.
He looks up to the tower one final time. Cleo and Grian are looking down at him. Even though he can’t really see them, he knows there is grief and devastation, just in their postures, their body language. They already know that Etho is dead. They already know that he won’t make it out. Etho knows it, too. He wants to wave goodbye, or make a heart with his hands, or take off his mask to smile at them, but he doesn't have time. No time for goodbyes.
So, instead of fighting, Etho runs. He uses the last of his ender pearls to bring Scar and Gem and Impulse away from the tower, away from Cleo and Grian. He uses the last of his life to make it home, to look at it one last time. To run up the stairs, past the wheat field, maybe into the house. He is going to die in his home.
In the end, Scar kills him outside. He ender pearls in, slashing with two savage swings of his sword. On the first hit, Etho tries to draw his bow. On the second, it’s knocked out of his hands.
Pain registers on the first hit. For the past few minutes, Etho had been running on nothing but pure adrenaline, but it rushes out of him. His legs are broken, most likely; there is a gash across his chest, tearing through him with pulsing, angry pain.
Etho collapses. He doesn’t die immediately, though he knows it’s coming. Blood pools out of his stomach, staining the bright green grass, the grass where flowers grew and sheep grazed, once upon a time. A better time, perhaps. Quieter, simpler. Scar stands over him like a hunter, proud of his kill, ready to show it off to anyone willing to look. Maybe Etho has seen that look before. Maybe there is something beyond the death game. Maybe he exists outside of this.
Maybe he and Scar were friends, once.
In the end, maybe his efforts won’t be in vain. Maybe Cleo and Grian will get out of this alive. Maybe one of them will win, and everything he has done, every action he took, every gift he gave, will have been for something.
Even if they live for just a little longer, it will have been worth it.
Scar swings.
In the end, Etho dies outside his home, with a smile on his face.
*~*~*