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Regret is what haunts people, the guilt of their actions weighing heavily depending on what the consequences were. Wifies knew what he was doing, the guilt weighed heavier than the amount of netherite armor he wore in his body as the director. Still, he had to do this.
It was for the sake of protecting the bird that was threatened every time. He had to—he knew what would happen if he didn't. So why? Why is he feeling this way even if he knew the consequences? He swallowed his words, buried the feelings that would go in his way.
He has no regrets, because it meant keeping him safe.
He stood in front of Parrot, Jumper standing beside him. He looked at Parrot before speaking in the same monotonous tone. “I see you've met the guards—well, properly.” Jumper tensed after hearing the words “guards”. Wifies knew that she felt guilty.
Guilty that she had to be one of his guards, guilty that she had to betray Parrot. But it was for the sake of her spies, she couldn't handle the thought of leaking the identities of her spies because what was the point of being a spy if someone knows your identity?
Clearly Wifies used that to his advantage because Parrot could see it. The conflict in her eyes. “Jumper you can leave, your job is done.” Wifies ordered. Jumper lowered her head, the “yes” she said barely audible as she equipped her elytra—leaving by flight.
Parrot, feeling the words stuck in his throat, was interrupted by Wifies. “Come with me.” Wifies said. It wasn't a request, but rather an order. And Parrot knew he had no choice but to follow. Using some sort of Bubble Elevator, they reached the surface.
Before Parrot had exited the bubble Elevator, Wifies had already started walking away, taking a quick glance at him before stopping, waiting. “So what now..” Parrot asked, his words trailing off as he stared at him. “You'll follow me.”
Wifies replied, walking away from parrot as if he was expecting him to follow but Parrot stopped in his tracks. “Wifies, we can still leave… Like, you realized that right?” Parrot weakly replied, feeling defeated—dejected because this was probably his last chance of trying to convince him. “Like we can climb over these walls, and go back to spawn—or even go somewhere far away from spawn.”
Wifies stared at him in silence, Parrot was getting desperate. He knew that. Just like Parrot had offered, they can go back to spawn, start over like always and everything goes back to normal. But, what is normal at this point? It's not normal that every time Parrot had to go out—he would get assassinated.
That every time he sees Parrot, there's always a bounty on his neck. That was normal in their situation. Someone always wanted him dead, and the thought of Parrot dying haunted Wifies. Because he knew, it meant that he wasn't strong enough to be able to protect the one person he cared most.
And he couldn't handle that thought.
“Parrot, do you think I'm stupid?” Wifies said, his words hanging in the air. “I gave up on you months ago. It's way too late for starting over. Do you not understand what I'm saying to you?” Then he paused, Wifies gripped the Hilt of his sword even tighter as he continued: “You want to get out of here, Parrot. You have no intention of staying in this prison. I tried to convince you many times, yet you wouldn't budge. You just don't listen. You put yourself in danger for causes that only exist in your head…”
Wifies stopped, realizing the weight of his words before speaking again, this time, his voice was much softer. “I know that no matter what I tell you, I can't change your mind.” He said with a sigh, looking away from Parrot because he couldn't handle seeing his reaction. Parrot was stubborn. He knew it deep down.
Wifies watched as Parrot placed every one of his things in a chest. He thought it was over. Then, he led him back to where Parrot started, but instead of going to the platform, they went below it. By now, he had burned everything. From his items, to his armor. Just like Parrot, Wifies was starting over.
Parrot hesitantly followed wifies, eyes darting as he observed the new surroundings. They were underneath the lava, Parrot was sure of that. Pristine white walls with bright lights decorated from the walls to the ground. Then, they finally reached the ground. Wifies walked to the center.
There were two pressure plates, one was where Wifies was standing on, and the other, was in the opposite direction. Parrot was reluctant but stood on the pressure plate. Then he heard it, the sound of pistons operating. Wifies watched as Parrot froze from surprise by the sound.
“You left me without a choice, Parrot.” Wifies started, staring at Parrot with an almost empty gaze. “From this point on, if either of us steps off, if you try to break a block, the entire chamber blows up with us in it.” Wifies added. Looking around before looking back at Parrot who seemed, panicked at the thought.
“I told you this prison was perfect, Parrot. I gave you a chance to live freely and you wouldn't take it.” Silence hung in the air. The atmosphere was thick, you could cut it with a knife. The silence was louder than Wifies had anticipated, but he should've expected this. Until Parrot spoke, his voice clear but reluctant.
“You really have nothing in you?” Parrot asked, as if doubting Wifies. “I told you I'd start over on the same footing as you. No items, nothing.” Wifies replied before noticing the item he was holding. “Wifies…” Parrot called out, almost like a whisper. Then, there it was. A spy glass—Parrot's Spy glass.
Wifies knew that the spy glass had a sentimental value to Parrot. Remembering the first time they teamed up, Parrot had lent him the spy glass as an indication of trust. Saying that if something bad were to happen to Wifies, the spy glass is gone forever.
Wifies held on to that thought, touched by his action because that's when he knew that Parrot trusted him. Trusted him with the object he considered as a prized possession. But oh boy. He wasn't expecting for Parrot to hold on to the Spy glass till the end.
“Where.. Where did you get that?” Wifies asked, some emotion started to show. “I, I tracked your entire inventory, Parrot. Where? How did you get that?” Wifies tried to act composed, his fist clenched to his sides. Parrot paused before replying, staring through him by the spy glass. “Remember when I threw it off the top of the prison? I went back to pick it up after I tried to kill you. I don't know why I kept it.”
Parrot paused for a moment again before speaking. “Maybe because it.. It reminded me of, like who you used to be-” Wifies interrupted, voice showing slight distress. “I told you wifies, I killed that version of me! I had to.. Guard please-”
Wifies tried calling out for guards that could take the spy glass away but Parrot interrupted him. “You know what I've realized? I'm not smarter than you. I'm not..” Parrot was correct. Wifies was always a step ahead of him, wifies knew that by heart and took advantage of it. “This prison, the only reason it’s perfect is because of that exact reason.”
Parrot's words trailed off before continuing: “But you know the one difference between us? It's that I never lose hope in you. Every single day for the past 3 weeks that I was inside this prison, I thought that at some point, maybe you'd snap out of it and you'd realize what you did was wrong and you'd let us out.”
“Wifies, I don't wanna do this- I really don't. You kept on saying that you killed your past self to become who you are today. But the both of us know, you will deny it. Both of us know that there's some version of you deep down that wishes that you hadn't done this— that wishes that you hadn’t faked your death, and that wishes that you didn't manipulate all of my friends and kill them and do all of these to me. And wishes that.. They could go back.”
Wifies stayed quiet, staring at Parrot as he tried to not show all of the emotions he had long tried to bury. Because Parrot was Correct. There was a version of him that wished all of this didn't happen. That he didn't kill Parrot's friends. But that version was long gone. He hoped so.
“You know that, you're staring at me right now because you know that.” Wifies tried to process all of his words, averting his gaze, hoping this was all just a bad dream. “Wifies, when I leave this place—when I get out of this prison, just know that even after all that you did. I'm not gonna remember you as the player who did all of these horrible things. When people ask me who Wifies was, I'm going to remember you as the Wifies I used to know. The Wifies that cared about the other people, and was kind to everyone. The Wifies that gave me back the spy glass.”
Even if Wifies wanted to move an inch, he couldn't risk killing Parrot, so all he could do was talk. “Please, Parrot. Please give that to me before you could hurt yourself.” Wifies pleaded, holding himself from moving. Then, Parrot smiled, the faintest smile that Wifies saw on his face ever since he locked him from this prison. “it's all yours.” Parrot whispered, placing the spy glass on the pressure plate before stepping off of it.
The spy glass weighed down the pressure plate, so no explosion happened. Parrot turned his back on Wifies, taking one more glance before heading up. Wifies stood there in silence, processing everything and reflecting on himself.
The silence became louder than Parrot’s words. Maybe even louder than his thoughts as he stood there, unmoving. Everything began to dawn in him, his actions, words— Everything. What was it all for again? Yes, for protecting Parrot. But was it worth it losing him because of it in the end?
Wifies stared at the spy glass for a long time, remembering all of the things he went through with Parrot. He stood there for a moment before running to grab the spy glass, leaving the pressure plate. He held the spy glass in his arms, tightly as it was his only reminder of Parrot.
At that moment, Wifies had one regret. And that regret was he didn't start over with Parrot. Start over where safety was guaranteed. But he was glad, glad that he was holding onto something Parrot considered important.
And that washed all of his worries and fears away, closing his eyes as the explosions wallowed him and his regret whole.