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In the midst of a hollow, undiscovered cave- Hundreds of blocks below the surface, near the calming sounds of hot, bubbling lava- And the cool air that slowly travelled from a far away entrance, the bats flew away as they heard the sound of a heavy wooden door, creaking wide open, interrupting the natural silence. A man walked out, he took hesitant steps between him limping- As if he was dragging a body.
Well, technically he was. Ze was silent, he held no expression- He didn't feel like himself anymore. Distant, not present- So yes, Ze was dragging a body. It was just his own.
He stood still, waiting for those eyes once more. A part of him couldn't believe that he was waiting- Expecting for them to appear. Another part of him remember what it had told him- And... It was right. It had done its job, and it succeeded. He will forever turn over his shoulder, heart racing out of his chest, stomach turning into a void filled with fear- Only to find nothing.
He dragged himself forward. Ze let out a shakey breath, his throat was hoarse, mouth completely dry. He knew that this was reality- He could finally feel, because it hurts. An aching back, his body demanding him for water- Threatening him that it'd fail him and collapse right there and then.
But right now, all he could painfully do was walk. Telling his body that there was a destination he needed to go to and practically went autopilot, his mind occupied with something else entirely. Moe, Regect, everything- How long was he gone? Did he make them worry?
The eyes were right, most likely- He expected them to be right so he wouldn't be extra sad at an inevitable future. Ze disappeared for how long, and the only people he'd kill to protect have most likely moved on. Ze hoped that that would happen instead- They were somewhere safer, and not in constant strange adventures filled with crazy people. Regect calling out for him was the final push, the final taunt. He would never care, Moe would probably find new people to entertain.
She was talented, a great jester or clown- Whatever she wanted to be, Ze knew she would be the best at it. She had Regect, she didn't need him. Regect himself, he couldn't care less about Ze at all. The human was accepting that- Accepting everything that will come to him for now on. A quiet, lonely life, forever haunted by those eyes. He'll either meet death early or become an even worse man, all Ze knew that he was weak.
A step, then another- He turned, and he eventually found an opening. It was sunset, the sunlight burned his eyes, yet it still gracefully hugged the rest of his body. As if the sun welcomed him back with her tough love.
Like instinct, he turned towards where the tall trees were and continued walking. He knew that this idea opposed to his entire mindset at the moment, but he preferred to be in an empty house now filled with a bittersweet atmosphere of a place once filled with chaos, sound, and memories, than to die after just escaping a forever hell.
Deeper into the forest, his feet suffocated in his shoes even more. Despite his blurred, watery vision- He managed to spot something out of place. There paper at least two to three pieces of paper nailed onto majority of the trees in the forest.
He forced himself to go towards one of them. He nearly collapsed once he stopped walking. He stared at it, eyes widening just a tiny bit.
It was a picture of him- These pieces of paper were missing posters- Looking for him.
And he was last seen...
2 years ago.
...
A light breeze alerted him, he observed more. The picture of Ze was a proper one. No funny motive, no edits- It was just a picture of him smiling. He read the information- They were proper and necessary information, and the handwriting- It looked like Regect's. Specifically, Regect's handwriting when he actually... Wanted it to look neat. On the corner of the papers, there were hints of glitter and tiny doodles that Ze knew were from Moe.
…
They... They were actually looking for him? How- How long did Ze make them worry? Did they grieve for him- Did Moe lose sleep over his disappearance- Did he make Regect use every bit of his power to even try to find a hint that he was still alive?
Did... Did he make them think that he just left?
The wind gently pushed him forward, he followed. His pace was quicker this time, yet Ze still told himself to expect an empty house. One that was filled with cobwebs and distant memories.
Something came into his view eventually. It was his- Their- The house. The original one. The hole was gone, like it was never there. Like it had created the perfect pathway for him welcoming home. It was quiet, but observing it longer- He could see that the lights were on inside.
All he could hear was his shakey exhales when he was at the foot of the frontdoor. His hand hovered over the doorknob, his hand was quivering. If the lights were on- What were the chances that it was just danger again? Another wacky set of character he had to face- This time, without Regect and Moe? What if he was the wacky character now?
He took a deep breath, held it in, and forced himself in.
His eyes winded in awe and... Shock. The Christmas decorations were still there, except for AM, he was no where to be seen. He heard a TV playing... That was new. It was playing something. It was coming from the living room. He felt himself walking towards it.
A few more steps and-
He felt the world stop.
Moe and Regect, the two of them were at a comfortable distance on the couch. The two were watching the TV, they had a calm- Quiet expression on their faces (Or maybe Moe's only). That vibe changed when Ze came into the room. Moe's eyes widened, mouth hanging opened slightly. Regect's body froze, it tensed- Yet, there was nothing said.
In those few silent yet so intense moments- Ze quickly observed some things. Moe had a haircut- Her hair was still the same red, still curly- But it was her slightly above her shoulders now. Her makeup however was now a bit more messy- There were blue tear drops drawn on her cheeks now instead of red blush. Regect on the other hand wore a white hoodie for some reason.
Shaking a bit, Ze opened his mouth. It was at that moment he realized that he didn't even know if he still had his voice that worked for him anymore.
"Heh-" He wheezed. He tried to smile, but he couldn't. "H-Hello-?"
"ZE!" Regect's voice boomed, along with a singular honk from Moe. Ze wasn't able to process anything at that moment, but at the next second- He was on the ground, tackled by Moe and Regect into a tight hug.
The world around him spun. He heard a wave of insults from Regect, but he couldn't bring himself to respond as much as he wanted to do so. Those insults were mixed with questions he so wanted to answer, mixed in some more of his scoldings that he wanted to feel ashamed of- But Ze just couldn't… He was just so tired. Everything was muffled, so were Moe's sobs covered in honks.
He felt dirty, he felt awful- And he felt sick. Yet, numbness wore around his heart and head. Ze could feel a hint of tears falling down his cheeks, but for some reason he didn't feel that ache in his throat. Whether these two were fake, or were his real friends- At least he wouldn't be abe to feel any pain if they tried to hurt him even more.
Ze's vision refocused slightly, then he felt two soft chilled hands cupping around his wet face that were filled with a mix of sweat and his tears. Once his eyes fully adjusted, it was Moe. Her face scrunched up, eyes quinting to blink away her own tears. She looked tired as well, distraught- Concern, everything that was the opposite of her usual self. The short hair looked lovely on her. Ze wished he could say that out loud.
He felt her touch go away, he watched her stand up from the ground. Then he sensed something else. A strong arm wrapped around his back, securing him- Then another under his knees, lifting him up and making sure it would be difficult for him to fall. He felt like he was floating in air. Was this Regect?
"There we go- You big oversized baby-" Yes, it was Regect. Ze felt himself relaxing at the vibrations within Regect's half chest as he spoke about something he couldn't pay attention to. Ze slightly hoped that Regect wasn't expecting him to respond.
The world spun even faster, blinking in and out from sleep. When he woke up a few moments later- He was being lowered into nice warm water. Then his eyes shut- Then opened, he felt Moe's hands scrubbing his hair gently with shampoo. She was softly honking a tune. He woke up once again, a bit dizzy. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Regect holding a set of clothes he had never seen before. He blacked out once more, then when his mind awoke, he was now dry, and being placed on something soft- A mattress.
"Ze?" Regect's voice echoed. Ze couldn't respond.
Ever so gently, it was like life was being poured back into his body. A glass was pressed carefully against his lips, making him instictively open his mouth. Fresh water slowly flowed, his body automatically swallowing. He was more awake now- He felt like he could finally do something other than just-
He heard the empty glass of water clink on a table somewhere. He felt Regect's hands (Hands? He had another hand?) softly hold onto his shoulders, and he felt like he was being pushed down onto multiple pillows. He was laying down, finally. His body stopped screaming, his mind taking the hint that he needed sleep- But Ze didn't want to- He wanted to be with Regect and Moe-
Regect says something he couldn't understand, then a quiet honk. Was Moe here the entire time? Regect mentions something about him eating later when he's awake. But he was awake? A hand placed on his forehead, he knew it was Regect's, he mentions something about a fever. Since when was Regect this knowledgeable about sickness? He's the same guy that jumped off an entire mansion. He felt a thick blanket cover over him- Regect's voice sounded a bit concern, he was asking Moe something about suffocation, which Moe disagrees. He could tell that sleep was already actively luring away, and rather quickly as well- But he wanted so badly to just listen to Moe and Regect talk.
Another set of honks, Ze's breathing slowed into a steady one. Regect tells Moe something about removing the missing posters.
Then, it's quiet. The last thing Ze sensed was the sound of a door closing, and Regect's hand brushing his hair.