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“I’m still in the hole.”
Ze started at the clone in front of him, watching intently as the realization dawned on him. Ze never left the hole. The bullet he had shot into the cobblestone behind the clone began to warp the blocks around it into the sickening pattern of bedrock.
15 days. It had been 15 days of being in the hole. Ze had been so convinced he made it out, that he was back with Moe and Regect. The world around Ze melted like a lazy reenactment of reality; bedrock walls filled with torches surrounding him once more. He was still in the hole. He never left. Dear god...had those things all been in his head? Some sick kind of joke from those eyes that never ceased their watchful gaze?
"Hah..! I was right- S-SHIT-"
Ze stumbled back, hitting his back against the rough bedrock as he tuned back into his surroundings. The light from He had been fooled for 15 whole days. How did he not realize sooner? Ze ran a hand through his hair, laughing in disbelief to himself.
"C-come on...Seriously??"
With a huff and a small groan, Ze pushed himself off of the wall and to the center of the hall. Muddled voices in the back of his mind whispered to him, fear and paranoia crawling up his back as he attempted to pretend as if they weren't there. Yet a feeling of dread at the time spent down in the hole began to envelope his mind. Has anybody noticed he was gone?? Did they care?
Ze shook those thoughts away. Of course they cared, why wouldn't they? He. He mattered. He mattered to Moe and Regect. He had to. With heavy footsteps and the voices never truly leaving, Ze made his way to the door at the end of the hallway. A small push was all it took to open it, and the light from the sun greeted him. When was the last time he saw the sun again..?? It didn't matter; a stupid question like that shouldn't matter right now.
"Whatever... I just need to get back up.-"
As Ze stepped out of the enclosed hall, his eyes lingered at the water that he had originally used to safely get down the hole; lava bubbling inches away from it. Ze could swim back up it to get up again. Yeah. That would work. Ze held his breath, and began to swim up the stream of water he had previously gone down.
The lazy bubbles floating up around Ze caught his eye, and he found himself slowing down ever so slightly.. His mind was muddled enough due to what had just happened, so something simple was easy to focus on. He found himself not moving up, but drifting slowly as his head went in and out of the water so he could breathe. In...and out.
After a moment, Ze stopped that slight motion of his head, just letting the edges of his vision darken slightly as he watched those little bubbles. He just wanted to relax, was that too much to ask? And if he wanted to stay in the water for a little too long, who was anybody else to judge him?
The realization that Ze was beginning to lose air came slower than it usually would, his hearts depleting slowly but surely as he came to his senses again. Ze was going to die here if he didn’t make a move away from this water. Sputtering followed as he fell out of the stream, coughing and gasping coming from his throat as he fell hard onto the stone beneath. Ze wiped the tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes following his raspy breath.
Why should he even go back up there? Surely Moe and Regect have moved on by now; they didn’t need him. He was better off starving in that hole. Ze shouldn’t be crying over something like this, he was better alone if they didn’t want him. He’s strong enough, he could do it. Man up. That’s all he had to do.
Ze tilted his head to look back up to the slowly setting sun above him; then he looked back down at his health bar. Two hearts. He didn’t want to go back up, he decided; Ze could survive without the other two. He’d go somewhere else and go back to living alone. But a slight pulling sensation moved his attention elsewhere. Back down.
The hole was directly below him. The water would stop his fall, he could easily go back into the hole. Maybe he felt a sort of comfort in the fact that nobody would find him down there, maybe it was just the feeling of safety he felt within that delusion the eyes had put him in. Ze wasn’t a coward. He wasn’t cowardly; he was brave. He had to be.
Ze collected himself, going back into the water; yet going down instead of up this time. The dark oak door was still there, it would be easy to just go inside and forget about his worries. Ze could face the hallway; he wouldn’t run away or hide from it. He’d face it, and he would remain victorious.
A small part of his brain yelled at him to turn back, to go back to Moe and Regect, but he ignored that voice. Ze would go in here alone, and when he was finished, he would come back out and reunite with the others. He would be happy, he wouldn’t worry about the constant watching, he just needed to face this one thing.
Ze approached the door, his hand reaching out to open it as he took a deep breath in. The torches were still lit, there were no signs of tampering, he was going to be okay. As he stepped in, he slowly closed the door behind him, letting his arm fall to his side.
Ze closed his eyes, and upon opening them, he was back at the house. Nothing bad happened, nothing was wrong, he was safe. Ze was safe, and there was nothing that could change that about this moment. Not the eyes that watched from afar, not the small details wrong about Regect and Moe, nothing.
He was safe.