Work Text:
“Hello, your Majesty!” Despite the use of his title, Foolish knew that the man standing in front of his throne meant all the disrespect he could in that one word. He used it like a joke, really. He was splayed out over his throne, munching on a sandwich, waiting for something interesting or important to happen. And Bad was neither of those, but, unfortunately, Bad was standing at the base of the stairs leading up to the throne, looking at him with a smug grin on his face.
“Sorry, King, I-I tried to stop him, but he- he just didn’t listen,” Ros apologised, speaking quickly.
“Oh, don’t even worry Ros, there’s nothing we can really do to stop him,” Foolish said, exasperated.
“Oh come on! Why would you even want to stop me?” Bad said giddily, starting to make his way up the stairs.
Foolish and Ros exchanged a look, and he waved his hand, dismissing her. She didn’t love leaving them alone, but she believed that her King always knew better, so she complied and left through a small door on the side.
He sat up straight in his throne and cleared his throat, “What do you want?”
Bad took another step up, “Not even hello? That is no way to greet your subjects, y’know,”
The King rolled his eyes and leaned his head on his hand, elbow resting on the throne’s armrest. Even though he looked extremely bored, he was wary of the demon in front of him, reading his body language like a hawk. He was listening for intruders inside the walls, or on the roof, or under the floor. He knew he wouldn’t survive if the Honey Badgers ambushed him and although he could get extra lives easily, he’d prefer to keep his current last one for a real emergency, not petty fights.
“Can’t a loyal subject come visit his King?” He kept inching up the stairs.
Foolish raised an eyebrow at that, “Well, seeing that you are set on making everyone believe I’m a tyrant, I don’t really believe that’s why you’re here,” he uncrossed his legs and crossed them the opposite way, “Plus, you also really want to kill me, so…”
Bad pretended he was thinking, coming to a stop right in front of the King, “Well, you aren’t wrong, I guess,” he smirked, all sharp teeth that cast an evil tint over him.
“So? What do you want?” If Bad took one more step he’d have to tell him to back off, but he was waiting until he was close enough or otherwise, that would just egg him on.
Bad bowed deeply and extended his hand towards the totem, “A walk, your Majesty?”
Foolish scoffed, “Really? A walk?” The guy was already too close for comfort, completely invading his imaginary bubble of personal space.
The other raised his head slightly to look at him, offering no response.
He sighed, “Will you leave me alone after this walk if I do agree to go?”
Eyes full of mischief, still bowing in reverence to Foolish, he replied, “Maybe.”
He did not like his chances, but the day had been slow and boring and he had had a sandwich, so he couldn’t really be blamed for his decisions after all. Everything was to be blamed on that sandwich for the rest of the day. He got up, avoiding the still reaching hand. “Where to, then?”
Bad let his hand fall to his side and made his way out, Foolish following at a decent distance behind him. He pulled magic around him, calling a carrier pigeon that appeared out of thin air and perched in his hand. He whispered to it, “Bad is taking me somewhere, I don't think it's an ambush but I think he's acting weird.” He raised his hand, pushing the pigeon to fly with one last whisper, “To Ros”.
If Bad had noticed or heard anything at all, he acted none the wiser as he led the way through the King's bridge. “Hmm, I think the kingdom needs a Honey Badger's bridge, honestly,” he glanced back quickly to get Foolish’s reaction.
“There is one. It’s the peasant bridge, you know, right to your left,” he replied.
Bad barely even looked at it before replying, “Nah, we’re not peasants, we’re more worthy than that, don’t you think?”
“No, I really disagree, you and all your freaky gnomes are all scumbags,”
“Hey! That’s rude,” he turned around again to narrow his eyes at the other, “We are not scumbags, or ‘peasants’,” he made air quotes with his hands, “We’re a lot better than that”.
“Sure you are.”
They kept walking, and nothing seemed particularly suspicious, which made Foolish let himself get distracted by Sausage’s builds occasionally. Despite it not seeming suspicious, it was all so weird, so he still kept his guard up, listening for footsteps and looking behind him every once in a while. He also noted they were just walking, not teleporting with ender arrows or flying with their elytras; they were just walking. He started suspecting that maybe Bad was taking him on one of his trips to absolutely nowhere, just to waste his time, as he often did.
They passed the quest area quickly, Bad barely even sparing a glance at the side covered in green barrels, filled with an unimaginable amount of fishing rods. He stalled for a second to check his Kingdom’s progress and then had to catch up because of the demon’s fast pace. Thinking about it, it was kind of weird that he didn’t stop to insist again for all of them to join all the factions together under the Honey Badgers, using the quests as an excuse. He always made the most out of any reason to irritate him. Something was definitely up.
“Are we in a rush?” the totem asked, just as he sidled up right beside the other.
Bad tensed up minimally, which nobody in the world would’ve been able to notice except his millennia-long acquaintance. To Foolish, it was so painstakingly obvious how he slowed down on purpose that it made him cringe a little. He hoped the demon hadn’t noticed but he imagined that his ability to read the other was probably mutual.
“Not in a rush, no, I’m just used to running around all the time, I didn’t realise,” it wasn’t a lie, but something about his tone made it sound like he was lying anyway.
Trying a different approach, he asked, “How is your team doing with the quests anyway? You’re probably almost done, I saw so many fishing rods back there,” he pointed back with his thumb. His only response was a shrug. Okay. Something was wrong. He looked closely at his face, but the demon’s features were devoid of any emotion except for a devilish smirk. Nothing really out of the ordinary except for, literally, everything else.
The Cathedral had been coming into view slowly, towering over them as they approached it. It was a sight to behold and, because it was completely black, matching its creator’s main color of choice, it messed with people’s eyes, making it hard to perceive its depth and volume, like some kind of optical illusion. When the sun set behind it, it seemed to pull the light around it, making the surroundings feel even darker than night itself. It felt cold enough to make him shiver.
They went in and Foolish tried his best not to look awestruck around him. He hadn’t been around the building site in a while but now it was finished already and, although he probably would never admit it out loud, it was one of his favourite buildings that the other had made. He had poked fun at it endlessly during the process, but it was impressive and felt overwhelmingly powerful. The stained glass tainted the light that came through and felt like it seeped through to his veins; it had him wondering whether windows could be infused with magic in a way, or maybe Bad was just that good at setting the atmosphere. He’d have to get over his own ego and ask him at some point.
They slowed down even more as they strolled through the pews up to the altar area. He pulled at his magic, fingertips becoming warm with power, and conjured up a carrier pigeon again. The disruption in the air made the coloured dust speckles around him seem like they had a mind of their own, dispersing away from the magical pull.
“Something is definitely up. Be ready near the Cathedral just in case something happens. Don’t worry yet. To Ros,” he said, barely even audible at all, and pushed the pigeon to fly away. As soon as it flew again and his magic dissipated, he felt a chill run down his spine.
“Do you worship, Foolish?” He jumped, leftover tension from conjuring the secret pigeon for Ros making him think he might’ve been caught. He didn’t think it was worth correcting Bad on his royal title anymore since he just used it to mock him anyway.
“Hmm,” he hummed, pondering the question. He wasn’t sure. Sometimes he tried to manifest things to possible powerful beings, but he had never contemplated any specifics, or followed any rituals or religious routines in any way. He decided on a question instead, “Do you?”
They stopped a few feet away from the elevated altar. Bad turned to look at him with a baffled look that the totem understood wordlessly: “We’re in a religious structure I have built, what do you think?”
“Do you worship anything or anyone in particular?” Foolish twisted his question to try and get an answer out of him, turning a full circle to see the Cathedral wholly.
“Maybe,” replied the demon. The way the blue hues of light framed his face caught his attention, and he realised his face had lost the mischief it held at some point since getting inside, and it was starting to look almost evil instead. Must’ve been the weird lighting, for sure.
“Maybe?” Foolish raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
“Sometimes I worship Death, sometimes I worship Destiny’s strings, sometimes I just worship my own power of will,” his reply came easily. He always had his morals clear and structured, never ever doubting his own beliefs. Foolish couldn’t say he shared the same confidence in his own ideals. Most of the time, he’d just wing it and hope for the best.
“Interesting. I guess it makes sense.”
“For me, it does, and that’s all I care about.” ‘Fair enough,’ he thought.
“Why did you bring me here, Bad?” He really did not want to seem impatient, but a cold feeling was seeping into his skin, rooting itself deep in his bones. The longer he stood there in the Cathedral, the worse it was getting. Bad stared at him intently, which made him shudder; he was starting to doubt it was just the lighting.
“I don’t know, why do you think you came?” the demon squinted his eyes at him. Was this one of Bad’s mental games? He was usually better at deciphering the secret meanings and hidden intentions of the other. Still, looking at him in the dim, icy ambience of his Cathedral, he was met with confusion. He needed something he could use to figure out what was going on.
“Um, because you brought me here? Come on Bad, you can’t tell me you just forgot…” His instincts disagreed with his joking strategy, but he needed a common ground with Bad to, at the very least, get rid of the uneasiness that came in waves through him the more they talked.
The demon chuckled, “Of course not, you know that’s not what I meant.” The way his teasing tone sounded was off-putting but, before he could think of a reply, a pigeon flew in and landed on his shoulder, cooing into his ear softly. Bad seemed unimpressed by the sudden intrusion. If he didn't already know, now he was definitely going to put two and two together and figure out Foolish had been sending secret messages during their trip. Thankfully, only people who belonged to his kingdom could understand the pigeons, a very useful magic spell the archmage Clown Pierce had crafted for utmost secrecy.
The cooing translated to, “I got Sneeg and Pili, we’re as close as we can to the Cathedral without its magic sensing us. Supreme Leader Aimsey is here, too. We have your back, King!” Then it vanished into bright dust that fell slowly, barely affected by gravity, as it vanished in the air.
Bad raised an eyebrow at him, “Trouble in the Kingdom?” If he suspected anything, he didn’t let on.
“Pfft, not at all, it was just Ros requesting more building materials for a castle expansion she’s planning to do.” Foolish hoped the demon believed him.
“Oh, what does she need? Maybe we have it.” he replied, his scrutinizing stare fixed on Foolish.
It was clear the demon wasn’t buying it at all, but getting “caught” in a lie by Bad was the last thing his ego needed, so he kept it going, “Just some more wool, a little more gold… Uh, just basic stuff, don’t worry about it.”
“Hm, I see,” neither of the two broke eye contact, green shiny emeralds looking into bright white voids, “If she needs anything she can tell us, and we’ll gladly help her. After all, we’re all part of the Kingdom in a way, so the betterment of the castle should be in everyone’s priorities,” he was used to Bad’s antics by now, how he just said ridiculous things to see other’s reactions, to baffle or shock them, for his own entertainment, but either he was losing it, or Bad was losing it because something was so off he felt he was going insane.
“Uh-huh, sure,” he couldn’t hold his stare anymore, and looked around the rest of the room behind the demon for a moment, still unable to read through Bad, before continuing, “Why are we here, Bad?” he was getting jittery already, waiting for something to happen.
“Well, your Majesty, can’t we just admire the Cathedral’s beauty? Now that it’s finally finished?” Was Bad going the psychological warfare route? They knew almost everything (while knowing virtually nothing at the same time) about each other; therefore, it would be just a low-effort way of getting some kind of control in their little cat and mouse game that they had going on. But even then, he had never been so put off by it.
“Well, it is pretty, but I don’t see how just standing here is any, uh… Fun, y’know?” he realised he had said the wrong thing when the other’s lips curved in a disturbing grin.
“You want to have fun?” he stepped towards Foolish and as he extended his hand towards him he said, “Care for a dance?”
He was hearing things. He had to be. He must’ve been having auditory hallucinations.
“What?!” his voice came out higher-pitched than usual, painted in shock.
“You heard me. For fun, but also to practice for the next ball. Hopefully, instead of weird games, we can dance next time around.” The excuse was ridiculous, and they both knew. But at that point, he just wanted to see where this was going and get it over with.
Begrudgingly, he stepped forward and took Bad’s hand, resting the other on his lower back. The demon put his other hand behind the Totem’s shoulder. Foolish desperately wished he couldn't feel the way his heart was beating out of his chest where they made contact. He was trying to make it stop, but he wasn't even sure if the reason was the fear of what could happen or their sudden intimate act.
Bad let go momentarily to snap his fingers, making music start playing out of nowhere. Not just any music, but the perfect one to dance to. The song was composed of a beautiful piano melody accompanied by strings, all the instruments coming together in a warm, beautiful – romantic – tone. It made him wonder whether he had that dumb ability or if it had been completely planned out from the beginning. As soon as the demon’s hands were back on the totem's shoulder blade, they started swaying softly, trying to follow each other's steps.
The King was clumsier; in all his years he hadn't really bothered to master ballroom dancing at all, only having really danced like this with one other person. But that had been long ago, so he cleared his thoughts quickly, trying to avoid the deep sadness that washed over him every time he remembered him.
On the other hand, Bad was very skilled, his moves calculated, every step he took almost strategic. Bad liked to nurture every skill he came across; meanwhile Foolish just tried to have the most fun he could, the only thing he really cared about apart from other people was his builds. But even he got tired of building. Remembering the last time he properly built was also not allowed in his mind lately, so he resolved to take in the demon’s features, never really being so close face to face with each other often. They danced slowly, stepping back and forth following the rhythm of the magical music and the beat of the universe, spinning and turning, avoiding the furniture inside the Cathedral and looking at each other.
Bad spoke up suddenly, “I’m surprised the King of Fools, the Foolish Gamers,” he stiffened at the title, the demon smirking at the reaction, “has granted me this opportunity.” He tried to pull away but the demon tightened his grip around his hand, lunging his other arm to grab Foolish’s own before he could even lift a finger off. He was trapped.
“That is not my full name anymore, you know that,” he felt hot rage start to take over him.
“Oh, come on, you didn’t even marry him!” he clenched his jaw, unable to do anything more than that, given the way he was trapped, “You just changed your name to 'start over' with them, and then it was pointless because they just abandoned you so–”
He pulled away with such force he stumbled backwards a few steps, but relieved he had succeeded in freeing himself, “What is wrong with you!? They didn’t abandon me, she died!” Foolish snarled at bad.
Instead of replying, Bad looked at the higher parts of the Cathedral walls, squinting. He really didn’t want to fall for it, but a few seconds after he saw Pili on the wall directly in front of him, who twitched his ears when they both made eye contact. He figured that’s what the rest of the group Ros had mentioned was doing behind him, standing, watching over their interaction. Instead of feeling reassured, though, his anxiety just spiked because something was very wrong with Bad, and he didn’t want them to be caught in the middle if things turned for the worse.
“Well, dying… Abandoning… Isn’t it all the same? What about him? What about Vegetta? If he really loved you, why did he lea–”
He snapped, “What the actual FUCK is wrong with you? What are you even saying?!” It felt like his ribcage was constricting his lungs, and every breath he took through his nose just went to his head instead, making him see red spots swimming in his eyes. He was so angry that he felt it burning through his veins. Nothing Bad was saying was right or made any sense at all; it was just wrong. He could not believe what he was hearing, the words he dared to utter at him, the accusations, his name... He had pressed the totem’s buttons on purpose before, looking for a fun reaction or for a fight, but their past lives were always a no-zone, never to be brought up ever again, no matter what. Especially in the most painful of cases. And most of all, not in front of people who hadn’t been there for it.
“Hey! Language! This is a sacred space.” was Bad’s reply, as if nothing in the world was wrong.
“Is that what you’re worried the most about right now? Curse words? Seriously?” he was more than baffled, and he knew his nerves were distracting his thoughts. He could now see Ros out of the corner of his eye, who had moved closer to them, still on the upper part of the walls. His hands were shaking slightly and Bad’s eyes were glowing a little more than before. The air was colder than earlier and he couldn’t recall how many golden apples he had on him.
“I’m not concerned about anything, Foolish,” ‘What a strange thing to say’ he thought, a shiver running down his spine.
“Nothing at all? Not even about your own faction?” the totem tried.
The other hummed in thought for a second before replying, “Nah.”
“Nah? What do you mean nah?” He could barely grasp the situation, having never experienced something like that before with the demon. He was trying to stop his nerves from turning into fear.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, right? If you think about it, it’s all pointless,” Bad’s voice sounded devoid of emotion.
“What are you actually talking about? Do you hear yourself?” He strained to keep his cool but it felt like he was talking to someone he had never met before. Instead of letting the other reply, he continued, “Was it all pointless on that island, too?”
He expected his harsh stare would pressure him to drop the facade, that maybe he was just going too far in their “annoying each other” game but instead he was met with a blank stare.
“I mean, it was fun for a while, I guess,” he shrugged, “Especially when I got to kill all of your team over and over again!” he cackled at the memory, almost hysterically. “Ah… Those were fun times. Foolish was aware that Bad was a little sadistic, a little bit of a psychopath too, and quite violent, even, but this was way over what he was used to. He’d have to resort to harsher methods.
“What about Dapper?” he could see how he froze up, even if just for a split second, before shrugging stiffly and looking away. “I feel like you cared about him at some point, didn’t you?”
“I guess.” His response was curt.
“You guess? You did everything in your power to protect him and all the others. I’ve never seen you as devastated as you were when he first died. What the hell do you mean ‘I guess’?!” Hysterics were taking over him and he knew he was probably saying a lot more than he should, given the audience, but he just couldn’t fathom that was what the demon really thought.
“Language. And, yeah, I guess I tried to protect them but it wasn’t really enough, was it?”
“It was unfair, there was nothing we could’ve done.” he had already been down the self-blame route on many occasions, but putting it all in perspective, they really had tried their best, but everything was always out of their hands. There was always a higher position, always taking control and planning exactly what would happen at every moment. An artificial destiny. So he understood where he was coming from, but he knew Bad wasn’t one to change his mind easily; no amount of convincing could be enough.
“Then it was pointless after all, huh?” That was also a thought that had crossed his mind several times while on Quesadilla Island. But he tried to avoid it, for her sake. At this point, when he let himself remember those times, he easily fell into the pessimism of how pointless it all was. How much it all hurt. Every piece of himself he lost. And that was a common thing for immortals like him, but the Island was so methodical and so purposeful in the way they did everything that they knew just the thing to do to make sure none of the islanders would ever forget any of it, if they survived at all. They’d been tortured, plain and simple.
“Maybe. What makes it so pointless here, then? Don’t you want to protect your faction members? Your friends?”
“I don’t do ‘friends’ anymore, it’s worthless,” his tone was dismissive and cold. Despite their long lives, and how many loved ones they had seen come and go, they had never given up on loving from scratch all over again every single time, ever. “But hey, it’s fun to kill people when they trust you; there’s something funny in their eyes every single time.” he finished with a giggle. The hair on the back of his neck stood up at the statement.
“Okay pal, listen, I don’t know what is wrong with you today or what happened, but you need to chill, this is insane behaviour,” he tried to back up discreetly, but Bad was too perceptive.
“Oh, but Foolish, aren’t you and I both the same? You’re just like me,” he replied in a faux sing-songy voice, reaching into a magical pocket and pulling out his great axe, “Aren’t you tired? Of seeing everyone die? They die and they’re gone. Sometimes they can die a few times, sometimes it just takes one bad fall and they’re gone forever. Aren’t you tired?!” his crazed look had escalated as he spoke, almost screaming the last question. He wasn’t wielding the axe yet but he looked threatening enough. Foolish was hoping nobody would intervene, because it would end up not looking pretty. The Keepers might be pleased about the massacre that would happen, though.
He looked around, giving up on being discreet anymore. Since Bad was the one sharing their nature loudly, for everyone to hear. Everyone suspected they were immortals, or at least had been living way longer than anyone else. But now they actually knew. Nobody had really moved from where they were perched, except Aimsey and Sneeg were now armed too.
“Bad I– I understand what you’re talking about but it’s always been like this, why–” He sighed, he didn’t know the right words to say to avoid exacerbating the situation. He never did. “Why the crashout now? Did something happen?” Everyone was tense, the eerie atmosphere inside the Cathedral not helping with the suspenseful air that was hanging between the two of them.
Bad was breathing heavily, gripping his axe that rested on the floor, looking down.
“Bad?” His instinct told him to get as far away from him as he could, the countless times he had died by his hand were replaying in his mind every time he blinked. But deep inside, he couldn’t just ignore how much the demon was hurting. They had been companions for millennia, a little crash out would not be where he drew the line. He could remember a crashout or two of his own that Bad had stopped. But usually, Bad was stronger and better at fighting. All Foolish was good at was building and talking, and even he himself didn’t believe he was that good at either of the two. “Maybe put the axe away? We can keep talking about all this with no weapons and, ideally, with nobody else around?”
“You said they told you they didn’t want you in the null,” Bad continued regardless of what the other said. Foolish was unsure how that information had reached Bad, but he didn’t like where the conversation was going. He reached slowly to get a hold of his bow that rested on his back. “So what if this realm is our way out? What happens if we lose this last life?” He could feel the other’s voice vibrating, cold and sinister.
“I feel like that would not be the way it works. And even if– if it did work like that, I don’t think we should– just– take this “way out” you’re talking about I–” He knew Bad. Dread filled his stomach. He knew Bad. There was no way out of this situation with just words. White orbs shining with dark magic burned into his own emerald ones. He hoped he was seeing things, but he could see his horns growing. Maybe his fangs too. His eye sockets grew deeper, making the glowing dots he had for eyes look smaller.
“If it doesn’t work like that, we might as well try it, shall we?” His form was changing. Apart from the menacingly tall horns that ripped through his hood and lines of dangerously sharp canines, claws that could tear through stone were growing too and, ultimately, his entire body was deforming into a terrifyingly monstrous shape. The last time he had seen him in his full demon form had been in Purgatory, bloodthirsty and murder-driven. Probably exactly like in this very moment.
“Whoa! Maybe uh– maybe we shouldn’t be doing this here or– uh– maybe you shouldn’t be doing this in front of so many people I–” before he could say anything even remotely convincing, a huge battle axe was tearing through the air, aiming to, probably, split him in half. He reacted too slowly, almost too late, barely evading the hit that shook the Cathedral, making the stained glass windows vibrate. The sound of enchanted netherite hitting the floor resonated and bounced off the walls.
He used the fading ringing tone to tune in – just slightly – to his sea power, making his movement flow smoother and faster, like water itself. Bad attacked ruthlessly and mercilessly, like a maniac, while Foolish danced around his blade; the only time he was able to pride himself on his moves. He couldn’t find a moment’s rest to charge his bow before the axe was coming back down at him. He jumped from pew to pew, sliding on the floor, slipping away from the weapon’s trajectory every single time. Everyone was watching in tense horror, unblinking, nobody daring to step in to separate what they were realising could be two mighty beings.
“Foolish!” Ros’ voice screeched in between the reverberating ringing of the blows. He had lingered for a millisecond too long, looking at his friends, and stepped away too late, red flowing down his arm. The sudden searing pain made him stumble for another millisecond too long, which was just what Bad needed to pin him down by the neck with the curve of the top of his axe.
“Bad! Listen!” The axe felt cold, pressing sharply against his neck, “I don’t know what you’re going through, but I can understand some of it. I’ve been through the same shit as you!” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the movement of everyone coming closer.
Bad cackled maniacally, “Have you, now? And how’s it worked out for you? You’re here on the floor and can barely put up a fight against me! You–” he was interrupted by an arrow piercing his shoulder, staggering backwards, “What the?”
“Stop it!” Pili yelled, pointing his charged crossbow at him.
“This doesn’t concern you, you disloyal, traitorous cat,” he drew back his axe and swung forward, almost too fast for Pili to dodge. Too fast for Ros, though, who was right beside him. She flew back and hit the floor with a hard thump, her scream ringing in everyone’s ears.
“Ros!” several voices yelled out, Foolish’s the loudest. Meanwhile, Bad seemed unfazed by the damage he had done, towering over all of them in his demonic form. All of them knew he was the strongest one of them all, now even more so than before
Pili was kneeling right by Ros’s side, haphazardly looking for a healing potion to give her. Her pained cries were drilling into Foolish’s eardrums, making the rage he had forgotten resurface swiftly.
“That’s ENOUGH.” His voice boomed, almost like a shockwave, making everyone’s heads snap up to look at the usual carefree and silly king. “I was willing to put up with your meltdown, but I am not going to let you hurt my kingdom; these are our– my people now and they’ve got nothing to do with our pasts.” They all stood in frozen silence, awaiting Bad’s reaction. To their astonishment, he started giggling, the sound bubbling up until it grew into a chuckle and, before long, he was full-on cackling.
“This is– this is funny to you?” Most of them were trying to sneak away from the pair now, helping Ros to her feet as quietly as possible, sensing the tension of a deadly fight they wouldn’t be able to survive about to break out.
Foolish realised there was only one way out of the situation, and it would require a little more than just his bow. He let the magic in the air feed into his body, making it grow larger and taller. Bad smiled creepily, there was finally someone to put up a fight against him. The totem knew he’d been waiting for this, provoking him endlessly until he snapped. Insulting him was nothing new. Reminding him of his darkest most painful memories was something he could cope with. Hurting his kingdom and friends? Now that was something we would not allow, so if this was how it had to be, then so be it.
His bow morphed into a three arrow wielding one, full of curves with gold and emerald accents. A blue hue made it glisten, letting the demon know it was not only enchanted but also charged with magic. Even then, he was holding back. He didn’t want to resolve the other’s null hypothesis. Foolish fully believed he wasn’t too far gone, that he’d just snapped and he’d come down from it after releasing some stress.
When everyone was at a safe distance, Foolish charged his bow with expertise, aiming directly at Bad, a little away from his heart.
“You wanted to dance? So let’s dance.” Bad grinned as he swung his battle axe, directly at the other’s head. Before it hit, he let go of the string and dashed backwards. The demon narrowly dodged the arrows.
This time around, the fight was more balanced. In his demigod form, the shark-totem could keep up, the larger limbs letting him cover more area in less time. He was dodging hit after hit, the echoing clang leading the dance. This time, though, he wasn’t being so careful, pushing and breaking the benches into pieces because of his size. He hoped that wasn’t making Bad even angrier.
He took a big leap to try to shoot out of reach of the axe. He realised he had overestimated how long it’d take him to reload when he felt a sharp pain right in the middle of his chest, starting at his sternum and reaching up his neck and down towards his ribs. The arrows he was holding in his hand fell to the floor as he got back up with effort, trying to ignore the pain.
Bad didn’t waste a second and took the moment of vulnerability to get him again. The second hit threw him across the hall, crashing into a pillar, making it crumble in the process.
“Don’t you get it, Foolish? There is only one way out for us. And we’ve been trying for so long to figure out how to free ourselves from here, and now we may have our answer!” the demon said, his voice distorted and several tones down from the usual mischievous ring it had.
He strolled carelessly towards Foolish, spinning his axe with one hand as the other was still on the floor trying to get his bearings.
“No, I don’t get it, Bad. Whatever truth you think you’ve found I do not wanna know.” He had to pause to catch his breath, wincing at the pain of the two gashes oozing blood, staining his royal clothes crimson red, “I’m fine where I am, thank you very much. I don’t need to be freed or whatever crap you’re saying.”
“Hey! I’m just looking out for you, for my friend, y’know?” That statement was laughable in the moment they found themselves in.
“Well I don’t need you looking out for me! Okay! This is not the way to do it Bad, this is crazy! You’re crazy!” He realised what he’d said when he saw the demon’s expression darken as he stopped playing with his weapon and instead gripped it harshly with both hands.
Foolish unsheathed his sword, unsure if he’d be able to keep up dodging now that he was injured. Soon enough, both of his weapons were crashing against each other at a steady rhythm, the axe falling aggressively, with the intent of killing. The totem deflected the hits swiftly, each one pushing him back and back until he found himself against the wall.
“You seriously need to stop this.” It was pointless, but he still tried to reason. Somewhere deep inside there had to be the Bad he knew, before The Realm, before Quesadilla Island… Before Purgatory.
He got his answer in the form of the great battle axe coming towards him from above, Bad yelling as he brought it down. He took the chance to roll out of the way right before it hit. The impact was so forceful the axe got stuck on the floor. Foolish quickly charged his bow and right before he took the shot, he infused the arrows with water magic. Right then the demon got his weapon unstuck, but his guard was low, blinded by a frenzied rage, so he didn’t realise the arrows until they pierced his skin, sizzling around the wounds due to the magic used.
The pain didn’t seem to frazzle him as he charged again, swinging his axe. Foolish avoided them narrowly, blocking it with his bow still in hand. Out of the corner of his eye he saw he was about to be cornered against a pillar again. While still trying to defend himself, he charged up his arm, which now had a light blue glow to it. When he felt the stone against his back, he elbowed the pillar and ducked. The column came crashing down, knocking the demon to the floor.
“Listen pal, I really, really don’t want to kill you. Especially if your theory is right,” Despite how annoying he was, Foolish couldn’t bear to lose him. “Life wouldn’t have been the same without you. And it certainly won’t be if you–”
His attempt at reasoning was interrupted by a pained cry. Bad was getting up, debris flying out. He felt bad until he saw magic being pulled toward the axe; the only purpose of it would certainly be to deal a fatal blow.
The demon ran with superhuman speed, crazy eyes locked on the emerald ones of his opponent.
He lifted his sword, magic quickly surrounding it to make it swifter and lighter, but before he could lift it to defend himself, it pierced through flesh.
As blood pooled at their feet, the axe clattered to the floor. So this was it.
“Bad?”
“Foolish…” his voice was raspy, with no evil to it.
“Pal, hey, I didn’t want this.”
“I did. I just wanted you with me.” Those words stung more than the cuts on his torso.
“But I didn’t want this, Bad. You can’t choose for me, y’know?” he replied, voice breaking.
The demon tried to speak again, but his vocal chords failed, as did his legs. Foolish caught him, and lowered him carefully to the floor. Tears were brimming his eyes now as he stared into his life-long companion.
“Shh, don’t try to speak, you’ll hurt yourself. Just–” he tried to hold back his cries, “Just try to stay calm, okay? It’s– It’s all over now.”
He could see the hint of a slight smile on the demon’s face. And something glimmered in his white glowing eyes. Maybe it was tears. Or maybe it was his life flashing before his eyes. Or just the life draining slowly out of him.
“You’re okay now. You’ll be okay. It’s okay.” He tried to stay collected, but his tears were already dripping down his chin.
“I hope–” a bloody cough interrupted his strained speech, “I don’t come back.”
And if he thought losing Leonarda and the love of his life was the most painful thing he’d ever had to endure, this moment was a very close second. Because they were immortals, but the null seemed to be the one thing they wouldn’t be able to overcome. And even if Bad did, whoever came back would not be the demon he knew. And maybe it’d be for the best. Maybe that’s what he needed. To start over. To forget all the pain. To forget all the years. To forget Foolish.
“I’ll miss you. I will miss you so much.” He was sobbing now.
“I love you, Foolish.” The Cathedral decided that was the perfect moment to tremble, the lack of structural integrity finally taking its toll on the building.
“You’re stupid, you know that? You’re a fucking muffinhead. I–” He almost wanted to say he hated him, he hated him for leaving him behind, for wanting to forget everything, even if he did come back. But he couldn’t let those be the last words his dear friend heard, “I love you, too.”
Tears fell down Bad’s face as his eyes stopped glowing and his chest stopped rising and falling, but blood kept trickling and oozing, the vivid image of his life physically leaving him. Right then, the ceiling started crumbling, the whole building coming down suddenly, almost as if it was being held beforehand by some magical force.
And if protecting Foolish was the last thing Bad did in his long-lasting life, the totem may never forget this day for millennia to come.
He couldn’t handle seeing his lifeless corpse, so he decided the other would be content with decaying along with his greatest, most sacred build.
And so he left, only with his bow and sorrow, leaving his sword to decay along with his new, most painful memory.