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When Evbo ascended to godhood, he'd never expected people to actually worship him. In all his years in Parkour Civilization, he had never seen anyone done that. Sure, there's people who pray to the god every so often, but he's never seen a shrine for him before.
And yet, barely a week had past after the defeat of the Parkour Villain and there was a temple for him at every level.
He suspect it was EMF doing.
Oh well, it's fine. It's not like the temples were going be to used that often anyways. After everything, tons of people refused to leave their houses, mourning the friends they lost. The Civilization were hit hard by the Villain's actions, so he doesn't blame them.
Now then, time to see if his crazy plan would work.
_ _ [] _ _
The first prayers started a couple of days after he revived the first player.
Well, the second player. The first was reserved for Seawatt.
EMF was not happy with that. Well, too bad! They knew Evbo felt better with giving the Fighter a second chance, so as much as they would liked to push him back into the void, they would just have to settle with keeping an eye on the other.
Anyways! Back to the prayers. They came flooding in all at once about 3 days after the first round of revived players had reunited with the remaining living players. Revival was a lot harder than Evbo had expected, especially since he was god.
He'd always thought that was as easy as snapping his fingers, since the Champions could change the way respawning worked just by doing a 4 block jump over command blocks.
(Speaking of respawning, EMF had reverted the changes back to when they had first spawned in, letting players fall into the void and return unharmed, though they do lose their rank by 1.)
Surely reviving players would be just as easy, maybe a little harder since respawning and reviving seemed to be different concepts. Like a 4 block jump into a 360?
Nope! It was a whole process that involved crystals, the void and falling–
It just took a lot of his energy to do, is what he's trying to say.
But it was worth it, he thought every time he got to watch that same expression of hope appear with every person he brought back.
Where was he?
Oh right! The prayers!
When he had first heard them, he's dismissed it as just the wind due to how soft they were. But over time, as more people were revived, families and friends reunited, the thanks grew louder, to the point where EMF had found the god crouched on the ground with his hands covering his ears, completely incapacitated.
It's not like he hated them. He loved them! It's nice to hear that his efforts were being appreciated, and listening to the stories that accompanied the prayers were equally rewarding.
Plus, his ego didn't mind a bit of boosting from all the praises sent over.
But it was so loud, he couldn't even hear his own thoughts through them sometimes. At the beginning of his godhood, he would nearly fail his jumps due to how abrupt the onslaught could get.
As time went on, the number went down as he finished up the rest of the revivals, petering off to a good 20 or so prayers per day. He did get used to the prayers echoing through his head by the end of it all!
Sometimes, an especially loud prayer still shock him, but he's getting better at making sure it doesn't effect his ability to parkour too badly.
Seawatt laughed at him whenever it happens and EMF would shake his head affectionately at his reactions, so it doesn't matter all to much to him.
(And if he was purposely dialing his reactions up to get them to laugh sometimes, well, no one's gonna know.)
_ _ [] [] _ _
Evbo was down at the Fighter Layer checking up on them and making sure they're taking the reconnection to the rest of the civilization well.
A while after Parkour Civilization had mostly recovered from the Villain's attack, the topic of the forgotten layer was brought up between the god and his champion. To the shock of both Evbo and Seawatt (who was only there to disturb EMF), it was EMF who made the decision to revert the layer back into what it once was, the layer in between the Pros and the Masters.
It's been a long journey, with EMF using the command blocks to bring portions of the other layer over at a time, and Evbo shepherding the Fighters over, but it's almost done! A majority of the layer had been restored, and most, if not all of the fighters were now settling into their new homes.
In typical EMF fashion, they didn't forget to add a temple of the Parkour God there as well. They also used Seawatt's yappings on how the layer looked in it's prime to reconstruct the place as best as they could.
Seawatt was speechless when he was brought down to see the brand new layer. Rumour has it that he had tackled EMF into a hug that led into a long kiss afterwards.
Evbo knew for a fact that not only did Seawatt do all of that, he also pushed EMF off the layer afterwards so he could get to Evbo and kiss him as well.
So yeah, it was mostly a success.
Still, the Fighters had been separated for so long, Evbo was a little worried that the rest of the Civilization would overwhelm them. He's aware of Seawatt's trips down here, so he only headed down to check up on them when he knows that the other would be busy that day.
Talking to the fighters and the few other players that moved to the layer, he got the general idea of how everyone was feeling. It seemed like the Fighters had adjusted just fine to daily life back here, and was happily teaching the newcomers all about their traditions.
Satisfied, he made his way over to the Temple, wanting to check up on how the decorations were going.
Each of the layers had their own way of decorating the temples.
The Noobs had kept it bare but clean, with the occasional flowers found down there being placed around to give the Temple a pop of colour.
The Pros had added chairs and plain, white carpets.
The Masters made the place looked really pretty. They used their wealth to layer the place with coloured glass, coloured wool, a few trees and even a fountain in the middle.
The Champion didn't need a temple.
So Evbo was just a little excited to see what the Fighters were going to do.
Coming to the entrance of the Temple, he took a moment to stop and be amazed at the sight before him.
The Fighter really liked gold, it seemed, as it was draped everywhere, covering almost anything important in that yellow metal. There were a few small parkour courses scattered about the place, and he could see evidence of a celebration that had likely happen the night before.
He smiled. He's glad to see Fighters so full of life. It's a nice change from how they were before.
Something shiny caught his eyes.
Walking over, Evbo raised a golden bangle up to his face, regarding it with curiosity. It was placed on a dish, as if it was an offering to him.
Staring down at the item, he decided that he needed the help of someone that was from here. Someone who was familiar with the culture and traditions of the Fighters.
He knows just the perfect person to annoy.
Popping into Seawatt's home, he waved at EMF who was lying on the couch (an actual couch, not that thing made of chains) as he made his way up to where he knew the Fighter was.
Walking behind him, Evbo draped himself over the man, leaning his whole weight on him.
Seawatt sighed, reaching a hand up to pet his head before focusing back onto the jewelry he was making.
After he was revived, Seawatt picked up jewelry making as a hobby, passing them to other Fighters after he was done. It was really pretty, in Evbo's opinion, but this was not the time to start praising his partner.
"Sea?"
He hummed in acknowledgement.
"Do you know what this means? I saw someone offer it at the temple," he asked, lifting the bangle up to show Seawatt. With a groan, he took his attention away from the necklace he was assembling. He narrowed his eyes, gently taking the bangle into his hands to inspect it better.
"What shoddy work. I can make better." With that statement, he tossed the bangle onto the table and went back to the necklace. Evbo, amused, reached over to pick the bangle back up.
"I think it's nice. But that's not what I wanted to ask you. I was gonna ask if you knew what it meant?"
Seawatt tapped his table, thinking for a moment before sighing again, lowering his head.
"It's a long standing tradition among the Fighters. When courting someone, Fighters would perform a sort of dance. It was parkour, but done to a melody," he admitted, head still lowered as if Evbo couldn't see the way his face turned red, "Once the other Fighter accepted the courting, their accessories would be exchanged, usually a earring or a bracelet, or even both, something that won't interfere with parkouring too much, but could still be showed off. It was a promise to carry each other through thick and thin, and to always be by each other's side."
He fidgeted with the bracelets siting on both his wrists. "If I remembered correctly, Fighters would offer small pieces of jewelry to the Parkour God after a successful courting, as it was often seen as a good luck prayer, I supposed. It was also used as a celebration of sorts. If someone they knew had been successfully courted, then jewelries like bangles, necklaces and rings are offered to the God as a way of congratulating the happy couple, and to wish them eternal happiness."
From the corner of Evbo's eye, he could see EMF walking over to them. Seawatt was still looking down during his entire explanation. "I guess since people saw EMF and me kissing, they started giving offerings to you, hoping you would bless us." He laughed, not as bitterly as he would've before getting into a relationship with these two idiots.
Evbo caught onto something else. "So, would you like to exchange accessories with us? No clue what I could give, but I'm God, I can make something in a flash."
Seawatt's head snapped up, eyes wide, still faintly red as he watched Evbo and EMF exchange looks.
EMF, who had been leaning on the wall the whole time, spoke up, "You couldn't have possibly thought you fooled us that easier, right? Even a blind player could see just how much you wished to honour that tradition." They walked closer before kneeling in front of Seawatt, slowly taking off their right earring.
"May I?" Still stunned, Seawatt nodded hesitantly, watching as EMF leant forwards, unhooking the long, amethyst earring hanging from his ear, replacing it with the much smaller gold and black one. They pressed the earring into his hands, turning their head to show their empty ear.
Seawatt had gotten the silent request, as he leant forwards as well, hooking on the earring. EMF flicked their ear a bit, getting used to the heavier weight on there.
A small flash of light appeared, solidifying as a pair of earrings lying in Evbo's palm, a small, simple earring with a bright green gem. He held a hand out towards them, inviting them to grab one.
They exchanged earrings, with Evbo putting both of his on his two partners and ending up with two other earrings, which he vanished away to his personal dimension with promises of putting them on later.
Seawatt didn't say much about the whole thing, still as allergic about his emotions as ever. But Evbo could tell he was much brighter, often stopping in the middle of whatever he was doing to reach a hand up to his ears, smiling as he felt the two new ones dangling in place of his usual pair.
A few days later, Evbo was strolling through the Fighter Layer when he entered the Temple.
On the offering plate, 3 necklaces, 3 rings and 3 bangles was placed. All of them decorated with purple, green and black gems.
Evbo laughed. The sap.
He grabbed the jewelry and went over to the inside of the diamond boot statue, where he placed them on the 3 armour stands he had inside.
He stood there for a moment, contemplating something before giving in, shifting the stands in a way where all three are holding hands.
There, much better.
– _ [] [] [] _ –
He wasn't sure how, but someone had revealed that the great parkour god had once been a Noob.
That has to be the only explanation as to why there was suddenly so much food being offered.
It started at the Noob layer of all places.
He'd popped down there for a moment for a brief look over at the place, when he felt something pulling him towards the Temple.
Following the trail, he poked his head in only for his jaw to drop at the sight within.
So much food. Like, enough to feed an entire village worth of food!
…oh him, did a entire village just offered up their daily meal just for him?
He really wanted to refuse the meal, but froze at the sight of something raw in the pile. He looked around the Temple, rushing over and swiping the meat, stuffing it in a pocket before vanishing away to eat in solitude.
No one needs to know.
Nevertheless, he tried going house to house in the Noob Layer, trying to convince the inhabitants there to not waste their only meal for the day on him.
But no matter what he did, the players down here seemed obsessed with keeping him well fed. He doesn't! Not ever since becoming the Parkour God. They need the food more than he does!
And even worse, it somehow manged to spread across the layers. Maybe a Noob had told a Pro? Maybe his Pro neighbor told his Fighter Ally? Maybe someone from the Master Layer remembered his origins and leaked it to other Masters?
However it happened, it's now a well-known fact throughout the entire Civilization that their god was once a Noob, and that meant food offerings were in style.
Another wave of prayers reached his ears as more food was wasted on him, left in the temple to rot away. He's been trying his best to bring down the food waste as best as he could, bringing all of it down to the Noob Layer. But even then the Noobs would leave some behind as offers for him, so there's still food that goes to waste.
He sighed, fidgeting with the new bracelets he'd gotten the other day. What can he do to stop this? It's becoming an actual problem at this rate. Evbo hasn't seen any pests yet, but they might become a problem soon if he doesn't fix this soon.
"Evbo!" He heard a voice call for him. He perked up. He knew this voice!
He popped over to EMF's home. Walking in, he was met with the sight of Seawatt cooking something while EMF watched him from the counter.
"Hey! What's wrong?" He asked, walking closer to accept a kiss from EMF. Seawatt waved a hand, still fully focused on the pot in front of him.
"Just wanted to get you over here. I heard from Teddy that you've been having some cravings lately?"
Oh, was he that obvious? Though, he wasn't surprised that Teddy was the one who spotted it first. He'd spent the most time with the Noobs after all, he had probably seen how they could get around good, raw meat.
His mouth still watered at the thought.
No one has to know.
"Yea," He played it off with a shrug, resting his head on a palm as he joined EMF in Seawatt watching. "I've been around food for the whole day, at some point getting a craving for something is too be expected."
EMF nodded, reaching over to run a hand over the earrings that were proudly shown from his newly pierced ears. "Understandable, which is why Seawatt wished to surprise you by cooking you a meal from his home."
Evbo perked up, suddenly more interested in the food being ladled into 3 bowls. Seawatt evenly distributed the thick liquid thing before pushing two of the bowls over to them. The liquid was brown, thicker than water, and had clumps of something in it.
It smelt delicious.
"My mom liked cooking this stew for me whenever I was sick back then. The clumps are meat if you're wondering," Seawatt supplied as all three of them digged into the meal. Evbo had stars in his eyes when he tasted the food.
It was so good, somehow even better than raw beef. He couldn't help himself from trying to shovel the entire bowl down his throat. EMF reached over and gently plucked the bowl from his hands.
"I don't want you to choke. I fear that Seawatt's head would get even larger than it already is should he be the one that killed the Parkour God, be it accidental or not." They placed the bowl back down on the table, getting up to scoop another round of the stew in the bowl.
"Hey! I do not have a huge head!"
This time, he made sure to take his time eating, listening with amusement as the two bickered over the smallest of things over their bowls, occasionally stopping to eat a spoon or two before continuing their argument.
Evbo looked down at his bowl, poking at the floating clumps. Seawatt had called them meat.
Did they even know what the Noobs went through before?
Maybe Seawatt was aware, seeing how closely he had worked with the previous champion. Maybe this meal was his way of apologising for his inaction?
Or maybe he just heard what Teddy had said and decided to make this on a whim?
"My mom liked cooking this whenever I was sick."
What luck Evbo must have, to get such wonderful partners.
_ _ _ [] [] [] [] _ _
He heard a ton of commotion outside the Fighters' Temple. Curious, he decided to head over there, invisible, to watch what was going on. He knew the Fighters liked to throw parties every now and then, but this sounded bigger than those they usually did.
Hovering over the roof, he was treated to a sight below.
EMF and Seawatt were standing about 8 blocks away from each other, with other players making a rough circle a few more blocks away from them. Evbo could see Fighters, as well as some Pros, quite a number of Masters and even a Noob or two!
What is going on here?
He got his answer a moment later, as a loud drumming beat started up. Countless other instruments joined the drums, coming together into a frantic, yet energetic melody.
Seawatt started to move, leaping from block to block, circling EMF before backing away, looking like he was dancing using parkour. It was mesmerising, especially since he had exchanged his usual outfit for a more flowy piece, with long purple scarfs and flowy pants trailing behind him with every jump.
When he came to a stop, the music did the same. The entire field fell into a silence, waiting for something to happen.
And then, a flute pierced through the quiet. Followed by what sounded like a whole orchestra behind it.
Evbo recognised this music. He's heard it every time he walked around the Master Layer.
EMF began their part of the dance, moving more gently, akin to the music accompanying them. They circled Seawatt more, going in loops around the Fighter before spinning away, hand gesturing to him to follow them.
With that, the Fighters' music began again, mixing beautifully with the Masters' to make a symphony befitting of the two dancers in the middle. They were chasing each other, letting the other get close before darting away, playing a game of tag of sort while still dancing to the rhythm.
As the dance began to slow down, so did the melody, mellowing out until the drum and the flute was left. EMF spun right into Seawatt's arms, letting the other pull them into a low dip as the flute let out a final note and the drum sticks clapped, ending the dance.
A moment, before cheers erupted from the crowd watching.
The two dancers waved at them, before looking up, right where Evbo was sitting at.
He waved back.
(Later, once all the players had gone to sleep, the two dancers would return home to EMF's house, entering the home to find their third sitting on the couch, dozing slightly from the wait.
They would apologise to the godling, smiling at his mumbled praises as they would lead him into a smaller, much more gentle dance. His giggles would echo through the home, lighting it up in a way that it had never before.
Some day in the future, they would perform a similar dance to the godling, before bringing him into the dance, laughing loudly at the odd way he would dance. He would complain half-heartedly, using his upbringing as an excuse for his sloppy performance.
They were dancing together, and everything was okay.)
_ _ ||| _ _ [] [] _ _
Evbo's been seeing a trend these days.
The players has been placing gifts as offerings.
The Noobs had continued to place food as offerings. Nothing he could do or say could get it through their minds, so he's just given up. Thankfully, they did get the pest issue worry, as such, after half a day, the offerings would be gathered up and used as part as a large feast for all Noobs to enjoy.
That had helped in improving moral and relationships between the Noobs and whoever else decided to join. Food really was the way to someone's heart.
Evbo had even joined a few of these feasts himself. It was always a blast to shed his godly reputation for a night and join his people in a meal. He gets to know more about them, and they about him!
All in all, life in the Noob Layer is slowly but steady improving.
The Pros started offering quite the assortment of items. Sometimes it would be a hand-stitched soft toy, other days it'll be 30 different pieces of carpet.
That was a strange day for everyone.
Life for the Pros didn't change much. Maybe it was because they didn't ever wanted too much, but now they felt much more relaxed, less stressed about doing their jobs.
The Fighters kept offering accessories to him, often with a random coloured gem decorated in them. But there was a consistent purple, green and black accessories that kept popping back up every so often. He keeps those. The others he'll give back to the void.
The Masters offered all sort of items as well. It was like they didn't know what to do with him, so they just threw whatever they had at him and called it a day.
He'd seen more jewelry (those he gave to Seawatt), gold sometimes, flowers, tree saplings and even random blocks that he recognised was from the parkour bank.
The Masters really were an odd bunch.
But amidst all of the offerings made to him, he would see some items that seemed to have been made or given with a different recipient in mind.
He would see a three pieces of cooked beef placed on top of the pile, placed nicely beside some baked potatoes. He made sure to give them to his partners at the end of the day.
He would see books and notes addressed to EMF and hand-made clothes to Seawatt.
The Masters seemed to really liked throwing random pieces of crystals into the pile, which he also passed to seawatt, as well as music disks for EMF.
Everywhere he looked, he could see signs of devotion. In the way people pray, the way they acted, even the way they made their offerings.
But he sees it the most in his partners.
In every head rub, every cuddle, every hair brush.
In every night spent right by each others side, in days spent just hanging out at the top of the world.
In the way they looked at him, the way they smiled at him, the way they waited for him to finish his godly duties just so they could dance together.
In the way Seawatt cooked for him, made jewelries for him, bared his soul, his past to him.
In the way EMF placed their trust in him even when he was just a newbie Pro, in the way they followed him without hesitation, in the way they continued to be as amazing from the day they met till this day.
In the way they loved him, and how he loved them back.
_ _ || _ [] [] [] _ [] _
He found himself standing in the diamond boot statue again. It's been a few months since Seawatt and EMF did their dance.
A year since Seawatt kissed him.
A year and a half since Evbo brought Seawatt back.
A year and seven months since Evbo defeated the Parkour Villain and became God.
And two years since Evbo was nothing more than just a Noob.
It's hard to believe that he's gotten this far. Some days, he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop. That this was all a hallucination made by his mind moments from his death by the Parkour Villain. Or even worse, that this was a dream, and that he was still a sickly Noob waiting for life to take him before the void.
He fidgeted with the objects in his hands.
Seawatt had explained why Fighters didn't wear rings, and that it was better used as an offering. He also said the same things about necklaces.
But as Evbo opened his palm to reveal two rings resting there, he only hoped that he would make an exception this time.
But for now, he placed the rings in a drawer in the statue, making sure it was hidden properly before standing up once more.
Turning his head over to the armour stands, he smiled at the amount of accessories on them. It looked ridiculous, and it made the sight even more cute in his eyes.
"One day. One day I'll get the courage to confess. Then we can plan the perfect wedding. I hope Seawatt cries. Serves him right, that graceful asshole."
He hears a far off prayer call for him, and the smile grew bigger.
He turned around and walked away from the room.
One day, Evbo would show them the rings he'd made for them.
For now, he's more than content with dancing.