Chapter Text
He shot up in his chair like a man possessed. With a skull splitting headache behind his eyes and heavy breathing.
What's going on ? Is this afterlife ? Except it wasn't, he was thirsty and his heart was beating. But that wasn't possible, he merged with the king. Was his mind so corrupted he defeated the king and survived it ?
He felt sick,the room he was in hadn't been properly ventilated since the day he sat down at his computer. The infinite knowledge of the king was still there but unclear like a fog settled over the back of his mind.
The only reminder of the terrible power he held for a short period of time was a razor sharp and clear memory of all things Avery. He knew answers to question he never asked and so much more. He looked at the screen Infront of him. The world was gone, he must have deleted it before he blacked out...
He coughed and got out of his gamer chair then nearly fell over. Painfully slowly he shuffled to his kitchen grabbing his phone and ordering a pizza. He opened his fridge and grabbed a 2 litre bottle of water and chugged it in a record amount of time. He took a shower for at least fifteen minutes before coming out to put on fresh clothes and pick up his food. He then proceeded to house a large pizza and another 2 litre water while standing hunched over his countertop like a caveman.
He felt terrible after the whole thing and swore to himself to not play Minecraft for a long time after it. But he was alive and his headache was caused by him staring at the screen for he didn't even know how many days straight and not whatever that was. He responded to a few texts asking about him with dismissive 'I did a technology detox ' or ' I just took some time to focus on myself ' messages. Bullshit, he spent the last god knows how long trying to not die and save a guy he didn't even know.
Oh right he told him they were going to meet again...we'll he did leave him a goodbye letter but he guesses that doesn't apply anymore... Whatever he doesn't live far he can visit Avery whenever. Now he just needs to sleep. The second Derek hits the bed he's out like a light , he left his window open and almost didn't bother pulling his covers over him, although he would probably get sick if he didn't do so. He has a dreamless deep sleep.
He wakes up the next day at noon (yes he slept for 24 hours straight), the room is cold with a January breeze coming in through the window. He shivers and retreats under his warm weighted blanket. He's tempted to fall asleep again but decides against it instead drinking a lot of water, taking another shower and making a ton of food. Then he ventilates and cleans up the gaming room he occupied during his stay in the king's world and decides to go for a walk to see the light of day for the first time in days.
It's cold and windy but the freezing cold air hitting his face and whipping it with bits of snow makes him feel so alive it's almost unfair but it feels so good to pull the cold air into his lungs and blow the smoke out of his mouth. He thought about all of the crazy things that happened over the last few days. The whole Avery thing and apparently defeating the king or something. He went through all of it and ended his overthinking with the letter.
Did Avery read it ? How is he doing now ? Should he visit him already ? No that surely wouldn't be a good idea, he should give it a week or two, let everything settle before he reaches out.
And so he did
The two weeks were long, too long. Trying to get back into his routine felt difficult with his newfound experience. But nevertheless he held off until the end. Then he used his Supernatural knowledge of all things Avery ™ to find out what his discord was. He knew it was silly but hey anyone could get Averys discord and for all intents and purposes he does not have to know about the Supernatural knowledge of all things Avery ™
Avery felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. He groaned and turned in his bed he barely managed to go to his classes. Hell for the first week he skipped them and just layed in bed. He felt terrible but what if it's something important ? He took his phone out of his pocket and checked his discord, there was a message request from a person he didn't share any servers with...weird
What a weird guy...probably a troll. It was like the universe was trying to remind him of Derek, poor guy. I wonder if they found him yet... No nope do not think about that Avery
Avery curled up on his bed and closed his eyes trying desperately to fall asleep even though it was still early and he did eventually. The dream he had left him puzzled when he woke up.
He stood in a field of flowers, the sweet smell of cherry blossoms carried towards his nose. He stood on a incline facing away from a small hill and towards the forested hills, fields and city below. The sun burned the back of his neck ever so slightly but the feeling was soothed by a colder breeze. It was oh so peaceful after the nightmares of a golden eye and bridges dissapearing beneath his feet. He breathed, it wasn't real but it felt so tangible. Like if he reached out he could pick up a flower and smell it.
Avery slowly turned around and his breath got stuck in his throat. He couldn't be more than 60 feet from him, his cape was swaying in the wind and he stood tall and proud. He couldn't be much taller than Avery but the plume of his helmet made him look tall, like scary tall.
There were a few strands of long dark brown hair spilling from under the helmet yet his eyes and face were pitch black in the opening of the helmet. After a while of staring at d3rlord in his most barebones form of outfit he took off running towards him almost tripping over patches of uneven ground, it seemed like d3rlord was getting sorrounded by a black fog of sorts, wrapping itself around him and filling Avery's lungs with bitter smoke as he got closer. He reached out and leapt forward only to catch nothing but smoke as he fell to the ground between withered flowers. Cried and sobbed into the ground before suddenly jolting awake.
He sat up with with cold sweat running down the back of his neck. He shivered and looked at his shaking hands as tears fell on them, like if he stared hard enough the smoke would go away and Derek would be right there, safe. He let out a sob before doubling over.
He felt so sick, like he was going to throw up right then and there. He rolled out of his bed and almost ran to his bathroom. He stood over the sink, heaving and coughing up nothing but acid that stung his throat and left a bitter taste he had to wash out. He looked at himself in the mirror above the sink. At that moment he wished he hadn't bought one at all. He looked like shit, messy overgrown hair, eyes red from crying, bags under said eyes and a stubble on his chin that made him look more homeless than he thought it would. Avery sighed and closed his eyes trying to decipher whatever it was that just happened. His shirt was stuck to his chest and Avery was left to doubt he could fall asleep after this.
(my artistic depiction of Avery's dream)