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Avery had been searching. Ever since the moment he saw those new year's fireworks from his window and realised DerLord3. No. Derek wasn't, he had been determined to find him, but what could he do with only his first name and Minecraft tag? It was like finding a needle in a haystack that he shouldn't be looking in, because why did he even care, he was just some guy that put his laptop in a storage unit and forgot to delete a world, and Avery had joined that world. And everything had happened. Avery remembered it all, how could he forget? That night he had spent exploring and inevitably helping destroy that world, the one that didnt exist, but who had he helped? DerLord3, or Derek as he had revealed his real name to Avery that night. And now that Avery expected, no, knew the worst, the least he could do was find him, to go see him, do anything to make sure that DerLord3 knew just how much he meant to Avery.
So, he searched, he searched for days, weeks, checking social media, asking people who also played Minecraft across forums, but it seemed that no one had ever heard of the lord in golden armour that Avery knew. Until someone did.
Jackiguess
Hey man
Heard u were looking for DerLord3?
AveryTheMayo
Yeah you know anything about him?
Jackiguess
Yeah we were buddies me and Derek you know what happened?
AveryTheMayo
Yeah sorry for your loss man I was an online friend of his for ages just wanted to come pay my respects
He was so close, Avery sighed, staring at the screen, the messages between the two. Of course he had to lie, who would give a random guy on the internet any information if he showed up and said
“yeah, we played together once, got a lot done, so anyway where is he buried?”
No, that would never had worked, this was better.
Jackiguess
Oh he never mentioned you, nice to meet another of Derek's buddies
Jackiguess
But he never really mentioned anyone he played with, i thought he played singleplayer only when i wasnt around lol
AveryTheMayo
Haha no we played quite a bit sad to hear hes gone but i couldnt seem to find anyone who actually knew him
Jackiguess
Thats where i come in? You wanna visit?
AveryTheMayo
Id like to yeah if that could happen?
Jackiguess
Sure man not many people visit anyway
AveryTheMayo
Sorry to hear that thanks tho been meaning to do this
Avery slumped back in relief that he’d found someone who could help, that he was chill enough to talk to a stranger claiming to be his dead buddies online friend about this thank you jack he thought, grateful for his help. And as Jackiguess sent an address over, a strong wave of determination to fulfil his task overcame Avery, that he was a bit of the ways there, at least, more than he had been an hour ago. He hastily typed out a thank you on his laptop, that laptop that had been the key to all of this, the laptop that was Averys now, but had once belonged to Derek, DerLord3.
the drive wasn't very long, nothing that Avery hadn't dealt with before, just highways and the few quick detours to calm his nerves and maybe get a snack, it was what was waiting for him at the end of the drive that scared him most, that when he arrived it would change something, something that he had no idea what, but something, that all those hours searching for the player he knew nothing about had only led to what he was going to see in maybe a couple short hours. He gripped the wheel tight, he had only just set off again and the nervousness was already creeping its way through him, coursing through his veins like it was meant to be there.
After what felt like both an eternity and the blink of an eye at the same time, Avery stepped out of his car, he looked around at the small town he had dribven into with a goal, to see just one thing. He knew where the cemetery was, thanks to jack, but he wanted to look around, to walk the streets Derek may have walked hundreds of times before.
He walked for a while, stopping to sit on ranmdombenches or lean against random walls, surveying the quiet streets and wondering how the person he barely knew fit into all this, this small hum of people going on with their lives, oblivious to the mental turmoil going in Averys head. He wondered a lot of things, how many times Derek had passed by these streets on his way home or to work, and another thing he pondered. How many people in this little town would be suffer if the man they knew only by face and maybe name had not made the sacrifice he had made.
Avery had somehow calmed himself just slightly in the mundane process of walking the slightly dull streets. Trying to come up with meaningless tasks to avoid the inevitable, he seemed to stop, something made him stop, he glanced around and spied a small flower shop tucked away at the corner of a row of buildings, the paint on the sign welcoming albeit peeling slightly. Avery debated going in, you couldn't go to a grave without flowers, right? He wouldn't buy many, just a small bunch to show that he cared without making himself feel like a weirdo by bringing an absurd number of flowers for a guy he never really knew. But he decided he’d go anyway, just to look. Maybe get something small.
He left the shop with a small bunch of flowers, nothing fancy, stuff he thought that he had liked, but tucked away in the modest bunch was a few blue orchids. Avery had picked them out specifically, he felt almost drawn to them, as if he was meant to take them with him to this. There was also a tiny piece of card attached to the flowers, he hadn't gotten the message printed out on the card, he had scribbled it out with a borrowed pen that had almost ran out of ink too embarrassed to explain to the woman why he was doing this, that he had travelled hours to visit the grave of someone he never really knew. He could've lied sure, but he didn't trust himself to speak more than a few short sentences to ask for what he wanted and thank the woman who has given him a small, sad smile in the shop.
He walked with slightly more purpose now, he couldn't wander around anymore without looking strange, clutching a bundle of flowers like it was the last thing keeping him from falling apart completely, that would make him appear weirder than he already did to people, just some random guy suddenly showing up out of nowhere, walking around for an hour on his own, going into a flower shop, coming out with flowers and going back to wandering. No, he may be trying to delay the inevitable, but this was getting out of hand, he had to do this, and he had to do this now.
Avery turned back, making his way towards the cemetery with careful steps, not trusting himself to go actually go there, as if he’d fuck something up the moment he stepped foot near the place he had come all this way for, that he had prepared himself for, that he had stalled for hours just to not go there, to see it with his own eyes, to realise that it was real, that even though he had barely known him, Derlord3 wasn't coming back. He took a deep breath, finding himslef standing at the entrance to the cemetery, only one thing left to do, step inside.
He walked briskly along the trodden path, scanning the names on graves as he went. Refusing to stop, he thought he’d never start walking again if he stopped for even a second, frozen in time forever, trapped by his own foolish nerves. But he didn't stop walking, didn't let his unnecessary fear stop him, but he simply couldn't let the thoughts from creeping into his mind. What if someone was there? What if they didn't want him there? How could he explain why he was there to grieving family members? Avery shook his head, begging for the thoughts to stop, so he could stop wishing he had never come here in the first place. He didn't know if he had already passed his destination, but just as he was about to double back and walk along a differnet row a name caught his eye.
Derek
He stopped dead in his tracks, praying that this was the right grave for he had no idea if he’d be able to bring himself to keep looking, but there it was. Derek Hutchins. Right there.
The grave Avery was staring at was simple, the dirt just slightly disturbed looking, like it had time to settle but had yet to fully do so. But the one thing Avery noticed was that it was mostly empty, not a soul nearby, and only a few bundles of flowers that looked like they had been there to long were tucked, slightly crooked, nearby. Avery wondered who had left the flowers before him, family? Friends? He couldn't help but think about how the people who knew him felt about this, what they had done when they found out, what they thought had happened to him. He couldn't seem to shake the thoughts from his mind as he knelt, gently placing down the flowers, making sure they looked nice and wouldn't fall like the others for at least a while, he wanted to say something, to express how he felt out loud for the first time since everything had gone down on new year's.
“Thanks, for everything you did, Derek.”
He muttered, keeping it short to stop himself from spiralling right there and then, that could wait until he was back in the car or in the comfort of his own home. He stopped to adjust the flowers again, and as he fidgeted with the flowers he couldn't help but think that he had done this before, that something had happened in the hazy blur of the hours of his time he had spent searching for Derlord3, that somehow, all that he did that be barely remembered was happening again. Now.
And as Avery stood to leave, walking back down the path out of the cemetery, up the road to his car and back home. A light gust of wind flicked open the piece od card attached to the new bundle of flowers, and in messy handwriting scrawled onto the card with a cheap pen read the words.
You are real
You are special
Remember who you are
I