Chapter Text
d3rlord3's POV
"No." Avery says, surprisingly calm after his few beats in thought. At this, his breath hitches for a brief moment.
"Avery, you—" He tries to protest, only for him to be cut off.
"I'm staying with you, d3rlord." His eyes, once afraid and conflicted, now shifts to something else.
'Is it determination?' Derek questions, even though he knew the answer.
"You can't stop me, no matter what you say." He took a breath, as unsteady as his own. He wondered if he was holding back too, if he's just trying to be strong. He wouldn't be surprised.
"You saved me. If we're doing this, we're doing it together. I don't care"
Derek would never acknowledge how blurry his vision got, how his already faltering breathing worsened, how he looked down as if in shame. He would never acknowledge that this was his first time, to be so pathetic— to be crying over words.
"..I—.... You're staying?" He took a step forwards.
It felt as though his ankle was about to topple over anytime soon, as though it was made of slime.
"Y—.. yes." A shaky breath.
Was it from him? Or from Avery?
When he looked up, he was met with those eyes.
Those eyes, so stubborn.
Those eyes, yellow and glinting with...
His head hurt, worse now. So many things he could do, so much he could mess up...
Derek couldn't handle it.
Not anymore.
It hurt
Every breath hurt
Everything hurts
Why was he feeling this way? He's looking at his screen, why...
His heart, pierced with an arrow he couldn't tell was lethal or simply shaped like a heart.
His mind, racing with the things he could do. How he could speak, how he could hurt.
His soul, screaming at him to do something, say something.
Avery's eyes burned.
It set him ablaze with a million— no, infinite — different things at once.
He saw his birth.
He saw his life.
He saw his death.
He saw Avery's death.
Derek chokes out a cough, the kind that was more tearful than sickly. He felt warmth trickle down his face.
He felt his eyes on him.
He felt his eyes on him.
It hurt so much.
He couldn't take it anymore.
It felt like he was dying.
Is he dying?
Maybe it won't be so bad.
He can't be.
He can't.
He shouldn't.
'No.' He declares to none but himself, so arrogant even when he's so weak.
He breaths, as though he was drowning not too long ago.
'I will not die to something like this.'
He placed a hand on Avery's shoulder.
He will not let himself fall as the King wishes.
He will fight.
He's a knight, after all— a lord even.
It would be ironic if a king would lose to a lord, would it not?
TheMostMayo's POV
"..I—.... You're staying?" Derek seemed to struggle, taking a step forward; though his tone was oddly calm. On the other hand, that step was wobbly, unsteady in a way that worried Avery. He would make up a joke about it if he didn't seem so... sick, so odd.
Don't get him wrong, he loved his friend dearly and wouldn't care if he was as weird as even a therian; but this was a different kind of odd. Like he was high on something lethal
"Y—.. yes." He lets out a shaky breath, as unsteady as the step he took just a moment before.
"If you're trying to scare me off into leaving, it's.. it's n—not going to... work..." He stammered, but forces that determination back up again. If he really was trying to scare him, it was clearly working; even if he wouldn't admit to it.
Derek looks up, staring him in his eyes. Of course, Avery stares back.
That didn't last long, since the knight looks away with a shake of his head.
Avery huffs, though it didn't.. feel like it? Like it just came out.
Wow, he was really out of it huh... 13 hours straight of Minecraft is really getting to him.
Of..
Minecraft...
Avery looks down at himself, seeing his torso— slimey and in a rather casual outfit. He liked the beach enough to make his skin that was, after all.
But it wasn't just a skin anymore...
This wasn't a game anymore...
A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of that train of thought.
d3rlord3 was out of breath.
And out of time.
"..You're not Avery."