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Aether was in agony.
It (He? She? It, was just easier for it for now) had been in existence for under an hour and it was all too much. It had been given all the knowledge about its template that its King had deemed worthy of giving, and yet it had still Seen too much.
Not even the King’s creations are safe from Him; it was no exception to this.
Though it was a slime, it still bled. Blood the acidic yellow of its King dripped, oozed. From its eyes. From its mouth.
It had Seen too much.
It had Said too much.
Avery had ADHD.
It did not.
Its King had not deemed such a thing worth placing within it, so while it did not reap the downsides it also did not reap the rewards, namely being able to turn the infinite knowledge Off.
Which meant it also knew that, succeed or fail, its existence ended the moment its King received His wish, or failed and merged with His Knight.
It wanted to live.
It could go to His Knight – still might, in fact – but it wondered.
What if it broke the script?
It could see the lines it should say, could see that its life ended far earlier than that of its King because His Knight knew Avery far more than it did.
So.
What if, it left?
Left for Avery.
Perhaps it could claim His Knight harmed it, left it for dead?
No, Avery would see through that.
Perhaps…
Yes, that could work.
It would have to do.
Carefully, slowly, it began its journey through the halls of its King. It knew the way, though it had never made the trip before. Though halls, past His Knight (it missed the double-take Derek made of it, missed how the man looked utterly baffled before assuming, falsely, that the glimpse of Avery was a figment of his shattered mind—but this is not his story), through gate after gate, until it stood at a crossroads that His Knight had been to before. That its template had been to before.
And, rather than enter the depths of the trap its King had lain for His Knight, His Vessel, it went towards the exit. Towards the chest and the note within.
It knew that Avery would stop by. Avery seemed to do so most days, perhaps psyching himself up to enter the depths. It did not know.
What it did know was that Avery would help it.
Because that’s the kind of person Avery was.
It could no longer stand, so it crawled, dragging itself towards its salvation. Slowly, inch by inch, it got closer to the wall.
At the wall.
And, after far too long breaking the blocks in its way, failing to break them, and having to start over more than it was willing to admit, it made it through.
Collapsed, hand outstretched for the chest.
And sighed in relief at the sound of footsteps coming from the staircase.
It passed out before the scream of its template reached its ears.
It would be safe, now.
And, perhaps, It had saved Avery as well.