Chapter Text
“Avery, what's in your inventory?”
————
The next thing Avery knew, he was falling.
Derek had pushed him. He really pushed him.
The memory flashed through his mind sharp and burning — the final moments, the chaos, the eyes all looking down at them, at him, the image haunting in his head as he fell, and with it came a surge of feeling so strong it made his chest ache.
Betrayal, first. Hot, stinging, because he’d just been trying to help. He’d been trying so hard to stay, to be right there beside Derek no matter what happened, even when everything was falling apart, even when it was dangerous.
And Avery had promised he’d do the same. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave him alone in this mess.
And now here he was falling, because Derek had shoved him away to save him.
Idiot, why did he have to decide for him?
Rage and grief and fear tangled together until he could barely breathe, and then, suddenly — it all stopped.
————
He stared at the laptop screen, the bright white text stark against the dark background.
YOU DIED.
“No… no, no, no!” His hands flew over the keyboard, fingers shaking so badly he almost missed the keys. Panic roared in his ears. This wasn’t how it ended.
He wasn’t going to just die and leave Derek trapped with that thing.
Not after everything.
Not now.
“Come on, come on, respawn!”
For a second, nothing happened. His heart hammered against his ribs so hard it hurt. Then, relief, sweet and sharp — the world loaded back in. He was alive.
He was back.
And there was still time.
He didn’t waste a second. He sprinted toward the where the golden gates were, the one that led into the great hall lined with many more just like it, glowing warm and ominous in the dim light. He’d been here before, knew the way now. And he ran like his life depended on it.
Because Derek’s life definitely did.
————
He tore through the worlds one by one. The mountains that vanished the moment you stepped on them, where he had to move fast, placing blocks frantically just to keep from plummeting into the void. The dark, silent cave where the air felt heavy and wrong.
The open clearing with the church standing in the middle, he didn’t even glance at it, screw this place.
Just ran past, boots thudding hard against the ground.
He kept going until he reached it, the red, lifeless world with random ominous mountains and pillars, the world with the gates closed, the one Derek had solved with that clever, risky trick.
There, resting right where it had been left, was the boat.
Avery’s hands moved almost on autopilot. He knew exactly what to do, he’d watched other people also do it, and had seen how they managed to glitch right through the bottom of any platform they were trying to escape into.
He climbed in, leaned forward, got out fast, timing it perfectly, and suddenly, the ground was gone beneath him.
He was falling again.
————
The void below the world's floor opened up into something that shouldn't exist. A fractal, recursive, folding in on itself expanse of amethyst and deep violet and flickers of blue white light, infinitely deep, strange. Like the inside of a geode the size of a universe.
And there, rushing past him as he fell, the doors. The yellow gates.
He didn't know how many there were in this place, but he didn't care, at least he had multiple chances to go to one.
He reached for the first one.
Missed.
He passed the first glowing door set into the nothingness, too fast, couldn’t reach it.
“Wait… no, no—”
He spun, trying to look for another one to land in. He should have gotten blocks to us, or the slime and honey block he had. The two also got lost in the void when he got pushed.
The void rushed around him in every direction, that purple fractal depth going on forever in every direction, and Avery reached for the next gate.
Missed.
"Come on!..” He twisted, reaching out desperately, fingers brushing the edge of the frame but slipping right through like it wasn’t solid. He fell past it.
“Shit — stop—”
His voice echoed wrong down here. Too big for a voice, too small for the space. The fractal patterns shifted around him as he fell, rearranging themselves into shapes that almost looked like something before collapsing back into abstraction. He stopped looking at them. He focused on the gates.
Another one. He lunged for it.
Missed.
Another door appeared below him. He tried again, flailing, trying to grab hold, but he was moving too fast, gravity or whatever passed for gravity here dragging him relentlessly downward. He missed that one too.
And then… there were just no more doors.
Just endless, shifting space stretching out in every direction, purple and black threaded through with faint pulses of gold light that looked like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to anything living.
Avery’s breath hitched.
“Where..where are they?!” He yelled it into the void, but there was no answer. Just the sound of his own voice, weirdly flat and distorted, coming back to him a split second too late.
He didn’t know how long he fell. It felt like hours, like days, like an eternity. At first he was angry, furious at himself for messing it up, furious at the world for being so unfair. Then the anger melted into cold, sharp fear. Not for himself, he wasn't worried about what happened to him at the moment, but for Derek.
Damn it.
He was supposed to be there. He was supposed to help. He’d promised.
“I’m coming,” he gasped, tears pricking his eyes. “Just..let me find you..!”
He wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t. Even as his limbs grew tired, even as the void seemed to press in on all sides, even as he started to feel like he wasn’t even looking at a screen anymore, like his vision had blurred until the game and reality had started to bleed together, he kept trying.
He twisted, he reached, he searched for anything to land onto, any sign of a way down or out.
And then, by some miracle, or some cruel twist of fate, he saw it.
Another door. Smaller, dimmer, set further away than any of the others, but it was there.
Avery threw everything he had left toward it. He stretched, he lunged, his fingers scraping against the frame, and he caught it.
He hauled himself through, gasping, and hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
He lay there for a moment, chest heaving, grateful just to be on something solid. He pushed himself up, his boots scraping against smooth grey stone. Perhaps this was the bridge with the gates. Finally.
He looked around, and his heart sank right down into his stomach.
————
He was in a cave, huge, the ceiling so high, just as bumpy and deformed as the walls.
But this wasn’t just any cave. The walls were lined with moss that looked too intentional, patches of grass that shouldn’t have been underground, and all around him…trees.
Enormous trees, trunks thick as towers, branches spreading across the ceiling and climbing right up the walls as if they’d grown out of the rock itself. Leaves rustled softly even though there was no wind. It was beautiful, and eerie, and he knew this place.
He’d been here before. Back when he’d first started exploring this world, back when he’d still been in Creative mode, trying to find derlord.
“Why…” he whispered. “Why this place?”
Had he taken the wrong door? Had he fallen so far he’d been sent all the way back to the beginning? That couldn’t be — he’d been trying to go to the bridges, the gate. To get deeper, closer to where Derek was fighting for his life. This was the complete opposite. This was miles and miles away from where he needed to be.
He started walking, boots clicking softly on the stone floor, his mind racing a mile a minute. He had to figure this out. He had to find another door, a way to get back on track.
And then he stopped.
Something felt…wrong.
He looked down at his legs. They moved fine, but they felt heavy, odd, like he was moving through thick water instead of air. He looked at his hands, and his blood ran cold.
They weren’t right.
His skin was that bright, glowing green it always was, slime skin, soft and translucent, but now… it flickered. The edges of his fingers blurred and shifted like bad graphics, like he was glitching out of existence.
When he moved them fast, they left faint trails of light hanging in the air. He pulled his sleeves back, stared at his arms, the same thing. His whole body felt loose, unstable, like he was barely holding himself together.
“What…” He stared at his hands, turning them over, horrified. This wasn’t how he was supposed to look. This wasn’t how his avatar was supposed to work.
And that was when another, even stranger thought hit him.
He’d been staring at his laptop screen only minutes ago. Watching everything happen through glass and pixels. But right now…he wasn’t looking at anything.
He was here.
He could feel the stone under his feet. He could feel the air against his face. He could look up, down, left, right, even twist around and look at his own back, something you physically could not do in Minecraft unless you press f5, of course.
He wasn’t controlling an avatar anymore.
He was his avatar.
“Did…” His voice came out wrong again, strange and layered, like two people speaking at once, one slightly behind the other. It made his skin crawl.
Panic started to rise, hot and fast, Was this an effect from the king? Was this..Was he—
Footsteps.
Coming from one of the caves.
Avery froze.
His first thought, Monster.
His second thought, That thing. The one that chased him in that town before.
He scrambled backward, pressing himself behind the thick trunk of one of the massive trees, flattening himself against the bark, trying desperately to make himself small, invisible. His heart hammered in his chest, fear warring with confusion.
And then… the figure stepped into the light of a torch set into the wall.
Avery’s breath caught in his throat so hard he almost choked.
Standing there, illuminated in the warm orange glow, was a figure clad head to toe in gleaming golden armour. Polished plates catching the light, sharp lines, intricate details, and flowing around his shoulders and down his back was a brilliant scarlet cape, the fabric rich and heavy. A helmet covered most of his face, regal and strong, and he held himself tall, broad shouldered, confident even as he moved carefully, sword at his hip but still sheathed.
It was Derek.
Even covered in armour, even looking exactly like his Minecraft skin, Avery would know him anywhere. Every line, every movement, the way he tilted his head like he was calculating everything around him.
It was him.
“Derek…” Avery breathed.
And his voice came out all wrong, distorted, echoing, layered, like he was speaking from underwater or from miles away. He clapped a hand over his mouth instantly, terrified he’d be heard.
But Derek didn’t notice. He was too busy looking around, his head turning slowly as he took in the trees, the moss, the sheer scale of the cave. He moved deeper, boots clicking rhythmically on the stone, stopping every few seconds to crouch and examine something. A patch of grass, the rows of trees with genuine curiosity.
Avery watched him, and the relief was so intense it almost brought him to his knees.
He was fine.
He was alive.
He was okay.
Wait…
He was fine.
He didn’t look like he’d just been fighting an eldritch god. He didn’t look exhausted, or terrified, or like his mind was breaking apart from too much knowledge. He didn’t look or feel like the Derek Avery had left behind, battered, brave, heartbreakingly tired.
He looked… younger. Not younger in age, but in weight. Like he didn’t carry the world on his shoulders yet.
And as Avery watched him, as he watched Derek stop and stare up at the trees with genuine surprise, as he watched him frown in confusion at how big everything was, as he watched him trace his fingers over the stone path like he’d never seen it before.
The realisation hit him slow and hard, like a punch to the chest.
He wasn’t acting like he didn’t know this place.
He didn’t know this place.
He wasn’t pretending. He was seeing it for the very first time.
Avery stared, his mind spinning. How? How could this be possible? He’d just left Derek awhile ago, in the final world, on that platform. And now he was here, back at the start, watching Derek experience it all for the first time?
Had he fallen so far he’d fallen back in time?
It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. But as he looked at Derek,
alive, whole, safe, none of that mattered.
Avery’s whole body screamed at him. Go to him.
Go now.
Grab him, tell him everything
Get him out before any of this happens.
Every instinct, every part of him that loved Derek, that had promised to protect him, was shouting it so loud it hurt.
He took one step forward.
And looked down at his hand.
And stopped dead.
His fingers were still flickering, edges blurring into nothingness, green light seeping out where his skin was thin or weak. His whole body was wrong, unstable, half real, barely holding shape.
He didn’t look like himself. He didn’t even look entirely human anymore. He looked like a glitch, like a ghost, like something broken that shouldn’t exist.
How could he walk up to Derek like this?
How could he say “It’s me, it’s Avery. Trust me, we're friends. Kinda. You were sacrificing yourself for me in the future. But don't worry! I'm here to stop you.” When his voice sounded like two voices fighting over the same words? Hell, would he even believe him in the first place.
How could he reach out and touch him when his hands didn’t even feel solid enough to hold anything?
He couldn’t.
He just… couldn’t.
A quiet, broken sound escaped him, just a small gasp of pure frustration and grief.
And it was enough.
Derek’s head snapped toward him instantly. Quickly equipping a weapon to use, fingers tightening, posture shifting from curious to alert in less than a second. He stared straight at the tree Avery was hiding behind, his golden helmet tilting slightly as he listened, his whole body tense and ready.
Avery pressed himself back against the bark until it hurt. He didn’t breathe — didn’t even know if he could breathe properly anymore, just stood perfectly still, shaking from head to foot.
Derek stared at the spot for what felt like an eternity. Avery could practically hear his mind working, analysing, calculating, trying to figure out what had made the noise.
Then, slowly, Derek relaxed his grip on his weapon. He frowned, looked around one last time, and then turned away, his attention drawn toward a dark passageway cut between two massive tree trunks further into the cave.
Avery exhaled shakily, his legs giving way just enough that he almost slid down the tree trunk.
He watched Derek walk away, watched the golden armour glint in the torchlight at the hallway up ahead, watched the red cape swaying behind him with every step. He didn’t have anything in his hands, no torch, no weapon drawn, just walking forward, brave and curious and completely unaware of everything waiting for him.
He was going deeper.
He was going down the exact same path Avery had watched him take before.
The path that led to the tunnels, the water, the maze… and eventually, the golden gates. The gate that led to the King. The gate that cost Derek everything.
Panic surged through Avery again, sharp and desperate.
He had to stop him. He had to get to him.
He had to warn him —
But then he looked down at his flickering hands again. He looked at his body, barely real, barely there. He listened to his voice echo weirdly in his head.
He couldn’t. Not like this.
He didn’t know what had happened to him. He didn’t know why he was here, or how he’d fallen into the past, or if he’d ever get back to where he belonged.
But he knew one thing for sure.
He had been given a second chance.
This time… he wasn’t going to fail.
He pushed himself off the tree trunk, his form rippling like disturbed water as he moved. He kept his distance, sticking to the shadows, moving silently, invisible.
He followed Derek into the dark.
————
He kept his distance, sticking close to the walls where the shadows were thickest, his form flickering in and out of the dim light like a bad signal. He didn’t know exactly how he was going to stop him yet, he just knew he had to. He waited, watching Derek’s golden armour glint as he moved steadily forward, step by step, deeper into the winding tunnel.
Just turn around, Avery begged silently. Please, just look back and decide you’ve seen enough. Go play something else or whatever. just—
But Derek didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow down. He just kept walking, curious and calm, completely unaware of the danger waiting miles ahead.
No. Wait. Don’t go. Stop!
Desperation surged hot and sharp inside him, burning through his veins, and without even fully understanding how he was doing it, maybe it was the effects of being in that void, maybe it was just pure panic. Avery’s emotions leaked out into the world around him.
Behind them, at the mouth of the tunnel, the first torch flared bright… and then died instantly.
Derek stopped.
He turned his head slowly, looking back the way he’d come. His helmet tilted, and Avery could almost picture the frown of confusion behind it as Derek realized that the first row of torches vanished into blackness. He stood perfectly still, analysing, calculating.
Avery froze too, holding his breath, his glowing green eyes locked tight on him. He hadn’t even meant to do it, honestly. He’d just been thinking do something, make it dark, make him turn back, and somehow, it had worked. He hadn’t even been paying attention to the lights at all, he’d only been focused entirely on Derek. It was only now, watching him look back, that he noticed exactly what he’d caused.
Good, Avery thought, his heart hammering against his ribs so hard it hurt. Okay that’s it. It’s working. Come on, Derek.. Hate it. Think it’s weird. Just… go back.
For a long, agonising moment, Derek just stood there, staring into the darkening entrance, the silence stretching on and on forever.
Then, he turned back around.
And he kept walking.
No
NO!
Panic hit Avery like a physical blow.
Why isn’t it working?! Avery screamed inside his head, frustrated beyond belief. Why isn’t he scared?! Like seriously! Who sees their lights just die like that in their Minecraft world and just goes ‘must’ve been the wind’?! Come ON, Derek!
“Stop!” Avery cried out, but the sound was just that same wrong, layered echo that didn't travel right, didn't sound like a voice at all. It just bounced off the walls and faded into nothingness.
He scrambled mentally, his mind racing a mile a minute. Okay… Okay, think. More torches. Make more go out. Make it darker. Just… just do something at this point, literally anything!
He tried. He really tried. He focused all his will on the next set of torches further down the tunnel, willing the flames to gutter and die just like the others. He pictured the darkness, pictured the fear, pictured Derek running away. But this time… nothing happened properly. They didn’t go out completely. They just flickered. Wildly, erratically, bright and dim, casting dancing shadows that looked like things moving in the corners of vision, but they stayed lit.
“Come on — come on! ” Avery hissed, glancing frantically from the stubborn torches back to Derek, who was getting further and further away with every step into the tunnel. “Come on Avery, they’re just torches! Why is this so hard?!” Derek was almost out of range now, almost too far away, walking unbothered, determined.
Shit. SHIT.
Avery was spiraling now. Fear and urgency rose so high inside him he felt like he was shaking apart completely, his green form rippling violently, light leaking out from the cracks in his skin. He couldn’t lose him now. He just got this chance. He just got a second shot at everything! He wasn't going to fail again… he couldn't.
And then — pure, unfiltered panic took over. He didn't control it anymore. It just ripped right out of his chest.
Further back down the tunnel, where he’d already snuffed out the first lights, the darkness surged. And as Avery’s emotions spiked, wild and out of control, the effect rippled outward.
The next row of torches went out.
Derek stopped, turning around. He saw another set of torches were gone. Though, unlike other people, he reacted differently, even typing out in the chat, “I’m not scared of torches turning off.” And then stared, seeing if something else would happen in front of his eyes. But nothing.
He turned, walking down further into the tunnel. But this time, he turned around again, trying to catch whatever was happening. Another set of torches was out.
Whether he was starting to get afraid or not, he didn’t show it. He spoke in chat again, “I don't know what kind of practical joke this is,” he huffed “But i already heard you in the -”
He never got to finish the sentence.
Because that was the exact moment Avery completely lost control.
WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH.
One after another, the flames vanished in rapid succession, a chain reaction of darkness racing down the tunnel, closing the distance between them in seconds. Fast. Terrifyingly fast. It was like the dark itself was hunting him down.
Despite how calm he had been earlier, even this made him step back.He watched the darkness rush toward him, watched every single light he had walked past just moments ago disappear one by one until the only illumination left was the torches right around him.
He stared hard into the blackness.
Then, he reached for his keyboard. “I’m not scared of a game.”
Avery watched, breathless, as words appeared floating in the air in front of Derek, glowing white against the dark stone.
Avery froze.
So… he knew the whole time. He knew something was wrong. He knew someone or something was there.
And instead of running… he was treating it like a prank. Like it was just some weird game mechanic or a friend messing with him. Avery could understand why, honestly, if he was in Derek’s shoes, he’d probably assume the same thing, but knowing that didn't take away the sharp, stinging frustration burning inside him.
No, no, no! You don’t understand! Avery wanted to scream. Damn it Derek! Why do you have to be so stubborn?! Why won't you just listen?!
Silence fell instantly. Heavy, ringing silence.
Avery couldn't see anything. He could barely see Derek. He couldn't see his own hands. It was like being back in the void all over again.
But… It was perfect.
It was dark. Pitch black. Derek wouldn't be able to see anything. And that meant… he wouldn't be able to see him.
Now. Now he could talk to him. Now he could tell him the truth, tell him everything, make him understand.
Avery stepped forward, rushing toward where he knew Derek was standing, his form rippling and glowing faintly green in the pitch black as he moved. He was frantic, desperate, stumbling slightly as he closed the distance, and he started speaking fast, words spilling out in a rush of pure emotion.
“Derek! It’s me! It’s Avery — Okay, you may not know me yet, but please.. listen to me! You have to go back! Trust me, leave this place, don’t go any further — it isn’t worth it! Please, please, just delete this world while you’re still fine, while —!”
He was right there, reaching out, trying to grab his arm, trying to make him listen,
But as the words left his mouth, they warped.
His voice, already wrong and layered and distorted, twisted even further in the dark. What sounded clear and frantic and pleading inside Avery’s own head came out completely different to anyone else’s ears.
To Derek, standing alone in the suffocating dark, heart hammering, it didn't sound like words. It didn't sound like a person.
It sounded like whispers.
A lot of them. Maybe even a hundred voices, overlapping, layering, speaking all at once right against his ears, inside his head, all around him. A cacophony of sound — low, raspy, high, gurgling, breathy. None of them making any sense, none of them speaking a language that could be understood. Just noise. Just horrible, unintelligible murmurs that felt like they were crawling under his skin.
He flinched violently, stepping back instantly, sword half drawn now, his armour clanking loudly in the quiet. He looked around wildly, eyes wide behind his helmet, unable to see anything, unable to tell where the sound was coming from, unable to tell how close it was.
“What the hell is going on..?!” Derek muttered to himself, his voice ringing loud and sharp, edged with that real fear he’d been hiding so well.
“No- Derek, listen.. it’s me.”Avery cried, stepping closer again, reaching out, pleading even harder, his voice cracking with pure emotion, tears pricking his eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you! Just listen to me, please —!”
And the whispers only got louder. More intense. More overwhelming. Like the entire darkness itself was speaking.
Derek was terrified now. Avery could see it in the way he moved, sharp, jerky, defensive. He backed away fast, putting distance between himself and the source of the noise, his boots scraping frantically against the stone floor. He kept moving backwards, eyes darting everywhere.
He couldn't hear anything except the terrifying chorus of voices closing in.
He backed up one step too far.
His heel met nothing but air.
Avery watched in horror as the ground simply vanished beneath him.
Derek’s eyes went wide. He stumbled, but it was too late. He tipped backward, golden armour glinting for just a split second in the faint green light coming from Avery’s form, and then he was gone.
He fell down into the blackness.
Avery screamed, a sound that came out as a wail of a thousand howling voices. He sprinted to the edge, leaning over as far as he could, eyes straining to see.
Far, far below, he saw the splash.
SPLASH!
A huge burst of white water, echoing loudly up the long vertical drop, and then the sound of heavy armour hitting liquid.
“Derek!” Avery shrieked, his hands flying to his mouth. “Please… please be okay —”
He watched, trembling, as movement returned far below. He saw Derek resurface instantly, his golden helmet bobbing above the dark water. He saw him kick hard, swimming fast toward the nearest solid ground. A wide, mossy stone ledge that jutted out from the rock face. He hauled himself up, dripping wet, cape heavy and soaked, and stood there for a moment, chest heaving, looking back up toward the terrifying darkness he’d just fallen from.
He couldn't see Avery. He couldn't see anything but the dark hole above him. Then he turned slowly, and looked around at where he was.
And Avery saw it too, peering down from the ledge, heart sinking into his boots as he recognized the place. It was a massive underground cavern huge enough to fit an entire village inside. The whole lower half of the cavern was filled with dark, still water, stretching out in every direction, calm and black.
Derek stood there on the stone ledge, shaking the water from his armour, breathing hard, but he wasn't giving up. Of course he wouldn’t. He looked out across the water, seeing how below the surface, was an open cave, leading further down into the cave.
He knew exactly what he had to do.
Avery watched helplessly as Derek reached into his inventory, pulled out his crafting table, and set it firmly onto the rock.
Below him, far away, Derek began crafting away, completely unaware that the very thing trying to save him… was the reason he was doomed.
And just like water always finds its way to the lowest point, Derek was now drifting exactly where fate, and Avery’s mistakes
wanted him to be.
He was going to make a door.
And he was going to follow that path.
Avery sank down against the cold stone, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his flickering, glowing hands, broken and shaking. He tried so hard given his current predicament. He did everything he could at the moment. And somehow… he’d only pushed him further along the path. He didn't save him… he’d only made it worse.
Below him, Derek started crafting.