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“Imagine you built a really cool secret base under the floor of your friend’s house and then died in hardcore Minecraft. That base may never be found, lost to time… unless that friend did something about it.”
4C ran through the caves, breath echoing through the cavern. His footsteps pounded against the stone, although there was movement behind him as well.
He risked a glance backwards. The Warden was chasing him, right on his trail.
4C cursed, swerving around a corner. Instead of finding his staircase to safety, however, he was met with a bare wall covered in skulk.
He had taken a wrong turn.
The Warden approached. He saw his life flash before his eyes.
His gold farm would never be finished.
His home never to be found.
He would die, alone and afraid. And no one would know what happened.
He realized, in his final moments, he made a mistake. He realized that the players on the surface were together. They had each other. They would be remembered when they were gone.
4C ran away. Isolated himself.
He would not be remembered.
The Warden approached. 4C held his breath, in one last desperate attempt of life.
The beast reared his head back, charging a strike that was sure to be lethal.
4C attempted to call out. Perhaps someone would hear him.
It echoed through the cavern.
Empty.
His death came quickly. At least that was one small liberty.
“What defines an ending? To me, there is no true ending. Just a new beginning.”
A canon rang out in the distance. The players that were assembled jumped.
A voice rang through. “Was that any of us?”
They looked around. Ash, Blooh, and Legundo had been talking together. Wunba had been looking over their base’s defenses. Jaron, the one who called out, was reading in their tower.
“Doesn’t seem like it,” Ash said after a moment. “Must have been Blue.”
On the other side of the chasm, players faced the same question. They drew the same answer.
“Red team really isn’t doing too hot, huh?” Clown remarked. The players assembled laughed, crowded around a campfire.
No one would realize. No one would know.
4C’s body would lay in the cave, forgotten to time.
Unless.
“Immortality. The ability to live forever. One only dreams of this reality, as, frankly, it’s impossible.”
“We need to do four impossible tasks, right?” Rekrap asked, following the group as they ventured towards the distant End islands.
Jaron was the one to reply. “Yeah. It didn’t specify what, though.”
“I was thinking about trying to find a deep dark. I mean, that would certainly be a task, wouldn’t it? Even if we don’t fight a Warden today, it would be useful to find for later. I can search for one while you guys get the elytras.”
Clown nodded. “Just be careful. Don’t die on your own.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t!” He grinned. “I have enough soup to keep me alive if worse comes to worse.”
“Be safe, Rek.”
“Good luck.”
“Don’t die!”
Voices chimed in, wishing him well for his journey. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Good luck in your search, guys!” He waved, turning around to head back towards the center of the island.
He could handle himself, after all.
The void of the portal consumed him, and he opened his eyes in his home. He smiled at the sight of the beds, reminding him of his teammates on Blue. Well, Purple now.
He still held a soft spot for his original friends. But he’d learn to accept the new ones, too.
He wasn’t sure where he’d begin looking for an ancient city, but he’d heard they were often built underneath mountains due to the vast caverns that formed beneath the peaks.
There happened to be one nearby, so that’s where he started.
Halfway up the mountain, however, he was having second thoughts. “I’m kind of regretting not bringing anyone else,” he said to himself. Without any armor protecting him, the cold of the mountains left him rigid and shivering. Not ideal for fighting.
“It’s okay!” He reassured himself. “I offered. Can’t back down now, right?”
He found a spot, about halfway up the mountain, and settled in to start digging. The snow was thick, especially this high up, so it would take time to clear out.
That was, until, his shovel hit nothing.
Something.
He felt air under the snow, and, confused, he dug out the rest of the snow and peered into the space. It was a small stairway leading to a door. Taking a deep breath, Rekrap stepped inside and pushed open the door.
He found himself in a small room, obviously man made, recently. Spruce lined the walls with pale oak making up the floorboards.
“So… they must have been from Red team.” He discerned. The Red tower was in the center of a pale oak forest, after all.
The room only held an elevator. Leading down. Rek sucked in a breath.
“I could either die here, or discover something incredible.” He breathed.
“What’s life without a little risk?”
Deep breath in. Long exhale out.
And he jumped down.
“Being completely MIA is kind of lonely.”
Immediately upon entering the new room, he was met with signs. Markings in the wood, telling a story. One that made Rek’s heart twinge.
The dead live on in memories. But what if there were no memories for them to live on in?
“In case I don’t survive. Whoever so finds this stuff.
It’s yours.
Thank you.”
“4C…” Rek breathed out. His eyes were blown wide, looking around the place.
It was… magnificent. Unbelievable.
“One person built this?”
He stood in a large room. It was decorated similarly to the one before, but this time it held many more valuables. He spotted a brewing stand, situated next to a chest. Upon opening it, he found countless bottles full of regeneration potions. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before.
The signs in the center of the room declared the base to be 4C’s. Red team had suspected him to have died early on. Judging by the expanse of the base, Rek guessed that may not have been the case.
“4C… he built this. And never lived to tell the tale.”
Rek found what he was looking for. Connected to the structure, there was tunnel leading all the way down to an Ancient City.
But even with his quest complete, he felt compelled to stay. His job wasn’t done.
He just had one more thing to do.
The dead should be remembered, right?
“Death. The utmost end of life itself. Every action you make, every choice, inevitably leads to one central point.”
Rekrap journeyed back to the towers. There was a compass laying heavy in his pocket, despite its lightweight structure.
He knew what it meant. Not just to him, nor the server, but to 4C.
Remembrance.
Instead of stopping at the Blue base, his home, he turned right and walked along the bridge connecting the towers. Towards Red.
It was common practice to be buried alongside your family, was it not?
The home of the Reds was eerily quiet. The rest of the players were still in the End, searching for elytra. That didn’t matter, though. Rek didn’t need people here, yet.
He found a bare spot of soil by the wall of the base. It was secluded from the rest of the structure. It felt… fitting.
With the same shovel he used to find the secret, Rek found spread it. He dug into the ground, making a sizable hole to house the memories.
He gently placed down the compass in the center of the grave. Confirming it was in good condition, he replaced the dirt. Without a body, graves were hard to create. So he opted for something else, instead.
4C said his stuff would be left to whoever found it.
This way, part of 4C could live on.
Atop of the mound, Rekrap carefully constructed a stone obelisk to mark the site of the burial. On it, he placed a singular sign marking its inhabitant.
Stepping back, he smiled.
The worst thing you can do to a man is let them be forgotten. To allow their memory to fade into obscurity.
Rekrap wouldn’t allow that to happen.
“4CVIT. To be remembered, in life and death.”
Death never had to be forever.
Because that friend did something about it.