Work Text:
"Avery…"
Derek stared at the screen, holding back an iron filled cough that caught in the back of his throat
"what is in your inventory?"
Avery's character simply stared in shock for a moment, taking several steps back closer to the edge… just the way Derek knew he would… the way he knew how Avery would respond to every sentence… he could see every timeline, every possibility. It was all burned into his his mind behind his eyes, but he couldn't blink they away without the agonizing pain in his head worsening. The king already had his claim on his mind, body, and soul… and he was okay with that. He was okay with dying… but no Avery please not sweet innocent Avery…
It was his fault he'd gotten Avery involved in the first place in a feeble attempt to break his connection with the king… It was him the king wanted! Not Avery oh gods please not Avery.
"…..What?" Avery typed, the shaking in his entire body obvious through the way his Minecraft avatar shook slightly like his hand on the mouse was trembling. It was a subtle movement but it was there.
"Avery. What's in your inventory!?" Derek demanded, taking several steps forward, Avery stumbling backwards through out of fear or concern he couldn't tell… but it didn't matter. The slime character when completely still for a few moments, and Derek took that moment to hit Avery's character, knocking him into the void.
"WAIT—"
TheMostMayo was doomed to fall by D3rlord3
Derek let out a small exhale as he looked over the edge at where Avery had been moments ago.
"Until next time friend…"
He stood there for several long seconds before turning back to look at the giant yellow eye watching over his every movement.
"As for you, you idiot… Isn't it ironic that a king loses to a lord."
As the eye disintegrated from existence, Derek used his remaining energy to type out carefully
"You lumping moron…"
He was alone… completely alone as the fireworks boomed and cracked all around him outside his apartment. with the last remaining strength he contained be pressed F5 just to see his Minecraft avatar just one more time… the knight he'd always seen himself as… the knight he strived to be… I guess he at least succeeded at that. He opened the chat bar for a few seconds and just… stared at it. Did he want to write a last will or something? An apology?… No… He'd said his peace… As he closed the chat, the cough he'd been holding in crawled from his throat, and he immediately felt like he was drowning, the taste and smell of blood making him light headed and caused him to fall to the floor in a daze… the effects of the king's curse he'd been fighting for so long finally caught up with him, but he wasn't scared, the world was safe— Avery was safe… and he could die knowing he'd succeeded in at least one thing. His vision started swimming as the flashes of color and the low glowing light of the minecraft world illuminating him, the unblinking eyes of his Minecraft avatar staring at him as he slowly faded away.
They say when you die, you see the visions of your life flashing before your eyes, but honestly, there wasn't much interesting stuff going on in there, so instead he focused on the millions of images of Avery, both in Minecraft and in real life that haunted his thought like a cobweb that you just can't seem to get rid of… like a rose in the barren field of death… or a butterfly on the last flower of the season… he knew Avery so well to have never actually met him. In another world they would be perfect for each other… well, perfect is a strong word… they would fight over the dumbest things, like how to make bagels or what kind of sauces are the best, but in the end they would have balanced each other out. They would always come back to each other, Avery would say something quippy or sappy and Derek wouldn't be able to help himself except melt into him.
It's ironic isn't it… grieving a reality that could never happen… like to miss a home you never knew or can never return to… Hiraeth… that funny word he'd picked up somewhere… it felt oddly fitting in this moment. Infinite knowledge of the universe and he used it to pine for a reality that could never exist, but as he slowly faded in and out of consciousness on the dusty hardwood floor of his broken down apartment, his curled up form seemed to find comfort in the thought of a different life where he could feel that kind of love that he'd never had. He'd always been a closed off person, the people close to him described him a cold and robotic, they joked he might as well be a robot with how few emotions he showed… which to him had hit him deeply. He tried so hard to show that he cared, but he just couldn't grasp emotions the way other people did, so he usually ended up on his own. People over the years had tried to "fix" him, but it usually just involved forcing him into a group of strangers and forcing him to socialize, which honestly just made him hate it more.
That's how he had ended up finding the book in the first place… someone had gifted it to him, they claimed it was because they thought Derek would like it, but he had always doubted that considering the never really talked to him afterwards. The book itself was strange, something about the king of a lost city who could infect the minds of anyone who read the book. He had given up on it after a few chapters, but then the effects started showing. Sounds that didn't exist, shadow figures, eyes watching him everywhere. When it had gotten so bad he couldn't go to work he'd been forced to see a psychiatrist, but that had just made him so paranoid and anxious that he never went back. From then onwards he mostly tried not going outside, he burned the book, and he refused to engage with most media. He had tried to use Minecraft as an escapism, but when the strange structures showed up in his world, and the king had shown himself to Derek properly he had decided to rid himself of any method of being infected, he got rid of the laptop and just kept to himself and his attempts at art. He was fine like this for a while… until the visions of Avery started. At first they were just flashes in the back of his mind that he could easily brush off, but they became more insistent over time until it seemed to control his life. When the visions of him finding the book he'd left and that he was going after the king had flooded his mind he'd decided to buy a cheap laptop off marketplace and go after him.
All the good that did him he thought as the darkness finally overtook him, just the visions of Avery living a better life without him being his only form of comfort as his breathing slowed and finally stopped
Derek didn't know how long he'd been in that void, all he knew was that at some point the sound of something crashing against the floor woke him. He blinked his eyes open lazily, looking around to see the source of the noise, rubbing his long dark and blonde curls out of his face as he looked around. It took him a second to process his surroundings before looking down and seeing…himself.
oh.
oh.
So… okay. It should probably have freaked him out more than it did that he was starting at his own pale and bloody body below him. He was glad he couldn't smell anything because it probably smelled terrible. His eyes were already glazed over and staring blankly, blood leaking from his mouth and nose all over the floor. So he was very much dead… but why was he still here? Was this a normal part of the process?! From what he'd seen in his infinite knowledge he didn't think so, but in his current state it was harder to access that knowledge almost like it was locked behind a steel vault door. Occasionally things would slip through the cracks, but the majority was completely out of his reach. This also didn't concern Derek considering how exhausting it was to have all the knowledge of everything all of the time.He heard another crash sound behind him, and suddenly realized he wasn't alone.
On the table beside the front door stood a young grey cat that seemed to be only a few months old standing beside the front window, sniffing for what he assumed was food. While Derek was flattered the cat thought he would be a good meal, he doubted he would taste good. Derek slowly pulled himself to his feet, the strange feeling of melding with the floor would take some getting used to, but nothing he couldn't handle. He manage to hobble his way over to the cat, and held out his hand in the rough motion of petting the creature. To his suprise, the cat seemed to be able to see- or at least sense- him, and leaned into the touch.
"Good gods…"
He decided now was not the time to question it, and instead decided to get the cat some proper food. On top of the white fridge in the kitchen there was a large partially opened bag of cat food that had just been sitting there for months. When the hallucinations had started, some people had suggested he might just need some companionship, and a cat seemed like the easiest pet to keep with him. The cat had been given back only a few days later after having violent nightmares of the creature dying a horrible death by his hands, so he'd just decided to throw the cat food bag to the side since it wasn't needed, but too expensive to throw away… and here he was finally finding a cat in the strangest way possible.
Derek attempted to grab the bag, but unsurprisingly the most it did was send a small breeze through the air that fluttered the tag but little else. He tried to grab it for several minutes, growing increasingly frustrated as it continued to fail
"Are— you—KIDDING ME—" He screamed, a spark of yellow energy flashing in his fingertips and suddenly the bag EXPLODED and food went flying everywhere. Derek and the cat just stared at each other in silent shock.
"…well, that worked." Derek mumbled in shock, staring at his own hands before the cat leaped off the counter and began to devour the contents of the now exploded bag of cat food covering the kitchen floor. Derek had simly sank to the floor and stared at the mess around him in a daze.
At some point, Derek had managed to curl up in the corner of the kitchen and had fallen into a restless sleep, the cat he had named Dustbunny sleeping beside him. He kept getting flashes of memories from both himself and people he didn't know… screaming, blood, fighting, and fire… lots of fire. Everywhere he looked Derek could see those glowing yellow eyes that followed his every move.
"leave me ALONE!" Derek shouted, covering his ears and curling on the ground to try and block out the noise— so much noise—make it stOP—
There was a knock at the door and Derek jolted awake, flicking his gaze around the room before settling on the front door…
"Sheriffs department, we're here to do a wellness check. The neighbors have been getting worried." The voice spoke in a deep gruff tone like he didn't want to be there any more than Derek wanted him there. The voice finally sighed and yelled "Alright, we're coming in!"
The door swung open with a suprising amount of force that Derek was shocked it didn't knock off it's hinges. One of the officers flicked their flashlight around before landing on Derek's body on the floor.
"yeesh… looks like he blew his brains out" one of the muttered
"na, too clean… looks more like he had a brain hemmorage or something… been here at least a few days."
"damn… does he have any family?"
"let me check…"
The two of them opened up a laptop that honestly looked more like a brick with how thick it was and placed it on the kitchen counter with a loud THUNK. They searched up his name, and began scrolling through records he didn't even know they had access to.
"hm, parents are dead or estranged, no siblings, barely any friends… he really was a lonely guy" one of the officers muttered, which honestly stung to hear but Derek knew it was true.
"Looks like the only family he had was his cat… shame we're going to have to surrender him—"
Wait WHAT?! NO! He wasn't just going to let them take Dustbunny from him! He was all Derek had!!!
He slammed down his hands on the counter, even though he knew they couldn't hear him and a flash of electricity flashed through his hands and arms.
"Leave him ALONE!!!" Derek demanded, the sudden burst of electricity causing several of the lightbulbs to burst and Dustbunny let out a panicked yelp and jumped towards the door and dissapeared down the hallway. No… dammit…
Derek sunk into the countertop with a dejected sigh, the officers looking shocked and confused.
"well, we should definitely get someone out to look at the wiring."
"we'll send em once we have the body cleared up… come on."
The EMTs took care of his body suprisingly fast, leaving only the dried stain of blood on the floor to share where he had once been, then he was all alone again. He decided to try laying down on his own bed, though it brought him no comfort as he listened to the sounds of the city around him, the passing of cars… the footsteps of his neighbors, the yelling of strangers outside… it all felt so familiar and yet so isolating at the same time. He hated being trapped in this weird limbo, not quite dead but not quite alive, being forced to watch the world continue on around him. At some point Dustbunny had come back and was meowing begging for food, and the sounds of the small creature's cries snapping him out of his daze as he slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked to the kitchen, Dustbunny nuzzling up against his hand and purring.
"Hey little guy… good to see you too." Derek mumbled, leaning against the nearest cupboard and slowly falling asleep again to the rythmic sound of the cat's purring and chittering.
He didn't know how long he'd been there, in this state, time didn't really matter that much… it wasn't like he had anywhere to go or anyone waiting for him. So as the day and night cycles passed, he simply laid on the floor staring at the ceiling. Dustbunny had migrated to his bedroom and meowed for Derek to join him, but he just didn't have it in him to move… what was the point, it was no different than right here.
That was until… the sounds of someone knocking on his door pulled him out of his dazed state. At first he thought it was the officers coming back to try and take Dustbunny and he immediately got defensive, until a voice came muffled through the door.
"Uhm… hello?"
no
"Is…Is anyone home? No of course not dummy why would you ask that?!"
no…
"Uhm… I'm coming in...I say like anyone is home heh"
AVERY???
The lock clicked and the barely fixed door swung open slowly. In the doorway stood a tan figure who looked to be about 5'6? He wore a grey flannel with yellow daises on it and a messy white t-shirt underneath and a loose pair of grey cargo pants that definitely weren't his size. (Oh my gods it looks just like his character…) His brown and black hair was a mess like he'd lost the battle with a bird to make it into a nest. His deep green eyes scanned the room around him, in the fading sunlight they looked almost like a forest… a beautiful forest in the spring…
No…oh gods no…
Nonono what was HE doing here?! He was supposed to stay away!!!
"Oh man this place is a mess." Avery muttered as he placed a backpack and a sleeping bag on the floor and looked around. Was he MOVING IN??? The figure seemed to notice the messy splotch of blood on the floor from the way his face distorted into a look of disgust for a second before immediately looking away. Dustbunny appeared in the doorway to his room, meowing softly as he moved towards the new figure.
"Oh, hello! I didn't know he had a cat… sorry I didn't bring you any food… I'll have to get some when I go shopping" Avery mumbled to the cat, the grey ball of fur rubbing against Avery's hand and purring. Traitor.
Derek moved himself into a sitting position across from Avery as the brunette unpacked his backpack. Inside were the general necessities, phone, charger, flashlight, snacks… then there were some strange devices he'd never seen before. One was a strange rectangular box with a screen on it and a radio antennae, it almost looked like a radiation detector, but that didn't make sense… Another was a circular box with a red top and a bunch of LED lights sticking out of the top and another radio antennae sticking out the top… what was he doing?!
"This was all I could get on short notice" Avery mumbled apologetically to the cat. "I've never done anything like this before…" done what before?! What was his plan???
"I'll get to those later though" Avery mumbled, and reached into his backpack and pulled out a laptop— HIS old laptop. Avery what are you DOING?!
The brunette opened the black and silver laptop and scrolled to an already open Minecraft launcher and scrolled to the world that they had both been on that night… the night he died. Avery looked over at Derek's laptop on his desk and moved to place it down right beside his own.
"I wanna test something…" Avery Mumbled, moving the mouse on Derek's computer as the screen flashed to life in front of them. There he was… D3rlord3 staring back at him. Still in that dark abyss where the king had been before everything happened…
Avery pulled open the chat on his laptop and began typing,
/tp TheMostMayo to D3rlord3
The command popped up as invalid in the chat, and Derek let out a low snicker. He pressed the T button on his own laptop and the chat window opened, much to the shock of both of them.
Avery looked between the laptop screen and the empty air where he assumed Derek should be and mouthed "That worked?!"
Derek, realizing that he had been played let out a low sigh, hands over his face as he leaned back slightly before looking back at Avery. Damn you. He held his hands over the keyboard and let out a huff through his nose as he typed.
D3rlord3 - Hi Avery
Avery beamed, typing back
TheMostMayo - You're alive?!
Derek looked at Avery and did the "so so" hand gesture
D3rlord3 - … yes and no?
TheMostMayo - I- well obviously but…
D3rlord3 - The simple answer is I…don't know. Im in this weird limbo not quite alive not quite dead
TheMostMayo - That sounds… horrific
D3rlord3 - Ha… tell me about it.
Dammit… there it was, the way Avery knew how to make him smile in even the most serious of situations… He couldn't even be mad because honestly that's what he needed right now. Looking at the date on his laptop… March 24th. He'd been alone for almost three months. He was used to being alone before… but this felt different. Like getting a breath of fresh air after living a cave your whole life. He didn't know he needed it until felt it for the first time and without it he felt hollow.
D3rlord3 - I know you didn't come all this way just to say hi
TheMostMayo - well, I hoped… but no. I want answers. REAL answers.
Honestly Derek should have expected this, and Avery did deserve answers… but for some reason that felt like a heavier task than dying. Like he was opening up something venerable for the world to see.
D3rlord3 - what do you want to know?
D3rlord3 - How i ended up like this?
D3rlord3 - How I became trapped in this hell?
TheMostMayo - I want to start simple.
TheMostMayo - what's your actual name?
D3rlord3 - …
D3rlord3 - Derek Hutchins
TheMostMayo - how old are you?
D3rlord3 - 25
TheMostMayo - did you go to college or have a job?
D3rlord3 - I was in college for Computer engineering and IT, with a minor in architecture. I dropped out about a year ago, and moved here. I've been doing odd jobs for months to afford rent, but recently I've just been so consumed by the king it hurts to leave the house.
TheMostMayo - …
TheMostMayo - any family?
D3rlord3 - no
TheMostMayo - any friends?
D3rlord3 - …
D3rlord3 - no
TheMostMayo - …
TheMostMayo - anybody?
D3rlord3 - … you?
Avery looked like they were about to cry adn Derek immidately felt bad and beat himself up for it
D3rlord3 - it's not that bad! I'm fine!
TheMostMayo - You are quite literally dead
D3rlord3 - …
TheMostMayo - …
D3rlord3 - point taken
Avery shut their screen slightly and looked directly at Derek's screen, pressing F5 to force the character to look at him.
"I know this is a lot, and I want to help, but I feel like we need some mutual trust…"
D3rlord3 - … agreed
"So… do you have any questions for me?"
D3rlord3 - let's start with the same ones you gave me
"Okay, my name is Avery Serrano, I'm 23, I didn't really go to college but I do freelance art… though I mainly just stay with friends. Me and my family are on… strained terms, but my friends in the area help me afford to not be homeless.
D3rlord3 - wow. That is… depressing XD
"Oh, YOU'RE one to talk!" Avery snickered, and for a moment Derek wished he could lean on Avery's shoulder… he seemed comfortable. He quickly snapped out of that train of thought and focused on what Avery was saying.
"So, for the time being, my friends are helping me afford the rent on this place for at least a month so all your stuff doesn't just get thrown away—"
D3rlord3 - wh— YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME
"I— you saved my life against an all powerful being it was the LEAST I could do! Plus I… kinda hoped some reminant of you might still be here?… I dunno you came into my life and then just vanished without a trace—"
D3rlord3 - That was kind of the point
"So, you just wanted to be forgotten to time and just waste away here forever?!"
D3rlord3 - yeah?
"Now THAT'S depressing." Avery retorted, pointing their finger at the screen where Derek's character was staring at them both.
As they bickered, Dustbunny had come to sit on Avery's lap, purring as the brunette pet his head and back, leaning into the touch happily as Derek just stared.
D3rlord3 - How dare you steal my cat >:(
"Steal? Nonono he CHOSE me!" Avery grinned holding the grey cat to his chest
D3rlord3 - Dustbunny how could you betray me like this :C
"Wait— you named him DUSTBUNNY?"
D3rlord3 - I mean, yeah. Look at him.
Avery began to retort with some response, but Derek wasn't listening. He was just enjoying listening to him talk, and ramble on about other better names for him than DUSTBUNNY? As he listened he felt himself sink into a trance of just staring and smiling at this man like an idiot… and it was in this moment Derek had a painful realization.
He was falling for this idiot.
oh gods DAMMIT