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He was very glad Jaden found him first, because it meant he had protection as he stumbled through the world like a newborn fawn.
Egg didn’t even know where he was.
Jaden had explained a little bit, something about being dropped down even further in the ground, and a purge??? He didn’t understand why he’d been moved again though.
Anyway, he’d kinda just held onto the edge of Jaden’s cape as subtly as possible to keep close, because his eye headpiece that he would normally use to see if he needed to was very badly damaged and didn’t work (which was a whole other can of worms that had his chest tightening at the thought of it, so he tried to avoid thinking about it), and he’d stuffed it in his inventory.
The pirate hadn’t said anything, though Egg couldn’t see his face either, so what did he know if the other had been staring at him the whole time.
Egg had never been so glad to hear Wemmbu’s voice in his life.
He came out of the hole he’d been hiding in during what he assumed was a fight, gripping the stone wall next to him.
He couldn’t help but flinch back when Wemmbu ran right to him. The purple demon set his hands on his shoulder, and Egg relaxed, releasing his death grip on the stone. He held his hands over his friend’s instead.
“Ohh, you’re okay.” Wemmbu sighed in relief, and pressed their foreheads together. Egg swallowed down a whimper and savoured as much as the contact as he could.
Wemmbu let him go and turned around to talk to Jaden and what sounded like Yungy and Cod(??), but before he could panic, the taller linked their arms and kept him close to his side.
Wemmbu was very perceptive, contrary to popular belief, but even he wouldn’t be able to tell that Egg’s headpiece was off underneath his helmet.
As they left the… they were calling it a cave, so he supposed they were in a cave. A very big one. Covered in ice. Interesting. Anyhow, as they left the cave, Egg tried his best to stay stable, but that was quite hard when everyone else was rushing out and he couldn’t see where they were going. His only anchor was Wemmbu, who was too busy chatting away to the other three to notice the fact that he’d nearly fallen on his face about five times now.
It’s ok, he tried to reassure himself. There’ll be plenty of time afterwards. …Hopefully. If I don’t get put in a cage again. Please I don’t want to go in a cage again.
After far too much walking, they ended up at what the others were calling a lake. Egg peered around, craning his head to try and see if he could, well, see anything, but it was too dark. It was too dark, and he was not pushing his hair away to make it easier, and his headpiece was broken, and-
Yeah. There were a lot of things circling around in his mind and none of them were whatever plans his companions were coming up with.
“Egg, were you even listening?” Wemmbu asked.
Egg turned his head to his side. At least it was easy knowing where he was. “What?”
A chorus of whining erupted from the group and Wemmbu told him they were fishing.
Somehow, people didn’t know fishing was one of the top three things he adored most. It might even be above reading and writing at this point because of the amount of times he was only allowed to do those two things in captivity. Like back in the End, or even now.
His hands twitched, itching for his prized fishing rod, but it was tucked away in his ender chest along with the rest of his items.
Egg barely had time to linger on that thought, before a fishing rod was shoved into his hands and he was pushed over to the lake. Wemmbu’s arm left him as he drifted to everyone else.
He was left alone in the dark, with no anchor. The panic in his chest started up again.
He cast out the fishing rod into the dark and only grew a little comforted at the small splash that greeted him. Cautiously, he managed to sit down and dip his legs into the water. There. That was a better anchor than nothing.
It didn’t take long to get the good items Wemmbu was wanting.
When he heard the man come back from wherever he’d been (and hadn’t that been awful, to hear his best friend, the only person truly making him feel safe, leave the area. He’d nearly called out in a panic, but held himself back), he hurried over to where his voice was.
“Yo personal space.” Wemmbu started, halfway through pushing him away, but he must’ve saw the look on his face and pulled him right back. “Never mind.” He murmured, tucking him right to his chest. “Are you okay dude? You’ve been acting weird this whole time.”
“Mh.” Was all he offered. He fumbled up to pull his helmet off. He could feel the confusion radiating off of the purple demon.
“Where’s-“
“Broken.” Egg finally whispered. “Inventory.”
“What?” Wemmbu demanded. “How?”
“…’Rachnid crushed the wings.” He mumbled back.
“I’m going to blow him and his stupid little kingdom the fuck up.” Wemmbu vowed. “But we still need to fish up some good items for that. Is that okay?”
Egg nodded. “Fishing’s helping.”
Wemmbu squeezed him. “Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner, Eggy.”
Egg tightened his grip for a few seconds and then pulled back, still keeping a hand on Wemmbu’s sleeve to ground himself. “…Where’s the lake?” He asked sheepishly.
Wemmbu guided him back over, murmured in his ear that he’d be right back, and fled.
Egg exhaled, sitting back down in the same position as before.
Barely a minute later, Wemmbu was back.
He set something down and tossed a few items inside. Instantly, the furnace roared to life. Oh. Yeah okay.
“You see that?” Wemmbu clarified. Egg was already scooting closer to it.
“Yeah.” He breathed. “The water looks disgusting.”
Wemmbu barely laughed, which showed how upset he was. Egg looked up and just barely saw him. He squinted, though that only served to make his vision worse. His friend seemed to get the message anyway.
He came closer, kneeled down, and there he was. His face was a riot of emotions. It was a lot of concern, a lot of anger, and some guilt mixed in there as well. He cupped Egg’s face in his calloused hands. “It’s gonna be okay.” He said softly.
Egg nodded. “Okay.”
***
When Wemmbu had run off to the middle area, or the “mid” as he kept calling it, Egg knew he was going to get into a fight.
He was proven right immediately, and he and Cod followed where they heard all the yelling to help the three out.
Cod pulled him back from falling off what was apparently a cliff edge into a giant ravine where Wemmbu, Jaden and Yungy were stuck fighting players who had much better gear than they.
“Hey, I have an idea!” Cod said, and then there was the sound of a line being cast. It must’ve hooked, because he pulled it back and suddenly there was a whole other person there. He heard Wemmbu shout in surprise from down below and clenched his hands into fists. It wasn’t him then.
Egg drew his own fishing rod and focused hard on where Wemmbu was. In the meantime, someone else was pulled up too, meaning his friend was on his own.
Egg cast his line, just like he’d been doing for years, and felt the hook catch. He yanked with all his strength, and in the dark, he could just barely make out a familiar figure careening upwards, hair flying.
Wemmbu landed next to him and immediately began running. Egg stuffed the rod away and followed.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t any time to unpack what had just happened, because they were too busy being chased.
Egg was sure he was in the back. He was stumbling along with nothing to guide him except the shouts of his teammates in front of him.
They ran for so long he couldn’t remember what it felt like to not be on the move. And then, light. The relief he felt was so strong he nearly sobbed.
It was really faint, but now he could actually see the people he was trailing. They were all gathered in front of what seemed to be another cliff edge.
Egg finally came to a stop and looked down. Lava. Two big pools of it, covering the bottom of a massive pit. It looked like there was a structure down there as well.
His name was called and he jolted, head raising back up. Everyone else was heading down a path. He hurried to catch up.
Barely a few minutes into the walk, his foot landed on air, and he fell. He plummeted in the darkness, and in a blind panic, all six of his wings were summoned. They didn’t do much but soften his fall a bit, because he slammed into the stone hard and groaned.
He turned his head and froze. He had… no idea where he was. What if he’d sailed right past the lava and was in a place where no one had ever been before? What if he was stuck down here for the rest of his life, condemned to never see anything again? What if- ah no, there were the voices of the group.
Egg sat still and waited for them to find him, squashing the panic in the back of his mind.
It didn’t take that long. When he was helped out of the small hole he’d fell in, the world lit up.
He could see!! Not great without his headpiece, and his eyes had never been great anyway, even without his hair covering them, but he could see.
He watched as Wemmbu wandered over to him and smiled. He wouldn’t mind staying in this place for the rest of the purge.
“Hey, can you see?” Wemmbu asked.
“Yeah! It’s great!” Egg exclaimed, wings puffing up and drawing attention to them.
Wemmbu didn’t react, Jaden had seen them a couple times and his eyes lingered on them a little, but Yungy and Cod both gaped.
With all his wings tucked away, he didn’t really look much like an angel, and his kind weren’t very well known, since they didn’t ever really come down to the Overworld, so people didn’t tend to recognize the headpieces they were typical for having.
Now, with all of his three pairs of wings out, it was obvious he couldn’t be anything else.
He let his two pairs of headwings out too, just for the fun of it.
Cod immediately tried to touch one, and Wemmbu slapped his hand away. “Excuse you.” He snarled.
Egg tried valiantly not to smile. He was so protective. He almost acted like he couldn’t have just willed them away the second Cod had gotten even a little too close.
He tucked all six wings neatly to his back, they fit together like puzzle pieces, and he slid down the boulder they were on and down to the lava. Wemmbu trailed after him.
“I wouldn’t have those out for too long.” He said, a hint of worry in his voice. “It’ll probably put a bigger target on you.”
Egg shrugged. “I’ll be fine. But I’ll put them away when we leave this place because they’ll make it harder to navigate in the dark.”
“Hey, and I’ll kill anyone that comes too close.” Wemmbu grinned. “Yungy’s already pushing it.”
They both giggled, and for a moment, everything was back to normal. Of course, Wemmbu had to immediately ruin it.
“I’m sorry, Egg.” He said softly, and the angel immediately shushed him.
“None of that right now, dude. We can unpack that once I’m fully free. It’s not your fault. I’m not hurt at all. Everything’s gonna be fine.” Egg patted his shoulder.
Wemmbu shuffled uncomfortably, clearly not agreeing. “...But what if I don’t get you out?”
Egg frowned. Was that what had him so high strung? “You will.” He said firmly. “You always do.”
Wemmbu dragged him into a hug and held him tight. “I love you.” He whispered.
“I know.” Egg replied. “I love you too.”
***
They were so close.
They’d been pillaring up the centre, and the hole to the rest of the kingdom had been right there, when Egg felt a pull.
It felt like his body was being yanked by some magical force, and he knew very well the telltale sign of a stasis pearl being pulled.
“We-” He managed to get out, before he was freefalling in the void for a second, and then suddenly he was back on the bed in his cage.
Alone. Again.