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Celestia was cold that night.
Well, it was always cold, obviously, it was in a snow biome. But that night, after the dust had settled from the final battle, after everyone was gone, Celestia felt colder than usual.
Zam didn’t really know what to do with herself honestly. She’d come back to Celestia hoping to find something to cure the lingering feeling of being immortal. Of being stuck here forever while everyone else got to move on.
But all she found were the graves of her friends. They all got to go, to leave the way they wanted. They had all done so much for her. So in some regard, Zam was thankful she was the one stuck here, because she wouldn’t wish this on any of the headstones in front of her.
Another gust of biting wind blew by and the hollow noise that followed accentuated the true emptiness of the server around her. A place that had once been so full and lively, was now dark and silent. It was crazy to think about really.
Slowly, Zam passed by each of the graves, the light from the candles doing just enough work to light her way. She thought of all the memories she had with everyone whom she considered to be her friend. Not every moment was great, but that was okay. Zam never expected something perfect from anyone anyway. Even if some of them expected that from her.
She continued on, taking the time to quietly pay her respects and wish the best for her friends, wherever they may be now. But for some reason, when she got to the end of the second row, the farthest grave, her feet stopped moving.
It was Smiley’s grave, glowing in the same pink and blue candle light as the rest of them.
Zam couldn’t exactly figure out why she stopped, why she couldn’t just think of their fond memories and keep walking. Perhaps it was because she had no time to prepare for his death, or perhaps it was because Smiley was the one who had stuck with her the most throughout their time here. One of the only people who was just as active as her.
Either way, she found herself at a halt in front of his grave with a growing ache beginning to bother her chest.
The image of Smiley, having just come back from a lost battle with no armor on, standing in front of the last bits of Celestia and offering Zam all his hearts suddenly surfaced in Zam’s head, and she had to sit down before she fell over.
“You wanna… take my hearts?”
It hurt to see her teammate, her friend who had always been so dedicated to what he did, be willing to give it all up just for Zam. Just so Zam could have a better shot surviving in the coming fights.
But she appreciated everything he did for her. More than anything. And she wouldn’t want anyone else to be her twentieth heart. Nothing else would truly fit.
A sigh escaped her lips and lingered in the air in front of her. She didn’t want to get too carried away in grieving her friends; she had to somehow stay motivated in living the rest of her life here. Plus the snow was starting to seep through her pants and freeze her knees.
Just as she was about to get up though-
“You’re really wasting your time mourning everyone bro?”
Zam jumped at the unexpected voice and turned around. Nobody else was supposed to be here anymore, how could she have heard-
Her eyes landed on the source of the noise and she froze instantly. “Smiley?” she blurted out, standing up now. She could still feel the numbing cold on her knees but that was the least of her concerns. Smiley was supposed to be dead, banned off the server. How the hell was he standing by the fountain of Celestia?
Smiley took a step forward, the light of a nearby lamp post washing him in blue hues and making him look nearly otherworldly. It definitely didn’t help that he wasn’t meant to be alive either. “Or are you just here to aura farm?” Smiley asked, glancing around at the abandoned Celestia. “It’s kinda working if that’s what you’re going for actually.”
Zam just blinked, not sure if she was even hearing him correctly. “Aura farm? Bro all my friends are dead, hello? I’m here to grieve and-” she cut herself off with a shake of her head. “And you’re supposed to be dead too bro! What are you even doing here? How are you alive?”
Casually, as if nothing was strange about this situation at all, Smiley just shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno bro, I just ended up here.” He was silent for a moment as he looked up at the starry sky. “Maybe the universe summoned me here to tell you to go to bed or something.”
Getting the sudden urge to hit Smiley, Zam began walking over to him. “So you’re genuinely just here now?” Despite her aggressiveness, Smiley’s presence felt like a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She wasn’t alone. Smiley was here. She didn’t know why, but he was here. It was honestly more than she could ever ask for. Not like she really planned on telling him that though. At least not right now.
Somehow, Smiley was able to completely evade Zam’s approach and slip behind her and into the graveyard. “Man, you really built me a whole grave huh?”
Zam turned around, not even really sure how Smiley got behind her, and started walking back over, slower this time. “Well yeah. All my friends deserve a place to rest. And you’re my friend. Obviously.”
Smiley nodded. “Obviously bro,” he mocked, just like he always did. For some reason, that small action twisted Zam’s stomach. She really thought she wouldn’t ever get to hear that again a few minutes ago. “You even built yourself a grave too,” Smiley noted, tone shifting slightly before going back to normal. “That’s kinda stupid bro, who builds their own grave?”
“I’m supposed to be dead, Smiley!” Zam pointed out exasperatedly. “This place is supposed to be empty!”
“Uh, well it’s obviously not empty if we’re here, duh,” Smiley rolled his eyes as he leaned against his headstone.
Zam paused for a second before letting out a weak laugh. “Yeah, we are here, huh?”
“Mhm mhm,” Smiley nodded before glancing down at his grave with great intensity. “How come you didn’t make my grave special or anything?” he complained, looking around at the rest of the headstones. “Mine looks just like the rest of them.”
Tilting her head, Zam looked at Smiley in confusion. “Did you want something special for your grave? You never told me you wanted anything.”
“Obviously I want mine to be special bro! I’m special aren’t I?”
“Okay I guess,” Zam rolled her eyes. “What do you want even?”
Smiley pretended to think about it for a second, but it was clear he already knew what he was going to say. “Did you ever figure out where the original Appendix Slayer was?”
Zam perked up at that. “Wait, yeah I did actually. I think I have it with me too.” She placed down an ender chest and started rummaging. “Mugm had it for a while but I think I picked it up from spawn after everyone left.”
Smiley perked up as well, suddenly looking like a kid in a candy store. “Really? Bro really like you’re actually not joking right? Right bro, right?”
“Oh my god yes I found it!” Zam cheered as she pulled the diamond sword out, presenting it to Smiley as if it were an ancient artifact. “The Appendix Slayer…”
For whatever reason, Smiley didn’t take the sword, but he did cheer. “Dude dude dude dude you have to stick it in the ground. Like the sword in the stone or whatever.”
Zam nodded a few times and began lining up the sword with the ground before pausing. “Well it is your grave and your sword y’know. You should probably be the one to do it right?”
Smiley didn’t move for a moment before he shook his head. “You’re already holding it bro just do it.”
Shrugging, Zam struck the ground with the sword. She made sure to put it at a cool angle to give it some aura. “There, now if you die again, you’ll have something to defend yourself with in the afterlife.”
Smiley went silent at Zam’s words as he stared at the new improvement to his grave, but Zam could tell he appreciated it. That’s just how Smiley was. He wouldn’t really say it.
With a sudden movement, Smiley pushed away from where he was leaning against the grave and began walking towards the village area of Celestia. “Okay that’s enough for tonight bro, it’s late as hell, you need to sleep.”
Zam got up and quickly began following after him. “Really bro? I thought we were having fun.”
“Have you slept or rested at all since all the fighting ended?” Smiled asked, mostly rhetorically, without turning around.
Well. Zam was deciding to stay silent on this matter.
“That’s what I thought dude.”
They made it to the village and Smiley made Zam take two of the beds from the villagers and put them in one of the houses. For optimal sleeping or whatever.
“I really am glad we fought together, Zam,” Smiley suddenly confessed as they were laying down in their beds. “I’m glad we could rely on each other, even when our other teammates weren’t there for us.”
Zam paused before a smile played on her face. “I think you’ve said that before, but I feel the same way. You were more of a teammate than anyone else.” She pulled the blanket over herself and turned to look at Smiley. “What even brought that on-”
“Shut up bro just go to sleep.”
Well, Zam couldn’t exactly go against that when her eyelids actively felt like five pound weights. But… there was one thing, she had to get out before the day ended, even if it already technically did. One more thing she had to make sure of before she could let herself fall asleep.
“When I wake up, you’re still gonna be here right?” Zam whispered. “You’re not gonna be gone like everyone else?”
Smiley didn’t reply for a moment, instead staring at Zam with a strangely forlorn look in his eyes before blinking it away. “Why would I ever leave my only good teammate bro?”
Zam smiled at that, not really having enough energy to muster a reply, as she finally relaxed enough to begin falling asleep.
Still, for some reason, in the flickering moments before sleep finally claimed her, Zam only saw empty space where Smiley was supposed to be.