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It was surprising that Parrot chose me to help with the puzzle Spoke had given him—no doubt because he trusted my intelligence.
Choosing someone to help solve this was a good choice on Parrot's part, after all, doing things alone isn't always better than doing them together. Of course, I knew it was more about who you chose.
But from the start, I'd been suspicious of the secret Spoke was referring to—though I chose not to tell Parrot.
I'd stuck with the idea that something was wrong, even though I knew it—there was still no basis for it, because this idea had been present since we started the puzzle and was essentially wasting time they could have used to solve the puzzle to get to the secret Spoke was referring to. Parrot himself asked for his help, even though Parrot and I didn't know each other well, indicating that Parrot already trusted him or his brain, so saying it without proof wouldn't change Parrot's belief.
Moreover, Parrot was so confident in giving me the spyglass he himself called his most precious possession, simply because he was so sure of the secret. He himself said, "If anything happens to you, this spyglass will be lost."
It would have been a waste of breath to tell him.
However, over time, my suspicions grew as we took longer to complete the various challenges.
Most of our time was spent flying from one place to another. It felt quite relaxing to just fly continuously with our elytra toward our destination.
And while flying with my elytra, the wind made my ears constantly move back, which was a bit annoying. Each time I reached my destination, I would rub the base of my ears before returning to my destination.
Doing this while flying was a bit dangerous, although he seemed to be eager to rub them while flying because the distance between us was so far, resulting in a long flight. My ears often felt tortured during those moments.
It was a bit surprising to learn that Parrot didn't use his wings to fly and still used his elytra. Is it because the wings add a lot of weight to the body, so it eats a lot of food for flight energy, but the Parrot doesn't have time to eat a big meal—so... it could be that the Parrot wants to focus on Spoke's secret... or doesn't have time to eat because he is so focused. It could be.
Although I likely wouldn't get a definitive answer, asking it didn't seem necessary, especially considering Parrot's sole reason for summoning him was to help himself.
They'd already gone to PrinceZam's kingdom and fought both him and Wemmbu, nearly to the point of death, to retrieve the disc they'd taken from them because it was the connecting link between one objective and another, created by Spoke to get closer to the secret.
Until various other things happened, and the result was still the same: Parrot was still trying to discover the secret, which meant his thoughts about why Parrot hadn't stopped could be the foundation driving Parrot now.
I didn't have a problem with Parrot either, because this was what Spoke wanted.
And I could imagine how much Parrot wanted to get that secret.
Curiosity is what keeps humans going, especially since we've already spent so much time and effort trying to find the secret—they're only halfway there, so just thinking about that made me even more convinced. Parrot had indeed gotten too deep into Spoke's game—simply put, Parrot felt they had gone too far to back out now.
While I didn't know Parrot well, it was a simple matter to learn something new about them.
It's also hard to believe that Spoke might have created all those time-consuming puzzles just to trick them. Knowing that makes it even weirder, because why would Spoke decide to create all those time-consuming challenges just to get Parrot to discover the secret?
It's completely pointless, as there could have been simpler alternatives, and even if it were used to test Parrot, it still feels odd, because why test someone else if you're not sure from the start? And why did Spoke even seem to mind from the start, or even suspect Parrot would ask for help if the disc recording was specific to Parrot.
I regret not being able to convince Parrot of my thoughts earlier, but even if I told him from the start, he already believed the secret—it's quite sad to think of himself holding that spyglass so often just because he was anxious.
With their lives hanging in the balance and falling at any moment, this situation is even more dire.
Even so, I raised my tail in a curled position and wagged slightly. Well... I couldn't lie to myself, I was indeed anticipating Spoke's various tricks.
A pat on the shoulder immediately brought me back to reality. It turned out I'd been too preoccupied with my thoughts from the start; I felt like a burden. What a strange thought.
“Are you okay, Wifies?”
“If you’re feeling unwell, we can stop for a break.”
“I’m fine, Parrot.”
The dull gaze directed at me felt uncomfortable—so I shifted my gaze to the green grass I was now treading on, “Just thinking about something. And accidentally drowned there.”
“...Be careful, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll remember that.”
Although I wasn’t used to it at first, the sound of wind coming from Parrot’s wings after we found the disc. I moved away from Parrot a little each time I thought I’d found the disc and saw his confused look. He seemed to have realized my pattern and gradually calmed down the next time we found a disc.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. It’s the right thing to do.”
By the time we arrived at Parrot’s house to meet Spoke, who had been there all along—my body felt stiff and tense. This was bad, really bad.
Spoke then directed them to the final game to get to the secret he had been talking about from the beginning, mentioning that only one person could know the secret and that one of them would need to be sacrificed because, if one person survived, the winner could reveal the secret.
Why did the initial teamwork suddenly become a battle? Couldn't Spoke have just played the trick on Parrot alone instead of involving everyone else if there was only one person to reveal the secret to?
This was confusing, because from the start, the winner could still tell everyone the secret, so one of them dying wasn't that important. Spoke would have mentioned their friend when they heard about the disc, even though the initial puzzle required both people.
From the beginning, if it had required one person, Spoke could have simply summoned Parrot and prevented anyone else from knowing, but he didn't. Spoke even suspected Parrot would bring someone because he had set a puzzle that could only be solved by two people, and it didn't make sense for him to do it at the end, which meant there was something behind the secret itself.
My brows furrowed as we took off our armor and put our items into the chest—something Spoke wanted—and he had been smiling while watching them.
From the start, it felt like Spoke wasn't serious. Especially with the way his eyes narrowed at us, like... I don't know which way to phrase it correctly. But it was incredibly uncomfortable.
Essentially, this must have something to do with Spoke's goal, which is clearly about friendship as the foundation—Spoke always talks about 'your friend,' so Spoke clearly wasn't targeting me specifically, because it could be anyone Parrot brought to help solve the puzzles in Secret. So the identity of the person Parrot brought wasn't considered important, so the secondary target could be anyone.
The beginning of the game is all about cooperation, but by the end, they're fighting each other, which feels completely unnecessary if it's about Secret.
There's an additional twist that honestly doesn't have a solid basis for this theory because there's only one, but... including this as another reason could also be an addition. What Spoke is doing is trying to bring them closer together.
Essentially, by making us face various potentially fatal challenges, he's bringing us closer together so that we can eventually be separated at the end. This thought could have been biased from the start, as I felt Parrot and I were growing closer. That could explain why Spoke chose to focus on cooperation in the beginning and then pit us against each other in the end.
Or, Spoke did this simply because he wanted to, which could be the answer.
The center of all this was Parrot now.
They were now separated; there were two separate paths ahead. I decided to go left, and Parrot went right. Our rooms were still visible to each other because of the glass, but...
Every game I played to win against Parrot terrified me, especially with Spoke choosing to be with Parrot. I could already imagine Spoke constantly egging Parrot on to win.
Moreover, there was lava all around us, and the sight of it was already making me feel hot. The heat from the lava made my feathers feel heavier, and I shook them gently. I could still hold on for now—but I wasn't sure how much longer it would be before I became weak and staggered; this wasn't a good thing.
It was true that every journey they took involved passing through the nether or lava, but it felt like this final game would take even longer. Fighting a clever player like Parrot wasn't something that could be taken in a short time.
It felt like that thought was a parasite now. It's hard not to think like that when I should be focusing on the challenges ahead of me.
Right at the end of the chess game, Parrot took me out of Spoke's sight for a moment and asked me to participate in his plan: to tie the score.
The plan worked, as they were tied when the chess game ended. However, Spoke was frustrated and refused to tell them, believing that only one person could know the secret. So, when they were both in front of the chunk ban—a place where players would be banned from the server if they touched it—it was clear that the loser would touch that spot, and now we were tied.
We were both standing near the red block, with Spoke in the middle, frowning as he watched us. I still needed to know how much Parrot wanted the secret Spoke was talking about, as this situation could still be stopped. So I decided to ask him directly.
"Parrot, are you sure this secret is worth it?"
Hearing that, Spoke's gaze immediately turned to Parrot, his face sullen. "Parrot, you've worked so hard on this secret. Think of all the hours you've spent together."
"Are you really just going to leave?"
It was truly disturbing when Spoke was clearly trying to manipulate Parrot into choosing the answer he wanted. My ears were pinned back and my tail was tucked down. It felt terrifying when Spoke's white eyes immediately fixed on his tail and grinned widely. I couldn't predict what he was going to do.
Hearing the two of them talk—while I could only watch silently—was irritating, especially seeing them both getting frustrated with each other.
No matter how hard Parrot tried to convince Spoke, Spoke himself stuck to what he'd said from the start. That only one person could learn the secret, and one of them would be banned. Spoke didn't know if Parrot would walk the red line or if Parrot would try to convince his friend to walk there himself. It was up to us... that was what Spoke said.
His attitude was truly annoying, with Spoke waving his hand dismissively with a sneer on his face.
Spoke again forced Parrot and me to choose, but it was hard to truly focus with the lava below. The heat was gradually making him weak, and they had been here for about 30 minutes.
Birds stretch their wings and raise their feathers to let the cool air touch their skin, and Parrot had been stretching his feathers since they entered—so lingering here would only be torturous for both of us.
But Parrot hadn't answered my earlier question, "Parrot, is the secret really worth it?"
"We can both go, we can both get out of here right away."
Parrot still had his head down, his hands tremblingly clutching the hem of his shirt.
Him giving me the spyglass was the beginning, and now we were at the end, so a change of perspective was still possible. Although, I had suspected that Parrot would still feel the secret was worth it. But I needed to hear the answer directly from Parrot.
"Parrot, is the secret really worth it?"
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I just want you to tell me—is the secret worth it?”
“I think you already know what I’m going to say.”
My gaze softened at Parrot. ’…You’re a lost cause, Parrot.’
I’d seen from the start how much Parrot wanted to know the secret compared to me just following along, and it still felt like knowing it directly from Parrot’s perspective was better than just having it in my head. It confirmed what I already knew.
Curiosity would haunt me about what the secret was, but I personally didn’t mind being banned—I didn’t know Parrot very well when Spoke first started out with this puzzle, and now I’ve learned quite a bit about him, and knowing this makes me happy.
While that could have been Spoke’s intention, it doesn’t mean it matters anymore.
“It’s all yours.”
I gave the spyglass back to Parrot—now that something was going to happen to me, at least his precious item was back to its rightful owner. I should have returned something Parrot had entrusted to me.
Parrot, I'm not sure you'll accept what I did, and I might feel sad—because I know you. But I hope you realize that you did nothing wrong in this situation, that what I did was my choice, and you did absolutely nothing to force me to make this choice.
We're both stuck in a situation neither of us wanted.
I'm glad I got to know you, Parrot. This has been a fun adventure, I hope you know that.
I leaned back, touching the red mark.