Archive of Our Own

The metallic acrid of blood filled the air as Arachnid choked out a breath. He was cornered into the back of the room, his guards lying unconscious at the entrance. They had put up a good fight, but with Gambit and Yungy’s help, it had almost been laughable.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wemmbu saw Yungy’s hands shaking from where they gripped onto his sword. He couldn’t blame him, not really. Not when he had once devoted himself to a ruler the same way the other had before being betrayed after use. 

The fireplaces lining the walls crackled. They were the only source of light in the room. With Arachnid’s night vision potions running out, they must’ve painted a menacing picture—bloody and uncaring, dangerous weapons wielded by an equally dangerous killer, shadows tall and looming. The stench of death had never been so pungent, nor the promised gratification so sweet.

Just one more hit—Wemmbu brought down Gambit onto the other’s knee. Arachnid cried out in pain. His arm fell away from where it had reached into his cape. “You took away his freedom.” His voice echoed in the silent room. “Used him like some sort of reward for me to earn, manipulated him to escape into the Purge arena knowing he could’ve died, and then taking him away from me again after we found a way out.” He tore the crown away from Arachnid’s head, throwing it onto the floor. Arachnid flinched as Wemmbu dug his heel into the crown, a visceral glee sparking in his eyes as it broke. 

When he spoke again, it was barely audible. “Tell me why I shouldn’t stab you once for each day you’ve kept him captive.” The rage had cooled into something colder, calmer. He even let out a small smile, but it was far from kind. 

Arachnid spat out a mouthful of blood, his chest heaving. “Because—” he coughed. “—because if you do that, I won’t tell you where Eggchan’s stasis chambers are located.”

“You’re in no state to make negotiations.” Wemmbu said coolly. “It’s either you tell me, or I force it out of you.”

He knelt down beside Arachnid, tilting his head. Gambit thrummed in his hands, aching with power. He felt like a god. “So? What would it be?”

Arachnid looked away. Then—

“Fine.”

He started to list out the locations. All of them were located in remote, faraway biomes. Random structures that were designed to be innocuous. Unnoticeable. Undetected. They weren’t supposed to be found, he explained, nor did he think there would be a day where he would personally reveal their locations. Wemmbu leveled him with a hard stare, and he went back to naming the locations.

When he finished, Yungy had scribbled them down onto a piece of parchment. Three titled columns—the approximate location, the point of interests, the number of stasis chambers. Some of them contained as many as six. Some of them only held one.

“You know,” Arachnid chuckled as Yungy passed the parchment over to Wemmbu. His hand left a smear of red on the surface. “I just realised. This is the first time you’ve ever knelt down to me. Even when I made you my second-in-command.”

Wemmbu stood up. The parchment crumpled in his tightening grip. “You’re right.” He murmured. “And it’s also the last.”

Gambit whistled through the air. There was a sharp crack. Arachnid slumped down onto the ground, his neck bent at an unnatural angle, unmoving at last.

A paper slipped out from his grasp. Wemmbu snatched it up and scanned the spindly words.

Once Nuke escapes

May our rage emerge

Let embers fall tonight

“What is this, a riddle?” He passed it over to Yungy, who furrowed his brows.

“I don’t know, Arachnid’s never mentioned this to me before.” He stared at it a bit more. “If I had to guess, then Nuke’s probably a codeword for you. You’re the only person who uses orbitals on this server.”

“That makes sense. Then what about the embers, what are they supposed to mean?” Wemmbu pressed.

Yungy shrugged. He was quieter than normal. Wemmbu sighed.

“Whatever, let’s go meet up with Jaden and find these stasis chambers.” He started to walk towards the entrance, storing Gambit away swiftly, but paused.

Embers. Nuke.

A brief flash of a memory of Arachnid while he was still alive and in control. The flicker of guilt dulled by a single-minded purpose. A shulker of explosives planted under a friend’s house, forced by a test of loyalty. The threat of destruction.

Slowly, he turned. 

“I think I know what it means.”

“What?” Yungy fumbled with his sword as he sheathed it. “What do you mean? What does what mean?”

“The cryptic sentence on that paper. Arachnid told me once that he planted thousands of explosives under the kingdom that only he knows of in case anything ever happens. The embers must be referring to them.”

“Are you serious?” Yungy stared at him incredulously. “I—there’s no way he could’ve done that to his own kingdom. Even as a safety precaution, that would wipe out most, if not all of the citizens!”

“You should know by now that Arachnid never had the kingdom’s best interest at heart.” Yungy looked dumbfounded. “It was always what he could gain personally. Did you really think he wanted to be king of the server to benefit his kingdom? No. It was always what gave him power that’s important.”

Yungy fell silent, twisting the metal clasp of his cloak. Despite being cast aside and demoted, he had still kept the woven cloak and wore it without fail. It was, after all, a gift from Arachnid and a sign of what he had been—the loyal, trusting soldier of a leader. The stitched patterns of cobwebs gleamed silver under the firelight.

When Wemmbu spoke again, it was softer somehow. Because he understood the sting of betrayal, and he hoped that Yungy too would understand to stand for himself and officially join their side. “This paper is proof enough, isn’t it? Arachnid would’ve rather blown up his own kingdom than to admit defeat. Really effective move, but cowardly and brutal. Is this really the guy you want to continue to believe in?”

“You partook in this too. Killing him, I mean.” At this, Yungy flinched, a full-bodied, physical recoil. “That means some part of yourself must know that it was right to eliminate him. Or at least, disagree with him a little for not attacking me right away for attempting to assassinate your leader.”

“Don’t call him my leader. Not anymore.” Yungy finally spoke up. His voice was bitter when he continued. “He’s already dead.”

Wemmbu let out a long sigh. “Listen bro, it’s your choice whether to believe me or not.” He stepped away from Yungy, shrugging. “But Arachnid’s not a good person. He’s never shown a slightest ounce of care for this kingdom of his. Because if he had, would he have treated Codmaster and the others the way he did?”

“I know there’s nothing you care more about than the kingdom. You’ve told me that once.” Wemmbu continued. Yungy startled, as if he didn’t think Wemmbu would remember. “So do you think you can put this behind you and help me, or will I have to fight you for those locations?”

Wemmbu kept his expression unreadable, but deep down he knew that he truly wanted to succeed in convincing Yungy. It would be disappointing if he had to fight his way out and face an opponent he had come to trust and rely on during the Purge.

Yungy placed a hand over his face and groaned, before it slumped back to his side. “There’s no need for that. I’ll help you. But after this—” He pointed at Wemmbu. “—you’re helping me find the detonation button for the explosives. I’m hoping because we’re holding onto this paper now we’ve managed to intercept the message to whoever Arachnid wanted to send it to, but I’m not risking the entire kingdom being blown up.”

“Deal.” Wemmbu agreed easily. “Now, let’s meet up with Jaden and go to the first location. I want the stasis chambers destroyed as soon as possible.”

“And what will we do after?” Yungy questioned. “Do we pull the last stasis chamber to free Egg after breaking fifteen of them?”

“There’s sixteen in total. So, yeah. That’s the plan.” Wemmbu watched as Yungy scanned the piece of paper one last time, frowning, before tucking it away. He smoothed over the parchment with the written locations. “Looks like we’ll need an elytra. Time to stock up on fireworks.”

In theory, perhaps he shouldn’t have acted on impulse.

But the house was sitting right there, and Wemmbu knew that he was so close, so close to freeing Egg and finally being able to escape from Arachnid’s kingdom together. Weeks have passed slowly, agonisingly, each day a heavy reminder of freedom being out of reach once more as he continues to hack away at his enemies overground, the sky a wide spread of blue yet never a relief to see. Because at the end it was all a false imitation of being free if Egg wasn’t besides him.

The cloak tied onto his shoulders felt stifling, a gift from Arachnid and a sign of claim. This warrior, this Wemmbu, the strongest, now a weapon at my disposal. He could almost hear the other’s voice grating his ear, and curled his hands with displeasure.

The fishing rod manifested in his hand easily, the start of a duel with something more important than honor being put on the line. He thinks it is almost enraging, how Flame is treating this as a spar and a challenge when it is everything to him. Explosions split the air apart like cataclysmic storms, the earth tearing apart as fire burnt through junglewood and left void in its wake. He swung across the branches of the trees before launching himself up again, snapping three fishing rods in one swift motion. One particular large explosion tore at the translucent skin of his elytra and sent splinters flashing across his face. Distantly, he thought he smelled the familiar tang of blood. He barely registered it.

“You can do better than that!” Flame taunted, as if this was something that humoured him. Wemmbu snapped. He crashed down onto the ground with his mace in hand, feeling metal collide with flesh. There was a faint crack as he struck bone, and curses were thrown at him like daggers. 

Sword. Metal. Blood. The flashing gleam of netherite like a strip of galaxy across the night sky. It struck him across the face and Wemmbu barely managed to dodge it, immediately pivoting backwards. The blade collided against his chest armour and made him choke out one gasping breath. Great. 

He ignited a firework and shot up towards the sky, noting the damage. The netherite took most of the blunt, and there were at least three cuts on his face from the explosion. His elytra was starting to wear out from being used nonstop for days without mending, and his hands felt shaky even when they gripped onto Gambit like a lifeline. Privately, he thinks it might as well be.

“Just give me the pearls.” Wemmbu said. His voice does not shake. Not at all.

“How about no? Not until you come and fight me for real.” Anger coiled up in his gut. This was wasting his time.

“I broke your bones. I’ll do that again if you don’t back down.”

“Yeah?” Flame threw down a regeneration potion. The wounds on his skin began to close. “I can handle a little pain.”

Wemmbu gritted his teeth and dove down. 

Gambit rattled in his hand as he tore across the air and crashed into Flame where his sword was already waiting. The two weapons collided with a furious resonating clang. He ducked down and swung his mace at the other’s legs, only to be met with the surface of a shield. Gambit made a high-pitched shrieking noise at the collision. Quickly, he pulled out a fishing rod and snapped it against his knee. An explosion went off and sent them both flying backwards.

His back collided with a tree and he couldn’t help spitting out an angry curse before streaking across the destroyed forest and lifting up his mace. He spun and brought it down onto the other’s back. Flame let out a surprised grunt as he fell, rolling onto his back and flinging up his shield to block a heavy blow.

The panic never subdued and only continued to well up as the fight dragged on for an increasingly longer period of time. Wemmbu began to stumble. Small, but blatantly noticeable, especially for someone that usually fought as easily as breathing. The branches scrap at his clothes and tear at his cloak. His hands and face were covered in scratches. The broken shards of his helmet pierced into his temple like claws until he finally gave up and threw it away. It left behind a thick trail of blood that dripped down from his head.

When he dove down from the air, the cobwebs entangled him, restricting his movements. Countless times over his totems break. The gold and green particles felt almost mocking, as if hating on his fragility.

In the midst of it all, he faintly registered the possibility that he might actually die.

The seams of his elytra began to come apart, like stitches torn from skin. And he fell, knowing there would be no one to catch him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Flame sprinting towards him. He gripped onto his mace tightly with both hands and blocked the incoming blow.

“You’re doing zero damage!” Flame yelled as Wemmbu was flung backwards into another spread of cobwebs. He groaned. Fuck the webs. They were really pissing him off.

“Where’s the confidence in being the strongest now?”

“I told you.” Wemmbu muttered. His voice was low. “We have different definitions of being strong.”

“And this is yours?” Flame snorted. “You’ve gotten weak. Is this really your best? Like—” He dodged as Wemmbu staggered to his feet and hurled his mace at his face. It crashed onto the ground and kicked up a wave of debris. “—you’re not the Wemmbu I remember.”

I don’t remember the Wemmbu I was either, Wemmbu thought bitterly.

He watched as Flame twisted around and leapt towards him once more. His hands shook as they curled around the handle of his mace tightly. He hated being the one on defense, hated the exhaustion evident in his stance, hated how powerless he felt despite blowing up the entirety of the forest.

Flame swung his sword, the netherite glinting. Wemmbu dodged and ignited a flurry of fireworks as he escaped back into the air. The elytra barely held up his weight. He set off another explosion. It stabbed and tore through the earth, revealing the pitch black void beneath. The world became ablaze.

As Flame stumbled, momentarily distorted from the explosives, Wemmbu snapped into motion. He pivoted downwards. Gambit thrummed in his hands like a nuclear fission. The air sliced against his body as he succumbed to gravity.

Three things happened in succession.

One. The sudden lightening of his shoulders. His cloak had torn off.

Two. A burst of green and yellow blinding his vision. His shoulder collided heavily with a tree.

Three. The unmistakable, sharp finality of a crack.

He tumbled onto the ground, sprawling ungracefully as his mace hit netherite armour. He thinks he draws blood. He looked down to his hands and saw that he did, but it was his own.

There was an awful ringing in his head. A shrieking dissonance.

Gambit laid uselessly in his hands. The edges were worn. Its carved patterns once gleaming lovingly, now muted and barely visible. 

The crack was the worst.

It ran from the top of its head to the edge of its handle. Thick jagged lines that almost looked like roots of a growing tree if not for its harsh, forceful nature. Spidery and horrid. Cold and blunt and as truthful as a cut to the throat could be.

Somewhere in between, Wemmbu sank to his knees.

It broke.

Gambit broke.

The ringing grew louder.

Wh—

What was he supposed to do now?

Footsteps rang out behind him like echoes. The world dissolved into a blur. There was only him and the staggering pain in his chest and Gambit as he curled his hands around the mace gently.

“Shit.” He thinks he heard Flame say. “Bro, you good?”

He tastes bile in his throat as he choked out a ragged breath. He couldn’t breathe. Was he even breathing properly? The world spun. It was like he had been struck by one of his explosions and left limp on the ground. He couldn’t find his voice, binded by some sort of lump in his throat. If he spoke, he knew it would end up in a garbled cry.

“Hey. Bro.” Flame was crouched next to him. “Look, I was going to give you the pearls anyway. Okay? It really was just supposed to be one fight.”

“It broke. Gambit broke.” He couldn’t—didn’t even dare to look away from where the mace laid on the ground. 

The rubble from previous explosions stained its surface. He brushed it off with his finger carefully. A jagged edge sliced through his skin. He wanted to laugh at the drop of blood that spilt out, the undeniable proof of his own fragile mortality.

The mission to save Egg was already difficult in the first place. How was he supposed to do it without his mace? His primary weapon, his entire fighting style, the only reason why Egg had been kidnapped but kept unharmed. Without it, how would he—

“I—” Flame started to speak, but seemed to think better of it.

—does he have a purpose anymore?

Something creaked. Like a chest being opened. When he turned his head towards Flame, the other was already standing with a netherite spear in his hand. He held it out to Wemmbu with an unreadable look on his face.

“Here.” Flame said. His voice wasn’t gentle, but it was somewhere along the lines of kindness. Like he understood the sharp panic upon seeing his weapon lay limp and broken on the ground. “Take this. It’s—it’s not a mace, but you can use it.”

Wemmbu stared. And then slowly, cautiously, took the spear like the acceptance of a peace offering.

And when Flame offered a hand to help him up, Wemmbu grasped onto it with much less uncertainty than before.

“I’ll take you to the pearls.” Flame said. Wemmbu nodded numbly. 

He lifted his mace up from the ground. Stored away the spear. He didn’t, however, have the heart to store Gambit into his inventory. It felt too final of an action to take, like the lowering of a coffin, the disconnection of a ventilator, the empty space left behind by one last heartbeat. Sentimental, he heard a distant memory say. He ignored it.

So he held Gambit in his hands as they headed towards the house. Halfway, he saw two figures emerging from the front. Right. Jaden and Yungy had probably circled around for the stasis chambers while he had been fighting Flame, trusting him to be able to hold up his own.

“Wemmbu.” Jaden called out as they arrived at the entrance. He shifted his grip on his trident upon seeing Flame. “You alright?”

Yungy darted over. “What happened to—” he broke off, sucking in a sharp breath.

Wemmbu didn’t care. He trudged into the house without sparing a glance at the two. The redstone contraptions of the doorway had already been previously broken. “Where are they?”

“Downstairs. Wait, Wemmbu—” Jaden tried, but Wemmbu had already walked away. They followed him into the spacious room where the four stasis chambers were held, each pearl bobbing almost languidly. 

For a moment, they were all quiet. The four pearls were right in front of them, one of the last few. Wemmbu waited for the relief to hit, but he only felt numb.

Flame shuffled awkwardly. “So…” He started.

Wemmbu wrenched his gaze away from the stasis chambers. His eyes were dark. “What are we waiting for? Destroy them.”

“Wemmbu,” Jaden called out. “You need to rest.”

It had been six hours since his mace broke in his fight with Flame. By now, they’ve traversed through multiple biomes. He doesn’t remember if he had spoken even once the entire time. Like a dejected puppet, numb and lifeless, he had forced himself to continue moving because stopping would mean another second wasted.

He’s already lost Gambit. He doesn’t know what he would do if he lost Egg too.

“Wemmbu!” Yungy yelled. He leapt in front of the other to block his path. “Stop. We’re serious. We’ve been walking for hours now. I understand you want to find all the stasis chambers as soon as possible, but you need to rest—we all need to.”

“We only have two stasis chambers left,” Jaden added. “And we have their locations. That’s already a huge step. With the possibility of another battle ahead of us, we have to regenerate and get some of our energy back.”

Wemmbu stopped. He was still carrying Gambit in his hands. The broken edges cut into his skin, breaking, but not deep enough to draw blood. “Okay. We’ll stop.”

So they do, even though every part of him screamed at him to start moving again. His limbs creaked with exhaustion as he sat down on the grassy ground. He laid Gambit next to him carefully. Jaden had gone off to the side to hack down some wood for firelight while Yungy stayed at his side, probably to supervise him as if he were some child.

Yungy offered him a few pieces of cooked steak, which Wemmbu took. Golden apples were good for regeneration and significantly useful in a fight, but they offered little sustenance in terms of actual nutrition. He chowed it down quickly, not realising how hungry he was until he finished the first two pieces. 

“You good?” Yungy asked, concern bleeding into his voice. “Don’t eat too quickly, you’ll choke.”

“Thanks Yungy,” Wemmbu said sarcastically.

Yungy snapped his mouth shut. Guilt dug into his chest as Wemmbu bit into another piece of steak. It tasted like sawdust. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m not really in the mood.”

Yungy snorted. “I can see that.” His voice softened. “Do you want to, uh, talk?”

Wemmbu spluttered out a laugh. “Not really much to say.” He shuffled to sit in a more comfortable position, knocking his knees against his mace midway. “I just want to start searching again as soon as possible.”

“I know where you’re coming from, but you really need to rest man.” Yungy offered another piece of steak, but Wemmbu waved him away. He watched as Yungy finished it in three bites. Oh yeah, he didn’t realise that the other hadn't eaten yet either.

Jaden came back at this moment, trudging towards them with a pile of wood in hand. He lifted them onto the ground and lit it up. The air shivered as flames danced in the makeshift campfire. 

Yungy offered him a few pieces of steak as well. Jaden took it gratefully and sat down near the fire.

Gentle puffs of warmth curled against his skin and his body relaxed unconsciously. The exhaustion was beginning to truly settle in, seeping into his bones and weighing them down. Jaden took out a few bottles of regeneration and passed them around, accepting their murmured thanks with a graceful dip of his head. 

Wemmbu drank the bottle of regeneration, feeling his skin piece together and his wounds close, whole and healed. It didn’t do much for the exhaustion, but it did clear his head a little. 

Nightfall clouded the sky in deep blue hues. The moon was curved like a sharp sickle blade. Sat around the fireplace and with their hands curled around the leftover glass bottle of regeneration, it almost felt like a camping trip with old friends, even though reality was far crueler than that. Wemmbu felt his eyes begin to droop, but he forced them open with conviction.

“So. About Arachnid.” Wemmbu tried. Mainly to steer the topic away from himself. Yungy startled a little, his shoulders lifting in a small, uncontrollable jerk before falling back to a forcibly relaxed line. 

“What?” 

“Are you actually…okay with what happened?” Wemmbu couldn’t help but ask. “I honestly didn’t think you would agree with assassinating him.”

Yungy’s lips thinned. “Like what I’ve said before, I don’t necessarily agree with all his actions. And at the end, I think you were at least somewhat right and within reason to have killed him. I knew he was doing the kingdom more harm than good, with so many living in poverty or inequality all the time. Yet I’ve always denied it, because these thoughts have always felt like betrayal.” 

Jaden made a hum of acknowledgement when Yungy paused, encouraging him to continue.

“I was loyal to the kingdom because it was…it felt like a home, I guess. Some place I could make my mark and belong, despite all that talk about power” He shrugged as if they were discussing something lighthearted, like the weather. “Arachnid just so happened to be the leader. So I tried to do my best, you know.” He chuckled, though it sounded hollow. “I was so mad and envious when you replaced me as second-in-command. But at the end of the day, I thought as long as you could protect the kingdom, no matter if it was momentarily or not, I could put my feelings aside and be okay with it.”

“You care a lot about the kingdom,” Jaden said gently. “That’s something that’s easier said than done.” 

“I guess so.” Yungy sighed. “Even though I’m probably exiled now for helping Wemmbu, I can’t really say I regret it. I’ve come to realise Arachnid’s flaws. If there comes a time when there’ll be a new leader, I hope they’ll be one that cares as much about the kingdom as I do.”

The three fell silent. Yungy’s words hung in the air like smoke. The fire continued to flicker. 

“I’ll help you find the detonation button,” Wemmbu finally said. His voice hardened with determination. “If—when we save Egg, after we save Egg. I’ll go back, and we’ll make sure nothing can harm the kingdom from the inside anymore.”

“I will too,” Jaden chimed in. “Don’t worry about it, Yungy.”

Yungy’s smile was watery. It was the first bit of open vulnerability that they’ve seen from him since Arachnid’s death. “Thank you guys. And well, I’m sorry, Wemmbu. For trying to kill you in the Purge. Guess I got to get this off my chest as well.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Wemmbu deadpanned. “I would’ve definitely done the same if we hadn’t been forced to work together.”

“We do make a good team though, the three of us.”

“I guess you could say that.”

They sat for a little longer, soaking in the warmth of the fire. Yungy agreed to take the first shift to guard the small camp while the others slept. They had around five hours until morning came. 

“I’ll take the second one then,” Jaden offered. “Wemmbu can take the third?”

Wemmbu grumbled, but agreed anyway. They headed into their respective tents for the night. 

Sleep didn’t come so easily. It’s been too long since he’s had proper rest now that he thought about it, not since Egg was taken and used as a bargaining chip. He tossed around for a while before taking out his broken elytra and swapping it for a new one he had obtained from a Royal they had previously killed. He then placed it back into his inventory and chose to stare at Gambit and count the cracks and divots before rolling over to face away from it. Outside, the breeze whistled.

When his restlessness got the better of him, he decided to head out just to clear his mind. Thoughts of being unable to save his best friend were beginning to creep in once more like an inescapable bug. He pushed away the flaps of his tent and slipped on his boots.

Next to the dwindling campfire, Yungy sat cross legged and still. He had taken off his cloak and was now staring down at a small slip of paper, which Wemmbu faintly recognised as the one Arachnid had held onto before he was killed. The flickering flames casted long shadows on the former Royal’s face. It made the cobweb-shaped patterns on his cloak look silver-spun.

There was an impossible sadness carved into his features that felt too raw and exposed. Quietly, Wemmbu watched as Yungy’s eyes scanned over the paper, possibly re-reading the words before sighing. His head lifted up to the sky. 

There were only a few stars tonight despite the faint glint of the moon. Wemmbu wondered if Yungy was hoping for a wishing star, then wondered when his thoughts had gotten so poetic.

Must be Egg’s scholarly tendencies rubbing off on me, he thought. Then, the dull ache of pain upon thinking of Egg struck his chest again.

He retreated back to his tent, careful not to make a sound. 

It felt too personal of a moment to intrude on, anyway. Like a moment he shouldn’t have witnessed.

“Why do you need friends anyways?” 

“That’s just sad, man.”

It is sad too, he doesn’t say. How much the Cindercrest warrior reminded him of himself.

.

.

“It’s not worth it.” A deep timbre voice. It is spoken to sound like kindness, a word of advice. Instead, he hears nothing but a threat.

He turns away. 

“Then I’ll just get stronger.”

They won’t understand. Wemmbu will never think of him as dead weight.

.

.

Words stuck at the back of his throat. It is funny, he thinks, how something intangible can become so physically painful.

Who am I without you?

He tries.

Who am I without you?

Who am I—

He can’t say it.

Dreams. Reality. They interweave as one.

“Wemmbu.” Someone was calling from outside his tent. He blinked, snapping awake. Battle-hardened instincts pulled his muscles taut and ready to spring.

“Wemmbu, it’s your shift.”

Oh. Jaden materialised into view. He had a concerned look on his face. Wemmbu hated this, this vulnerability and worry and all things entailed with friendship.

“Great, thanks.” He got up and put on his boots. His armour hung loose from his body. He’ll clasp it back on later.

Jaden watched as Wemmbu staggered out. 

“Here we are.” Yungy glanced at Wemmbu almost nervously. He and Jaden have both been on edge the whole day after noticing Wemmbu’s worsened mood.

They had arrived at an ocean temple for the final location. Aside from the elder guardians that had given them mining fatigue, the monument was surprisingly empty. The entrance gave way to a massive hall with prismarine archways and quartz flooring. Blue-tinted glass panes peered out to the sea, while sea lanterns hung from the ceiling like stars. They illuminate the space with a cool sheen of light. Flowers hung from clay pots, dried and wafting with saccharine fragrance. Their petals were browned and dulled of their former glory, bright red and purple colors now forlorn under the absence of the sun. Bleached corals lined the walls like bones.

Every step casted shadows of their own, dragging behind them like a lurking omen. Shadows circling his eyes, fatigued from poor sleep, Wemmbu knew he was a far cry from his usual crisp and sharp image, but it didn’t matter at all. Not when he was this close to saving Egg.

The stasis chambers sat innocuously at the back of the hall. Two of them, each with a bobbing pearl. Oblivious to the world and the miserable journey it has brought upon others. It was only a mechanism after all, but sometimes Wemmbu would like nothing more but to tear out the hinges of its trapdoor and listen to it scream.

With a few careful strikes and a bit of tricky disabling technique, they managed to break one of the stasis chambers. Jaden and Yungy stepped back as Wemmbu approached the other stasis chamber. The last one out of sixteen.

His breath hitched. He was, frankly, a bit terrified and overwhelmed. After days of searching across the server non-stop, he would finally have Egg safe next to him.

The trapdoor flicked close. For one painful moment, nothing happened. Then—

A single pop. The unmistakable fleeting sound of teleportation.

Egg was back.

His hair was matted and was in dire need of combing, and the fur-trimmed coat he wore was shredded and stained. When he appeared, he immediately stumbled as if his legs were too weak to hold up his own weight. Wemmbu rushed forward to steady him, catching him in a near-hug. For a moment, there was only Wemmbu and Egg and Egg and Wemmbu, surrounded by a quiet serenity that promised kindness in a world so often unpredictable and cruel.

“Egg?” He whispered, afraid to ruin the fragile peace. There was a building sensation in his chest that threatened to escape, the corners of his eyes burning. Yet something stirred in the midst of the shadows, unfettered and wild. Like the silent crepuscular sky before the scintillant break of dawn. The wordless calm hanging heavily before the impending storm. An instinct etched into the veins of a fighter who learnt how to sense danger to ensure survival.

Their skin brushed. Wemmbu flinched at how cold the other was. His clothes were soaked with—was that snow? He was shivering.

Bandages were tied tightly around Egg’s eyes, suffocating his vision. Wemmbu reached out a hand, hoping to loosen the knot at the back. 

“Wemmbu.” Egg’s voice was hoarse. Desperate. Wemmbu’s hand stilled. “Don’t go.”

With a sickening crack, Egg vanished. Wemmbu staggered, momentarily stunned by the sudden absence. He stared at his hands in shock.

“Shit.” He thinks he heard Yungy say. “Are you serious? Where did he go?”

“Wasn’t it sixteen stasis chambers?” Jaden interrupted Yungy, his voice raised. “Arachnid said sixteen, didn’t he?”

“Yes, it was sixteen! We heard it perfectly clear. There’s no way they set up another—”

The ringing in his ear grew louder. His head spun. Like a phantom, the memory of Egg being teleported away upon escaping the Purge arena flickered through his mind. Now a sickly imitation, but one that hurt tenfold.

Shit.

“How is this possible?” Yungy continued to blather. They had stepped forward to stand besides Wemmbu at some point. “I can’t believe it, isn’t Arachnid dead?”

Shit, shit, shit—

“He might’ve had another precaution.” Jaden scraped his heel against the ground, a rare sign of annoyance. He fidgeted with his mask, pulling at the strings. “Are we sure he set up another stasis? But how? And when? And most importantly, where?”

Yungy gasped. “Wait! Precaution—”

He cut himself off and tore through his inventory frantically, before pulling out a piece of paper. The paper Arachnid had held onto when he died. “This has bothered me for a while now. It just doesn’t make sense to me. If this note was his last ditch attempt to pass on a message, there would’ve been no need to speak in riddles anyways. He would’ve just told his guards to detonate the explosives, especially since you already know of the explosives as he supposedly told you about them himself. And Wemmbu—” He grabbed onto Wemmbu’s shoulders and shook him urgently. “You said, after we killed Arachnid, that he was the only person who knew the exact location of the detonation button? Then why would he send a message? Wouldn’t his guards not know of its whereabouts? Unless—”

“It was a decoy.” Jaden finished. His eyes were blown wide with realisation. “The paper was a decoy. A red herring. So it leaves us with two possibilities. Either it was to distract us from something else happening in the server, or it was to distract us from the message itself.”

Hearing this, the three of them immediately sprung onto the piece of paper. Their eyes scanned through the words, with Yungy muttering a faint apology upon seeing the ink which had been smudged while they had been swimming into the temple. 

A moment passed, then another. Outside, the ocean churned with anticipation. The lanterns clinked, refracting light into fragmented shards. Sea-salt stained the air, weighing it down. Then—

“Shit.” Wemmbu finally spoke up. His voice trembled. 

What was he supposed to do now? 

From Yungy’s angry hiss and Jaden’s sharp intake of breath, the others had probably figured it out as well.

With the first letter of each word, it spelt out—

ONE MORE LEFT.

“We need to find Egg. Now.” Jaden said grimly. “Where could he have possibly set up a new stasis?”

“I don’t know, there’s no time. I don’t know what they’re going to do to Egg, what if Arachnid kills him? What if this was all part of his plan? I can’t—”

“Wemmbu! Calm down.” Yungy tried for a placating tone. “First of all, Arachnid’s dead. So the only possibility is that he must’ve ordered his guards to activate this new stasis chamber in case you ever managed to destroy all of them.”

“We can still do this,” Jaden soothed. “I know it’s difficult. But you really have to pull yourself together first. It’s the only way we can counter this unexpected situation.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Wemmbu slumped down onto the ground. It felt too impossible of a task to even stand upright right now. “Do you think it’s set back in the caves?” His voice cracked at the last syllable.

“It’s the only place I can think of right now.” Yungy sighed. He paced back and forth, frowning. “But I’ve checked all the cells and hidden places before I met up with you to assassinate Arachnid. And honestly, it would be pretty stupid of him to keep Egg inside the kingdom knowing you’ve escaped from the Purge arena.”

“I didn’t see any stasis chambers when I was scoping out the kingdom either while waiting for you two.” Jaden added. “There’s also the chance that they’ll transport Egg away after pulling his stasis.”

“I still can’t risk it.” Wemmbu replied, his hand brushing against the handle of his mace as a reassurance. It was cold. “I’ve already come so far, I—”

I knew I would've risked everything. And now I officially have. If it means scouring the entire server, well. I’ve already done that once, what’s harm in doing so again?

Jaden nodded. His eyes softened imperceptibly. “I understand.” And he sounded like he actually did.

“Okay, okay.” Yungy’s mouth hardened into a thin line of determination. “Then let’s go back to the kingdom first? And if he’s not there…”

“Then we’ll interrogate whoever we find.” Wemmbu finished. 

They exited the temple and broke out from the surface of the sea. The sun dips down on the horizon and sets the sky ablaze. Their elytras glisten in the evening light. 

“We have a couple ten thousand blocks to go.” Yungy called from where he was flying behind. They had developed a formation during their time of searching for the stasis chambers, with Wemmbu at front scanning for signs of imminent danger, while Jaden and Yungy held up the flank at the back. 

“How many rockets do you have left?” Jaden asked.

“Around two stacks.” Wemmbu ignited one. It exploded into tiny pale embers. He was immediately propelled forwards, and Yungy and Jaden followed suit. “It’ll probably be enough.”

“We’ll stock up in the kingdom if we have to.” Yungy said. “And I have a few extra in my ender chest.”

Wemmbu kept his gaze fixed forward. The sunset burned a white-hot silhouette into his eyes. “Let’s hurry.”

They flew out of the sea region, the journey made mostly in silence. The entire time, the image of Gambit cracked and broken flashed in his mind. It felt like an omen that promised bad luck. If that was true, would he even be strong enough to fight whoever activated Egg’s stasis? Wemmbu wasn’t oblivious. There would definitely be a rough scuffle to rescue Egg. He only hoped the netherite sword and spear in his inventory would be enough for now.

Seconds ticked by like hours. Every breath made him fear whether it would be his last in a world where Egg was alive. When they arrived at the kingdom, one lone figure stood at the entrance. They were completely covered in black clothing, a long sleeved turtleneck and pants that were cinched to the waist with a narrow silver-crested belt. Their netherite armour hung loosely from their body, and they were missing a helmet. A slim white headband was wrapped around their head, fluttering in the wind. 

“Descent?” Yungy shouted. The three landed on the ground while keeping their distance. Jaden pulled out his trident warily while Wemmbu readied himself to pull out a fishing rod at a moment’s notice.

DescentOfAngel—Wemmbu could only vaguely recall him as a blurry memory from the Purge—continued to stand wordlessly at the opening of the cave. He showed no sign of acknowledgement.

“Oh, it’s you.” Jaden said, recognising the Royal. “We fought Flame together right?”

“Descent, I don’t know if Arachnid gave you any orders before he died, but whatever it is, we have to get inside the kingdom now.” Yungy started to walk towards the Royal, his hand laid on the hilt of his sword. “So as a former Royal and a former teammate, please let us through.”

He stopped to stare at the Royal directly, waiting for a response. A moment later, Descent pulled out a piece of paper and started to scribble on it.

He handed it to Yungy, who read the paper before letting out a relieved sigh. “Guys, you can come over. No need to attack.”

Cautiously, Wemmbu approached the two with Jaden trailing behind. Yungy showed him the note. I won’t attempt to fight you. 

“Nice choice of words there,” Jaden remarked.

Those who are defeated have no choice but to admit to their fragility, Descent wrote. Wemmbu barely understood what he was trying to imply, but he found that he didn’t care.

“Where is Egg?” Wemmbu asked harshly.

“We’re trying to find Egg. Wemmbu’s friend, the one Arachnid bargained for from the invisible guy.” Yungy explained. “Do you know where he is?”

Descent paused. And if I do?

“Then tell us.” Wemmbu’s voice was low. The netherite spear glinted as it was pulled out of his inventory. 

“Descent.” Yungy warned. “We’ve never had any grievances throughout our entire time serving under Arachnid together. Don’t make us fight you now.”

Wemmbu felt his patience trickling lower as Descent continued to stare at them blankly, as if weighing the situation. “You know, I will kill you if you don’t start speaking.”

“Wemmbu.” Yungy held out a hand as if to say stop. “Wait.”

“Why me? Tell him to hurry up and decide!” Wemmbu snapped.

Descent began to write on another piece of paper, each scratch of the Royal’s pen grating and agonising. When he finished, he trudged over and handed it to Wemmbu, an unreadable expression on his face.

In the newest stasis chamber. They built a prison for him there.

“Yeah, well we already know that, that wasn’t the question—where’s the newest stasis chamber?”

You know where it is.

Yungy flung up his hands in despair. “Okay, genuinely, what are you talking about? Descent, come on.”

Descent shook his head, refusing to answer any further. 

Cogs began to turn in his head. Wemmbu started pacing around, thinking hard.

“What’s the time frame for this?” Jaden asked. “Did Arachnid set up the stasis chamber before or after the Purge? We can use that to gauge how remote it might be.”

“We need to think this through. There are too many possibilities.” Yungy frowned. “First, what you said, Jaden, how long ago was the stasis chamber created? Second, did Egg throw his pearl into the newest stasis chamber before or after the Purge?”

“That makes sense…” Jaden hummed. Wemmbu internally agreed. Yungy was definitely being smarter than he was during the Purge. 

“If they built a prison at the newest stasis, that means he should be there right now.” Jaden said. “It’s our safest bet. If not, then we’ll have to go on a wild goose chase.”

“No wild goose chases.” Wemmbu interrupted firmly. He didn’t like how it implied that Egg couldn’t be found. He pointed at Descent. “And you’re wrong. The safest bet here is forcing this guy to tell us exactly where he is.”

Yungy drew himself up tall, bracing himself. “Descent, I’m going to ask one more time. Tell us where Egg is kept.”

Descent’s eyes narrowed. Wemmbu caught the slightest shift in the Royal’s stance, as if preparing to escape. A wild flash of panic rushed through him. They were wasting time.

“Please.” Wemmbu added frantically. It came out unsteadily, like an unfamiliar language. Yungy and Jaden both glanced at him with barely concealed surprise.

Descent stilled. His boot scraped the ground as he shifted his stance once more back to his original standing position. There was something akin to curiosity in his expression.

He writes. 

A strong wind picked up, spluttering flakes of snow onto their clothes. Descent, Wemmbu realised, wasn’t wearing a cloak, unlike Yungy or even Wemmbu himself before it had torn off during his fight with Flame. It must have been a trick of the eye, how the Royal suddenly appeared small and lonely.

Huh. Wemmbu thought. 

He doesn’t think of the implication behind it.

Descent brushed off the snowflakes that stained the piece of paper, before handing it over to Wemmbu. It was a set of coordinates written carefully at the center. Wemmbu squinted. Wait, he recognised those numbers.

His mind flashed back to the ocean temple. The chill of Egg’s skin, the melting snow sunk into the fabric of his clothes. Feather-light fingertips like tiny ice cubes against his, the shockingly fleeting contact.

There was a similar bite of cold here. And also in another location, where two armies had once met.

“That damn spider,” Wemmbu muttered. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him.”

“You actually know where it is?” Yungy asked, bewildered. 

“I guess you could say that.” He took out his elytra. “Let’s go, now.”

“Thank you, Descent.” Yungy said gratefully. 

For the record, Descent hesitated. He smiled slightly. You’re still a teammate to me.

Yungy looked taken aback for a moment, before he returned the sincere smile. The tense line of his shoulder loosened. “I’ll come back after this. You’ll be staying here?”

Descent nodded. Good luck.

With a flurry of fireworks, the three took off to the new location. 

“So where is this place that you apparently know of?” Jaden questioned. Wemmbu groaned.

“After Arachnid had this meeting with Saparata, he and I ‘talked’.” Wemmbu made quotation marks with his fingers. “He then dug into this random hill and set a stasis chamber for himself. He said if he ever broke my trust, I would be able to pull it and kill him instantly.” He shrugged. “A waste of a move, considering that I killed him anyway, stasis chamber or not.”

“So we’re heading to the location of his stasis chamber?” Yungy asked. Wemmbu nodded.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure its coordinates were exactly the ones written on this paper.”

“And since Arachnid died, his pearl would despawn. So this creates a pre-setup stasis chamber for Egg to throw his pearl into,” Jaden realised. 

“Probably also because I would’ve never guessed he would turn his own stasis into Egg’s.”

“I didn’t know Arachnid was a smart kind of guy.” 

“Neither did I,” Yungy snorted. “A bit uncanny, to be honest. Now that I think about it, that must be the reason why there were only two Royals guarding outside his meeting room. Most of them must’ve gone to the stasis chamber.”

“But why would they build the prison where they put Egg in at the stasis chamber’s location?”

“To trap him, maybe? They might’ve forced him to throw another pearl into that stasis after they pulled it. So if anything happens he’ll just get teleported to the same place again, throw another pearl, and the cycle repeats.”

It was all adding up now. It all seemed like a twisted, frustrating ploy in a last ditch attempt to rid Wemmbu of Egg. But against all odds they had discovered the location of the true final stasis chamber. 

Maybe he should thank Descent for this. 

“He even used his own death as an advantage,” Jaden frowned. “What mentality is this?”

“An ‘if I lose then everyone loses’ mentality.” Wemmbu fired another rocket. Which is why I’m more terrified than ever to know what I’ll find at the stasis chamber.

They glided over snowy peaks before Wemmbu eventually caught sight of the familiar glint of netherite. Five guards were patrolling a small hill in the middle of a clearing surrounded by dark oak trees. The snow fell lighter here, but it was still freezing. 

He gestured for Yungy and Jaden to stop. They hovered in the air warily. 

“Okay, this is the plan. We go in, we slaughter them all, and we save Egg. Okay?” Wemmbu said.

Jaden held up a hand. “Shouldn’t we find the exact location of where Egg’s stasis is kept first?”

Wemmbu paused. Then nodded. “The first priority is Egg. I’ll go find him and his stasis. Yungy and Jaden, you both distract the guards and do whatever it takes to ensure I get to him. After you kill everyone, make sure Egg gets out safely.”

“I got you man.” Yungy pulled out his sword. 

Bottles of potions shattered. Without a further word, they charged.

The first sound of death rang out as Jaden smashed his mace against a guard. Wemmbu saw Yungy wince at the sickening crack of their skull.

“There’s more inside the hill!” Jaden called out as more guards began to emerge from a burrowed entrance. Wemmbu shot towards them with a spear in hand, catching one by the knick of their armour and driving into soft flesh. They let out a cry as blood dripped out. 

Yungy appeared at his side and sliced his sword at the incoming guards, making them freeze upon recognising the former Royal. The momentary pause made it easy for Yungy to slash one at their throat. The guard crumpled onto the ground.

“Yungy, what are you doing!” Wemmbu heard someone scream. Swords clashed as the guards rushed towards Yungy, who only raised his own weapon wordlessly. Wemmbu took this distraction as an opportunity to slip by for a more important mission—searching for Egg.

Another guard chased after him as he sprinted down a narrow hallway. They’ve expanded the hill to create an underground bunker of sorts, he realised upon reaching a spiralling stairway. He turned to face the guard, who skittered to a stop.

“Leave.” Wemmbu swapped to his sword and flourished it. The blade glinted in the dimly lit tunnel.

The guard rushed forward, ignoring his warning. Wemmbu brought up his shield to block an incoming blow before driving his sword into their neck. The guard collapsed.

A hand grabbed onto his ankle, and Wemmbu felt himself being pulled towards the ground. He shoved the guard away and aimed a kick at their chest. His spear manifested into his hands and pierced through the thick metal of their armour. There was a gurgling noise as they struggled before they finally slumped, unmoving.

He turned away to stare at the stairway. It was long and deep and he could barely see what was at the bottom of it, but he could guess. “You know what? I’m just gonna—” He pulled out a shulker box.

A blast blew through the entirety of the stairway as he snapped a fishing rod. He held up his shield to absorb the damage. Peering down the crater formed, he could see that it led into an underground room. Its walls and flooring were completely encased in obsidian and blast-proof blocks. 

He jumped down immediately, ignoring the pain that jolted through his knees as his soles hit the ground hard. 

“Don’t you dare.”

He spun around to see a familiar Royal—Andaboar, he thinks his name was—standing at the back of the room. A stasis chamber was set in the middle, a new pearl floating at the surface of the water. Andaboar had one hand clenched around the collar of Egg’s shirt while the other held a sword up to the other’s throat.

Wemmbu felt his heart drop.

“If you don’t play nice,” Andaboar said slowly. “I’ll kill him in front of you.”

The blade dug into Egg’s skin, just deep enough to draw blood. Egg seemed barely responsive, with only the slightest twitch of his hand showing that he was still conscious. 

“Egg,” Wemmbu called out. His voice shook. “Can you answer me?”

Weakly, Egg spluttered out an inaudible word. Wemmbu’s hands curled in fury.

“Give him back.” Wemmbu said coldly. 

Andaboar sighed. “I didn’t expect you to find us this quickly.”

“Yeah, real talk for someone who built a so-called prison that had a huge tunnel leading directly to this underground room,” Wemmbu snorted. “Even I know better. Now give him back.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“What’s the point in all of this?” Wemmbu asked, taking a step forward. His boots thudded against the obsidian tiles. Andaboar gripped his sword tighter, and Egg inhaled sharply. Wemmbu stilled.

“Arachnid is already dead. There’s no point in doing this anymore.” He tried.

“We had orders.” Andaboar said calmly. As if Wemmbu was just a minor inconvenience. As if he didn’t care what would happen to Egg, Wemmbu’s best friend, his most important person on the server. “Besides, not everything is about Arachnid.”

“I don’t care about your stupid orders. I—” There was a lump in his throat threatening to burst. His chest tightened. “Just hand him over to me, and I won’t kill you.”

Andaboar tilted his head as if contemplating. Then he shrugged. “No.”

In a flash, he threw an ender pearl—Egg crumpled to the ground—and slashed his sword at Wemmbu. A sharp pain pierced through his left arm, and he hissed. He immediately sprung back, tightening his grip on his sword.

The enclosed space was suffocating, making him feel trapped with no way out. With his mace broken and out of commission, he could only use his sword and sometimes the spear to counter the Royal’s attacks. It was obvious, then, how his reliance on Gambit began to backfire on him. 

He was used to using height and the air to his advantage. Without Gambit, he was a far cry from his usual strength. To make matters worse, he couldn’t concentrate with Egg slumped on the ground bleeding out. He knew the other was hanging on by a thread, and he doesn’t even know what kind of injuries he’d sustained during the entirety of his time as a hostage. Prisoner. Whatever he was.

He could use explosives to his advantage, but he couldn’t risk one of them accidentally hitting Egg. And he also knew that if worst comes to worst, Andaboar would definitely use Egg as leverage to stop his orbitals. And that was too big of a risk to take.

“Egg!” He yelled. He dodged a strike to his neck and pivoted backwards, blocking another blow with his sword. He kicked at the Royal’s legs, forcing them to lose balance, and turned towards where Egg was slumped on the ground. “Egg? Can you get up?”

He tried to run towards Egg, but Andaboar had already gotten up and swung his sword at his unguarded back, forcing him to wrench his attention away from his best friend. He heard the faintest crack of his armour. If only he had Gambit, maybe it would have been different. Maybe he would have already defeated the Royal, maybe Egg would have already been safe and away from this dank, dark, empty room—

He gasped as he took a particularly nasty hit to the side, the blade slicing through skin and bursting into blood. He doubled over and choked out a breath, feeling his lungs expanding and contorting jerkily. The pain was searing and burned deep into the crevice of his bones.

His hand shook, and his grip began to slack on the hilt of his sword. He can’t do this, he wasn’t reacting the same as he usually would. His ears rang as his head pounded, each heartbeat thumping like waves against a breaking dam. 

“I didn’t expect you to be this easy to fight,” Andaboar commented almost offhandedly, and Wemmbu could barely spare another glance back at Egg before he was forced backwards towards the wall as their swords collided over and over again. 

“Just let him go,” Wemmbu spat out, each ragged breath almost painful to take. The dissonance in his ears was building up, cacophonous and mind-wrecking. His head spun. He felt a huge weight pressing against his temple. The room was shattered into a thousand colors.

“Wemmbu.” Their blades screeched like nails on walls. “We wouldn’t be fighting right now if I could just let him go.”

His hand itched to pull out a fishing rod. But he couldn’t. Not when Egg was still here, trapped in this box with him, within range and within danger and staining the ground red. 

He was so, so close. He doesn’t even want to fight, not anymore. He just wants to get Egg and go—

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sudden shift of shadows.

“Yungy!” Wemmbu yelled.

Yungy dropped down into the room and crashed into Andaboar. They fell onto the ground rolling, with Yungy recovering quick enough to aim a kick towards the other Royal’s rib. Andaboar cried out and staggered up, surprise flashing in his eyes upon seeing who he was facing.

“Yungy?” Andaboar asked, bewildered. Then, seemingly steeling himself, he bit out, “I should’ve known.”

“Wemmbu, leave!” Yungy yelled furiously. Wemmbu snapped into motion. He ran towards the center of the room and slammed the trapdoor of the stasis chamber down hard. Egg immediately dropped in front of him and Wemmbu’s arms shot out to catch him.

He was so cold. The metallic scent of blood rotted the air. Wemmbu didn’t dare to wait a second longer before putting on his elytra hastily and sending up a flurry of fireworks to fly out of the room.

“Wait—” Andaboar’s voice faded as Wemmbu burst out of the obsidian room, sprinting along the hallway. Jaden was guarding the entrance, fighting off the remaining guards. His trident spun so quickly it became a blur, slashing a path open for Wemmbu and Egg to escape. 

“Get him somewhere safe!” Jaden darted next to Wemmbu and flung up his shield, deflecting an arrow that had been shot in his direction. “Yungy and I can meet up with you afterwards.”

Wemmbu didn’t need to be told twice, he was already setting off dozens of rockets, propelling himself into the air. He could thank the two later. For now, he had to leave.

But where could he go? The houses they’ve built have either been located or destroyed. The end dimension was too far away, Egg would have lost too much blood by the time they reached it. They’ve never had a permanent address on this server, with Wemmbu constantly on the run and Egg being dragged into all of his crimes. He regrets it now, how they never had the comfort of residing in a place that could’ve lasted for a long time, a place to call home. 

But what other choice did he have? He could only think of the treehouse, their latest place of residence before everything went downhill. He desperately hoped that it would still be intact and act as some resemblance of a shelter, or at least buy them some time for Egg to recover before it would inevitably be found.

If he could recover, a tiny voice said. Wemmbu bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He can’t think like that right now. Because if he lost hope, who was left to save Egg?

Regeneration potions. Golden apples. Bread, carrots, mushrooms for stew, as Egg probably couldn’t handle eating meat in this condition. He probably has some leftover potions in his chest, but he wasn’t sure. What if he doesn’t have enough? What if he can’t find any in time? 

His mind whirled as he continued to fly, igniting rockets furiously. He was running low, but that’s alright, they can wait. Rockets can be restocked and regained. Egg can’t. He has one life and one life only. Wemmbu just has to reach the treehouse as quickly as possible. 

When the stone structure finally came into view, he felt like he could sob in relief. He has never felt so happy seeing that ugly diamond-shaped thing. He quickly landed in front of the treehouse, careful not to jostle his best friend, and barged into the place.

He settled him down onto the bed, not even bothering to care about how the blood was seeping into the sheets. Quickly, he rummaged through his ender chest for regeneration potions and carefully splashed it onto Egg. He watched as the wounds began to close, and finally let out a shaky exhale. 

With the adrenaline fading, the pain from his wounds were starting to become startlingly sharp. He unclasped his own armour, each piece thudding heavily onto the wooden floor, and downed a regeneration potion in one go. The tingly feeling spread across his body as it worked to seek out the most life-threatening wounds, before healing the rest.

Slowly, with a kind of softness he never knew his hands could bear, he placed a handful of blankets onto the bed, tucking Egg in. The other was still horribly cold, and he needed to be warmed up as soon as possible. Wemmbu couldn’t risk him getting hypothermia, especially in such a vulnerable state.

He wrung out the water from Egg’s hair using a sheepskin cloth, imitating what the other has done for him for so many times whenever he lay injured and feverish. It came away dirty and red-stained, melted snow mixed with dried blood. The bandages were still tied around Egg’s eyes. They looked fresh and newly wrapped. Wemmbu gently reached to the back of his head and undid the knot, letting them slip off. His eyes looked sticky and slightly swollen.

“No wonder you’re always blind,” Wemmbu murmured, but even the joke fell short to his own ears. Knowing that Egg might’ve had his vision restricted, whether intentionally or not, made his stomach churn uncomfortably. And with him being trapped in Arachnid’s kingdom and manoeuvred around in dank prisons for who knows how long without seeing the light of the day, it must have been unbearable.

He sat down on the floor next to the bed, resting one arm on the sheets, and just—sat there.

The door was still broken from his last encounter with the invisible guy. Wemmbu knew he should be fixing it, or even doing a quick sweep around the place just in case there were any signs of danger or anyone being too close to their base for comfort. But he just couldn't get up, not now. Even the very thought of it made him flinch. Too many close calls, too many what-ifs and maybes and if-onlys have happened over the past few weeks. Every torturous second of self doubt and negligence of his own safety, every peeling shred of his insanity lost, all for this person next to him. 

And now that he’s back, there’s no way he’s leaving again.

His eyes grew heavy. He wrenched them open. If anything happened while he fell asleep, he would never forgive himself.

He got up. Prepared some ingredients for a stew. He then realised he had no mushrooms, so he decided to chop up a few carrots into tiny bits instead. Then he stored them away in his chest and went back to Egg, because it was already making his heart clench a little tighter when he wasn’t next to the other.

Egg’s breathing eventually evened out into soft puffs, better than the shaky exhales from a moment ago that sounded taut and unnatural. Wemmbu tried to relax and forced his shoulders to drop from their tense, rigid line, although his mind still spun. It should be alright now.

A breeze blew by the house and into the room. He heard the great branches outside shiver and the leaves rustle in harmony. He sighed and got up to replace the broken door with new oak ones. The light shone through the decorative gaps.

Night fell, slow for the first time in weeks. If he peered out of the window on the upper floor, he would be able to see stars and a waning moon. The world felt small and peaceful and quiet. Nestled in the crook of a valley, with Egg by his side, unconsciously, he closed his eyes.

Somewhere, a comet burned across the atmosphere. A wishing star.

Wemmbu woke up to a startled cry.

He shot up, nearly tripping over as his foot caught onto a bundle of blankets. Some of them had been thrown off the bed, discarded and crumpled on the floor. “Egg?” Wemmbu asked panickedly. 

“Wemmbu.” Egg croaked out. His hands were raised to his eyes and were clawing at them furiously. Wemmbu reached out and grasped onto the other’s wrists, dazed and worried.

“What’s wrong?” His voice raised. “Do your eyes hurt?”

“The bandages,” Egg choked out, curling into himself defensively. Wemmbu immediately snatched the bandages out of his ender chest and pushed it into Egg’s hands, who pressed them against his eyes insistently. His hands were shaking.

“Is it the light?” Wemmbu asked. His heart was thrumming hard against his chest, a beating crescendo. The ringing in his ears was back.

“Yeah.” Egg replied. His voice was calmer now, less agonised, but he was still breathing heavily. He looped the bandages around his head before tugging the ends into a knot. Wemmbu couldn’t shake the image of the other disarrayed and in pain. The sudden adrenaline sliced the tendons of his heart with fear. 

They sat in silence, with Wemmbu not knowing what to say. It felt like a million words weren’t enough to express what he felt at the moment, anger and worry and guilt battling in a raging war. The emotions bore hulking armour and sharp-edged weapons. They twist and gnaw at the others like merciless savages.

“Do you—do you feel better?” The words splintered at the last syllable. The corners of Egg’s mouth turned up slightly upon hearing the voice crack. 

“Yeah.” Egg leaned back onto the bed, his back facing the wall so that he could look at Wemmbu.

“What happened?” Wemmbu asked brokenly.

“While I was being transported around, I got some kind of eye infection.” Egg explained. “I had to bandage it up because all the dust and damp surroundings made my eyes irritated.”

“And the light?”

“Most of the prisons were sealed or had little light source. They probably didn’t want me to know where I was in case I could somehow figure out a way to leak my location to you.” Egg shrugged, as if it was casual, as if it was nothing. “And I be telling them, there’s no way I could do that. But the prison you rescued me from, that one was completely dark until you punctured that hole into the ceiling.”

“And how long were you kept like this?” 

“I ain’t got no clue. I wasn’t in the optimal condition to keep track of time.” Egg scrunched up his nose, contemplating. “From when you pulled my stasis to when you came to save me.”

“What about the infection? Is it still—you know, active?”

“It’s mostly gone, to be honest. The problem is mainly the light.”

The silence buzzed like static. Wemmbu fiddled with a strand of hair that had fallen out of his unkempt ponytail.

“That’s sensory deprivation,” Wemmbu said quietly.

“It is,” Egg agreed.

Guilt slaughters rage with brutal hands. It reigns as the winner in the anarchist world of feelings. There is only regret and remorse blended in a crimson-stained turmoil, suffocating all his thoughts until it is all that exists.

“Are you hungry?” He asked instead.

Egg made a noncommittal hum. “Do you have food left?”

Wemmbu got up to rummage through his chest for the stew he had prepared, before blocking up the door with some leftover blocks. He then handed Egg the stew and watched as the other sat up on the bed, struggling to support himself with his elbows and hands. 

“Yo, thanks.” Egg drank the stew carefully. When he finished, he placed the bowl down next to him. 

“Eat this too.” Wemmbu gathered some bread and a few chopped up slices of golden apples. He broke the bread into small pieces before handing them to Egg.

It took the other a while to finish all the food, but when he did Wemmbu was pleased to see that he finally looked more energised and less pale. Nutrition truly did wonders.

The house fell silent once more as Wemmbu brushed away the crumbs on the bed. He heard Egg shift as he arranged his legs in a more comfortable sitting position. 

“So.” Egg started, almost nonchalant if not for the telling lilt in his tone. Barely there and unnoticeable. But Wemmbu noticed. He always does.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Wemmbu sighed, choosing to lean on the wall next to the bed. “What are you implying?”

“This whole hostage situation. The cave kingdom situation.” Egg frowned. “Is Arachnid really dead?”

Wemmbu swallowed. “Yes.”

“You killed him?”

A pause. “I did.”

He wondered if that was the right thing to say. But then again, Arachnid wasn’t the first person to be killed for getting in his way, nor was he one of few. And leaving the cave kingdom was always Wemmbu’s priority, along with saving Egg. It was only a matter of time before the former leader was assassinated.

There was silence. An empty crater of space that was so often effortlessly filled with easy conversations. Then—

“And your mace?”

Wemmbu flinched. He forced himself to speak. “What?”

“Gambit.” Despite the bandages, Wemmbu felt Egg staring at him. He looked away. “Did something happen?”

He felt his lip tremble. “How did you know?”

“I couldn’t hear it. While you were fighting that guard in the prison. Something must have happened for you to not use it.” 

“So you were conscious.”

“Barely, bro. Barely.”

There was a lump in his throat as they fell silent again. A few minutes passed with Egg waiting patiently for Wemmbu to speak. Deciding that he couldn’t escape from this situation, Wemmbu reluctantly took his mace out of his inventory, carefully lowering it to the ground in front of the bed.

“It broke.” Wemmbu stated dully. “During my fight with Flame. While I was trying to destroy your stasis chambers.”

Egg shifted slightly. “And you didn’t repair it?”

“I—” Wemmbu hesitated. How could he explain the unbearable heaviness that had taken up inside his chest every time he had to fight, just for his hope to see Egg be torn away by the cruel hands of Arachnid? The thrum of power and strength that had felt more like the burn of a wildfire mocking him with every strike. How sometimes, in the darkest moments, he even wished for it to break apart. How it would spell out his end, which had sometimes felt like mercy. How repairing his mace felt too undeserving at times, because fixing it would only mean he would be used as a weapon again while Egg would forever be known as a bargaining chip and nothing else. How when it finally broke, the agony was increased tenfold because of the sheer guilt, helplessness, and the whispers of you wanted this.

So he doesn’t. Instead, he said, “It was too late.”

He watched as Egg twisted his hands together, wringing them. There was an almost repetitive pattern in it, fingers interlacing and separating, knuckles pressing against each other before they changed to fidget with the nails. Egg’s mouth was drawn into a thin line, bordering on nervous. It was an emotion he has never shown around Wemmbu, or at least, Wemmbu’s never been the cause of it. Not until now.

“Are you okay?” Egg finally decided to ask. There was a blend of caution and worry in his voice.

Wemmbu crossed his arms defensively. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” The words shot out sharply. If he spent another moment speaking, the lump in his throat would’ve broken out into an unmistakable sob.

“Wemmbu. Seriously.” Egg tried again. “Gambit—”

“—was my mace.” Wemmbu interrupted him. “Just my mace. That’s all.”

“Don’t be daft. I know how much Gambit meant to you, ain’t nobody believing you right now.” Egg leaned back, tense. “We wouldn’t have gone on the Farlands quest if Gambit was just a mace, even if it was one of the limited few left. You—is it that bad, that you won’t even talk to me about it?”

“I don’t want to talk about this now.” Wemmbu snapped. His armour scraped against the wall as he pushed himself up. 

“Wemmbu.”

“Egg.”

Egg went silent. Wemmbu couldn’t help but notice anything, everything. Leaves, rustling outside from the breeze. The tiny bridge creaking. His mind dissolved into static, piercing and loud. There was too little and too much noise all the same. The room was dark. Only the froglights glowed.

“Okay.” Egg laid down onto the bed. This time, he turned so that he was facing the wall. “Sorry.”

Wemmbu felt ripped apart.

“Do you—” His voice cracked. He hates voice cracks. “Do you need anything to get used to the light again or whatever?”

“It’s better now.” Egg’s voice was muffled from the blankets. He had pulled them up to his chin at some point. “I just need time to adjust.”

“Yeah okay.” 

“Okay.”

Wemmbu stepped away from the bed and climbed up the stairs. This was the room where he kept all his spare materials in chests. On one side, a row of shelves were filled with an assortment of random books, wordlessly taken over by Egg at some point before everything had happened. The window was stretched wide across the front of a desk, morning rays filtering through in large, deep slates of light.

He paused. Then, he took out some random blocks again and blocked it up, leaving only a tiny gap at the top. The light was weaker now. Present, but just right. Not bright enough to hurt.

Faintly, he wondered if Yungy and Jaden were alright. He knew they would probably be successful in defeating the rest of the guards, so he wasn’t worried much. Maybe he’ll let them inside the treehouse if they do manage to find him and Egg. Or maybe he’ll ask them to stay somewhere near. A nagging part of him didn’t want them to find the treehouse yet. This moment felt as if it was borrowed time, too fragile and vulnerable of a space to have anyone else around. 

He left Gambit downstairs, he realised. Next to Egg, who was hopefully asleep now.

He made his way down the staircase, careful not to make a sound. Egg was still laying on the bed, his chest rising and falling in the unmistakable pattern of sleep. Gambit was still on the ground, broken and heavy. He lifted it up and placed it back into his inventory gently.

It felt somewhat like uncharted territory, this uneasy silence. But there was something reassuring too seeing Egg present and alive in front of him. As if everything would be fine now that Egg was safe.

And that’s all that matters.

Two fleeting days have passed. Wemmbu had been on edge the entire time, whether consciously or not, the feeling of being found and put in danger once more still a looming, inescapable fear that shadowed them like a dark cloud. Yet nothing had happened. And Wemmbu was more than relieved, although still cautious and untrusting.

Egg had gotten better too. By the time the third day had arrived, he was finally more comfortable maneuvering around and was gaining more of his energy back after being weakened and having his movement mostly restricted in a small, cramped prison. His eyes, despite still being sensitive to the light, were also better than before. He was finally able to take off his bandages long enough without immediately getting headaches, seizures, or having bright white afterimages.

Wemmbu had given him fresh new ones instead of the one Egg had originally worn, mainly because it was hygienic to change them every few hours, but also because he was uncomfortable seeing his best friend wearing something that was given from the prison he had been held hostage in. He was also adamant in giving Egg food first, opting to wait for him to finish eating first before Wemmbu ate what remained.

It made Egg hesitant, Wemmbu knew. The small pauses, careful acceptance of the food given were more than enough evidence. But he didn’t worry much. As long as the other had enough nourishment. He was also careful in making sure that Egg wasn’t trying to slyly eat less than what he needed to save more for Wemmbu. Devious guy.

The conversation from a few days ago—or argument, Wemmbu didn’t really know what it had been—still lingered, like fog over clustered cities. Most of their days went by being uneventful and quiet, which would’ve been comforting, if not for how restless it made Wemmbu feel.

It was primarily due to the apprehension clouding the air. A crack under the surface that was waiting to shatter. A deceptive calm before the breach of a thousand spears. The weighty pause as one waits under the guillotine. Tensions were high, to say the least. And Wemmbu—he doesn’t know how to fix it.

His methods of resolving problems have always been physical. Violence has always spoken faster than his words. Sword over pen. But this wasn’t like facing an army of hundreds. No, it was only one person, one terrifyingly important person, his one and only best friend. And when forced to acknowledge this sort of situation, Wemmbu felt lost and completely stumped. He could only hope such tension would naturally dissipate over the course of a few more days.

He didn’t have to wait long for his thoughts to be proven as wishful thinking. He had been rummaging through his chests for lapis and flowers to make purple dye, replacing the Arachnid shield with a new insignia. Egg was standing next to the door staring out. They had removed the blocks after his eyes had gotten better.

(“Yo, why did this dude genuinely use magenta glazed terracotta.”

“Bro, I just randomly chose them, they were lying around the house—shut up, why are you laughing, you literally had two shulkers of these in the Farlands—”)

“Wemmbu.” Wemmbu halted. Egg’s voice was monotonous, but something felt wrong, and Wemmbu immediately dreaded what was to come.

“Yeah?” He finally found some lapis. He turned it into dye and crushed it together with the red petals, purple staining his hands like wine. He soaked them with a clean cloth.

“I was thinking—”

“—you’re always thinking.”

“So much has happened in the past few months—”

“—well, I can’t really recall a time when nothing happened.”

“Wemmbu.” Egg sounded exasperated. “Can you please let me speak?”

Wemmbu fell silent. His hands stilled where they had been wiping the dye off his skin with another cloth. 

He watched as Egg walked over to the ender chest, and pulled it open. The chest creaked as Egg dug through its contents with a determination that spoke of a single-minded purpose.

Egg stopped, his hands hovering over the opened ender chest. There was a soft pause before he pulled out the item he was looking for.

Wemmbu’s breath hitched. 

“Here.” Egg turned. He stepped closer and held it out. “It belongs to you.”

Crucible sat in his hands like a gift. An offering made by a worshipper to their god. It felt wrong, how Egg cradled the mace like it was an object of repentance, like it was something he owed him. He has never held anything in that way, nor sounded that way, remorseful and guilt-wrecked and filled with defeat. 

The sincerity was the worst, seeping through the cracks of his voice and hands and being. How trusting he was, this unfettered loyalty, yet peeled back in a way that revealed something akin to a parting, an ending, a goodbye.

“Why?” Wemmbu choked out. He doesn’t understand, doesn’t know what Egg was doing. “I gave you that mace a while ago, I—I didn’t think you still had it.”

Egg frowned, a tiny tilt in his lips. “Did it not cross your mind?”

“No.” Wemmbu’s answer was swift but quiet. “No, not really.”

“I kept it safe.” Wemmbu wrenched his gaze away from the mace to stare at Egg, stunned. “I hid it from Arachnid. I don’t think he even knew I had it in my possession.”

“Well, he’s kind of stupid,” Wemmbu tried to joke, but faltered upon seeing Egg’s serious expression.

Egg stepped towards him and pressed it into Wemmbu’s hands gently. “Take it.”

Crucible had always been the smaller one compared to Gambit, more cold to the touch, searing rather than thrumming with energy during battle. Yet now, it only felt weightless, as if there was nothing in his hands.

“Egg,” Wemmbu started, warningly. Something was off. His instincts burned. “What are you doing?”

“I was thinking.” Egg paused, as if expecting the other to interrupt him again. Subconsciously leaving space for Wemmbu to cut in, as if it was second nature. Where there is one, there is the other. Wemmbu stayed quiet. “This world does not follow logic. There are supernaturals that happen beyond our comprehension, and we can only either accept it and stride along with its unyielding current or suffer its wrath. But we, the people in the world, our humanity restricts us to logic. To reason. And this ‘reason’ is the foundation of rights and morals. This ‘reason’ becomes why we are still able to operate under a world often unkind.”

“But what happens to reason when threatened?” Egg’s voice lowered. “What happens if humanity reverts back to its animalistic instincts, and becomes belligerent? They can and will resort to violence. Manipulation. Coercion and ultimatums. All the wrong-doings of the world that moral had once held back.”

“Egg,” Wemmbu said tiredly. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying,” Egg sighed. “As long as you live, those who are threatened by your existence will continue to hunt you down.”

Wemmbu snorted. “I know that.” He folded his arms across his chest. “It’s obvious.”

“But Wemmbu,” Egg continued. “What if those who are targeted by the belligerent still hold onto if not a little shred of humanity? What if the belligerent abuse ultimatums knowing the targeted still operates on reason and faith because they care? Would reason become their undoing?”

“What are you—”

“Would I become your undoing, Wemmbu?”

A sudden fury overcame him, and Wemmbu grabbed onto Egg’s shoulders, shaking him.

“What are you saying?” Wemmbu bit out. “That you’re the reason why I’ll die? That you’re holding me back? That me staying with you—” His voice choked up. “—makes me a lost cause?”

“I didn’t say nothing like that!” Egg’s voice raised, and he ripped the bandages off of his face to glare at Wemmbu. It crumpled in his tightened grip. “I’m—you know the entire server knows that they can just target me to get to you. You’ve lost so much because of this. If I’m the reason why you become vulnerable to others like this, then maybe it would be better if I left—”

“And go where?” Wemmbu yelled. Rage was a furious cacophony in his chest. “You wouldn’t be safe on this server anyways. No one is. And I know, I do know people will use you to get to me. I should know that better than anyone. But why do you think I’ve been trying to get stronger all this time? Is it still not enough? That I’m trying?”

“You’ve been the strongest before.” Egg retorted bitterly. “And it wasn’t enough because people threatened you with me again. You’ll always be running and fighting against your will if you don’t eliminate the root cause of the problem.”

“And the solution is for you to leave?” Wemmbu asked in disbelief. His arms uncrossed as he waved his hands around agitatedly. “In what server, in what world, in what universe do you think this would be a good idea?”

“You’re not seeing the point. You already broke your mace, arguably the most important item you cherish. Countless times you had to sacrifice yourself over and over again, just to save me.” Egg shook his head. He twisted his hands together. “Has it never crossed your mind that it’s painful seeing you do so?”

“Egg, you’re being unreasonable.”

“You live for the battle, the chaos. When there’s nothing on the line.” Egg interrupted him. “I can’t be the one to take that enjoyment away from you, and see you fall into danger over and over again because of me.”

“I don’t give a shit about fighting people.” Wemmbu spat out. He watched Egg flinch in surprise. “Don’t you understand? You—you’re my day one. There’s no one else who can put up with me, who I can trust completely, who has been with me for so long and still decided to trust me despite everything about me that says otherwise.”

 Egg stilled. Wemmbu clutched Crucible close to his chest, felt the blood pound against his ears.

“Back in the temple. Before you were teleported away.” Wemmbu stumbled over his words. It should’ve felt embarrassing in any other scenario, but all he could think about right now was how to convince the other to not leave. “You were the one who told me not to go.”

Egg let out a heavy exhale. “When I said that, I meant to not go where I was held hostage, not to ask you to stay.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

Egg paused. Then he slumped. The fight drained out of him. “Can you?”

It was a loaded question. One that could determine the rest of his life. On one hand, Wemmbu knew Egg was being logical. There was a reason why Egg was deemed his weakness, his Achilles heel, the most prominent flaw despite his dangerous arsenal. Many have warned him about the consequences of letting Egg continue to stay by his side. Injury, loss, or even permanent death itself.

On the other hand, when has he ever thought of anything other than staying? Those who warned him have all failed to succeed. They do not understand. They will never understand. And perhaps, they don’t have to.

It is, after all, Egg and Wemmbu and Wemmbu and Egg. Where there is one there is the other. And it will inevitably remain the same for as long as Egg would let him, as long as there is still time for Wemmbu to garner.

“When have I not?”

Egg looked dumbfounded, before he started to laugh. Short bursts of breaths that sounded more like heaving sobs. “I have taken up the position of your hamartia.”

“I don’t know what that means but sure.” Wemmbu really didn’t, but hearing the other laugh made him hopeful that things would be going in the right direction once more. 

“I am sorry.” Egg said, his voice softening with guilt. “About Gambit. I know it meant a lot to you.”

Wemmbu swallowed. “It did.”

His grip tightened on Crucible as he felt the corners of his eyes burn. Tears seared and threatened to burst. He choked out a breath, and finally the lump in his throat forced out a sob. The ache in his chest never faltered, and it was almost too much to bear.

“I’m sorry.” Egg whispered. He was crushed into a hug as Wemmbu threw his arms around him, the first bit of comfort and warmth within the span of weeks. Crucible slipped out of his grasp and clattered onto the floor. 

“It broke during the fight, and I didn’t know what to do.” Wemmbu said, his voice strained. “And then I had to go on without Gambit because there was no time to stop and think even when we made camp during the journey, because you were just teleported and I had no idea if you would be killed.”

“Then during the fight with Andaboar I could barely do anything and you were just dying.” Wemmbu curled himself tighter around the other. “The entire time I was just thinking of how to get you out, but every second I didn’t know if I could even save you without my mace.”

“You ain’t nothing without a weapon, Wemmbu.” Wemmbu felt the other grip at the back of his shirt. “It doesn’t define you, no matter what you believe or what others choose to make you believe. And I trust you. Even against all odds, you’ve always been able to save me, whether I wanted to be saved or in this case, not.”

“That’s what makes me even more scared I’ll fail.” 

“You’re such a cornball.” Egg said fondly.

“Shut up.”

“You’ve never failed me. And I’m not just talking about winning fights or rescuing me. You’re just Wemmbu, and that’s already enough.”

“Now who’s the one being a cornball?”

“On second thoughts, maybe you should teach me how to fight,” Egg offered.

Wemmbu laughed shakily. “I thought you wanted to become a debuff player.”

“Oh wait, I did say that.”

“Bro.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Egg laughed. It made the pain in his chest loosen slightly. “Bad timing.”

“At least I saved you.” Wemmbu muttered, more to himself than to the other. He felt rather than saw Egg smile, and pulled back to properly see the crinkling of his eyes and the warmth within. 

“All that matters now is that you’re here.”

They stayed like that for a little longer, two souls alive and breathing. There was a whole world outside waiting for them with inexplicable challenges, loose ends to tie up, but it can fade away for now, just for a little, and make space for a moment of vulnerability and peace.

“I just realised,” Wemmbu suddenly spoke up. “I don’t know where Jaden and Yungy went. They were supposed to come here after they finished fighting the rest of the guards.”

Egg snorted. “Did you seriously abandon them?”

“I mean, I was busy trying to save you.” Wemmbu shook his head, picking up Crucible and placing it into his inventory. “Okay, whatever. I’ll just head out to check around the perimeter.”

He pushed open the door and closed it behind him without looking, nearly slamming it into Egg’s face. He spun around to glare at his best friend, who only gave a cheeky peace sign, and sighed. 

“Isn’t it safer for you to stay inside?”

Egg shrugged. “Isn’t it safer by your side?”

And Wemmbu couldn’t really argue with that.

They headed towards the stone structure, with Egg trailing behind to admire the spread of rolling hills and land, his first time outside in months where he was actually free, and Wemmbu slowing his pace to match the other. Eventually, they spotted a small wooden house at a near distance that definitely wasn’t there before.

“Stick to me,” Wemmbu muttered to Egg, who only nodded.

With Crucible manifested into his grasp and a nuke shot ready to be launched, they crept up to the house. 

It was mostly empty and looked quite carelessly built, more like a temporary shelter rather than a permanent home. Wemmbu spotted a few furnaces, crafting tables and a row of chests through the window, but other than those, there wasn’t much furniture. 

He heard the sound of conversations coming from the front of the house, and quickly ducked behind the house, yanking Egg along with him.

“Crouch, crouch!” Wemmbu hissed. 

“—and then I told Descent, ‘there’s no way you’ll win like that’. So I taught him the more efficient way to drain his opponents, and the next time we had to fight, he killed four people all at once!”

“You really like the drain technique, don’t you?”

“Of course! It’s my signature playstyle. I swear I’ve said that before. My signature playstyle—”

Wemmbu let out a relieved sigh, putting away his mace. He recognised those voices.

“Yo.” He stepped out from behind the house, a little amused at the startled look on Yungy and Jaden’s faces. Egg followed slowly. “So where have you guys been?”

“Wemmbu!” Yungy yelled, his face lighting up. “What’s up man? We’ve been waiting for you.”

“We thought it would be best to give you some space with Egg first before we intruded.” Jaden explained, looking relieved. “Glad you guys seem okay now." 

“Wait, so this is where you guys have been? Building a house next to our base?” Wemmbu stared at the wooden house—which seemed more like a shack the more he looked at it—and he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “What happened to the guards then?”

“We killed them pretty quickly after you left.” Yungy said dismissively. “Egg! How are you feeling buddy?” He handed over a few golden apples to Egg.

“I’m so confused,” Egg deadpanned, but accepted the apples nonetheless. “Jaden being here I can comprehend, but aren’t you Arachnid’s right-hand man? Why did you agree to save me?”

“Well that’s a long story,” Yungy chuckled, sounding a little nervous. 

“Honestly, it’s a miracle that you still remember who he is,” Wemmbu added. 

“Bro, I had nothing to do in that prison except for thinking.” Egg shook his head. “And what about Codmaster? Was he in the hostage extraction squad?”

“Cod’s back in the cave kingdom,” Jaden said. “He didn’t want to leave despite all the chaos. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“That’s what we were discussing earlier actually,” Yungy said, his voice suddenly turning serious. “I was telling Jaden how I would probably be heading back to the cave kingdom after we met up with you and Egg, since I’m still a little worried about the existence of that detonation button.”

“Oh yeah, the explosives right?” Wemmbu realised. He did promise to help Yungy destroy the button after saving Egg.

“What explosives?” Egg asked, sounding more and more befuddled.

“Wemmbu, did you not catch him up on what happened?” Jaden asked, sounding amused.

“Okay, maybe not, but like—” Wemmbu crossed his arms defensively. Was it so bad that he forgot to tell Egg all the details because he had been too focused on his recovery? “Whatever bro. Egg, I’ll just catch you up on everything later.”

“So, the question now is,” Yungy continued. “Where will you guys go after this?”

“I mean, I did say that I’ll go back to the kingdom with you.” Jaden nodded in agreement. “So I guess that’s where we’re headed.”

“Who’s we?” Egg’s voice became high pitched. “Brother, I ain’t going back there.”

Wemmbu paused. Oh.

He understood why Egg would be reluctant to go back to the cave kingdom. It was, after all, a place that had held him hostage for months, damp and devoid of sunlight. But the thought of leaving the other behind made him shiver just a little. 

He looked at Egg. The blue of his eyes were stark under the afternoon sun, clear of the haze that had swamped his vision just days ago. The crisp lines of his white shirt, a rare sight of him without his black suit jacket, his hair neat and combed. Everything screamed comfort and safety. There was little sign of the exhausted, crumpled image that had engulfed him while he had been held hostage. 

Wemmbu swallowed. He couldn’t be the one to take that safety away from him. Not after everything they’ve gone through.

Egg shifted, uncertainty evident in the way he pulled at his sleeves almost subtly. Wemmbu sighed, raking a hand through his hair. It fell long and loose down his shoulders, freed from its usual tight ponytail.

“I mean,” Egg spoke up, and Wemmbu tensed, focusing intently on what he was about to say. “If you have to go back, I could just stay at the Wheat Civilisation for a while. They protected me last time.”

“But what if you get kidnapped again?” Wemmbu argued, immediately shutting down that idea. “And no, what are you talking about, they didn’t protect you. Flame still kidnapped you at the end with that invisible guy.” 

“Bro, it’s Flame,” Egg pointed out matter-of-factly. “I didn’t want them to die.”

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why it’s such a bad idea!” Wemmbu’s voice raised. “You know what, Yungy, sorry bro, but you might have to find that button on your own. With Jaden, if he’s willing.”

“Yeah, I can help,” Jaden offered just as Egg protested, “Wemmbu!”

“What?” Wemmbu snapped. “I’m trying not to get you killed!”

“Actually, I agree with Wemmbu.” Yungy interjected. He seemed to be deep in thought when he spoke again. “When I defeated Andaboar, he said something that didn’t make sense. He said that ‘this wasn’t over’. As if he was warning me.”

Wemmbu frowned. “But Arachnid’s already dead. Most of the Royals are gone too. What could he be talking about?”

“I don’t know.” Yungy looked troubled, worry clouding his face. “But the more I think about it, maybe it’s not the best idea for you to go back to the kingdom right now, since it’ll leave Egg vulnerable as well.”

“Plus you just got rescued after being held hostage for like months,” Wemmbu continued, more to Egg than to anyone else. He watched the tension slowly bleed out of Egg’s shoulders. “Yungy, Jaden, when will you both be leaving?”

“I’d rather get going sooner,” Yungy said, staring at the distant horizon. “I feel like the kingdom is probably plunged into chaos right now because of everything that has happened.”

“If you need help, you’ll know where to find me,” Wemmbu offered. “Although we might have to change locations soon, because I’m pretty sure some people know where this base is.”

“Yeah, I got you.” Yungy looked at Jaden, who nodded. “Then we should probably head off now. I’ve honestly sorted through my inventory and restocked with what I can too many times.”

“We had quite some time on our hands while waiting for you,” Jaden chuckled. He tugged at the edge of his hat, sweeping it off of his head. The corner of his eyes crinkled. “Then I guess we’ll see you later.”

“Bye Wemmbu!” Yungy called, as they both took out their elytras, but paused. He stepped towards Wemmbu and handed him a bundle of dark cloth.

“In return for my help, do me a favour and burn this, would you?”

He grinned, before igniting a firework. It exploded into tiny crystals of white sparks as he shot up into the sky where Jaden was already waiting. Wemmbu watched as they flew across the valley until they faded into tiny spots in the sky. His hands curled into the fabric.

Egg stood by his side, staring at the horizon. “You didn’t have to do that,” he murmured. Monotonous, but Wemmbu read the hidden emotions easily.

“I meant what I said, you know.” Wemmbu looked back towards Egg, sincerity clear and evident in his voice. I’m staying, for whatever it takes.  

And Egg looked like he understood as well. The corners of his mouth lifted up. Me too.

“We do have to move though,” Wemmbu started trudging back to the treehouse, hearing the familiar pattern of Egg’s footsteps fall behind him. He slowed down to wait for the other so that they were walking side by side. “I know some people that know of this base’s location. It’s practically just luck at this point that they haven’t come to attack us yet.”

“Where do we go?” Egg asked. 

Wemmbu shrugged. “Wherever, whatever. A couple hundred thousand blocks out on each side. Somewhere they won’t find us so easily.”

“Does this mean I can finally live my life out fishing and chilling?”

“I guess so.” They stopped in front of the treehouse. Wemmbu pushed open the door and started packing up. “Let’s leave tonight.”

“Yo, help me pack all my books in my base.” Wemmbu stared at Egg, exasperated. Really?

“Fine.” Wemmbu huffed. “Come on, let’s go.”

The sun spilled liquid gold over the slopes. It is the cusp of evening where the world becomes delicate and painted in orange hues. The faint silhouette of the moon rising. Wemmbu raised a hand. It is so small it perches easily at the tip of his finger.

When night eventually breaches, there will be stars and the start of a new beginning. All things lost and forgotten will wash over with time. Until then, there are those living in the present to protect and remember.

“What is that anyways?” Egg asked as he piled a particularly heavy stack of books into Wemmbu’s arms, gesturing at the cloth slung next to the lectern. Wemmbu glanced over towards it, before shaking his head. The corner of his mouth curled into a small smile.

“Just a cloak.” He heaved the books over to an empty shulker box, careful not to let the covers crease as he placed them inside. “Is that all?”

“Yeah.” Egg said, pleased. They clambered out of his base. When he looked up towards the sky, his hair was like white flames under the setting sun, flickering in the breeze. “The sunset is nice today.”

They’ll be alright.