Chapter Text
Red light from the laptop illuminated my worn face, as I stared at the death screen. "TheMostMayo didn't want to live in the same world as D3rlord3" it read.
I squinted my eyes, silently begging the tears to go away. I surpressed my shaky breathes, hopelessly attempting to prevent myself from hyperventilating. My fingers twitched, slowly moving my mouse towards the respawn button.
Outside, the sky exploded into an artistry of noise. Every colour shone bright, eradicating the darkness. But the Yellow stood out more than any other colour. I wanted to tear my gaze away from that godforsaken colour, but it enamoured me more than any other hue.
I shook my head and a singular tear made its way down my cheeks. I forced my gaze away from the window, back towards the laptop.
I closed minecraft. I was left on the starting screen, where my wallpaper was staring back at me. A picture of four people.
It featured four teenagers, in what looked like a queue for a rollercoaster in a theme park. They had the most genuine smiles, and were all embracing eachother. The sun was shining down on them and the skies were clear.
The one in the center was wearing a Yellow jumper.
I turned the laptop off and lay my head on my desk. My shoulders shook and I sucked in a heavy breath. The world seemed to pause for me, if only for a millisecond. And I held myself in with it.
I then let myself go and cried.
I had failed. I had failed at saving him. Him. D3rlord3. Derek.
He had gone so far, taken every measure to ensure my safety, when he didn't even know me yet.
And when it had come to me, to return the favour, I failed. I let him down. And now he was dead.
I never got the chance to get to know him. He knew everything about me. My habit of chewing on pens. The names of my elementary school bullies. How I always forget to charge my headphones. My tendency to trust complete strangers. Despite never even meeting me, and he cared. He had cared so so so much
And I never got to meet him. To give him a chance to tell his story. To figure out his quirks. To see his eyes when he smiled. To get to bring him joy.
And it was my fault. All of it, was my fault.
I was a failure to my core. A mistake. If I had never been born, Derek would have been able to get out.
Without me, he would have survived.
So I cried.
●●●
When I finally had shed all tears in my eyes, and my body was empty of all energy, I stood up.
I was devoid of any emotion. Where my heart should be, where pain and grief should be, I instead found a gaping hole.
That knowledge hurt,
"Like a truck" I finished in my head.
Upon daring to glance outside, I learned the fireworks had gone. An occasional colourful, noisy blast ruled the only exception.
My alarmclock flickered. 05:37, it read.
I hauled myself to my apartment kitchen. I left the lights off. Numb and apathetic, I poured water in my favourite glass. It had pink lines and Yellow dots.
I emptied the glass.
I smashed the glass on the counter.
I blinked the tears out of my eyes.
Blood droplets from my hand coloured the shards Yellow.
I shook my head.
Red blood steadily poured from several wounds.
I shuddered, but shook my worries off my shoulder.
While clearing the glass shards I accidentally got another cut on the back of my hand.
I poured water in my second favourite glass, and sipped at it until it was empty.
I decided I'd had enough for today. I was dead tired, numbed and broken. It was a new year, and I carried new scars
I carried my empty vessel body up towards my bedroom.
I shot up straight, all exhaustion dissipated, when the involuntary word made its way through my head. But I shrugged it off.
In my room I had hung up pictures. Of flowers.
They were nice flowers.
Not Yellow flowers
They were blue flowers. Orchids.
I had hung them up before I even found Derek's Laptop. Before I used it to play Minecraft. Before everything changed.
Once, I had found blue orchids gorgeous.
But now I had urges to claw the pictures off of the walls.
"Does free will exist? Was I always meant to tend for flowers?"
I wrapped myself in my bedsheets and allowed myself to pass out.
●●●
I didn't know if I was dreaming or something entirely different when He first reached out to me.
His grip engulfed me into His dimension, despite my futile struggles. It was a truly disturbing, intimidating, grief-strucken, Yellow plain.
I was too exhausted, too numb, too far gone to put up any more of a struggle. I hung still in His grip when He first showed himself.
His face was like a mouth, with teeth ready to devour whomever He surrounded Himself with. His eyes, a deep blue, green, brown, Yellow, pierced the plain, hunting for an innocent preybird. His smile curved at the edges with the hopes and dreams of His victims. It resembled their thoughts, it symbolised their final desperate efforts to escape His grip.
His voice was the worst of all. His voice carried the aftertaste of fireworks.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
You are here.
You are alone"
He spoke. His booming voice eliminated all silence the plain could have held.
Frightened beyond anything I'd ever known, I dangled in His grip, trembling with fear. My stomach had tied a knot in itself. I blinked. I was petrified, scared, terrified. There are no words to describe the fright that pumped through my veins.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
Do you know why you are here?
Do you know why you are alone?"
I shook my head. I felt tears running down my cheeks. No matter how much I convinced myself of my bravery, I would always be a coward.
"Please. Please, let me go. I can't- I- I want to go. I don't- Who are you?"
My voice was shaky and unsure. I stumbled over my words and no sentence could convey the necessity at which I wanted to return to my bed.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
Your presence is required.
I am your King. My name does not matter.
You are here because I wished it to be so.
You are alone because I wished it to be so."
I almost choked.
The King. My King.
The endless Yellow plain closed in on itself. Claustrophobia raised from my guts into my throat, and I fell into a coughing fit.
I was not meant to be here. He hadn't called me. He couldn't have controlled me.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
You know me.
You need me.
For there is an opportunity only I can give you.
You are here because you need to be.
You are alone because you need to be.
I staggered in His grip. "Wha-"
I breathed. In, and out. The air filled my lungs with cowardice and false hope.
"Opportunity? Please don't- I want- Give me an explanation."
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
I posses all knowledge.
Knowledge on you.
Knowledge on your loss.
Derek Hutchins.
You are here because he's dead.
You are alone because he's dead.
I gasped for air. No...
Not that name. Not that loss. Not those memories.
I went very still. My tears ran out and my energy depleted. I was ready to listen, and obey.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
I am unsatisfied.
There is something I want.
I need you for that.
In return, I will enable you to have access to your friend.
For five more times.
If I haven't gotten my heart's desire by then,
You and I both die.
You are here because we only need eachother.
You are alone because we only need eachother.
The rational part of my brain told me to decline His offer. He was purposefully being vague. He was withholding information. He didn't disclose what He wanted. How He needed me. He was manipulating me.
But the emotional part of my brain disagreed. I could get another chance. A chance to save Derek. If I could give Him what he wanted, I had a slight chance, the tiniest sliver of probability to get my happy ending.
To kill Him, oh so Magnanimous to offer you up to five second chances.
And, at my core I was an optimist. Or, so I liked to believe.
So I extended my hand, out into the vast emptiness Yellowness of the plain.
"Avery.
Avery.
Avery.
Remember the condition.
You are here because you want to be.
You are alone because you want to be.
His claw-like hands engulfed mine.
We shook hands.