Chapter Text
— Wifies POV —
He was alive. His words about the TNT hidden beneath the pressure plates? Lies. What would have happened if Parrot had stepped off, and the TNT exploded? There would be nothing he could do to stop the impending death. So he lied.
It turned out he didn’t even need to. Parrot had outsmarted him, foolishly holding onto the idea that Wifies cared. Of course he cared. He’d done all of this just to prove he cared, after all. Paragon was built to keep Parrot safe because Wifies wasn’t sure what he’d do if he was alone. But now he was.
Why didn’t he step off? The TNT wasn’t going to explode, and why didn’t he show Parrot that this was all just a ploy to destroy all sense of hope?
With the way Parrot’s voice had trembled, a little seed of hesitation had worked its way into Wifies’s plan. Because for maybe the first time since he’d faked his death, he regretted it. Parrot had held onto the spyglass, hoping, praying, that Wifies would remember. And he did. He couldn’t keep Parrot here, not anymore.
Even after everything. Parrot was right. Wifies did care. He cared so much. Just Parrot’s safety meant so much more than whatever happiness they could have had being free. It didn’t matter if Parrot was happy if he was dead. Wifies couldn’t live with himself if Parrot was dead. But Parrot couldn’t live being trapped.
The pressure plate clicked uselessly beneath his feet as Wifies stepped off, his footsteps the only sound in the wide hall as he walked across the room. He knelt down beside the spyglass weighing down the other pressure plate. It’s all yours — he had said the exact same phrase to Parrot before, when he’d gotten stuck in Spoke’s chunk ban. When he trusted Parrot would come back for him because their friendship was stronger than a stupid chunk ban. Was it stronger than this?
The cold metal seemed to burn as Wifies lifted it off the pressure plate, examining the small object. It had their initials carved into the base, symbolizing the token of their friendship. Parrot had given it back to Wifies. Now it was Wifies’s turn to be stronger than the obstacle in front of him. Because this was a civil war inside his own mind, and he regretted ever bringing Parrot into the equation. It wasn’t fair. They were supposed to be friends, to protect each other. Not whatever Wifies had done.
The guards were gone when Wifies exited the quartz room. He assumed they’d left when they saw Parrot doing the same, probably believing Wifies to be dead. But he had a friendship to make up.
Wifies wasn’t sure where Parrot would be headed. After all, Parrot didn’t have any close friends left after the whole incident with BAT. Would he have gone back? Wifies didn’t think Parrot had it in him to trust more people, not this soon. So perhaps their house. The one they’d built in the snow. The one Wifies had revealed himself at. Could Parrot be there? It seemed like the better choice given Parrot had nothing to go back to.
Wifies regretted that, just a bit.
Outside, he could see his friend’s faint footprints in the grass. He followed them to his cherry pink cabin, then further still until he reached the obsidian walls of Paragon. Parrot’s ad hoc tower was nestled against the onyx stone, reaching up until what Wifies presumed was build limit. He grabbed his own blocks, stacking up right beside it.
Up atop the wall, Wifies was above the clouds. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Something Parrot would have noticed. Speaking of Parrot, Wifies could just barely make him out among the dense jungle outside the walls. He was indeed walking in the direction of their snowy house. Wifies’s lips twitched up in amusement that his friend was still predictable, even after everything. The spyglass...
He wished he hadn’t been so cocky with his design. He wished he still had his armor and elytra. He wished he hadn’t been so stupid to underestimate Parrot’s smarts. He wished for a lot, actually.
Wifies boated down to the soft grass, breaking the boat before beginning to follow his friend — but was it ex-friend now? He wasn't quite sure. Parrot was trying to hold onto what they had had, that was obvious. But he didn't expect Wifies to lie, survive, or be following him back. Parrot had to accept him back because he'd changed. It was different now. Parrot was living now that he was free, and it was still Wifies's job to protect him. They needed each other. Just not in the way Wifies had tried.
He wished, too, that he hadn't been so narrow minded as to not see how much Parrot despised the prison. It was perfect, except for Parrot's stupid hope and Wifies's stupid confidence. Human error.
The grass crunched beneath his feet, the dark shape he knew to be his friend darting between trees ahead. Never once did Parrot look behind him, probably because he thought Wifies to still be stuck in that room.
It was hard to walk through the forest, knowing he could easily catch up and talk to Parrot. Something held him back. Maybe it was the way Wifies was afraid that he'd try to take Parrot back, or perhaps the small seed of terror that told him he'd never be forgiven or trusted again. Wifies would have been foolish to worry about such a thing before, but it had been so long since he had been able to let himself feel.
The dense, humid wilderness faded into lush, rolling hills. Even now, Parrot didn't look back. Wifies wasn't sure what he'd do if he was caught. He supposed there wasn't much he could do.
As expected, the plains gradually shifted colder until they were walking through a familiar snowy tundra. The snow crunched beneath Wifies's feet, and he missed the times when he could bunch up a snowball to toss at Parrot. He really had messed up hadn't he?
The snowy cabin came into view, looking exactly as Wifies remembered it. Parrot carefully approached the door like he was afraid it would bite him. Wifies heard the excited bark of the dog inside as his friend entered. Wifies hesitated as he watched the door swing shut. Yes, they'd been friends for so long. Surely Parrot could overlook one small hiccup in their friendship. But then again, Wifies could hardly have a single moment without his mind drifting back to the last time they were standing together at this house. How disgusted and disappointed Parrot had been to find him as the Director.
Wifies's hand twitched, itching to go knock on the door and beg Parrot for forgiveness. But his feet were turning him around, walking away from the cabin before he was really sure that's what he wanted to do.