Chapter Text
Hummer awoke in a panic.
He shot upright, coughing imaginary water out of his lungs, blinking rapidly in the too-bright sunshine.
Where was he!? He glanced around, realizing that he was floating in an unfamiliar ocean in an even more unfamiliar world.
What the fuck? This wasn't his home world; why the hell was he here?
It was then that he remembered why he'd been drowning moments before—Wifies—Levi—Drowning—Fuck!
He scrambled out of the water and onto the sand nearby, taking off his waterlogged helmet to comb his hair out of his eyes. Where were his glasses?—He didn't have time for that.
Wifies was probably mad at him again. His idea hadn't worked. For the third time.
Maybe they were doing it wrong somehow? Levi had to be real, Hummer knew that much, it wasn't that. So how had it gone wrong this time? Last time Wifies had had a potion in his inventory, but he was sure that neither of them had one this time—
Oh no.
Hummer froze as he remembered something from just before he'd drowned.
A water breathing potion that had popped into his hotbar at the last second.
Hummer wanted to curl up on the sand and cry. How could he have made such a stupid mistake? Wifies surely wasn't going to put up with him much longer now.
He had wanted so badly for Wifies to believe, for him to know that Levi was real just like Hummer. He was the only one who had gone along with Hummer, really at all. Everyone else brushed him off as soon as he mentioned calling "The Leviathan" Levi.
Wifies was the only one who had ever actually taken him seriously, and now he was probably going to leave to interview Arronax or something.
Hummer kicked at the sand in despair, deciding that he should probably get it over with.
He took a deep breath, pulling up his menu and joining his world, spawning at his boat. He checked the tab list. No Wifies.
Hummer panicked. Had Wifies just ghosted him? Did he mess up so badly that Wifies wasn't even going to tell him?
No, no, Hummer assured himself, Wifies wasn't like that. He wouldn't do that. They'd worked on this together for almost a month.
Hummer still remembered the weeks pouring over research and reports together before he mentioned Arronax. What's mine is now yours.
It was fine. Maybe Wifies had left to investigate a lead. Maybe he'd even left a note!
Hummer rushed to check his chests and found a new lectern by the beds. Thank you Levi
He flipped open the cover, and all of his relief disappeared when he read the message.
Dear Hummer,
I hope this email finds you well.
I don't know why Levi let me in and not you. I don't know why he stopped my reccording. Or why all my screenshots are blank. Like I was never really there
I don't know what Levi is.
Or what he wants.
But I can promise you this. I wont stop until I figure it out.
For you and for me.
Yours,
Wifies
What. Hummer stared at the note, aghast. Levi had shown himself to Wifies? Why? When? How? Hummer's head spun with shock, excitement, and, shamefully, a bit of jelousy.
Part of him wanted to jump for joy. Wifies had seen him! He knew he was real! Hummer was overjoyed to share the belief with his friend. But on the other hand…
Why not him? His question mirrored Wifies's. What had made Hummer unworthy of seeing Levi? Sure he'd had the potion, but Levi had turned both of them away when Wifies'd had the potion, so what made this time different? He didn't need to see Levi to know he was real the same way Wifies did, but it still would've been amazing.
Out of the cyclone of questions and laments, a new thought rose: What happened to Wifies?
Clearly he'd been at Hummer's world at some point, had left Levi's realm, but where had he gone?
The selfish part of him wanted to say "Who cares? Now we know how to find Levi, we should go."
He pushed those thoughts aside. Wifies was his friend, and he'd trusted him enough to drown with him. He owed it to him to find out what had happened.
But where to start? Where could Wifies had gone? As much as he knew the trivial things about Wifies—his favorite movies, how he excelled at puzzles and escape rooms, and their shared frustrations over complicated redstone—he didn't really know much about where he came from, who his friends were, really anything major about him.
Wait. That wasn't exactly the case.
He remembered a comment Wifies had made after they failed in Arronax's world, how he was banned from the biggest hardcore server. That meant he'd been there.
It was a gamble, Unstable, so it was called, was said to be very violent, and it was highly possible that Wifies had died within days of joining, but it was worth a shot. If he had even one friend that was still on there, they might know where Wifies could've gone.
He had to try. For his friend. He'd gotten Wifies into this after all; if something bad happened to him it was on Hummer's head.
It was surprisingly easy to bypass Unstable's security and join unnoticed.
He would've spend more time wondering why, but as soon as he could process what was happening around him, it was clear that he was in immediate danger.
Several things were on fire. There were players in the sky, circling spawn, and Hummer could hear the screams of others getting hunted down.
He needed to hide.
Smoke drifted through the hair, carrying the pungent smell of blood. Hummer wondered what had happened to cause all of this.
He hurried to crouch behind a boulder to sheild himself from the flyers. With a bit of luck, they wouldn't notice him.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side that day. One of the elytras doubled back as they passed him and dove down towards his hiding spot.
Damnit. Hummer panicked as they swooped closer. He had no armor, he wasn't built for combat, he was going to die, and lose any chance of finding Wifies.
Just as they were about to hit him, another player dashed out of the trees nearby, sheilding him from the attack.
It was a bird hybrid—a cockatiel. They turned to face Hummer as the elytra player flew back to try again. "Run! Into the trees! I'll meet you there after I deal with this guy."
Hummer didn't need to be told twice. He rushed into the forest, using the trees as cover from the circling players above.
His hands were shaking. He'd never died in a particularly violent way, mostly it was just drowning and restone blowing up in his face. To have almost been killed by another player… it was new.
Soon, a death message popped up, an unfamiliar player having been killed by a "TheoBaldtheBird," who Hummer assumed was the one who'd rescued him.
He appeared in front of Hummer suddenly, making Hummer jump. He would never be used to ender pearls.
"You good?" Theo asked him, giving him a once-over.
Hummer nodded. His heart was still in his throat.
"Okay, good. Follow me." Theo jerked his head in the direction they were going, leading Hummer deeper into the forest.
They walked for what felt like hours until they reached a rather cute cottage in a small clearing.
"Close your eyes," Theo commanded. Hummer complied, frowning slightly as he heard Theo go over to a nearby tree rather than the cottage. A lever was flicked, and Hummer understood.
The cottage was a red herring. Anyone who wanted to go where they were going would think that the entrance was in the cottage, and anyone who betrayed them would think so as well. It was pretty brilliant.
Hummer heard Theo walk back, and suddenly he was led forward, spun around, and then led into the secret entrance.
They fell into a small pool of water, and Hummer was allowed to open his eyes again.
He was in a huge bunker, maybe two hundred by two hundred, only in the first room. Chests lined the wall, and a handful of people milled about, talking and working. The floor was a beautiful mural of glazed terracotta, and the walls were dotted with prismarine.
"What is this?" He asked, in awe but still wary.
"This is the last safe place for new players," Theo answered him. "I'll go get Parrot; you hang tight."
Theo left, going down one of the corridors to the right. Hummer took the moment to compose himself and think of a plan.
He needed to ask around and see if anyone had known Wifies. Obviously, it would be odd to ask random people if they knew someone named Wifies, but this "Parrot" that Theo was getting sounded important. Maybe they were the leader or ruler of this place?
Hummer decided that he would ask Parrot to get the word out that he was looking for Wifies. That would be the easiest solution. Then he could be in and out of this hellhole as quickly as possible.
Maybe I could ask about Levi while I'm at it, the selfish part of him whispered. Hummer shook his head. No, he needed to focus on Wifies. Once he was safe, they could continue searching. Besides, Wifies had seen Levi. If anything, Wifies was his biggest lead right now.
Hummer heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Theo and another player in diamond armor and feathers that looked similar to the one on the earring Wifies wore.
"This is King Parrot," Theo introduced as they reached Hummer. "The one true king of Unstable."
Hummer honestly could not care less. He was here for Wifies, not complicated politics.
Parrot shook his head at Theo. "Just call me Parrot. I'm not king anymore."
"Nice to meet you," Hummer said, hastily rushing through the pleasantries. "I'm not staying long; I'm just looking for someone."
Parrot's brow crinkled. "Who?"
"Well, not exactly looking for someone—I'm looking for anyone who knew the player Wifies," Hummer explained.
Parrot went sheet white at the name. Hummer frowned. Did he know Wifies? Why would he have reacted like that?
Well, he did get banned, He thought. It was probably traumatic for his friends.
"Why are you looking for him?" Theo asked.
"We were working on something together," Hummer said evasively. "He's missing."
Parrot's face hardened for a moment before relaxing back into a neutral expression. Hummer could've sword he heard him say something along the lines of "He's not dead?" but it was too quiet to actually make out.
"Have you…" He started before hesistating and trailing off.
"Have I?" Hummer prompted. Now that he'd gotten out of his original shock, he was rather impatient to get the information he needed and go. They were certainly the type to ridicule his search for Levi, so he didn't want to stay around long enough to get asked about it.
"Has someone been following you?" Parrot asked, wincing as he spoke.
"No? What does that have to do with anything?" Hummer replied, getting frustrated.
Parrot seemed to visibly relax at that for whatever reason. "Nothing."
"Anyways," Hummer continued. "Did you know anywhere he might've gone? Any worlds he frequents?"
"I- uh- what?" Parrot stammered. "Who said I knew him?"
"You clearly do," Hummer huffed. "And I would rather be out of here as fast as possible, so?"
Parrot sighed, seeming hesitant. "Not really. I only knew him here before…"
"Do you know anyone who would?" Hummer asked. He really hoped this wouldn't turn into some wild goose chase.
Parrot hesitated again. Seriously what was up with this guy!?
"I… yeah. Wato and Kenadian hung out with him out of world to do escape room stuff."
"Great, where are they?" Hummer was relieved to finally have a substantial lead.
"Follow me," Parrot's voice had steadied as he turned and walked back down the hallway.
Hummer finally smiled, just a bit.
He was one step closer to Wifies.