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Jaden was never one to lie to his friends — ever.
Whether or not it was giving false hope to another, or as an attempt to manipulate, as a pirate he believed in justice. And lying was not justified.
“Wemmbu, fly away!” He naively shouted. “I’ll catch up.”
But would he?
What kind of friend would he be if he lended false hope to his friend – one of his only friends, for that matter?
< Jaden_Man was smashed by Nitenly
< Jaden_Man left the game
“If you need help again, bro, just ask.” Jaden had offered, truth coating his every word.
Maybe, there was a point in his life where he was cruel. Stealing his ex-friend’s mace, to outright betraying his trust and refusing to help him. There were regrets that still flowed throughout his bloodstream. Still opportunities he had wished to open sooner, before his inevitable death on the server finally arrived.
He wasn’t a good person, nor a bad person. Who would have wings like an angel, or horns like a devil. He had done his wrongdoings and made his rights. And yet, despite it, Jaden never truly felt fulfilled in life.
Not with FlameFrags, the strongest player on the server.
Not with Wemmbu, the most powerful player on the server.
Not with Egg, the most intuitive player on the server.
And he wasn’t sure if his friends, after his death, would even mourn him. He wasn’t sure if he’d be burning, in deeper areas than the Underworld or soaring through the skies in the Aether. Plus — was he ever somebody's first choice? Eggchan had Wemmbu. Wemmbu had Eggchan.
Flame, if they were still friends, would always have Lomedy. Codmaster would have his cods. It was quite a simple organism that mattered so much to the other.
In another life, Jaden would have been good friends with Flame. Still helping him in battle, and giving unwavering devotion to the other’s honorable values.
In another life, Jaden could have been accompanied by Rejoice, by Loppezz, by Egg and by Wemmbu. He could have ridden all his sins that always tended to bite him in the back, despite the forgiveness the others showed.
And, maybe, in another life – he would be somebody’s first choice.
The feeling of dying made him realize that he had so many choices to make and things to do. He would have loved more freely and smiled more widely. Perhaps even befriend random chungies on the server — because he would rather die happily, knowing his friends are okay, than leaving them to grieve without a goodbye.
But at the same time, he knew that life’s arms never cradled so gently forever. As everybody had their own personal death-clocks. His, apparently, stopped ticking. Possibly a long time ago he was supposed to die.
It all went black. He felt himself falling, darkness coating his last surroundings.
The ballad of the pirate king was over, anyways. A ruler of a deserted civilization was no competent ruler in the first place.
…
A warm ray of sunlight bathed his face. Blinking away the disorientation of death, Jaden found himself in a magnificent field of sunflowers. A familiar field, at that.
Up ahead was one haze of fog — as if the world could not render itself.
Jaden presumed this would be his personal afterlife. Wandering endlessly within looping flora. In retrospect, it didn’t seem that horrible. But loneliness was one big antagonist. And being alone is the worst somebody can ever be in a world like his own. He supposed this was what he deserved. It was a perfect medium, anyways. At peace, but purely and utterly alone for eternity.
Attempting to pull down his mask for fresh air, he felt nothing but air.
His mask was gone. And evidently, from the loss of weight on his head, so was his pirate hat.
“Jadenman?”
He felt himself tense at that voice. A familiar one, in which sparked memories he dug deep below his mind to forget. An experience he never wanted to relive, and a person he never wanted to see.
Twisting his head, his eyes met a saint’s gaze.
That damned yellow-hair man’s look softened at the contact.
Jaden’s lips trembled, but the other didn’t comment on it. Somebody so kind like him would never take advantage of somebody’s feelings.
“Hey, dude!” Rejoicin grinned, his smile wide and freeing.
Was this a part of his torturous afterlife? – Having to face the people he made suffer?
Rejoice ran over to the former pirate king, tackling him into an unexpected and undeserving hug.
“You know,” Rejoice added. “It’s lonely and quiet around here. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but hey! It’s better than floating in an endless void, right?” The man giggled. “It’s really nice to see you, you know.”
The ex-pirate king just stared at the other’s unbelievable kindness. He caused Rejoice to die. How could this happy-go-lucky idiot not see that? How could he not hate him right now? Most importantly – why? Just seeing the younger made every flesh in his body squeeze and tense up. As if his sins were injecting their poisons.
Jaden’s hands clenched the herbage beneath him. Why did Rejoice earn loneliness, and Jaden earn nourishment? He didn’t understand. He wouldn’t ever understand.
“Jaden,” the shorter one called softly. Pulling away from the hug, and instead sitting across from the pirate. “I forgive you, okay? I’ve forgiven you ever since I ended up here. Can you look up, please?’
Albeit reluctant, the pirate nodded. His head facing the skies.
“What do you see?” Rejoice got out of the way, for Jaden to see the setting sun.
“The sun?” Jaden murmured.
Rejoice nodded, plopping beside the other. “The sun.” The joyful one gestured to the flowers. “The sunflowers are all facing the sun, aren’t they?”
“I suppose, but… Why is that relevant?”
“Because,” the yellow-haired man smiled. “It will always turn night, and it will always turn day. No matter what time it is, the sun will still always reappear. And the sunflowers will always be waiting, right?”
Looking at the sun did not hurt his eyes anymore.
“I guess, huh?” Jaden chuckled softly. “It hurts my brain as to how easily you can just… Forgive and forget.”
“It’s my motto,” Rejoice shrugged. “Holding grudges will only burden your own shoulders. Why do such a thing when you can just… Let go of it all, you know? Even if it is slightly naive, it’s freeing once you truly master it. I’m like a dove, see?”
From further inspection, Jaden’s eyes caught on faint dove-like wings behind Rejoice, attached to his back. They stretched outward in a heavenly motion.
“You are,” Jaden agreed. “Not very far off.” His eyes were distant, however. They drifted off to a random patch of weeds in the middle of the sunflowers.
Rejoice giggled, and it made Jaden realize what he made Wemmbu lose. He caused a pure, innocent friend to just… Begone, as if it was as harmless as killing an ant crawling on his shoulder.
Somebody undeniably as kind and wonderful as a saint – wiped before one’s eyes. He’d always despise himself for that.
“Jaden,” Rejoice mumbled. His lack of joyfulness in his tone had Jaden’s eyebrows knitted in concern.
“Yes?”
“Do you believe in my motto? You know – ‘forgive and forget’ and all that stuff?” The shorter asked, playing with the curls of his own hair.
Jaden glanced at the other. “‘Course, man. How could I not?”
“You don’t.”
“What?” Jaden raised an eyebrow. “I… I do, though. I don’t recall having any grudges, and if you’re sensing the feud I had with Flame… I don’t hate him anymore.”
“No, not that.” Rejoice murmured. The yellow-haired man sighed, and a light weight settled against Jaden’s side. The pirate was bewildered to see the other lean against him, but he said nothing of it. “Forgiving doesn’t just mean others, Jay. It means yourself, too. And – I can kind of sense a little bit of hatred in your heart directed to nobody but yourself.”
Rejoice firmly planted his pointer finger to the area where Jaden’s heart rested.
“My friend,” he said. Poking the area his heart resided each word he uttered. “I forgave you. Now, you have to accept that.”
Jaden stared at Rejoice.
“Sorry,” the pirate murmured.
“Nothing to say sorry for, I just want you to know that it’s okay to love yourself despite each wrongdoing.” Rejoice reassured. “You’re a good person, you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”
Jaden’s tense eyes met Rejoice’s soft ones.
“I suppose you aren’t wrong,” the former pirate king sat himself up into a hugging position.
And silence fell between them.
It wasn’t uncomfortable, nor was it awkward. It was quite the opposite. Peaceful, comfortable silence between the two dead men.
“How are Wemmbu and Eggchan doing?” Rejoice inquired.
Jaden hummed. “They’ve been doing okay. At least, I hope so.”
“What’d I miss?” The man drummed his fingers against the grass. “Anything bad happened?”
“Yeah, and some good things too.” Jaden nodded. “Me and him became friends, actually. I distantly remember him faking his identity and joining my pirate civilization. It was underneath this false persona I actually bonded with him a little. And then, this faction called the LAW wanted justice against criminals. Obviously, Wemmbu was on their hitlist.” He joked.
“Oh,” Rejoice gaped. “I missed a ton…”
“That’s not all.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. After we did defeat the LAW, a bunch more political stuff happened. Eggchan was held hostage. This chud named Arachnid told Wemmbu that if he didn’t cooperate and join this Cave Kingdom, Egg would get death-banned. I got myself into that civilization too, since I didn’t want Wemmbu to be alone. We, also, overcame that challenge.” He added.
The shorter looked invested with the story – so much so he didn’t even comment.
“And then, this army of people whose lives were connected to one singular totem started hunting Wemmbu and Egg down. Wemmbu had reached out to me beforehand to help. I died at the hands of a betrayer in my friend’s – Emma – seized kingdom.”
Rejoice frowned. “That’s unfair…”
“It is, isn’t it?” Jaden sighed.
“Thanks for telling me this, Jay.” Rejoice laid himself flat on his back, arms going underneath his head for a head-rest. “It’s really fortunate I have somebody to talk to, finally!”
“Yeah,” the pirate smiled. “I initially thought I’d be alone for eternity here, actually.”
“Now, now… The world isn’t that cruel, Jaden!” The joyful one giggled.
Jaden nodded, facing forward. His head was lifted for once. “Indeed it isn’t.” He faced the other. “I think you proved that to me, actually. There’s always going to be this… Recurring pattern of bad people in the world. But no matter what, they weren’t born that way. To be bad isn’t to have no good – but to have little of it.”
Rejoice hummed in agreement. “Purity is a fragile thing.”
Jaden laid himself down onto the grassbed. Sunflowers stood amongst them, facing the sun, as always.
“Whatever happens, no matter the duality of the situation–” That signature smile grew on Rejoice’s face as he turned to lie on his side. Now, fronting Jaden. “–we should always continue looking up, or at least looking forward.”
“Aight, dude. You’re so sappy,” Jaden teased.
Rejoice giggled. “What can I say? It’s a part of my nature!”
–
The world seemed less glum, and the skies seemed less cloudy.
In this new life, Jaden would be welcomed. He would be greeted with open arms, and hugged with the comfort he deserved.