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Egg flopped face first onto the ground, groaning in exertion. He didn't even bother getting up, punching the ground with weak fists as muffled complaints continued to spill out his mouth. The portal hummed behind him as it spat out Wemmbu seconds later. Wemmbu stumbled but steadied himself using his trident, heaving deeply in relief. He nudged Egg with his foot, urging him to get up. Egg grumbled but complied anyway, slowly straightening his back like he was a creaking.
"This might be the worst predicament we've ever been in," Egg cried. He stared helplessly out the tinted glass before them, blocking them from the rest of the underworld.
"For real…" Wemmbu deadpanned, limbs aching as he shifted his body. He tightened his grip on the trident currently glued to his left hand. Egg put his face close to the glass and pushed his headwings onto the cool surface, trying to peer through the dark tint.
In all that rush, they had forgotten that this portal would lead them to being stuck in a small enclosure, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Wemmbu didn't let it show, but he was a little concerned, given that he wasn't on good terms with the soulkeepers, and there was no Jamato to help them out this time. Speaking of Jamato, he apparently used to lead Null, and if Null went through the portal this instant, then —
"Let us out, please! I'm not built for this!" Wemmbu's thoughts were cut short by Egg's strained yell. He slammed at the glass, calling out over and over.
"Dude, you're so loud," Wemmbu huffed in amusement, but he joined in anyway, with his own less-crazed knocks and calls that garnered zero response. Soon, the room full of portals echoed with shouts from one corner, voices that became more annoyed by the second.
Gradually, they ceased their calls for help as only silence responded to them. Egg pulled at his hair, headwings twitching.
"Where the hell are they?" He exclaimed, high-pitched and almost hysterical, "I'm about to go crazy."
"Bro, I don't know…" Wemmbu whined hoarsely in response, slouching over and rubbing his throat.
Egg opened his mouth to reply, but before a word could leave his mouth, the soft, vibrating hum of a nether portal interrupted them. Immediately, Wemmbu stepped in front of Egg and hardened his stance, holding the trident in front of them. Behind him, Egg pulled out his bow, arrow ready to fly at a moment's notice.
The portal warped and sparked as the form of a player appeared before them. It was one singular player, hands free of weapons, but their silhouette was unmistakable. It was a fully geared Null soldier, made of pitch black particles that wavered in the air.
Not waiting a second, Wemmbu thrust his trident at the Null soldier's throat, ready to kill it instantly. But the Null soldier jolted back, and its gaze darted to Wemmbu's face. It made him stop in his tracks for some reason. As far as he knew, Null soldiers didn't have faces, so they could never truly look at him, so why did it feel like it did in that moment?
"What are you doing? Kill it!" Egg called out from behind him. His hand moved to release an arrow, but Wemmbu stopped him. Shielding Egg's tall frame as best he could with his entire body, he looked at the Null soldier head on.
"What are you doing here?"
The Null soldier tilted its head, pointing at Wemmbu, then pointing at the trident still inches away from poking him. Wemmbu's eyes widened slightly, he didn't expect an untrimmed soldier to actually respond to him. As far as he knew, they weren't supposed to, given that he wasn't their leader. Even Egg noticed the oddity, easing up slightly behind him. Yet, Wemmbu still held the trident in place, eyes narrowing.
"Me? Like you're here to kill me?" He laughed sharply.
The Null soldier shook its head rapidly, seeming almost offended.
"So you're here to do what exactly?" Wemmbu asked, exasperated.
The Null soldier hesitated, scratching at its chin, before shrugging and pointing at him again.
"What."
Wemmbu was at a complete loss. It was making no sense at all and couldn't even answer his questions. Usually, he would've killed it at this point, but something about its weird earnestness kept him from finishing it off. A strange feeling sat in his heart, telling him that this one wasn't like the other ones at all.
Behind him, Egg suddenly gasped in realisation, a big smile overtaking his face.
"You're defecting! For Wemmbu," he claimed. The Null soldier just stared at him, seemingly dumbfounded, but said nothing.
It shrugged again, opting to stare at its hands instead, as if confused about its own presence. Slowly, Wemmbu lowered the trident. The soldier's gaze immediately snapped to it, following it diligently as it returned to Wemmbu's side.
"Ok so," Wemmbu began, lowering the trident onto the ground with a tap, "not like you have a choice, but you're coming with us. And you're going to help us, you understand?" Egg backed him up with confidence. The soldier nodded once, soft but firm.
Just as they were about to turn back to the glass wall, a quiet knock resounded from the other side. The glint of emerald trims caught Wemmbu's eye as he was met with a soulkeeper on the other side.
"Finally bro," he groaned, gesturing for the Null soldier to stand with them. The soulkeeper broke through the glass to let them out. Egg heaved a sigh of relief as the trio hopped out from their cage. The soulkeeper looked them up and down, as if taking in who they were and instantly tensed up. Wemmbu could almost laugh at the change in atmosphere. If he could see the soulkeeper's face, he was sure they would have a deep frown and furrowed brows.
"Chill bro, we're here for good this time, to save the server or whatever Parrot would say," he waved his hands flippantly at the guy in front of him. The Null soldier nodded quickly, agreeing with him. The soulkeeper still seemed on guard, but their shoulders relaxed slightly as they dismissed their sword.
"Yo is this guy new? He's like way too trusting," Egg leaned over and whispered. Wemmbu suppressed a laugh.
Without much of a delay, Wemmbu began explaining what had went down. During their conversation, another soulkeeper arrived and tapped the first one on their shoulder.
"So basically, the Forge—" Wemmbu cut himself off as the first soulkeeper turned away. He huffed in displeasure. The second soulkeeper said nothing, but gave the first one a very pointed look. A silent conservation ensued right in front of him before the first soulkeeper turned back and gave a solemn shake of their head.
"Wha— What do you mean no?" Wemmbu exclaimed. He knew about their past conflict, but couldn't they understand that now wasn't the time? Even Egg who usually found humour in every situation had a grim look on his face at the soulkeepers' presumed rejection.
"Well, we're not leaving no matter what," Wemmbu declared, stomping his foot on the ground. The click of his heels echoed in the silence, as the soulkeepers continued to communicate with each other wordlessly.
He wanted to pull his hair out. There was simply no time for the sitting around until the soulkeepers gave in. Any extra second spent doing nothing in the portal room meant an extra second for Spoke to gain an advantage over them. He didn't even know why Spoke and the Null haven't arrived yet, but he didn't want to take any chances. And if there was an off chance that Minute wasn't dead yet, then any more time wasted could mean his certain death. Wemmbu felt lightly nauseous just thinking about it, but he shook himself back to reality.
He just had to use his secret weapon.
"Egg!"
Egg yelped at Wemmbu's sudden shout. Wemmbu shoved him towards the two soulkeepers.
"Go do your diplomacy thing. Between the two of us, they'll definitely listen to you," Wemmbu said.
Egg thought for a second and replied with renewed vigour, "Right! I can use my scholarly position as leverage."
"What? You and your scholarly shenanigans man… Whatever, just get it done, please," Wemmbu grumbled in exasperation.
"I got you bro."
Egg put an arm around each soulkeeper's shoulder and dragged them to the other side of the portal room, speaking in a sunny tone. Wemmbu tuned him out immediately, eager to get a moment of respite. He leaned against the wall, resting his eyes for a while. Beside him, he could feel the air shift as the Null soldier also took its cue to relax.
His cheek prickled as the soldier kept glancing over, as if wanting to say something. No matter how chill it was, now that he had more time to think, Wemmbu found this guy incredibly odd. Not only did it actively respond to him and seemed to follow his lead, it was actively looking at him. Somehow, this one felt like an actual player.
Wemmbu knew that he should be more alert, and in fact be put off by it, but something deep down told him that this wasn't a bad thing at all. Perhaps it was in the fact that they had possibly gained a valuable ally, someone who could tell them more about the inner workings of Null, and how Spoke operated.
While Egg was busy negotiating, he should make himself useful too. He opened one eye and glanced coolly at their new companion.
"So, care to tell me more about the Null? Since you're here to help us. Allegedly," Wemmbu asked. The Null soldier fully turned to face him, but said nothing. Wemmbu frowned.
"What even are you guys anyway?" He muttered, eyes shifting as he tried to make out something beyond the endless void of black particles. The soldier said nothing in response, which Wemmbu had already anticipated, but was annoyed by nonetheless. He tapped his fingers around the trident shaft, still clutched tightly in his left hand.
Instantly, the soldier's eyes darted towards the trident as it moved towards it. Wemmbu's eyes widened and he quickly put some distance between them. The soldier, as if sensing his discomfort, halted its steps and merely pointed at the trident. Still on guard, Wemmbu lifted the trident slightly off the ground.
"This?"
The soldier nodded firmly.
"You like… this?" Wemmbu asked, angling the prongs towards it slightly. If dark particles could light up, Wemmbu swore they did as the soldier took his movement as invitation to inspect the trident closer. Wemmbu tensed but remained still.
With the way the stray particles floated in the air, Wemmbu could guess that the soldier was quite pleased. It seemed rather in awe of the weapon, running its gaze over every inch and corner as if it would never see it again. It reached out slowly, gently holding a piece of blue ribbon tied at the base of the trident head.
The blue ribbon. Right.
Wemmbu stiffened. He wanted to pull away but feared that any sudden movement would tear the ribbon. It was shredded and dirtied with blood, with bits of nylium still stuck onto it. As the soldier brushed the nylium away softly, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
It was all a haze back then; the clang of armor against armor, a clap of thunder, and then a dark swarm rushing towards him. He vaguely remembered grabbing more than just the trident off the ground. It was a tattered piece of vibrant blue ribbon, torn away from the rest of it lost in the fight somewhere. It laid stark against the trampled nylium, mottled with spots of blood that dulled its shine.
Wemmbu tapped his foot as he leaned against the wall, waiting for Jaden so they could leave for the End together. Jaden was redoing his braid, threading a blue ribbon swiftly through his hair with deft fingers.
"Is that a new ribbon?" Wemmbu asked, curious. He recalled that Jaden's previous ribbon had been through the ringer in the Caves Kingdom, very much unlike the glossy satin in his hands.
"Yeah, Codmaster gave it to me," Jaden spoke in utter fondness. "It's a good luck charm of sorts, since this next adventure sounds pretty dangerous." He tied the ribbon at the end of the braid.
Getting up from his place at the table, he moved past Wemmbu to grab his trident from its place next to the barrels. As he passed, he looked at Wemmbu with mirth in his eyes, as if letting him in on a fun secret.
"Maybe it can protect you too."
…
Wemmbu felt the ribbon on the trident with numb fingertips. The thoughts thundering in his head were awfully fuzzy. They sounded like how thunderstorms did under the water in the Great Sea. Back when he and Jaden were there together, and they would ride in the same boat. Sometimes they would swim, and they would go back to the civilisation, and Egg and everyone else would be there too, to celebrate Jaden, and they would take off their headwear, and Wemmbu would take off his tiara too, and they would laugh and chat from day to night.
Freedom was all they knew back then, back at the Great Sea.
Back when Jaden was—
Wemmbu jolted when something cool touched his hand.
The Null soldier looked up in apology, gently moving his hand away from the ribbon. Wemmbu swallowed as he watched it put both hands on the messy knot, a knot he had unknowingly made sometime during his escape.
Maybe he should have yelled at it, or tugged the trident far away from it, or even banned it, like how he should have when it first arrived through the portal.
But something bone-deep told him not to, so he stood and watched.
The soldier carefully unravelled the remains of the ribbon. It wrapped it at the base of the trident head just like he did, and start weaving it down the length of the handle. Particled fingers swept across in well-practised motion, quickly forming a beautiful ribbon wrap around the trident.
Wemmbu stared at the side of the soldier's face as it tied the final ribbon. His vision wavered and his chest shuttered with something that he couldn't describe.
Wemmbu immediately scrunched his eyes together. He had no choice but to, because he was sure, that if he had just looked a second longer, those black particles would morph into the faint shape of a braid and a tricorn.
If he sniffed, even just once, the airy scent of sea salt would brush past his nose, and it would be like nothing had ever happened.
His lungs hurt.
Everywhere else probably did too.
"Are you done?" He croaked, eyes in slits. The Null soldier gave the knot one last tug to tighten it and stepped away, nodding in satisfaction. Wemmbu hummed in response, head turned away from the ribbon.
He watched Egg in the distance, looking very confident as he conversed with the soulkeepers. Given the soulkeepers' friendly stances, he figured they must be done soon.
The Null soldier had returned to his previous position next to him, also watching Egg in silence. Wemmbu didn't know how long had passed before he opened his mouth again.
He tightened his grip around the trident, feeling the smooth fabric on his fingertips.
"You should go," he murmured.
He felt the soldier tense up next to him, surprised.
He shifted to fully face it. Its shoulders seem to have fallen a little. If Wemmbu was a little more sane, maybe he would have laughed.
"You should go," he repeated firmly, retaining a gentle edge to his voice.
At that tone, perhaps the Null soldier knew that he could not argue.
Wemmbu took a deep breath.
"When you leave, just don't tell Spoke or the others where we are, or what we're doing," he swallowed, breath shaking.
"Don't leak my location, or else you know what will happen."
For the next few seconds, the soldier stood still in his place, and for a moment Wemmbu thought he wouldn't leave, but all he did was hold out a hand.
A hand with all fingers curled in but one.
"What are you, a kid?" Wemmbu chuckled. Even though a soft smile graced his face, his vision was getting blurrier by the second.
Still laughing, Wemmbu hooked a pinky onto his, sealing their promise forever.
He could only watch as the Null soldier trudged back to the portal they had come through. His fingers were still curled around the trident, tapping the rhythm of a slow sea shanty Jaden loved having his pirates sing.
His gaze was eternally fixed on the figure who did not turn back even once, and disappeared into the portal just as he came.