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“Come on guys! Why are you all walking so slowly?” The boy in red and blue clothes screamed from in front of them, his friends were so far that they barely even heard him. Wemmbu giggled at the distant sight of the other’s pouty face.
“We’re coming dude, just wait a second!” Egg screamed from beside the purple haired demon, the angel had an easy going smile on his face, his eyes were soft and content, like a nice hot breeze in the winter that warmed you from the harsh times.
The pirate on Wemmbu’s other side could be heard chuckling, a sound that made the smile on Wemmbu’s face widen even more. He would never regret the day he met Rejoice and Jaden, no matter what would come their way, it was the one decision he would never regret.
He was so grateful to have the three of them in his life, after everything that had happened, all of the pain he had gone through and all the years he spent just fighting for no reason at all, his friends were the ones who had guided him through it all.
Rejoice with his warm and bright smile, Jaden with his calm and relaxing voice and Eggchan with his… everything, there was no way to describe all that Egg did for him, but it was also very rude to describe what the other two had done with just those simple phrases.
They were everything to him, that was the most simple and honest way to put it. His life had changed so much since he met all of them, for the better that is, he couldn’t imagine a world without them.
“Do you think Minute’s going to be mad? We’re an hour late now.” Rejoice asked once they had caught up with him, a frown on his face. Wemmbu didn’t like that, frowns didn’t match Rejoice’s friendly and goofy face, he was supposed to be smiling.
“Nah, I bet he’s gonna try to act all though but will laugh in the end.” Wemmbu said, trying to raise a smile on the blond boy’s face, which worked seeing as Rejoice smirked a second later. It also had the bonus of making Jaden giggle a little.
“Bro what? No way, you’re gonna get grounded, at best. You’re overestimating Minute’s sense of humour.” The siren said, giving the purple haired boy a pat on the back and crossing his arms.
“What?! No way bro, I’m eighteen, he can’t ground me anymore!” Wemmbu yelled out in fake hurt, to say the truth Minute would absolutely ground him again, he wouldn’t put it past the older man.
“Yeah sure, say that to the time he grounded you for blowing up a piece of The End.” The pirate retorted back, though it was obvious he was still smiling due to the way his blue eyes crinkled.
Wemmbu grumbled something out as he crossed his arms, playfully glaring at his siren friend. The other gave him a light shove, causing Wemmbu to almost fall forward.
He then did fall forward because Rejoice jumped out from behind them, throwing himself over Wemmbu’s back and causing both of them to collapse to the ground stacked upon each other.
He could hear Egg and Jaden laughing behind them, and he was quick to sputter a high pitched “Hey!” at them. If only he was mean enough to take out his mace and smash them, but he could never hurt his friends.
“Hey, bro?” Egg said once Wemmbu had gotten up, the demon hummed and tilted his head towards the angel, even if he couldn’t see him. Eggchan was probably going to point out something and they would all pretend to be interested, and would then all laugh at the pout in the angel’s face.
“You need to let them go.” Wemmbu froze, turning back towards Egg, the terrain was no longer a sunflower field, it was a barren wasteland with a harsh and cold wind, making Wemmbu’s eyes dry up and water at the same time.
“What…?” The demon asked, looking around as he realised that Jaden and Rejoice had disappeared, he could no longer see Rejoice’s sunny smile, or Jaden’s dark blue eyes. Why couldn’t he find them? Where had they gone and where was he?
“They’re gone Wemmbu, you need to wake up.” The angel said sternly, a look of pity crossed his eyes for a moment before they were once again covered in hair as white as snow. “This isn’t real.” Egg said as he stepped closer, grabbing Wemmbu’s shoulders and shaking him harshly.
The world went black.
~//~
He woke up in sweat, almost jumping out of his bed, he clutched his hair and tried to calm down his panicked breathing. His hands were shaking, why were his hands shaking? He couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard he tried to calm down he couldn’t stop them, he felt tears sliding down his cheeks and wetting his blanket.
It wasn’t too long before he was sobbing and screaming, his tears ran down and mixed with snot, making a mess of his face. He kept trying to wipe his eyes with his hands, but the tears just kept falling.
He heard someone stir from beside him, and was rather startled once a mop of white hair came in front of him and hugged him tightly, the angel was making soothing noises at the demon, trying to calm his friend down.
“I had a horrible dream Egg! I dreamed that Jaden had died! But Jaden can’t be dead!” He screamed out, clutching the front of the angel’s suit as if it was his only anchor to this world. It most likely was.
He felt Egg pause in his soothings and sigh. “He is gone Wemmbu. You were the one to tell me, remember?” The angel said, holding the demon tightly against his chest. He couldn’t bear to see his friend like this, so sad that he couldn’t even accept the siren’s death.
Wemmbu went still, before he shook his head and crawled backwards, releasing himself from Egg’s grip and looking up at the angel as if he had personally betrayed the purple demon.
“Why are you lying to me, Egg? You know that he’s alive!” Wemmbu sobbed out, throwing his hands forward at the angel. Why was his friend saying those things? Jaden was alive!
“Wemm…” He was interrupted by Wemmbu shoving him away from his bed, he tried to grab the boy but the purple demon quickly went back underneath the covers.
Eggchan sighed and rested his head on his hands, they were still in danger, there was no time for Wemmbu to be grieving… but it wasn’t like the angel could stop him from doing so, he would just need to wait it out.
Egg was lying, Wemmbu didn’t believe him. There was no way that Jaden was gone, the siren had been with him just a few hours ago! He couldn’t have died…
Wemmbu heard the phantom sound of a mace crashing down, he could hear the flesh being torn open and the bones breaking. And most horrifying of all, he could hear a faint yet terrifying scream from a very familiar voice.
Wemmbu curled up on himself and allowed himself to cry to his heart's content, and a little bit more after that.
~//~
Egg dodged the piece of wood that Wemmbu had thrown at him, the boy had been getting more and more aggressive as time passed. His temper became shorter and he started lashing out at anything the angel said.
He mentioned anything containing the water or the ocean and the boy was already staring daggers at him, don’t even talk about touching the trident in the boy’s hands! Wemmbu nearly cut off his hands when he tried to grab the trident and clean the blood off of it.
Not to mention the screaming, the demon had been screaming a lot, be it because he was mad or because he had another nightmare. Which was another now normal thing that had been happening, Egg wished that he could stop it but he didn’t know how to do so.
“Wemmbu come on! Stop throwing stuff at me!” The angel screamed as he ducked under a thrown chair, he had mentioned needing to drink some water earlier and his friend had been ready to murder him right then and there.
“Shut up!” Wemmbu screamed as the tears ran down his face, how dare Egg even mention anything related to Jaden? The boy couldn’t take it anymore, everywhere he looked he saw a piece of his friend.
Egg sighed and started running again, he was starting to get used to it, Wemmbu had been like this for a few weeks now. Which was starting to be a problem because they kept losing stuff when Wemmbu threw them.
Not that Egg could do anything about that, he wished he could, but he couldn’t. This was a natural process, and Wemmbu needed to go through it, no matter how bad of a timing it was.
~//~
“I could’ve saved him, Egg…” The demon muttered, his voice was barely audible and was very soft, something that was very rare. Egg looked over at Wemmbu, who was holding his knees close to his chest. “If I had just been stronger then maybe… maybe he wouldn’t be…” He stopped himself, allowing a few tear drops to fall down from his eyes.
“You couldn’t have done anything, bro.” Egg said, his brows were furrowed and he looked at Wemmbu with a pitying look, something that he knew the demon didn’t appreciate, but he couldn’t help himself from doing so.
Wemmbu looked so small, curled up around himself like he used to do back when he was a kid, it brought back a few memories from their past that almost made Egg smile. Almost being the key word here, he hadn’t smiled since Jaden’s death, just like Wemmbu hadn’t.
“You don’t know that… What if he wanted me to help? I could’ve helped…” The purple boy’s body shook as more and more tears threatened to spill from his purple eyes. Egg sighed and put one arm around the demon, hugging him closely.
Wemmbu turned around and buried his face in the angel’s chest, his hands gripped the front of the blue eyed boy’s suit as he trembled and sobbed. Egg grimaced once he felt the snot coating his clothes, but he could bear it, if only for Wemmbu.
“I could’ve helped Egg! Or I could have just not taken him with me, none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t taken him with me!” The boy screamed, holding onto the angel so tightly he almost ripped his suit.
Egg held the other closer, hugging him with both arms now as tears slid down his own cheeks. He didn't know how much longer it would take until Wemmbu would break, until he became so sad that even protecting himself and Egg would become a burden he couldn’t take onto his shoulders.
But he would have to hold on, if not for himself then for the angel who depended on him to survive. For Eggchan knew that if he were to go like Jaden, Wemmbu would not be able to take it. The server would become a bloody mess in likely a week or less.
“If only I had been closer…” The demon mumbled against the angel’s suit, his body shook with each breath he took and tears still slipped from his eyes, though he was no longer sobbing. Egg could only sigh sadly and continue to hold him close, for there was nothing he could do to mend Wemmbu’s sadness.
~//~
Wemmbu hadn’t left his bed in hours after sunrise, a rare sight considering the boy didn’t like to sleep in and had a very tight sleeping schedule. Egg had gone to wake him up a few times, but the demon had not budged, if only just curled in more onto himself.
The angel was worried, truly. It had been a few months now since Jaden’s death and Wemmbu had not improved a single bit since then. He had only been changing his mood every few weeks or so, Egg understands why that is, but he can’t help but still be worried.
He supposes that’s his way of grieving, making sure that his other friend is safe and sound. Which is why he was currently seated next to the demon’s bed and was trying to get him out of it.
“Come on, bro. You have to get up.” Egg says while rubbing Wemmbu’s shoulder, trying to get the shorter one out of bed for the first time today. He normally didn’t have to do this, but he needed to get some food and water on the demon’s body otherwise things might not go so well for him.
The only thing that he managed to do was make Wemmbu curl up even further, Egg sighed and pursed his lips at the sight of the heavy eyebags under the demon’s eyes. How Egg wished to simply be able to rid his friend of all of this pain, but alas, not even angels could do miracles like that.
“Just… just eat and drink something for me, please?” The angel said as he sat Wemmbu upwards, being mindful as to not hurt him in the process. The purple boy just sat there, looking straight ahead at nothing, his hair was a tangled mess, as if he had been unable to sleep. Which was very likely.
Egg’s lips trembled at seeing such a sight, it was like the demon had lost all of the spark in his eyes, like life had been drained out of him. But the angel still had a job to do, he grabbed the bottle of water from his inventory along with a golden carrot.
He gently placed the bottle at Wemmbu’s lips and waited for him to drink. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief once he saw the other take a few small gulps of water. He quickly switched to the carrot once the water had been drunk, putting it at Wemmbu’s mouth once again.
The shorter took a bit longer to accept what was being offered this time, he kept making a notion that he was going to bite and then he would disassociate, Egg did feel a small amount of happiness once the demon took a few bites of the golden carrot. He put it back in his inventory once he noticed that Wemmbu wouldn’t be eating anymore.
He put Wemmbu back under the covers after that and quickly left the room, wishing to give Wemmbu some much needed space. It didn’t take long for the demon to close his eyes and fall back into a not so sweet slumber.
Egg couldn’t help but rest his head against the wall once he left the room, it was like Wemmbu wasn’t even with him anymore. Like he had died with Jaden Man and now his body roamed the Earth, yet his soul was far away.
How did the saying go again? Two died yet only one stopped breathing? Maybe it was truer to reality than he had thought.
~//~
“You need to let go. There was nothing you could’ve done.” Was what Wemmbu heard once he opened his eyes, he turned around and came face to face with the one person he wished to see the most at the moment, Jaden.
“But how am I supposed to let go just like that? Forget you as if you were a nobody?” The demon said, his fingernails dug into his skin as he tried to hold back tears. He didn’t want to look away from Jaden, afraid that the siren would disappear the moment he blinked.
Jaden’s eyes softened and calmly walked closer to the purple boy, the siren stopped right in front of Wemmbu and his eyes crinkled. He then pulled Wemmbu into a soft warm hug, one hand behind the shorter’s purple mop of hair and the other around his back.
“You don’t need to forget me, you just need to move on. Just accept it and everything will be okay.” He said as he rested his head on Wemmbu’s shoulder. The demon hiccuped as tears fell down his eyes and he hugged the pirate back just as tightly. “They won’t be back to normal, I still won’t be there. But I can promise you this one thing, it will get better.”
Wemmbu could hear the soft smile on Jaden’s face, could feel the warmth of his hug, a hug that he would never receive again. And in that moment, the only thing that ran through his mind was that he wished to stay here, if only for a second longer.
He buried his face in Jaden’s shoulder, his tears fell down softly onto his blue coat, creating a damp patch there. Not that Jaden seemed to mind, seeing as he continued to hug the demon just as tightly.
“I… I don’t know if I can do that. How am I supposed to accept that you’re gone!?” He sobbed out, his nails dug into Jaden’s shoulders, he would be scared to hurt the pirate if not for the fact that he knew this was a dream.
“You can at least try. Please try, for me?” Jaden massaged Wemmbu’s head, running his hand up and down. The demon smiled and burrowed his head further on Jaden’s shoulder as both of them went quiet for a minute.
“Yeah, I can try for you…” Wemmbu said, a wet smile on his lips as he gave Jaden one last squeeze. He took in the shape of Jaden’s hands, the warmth of his hug and the way he breathed. As if he was making up for the fact they hadn’t managed to say goodbye.
“Thank you, bro…” The pirate smiled before he slowly began to fade away, leaving Wemmbu alone in his now cold dream. The boy fell to his knees and hugged himself, trying to recreate Jaden’s hug and crying even more once he realised the feeling wasn’t the same.
He already missed him again.
~//~
Wemmbu woke up crying on his bed, he brought his knees to his chest and hugged them tightly, trying to give himself some comfort after his dream. He hadn’t seen Jaden in so long and he didn’t know if he was able to calm himself down after seeing the other so… alive, lively…
He had to accept it, Jaden had told him to do so. So why was it so hard to come to terms with the pirate’s death? Why couldn’t he even try?
Maybe it was one of these things that healed with time, maybe everything would get better eventually, just like Jaden had said. Maybe this time the pirate would actually keep his promise…
But while that didn’t happen, he knew what he had to do. While he was moping around in his bed and taking out all his frustration on Egg, there were still two players roaming out there who deserved his anger.
Nitenly and Spoke were still alive.
Wemmbu needed to do something about that.