Chapter Text
Betrayal.
That was the first word that came to Avery’s mind.
Why?
Was the word that followed.
Avery’s chest hurts from all the emotions he is feeling. Sorrow and hurt intertwine together and lie on his body making it hard to breathe, followed by a growing feeling of ache that starts getting bigger and lunges him into panic, and he has to do something, anything, right now.
Avery takes a deep breath to ground himself. As he slowly lets it out, he realises that he is still standing on the top of the tree after a long, dreadful climb. He looks at the nonexistent pile of gold again, which awakens more hurtful emotions that threaten to become too big and overwhelm him.
Avery isn’t stupid. He knows why d3rlord3 sent him here. To hurt you, to betray you, he doesn’t want your help, never did, why didn’t you question him more- Avery stops his unhelpful train of thoughts, which are just the result of his hurt emotions, that still heavily weigh on his chest and don’t help him breathe.
Derek sent him here to keep him safe. To keep him as far away as possible from the danger. And Avery knows he would do the same if the roles were reversed. To be fair, he doesn’t exactly know what d3rlod3 is keeping him away from, but it can’t be anything good. Nor safe.
The Minecraft world is quiet. Avery simply stands there, frozen in time, and slowly processes everything. The impossible builds in his single player world, the eerie atmosphere following him, the feeling of being observed. Twelve hours of taking care of the graveyard, slowly losing himself and his mind.
The pounding intensifies in his chest as an uneasy feeling comes over him, threatening to swallow him whole. He thinks about how easy it is for this world to make you forget who you are, that you are more than just these blocks that make up this world. How easy it is for your mind to drift. How endless and eternal The King in Yellow is.
Avery shudders. There is an unpleasant feeling that lingers once the name is spoken. Once it is thought of. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, as if he’d eaten a rotten apple. As he tries to make the feeling go away, he realises how dry his mouth is. When was the last time I drank something?
Avery directs his thoughts back to the game. He remembers finding Derek. Or Derek finding him? You’re not a very hard guy to catch, you know. His lips involuntarily shift into what might be called a smile. Then he remembers that the very same man who makes him smile is the same one who sent him on this blind hunt for gold that doesn’t exist, and his lips immediately lose any resemblance to a smile.
And then all he remembers is… darkness. He had been chatting with Derek when suddenly he blacked out. When he came back to his senses there was terror in his mind. His body shook from the mix of exhaustion and the deep primal fear. How can a game affect his real life body? His mind?
He knows there is no sense in trying to find any logic here. Apparently, if what information he gathered from d3rlord3 is correct, they are up against The King in Yellow who is some… god-like entity. And Avery knows it’s true. After all he was in some kind of hypnosis for twelve hours and then suddenly lost consciousness, and Derek has infinite knowledge burned into his brain. So Avery knows it is true that they are fighting a god. And yet, he refuses to accept it. Because that would mean this is real and not some kind of a fever dream. It would mean that everything he thinks is true is a tiny tiny minuscule part of an unknowable whole and he lives in an illusion.
Avery stops his train of thoughts. He needs to get a hold of himself. He is on a tree, where he shouldn’t be, and Derek is doing something impulsive and probably stupid, and he needs to get to him. Immediately.
And then the world glitches. Avery blinks, thinking it might’ve been his tiredness and his own eyes playing tricks on him. After all, he has been sitting at his computer for more than fifteen hours at this point. He can feel soreness through his entire body, and his back is on fire from bad sitting posture. But when he almost convinces himself that it was nothing, the glitch happens again. For a second his character is teleported to some broken world with blocks flying everywhere and colours all wrong, and then everything returns back to normal and he is back on the tree. As if nothing happened.
Something tells Avery that this is the result of Derek being an idiot and doing something that Avery wouldn’t like.
He gets moving. Enough self-pity that he fell for d3rlord3’s trick and climbed the tree for nothing. He can wallow in this when he has time, once this is all over.
Avery didn’t find the mythical pile of gold, but at least there is a big golden gate. This way he doesn’t have to climb all the way down to the roots of this grand tree and he can get to Derek quicker.
He enters the gate, just like he had many times before. However, he had previously entered them with a feeling of dread. He never knew what world would follow, what tricks would be played on him. And each time a new world came, he would get more and more uneasy. But this time was different. He had a clear goal - to get to Derek as soon as possible. He couldn’t afford to hesitate another second. So, focusing on the same level of determination he had when mining that Netherite for all eternity, he decided to speedrun his way through this awful single player (ha!) world.
But as the darkness behind the gate closes in around him, another glitch appears. This one glitches him into three different worlds. Avery gets a look at each one for approximately half a second, but he can clearly see that each one of them is more broken than the previous one. The colours of the worlds are unnatural and wrong, red and yellow, green and blue, and purple and brown.
What is happening?
Then once again as if nothing happened, he is back in the darkness of the gate.
Avery rushes out of the gate as fast as possible. His character with the slime skin, the exact skin he had for the past few years and knew he would never change it again, appears in a world he hasn't seen yet.
The stars in the sky illuminate the cold rock ground underneath him. He can see the dark shadows of a few trees in the distance, impossibly growing out of the hard stone floor. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but unforgiving grey. This world felt dead. He pushed the strangeness of this place aside and hurried on.
He sprints directly through the unnatural trees and keeps on running. The same lifeless scenery continues - cool stone leading him up the slope and trees defying nature whizzing by. He ignores the chill of this place. His mind is miles ahead, searching for Derek.
As he pushes onward, he sees a light in the distance. As the world loads further, a big majestic building appears reaching all the way up to the sky. It is a cathedral of sorts, he decides. It looms over a small village where the houses seem to lean away from the cathedral, as if they are cringing before the majestic beauty and power it holds over them. They cannot flee though, as they are held captive on the same island by a river.
The village seems lived-in, its lights making the houses shine from far away. Just as a beacon for a moth, Avery decides to go to the village. He crosses the river quickly and sees that it is well-preserved. All the houses look warm and inviting, standing in juxtaposition to the cathedral towering high above.
Avery decides to follow the dirt path leading directly to the grand building.
He only now realises the true scale of the structure. With every step, it grows larger in size and in its shadow he feels himself shrinking, growing insignificant. He has never seen nor felt something like this.
As he stands directly before the looming gates, the cathedral makes him feel hollow. He is nothing but an insect against the stone. He wants to turn around and leave, to forget this world full of sharp contrasts. His heart quickens, thudding with a mix of adrenaline and dread.
Another glitch tears through the screen, blurring the world and snapping him out of his concentration. Avery’s movements then lag, as if to keep him out of the cathedral. In a blink of an eye everything is back to normal and Avery takes off directly to the monolithic building, his heart hammering against his ribs.
The interior is bare of any objects, nothing but chilly stone walls rising all around him. As he looks around the building, he realises he is the only person in this place, entirely alone.
Avery’s stomach drops. His mind is full of worry that he got side tracked and Derek is somewhere else entirely, too far away to be able to reach him in time.
Avery continues further into the silence, looking for anything - some sign like a crafting table or a puzzle that he’d hate.
He sees only grey surrounding him.
“d3rlord?” Avery types into the chat, hoping for an answer. Only to confirm his fears, no reply shows up.
His worries are shortly disrupted by a glow in the distance. Near the far end of the cathedral, an illuminated platform is waiting, golden symbols threaded through it, suggesting the importance it holds. He doesn’t think twice about it and steps on it.
And nothing happens.
Nothing happens.
Nothing happens.
Nothing happens.
Avery’s head falls into his hands. As panic sets in, he cannot focus properly. He knows he needs to find Derek and stop him from whatever he is doing, but he doesn’t know how to do it. Hell, he doesn’t even know if he is in this world or some different one.
Nothing happens.
Nothing happens.
Something happens.
Avery’s head snaps up as he sees growing darkness swallowing his Minecraft character. He barely registers that there are yellow floating eyes in the void, because his gaze locks on him. The familiar knight skin stands with his back turned to him, only his head whipping around, vigorously looking all over at the eyes surrounding him.
Derek.
He found him! That you did. He shakes his head as if to get rid of the déjà vu in his mind.
A wave of relief washes over Avery. Derek serves as a steady point for him - with him, the impossible suddenly feels manageable. Now it is easier for Avery to breathe.
But that is quickly replaced with a scorching flare of fury. Avery won’t fall for Derek’s tricks and lies anymore. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…
TheMostMayo: “d3rlord?”
Once Avery hits enter, Derek’s character whips around, looking directly at his slime skin.
A beat.
d3rlord3: “Avery. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the tree?”
Avery scoffs. Did he think he would just sit there once he discovered the deceit? Or did he honestly think he would just let him face this creature alone?
If he did, then he isn’t as all-knowing as he thinks.
Avery lashes out in the chat. It is a weird, unknown, and unpleasant feeling. He isn’t used to ugly and heavy emotions like these, which hurt deep inside and threaten to overwhelm him and take over his mind. He hated being angry. He doesn’t like the way he can feel his chest burn from inside, replacing every good emotion that was there before.
Avery begins to type, his fingers slamming the keys so hard he is scared his keyboard might split in two. He’s effectively screaming through the monitor. He asks what he is doing here. He states that he lied to him. That the tree was empty. He asks again what Derek is doing here. He asks what this place is.
All of Avery's emotions are fighting, intertwining, dancing, and ultimately burning, and all of this chaos and frustration he feels in his mind is visible in the messages he sends. Every single message has more question marks than the one before. Every single message has more anger behind it than the other.
And ignoring every single message Avery sent, Derek tries to make him leave. “Avery, I need you to leave. Now.”
TheMostMayo: “I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
d3rlord3: “I’m not talking. You have to go. Now.”
Avery stares at d3rlord3’s reply full of disbelief. He thought that they are on better terms than this. He thought that he was worthy of some explanation. He spent so many hours looking for Derek, only now to be kicked in his gut like this.
Derek continues, “I am finishing the job, Avery. You need to get out of here.”
TheMostMayo: “What do you mean finishing the job? What is this?”
It is getting hard to breathe again. Frustration grows within him at the lack of answers. Avery knows that he isn’t a genius like Derek, but he isn’t stupid, either. He mainly lacks the ability to think quickly under stress. And this situation was anything if not stressful. Not fully understanding the situation was only making his panic worse.
He just wanted to help. Why couldn’t Derek see that?
d3rlord3: “Avery, I need you to leave this world and then I’ll explain okay?”
Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar-
The word pulsates in his mind. He knows with an unshakeable certainty that if he disconnects, he will never see Derek or d3rlord3 ever again. He doesn’t know how he knows, but he does.
The chat gets filled with similar messages of Derek saying that he will explain everything later. And Avery is tired. Tired of being lied to. Tired of not knowing what is going on. Tired of this world that keeps messing with him.
All he had wanted was to find Derek and become his friend. To get to know him better. Maybe even meet with him one day. Thank him for everything. Later they would laugh over this absurd Minecraft world, joking about whatever eldritch creature occupied this place. And everything would have been good. Avery and Derek. That sounded right.
But reality right now is very different. Avery looks down at his keyboard and continues the conversation.
TheMostMayo: “No. I won’t go. Tell me what’s going on now.”
d3rlord3: “I will afterwards.”
Again with his lies. Avery grits his teeth. How he hates to be angry. This feeling is unfamiliar to him. Yes, he knows what it is like to get irritated, he knows the feeling of annoyance, but anger is something new. Something raw. He hates this as much as he hates Derek lying to him. And Avery has had enough.
TheMostMayo: “I don’t believe you.”
Avery wishes he could scream this message straight into Derek’s face. His mind is filled with the image of the scene, him gripping Derek’s arms, shaking him violently, and shouting these words directly at him. But his mind fails him, as he cannot imagine this scenario fully without knowing the other man’s face. Avery starts to wonder what he actually looks like. He wonders how Derek’s lips curve when he smiles. How his forehead furrows in concentration when he tries to solve a puzzle.
What he looks like right now, while he lies.
New messages pop up as Derek, once again, tries to make Avery leave.
Avery yet again reminds Derek that he isn’t going anywhere.
Instead, he demands explanation. Again.
Unsuccessfully. Again.
d3rlord3: “Avery, I’m not asking. I’m telling you.”
d3rlord3: “If you don’t leave, I’ll kill you.”
The mood shifts instantly.
Avery is dumbstruck. And then, before he can calm himself, he feels this growing fury.
TheMostMayo: “WILL YOU?”
Avery finds his wooden sword in his inventory and equips it. “Well, I’ll kill you first. Tell me what’s going on.”
He sees Derek pull a wooden axe. Avery is not afraid. He knows his own skill when it comes to PvP. Puzzle-solving, ciphers, and strange eerie Minecraft worlds might not be his strong suits, but he knows how to fight. And he hopes Derek realises that, too.
The sword in Avery’s hand finally forces the truth out of Derek.
He explains that the only way to stop this thing - The King in Yellow - is to merge it with someone whose mind is already gone. Like Derek. Avery’s unease turns into a cold dread..
Derek continues, explaining he will trap this entity inside his own mind. It will go down with him.
“We will win,” Derek adds.
Avery’s eyes never leave the chat. He reads every single message Derek sends with painful precision.
When did Minecraft turn into this? Originally, when Avery posted the Youtube video of him finding the book, he thought it would be fun. That people would tell him he’d found the most curious bug they’d ever seen. And that would have been it. In a few years, he would have occasionally thought about it, laughed, and moved on with his day.
If he had known it would end like this, then… Then what? Would he still have posted the video? The heaviness of the question lingers on his mind.
He is brought back to the situation at hand when more messages pop up.
d3rlord3: “But I need you to leave this area or it won’t work. If you stay here it all falls apart. I have it under control, just leave.”
Avery has a hard time trusting him. It might have to do with the fact that Derek has already betrayed his trust once, or because Avery doesn't know anyone who claims to have a situation under control and then actually has it under control.
TheMostMayo: “And what’ll happen to you?”
There is a pregnant pause.
d3rlord3: “I don’t know.”
Avery sighs. “Don’t lie to me.”
Suddenly, Derek swings. The wooden axe strikes the slime character and immediately shatters, causing Avery to flinch in his chair. He didn’t expect this from someone as collected as d3rlord3.The chat gets flooded with messages.
d3rlord3: “I DON’T KNOW. My mind is GONE anyways, Avery. I can’t look away from this computer without horrible pain. Soon I probably won’t be able to think at all.”
Avery can sense the desperation behind Derek’s messages. This whole time, this man has been replying coolly and to the point. But now, something has shifted. Derek is replying faster than ever, and Avery can almost imagine how frantically he is typing. There is an urgency behind his words. And behind it all, there is a weird sense of an acceptance of things that are about to occur.
Avery reminds himself that he is probably reading way too much into things. After all, how much can one really tell by the way how quickly someone replies or hesitates with answers?
d3rlord3: “If you stay here it will merge with you too. That’s EXACTLY what it wants. It will be free in the physical world, DO YOU WANT THAT?”
Derek told him earlier in the library that he knows everything. The infinite meaning of the word everything. But Derek knows nothing of this world - of this realm. That is the only reason why he can stand playing this game any longer, everything else is too overwhelming.
So how does he know what will happen? And with such unshakeable certainty no less.
Avery has learned the hard way that he should question Derek’s words. Yet, in some strange way, it doesn’t make him like the other man any less. Avery believes all the lies Derek shares so naturally are the result of this unsettling world. The way it interacts with one’s mind is confusing, and Derek has been trapped in this world for longer than Avery has.
And he knows that Derek only lied to him to protect him. That is why the betrayal doesn’t affect how he feels about Derek. Yes, it stings. But this is still the same person whose first thought after seeing The King in Yellow - all the universal knowledge burning into his brain - was to run and write the warning book for Avery.
This is the same person who left the signs near the church so Avery could break free from the hypnosis he was under and return colours to his mind.
You are real. You are special. Remember who you are.
This is the same person who lied only to protect him.
And Avery will do anything to protect him back.
TheMostMayo: “I don’t care. I am not letting you do this. There has to be another way. Not this one.”
d3rlord3: “We don’t have time, Avery.”
Avery’s shoulders start to shake and he realises he’s crying. He can feel wetness on his cheek sliding down, until it stops on his jaw, awkwardly hanging there. This isn’t how things were supposed to go.
So Avery pleads with everything he has, “Yes we do. There has to be another way d3rlord. Please, there has to be another way.” Avery can feel a sob trying to get out of his throat, but he keeps it in.
d3rlord3: “Avery, you can’t stay here, you have so much life to live.”
And this message undoes him. The way that Derek talks, the way he is saying goodbye before they’ve even had a chance to properly start, to properly say hello. More tears streak his face. He hates the feeling of crying, but he tries his best to ignore it and focus on the game in front of him.
Avery’s fingers feel heavy, as does his head. When was the last time he ate anything? Getting rid of this thought, he starts typing again.
TheMostMayo: “And I owe it to you.”
And Avery means it with every cell in his body. Without Derek, he never would have understood the danger of this world. He would have found the mine entrance, and The King in Yellow would have swallowed him whole. He would’ve been a goner before he even realised something was wrong. But the book stopped him in his tracks. The book was the detonator, the reason he recorded a video instead of mining and inevitably finding the cave that would lead him to his demise.
And Derek is losing his life because of you.
Avery immediately scratches the thought, but not before a wave of unwavering guilt washes over him and punches him in the gut. He does not have time to think about this right now. He wipes his tears and reads Derek’s reply.
d3rlord3: “No you do not. That is an insane thing to say. You don’t know me.”
Without hesitation, Avery writes his truth. “You warned me, Derek. You’re only part of this because it wanted me. It’s not your fault you’re here. I’m not letting you die for me.”
d3rlord3: “Avery, if you don’t go, we’ll both die.”
Die. Dead. Death. Such heavy words. Frightening ones. No one properly knows what is on the other side of them, and yet everyone is terrified when they appear. As if they could get cursed just from hearing them, being near them, acknowledging them. But the truth is that everyone is cursed with them the moment they are born, they just apply to everyone at a different period of their lives.
Avery doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want Derek to die.
He wants Minecraft to have never existed so they wouldn’t be in this situation.
Avery opens his chat over and over, trying to think of something to say, anything, only to end up watching the blinking cursor laugh in his face. He doesn’t want to admit defeat. But he doesn’t know what to do.
How to save us?
He looks at his shaking hands hovering above the keyboard. There is more wetness on his face and he hears loud, heavy sobs that he eventually realises are coming out of his mouth. His room is dark, the only light coming from his laptop. From his bedroom window, he sees that it is dark outside and people are probably gathering by now to start celebrating the New Year soon. He wonders if Derek lives close.
When he looks back at the screen, there is a new message.
d3rlord3: “It’s okay, you might not even remember me when you’re out of here. Who knows how this place works.”
There is a painful, wet laugh coming from Avery. As if that could make it any better. He wants to remember. He needs to remember. However, he doesn’t get worried, as he has been recording everything. But just to be sure, Avery takes a piece of an empty paper that he has near his laptop and quickly writes down Derek. Then he types a reply.
TheMostMayo: “Even if I don’t. My recording will.”
d3rlord3: “That’ll do. Now leave, Avery.”
He knows he could log off right now. He could delete this world, never look back, and pretend this was all just a bad dream. He could take the easy way out right now. Hell, his mind is screaming at him to do that right now. The mind’s goal is to protect the life of its user, after all. You don’t jump in front of a bus because your mind tells you it will hurt. You don’t eat things you are allergic to because your mind tells you it will be painful. And you don’t stay in a world of a god-like entity because your mind tells you it will be deadly.
But Avery has always been more of a feelings guy.
So with shaking hands and his mind in panic mode, he opens his chat.
TheMostMayo: “No. I’m staying with you, d3rlord. You can’t stop me. No matter what you say. You warned me. You saved me. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it together. I don’t care.”
Avery takes a deep breath. He braces himself, knowing Derek will just try to make him leave again, but he is fully determined to hold his ground. Die or not, at least they won’t be alone. They are in this together.
'You live in an illusion,’ Derek’s words echo in his mind, bringing back the peaceful moment of the quiet library. Back then, it was a terrifying thought. Now, as if he’s been born anew, it brings him a strange peace. It means that death might actually be something else than what humanity fears.
d3rlord3: “You’re staying.”
Avery frowns in confusion. This is the first time Derek isn’t persuading him to leave.
Suddenly, Derek’s character moves straight toward Avery, and he stops mere millimeters in front of him. He is so close that almost all of Avery’s screen is filled with the d3rlord's skin. Avery decides to ignore this oddity and stays unmoving exactly where he is in the center of the platform.
TheMostMayo: “Yes.”
There is a pause. Then out of nowhere, Derek starts rapidly pressing the keys W and S, making his character go forward and immediately backwards. Avery doesn’t know what’s happening. It is dizzying to see him do this so close to his own screen.
“What are you doing?” Avery asks.
Derek hits him. Avery gets thrown backwards. For a moment, his heart climbs all the way up to his throat, terrified that he’ll fall down off the platform into the unforgiving void. Fortunately, once he lands, there is still a distance between him and the abyss.
Then he sees d3rlord3 charging at him. In that moment, Avery realises what his goal is. As Derek enters his reach, Avery swings his sword and hits him, knocking him back and doing a bit of damage.
“STOP,” Avery frantically types and sends in the chat.
And the other player does what he is told. He stands motionless on the platform, exactly where Avery pushed him to.
d3rlord3: “Please, just leave, Avery. This is not worth it.”
Avery takes a shaky breath. He can’t believe that Derek tried to push him off. He can feel his heart hammering in his chest, and hands violently shaking. He silently thanks the hundreds of hours spent in SkyWars that built his quick reflexes.
His gaze finds the knight character standing far away from him. His head is aimed directly at the floor, absolutely still. It looks as if d3rlord3 lost any hope. As if all his plans and ideas have proven useless. As if he stopped trying because he knows there is not a way out of this.
That terrifies Avery.
He could attack Derek. He could either kill him or push him off. But selfishly, he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to face this alone.
You are actively killing Derek by not pushing him off to the void, you do realise that, right?
The thought haunts Avery.
If I stay here alone, The King in Yellow will merge with me and he will be free in the physical realm. He will kill Derek for trying to ruin his plans. At that moment Avery realises: there is no future where Derek lives.
Avery can feel the dread setting in. A weight drops into his stomach, his face falls, his body deflating. Derek knew this from the very beginning. He is a dead man walking.
No, no, no, no, no-
Avery’s head is spinning faster than a carousel and his stomach churns.
Think Avery, think, think, think, this can’t be it, no.
His heart is racing, beating faster than it should, he is sure, can heart even beat this quickly?
Breathe, breathe, deep, yes, and think, there has to be at least one future where he lives but which one, this can’t be happening-
His thoughts are too chaotic, too fast for Avery to be able to grab onto something and think about it for longer than a second. Everything is too far away for him, too slippery, too real. His emotions are gripping him, suffocating him, there is no room for him in his body, he needs to do something.
What if they both jump into the void? That could work. No, Derek would only lie and then stay on the platform while I fall to my death.
d3rlord3: “Avery, please. There isn’t much time. You deserve a better life than this.”
The message grounds Avery back into reality. How is this my reality? He scoffs at the message and opens his chat window to reply something like ‘and you don’t?’ or ‘I can’t imagine continuing to live without ever truly knowing you.’
But as he opens the chat window, he sees every message they have sent. And Avery decides to reread everything. He scrolls through the wall of text, his eyes darting across the words. There has to be something we missed.
As Avery reads, one old thought he had before comes back to him.
TheMostMayo: “How are you so sure that we both die if I stay here?”
This is the thought that has been clawing on Avery’s mind before. Derek is all-knowing, yes, but he doesn’t know the rules of this realm. He said that himself.
d3rlord3: “It is the nature of things. It is how He works. It is logical.”
Avery furrows his eyebrows.
They are against a literal god-like entity. Is this something that they should apply logic to?
Slowly, a germ of an idea sparks inside Avery. It begins to bloom, and he can see the outlines of the plan taking shape. He gives the needed spark to the thought until it starts getting stronger and brighter in his head, until it feels more concrete and more real.
For the first time since the tree, he feels something that he is too scared to say outloud, and yet the word flashes through his mind. Hope.
It’s a selfish hope. The craving that everything might turn out all right after all. Deep down, he feels that he is naive. But he crushes that thought, and instead he allows himself to imagine a better future. He lets himself live in a lifelike picture of him and Derek sitting in a park, laughing at something silly Avery just said. He can see the sun shining, angled just the way to blind him and hide Derek’s face from his view, but he hears his perfect, imaginary laughter. It makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside and it is perfect.
And that picture burns inside his mind so strongly that it fuels his desire for something that might be selfish and can potentially doom all of humanity, but he needs it. Avery is not the kind of person who needs things, who wants things. No, he is always satisfied with life as it comes and goes.
So, wouldn’t it be only fair if he could have the one thing - the only thing - he’s ever truly wanted? Isn’t it only fair for the universe to listen to his murmured prayers and give him what his soul longs for?
Avery knows his idea is a gamble. He doesn’t share the eternal knowledge that Derek and The King in Yellow do. He isn’t the cleverest person alive. He knows that if he traveled back in time, he wouldn’t know how to invent electricity for people. He doesn’t know the laws of nature. He has no proof nor real idea that his plan might actually work.
But he has his determination.
And his vision of him and Derek on a sunny day.
And Avery didn’t get this far, only to give up now.
You could die.You could and probably very realistically will die for a person you’ve never met and doom humanity in a process. You will die. You are going to die. You are giving your life up for something that you don’t have to. Derek is giving you a way out. Take it. Take it. Take it. You will both die. You will never see him. You will both die and you will never see him.
Avery is quickly reminded that this is not a game. Not anymore. His decision will have real consequences. Even if his decision has the most honorable intentions, it could backfire in the most horrible ways.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Avery gulps. How did he end up here, deciding the fate of humanity?
Avery looks down at his keyboard and thinks about how to reply to Derek. And more importantly, how to convince him to go along with his insane plan and get through his thick skull.
That itself might be a bigger fight than standing alone against The King in Yellow.
TheMostMayo: “How do you know for certain?”
d3rlord3: “Avery, leave”
Avery grunts. He’s had enough of this.
TheMostMayo: “HOW DO YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN?”
There is a pause. Derek’s character is still unmovingly and stubbornly staring at the same spot on the floor. Just as Avery starts to think that Derek won’t reply, the longest chat message shows itself.
d3rlord3: “I told you. It seems logical. Avery, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I have no life ahead of me. I am completely dependent on my screen. I will never have a life again. There is no reason for you to stay and die with me. I am already dead. There is no reason for you to join a dead person just because you feel pity for them.”
Is that what Derek thinks this is? Pity?
Avery shakes his head. He knows Derek can’t see the motion, but he needs to do something to make it clear how wrong the other man is. But time is running out. He can feel it. He promises himself he will explain to Derek later, once they see each other in that sunny park, that this wasn't a pity. This was fixing the unfairness of the universe.
Avery takes a shaky breath. His leg taps nervously underneath the desk. He is so exhausted. But he needs to push on. Frowning in concentration, he begins to type.
TheMostMayo: “d3rlord, listen to me. I am staying here. There is nothing you can do. I am not going anywhere. But I have an idea. Please, listen to it.”
Another deep breath.
TheMostMayo: “Once this thing tries to merge with you, do not accept it willingly. Fight it.”
Now his finger starts tapping along with his foot. His gaze never leaves the chat window as he nervously, impatiently awaits Derek’s reply.
d3rlord3: “What? That won’t stop it, Avery.”
TheMostMayo: “I know. But listen. It might not be able to merge with you fully if you fight it. There will be some parts that might get refused.”
Avery knows his plan is built on a lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘mights.’ But so is Derek’s. Derek who wants to protect him so badly that he is willing to give up his life for him. And then he has the guts to tell me that I am insane for saying that I owe my life to him.
d3rlord3: “Avery, please.”
Avery ignores Derek’s pleas and continues with his explanation. “Those parts will probably attach to me. This thing would split. It would split between us. It will die. How can something split in two survive?”
d3rlord3: “This is insane and probably won’t even work.”
Avery wishes Derek were right next to him so he could shake the stubbornness right out of him, but a leopard can't change its spots. He knows that trying to force Derek to change his headstrong nature is a futile battle.
TheMostMayo: “How can you know that? You don’t even know for sure that it’ll kill us both if I stay. How can it kill us both if it’s trapped in your mind?”
For the first time in a while, Derek’s character moves. He lifts his head to look directly at Avery. A flicker of hope spreads through Avery’s chest. The hope that he is getting through Derek.
Avery continues, “I want a future where we know each other, even if it means my brain talks to me more than it should. I want this, Derek. If there is a way for both of us to survive, I want it.”
Avery can tell he is becoming soppy. But that’s who he is. He feels too intensely, too deeply. He has always cried easily and shared his feelings too openly. And he has learned through the hard experience that the world isn’t built for people like him. It has tried to break him many times, trying to force him to build stronger walls around him and close him off. But his mother always loved this side of him. So he didn’t let himself lose it.
Yes, sometimes it’s a curse. But other times, it allows him to understand what others feel. He can be there for them, helping them through whatever they are going through. Because of his openness, he understands his own heart.
He isn’t ashamed of this side of himself. He has nurtured it for years, turning it into his greatest strength. Thanks to that he decided to find d3rlord3, thanks to that he decided to help him. And thanks to that he now stands on the brink of a war between eldritch-like-entity and humanity.
…Well, as he’s mentioned before, sometimes this side of his is a curse.
d3rlord3: “I don’t want you to suffer through the same pain I went through. You’re not being reasonable, Avery.”
Derek's knight skin really suits him, Avery decides. He is the typical knight from the stories his mum used to read him before sleep - he wants to save others because it is his duty. He needs to lay down his life for others, because he feels obligated to do so.
Well, Derek needs to wake up and realise that he is not actually a knight.
“Neither are you! Stop this self-sacrificing nonsense you have in your head and listen to me! Derek, please.”
Avery is so tired. He’s been looking at his screen for so long.
d3rlord3: “You don’t know what you are asking for.”
Avery rolls his eyes at the message, then immediately winces, feeling guilty for the gesture. After all, Derek wants to save him. He apologises in his mind.
Avery opens his chat and sends another message. “Can’t you trust me that I, in fact, do know?”
Then Avery types more into the chat, but before he hits enter, he rereads his prepared message. ‘Do you think sharing this burden with you will be hard for me? Harder than missing you for the rest of my life? You think I just go on like nothing happened?’
His fingers hover over the keys. He knows it is too much. This man literally called him insane for ‘I owe you my life.’ But Avery is drained. This argument has lasted for what feels like an eternity. He needs to get through Derek’s thick skull. And if they are supposed to die in a bit, it doesn’t matter what he sends. There is no overthinking in the afterlife. At least I hope so.
He presses enter.
Something feels off. A shiver runs down his spine.
Avery narrows his eyes and looks around. This darkness encircling them feels somehow empty. He is almost sure that when he appeared on this platform, there were many, many golden eyes surrounding them, watching them.
He is quite certain that the amount of them significantly decreased.
His whole body tenses. He doesn’t know if these eyes work as some kind of a timer. But if they do, they have even less time than he thought. He can feel a drop of sweat tickling his forehead.
d3rlord3: “Avery, you don’t even know me.”
He focuses on one specific eye and watches it carefully. Now he sees it - the blocks forming the eye gradually vanish right in front of his eyes. He counts only four more eyes floating in the darkness.
Time is up.
The thought that these eyes don’t only show when this world will collapse, but also when Avery's life might end, crosses his mind. He pushes it away. Instead, he starts typing as fast as possible. He needs to convince Derek quickly before this world falls away. Or whatever happens once the eyes disappear.
Derek is not dying tonight. At least, not alone.
TheMostMayo: “You want to think that! You want to think that I will be okay! I won’t! No person, no matter how well I know them, should die for me! You are here because of me, d3rlord!”
Three eyes.
Avery has no time to wait for Derek’s answer, so he continues his frantic typing.
TheMostMayo: “How do you even know that this thing will die with you? Will it really get trapped? Will it disappear? Or will it somehow get back here? How are you so sure that you are protecting me with this self-sacrifice shtick?”
Two eyes.
d3rlord3: “I DON’T KNOW, AVERY.”
One eye.
TheMostMayo: “Please, fight it, Derek. We will win. Together.”
The world goes black.