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When Grian had first posed the idea for this round of games, he'd told them about "the Boogeyman". It was a curse of sorts that he had introduced to the world, a new twist on his games. The way he had explained it with a glint of mischief sitting behind his eyes had made it seem fun. Something new, something enjoyable.
Etho decided after the first time he was boogey that it was not fun. Not in the slightest.
It was a quiet day; Bdubs was on red, Skizz was out at the (strangely secretive) lair he was constructing and Tango was off-server – some sort of stomach bug.
And Etho was alone in the snow fort.
His communicator buzzed in his pocket with the message. He already knew what it was – the call for the Boogeyman was starting. He checked it anyway, his mind wandering to Bdubs.
Quickly after getting the confirmation that it was, in fact, not Bdubs dying, he shoved the communicator back in his pocket. He didn't want to see if he was boogey. He'd seen what it had done to Bdubs. That boogey kill was relatively quick, it wasn't built up or suspenseful – but he'd been with Bdubs later that night. He'd seen the guilt, the exhaustion, the hurt. That wasn't something he wanted to feel.
(Though, he would rather feel it himself than have to see Bdubs feel it again. He wouldn't say that to him.)
His hands busied themselves with organising belongings. Piles for throwing out, for keeping, for things Bdubs might want. The petals of a poppy brushed against his fingers. He held it for a moment, running his thumb over the soft red, before shoving it in his pocket and trying not to think too much about it.
A buzz in his pocket.
Again.
Again...
And a pause. For a moment, the world froze. He knew he would feel it if he was boogey, he knew he didn't need to check his communicator. He pulled it out anyway, resting it on the top of the chest.
And then came the rush. All at once, more overpowering than he possibly could have imagined it to be. His breath caught in his chest. He could feel his heart pumping, his lungs expanding and deflating, the blood flowing through him. It felt like it was burning, as though something was trying to get out from his skin, trying to get to something, get to someone–
He shoved his communicator back in his pocket. This wasn't in his plans for today. He wanted to build, get diamonds, maybe even get a life back for Bdubs. Now... well, now he had other things to do. He needed a plan.
Bdubs had taken the enchanter. He almost wished he hadn't let him have it – though, in all fairness, his life had been on the line. Nonetheless, it would've been a useful weapon.
He needed to be outside. There were no doors on his and Bdubs' room now, but it was hot inside, way too stuffy for him to think clearly. It replaced the usual chill of the base that they'd spent nights staving off with layers upon layers of thin wool blankets crafted in quick succession. He missed the chill.
(He missed Bdubs.)
For the first time in a long while, he wasn't sure exactly where he was walking. He usually never left the base without a solid goal, but he didn't know what he was doing today. He just needed some air, but it didn't take long for the absent-minded walk he'd decided to take across the soul sand to turn against him.
(It didn't feel absent-minded. He could hear the crunch of every bit of sand, the deafening woosh of small flames lighting under his boots. He felt so hot he could almost hear his blood boiling in his ears, and the dull humming in the back of his head sent his thoughts racing.)
His foot caught on the corner of Bdubs' stairs, sending him crashing to the ground. His face met the corner of spruce planks and the fall sent the hilt of his axe jabbing into his hip. Great. That would be two new bruises to add to the collection of brown-green marks that covered his skin.
He rolled off the steps with a sigh, laying down in the grass. Grits of sand scratched against the back of his neck, and he pulled his jacket up to cover it. The leather rubbed against his skin in all the wrong ways.
The sky above him was dull and cloudy, a depressing grey. Symbolic, he supposed, compared to how he was feeling right now. He was sure he remembered Joe saying something about it at a Hermitcraft meeting once – what was it called? Pathetic fallacy?
Either way, he sure felt a bit pathetic right now.
"Etho, buddy, you home?"
Skizz's voice echoed through the fort, dragging Etho out of his mind and causing him to shove himself up. He ignored the bruising he could already feel in his side as he jumped to his feet, waving slightly at Skizz.
"Hey, man," he said, being careful to avoid the corner of the stairs this time.
"Oh, Etho, do I have news for you!" He grinned, hopping so he was sat between two of the snowy battlements. Etho leant against the wall. "So. I've finished most of the lair, I just need Tango to do his super clever redstone-y magic thing next time he's here and we're good to go!"
"Oh, nice!" He smiled, and Skizz kept talking about the lair, but Etho couldn't follow what he was saying. The humming in his head was growing louder by the moment, his blood thumping so loud Etho could barely hear the words coming out of Skizz's mouth. He shook his head a little, trying to get rid of the humming.
"...safe and sound there, as long as Bdubs doesn't go stealing things." Skizz sent him a grin, and Etho chuckled, praying he'd responded in at least a somewhat fitting way. "Anyway, you bumped into anyone yet today? Any visitors?"
"Ah, not yet." Thump. Thump. Thump. "I've been keepin' an eye out, though. Don't want any surprise boogeys or red lifes showing up, y'know?"
Thump. Skizz laughed, giving a few words of agreement before hopping off the wall to root through some chests.
Thump. Etho's hand reached for his axe almost instinctively.
Thump. It would be an easy kill. Skizz had his back turned.
Thump. All he had to do was strike.
"Aha!" Skizz turned, brandishing a handful of magma cream. Etho's hand fell to his side again. "Just what I wanted. Hey, d'you know where the brewing stand was?"
"Bdubs had it, I think. At least, it was on his side." Thump. Thump.
"Oh, cool, cool. I'll go have a quick look for it. We can always put it back when we're done. He'll never know!"
Skizz made his way back towards Etho and Bdubs' now divided room, and Etho let out a breath as he watched him go. His head was killing him. He needed to sort this out, and soon.
He didn't clock until he was already halfway to spawn that Skizz may have been expecting him to be there still to make the potions. Too late now, he supposed, and it was probably for the better anyway. He couldn't understand how Bdubs hadn't just killed him straight away.
(He could, really. Even with the Boogeyman curse, with the constant throbbing in his head, he didn't think he'd ever really be able to kill Bdubs. The act of doing hurting Bdubs would hurt him more than the Boogeyman curse ever could.)
He didn't notice the enchanter sat at spawn until he'd almost walked into it. There was nothing other than a barrel behind it, and no Bdubs in sight. Suspicious, to say the least.
Still, Etho mustn't have been have clearly, because he didn't give a second thought to opening the barrel. At least, not until the hiss of TNT being lit startled him back to himself, and he barely managed to jump out the way of the explosion.
Of course it was a trap. What an idiot.
He sat up, staring at the gaping crater before him and patting out a stray flame that had caught on his sleeve. It must have been a decent amount of TNT to make a crater that size. It was a shame Bdubs hadn't thought to use TNT minecarts – maybe then, Etho wouldn't have survived.
Maybe then he'd be closer to joining Bdubs.
He shook the thought from his mind, letting it join the thumping murmurs of nonsense constantly playing in the back of his head. He'd deal with Bdubs later. Right now, he wanted that enchanter.
It fell into his hands with a few swings of his pickaxe, and he shoved it deep into his pocket. It was unpleasantly heavy, weighing him down as he clambered up the side of the crater, using jagged rock to support his weight. He could use this to his advantage – after all, he knew someone who wanted the enchanter very badly. Someone who he could target.
It didn't take him long to get back to the snow fort. He had a plan in mind, now, and he knew how to do it. All he needed to do was find Scar, and as it seemed, the world was on his side today.
Scar was shouting as he clambered out a hole in the wall of the snow fort, stumbling down a hill. Cleo wasn't far behind him, and Etho could see the red glint in her eyes even from this far away. Her gaze was locked solidly on Scar, exchanging shouts of annoyance with his shouts of fear.
"Scar, what are you doing in my base?"
Scar stumbled to a stop in front of him, and Etho could almost see the switch flip as his face changed from fear to something that Etho couldn't quite place.
"Etho, my friend! Oh, they're just chasing me. I think I annoyed them, so I just figured I'd cut through your base and–"
"Scar!" Cleo's angry shout cut him off mid-sentence. Etho couldn't let Cleo have this kill.
"I'll sort him out, Cleo, don't worry. Me and Scar need to have a chat anyway." She shot him a look of thorough annoyance, but turned her back and stalked away, back through the snow fort. Once she was out of sight, Etho turned back to Scar.
"Well, what do you want to chat about? Is it the crystals? Because let me tell you, I have so many now, it's–"
"Not the crystals, Scar. I've got something better than that." He pulled the enchanter from his pocket, seeing the hungry look in Scar's eyes as he saw it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Oh, you're right. Okay. Well, come with me, Etho! I'll show you what I've got."
Etho let Scar lead the way back up Magical Mountain, let him talk the whole way. He didn't listen to much of it – though, a brief mention of Bdubs brought his attention back to Scar, only for it to fall again once he changed the topic.
His hands stayed tightly clutching the enchanter. He trusted Scar enough that he wouldn't just steal it from his hands, but he didn't trust himself. Between the racing thoughts, the only thing he could think of was how easy it would be to kill Scar. Take an axe to his back, push him off the edge of the mountain. No. Not yet.
"So, Etho, if you'll come up this ladder right here, I've got some fine things to show you."
The room in the top of the wizard hat definitely felt whimsical. It was warm, full of green plants and purple gems growing on the walls (how Scar managed that, Etho could not figure out). In the centre of the room were three, slowly rotating podiums, each of which held a crystal and a book. Just what he was looking for. Scar stood in the middle of the room and clasped his hands together.
"Nice place you got here, Scar." Scar grinned at the compliment.
"Why, thank you. Now, let's get down to business. As you can see, I've got three beautiful crystals in this here room. Now, these crystals hold souls," he gestured to each of them. "I currently have seven souls, and I am willing to give you one of them if you give me the enchanter."
"Would you be down to make a bit of an... odd deal, Scar?"
"Oh, I'm always happy to make odd deals." He grinned. "What have you got in mind?"
"I don't really need a life right now, but Bdubs does." He paused, watching for Scar's reaction. "Would I be able to get one for him?"
"Well, now, that sounds like a perfect deal! All I need is for you and Bdubs to both sign these contracts." Scar picked up one of the books, passing it to him. He began flicking through the pages.
"I dunno, I mean... This is a big ask." He ran his finger across one of the lines of scribbled writing on the page. "'I won't kill Scar as a green or yellow name for any reason?' Like..."
"Ah, Etho, you don't have to read the fine print, it's all good. Don't mind that. Anyway, about the enchanter?"
"I'm not signin' one of these. Like, what if it's a one versus one with me and you at the end? Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Okay, okay." Scar held his hands up, and Etho had to scrunch his hand into a fist to stop reaching for his axe. "How about this? You don't have to sign the contract, you're a free man."
"Okay..." He narrowed his eyes, watching Scar's every movement carefully.
"But Bdubs has to."
He paused, thinking. Was that worth it? Bdubs would probably be a little bit annoyed, to say the least, but he wouldn't be red anymore. He could be back with Etho. The wall in the middle of their room could be gone, and he could have Bdubs back.
"Done." He dropped the enchanter on the floor at Scar's feet.
For the few minutes after that, Etho almost couldn't hear the thumping in his head. All he could think of was Bdubs. The moment he saw his name turn yellow on his comm, that was all he could think about. He was back.
Bdubs was back.
Etho was at the bottom of Magical Mountain when Bdubs arrived there, colliding into him and almost knocking him over with the force of the hug. Etho clung to his shirt tightly, burying his face against Bdubs' shoulder.
"Etho, I cannot believe you," Bdubs mumbled through a laugh. Etho didn't move, pulling Bdubs tighter into the hug. There was a warmth to Bdubs' hugs that wasn't quite matched by anything else, a comfort that only came from him.
It had only been gone for a couple of days, but God, Etho had missed it.
"I hate to ruin the moment, but Bdubs does still need to sign the book." Etho took a step back and watched as Scar babbled on at Bdubs about fine print, lives, deals. Now that he could see Bdubs, the thumping in his head was all the more prominent than before – deafeningly so.
And this was his chance.
He began piling up, excusing it as keeping an eye out for anyone nearby.
Thump. All he needed was for Bdubs to sign the book.
Thump. His hand hovered over his fishing rod, ready to cast the line.
Thump. He watched Bdubs write, watched the flourish of his wrist.
Thump. Bdubs shut the book. The sound of the blood pumping through his body grew louder.
Thump. Bdubs passed the book over to Scar, and Etho struck.
It didn't take much to get a good hook on the back of Scar's shirt, and he assumed the curse must have given him some extra strength – or maybe it was the adrenaline – because he managed to hoist Scar into the air with ease. Sliding down the side of his small dirt pillar, he dropped the fishing rod and switched his axe into his hand. Scar's screams were barely audible.
Thump. One axe hit.
Thump. A second swing, missing by an inch.
Thump. A third swing, and Scar was gone.
He could feel the curse leave his body, his head clearing so much he felt almost as though he'd gone deaf.
It was done. He was cured.
Scar's items sat in a pile in front of him, the enchanter sat among them. Etho almost wanted to reach for it, take it back to the snow fort, but Bdubs scooped the items up before he could and dumped them into a chest.
"You were boogey?" Bdubs said, standing in front of him. Etho just nodded, swaying slightly on his feet. He felt too... light, almost. "Okay. Sit down, I don't want you falling over on me now."
Bdubs pushed his shoulders down slightly, and he followed the movement, sitting on the edge of the grass. He was exhausted. Bdubs sat next to him, their shoulders pressed together.
"Do we wait for Scar, or..."
"Wait. He'll probably make me sign a contract now," Etho mumbled. Bdubs hummed in response, threading his fingers through Etho's.
"Etho, I swear to God, you are signing this book now or so help me, I don't know what I'll do!"
"What'd I say?" He turned to watch Scar make his way down the side of Magical Mountain. "Sorry, Scar. It was an easy kill."
"I don't care about the kill. You're in on this deal now, or I will take that life back from Bdubs right now." Etho's heart dropped to his stomach.
"I already signed it, though, you–"
"I'll sign it."
Thankfully, it didn't take long to get Scar off his back once he'd signed the book. That also meant it wasn't long before he was back in his room at the snow fort, knocking down the barrier that separated him and Bdubs.
The room looked nicer without it. It felt wrong having the room split in two, a fence stopping them from being close to each other. He sat on the edge of his bed, trying not to doze off before Bdubs returned with their hot chocolates.
He must've fallen asleep sitting up at some point, because the next thing he was aware of, Bdubs was nudging him awake again with gentle pokes to his side.
"Good mornin', sleeping beauty. You want your chocolate?" Etho mumbled something incoherent, reaching forwards to wrap his arms around Bdubs' waist and burying his face in the crook of his neck. Bdubs pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head, running his hands gently through his hair.
"Being Boogeyman sucks," Etho whispered. Bdubs gave a dull laugh, nodding his head a little.
"Yeah. I know."
Etho leant back onto the bed, pulling Bdubs down and burying himsled further into his side. The chill was back, but welcome his time.
"Etho, you've still got your mask on." He grumbled slightly at the reminder, pulling it from his face and chucking it carelessly onto the top of the chest. Bdubs frowned a little at him. "How'd you get a bruise on your face?"
"Tripped over your stupid stairs," he mumbled, pulling Bdubs closer.
"Is that why they look all funny now?"
"Yeah, I fixed them."
"You made 'em worse!"
"What, you want me to get bruises like this all the time?"
"Well, no, but you ruined my stairs!"
"I can't believe you're so mean to me. Shoulda left you on red when I had the chance."
"Oh, you wouldn't do that. You love me too much."
"Lucky I do." Etho smiled, linking his hand with Bdubs' as he pulled the blankets over the two of them.
It was quiet. It was cold. And he had Bdubs.
Etho couldn't think of a better combination.