Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Avery sat staring in horror at the death screen. Why had Derek done that? Avery slammed his computer closed and took a step back, eyes wide from the adrenaline. Has Derek really died? Was he ever alive? That was it. Yeah. It was some stupid internet prank. Something one of his friends added to his world when he wasn't looking. The denial didn't last long, before Avery laid down on his bed, thinking.
It had been two weeks, and Avery wasn't taking it well. He hadn't gone outside or gone to work in days, and his apartment was a mess. He hadn't been sleeping well either, and taking melatonin overdoses hoping he would finally get the rest he had been craving since he joined that world. As he laid down to go to bed and reached for the pill bottle,
“Crap”
He was out of them. He got up and started to put his hoodie on.
“Back to the hospital, I guess.”
Avery put on his black hoodie with little daisies on it. He loved that sweater. That's why it's on his minecraft skin. Avery started up his car, half asleep, and headed off to the ER.
Chapter 2
The door to Derek's house clicked open. “Ah man! That was a great vacation! Derek where are you- OH GOD-” The man stared at Derek laying at his desk. The computer's fan was loud, and Derek's head was pressed to the table, blood streaming out of his ears.
“Hello? 911? Yes, hi, um- I think my roommate is dead.
Sirens came quickly, and Derek was driven away to the hospital.
Chapter 3
Avery had been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour. It was late and he was exhausted and barely awake.
A man, around 6 feet, stepped out from behind the wall that led to the emergency room. He had bandages wrapped around his head and some medical - looking plugs in his ears. He looked just as much of a mess as Avery, fatigue and all.
As he caught sight of Avery, his eyes widened and he started walking over.
“Who is this guy?” Avery thought. He hadn't interacted with any one in days. Except for, Well-
No way. Couldn't be him. The man approached him while he was still deep in this thought, breaking him out of his trance.
“Avery?” The man said. Avery's eyes went wide as he looked up at him in shock.
“Derek?”
Both stood silently for a second.
“No way- how did you even know it was me?” Avery asked.
“Your hoodie.” Derek replied. Avery looked down at his hoodie, and then back at Derek.
“How are you even alive?!” Avery asked.
“Well, uh, the doctors, they found this tumor in my head. Which may have been from the king. Or was the king? I'm not sure.” There was another moment of silence.
“Well, Uh- This isn't very private. Can I give you my number?” Derek asked. He was right. They were getting a few stares.
“Sure, I'd love to.”
They swapped phones. When they swapped back, Avery saw that Derek had put himself as “Derek”, not quite as flashy as what Avery put. “Awesome survival slime buddy🫠🟢. They said their goodbyes, and as Avery went to get his pills and go home, he changed the name Derek had put in.
“The Lord who Survived ❤️”.
Chapter: 4
When Avery got home, he slept better than he had in weeks. Knowing Derek was alive was enough to put him in the deepest sleep of his life.
The next day, Avery woke up to the sun shining in his eyes.
“Goddamn sun.”
Just a few seconds later, he remembered the conversation he had had with an old friend the night before.
After Avery awoke, he sat on his couch staring at Derek's contact. It was early, so he wouldn't dare text him. He could still be in the ER for all Avery knew. Avery decided to excuse himself from the matter for a few hours.
A few miles away, Derek had just gotten home from the ER that morning. His roommate, Kay, was out on an errand. Coincidently, Derek also took a few seconds to stare at Avery's contact, before getting a text from Kay.
“Dont 4get about ur checkup.”
“Crap, I need to go.” Derek rushed out the door and headed to the ER, to see if any issues had emerged from the surgery.
“This won't be fun. I hope they don't have me come here so often.” Derek thought while driving. He pretty quickly realized how much funner that was then what he had been put through the past couple weeks.
“Better than being forced to play minecraft for 200 hours straight.” He corrected himself.
Once he was home, he didn't have much to do. He didn't exactly make any plans while stuck sitting in front of a game for weeks.
“I wonder if Avery has plans…” After a few moments of thought, Derek pulled out his phone and texted Avery:
“Are you free today? We could catch up.”
About 30 seconds later, Avery replied.
“Sure.”
Chapter 5:
Derek and Avery decided to meet at Derek's place. This was quite the relief to Avery. He hadn't spent much time taking care of his apartment during his days of mourning.
Avery drove over and knocked on the door. Derek answered and invited him in. They sat awkwardly for a bit, before Derek broke the silence.
“Im sorry.” He said
“For what?”, Avery replied. Avery could think of plenty of things there was for both of them to apologize for, but there was no worth in thinking about it.
“Hitting you.” Derek blurted.
“What? You didn't hit me? What are you-”
…
“Oh.” Avery corrected as he realized what Derek had meant.
“It's okay. You did what you had to. Sorry I was so stubborn about it.”
A few moments of tense silence later, Avery made a smart decision (which is not something he did often) and changed the topic.
“Ive been wondering,” he started. “When you got the tumor taken out, did the knowledge go with it?” Avery asked.
“Most of it.” Derek replied, before adding, “I definitely think I'm more knowledgeable than I was before, though. Mostly useless facts are what I've recovered. Times tables and shit. I'm assuming that you have more questions. Seeing that I didn't have much time to explain everything.
“I do.” Avery replied.
This new topic changed the mood quite a bit. Avery asking questions and Derek answering them.
Some highlights of the Q&A:
Q: “What did you even see behind the gates?” A: “I can't even describe it. It was kind of like if you mixed the eye of Cthulhu with an analog horror mascot and put it in a cloak.”
Q: “Do you think The King is really gone?” A: “Proably. I'm assuming the king was the tumor. If it wasn't, it's not like there's anywhere it could have possessibly gone.”
After that question, Derek asked:
“Have you deleted that world yet?”
“No.” Avery replied.
“You should really get on that.” Derek affirmed, and Avery nodded in agreement. A second later, Avery remembered why he even had that world in the first place.
“Oh! Did you want your laptop back? Sorry for taking it by the way.”
“Nah, nah. It's okay. I was going to get rid of it anyway.” Derek replied.
A few minutes later Avery headed home. In the car, he was eaten up by his thoughts, despite his questions being answered.
Chapter 6:
“Ugh.”
Derek was sitting at his desk chair staring at his mom’s contact. He hadn't responded to his mom in weeks, rightfully so.
Finally, he called. His mother picked up immediately, and didn't hesitate to start talking.
“Who are you?! How do you have my son's phone? What have you done to him?” Through the words, he could hear the horrified, worried tone.
“It's me mom, it's me.”
“Hon? Oh My? Where have you been? They said you were dead! They-” Derek sat while his mom rambled in a panic. What was he going to say when she finished? “Oh, yea, I was playing minecraft for 3 weeks straight”.
“Ah, well, um, I was, uh…”
…
“I just forgot to respond.”
…
“Okay.” Derek's mother replied. She hung up right after. Derek had a moment of joy where he thought he may have gotten away with it, before he realized how bad his excuse was. He'd have to figure something out another day.
-
Avery had been home for an hour, before he got a text:
“Deleted?”
Oop. My bad. Avery walked over to his computer. Before deleting the world, Avery noticed that the play button was blacked out. Strange, but maybe for the best. He assumed the king wanted to cover up his tracks.
Although Avery was certain it was better not to, he looked into the world setting to see why it wasn't playable. He figured out why.
Now, he had a choice. He could delete it like he was told, or he could join for just a second. Just a second.
Avery joined for just a second. He held his breath while it loaded, but it wasn't anything he wasn't expecting. At his respawn point. He walked over to the mine, and the tunnel was still there. Why wouldn't it be? He said it would only be for a second, but Avery had a crippling question:
What's on the right?
So Avery retraced his steps to the crossroads. He got a shiver as he looked down the left side, even though it was the same as always, and the king was already gone. Like he said he would, he turned down the right side. He walked for around a minute before the tunnel ended. He dug in a bit, but it felt solid, and it was in spectator mode, to.
“Im not sure what I was expecting.”
Avery left the game and deleted the world.
If he was paranoid by just the choice of left or right, he only wondered what Derek was doing. It was a pretty stupid thing to have a fear of. And Avery knew Derek was not stupid, far from it.
Avery hadn't opened his laptop in a while. He sat looking at the “Create New World screen”, as that was the only world he had saved on that laptop.
“Fuck it. Let's give it a go.”
Avery hadn't exactly been excited to get back on, but he was absolutely CRACKED at skywars and you gotta practice your minecraft and what not ig idk.