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New years eve. A holiday meant to be spent with loved ones — family and friends. A holiday representing the start of new beginnings and a new year. Other people were out having fun, getting drunk, going out to parties. They were painfully unaware of the events going on. How two people alone, were saving the world from some eldritch god people only knew from myths. Stories. Pieces of writing nobody took seriously. And perhaps, deep down, everything was just a story nobody took seriously. Perhaps there was no King in Yellow. No Derlord. No Avery.
But this was all real. Real and so terrifyingly true.
Avery had found Derlord Derek. They were standing in front of the knight, on this platform in the middle of the void. The void? They could've sworn they were in the cathedral. Oh, but that was the least of their problems right now, wasn't it? The King In Yellow was still an issue — not just to Derek and Avery, but also to the outside world, as well. Even if the billions of individuals outside of this silly Minecraft world, didn't know it.
It was ironic, wasn't it?
This might not've happened if Avery hadn't found that stupid laptop. This might not've happened if Avery followed simple directions and just deleted the world. None of this would've happened if he just listened for once in his life. But now they were here. One of them might not even make it out of here alive. And Avery didn't want to think about that.
Derek had already invoked the spell. There was no going back, and he had already made up his mind. And Avery wouldn't leave. If Avery wouldn't leave, then all of this would be in vain and both of them — not just himself like he had planned — might never see the light of day again.
Why must his friend be so stubborn?
So persistent on staying with him?
Derek backed Avery up to the edge of the platform, still attempting to get them to leave — delete the world. But still, they refused. Why do they continue to refuse…? They barely even knew him that much.
"Avery what's in your inventory?" Derlord asked, a last minute plan already forming in his head.
A confused expression formed on Avery's face before they responded. Although it was a single word. A single word that explained their confusion perfectly; "What?"
"What's in your inventory?" The knight repeated, pushing Avery off of the edge of the platform not even a second later, not giving Avery a milo-second to process what had just happened. If having them delete the world didn't work, then perhaps having them be at spawn, would.
Curses spued from Avery's mouth as they stared at the screen, flabbergasted by what had just happened. Then tears fell. Pitiful sobs filled their room, just like how they did when he saw those signs back at the church. The same church he had spent stuck in the same cycle for twelve hours. Twelve, brutally long, hours spent picking flowers, placing them at graves, and clearing out ferns. Blue Orchids, they remembered.
The sound of his laptop slamming shut rang throughout the room as Avery placed his face in his hands, sobbing. Like a child, he assumed, but it didn't matter now, did it? He had lost the only person they felt like they knew for years within a matter of hours after first meeting him. And it hurt.
It was most likely midnight by now. He had been awake for the entire day, he guessed, and his head was starting to hurt from staring at the screen that long. But there was something he felt he had to do first.
Avery opened their laptop back up again, rejoining the world.
It took a few minutes to gather the things they needed — stone, a sign, daffodils, and blue orchids. Why orchids? They didn't remember. But what they did remember, was Derek. And right now they felt that they owed him at least a grave for his heroic actions. Albeit in-game and not a proper funeral, but it was the thought that counted, right?
They sniffled, placing the sign.
"In loving memory of Derek ('D3rl0rd3'). He will always be a hero in my heart."
"Even if I hardly knew him. But it felt like we had been friends for years," Avery muttered to themselves, wiping their tears. A pitiful New Years they had spent, searching for a player that, in the end, no longer exists.
Derek Hutchins sat at his desk, his head against the surface. He was still online. And he would be until Avery either deleted the world for good, or his laptop died. Although it might be the latter.
It really was a horrible New Years for both of them, wasn't it? Derek would most likely be at his desk, no longer breathing, for God knows how long, until someone checked on him. And Avery had been stuck for twelve hours in the same spot, with nobody even sparing him the chance of being checked on. In the end, they were two people in a world full of billions. A singular person with the title of a "hero" wouldn't leave a dent in the population if he just somehow goes missing.
The two were doomed from the start, weren't they?
Avery most likely had no one, which may be the reason he got so attached to Derek, other than the fact that the other had saved them from being the King Hastur's vessel. And Derek had known everything about them, whereas they knew nothing of him.
It really was a doomed friendship, wasn't it?
Wasn't it ironic that a King lost to a Lord?
Two people had died that night. One, a hero, and the other, a King.