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He's standing on a thin platform with a long, long drop under. There's just enough light to see the mobs crawling in the depths. Joel catches his breath just by looking at the figure, so small in comparison to the lands rising to build height.
"fWhip!" He shouts.
A move of a hand, a tug on a bow. An arrow shot. A hit.
"fWhip!"
He falls.
It's red, and it's messy, and someone's screaming, and it might be him.
A step, another step.
"No! No!"
It's wrong. It's not supposed to happen. Why did it have to be him? Why him and why now, huh?! Why couldn't it be anyone else?
Why? Why, why, why, why, why-
Why?
He opens his wings and makes a large circle around the base, landing behind Joel's back.
"Was just gonna say how gorgeous the outside looks again, but the interior is really unwelcoming, Joel. I trust you you're working on that." He comments, a little breathless. Then he grabs the arrow with two fingers and yanks it out of his shoulder, wincing slightly.
The tip is
red.
fWhip throws it on the ground and clasps his hands together.
"As you might know, I currently have ownership of the one thing everyone on this server wants."
The death message was pretty hard to miss, yeah.
fWhip fell from a high place
Not that one.
"So…" There's a flash in fWhip's hands as he switches slots in his inventory. One, two. Here it is. He holds out the crown, glistening gold and coloured jewels.
"Why're you here, then? To gloat?" Joel huffs.
"I'm here to make an offer, Joel. And I'm sure you'll like this one." fWhip shakes his head. "You see, I, as the creator of this little piece of metal…" He turns the crown around in his hands, showing it off more than inspecting. "I never intended to wear it. In fact, I don't want to. It's a… Let's put it this way, this whole thing the last weeks is a little experiment of mine. And I did get involved, accidentally. The eternal winter and stuff. Had to be stopped. Well, you know."
"I really don't. Didn't pay too much attention." Joel shrugs.
fWhip sighs. "Anyway, it's mine now. And I'm at a loss. So! I'm making you an offer." He breaks his hands apart, making a wide gesture with the one holding the crown. "I give you the crown. You pull it back into rotation."
"So you get rid of a problem, and I get the crown?" Joel repeats after him, just for the sake of it.
"And you won't even have to kill me, since I've never worn it!"
He did it so many times here, on Empires. He's not sure he could anymore.
"Sounds like a deal to me." He nods.
"Alright." fWhip relaxes noticeably. "You have a wish, right? You know what it's gonna be?"
"Oh, of course I do."
"Great! So what is it gonna be?" fWhip grins. "What is the thing you desire most, my King?"
There's a feeling of leather gloves on his hair, and a heavy weight settles itself on Joel's head.
He sees stars.
The stars are
red.
The world is.
Maybe
it's just his hands. He's
holding some
thing
Something. Something. Something.
Someone.
"Give him a life!" He screams. He forces himself to unclasp his fingers from the damp piece of clothing and turns his head, eyes wide open. The person in front of him is covered in the same red as every single other thing there is left.
His eyes are green, though.
That's what's important.
He stands up, and he holds Scott up by the red shirt.
The look in his eyes is nothing but of a rabid animal when he pins him to the trunk of the tree Scott was holding onto. He's breathing rapidly, and his hands are shaking, but that just fires him to clench his fists until the knuckles turn white. No one would see it anyway under the cover of reds.
"Give him a life." He breathes. "Come on, you can, you're green."
Scott's silent.
"COME ON!" Joel shakes him by the shoulders. "This is… That's not fair! How many lives do you have Scott, how many?! Giving one is nothing to you!"
"Joel, he's dead."
"So I get it you're okay with just losing a life, then?" He hisses. "Give him a life or die!"
"I can't, Joel, I literally ca-"
Scott's body is red. Until there's not one.
He doesn't turn around, because he knows his body isn't there anymore either and he doesn't want to see the red empty space he left behind.
The sparkling XP orbs float up in the air, and he's not sure which of them are Scott's and which are fWhip's.
They look like stars.
"My rule, as the King of All Kings will be…" He tilts his head to the side.
"That any weaponry all empires have, or will have, needs to be moved to the Mezalea armory. For safekeeping." His expression stays solemn and serious, but a smug smile still slips into his voice.
"Huh." fWhip drops.
"You, Jim and Lizzie can keep yours, it's fine." He adds quickly.
"Yeah… That's certainly… a rule. Not out of paranoia from any certain events, am I right?" fWhip says with a laugh.
"Exactly. You get me so well."