Archive of Our Own ^beta

Flame should’ve ran when he first heard that damned goat horn. The same one that has been haunting him for weeks without a break. He was proud, not stupid. Flame knew from the beginning that he was in no shape to fight a regular group of bandits that tended to roam around further parts of the server, not to mention a whole unit of well prepared and geared Law soldiers. His supplies were low, the armour was almost broken and since the Law invaded his home, he had no bottles of xp or farm to repair any of it. 

But he still fought back.

Flame wasn’t used to running away, of course he put up a good fight at first. But the unit was full of people using carts, players that were actually good at carting and soon enough, his shield broke. Right after that, his only totem popped in yellow and green flecks, his helmet following after just a few additional hits.

Just one glance at his pants’ durability told him that they would also be gone if he didn’t run right this moment.

He killed many of them, but there was no way he would be able to follow through with his original plan of killing everyone and retreating into hiding. There were maybe five of them left, but they were skilled enough to kill him if they worked together.

He had no idea where to go. He was in the middle of nowhere, Lomedy’s base was thousands of blocks away, he wouldn’t make it even if he tried to. He was running very low on pearls too, he shouldn’t waste them on a small possibility that Lomedy would be somehow able to help him; his friend was a farmer, not a fighter.

His teeth grinded against each other as he bit back a snarl of pain and he forced himself to use the pickaxe to mine down. He quickly blocked the entrance with some blocks and switched like this a few times, going deeper and deeper into his own demise.

The screams of lawmen were drumming in his ears along the sound of tnt exploding as they searched for him, going further down. 

Flame wobbled on his feet, grabbing a sharp shard of deepslate to steady himself. He hissed in pain as blood from his palm seeped down the handle of his pickaxe. Ignoring his blurred vision, he grabbed the tool just a bit tighter and mined down even further. The shouts were still there, too close to give him a chance to relax and think about his next step. 

He was running on almost no sleep at all, his every moment was spent on gearing up again and again, getting ready to fight and facing more lawmen units that were being constantly sent his way. It was the closest anyone got to killing him since the moment he joined the server. Even while fighting for the Mafia, hundreds of players that tried couldn’t get him low enough to run away from the fight, like a scared cat.

His pickaxe drilled into the ground with ease, but when Flame pulled it back, he felt himself fall down further than he expected. He grunted in pain when he fell onto his tool, the dull part of the netherite digging into his pained body in the most uncomfortable way possible.

In front of him an end portal was humming with constant power. Lava sources that were usually on the sides and underneath the portal were long gone, replaced by obsidian and the only exit of the room was blocked off with cobblestone.

It would be easy to mine and escape, but on the other side of the wall he could already hear the law people running around, searching for him.

It was a quick decision, one he wasn’t sure if he would make if it wasn’t for the blood loss and dizziness that interrupted his every passing thought. He dragged himself on top of the stairs and cursed against the cold frame of the portal when one of his legs fully gave out and he slipped down. He pulled himself further and without a single word, fell into the void-like portal.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

Eggchan heard someone go into the End, more than he saw it. It would be hard to miss a thud of a body hitting the obsidian floor with a cling of a netherite tool falling right behind, even with Wemmbu’s constant rambling. 

He was used to players going in and out of the End, he was guiding people while Minute was on the outer islands and Wemmbu was helping with… more difficult cases like Law people coming in. None of them ever left the dimension, not alive at least. But this time, it felt different. It was a single player, either a very new to the server chungus or someone hurt, based on the way they fell. 

And they were basically silent, way too quiet for Egg’s liking.

“Uh, bro. Someone’s here.” He interrupted Wemmbu who, without questioning him, immediately turned on his voice changer and threw a potion of invisibility right under his legs. Egg winced at the smell of potion that assaulted his nose for a second, until it fully disappeared and his friend turned into nothing more than a few white particles surrounded by diamond armour.

They both moved to check up the trap Minute set up for newcomers. The already cold air of the End seemed to turn icy at sight of FlameFrags, his body laying without any movement in the middle of the platform. Egg scrunched his nose at the metal stink of blood that already started to stain the floor.

He was about to say something, but Wemmbu took out his pickaxe and silently mined into the obsidian box.

He kneeled next to the body and after a second, looked back at his best friend. “He’s alive, but barely.”

Wemmbu stood up and unceremonially took out his sword. The potions attached to his hip clinked against each other when he raised his arm into the air, right above Flame’s uncovered neck. Egg quickly followed him inside the box, stumbling a bit when his foot got stuck between deepslate and obsidian. He grabbed Wemmbu’s arm mid air. “Yo bro, chill and wait a moment. What are you doing?”

“Killing him? Egg, he and Parrot are trying to find out my identity. Why else would Flame be here if he didn’t already know where to find me? About who I would be with?” They both looked at the hybrid down at their feet. His chest was barely moving now, one of his arms was stretched out while the other was loosely grabbing the sword at the hilt.

“Are we being deadass now? Dude, he wouldn’t even scratch you right now. Are we looking at the same person?” Egg laughed nervously and pointed at Flame’s lack of helmet. “He looks like he fought and lost. From what I know, Law has been hunting Flame down for some time, maybe they finally got him.”

Wemmbu hesitated at the words and glanced at Egg. He didn't fully know what was going on on the server, if he had to be honest.

Invisible Knight kept to the Capital City, he was their protector. The Law and FlameFrags weren't his priority there and Egg always somehow knew stuff that he shouldn't know, especially now that he was locked in the End. 

He always blamed it on his friend being an angel and he was never corrected when he casually mentioned the theory.

Egg kept a grip on his arm, but if they were being honest, his friend was nothing more than a twig compared to Wemmbu. If he decided to kill Flame, the angel had no way of stopping him. The potion started to lose its effect as Wemmbu’s form flickered in and out of existence. He looked down at his rival. He looked… pathetic. Wemmbu was used to seeing him in a pool of blood, but it was always after killing all his enemies.

It was never his own.

He looked in pain, far from his usual, relaxed state that came with knowing he was the strongest and no one could harm him. A minute passed before he finally dropped his arm and put the sword away. Egg moved back a step. “You’ll have to get him back into the base, I can’t carry this dude.”

“Of course you can’t!” Wemmbu huffed and ignored the angel’s panicked gasp when he threw Flame up and over his arm. Egg picked up the items the demon dropped during the fall and walked behind his friend into one of the guest bedrooms Minute prepared, for whatever reason since only three of them actually used the End as something more than a place to get shulker boxes.

On the way there, Egg picked up a few spare potions they kept in random barrels all over the base. Wemmbu didn’t comment on it, just raised an eyebrow when the dark potion of weakness disappeared into the angel’s inventory. “Gotta keep him sleeping or you know he’ll try to kill us.”

The demon shrugged and didn't respond.

When Wemmbu laid him down on the bed, he was more careful under Egg’s watchful eyes. He splashed him with one of the weakness potions at first, just to keep him from moving around and losing any more blood. He gently took off the remaining armour and gave it to his friend to store safely in one of the chests in another room, somewhere Flame couldn’t get easily. Taking away all the weapons was a longer task- just when the End demon thought everything was gone, he found yet another pocket with even more daggers. At some point it was just concerning how many of those Flame kept hidden.

“Keep an eye on the entrance, if people are really chasing Flame, they’ll come here eventually. Come and get me when they do.” Wemmbu instructed Egg and with just a tick of hesitation, the angel left the room. He left all the remaining potions on the table next to the chest with the stored armour.

The demon was used to patching himself up, but not other people. Other than Egg, who was a young angel, but old enough to have regeneration power, he was always alone. He never needed to tend to other people so he hesitated for a longer moment before he started to take off Flame’s shirt to see the full picture of the damage.

The black outfit he was always seen in was too torn apart to repair anyway, he just threw it to the side like a rag.

The bleeding was the worst in the stomach area, it looked like an explosion got him just enough to scorch his skin and with the stab wounds around it, Flame’s whole chest looked like he went through hell, fought the devil himself and started heading back before he crashed. He wondered how long he was chased after to get to this condition. Both old and new wounds weren’t taken care of, at all. He’d have to ask Egg later if he knew something about it.

Wemmbu started to gently pick out small fragments of clothing and any debris stuck in the wounds and only poured a tiny amount of regen potion over it when he was sure no foreign objects would be stuck inside after the skin heals itself. He covered Flame with one of the spare blankets when he eventually had to take off his trousers to work on the injuries on the legs, remembering that Nether demons were already sensitive to the cold nature of the End dimension.

Just to be sure, he took a few more from his enderchest and spread them all over the demon. He always kept some purple blankets in case Egg needed more of them in one of the ridiculous scenarios they often found themself in.

He managed to get through the left leg as well when the angel ran into the room, out of breath from all the stairs. “They’re here, Knight.”

The signal was there- don't say a word as Wemmbu, they might hear you.

Wemmbu wordlessly put on the voice changer and before he left the room, he splashed himself with an invisibility potion. He put on the diamond helmet and hid the maces in his inventory, just in case it went badly and he needed to one-shot the Lawmen. He headed straight towards the obsidian cube, noticing with satisfaction that Egg covered the four block gap he made while trying to get Flame out. 

With less happiness he noted that there were five players with diamond gear inside the cube. He coughed, just to make sure his voice changer worked correctly and addressed the newcomers in that low voice that somehow still managed to intimidate people. “What are you doing here?”

When Egg and Minute heard him for the first time, they almost cried, laughing at him. But it worked, he was unrecognisable.

“Invisible Knight.” One of them spoke without thinking and immediately paled under the strange gaze of others. Wemmbu took out his sword, getting closer to the gap between blocks that let him see prisoners. He splashed himself with other potions and though he knew they couldn’t see it, raised an eyebrow while waiting for the answer. “We have reasons to believe a fugitive FlameFrags went through this portal. We want to catch him and take him to our leader, LettuceK.”

“Eh, you really think FlameFrags would be here? The End is heavily guarded.” He reminded them. Maybe Minute wasn’t on the main island to kill them this time, but he left Wemmbu and Egg here to do the job. The Law people didn’t know that part, but they for sure had to know about the Guardian of the End.

“We still need to search this place and if you try to stand in our way, we will need to kill you.” Another one of the guys gained courage to speak. Wemmbu made an excessively animated move by looking from where he was standing to the box the unit was locked in. 

“D’alright…” he prolonged it and hid the sword, instead picking up his bow and a few arrows. This should be enough to kill them quickly so he can get back to Flame.

No matter how much Wemmbu enjoyed Egg’s company while he was patching himself up, the angel wasn’t able to help at all. He never needed to learn how the human body works and how to fix it, and while he was in the demon's company it hadn’t changed much. If Egg tried to finish working on Flame's wounds, the demon would probably end up dead or forever scarred, both mentally and physically.

He aimed at one of the five guys and quickly let go of the arrow. It went right through the gap in armour, straight through the neck. As the body fell down, the items scattered on the floor and the blood started pooling from underneath it. The message buzzed in their communicators, the small screens on their wrists lighting up, just as the body disappeared.

Rickexbandit was shot by Wemmbu

The panic settled on the faces of the remaining four.

It seemed like only now they realised the kind of danger they were in. They were stuck in an obsidian box, in another dimension with a legend, a player who killed hundreds if not thousands and was supposed to be dead. Wemmbu grinned and pulled another arrow. “Don’t make this more difficult than it already is. I have stuff to do.”

Less than a second later the silence was yet again disturbed by a metal thud of body falling down onto the obsidian before the items exploded on the floor. The panic finally settled in, one of them screamed in terror and while two of the Law members tried to block the shots with their shield, the third one pulled out their pickaxe and started mining the obsidian around them.

Wemmbu laughed at the attempt.

In just a few steps, he was already facing the mining guy and as he swung, a sword materialized in his hands. It cut deep into the man’s chest, but not deep enough to instantly kill. The roar of pain he let out was nothing more than a deaf sound to the demon. Using the moment of surprise and panic, he took out the bow again and let out two quick shots. 

It left the last guy standing alone, over the bodies of his old friends. Wemmbu could see the shock wash over him as he watched the life drain from their eyes before another two death messages appeared on their communicators and they disappeared, leaving only the items on the floor.

His eyes, wide with panic, jumped over from where their bodies just were to Wemmbu. He saw how the light disappeared in them after watching his friends die and suddenly, the man looked years older than moments earlier.

The demon stifled down a laugh. Maybe if Egg was here to remind him of some morals he was supposed to keep as the Invisible Knight, he would feel guilty for killing them. But right now, the angel was keeping Flame company and he wasn't the Invisible Knight, he was Wemmbu.

“Please…” the lawman whispered. The voice was raw with emotions. Clearly the stuff Lettuce said about Wemmbu was nothing compared to what the guy saw today. The man didn’t even reach for the sword, or the bow. He looked… pathetic.

Disgust coiled at the bottom of his stomach. This was one of the guys that brought The Immortal Demon down to his knees, now begging Wemmbu, of all people, for his life. He wondered if they would even stop to hear Flame out if the demon didn’t reach the End, if he was caught in the portal room. “I won’t tell anyone what happened here, just let me leave and you’ll never see me again. I won’t tell Lettuce-”

Before he could finish the sentence, an arrow plunged itself into his throat. Wemmbu lowered his bow and chuckled. “You’re all so stupid if you really thought I’d let anyone leave, knowing my identity. Really, how did you defeat Flame with that tiny brain of yours?”

Wemmbu shook his head with amusement and looked up.

He stared at the body in silence for a second and sighed heavily. Not like he would get a response from any of them, not when the last one was already gone in a puff of smoke when he stored the bow in his inventory.

He left the items inside, instead going back to where Egg’s nametag was. He was sitting by Flame’s bed, waiting for Wemmbu’s return. The Nether demon didn’t move a single muscle in the time he was gone, but he noticed that a small amount of weakness potion was gone from the bottle. Egg seemed to catch on what he was staring at. “He started moving when that one guy was screaming. I didn’t know if he should’ve so I splashed him with it.”

“That’s probably fine.” Wemmbu shrugged and sat down on the other side of the bed. He quickly took the cleaning supplies he was using earlier and cleaned his hands, leaving his own weapons, now covered with blood, against the wall. He wasn’t even gone for ten minutes, but his breathing seemed better, either the pain lessened due to regen potion or the weakness entirely cut him off from feeling it. Some of the colour came back to Flame’s face as well so maybe the first option.

But when he touched Flame’s leg, it felt too cold for his liking. “Egg, can you get blankets from other rooms as well?”

“Sure, bro.”

∆∆∆∆∆∆

Wemmbu searched every inch of Flame’s body for more injuries with Egg looking over his shoulder like he would kill a guy if his friend looked away for a single second. Only when the demon reminded him about the slowly cooking meal on the other side of the base where the kitchen was, did he leave in quick steps, murmuring something about Minute killing him if he burned yet another pot. 

It looked like for every dagger that Flame stored in one of his pockets, there was an injury in the size of said dagger. Almost like he carried them as proof of surviving the attacks.

If anyone, especially someone like Parrot, asked him, he would never admit how long he spent tending to each wound, even more carefully than he usually does to his own. But there was something in watching his biggest rival, his own brother, the only person Wemmbu couldn’t kill even with all his gimmicks, be so weak and hurt that made him snarl with disgust, his tail lash out angrily and all he could focus was on getting him back on his feet as soon as humanly possible.

Even while he was standing on top of the Mafia's storage building, waiting for Flame, the thought of killing him never even crossed his mind. Neither did it when the man was barely standing straight while supporting himself on the wall and his sword in the hole Wemmbu made with the stab shot. Only after seeing him down on the obsidian floor, all bruised and bleeding, did a wave of anger pushed him far enough to get the sword out, ready for the final blow.

Flame was supposed to be strong, not whatever it was laying in front of him. If it wasn’t for Egg, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to finish him off and throw the body out into the void.

The angel, almost like he felt Wemmbu think about him, entered the room, two bowls of steaming hot stews carefully balanced in his arms. “I brought you some food! I figured you’d be hungry since you didn’t-”

“After we eat, I’m leaving. I’m running low on a few things, I need to go to the Overworld.” Wemmbu cut him off, knowing damn well where Egg was going with that. He didn’t care about Flame. Void below, he was ready to kill that guy the moment he appeared in this dimension. “Since you wanted to keep him here, you need to watch him. And don’t give him more weakness, the regen put enough magic in his system, any more and he’ll end up drugged out of his mind.”

“Yes, sir Wemmbu, yes sir!” Egg saluted after he put both bowls on the table. The demon’s eyes softened at that and he sat down next to his friend.

Egg was the only person he’d put his trust in. Sure, the angel was clueless most of the time, he wasn’t a good fighter and if it ever comes to a serious fight they can’t escape, he’ll probably be the reason why Wemmbu will be defeated. But Egg was smart in other ways and he always stood right by his side, never behind or in front of him. 

He couldn’t be mad at him for too long. “Thanks, Egg.”

His tail swayed slowly and he let himself rumble quietly as they started eating. In the Overworld, he needed to get Egg more stuff to cook with. It was one of the things he was getting more interested in lately, wasn’t it? At least he mentioned it more and more often the last few times he visited and there were only so many things that could be grown in the End.

The stew was good, very rich in spices and vegetables. Apparently, Minute was good not only in combat, but also a great teacher when it comes to cooking. Egg praised him so many times and Wemmbu couldn’t help, but agree. Before Minute and the whole being trapped in the End thing happened, they were both surviving on bland and dry steaks or artificial tasting golden carrots.

“What do we plan on doing with him? After he gets better?” Egg was the one to mention the horse in the room. Or it was better to say the unconscious demon in the room. One that started mumbling and stirring moments ago, though the effects of weakness potions could be seen in his sloppy movements when he threw his head to the side and winced in pain.

“He leaves the End. You said it yourself, I can't chug so many invis potions and after he wakes up, I can't be visible as well. The sooner he can leave, the better.” 

Egg seemed to have different ideas. He turned to face the sleeping hybrid and hummed, lost in thoughts when his floating eyes slowly moved between Wemmbu and Flame. “But the Law is still chasing him. You think he won't get caught like this again?”

Wemmbu didn't answer and turned to his bowl with a seemingly blank face. Oh, fuck Egg and his overly pure morals.

He couldn't care about Flame. He went invisible, changed his armour and voice to escape his previous life. If he helped the demon now, he would be back in the exact same position as before. Right on the radar of some huge organisation, running away to save his life. Egg would be in danger, because everyone knows he is Wemmbu’s only weakness and many people already knew he was living in the End. Minute couldn’t protect him if the whole Law invaded the dimension.

He took the bowls and washed them in the cauldron in the corner of the room. Egg followed him with his floating eyes, though he didn’t turn away from Flame.

“Do you want something from the Overworld? I can drop by the merchant city or go to the black market.”

“If you could get me more empty books, or stuff to make them.” The angel opened his inventory and as he suspected, there were only two more empty books. With the amount of stuff he has been writing lately, it was no surprise he was quickly running low. Minute built him a corner with just a desk and an overwhelming amount of shelves for his books and he already gathered an impressive collection of them. 

“Sure, I can do that.” He started heading out, the angel following right behind. Wemmbu quickly checked his shulker for more potions, popping one of them right away. He turned to his friend when they reached the portal. “Don’t forget not to give him more potions, if he somehow wakes up, just knock him out or hide until I come back.”

“Knock-  knock him out? Bro, what?” 

Egg didn’t get the response, his friend was already long gone before he even finished the question. He turned towards the tower where the other demon was sleeping. “If he actually wakes up, I’m screwed, dude.”

Void knows that any kind of demon won’t appreciate being confused, in another dimension with an almost stranger. Especially a demon like FlameFrags.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

When Flame woke up for the first time, it was for just mere seconds. His body felt like a mess and a mushy feeling in his head made forming a single thought impossible. He was unusually cold and the air was much thicker than in the Overworld. Flame felt strange, everything hurt and so he forced himself to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was the dark deepslate and a lantern hanging above his head and he immediately realised it wasn’t his house, before he even remembered that the mesa was no longer his home.

Right, the Law took over his house some time ago, now he was on the run. He was fighting yet another unit of their soldiers before he fell into the portal and-

That was all he noted before he felt something hard smack him straight in the head and he fell back unconscious.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

He, once again, felt cold. Flame missed the Nether, the scorching heat that never left the dimension. After ClownPierce and his allies took it over, Flame barely went inside and if he did, it was most likely to run away or chase after someone. He never got to enjoy his home anymore. The End, because after some time he realised that’s where he was, was quite the opposite of the Nether.

He didn’t know how he was alive. Flame was a fugitive, if the Law got him, he would be immediately killed and his head would be brought to Lettuce as a trophy. But the End was guarded by Minute, who he wasn’t exactly best friends with. After Minute betrayed the Mafia, they never really talked anymore. He didn’t know if the voidling would keep him alive, if he was the one to find him unconscious on the platform. 

“Dude, I didn’t know what to do and you told me to knock him out if he wakes up! And he did!” 

That voice was familiar. Even through the pain and haze that seemed to never leave him lately, Flame could pinpoint the voice to Wemmbu’s little friend, Eggchan. So, the entire time he was hiding in the End?

“I was just joking! And you left the dent in the pan, you could kill a man like that.” The second voice answered and Flame heard his own breath hitch just as much as he felt it when his chest dangerously tightened.

It was Wemmbu. He didn’t need to see him to be sure. He would recognize that unhinged, pretentious laugh everywhere in the world, with concussion and whilst being very sleep deprived. The man he hired Parrot to find was in this room, just a few feet away. He was there with his best friend, all this time.

He pried his eyes open, no matter how much it hurt his head to see the light right above his head. He looked down and in just a moment the purple and white shapes started forming into two people he knew really well. “Oh shit, he’s waking up-”

“Wem-” Flame started coughing violently the moment a sound came out of his mouth. He noticed the panic in the demon’s eyes and the invisibility potion he took out the moment Egg noticed he wasn’t unconscious anymore. He didn't break it, not when it was clear it was already too late.

The angel came closer to him and looked him up and down, then back at his friend and the damaged pan he was holding. “Maybe if I hit him again, he’ll forget about it?”

“Wemmbu-” He whispered this time and tried to pull himself up, but his stomach immediately started feeling like the explosion hit him yet again and he fell back into the bed. Confusion, anger and pain mushed all together in his head, he couldn’t focus on anything specific. Questions tangled in his head, though he had hundreds of them for a moment he saw Wemmbu again, now he couldn't form even a single one.

“Don’t bother, Egg. I might just kill him if this idiot pulled his stitches.” It might’ve sounded like a regular banter to anyone else, but the stern steps Wemmbu took made Flame realise how fucked he truly was. He couldn’t move, not without immediately kneeling over in pain and all his weapons were taken away, he couldn’t feel even those the most hidden. He couldn’t see his armour anywhere and instead of his clothes, someone put on him some hoodie and pants he didn’t recognize.

If the demon tried to kill him right now, he wouldn't be stopped by anything or anyone.

Without any questions or hesitation, the demon pulled the blankets off him and pulled up Flame’s hoodie. He made a sour face when he noticed the fresh, red stains on the bandages around his stomach. “Of course you did. Don’t move, I need to redo the stitches, unless you want to bleed out. Egg, pass me the shulker with the medical stuff.”

While the demon sat down on the chair next to the bed, the angel put the white box next to him. He also took out a bottle of water from his inventory and placed it on a table, just within Wemmbu’s reach. He caught Flame’s confused stare. “For later, don’t move yet.”

The silence fell between them for another few minutes. Egg was standing next to Wemmbu, watching him pull out the old stitches. Flame’s mind was still too fogged to put together enough thoughts for a normal conversation. Especially not with his brother old rival.

“I'm not washing those sheets later. He's your patient, Egg.” Despite saying that, Wemmbu kept working on the wound, though he didn't even look up when Flame took a sharp breath of pain. “Look at that, The Immortal Demon defeated by some Law noobs, crawling to our doorsteps.”

Flame could see Egg roll all his eyes at that. “Those are Minute’s doorsteps, though.”

The hand that just seconds later was mindlessly petting the tight skin close to the wound started shaking as Wemmbu laughed abruptly.

“Alright, bro. Chill.” Wemmbu shook his head, his eyes closed in silent delight and for a split second it felt more comfortable, like he wasn't just planning Flame’s murder. Almost like he felt those thoughts, the End demon put just enough pressure on the stomach for him to feel sparks of pain again and get a reaction out of him. Flame winced when his skin flared with pain. “You're only alive because Egg asked me to patch you up. Don't think you're off the hook yet.”

When Wemmbu finished sewing the wound yet again, he let the angel finally get closer and pass him the water bottle. 

Flame felt the embarrassment rise in his chest when his hand didn't even move and he had to let Egg put the bottle to his mouth, then he even got scolded for drinking too fast. That same player he had in an obsidian box, stripped of his armour, poisoned and close to death was now complaining that he was drinking too fast while Wemmbu was just standing by the door, watching him like Flame just killed his dog and filled his mouth with lemons at the same time.

“I could leave faster if you just gave me some health pots..” His voice was so weak, it was pathetic even to Flame himself. He was thankful that he could focus on the pain, otherwise he’d be shivering and chattering his teeth with the chill that was surrounding him. Clearly Wemmbu thought the same, because he just rolled his eyes at him and sighed deeply, like his own existence bothered him.

“Your natural regeneration doesn't even work. If I were to give you one of these-” Wemmbu pointed at one of the potions tied to his hip. “-you'd get high and it would do more damage than good. We're both demons, I know how it works. No more potions for you, at least until you start healing on your own.”

Wemmbu shot a weird look that was supposed to mean something to Egg and left the room. The angel looked back to the injured in silence and without saying a word, snatched the half used potion of weakness and hid it back into his inventory. “You didn't see anything. You should go to sleep, rest and all.”

All of the eyes surrounding the angel suddenly focused on Flame and whenever one of them caught his glance, he could feel himself grow weaker. His eyelids turned very heavy quickly and before he realised, he started to fall back asleep.

“Wait, I could've done that the first-”

∆∆∆∆∆∆

Flame woke up many hours later. He felt… better. Not the best he ever did, because Wemmbu was right and his natural regeneration stopped working a while ago, when he lost the comfort of sleeping for more than an hour a day. He was too exhausted and no matter how much he denied it, his body couldn't handle being on fight-or-flight reflex every second of his day for so long.

Of course he wouldn't say that. Egg tried to ask a few times already. He explained he was doing research about what was going on in the server, but Flame kept his mouth shut.

It would be humiliating to admit that his own body started to betray him. How could he claim to be the strongest player on the server if something like lack of sleep was nerfing him? 

But he quickly found out he didn't need to admit anything, Wemmbu did it for him.

When they realised Flame could move after the long nap, Egg immediately lost the privilege of going inside his room without Wemmbu following close after. The man, having had enough of the silence, explained in detail how after too long of not taking care of yourself, a demon’s body started to basically shut down, just like human’s would, starting with all the extra stuff like fast regeneration, then moving to losing control over the hybrid limbs, like wings.

He didn't need to point out how Flame’s tail was nothing more than a dead weight since the moment he appeared in the End.

It didn't even twitch when he was being manhandled by Wemmbu while he was checking his other injuries, though Flame complained the whole time. He tried to bite him once, but the idea was quickly swatted out of his head when Wemmbu’s tail smacked him across the face as soon as his teeth got close to Wemmbu’s skin. 

When one day he asked about his clothes, Egg just pointed at a few rags, because that was all that was left of his favourite t-shirt after the Law happened, that were left in the corner. He explained that they had to give him some of Wemmbu's old clothes since they were of similar build, though they were still loose on Flame's body. 

Just a bit later he tried pushing his luck and asked if the Law people went to the End after him. Once again, Egg came with help and explained to him how Wemmbu basically massacred them and how terrible it was to clean up the end stone from all the blood that splattered from the bodies since the demon hit their arteries every single time.

Then, he finally asked the question that had been floating in his mind since the moment he woke up. He asked about why they would even help him in the first place. Wemmbu dragged Egg out and shut the door loudly after that one. They came back hours later with some food the angel cooked, but Flame didn't get the answer.

He could pretend not to care, but Flame had to admit that Wemmbu acted weird. Weirder than usual, would be a better phrase. 

Because Wemmbu he knew was loud, a bit pretentious and too confident for his own good. Here, he is quiet and he observes Flame way too much, he never looks away, unless he thinks the other demon is asleep. And he looks anxious, almost scared. 

“I need to kill him, Egg.” He heard the demon say it once, while they were standing on the other side of the door, sure that Flame was still asleep. “He can't leave the End, knowing that I'm still alive.”

“You let Boosfer go.” Egg noticed, but it didn't seem to convince Wemmbu. He sighed deeply.

“Boosfer is different. You said it yourself, he likes to ragebait people. He told me that he'd tell others who I am, but he won't actually do it. Boosfer does it to get a rise out of me.” He explained it, like he already went through the same conversation many times in his head. “Flame- he will want revenge and if we fight, soon everyone will know that Wemmbu is alive and you lied to them. I can't have the whole server hunting us down again.”

The door’s handle shook and as the door opened, Flame closed his eyes and evened out his breath, pretending to be still asleep. 

It was difficult when all he could focus on was how cold it was in the room. After the pain lowered into something he could ignore, he noticed the shaking in his hands that surprisingly wasn't caused by exhaustion. That's why he hated the End so much. Egg took a few of the blankets away to wash the blood off and the rest that was left around him wasn't even nearly enough to keep a Nether being comfortable. He was trembling like a wet cat every minute he spent there and it was driving him insane.

“Are you actually shaking?” Wemmbu wasn’t fooled by his unconscious act. He didn’t mention anything that was said outside, he acted the same, weird way as before. 

“It’s cold here, bro.” He answered and immediately clamped his mouth shut when he felt his teeth chatter. No way it was always this cold here. Did Minute do something to the dimension? He blinked away the haze that settled over his mind for a second. It didn’t do much, it quickly came back.

“It’s the End. Of course it’s cold.” The demon actually laughed at that, but still raised his hand, stopping just before he touched Flame’s forehead. When he didn’t move back, he checked his temperature. He pulled his hand back like something just burned him. “Oh dude, you are hot.”

Egg raised his eyebrow and coughed. “Alright bro, chill. No need to flirt in front of me.”

Wemmbu looked back with offence and disgust written all over his face. 

“No, Egg, what?” A started cackle was ripped from his throat. He moved back, just a step towards his friend. “No, I mean it. Flame has a fever.”

Well that could explain why he was so much colder than he usually was when he visited the End. The armour never provided any warmth, if he had more brainpower, he probably could've realised that earlier, on his own. But on the other hand, it's not like it would be of any help in his condition.

“Oh-” the angel’s face turned blank for a moment. He pulled out one of the books Flame had seen earlier, when Egg was asking him questions about Flame being a Nether demon. He looked through the filled pages and closed it with a dissatisfied hum when he didn’t find what he was looking for.  “So, how do we treat that?”

“You let me leave and I get to heal on my own.” Flame interrupted just as Wemmbu opened his mouth. He tried not to look surprised at his slurred words. He was fine not that long ago, what was going on?

It got both their attention and something disappointed flashed through Egg’s face. He looked back at his best friend and when Flame glanced at Wemmbu, he seemed… serious. More than he had ever seen him, even when he was fighting for Egg’s life and losing. 

He sighed deeply and stepped away from the doorframe. It was like a signal, because suddenly Egg moved away from the bed and closer to the door, passing Wemmbu with an awkward smile. “Oh Flame, I don’t think you understand.”

He took a step closer to the bed and his finger just barely grazed the sword at his hip, but it was enough to direct Flame’s attention to the weapon. A weapon that Flame very clearly lacked right now. “You don’t have an upper hand here. You can act tough, but I know better than you think what condition you’re in. It will take you weeks, maybe even months, to be at your full strength without our help. You’re not leaving the End, I’m not letting you reveal my identity to the whole server.”

So that’s what it was all about? His stupid, new identity. But it was impossible that the things he said earlier were true.

Wemmbu, Mane and he grew up together. It just wasn’t who Wemmbu was, ever. He never cared about safety or peace. He was an End demon, being created from chaos itself. He and Flame lived for the thrill and fight. That’s just who they were, no matter how much Manepear worked to get them away from that path.

Flame couldn’t even pretend that he didn’t care about that new identity part, though. Both he and Wemmbu knew that Flame went as far as to hire the smartest player on the server, Parrot, just so he got to know where the demon was hiding. Now that he knew his base was in the End and that Wemmbu was the Invisible Knight, he could finally fight him for the title of the strongest player.

“What was that whole thing about, anyway? You turned invisible, changed your armour and suddenly you’re the hero of Capital City?”

He could hear Wemmbu grit his teeth. The well rehearsed lie came naturally, but Flame could always recognize when Wemmbu wasn’t being truthful. “I was bored and a new identity seemed more entertaining than fighting you over and over again. Not after I already proved I was the strongest.”

If it was the truth, maybe Flame would care. But he knew better and the way Egg’s face tensed as he heard the words just confirmed that this was a bunch of bullshit. Wemmbu seemed dead set on keeping it as the only version that would be revealed. Flame rolled his eyes, a move so hard, it was impossible to miss. He wanted Wemmbu to know that he already knew he was lying. “Sure you were, bro.”

Wemmbu growled, the sound very inhuman, and he threw a few blankets over Flame’s head. He pulled them down just in time to see the demon storm outside. Over his shoulder he called for his friend. “Egg, Minute should be back soon. You probably should fill him in about everything, I’ll get some medicine for the fever.”

The angel seemed stunned. He glanced between where the demon disappeared and Flame a few times before he picked up his book and quickly left the room as well.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

The dragon’s arrival could be felt in the air. The change was immediate, the void hummed peacefully as soon as he stepped on the main island. Minute always had that energy around him, even in the Overworld. He could always tell it was the hybrid, no matter if he was under invisibility potion’s effect.

Flame looked at the ceiling, counting the seconds before his death would finally happen. The dragons were known for their possessiveness. With Wemmbu being extremely pissed off and Minute caring a tad too much about keeping the End peaceful and dangerous people far away from it, he couldn't fight them both. It would be a difficult fight in regular settings, impossible one in his condition.

Though, maybe that stupid, little angel could keep away the demon if he tried. That would leave Minute for him to fight, still very difficult. Those two took away his armour, all the weapons and there wasn't an enderchest in the room for him to see if he had spare stuff. The one time he tried to walk around the building to look for one, he couldn't even swing his legs off the bed.

It was days ago, right now he could walk, but was monitored much more carefully. He still lacked stuff and they would notice if he tried to snoop around the place.

The thought about fighting the dragon should be saved for later. Because the ceiling started moving soon after they left him alone and Flame could already tell that the earlier mentioned fever was getting to his head. He pushed his head further into the pillow. He was going to throw up soon.

Probably his organism finally crashing down after it deemed the place safe enough to rest.

Stupid body, he wasn't safe, not on this server and especially not in the End with those people living here and the Law chasing him like a bunch of angry dogs. Soon they'd realise where he was and then Minute would kill him for bringing in hundreds of Lawmen that will most likely destroy the main island and his base.

He sighed and pulled the covers tighter around himself. It barely did shit, his hands weren't exactly listening to him to properly grab the fabric.

“Long time no see, Flame.” The voice that reached him made his mind feel fuzzy and everything spun again. He squeezed his eyes tighter, hoping that if he ignored the person, they would go away on their own. It was stupid, if only his brain didn't turn off the moment it registered the fever, he wouldn't even think about doing it. “Oh, you're doing worse than I thought.”

Though the voice stopped, the footsteps got closer. They echoed around the otherwise silent room. He felt a cold hand touch his burning forehead and for a second it felt like he was thrown into the void. He tried to move away, but the hand remained there and even worse, kept him in one place. Here he was, Immortal Demon, a literal Nether being, destroyed by a simple fever. 

“Shh. You're okay, Flame. Wemmbu and Egg are close, they'll be here soon.” The person fixed the blankets around him and moved back when other footsteps appeared in the room. “Hi guys, I see you have a visitor.”

“Minute!” 

Egg seemed simply delighted to see the dragon finally come back home. But Wemmbu kept his distance, shooting a look to where Minute's hand rested against Flame’s head. Though there was something weird in his face, he remained gentle when his tail moved Minute away and he dropped a bucket of cold water onto the table near the bed. 

Minute listened to the silent request, of course he did.

He moved to stand by the door, far away to make Wemmbu comfortable, next to Egg and watched the demon take care of his brother. The dragon leaned towards the angel. “I think it's best if we leave them alone. Wemmbu doesn't look like he likes us being near Flame.”

“Bro, he just gets like this sometimes when he's worried and Flame said something that made him… remember stuff.” A flash of memory from Wemmbu's empire appeared in Egg's mind. Right after the first wave of attackers came to their walls, Wemmbu silently followed him for days, just watching what he was doing, ignoring all the questions from people they passed. And if they got too close to the angel, Wemmbu easily let them know, usually by taking out his netherite sword, silently threatening to murder them. “Wemm, we'll be in the living room if you need us!”

The demon barely spared them a glance. Somewhere between the other two arriving and Wemmbu taking care of him, Flame fell asleep. His breathing was ragged, like his lungs couldn't fully spread. Probably the fever acting up, but the demon still took a mental note of this.

The demon sighed with relief when the doors shut close and the footsteps finally faded. He felt a little bit guilty for pretending to go feral in front of Egg, just to avoid his confrontation with Minute, but with the amount of thoughts in his head right now, he couldn't handle it. Not when the dragon usually was that all-knowing entity that somehow always understood perfectly what kind of mess was sitting in Wemmbu's mind.

And especially not when his brother was laying here, bringing back all the memories he tried to erase and replace them with Minute and Egg.

“You're lucky he asked to keep you alive. Otherwise I'd rip your throat out by now.” he whispered to the unconscious body. 

The towel he put on Flame's forehead was already turning worryingly hot, even for a nether being. He quickly threw it in the bucket of cold water and a thought of throwing the whole thing on his brother crossed his mind briefly before he shook it away. He made a promise to Egg and besides, though the feelings in his chest were confusing, the bloodlust was slowly disappearing.

At least he didn't constantly feel like taking out his sword and chopping off Flame's head would be the best solution to all of his problems. It would be the easy solution, not the right one.

He squeezed the water out of the towel and put it once again on his brother's forehead. The prepared medicine for the fever was already waiting for him to wake up, but as Wemmbu watched him sleep peacefully, he couldn't find it in himself to shake him awake.

He just… sat down on the floor by the bed, groaning when his bones cracked at some point and leaned onto the mattress, watching Flame. His chest kept rising and falling in that same, steady rhythm. It was routine for them, when they were younger.

Manepear used to find small Wemmbu by his brother's bed daily, right after he was adopted into their home by Flame. It was better to say he was dragged home by him after the little demon found out that Wemmbu barely knew Common language and he didn't have any family that was around or at least alive.

When Wemmbu was confronted about sleeping on the floor and he promised never to do it again, Flame just began preparing additional pillows and blankets in his bed, welcoming the younger demon in his bed whenever he couldn't sleep.

This situation was so different, yet so similar, he noticed with something that resembled grief building in his chest. Manepear wasn't near to scold Wemmbu for sleeping on the floor. Duh, even if he was, Mane wouldn't care anymore about him, not after that sign left on his tree.

Flame and Wemmbu hated each other, or at least they were constantly trying to kill each other. If it wasn't for his best friend, the Nether demon would already be dead. All the innocence that their younger self carried was long gone. All that was left were the souls of soldiers, meant to kill and destroy.

Wemmbu closed his eyes. Flame wouldn't wake up soon, he could rest as well.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

Wemmbu surprisingly woke up. It would be less shocking if it wasn’t for the fact that his sword was just laying on the floor next to him while Flame was sitting up in his bed, just staring at the wall in front of them. His hand was mindlessly brushing Wemmbu’s hair, like it was his instinct to do so.

His chest squeezed suddenly and he tried not to think about feelings it brought up.

He shifted, because his butt hurt from sitting for gods know how long on cold deepslate. That small move was enough to get Flame’s attention. His hand snapped back to his side, probably trying to hide what he was doing while Wemmbu was asleep. “Good mor-”

Flame stopped himself. Void only knows if it was morning. Wemmbu checked his communicator. “Good afternoon, actually. It’s four pm.”

They fell silent. Wemmbu could basically sense Egg’s presence in the kitchen, his demon instincts flaring up with the angel’s each move. It was dinner time so Minute must’ve been with him. He looked up at his brother who was now fidgeting with his tail, shifting it between his fingers. He barely shifted to keep Wemmbu in his line of sight when the demon stood up and sat on the chair by the bed instead.

“After we left, I talked with Egg.” He finally spoke. Fear and anxiety clawed at his chest and his mind was blanking out, though he rehearsed what he wanted -no, needed to tell Flame hundreds of times. When he saw Flame, his big brother who was always by his side when nightmares of the void kept him awake, acting like they did when they were kids, all his plans just disappeared. 

He wanted to be angry, lash out and scream at Flame. Threaten him with his axe and maces until he finally gives in and promises to never speak his name again. To leave and never come back to the End. But instead, he had to push through a knot that tied his throat and stopped him from talking. He felt small. He felt like a kid again, scared of losing people he… loved?

“He said I should probably speak to you. About why I left in the first place.“ Flame’s tail stopped moving and his grip on it tightened. Wemmbu took the silence as his go-ahead. “I think it started back with Zam, when he made me lead a new empire and sent you to… kill me. When it was just you, me and Mane, I didn’t care about power, because you two were strong enough to protect yourself. But I brought Egg with me to that empire and he almost died because of me. He doesn’t know how to fight and I couldn’t protect him from you, no matter how much I tried.”

His brother wasn’t looking at him anymore. His eyes dropped down after Wemmbu mentioned the attempts. When news of his death started appearing around the server, Flame immediately thought about those moments. He remembered how Wemmbu’s eyes shifted from warmth to caution to fear when his brother pulled out his sword and started the fight.

He never really forgave himself for that, not even when his title was stripped away from him by cheating and he was left alone in that hole.

“I thought if I was the strongest player, maybe people would leave me and Egg alone and he would be safe. But then I fought you, won and it didn’t stop. People were trying to gain every leverage against me to win a fight and they went after Egg even more.” He bit his cheek for that. The angel, his best friend, was in danger because of him and the guilt was eating him alive every day and night. 

Wemmbu tried to search for anything on Flame’s face. Understanding, anger, guilt. But he was met with a blank stare.

“He was hunted down because of me. So we figured if Wemmbu was gone, people wouldn’t have a reason to go after him. And I still could play the server, like a regular player, just invisible. It was a win-win for us.” He finished up. He knew he prepared for more. To give a better explanation to it, tell the whole story since the moment they split up when Mane and Flame joined Zam’s empire. 

But all of that wasn’t important to the story and Wemmbu barely kept his composure with what he said. If he were to explain all the details, his feelings and emotions, he would probably cry. 

So he waited, in silence. Just from the small shift in his eyes, the way his fingers tapped against the blanket and the tiniest movements of muscles around his lips, Wemmbu could see the demon was thinking deeply about what he had said. He really wanted to give him some time to think it all through, but-

The silence was killing him. He couldn’t keep waiting. “Flame-”

His words were cut short when in just a second he was pulled onto the bed and he crashed into Flame’s chest. He could feel the way his body was warmer than it was supposed to be, the fever wasn’t as high as before, thanks to the medicine Flame took, but still there. A heavy sigh escaped the demon and Wemmbu tensed, the gesture small but his brother felt it. He was squeezed tighter. 

“Get lost, bro, you know I don’t do the emotional stuff. It was always Mane’s thing.” His voice was irritated, but the words still ripped a startled laugh from Wemmbu. “But don’t disappear on me again like that, ever. I’m not gonna rat you out, you can stay invisible.”

“And your fight?”

Flame hesitated there and it brought back the anxiety, though Wemmbu tried not to show it. “We can always spar on the outer islands when we both feel like it. I have enough chunguses on my tail as it is.”

Wemmbu wrapped his hands around Flame after that, pulling himself even closer to the demon as he pushed his face into his brother’s neck. He wouldn’t cry, he wasn’t a kid anymore. But that love he buried deep in his heart when both his brothers betrayed him started to resurface and he couldn’t help, but feel just a bit grateful that Egg made him keep Flame alive.

∆∆∆∆∆∆

MinuteTech was strangely welcoming, after they got over the awkwardness of seeing each other- really looking without the invisibility potions covering their presence. They shared mutual respect for each other, being ex diamond trims, so after a few words, Minute left him without questioning too much his presence in the End dimension.

Egg already explained enough about what had happened between him and the Law. Minute admitted it himself, he might not be opposed to the organization just yet, but he didn't really appreciate how LettuceK sent all those destructive units of players that tried to take the End away from him. He was a dragon hybrid, he was possessive and the End was already claimed as his.

Minute didn't mind letting Flame recover here if they kept it undercover. At least enough so the secret doesn't reach Lettuce. The last thing he wanted was for the dimension to suddenly get raided by hundreds of players in full protection four diamond armour.

They both agreed to keep it quiet and that was… it. Minute went on with his day, gearing up in case some noobs attack the End again, cooking and checking up on the outer islands. From time to time he visited Flame, the first few of them were very awkward. Neither of them knew how to acknowledge the fact that Minute betrayed the Mafia and Flame tried to kill him a few times. Even though the demon was invisible, Minute seemed to know it was him.

Through the small window over his head, if Flame stood straight enough, he could see Wemmbu and Minute hang around the ledge of the island for the longest time. They barely moved, just stayed there and talked.

It was rare to see the demon hybrid be so calm and stoic, but it seemed like Minute could calm down all the build-up energy that clouded the rational part of Wemmbu’s brain more often than it didn’t. Flame quietly wondered if he and Mane could ever get him to this condition again. To just sit there with them, quiet and relaxed like he was under Minute’s wing. 

Flame could deny it all he wanted.

But he’d be lying if he said that sometimes when he was laying alone late at night, or fighting without a chaotic force behind him to protect his back, he didn’t miss his brother. He and Mane teamed up often, even if it ended with constant betrayals, they somehow always managed to come back to each other. There was this mutual agreement that no matter what happened between them, they could always come back to the other and expect nothing less than care and love.

Wemmbu was a different case. He didn’t forgive easily and even if he pretended, everything said always stuck to him. Neither of them would ever admit it, Wemmbu was dead set on being indifferent to those around him and Flame couldn’t just say he pays so much attention to those details that he just sees the smallest changes in his behaviour.

He always did, nonetheless. And seeing his brother act so weird made his stomach crawl. He was too… careful. He didn’t act like his brother, not anymore.

They had that little moment, when if he closed his eyes, he would be sure it was his little brother sitting there, scared of the darkness and waiting to be let into Flame’s bed. But then Minute called about some Law noobs entering the End and he was back to being cautious. He moved a few steps back and splashed an invisibility potion, losing all the vulnerability that was there just seconds ago.

Flame wondered who the person sitting there even was. When did it all happen and if it was his fault?

He blinked away the haze and when he focused again on the outside world, he noticed that the two End hybrids weren’t there anymore. The door swung open and they walked inside instead. Wemmbu looked both pissed off and worried, shooting strange looks towards Minute. With a twinge of humour, Flame noted that it was the same look they both glanced at Manepear with whenever the two demons destroyed something while play-fighting. 

“Come on, kid. You can do it.” Minute whispered, the words clearly not meant for Flame to hear. Wemmbu’s tail twitched behind him in acknowledgement and he got closer to the bed. Minute sat on a chair next to the door, the furniture dragged in by Egg at some point between Flame’s sleep.

He really didn’t want to call it naps, he was a grown demon. He didn’t just nap during the day.

Though he had to admit that it was difficult to keep track of time and not sleep during the day. He didn’t have any clock in the room to tell him time and the only light in the End were the random bursts of energy in the void. Without the sun and communicator that he lost some time ago while he was chased by Law, he couldn’t really tell if it was middle of night or maybe noon.

He felt like it was only hours ago that Egg visited and mentioned that he was in the End for just a bit more than nine days now. So maybe it was ten now. Four days from the first time he had seen Minute.

He felt much better now and with the tiniest amount of regen potion he was getting daily, his wounds were all closed and he felt like his stitches were ready to be pulled out. His natural regeneration also started to come back, even his tail came back to life, now gently wrapped around his leg with the end swishing against the mattress.

Already prepared for what was coming, Flame pulled off the blankets and with a small roll of eyes, pushed the hoodie up enough to uncover his stomach. Wemmbu started poking at the wound, keeping an eye for any reaction that might indicate some pain. Flame kept his face neutral, he couldn’t feel anything other than an uncomfortable cold that came from Wemmbu’s fingers.

“I guess I can take out the stitches now.” he mumbled, just for him and Flame to hear. He grabbed a few things from the shulker box that despite never leaving this room, was always stocked full of medical stuff. He looked at Minute with eyes full of anxiety, but the dragon hybrid just smiled at him, something warm and comforting.

Flame remembered when the same eyes were directed at him and Wemmbu, but from their brother. 

God, he needed to pull himself together. He was turning pathetic from laying around and doing nothing. He could feel his hands aching to grab a sword and swing it at any enemy. Flame wasn't made to be laying around, he was born a warrior.

“It’s already settled that when you leave, Manepear will keep an eye on the wound and your regen. Minute talked with him, he’ll come over to get you.” Wemmbu blurted out. Though his eyes were set on his brother's more-than-usual pale face, Flame heard Minute sigh deeply. Wemmbu’s eyes flickered from the stitches to his eyes and then right back down. “But you can’t mention anything that happened here to him.”

That made Flame’s brain short-circuit.

“Bro, what? He’s your brother, he’d under-” Flame slightly pulled himself up, but Wemmbu immediately pushed him down. Only now he noticed how his hands were shaking. He could barely cut the thread without grazing Flame’s stomach. 

“No, Flame. I- I can forgive you for whatever you’ve done. You were just following orders and it’s not like I was innocent either, but Mane is… different.” he hesitated and grabbed Flame’s hoodie just a bit tighter to steady himself as he took a deep breath. “He can’t know. I don’t want him to.”

Another stitch was removed. Just five more to go. Flame studied the demon’s face for a moment. It was tight, not with focus in taking out the thread, but with stress. He could see the gears turning in his head, slowly thinking about his next words. 

“Wemmbu, I don’t think Mane would ever be capable of hurting you, even if he was mad.” The final stitch was cut and swiftly, Wemmbu took it out. 

Only now, when he stood up did Wemmbu look him in the eyes. The pain and tiredness that he carried with that look made Flame speechless. He shook his head. “But he did. And I can’t do this anymore.”

With the final words, the End demon walked out of the room. Flame looked at the corner he disappeared behind for a bit longer. His attention grabbed Minute’s cough. “That went… worse than I thought.”

“So what was your idea?”

Minute looked at the ceiling for a concerning amount of time in silence. 

“I wanted him to talk to you, but I was hoping you'd hear him out first.” he finally admitted and something twisted in Flame’s gut. It was the same feeling he got when Mane used his disappointed tone of voice on him. “I’d say I can relate to your guys' situation. I hurt someone I would consider my kid, like Manepear hurt Wemmbu. And I want to help him through this, because I know that my kid wasn’t alone during that as well. Only because of that we turned out somewhat fine.”

Flame opened his mouth -he wasn't sure if to ask some question or argue with the older man. But before a sound escaped him, Minute raised his hand and his mouth snapped shut with a click. 

“I guess you're more likely to listen to me, for some reason. So please, let me explain.” It felt like the early stages of the Mafia all over again. Before breaking the rules meant immediate death. Minute was one of the first ones to join, he was also the one to teach all of them to Flame, to guide him and help him quickly climb the ranks.

Besides, he gave off the same energy Manepear does, just less chaotic. Maybe that's why he kept quiet and listened to him.

“I don’t know the whole story between you three. Maybe Egg does, but Wemmbu keeps it mostly private. But I know enough about what happened during and after the Zam Empire. The attempts, how it all fell apart and then everything that happened when Manepear took him in as a student.” Minute glanced at the window behind Flame and when the demon focused, he could hear Wemmbu and Egg talking somewhere outside. They were too far away to hear what the conversation was about, but the point the hybrid was making was clear.

Even from that distance, his voice was different. Flame never paid it any mind, but it was true that sometime between the fall of Zam Empire and the collapse of the mafia, he changed, more than he should in this amount of time. 

“Wemmbu cares for a lot of people, but he won't admit it. It took a while before he said that he cares about me and I took in the kid when he was alone.” For some reason the memory made Minute chuckle. The soft look in his eyes didn't disappear, even after he looked at Flame. “But for some reason, while he couldn’t shut up about you or Egg, he never mentioned Manepear. Only today I found out why and I won’t lie to you, Flame, I want to kill him.”

Minute laughed, the sound sharp and not friendly at all. Though the threat wasn’t directed at him, a shiver still ran down his spine.

“Do you know what he said?” Flame didn’t even open his mouth, he was gonna find out anyway. Minute looked at him, the white eyes looking straight into his soul. “He called him a lost cause. Wemmbu went to fight you, a diamond trim player, ready to die just to save Egg and all he got was disappointment. I might be biased, because I don’t really know Manepear and treat Wemmbu like my kid, but I wouldn’t expect him to want to talk to this guy. Void, I’m actually surprised he didn’t go for the kill after that.”

Lost cause.

There was no way.

Wemmbu was Mane’s sun, moon and every star in the galaxy. His entire world. The younger demon couldn’t fight as well as his brothers did and Manepear, being an overprotective lion, was set on protecting him from the entire world. Even when Wemmbu started learning, he still wouldn’t let him take tough fights without Flame being close.

But Wemmbu’s eyes wouldn’t reach him when the name was mentioned and Minute was more pissed off than ever while talking about that moment. Neither of them lied.

He pressed his lips together, both disappointment and anger building up in his chest. 

Manepear would come here to get him, if what Wemmbu said was true, and then they would need to have a conversation. Void knows he wasn’t the best brother himself, but that’s just how he and Wemmbu were -rough around the edges and rarely nice. From the youngest age they cursed each other out in ways that made grown adults turn in horror.

The older man, void, the oldest brother of them three, wasn’t like this. He wasn’t supposed to hurt their youngest like this and especially not for trying to save his best friend.

Flame would lie if he said that he didn’t feel guilty as well. It was him who threatened Egg back then.

“Just keep your mouth shut when Manepear gets here.” Minute seemed to feel the change in the atmosphere. He stood up and glanced at Flame for the last time. “I’m gonna go look for Wemm.”

He was, once again, left alone with his thoughts. Lately it started to happen a lot. He’d have a chat with Wemmbu, it was almost two weeks that he was awake and able to just talk yet it still felt surreal to see his brother alive and well, one of them would say something emotional, Wemmbu storms out and later comes back to have a real conversation.

The script was already drilled in his head, another one of his things that didn’t leave Wemmbu even after he grew up

∆∆∆∆∆∆

For the longest time no one came over and it felt rude to walk around someone’s base after they basically kept him alive for so long so Flame just stayed in the room. Egg came over once to get him more food and that was all.

He was already scolded once by the angel, when he noticed that between his homemade meals Flame snacked on artificial golden apples. With Wemmbu’s help, Egg gave him a proper item check using boats and he was forbidden from eating ‘any fake shit’ as they called it. Instead, he could ask for something else that wouldn’t give him any side effect from magic overload.

When Flame wasn’t actively trying to chase him down and kill, Egg turned out to be nice and chill company. The little angel was pretty funny most of the time and rather smart, quite opposite to his best friend who was all muscles, no brain.

But it was a few hours before Minute and Wemm- the Invisible Knight walked back into the room. His brother was holding all his armour in front of him with a brand new blindfold on top. His old stuff were repaired and cleaned deeply, while the helmet seemed new, unused. It’s been so long since the last moment the pieces were taken care of. Usually Flame only had time to repair it enough with xp so it wouldn’t break during his next fight, not whatever the demon used to get it so shiny. “Thanks, man.”

“Manepear is already waiting at the gate. Egg will let him in when you’re ready to leave.” He fully winced when instead of the rich voice of his brother, he was met with that cursed voice changer. 

“He’s not here yet, so you can tune down the voice changer, void.” His ears pinned back, like he was preparing for that terrible thing to assault him again. Wemmbu’s hand moved up to where his throat would be and after fiddling with something for a while, it dropped again. “If the orbitals suddenly stopped working, you would still be able to kill people with just that thing.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” He couldn’t see it, but he physically felt his brother roll his eyes. His voice was normal now, at least.

“Do hurry up. Manepear isn’t exactly happy that some random people kept his brother for so long while he was out of it and I’m still willing to drop him at any moment. I want him out of here.” MinuteTech was calm. At least at the first glance, he seemed like it. But Flame learned to read him like an open book back with the mafia. 

And the dragon was pissed off.

He gathered all the armour from Wemmbu, quickly put it on and shoved all his items and daggers into his inventory. He’d sort it all and put them back in place at home, when there wasn’t an angry hybrid threatening to drop his brother into the void if he stayed there for even a bit longer.

He checked if he had everything and quickly followed the two men out of the building. It was weird to finally walk out of that room and down the corridor after spending the whole two weeks locked in one place. For most of that time Wemmbu wouldn’t even let him stand up, not to mention moving around.

He couldn’t wait to feel warm, Overworld air again. 

They finally walked out and Manepear was let out of the obsidian box. Almost immediately, he grabbed his sheathed sword, ready to pull it out if something were to happen. Minute copied the action immediately with his mace. His other hand was already close to his firework supply, ready to mace the lion if needed.

“The dads are fighting.” Flame could swear he heard Egg mumble that to Wemmbu, but when he glanced at the angel, he just stared at him back with the innocence of an infant. The other demon laughed at that comment though and it reassured him that he indeed heard correctly. “Manepear, Flame is ready to be escorted home. You gave him everything back, right?”

The question was directed at Wemmbu, but he looked at Flame, expecting him to confirm or deny. The End demon sighed and that damned voice changer cracked into life again. “He has everything, even all the daggers. You really have a problem with those, bro.”

The demon rolled his eyes. The guy who is wanted for being a terrorist judges him for carrying just a few too many knives, how fun. “Better to be ready than to be caught slacking.”

“You were still caught slacking, that’s why-” Egg caught himself in time not to mention the wrong name. He glanced at Mane with one of his eyes to check if he got away with it. “-why the Invisible Knight had to step in.”

“I’m never letting you live this down.” Mane grinned and hit him in the back. If he wasn’t already prepared, the strength would probably make him topple over. But then the lion turned toward the invisible player, the smile now gone and Flame’s blood seemed to freeze. How ironic. “So, what is your business with my brother? You’re from Capital City, you have to know that he’s a fugitive.”

Mane took a step closer to Wemmbu, slowly circling him. Flame noted how Egg immediately tensed and Minute grabbed the mace a bit tighter. He wished he could tell what his own brother was thinking about now. 

“You didn’t have a reason to save him. So, you either know him which makes the list of players you could be very slim. Or you want a favour.” Mane stood just a step away from Wemmbu. He was shorter, but his posture screamed confidence and power. With the amount of muscles his brother had, he easily overpowered the invisible player who didn’t look like anything special under that diamond armour.

“So which one is it?”

“I don’t owe you any explanation. He’s healed, you can get him home. That’s all you’re getting from me.” The voice changer didn’t cover the shakiness of his voice. Flame was ready to just pull his brother away, get him through the portal and apologize to Wemmbu, but Manepear had other ideas.

Flame was away, fighting his own battles for so long, he already forgot how overprotective the lion could get.

Mane opened his mouth, his hand grabbed the sword once again and started to pull it out when Minute got in his way. 

His wings were spread wide, almost entirely covering his view of Egg and the invisible player and the mace seemed to sparkle with the enchantments, powered by his sheer anger. His face didn’t betray any emotions, but when he spoke, his teeth were bared like wild animal’s. “You come into my home, Manepear, and dare to threaten my friends when they helped your brother survive?”

He stepped to the side when the other man didn’t speak. It might’ve revealed Egg, but also clearly was a sign for the two hybrids to leave. “You should never come back or you’ll be treated like an enemy.” Minute’s eyes softened just a bit when his gaze shifted towards Flame. “And you, remember that the End isn’t Law’s territory. It never will be.”

Flame nodded and moved back, to where the portal back to Overworld was, but something didn’t sit right with him.

Manepear wouldn’t just take those treats. He wouldn’t, unless-

He looked at his brother and then, right where he was staring. There, now that Minute wasn’t in the way, they could see a single purple scale that hung low on Egg’s chest. Wemmbu’s scale. That was something Flame taught him about their customs, to give their scales to people they held close to heart.

Mane’s eyes shifted, from that necklace to Minute and then finally, right behind the dragon.

Onto the invisible player who in that entire conversation didn’t move a single step. Like just that would betray who he really was.

Flame stared at Manepear, praying that it would be another one of his stupid moments when he simply couldn’t care enough to think deeply about stuff like a normal human being would. But clarity appeared in his stance, something scared, sad and hopeful at the same time and Flame knew at that moment that his prayers went unheard.

“Wemmbu?”

The dread settled in all of their hearts, the similarity of this situation to what had happened two weeks ago when Flame woke up was absurd. Now, just a few feet away, the demon was still invisible, but the potion was still in his hand. It was raised a bit, he was getting ready to splash it onto himself before he was called out.

But now, it was like time had stopped. Minute didn’t budge, not when the lion got closer and eventually was so close, he almost bumped into the dragon. His wing just spread even wider, covering the frozen player. “Manepear-”

“Leave.” It was Wemmbu’s voice. Not the voice changer, hurting their ears with the way the metallic sound scratched in all the wrong places whenever he opened the mouth. It was his own voice, now tired and angry,

“Bro, you’re alive!” Manepear turned towards Flame, but faltered when he noticed lack of excitement, but anxiety written on his face. “You knew. Why didn’t you tell me he was alive? Why did neither of you mention it?”

Mane raised his voice while looking between them two. Flame quickly decided it wasn’t his place to speak. He stood tall, close behind Manepear, but far away not to get in the crossfire of their argument. Wemmbu was already pushing through Minute’s wing and closer to the lion. The potion effect was wearing off, parts of his body flickering in and out of existence.

“Maybe because I didn’t want you to know! I wanted you to stay away from me and I still do, so leave my home!” The demon yelled back and his tail smashed against the endstone, similar to how Manepear’s was now lashing out.

“Bro, you’re my little brother. I want to know if you actually drop one day. Stop acting like a child and just-”

He was slapped away. Manepear’s hand was hanging in the air, red from the hit when he tried to grab Wemmbu’s shoulder. His own hand was also stopped with shock, low in the air, right where he hit his brother.

Void, he never hit his brother like that, especially when they weren’t sparing. It was weird and wrong, but somehow he managed not to flinch at the betrayed look he got.

“I’m not gonna stop acting up. Mane, you’re actually so dumb, I can’t even…” Wemmbu laughed and it seemed like it was the most sane reaction he could muster at this moment. Flame already realized how close to tears his brother was. He shook his head and stepped away when Mane tried to close the gap between them.

He backed right into Minute’s wing, the limb involuntarily closing around his back, like it was protecting him. Manepear gritted his teeth and tried not to scowl when he realised- Minute was trying to protect Wemmbu from him.

“I’m-” Wemmbu’s voice shook and he took a deep breath, trying again. “I’m not a lost cause, Manepear. Not anymore, I fought and won against Flame, I have a new life, more people to protect. I can’t- don’t want to go back.”

Flame bit the inside of his cheek. If he had to be honest, he wanted to drag Wemmbu back to the Overworld and into his base on his own, but he knew better than to try. People would come for him as soon as the news spread that the other demon was alive. The Law wouldn’t spare him for protecting the Capital City, he’d be on their radar just like Flame is.

Manepear seemed stuck on those two words. Lost cause.

There wasn’t an evening that he didn’t spend thinking about it. The last message that he shared with his own brother. They weren’t connected by blood, but he raised the two demons and he regretted it daily, that they parted like this.

Then the news came to him, random people mentioned it while he was trading. Wemmbu was dead. His wings were too injured to carry him to safety after he was ambushed. He fell from the sky, died alone and the assassins took all his stuff.

He cried his eyes out, hearing it. At first he tried to deny it, went around and asked people about his brother while taking the hits. No one really wanted to say anything except that the demon was dead. People knew they were family, they wouldn’t trust Manepear not to kill them if they said the wrong thing.

He wished he could change everything for so long. Go back in time and break the sign before Wemmbu gets to read it, stay at the base and continue the training. Maybe if Manepear did better at helping his brother, he would survive and get to him or Flame in time. And now he was here.

His brother was right there, protected by another hybrid from him. 

But he was alive, despite looking tired and much older than he did while they teamed up during the Zam Empire or when his brother came for training. He still lacked the muscles he and Flame had, Mane was wondering how he managed to wield the mace with such precision without them. 

But it was still him. Wemmbu, his baby brother.

“Manepear, you should go.” Minute spoke up, but his eyes stayed focused on the demon under his wing.

Mane glanced for the last time at his brother. He didn’t look at him. His eyes were pinned onto the ground and only his shoulders slightly shaking gave away the fact that he was barely holding back the tears.

He took a few steps back, lining with Flame. 

“I’m sorry, Wemm. I wish I could go back and change it, but I can’t.” The guilt was eating him alive. He was barely holding himself back from running and snatching Wemmbu away from Minute. “But for what it’s worth, I never meant those words. You always were and will be my baby brother and I’m proud of who you are.”

He silently wished that it would be enough. That Wemmbu would leave the End and come back to the Overworld. But Wemmbu didn’t react. His tail hung limp in the air, not even a twitch that would indicate that he heard anything. “Let’s go, Flame. My base is far from spawn.”

He turned away and Flame followed close by. The demon waved goodbye to the three behind them, the last thanks being short and sweet. He watched carefully as Mane bit his lip, trying to keep his composure when the only thing left behind them was silence. The demon looked back at Wemmbu.

Wemmbu who kept glancing between Minute and Manepear. His eyes caught Flame’s stare and he seemed to freeze. Flame just nodded, unsure what message he was trying to send to his brother. It still seemed to calm down some of his nerves as Wemmbu took a few, quick steps forward. “Mane!”

The lion immediately turned back.

“I can’t forgive you.” He said and his voice betrayed all his emotions. It was raw, shaky like Wemmbu himself didn’t know what he was saying. “Not yet at least. But I’ll come around, I know I will. Just- wait for me, please?”

Mane smiled and nodded. “Always, Wemms.”

When he stepped through the portal, it wasn’t just falling anymore. He was floating, free of his guilt and worries. His brothers, his own pride that he raised, were safe.