Chapter Text
Rek didn’t sleep easily. That was a fact everyone on Lifesteal knew well. The fact that even fewer were aware of was why. Most assumed it was the ‘Lifesteal Curse’, being a light sleeper came easily to any and all members that joined. It was how you survived. And while Rek’s sleep schedule was advantageous, it wasn’t due to the events that occurred on the server. The truth was, he was paranoid. That’s right, riddled with chronic anxiety was what he wrote on job interviews. He was constantly worried that something was out to get him, that there was a trap around every corner. He always checked his bed before laying down. He broke the blocks under his chests so that he’d see if there was a difference. He was scared.
Rek found himself in a worryingly familiar situation once more, laying on his bed, awake. Prone to his thoughts. His eyes raked the stone above him and he felt himself glancing toward his doorway more often than he’d like to admit. He can hear every sound echoing through his walls, the dripping of water (pattern never stuttering, that’s how he knew they weren’t footsteps), the slight flickering of the torches on the walls, the distinct lack of clanking armor, he knew when there was disturbance. He couldn’t allow disturbances. Every sudden noise sounded like it was coming closer to killing him. His eyes shot open upon hearing a loud ‘clang’ of metal. He was immediately out of bed and grabbing his sword. Odds are if someone was in his base they had armor. He didn’t stand a chance. Rek took a shovel and pickaxe from his nightstand and began digging into his wall. He didn't know where he was going but he couldn’t stay there.
Eventually he broke out into the side of a hill, looking up, he noticed a floating island above him and his eyes dilated slightly. He was panting heavily and despite his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the night he couldn’t make out where he was. He was so tired. Primes maybe he could just rest his eyes for a bit, he’d escaped the threat after all right? His eyes slowly blinked closed and before Rek realized, he’d fallen asleep.
Rough fabric rubbed against his cheek. He barely opened his eyes before noticing a slightly familiar figure. Albino hair half made of snakes and a mask covering his face. Leowook.
Oh no.
Rek tried to assess his options but his brain was still fuzzy. Vaguely he recognized the feeling of his feet not touching the ground and oh god. Was…was Leo carrying him? No time to think, Leo could be bringing him to a death machine for all he knows. He had to run, get out of here! Now! He willed his limbs to move. Leo shifted slightly as Rek’s arm fell from where it was resting on his chest.
“Chill out Parker, we’re just bringing you to Gallantry, you look exhausted.” We? So there were more of them. Crap. Rek definitely couldn’t take a one v two, much less a one v three. He’d have to catch them by surprise. He fished in his inventory for his pickaxe, finding it almost immediately. He didn’t want to seriously injure Leo, just make it so he could chase after to kill him. He flipped the tool so that the wooden part was aimed for Leo’s shins. The boy's snake-like hair didn’t seem to notice him until it was too late.
Leo cried out in pain as the wood made hard contact with his shin. He dropped Rek instinctively to nurse his leg. Rek rolled on the ground, forcing himself to stand up. To keep moving. To GO GO GO! He ran as fast as he could vaguely hearing shouts from what was probably Mid and Cube. He could escape them. Cube wasn’t fast and Mid would worry about Leo before going after him.
Rek didn’t know how long he’d been running before he ran directly into a tree. He could’ve sworn it wasn’t there a second ago. His brain cursed him for slowing himself down. He still didn’t know who was in his base, they could still be after him! Not to mention Mid and Cube as well as a definitely pissed off Leo. He got up again. His eyes felt strained and he could’ve sworn they had changed somehow but he couldn’t stop. This time he ran into a person.
He was in for it now.
The figure turned around.
It was a lady, she was tall and wore a pastel yellow cape that draped all the way to her feet. There was a hood in the back. She wore a brown shirt with a design showing the lunar cycles and black jeans with a black and silver belt. Rings with tarot designs decorated her fingers. Her brown hair was pulled into a curly bun and she had freckles all over her face. A pair of glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. In her hands she held a scythe.
Fuck.
Hi Rek, she smiled warmly, Rek looked down and noticed dead plants around her, others further away seemed to wilt as well. The trees seemed dimmer than before. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting yet!
Holy shit. How did this lady know him? His eyes glanced from her to the scythe and back a couple times. She seemed to pick up on his tenseness.
Don’t worry Parker, I won’t kill you. This scythe? It’s more of a walking stick than a weapon. It’s more for metaphorical purposes. She spoke smoothly and fluidly. The scythe was gone in an instant.
“Who are you?” She giggled a little.
Take a guess!
Rek thought for a moment, his brain was still muddled and he remembered he didn’t have time. He had to get as far away as possible.
Take as much time as you need, I’m known to be very patient. Well… unless someone defies me, Sisyphus can attest to that! Wait, Sisyphus? Sisyphus was known for defying…
“Death.” He realized too quickly. “Wait no, I can’t be dead! That’s not possible.”
Oh I come for people when they don’t expect it. It’s kinda my thing. Rek sank to his knees. He was… dead? The lady—death apparently— sighed. Worry not, you aren’t dead yet. If I could have it my way you’d never die. Rek somehow became even more confused. Let me explain, my name is Evelyn. I am the Primordial Force of death.
“I thought that was Kristin Minecraft?” The force(?) laughed.
Oh no, she’s lady death. My… protégé if you will. Anyway, I’m here because your stress is causing me to appear. You need to calm down. And I can offer that calm to you. Rek will admit it sounded tempting.
“How?”
Well you simply say my name and I will take control of your body. While you relax your mind I will probably just take care of your needs. You know, food, water, sleep, the normal things. My job is to keep you alive.
“But why?”
You are my incarnate, when you need it you can summon me and have access to my powers. Incarnate? If that was the case it would probably explain how he managed to never be caught by traps. Or at least never killed by them. Speaking of traps, this definitely was one. He didn’t need peace right now, he needed to get as far away from his base and Gallantry as possible. Though if what she said was true, there was a way this could work out in his favor. If he could harness her power, he could get away from his attackers.
“Evelyn.” He said without any warning. He felt his bloodshot eyes turn fully black and could feel Evelyn rummaging through his brain. Rek had the upper hand. He felt himself lock her away in his mind. She yelled in protest, realizing what was happening too late. She shouted for him to let her go. But he felt so much power running through him. His adrenaline was restored and he kept running. He felt like his legs were going to come off but he kept running. He paused for a moment, to catch his breath.
He should not have done that.
A sword was aimed right for his neck. Golden locks and a crown let Rek know this was Zam. The blade itself was loosely held. Either Zam was tired or didn’t want to kill him. Rek weighed the odds. Chances are Zam was his attacker and he very much did want to kill him, which led to a secret third option. Cockiness.
“Rek are you okay? It’s two in the morning, what are you doing here?” He swore he picked up tones of mockery. Zam thought he’d one. The axolotl looked away to his communicator. “I’m gonna call the others, they’re wondering where you are.” No! Zam and Gallantry had teamed up? Shit. Shit. Shit. He needed to think of something quick. Just as Zam sent the message to the general chat Rek’s newfound capabilities seemed to respond to his panic. Zam dropped his communicator and sank to the ground. Foam was slowly coming out of his mouth and spilling on the ground. Slowly but surely life drained out of his eyes. Rek felt his comm buzz, he risked a glance at it.
PrinceZam: found rek, he’s over at xx xxx xxxx
BranzyCraft: fr? Thanks Zam!
Clownpierce: ^^^^
PrinceZam was slain by Rekrap2 using U̶͔͒̓̃̓̽n̸̡̥̥͓̜̳͎̬͉̫͍̙͖͂̇̐̇̀̈̍̂̈́̈̀͒͌̈́͝ḵ̷͖͚͉̩͎̤̠̲͙̞̳̯̄̈̎͗̃̀̅̿̐͛͠n̸̪̅̌͆̿̓̾̾͝o̶̹̗̜̖͔͇͌́͜ẉ̸͉͔̳̟̻̤͕͙̝̿̈͋̋̎̕͠n̸̞̺̜͖͔̦͍̖̮͎͇̠͈̫͒́͊̈́
PrinceZam has run out of lives!
ParrotX2: excuse me what the fuck
Spokeishere: whaygvyqvbhudywbq9o
Spokeishere: rek?????? Using explotisss?????????
Leowo0k: smthn has been off with him today, he just about. broke my shin w/ a pickaxe.
Mapicc: Zam was at 11 hearts last tmei I swa him
ParrotX2: omw rn
BranzyCraft: ^^^
Clownpierce: ^^^
Spokeishere: ^^^
Crap they were onto him. He had to go. He didn’t mean to kill Zam. Fuckfuckfuckfuck what had he done????? He couldn’t stay here. He might hurt someone else. But they were coming for him. They were gonna kill him. Evelyn pushed to be let out. Minutes passed like seconds and before he knew it Branzy, Clown, Spoke, and Parrot had touched down behind him. He jerked around violently to meet them. They were gonna kill him! But wait. Branzy was here, Branzy wouldn’t kill him, right?
“Hey Rek,” Branzy said cautiously, voice pitched just a bit too high. Clown seemed tense, defensive. Protective. Protective of what? Branzy? But from who? Clown seemed to watch every move he made. Rek realized.
“You’re afraid of me.” The ground wilted and died as betrayal took the place of any mercy he had. Flowers keeled over, the air became suffocatingly dry. It was hard to breathe. Spoke’s white eyes widened and he took a step in front of Parrot. They were all scared of him.
“What? No! Rek, when's the last time you slept?” Branzy’s eyes didn’t change. He didn’t seem afraid. His eyes darted to Parrot and he made some kind of signal with his hand. Parrot reached into his admin hotbar and began typing. Nonononononono! Rek couldn’t let them kill him. The rot spread across the grass towards Parrot’s feet, gripping his legs. He cried out in pain as color drained out of him slowly. Spoke shouted his name, rushing to his side. His eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter and the rot seemed to regress from him. Parrot grunted and kept typing.
Rek rushed forward only to be practically body slammed by Clown. He held him in place and wouldn’t let him move. Rek thrashed in his grip, trying desperately to escape. Rot spread up Clown’s legs and arms, slowly killing him. He grunted but reached and gripped a totem in his offhand. When death finally came the totem popped and the timer restarted.
“PARROT! CLOCK’S TICKING!” He heard Clown shout.
“I know! Just a few more seconds!” Rek watched as Parrot slammed his fingers into the enter button and fatigue took over his body. He wasn’t strong enough to keep Evelyn in her cage. He felt her leave just as he passed out.
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