Entwining Lives - A Hermitcraft & The Life series crossover

Chapter 3 - A mostly untraumatized and semi-sane person? Whats this? :O

TW: Gaslighting, Death, Gore, and so on.

POV: LastLife!Scott

Scott sighed, staring at the blood on his clothes as he walked away from the battle ground. The bloodlust of his red life vanished, letting him know the game had ended. It was horrible, but he had to do it...

He had to do it...

He'd done his best, but he had to kill them...

It was how the game was meant to go...

There was no other way...

These thoughts echoed through his mind every step he took. The boogeyman curse had ensured that it would turn violent. He'd tried his best, even resisting the bloodlust it gave him and sacrificing himself rather than killing a friend, but it always would have either ended this way, or with him in the dirt. Speaking of that, tomorrow he dig make graves. This idea made the whole thing feel all the more real, the grief all the more stark.

He sighed. He'd miss them... But it was required, it was the nature of the game, he couldn't beat himself up with it... He'd told himself to not get attached after all. It was always going to end this way, as was player nature. Chaos and violence was how it always was going to end. But he'd never forget them. They didn't deserve that.

"Are you sure it would have?" A voice spoke. He looked up to see an imposing, masked being floating before him, tilting its head. "You don't feel remorse? You just murdered your friends."

"You know as well as I do, that this was the only way this could have ended." He glared at the hovering being before him, knowing instinctively this being was the one who spoke at the start of the so-called 'game'. "Besides, death is better than all of us getting the boogeyman curse and slowly dying off, as the bloodlust of red life captures everyone like it inevitably would have. Entropy and all that. Besides, those people weren't my friends, simply bloodthirsty monsters in human suits. We all became that. They would have killed me in the blink of an eye... I would have done the same. I can't blame myself, It wasn't me." He wasn't sure if he was convincing himself, or the being, or both. Probably both.

The watcher tilted their head. "Very reasonable. More reasonable then most mortals. They tend to reject logic in favor of self hatred. Very ineffective in my opinion. Very well, Scott. Continue on with your life. Live with your choices."

"I will." He dipped his head at the being, and kept walking. He spotted ruins of the bases, and decided he needed to stay busy. He'd do his best to rebuild them, to hold the memories of his friends. But not now. He had to grieve. It was unhealthy to try to repress it.

He took a second to reminisce, the friends he made, the chaos of when they got the enchanting table, the people who gave lives to those who turned red to stop them from murdering... They'd tried to remain peaceful, but in the end all chaos broke loose with the Boogeymen.

Tears fell down his face onto the soil. It'd never be the same. He was likely going to remain alone for the rest of his life. But he had to carry on, for his friends. He smiled sadly.

"I'll miss you guys." He whispered, staring at the sky. They may have been chaotic and untrustworthy at best, but they had been his friends, and he regretted what had happened.

Impulse, Joel, Grian, and Martyn. They all lost at least one life due to him. He regretted it, but again, what could he have done? He had been, and still was, a small piece in a far larger game. Blaming himself would get him nowhere, he reminded himself, and stood. He was ready to make the graves for his friends...

~+~

The world was rather dull, the wildlife almost entirely killed off, and the landscape wartorn and destroyed, everyone's bases blown up, or burnt. He was doing his best to rebuild, but the natural resources were few and far between, almost all of them depleted. His hope was beginning to drain. He'd never been alone this long before. It'd been weeks since Last Life ended, since he was released from the limited life system.

He sighed, laying back in the grass, staring at the sky. If he did this, he could almost imagine he was back at the start... Almost hear the chattering of everyone else around him, cheerful banter... He reached out towards the sky, wishing he could just fall into the cloud-filled blue, leave this place behind...

And quickly realized his guard had dropped. He leapt up with his axe and shield ready, before remembering that he was the only one left in this world. He wished he could just go back to the start...

But he couldn't. He had to be realistic. Day-dreaming was nice, but these types of thoughts would lead to more dangerous ones. He had to keep moving. He glanced back at Pearl and his base, the first one he'd rebuilt. It'd be nice to settle down, but that was impossible. He walked away.

~+~

Paranoia kept him looking around him, despite it being mid-day. He kept scanning for any signs of people being nearby. Part of his mind was still in the mode it was in throughout the, for lack of a better word, game. Constantly on guard, he walked along the border, searching for something, anything, to distract him.

"Is it starting to get to you, Scott?" A voice asked, not sounding taunting, but merely curious. He didn't even need to look to know it was the being from when he won. From the vague rustling of the leaves, he knew they were behind him on his left. He still didn't turn, didn't look at them. Didn't give them the satisfaction. They didn't deserve it

"Go away." He called calmly, and kept walking. He still didn't know where he was going, but it was better than staying still, staying near that cruel puppeteer. He was certain that all along, they had been the one pulling the strings, declaring the boogeyman, the one truely in control all along.

"You know, I didn't like the idea of these games. But I gave my word, made a contract. And we are unable to break our word or contract. We are beings who serve, not ones who lie and deceive. We do not like greater loss of life. We are not evil, Scott. You aren't all unlike us, especially a mortal. If it were not for the contract, I'd fancy recruiting you... Well, This has certainly has enlightened me." The being seemed to be thinking about something.

"Like I should believe you." Scott cut away some leaves in his way, mostly as a excuse to angrily hack away at something. "You caused my friends to die, used me as a piece in your little game."

"Scott, we are not evil. We follow orders. We obey our contracts, because we agreed to the Pact. And because of this, I will grant you a way to leave this place. But be careful, it may not be what you were expecting..." The being's voice faded out and Scott instinctively knew they vanished.

Scott kept walking, knowing eventually he had to find whatever the being was speaking of, because clearly that being could do whatever in notch's name they wanted. If they weren't lying abou the way out.

And true enough, like clockwork, a few minutes of walking later, he saw a broken rectangle made of bedrock, swirling with magenta in the center, almost nether-portal like, but significantly different.

He could walk through, and leave this place behind. He knew this was a fact, the being hadn't been lying. What else would he do in this wasteland after all? But what if the world beyond was worse... But surely, there was nothing worse than being in this destroyed world alone.

Taking a deep breath, he ran through the portal, axe and shield ready, leaving what was left of Last Life behind him.

A/N:
This chapter literally made me cry three times- I didn't cry at all while writing the last chapter- What is wrong with my brain- I cry at healthier grieving, but don't cry at self-blame-

Also sorry it's kinda short, it was hard to get it this long as is. It's so hard to write sane and untraumatized characters.

Also sorry for slow updates! I'm trying to write quicker I swear-

Wc: 1447

- Xera