Here's where the chapters start getting really, REALLY long...

-Indigo

~~~

The beginning of the next day was far from normal. Grian was red, and the Southlanders were one short.

Grian built a little place near the snow castle because Bdubs lived there. He still wanted revenge on the clock-obsessed moss boy. The base was just a tiny hole in the ground that he put a crafting table and furnace in and then called home. He didn't decorate the outside or the interior. I figured that since he didn't decorate, then the shelter was only temporary. He was probably only using this as a base of operations to get his revenge on Bdubs.

Grian then went to the Southlands to steal some sugarcane, probably to make a farm for TNT. When he left, I stayed to check on the other four Southlanders.

They hadn't noticed that Grian had come. They were just getting together for another round of life-passing. But the Boogeyman was being chosen first.

3...

2...

1...

None of the Southlanders had the Glow, so they were safe for now. None of the red names had anything against the Southlands that I knew of. Perks of being harmless idiots.

I headed to Ren's tower to check on him. He was not Boogeyman, nor were Lizzie and Bigb when I went to the Fairy Fort. But while Ren was underground, building some sort of meeting room, Lizzie and Bigb were in a situation where they needed him.

Cleo was at the Fairy Fort with a lit torch. Before I was in earshot, she said something to Lizzie and Bigb before thrusting the torch into the tree she sat in.

The flames spread like - well, wildfire, quickly consuming the wooden defenses. Cleo jumped down from her tree and ran, sealing the entrance before leaving Lizzie and Bigb trapped in the burning clearing. I watched with horror. The worst part was that I knew Cleo. If they survived this, Cleo wasn't going to give up.

They managed to put out some of the fire with a bucket of water and, coughing in the smoke, made it out alive. But the Fairy Fort was already too damaged to save. The two Forest Fairies ran away from the forest and to Ren's tower, leaving the burning dark forest behind them.

I went back to the Southlands, panicking. They had spent the entire time I was watching just sitting there talking, and now Martyn was finally starting to recite the give life spell for the life passing.

Jimmy's life heart turned green. He turned to Mumbo... and threw down his spyglass and yelled, "Here you go, I'm out!"

Then he ran.

Martyn, Mumbo, and Impulse's laughter quickly turned to cries of alarm as it became apparent that Jimmy was not coming back.

"Jimmy!" Martyn yelled, enraged, and ran after the cod.

"No, I'm gone, I'm gone, I am NOT coming back EVER!" Jimmy yelled, crossing the bridge and entering the forest.

Forget the rules.

Martyn glanced at the darkening sky before pulling out his sword and slashing at his ally. It was illegal, but not unheard of.

The opportunity...

Martyn, still yelling at Jimmy, slowed down and started shooting arrows, putting him farther behind.

Retrieve it now!

"I'm trying," Martyn muttered.

The rest will agree.

Martyn repeated those words like they were his lifeline, and I realized he was scared that the other Southlanders would choose Jimmy over him.

End this betrayal.

Martyn, determined to get his green life back, threw an ender pearl. He landed in front of Jimmy, who yelled and turned around. "Wait, you're there now? Go away!" Then they continued the chase.

Do not let him escape!

The Watcher had plans for that life. That wasn't good.

It wasn't like last time. This time, I could feel a presence. I could feel that something - or someone - was there, talking to Martyn.

I felt the presence pulling at my mind, playing with it. I felt what Martyn must have felt at that time - kind of scared of the voice, but forced to trust it. And for a minute I felt stronger.

"Martyn, you don't need that life!" I yelled.

Like with Grian and Mumbo on the ghast farm, Martyn showed signs of actually hearing me. He paused, but then he kept running.

Jimmy, who had turned around at the sound of a voice that was not any of the Southlanders, kept running as well once he saw Martyn.

"Martyn, stop!"

We let you watch so long as you did not interfere. I will deal with you later.

I ignored the Watcher and said, "If you're a real friend, you'll let him take it! You don't need it!"

"I do!" Martyn yelled back, evidently not knowing or caring who he was talking to.

"Why?"

You have no part in this! Begone!

He stopped. "I'm going to give it to someone."

"Who?"

Martyn shook his head and started running again. "I don't know who you are, but leave me alone! Both of you!"

Our business is not over, Littlewood!

"Martyn, whoever you've been listening to, whatever he offered you, he's lying."

I do not lie!

"You don't lie, you only tell part of the truth. Martyn, think, you know me!"

"No, I don't! Leave me alone!"

That was what told me that Martyn, a, was not the same person I knew from Third Life, and b, hadn't listened to a word I had just said.

"Martyn, I'm-"

Then the surge of power ended. Martyn kept running.

"No!" I yelled, frustrated.

You thought you could get away with this, the Watcher said. You thought you could convince him.

"No," I said. "Only distract him."

Jimmy was far ahead now with the life. I felt bad betraying Martyn, but Jimmy did need that life more than he did. And Martyn had been planning to use it for... whatever the Watchers wanted.

Fool. You have defied us twice. We were forgiving the first time, but now you and your ideas of equality and love have gone too far. If you truly want to be able to influence what happens in this world, then you can join them.

Tingles raced all over my body, joining panic as I fell out of the sky and landed painfully in a tree. "Ugh..."

I looked around. Earlier, the colors had been somewhat muted. But now they were as vibrant as ever. I looked at the hands grasping the branch I was on and saw that they were no longer wispy and vaporous. I was a physical person again.

It had been a while since I felt anything with those hands. The bark of the tree was rough and scratchy. It was wonderful.

"Who are - Blue?"

Martyn had returned. His name was still lime green, meaning Jimmy had escaped with the life. Good.

"Hi, Martyn." He had been my friend in Third Life, right? Huh, that was interesting.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a while. Have you like, not died? 'Cause I don't remember any death messages with Bluemoon Tay in them... wait, why is your name grey?"

"I don't... hey, what's that?"

Numbers appeared on my watch, shifting and changing to every number from two to six. They slowed down suddenly.

2

4

2

6...

2......

6

Martyn climbed up into the tree with me and peeked at my watch. "What's- wait, is that the life count? How long have you been in this world, Blue?"

"About two minutes now."

"Two minutes? Where have you been?"

"What does the number mean?"

"It means how many lives you got. How many did you get?"

"Uhh... six."

"SIX?!"

"Yeah."

"Jimmy just stole a life from me. You wanna give me one?"

"No, because he needs it more than you. You were just planning to use it for whatever the Watcher's plan is."

"Watcher? Who's the Watcher?"

"Don't play dumb on me. I was there. I watched it happen."

"That voice... was you?"

"Yep, and I also want to tell you that you have a perfectly good alliance with Mumbo and Impulse and you shouldn't betray them until you're red. 'Bye."

"Wait, what?"

I jumped down from the tree and walked away.

I didn't know where I was going. I would probably travel until I found someone who preferably had an extra set of armor that I could use. Maybe I could join Scar at Magical Mountain. He was alone and probably rich.

Or, I could go around and save some of the red lives.

That sounded like a considerably better but also more dangerous option.

I hadn't known the spell before, but now it was planted in my mind like I had memorized it years ago and said it every day since. I was about to recite it, but then realized that I could get something out of this, too.

I headed to Grian's secret hidey hole under the B.E.S.T. snow castle. He wasn't home, so I headed out to Joel's place.

He was home, and nearly killed me when I came in before he realized who I was and how many lives I had.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were back home in Empires, you know, killing demons and rescuing cod heads and stuff."

"Nope! There's no cod heads to rescue, because Jimmy's here as well!"

"So, why did you come to a red name's house?"

"Because I'm going to give you a life, unless you don't want one of course."

"I want one!"

"But you have to be nice to Scott and Pearl."

"I'll have to be, if you make me yellow!"

"What will you give me for it?"

Joel fell silent, and I could practically hear him thinking about how to scam me.

"How about these iron boots?"

He wasn't nearly as good at it as Scar was, which was probably a good thing.

"Enough iron to make a full set of armor and tools," I said.

He muttered something like, "Okay, bossypants," before saying, "Deal."

We shook on it, and Joel pulled thirty-five iron out of a chest. I said the spell, and then Joel's name turned yellow. I was down to five lives, but it was worth it.

"Who has the enchanting table right now?" I asked.

"I think Bdubs or Etho or some other Team B.E.S.T. person does," Joel said.

I knew where to start looking. In fact, two of the reds I wanted to heal were there, too.

When I got to the snow castle, Etho and Bdubs were there, as well as Grian.

Bdubs was apparently still living at the snow castle, which was extremely weird because Etho was light green. When I crept up to the wall, I overheard them talking.

"It's really easy, just throw yourself off a cliff twice and you're done!" The unmistakable voice of Bdubs said. "We can be buddies again!"

Oh, no. Bdubs was trying to turn Etho red.

I went down into Grian's hole in the ground. He still wasn't home, or at least I didn't think he was until I found him listening to the B and E of B.E.S.T. near a side entrance.

"Hi, Grian," I said in a creepy voice.

He turned around and nearly fell over. "You almost blew my- wait, Blue? Since when are you here? You realize I could kill you, right?"

"Yeah, but I know you won't, because you didn't ally with Joel, who by the way is yellow now. And you didn't kill Mumbo when you found him on the ghast farm."

"You know Mumbo?"

"I've never met him. But I was there watching you guys."

"Okay, that's just creepy."

"As you spy on the B.E.S.T. people!"

"Touché," Grian grinned.

"How much do you want to kill Bdubs?"

He hesitated. "A lot."

"Would you rather kill Bdubs or get a life?"

"Uh....I'd rather get a life, but if you're about to give me one, don't because I want to threaten Scar for it."

"Grian..." I scolded.

"I won't actually kill him."

"You better not. What did he ever do to you?"

"Just sold me a soul crystal, canceled it, and then tried to offer me a new deal with fake magical crystals. If he tries to sell you anything, don't take it because it's always a scam."

"Good to know, go get your life before you kill people, bye."

"Wait, you're leaving? How did you even get here?"

I didn't answer. I didn't want to tell him what I had been seeing this whole time.

Yes, I was a little afraid of him. Why wouldn't I be? He was red and I was dark green. He could kill me at any moment if he wanted to, and I didn't have tools yet, only iron. And night was falling fast.

I went to Ren's old tower, which was really close by, to scavenge for resources and find a place to rest and hide while I got ready for what was ahead. I found a bunch of sticks in one of the chests and used them to make a pickaxe, sword, shovel, and axe. I used the rest of the iron to make a chestplate, boots, and trousers.

I still had seven iron ingots left, enough to make a hoe and still have five. I assumed those were for a helmet, but it was an unwritten rule not to use helmets so that it was easier to tell the difference between friend and foe. Tango had accidentally worn one in front of Bdubs and Impulse back in Third Life and nearly died as a result.

Loooong story.

I decided not to make a hoe just yet. I would wait until I got a nice, safe, hidden home to make a farm. I briefly considered going to the dark oak forest again because it had kept me hidden in Third Life, but then I remembered how well that had worked for Lizzy. Also, part of the advantage of the dark forest on Third Life was that it was so small that very few people knew it existed. Here, about half the population lived in the dark forest.

It was past midnight when I looked through a chest and found wool to make a sleeping bag. After the final seam was sewn, I spread it out on the ground and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up, I peered out of the tower and saw by the position of the sun that it was almost noon. I was more tired than I thought last night, or maybe it was an effect of being a ghost.

I rolled up my sleeping bag and strapped it to my backpack. Then I scavenged for materials in the tower. I didn't find very much. Ren had taken everything of value before he left. But I did find a bunch of cooked fish in one of the chests, which I assumed was from Ren's failed attempt at a salmon farm. I didn't particularly like fish, but I took them because it was still food and I needed it.

After that, I grabbed a crafting table and furnace and left the tower to find a better, more isolated location. I didn't want to be in the middle of the conflict between Magical Mountain and Team B.E.S.T. over the Enchanter.

I headed to the snow castle first to see if Grian had turned yellow yet. I spied on Etho and Bdubs for a minute and listened to another horrifying round of "you should jump off a cliff" from Bdubs. Then I jumped into a bush to hide as Etho stormed out of the very entrance I had been listening through.

Grian was still living in his hole, and he hadn't gone to Scar yet. I could also tell that he was fighting the urges that came with being a red name, but if he didn't turn yellow soon he would give in. I told him to hurry up.

He nodded and then I left. I wanted to spend as little time with Grian as possible, because the longer I spent in his company, the harder it was for him to resist killing me.

I set out to find allies. By now, it would take a very nice person to take me in because I had just barely turned up. Also, an alliance usually started with a deal or being together from the beginning. Since I was definitely too late for the beginning part, I gathered rare items as I traveled so that I could have something to help me make friends.

I headed to the Scottage first, because it was so close by. Pearl and Scott were home, and they let me inside without asking too many questions. They did ask how I had stayed hidden so long and, not really knowing how to tell them that I had been a ghost the whole time, told them I had been in a bunker underground, but I saw the advantage of having an alliance and came to the surface.

Scott and Pearl remembered being friends in Empires, even if we didn't remember the emotions. That counted for something, and they let me in for a few days while I found a permanent place to stay. In return, I agreed to help them patch their house from the constant attacks they had endured from Joel when he was still red. I would also help them construct a wall to keep reds and Boogeymen out.

Speaking of Boogeymen, right in the middle of our conversation, they struck.

Scar Goodtimes was slain by Etho Slab

Etho had been the Boogeyman. Or so I thought. Why else would he kill a fellow green name?

Unless it was like in Third Life and he attacked without thinking about the rules.

But I doubted it.

We all expressed both alarm at Scar dying and relief at knowing that Etho was cured and now somewhat trustworthy.

I also told them about my making Joel yellow, which they were "eternally thankful for" (according to Pearl). I also told them about my plan to turn Grian yellow if he didn't get a life from Scar. But I felt a little bad for my fellow dark green life, so I might give that life to Scar.

Wait, no. I couldn't go soft. This was Last Life, and anyone who died got what they got. There were no second chances. Well, I guess there were, but once you were out of lives, you were out. There was no turning back.

After I had settled into the Scottage a little bit, I headed back out to see if I could find allies. I could just ally myself with Pearl and Scott, sure, but they didn't have many friends now that Cleo, the bridge between the Scottage and Castle Alliance, was red. They were neutral with Team B.E.S.T. and the Southlanders, enemies of Magical Mountain for turning Joel red, and now neutral with the Castle Alliance. The current red names didn't have anything against them. They were all focused on getting a life back or getting revenge on whoever killed them back when they were yellow or green. Or in Bdubs' case, trying to get his best friend onto the Dark Side.

If I could get an alliance with a strong group who was close by, that would be really helpful to the Scottage when someone on Magical Mountain turned red again. I went to the snow castle.

I didn't really care that Bdubs was red. If I gave him a life, that would secure a permanent alliance.

Most of the entrances to the snow fort were made by eavesdroppers. There was no actual door in. I used the most visible one from the outside.

The inside wasn't decorated much. There were just a few trees for a haphazard wood farm, a Nether portal, and several towers around the outside. The entire floor was soul sand for some reason. I slowly trudged through it as I looked around for people.

"Hello?" I called.

"Hi!" Bdubs yelled back, emerging from a cobblestone structure that must have been where Bdubs and Etho were living.

He was yellow again somehow. Maybe they had gone to Scar, bought a life, killed Scar, and then come home.

That foiled my plans for a permanent alliance.

"Hi, Bdubs," I said. "I was in a bunker this whole time, but then the other day there were a bunch of reds. So I was going to give you a life and turn you yellow in exchange for an alliance, and then you come out and you're yellow! How?"

"So I was here talking with Cleo," he responded. "And Etho had just left. Then suddenly, I turned yellow. Scar told me to come to Magical Mountain. So I ran from Cleo, who was a little mad about me turning yellow, and went to Magical Mountain. Scar and Etho were there. Scar made me sign a contract for an alliance that I'm not really going to follow through for. It turned out that Etho had bought a life for me. Then Etho was the Boogeyman and killed Scar. The end."

I laughed a little at his storytelling. "Cool. Where is everyone else, anyway?"

"I don't know. I think Tango and Skiz are at their Roctopus thingy and Etho is off... somewhere. I don't know where he went."

I thanked him and left. I wondered where Cleo was living now that she was red.

I went to the Avenger's tower first, because she had lived there from the beginning. Bigb wasn't living there anymore because he had moved to the Shadow tower, but Cleo might still be there.

She was not. The place wasn't abandoned, but whoever lived there wasn't home.

I went back to the Scottage and told Scott and Pearl that I was leaving after I helped them finish their defenses.

Right as we were adding the finishing touches to their lava-filled wall, Cleo turned up. She was still red. And I saw an opportunity.

Cleo promised that she meant no harm to the Scottage. She had only come to get some of her stuff and then leave. I told her that there was no need for that and that I would give her a life free.

I said the spell and her name lightened to yellow. The three members of the Scottage, reunited, cheered.

"I'll be on my way, then," I said.

"If you ever need anything, come to us," Pearl called after me.

I smiled. I had gotten myself some allies.

I decided that Ren's old tower was a good central location. It was on top of a mountain, which would give me some high ground. It was also close to Magical Mountain, the center of enchanting; the Scottage, my allies; and Team B.E.S.T, where Grian had set up camp and I could keep an eye on him. I tore down the flimsy tower and built a taller, stone one in its place. I surrounded the tower with a courtyard, moat, and wall, complete with crenellations. I made a single entrance to funnel the enemy into one spot so I could pick them off. A lot of the defenses were based off of the Crastle from Third Life.

It took me two weeks to mine the resources and build the structure. I went to check on Grian once I was done, even though I was terrified that he would kill me before I could transfer him a life.

I went into his cave and called, "Grian?"

When he didn't turn up, I started to get worried. I had no way of telling if he was still red or not.

I was just about to head out when he walked in. "Oh. Hi. You should probably leave right now."

"What are you waiting for?" I said, ignoring his last sentence. "You're turning into more of a red name by the day. Are you still planning to go to Scar?"

"Yeah," he said, but his voice wavered a little.

I could tell he was lying. So I started to mutter the spell.

He looked startled at first, then angry. "Stop it!" he yelled, not knowing how to make me stop talking.

I kept talking.

He pulled out his sword. "I need to get revenge on Bdubs first!" Grian pushed me into a wall, trying to get me to shut up. Unfortunately, I did. I grunted in pain and started again.

Grian couldn't stop me. Even if he kicked me out, I would still be able to say the spell. And there was still enough want for a life that he didn't want to kill me just yet.

He looked at his sword, and then at me. I could almost hear the conflict inside of him. Finally, he pursed his lips and then swung the sword, but not at me. It cut only through air.

And suddenly, I couldn't remember.

I couldn't remember the spell. It had been clear in my mind only a few minutes ago, but now it was just gone.

Grian, though he had gotten what he wanted, still panicked. "What did I... no. No, no, no, no, no! I couldn't have... I was exiled... they're supposed to be gone!"

"What?" I said.

"Just get out of my house," he said, his face quickly going pale.

I did without complaint. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but I wouldn't be giving out lives any time soon.

I went back to my tower and collapsed on my bed, wondering what the heck had just happened. Was it something I had done? Or Grian?

A memory tugged at the back of my mind. What if it was the Watchers?

But why would they want Grian to stay red? There was no real reason, right?

Then I remembered something from Third Life. The Watcher, or I guess Watcher One, had said that Grian had wronged them long ago. I didn't know exactly what he had done, but maybe they wanted him to stay red as some sort of punishment. But he could always go to Scar or something. So what was the point?

I shook off those thoughts. I didn't want to have that kind of thing on my mind when I needed to sleep.

I was out within minutes. I was too tired to do much else.

"Blue? Did I make it?"

This voice was not a Watcher. It was too friendly, too worried. "Gem?"

"It worked!"

I still knew her. She was my sister. Didn't that mean I was supposed to love her or something? I couldn't remember. "What do you mean?"

"I've been trying so hard to contact you but now it's finally worked! I made this device that lets me enter people's dreams. I used it to get to you during your death coma thing."

"That's so cool," I said. "Why didn't it work before?"

"You tell me. Were you not sleeping?"

"I was a ghost."

"Okay... anyway, we don't have much time before someone comes and finds me and kicks me out. Where are you?"

"I'm in a world called Last Life."

"What about the others? Jimmy? Pearl? Lizzie? Joel? Scott?"

"They're all here as well."

"How can I get you out?"

"You can't until we all lose all our lives."

"Is there any way you could speed that up a bit? We need you guys back at the Empires."

Huh. She needed us. Interesting.

"No, not unless I kill people. I don't want to do that. What's going on at home?"

"Remember the demon? Well, he's a lot more powerful and he's possessed Joey and Sausage and now I'm imprisoned because they want the dragon egg."

"Okay."

"What is wrong with you? Have you just lost all emotion about what's happening?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Her panic radiated over to my mind. "Okay... hang tight, Blue. I'm waking up, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

Then her presence was gone, and I was alone in the pitch blackness that was sleep.