Joel was trying to accept this, he really was.

It was hard when everyone was glaring at him and asking him if he was crazy, wondering if he even cared.

But that's far from the truth.

His heart was wishing that he could sacrifice himself for his little brother (because that is exactly what Jimmy is to him) and he would die a million times just for Jimmy to smile once. He wished that he could be an offering for the Watchers, laid to rest or tortured forever by the demons just so the Ocean Empire's children were safe.

He hated that he had seen both of the seabling brothers almost dead.

Joel shook out his hands at the thought. He didn't want to remember the entirety of what had happened years ago in between his search for Jimmy.

Despite that, he didn't want to see Jimmy in a dead state again. He didn't think he could handle it especially if it was truly the end of Jimmy... at the supposed age of seventeen or eighteen (he couldn't remember and he felt incredibly guilty about it.)

But it was like when he was a teen himself. He had remembered the fear he felt that Jimmy wasn't even going to surive past the age of ten or twelve.

And he made a come back.

Joel just had to believe that this would be the same and they weren't just leading him as a lamb to the slaughter.

---

Scott felt multiple feelings at once.

He felt pure anger and rage at Joel for agreeing to this entire stupid idea. He felt resentment towards Grian for causing all this in the first place. He felt like he was mourning his fiance (it might be onesided on his part now) before he was even laid to rest.

It all mixed uncomfortably.

He looked up at a knock of the door. He wasn't expecting anyone and people usually just barged in.

Scott got up and walked to the door, opening it gently and eyes widening as he met the grey ones he so loved.

Jimmy's.

---

Grian didn't have any right to make decisions for Jimmy anymore. That was clear but he felt the need to stop this.

So, he started breaking more code.

The games won't be able to start if the server is unstable, it wouldn't be safe regardless even for other players. He just broke code and hoped that something happened.

And it did for the most part.

People came to him daily, sharing strange occurances. 'And this cow was just floatint oddly and was glowing green. I didn't know what to do so I roped it off for the time being.' But he had memorized the code at this point to ensure that nothing will really go wrong that he won't be able to fix. He blamed all the problems on the Watchers at this point. 'Yeah, they have been breaking more code recently.'

But he didn't care, he couldn't when this was keeping his brother safe. The games will never start if the code is too broken.

Or so he thought.

"Scar had let us know that the code is broken so we found a way to connect from the outside." Xisuma was tapping through his comm, looking at lines of code. "It isn't anything major luckily and if we keep an eye on it from out here, we can make sure it doesn't affect anything in the games."

Cub nodded in agreement, stepping beside X. "Yeah, it proves that this is going to work on the plus side anyways. If the Watchers are trying to delay the games, that means that we are on the right track. The sooner we start it up, we should have Jimmy out safe and sound."

Grian felt more guilt well up in him.

But he didn't have the heart or guts to even admit that he was the one tampering with the codes. They looked so sure that this was a good sign and he didn't want to break that.

God, what is he going to do?

---

Jimmy smiled as the days were counting down. They finally had a date set up for the games to start again. He had found out that the Watchers were messing with the codes which wasn't reassuring but he didn't care at this point. It was only small code breaks like plant or blocks changing for the most part.

He hopes his death is at least cool or heroic.

A few days ago, he had finally gathered the courage to talk to Scott again.

Well... they are married?

It was very secret, like secret to the point that they were the only two who knew. They had signed and filled out the proper documents and sent them out to the offices of registration. Nobody knew they had made it official, they didn't celebrate or anything.

To be honest, he was only doing this for Scott.

It felt like one of those patients with life threatening illnesses that get married the day of or just before their death. Its the precedant that truly counted.

Jimmy didn't really know if he loved Scott but he signed those papers and suggested it in the first place.

It was worth it for the surprised smile and the hug he had gotten once the papers were sent. Scott had held him tight and they cuddled on Scott's bed for the rest of the night. If Jimmy was honest, he had missed the arms around him and the way Scott would press a kiss to his temple.

Okay, maybe he did still love him?

Feelings were too confusing.

Regardless, they both had the rings on chains around their necks, hidden under clothing. Jimmy didn't want people to know, especially Grian.

He thought that people would understand his meaning for getting married impulsively. Joel would most definitely, especially after the conversation they had the day of the failed wedding. They would realize that Jimmy was completely prepared to die. The only reason Scott didn't realize this was the blissful hope the elven prince held. Jimmy would keep lying just to let these last days be happy.

Five days.

Five days before the games begin.