False's POV

"What. Happened"

"I... I don't know sir"

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED! " The Watcher before me screams "NOT ONLY DID THE MISSION FAIL COMPLETELY, THEREFORE PUTTING OUR VERY BEING AT RISK, WE'VE JUST LOST THE PRIME WATCHER!"

"Wh-what?! They weren't the one I stabbed... were they?"

"No, but they gave up their immortality to be with the one you killed. The one who sacrificed herself to save Xelqua, who, may I remind you, YOU WERE SECONDS AWAY FROM STABBING!"

"I-"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I lost my temper sir." I lie. "At least Xelqua wasn't killed."

"If that woman hadn't interfered he would have been! You were too close there Xyah. One more slip up and you can join her in the afterlife."

I feel myself pale slightly, trying not to tremble. Thankfully I don't. Showing fear always makes the situation worse, I had to learn that the hard way.

"We need to wait at least another 6 months before we can try this again. You're lucky you weren't killed this time around. I can't guarantee you'll have that luck again."

Hels / Emmett's POV

"Wh- why are we in the Nether?"

I've been so distracted by the way the fiery dimension now looks, I didn't notice that BadTimes was waking up.

"You passed out from magic-overuse. This was the safest place to go"

Sitting up, he stretches his arms and Vex wings sleepily.

"Ok let's get going-"

"Hey hey hey! You haven't eaten in ages! Self care comes before anything else." I insist, pushing a messily made breakfast toward him.

"Where did you get pork?"

"Massive pig things. And then I stole a bowl off of some kind of pig-person."

"A zombie pig-man?"

"No... it was different. It was brown, and had tusks."

"Oh my god... The Nether updated!"

"Congratulations for figuring it out. Would you like a Nobel Prize?"

"Shut up." BadTimes sighs, before choking.

"This is disgusting" he mumbles "No offence"

"I know. I think it's my cooking, not the pork itself. But if you get food poisoning I'm letting the pig take the blame."

This makes the Vexling snicker, before he breaks down into giggles again. I smile a little, before BadTimes sees me looking at him and stops, awkardly avoiding my gaze.

"S-sorry, I hate my laugh"

"I think it's cute."

BadTimes chokes again, and I can't tell if he's blushing or if he's going red from coughing.

"We uh... we should find Xisuma and explain ourselves before someone else sees us." He mumbles

"Yeah... fair point. Let's go!"

"So... how are we supposed to know where Xisuma is?"

"I have no clue. There's parts of this plan that I really didn't think about, aren't there?"

"Go figu-"

I'm suddenly pulled down into a bush by BadTimes, his hand clapping over my mouth. Alarmed, I briefly struggle to get out of his grasp, before he points something out to me.

There's a person nearby, building a Nether Portal, with a nice frame that matches the building it's next to. I sigh in relief as BadTimes lowers his hand, they almost saw us-

The person then turns, and my eyes widen. I have no idea who he is, but at the same time he seems hauntingly familiar. He looks almost exactly like me, his blond hair and blue eyes being the only difference between us.

"Hels... are you ok?" BadTimes asks.

"I... I know him." I mumble, tilting my head to try and see him better. 

"From where?"

"I don't know... I think he's..."

Blurry images flash through my head rapidly, of someone hugging me, laughing with me, fighting me... and screaming something I can't make out as I fall from a cliff. I don't remember any of them happening, but at the same time it feels like I do.

And the person in front of me... he's the same one in those memories. I don't know who he is, or why I know him, but he was important to me at some point in my life, maybe before I-

The stranger suddenly turns, eyes widening in shock when he sees me. 

"No... you're... You're supposed to be dead!"

Ezra's POV

Numbness.

Hurt.

Loneliness.

Cold.

This is all I can feel.

Any hope has faded into nothing. The guilt and sadness has become a crushing burden that seems to slowly drown me. The pain has long left me, only to be replaced by a much worse one inside of my head.

It taunts me. Mocks me. Calls me horrible things I've told myself are true. I deserve this. I deserve this torture. I deserve to endure this pain until I fade into nothing.

I'm pathetic.

I deserve to die.