Error 404

Chapter Nine

Glitching felt every bit like how I thought it would; like being stabbed by lightning and driven over by a semi truck at the same time. Before, it would not even tingle, but now it hurts to have your arms float a foot in front of you and part of your side half a meter behind you.

Even better news? We all gave up, and the Error was closer.

I mean, what was the point? We had tried to get out. And where had that gotten us? Nowhere except for two unconscious stick figures, a short trip right back to the beginning, and an angry Error sign. Except, somewhere, there was a corner missing a small chunk of ceiling. Wee.

I stared up at the wall of my Minecraft house, driving my fingernails into my palm so as to not cry out from the pain of glitching everywhere. The burn from entering the Error had faded away already, and King was avoiding me, yet I was still doomed to be tortured by this.

I mean, I know that life is unfair sometimes, but seriously? For most of my life I have been hiding under agony and it must continue? I was tired of it. Tired of always being the least for anything. Tired of always hiding my true emotions. Not that I could tell my true emotions from my fake ones anymore. But it still sucked.

I wondered what happened to the Gang. Since the day they came into my house, I had not seen them. It did not seem possible that they could have just disappeared, but then, where did they go? Maybe they were lucky enough to get out. They always did seem to have luck on their side.

Finally, the pain stopped and I breathed out.

I missed Earth.

I thought about my house, how the windows glittered in the sun's rays. I remembered the pool, and how relaxing it was to swim in the water after a day of working. I even missed the paperwork I had to do. It would have taken my mind off of this current situation.

Somebody knocked lightly. I flinched at the noise, thinking it might be King. But, the voice who called out was not his.

"Violate?"

I pushed myself off the bed. "The Lord?"

He met me in the hallway and offered a timid smile. "Hey. How are you?"

I laughed. "Why are you asking me that? You were the one knocked unconscious, not I." I gestured to the table and we both took a seat.

"Yeah, I know." He grimanced. "That really did not work out, did it?"

I didn't reply. There was no need for me to. We both fiddled around before I asked, "Why did you come over?"

"I'm guessing King did not touch you?"

"Oh. You're trying to protect me." I sighed. "No, he did not. I think he was in mild shock, because he left me alone after we got you back down."

"Shock?"

"Well, we tried to get out and nearly died. That might spook a few sticks."

He chuckled. "Wow, I never would have thought he was the type. You seem to be fine."

I shrugged. "What is one more shock in my life?"

His leisure posture was gone in a flash. "I meant to ask," he started, boring right into my eyes, "why did you change your name? What does the crown mean to you so much that you keep wearing it?"

Biting my lip, I looked away. "I-it's personal."

"So you don't trust me enough?"

"No, it's not that," I said, trying to understand what I was saying, "but—it just—it's touchy for me. I don't like to even think about it."