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Chapter Fourteen

"So, how exactly do we get back?" King asked.

"Well, we need to fly to Alan's PC. I know where it is too." He turned to the ceiling and pointed up. "That one, up there."

Even though I could not see the one he was pointing to, I grinned anyway. "Are we really this close to freedom? After what felt like years?"

He laughed. "Well, we don't seem to be deleted in any way—as we are still here—so, yeah. We are."

"Then why were we in the Error?" King asked, gently laying Chosen down.

The Lord was at his ex-friend's side in a heartbeat. "I don't know," he answered quietly, taking hold of his limp black arm. "But, I hope Alan will explain that to us, and fix the problem."

My jubilant mood vanished like mist in the warm sun as I looked at Chosen. The black shirt was already stained red, but it was doing an okay job of keeping the blood away. "Will he be okay?"

He laughed. "Nothing can kill him." But even so, his smile was stretched and plastic-looking.

"Well, let's not waste anymore time here," King said. "How are we going to get back?"

"I was thinking of carrying all of you, one at a time," The Lord answered, standing up.

"But I have an elytra!" I protested. "I can carry Chosen because he is lighter."

"Have you seen the state they are in?" he quizzed. "The fire ruined them more than you think. If you attempt to fly up there, I can guarantee they will fall apart before you even make it. King, you're going first."

He started. "Why me?"

"Multiple reasons, actually. Let's go." He turned around. With a long, loud sigh, King climbed up onto his back and wrapped his legs around his torso. The Lord jumped off, his legs flaming, gripping the orange stick figure tightly. After hanging around for a second to make sure he would not fall off, he zoomed up.

I watched them go, waiting until The Lord disappeared into one of the boxes, before carefully picking Chosen up. He hung limply in my grasp and his breathing was shallow. Biting my lip, I put him against my left hip and held him with my arm. With my right hand, I grabbed a firework, and—hoping this would work—lit it.

My elytra ruffled in the wind. Normally, the sound is just a slight shuffle, but this time the feathers were knocking against each other more harshly.

I took out two more fireworks and rushed it, not trusting the noise. When I glanced behind me, gray feathers waved back, leaving a trail as they soluted and dived off.

"Maybe I should have listened to The Lord," I murmured, scanning the words above me. ALANSPC stood out to me against the dashes and numbers of the others, and I turned to it.

It happened when I was a few meters away. My elytra, from all the work it had been doing for me the past few years, finally scattered in the wind.

"No!" I cried out, straining to reach them with my arm. The whistle of the wind brushed past my ears as I fell back down.

Frantically, I opened my Inventory and looked through it. Not much was left over because most of it went to making a house, but I did have a few things. Some water, slime, honey, meat, a fishing rod—

I grabbed the fishing rod. The hook was cold in my fingers, reminding me of the night from four years ago. Shaking my head, I took a breath and swung.

The next few seconds took forever. I saw the hook sail up while I was still falling. It gleamed in the bright light, flashing back an image of blue. I looked down, wondering how far I flew up, and saw an ocean. Its waves were topped with white before the entire thing crashed itself against the rocks.