The King and his Hand

Chapter 3: It was an accident!!

As soon as I left, I started heading for the village everyone had been hanging out at while Ren and I were mining. I pull out the tablet everyone received at the start of this crazy day. It only has three features: Telling time, a live map of the arena, and what I need currently, the server message app. I read the last message in the group chat, a response to mine.

“Hey Martyn! Tango, Impulse, Scar, Etho and I are hanging out at the bottom left corner of the arena near the village! You should come and join us. :D” 

Sent by Grian

Perfect. I’m not too far from the village and have the best trick to cause mayhem. It’s just a harmless prank. I want to start simple. Plus, I can’t kill anyone yet. I’m not on my last life. I plan to mimic a creeper to make people jump. I climb the last hill and see the village off in the distance. I pick up the pace, almost jumping down the whole hill. 

“Grian! Guys! Hello!”

Tango, Grian, Etho, and Scar wave at me. I skip over to them all hanging out in a small field outside the village.

“What’s up, Martyn!”

Impulse greets me as he exits a nearby village house, holding a tray of freshly baked bread. These are some of the loudest people on the server! Other than Bdubs, of course. It’s too perfect. I lead unsuspiciously.

“Hello everyone! Ren and I live just over yonder, so I thought I might visit. Ren’s settin’ up an enchantin’ shop called Renchantin’ right now! Don’t be a dog. Be a god! You should all come to visit sometime. Good village ya got here too, Impulse.”

Impulse sets the bread on a crafting table, and everyone grabs a loaf. Impulse takes off a pink frilly apron and then responds.

“Thank you, Martyn! But really, it’s all Tango’s. I’m just helping around.”

Tango nods. He seems proud of his home. I notice Scar kneeling to pet a stray cat, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to pounce. I sneak up behind him, gesturing to everyone to stay quiet, then I hiss. Immediately, Scar springs up and spins around, raising his arms like a red panda and dropping his gold-embroidered spruce cane.

“Hoo, Hoo, Hoo! What was that?! Haaaaa…Hoooooo…”

He breathes heavily, wide-eyed. The rest of us are laughing hysterically. Tango is on the ground, rolling and wheezing. 

“MARTYN!!”

Scar's face turns bright red. The poor man picks up his cane and leans on it for support, trying to catch his breath. We all just laugh harder. At this point, I’m crying. Nobody notices Grian slink away up a hill. Etho leans on his hands and turns around to take off his mask and breathe. Scar stands there, flabbergasted, trying to recompose himself. He brushes off his shirt. I look up and notice Grian leading a real creeper up to Scar. Most other people realize this, and we all slowly back away. Oh no. The creeper hisses. 

"Haha Martyn, I'm not falling for that ag-" 

BAM! 

Right before us, Scar blows up, his blood scattering everywhere. The remains of his body fall to the ground and sink into the earth, growing a single poppy. We just stand there, silently, for a long time, in shock. Tango stands up, his fiery hair fading to a dim crackle. Impulse holds his hand up to his mouth. The silence is deafening. Grian's tears slowly well up until he collapses and weeps. The rest of us just watch. Etho puts his hand over his mask and walks away, all sickly. Is this my fault? Did I…Succeed? I don't know what I was expecting. It wasn't this. I feel terrible inside. 

"Scar! Oh, Scar, I'm so sorry." 

I've never seen a man so broken by grief, especially not Grian. He sobs and screams, curling up on the floor and hugging Scar's cane. I hear Impulse tearing up as well. We all just stand there, drenched in the blood of our own mistakes.