In The End

Chapter 8

There was what felt like a long silence as the two kings made eye contact and Erebus subconsciously reached put and hold his hands in his, giving them a hopeful squeeze.

"No."

His processor's smile faded. "What." He saw a flicker in his eyes, and he knew he was a bit hurt.

"I can't just betray my friends and switch sides again. Besides, they'll all find put sooner or later that I'm a traitor, and then they'll probably kill me, then I'm useless."

I need to show that I care, and that I would never hurt them more than I already have, he thought, turning away from his friend's gaze. But I don't want Erebus to be my enemy.

Erebus looked frustrated and he stood up quickly. The younger found himself immediately bringing up his hands in defense, but no strike came.

He hesitated before turning back to the enderman. He looked annoyed and even a bit hurt, but he was only passive-aggressive now.

"Fine then. What do you want to do, hm?" he asked, folding his arms. "I can't go back empty handed."

"Maybe don't go back?" he offered, smiling faintly. "I mean, I can tell you don't really like any of them, much less the ghast I mentioned-"

Erebus winced and let out a quiet huff before glancing away. "Even if I were to be a separate force from them, Malacoda could just teleport me back and I'd get punished or even killed."

He assumed Malacoda was the ghast king. "Well, why doesn't he just teleport me to there? Why send you looking for me?"

"Probably since you're not against the User-that-is-not-a-user anymore," he said. "It seems he only has power over enderman considered on the 'bad side.'"

His face lit up. "Wait, what if you joined our side!"

The taller enderman narrowed his eyes and let out a low provoked growl. "You're an idiot."

He ducked his head in submission, gritting his teeth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know, I know..."

He wants to get the perfect revenge on Gameknight999, what was I thinking? he thought. Dang it, I really am stupid...

Erebus sighed. "What else can we do?" He started to look nervous and was a bit fidgety.

He looked down, a sense of hopelessness washing over him. What else was there to do? Well, maybe he could convince him to join the side of good.

"So..." he looked to Erebus and pat the grass next to him, where original king sat, looking disgruntled. "Why do you dislike this Malacoda so much?"

His precessor was silent, glaring off into space, his brows furrowed. "I'd rather not talk to you about my reasoning."

He huffed. He had to find a way to keep everyone safe and maybe even help his friend with his life and issues. But somehow, he knew what got him to work with him and relax.

I also really need to find the root of his issues in order to help him. I don't want him to be unhappy anymore. Maybe helping him would help him know that I do genuinely care for him.

He turned and knelt in front of the taller king, getting close. He didn't know why this kind of thing worked, but he wasn't complaining either.

"What're you-?" Erebus started to ask, his eyes wide, his face redder than usual. The smaller enderman reached out, but Erebus held his hands at a distance. "No, don't even-"

He only smiled, and held his hands back, intertwining their fingers. "Why don't you talk to me, my friend?" he said warmly.

He watched Erebus's eyes go wide, and he smiled when the two made brief eye contact before the older enderman turned away, almost pouting.

"He and I worked together, and he wasn't that great of a partner. He was controlling and egotistical and loved humiliating me and treating me like a dog," he said quietly, still not looking at him.

It was a sugar-coated and simple answer, he knew. But it did explain a lot.

"What kind of things did he do?" he asked hesitantly, tilting his head. He subconsciously moved closer to him.

Erebus, still glaring at the ground, let out a huff. "He would have me say and do things for him constantly, taunt me, humiliate me in front of my army, and... honestly, just loved to make me feel worthless and stupid and..." he looked like he was struggling to find the right word.

"Unloved?"

Only now did his friend looked back at him, and he only nodded, gritting his teeth. He didn't look upset or sad or angry, but like he felt nothing.

His eyes eyes looked colder than usual, his grip in hands was weaker, whole body was relaxed as if it were tired.

"No one can or will or will want to or has ever... cared for," he said, almost matter-of-factly.

He was quiet for a moment, before resting his forehead against his. "Well, I care for you."

The older enderman looked into his eyes, which looked warmer now. "Really?"

Before Feyd could reply, his precessor suddenly tensed up again and pushed him away, his eyes wide as he suddenly disappeared in a small puff of purple particles.