"Come on, this is boring!" "But father said we need to learn how to sword-" "No, not that. The wood! If we're going to learn how to fight, we gotta fight for real"
He was the one who brought out the stupid iron swords.
"Are you totally sure this is a good idea...?" "Of course it is! Mom said I was the more cautious one, didn't she?"
Oh have mercy on my soul, Romeo, I never meant to hurt.
It just happened so fast. It was adrenaline, I swear. I never meant to hurt you. You swung. You stabbed me, and I was scared. We were children. We didnt know any better. I heard you laugh as I fell down bleeding. You called me a pansy. It wasn't my fault I swung back. What would mother think if she had come back from war alive that night?
You laughed. I swung back. And with one sickening crunch, you fell limp, and my life was ruined.
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——
Victor had always been a rather quiet enderman. Since he first moved from the woods to an end city close to the main island, he had maybe two social interactions entirely, and they were both awkward "welcome to town"s from the neighbors. He almost seemed to hate the endermen around him, which wasn't that odd since most endermen were extremely introverted. Him, though, he almost seemed to be hiding something.
Regardless, he mostly got around without being noticed. Due to his reserved, silent demeanor, he got away with eavesdropping a lot. Nobody crossed paths with him, as they knew he likely had some sort of dirt on them. Since nobody wanted anything to do with him, he got around easily. Which is why it was all the more surprising when he was suddenly raised to one of the highest ranks achievable.
The end had been in a panic. Erebus was missing. Their king for over a century now had just disappeared into thin air. It was so out of character, he was never out of the end for long. But it had been almost a month without sight of him. Many of the endermen had already begun mourning the death of their king, as it would be almost impossible to go this long without the End's nutrition. By the fifth week, everyone was certain he had starved. Until one day, he finally returned. Right in front of poor Victor.
It was heartbreaking. The king had always prided himself in his built, handsome figure and his soft neatly-trimmed fur coat. He wore makeup everyday and held his head high as he walked through his domain every day. Never did Victor, nor any enderman, think they'd ever see Erebus fall to shambles. He was so dangerously thin, his stomach and face sunken in. Very vague streaks of what remained of his bright red mascara and heavy black eyeliner fell down his cheeks in old tears. Old tears cried alone and afraid. The heavy circles under his eyes and his matted, overgrown fur broke Victor's heart, but he stood tall and ready for whatever the king would say.
"You..." Erebus croaked hoarsely, rubbing his eye roughly, "your name."
"Victor," the quiet enderman whispered as other endermen began to surround the king in worry, many begging him to take some time and teleport around, absorb his particles and gain some strength. The king ignored them, grabbing Victor's shoulder.
"Lieutenant Victor," he said it almost like a compliment, a small grin of relief covering his face, "I need a hundred endermen to add to my- or...Malacoda's army."
Malacoda? Victor asked himself, feeling for the kings hand on his shoulder. "Sir, with all due respect, you really need to eat. You look famished, and we haven't seen you in over a month..."
Erebus paused when he saw the genuine worry on Victor's face. Not pity. Empathy. Something he hadn't seen in ages. Hesitantly, the king nodded, teleporting a few blocks away and standing still for a moment to absorb the teleportation particles before teleporting again. He would do this four or five times before returning to the lieutenant's side.
"I need a hundred of you to come with me, we meet Malacoda and search for the Iron Rose and...whatever else we would need. Tonight we reach the source!" There was a small amount of halfhearted cheering, but everyone agreed on one thing: Erebus still looked like shit.
———
The sudden glitter bomb of purple covering Malacoda's vision startled him slightly. Shaking off his surprise, he grinned at the army of Endermen in front of him, Erebus standing in the front next to another lanky nobody. His voice boomed almost as loud as the sign on his bigass forehead saying IM A BITCHASS CRYBABY.
"About time. Thank you for bringing in my enderman army, Eric. Or whatever your name was." Malacoda taunted, letting out a sinister laugh. Erebus snarled, but didn't dare correct him. "Now, let's continue on our way. Your errands are still not complete, Enderman. I still need that rose, and you won't rest until I get it."
His loud voice and stupid baby face were enough to piss him off, the ego made Victor want to rip that stupid squid to shreds.
"Bullshit! We belong under Erebus's rule only!" A brave and foolish voice rolled to the front. "I don't know what you did to him, but we won't let-"
Suddenly, a fireball was hurled to the back line. All they heard was an agonizing scream and a flash of fire before the body crumpled to the ground, puffing into ashes. Panicked whispers echoed through the army, and Victor frowned. He considered his options, then shook his head. As he looked over, Victor noticed that Erebus had backed up, almost like he was going to hide behind him. He wasn't sure whether to be offended that he would be used as a human shield or honored to protect his king. Either way, he stood stoic as always.
Something needs to be done about this walmart bag of bigotry...
