Stampy's Love

Chapter 15 TALKING TIME, TALKING TIME

"How long had you been back?" Stampy asked, throwing a rock in the fountain water flowing down the hill. A smile was spread across his face, and he had been shaking since the party.
The sun was setting on the horizon, indicating that they had been partying all day. People were out roaming again, which hadn't happened since Sqaishey went missing. So much had happened so fast, it was almost too much to take in.
"Two and a half days..." Sqaishey sighed. "Squid told me what had happened when you saw "me" with Ender so, yeah, sorry I scared you."
"I understand, but why didn't you show yourself sooner? You saw me hurting, right?" Stampy asked, glancing over to Sqaishey who had her head down low, seeming unusually interested at the water in front of her.
"I-I don't really know. I wanted to test you? I really don't know. And especially since what was revealed to me at the prison, I guess I was too shocked to say anything. I mean, Amber was working for Ender under forced will. She was able to convince her that what she was doing was for the good of her family. I kinda feel the same about running away, Joe." Sqaishey sighed. Stampy jumped at his real name.
"You remember?!"
"How could I not Stampy?!" Sqaishey said raising her voice. Stampy backed down from what he was about to say.
"You were the only friend I had ever had. Not to mention what I've done to save you. Do you think me finding this world was an accident? Like what Squid did for Amy, I searched for this world searching for you; hoping we could resume our friendship from where it was. When I left our neighborhood, I was devastated, not to mention bullied beyond measure." Sqaishey looked up to meet a pair of green eyes. "I was reduced the weak, fragile person you saw before, instead of the strong, confident duck I was when we were kids." Sqaishey glanced down at her feet.
"I-"
"And now I come back, everyone has a new style, things have changed." Sqaishey said, cutting Stampy off for a moment.
Stampy's heart sunk. He hoped she wasn't saying what he thought she was saying.
"But." Sqaishey said, interrupting his thoughts and ripping his attention from the water below.
"Change is good. And now that we're engaged.." Sqaishey smiled and bumped Stampy's shoulder with her elbow, and Stampy smiled again.
"Things are starting to look up. But I can't help but wonder how Squid and Amy are feeling right now. Both of their best friends have been diving into a lake of remorse and helplessness and I can't help but feel that they're doing the same to each other in return of not really paying attention to their own relationship. And with the scar of Lee's death as well..." A tear fell down Sqaishey's cheek.
"It didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would." Stampy blurted out. Sqaishey looked up at him with sorrow in her eyes.
"What do you mean?" She asked, forcing her head to look down at the fountain water again.
"Lee was my best friend, and almost my brother, and yet, I don't feel any grief for him. Should I?" Stampy sighed, looking down at his paws.
"I mean, I guess...I think. I don't know. Lee was the only friend I've lost to a situation like this. I felt grief when Squid told me he was gone; just...not enough for me to drop dead and cry." Sqaishey sighed.
"I didn't trust him." A voice said behind them. They both whipped their faces around to meet Target's. "When I was evil, I didn't trust him because I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to hate him, because he was the enemy. But even when I was reformed, there was this aura around him. I couldn't trust him for some reason." Target sighed. "And now I figured out why."
"What?" Stampy said, a mix of confusion located on his face.
"He didn't die." Target said simply.
"WHAT?!" Stampy and Sqaishey said simultaneously.
"When I introduced myself to his body, I immediately recognized it was illusion magic. That's why when I said I buried the body, I buried nothing instead. No, he didn't die. I returned to the scene the night when Stampy ran off with seeing the picture of Sqaishey suffering; also the night when Lee was reported dead by Amy." Target sat down next to Stampy and waded his bare feet in the water. "His tracks lead to the shore. And then, judging by the current, headed to the capital itself, Daria." Target explained, letting his head hang out of pure fear.
"Well, at least he's safe." Sqaishey said, smiling along with Stampy. Yet, they were interrupted but Target's chuckling, which grew into a laugh, which turned into a cackle, gaining more volume every second he was wasting his breath.
"You think he's safe there?! Don't you know who I'm the nephew of?! The great and mighty Notch himself, Amy's father, Herobrine's brother?" Arrow's smile was replaced with a grim stare burning a hole through the water. "Where Notch is, his brother is, and where his brother is, people aren't safe." He growled.
"I don't think Notch even still trusts me after I betrayed him like that, after I finally convinced him that I wasn't mean and horrible like my father, that I was good in a morally ambiguous world. My father beat me, hit me, so much that I grew to hate him more and more each day as it progressed. Why do you think I bullied you when you were younger Joe, along with you, Beth? I wanted power. And yes. I know what questions you want to ask me now. How can I trust you now? Why did you run away when your father clearly had more power? Why were you evil, like your father? Yes, yes, very good questions." Target chuckled a little. "Question one, How can I trust you? I'm not my father. And if I wanted you dead, don't you think I would've done that a year ago? Question two, yes, I ran away. But that was before my father showed me his true power. Why do you think I never show my eyes as much as I want to? I'm always squinting, am I not?" He opened his eyes at full width, showing them their true color. Blood red.
"Bully after bully after bully. 'Genocidal freak, powerful weirdo, murderer. Don't you think I wanted redemption that I shouldn't have to earn without doing something bad? That leads me to your third question. That, you should figure out yourself. And that my friends, is half the reason why Amy doesn't want to go to Daria,"