Trigger warning(s): Death and description of body horror
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Cleo blinks, her eyes readjusting to the light streaming through the windows through the curtains around her bed.
Her stomach was in knots and her head felt like it was full of cotton.
With a groan, she pushes herself up out of her bed and stumbles through the curtains, raising a brow at the lecturn that has suddenly appeared next to her shulker boxes. She takes another step forward to read it over.
Dear Captain Cleo,
You're an idiot.
Please tell us when you plan on making another stupid desicion that again.
Melody says she won't pull you out of the ocean a second time.
The note was signed from the ship's medic and suddenly her memories come flooding back.
Did it work?
Slowly, she looks down at her hands, squealing a little as the peachy skin comes into her sight.
Her ritual had worked! She was human again!
She laughs, taking in a deep breath of fresh ocean air- she could breath again!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! This is so exciting!!!
She bolts out of her quarters and runs over to the side of the ship, hopping down onto the little dingy on the side, startling many members of the crew, a small shout of "welcome back to land of living, cap!" from someone (most likely Melody based off the teasing tone) barely making it through Cleo's elation as she quickly plunges her hand into the ocean, causing a shiver to run up her spine. She can feel temperature again!!
"This is amazing!!!" She shouts, bouncing on the heels of her feet in pure glee.
Without a second thought, she pushes off the ground and takes off using her elytra, shooting off a rocket to propel her forwards towards her girlfriend's castle in the tundra.
She shouts and laughs and grins widely as she flies, her now full head of ginger hair streaming behind her and her heart hammering- HER HEART IS BEATING- in her chest in adrenaline.
After a few minutes and a lot of rockets, she touches down at the entrance to Stress' base.
"Sweetheart, where are you?" Cleo calls out, excitement clear in her voice.
Stress' small figure appears at the top of one of the many staircases and her beautiful brown eyes widen in shock as she looks at her girlfriend.
"Cleo? Is tha' really you, luv?" She asks as she descends the staircase slowly, her voice soft and full of wonder.
Cleo nods eagerly, scooping her tiny girlfriend up, both laughing and twirling and hugging each other as tightly as they can.
"Oh my goodness, Cleo! How did you do this?!" Stress asks after Cleo puts her back down.
"Turns out it's just like curing a Zombie Villager. Potion of weakness and a golden apple! Simple as that!" Cleo exclaims, obviously very proud of herself.
Stress looks impressed, hopping up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Cleo's cheek.
"I'm so happy that you're happy, luv." She says gently, hugging Cleo around her waist again.
Cleo happily returns the hug, resting her chin on Stress' head. They stand there for a little while before Stress has to force herself to pull back.
"Well, Grian messaged me that he wanted me to come play his new Demise Dares game. Wanna come with?"
Cleo considers for a moment before nodding in agreement. She needs to go down to Hermitland to sign up for Demise right before the deadline anyway.
The two intertwine hands and take off towards the shopping district, using the iTrade portal to quickly get to the Nether Hub and then take off towards the New Hermit Lands, home of Hermitville and Hermitland. They split upon landing in the minigame district, Cleo quickly heading over to the Demise booth and Stress waving and shouting greetings to Grian at the seemingly nonsensical minigame in front of Demise.
Cleo signs her name is her thick, blocky handwriting in the Demise book and plocks her fifty diamonds into the chest, sighing softly. She takes some pretty golden armor out of the chests and starts to replace her armor with it as she watches Stress play the game.
First, flying through a white stained glass tube with lava at the bottom, then moving to the End to jump into the void, and then punching her way out of a glass box filled with water and bubbles.
"Alright, Stress, do you wanna do the last dare or do you wanna cash out?" Grian asks, that ever present mischievous twinkle in his eyes glinting tenfold.
Stress hesitates, glancing over at Cleo on the sidelines, who gives her a supportive, but encouraging look and a little cheer, causing the ice queen to giggle and grin, nodding quickly to Grian.
"Gimme another one!" She exclaims.
Grian laughs like the gremlin he is and smashes the button to the dispenser, a scrap of paper flying out and into his inventory.
"Catch the totem." He says with a devilish grin.
Within a minute, a tower of scaffolding was high in the sky and Stress was sat atop it, an anxious undertone to her words as she shouts down that she's ready.
"Alright! On my mark!" Grian yells as Cleo moves to stand beside him, watching this all take place with bated breath.
"Drop!"
The totem starts to come flying through the air, falling towards the white concrete ground of the Demise Dares booth.
The beats of nothing that Grian softly counts.
"Jump!"
Multiple rockets pop off in near unison and Stress begins shooting down, her elytra wings spread.
The totem lands on the ground and Stress curses loudly.
In what feels like slow motion, Cleo is forced to watch as Stress tries to pull up, but instead she crashes into the ground.
>>stressmonster101 fell from a high place
Grian and Cleo stare in shock and horror at Stress' corpse laying brokenly on the concrete, her pale skin growing paler as blood leaks from the places where bone is torn through. Her limbs are twisted in impossible angles, her neck at a nearly ninety degree angle towards the two, her mouth open in a silent scream and her eyes wide and glazed, completely unseeing.
Tears begins to prick at the corners of Cleo's eyes and she curses her newfound humanity. At least when she was zombie, her tear ducts didn't work.
Slowly, all of the color leeches from Stress' corpse, her injuries healing themself as if time itself were turning back. Suddenly free from her stupor, Cleo rushes forwards, cradling Stress' head on her lap as she blinks and blinks again, her now black eyes flickering around confusedly.
Cleo retracts her hands slowly as Stress sits up and goes to brush some of her hair out of her eyes, but stops as she notices the monochromatic tone her skin has taken.
"I... Died, didn't I..?" She asks softly and Cleo nods.
Stress laughs, the normally bubbly sound now dry and cynical, causing a shiver to run up Cleo's spine.
"Guess this is the universe's way of telling us only one of us can be alive at a time, huh?"
Cleo smiles sadly and a tear slips down her cheek. Stress sighs lightly and sets her freezing cold hand on her girlfriend's face, wiping the tear away with her thumb before gently pulling her forwards to press a kiss to her forehead.
"I'm sorry..."
