#shadowrealms

i.

Shay promised he would show up to the Orchid meetup. He promised to help with the renovations. Cara’s sword swung over and over into the walls of Orchid, sobbing violently. Shay was gone and they didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Green stood outside Shay’s empty house, again cleaning it for the third time this week. Their pincers clicked, holding a bucket of water to wash dirt away. It was eerily silent in the house. Carol and Reggie moved days ago. 

Reeja and the Waterfouls sat in silence, looking up at the gargantuan treehouse, the wind whipping through the leaves. They stood in a calm silence, mourning. Not death, no. They were mourning the noise, for it had died. 

Sara unloaded hauls of books out of shulker boxes, hair in a mess, eye bags forming under her eyes. It’s been two days and Sara hadn’t left the cellar of Spotlight. She’d been crying over the books. 

Legion stood in the empty PVP area, fingers tracing the trident holes dug in the wall. Their sword dragged along the floor, but they didn’t care. They lost their sparring partner. And they had lost a friend. 

Shay had been gone for a week, lore stopped appearing in those funny little chests with signs dyed gorgeous colors. The garden in spawn fell into disrepair, vines taking over the tree and flowers wilting. The garden outside Orchid was empty, every flower ripped out in anger. In sadness. In regret. 

“He went home.” 

“He didn’t say goodbye.” 

“Maybe he didn’t know, Cara.” 

“I never said goodbye. I never got to-”

Cara had fell to the floor, sobbing into their mailbox. Ardent was over them, maintaining a calm semblance of sadness. They wanted to cry. They wanted to scream, but they wanted to be there. Cara was shaking, slashing the walls for hours drained them of every ounce of anger they had. 

“He went to season 7, right Ardent?” 

“Yes. That’s where he belongs.” 

“I want to get there. I want to get to season 7.” 

“You can’t… not that we know of. You’re not whitelisted.” 

Nails scratched along wood, a low, baritone growl. 

“I want to get to season 7.” 

Ardent sighed, hand placed softly on Cara’s shoulder. They bent down and sat with the ginger as they sobbed. 

Everyone knew where Orchid was now, Cara’s screams echoed day and night for days after he left. Green landed, a sloppy landing. They came to clean. One mission, clean. 

They opened the door, letting sunlight into the barren hall. Cara sat wrapped in pale blue blankets, wide yellow and blue eyes locking with Green’s eight. 

“Came to clean.” 

A dry mrph. 

“Are you okay?” 

Another.

“You’re gonna have to go outside at some point.” 

“What I do with my mourning isn’t any of your business.”

A crack. 

Flux had erupted from the point of origin. It pulsed and spread toward Green. 

The spider ran. 

Reeja was sparring. Again. Always sparring. Their muscles sore, aching. They didn’t stop. The mask they wore was damaged, they didn’t bother fixing it, thick black and gray hair flew wildly. Legion came flying across the arena, silent. It was strange. They usually counted or made small talk. Not now. Legion was silent, an automaton fighting for something. Metal hit metal. Then. Silence. 

Somewhere. 

Somewhere new. 

Somewhere distant yet. 

Familiar. 

Somewhere, a little paranormal shadow spun the beads on the friendship bracelet permanently engraved on his wrists. 

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