Games

Ch 18: MunchingUniverse :D

Seto steps in between the two ex-friends. "Guys! Get a grip! You can't just 'guess' that Jerome attacked you after you entered the church, Mitch," Seto scolds. "Both of you, go back to remembering."

Mitch grumbles, but closes his eyes again. "Okay, okay, fine, geez. Uh... Ugh, my head..."

"Ow," Jerome winces. "I don't want to remember if it's going to hurt. How can I kill the human if I'm hurt?"

"You aren't going to kill the human, and the human's name is Mitch," Seto says. "And Mitch is your best friend."

Mitch snorts and opens his eyes. "Yeah, right."

"Eyes. Closed."

"Fine, fine." Mitch closes his eyes and wrinkles his nose. "Uh..."

"Okay, I was hiding at the top of the stairs in the church," Jerome offers.

"Mmhmm," Seto confirms. "Go on."

"And I crawled over to the corner of the first floor, because the old bacca had stabbed my left leg and the right side of my torso," Mitch puts in. "And..."

"And..." Jerome tries, squeezing his eyes shut more tightly.

"And then... you... helped me?" Mitch asks, his eyes flying open.

Jerome, who looks just as surprised as Mitch, nods slowly as he opens his eyes. "Y-Yeah. I helped you." His eyes harden. "Well, I tried. But you tried to attack me-"

"And failed epicly," Mitch admits. "I was eight. I had just been stabbed twice. I was weak."

"Right. So, so you failed, and..."

"And you tried to help me again," Mitch sighs. "And you did help me. I was a sobbing mess on the floor, finally breaking down after being strong for a good half hour."

"And I was a wreck on the inside because I had watched you kill my father right before my grandfather led me to the church and pushed me inside," Jerome says.

Tears are gathering in Mitch's eyes. "But you helped me anyways because you were too nice to avenge your father, you were too nice to leave a kid your age bleeding, dying in the lobby of the church."

"And you stopped trying to attack me because you were too broken by your parents' deaths, too tired and injured to fight any longer."

"And you made me better," Mitch says, smiling through the tears. "You bandaged me up, and then we hid in the back of the church while the battle raged on because neither of us wanted to be a part of the fighting anymore."

"And when the battle ended, no one was left alive. No one but us." Jerome frowns as he remembers it all. "And I was scared out of my mind, but I knew humans didn't like baccas so I didn't expect you to want to stay with me, and I didn't even ask."

"But when it was time for us to split up, go our separate ways, survive in the world, I stuck by you, because despite the battle, the war, I trusted you," Mitch chokes out. "I still trust you."

"And we became friends," Jerome says, stumbling towards Mitch.

"Best friends," Mitch sobs, falling into Jerome's open arms. The two sink to the floor, bawling into each other's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Biggums! I didn't mean anything I said about you or your father or your grandfather or the baccas!"

"And I didn't mean a word of what I said about you, your parents, or the other humans! I'm so, so sorry, buddy!" Jerome cries.

"Well, then," I say quietly.

"Um, since Merome is okay again, Quentin and I are okay, and Sky seems to be fine, would you like to explain why Jason is still sobbing on the floor?" Ian asks Seto.

Seto's eyes widen, and he looks up at me. "Sky? You didn't tell them about your Challenge?"

I look down at my feet.

"What? What happened in Sky's Challenge?" Quentin asks.

"We'll talk about it later," Seto answers carefully. "Let's just say, Sky is not fine." He glances at Jason before moving to sit by him on the floor, and Jason wraps his arms around him and cries into his sorcerer's robe. "I honestly have no idea what Jason went through. The GameMaster said we weren't 'connected' enough – apparently the fact that Jason and I aren't soul mates like the rest of you sort of screwed up his plan." Quentin, Ian, and I blush, but Mitch and Jerome are still too preoccupied to give a crap that Seto just implied they were in love. "Anyways, the GameMaster put us into different Challenges. Jason did who-knows-what, and I had to watch some of your Challenges."

"Which parts?" Ian asks.

"I saw part of yours and Quentin's and the majority of Sky and Ty's. Evidently, the GameMaster expected me to freak out over the pain you were going through. And trust me, I was definitely worried for you guys – I was making tons of mental notes to have therapy sessions with you later, because apparently I'm a great therapist – but I wasn't flipping out like he wanted me to. I just sat there and watched it," Seto says, shrugging. "A few minutes after I finished my Challenge, the GameMaster popped into the room carrying a bawling Jason, and then we exited the room."

I frown as I walk across the hallway to sit by Jason. "You alright, Jay?"

Jason shakes his head, moving away from Seto and towards me instead. I've always been a lot closer to Jason than Seto has, so I guess it makes sense.

"Come on, Jason, you have to tell us what happened," I say quietly, running my fingers through his curly brown hair. I don't think I've seen him with his helmet on at any time during the game show.

"T-T-Tyler!" Jason wails, burying his head in my neck.

"What about Tyler?" I ask, assuming he means MunchingBrotato.

"The- The GameMaster k-k-killed h-him, over and o-over and over," Jason trails off, going back to crying.

I frown. I really, really hate the GameMaster right now. Well, I hate him all the time, actually. "Jason, it's okay, Tyler isn't dead."

"Y-Yes he is!" Jason sobs.

"No, he's not," I insist quietly. "It was a trick. The GameMaster just wanted to hurt you. And he did, didn't he? You care a whole lot about Tyler, don't you?"

Jason sniffs and nods.

"I think he cares a lot about you, too," I whisper in his ear so the others can't hear. "I've seen the way he looks at you, and it's not the way a friend looks at a friend." It's the way I look at Ty.

"R-Really?" Jason asks, looking up at me and wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve.

"Really," I confirm, smiling slightly and nodding.

"We should probably go back to the Living Quarters," Ian says, seeing that Jason has calmed down.

I nod my agreement as I stand up, bringing Jason with me. "Are you okay now?" I ask.

"Uh-huh," he sniffles, wrapping his arms around me and burying his head in my chest.

"Alright, let's go back to the Living Quart- TY!" I suddenly shout. "Ty's alone in the Living Quarters, and he was recently thrown against a wall, and he was almost killed in our Challenge, and we have to go now!" I move towards the door, pulling Jason with me.

Seto runs over to me and grabs my arm, tugging on it to stop me from moving any farther. "Sky, I don't think Ty is really in the mood to see you right now," he says softly. Then he glances at Jason, who is latched onto my arm. "And I know he isn't in the mood to see you walk into the Living Quarters with Jason pressed up against your side."

"Why not?" I ask, genuinely confused. I mean, I know that Ty isn't happy with me, but why would he be mad at Jason? Jason and Ty are really good friends!

"Just trust me on this one, alright?"

I sigh. "Alright, fine. Could you make sure he's okay, then?"

"Of course."

Lololol. Poor, oblivious Sky. :3