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thedo0zyslider · 10 months

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Long Forgotten But I'm Still Here - 4k words

Oli has some feelings about being thrown into Empires and forgotten by all his friends. And none of them are the good kind.

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This new world--Empires as Oli had begun to call it--was quite a rollercoaster, to say the least. Being thrown into a new world randomly, separated from all your friends, was not pleasant. Zero out of five stars, bad yelp review, unpleasant experience, would not recommend.

He’d declared himself the king of Afterlife, which is what he’d called the one before this one, because everyone else had died. They’d used up all their lives or disappeared, leaving him in an empty realm. Until he’d been shoved into heaven that was, to this day he still didn’t know what that was all about, only that once he’d gotten there he hadn’t been allowed to see Sausage; who he knew was up there, for the record. Miss Pearlescentmoon also made a great first impression, by promptly throwing him into some random wilderness, in a world that was decisively not his old one.

If Oli was being honest he’d fucked around for a little while, doing whatever stupid idea came to his little head. He’d settled on a beach, in a poorly built wooden house that he deemed a megabase, with a little wolf companion to keep himself company. It soon became him and this strange little dog he’d tamed, named Sausage in memory of his long gone friend, against the world. It had been them against the mobs, the elements, everything. Even the Warden, a fateful encounter that had killed his beloved pup and left Oli friendless and alone. Again. For a third time, but that was okay, that was fine, because he could do other stuff. He could do stuff that didn’t involve other people, like burying his late dog on some random patch of snow. Like killing the ender dragon, a creature he had once respected and revered, and stealing its unhatched egg.

He could do things like floating in an endless void for god knows how many years, a stolen baby dragon clutched close to his chest and listening to some vague murmurings of a poem about love and players and the end of some kind of game . He could do things like being spit back onto his beach, his house now missing and in a world clearly full of people. A world clearly full of his friends, if the ever familiar building styles said anything.

It was kinda jarring really, to see almost everyone you care about and have them not remember you. It was fine though, nothing Oli couldn't deal with. It was just a little weird, how all his friends were both different and the same at the same time. Well. the ones that were actually with him anyways.

Some people, he found out slowly and over time, weren't here. Callum was the most notable absentee, to Oli at least, though he doubted anyone else even knew there were people missing. The fox had always had such a presence in his lifetimes, even if could only remember a few. It felt like a big chunk of the blonde was missing, and he silently mourned the absence of his furry friend. Lauren, his fellow Enderian, wasn't here either. (They hadn’t been Enderian's for long, or at the same time, but Oli didn't care for those technicalities. They were still fellow Enderians.) Though he wasn't sure if Lauren would have fared too well in this world, she did have a tendency to fold like a wet paper towel. Meghan and Mika were missing as well, and it was frankly strange to see Shelby running around without them. At least she still had Joey, and Katherine, he guessed.

Oli had figured all that out from observation mostly, because he was not ready to interact with people after spending god knows how long in the void. So he’d wandered around as stealthy as he could, investigating the nearest tavern he saw. Said tavern seemed to belong to Gem, but before he could even process that Fwhip had showed up and was shoving him in jail. Apparently that ancient city his dog had died in was the one Gobland was built above, and stealing from it thousands of years ago, before anyone lived there, was a crime .

He’d ended up being stuck in that miserable cage for a month, a month ! It was honestly torture, admittedly a little (more like very) inhumane of Fwhip, and had probably given him a fear of enclosed spaces, so that was great. He’d been stuck in that stupid fucking cage, left with nothing but his horrible, horrible thoughts and rotten fucking cave pork. He hated pork after that, didn’t think he’d ever be able to stomach the damn meat again. Oli and Fwhip had been friends, friends , and the bard had just been shoved in a cage like that didn’t matter, just because the little goblin couldn’t remember.

While in the cage he’d wondered why no one remembered, and why they simply just couldn't. He wondered why Pearl couldn’t just snap her godly little fingers and make everyone remember who they’d been before, however many centuries ago that was. Then he wouldn’t be in a cage, then he wouldn’t be forgotten and he’d get his beloved friends back. It really didn’t feel like all that much to ask for, in Oli’s opinion anyways.

The blonde hadn’t paid much attention to whatever community service he had to do after being freed. All he cared about was the freedom from the cage and Fwhip’s horrible goddamn cave empire. All he’d paid attention to was that he could actually walk more than five paces again, and the fresh surface air blowing through his unkempt hair and making it windswept. He’d pay whatever fine he’d been taxed with later, when fwhip eventually came knocking at his door. For now he set out, back to the one place he knew best in this weird little world.

The blonde had returned back to his beach, which was apparently a little ways away from Gem. He had a feeling that Dawn’s princess was faking, and that she did remember him, but he wouldn’t press for details. He wasn’t even sure he could handle that knowledge emotionally, so Oli was very content with not knowing. It did bug him though, that she wouldn't at least drop the act when they were alone, if only to make the world feel a little less alien and isolating than it was turning out to be. Instead Gem just acted like she was an innocent little sun princess, and also dubbed him a bard.

He only focused on Gem’s little act for a day, before setting off to sea. Oli was a little sick of this world. He wanted to go back home to Afterlife, where his original friends had lived. He wanted to go back to the orb and his other builds, maybe even see if some people had returned from their disappearances. This world, the one he’d dubbed Empires, was weird, strange and hostile, and it wasn’t home .

He’d sailed and sailed for a few days, going decently far out. There was land he could see sure, but it was strange and uncharted, which was reassuring. It was away from people, and maybe that meant he was getting closer to home. Maybe he hadn’t been shoved into a different world at all, maybe this was just another corner of Afterlife’s vast, mostly unexplored world that he could leave and ignore for the rest of time.

As soon as Oli had gotten his hopes up he had to sail back, because there was something, some kind of force above the water stopping him from going further. Because of course there was, because of course he was stuck here and couldn’t go home. As he traveled back Oli bitterly wondered if this strange border was just a him thing, and if Joey and his other friends had ever found it during their times with sea bearing origins.

Oh, yeah actually, speaking of Joey , the man had bloody attacked him! The pirate man (because Joey was a pirate now for some reason, and with an empire that matched the whole theme as well) had been rambling about skeletons or something as he sank Oli's small boat. He'd been free in this world for five minutes and people were already trying to drown him!

From there he'd washed up on the shore of Sausage's empire, who had kindly nursed him back to health after his attempted murder. Sausage still looked the same since Oli had last seen him, helping the man ascend to the heavens. He could tell this was the same Sausage though. There wasn't really a reason, more of feeling than anything. Joey had possessed a different, oh what's the word? Vibe. That's it. He'd had a different general vibe to him. This pirate man was still Joey of course, just more....devious than the previous version Oli had encountered. More pirate-like, if you really must. Sausage however was the same, there was no doubt about it. Sausage still worshiped the same god, which made him a little more suspicious, and now he looked at the mural of Santa Pearl with more disdain than wonder than he had before.

Oli suspicions of reincarnation were confirmed when Sausage mentioned visions, but he couldn’t pry on that one because the man had thrown him at Katherine as soon as he was fully healed. Apparently he needed a new change of clothes, or something. Oli hadn’t been paying much attention to what he wore, so he didn't notice until it was pointed out. Being almost drowned by a friend will disorientate you like that.

And for some unfathomable reason Katherine had dressed him as a bard! A bard ! He wasn't a bloody bard ! Being musically inclined didn't make him a bard , but it was fine. Everything was fine and not weird. It was just like changing origins in Afterlife, wasn't it? Instead of regular old Oli, he was bard, just like how he'd been an Enderian and then had to adapt to being an axolotl. Oli could adapt, that was easy. Sure, he'd adapt to being a bard, just like he'd been adapting to new things his whole life.

(If part of him was tired of adapting; of losing friends, then he didn't think about)

Yet despite that he'd left Katherine's place feeling sour, yelling about how he wasn’t a bard. If there was one thing that didn't change, it was Oli's commitment to the bit.

The newly made bard wandered the land for a little while after that, which gave him plenty of time to get used to the versions of his friends he was now stuck with. Everyone was still the same deep down, even if they'd formed into slightly different people. Sausage was the exception though, because he was literally the same person. He was worried about running his mouth just a lil, as mentioning past lives didn’t tend to go very well. But Oli also had a need to be annoying in an endearing way, and that need always won over his anxiety. So he set off, newly obtained lute in tow, and walked around until he found signs of civilization.

The first person he encountered, Scott, was still full of sass and his hair stayed dyed a teal blue. Oli started to wonder if it was even dyed at some points and if he was just born with weird hair, but it had to be, because he'd been blonde before as an angel. He wouldn't be surprised if this Scott had dyed his hair either, he was a very colorful and creative man. It made for quite the pretty empire, Oli did have to admit. That man still knows how to make a good block palette.

Joel’s empire was very close to Scott, close enough that you could see it from the latter’s house. He’d heard Joel was a god and Oli had hoped he would be like Pearl and that someone would remember him. But no, the sky god was like everyone else, he had no memories of before. Which was just dandy , didn’t hurt that one of his closest friends forgot him. Nope

Instead of remembering Joel had just called him weird and then introduced him to his child. Because Joel having a kid was normal and not a shocking development. The kid, very creatively named Hermes, was apparently Joel’s and Sausage’s, and had been an armor stand before being brought to life by the two. Joel had a living armor stand for a son but sure, Oli was the weird one. That was totally normal.

There was also a new person, one Oli had never met before, their name wasn’t ringing any kind of bells. Her name was False, and she was setting up a little steampunk themed area near this world's Scott and Joel. He hadn’t paid this newcomer to much attention though, he could always meet her later. There was plenty of time, for now anyway. Never know when God's going to throw you into a strange new world after all. Plus, from what he’d heard, False tended to be skittish, suspicious of everyone, and was very good with a sword. The bard would meet her later if it meant avoiding another murder attempt.

Katherine still kept her usual love for pastels, but her kingdom was apparently corrupted and being taken over by a mysterious black substance. All of the builds were split, one side being the princess normal style of building, and the other decayed and ruined. Oli’s second visit hadn’t lasted long after learning that. He did not want to get involved with any sort of curse, nope, no thank you.

He’d avoided going to Fwhip again, because he’d seen enough of that damn cave, and headed up the mountain instead. There he met Lizzie, who was once again living life as a small, furry, mischievous little animal. This time she was a cat instead of a kangaroo or raccoon, and still acted the same as Oli remembered. It was a little reliving, to know that his friend was still her unique little self, even if she didn’t remember him. Though Lizzie did seem more inclined to go along with his seemingly nonsense ramblings of the past, so that was a plus.

The Mayor of Animalia had warned him of a witch though, and Oli immediately made it his goal to find this supposed dangerous and scary witch. The witch wasn’t scary in the end, because it was Shelby. She, like everyone else, didn’t remember him, and was just a little spookier than he last remembered; almost like her shadow origin at the very start of Afterlife.

From there he’d wandered to a mesa, where he found the second to last person he had yet to know. The hot and dusty biome was inhabited by Jimmy Solidarity himself, the very man who’d given him community service and freed him from his stupid little cage. Oli already did not have a high opinion of the man, because he was working closely with Fwhip; other than that he seemed fine. Except for a slightly different vibe, one more troubled than before, he was basically the same Jimmy the bard had used to know.

The last person he met was his favorite, one that hadn’t actually been in Afterlife. This guy, Pixlriffs, was his favorite instantly. The archaeologist was a stranger to him, someone he could look at without a thousand memories flying through his head. Pix listened to whatever he’d ramble about, be it his past of whatever random topic came to head. The man seemed to be genuinely listening as well, and Oli wouldn’t be surprised if he took mental notes every time. There was a connection there of some kind. He didn’t really know why, the bard could just tell this man was different, that he wasn’t what he seemed. It was nothing sinister, not in the slightest, just a feeling that Pix also knew more than he was maybe letting on.

It was these little encounters, his time on this server that the bard replayed over and over again in his head as he returned to his beach. He set up shop permanently this time, deciding to build tents as an empire, because they were easy and only really required him to collect wool. He went through the motions, gathering materials, building, sometimes socializing, thinking and letting all his emotions bubble up inside him. Oli didn’t want to deal with them, because he was adapting again, that all he had to do was adapt again and everything would work itself out like it always did.

Sure, it hurt that none of his friends remembered him. But he was fine, he was over it. He just masked whatever he felt with his normal comedic relief attitude. That always worked before, so why wouldn’t it work now? It definitely wasn’t unhealthy or anything, definitely wasn’t coming back to bite him. Nope , not at all.

He broke down when he next saw Sausage.

Oli sat there in Sausage’s arms, feeling pathetic as he sobbed his eyes out to a man he barely knew. But he did know this man, he knew him well, they’d been best friends and that was why he was crying. He was crying because no one remembered him, and it hurt and he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

He barely heard Sausage’s comforting murmurs over the sound of his own sobs. Such a kind person Sausage was, to comfort Oli in such a moment. He was the one person who could maybe understand, with his visions and what not, but Oli wasn’t sure if he even would. How could he? The man didn’t even remember what his visions were about, which was arguably worse, but that wasn’t the point. The point was Oli remembered, and Sancuatry’s ruler didn’t, it wasn’t the same, it would never be the same.

Sausage shifted them both until Oli’s head was buried against his chest, dampening the nice fabric of his shirt. The bard felt bad about that, despite the fact Sausage had been the one to put his head there. It was a really nice shirt. “Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Sausage muttered quietly, hugging the bard to his chest more. Hands began to stroke his hair tenderly, Oli leaning into it. He didn’t want any of that to calm him but it did , because Sausage was apparently great at providing comfort.

Oli always hated crying. It made him feel stupid, his face all puffy, nose runny and his eyes red. So now on top of having a mental breakdown he felt stupid, and in response just tried to hide himself more in Sausage’s kind arms. The brunette just couldn’t sit there and let him suffer though, no matter how much he knew Oli wanted to do just that.

“Now, what has you so upset, querido ?” Sausage asked softly, tilting Oli’s head so the latter would make eye contact with him. The bard met his gaze hesitantly, hating how he kept leaning into Sausage’s soft touch. He didn’t want comfort, he had never wanted to cry in the first place. He wanted to go home, back to his beach and his multicolored tent to mope by himself. He wanted to go home and watch the rain that was currently falling from the back of said tent and let it lull him into a fitful sleep, as he’d done far too many times for his short residence in this world. But no, he was here, in Sanctuary, losing all his dignity in an empty town hall, to a man who didn’t remember what they were once before. At least no random citizen was here to see his sob fest.

Oli didn’t respond at first, just stared back at Sausage with still watering eyes. He cracked eventually though, only because he could tell Sausage wasn't going to let him go until he did.

"It's, it's like your visions or whatever…" Oli began, looking away. "Like how you remember things and you don't know where they're from? I do that, but I know what they are." He explained it slowly, taking a few pauses in between his words. He was lying, he was lying through his teeth to Sausage . Oli didn’t get visions, not even anything close to that, he just had to know everything ever. He hadn’t been blessed with reincarnation, he had to remember everything . But he wasn’t going to cry again no, he wasn’t, not if he just gave himself a chance to breathe. "Like your sunflowers? I knew who they were from as soon as I got here." He ignored how Sausage stiffened under him slightly, before forcing himself to relax again.

Sausage made a quiet humming sound, seemingly a little lost for words. "Do you…remember anything else? Like my sunflowers, I mean?"

"I remember bloody everything , Sausage!" Ah, there goes the dam he'd been trying so hard to build. Oli clutched the fabric of one of their shirts; he couldn’t tell who's due to hot tears running down his cheeks again. "No one else does!" He snapped. "They just think I spout nonsense!"

No one had told the bard that exactly, but just because he was comedic relief didn't mean he was stupid . He knew the certain look Scott had given behind his back when he talked about the latter's time as a vampire. He knew the face Joel made when he thought people were mad. Oli knew these people too well, he knew all their little cues and everything. They hadn’t needed to say he was crazy for him to understand.

Oli waved his hand in dismissal. "But it's fine," He continued. "I'm fine, I'm just a silly little bard getting worked up over silly little-"

Sausage's grip tightened on him, and it was the closest he came to being anything but gentle all night. "Stop deflecting, Oli!" He hissed. "It's not fine because you're not fine, because you're crying over this." Oli wanted to break again, but he wouldn’t. He'd listen to Sausage scold him and he wouldn’t cry, because he was better at hiding his emotions than this and wasn’t supposed to break in the first place. "It's not fine that you lost all your friends and it's not fine to pretend ignoring it is healthy!" Sanctuary's ruler squeezed him into a tighter hug as he finished speaking, clearly dead set on not letting the bard go.

"I know," He whispered, burying himself closer to Sausage's warmth again. It was really all he could think to say

"Then why ?" Sausage asked, sounding so worried and desperate it hurt.

"Because what else was I supposed to do? Act all sad and depressed and weird everyone out more?" Oli snorted, sarcasm and slight irritation dripping into his voice. There was nothing he could do but his usual unhealthy habits, nothing his brain would let him even attempt to try.

"You could’ve talked to someone!" The brunette hissed, grip tightening around the smaller in his arms just a little, but not enough to hurt; just enough to convey his concerned frustration.

"They wouldn't understand, Sausage. No one else but you could-"

Sausage cut him off quickly. "They’d at least listen. People here care about you, Oli, even if they don't remember who you were to them. I don't remember but I still care!" He said, and yeah maybe that was what got through Oli’s stupid, stubborn head. Maybe that was what made his damn break again and made him stop trying to fight with his friend’s perfectly reasonable solutions and kind words about his unique problem.

"You were my best friend," The bard muttered, almost too quiet to hear. Yet it seemed to echo throughout the otherwise empty town hall.

Sausage responded just as quietly, and the response echoed just as loudly. "And I'd like to be that again."

They sat in silence after that, only for a little while though. Oli shifted into a more comfortable position, silent tears dripping down his cheeks. Sausage kept his tight yet caring grip on the bard, not going to let go until Oli started to feel better, or told him to leave. Kind words and comforts were muttered into dyed blonde hair, and it reminded the bard of his time in the void. He was again surrounded by silence, feeling numb as words of kindness and care were mutated into empty air.

"Do you…wanna talk about it? That is, if there were people who didn't come here, could you talk about them? If that helps?" Sausage asked it slowly, carefully, almost hesitantly. Oli was just as slow in his response, only nodding after a minute of careful consideration. Hiding from the brunette seemed a little useless, especially with the chance he would remember their old home too one day.

"Well….there was Mika." Oli muttered, beginning to tell of people he shouldn’t know in this world. He told the tales of the missing, some of the dead, to a man who’d lived alongside these strangers once upon a time. Sausage just hummed every so often, an indication he was listening, and stayed as a steady comfort when more tears spilled down cheeks that were flushed red from crying.

Maybe this world wouldn’t suck so bad, with moments like these. Maybe this could be home, one day, and maybe it'd be a bit more permanent this time.

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