based on this comic that i never finished the second half of
warnings: pov character death
tags: 3rd life
It's not the first time you've died, but it still sucks to hit the ground and feel the familiar prickle-fizzle-burn of a life vanishing. What isn't familiar, though, is the way you get thrown to the side when the last heart on your arm burns away. It's like you landed on a slimeblock and bounced all wrong. You look around to figure out what the hell just happened and oh Jesus Christ that's your dead body, isn't it?
The yelling around you is muffled and you’re not sure if it’s because you’re a ghost or if it’s the panic. You’ve never… seen a body stay like this. They usually dissipated when they respawned.
“Why do I have to be the first one out?” You say to literally no one else, sitting down next to your body and crossing your arms. Stupid Grian shoving you off of that stupid bunker. “You know, I bet I could’ve escaped if I didn’t fall-”
There is a very bizarre and disconcerting tearing noise, like the rip of someone’s sleeve being used for bandaging, and you finally notice one Mumbo Jumbo reeling backwards with the swing of Grian’s sword. His body falls and you run to catch him, but stop short as his ghost does its own shooting-out-of-a-spent-body thing. His ghostly form stumbles back and you do catch him this time, looping your arms under his armpits and straining as he collapses into you.
"I can't believe it," Mumbo says shakily. "Grian- he just-"
"I know." You wrap your arms around his middle and slowly lower the both of you to the scattered pine needles. With less bloodlust coursing through your veins you understand why Grian killed the two of you, but it still hurts. Maybe it would have hurt less if it wasn’t one of the Southlanders.
You remember the way Grian and Mumbo called out to each other when Grian came back from red. Mumbo’s probably… going through it right now.
Mumbo buries his face in his hands, and you awkwardly put an arm over his shoulders. It was stupid to try and set that trap, and even more stupid of you to start a fight with Grian. Of course he killed you.
The subject of your misery shouts something unintelligible and you look up, just to see what he’s even doing right now, and-
“Mumbo,” you breathe- are you even breathing? You feel like the ground just disappeared from under you. “Did Grian… always look like that?”
“What do you mean- WHAT IS THAT?”
There is… something standing next to Martyn.
It is admittedly Grian-sized, and Grian-shaped, but you distinctly remember Grian being a human man, not… whatever this is. This thing is a humanoid beast of feathers and claws and eyes, with large purple wings and a halo surrounded by red eyes staring directly at you. The creature turns slightly and oh boy, there’s even eyes on the inside of its wings watching you, too! The only eyes not on you are the ones on its face as it talks to Martyn.
It’s funny, you kind of feel like an animal under the thing’s gaze. Like it’s waiting for your next move. You feel like you could die again.
“What is that?” Mumbo repeats, bringing his hands to his chest. “Grian’s some sort of-?” His sentence cuts off in a high-pitched spluttering noise that you feel accurately represents the situation.
You let out an exasperated sigh, throwing your arms up. “We’re dead and Grian’s a weird monster. Great!” Your skin is crawling and you worry that you’re about to find out if ghosts can throw up.
Mumbo actually wheezes a laugh at that. “You know, I’d almost forgotten we died.”
“We’re dead, dead,” you add, feeling a little more at ease with your focus on Mumbo instead of whatever Grian has become. “Full ghost style.”
“And we’re alone, aren’t we?” Mumbo’s voice is small as he speaks, like he’s afraid of the realization.
Oof. We are. “Not for long, I reckon,” you say, briefly leaning against his shoulder.
Is it bad that you’re hoping for someone else to die?
You push yourself to your feet, brushing off dirt and pine needles, and hold out a hand to Mumbo. “That means we’re the welcoming party for the next people.”
He takes your hand and rolls his eyes. “Oh, joy.”