Chapter Text
"You told me not to interfere and that it would work itself out, 2x2. You were correct. I see that he was capable of reversing my son's fate. Now, you must keep your promise as well. You must stop 1x1x1x1," she told 2x2.
"If I failed to uphold my promises, I would not be a god. I decree that my promise will be fulfilled in due time. You may visit him if you remember your duties as an observer for otherwise you will send them to their doom. You know the choice you must make," 2x2 replied. He would not let Robloxia come to an end.
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Builderman suddenly appears at Brighteyes's desk and says something that immediately gets her attention. "Hey Bright, ya gotta see this. The Robloxian news just put out a special bout a high profile sword fight duel between your kid and Tela. He calls himself Shedlesky, I dunno if he'll recognize ya but you need to go see 'im right away." Brighteyes was so shocked she dropped her coffee cup and it shattered into pieces on the ground. She immediately placed her unfinished paperwork on her desk and quickly ran out of Roblox Hq without even telling Builderman goodbye. She made up her mind that she would meet this "Shedlesky." If he was Telamon, she was going to kill him for real this time.
Before Brighteyes place jumped to Shedlesky's last known location, she had to visit the place hub. As she approached the sword fight on the heights place, a man appeared in front of her who had just returned from that place. He had the illumina at his side. It was definitely her husband, although he was missing his signature robes. Mad was an understatement, she was furious that he would just disappear like that. She knew there were times he would go into different places to sword fight but he would never just fake his death and disappear without even a word, right? Before Brighteyes unleashed her long tirade, she realized he did not even greet her. He almost looked confused and a bit nervous at her presence. Did he not recognize his own wife, or was he just too embarrassed to admit his own folly? "We are going home right this instant, Telamon! No buts, and you better explain yourself for this disappearing act!" Shedlesky wondered how he managed to anger this woman to this extent. Is it bad that he thought she was incredibly hot though?
He decided to go with her to get some answers. He also did not want to anger her further. The two of them opened up a portal so that they could place hop to Telamon's domain. Brighteyes was shocked to discover that 1x was inside the house once she entered. 1x looked so depressed, he could be likened to a dog abandoned by his owner and left on the side of the road to starve. When Shedlesky entered the house right after Brighteyes, 1x flinched as if the sight of Shedlesky was causing him emotional pain. However, Shedlesky looked at 1x curiously remembering how 1x bested him recently during their duel. Brighteyes suddenly spoke, which snapped Shedlesky out of his thoughts. "This is our son 1x, Shedlesky. I know you have not seen him in a while, but he misses you so much." Although 1x seemed dejected, and even hesitated to look Shedlesky in the eye, he still managed a weak wave to Shedlesky.
Before Shedlesky could respond to 1x's greeting, Brighteyes dragged Shedlesky to their shared room. "I thought you were dead for so long," Brighteyes said. Shedlesky replies "In some ways, Telamon has already perished. I am not the same man you claim I once was. I lost my memories and cannot recall the precious moments between us except for a feeling of familiarity and deep devotion. But, I would still like to get to know you." Brighteyes understood and she would continue to love her husband even if he changed. "My name is Brighteyes, and I am your wife. Since you do not remember your past, I would like to at least remind you on how we met, if nothing else.”
She starts to narrate and set the scene of their first meeting. According to Builderman, ‘Telamon was a god, yet he decided to work an office job at the newly created Roblox Hq.’ That place is owned by Roblox, Builderman’s brother and founder of the HQ. Roblox Hq is a place where the employees work to protect and keep Robloxia stable by cleaning up viruses that can infect studs and catching exploiters who managed to discover vulnerabilities in Robloxia's scripts. Without working scripts, Robloxia would destabilize and Robloxians would be trapped in neverending death loops. You were incredible at your job, but you never knew how to have fun. Builderman was your only friend, but he wanted you to socialize more and make friends at the HQ.
Eventually, Builderman introduced us to each other. Builderman just wanted you to become more social, and I was already popular at HQ. Soon after we met, you developed a crush on me. I remember Builderman teasing you about it. Everyone knew about it, but feared saying a word in case you decided to turn the hq into rubble as payback. You would get distracted from your paperwork whenever I was around, and you always loved to talk with me every day. It was cute. We became very close through our work and became a team together to take down the exploiters. After a while, we began to spend time together outside of work. You absolutely loved chicken, and would invite me to nice restaurants in Robloxia that served any type of chicken. While I never understood your fascination with chicken, I liked that you acted less serious around me. In fact, you would do stupid things to show off to me.
One day you invited me to watch you fight in a sword fighting tournament, yet when you saw me in the stands, you got distracted and almost lost. I remember the first time I saw you smile. You were always handsome, but you were the most handsome when you smiled. Only twice did you smile. The first was when we started dating, and the second was when I said yes to your proposal. I still remember both events clearly. You proposed to me at Crossroads after an exploiter had wrecked the place. In the rubble, you took out the ring and asked me to marry you. I said yes, and the wedding vows were said right there. A Robloxian dressed as a priest who I saved from the rubble officiated the wedding. After we had been married for a while, you discovered an egg in your nest, which eventually hatched and became our son, 1x1x1x1.
So that he would not be feared but accepted and loved by others, we quickly decided to give him a nickname so that people would not think of him as the same person from the ancient tale of 1x1x1x1 . His nickname became 1x. 1x wanted to be just like you and he had a talent for swordfighting. He absolutely adored his father, too. 1x would spend more time with you than me since you both trained together. I hope that this story will suffice and that you will treat 1x and I as family despite your memory loss."
Shedlesky commented "I think we should go somewhere in Robloxia as a family so that I can get to know both of you better as Shedlesky rather than Telamon, who I cannot remember." Brighteyes shook her head "I noticed earlier that 1x is having trouble talking to you. It would be best if we do that another time. For now, you should just try to be there for him. He will understand and accept you, regardless of your lost memories. Although, he will need some time to do so. He is your son after all. And, if you would, could you stay a little longer so we can catch up? I have missed your presence dearly."
By this point, Brighteyes was no longer angry. She just wanted to spend time with her husband and son. Shedlesky nodded and started recounting with some embellishments on how he topped the leaderboard at Sword Fights on The Heights. While spending time with Shedlesky, Brighteyes started to notice how Shedlesky even acted differently to Telamon–he smiled almost constantly while Telamon rarely smiled and preferred to be serious. Shedlesky also tended to be more open in general. It was easy to tell what he was thinking.
Telamon was always more reserved in comparison. It was hard to reconcile the fact that Shedlesky was once Telamon before being stripped of his very identity and memories. One of the few similarities is Shedlesky's love for chicken, Brighteyes noticed. Telamon always seemed to be eating chicken, he considered it one of the wonders of the mortal realm. She liked chicken, but she never liked it as much as Telamon. Shedlesky also seemed to have more social skills while Telamon tended to talk to people as if he was far removed from them. She supposes that is the contrast between one who thinks of himself as a god and one who fully believes himself to be a mortal.
Eventually, Shedlesky stops talking as 1x emerges from his room. 1x immediately runs to Brighteyes. 1x hugs her and he buries his face slightly below her chest as she wraps her arms around him affectionately. "The kid seems to adore you," Shedlesky commented. Brighteyes smiles down at 1x "Despite leaving him all alone, he still treated me as if I’d never left." After a few minutes, 1x looks up to Brighteyes with a few glistening tears in his eyes and thanks her for returning home to him.
1x dares not acknowledge Shedlesky after the internal psychological torment from feeling like he murdered his father. Brighteyes tells 1x how sorry she was that she was not there to support him. Her grief had left two victims instead of just one. Soon, Brighteyes beckons Shedlesky to her room as it was time for bed. 1x seems upset–believing that she would just leave again when his back was turned. But, she did promise him that she would never abandon him, so there is that. Time will tell if Brighteyes will uphold her promise, or if it will be burned to ash alongside herself.
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1x woke up to hear birds chirping for the first time in many years. Telamon’s place had once been a place filled with plant and animal life just for 1x and Brighteyes to enjoy. Telamon did not tend to smile, but he showed affection to them in other ways, like gift giving. When Telamon went to fight 1x1x1x1, all of the cultivated life disappeared from the domain as if they too mourned their creator's death. 1x got used to the quiet barren place that used to be his family’s home, yet now things were back to normal–as if Telamon never left. Even Brighteyes returned.
He wondered if he died during the night and he was just receiving some kind of comfort in his last moments. He remembers being almost apathetic to it at first because he was convinced she was working and would come home once work was over. She visited a few times, promising she would come more often when work let up, so he believed her infrequent visits were not due to grief and that she would come visit more if it were possible. Truthfully, he excused her actions because he did not want to think that his mother would hurt him. He refused to continue that line of thought. His mother loved him and she was always there for him when he needed it.
She would never abandon her only son. He should have been patiently waiting for her to return home instead of leaving on his own journey. If he had not left, he would have never dueled Shedlesky. Everything would have been better if he stayed home–he heard a knock on his door and it snapped him out of his thoughts. That must have been Brighteyes. She always knocked on his door to get him to wake up for breakfast. 1x was not yet ready to face Shedlesky yet, but he would just accept it and pretend everything was stagnant just for today. Everything would be fine because the three of them were together, just like every other day.