Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandoms:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of i see the player you mean , Part 1 of eret does not get paid enough for this
Collections:
☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆, Completed stories I've read, Things to fuel my escapism., hixpatch's all time favorites, fics that hit the brain itch
Stats:
Published:
2022-04-02
Completed:
2022-09-20
Words:
84,901
Chapters:
34/34
Comments:
634
Kudos:
1,096
Bookmarks:
203
Hits:
28,422

pretend that today is the first day of the rest of your life

Chapter 26: 17. i couldn't tell you where i've been (pt. 1)

Summary:

"Thank you for everything Eret," Eret said with a huge smile when he finally stopped right in front of him. "...Or should I say, Alistair?"

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

XD was the final thing Eret saw before his vision faded black.

But then, there was a sudden blinding light that engulfed him entirely- and he squinted, opening his eyes slowly with his hands over his face, attempting to block out the light. When he opened them completely, he stared at the vast, endless white that surrounded him and another figure in the distance who was approaching him.

It seemed like the exact opposite of the pitch black void he'd experienced whenever he died.

He began walking towards the other person, wondering if it was XD- and as they came into sight, he realised it was himself.

Or more accurately, his canonical self. 

"Thank you for everything Eret," Eret said with a huge smile when he finally stopped right in front of him. "...Or should I say, Alistair?"

The man looked like an exact replica of himself- though he wasn't wearing the same shirt or jacket Eret had worn while saying his goodbyes to everyone. This Eret was wearing a large red cape that draped around his shoulders, falling loosely on the ground (not that there really was a floor in this strange space- it looked more like they were floating above clouds)- and most noticeably, a shiny golden crown was on his head. 

He immediately recognised the clothes on his Minecraft skin.

"-" He tried to reply, but no sounds came out of his voice. "-?!"

"It's okay- I can still understand what you're trying to say. You can't make any noise right now because you're just a soul with a body currently- I'm taking control over my body again." Eret explained calmly. "You're on your way back to your original body- we don't have much time together here."

His shoulders dropped in relief and he nodded to show that he understood Eret's words too. "Thank you," he mouthed.

"No- thank you," Eret shook his head. "For saving everyone, for saving me too- from betraying my friends in L'Manburg and from the terrible future we would've had. I'm eternally grateful to you and your friend Phil for saving us."

His doppelganger suddenly jumped at him and hugged him tightly- and though he was surprised, he squeezed him back, trying to assure him and trying to convey his message- that "Everything will be okay from here on."

"You don't have long to stay- but I just need to let you know a few things before you go back. Time didn't flow the same way while you were in the SMP- though you've spent a year there, only two weeks have passed in your world."

He was quite surprised to hear that, but felt incredibly relieved too. That means Elaina and Goose and everyone could still be looking for us, he realised.

"Sorry about that," Eret apologised, to his surprise.

"Huh? For what?"

"If my powers were a bit stronger- like Herobrine's- I'd be able to send you back as if no time had passed."

He stared at Eret in shock. Eret smiled.

"I'm the one who brought you and your Phil to my universe."

"You? But why?!"

"We don't have much time- so I'll only say this once," Eret said quickly. "Because I'm related to Herobrine."

He gaped at the other version of himself who was laughing so much that he was tearing up. 

"Sorry, sorry- I just found it hilarious how you kept saying that throughout your time here," Eret laughed as he wiped his eyes. "But it's kinda true anyways. I can see glimpses of the future with the powers I inherited from Herobrine you see- and I knew from… a while ago about some of the bad things that would happen on the Dream SMP.

He paused. "I don't know the exact dates or anything else other than the scenes I see though- so I couldn't trust myself completely to change the future. What if something I did ended up messing things up further? I had thought about stopping Dream from creating the server altogether, but I felt bad because I'd surely be getting rid of the good things that would happen as well as the bad things…"

"How did you find out about us then?"

"Herobrine can warp reality," Eret explained. "And so can I- even if it's not as strong as him. I searched through alternate universes to find solutions to mine- and eventually found one that seemed perfect- one where all of us in the Dream SMP were friends. And then I realised some of the glimpses of the future I'd seen seemed very familiar in the story you guys had created…"

"Sorry about that…"

"Nah, I'm not angry or anything about it," Eret grinned. "But anyway, I decided to bring you over to my world… and somehow teach everyone else to be friends? I needed you to know everything that would happen though- so I brought you from a year in the future to June 2020."

"Why did you pick Phil to come along too then?"

"He was closest to you when I brought you over…"

"He was closest to me? Why would he-" He suddenly froze, as memories that had been hidden from him were flowing back into his head as if a dam was suddenly broken. "We were at the airport together." He frowned.

"Yeah. You were visiting England- and he went to collect you."

"Then how come whenever I died, I saw my bedroom?"

"Despite being able to warp reality, I can't duplicate souls or anything," Eret told him. "So both you and Phil's original bodies would be… soulless while you're here. I left your bodies in the void while your souls are in my universe- but as soon as your soul returns to your universe, your body gets teleported back. So when you died, your soul automatically returned to your original world and body- where your 'respawn' point was your bedroom. But then the code I created would grab onto your souls again and drag you back into my universe."

"Right…"

"Anyway," Eret continued on. "I needed myself to be natural until you showed up though- so that the 'story' would be exactly the same as what you know. So you wouldn't be confused or anything. That's why I wiped my memories after telling Herobrine my plans."

"You wiped your own memories?!"

"Yeah. I remembered everything as soon as you took over my body though- When you showed up, my soul just took a backseat and I watched everything you did from inside here. I was able to take over for brief moments sometimes- mostly at the beginning when you were still getting used to this world."

"So I was right about the 'canon Eret' taking control whenever I would have felt terrified. And I guess DreamXD found out about all this by talking to Herobrine? That's why he told me I'd know everything once I went home I guess…"

Eret nodded- and at that moment, the white space that surrounded them suddenly began to change. Swirls of colours splashed all over the skies above and the ground beneath them, painting over the places they could see-

"It seems this is where we'll have to part ways then," Eret said, suddenly breaking the silence. 

"Wait- I still have some questions! Who the heck are 'the Watchers'?! And will we ever see each other again or anything-?"

"Unfortunately, even I don't have an answer for that…" his other self frowned. "They're very secretive and mysterious- not even the gods know much about them. The only thing we really know about them is that they're far more powerful than the gods and admins combined- but they rarely intervene… usually only for something really serious."

He nodded quickly, taking in all the information, as Eret continued on. "But anyway, as you know- our universes are partly connected… so maybe you'll find out more about the Watchers from your side? You might be able to find something that I can't over here-"

"You're right! There are a lot more Minecraft youtubers back home- and if your universe's history is connected to the lore we've made- then the people in my world who make up the other servers in your universe, probably made some lore that I haven't heard about yet!"

"As for your other question- I cannot really give you an answer to that either," Eret said, looking up at the streaks of colour filling the vast space, slowly becoming different scenes for the both of them. "I don't know if I'll ever bring you back over to my universe again- We've already been lucky enough that the Watchers didn't interfere this whole time… it may be too risky to attempt it a second time. But on the other hand, some part of me believes that this won't be the last time we'll see each other."

"Some part of me thinks that they already know about everything that we've done- surely they've already found out, when they're supposedly stronger than the gods? But if they know and haven't interfered, then maybe they will allow us to continue," Eret said, holding a hand out to him. "Maybe they like these changes we've made. So maybe this isn't farewell- maybe they'll let us continue to meet. But for now, so long."

He looked at Eret's hand and then took a deep breath- not that he really needed to breathe when he didn't even have a body- and looked up at what had been his white eyes for the past year through Eret's sunglasses before mouthing, "Promise you'll take care of everyone for me?"

"Of course," Eret promised without hesitation.

He shook his hand.

* * * * *

His chest was burning yet again- and he felt the urge to cough incessantly. The ache in his head that appeared whenever he tried to remember what had happened before he found himself in the Dream SMP had returned yet again- but all of a sudden, a coolness washed over him and the pain was gone.

Eret opened his eyes and blinked- he was back on Earth.

"Mate, you alright?"

He turned his head immediately and stared at Phil who was standing right next to him. He nodded slowly. "We're really back," he said, quietly. They were standing in the middle of a corridor in an airport- he could hear the crowds of people not too far away. He looked down at the suitcase in his hand.

"Did you see yourself?" Phil asked, and Eret nodded again. They began heading towards the exit.

"You too?"

"...Yeah."

"I'll… tell you about what the other 'me' told me later. It's stuff about why we were taken there in the first place," Eret said, yawning. "... I'm just… so tired right now."

"Sure," Phil agreed. He seemed to suddenly remember that they were back on Earth- since he quickly pulled out his phone. "Fuck- it's out of battery!"

Eret quickly looked for his, and switched it on, which fortunately still had 20% left. He sighed in relief. "Who should I call first?" he asked Phil, who after a moment, grinned and pressed the Discord button.

"Why not all of them at once?"


Eret

Hey guys


Less than ten seconds had passed before Eret's screen was suddenly met with a request for a call- and he pressed 'accept' immediately. 

"Hello?" he started, only to immediately move the phone away from his ear.

"FUCKIN- IT'S REALLY YOU?!" Tommy yelped in his ear, before suddenly ending the call to Eret's confusion. Then he got a message to join the voice channel- which he saw was already full with their friends.

"Better hurry up, otherwise you'll run out of battery too," Phil said, grimacing. Eret nodded and joined the call.

"Eret, is that really you?!!" someone said first. "Where the fuck have you been this whole time?!" he heard out from the incoherent mess too. They also heard someone mutter "Of course the first thing he says to us after being missing for two whole weeks is simply 'Hey guys'-"

"Guys, guys- shut up! I can't talk if you're all yelling over me-" Eret started, and everyone else immediately quietened down.

"Where are you right now?" Wilbur asked first.

"Gatwick Airport," Phil said, which caused the shouts to instantly start again.

"Is that Phil?!" "Phil's with you?!" "PHIL-"

"Yeah, it's me," Phil laughed. "Will, can you call Kristin for me and tell her to come collect us? My phone ran out of battery-"

"Of course," Wilbur said quickly before leaving the call. 

"I'm gonna leave the call for now- I need to save some battery just in case-" Eret started, but people started bickering again.

"NO- Don't you dare leave the call Eret, not after all this time-"

"Sorry guys," Eret winced, seeing the 5% left on his phone. "I've really gotta go. I'll call you all back after Kristin collects us-"

With that, he left the call. 

"Mate, they're going to kill us," Phil grinned, amused.

"Yeah, I know," Eret sighed. He sent a few messages to Elaina, before the battery finally ran out. "Let's just get going- how long do you think it'll take Kristin to get here?"

Notes:

A bit of a shorter chapter, but I just felt like posting it so that I'd maybe get into the mood to write some more :)
Although I said that the story will be over soon, there's definitely going to be a few more chapters to go than I expected a month or so ago lol. From my drafts, I've already got enough for at least three more chapters... and that's not even everything I want to write haha. Haven't edited them yet though, so don't expect them to be out that soon, I want to at least make sure there's as little spelling mistakes as possible!

IDK if the random plot I made up makes sense, but it does in my head so it'll have to do for all of you lmao. If you guys have any questions, I'll try to answer them as best as I can...
In fact, I even made this weird af timeline to try and explain my what's going on in my head? Sorry for the ugly handwriting lmao! And I honestly have no idea if this is even helpful- or if it'll just make you guys more confused xD

Anyway! I hope you all are doing well! Thank you all so much for the continued support and lovely comments :>
See you next time!