Chapter Text
Parrot didn't want to leave his base.
It wasn't necessarily because it felt cozy and accomodating, it felt incredibly dull and lifeless. Rather, it was because he preferred sitting through the nauseating stench of wood on his stiff bed than having to unwillingly interact with The Director who would probably force him to leave the house anyway.
He called it 'healthy practice', but nothing felt 'healthy' to Parrot in a prison he wanted nothing to do with. With nothing else physically or emotionally enriching to do, all he would indulge in was wandering around his mind. He would spend most of his days lying on the hard, chilling floor and staring directly ahead into his unfinished roof where dawn's sunlight streamed in from above.
Being confined for a long time made things easier to forget. A sense of time, life outside the prision, a general purpose to chase. All the things that Parrot had been so insistent on keeping track of was meaningless behind bars— or in a literal sense, walls.
Obsidian walls to be exact. Ones that were so meticulously cultivated that they made escaping impossible. Not because the prison was physically perfect(though nearly close), but because the means required to escape it ensured that he would lose too much to dare trying.
The guards. The guards were the reason why he couldn't escape. Wifies was incredibly smart, but mere intelligence could not compete with the sheer vastness of the prison itself, not to mention the countless routes of escape in such a diverse ecosystem.
He would need some help to make sure that Parrot was kept safe. So every time he would attempt a new route trying to break out: whether it be through the nether or climbing over the walls, there would be invisible players obstructing his path; players that were all too familar with him.
Freedom would be in reach if he could kill the guards. But this prison was perfect. Of course Wifies had accounted for that possibility, for the very obstacles that had to be cleared to exit captivity were Parrot's friends.
It was cruel, and it made so much sense. It was cruel because it made so much sense— because it was so obvious that every choice made was intentional, effective descisions that would indeed keep Parrot imprisoned. It was only possible because Wifies was his best friend, and his best friend somehow knew more about him than he knew himself.
He simply couldn't win in a game that had already determined a winner the moment he decided to step in.
He was so, very lost in his own perfect world that only spanned across a few hundred blocks. No helpless players to save or emergencies to get involved in— it was just him and his unrecognisable friend who seemingly had no plans of letting him go.
At the revelation that had struck him thousands of times during his imprisonment, all he could do was to hug his knees as tight as possible and stare into the cold birch wall from the corner of his bed. And once again, he began to think.
He had told himself over the course of days that he would escape, that he would once again, see the natural generation of forests and biomes, not the artificially combined slices of land made in the hands of the director. He would glide across the endless skies again— maybe not alongside his most cherished friend, but pursue flight nonetheless.
His mind yearned for a life of freedom and peace. He resented his best friend for destroying the most valuable part of his body: his soul. Parrot wished to rebuild it; back into what it used to be when they would go on risky adventures. His heart twisted at the remembrance.
Despite what Wifies had done, and what he has turned himself into, Parrot couldn't help but feel his chest warm at the thought of him; or, the idea of him before things went downhill. After all, it was rather difficult to let go of the kindness and empathy he knew existed somewhere in his best friend's heart.
He had seen it with his own eyes. The small but infinitely valuable gestures of care, how Wifies religiously remembered every miniscule detail about the people he loved. It was that version of Wifies, his dearest friend, that Parrot had missed so desperately— not the tainted Director who had tried to paint over any remainders of compassion in his eyes.
But his friend was gone. Wifies was gone. He had long been replaced with a cold shadow of a man, who, in Parrot's eyes, was too scared to be seen being vulnerable again. Why it had to be through such drastic measures, he didn't know. But something so clear and obvious now, was that Wifies would never accept Parrot's desire for freedom. He would go above and beyond just to stop him from leaving his side, even if it meant the cost meant self destruction.
The prison was impossible to escape; Parrot had known that. Wifies could not be outsmarted; that too, Parrot had recognized.
The thought struck him as quiet and persistent as the rustle of cherry blossoms outside his base.
Parrot was ambitious, but he was also tired; of many things that were already exhausting to even list. But most crucially, he was tired of having to constantly fight against the person he cared for the most. His only desire now, was to restore the friend that he had lost months ago.
But if there was no other way, then he would stay in his perfect world— especially if this was what Wifies so desperately wanted.
If salvaging the server, seeing his friends, and all the things he held close to his heart was inarguably out of his reach, he questioned if there was any point in trying to do anything other than to stay. To give up.
He would allow selfishness this once. Wifies' selfishness for wanting to isolate him for himself, and his own selfishness for letting the world's cry for help dissolve into background noise. He would be a great savior later; but right now, all he wanted to be was a good friend.
So give up, he did.