Chapter Text
It takes longer than Avery would want, but eventually, he finds him-
His D3rlord.
His Derek
The poor soul is damaged- mangled beyond what a soul should be able to endure- and yet there it is, defying the king by simply existing.
Avery wants to cry- wants to cheer and laugh because holy shit he found him! Derek’s still around!
...but that’d have to wait until after he fixes the soul up.
Does Avery know how to fix broken souls? Absolutely not.
Does Derek deserve to be brought back? Without a doubt.
Being dead is… peaceful, calm, quiet.
There’s no infinite knowledge causing your brain to fry or explode as soon as you look away from a screen, there’s no fear of the inevitable or looming dread, there’s just a calm… nothingness.
But then there’s pain- like someone is pulling Derek out of the calm waters of nothingness and proceeds to throw him straight into boiling hot oil.
If Derek could scream he would, but souls cannot cry out- he cannot do anything as his very essence is stretched and reshaped in ways no soul ever should be.
It is agony in its most raw, inescapable form.
And then it’s over.
And then he’s sitting up, hand grasping his chest, feeling his wildly beating heart and lungs burning with frantic breaths.
Wide eyes wildly scan the room he’s in-
It’s not any place he knows- the ceiling’s too high, the columns looking like something out of a history book and-
And he’s on top of an altar of sorts, raised above a shallow, round pool of water.
Derek takes a shaky breath.
Exhales
and forces himself to take another breath- deeper this time.
Panic isn’t going to help him figure out what’s going on.
So he takes stock of what he does know.
He’s in an unfamiliar place, though the air isn’t as dark and oppressive as… another place he used to be in (he can’t remember where he was that was before this, that’s probably not good). He was hurting, but now he’s not- though he feels he should be having a headache.
He can’t remember why he would have a headache either.
Derek slowly moves to get off of the altar, noticing now for the first time that he’s wearing armor and a red cape.
He frowns at the familiarity, and it only deepens when Derek tries to take a step and notices just how wobbly his legs are.
Okay
Clearly this will take time.
But he can't be sure he has time to take it eas-
“Derek?”
Derek let out a startled yelp, losing balance and bracing himself for a fall, only to be caught by… something.
Something vaguely firm, but also a bit squishy.
And then there were arms, holding him tightly and protectively and refusing to let go as Derek is held close to a warm chest and- is this person sobbing?
“I actually managed to do it... holy shit you’re here”
“...Avery...?”
Derek doesn't know how he knows the name, but it feels right.
It took a bit before Derek got a reply.
“Gimme a minute to just… hold you… oh my god I actually get to hold you…”
The hold tightens just a little, and Derek can feel a hand protectively resting on the back of his head.
“...I don’t…” Derek started, before pausing.
“I know you. I know… you’re… Avery…"
‘someone important to me’ was left unsaid
“… I don’t remember anything that led to us being… here. What happened?”
Avery stilled for a bit.
“You don’t remember the king?”
“...Who?”
“Great.”
There was a sort of fierce determination in Avery’s tone, as if this ‘king’ had personally offended the other.
This was weird.
The fact Derek barely remembered anything aside from the fact that this person was named ‘Avery’, someone important to him who-
...He didn’t know Avery, right?
Or… did he?
The protective feelings he himself felt implied he did, but at the same time, this felt like a first meeting….
“Something horrible almost happened to us.” Avery spoke after a while, finally loosening his hold so that Derek could look up and actually see the other.
Short blonde hair, green eyes with a strange, yellow patch of color near his left eye’s iris, a chipped front tooth…. By all means Avery looked like a normal guy.
...Though something felt off about him.
Maybe it was the way he looked at Derek.
Obsessed.
“You almost died- I… I tried to put you back together- to bring you back.” Avery continued. “And… I guess I succeeded.”
Derek feels like that’s something that… shouldn’t be doable if you’re a normal human.
“Why do I remember so little?” He asks.
Avery is silent for a while, before he asks a question in return.
“...Do you trust me?”
A loaded question.
“...I don’t distrust you.” Derek speaks, carefully picking his words. “But I am wary now”
Avery doesn’t look offended, in fact, he looks kind of relieved.
“I get it” Avery speaks. “I really, truly do, but… you were cursed with knowledge that really ended up hurting you”
Derek doesn’t reply, waiting for Avery to continue, which he does.
“You like- SAW everything. The universe, the creation of life, all sorts of things I still can’t really comprehend myself, but it was hurting you so badly, even in-”
Avery cut himself off, pausing, before continuing.
“I… I tried to make sure you wouldn’t be hurt by the king again.”
Again, the mention of that king.
Derek was about to ask, but Avery wasn’t done talking.
“I err- spend quite some time making sure you’d be okay and safe and stuff.” Avery continued. “I build this entire place for you- it’s… well… it’s a bit larger than I expected it’d be, but that just means you have a ton of space for stuff- and also it’s very safe here I promise! I made sure every area is well lit, the stairs aren’t too steep and the kitchen’s actually quite spacious and-”
“Avery”
Avery stopped talking.
“...Why… did you make all this for me?”
“...Because I wanted you to stay somewhere safe…” Avery admitted, before pausing, realizing how that sounded “A-at least while you recover! There’s a whole world out there that I’d LOVE to show you, but you kind of need to recover from everything that happened to you and-”
Derek kind of tuned out the rest of Avery’s rambling, feeling his energy slowly drain.
Maybe Avery was right- maybe he really needed time to recover from whatever happened- just standing and being hugged shouldn’t be THAT exhausting.
“...Okay…” Derek sighed. “I… can you show me where I’ll be sleeping? I should probably… take it easy for now.”
Avery smiles brightly, and begins to carry Derek off.
The two settle in some sort of routine fairly quickly.
Avery has work outside of this strange structure, but somehow always knows when Derek is feeling unwell, always rushing over with either food or to catch Derek as he’s about to fall.
It’s… a little infuriating how long it takes for Derek’s body to heal, but over time, the recovery process gets easier.
Derek spends a lot of time in the library of the place- it seems… unusually large- it feels like it goes on forever. He’ll just wander around, pick a book, read it, and learn a new thing about psychology, physics, the human mind or even the universe.
Soon, entire sections have been memorized.
And then somehow he has managed to memorize the entire library- something that has Avery nervous when he hears about it.
Turns out human minds can handle infinite knowledge if you just slowly drip-feed it to them over the course of eons.
Derek takes up archery, learns how to use a sword, and eventually, he can go entire days without feeling faint or needing a nap.
Then weeks
Then months
And then an indescribable amount of time.
...and yet Avery is strangely resistant to the idea of letting Derek leave- or even letting him help with the blonde’s work.
Unfortunately for Avery, Derek has a wonderful, bright, and curious mind, and with nothing else really left to do or learn from the library, Derek can only really learn more from Avery himself.
The first thing Derek learns- or perhaps he already knew it- is that Avery is very… traumatized
Avery doesn’t come by often, but when he does the first thing the blonde does is seek out Derek- like he has to make sure the other is alive and well- the hugs certainly make it feel like Avery is in a constant state of concern when Derek is not within his sight. Avery has made it very clear that death’s not a thing Derek will ever have to worry about- and Derek knows he should be concerned about that, though the feeling of mild existential dread never seems to stick.
He learns of the king- an entity that apparently destroyed the world, and that Avery is trying his hardest to rebuild it.
...given the lack of progress, Avery could use help with that.
Something the other always insists isn’t true.
...Actually, thinking about it, Avery didn’t seem to want Derek to actually DO much here.
Avery gave him a library, but was beyond concerned when Derek began to read the books- which could have to do with the whole ‘cursed with knowledge’ thing that had apparently happened.
There were training grounds and bows and practice swords, but Avery got nervous whenever Derek actually showed he’d been using them.
The only thing Avery seemed okay with was basic self-care- cooking, cleaning up and sleep.
...Just what had happened to him that was bad enough to cause such a reaction to nearly everything? What did the king do to him?
And… what did the king do to Avery…?