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The map has a depiction of the sun and moon sketched into each corner. Parrot can’t help but stare at it. The moon without the sun is just a piece of mantle that blocks the stars, floating unseen in silence. The sun is bright on its own but the moon depends on its luminosity to shine.
“Parrot,” calls Horace. Parrot tears his eyes off the map in front of him, snapping out of his focus to look towards Horace, who is holding a deep purple version of Parrot’s poncho in his hands. Horace is wearing a shirt much fancier than he usually does, made with a thick and colorful linen without any stains from construction work.
Parrot has only worn that poncho once before: at his crowning ceremony. He racks his brain for something he missed but comes up short.
“What is this about?” Parrot asks. Horace’s expression gives away nothing, but he tilts his head to signify Parrot to follow him.
“You are needed in the grand hall in half an hour,” explains Horace, not elaborating further. They cross the halls, passing a few people who rush by frantically. They make it to Parrot’s quarters where the rest of his ceremonial clothing is hanging. A pressed cream shirt has a blue embroidery matching Parrot’s usual diamond armor, a spyglass stitched into the wrist as a symbol of his kingdom. The back, like his poncho and most of his shirts, has a cut in the back to fit his wings with a tie at the base. Parrot touches the sleeve and wonders at who prepared this for him, at how many people trust and depend on him as king.
“Need help?” asks Horace. Parrot’s wing twitches at the question. He usually only trusts Theo to help him, but he knows that the knot he tied this morning alone is crooked and bunched. Parrot nods and turns his back to Horace to let him untie the strings. Parrot grabs the shirt and steps behind a privacy screen to change into the ceremonial outfit.
“Are you going to explain what this is about?” reiterates Parrot as he returns, but Horace stays quiet. He ties Parrot’s shirt and helps him pull the poncho over his head, tying that off too.
“I’ll be right outside,” informs Horace, who steps into the hallway.
Parrot crosses the room and grabs three pins from his vanity drawer. An emerald, a goat horn, and a ying-yang symbol. He pins them on the front of his poncho near his left shoulder, where a general would hang their medals. He dislodges Theo’s feather that he has braided into his hair and takes a comb to brush through his tangles. It is an old brush of Theo’s.
“You can’t go out looking like that,” Parrot remembers Theo complaining early on in their friendship, before insisting Parrot take the comb. Theo always does that, looks out for Parrot like its natural, brushing it off like its easy.
Parrot picks Theo’s feather back up and braids it back into his hair, the yellow contrasting against the purple of his poncho. He wipes his crown with a silk cloth on his vanity, removing any fingerprints before placing it on his head. He sheathes his sword and drops a totem into his inventory, knowing public events tend to be the highest risk.
He opens his wardrobe and takes out a miniaturized ender chest. He grabs a spyglass from the chest, one that is free from scratches and dents. He recalls spending hours perfecting the cut of the glass and the shine of the metal while he and Theo ran the potion shop. He clips it to his hip and checks the mirror. He almost wants to laugh at himself. He sure looks like a king, but the title feels a little empty.
He meets with Horace in the hallway and they start toward the grand hall, two guards trail behind. Parrot idly chats with Horace about recent developments in Merchant City when he hears it. Something breaking in the wall.
“Shh,” Parrot commands, holding his arm out to stop the group from moving forward. He carefully sneaks forward and slips his hand underneath a tripwire that was on the floor. The guards draw their swords once they follow what Parrot found. He grabs the string between his hands and rips it, must be amateur work to make a trap this obvious.
“Come out,” Parrot calls. At the ensuing silence, Parrot holds his hand out for a guard to give him a pickaxe and digs into the wall to find an unarmored person crouching. A guard steps forward and grabs the player to arrest them.
“Name tag,” demands Parrot. The other guard takes the player’s tag and hands it to Parrot. “Hoppy.Ranger.x” Parrot shakes his head and hands it back to the player. “You will stand trial in 48 hours, you will be appointed a representative to gather evidence and defend you, until then you will be kept in the dungeon.” Parrot informs the player, before nodding at the guard to take them. The player hurls insults towards Parrot as they are dragged away.
“You dealt with that well,” comments Horace as Parrot hands the pickaxe back to the guard.
“Theo helped me come up with a trial system, since both of us have been framed a few times.” Parrot responds, not acknowledging the compliment. He looks down at the broken trap and wonders at how this happened. A knot in his stomach reminds him that there is a reason there has been a gap in security the past week, but he swallows down the thought.
They pass through the rest of the castle without issue. Horace nods to him as he reaches the side entrance to the hall. He walks in, amazed at the stained glass painting the room with stretches of color. He makes it a few paces before he sees him.
Theo stands before Parrot wearing ceremonial leather armor, dyed diamond blue with gold inlayed trims that match his wings. Relief floods Parrot as he observes his friend, checks that he seems unscathed, in fact he seems… good. His hair is clean, free of gunpowder or blood.
When Parrot makes it to the center of the room, Theo takes off his helmet and kneels. Parrot’s stomach knots as it starts to click. A knighting ceremony. It’s why Horace was secretive and wearing his best, why the whole castle seemed to be buzzing all morning, why Theo was wearing the diamond blue of Parrot’s kingdom.
The only part that Parrot doesn’t get is why. He hasn’t seen Theo for a week after their argument. Why this? Why now?
Theo is the best friend Parrot has ever had, bright and kind and steady. He knows that any problem thrown his way is solvable, so long as Theo is at his side. That doesn't mean their friendship is perfect. Some nights the ghosts still come to visit, and despite their progress Parrot’s silence settles between them. That night was one of those nights.
-
Parrot’s wings stayed pulled tight to his back, paranoia making him irritable. Parrot was sitting on the balcony to his bedroom, scribbling notes as fast as his hand would move.
After Spepticle died, Parrot’s memory has gotten patchy. There was one particular evening when Theo mentioned the Farlands and Parrot stared at him blankly, having no recollection of when he and Theo first met. Watching Theo’s face fall before dropping the subject was enough for Parrot to realize he couldn’t trust his own mind. Since then, Parrot has been keeping a book with notes on every time a memory comes.
The gutted feeling when Wifies burned the compass to the Farlands was fresh and Parrot frantically wrote what he could remember. His hands shook as he tried to write about the ensuing argument.
Theo landed on the balcony beside him- tearing Parrot from his thoughts.
“Hey so I met this citiz-,” Theo froze mid-sentence, taking a moment to take in the sight of Parrot. “Parrot? What happened?” asked Theo, concerned, his eyes flicked to the book. Parrot slammed the book shut and looked wearily at him.
He noticed the sword on Theo’s hip, his shield and bow strapped to his back all glistening from enchantment in the night, his bomb bag and potions strapped to a belt across his chest. All set for quick use. Usually, Parrot knows this is in case of an ambush, or for protection, but that night all he saw was that Theo could use any one of them faster than Parrot could react. He suddenly felt how vulnerable he was there.
Theo caught Parrot’s eyes lingering on his sword and put it together quickly. His hand went to unlatch the belt and drop his weapons, but it made Parrot flinch, jumping where he was seated and standing suddenly, gripping the book tightly in his hands. Theo raised his arms, hands spread.
“Parrot?” He called gently. Parrot stared off for a second trying to put together the pieces in his mind.
“He betrayed me… they both did,” Parrot said. Theo followed who Parrot was talking about easily, like everything else, always following where Parrot goes, even when Parrot’s thoughts are twisted and wound into themselves.
“Parrot, it’s okay,” Theo said gently. Parrot took the moment to breathe, nodding slightly on the exhale as his muddy thoughts started to settle, placing the book back down. Theo carefully stepped forward.
“I have allegiance to no one but you,” reassured Theo, unwavering. It was meant to be a moment of comfort and reassurance. For a moment Parrot saw double, hearing Wifies’ voice. Parrot noticed the moss growing on the cobblestone wall, decaying and destroying what is meant to be steady and eternal. It made something rotten in him twist and then snap, his mood shifted with it, fear gave way to anger.
Parrot did what he is good at: poisoning the people he cares about with this rot that has grown roots in his heart.
“Whatever you tell yourself,” Parrot scoffed. He watched as something like hurt flashed across Theo’s face, but he pushed anyways. “You can stop pretending,” He spat. Theo’s feathers ruffled in anger at the condescending tone.
“What?” Theo asked, face scrunching at the implication, his expression snapped from open and reassuring to defensive, not an expression Parrot often sees pointed at him. Parrot tends only to see the side of Theo that is kind and fiercely loyal. It made his stomach twist, knowing what his loyalty means, knowing that the longer Theo spends at his side the surer it is that he will die. Better to do this now, at least then he’ll be alive.
“You can stop pretending to be my friend.” Parrot repeated, his mouth twisting in something like disgust. Parrot watched as Theo swallowed, protecting Parrot even then as he steeled his emotions. Theo closed his eyes and took a breath, loosening his posture and opening his eyes to look at Parrot. He didn’t take the bait, ever insightful, fine-tuned to Parrot in a way that scares them both.
“What is this really about?” asked Theo. Parrot stared back at him and shook his head.
“We both know your ‘loyalty’-,” Parrot quoted the word in the air. “-is your fucked up form of penance.” Parrot spat, condescending and cruel. Theo dug his fingers into his palms and his wing twitched in anger.
“You are so stuck on this assumption that I stay because I feel bad or because I’m not clever enough to make my own decision!” Theo yelled back, patience thin, voice raising louder as he spoke. “I have trouble reading, it doesn’t mean I’m dumb Parrot!” You forget- you forget that assumption just robs me of any autonomy!”
“Maybe you are an idiot!” Parrot yelled too. “Can’t you see everyone who has ever been my friend is dead?!” He continued, taking steps closer into Theo’s space. “Every, single one.” He said pointing a finger to Theo’s chest to make his point. Theo didn’t flinch but his wings spread out defensively and Parrot noticed him take a breath before he started in.
“Listen, I know I’m not as clever as him, but that doesn’t mean you get to assume what I’m thinking.” Theo responded, voice quieter but angry. “You’re so sure I only stay around because you’re selfishly manipulating me, or some shit like that, so sure that everything I do must be for some backhanded reason because that is all you know,” he spat, pushing Parrot away from him as he did.
Parrot stumbled back but stayed upright, some broken part of Parrot’s brain reminded him that Theo is his most dangerous like this: angry but focused. It made him freeze, words stuck in his throat. The lack of a retort made Theo go on.
“You are so obsessed with your guilt that you never stopped to understand why I care or why I fight. Must always be about you huh?” Theo asked as he knelt and strapped his belt back around his chest. Silence hung for a few beats before Theo stood, facing Parrot again.
“You’re making claims on something you don’t know anything about,” mumbled Parrot, not meeting Theo’s eyes. Theo shook his head in annoyance.
“I guess I don’t,” responded Theo, before flapping his wings and taking off into the night.
-
Yet, there Theo kneels.
Theo pulls his sword from his hip, kneeling with his right arm holding the sword, pointing downwards. He pulls his bow from his back, laying it out in front of him. The enchantment shimmers in the light from the stained windows.
Theo bows his head and starts to speak.
“From the ancients who first met the warden, the first blacksmith to forge steel into a weapon, to the first one who slayed the dragon, may our ancestors be with us in this moment.” Theo starts, a common prayer for fighters and farmers alike. “May the gods of the overworld, nether and end look down upon my oath and see its truth in my heart.”
“I swear loyalty to you in all that you do, to be by your side in all hardship and trials.
I lend you my strength, as both fighter and friend.
I vow always to put your will before my own, to trust your call in the heat of battle.
I swear to follow you through desert or arctic, plains or mountains.
I swear to do good in your name and to uphold the values of the Kingdom of Parrot: compassion, integrity and justice.”
Theo pauses, grips his sword a little tighter and says unwavering,
“I dedicate my heart.”
The intensity of Theo’s vow rings in Parrot’s ears and washes over him. He understands now. So much of the confusion on why Theo has stuck around, looked out for Parrot and fought countless battles clicks into place.
Parrot takes his spyglass from his hip, seeing his reflection in the metal. He holds it over his chest with his left. He holds his right hand out, like a holy man giving his blessing. Something in the back of his mind tugs that this is ridiculous, but he holds steady, knowing this is important for Theo. For their friendship.
“May your strength be used to protect the vulnerable or helpless.” His hand hovers towards the sword. “May your aim be as true as your heart,” Hovering towards the bow. He takes his time, allowing his words to ring through the hall before he clips his spyglass back on his hip and pulls his sword instead.
“I grant you knighthood under the kingdom of Parrot,” He taps Theo’s right shoulder with the flat edge of the sword. “and give you my dearest blessings,” He taps his other shoulder. He takes a breath, looking down at the top of Theo’s head, the light reflecting off his blond hair. He is so bright. Parrot’s heart aches at the enormity of the moment. He sheathes his sword and finishes “go forth and do good.” Pride swells forward and he swallows a lump in his throat.
“Rise,” commands Parrot.
Theo looks up and smiles, brilliant and beaming as he stands. Parrot can’t help but smile right back, like a full moon finally reflecting the sun’s luminance.
-
After the procession to exit the hall Parrot gets stuck shaking hands of attending citizens. When Horace makes it to him, he informs Parrot that there will be a feast this evening. By the time Parrot gets free of the sea of people Theo is nowhere to be seen.
Parrot makes it back to his quarters and undoes the ties on his poncho, hanging it in his wardrobe. Parrot feels light in a way he usually doesn’t, putting his spyglass and pins away.
He opens the double doors on the far side of his room that go to the balcony, the sky so very blue. He steps out and jumps when he sees Theo waiting there for him. They both laugh for a moment. Parrot turns to face Theo and he kneels.
“You don’t have to do that,” grins Parrot.
“As you wish,” Theo stands and they both chuckle at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Parrot takes in the sight of his friend. Theo without armor is a rare sight, but he looks relaxed wearing dark lounge clothes with yellow accentuating stripes. His sword on his waist is his only visible weapon. His sunglasses are pushed onto his head, exposing a comical tan line on his face.
“Glad to see you are okay,” comments Parrot “been almost a week.”
“Yeah dude I couldn’t have gotten all this set up with you knowing!” Theo jokes lightheartedly.
“I guess so,” Parrot smiles back, but it falls, the importance of the moment making itself known in the silence. Parrot takes a breath and decides he owes it to Theo to clear the air.
“The other night you told me that I never bothered to understand why you fight, but when I heard your oath it clicked,” Parrot confesses.
“You are right. I’ve been so focused on my memory, on the election and the server that I never asked, just took for granted that you were there.” Parrot starts. “All I’ve known is betrayal. Genuinely you are right, our whole friendship I have waited for the other shoe to drop, but how is that fair to you? When have you done anything but show kindness and loyalty? It’s not fair for me to punish you for things you didn’t do.” Parrot takes a breath. “I’m sorry,”
Theo thinks for a moment before responding. “Listen Parrot, I won’t pretend that it doesn’t hurt when you don’t trust me, but I know you man. I know you don’t do it with malice.” Parrot nods but has more to say.
“I just want you to know I get it now. It’s not about guilt from your time as a mercenary, or because you feel bad for me.” Parrot says, meeting Theo’s eyes. “You want this as much as I do, to help the server, to do good.” Theo looks so bright when he smiles and nods, relief on his features.
“Theo genuinely, thank you. I don’t say it enough but I’m lucky to have you as my friend.” says Parrot.
“Yeah bro of course, I’m your royal knight!” exclaims Theo to break the tension, pressing his right arm over his chest as a salute. They both laugh again, and the intensity of the moment rushes to meet Parrot as he looks to Theo, his best friend, who just swore knighthood to him. He lunges forward, hugging Theo.
Theo hesitates in surprise. Parrot has hugged Theo maybe twice. Once after the Tomb of the Mafia and once after the Law battle. Both were from relief that they were both alive. Theo wraps Parrot in a hug anyways.
"So you've been promoted from royal bodyguard to royal knight. That means I have to give you more work." mumbles Parrot into Theo's chest.
"As you wish, my king," Theo chuckles back.
"Stuck with me," Parrot says quietly.
"Guess I am," Theo whispers back, hugging Parrot tighter.
Parrot hugs Theo tightly, the emotions from the past week surging forward. He feels relaxed, light, and most unusually, safe here hugging Theo. He blinks back tears. Something broken in his brain is soothed by Theo’s presence, his friendship, his oath today, this safe embrace. The guilt and pain he carries around isn’t solved, but it is eased.
It’s like a dam breaks open and he cries, finally safe, his nervous system relaxing after over a year. Theo hugs him through it, resting his head against the top of Parrot’s. They stay that way for a while, the sky stretching from blue to orange.
When they eventually part, they chuckle at one another. Parrot wipes his eyes and sees Theo’s eyes are a little red too. He doesn’t comment on it. They both lean on the balcony and look out at the sunset. Parrot takes a few moments to breathe and let his tears dry. They watch as the statues in the northern council light up with an orange alpine glow.
“Come on man, they got a whole feast of food, I heard they got the good stuff.” Theo says eventually, grabbing Parrot’s shoulder and giving him a gentle shake.
“Yeah okay, lets go,” Parrot replies, amused at Theo’s excitement, but something is out of place; it catches Parrot’s eye.
Someone had scraped the moss off the cobblestone.
“Theo?” Calls Parrot. Theo turns to look at Parrot. The golden color of the sunset reflecting off the yellow of his wings. It is blinding. “Never change,”
“What dude? I would never,” jokes Theo, but he smiles, bright as always.
Parrot reflects it right back.