Fight or Flight (V1)

Chapter 13: Reunion

"Grian?"

Grian perked up. He looked over to the door, and as he'd hoped, Mumbo and Iskall were standing there.

Grian felt himself at a loss for words. Should he apologize? Should he laugh? Or should he not speak at all? He wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't had a full conversation with anyone in three whole months.

Mumbo ran forward and threw his arms around Grian. "I'm so glad you're okay! Everyone missed you so much!"

Grian blinked, and in milliseconds, he was tearing up. "I missed you all too! I'm just happy to be home."

"Grian, please, never leave without an explanation again." Iskall moved forward and stood on the opposite side of the bed from Mumbo. His voice was stern, but his entire demeanor was happy and relieved.

Grian felt a smile spread across his face. "I promise guys, that was really stupid of me."

"Of course it was, but we forgive you." Mumbo finally stopped hugging him. "And you have a lot of explaining to do."

"But first," Iskall interjected, "we put something together to cheer you up. A little care package, y'know, since you'll be stuck in here for another couple days."

Grian blinked. "Really?"

Mumbo nodded. "We sorta had to look through your stuff but I hope you don't mind."

"Wow, you achieved the impossible! You found what you were looking for in my base!" Grian joked.

Iskall rolled his eyes. "It took us all morning, and your base isn't the only place we looked." He handed Grian the shulker box and sat on the edge of the bed, Mumbo doing the same.

Grian grinned and opened it.

He pulled out the first item, the OG tag. "Hey I thought we lost it?"

"Well, technically Scar was still tagged, and he actually had the tag in his storage room." Mumbo answered.

Grian pulled out the banner. "Oh this brings back memories!" He laughed a little. "That war was crazy."

He then pulled out the cake. "That's from cub, isn't it?"

"Freshly made this morning!" Iskall nodded.

Grian pulled out a clock. "Wait, is this from where I think it is?"

Mumbo grinned. "It ended up staying behind when you made your trip to alpha. Doc had it stored with Villager Grian, but let us borrow it."

"And it's still in perfect shape! A little cracked of course, but it still works fine." Grian grinned. "Someday I'm gonna rebuild that machine."

He then pulled out a familiar pickaxe. "My Fax Machine! I thought I lost it in the mansion!"

"I found it in the library the during our first rescue attempt." Iskall said.

Grian then pulled out the final two items.

"Oh... Wow..."

"I thought, since you can't wear an Elytra or Helmet, you'd want to wear those. I know how much you love them." Mumbo gave Grian a warm smile.

Grian didn't even hesitate to put the flower crown and beads on. "Thank you so much guys!"

"It's nothing. We're all just glad to have you back." Iskall said happily.

For the next few minutes, they chatted about miscellaneous things, just letting the time fly.

Finally, Grian addressed the elephant in the room. "I should probably explain uh..." He gestured to his wings, his horns... "All this."

Mumbo and Iskall nodded.

"Well, to be honest," Grian smiled sheepishly. "I have no idea either. That's why I went to the mansion. They have information about magic and curses. What I found out was that I'm a Faerie now. What I couldn't find, was why or how."

Iskall tapped his chin. "You were trying to get a specific book when you were caught, yes?"

Grian nodded.

"Well, when I grabbed your pick, I snatched the book too. Almost got my head chopped off in the process, but it was worth it." Iskall finished. "It's sitting in my enchanting room at the moment, but once you're better, we could maybe figure this out."

"Awesome!" Grian seemed much more relaxed. "I'll have to recover quicker."

"Yeah, but don't hurt yourself." Mumbo gently elbowed Grian with a smile. "You gotta take it easy, okay?"

"Okay." Grian sighed, still smiling. "But again, thank you guys."