Fight or Flight (V1)

Chapter 17: Despair

"Hey Scar?" Grian nervously peeked his head into Scar's base. "I uh..." He found himself stumbling for words.

For the last week, Scar and the Architects had been searching for the thing that had sparked Grian's physical changes, but with no luck. And Grian, being the impulsive player he was, decided the study the Fae book a bit more. His logic was that maybe if something triggered his magic back in Hermitville, then perhaps the same thing caused his wings and horns to grow in.

And... Well...

Grian found himself in eye contact with Scar. "Y'know how I decided to try practicing magic? Well..." He was shaking a little, and was sounding like a kid who got in trouble but was trying to hide it.

"Show me." Scar said, setting down the book he was searching through. He knew it took a lot for Grian to feel bad about something,

"It.. It's a-at my base." Grian stammered, taking off, Scar following.

Scar frowned, wondering what had Grian so upset that he'd flown over. But as they came into view of his "modern blender", it became somewhat evident what had happened. The two hermits landed inside the top layer, which was what used to be Grian's atrium.

The once-green trees were bare, red and gold leaves littering the dry, lifeless grass. The melons scattered about had rotten so much, that they were practically just dust. The Sea lanterns cleverly hidden under green-now black-carpets were grey and cracked, the light gone. The flowers had all wilted, and a strange cold chill hung around the area, freezing enough that Scar's breaths came out in puffs of fog. Cobwebs littered the corners, and the huge glass walls were slightly foggy, and the glass itself had lost its blue tint. Black, thorny roots covered the ground, twisting on odd ways. The sight sent chills down Scar's back, both figuratively and literally.

And in a corner was some fresh dirt, which confused Scar at first. But when the terraformer noticed the extra feathers in Grian's hair, he understood.

"Grian... I'm so sorry-"

"It's my fault." Grian said quickly and quietly. "I don't know what happened, Ari kept annoying me and I... I snapped."

Scar was taken aback. Sure, Grian did get annoyed at his parrots, but he loved them. He rarely snapped as he was. But something like this happening? It was sorta unnerving. Scar must've looked really shocked, because Grian took a few steps back.

"I killed my entire atrium because Ari kept chirping. What if another Hermit gets on my nerves? And I was just messing around with different spells, I'd never try anything like this-" Grian was pacing frantically.

"Deep breaths Grian, okay?" Scar put a hand on the faerie's shoulder. He wasn't sure how to calm down Grian, this was more of Stress or Joe's thing. "Let's just... Go downstairs for a bit okay?"

Grian gave a shaky nod. Scar noticed how Grian was on the verge of tears. The two made their way down to the bottom level, and Scar sat down Grian on his bed. "I'm going to message Mumbo, and call him over. You just sit tight okay?"

Grian gave another shaky nod, and Scar made his way over to Grian's mail system.

__________________________________________

Mumbo looked up from his redstone work to see that his beacon was green. He wondered what Grian was messaging him about. Oh well, it's not like he was working on anything important, just a quick fix to his super smelter with a bit of Iskall's help. He headed over to his mail room.

He was surprised to see a book in his mail chest. He opened it and read the contents.

Hey Mumbo. I need you to come over to Grian's base immediately. Something bad happened and Grian really needs a hug right now. If Iskall is with you, bring him too.

- GoodTimesWithScar

That... Doesn't sound good. Mumbo turned and called to Iskall, "We need to head over to Grian's. It sounds urgent."

"Really, well lets get there ASAP then!" Iskall hopped off of the top of Mumbo's super smelter building, his elytra spreading out smoothly behind him.

Mmbo one the other hand, took off with a less graceful ascension. Nevertheless, they were at Grian's base in a matter of minutes. "What happened?" Iskall wondered out loud as they landed on the outer ring.

"I was going to ask the same thing." Mumbo averted his eyes from the top layer and jumped into the base. In one of the corners, Scar was comforting a very upset Grian, who was sitting on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest.

Mumbo and Iskall practically ran over. "What happened?" Mumbo asked quietly.

Grian shook his head, but Scar spoke. "Grian accidentally destroyed his atrium, and his bird died in the process. He feels really bad about it."

"I didn't accidentally do it." Grian whispered dejectedly. "I was mad at Ari, and then..." He buried his head in his knees.

Mumbo sat down on Grian's other side and wrapped his arms around the small hermit. "Grian, it's okay. You didn't mean it, and that's what matters."

Iskall and Scar joined the hug. "Dude, we can always rebuild your atrium, and besides, you only just discovered you have powers. Of course something's gonna go wrong, that just how it works." Iskall said comfortingly.

"But what if I hurt someone?" Grian asked.

"You won't." Scar said a little firmly. "Because you're Grian. We all know it takes a lot for a Hermit to make you mad."

Grian sniffled, the group hug making him spill over a bit. He gave a bitter laugh that turned into a couple minutes of sobbing. The entire time, Scar, Iskall, and Mumbo were hugging him.

By the time Grian had calmed down, the sun had already set. He felt drowsy, and when the three hermits finally pulled away, Grian began to drift into sleep. He managed to get a quick "thank you" before passing out.

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"Poor Grian." Mumbo whispered, as the three Hermits watched the Faerie drift into unconsciousness. "He's still surprisingly fragile after what happened. If this had happened before the incident with the mansion, he would've still freaked out, but he'd calm down much quicker and not blame himself."

"If this happens again, maybe he should start spending some more time with Joe or Stress." Scar suggested.

Iskall nodded. "For now, let's let him be. And tomorrow, we should help him rebuild his Atrium."

"Good idea." Mumbo and Scar answered in unison, and the three left Grian to sleep.

But as Mumbo headed for his own base, he couldn't help but wonder,

What if there's more to this that we originally thought?