Lost Soul

Chapter 18: Problems Were Caused...on Purpose

"Who else would it be?" The Enderman grinned widely. The Piglin chuckled.

"Yes, I was talking with my voices. We're waiting for Tommy to show, and we got bored. Someone mentioned chess, and we ended up in a whole downward spiral about what moves are the best."

"Sounds interesting," Mellohi snickered.

"What have your voices been saying recently?" he asked, flipping the script.

"They've been arguing about stupid things," she replied. "The other day, Dex and Sebi were pretending to play a game. I think they called it Chesticuffs? I dunno. Anyway, they got into an argument about who won, and it got so bad that my ears were ringing for hours. A migraine came shortly after."

"I've had my fair share of migraines as well," Techno chuckled.

Suddenly, an aggressive banging sounded from the basement. Mellohi and The Blade shared a glance, then descended the ladder. Sure enough, Tommy was glowering at them from the floor, tapping his foot angrily.

"Took you bastards long enough."

"Tommy!" Mellohi exclaimed, casting his insult aside and enveloping him in a tall hug. His arrogant demeanor faltered for just a moment as he hugged her back, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"Finally!" Technoblade exasperatedly threw his arms in the air. "I've been waiting for, like, twenty minutes! I had to have a conversation with Mellohi about chess, of all things!"

Mellohi giggled. "It was quite amusing."

"Yeah, whatever," Tommy scoffed as he tousled the Enderman's indigo hair, which on its own was a struggle because of how tall she was.

"Did you know that there are too many ways to open a chess game?" He continued as if the boy hadn't spoken. "The most popular one is the Sicilian Defence, but the fifth is the Queen's Gambit, so if I learned that one, I could probably win more games."

Mellohi nodded along, though she understood nothing of what Techno said. Tommy, however, was not having it.

"Stop! Stop it!" he harrumphed. "You're talking sounds, and-"

Mellohi and Techno burst into laughter.

"You're talking sounds!!" the anarchist cried. Mellohi was clutching her stomach in a mixture of pain and hilarity.

"WHAT?!" Tommy shouted, face red with embarrassment.

"Tommy, you're speaking in words," Technoblade snickered, "but the only universal language is sounds."

Mellohi lost it. She could barely keep herself up, and had to lean against Technoblade for support.

"Oh, ow!" she gasped.

"Ah, shut up, you pieces of shit," Tommy grumbled. The two collected themselves, and Mellohi wiped her burning tears away.

"Well that was fun," Techno grinned. "Now come along, you two. We're visiting the Vault."

"Ooh!" the little Enderman chirped. "I love the Vault."

"I don't," Tommy grumbled.