~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 27 (Mumbo)

wc: 1140

tw: mentions of blood and death

we're back with some tfs and a fic rec! its called take the bait by quackingfish on ao3 and i love it so much! go give it some love (check comments for link) 

its like a cool gangster fic with grian mumbo scar and gem and its a mistborn era 2 AU, and even though i had no idea what that was before i read the fic the story still made sense and was super interesting <3

Being a ghost wasn't too bad, and neither was death. Except for the hole on the back of his suit, seemingly nothing had changed.

In fact, the moment Mumbo had died, he hadn't felt it at first. There had been a flash of pain, a strangled cry thick with blood-

And then it hadn't hurt anymore. He had stepped forward, realizing the sword was gone. But when he turned around, Grian had been standing over someone else's body. A husk of his former self, legs twisted awkwardly and blood pouring slowly from the sword wound.

It had been shocking at first, and yeah, probably a bit traumatizing; but as Mumbo walked around with Jimmy, chatting idly, he felt at peace for the first time in... a long time.

It had started probably when he found Grian and discovered his wings (and those scars), and then just went downhill from there. And now, as Mumbo and Jimmy crouched in trees, he could feel his stomach sinking as he realized that Grian was going to reveal himself.

Mumbo did not understand the weight of the situation; he knew that he had no idea how important this could be, would be. So as he knelt on a thicker branch of a tree, one hand clenched on the trunk, the other closed around a smaller branch above him, Mumbo was scared. Very scared. Not the temporary kind, like when Grian had killed him, but the suffocating kind that blanketed your life like how sulfur blanketed Pompeii.

A chilly wind swept through the clearing as Grian and Martyn faced each other. Mumbo idly plucked a leaf from the branch he was crouched on. Just like every other item he had touched, it replicated itself into his hand; the leaf he clutched became transparent like him. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

"What are you doing?" Grian whispered, taking a step back. Mumbo noticed for one of the first times that Grian's roots were growing out black; he hadn't known that Grian dyed his hair.

"I could ask you that," Martyn shot back.

There was a frustrated sigh from Grian, and his hands flew up to run through his hair. "Look, I know that-" his voice cracked, "-it's me. Okay? I don't want any problems. Just... let me go."

"No," Martyn said, a little shaky at first. "No. I have a lot of history with them too, and I know they've been wanting me for a long time after we escaped Evo."

"If we're talking history, then I think that's a competition I've won," Grian said quietly. Martyn stood up a bit straighter, as if taking it as a challenge.

"Martyn..." someone in the crowd whispered; BigB, Mumbo remembered.

Martyn glanced at the rest of the group, all in various conditions, none good. A moment of contemplation passed, and he inhaled sharply.

"Not everybody escaped Evo alive," he said finally, and Grian flinched back.

"I know," he replied quietly, hand fidgeting with his sleeve. It was still a vibrant red, despite having been battered over the past few... Mumbo had no idea how long it had been.

"The Listeners took me to the faeries, since I'm part forest elf," Martyn continued. "Since Watchers kept trying to find me. I don't know why they were so adamant about it."

Grian nodded. There was a pause, and Mumbo found himself holding his breath; Grian had that effect on someone. Just a sort of authority that had everybody agreeing and playing along with his jokes.

He held up a hand casually. Mumbo's eyes widened as purple twined around his fingers, and he stared at it almost quizzically. Martyn took a step back, gaze trained on the magic warily. Half of the crowd seemed shocked, the other seemed confused.

With no warning, Grian flung his arm to the side, and a ball of purple flew into the broken portal. It instantly lit aflame, a shockwave shoving everybody back except for Grian, who merely stood, sweater billowing around him. Even Martyn was forced to take a step back, an arm thrown up to shield his face. Grian's hair fell over his eyes, shadowing his face. 

Mumbo toppled from his tree and bounced once. As a (temporary) ghost, he was apparently not able to hurt himself. Which was pretty funny, actually, he and Jimmy had taken turns swinging through trees and doing really bad parkour. There were at least five times when one of them should have died. They'd both left unscathed.

But when he landed, there was a sharp pain his hand. He stared at it, startled to see a little wood splinter. When Mumbo flexed his hand, it stung.

He looked up at Jimmy, who looked equally confused, before turning back to Grian.

It was terrifying.

First, he saw Martyn, whose already pointed ears became sharper. When his eyes (which had squeezed shut) opened, they were lavender, and butterfly wings ripped from the back of his t-shirt. Antennae grew out of his head, and his hands pressed down on them, expression mortified.

As his eyes darted over the crowd.

And then Mumbo's gaze drifted to Grian, and that instilled an entirely different kind of fear inside of him. Not fear, it was more of... awe.

Mumbo had seen Grian in this form before, with the same black cloak and giant wings. This time, Grian did not try to mask the glowing otherworldliness that surrounded him, instead holding out a staff that materialized in his hand and poking the ground in front of the circle that surrounded the portals. Shimmering symbols were engraved on the handle, but Mumbo had no idea what they said.

There was a flare of wings as Grian turned to look at Martyn. His eyes were so bright that they probably could have lit up a room, and Martyn looked impossibly small next to him. "I've made a deal with them," he said quietly. "They wanted you for me, and now they have me. Just stay safe. Go through the other portal. That's it."

Grian snapped his fingers, and a strangely shaped mask with pointed edges and a purple symbol that matched the portal appeared in his hand. He fit it above the bridge of his nose, and it seemed to cling to his face. His mouth twisted in a grimace.

Then Mumbo saw one boot step forward, reaching over the line-

"Grian?" Mumbo whispered hoarsely, and then he was running, and the crowd was gasping and trying to pull at him, and he heard Jimmy behind him shouting out his name, and Grian's mask was staring at him-

One of Mumbo's hands reached out, but Grian's drew closer to himself-

The thud of Grian's boot on the other side of the circle rung in Mumbo's ears. Grian turned with a whirl of wings, going to leap into the portal, but Mumbo was there-

Mumbo grabbed onto the back of Grian's cloak, and he turned, mouth open in shock and horror-

And then there was a gut wrenching warping of worlds, and Mumbo was gone.

yeesh

thank you for reading! have a good day or night, wherever you are!

-Ete