~The First Step~ a Hermitcraft AU

Chapter 28 (Mumbo)

wc: 1211

tw: death threats

There was a thud as Mumbo met hard, cement floor.

He lay there for a moment, feeling his thoughts pull back together and the dizzying twisting in his stomach subside. A beat passed, and he pushed his hands other himself and pushed himself up.

Immediately, hands were grabbing his shoulders and he stared straight into the purple symbol on Grian's mask.

"What," Grian hissed through his teeth, "Do you think you are doing?!"

Mumbo blinked, swallowing hard. "I-"

"I don't want to hear it," Grian growled, releasing Mumbo and standing up. He paced to the other wall of the room.

Mumbo finally took a moment to look around, which he would have been glad to not have done, considering that they were in a jail cell with cement walls and bars. There was a concerning amount of strange splatters on the walls and floor, a mix of deep violet and rusted red.

"You're not supposed to be here," Grian groaned. "Why can't anything go according to plan-"

His hands went to his hair, and Mumbo saw the black streak that raked through it.

"Sorry," Mumbo whispered. "I- I saw you going through the portal and I- I panicked."

Grian took a breath, and Mumbo found himself tensing in fear. Mumbo had never been particularly scared of Grian, but right now, he wouldn't mind putting some more distance between himself and the more powerful man.

"It's not your fault," Grian said, voice tight with frustration. "Let me-" A little zap of violet sparked, and he yelped and took a step backward.

"What?" Mumbo asked, a little dazed. Grian scowled, holding up his wrists. Menacing silver cuffs encircled them, small runes glowing faintly.

"Reinforced with sugar," he spat. He shook out his hands, muttering, before turning to Mumbo.

"Listen," he said very quietly. "The moment they let us out of this cell, I'll make something and you run. And you don't stop. You just run straight. Close your eyes."

Mumbo swallowed thickly and nodded. "I- Just- Where are we?" he asked, ignoring the way his voice wavered.

Grian's posture slumped as he sank back down to the floor. "Watchers' place," he said. "We happen to be in the worst part, the part where all the officials live. We're imprisoned in the prison branch directly next to the conference room since we are high priority prisoners. This cell is the furthest one from the door."

Mumbo blinked. "You seem to know a lot about this place."

A laugh. "You could say that."

A silence fell over the two. A prisoner down the row coughed.

At one point, a slot opened in the wall and a something small and purple fell out of it. Grian picked it up, turning it over. "Chorus fruit," he said to Mumbo.

Mumbo leaned in to look. It was shaped strangely, almost like a flower, and was an unpleasant shade of mauve. "Do you eat it?"

Grian winced. "It... yeah, but when you swallow it, it teleports you." He knocked on the cement wall. "The walls and bars and enchanted so that we can't teleport out, but if you eat too much, you probably throw up. And then you're hungrier than how you started."

He leaned down and took a small bite. There was a moment as he swallowed, before disappearing in a flurry of particles and appearing a on Mumbo's left. It took barely a moment for him to regain his balance, then offered the other side to Mumbo.

A little warning fluttered in Mumbo's heart, but he took the smallest nibble anyway. It tasted tangy, and slightly like ash. Not very good, but not too bad.

And then there was a flash of purple, and Mumbo was on his rear at the other side of the cell, blinking away spots as the world spun. Grian was there immediately, a hand on Mumbo's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice. Mumbo looked at the awful symbol on Grian's masked and grimaced.

"Yeah, just surprised," he muttered, scratching the back of his head a little sheepishly.

Grian exhaled slowly. "You should eat. I'll wait for the next drop off." He pushed the fruit into Mumbo's hands.

"When will the next drop off be?" Mumbo asked.

Grian shrugged. "Whenever they feel like it." He cocked his head, listening. "Speaking of they..." Suddenly he grabbed Mumbo by the shoulders. "Whatever you do, don't talk. Be... so scared you can't talk." His voice lowered as Mumbo heard the rattling of keys. "Don't give anything away. Not even your name."

Mumbo barely managed to get a nod in as bootsteps made themselves known. Grian pushed him away, cloak spilling around him in a puddle of black.

A young looking man (it was hard to tell with the masks) appeared in front of the bars. His dark hair was nicely groomed, and he had a high-waisted uniform and a long black cloak similar to Grian's. What Mumbo could see of his face was handsome, and he seemed almost welcoming as his hands curled around the bars.

"Xelqua!" he crooned, and Grian flinched so hard that Mumbo thought at first that he'd physically been hit somehow. "It's great to have you back."

"Wish I could say the same," Grian said, keeping his voice level. "But while this exchange is so pleasant, there's been a mistake. We need to get him out of here." He gestured towards Mumbo.

There was a pause as mystery person observed Mumbo. "He looks... spindly," the man said, and it looked as if his nose wrinkled.

Mumbo made a noise of protest, but Grian continued. "He has no use to you. Let him go. It was part of the deal, wasn't it?"

A look was shot in Mumbo's direction. "Let's have this conversation in a-" and then gibberish. Literally, gibberish. They continued to argue, but in an entirely different tongue. Mumbo's gaze shot between them, mind reeling.

In the end, they both looked frustrated. Mystery man shouted something and Grian flinched back, and by instinct Mumbo's arms rose to protect Grian.

"I don't know what's going on, but don't hurt him," he said, the waver in his voice not cementing his statement at all.

Grian growled something.

Mystery man frowned. "I'll move him into another cell." He quirked a smile. "In the mean time, Grian, you'll be coming with me. We have a lot to chat about."

Mumbo felt his arm get grabbed (quite forcefully) and a cry ripped itself from his throat. HIs legs struggled to find purchase on the ground as mystery man dragged him a little bit down the hall and tossed him in unceremoniously, the steel door closing with a harsh bang.

"I need Xelqua," he muttered. "I won't hesitate to kill you if you get in the way of my plan." He leaned in a little close, and Mumbo found himself curling into the back wall of the cell. "He's gonna make everything better. There's no good guy or bad guy. I'm gonna change everything. And I need your friend." His mouth quirked into a smile. Not at all evil, just... hopeful.

In fact, Mumbo quite liked this man, minus the death threats. He seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders.

yay its out! things gonna get juicy FINALLy i literally wrote this entire thing just for the end.

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

-Ete