Crystal Sight (Empires SMP fanfiction) (ON PAUSE)

Mistakes

"Gem, that was... awesome. Holy shit, look at that tree!" Fwhip exclaimed. I turned to him with a broad smile.

"Thank you. I never would have figured that out on my own. Now, let's go visit the Grimlands. Maybe I can help with something over there."

.  .  .

LOCATION: G R I M L A N D S

The Grimlands had completely changed. The streets had been paved. The city was alive with the sounds of metal on metal and the occasional explosion followed by laughter. Children played happily, faces coated with Redstone dust. Although I could still see signs of the war. A pile of rubble here and there. Burn marks.

People stopped and stared as we passed. Fwhip just smiled and waved as I strode confidently beside him, staff in hand and Gandalf at my heels.

As we walked up to a building that looked like a mixture of a castle and a forge, the door swung open and a woman walked out, a small baby in her hands. A silver crown sat on her head. The womans eyes lit up when she saw us. I knew her. My best friend from childhood, Hilda. 

I raised my brow at Fwhip. He just smiled wryly and rubbed the back of his neck. Hilda rushed down the stairs and wrapped me in the best hug she could around the kid. The child wiggled in protest.

"Gem! You're alive!" She cried. Fwhip gently took the kid so Hilda could hug me properly. He slightly ticked the baby's stomach, earning a little giggle. 

"Yeah. How've you been? And what's with the crown?" I asked. She laughed slightly, letting go.

"I've been amazing. And as it turns out, this brother of yours can be quite the charmer." She said with a wry smile. I looked at her blankly for a moment before realizing what she meant. 

"Oh, so wait, you're..." I trailed off. Hilda nodded as Fwhip snorted.

"I wrote you one sucky poem," He laughed. Hilda cringed.

"It wasn't sucky. It was horrible. That's why I loved it." She said. I looked at the baby in Fwhips' arms.

The baby had rich ginger hair like Fwhip, with green eyes like Hilda. He cocked his little head at me, curious. I smiled. I hadn't expected this.

"C'mon inside, Gem. Check the place out." Fwhip told me, swinging the door open more.

The building was one room with a staircase spiraling along the circular walls. A massive anvil sat in the middle of the room with a furnace in the middle of it. Stairs were carved into the anvil, leading up onto a platform. An equally large hammer dangled above, attached to a rope and lever. Workstations lined the walls, basking the room in heat. I could already feel the sweat dripping down my forehead. He led us upstairs, which was luckily cooler than downstairs.

The ceiling was a glass dome lined with sporadic frames of copper. Doors lined the walls, and the middle of this floor was dominated by a tall statue of our grandfather standing over an anvil, hammer in hand. The man who declared our independence from the Cod Empire. The founder of the Grimlands Empire.

"There are some... problems we need help with." Fwhip said. I turned to him.

"What?" I asked. He led me to a window overlooking a farmland. Wheat withered away in large patches and farmers scurried to harvest the wheat without the blight. I frowned.

"Can you do anything about it?" Hilda asked. I nodded and turned on my heel, heading back downstairs and out into the field. The farmers gave me odd looks as I walked into the middle of the crops.