Awaken (Hermitcraft Fanfiction)

XXIV. Depression

TW: injuries

The Soup Group shivered as they exited the rift. Impulse retched, the disorienting effect of portal travel at least twentyfold of what he was used to. Gem looked like she was holding back the loops her stomach had been thrown in by brute force. Pearl remained unaffected. Dark gray magic continued to shine from her skin as she looked around the bare endstone island they had landed on after hijacking Grumbot's rift. Thanks to a charm she had placed, the portal closed and neutralized any tracking spells that could stem from it.

"Jeb, it's colder than both the End and the Arctic combined here," Impulse commented, rubbing his arms. The black short-sleeve t-shirt he usually wore was insufficient for retaining body heat. "I guess that means we're in the right place, right?"

"Yep," Pearl responded, glancing upward at the massive citadel that sprawled in the heavens.

From the island, it looked like a speck in the sky, barely large enough to see the various towers scattered throughout it, connected by needle-thin bridges. The only purpose of those is to allow children to scurry back and forth from home to class. They did not yet have wings; a single misstep would send them to their dooms. Luckily, the Watchers set up respawn points in their homes, otherwise, there would be no continuing their race.

"Dear Notch, we're going up there?" Gem asked, pointing directly at the city.

"Yep."

"Can you say anything other than 'yep'?" Impulse teased, retrieving rockets from his enderchest.

"Yep."

He shrugged, handing several stacks of rockets to Gem. Pearl rejected them, pulling off her elytra and opening her wings. The bandages fell away, revealing freshly healed limbs, although some feathers had yet to fully gain color. She flapped them several times, feeling the wind fill the space and lift her upward. Satisfied, she planted the chorus flower and broke the bone block into bonemeal.

"Do you have respiration on your helmets?" Pearl asked, dark gray – nearly black – magic jumping off her skin in sparks.

"Yeah," Impulse replied, "I have respiration three."

"Same," Gem added.

"You'll need more than that," Pearl declared. "Give them to me."

Magic glowed as she wordlessly enhanced their armor, increasing the enchantment effects to suffice for the paper-thin atmosphere. She returned their helmets, gesturing to the flower.

"Get on."

"What?" Impulse cried. "I thought we were flying up!"

"Too loud," Pearl responded curtly. The bonemeal glowed as she multiplied its effects, too. She touched a piece to the flower, watching it shoot upward seven blocks. She clambered to the top, hooking her arm around one of the branches shooting off the side.

"Coming?" she asked one more time, pointing at the leaves beside her. Gem shrugged, using Impulse's enderchest to stow her items. She replaced her elytra with her chestplate and climbed the stalk, resting directly beneath Pearl.

"I still think flying is a better idea," Impulse muttered as he copied Gem and joined them on the flower.

"This is the Soup Group way, Impulse," Gem joked, grabbing his arm.

Pearl remained silent, lost in her thoughts. After several seconds of silence, she acknowledged their presence with a slight nod and glanced at the bonemeal glowing intensely in her fists. She cast it at the base of the plant and they shot upwards. The air was whisked away by the speed of their ascent, disappearing like the island beneath them.