A Path to a Different Happy Ending (Flower Husbands Empires Fic)

Chapter Sixteen: Was it Worth it?

Shubble turned around, then went to the trapdoor. It was surrounded with moss carpets so no one could see the obsidian.

"Hey, Gem?" She called. "I'm gonna grab some blocks so you can tower out of there, okay?"

"Yep!" Gem called back.

Shubble went to approximately where the obsidian would end, then did some impromptu bad terraforming, grabbing four blocks of dirt. She ran over to the trapdoor and dropped them to Gem, who towered her way out.

~*~

Joel had seen Sausage and heard him muttering about pitiful jobs, so he told Lizzie and they had followed him.

Now, they watched as Shubble knocked him out and got Gem out of their little cell. But Sausage was stirring, and none of the queens, not Gem, not Shubble, not Lizzie, had noticed.

Joel pulled out his bow, knowing that if Sausage reported this escape attempt, there would probably never be another chance. He knocked an arrow and drew his bow as Lizzie called out to the other queens. He released, and his arrow flew straight to his target. But Sausage moved, and the arrow caught him in the eye instead of the arm, which would have stopped whatever message he was about to send. Sausage slumped to the ground, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Ding. Four communicators went off with a death message.

"Crap! We need to go, now!" Joel started typing out a message that he and Lizzie had found Shubble and Gem, and that they needed to go. He scrambled to his feet and started running in the direction of Joey's Nether portal, the queens following him.

~*~

Ding. Ding.

Scott looked at his communicator, as it and Jimmy's went off. There was a death message, Joel had killed Sausage, and a message from him saying they needed to leave.

Scott glanced up at Jimmy, and his heart skipped a beat. He was really pretty in the sunset light. Scott could feel himself flushing, but shook it off. "Jimmy. Let's go."

Jimmy nodded, and they started running. They quickly rounded the back of the Fire Temple (They'd gone to search there more thoroughly), but as they did, a certain demon appeared in front of them.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? My brother, and the Codfather." Xornoth smiled.

Scott turned and ran, circling the Fire Temple again to avoid Xornoth. He came out around the other side, glancing over his shoulder to see Jimmy and Xornoth following him. He sprinted across the lake, willing it to turn into ice with just enough traction for Jimmy to run on it, and for it to stay where Jimmy was. As he crossed, he saw Pearl and Rarran, then Joel, Lizzie, Shubble, and Gem, then Katherine and fWhip all vanish through the portal. Good. They were safe.

As Scott reached the portal, he looked over his shoulder, just to make sure Jimmy was there. He wasn't. Scott's stomach dropped. He was halfway into the Nether portal cave Joey had made, on his back on a slab of ice, Xornoth standing over him, sword raised. Scott immediately willed the ice to vanish, plunging them both into the water. As Jimmy sat up, scooting away from Scott's brother, Scott was able to see the blood in the water, and the odd angle Jimmy's leg was at.

Jimmy looked over his shoulder. "Go! Break the portal, or freeze it! Don't let him get to you! I can't make it."

Xornoth had pulled himself back to his feet as was stalking towards Jimmy again. "I may have lost the wizard and the gnome, but at least I'll have this one by the end of the day."

Scott was panicking. He couldn't leave Jimmy behind, that just wasn't an option. But how was he supposed to get to him and carry him to the portal? He couldn't walk, he had a broken leg!

Screw this, Scott thought, sprinting across the water, freezing it as he went, to Jimmy. He slid to his knees, scooped up the Codfather, then froze the water around Xornoth so that he couldn't move. Jimmy cried out, surprised. Scott scrambled to his feet and ran to the Nether portal. The ice wouldn't hold Xornoth for long.

Scott leaped into the portal, freezing it shut as he did so Xornoth couldn't follow.

~*~

"Sausage! You idiot! You let them get out!" Joey was furious. He and Sausage had found Xornoth standing, staring at the ice-covered Nether portal. "If the girls hadn't gotten out on their own, no one would ever have known where they were and-"

"Enough, Joey." Xornoth said. "I'll deal with him later. For now, at least this day wasn't a total loss."

"What do you mean? We lost our prisoners!" Joey protested.

"My brother was headed out the portal, and one of his friends got stuck behind. The Codfather. Scott turned back for him, even though it was foolish. I saw the look in his eyes." Xornoth turned around, smiling. "My brother is in love. And I know who to target to hit him where it hurts."

Guys. Secret life. In case of spoilers, I will say no more