MCSM Stories

Aetherman (17)

"What is it?" I asked Cielo.

He led me over a ways from the camp, partially into a plains biome. I didn't really know what I was going to hear, but I felt it was going to be a bad thing. About me having to leave my friends? About the fact that Jesse's part Enderman? I held my breath.

"Take a seat," He sat down on the grass, crossing his legs. I sat in front of him.

I shifted uncomfortably. I just wished he'd tell me exactly what was wrong and be over with it.

"Lukeus-"

"My name is Lukas." I corrected Cielo.

"Lukeus, as you know, I am indeed your father." he said. "...You do know that, right?"

"Yeah." I said.

"Do you remember.... Anything? From your fledglinghood?"

"Fledglinghood?" I asked.

"Childhood. Do you remember anything from your early childhood? Such as... other Aetherman?"

"No," I replied, shifting uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember being... Taken? By humans?"

"No...?"

"How did you grow up?" Cielo asked me.

"I..." I thought for a moment. "I was in an orphanage until I was adopted at five years old. My foster parents homeschooled me, until went off to live with some former friends at sixteen. We had a rivalry with Jesse and his friends up until about over a year ago, when this huge wither ate a lot of the world... we stopped it. And I've lived with Jesse and the others ever since."

We were both silent for a moment. I scratched my head. Why did Cielo want to know all this? To catch up on what he missed the past eighteen years of my life?

"I think that you should be able to know exactly where you came from."

I looked up at Cielo.

"You see, you were never supposed to be human at all."

"What!?" I blurted out. "What do you mean 'not supposed to be human'? I'm at least half human, right?"

"Well, technically speaking, yes. But you originally were a full-blooded Aetherman."

I froze. I was never supposed to be human...? Then why was I human? I was never supposed to be here in the Overworld!

"Then... what happened?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"Well, you see, it happened, wait, what form of time do you use again?"

"Years?"

"Ah, yes. About eighteen years ago, I found this very... special Aetherwoman. She was beautiful, and smart. Well, smarter than most Aethermen today- they mostly act like animals! Anyway, she and I had a child. Which was you."

I took a breath, trying to process this information. I'm supposed to be a full Aetherman. A monster.

"You were very energetic! We could barely keep track of you. Always trying to jump off of floating islands before you could fly!"

I shuddered, thinking of myself jumping off an island almost falling to my death. What was I thinking as a little kid!? Fledgling!? Whatever I was!?

"Well, that all changed when you were about five months old."

I listened.

"Three... No, four humans somehow got into the Aether. They were holding this glowing rock and piece of metal. I do remember one had this purple robe, while another one, a female, had this most unnatural blue hair I was pretty sure another one was an Ender Demigod, her eyes had green slit pupils. But what was strange was she had red hair."

"The Old Builders..." I muttered.

"Those were their names? Well, they looked pretty young to me."

"It happened eighteen years ago, right?"

"True. Anyways, they... They attacked your mother, and killed her. I tried to fend them off, but their weapons were too strong. They took you."

Well, I think life was officially a lie. Apparently I'm not supposed to be a human and the Old Builders abducted me. I tugged on my jacket sleeve.

"I knew an Aetherman, my own son especially, could not be in the hands of humans. I... used my power to make half of you human. I made sure you would turn to a human form as soon as you left the Aether. I do not know what happened to you then."

I stayed silent. At least I knew exactly where I came from now. But... where did i belong? The Aether? The Overworld? I was so confused. I stared up at Cielo, and he stared back.

"One of my friends... Well, he wasn't really my friend, but he... He shot your bow to summon you. But.. then he got killed by an Enderman."

"Enderman!?"

"Eerste."

Cielo was silent for a moment, before snapping. "Eerste is supposed to be in the End! Trapped permanently!"

"The End is... destroyed." I said, looking away for a moment.

"That can only be possible if Einde is dead as well."

"Einde's dead. Eerste's dead also."

"Well, I mean, that is good, but, who killed them!?"

"Jesse."

Cielo stared at me for a moment. "You are kidding."

"I'm not. He killed Eerste and Einde."

"An Endergod would not kill one of its own! Endermen are evil, they want the destruction of the Overworld, you should know know that."

"Cielo."

I stood up. It probably wasn't a good idea to disagree with a literal god, but I had enough of this.

"Jesse only found out he was part Enderman a month ago. Before that, he helped people. He even saved the world! And even after he found out, he still wanted the Overworld to live on. He could have easily helped Einde to destroy the world!"

I turned away momentarily, taking a breath in. I turned back to my dad.

"The person who shot the bow was also part Enderman. He... He didn't want me to turn into a mindless animal, no offense. He broke the bow so that Eerste couldn't control any Aethermen with it."

"Wait... He... Broke the bow!?"

"Yeah."

"DON'T YOU KNOW THAT WILL DESTABILIZE THE ENTIRE DIMENSION OF-"

Cielo was cut off by a loud screech as an Aetherman leapt out of the woods, right at me. Before I could let out a scream, Cielo jumped up and held out an arm, freezing the Aetherman in midair with Psychokinesis. He threw it approximately ten blocks before it hit into a tree and went limp, despawning, leaving behind several of its golden feathers and a blue shard.

Cielo looked at me. "Breaking the bow destabilizes the entirety of the Aether- It's falling apart, and its creatures will be spat out here!"

"Aethermen will kill most, if not all of the human race, right!?" I asked quickly.

"That is correct- and there's a lot more Aethermen in the Aether than there has been in the Overworld thousands of years ago."

"We... We need to get my friends!"

"Why!?"

"You can't take all of them alone, right? Let alone find them all before they kill people!?"

Cielo let out a sigh. "What can humans do to help?"

"A lot," I told him. "We've defeated a huge Wither that could have destroyed the world easily!"

"...Fine then."

"Alright then," I said. "Come on, we need to go now, before any more of these Aethermen spawn!"