Grian's shoulder was throbbing with pain by the time he flopped to the ground in front of his base. An arrow was embedded in his upper arm, lacing his shoulder with waves of agony. He had really messed up.
It was going so well...
He lamented.
What did I do wrong?
He winced, pulling himself a bit farther into his base so no curious eyes could see him. He feebly downed some golden carrots, quickly healing the wound, but the arrow remained.
Ugh... this is gonna take a while to go away...
He sighed and tried to carefully remove his bloodied jumper. Luckily, the arrow's shaft pierced his shirt not far from where he had cut the wing holes. With a small snip, he was able to painlessly remove the garment. Next, he began to wash off the blood, but instead paused, and stared at it curiously. The blood on the top was a bright purple, but the blood underneath from the initial wound was a normal blood red.
Purple blood is kind of cool.
Something vibrated softly against his leg. After a moment, he realised it was his communicator. He finished washing off the blood and retrieved it, reading what it had to say. Apparently, Impulse was now arranging a server-wide meeting.
Oh no. Did he see my face?
He thought back, remembering what had occurred that day. No, no, there wasn't any flicker of recognition on either of his friend's faces, only a cold fury in Impulse's as Bdubs had died. The communicator hummed incessantly as the server reacted to Impulse's messages. He didn't see what the big deal was.
I didn't do anything wrong.
He groaned. This was an issue. The messages rapidly flooding in seemed to agree that the meeting would happen in 45 minutes, give or take. He hoped that the arrow would disappear before then. He knew he shouldn't have put himself in danger of discovery like that, but... it was so exhilarating. Bdubs had cheated death, so it was only fair that Grian remedied that.
You murdered your friend.
A traitorous part of his mind whispered softly.
He shook his head.
"No, no!" he responded, talking to himself, "It was part of the puzzle! It was all in good fun! It was only fair for him to die. Anyways, I didn't kill him, the golem did!"
But you enjoyed it, didn't you? You liked watching your 'friends' struggle and die.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore his own dark thoughts. He stood, shook himself, and began to mumble quietly, reassuring himself.
It was all for the right reasons. It was just a game, right?
Only a game.
~ ⬩ ᒲᒷᒲ?¬ネᄋ╎ᒷᓭ ⬩ ~
"Thank you all for coming!" Impulse said, standing over the crowd of hermits. The soft buzz of chatter silenced.
"We're still missing a few people, but they will be here soon I hope." Bdubs stood beside Impulse, his face pale.
Mumbo frowned.
I wonder what happened.
Impulse continued talking.
"About an hour ago, as some of you saw in the chat, Bdubs was killed by an iron golem." Heads nodded in the crowd. Beef arrived, drifting into the crowd on his elytra.
"Now this was no accident. That tower had traps laid out everywhere, but we both survived every single one. However, upon escaping, Bdubs was met with a stranger. Bdubs? You want to tell this part?" Impulse stepped back, letting Bdubs take the stage.
"It... it had glowing purple eyes, and I saw- there were these huge wings, white and purple. I chased it, and it attacked me. It hit me. Impulse and I both chased it... but then it built a golem. As I swung at the stranger, I accidentally hit the golem, and... well, you all saw what happened..." He let that hang in the air for a moment, and the room was deathly silent.
Mumbo shivered. Being killed by an iron golem was a painful ordeal.
Impulse took over and continued the story, "As the golem attacked him, I tried to kill it, but the stranger, he just laughed. He liked watching us struggle. This person... I don't think that they are a player. They felt different. After I beat the golem, the person tried to fly away. I managed to hit it with an arrow, and here's what I found." He held up a small, silvery object.
Mumbo inhaled sharply. Impulse held a feather, splattered with blood. However, there seemed to be purplish liquid swirled amongst the red. Grian glided in and landed smoothly next to him.
"What'd I miss?" he whispered.
Mumbo explained the situation hurriedly. When he stopped, flickers of confusion rippled across his face. His friend's lack of reaction was a bit worrying.
"Are you ok, buddy?" He asked.
"Y-yeah..." His face was waxen. Mumbo assumed he was simply scared, and turned his attention to Xisuma, who was now addressing the crowd.
"...and be careful. If you see anyone with wings, do not approach them, just report it to me and we will gather a party to search. Impulse, is there anything else you want to say?"
Impulse spotted Grian. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, but Bdubs interrupted.
"Nope! Nothing else! Thank you all so much!"
Impulse stood and began to protest, but Bdubs gave him a look and shook his head ever so slightly. Impulse stopped, sitting down.
The hermits began to disperse, and rocket smoke soon filled the air as people took off.
Mumbo began to lift off, "You coming buddy?"
Grian seemed nervous, "Uhh... I'll be right there, you go on without me..."
"Alright..." He responded softly.
Something is definitely up with Grian...
~ ⬩ ℸ ̣ ⬩ ~
Impulse grabbed Grian's shoulder.
"Grian... can we have a word with you?"
Grian winced. So this is it. He had finally been rumbled. He sighed and followed Impulse off to a more secluded area, farther away from where a few hermits still stood, chatting with one another. Bdubs was waiting there, sullen-faced.
"Grian, we saw that you've been brewing invisibility potions." Impulse stated. It wasn't a question.
"We- It would- If you know anything, it would really help. We... We don't want anyone else to get hurt. Just- You should tell us, who are you selling the potions to?"
They don't know!
He silently rejoiced, and smothered a smile. He could keep his secret, for now, "I'm not sure, actually. I just keep finding orders for them at the barge. I get paid a lot..."
Impulse let out a sigh of relief, "I knew you weren't up to something. Ever the businessman, eh?" He nudged Grian jovially in the shoulder. He winced. It was still tender from the arrow.
"Y-yeah! I'll stop selling them. I don't want anyone else hurt either." He responded, smiling back.
"Have a good one!" Bdubs hollered as Grian took off.
As he began to glide over the ocean, a sudden headache overtook him. As the burst of pain throbbed against his skull, he wobbled in the air. His vision flashed to black, and he plummeted towards the waves. He felt lightning crackling around him as he fell, and bright purple characters began to appear.
||?¬レヘ ᔑ∷ᒷ ∷ᒷᔑ↸||
As he opened his eyes, his body plunged into the ice-cold water. The violet lightning surrounding his body flashed brighter for just an instant, then vanished. He smiled ear to ear. He was ready.
