Sorry for the wait between chapters! In case you haven't noticed, I've got a new experimental project that I've been working on besides this story. It's called "The Tempered One" and I am very impressed by how different my main character is in that story (compared to my usual main characters) That's all I'm gonna say about that. You'll have to check it out!

I now have a Town of Salem account. I play every few days whenever I can get on. If anyone's interested, feel free to send me a pm saying your ToS name. I'd be willing to play with you.

In other news, Gradyleeward has recently posted a story called "The Crepper King" and it's dedicated to me! That's so cool! So you can check that out if you want to.

Also, Grady, I told you I already have a plan for the last hybrid. He's not going to be Aetherian.

To TheFanficCritic: I don't exactly have something like that planned, but you can expect the Valkyries to appear sooner or later.

Anyways, have a good day/night! I'm on spring break as of today, so there might be chapters popping up within the next week!

-Laurel

It took us a total of about five days to give up on the portal method.

We couldn't figure out who had written the Aether book, or who had the portal. I wasn't even sure there was a portal anymore, I couldn't sense anything of great power anywhere in the town.

We couldn't find glowstone anywhere either. The Nether was more dangerous than ever in the past ten years, according to a merchant and his friend adventurer. It was too dangerous to try to get glowstone from the Nether, even by adventurer standards. None of the other merchants had any either, it was too valuable for potions and had sold out months before.

We altered our plan slightly.

I managed to work out something so that Mist and Shade would be apprentices of the Holy Church for a while, while Ty and I tried the other method of getting to the Aether.

They would work in the church and keep an eye on the actual priests, to make sure Notch wasn't sending them instructions or telling them about us.

The only reason they and Hector had to stay behind was because this was the method that required flight, as I'd asked the moa before. They couldn't fly, and therefore, couldn't come with us.

As Ty and I left the city and shed our confining robes for our usual clothes, I couldn't help but feel guilty. My brother and I were always leaving the others behind, and going off on our own. Our whole little family of hybrids was almost never convenient, but one or two of us could go and get a job done.

And that one or two was usually myself and Ty.

Right now, Mist and Shade Were collecting information, but it was just a minor task they'd been left to because they couldn't fly.

I couldn't imagine not flying, not having wings, always confined to the ground...

My earliest memory was the scientists encouraging me and Ty when we were learning how to fly. We'd been about three years old. There were much nicer scientists there then, but they'd drifted away as the experiments became more horrifying.

I shook my head, chasing the thought from my mind. I never wanted to think about that place again.

-Ty, any idea where we would even go to find that golden cloud?- I asked, flying a little bit away from him, scanning the skies.

'I'm not sure'

'Go to the ocean. It's not too far away. But fast, please' Enderlox said.

-Any reason why?- I asked.

The dark half of my brother hesitated before answering, 'Sister, I have this odd feeling. Like... We Need to be at the coast, and soon'

-That's probably intuition. It's better than anything else we have so far. Let's go, Ty-

'Wait, you're trusting him so quickly?' Ty asked.

-Enderlox is trying to help, Ty. I don't know when you're going to accept it, but he is, and I trust him. Now come on, or I'm leaving without you- I said, stern.

He paused as I beat my wings and headed west, in the direction of the ocean.

I heard him swearing at Enderlox as he frantically tried to catch up to me.

'Sometimes, I really hate the both of you' He mumbled when I slowed down so he could fly beside me, our violet-webbed wings filling the sky.

-Oh, come on! You love us- I laughed.

'I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Ty' Enderlox muttered darkly.

I mentally soothed Enderlox, but kept flying. My brother and I were silent until we came upon the sight of the ocean.

The sun was setting, casting an orange glow upon the land. I didn't like the color orange much, but I loved sunset orange, it was really the only hue of orange I liked.

-Now, let's take a look around- I said, looking up at the few clouds drifting up above us.

"There!" Ty yelped out loud, abandoning our mental conversation.

I looked to where he was pointing, and sure enough, the cloud he was pointing out was very clearly gold.

'Good job, brother' I praised Enderlox, then spoke to Ty, "Okay, let's get up there!"

I beat my wings, catching the air beneath them and lifting myself higher up in the sky.

Curls of wind tugged at the tips of my wings, and I smiled as they lifted me up, closer to the cloud.

The book had mentioned this as well. A divine wind that would truly carry us up to the Aether. We were doing it.

I didn't dare to speak, this was too good to be true. At long last, we'd found our way to the Aether.

I burst through the golden cloud, its touch like silk against my skin. I grinned at the sensation, but gasped from amazement mere moments later.

When we came out on the other side of the cloud, we were in the Aether. The floating islands exactly as they'd been described in the book. It was rapidly growing dark.

-We made it, Ty. You were right, Enderlox- I whispered, all of us so quiet.

Then, out of nowhere, I saw dark mobs wandering around.

And something that looked like a dark cloud with lines of softly glowing blue was coming towards us.

"Ty!" I yelled in warning, jumping back in the air and pulling my brother along with me, barely avoiding the jolt of blue lighting the cloud mob had shot at us.

"A Tempest!" I exclaimed, once we'd gotten far enough away from any of the islands.

"We need to find some place to stay and wait the night out" My brother suggested.

I glanced around, "That little island over there in the middle of nowhere looks pretty safe"

"So that will be it"

We flew over to the island, and I lit it up with some violet-flamed torches.

There wasn't much else we could do but wait out the night.

"I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Ty, Enderlox" I muttered, curling up on the soft mint-green grass.

"Goodnight, Krystal"

'Goodnight, sister'

I felt Ty's wing brush my arm for a moment, then I fell asleep.

(Time skip)

I woke just before dawn, just as the sky was growing light on the horizon.

Ty was snoring softly beside me, and I decided not to wake him up yet.

As the sun rose, I turned and looked to the island nearest to ours, a good fifty-some blocks away. I wanted to see if the mobs here acted like Overworld mobs on the day/night cycle.

I could see a Tempest, as well as a moa-like mob the book had called a Cockatrice. The book had warned against both, stating that the Tempest was a night form of a normally playful mob called a Zephyr, which threw little balls of clouds at others, which had a tendency to knock the others back or up in the air. Tempests, on the other hand, shot blue lighting and fire at anyone who came too close, as we'd found out first hand that was true.

The Cockatrices apparently spawned at night, and shot poison quills from their tails. The quills themselves weren't the danger, it was the poison. The book had described something called a white apple, which apparently stopped the effects of the poison.

I could see other shapes moving around further away, but it was too far to see distinctly, even with my enhanced vision.

As the sun peeked over the horizon, I noticed they were looking up, expecting something.

By the time the sun's light covered most of the land, and it wasn't dark anymore, both the Tempests and Cockatrices grew paler in color, turning a bluish white. They reverted to their day forms, Zephyrs and moas.

I was grinning widely when Ty woke up.

"What are you doing...?" He asked drowsily, sitting up.

I pointed over at the other island, "I've been observing the mobs. It's really interesting"

Ty squinted at the distant floating land mass, then sighed, "I truly am envious of your eyesight. My hearing's such a bother"

"Well, at least if you need to, you can eavesdrop on someone across a room. That's gotta be useful" I pointed out.

"I like your powers better than mine, except for the glowing claw thing I have, that's badass"

'It most certainly is' Enderlox, the one who had discovered that particular power of theirs, muttered.

"Let's get ourselves settled a bit. There's trees over there, and according to your research, these mobs don't attack during the day. We can build a base and get a few supplies. Do some mining even. Apparently there are ores here too" Ty said.

I laughed, "Just make sure you don't mine out the bottom of an island!"

He punched me lightly on the shoulder, and I laughed again.

(Time skip)

Ty and I were mining, having found an island that was particularly deep. We hadn't yet made a home, but had collected wood and had found some of the white apples just to be safe.

I was mining out an area with my stone pickaxe, Ty was on the other side of the island's underground doing the same. I was also keeping track of the gods and bosses' quarrel.

Man, these guys just did not give up or stop talking. I felt like it was some kind of half-conscious world similar to DreamSight, and they used it without having to devote their attention to it or expend much effort.

Suddenly, I heard a voice that was clearly Not in the same conversation as before.

-Krystal? Where are you, dear one? I cannot see you!-

I gasped, and responded, -Mother!-

Her voice was faint, from far away, -You can hear me? Krystal, where are you? I can't sense you or your brother anywhere, and the endermen can't find you!-

-Mother, we're fine. We're in the Aether-

-The Aether is far from safe for you two-

-Notch doesn't know we're here yet. Trust me, I can hear your conversation with them. I know he'd let it loose if he found us-

-You can hear the conversation of the divine beings? Dearest one, none can but the...-

I cut her off, -Gods and bosses. I know, I already figured that out. I don't think I can speak there, but I can listen-

-That is impossible- She stated.

-All Ty and I are is impossible-

She hesitated a moment before agreeing.

-Mother, we're going to confront Notch-

-Dearest, I cannot speak with you very long, you are too far away. I wish you and your brother luck. I wish I could do more to protect you...-

-Just having a mother is more than enough. Thank you-

-Goodbye, Krystal-

Her voice and presence vanished from my mind, but I whispered into the empty air, "See you soon enough, Mother"

"Who you talking to?" Ty asked, coming into my mining area, lugging a chest full of stone and ores behind him.

"Oh. Hi, Ty" I explained to him exactly what Mother had said to me, even finally admitting to him and Enderlox about the voices I'd been hearing for about a week now, the gods and bosses.

"Well, things are getting interesting, eh?" My brother said.