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Valor awoke that morning feeling… wrong.

He blinked his eyes open, only to wince and cover them as the light from the window made a headache bloom in his skull. Nether, was he really this hungover from two drinks?

He rolled over to place his back to the window, blinking his eyes open to stare at the wall instead. He felt achey… had he gone to sleep in his suit? He must have been exhausted last night, he could barely remember the period before he fell asleep…

…oh right, he'd argued with his father.

Valor grimaced, glaring at a sock left on the floor. He couldn't tell at this point which one of them had been at fault… if he was drunk, it was likely his. He should talk to him and apologize.

Eventually, he managed to lift his head. He had left the pickaxe in the kitchen, so… no, there it was at the foot of his bed. Had Herobrine moved it? Where was he?

"Father?" Valor whispered, slowly pushing himself up. "Where are you?" No response. Shielding his eyes from the light, Valor swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood upright. "I'm sorry for last night." He tried. "What are you doing?" Still, nothing. Instinctively, Valor's hand lifted to trace the amulet around his neck.

…and found nothing.

Valor immediately looked down, searching for it, tracing around the collar of his shirt.

The amulet was gone. Had he somehow lost it? He never took it off! Now he was virtually mortal again, and-

-and he couldn't see his father.

Oh no.

Steven crossed his arms as his nephew paced in front of him.

"You're sure you didn't jes' take it off b'fore bed?" He asked.

"I never take it off!" Valor's tone was agitated as he marched back and forth. "And if I had, it would be somewhere in the house! It's not!"

"Val, panickin' won't get you anywhere." Steven reminded him. Valor stopped, taking a deep breath before letting it out.

"…I spoke to my father just before I went home." He continued, thinking aloud. "So I had it then. I didn't see him after I got home, I must have dropped it on the street, or-" He cut himself off. "I bumped into someone." He turned to his uncle again. "Maybe I dropped it then?"

"Or it was stolen." Steven muttered. Valor's eyes widened. "Thieves skilled in slight 'f hand can easily get valu'bles off a target from a collision." He gestured to his nephew. "'Specially if they're tipsy." Valor groaned, clutching his head with both hands.

"I'm an idiot."

"A thief would be looking to resell it 'fer profit as soon as possible." Steven mused. "Like'ly at a black market gathering. Obviously 'f I knew of any I'd've busted them already, but, don't y' make it your business to hunt down the criminal underground?"

"I do," Valor didn't look cheered by this. "But if I don't find them before they sell it, I'll never find it. And I'm vulnerable now!"

"Didn' stop you before." Steven pointed out. Valor just fisted his hands in his hair. "Y'don't… have any partic'ylar connection to it?" He asked. "Yer bound t' it, after all." Valor shook his head.

"No… not that would allow me to track it, anyway." His hand lowered to trace over his collarbone, searching for the missing necklace. "I feel exposed without it." Steven grunted in reply. Not only was he mortal now, as opposed to when the amulet was constantly healing him, but Valor no longer had his father as a companion. Steven was never able to see him, but he could see how much more confident and calm Val was when he was near.

"Would they sell it here?" Val was asking. "Or go elsewhere?"

"I don't know." Steven shook his head. "There's a chance ye just dropped it. Prob'ly wise t' retrace your steps from last night b'fore you freak out."

"Alright… yeah…" Without another word, Valor turned and left the house. Steven cast a glance at his pickaxe, left behind on the kitchen table.

"He's really in it now, huh?" He muttered. The pickaxe shifted. "What am I gonna do with 'im?" While he couldn't see or hear the spirit attached to the pickaxe, Herobrine's ability to interact with it gave him the ability to communicate somewhat. Through this, as well as Valor's ability to translate for him, the two were able to resolve the argument that they had had almost 15 years ago.

"Don't suppose you know what happened to it?" Steven murmured. The pickaxe shifted back and forth, a no. "Know anyone who would?" A pause, then the weapon lifted off the table, held by an invisible hand. As Steven watched, it was carried across the room, then the tip rested against a chunk of yellow, porous stone that sat on Steven's shelf. The enforcer frowned, momentarily confused, before he remembered the origin of the rock.

"…the End?"

Valor gazed up at the colored light that flowed through the stained-glass window before him, basking in the peace and quiet. Perhaps a church was an odd place to meet with an enderman, but he didn't want to risk his friend being seen. He should come here more often, it was quite the peaceful place in between events.

The amulet was, as he'd expected, nowhere to be found on the route he had taken home last night, all but confirming that it had been stolen. Even if he had just dropped it, someone would have picked it up in a hurry. It wasn't every day that one found a valuable necklace laying on the street.

He had returned to Steven's house discouraged and anxious, only for his uncle to suggest that he contact the Endermen for help. This idea had calmed him somewhat. If anyone could help him track down the amulet, it would be them, right?

Herobrine's pickaxe laid beside Val where he knelt on the floor, waiting for his signal to be responded to. His father had taught him years before his death how to get in contact with Lear in case he ever needed him. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to call for him while in Null's prison.

Though, that had arguably turned out for the better, as Null killing him had allowed him to discover that not only was his father still with him, but he was functionally immortal. With the amulet. Which was now missing.

Valor's gaze lowered to his father's pickaxe. He had no one to blame for this folly but himself. He had chosen to drink, knowing it would inhibit him, then fought with his father, distracting him further. If he had been sober and level-headed, he was certain he wouldn't have been robbed. Nether, if he had just stayed at the celebration instead of leaving to sulk alone he wouldn't have run into the thief. And now he had endangered himself, left his father alone again, and rendered himself incapable of performing the role he had taken upon himself.

"I'm sorry for shouting last night." Valor spoke up quietly. His voice still echoed through the empty chapel. "Can you forgive me?" All was quiet for a few moments, the oppressive silence weighing on Val's guilty conscience, before the pickaxe was pushed over to rest against his knee. Valor blinked, a tiny smile appearing on his face. "Is that a yes?" Another nudge. Taking that as affirmation, Valor raised his eyes to the window again.

He was just starting to consider calling again when a tall, lanky figure appeared before him, blocking out the colored window's light.

"Lear!" Valor surged upright, spirits rising at the sight of his childhood friend. The enderman chirped, bowing to him.

"What do you need?" Earl asked in his strange, warped tongue. Valor, though fairly fluent, preferred to speak the common language since that was what he was accustomed to.

"My amulet has been stolen." His hand pressed over his collarbone. "Is there any way you can help me get it back?" Earl bent over him, sharp features turning into a frown, before he straightened up again to tower over him.

"Come with me." Clawed fingers latched around his arm, and Valor barely had a chance to grab the pickaxe before the chapel vanished around him.