It''s very good to be back on Hermitcraft after a few months of vacation. Honestly, Mumbo had never felt better! Many of the Hermits welcomed him back with open arms, telling him stories about their own adventure as well—something about empires, Rentheking, and rift.
He literally had no idea what his friends were talking about.
Were they talking about Ren ripping the world by building his own kingdom or something? He''s also heard of him flushing all the Hermits'' diamonds down a giant toilet—Scar''s words, not his by the way. He''s heard about a toy and Bdubs becoming a sun god, about having two Falses and Gem being a butterfly despite being an elf, about Xisuma and Cleo becoming pirates, about Grumbot, about killing the emperors whilst wearing a clown hat, and many more he couldn''t process well.
Grumbot? He''s here? As in here here?
Mumbo''s lips curve into a huge grin as he flies around his unfinished Vault, relieved about it having no damage whatsoever but also quite surprised that Grian hasn''t done a thing to break through it.
Wait, Grian!
He hasn''t seen his best friend for so long, he guesses the man has been up to no good again during the time he was gone, considering all the talk about a resistance against Ren and Grumbot coming out of a rift whirling around the server for days. He chuckles to himself as he turns mid-air to change directions, flying towards the floating rocks in front of his huge vault.
He cracks a fond smile as he can see that there''s been a lot of progress and as usual, everything about Grian''s builds are as amazing as those historical works of art, easily creating magnificent structures from the ground up like magic.
Mumbo fires another firework rocket to propel himself further, spotting a bizarre hole by the smallest rock that''s floating farthest from the others. Huh, it''s unusual for Grian to miss that kind of detail especially when he''s constantly flying around the area. With a shrug of his shoulders, he heads towards it, planning to seal the hole himself. He''s got a few stones in his Inventory Bag to help, so it won''t be much of an issue for him to patch up.
After all, his friend has been a great help his whole life in more ways than one.
He finally lands inside the rock (after a few bumps and retries), pinching his nose with two fingers in reflex by how strong the smell of alcohol reeks around the small, tight space. His gaze drops to the ground and feels his heart shatter at the horrid scene, spotting different empty bottles littering all over the place like a dumpster.
"Wh- Grian? Wha—?" Mumbo sputters as his gaze wide as saucers dart from one bottle to another, reading the labels of alcohols being stronger than the last.
What is this?
What happened to my best friend while I was away?
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After the discovery of Grian''s unhealthy alcohol intakes, Pearl and Impulse DMed Mumbo about their worries regarding Grian’s strange behavior, making him seal the deal. He has decided to keep a keen eye on his feathery friend without being a bit too obvious, otherwise it will raise suspicions and make Grian deny the problem with all his might.
That''s how stubborn he is. Unfortunately, that''s what he loves about his best friend as well.
Alright!
It has been days since then and so far, Mumbo notices how Grian has been walking instead of flying and that itself is already concerning. It won''t be an exaggeration to say Grian would rather kill himself than walk but he hasn''t seen the guy fly this whole time. Okay, he''s probably overreacting and it''s possible that his feathers are molting, but still it''s pretty concerning, nonetheless.
Secondly, he notices how Grian has been constantly yawning and looking drained despite not getting out of his base much. The guy who likes to go out for a fly or casually pulling pranks to pass the time is actually living up to his name of being a Hermit.
Thirdly, Mumbo coincidentally meets up with Grian at the shopping district when he''s buying a few materials by the Entity whilst the latter is claiming his profit and restocking the products. He can''t help but smell the scent of alcohol despite never actually smelling any whenever he had to sneak behind him and observe—he''s not being a stalker and a creep, he''s being a concerned friend who keeps a close eye on him in case something happens.
This means that there''s something wrong that he can''t properly remove it anymore. Also, Grian can somehow get rid of the odor from himself despite the strong scent of the drink being so difficult to get rid of. He doesn''t want to dwell on that topic.
He doubts it''s anything positive.
The moon rises above the starry dark sky and luckily it isn''t large, Mumbo decides to actually engage with Grian about the matter. Surely, he won''t be able to argue back with all the evidence he gathered so far for the past few days. He huffs and white smoke escapes from his lips whilst rubbing his calloused hands together as his feet bring him closer to Grian''s floating rock. From the distance, he spots a red feathery figure on the ground and gasps.
His body moves long before his mind can process what happened and before he realises, Mumbo is already bringing Grian to his arms as his eyes are blurry from unshed tears.
"Grian! Grian, wake up!" Mumbo cries, shaking Grian by the shoulder but he''s not responding.
Mumbo calls out for his name multiple times before noticing that Grian''s chest is rising and falling at a constant pace, releasing the breath he''s unknowingly holding when epiphany strikes him that Grian has only fallen asleep. Mumbo can hear a voice grunting and snaps his head to Grian''s direction, noticing that his brows are furrowed, lips pressed together, and his nose scrunching like he''s in incredible pain.
His chest beats a million miles per hour as he turns around for something that can hopefully help.
Nothing.
"What do I do? What do I do?" Mumbo mumbles as his shoulders rise up to his ears.
Grian is tossing and turning by Mumbo''s hold as he whimpers, causing the lump in Mumbo''s throat increasing in size as time passes.
"Please..." Grian whimpers as tears fall from his shut eyelids. "No, please... Don''t hurt me Scar..."
"What?" Mumbo whispers and jaw drops as he stares at Grian''s fragile form with eyes as wide as plates.
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Scar sighs deeply as he keeps the unused materials back to his chest monster, ending his work for the day after the sun has finally set and the moon rises above the starless sky. The snow begins to fall, so he should hurry. It''s been days since he last saw Grian and that last time was when he was puking in the middle of the shopping district. Since then, he''s been planning to ask him about it but as if there''s an invisible force preventing them from meeting, he never had the chance to.
Should he visit Grian himself?
But what if he''s just busy? That''s why Scar wasn''t able to see those iridescent wings flying freely lately.
"Scar."
Scar jumps violently as he squeals, "Gosh, you scared me! Grian, it''s been a while since—"
"What''s this about you and Grian?" The dark voice who clearly isn''t Grian''s intercepts and as Scar turns around, he sees Mumbo outside the building, crossing his arms while clothed with his signature black suit but with a red scarf wrapping around his neck.
"Mumbo! It''s so good to see you! What brings you to this fine establishment?" Scar walks out of the building as he greets with a smile.
"I''ll cut to the chase." Mumbo grumbles in a monotone as he inhales. "What did you do to Grian?"
"What?" Scar''s eyes widen in surprise as he continues to stare at Mumbo''s unchanging expression, remaining as indifferent as eerily possible. "What do you- I didn''t do anything. Is- Is there something wrong?"
"Stop playing dumb, Scar. We may be friends, but I won''t let you get away with this." Mumbo narrows his eyes, iris seemingly glowing red from the fogginess of Scar’s hitching breath.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"What- I''m not! This is- I may be dumb and clumsy, but I''m not playing dumb. I swear!" Scar stammers as he steps back.
"Really, dude?" Mumbo scowls as his voice raises a higher pitch.
Mumbo starts to throw his hands around as he fumes all the things he observed while trailing Grian for the past few days, starting from the bottles to discovering him lying unconscious outside of his tower.
Scar''s face goes pale from hearing the news, staying perfectly still in place as he sees Mumbo wheezing after his outburst.
"I..." Scar''s breath is caught in his throat as he tries to speak. "I''m- I''m so sorry. I really don''t know what happened. I should''ve- I only begin to notice Grian before- something''s wrong when he puked back at the—"
Scar stops himself from his rambling as a memory about him handing Grian the prank cookies, realizing how Grian''s expression back then was anything but happy despite it looking like it.
"Oh, no." Scar whispers as the world spins around him.
"Wh-What is it, dude? Is there something that comes to mind?" Mumbo furrows his brows as he reluctantly prods.
"I—I think... Oh, my gosh. I''m so sorry, Grian. I shouldn''t have done that! That was so stupid of me!" Scar bites his trembling lips and pulls his hair as he repeatedly apologizes to the person who isn''t even here, feeling the cold tears flowing out of his eyes.
"Scar, can you tell me what''s wrong?" Mumbo''s hand hovers to hesitantly reach out before retreating it back to tuck in his pocket.
"Back- It was after we, uh, came back through the Rift. I was- It was a brilliant idea back- I baked a new b-batch of Elven cookies for Christmas and thought ''I should spike a few of these with poison to prank the Hermits and laugh at their reactions''." Scar paces back and forth as he reminisces while hastily explaining it out loud. "I made sure to make the others full of milk to help remove the effects in seconds, but I—" His breath shudders.
"I''m not sure if that- that was it, but it''s all that- that I c-can think of." Scar stops to stare at Mumbo''s wide eyes with his own puffy ones. "I''m so sorry, Mumbo." His voice wavers as he sobs.
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Grian gulps the contents of the bottle in one go, loudly exhaling in satisfaction as he hastily drops the now empty bottle to the floor and heads to the five exits with wobbling legs. He trips on something and falls, hearing loud clanking all around him. He giggles as he stands back up and arrives at the exit, jumping off without hesitation and catches himself as he flaps his wings.
He heads to the left, going to the shopping district to buy the necessary but lacking materials for the medieval castle section of his mega base. He''s been neglecting it for far too long by not doing anything for the past few days? weeks? He''s not sure.
He simply shrugs his shoulders. That''s not important, probably.
Grian hums in satisfaction as the cold wind brushes over his warm face, thinking how it''s been a while since he last properly flew this freely. Sure, he uses his wings to balance himself or land safely without injuring his legs, but that''s not really flying. Well, at least not for him.
From the distance, he narrows his eyes to barely see five Rens forming a T-pose in the middle of the night for some reason, huffing at how ridiculous he looks.
"Pfft—I can''t take you seriously. Hello, Ren! There''s five of you. What are you doing here this late at night?" Grian greets as he waves his arms wildly.
The five Rens don''t move to recognize or greet him in return.
Huh.
He probably didn''t hear him.
"Ren! It''s me, Grian!"
Still nothing.
"Uuuh, are you still mad about overthrowing you? That wasn''t my fault! I never said anything about never joining a resistance, I only said I won''t start one. Hopefully, you''re not too mad about that!" Grian screams on top of his lungs, causing him to cough vigorously at the last part to clear his scratchy throat.
"Ren? You''re not mad, right?" Grian whimpers as he barely mumbles, feeling the cold tears easily falling to his cheeks like streams.
A strong gust of wind blows towards Grian''s direction, causing him to twirl mid-air and lose his balance. He flaps his wings in hopes of regaining his control. Instead, he''s going out of control as he yelps. Despite it, he still continues to flap his wings, hopefully it does something whilst thinking of a way to get out of this predicament.
Nothing.
His foggy mind caused by the alcohol prevents him from thinking of anything. He''s unable to steer properly despite being the best flyer on the server.
He scoffs internally to himself.
Some flyer he is.
Why did he think of flying drunk whilst his secondary feathers still haven''t been able to grow back yet? Wait, he wasn''t thinking at all. Oh, man.
Grian stares at the scenery in front of him and wonders whether the building is getting closer or this is just him seeing things again within the influence of the alcohol. Before he receives his answer, he hears a thundering crack and everything turns black.
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Scar wipes away the remaining tears with the back of his hands as he sniffs, stopping only when he hears something blowing in the air.
"Hm?" Scar blinks and turns to Mumbo. "Did you just fart?" He furrows his brows as he casually comments.
"What? It''s- Wh- No!" Mumbo exclaims as he stammers.
Another blowing sound can be heard, making Mumbo whip his head upwards and gasp. Scar looks up and squints, barely seeing a shadow of a few feathers zooming in the cloudy sky.
"I-Is that... Grian?" Scar''s eyes widen in epiphany. "Wh- Is he- Why? It''s in the middle of the night! And he just suddenly comes out now after not hearing from him in days." He shakes his head in disbelief before turning his attention back to Mumbo, whose lips are now trembling and staring at him with eyes dilated in fear. "Am I wrong to worry that there''s probably something wrong or am I being paranoid?"
"Y-You''re probably right for worrying, if I''m honest." Mumbo presses his lips into a flat line.
Without a moment to waste, Scar takes out his rocket and fires one to propel himself mid-air, using the strapped elytra to glide before firing another one to chase after Grian who''s already miles away from them.
Dang, this man flies fast.
He fires another one to increase his speed. Now''s not the time to be distracted. From behind, he can hear whistling of fireworks, indicating that Mumbo has also begun his flight.
No matter how many rockets Scar and Mumbo have wasted, they still can''t spot the colorful sweater ahead of them. Just as he’s about to give up and stop the chase, he sees the iridescent wings flapping gracefully, flashing beautifully against the dark background.
“Grian!” Scar beams and calls out at the same time as Mumbo, both wasting more of their rockets in one go to finally close the distance.
Before they can reach him, Grian starts to twirl mid-air and nosedive all of a sudden right towards Impulse’s new mega shop.
“Grian!” Scar and Mumbo cry in unison.
Scar stretches his free hand ahead of him as if that will help him catch up to his falling friend. No matter how many rockets he wasted just to gain top speed, enough for his face to flap with too much force, he still can''t catch his friend from an inevitable fall like how Icarus did.
It''s hard to know that you''re flying too high until the feathers start dropping.
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The glint from the knife hit Grian’s eye, causing him to close it in reflex whilst Sam continued to swing the weapon back and forth, continuing with his spiel that occurred for far too long.
“It’s just so difficult dealing with your craziness, Taurtis. I don’t know when or how, but you somehow changed so much, it felt like I don’t know you anymore. Do you really want me to be in danger that badly?” Sam paced back and forth as he enunciated, facing Grian back with furrowed brows and glassy eyes like he’s about to cry.
Grian’s long aware that opposing Sam won’t do anything. Well, it would but not anything good towards himself. He simply bowed his head in defeat and bit his lower lip, clutching the hem of Taurtis’ blue jumper that he was forced to wear weeks ago since his friend was hospitalised.
“Are you even listening?” Sam’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, staring at his gaze for a moment before directing back to the side. “You’re getting more and more weird by the day, Taurtis. What happened to you? Don’t... don’t you want to be friends with me anymore? Is that why you’ve been acting so weird lately? You won’t make jokes with me anymore.” He swung his hands around, the one with the knife being too close to Grian and made a horizontal cut on his jumper, causing him to jump violently.
“I—I...” Grian’s breath was caught in his throat as it was too difficult to say what he was about to say, like it would burn his skin if he would utter it. “We’re still friends, Sam.” He flinched as his voice cracked. “It’s just- Nothing’s wrong- I’m not feeling well, that’s all.” He bit the inside of his cheek as he stared at Sam’s frowning face.
“You’re lying.” Sam retorted with a monotone voice.
Grian winced at the burning gaze, stopping himself from stepping back and just focused on shrinking in place.
“I-I’m not.” Grian whispered.
“There it is again! You never lied to me before! What the hell is wrong with you?” Sam swung his knife to point it directly in Grian’s throat just by his Adam’s apple.
Grian held his breath as much as he could whilst suppressing the tremble overtaking his body as the tip of the weapon got closer and closer and closer—
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The grip on the wooden ladle is getting stronger as Scar twirls it around the pot filled with steaming porridge, the beating of his heart is as loud as a Warden’s sonic blast. From behind him, Mumbo sits by one of the piling barrels as he keeps the contents of the first aid back to their respective places, closing the box and keeping it inside one of the barrels for safekeeping.
A loud thud can be heard from upstairs, causing Scar and Mumbo to drop everything they’re currently doing and begin to scramble up the wooden steps towards the upper floor that will lead them to his bedroom. As they arrive at the top, they can see Grian tossing and turning by the floor, leaving the messy bed empty as he screams incoherent words like he’s fighting for his life despite still in deep sleep. Scar swallows the lump in his throat and jumps to Grian’s side in a flash, spotting Mumbo from the corner of his eye doing the same but settles in across him.
Scar tries to hold Grian in place to avoid hurting himself (and Scar) by grabbing his wrist firmly with one hand and his knee with the other.
“Grian, it’s okay. You’re safe here. You don’t have to be afraid anymore, so please calm down.” Scar tries to reassure him with a soft voice while Mumbo mirrors what he’s doing from across, finally holding Grian down but still manages to struggle.
“You’re safe with us, Grian. We will protect you with all our might and make sure no one will ever hurt you again.” Mumbo adds with a soothing voice despite his nose being scrunched like he’s in pain and on the verge of crying.
Scar feels the pang inside his chest as he can only stare uselessly at his friend suffering from something they can’t comprehend. Instead of reassuring him, Grian is screaming and struggling more in panic, frantically flapping his wings despite being flattened by his back.
“Sam! Please, no! Don’t hurt me, please! I promise to do what you say! Sam! Please, please, no, no, no, no!” Grian whimpers as tears fall from his shut eyelids. "Not my wings, I beg you!"
Who’s Sam?
Scar faces Mumbo as he raises a brow for a silent question, but Mumbo only shakes his head in a grimace, indicating that he knows nothing as well.
What should he do, what should he do, what should he do—
"Scar..." Grian mutters, causing Scar to whip his head towards Grian with a gasp. "Please... don''t hurt my wings..." He sobs and finally stops moving as if he finally gives in to his fate.
Scar can only freeze in place as his mouth hangs open. Instead of being glad that Grian has finally stopped, all he can feel is dread coating his entire body with its freezing grasp.
It is his fault.