Netherless

Chapter 12

"Are you sure this is safe?" I ask as Techno threw a saddle over a strider that was tied to a Nether brick fence.

"It's plenty fine." He says with a chuckle tightening the straps. I had been in the nether for a day and already I had made friends with the children in the village. It was hard to sleep at night because I wasn't used to the strange noises that echoed through the land. Today, I had met some of the elders and the mothers of the kids. Sitting down and talking with them was actually really nice and everyone here was happy. It was such a different scene than the village we have in the Overworld. These people were simple and just generally happy. They were abundant in food and gold and were more than happy to pierce my ears like there's.

"I still can't believe you let them pierce your ears like mine." Technoblade said snapping me out of my thoughts and I absentmindedly reached up and lightly touched ring. They had told me it would make them a part of there people and it I loved it. It was at the top of my ear, what they called the Helix piercing, I smiled slightly.

"I really like it. I actually love it here, I love the people." I say smiling as Techno offers his hand out to help me on the Strider.

"I'm glad you like it here, they seem like they enjoy you. I knew at first they were against you mostly because of the history but you've won them over. You're way to nice." He said with a laugh and I roll my eyes as the strider starts out across the lava. I never did ask where we were going, he had only told me to get ready and meet him in the dining hall that morning.

"Where are we going?" I ask and Technoblade sighs.

"I wanted to get the worst part of this trip out of the way. I'm going to show you the Bastion Remnant, the remains of the original castle we had. The one your grandfather blew up." He said and I sighed. This was just getting worse and worse.

When we came around a corner I gasped. Tall black stone pillars were the only thing remaining with half a ceiling remaining on one side. A few fires were around it due to the lava but I knew this had once been much larger. When the Strider reached land Techno hopped off tying it down to another fence and offering me his hand. I took it not really paying attention to what was going on. When he pulled my off I tripped around stumbling into him and knocking my head against his chest plate. It was Netherite something we didn't have in the overworld and it was the toughest thing you could wear.

"Ouch." I say quietly rubbing my head trying to get the stinging to go down.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Techno said looking at my forehead and I only smiled half heartedly.

"S'fine I wasn't paying attention myself." I say and he nods with a stifled laugh.

"Well let's go." He said taking the lead and I stay about a foot behind him walking up the remains of the once castle. When I stepped on the remains of the old floor it had vines coming down from half the old ceiling.

"I can't believe my Grandfather destroyed this." I say with a frown looking at the entirety of the building.

"What if, what if I rebuilt it?" I ask looking over at Techno who was looking at the pillars. He turned to me quickly.

"You really want to rebuild all of this." I shrug sheepishly as he walked over towards me.

"Well if my grandfather destroyed it and ruined the friendship we had between the world... I could rebuild it to show our new friendship. Try and fix the open wound." I say. If I was going to be Queen one day might as well put it to use. I look at Technoblade who had a grin stretched across his face.

"It think it would probably help." He said and I immediately began mapping out the rebuilding process in my head.

....

We were sitting in the middle of the Village watching the kids play with wooden swords. It reminded me of Tommy and Tubbo who played in the field like this. It wasn't so different from the over world and I would argue that it's better here. I wanted to fix everything my grandfather had messed up. Something about this place was much more special than the overworld and I wanted to do anything I could to protect it.

As I was off daydreaming a small piglin boy came running up to me. He had a pair of overalls on and he was holding a withered rose out to me.

"Hi." I say smiling and he looked down bashfully and held the rose up to my chest and I took it.

"Thank you." I say reaching down and planting a kiss on his cheek and he took of running with a giggle. I smiled looking at the rose and I tucked it into my hair behind my ear. His friends were watching the interaction whispering amongst themselves and their parents were laughing at the boys antics.

"You know I think the boys think your pretty." Techno said looking over at me with a slightly grin pulling at the corners of his lips. I shrug it off watching the kids go back to their parents.

"I'm not that pretty and the kids are really cute." I say. It was the truth, they were adorable and reminding me of the halflings we had back home. Things that weren't human were more beautiful to me.

"You are pretty so don't worry." Techno said leaning back and I felt the heat rise up my neck and go to my cheeks at the comment.

"It's actually quite cute you like the kids so much." Techno said. He had made the comment several times about how he didn't like kids and usually they didn't like him. He had told me Ranboo was the first kid to not really be afraid of him along with Tommy.

"I just really like kids." I say leaning back and taking a breath, yawning shortly after.

"You getting tired? We can go back to the fortress." He says and I nod standing up. He begins to guide me out of the village and on the way back I take the rose in my hand and smile.

They were so much prettier than regular roses. I twirled it in my fingers playing with it.

"If you plant it you it'll live since it's withered." Techno says opening the door to the fortress and I smile happily.

"Do you have any pots and can we get soul sand." I grin and he laughs leading my down a hallway to a small overhang of the lava. We reach a small room with plants and pots. It was a small greenhouse type and I picked up the smallest pot and placed the rose inside and began shoving soul sand into the pot.

I was happy I could take this home and have a piece of the nether with me. It was growing on me and I was going to be sad to leave.

"Why do you like it here so much?" Techno asks setting on the bench as I pot the rose.

I thought for a moment trying to come up with a accurate answer.

"Because it's different. It's not the same old thing everyday. It's warm and hot. There's different creatures and different people. It's just different." I say looking out the window at the striders waking in the lava free.

"Is that why you like Ranboo so much?" He asked and I smiled at the thought. "I guess you could say that but I also like Ranboo because well he's Ranboo. He's a sweet kid." I say and Techno nods as I stand up holding the pot in my arms ready to go to bed.

"We can talk more tomorrow." Techno nods as he leads me to the room I had slept in the night before and he drops me off.

"Sleep good." He comments and I nod as I shut the door.

——-

No proof reading was done
Enjoyyyyyy