𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕤 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔸 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟸

She was numb with fear as she scrambled after Peony and the skeleton whose name she had learned was Aspect. She had been scared before, of small things when she was younger like bats or dark caves, or rain and puddles of water. And there was always the one thing that scared her most, her parents.

But she had never before felt what it was like to fear for her own life. For the lives of her friends and others around her. To feel it so strongly that she found herself trembling uncontrollably.

A cry sounded from behind them all and they all spun around to find the absence of Sorrow, Aspect's ghast companion. Ethereal glided back into the cave before any of them could protest against his sudden decision. Elude watched as the pair of indigo wings and the tip of a gray tail vanished into an overhang of red rock.

"What does that idiot think he's doing?" Peony demanded, taking a step toward the cave. But a long arm of stained gray bone blocked her path.

"Hey, wait here," came the voice of Aspect, "I don't want any creature being put at risk. Sorrow's with me. It should have been my responsibility to go after her, not Ethereal's."

They all waited in silence after that remark. The only things they could hear were the roars and hisses from the army of blazes that lay beyond the cave as well as the crackling of flames all around them. They all watched and waited for a pair of piercing green eyes to come towards them with Sorrow crawling out, but the phantom didn't return.

Elude couldn't help but wince as intense firelight instantly overcame what was once the cave they sheltered in. The roar of an explosion rang out and around the netherrack valley, echoing off of the rocky walls that jutted out at them.

"No..." Came her shocked whisper as she perceived what just happened in front of her eyes. "But Ethereal..." She felt herself unconsciously brush against Peony's side, trying to comfort herself amidst the waves of sudden grief that overcame her. Endermen couldn't cry, but she knew she probably would have then if it were possible.

"Sorrow..." She could barely hear the hoarse, quivering whisper of Aspect. He attempted to step toward the cave but Peony blocked his path with her sword, swinging her head to look at him.

"I am not letting you get yourself killed like that brainless phantom just did!" She spat. "You're our only hope if Elude and I want to get out of this place!" Although it was clear to Elude that Peony was trying to hide it, she could make out the twinge of desperation in her voice, and behind that, she could even detect anguish and despair. Peony may not have gotten along very often with Ethereal, but she had developed a friendship with the phantom that Elude hadn't even taken notice of.

The clearing where they stood became thick with smoke within moments, like ominous storm clouds she would see in the Overworld, warning her to retreat into her home before she was caught in the rain.

Why was she ever excited to get to the Nether? Sure, it was far different from the Overworld, but Ethereal had been right. It seemed like everything was trying to kill them. She no longer cared to see the blocks and plants there. She just wanted to go back to the Overworld. She just wanted to go home.

"No way..." She heard Peony breathe, and Elude followed her brown gaze to see a small figure falling from where it was shot out of the cave entrance. "Is that-"

"Ethereal!" Elude finished for her, barely able to contain her relief. She wasn't sure how he was able to survive such an explosion, but she didn't care either. He was alive and that was all that mattered to the enderman.

But his tattered wings were limp and his eyelids were closed. He was unconscious and plummeting to the ground as she knew it. Without a moment of hesitation she teleported, her eyes trained above her and her long arms out and within moments she caught his lightweight form.

She looked over him for any sign of injuries, but surprisingly enough he seemed unscathed. Then she saw his face. A mask of burns seemed to cover the area around his eyes, and there were more patches along the rest of his head, and even a few smaller ones she noticed on the tips of his wings as she took a closer look.

"Is he alright?" Peony called, rushing to her side, with Aspect trailing after them at a more gradual pace. Elude gave her a nod, and the human let out a sigh of relief, her stiff shoulders seeming to relax at that. "We're getting out of here." Her gaze darkened, and her voice lowered as she said that, narrowing her eyes at Elude.

"What? But we still have so much more to gather for the Overworld." She replied, giving Peony a shocked expression in return.

"I don't care what materials we have left to collect. I'm not putting my own life at risk for some stupid and corrupt committee, and I'm not going to let myself worry about you both either!" Elude had always thought Peony didn't care about the Council of Creatures and the way they ran the Overworld. But all of the anger she was directing at them, seemed like it had been there for a good while, and she had been just waiting to unleash it. "We already almost lost Ethereal! Aspect just lost Sorrow! Let the Council be mad! They're the ones who are too lazy to go do this themselves anyways!" The human spun around to head back to the portal without another word.

Elude's only reply was silence as she and Aspect trudged after her. She didn't have anything to say to that, because she was finally beginning to realize that maybe it was true. From the time she was approached by Snatch until Ethereal admitted the process that got her there in the first place, she had been lead to believe the Council of Creatures selected her for a reason. She had hope that maybe they believed an enderman like her could fulfill such an important duty.

But she had been wrong. They didn't see anything in her. They probably didn't even know about her existence until she was selected.

For the first time in her life, she felt worthless.