A Glitch of Magic - a Hermitcraft (and third life?) Fanfiction

Chapter 19

There goes my perfect one-chapter-a-day schedule...

Pearl was bored.

Once Gem had kidnapped her, she'd been shoved in a room of tangling plants that grew back whenever she tried to get rid of them, waiting for Herobrine to come. Several days had passed since Gem had warned of her immediate death, so she assumed it would still be a while until anything happened. 

She was wrong. 

'Tell us where Pearl is or we'll kill you.' Pearl awoke, confused and excited, to the sound of xB's voice. 

'I'm not telling...'

There was the sound of a sword behind drawn. 

'She's in here!  Behind the plants.' 

Footsteps, and False muttering something to xB about watching Gem. A diamond blade appeared through the vines, and Pearl looked through.

'Hey, False!' 

'Hey, Pearl!' The blonde attempted to push the plants out of the way for Pearl to get through, but they just rose up again. There were a couple of attempts at this, before she gave up, pulled out flint and steel, and lit it on fire. Pearl backed away as the plant burnt, but nothing changed. In the distance, Gem grinned, before tackling xB to the ground, magic flashing out at him. False turned, shield out, blocking a glitch of magic sent towards her. Plants shot from the ground, tripping her and keeping her trapped, hiding. Pearl yelled her name, pacing her prison, trying to think of a way she could get out. False sliced the plants away, getting to her feet. xB was still on the ground as she ran forwards, slicing at Gem. The magical hermit dodged, sending another blast of magic. It hit home, and a pair of eagle wings spread from False's back, her hands turning to claws. She scratched at Gem, blood spraying as she stumbled back, hitting the wall. False turned back to where Pearl had turned into a sparrow and was trying to fit through the holes of the prison. Eventually she managed, and False turned back to Gem, seeing her typing something into chat. 

'Let's get out of here.' The blonde recommended, flying up through the hole she'd made in the roof. Pearl helped xB to his feet, carrying him with her as she too flew out. He activated his elytra, taking off afterwards. 

'Thanks for getting me out!'

'No problem... let's hide before Herobrine gets...'

Right in front of them, Cleo, Keralis and Doc appeared. False dived towards the ground. Pearl quickly followed, just avoiding a wave of lightning. xB wasn't so lucky, and began falling. There was nothing Pearl could do except watch him plummet, as the death message appeared in chat. 

She turned back to the steadily approaching hermits, turning into a Griffin and flying bravely at the three ahead of him. Doc dodged below, throwing his trident at her. Cleo sliced with her sword, while Keralis shot a blast of vex-magic crystal at her. Caught off-guard by the magic, Pearl barely managed to avoid it, snatching Doc's trident out of the air, turning back into herself for a moment and yeeting it back towards it's owner before becoming an eagle and flying out the way, back towards the ground. 

'Nice work!' False complimented. 'Now, let's run!'

Through the forest they went, stumbling around the trees, trying to keep up with one another as they attempted to escape. A private message appeared and False dared a glance at her communicator

'Keep them distracted?' She read. 'Why?'

'Who sent it?'

'Tango? Even though he's on the other side.'

'Maybe he's not?'

'No, he is... should we listen to it?'

'I say we do... HEY! FREAKY MONSTER DUDES!' Pearl called with a grin. A trident hit the ground in front of them, and False grabbed it, stopping. 

'If this goes wrong, you're taking the blame.'

'Sure.' 

False threw the trident back towards where the three enemies were circling ever lower. It hit the edge of Cleo's elytra, making her do the midair equivalent of stumbling. She regained her balance easily, diving down towards the duo below. 

She landed, new red cloak billowing out behind her. False charged, and Cleo blocked her attack, as Doc and Keralis landed, the latter camouflaged into the trees. Pearl quickly turned into an adder as Doc attacked her, fangs lashing out and biting him on his non-metal arm. She was quickly shaken off, turning back into herself, slicing with a knife towards where she thought Keralis was. 

False had managed to knock Cleo unconscious, turning to see how Pearl was faring. A bolt of lightning shot towards her and she dived to the side, rolling, wings dusty. Pearl shifted quickly into a cat, hissing and clawing at Doc's leg. The creeper jumped back, instinctive terror filling him at the sight of the fluffy coal-black feline. False took to the air, gaining an aerial view of the fight before shooting down towards where she could just about see Keralis. The half-chameleon punched her, yelling out in terror and running. False let him go, firing an arrow back at him and watching him fall, dead. Her communicator buzzed from the death message, and she turned to where Pearl was still attempting to outsmart Doc. The creeper was still attempting to stab the Aussie to death with his trident, his task made difficult by the fact she was a bat, fluttering around his head. False shot another arrow at him, and he looked over at the blonde, letting Pearl turn back to herself, watching the fight. Doc threw his trident, and False dodged, flapping into the air and shooting more arrows. Fully distracted from Pearl, the creeper took the bait, summoning his trident back again and hurling it at False, not watching as Pearl ran up behind him, stabbing him in the back. 

He howled with pain, turning towards her. The Aussie quickly became a moth, flying away from him and watching from a safe distance as he collapsed and died before turning back. 

'Well, that ought to be enough of a distraction.' She stated lightly. 'Now, let's get out of here.

I... might take a short break from this story, because I'm quickly running out of ideas and motivation.