𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕤 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔸 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟹𝟼

He told her everything, pushing past his aching mind and recalling every detail, every specific element of what he had seen all those years ago. Ethereal described the sounds of fighting he heard in the swamp as he guarded it, told her about the events that led to her beloved mother's demise. And once everything had been said, she was silent for a long, long moment.

Was Peony ready to hear all of that? Thoughts rushed into his mind, a rushing wave of regret weighing down his wings. Maybe it was a mistake to tell her.

"Killed by a skeleton? You're sure?" Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Peony. I didn't know you had family who..." Aspect trailed off as if he wasn't exactly sure what the right thing to say to her was. How he could comfort her. "I know how hard that is." He finally said.

Peony turned on the skeleton suddenly, anger flaring in her eyes like lightning in the midst of muddled storm clouds. "Oh, do you?" She challenged, her voice growing unexpectedly dark. "You have no idea how I feel! I've spent so long trying to figure out why she never came back, why she left me so soon, only to find out that your insignificant species killed her after all! So don't tell me you know how it feels, because you don't!"

Aspect stared at her for a long moment, and even Ethereal was too overcome with shock to say anything. He had never seen Peony so angry before, not even when she had snapped at Fern back in the End. It had never occurred to Ethereal just how much she really loved her mother until that very moment.

Her mother was all she had though. Well, until she met Fern at least. For her entire life, the only family she knew had been Lilac. Of course, she cares so much... He thought to himself as he began to process everything that was happening.

"I had a family too." Aspect's voice remained level and reassuring, contradicting Peony's sudden lash of fury towards him.

"Yeah, you had an entire family! All I had was my mother and she's gone! The only family I ever knew and she was killed for no reason other than the fact she's a human!" Peony's hands were clenched tightly as if she wished she could fight the creature who killed her mother. As if she could take it all out on Aspect while he remained sitting directly in front of her.

"Calm down, Peony." Ethereal attempted to rest a wing across her back to provide some sort of reassurance, but she pushed him away with an unexpected force, sending him falling back and crashing to the carpeted floor of the mansion.

Aspect must have noticed the aggressive inclinations her intense irritation was giving way to, because he stood to his feet slowly, taking a few paces backward and ducking his head. "I should... I should leave." He began fidgeting with his bow, shifting on his feet slightly before he spoke once again. "Thanks for getting me out of the Nether, but I think it's time we part ways." Aspect looked toward Ethereal, who was still on the ground, watching as everything unfolded before him, barely able to believe it. "Perhaps we'll run into each other again." Then, with a nod to the phantom, he started down the hall that led to the staircase, his footsteps muffled by the carpet that lay beneath them.

"Aspect, wait!" Ethereal called, lifting into the air and chasing after him with determined wingbeats. "She doesn't mean that. Just give her some time to calm down." The skeleton didn't answer, didn't even look back at Ethereal as he spoke. So, the phantom stopped, watching in complete silence as Aspect continued his trek toward the mansion's exit. He was set on leaving, no matter what attempts Ethereal made to keep him there.

Once he could no longer glimpse his departing friend, he cautiously turned away, soaring back toward the room where Elude was being kept. Peony was still in the same spot, her face covered in her hands, and as Ethereal peered closer at her, he realized the human was shuddering.

Trying to be as quiet as he possibly could, he drifted toward her, spiraling to the ground and landing on the carpet. Ethereal let his wings rest and relax at his side, closing his eyes. Phantoms didn't need sleep to survive as most other creatures did, but if they really wanted to, they could allow themselves to drift off.

He had always thought that sleep was a waste of time, that he may miss something if he ever allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness. But right then and there, he wanted nothing but to fall into a dreamless slumber, to distract himself from the nightmare he found himself inside.

And just as he felt his eyelids drooping and watched darkness begin to swarm his vision, he could hear the nearly silent sobs that came from Peony. She was crying.

⊡⊟⊠

His eyelids flickered open as heavy footsteps approached, stirring him from his peaceful doze. Ethereal raised his head, his eyes still foggy as a drowsy haze hung across his vision. But he blinked it away, narrowing his eyes until he could finally make out the blurred figure of an illager, lanky and confident as he strode toward Ethereal and Peony.

Peony. At the sudden thought, his head swiveled to where the human still was. She must have cried herself to sleep the previous night, because she was curled tightly on the carpet, her back right against the wall, and her arms wrapped around herself.

But she was okay. After days without it, she had finally fallen gotten to sleep. She could finally satisfy her own necessities.

"We have spare bedrooms you know," the illager before him spoke up, distracting his focus on Peony. "That doesn't look very comfortable if you ask me."

"It's better than netherrack," Ethereal replied nervously, feeling a sense of intimidation in front of the newcomer. While he looked like most of the others inside the mansion, the robes he wore looked much different. Rather than wearing gray vests and dark green jeans, this particular creature wore an elegant black robe, with gold fringes around the edges of the sleeves and encircling the collar around his neck, extending down the front of the cloak.

"I came to return your friend's belongings." He continued, gently setting down Peony's bag beside her sleeping form. "I'm Noble by the way, the mansion's leader."

"Ethereal," the phantom dipped his head politely, returning Noble's civil attitude. He found himself glancing at the doorway that led to the room Elude was staying in for the time being. "Do you know how she's doing by any chance?" He found himself asking almost unconsciously, still feeling a steadily increasing worry welling up within him.

"Well, she finally woke up not too long ago, and Fright has informed me that the cure seems to be working well." Without another word, he backtracked a few steps to peek inside briefly, as if to try and confirm what he had been told. With a nod, Noble continued. "Your friend will be okay."

"Can I... Can I see her?" Ethereal ask, a mixture of both relief and eagerness spiraling through his wings like a curtain of tangled vines as if he had ducked beneath one of the swamp's trees.

"Sure," the illager replied, gesturing toward Ethereal, "I think she'd appreciate that after spending her morning alone for the most part."

Poor Elude. He thought to himself. She's probably so scared and wondering where we could possibly be... But his suspicions about the enderman's emotions were abruptly deflated once he ducked into the room to see Elude wide awake and looking as delighted as ever.