The Frozen Empire - An Empires SMP AU

3 - Fight to the Death

Katherine fumbled around in the ocean, trying to pry her sword out of her inventory. She dove under, scrambling towards an innocent glow squid, which swam hastily away from the Manic undergrowth queen.
Slashing the squid open, she reached her hand in and pulled out a glowing ink sack from the now puff of smoke glow squid.
She kicked up against the sand floor and swam out of the ocean, she flapped her wings and propelled herself with a small rocket she fastened to her shins.

Landing with a thud in Joel's arena, she shuddered from the chilling water. Pearl and Lizzie stared at her weakly, all of them were glazed in frost, as if the water itself was freezing them. The Ocean Queen seemed particularly chilled.
"Er..." Joel eyed the trio, a twinge of confusion in his eyes. "What's with the-..." He trailed off, gesturing at their icy appearances.
"It's a new fashion trend," Katherine mocked.
The spectating few snickered, Joel rolled his eyes, and Pearl said with a serious tone.
"I think Scott may have something to do with it."
The group hung in silence, Katherine glanced nervously at FWhip, he had a sunken look in his dreary eyes, his cheeks were a cold yellow, his nose was red and running. He had been to Scott's recently, and obviously for extended periods of time.
And Katherine knew he had the Xornoth Crystal, his fingers were scratched, plus Katherine checked on the crystal and it cracked, but no Xornoth came out.
"Scott..." Jimmy winced.
"What has been going on with him..." Joey said, breaking a slab of bread and offering to FWhip.
"Yeah..." FWhip said between mouthfuls of bread. "I wonder..." Katherine glanced daggers into the contented ruler of the Grimlands.
"Wow FWhip, that was an incredibly articulate response..." Katherine grimaced. "You'd tell everyone if you knew something, right?"
FWhip looked around, trying to find a conversation starter.
But then his face widened with shock, he glanced over at the sea with fear in his eyes.
"Sausage..." He gasped, slinging his elytra over his back. "He's still out there!" The group broke out in panicked gearing up, they all sprung into the air and flew down to the sea.
"SAUSAGE!" Jimmy yelled. "SAUSAGE, WHERE ARE YOU!" The flock of players paddled through the sea, spying for the Mythlands Emperor.
They struggled for hours the sun had long set and the Empires soon gave up hope.
They returned to the Mythlands, Joel constructed a small cloud in the air, Katherine provided bouquets of flowers, Lizzie placed a cake by the tomb stone.
The sign on the stone printed:

In Commemoration of MythicalSausage
1990 - ~
Missing in action

The group stood around his grave, they all started to depart, except for Jimmy, who looked at the grave with sad eyes. Despite his rocky relationship with the Keeper of Iron at the start, they had become better friends later on.
Katherine returned to her Empire in shock, an emperor was missing, if that's not a sign then she doesn't know what was.
She spent the rest of the day sitting by a fire, thawing the ice. Her skin slowly regained colour, her shivering body became motionless, her stiff posture melted into her seat, she felt cozy.
But something nagged on her.
Something she had to handle.

Lighting struck the Grimlands, a storm raged around the empire, the tinkerer himself stoked a large furnace, the Xornoth Crystal in his clammy hands.
"I'm doing it..." He droned, a devilish grin spread over his face. "It's happening... Do you want out..."
Katherine landed far behind him in the mud. FWhip cradled the crystal like it was his child, his hands were shaky.
"FWhip!" She yelled, thundering towards him. "You put that crystal back, now." She brought out her sword out, spinning it around her waist and then coming down on him.
FWhip blocked the swing with his shield, he then slashed at her feet. She dove to the side, stunting the Xornoth Crystal out of FWhips hands.
The crystal spun through the air, Katherine shoved FWhip to the side, dashing over to catch the gem.
"NO!" FWhip yelled. Katherine, startled by his sudden squeals, fell flat on her face, landing the mud with a splat. The Crystal knocked against a lamp post and then fell in the mud inches away from Katherine.
She looked up, clawing it towards her, she scanned for a scratch, or a crack, or something that could cause his freedom.
Then she saw it, a crack striking right down from the top, it seethed red mist. The frantic Mayor of the Overgrown clamped her hand over the hole, glancing back at FWhip who lurched towards her, blade in hand.
"Let it grow..." FWhip screamed. "Let him find her..." He held his sword high, preparing to come down for a piercing strike.
"Find who!" Katherine wailed, trying to grab her shield. FWhip paused, a look of utter disgust on his face.
"Gem is gone..." He frowned. "And you didn't notice?..." FWhip fell to his knees and placed his sword down on Katherine's throat.
"Xornoth promised he would help..." FWhip sobbed. "And you're stopping him from fulfilling his promise...."
Katherine stared fearfully at FWhip, they locked eyes, and at the moment, Katherine knew there was no stopping this force...