The Frozen Empire - An Empires SMP AU

10 - Siblings... to the End

Gem, Joel and FWhip stared at each other, Joel more timid, he felt he was interrupting something. FWhip started to cry, his tears excited, but agonized.

"The nether!" He choked, falling to his knees and clawing at the air infront of him. "You were in the nether! This whole time?!" Gem said nothing, she just stared at FWhip with a blank expression.

"FWhip," She said, her voice in a monotone. "I want you to put Xornoth back, now." She got close to the overworld entrance, but didn't enter. FWhips face sunk.

"But I don't have-" 

A Piglin ran to Gems side and pulled FWhip into the nether, his arms boiled and corroded to a mottled zombie grey. FWhip fell to the netherrack, the Crystal teetered out of his pockets.

Gem grabbed it, she sighed a long breathe.

"Why..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Why did you take it?" Gem opened her eyes, FWhip would have responded, but he lost himself in reminiscing.

3 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day.

That was how long it had been since they had seen one and other.

FWhip lost himself in Gems sparkling emerald eyes, her freckled rosy cheeks and her curling red hair. He was flushed with childhood memories, memories of triumph, memories of joy, and memories of a simple time. A time before demons, or frost curses, or wizardry.

He found his posture melting, either that or his spine thawed. He got to feet with a burst of joy, he walked over to her with open arms.

Instinctively, Gem sprung into action, slashing FWhips knees and then holding a loaded bow to his face. FWhip stopped, Gem didn't use bows, she was a magician, she used staffs?

Gem tensed as FWhip struggled to stand up with his hands in the air.

"Gem..." He asked, lowering his hands. "Are you okay?"

Gem didn't move, she just glared at FWhip with wavering determination. He stood his ground, it was battle of wills, first to show weakness loses.

Gem then broke down into tears, she collapsed to her knees and calling out in anguish. The Piglins and Joel gave her confused looks, FWhip just smiled and lowered himself to her level. 

The Siblings just stared at each other, Gem broken and in tears, and FWhip composed... staring at the Crystal in her hands.

Half an hour later, Gem and FWhip sat in her Rivera, Joel took off, insisting he didn't want to intrude. They sat in a dimly lit café, meandering over a bottle of fire resistance. Gem lost the leather and now wore her tattered traditional wear.

"And then when I tried to get out, my arm..." She gestured to her dilapidated arm, bundled in a frosted bandage. "When Scott cursed me, I went to the nether..."

"Was it the portal in the canyon?" FWhip interrupted. Gem nodded her head, a look of solemn on her face.

"Now I can't leave, or..." She wiggled her arm. 

Silence lingered like the dragon's breath, the siblings just smiled awkwardly at each other.

"Is there any way I could help?" FWhip offered. "I could ask Xornoth if he could cur-" 

"No!" Gem stopped him. "God no!" Gem went to hold the crystal further away from him, but when she went to pat down her pocket...

"Where is it?" She asked, her tone accusatory and betrayed.

"What do you-"

"Where did you put the crystal!" Gem got out of her seat, she began pacing the Café. 

FWhip started to panic, he needed the crystal to go on. If he didn't have it, then he didn't know what he would do.

Suddenly, the churning of rock smashed the nether around them, Gem and FWhip ran outside, they clambered atop the tallest building and watched the decimation spanning out infront of them.

Tentacles, large lashing things with wart covered skin. They scratched and tore at the red inferno, sending tectonic shock waves to the Rivera.

"Gem!" FWhip yelped. "This place is gonna be destroyed! We gotta do something!" Gem nodded her head, she waved her hands in the air and from them, swirling grey particles spread through the sky.

"Is that-"

"Yes!" She snapped. "It's evoker magic..." The town erupted in a frenzy of green and gold, Gem yanked FWhip down from the rooftop and built them cobble stone box.

Crashes and shatters, Piglins wheezing as they puffed into smoke, the Box itself was narrowly missed.

Then silence, only the crackling of fire and the screams of Ghasts could be heard.

They broke out of the box, Gems Rivera lay in Ruins. FWhip stood gaping at it all.

"Gem... I'm so sor-"

"Don't be," She grumbled. "It's an undying spell, it'll come back." One of the buildings slowed reformed, FWhip marveled the magic, a sly grin on his face.

"I knew you still had Magic."

"That's unimportant," she moved on. "Whoever took the Crystal, obviously broke it." She told him. "That was Xornoth, the tentacle was no different to the ones we used to get."

"But Joel was the only other person here..." FWhip stated. "Why would he take it?"

"I don't-" she paused. "I don't know, but we need to recon." She instructed FWhip to go out and find the remaining empire members and bring them back to the Rivera. FWhip abided, and he ventured out to the overworld.

But it wasn't the old Overworld, it was the new one, one where Xornoth could attack in the weakest times. Most of them were gone, other were starving, others were depressed, or homeless. FWhip took a deep breath before stepping into the overworld.

Where a mushroom cloud of raw malice came from Rivendell