Return of The Corruption (Empires SMP Fanfic)

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     My friend's voices slowly faded from my ears. I looked around at the nothingness. It wasn't black or white, but it wasn't grey either. It was just...empty. I jumped as something flashed at me. "-to your Empire-" it was Aunt Shrub's voice. Someone gasped, "oh no! My ocean!" Aunt Lizzie?  "-it's still not turning up-" my heart jerks. Dad.  All of a sudden I can see things. Thunder crashed next to me. For a moment I didn't recognize where I was, the ground was a yellowish color, like a firm sponge with oversized holes. Tall, dark pillars lined the sky. I heard a betrayed sounding yelp and saw a small figure tumble from atop one of the structures. A red headband of some sort wrapped around the person's head, their boots matching it. I noticed a dark haired braid and then something hit me. Short, red, dark braid....it was Shrub. "What the-" I turn to see neon colors fading from sight. The emptiness dissolved. I was back in the snow we we're in a number of  minutes ago. I hear our joyous voices screaming and laughing as we threw snow at each other. But I couldn't see anyone. My feet began to feel clammy. No, they felt blistering hot. I looked down to find myself standing on red ground, fire and darkness lit the air menacingly. Small red tentacles curled  up from the ground, trying to nip at my hands. I swatted them away. I turned around to see a dome shape looming over the area. Right away I made out Xornoth and my cyan haired father. He seemed to be trapped. I noticed redstone dust sprinkled in a circle around him. He was holding his normal sword and the two were talking. I couldn't make out what they were saying but surprisingly as ever, I could see pinpoint clear. Every detail was vivid in my mind, unforgettable. Dad's eyes began to fill with tears. He pulled out a different sword, ancient elvish scrawled across it, glowing. I knew what it was and it confused me how I knew because I had no memory of it before. He slowly lifted the sword,

     "Wait," I sort of gave a grunt-laugh noise. "No..."  I don't know why but I was smiling as if it was a joke. My face falls, "wait, seriously? No wait! Stop! STOP!"  The tip of the sword seems to get sharper by the second but I'm yanked to the ground, fast and hard. I squirm around, grappling at my neck. A red vine of corruption had twisted itself tight enough to the point I was struggling to breathe. I kicked at them furiously, clawing what I could with my hands. Someone was calling my name and it was getting  louder every time. I tearfully blinked a and saw Ty, leaning over me, looking shaken. It came back to the dark, red, storming sky. I heard aggressive crying, it was feminine and it seemed to be next to me. It flipped back to Ty, still looking panic stricken. Tears slipped down my face as my fingers became weaker. All of a sudden a pair of hands slipped into mine. No one was here though. The vines disappeared and I was back with my friends in the Grimlands chest room. I sat up with a huge gulp of air. Ty's hands left mine and wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug. I pulled my arms up to return the hug and buried my nose into his shoulder.

     "Was that normal?" Axel asks quietly. I shake my head violently.

     "No. No that was not."

..:^:..

     The full group met up again, everyone had an item. Axel and Tara had gotten a piece of coral, Sunny retrieved some seeds, Dune had a jar full of sand and Rylee and Reap had a handful of red wool.

     "Great, now we can set up the-" Cliff was cut off by the high-pitched howl of the wind. It was very sudden, the bright sky turning dark in an instant. Misty clutched Flora's hand at the same moment that Fawn did Ty's. Grey clouds began flowing in, energy bolting around them. Tara winced as next to her, Fawn began yelling some not-so-nice things about what was happening. Xornoth appeared behind them.

      "WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Dune screeched over the wind.

      "Someone is trying to stop you," Xornoth answered, his voice not even raised over the wind but completely clear and not muffled. "Also..." Someone appears next to him. Before he finishes his next sentence, Fawn's eyes light up at the flash of pink hair. "I found your friend."

     "Mari!" they shout, all trying to embrace her at once, she laughs hard, welcoming them in.

     "THANK YOU!" another odd unison shout over the wind. (Honestly, every time they say something together, just know it's in unison.) 

     "Who would want to stop us?"

     "Better question, who could have the POWER to stop us?" Ty fired back. The group stood, conflicted for a moment. 

     "We can't do the...ritual thing in the the rain!" Flora called over the thundering rain. She'd paused for a moment, thinking on what to call their redstone circle plan. (POV: your 'gift/power' is admin commands 🤣) Fawn beckoned the group inside the castle and up to her quarters. As they all trotted up the steps, Misty's wet shoe slipped against the wood flooring. She let out a startled gasp as she began to fall. Waving her arms to balance herself, she realized she wasn't falling. Flora's arms were wrapped around her, firm and sturdy. Misty righted herself up and hurried up the rest of the stairs. When the whole group had arrived in Fawn's room, she was sitting on her bed, looking distant. 

     "Not again," Reap moaned.

     "I think she's fine this time," Spencer suggested.

     "Just let it fade, if she starts showing signs she's dying we'll step in," Ty affirmed calmly. Just a little bit after that, she blinked, coming back to the present. Xornoth was in the corner of the room.

     "You weren't exactly good in the other dimension, were you?" She hummed. Xornoth shook his head. 

      "Not all of it was me, corruption has a fair role in this too." Sunny tilted her head to the side and nodded.

     "True..." 

      "Whatever. I have some questions about the other dimension from Mr. Spell Escapee over there too," Fawn addressed Xornoth. 

      "Hit me-ah,ah,ah. No," Xornoth held up a hand as Axel began to raise his arm to slap the demon. 

      "How do I undo it?" Xornoth appeared startled. Fawn choked on her words. "How do I undo it?" 

     "You-you can't, you can keep it in this dimension but you can't in the other dimension." The elf princess nodded. Everyone seemed to have no clue what was happening. 

      "We can stay here, right? And still fix the other dimension?" The demon nodded in response to the girl.

     "May I ask what's going on-" Dune asked hesitantly but he was cut off as the two continued.

     "Yes you can still stay here."

     "Is it here? Does it exist in our dimension?"

     "Only if you find it."

     "Has anyone addresses the fact all our parents are trapped by crimson tentacles that are possibly trying to kill us all?" Rylee asked absentmindedly. Everyone looked up, thinking.

     "Eh." 

     "Seriously what is UP with that unison?" Forest wondered aloud. Mari sighed,

      "It doesn't matter. Let's get some sleep we've been running around like maniacs for the past few days." Cliff squinted.

      "Has it been that long?" 

     "ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTIONS!" Tara groaned loudly. The group put out blankets, pillows and other sleeping surfaces and with a creepy unison, 'goodnight!', they were off to bed.

I'm actually so sorry for not posting lately! I've had EXTREMELY severe writers block, the last bit I got down before being at a loss for words was they couldn't do the circle in the rain. I know what's gonna happen but have no clue how I'm going to get there. Reads are going up (in my opinion, which is insignificant speaking most things get millions of views lol) but it's making me happy so yeah. Share this with your oddly, creepily, Empires-Obsessed friends if you enjoy it. Love, peace and PRAY FOR UKRAINE! (One of my friends is Ukrainian and all her family lives there....) anyway have a good night, day, morning or afternoon!

-Strange