The Frozen Empire - An Empires SMP AU

23 - Love for the Past

Jimmy waited outside of the mountain top cottage, a poppy in his clammy hands. He and Scott hadn't spoken since Third life ended, so Jimmy thought he would give him a visit. He knocked softly on the door, but from the shuffling within, he knew Scott heard.

The door swung open, Scott appeared dressed in denim. Behind him, drapes of white cloth loomed beside knitting needles, golden fabric overflowed from an open chest. Jimmy spotted a composter in the corner, an odd smell wafted from it.

"Jimmy!" He said, his voice cracking like glass. "Long time no see..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. Jimmy couldn't ignore the smell, he swept in and glanced into the wood box. "Hey wait-"

Jimmy saw a familiar rose, lying amongst discarded leaves. Jimmy pulled it out, then dropped it, memories cutting him like a knife. 

This rose was the one Scott adorned his hair with back in the flower valley.

"Oh yeah!" Scott said, taking out the flower. "I forgot about this!" 

Ouch, and Ouch... Jimmy thought. Insult to injury.

"What did you do with yours?"

Jimmy wanted to yell I didn't put it in a composter, but controlled himself.

"I... died with it." He lied. "It's been burnt in lava." Scott nodded, the gentle twitch of his eye indicating hurt.

"Oh," He smiled briefly. Silence is a killer.

"Well I'd best be off..." Jimmy left before Scott could react, he slid down the mountain in his boat then rowed downstream in the river.  When he got back to his house, he chucked the flower he had tended to for weeks into the ocean. He wiped the sign saying 'Scott' underneath it clean with part spit and part tears. And as he curled up in a ball to sob... a rope wrapped around his neck, it yanked him back into the hands of Xornoth who consumed him like-

Jimmy woke up, his eyes wet. He dried them on the crook of his elbow. He soon realised he was moving, he lay on the back of a pig, a man on a stallion leading his pig-carriage with a carrot on a stick. Jimmy squinted, he knew that small figure anywhere.

"Joel?" Jimmy asked. Joel turned to face him, his face ridden with fear. 

"Keep it down, he might be near." He barked silently. "I'm working on borrowed time here..." Jimmy came around to sit properly on his pig. 

"Who's coming?" Jimmy whispered, trying to urge his ride forward.

"Xor-.... Master." Joel told him. Jimmy blinked twice, he remembers when Joel used to not see any of it, when he would ignore it. But now, he almost said his name.

"How can you be sure?..." Jimmy replied. Joel pointed far into the Jungle, though the dark and the mist, Jimmy made out the red of a crimson mushroom. 

"And those sky-hands can't be a good omen..." Jimmy nodded. They went on in silence, Jimmy didn't know where they were going, he had went to sleep not long after the sky-hands appeared, then he woke up now. How long had it been? Minutes? Hours?

"How long has it been since sky-hands?" Jimmy asked. 

"3 and Half Hours..." Joel shuddered. "The hands are moving together, at this rate they'll collide at sundown tomorrow." Jimmy cleared his throat.

"Woah..." He breathed. Was this is it? The end of times? Had Jimmy came back in hope to rebuild, only to find a world worse than the one he left? "Shouldn't we leave?"

"I can't..." Joel snapped. "Not yet." Jimmy understood why Joel wouldn't leave - She was Buried here.

"We could go cremate her?" Jimmy suggested, his eyes going puffy. Joel stopped, he glanced back, he had pink eyes.

"I-..." He choked. "I would like that..." Jimmy was filled with a warm fuzzy feeling. "We haven't a minute to waste!" Jimmy's eyes widened. 

"Huh?" 

"We need to go," He said matter-of-a-fact-ly. "... collect her...." Jimmy didn't speak, his eyes questioned Joel.

Are you serious?

"We need to leave as soon as possible," Joel recapped. "And I can't do that unless I know she is coming with me..." Jimmy sat incredulously as Joel eagerly veered the caravan in a new direction. His sudden perkiness was oddly inspiring, Jimmy was about to say they should do it later, but with another look at the rapidly ensuing 'Sky-clap', he decided it would be best to do it as soon as possible.

***

The warped wood boat drifted steadily over the lava lakes, Gem heaved it from the netherrack shores and gazed as it bobbed into the horizon.

On the boat, draped in a large white silk, Katherine rested for her send off. On the boat, lily of the valleys dangled off the edges, an apology letter to her sat by her hand, a totem of undying lay on her chest, Gem hoped it would help her on her Journeys.

Gem cried, with no one else around, she choked and wailed as loud as she could. A hoard of Piglin tempted her, but with one glance, the raw malice that consumed her mashed them into fine pulp.

She had to get out of the nether, she was driven to insanity but the warmth, by the red walls that encircled her, by the constant shrill scream of ghasts. She didn't know how she was going to get out, the other curse she had made sure she stayed in. One cold wind froze her to death, her arm was still cold from the first time she attempted to escape.

Today was different, she had a plan, an encasing spell, a shield of heat to keep her body at room temperature. It was risky, but worth it. On arriving at the portal out, she let magic consume her, immediately, she felt warmer. Gem thought it best to just dive out in a oner: if she was to die, she'd make sure it isn't slow.

3...2...1...

Wanna know a thing about magic shield spells? 

You need to concentrate for them to work.

She sprung out, cold surrounded her, she sprawled onto the floor, her inventory spilling onto the floor. She had to have something to help her, she reached out with what little strength she had and clasped onto the weird copper bar that brewed with two lumps. It was the one Joey had been showing her that day when they debated the prophecy... now that seems dumb. She threw it onto her chest, hoping it would warm her up.

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

Gem stopped moving, her eyes stared into the clouds, the stars welcome her as she felt herself rising, moving upwards into the heavens when-

Gem gasped for air, her throat feeling cold and brassy. She was no where near as cold, the ice on her body had thawed and she could wriggle her fingers.

She got to her feet, her mouth taste metallic, was she bleeding? She crept over to an iced over puddle and stared at herself...

What was wrong with her? She was copper? Every detail, her eyes, her hair of wires, everything but the clothes on her back. She wasn't sad, she wasn't scared, she marvelled her odd transformation. Gem was happy, not only to be out of the nether, but to be rid of her old self. She need something new, she need to feel like she wasn't the same person who... killed Katherine.

Everything felt perfect - a bit different, but perfect. She was going to go find Joel and tell him to show her the way, she would find the others and show off her new look. She'd congratulate Joey, his magic, though unintentional, saved her life. Like a mob hit by a shulker, she was on the rise. everything was...

Then she saw the sky-hands.