The Skeleton in my Closet: a Grian VS NPC Grian Fanfiction

Chapter 12, Grian

After returning home, I'd gone to bed, and slept peacefully until just before sunrise.

I packed myself enough armor, weapons, food and tools for myself, and for Mumbo when I find him, then set out.

I walked straight for his base, if he'd left any clues about where he'd gone, they'd be there.

When I arrived, I was almost caught off guard by his base. I had nearly forgotten what had happened to it. Nothing had changed since last night, but something felt more off than before.

It was still so familiar, but so foreign under Mumbo's reputation. I was certain someone else had built it. Someone I knew, but who?

I decided to look around to glean as many clues as possible from the place.

Instead of normal torches hanging on the walls, they were supported underneath by fences, heh, I remember using that trick a few times. It makes it look like a proper, elegant sconce.

The carpets were thick, and shaggy, instead of flat and wooly. I remembered this as well, red coral fans would sit on top of waterlogged stairs or slabs, and it would look fluffy and comfortable.

The more I looked around, the more nostalgia I felt, until I finally realized...

I built this.

But, when?

These are all MY tricks, MY ideas, MY STYLE!

Why would anyone go around copying my style?

Mumbo surely wouldn't! Mumbo simply doesn't like working at the same scale as me, he builds things large and grand, rather than small and detailed.

Scar couldn't, he prefers organic curves rather than man-made rustic style houses.

R..... rustic..... houses......?

What if.... but no, it couldn't be.... he's locked in the closet......

The closest....... that I found open..... just two nights ago.....

Suddenly, it all made sense.

The style, the closest, my missing items.

He must've escaped.

I began to search harder. I opened every door, tore up all the carpets, and looked at all the little nooks and crannies when I saw a trapdoor.

It blended into the floor so well, but when I opened it I saw a hole. It led far down, and a ladder hung on one side. The walls were made of obsidian.

I climbed down cautiously. The small hole opened up into a small, one by two tunnel made completely of obsidian. It stretched for about twenty or thirty blocks, and ended at a wall, with iron bars set in the upper half.

Past the bars I could barely see a hole that went on for another several blocks, and opened up into a room. It was nearly pitch black inside other than a single torch, which must've been right above the hole since it was outside my view.

In the room there was nothing but a red bed, and a black-clothed figure lying upon it. Their back was faced towards me, but I instantly knew who it was.

Quickly, I mined down the iron bars, and made the hole as big as the tunnel behind me. I raced over to the bed, and stood above it.

At first, I thought he wasn't breathing, but with the little light I had I could barely make out his shoulders shaking with... sobs?

I put my hands on top of his arm.

"Mumbo! Mumbo, I've come to rescue you! How did you get here?" I ask.

He pulled his arm from underneath my hand, but otherwise didn't acknowledge me.

"Mumbo, it's me! Grian! I came to-"

"Go away."

"P- pardon?" He hadn't said what I thought he said, did he?

"I SAID GO AWAY!" Mumbo shouted, jolting from the bed and throwing me to the floor.

"I just want to help you Mumbo!" I choke, getting to my feet.

"We couldn't find you anywhere and-"

WHAM

He'd punched me in my cheek, and I was sent flying back into the tunnel by his blow, and the wind was knocked out of me when I hit the floor.

"YOU PUT ME IN HERE! YOU PULLED MY BED WITH A PISTON AND LEFT ME AT HALF A HEART! WE REBUILT MY HOUSE TOGETHER, AND YOU TRY TO KILL ME! AND THEN YOU COME AROUND, SAYING I'VE FORGOTTEN WHO YOU ARE, AND THAT IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS! FIVE YEARS SINCE WHAT, GRIAN?"

I look at him, astonished, unable to breathe.

I hadn't done any of that. I didn't even know you COULD pull a bed with a piston!

Then I remembered what I figured out earlier.

"Mumbo, you have to listen to me," I gasped for air, "I didn't-"

"JUST SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND GO AWay..."

At that his voice broke, and he walked back into his cell. He laid back down on the bed, and his shoulders shook with sobs.

I just sat there, stunned, wheezing as I tried to regain my breath. It took me a good ten minutes before I felt well enough to stand, and even then my head spun.

Still, I managed to make it to the end of the tunnel and climb the ladder.

Mumbo would be alright. He would come to his senses soon enough, and now that he was no longer trapped he could leave anytime he felt like it. I was sure of it.

I made it to the surface, and as I stood above the hole my head began to spin again. I steadied myself against a nearby pillar, but the wooziness didn't stop.

I closed my eyes as I rested my head against my arms, facing the pillar. I breathed slowly and deeply.

As I stood there, attempting to recollect myself, I felt a sudden warmth in the middle of my back, like someone had lain their hand upon me.

I knew immediately who it was, but my head throbbed too much for me to move. I couldn't think. I couldn't even open my eyes.

The warmth seemed to soak into my skin, spreading like mycelium across my shoulders, and as my stance softened, I felt my consciousness slipping into an eigengrau darkness.