He should be excited, Kane kept telling himself. They had successfully gotten an End-Crystal and Ciara had killed the Piglin King, which meant he didn't have to worry about the Piglin King sending assassins or armies after them anymore. Even as Ciara proudly explained to Rain and Stella how she killed the King, he just couldn't muster up an eye roll. Something was terribly wrong and he knew it, but between the pain in his chest or the horrible feeling of paranoia he wasn't exactly sure how he knew.
"Kane?" he looked over to Stella, who stared at him with a concerned look. "Are you okay? You look very spaced out?"
"I'm fine . . . just worried about Ria" Kane said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Oh come on Kane! Ria's fine! She is probably hanging out funny looking Enderman right now and bouncing off the walls waiting for you to come back" Ciara groaned, elbowing his side with a smug grin forming on her face.
"Or are you all worried she's got a crush or that little Enderman?"
"His name's Boo and he's an EndDancer actually, they are similar to Endermen but they have some striking differences" Stella said helpfully trying to change the subject as she nervously watching Kane's expression darken toward the short assassin.
"She's four Ciara, she doesn't need a boyfriend" Kane growled, glaring down the small assassin. Who looked smugly back up at him, unaffected by the taller man's death stare.
"We're back!" Stella shouted suddenly in an attempt to break the tension rising between the two Netherbane members.
Kane looked over to the empty place where the portal had once been, he raised his eyebrow as he looked back at Stella. She chuckled nervously, her tail flicked awkwardly as the rest of her team watched her in expectation. Her book quickly zipped right in front of her, pages flipping rapidly. The pages stopped turning after a moment a picture of a Nether Portal on the page was imprinted. The portal appeared in front of them, not forcing itself out of the ground as it did in the overworld.
Rain glanced over to the purple haired hybrid before heading towards the portal saying nothing as usual, Stella was quick to follow him. Ciara looked up at Kane and shrugged, heading towards the portal as well. He sighed and followed her towards the portal, a deep pit formed in his stomach almost made him hurl.
"Captain Kane!" someone yelled as soon as Kane stepped out of the portal, clutching his stomach. He bent over, feeling his breakfast coming up.
He stood there bent over letting his stomach settle yet the pain chest didn't fade. He turned his head, finding a short woman wearing a pair of elytra running towards him. She stopped a few feet away looking unsure of herself and concerned.
He felt someone lay their hand on his back gently rubbing his back. He could see Stella in the corner of his vision, leaning down into his view. He took a deep breath and stood up straight again, giving Stella a thankful nod.
After a few moments for quiet the girl asked, "You are Captain Kane of the Netherbane correct?" stopping in front of him, seeming tense.
She had chocolate colored eyes and rich brown hair, the other side of her head had longer hair that touched her shoulder and the right side barely past her ear. She had bold freckles that were widely scattered across her face.
"Correct, who are you and what do you need?" Kane said, keeping his voice as friendly as he could, noticing how her body seemed to relax at this.
"My name is Benjamin and I need you to come with me" Benjamin said, nervously fiddling with her finger-less glove.
