Soulbreak - A MCYT 3rd/Last/Double Life FanFiction

Chapter 10 - Less Than Ideal

"Hell," Grian whispered as he hung the lantern on the wall.

"Okay Grian, you can cut the dramatics now," Scott rolled his eyes as he leaned his head against his hand. Grian tched angrily.

"Just because you don't believe in the Nether doesn't mean it's not real. Because if it wasn't real, you wouldn't be burned right now." Grian's eyes flashed. Scott sat bolt upright and winced as if just to further prove Grian's point.

"What do you mean?" Cleo cocked her head to the side. She looked genuinely interested. Grian noted this, his skepticism over Cleo's presence becoming more and more realized.

"Those burns obviously weren't from lava." Grian waited for a response. Scott gave a single curt nod and Grian raised his head slightly. "Now then - tell me what fool would trip into a campfire?" Grian raised his eyebrows.

"No one said it had to be a campfire-"

"So you think they carried a flint and steel around with them and somehow the flint struck the steel while they were walking? Or maybe you think there was a forest fire? Obviously not." Grian challenged Scott. His mood had shifted completely. This was a new Grian coming to light. A Grian that Grian himself hadn't allowed in ten years... for better or worse.

Scott was rendered speechless. Eventually, he coughed and muttered, "Where does the Nether come into this?"

"Weren't you listening?" Grian's eyebrows narrowed as he sharpened an iron tool, not looking up. "The Nether is hell." Grian raised his head suddenly and slammed his pickaxe into the ground with a resounding clang that shook the cave.

Gem whimpered and Cleo took her hand, not looking very bold herself. Scott merely lowered his eyelids and glared. Grian tried to make out what he was thinking, but Scott was completely unreadable even when faced with Grian's inherent abilities. Eventually, Grian pulled his pickaxe out of the stone with a thingk and looked down again.

"Have you ever heard of hell? Let me spare you the time of explaining - it's hot. And more notably fiery. The Nether pretty much fits that description. It's red. Red, red, red everywhere. You can't see anything for miles and miles. The ground is chalky crimson everywhere you look. And the monsters-" Grian paused and held back a shudder.

"The monsters are the fieriest of all. Ghasts who shoot flaming balls of fire. Striders who roam through the lava. Hoglins, giant brute-like monsters who live in red forests. They can hit you clean across the dimension. And don't forget the Piglins. Gold-hungry little pricks who'll swarm you and slice you in half with their nearly indestructible golden blades." Grian illustrated a rich, terrible tapestry of beasts.

"But I'm leaving out the most vicious of all. The very monsters Pearl and Martyn-" Scott coughed angrily and Grian shot him an acute sneer.

"The threats they will find in a Nether fortress. Withering black skeletons. One touch will begin disintegrating you from the inside out. You'll decay like zombified flesh within seconds." Grian described.

"And the yellow fairies. No more than brutal fire-spraying chandeliers that defy all the laws of physics and magic in existence. And they spawn in groups, little packs of them. Like wolves, but deadly." Grian's voice was no louder than a whisper at this point. Even Scott looked unnerved. The room fell into uneasy silence.

"We should get some sleep," Cleo suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not yet." Scott's eyes bored into Grian's. "What does this have to do with my soulbound?"

"Pfft. Why do you insist on being so difficult? Your burns can't be explained any other way. Or - well - they can be, but it's highly unlikely otherwise. Sco-oOOoo-tt!" Grian gave a drawn-out sigh. "Your soulbound is in the Nether." Grian threw up his arms, exasperated. Scott froze.