A Crown of Broken Runes (ACOBR)

Siblings

As soon as he came through the portal, a shiver ran up his spine. It reminded him of the crater, and he got an odd sense of nostalgia. This felt like... home.

He followed the tall, dark-feathered personage through the mist, stepping around hills of porous sandstone and towers of obsidian. The towers got fancier as they walked, from small spires of rough rock to intricate towers detailed with cobble and clay. He even saw a few plants here and there, dark ivy twisting up the columns and pillars of magnificent structures. Here and there, Grian spotted an enderman's mysterious eyes staring out of the darkness at him.

For every step the figure beside him took, Grian had to take two.

Eventually, he worked up the courage to speak.

"Who- who are you?"

The creature stopped short, causing Grian to trip and turn around. The stranger's movements were oddly jumpy, so unlike what Grian was used to.

The bird creature put a hand on its chest, robed in glittering cloth that went around its long neck and draped over its shoulders. Delicate, silky cloth also draped over the upper half of its birdlike legs.

"You may call me Sibling Dust."

Without waiting for a response, they began moving again.

"Okay... so where am I? Does this have something to do with my mask?"

This time the creature kept moving. After a few moments of awkward silence, the Watcher stopped.

"I shall let sibling Void answer your queries. We have arrived."

They abruptly took off, leaving Grian standing in front of a massive stone archway, glowing runes etched into the hard grey bricks. Large oak doors loomed before him, bits of obsidian set into the wood grain. He reached out his fist and awkwardly rapped against the rough wood. After a short pause, a small, emotionless chuckle filled the air.

"Enter, young one."

Nervously, he pushed open the door. A few smaller creatures scuttled underfoot, hissing at him as he strode through the crowd. There were also quite a few enderman, but even they were slightly shorter than him.

So this is what it's like to be tall...

The thought was dashed, however, as he looked up. Down a short hall, a large figure, at least half a metre taller than the other and a full metre taller than himself, sat upon a cobblestone chair. The chair was devoid of decor, small and dusty, but the aura the creature upon it exuded made the rickety chair seem to be a throne.

Its voice, despite the acoustics of the chamber, was soft, and had no echo. Its feathers were a deeper shade of black than the void itself, and glowing eyes lined each feather, watching him. However, something seemed off. The creature's halos were at odd angles, split and shifted.

The same went for its many glowing eyes. They were all fractured, fragmented, glitched, and Grian could see why. The mask upon this creature's face had been struck, split down the middle. A crack, about as broad across as his thumb at its widest point, branched out and across the mask. Thin tendrils of electricity laced the fissure. It seemed as if a soft blow could easily break the mask in two.

He couldn't help himself.

"What happened to your mask?"

At first, Grian saw a small flash of confusion race across its face, then nothing.

"Just as humorous as always, I see. That can be remedied. It is no matter now. You are here, and you have chosen us over playing. A wise decision."

"I haven't chosen anything! Where am I? Who are you? What are you? Nevermind that, what am I?"