You Tried

Chapter 54- Trauma

-Ty's POV-
They don't understand. I'm not physically able to speak. The damn net just traumatized the hell outta me. These people need to learn respect, and space. The net was unnecessary.
I teleported away from the group, and focused my energy on the Nether portal in Herobrine's castle. I dove through, and teleported to the End portal quickly. I toppled in, and landed on the Endstone. The dragon had made its way back, and was full size. I'd already retaught it Endertongue, and it spoke fluently once again.
I laid on the cold Endstone, taking the cold to calm my nerves. I flew up to my tower, and still found a pile of ash where the crystal once was. I was frustrated, and in that state of mind, I flew over the edge of the island. Into the void below.

-Anthony's POV-
Tyler had left quickly, and said nothing more. Sky and the fantasies had already circled up to teleport. The robot- Mat- had grabbed my hand. He said he wanted to fly, and see what it felt like. So I picked up the 7 year old, and flew up and north, back to the Flower kingdom.
He laughed with glee, and closed his eyes as the wind hit his face. I smirked, and landed in the courtyard. Sky appeared next to me, and the fantasies both fell back. They looked frozen, and petrified. Then, Pete yelled, "That was AWESOME!!!! Let's do it again!"
But Kara countered. "I think I'm gonna be sick, Brandon. No." "Okay... For you." Preston bolted out the front door, and froze. "Friends!" Pete tilted his head. "Preston?! Where did you come from?!"
"I was freed. How did you get away?" "Kara got sick. They let us go as well." "Kara? Are you okay? Where's Mat?" At my side, Mat cried, "I'm right here!" "Mat!"
Sky shook his head. "How do you know each other?" Kara answered. "We were all taken from our homes when we were younger. All of us, taken to the same place."
"Sky, that cage I told you I was put in? They took me to the same place that these guys were." Kara cut in. "It was more of a prison, or a laboratory." Mat chipped in. "They did stuff to us. Needles, and for me, they kept pouring water on me. It hurt so bad."
"We didn't have a choice, and when Kara got sick, they turned us out to home again. But when we left, Preston was already gone." "And I had been let go because they realized I was one of very few left. Endangered, they called it." "So they let you go?"
"Yeah. You guys won't know him, but Imma get Jerome quick." And Preston ran back inside. He came back a second later with a sleepy Jerome in a gray shawl being dragged along. The cold woke Jerome, and he stumbled when Preston didn't stop pulling him.
"Sky? Can we go home for a while?" Jerome asked sleepily. "Sure, Jerome. You guys wanna go back to a pocket for a while?" They all answered in unison. "Yes, please!"

-Sky's POV-
I had everyone circle back up, while Anthony went inside to sleep. Kara was hesitant, but held my hand tightly. I teleported them to Jerome and Preston's pocket, and they seemed fine. In fact, they seemed to flourish in a new pocket. Delilah was still here, with her fast-growing puppies.
I noticed as dawn approached, but Pete's energy glowed slightly. He had a green hue to him, and Mat's glowed a light blue. I sent them off, but Mat stayed. "What's wrong? Go. Enjoy." "What's here to enjoy? I'm not like them. I only stayed with Pete and Kara in their home for two reasons. They're my friends, and I haven't got a home."
"Did you have one before?" "Yeah. I wasn't like this either. I was regular. A human. But I was nearly dead at birth, so they put me in this suit. It constantly keeps my heart beating, and healing anything that needs healing."
"What was wrong?" "I don't know. I think someone said I had a very weak heart, and just wouldn't live on my own. I needed immediate help, and this is what they gave me." "Is it helping?" "Of course. Or I wouldn't be here, 7 years later. The suit is remodeled as I grow, so I have a special friend who does that." "Oh. That's neat I guess."
Jerome landed feet first behind me, and I whirled to face him indirectly. "Preston is entranced again. Same meadow and everything. Except I tried to approach, and he curled in a ball inside the cove. I can't get him out."
I teleport to Preston, and the second I get there, someone takes my hand, and presses something into my palm. I feel it, and it's glasses of some sort. I put them on, and my sight sharpens. I can see. But they're sunglasses, so my vision is still darker than it should be.
I can clearly see Preston, curled in a petrified ball against the back wall of the cove. He glowed in the dark space, and I noticed it was really dark outside. I saw a green glow, and saw it was Pete. Mat's eyes glowed a light blue, and Kara's gems glowed their ruby red. They all glowed in some way.
I turned my attention back to Preston, and crawled into the cove. "Preston?" "W-what." "Are you alright?" "N-no. I- don't feel..." "Feel... What?" "Like... Like I'm safe. I- I just don't f-feel safe here anymore."
He was right. I could feel a hostile presence, but had somehow ignored it for this long. The green glow from Pete suddenly disappeared, and I heard Kara cry out. Preston and I got out of the cove instantly, only to find Pete gone. Kara was in tears.
Mat wrapped her in his arms, and held her while she cried. "Go. I'll watch her." Mat said. "He went west, with Pete in a bag. Go!" The rest of us went, and skirted around trees. Preston bounded off the trees, and skillfully parkoured high above our heads.
He stopped, and hung carefully between two trees. His small rounded feet held the trees, and Preston flipped upside down, hanging by his feet. "They're up ahead!" He whispered sharply. "Pete's in a cage next to them."

-Mitch's POV-
Every time. He leaves for the pocket every time I'm asleep. He never goes when I'm awake. And I always feel anxious, like a feeling that he won't come back one day. And that I'd be left alone without my brother.
But today was different. I saw Anthony come in, but no one else. Sky, Preston, Ty and Jerome were all MIA. But as I stood in the dark hallway entrance, watching Anthony, he suddenly froze. It caught my attention- the way he did, because it was grief.
It was sudden, terrible grief. He turned to me, knowing that I was there, and his eyes welled up with tears. He collapsed to his knees, and buried his head in his hands. His body shivered as he cried. I ran over, and Rob came flying down the stairs in an instant.
I held Anthony's shoulder, and he ignored me. I didn't blame him though, he was feeling grief beyond measures. I felt bad, and sat with him until he relaxed. He sniffled a bit, but kept his shaky composure. "What happened?"
"With what." "I saw the worst kind of pain in your eyes. Grief. What. Happened." "Tyler. He-" He didn't finish. Anthony stood up and stormed out, incredibly hurt and angry.
I let him calm down, going to the arena instead of pursuing him. Rob followed me for once, picking up his own sword, which was held in an iron case on the wall. It was a diamond sword, and the hilt was decorated lightly with rose etchings. A small ring decorated the one side of the hilt, and Rob kept his index finger in that ring. It fit his hand perfectly, and I knew he could use it.
I pulled my sword from a pedestal near the entrance. "Wanna dance, Rob?" "Sure. I'll dance. What kind? The slashing, or the counter?" "Let's try to mix the two." "Ooh. Okay."
"Let's dance, Rob. You start." He passed from one end of the arena to the other in seconds, and lunged. He could've cut me easily, but I somehow barely escaped. He has lightning reflexes, and can move almost faster than me. He steps back, and simply dodges my return lunge. He smirks, and counters.
A few hours pass, and Anthony comes out to watch. Vikk comes out as well, with Lachlan not far behind. Vikk picks up my bow, and Lachlan grabs a spare sword. But I keep focused on Rob. We've been dancing for a good 13 hours straight, without a single surrender.
He hasn't started to break a sweat, but surprisingly, I haven't either. Yes, it is cold and all, but stuff like this will make you sweat anyway. And then you freeze, but that isn't the point. We aren't tiring, and this could go for a whole day before we surrender, possibly longer. I know Rob is hungry, and he also is getting visibly tired. Not of the dancing, but because it's getting dark again. We had danced all night, and most of the day.
I broke off, because Rob's head started to dip. He was really tired. But Anthony came up to me before I could leave the arena. He looked terrible. His eyes were pretty red, and his hair covered most of his face instead of half.
"I- Tyler... Tyler committed suicide." "What?! How?!" "He made his way back to the End. He jumped off. The same tactic I've tried for years." "But- why?" "I don't know. He seemed upset. He refused to speak any language but our own. Tyler got very frustrated."
"But that's not enough to commit! You need like, serious trauma, or depression to commit like that." "He did say he had trauma, but it didn't add up. I didn't know what caused the trauma." "Was he found in an unusual place?" "Another fantasy pocket. With some of the few native fantasies."
"Was he caught?" "Yeah... Before the pocket though. They snuck up with a net." "Then that's why." "What's why?" "The net. It snuck up on him. He didn't know it was there, so it probably scared the living shit outta him, traumatizing him. That can be very traumatic."
(Mitch, Jerome, Seto, and Brice have all reached the age that Ty and Sky both set before they could curse. It was 15. Mitch and Jerome are 15, Seto and Brice are 16. Some of them just choose not to. Calm yourselves.)
Ty had committed suicide in the void. That was a little too much to handle, especially for Anthony, who just lost his only brother to trauma created by humans. Probably explains why they never wanted to come in the first place. "He'll come back, right?" "No. The crystals were destroyed. By your kind." "Oh."
Suddenly, Anthony stiffened. He turned around, and revealed a small child. He had gray-dusted, curly, brown-black hair, light blue eyes, and a cheerful smile. He wore a gray and orange sweatshirt, khakis, and mid-thigh height manyullyn boots. "Hi! I'm Mat."