Under the Effect

Under the Effect Part 1

Author's Note: Howdy guys. I don't know why I'm doing another story. This makes three in total that I'm doing. This idea came to me recently, and I couldn't help but to write it out. This story will be strictly on Wattpad though, so yeah! Enjoy!

Cleo's POV:

 Hermitcraft has been quiet. A quiet that I honestly don't like. If there was ever that small moment on the server where there was that brief peace and quiet I would enjoy it, but today it was the kind of quiet that weirds me out. I flew down into the shopping district to meet up with Stress and Iskall to talk about this situation.

 " You two feel it too, right?" I asked as Stress and Iskall looked at each other. Stress let out a hum, " You mean this awkwardly quiet feeling? Yes, I do, and it worries me half to death." she sighed.

 Iskall looked up at the clear sky above our heads, " Come to think about it." he put his hand to his chin and scratched at his goatee thoughtfully, " I haven't seen Grian or Mumbo for the last couple of days." he sighed as he looked back at me. 

 Stress crossed her arms, " and I haven't heard from Joe yet. We were going to work on a better way to breed animals today." she frowned, and I could feel her worry grow, " I... I hope he's not hurt or anything." Iskall put a hand on her shoulder.

 I sighed loudly, " I was suppose to work with help Doc and Ren test out some new potions they made today." I crossed my arms and leaned against a tree. The three of us were lost. Is this the feeling I had? The fact that the others were a no show, and now I was left with nothing to do?

 The three of us continued to talk until Iskall's eye beeped startling Iskall and Stress. After recovering, Iskall answered the constant beeping, " Mumbo's not coming?" he blinked as if the call ended abruptly. Iskall frowned, " At least Mumbo is still alive...." he crossed his arms with an annoyed look.

 " Hey! Hey Guys!" the three of us looked in confusion as Mumbo came swooping down from the sky. Mumbo skipped to a stop just in front of us. Mumbo was pale to the point where he could be considered a ghost. 

 " I thought you said you weren't coming." Stress commented as Mumbo shook his head. Mumbo opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it.

 Mumbo looked around briefly before returning to looking at us, " I didn't say that...." he sighed out as he crossed his arms.

 I tilted my head to the side, " You just did say that though....." I pointed out as Mumbo shook his head again. Mumbo grew paler as he let out a deeper sigh, " I think something may not be wrong with me?" his voice was shaking. 

  Stress took a step forward, " Are you alright Mumbo? You are worrying me." she attempted to take another step forward, but Mumbo took a step back and was appearing more uncomfortable.

 " I'm... I'm okay..." he looked like he was forcing the words out of his mouth. Stress took a step back out of concern. The three of us looked at each other until an idea came to me.

  I took a small step forward but not far enough to make Mumbo want to back away from us anymore than what he had already. I cleared my throat.

 " Mumbo, are you lying?"

 Mumbo's eyes widened to the point where I could see the whites in his eyes. Iskall and Stress looked at me with mirrored confusion and concern. Mumbo let out a shaky breath, " I...." he bit his lip, " I'm not lying." he let his head drop in defeat. 

 Stress walked up to Mumbo and gently grasps his hands, " Why are you lying to us?" she asked in a whisper as Mumbo looked up at her; pain was echoing from his eyes. Mumbo reached into his pocket for a notepad, and he handed it to Stress.

 " I can't stop?" she read aloud and tilted her head. Iskall took the notebook next with confusion as well. he put a hand on Mumbo's shoulder, " Shake your head if this is true." he told him as Mumbo gave a sad, uncomfortable nod. Iskall nodded right back, " He's not lying." he looked towards Stress and me.

 Mumbo looked up at Iskall with his mouth opened slightly, " I know you're going to ask how I know mate. " Iskall waved his other hand, " I know you, and this weird behavior of lying isn't like you!" he patted Mumbo's shoulder causing Mumbo to give him a small smile. 

 Stress let go of Mumbo's hands, " Who did this to you Mumbo?" she asked as Mumbo thought for a moment, " I do know..." he looked down at his feet. I thought for a moment. If Mumbo is being forced against his will to lie then he didn't know how he ended up like this.

 " I honestly wish I didn't know. I just woke up and that's the end of it." he put his arms behind his head when Iskall took his hand off of Mumbo's shoulder. Mumbo let his arms drop again, and he leaned against the wall of one of the many shops. 

 I looked at him cautiously, " Does it hurt to lie this much?" I asked as Mumbo took the notebook back. He scribbled a couple of words down and showed them to the three of us. The note read, " No, it doesn't physically hurt me; however, I feel terrible doing it.". He gave us a sad expression.

  The silence in the air was still present, but now that Mumbo was okay everything felt a bit better. Mumbo's constant lying was a problem with no solution, yet knowing that he could tell the truth by simply writing it down on the notebook he now carried around was comforting to say the least.

 A gasp came from Stress, " If Mumbo is under some sort of spell or curse then could the others be? " her eyes widened with mild fear.

 Stress was right. Grian, Joe, Doc, and Ren were all missing as well. If Mumbo ended up like this while he was missing then the others could have something wrong happening to them right under our noses. I looked at the others.

 " We have to find them. Iskall, you and Mumbo head to Grian's base. That's where he often is." I ordered as Iskall and Mumbo both nodded and rocketed off into the sky towards the small red man's base.

 I looked at Stress as she crossed her arms and gave me a scared look, " We'll find them, and we will fix this." I tried to reassure her as she gave a small nod. I looked towards the blue sky, " Let's head to the Stock Exchange Building. If we know those two hybrids. They should be there together." I gave her a confident look as she gave me an awkward smile. 

 The two of us ran over to the building as fast as our legs could carry us.