Embers of a King

Setosorcerer has joined the server

{THIS HAS SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER EIGHT OF MY FRIEND'S STORY! THIS IS WHY I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU READ THEIRS!!!! OTHERWISE, YOU'RE GONNA BE A REAL CONFUSED MUFFIN!}

He released Grian and handed him another shulker of rustic building materials. "Build what you're good at. You aren't one for risks, Grian."

Grian stared down at the shulker before finally nodding. The wind in his sails had been completely taken away and his heart felt heavier than it had when he was in the blacklist room. Somewhere deep inside, he had hoped that they'd come back for him. But now? He wasn't even sure why they had picked him up in the first place.

So he kept building rustic houses. One after another, block by block. He didn't eat or drink, and he certainly didn't sleep. Once he passed out, but he woke right back up with NPC sitting by the side of his bed, smiling like he always was. Grian wished he could relate. By the time Grian had finished the fifteenth rustic house, he felt more like a robot than NPC ever did. All he did was build. Eventually, NPC was forced to make him stop periodically to rest. "Can't have you dying on me!" He would laugh.

He placed another staircase along the roof. He was barely paying attention now. Everything had become dull and grey, and overall he just felt numb. He heard NPC sigh behind him.

"You've placed it wrong. Again." He groaned.

Grian simply removed the block and replaced it. "M'Sorry," he muttered quietly.

SetoSorcerer has joined the server

Grian wondered if he was seeing things, but NPC's sudden swore clarified that he wasn't the only one seeing it. Still, he couldn't but help but blink at the chat message a few times. He barely heard NPC saying something about 'taking care of this intruder,' before the surrounding air suddenly crackled and seemed to come alive with an energy that Grian couldn't describe. It made him think of Xisuma whenever he used his admin powers around them—which was few and far in between but the times it had happened had been electric, and damn near difficult to explain—and that thought made his stomach churn. He shoved it away and instead focused on turning towards the source of the magic. What he saw pulled him from the numb state he had been in for Notch knew how long. It felt as though it had been years.

Standing there was another person, a man. He had flowing purple robes, an iron crown, and dark brown eyes that didn't look very impressed as he stared past Grian to look at NPC. "Who the hell are you?!" The living armor stand snarled. "How did you get here?!" The man—Seto?—stared at him for a moment longer before his gaze suddenly shifted, right onto Grian. His face softened and a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. He stepped forward.

"Hello, my dear. My name is Seto." He held his hand out. "You're Grian, right?" Grian stared, blinking blankly before he reached towards his hand. But suddenly, NPC was right between them, roughly knocking Grian's hand to the side as he snarled like a feral dog.

"He's 'None-of-you-business!' How the hell did you get in?!" Grian peered around NPC, staring at the man in wonder. Seto had a frown on his lips as he looked NPC up and down, crinkling his nose as if he were some bug.

"That is none of your concern." His voice was even, but there was a sharpness to his words. Like an unspoken warning. Grian couldn't decipher it. "I would like for you to move out of my way."

"And I'd like for you to get the hell out of my world—!"

NPC swung for the intruder, but Seto's firm, iron-like grip caught his hand. NPC stared in disbelief as Grian watched with wide eyes. He stumbled back. He could never stop NPC's blow, the ones he had suffered before he had left the world for others. He always tried, but the armor stand was inhumanly strong. How had this man just... caught his hand like that?!

"I don't like to be touched," Seto informed NPC in a low, firm voice, and then he crushed NPC's hand in one simple squeeze. NPC stared, dumbfounded. Grian dropped the block he had been holding. Out from under Seto's hand, purple flames rushed up NPC's arm and quickly spread to the rest of his body. No matter how real he looked, he was just a wooden armor stand. NPC was suddenly moving, thrashing around and trying to free himself as he let out horrible, wavering screams. Seto watched him with hooded eyelids, seemingly disinterested in his pain before he yanked NPC forward. His hand collided into his chest midway, and as his palm came in contact with his red shirt, NPC exploded. The armor stand collapsed, and the pieces flew everywhere, the arms, the legs, the torso, and the head. It was a damn good thing he had made him out of wood and iron pieces because otherwise, it would have been a gory mess. But he only fell apart with one last scream that was drowned out by the clanking of the wood and iron.

Grian fell back on his ass and stared with wide eyes, hyperventilating. Seto looked down at his hand and shook it, wiping it on the skirt of his robes afterward. Grian whimpered, and Seto lifted his head and looked at him. Grian's heart dropped. Was he next? Who the hell was this guy?!

But Seto only smiled at him, the indifferent expression he had given NPC as he pulled him apart completely gone. It was replaced by a gentle and warm look in his eyes, a look that made Grian's stomach tie up in knots. He almost wished he looked at him with indifference. That would be easier.

"My, that was dreadful, wasn't it? I'm so very sorry for this horrible first impression!" He walked up to Grian and held his hand out. He smiled down at him. "My name is Seto, my dear. I've been sent to help you."