Chapter Text
Pearl lay in the wheatfields, watching the stars blink out as dawn approached. Gilded Helianthia was slowly healing, and with it so was she. Green stalks of wheat were slowly turning yellow, and sunflowers were just beginning to bloom. The beanstalk, although singed in a few places, had grown even taller since the explosion.
Despite the new growth, the land would always bear scars as a reminder of what happened. Some of the fields had lost the magical energy that allowed them to prosper, and quite a few bushes and trees would never grow again.
The most obvious mark the destruction had left, however, came in permanent marks upon Pearl’s skin. Dark patches of decay, cool to the touch and void of feeling. One crept its way from her shoulder to her neck, but the other stretched up her leg. She couldn’t walk without assistance.
Black turned to purple turned to blue as dawn approached the quiet empire. Pearl stretched before sitting upright. With some difficulty, she used her cane to stand.
"Goosey?” she called out, and the golden goose made its way to her. “Think you could give me a lift?” It honked at her, then turned to let her up.
The sky lightened rapidly as they made their way home, only a couple stars remained in the sky. Pearl closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of the cool wind rushing past. While she could still fly, she found landing to be difficult. With no other people around, she decided it would be safer to remain grounded. She missed the freedom of the sky, and spontaneous visits to her nearby friends.
When the two returned to her home, they found a snowy owl waiting along one of the fences. It hooted at them, offering up the letter clutched in its talons.
“Alright, alright, I hear ya,” Pearl chuckled as she dismounted. “What news does Scott have for me?” She felt her heart sink as she read.
“Thanks, buddy.” She gently petted the owl. “I’ll be there. You go on home.” It crooned before taking off towards the mountains. Although Pearl felt weary, she headed inside to prepare a bag of supplies.
The sun was nearly at its peak when Pearl and Goosey reached spawn. Scott was already there, along with Joel, Katherine, and Sausage. The four didn’t look up from their conversation.
“What do you mean, ‘Jimmy and Lizzie have gone missing?’” Scott seemed distraught. “How long have they been gone?”
“Since after fWhip’s explosion, I think. They were both here when we all met up afterwards.” Joel’s expression was guarded. “They didn’t leave a note or anything. They’ve just gone.”
“I’m so sorry.” Katherine dipped her head. “House Blossom is here for you both if you ever need support.”
“Thank you, Katherine.” Tears brimmed Scott’s eyes. “It’s practically the worst time for anyone to have disappeared.” His shoulders were hunched and his arms crossed protectively over his chest. Pearl had never seen him so on edge before—it was unlike his usual confidence.
“Pearl!” Sausage ran up to embrace her, nearly knocking her over in the process. “You’re okay! How did you—I thought—”
“Slow down Sausage,” Pearl laughed. “I wouldn’t say I’m okay, but I’m here. That’s all that matters.”
“Is that why you’ve got that fancy cane?” Sausage tried to sound light-hearted, though Pearl could hear the hesitation in his voice.
“Yes,” she said, not missing the way his smile faltered at the confirmation. “But we can talk about that later on. We have a larger issue at hand.”
“We’re still missing quite a few people.” Katherine observed. “Should we start without them?”
“No, we should wait a little longer.” Scott had gathered some of his composure. “It’s not quite noon yet.”
The five rulers waited, making small talk as the sun continued to rise. It was just past its peak when a small black dragon made a rough landing. Gem and Sausage leapt off of its back, along with another person Pearl didn’t recognise.
“Thank you, Violet!” Gem scratched behind its ear. “You’ve improved so much since you started.”
“I think I’ll just use my own elytra next time,” said the last one, who sounded a lot like Gem. Now that Pearl had a better look at her, she could almost believe that she was Gem and fWhip’s sister.
“Who are you?” Katherine asked her.
“You can call me Hermit.” She smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her gaze flitted around from person to person, and then froze when she reached Pearl.
“She’s a bit lost and she needs our help,” fWhip continued for her. “We were hoping you’d be willing to let us into your libraries to look for her home.”
“How do we know she isn’t a servant of Xornoth?” Scott asked, his tone icy. “She could be here to distract us, or stab us in the back.”
“I don’t even know what a ‘Xornoth’ is.” She stood taller and returned Scott’s glare. “I just want to get home.” The two continued to stare at each other, tension thick in the air. Scott broke their eye contact.
“Fine,” he sighed. “We may as well get this meeting started. Joey and Shrub can be filled in later.”
“How did Xornoth escape?” Gem opened her grimoire. “The spell should have worked. It was powered by all sorts of magical items.”
“I think fWhip’s explosion had something to do with it,” he shot a glare at fWhip before continuing, “I had encased the crystal in ice, but it was destroyed in the earthquake afterwards. I’m not sure how he escaped after that, though.”
“He’s been free since then?” fWhip shouted. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“It wasn’t a problem until now because we were both dead.” Scott snapped back. “‘One cannot exist without the other, for if one soul dies, the other is sure to follow.’ I—”
“You’ve been dead?” Joel voiced the group’s shock. “Then how are you here?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if I’m back, Xornoth must be back too.”
“And if we don’t know what brought him back, then if one dies we have no way of knowing if you’ll just come right back.” Katherine observed.
“So we just have to imprison him again?” Sausage asked. “That’ll be easier than last time. Now that we’re all working together and everything.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that simple.” Gem scrawled notes as she thought. “Whatever brought him back could be giving him more power, and the more power he has, the easier it will be for him to escape.”
“What if imprisoning him again isn’t going to be enough?” Pearl spoke up. “What if the only way for us to stop him is to keep killing him?” Silence filled the air as they absorbed what she’d said. Some members looked to Scott to see how he felt, while others couldn’t seem to meet his eyes.
“We’ll… cross that bridge when we get to it.” Gem carefully dodged the question. “For now, we—”
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.” Pearl turned to see Joey, wearing the Xornoth crown once more. “A little empires reunion, how fun!”
“Joey, why are you wearing that?” Sausage sounded hurt. “We agreed that we’d turn away from Xornoth! You know that he doesn’t care about us. He just wants to corrupt us, and to keep his power all to himself.”
“Maybe that’s how he feels about you,” Joey ignored Sausage’s warnings. “As his husband, I am destined to rule by his side. He’s already blessed me with even stronger power than before. All I need to do now is get rid of a few loose ends and we’ll be the most powerful couple in the land.” He scanned through the crowd. “And that first end shall be… you!” Dark energy crackled around him, and he launched a ball of dark magic toward Gem.
Before she could think, Pearl reached forward. With her magic, she grew a large sunflower to act as a shield. When Joey’s spell made contact, the flower absorbed the corruption and wilted away.
“How disappointing,” he sighed. “Getting rid of you would have made my job a lot easier. I didn’t want to reveal my hand too early, but it seems I must make myself clear.” Two figures stepped out of the growth of the jungle.
The first was in a dark cloak, face obscured by his hood. Gold accented the trim and laid over his shoulders as decoration. The second also wore a cloak, though it was much shorter. His skin and hair were both quite pale. Beneath the cloak Pearl could see bright red.
“May I?” The first figure rasped. Though she couldn’t see his face, Pearl could almost hear a smile in his voice. Joey nodded to him. Letting out an excited laugh, the figure raised a skeletal arm. From his palm shot a wither skull, aimed straight for Pearl. The plants around them began to wither and decay. Time felt like it was slowing down as she stared at the skull heading right for her.
“I think I’m connected to my land, Sausage.” Pearl said as she began losing feeling in her body. “fWhip’s explosion must have affected the magic, and now it’s killing me.”
“Just hold on Pearl, I can fix this I promise!” Sausage sounded frantic, his spellbook open in his hand.
“I’m—I’m going, Sausage.” Everything felt cold. Her vision was blurry.
“Pearl!”
Purple and red filled her vision as both Gem and Sausage used their magic to intercept the skull. It shattered, fragments of bone clattering on the ground. Pearl felt anger bubbling in her.
“I will not let you hurt us!” She created a ball of burning sunlight, hotter than she’d normally use to grow her crops. Around her, grasses and flowers grew taller, reaching toward the light. “You have betrayed us for Xornoth one too many times, Joey. We will stop you no matter what, and I will defend my friends even if it costs me my last breath!” She launched her attack at the trio, the last of which hissed at the bright light.
“You will regret standing against us.” With a flick of his wrist, Joey deflected the attack. It left a nasty burn on his arm, though his expression barely acknowledged the pain he must be feeling. “He may have shown mercy to those who chose to join the cause, but I think it’s too late for that. Now, we will crush you, and all of your little kingdoms.” The three disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Pearl huffed, out of breath, and leaned on her cane for support. “That took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. What are we going to do about them?” She tried to keep her apprehension out of her voice. Worry marked the faces of her friends.
“I don’t know.” Gem sounded small. “But our situation just got a lot more difficult.”
“What have I gotten myself into?” Hermit spoke to herself, her voice shaky.