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"This will take you to where you want to be!" Doc's voice rang in his ears as he took a step forward into the portal. The familiar pull in his chest felt deeper, as if pulling on his heart itself, tugging it open to reveal his innermost desires. The feeling subsided after a long while, and Grian knew where he was before he even opened his eyes.
He was back at evo.
Looking around at the deserted spawn, overgrown and torn apart by vines, he could only wonder if his friends had heeded his advice. When he was a watcher, however briefly, before he felt the pull to another world. Judging by the open chests lying around, haphazardly, they had.
Eyeing the structures themselves brought a painful feeling in his chest. Seeing the property police station, or the pond he helped create, surfaced old memories he'd dug deep down inside. The faces full of his old friend's excitement as they gathered around the spawn for the first time haunted his thoughts.
He eyes fell upon a familiar train station, broken in disrepair. Part of the ceiling had fallen, crushing his old minecart starter. It was rendered obsolete, anyway, by the later server updates. Still, some part of him ached to see it in such a state.
He wondered if it was done on purpose.
Staring down the long track, part of him itched to enter the nether, to use the shorter route to get to his old base. Yet, Doc's warning echoed in his mind, cutting short that idea.
"The moment you enter the nether, I'll use that to pull you back here, otherwise you'll never make it back here on your own. Got it?"
With a deep-rooted sigh, he trudged forward, kicking fallen rocks out of his way as he began the long walk back to his old base.
-----
The sun beat down against his skin, hot and merciless. As he turned the corner, overlooking the lake he'd built in, his chest tightened even as relief flooded his mind. There, stood his empire, the structure he'd called his home for a year. It was huge, it was majestic.
It was falling apart.
He dove off the tracks into the cool water, swimming back to the base. Up close, he could see spots of mould building up on the outside walls of his base, could see the pieces that fell off the top of his build. Still, most of the build was intact, as if preserved by time itself.
Swimming out of the water walls into the base, he looked around at his crops, overgrown and broken down. Walking out of the building, he looked up at his mob spawner, smiling sadly as he saw a few mobs start to fall. It still worked, after so long.
Pausing, he looked around at the place, remembering forgotten events that took place, here in his base. When he caught Salem over there, as a new mafia member. When Zee built squiddy in the middle of the place, right at the start. When he invited Taurtis to join the empire, and he said yes.
It honestly hurt when Taurtis left the empire, though he knew it was for the best. They were different in how they built, and he was too much of a perfectionist to allow them to live together. Still, he missed Taurtis. The feeling was like an ache that could never go away, even whilst he was in hermitcraft.
If only he could see Taurtis again.
Turning away, he walked down the corridor and up the stairs, tracing the water in the walls with his finger. Emerging from the top, he looked up at the train station he had built and smiled, fondly. Even in great disrepair, the train station looked great, in his builder eyes. Great for its time, at least.
Now turning to the right, he stopped in his tracks, staring at the patch of grass in front of him. In his mind, a structure appeared over the water, the face a familiar ache in his chest. Taurtis. The summoning platform he had used when the world first began, his bid to meet his old friend once again. It worked, after a few weeks.
Would it work again?
He stared at the water, deep in thought. Doc had only been gone for a few weeks, but managed to visit three separate worlds before coming back. That meant time passed slower in other worlds, right? Why couldn't he stay here for a week, just to try? If he didn't succeed at bringing back Taurtis, he could just leave. He could leave anytime. It wouldn't hurt to try. Right?
He let out a long breath, turning away from the spot. He needed materials, and a platform similar to the second platform. It was only after he'd shifted the summoning platform to his base that Taurtis showed up. Maybe he should mimic that setup, use yellow flowers instead of red? The thoughts swirled in his mind even as he marched towards the abandoned chests, searching for anything that could be used.
It had to be perfect.
-----
He yawned, rolling out of the bed. Glancing down at the communicator on his hand, he clamped down on the deep feeling of guilt in his chest. It had been two weeks since he'd arrived at evo, the fourteen flowers a reminder of the passed time. Still, he barely filled half the garden.
Part of him knew he was fighting a losing battle, that everyone was truly gone from the server. Still, he couldn't leave with the knowledge that he could be one flower away from rescuing Taurtis, one flower short of succeeding. What kind of friend would he be if he quit now?
The little voices in the back of his head nudged at his conscience, questioning his choice. What kind of friend would he be to the hermits, by staying here? Without giving a sign that he was alive and well?
But what if Taurtis came when he was away? What if he left Taurtis scrambling under the dirt for hours, just because he went back? And even if he went back, there was no guarantee that Doc would let him go back immediately. That thought kept him seated firmly at the edge of the garden, feet skimming the waters as his eyes watched the dirt benearth the flowers, hoping for a change.
Something had to give first.
-----
This was it, he thought, facing the structure in front of him. In his hand sat the last yellow flower, the twenty-fifth flower in the garden. It was the last space in the area, if he could summon Taurtis, it would happen now.
With trembling hands, he dug into the dirt with well practiced motion, making a hole big enough for the plant. With a deep breath, he set the flower gently in the earth, pushing the dirt around to cover the roots firmly. And he waited.
And waited.
Maybe a flower was not planted properly, he thought, getting up to walk between the beds. Using his shovel, he pat around each flower methodically, watering each one as he finished with a bucket. Once he was done, he chucked both of them away with a clatter, bending down to listen to the dirt, hoping to hear Taurtis's call.
Still, he waited.
"No..." He mumbled, staring down at the last flower. He did everything correctly, all the flowers were almost identical. He'd used the same materials for the face. He'd even planted it around the same time he did before, every morning. How could it have gone wrong?
"Why won't it work?" He screamed at the flowers in front of him, chest heaving at the immense pain deep down. His hands beat down against the earth in anguish. Silence answered him, flowers bowing their heads in a gentle breeze. His hands fisted into the soft earth, sobs racking his whole body.
Thr face of Taurtis before him seemed to taunt him, mocking him of his failure. He'd summoned him before, with far fewer flowers, how could he fail now? Maybe Taurtis did not want to come back, maybe he made a mistake. His chest tightened, his breaths came out a hitching coughs as the failure overwhelmed his thoughts.
He couldn't tell how long he'd been kneeling there, body weak from the tears, before the sound of footsteps coming closer registered in his mind. He turned, squinting at the figure through his blurred vision.
"Taurtis?" He whispered, hope sparking in his chest. The figure knelt down in front of him, wiping away the tears with the pads of his thumb. The hope sizzled out at he made out of face of Xisuma, staring back at him with pity.
"Oh, grian." He leaned into his body as Xisuma wrapped his arms around him in a hug. After so many weeks spent alone, it felt comforting to be able to hug someone else. "It's okay, it's okay."
"It's not okay!" Grian cried softly, fisting his hands in Xisuma's shirt. "He's gone, I did something wrong and he's gone-"
"He's not gone." Xisuma butted in, rubbing the other's back. "He might be gone from this world, sure, but that doesn't mean he is gone from every server. If you want, I can call him from wherever he is, whether he chooses to come is a different question. But, that means you have to go back."
Grian looked up at, noting for the first time the lines of fatigue in his shoulders, and the shaking of someone who could only be sleep deprived. "X, what's going on?" Even as the words escaped his mouth, deep down he already dreaded the answer.
Xisuma sighed, finally releasing the tension in his shoulders. "It's Doc, he's been beside himself with worry, scared that he missed you entering a portal, scared that he abandoned you. He...hasn't slept for a while."
The guilt in his chest finally tore from its restraints, seeping into his nerves as the truth set in. "How long was I gone for...?"
Xisuma looked at the flowers, deep in thought. "A bit more than a month. Time here is faster than normal."
Grian looked down, shame lining his cheeks. The full impact of his actions finally sank in, his fingers gripping Xisuma's shirt harder. In his mind, he pictured Doc just sitting in front of his screen, watching, refusing to leave. Typical, really.
Xisuma watched him carefully, smoothing the back of his shirt comfortingly. "What's done is done Grian, the more important thing is, are you ready to go back?"
Grian turned, looking over the garden of flowers. The wind had stopped now, freezing the flowers in their places. It looked serene, like something not meant to be disturbed. Perhaps he'd been here long enough.
"Y-You'll try to find him, right?" His voice was barely a whisper.
Xisuma nodded, hands on Grian's shoulder, piercing him with a tired, friendly smile. "Of course."
Grian released the breath he didn't know he was holding, slowly moving away from Xisuma's grip. Xisuma said nothing, just let him go. Pushing himself to his feet, he surveyed the garden, listening hard for any sound. Nothing. Relaxing, he nodded at Xisuma.
"I-I'm ready."
Xisuma smiled, saying nothing even as he kindly took Grian's hand in his. Together, they walked in silence towards Grian's base, to the portal waiting for them, not once looking back.
And, if the bone-crushing hug he received from Doc and the countless greetings in his communicator were anything to go by, he'd be okay.