Chapter Text
The Nether was an interesting place to build, that was for sure. The sulfer smell was harsh and the constant danger of falling into lava wasn’t ideal for beginners; it was even a challenge for experienced players. A Ghast threatened to fireball a certain red-sweatered man as he flew back up to the top (er, bottom?) of his Upside down mansion, Grian had been trying to avoid the thing for a while. It was mostly minding it’s own business, unless he flew too close to it, plus he didn’t feel like dealing with the thing anyway. He was in it’s territory anyway.
Grian landed on one of the platforms, placing the few missing blocks that he accidentally forgot, then wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Alright, I think that’s enough heat for one day, thank you very much,” he muttered to himself before turning and going rigid.
The Ghast floated directly in front of him. It’s eyes glowed a deadly red, its mouth starting to form the fireball that would definitely destroy his work and possibly kill him as well. “Nope!” His drawn out yelp filled the air as he hopped off the platform, opened his trusty wings, and spammed rockets to get away before it erupted. It’s sharp cry rang out after him as he raced away. He landed on the other side of the cliffs that faced his mansion. Now that the intruder was out of it’s territory, the Ghast calmed and drifted lazily about. Grian breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn’t felt like fighting the thing today, then jumped into flight again.
“Oh my gosh, that was close, no more squid boys for a while, thank you,” he said to himself as he flew away. It was about time he made his way out of the Nether anyway. He'd been there for a while, he was sure a few Overworld days at least. So it was definitely time for a break from the fire and feelings of doom that the Nether constantly gave him. Grian took off down the tunnel towards his portal and back to the safety of his Overworld mansion's portal. Relief spread through his face as he waited to be teleported back. The familiar tingling sensation of portal travel caught on his red sweater and left small purple sparks that tried to cling to the fabric as the man once again took flight to get back up to the actual mansion. What a sight it was. He hovered in the air before going to the absolute top of the stairs where he could just sit a few moments and look out over everything.
The Hermit infested jungle was beautiful at this time. The sunset cast an orange glow across the trees and seemed to make the nearby lake shine. Grian sat there until the sun completely went down, just taking in all the hard work his neighbors have done this season. Scar’s village was beautiful, Iskall’s omega tree was absolutely awesome, and he was so proud of how Mumbo’s base was coming along. He stood up and looked to his own masterpiece, a grin spread across his face. He’s proud of what he’s made with the Hermits. Since he joined them, he’s grown as a builder and made so many good friends. It's helped with forgetting too.
With another quick glance at the surrounding forest, Grian flew down to the actual entrance and landed inside. It was quiet in the mansion which told Grian that the villagers that lived in his mansion had packed up their own stalls and went to bed for the day. Yet, something strange caught his eye as he passed by those stalls in his trade hall. It turned out that one was still awake. He sat at a station and regarded Grian curiously but silently. But what was even more curious was what he was wearing.
“Huh... Scar,” Grian regarded the mask with an apprehensive chuckle as he made his accusation to the air, “did you put another mob head on one of my villagers?”
The villager simply looked at him through the eye holes on the rabbit mask. It blinked at him once, twice, and now Grian felt awkward for staring at it. But he couldn't help it. He could've sworn that the ears flicked by themselves. Mob heads never did that. The rabbit mask was way too familiar for his liking; it roused memories that he never thought of anymore. A certain rabbit boy that ruined his childhood with blood and knives. One that continued to taunt him in his dreams. Grian shook his head, shaking those memories away as well, and subconsciously rubbed at his arm. No, the last few days were really good days and he got a lot done, he wasn’t about to go strolling down a deadly memory lane again. If he did, he knew he wouldn’t sleep tonight, or tomorrow night either for that matter. He tore his eyes away from that wretched mask, sighing a shaky heavy sigh to himself, before heading down towards his bed. He planned on giving that village a much better mask in the morning.
Instead of thinking about the past, he looked towards the future of the server. Grian laid in bed, staring at the high ceiling of his base for a bit thinking about the Upside Down. About how excited he was for his nether neighbors to join him. About all of the amazing builds that would join his mansion in the coming weeks. About this server in general. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy and he slowly fell into sleep.