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Red, black, dark gray, orange along with the occasional white, pink, yellow of the native inhabitants would be the main if not only colors you’d see in this realm. Four of the most common colors you would see all around this world that being red netherrack that traveled from the sky to the floor and the crimson forest, the black of the various bastions and fields of Basalt Deltas, the dark gray mountains of soul sand, and the endless orange valleys and oceans of lava. Then there comes the colors of the being living here such as the pink hoglins and piglins both zombified or pure, the white families of Ghasts, the bright yellow of the herds of Blazes spotted patrolling around the Empress’s fortress alongside the black Wither Skeleton guards.
Those seven colors were the only shade of hue the dull pink haired child knew — even from reading and re-reading the rather small section about the Nether’s biosystem and ecology in the library of the ▇▇▇▇ they called home. They were never able to spot or witness any other color besides those few seven.
At least, until something new, until someone new joined this never ending red terrain.
Before then, the dull haired child would sit in their room, staring out the squared hole in their room as though it was a window. Their hair was unnatural in both origin and color to the other creatures of the realm as it was some sort of pink like the piglin but it was dull, edging towards the color of the Ghast, the form of it was frizzly and tight together. The specifics of why their hair was unnatural was the fact that they were of Wither descent — a Wither Skeleton. Its body is made with strong black bones as any other Wither Skeleton however, this creature had some sort of gray translucent skin covering it.
It was different from the rest of its brethren. The rest of its world’s inhabitants. Thus, it spent its hours alone within the ▇▇▇▇ with no one to spend time with.
At least, until that special day.
Not far off from whence the skeleton child would gaze out of its room, there suddenly spawned in something large, black, and rectangular with the interior of a different color that seemed to be moving. Something of this structure was, to say, a strange sight to witness for the Wither descendant. How this thing materialized in a puff of different colored particles, how the black exterior had these weird carvings on it, and how the interior of the rectangular thing was a hue the Wither Skeleton had never seen before. However, what was extremely bizarre about the situation was the undoubtable fact of someone cautiously walking out of the item.
The creature stared at the mysterious person that had exited the rectangle. The Wither child sat with their white eyes wide with curiosity and faint fright at how this person suddenly appeared as behind this black prism was only a solid netherrack wall. Slowly, the dull haired child moved from their spot in the window, ducking their head just under the frame so only their eyes could peak above. The person stalked forward, away from the rectangle from whence they came from, they then turned their head from side to side, seemingly observing their environment.
From what the pink haired creature could see from far, they thought this new intruder was simply;
Beautiful.
From their crimson red curly hair with streaks of yellow in them, to their skin that was of a color closely similar to soul sand, the creature thought its name was brown, the streaks of yellow that glazed over their eyes, even to the color of the strangers eyes and wings simply drew them in.
It was mesmerizing for the Nether born to see this unfamiliar face. However, as much as the Wither descendant would have loved to stare at this person longer, it seemed that the Universe granted them with an unannounced wish as the intruder suddenly made eye contact with the skeleton.
They both froze in place, staring at each other, both not knowing who the other was. A peculiar sight to see. One was all black with white eyes and faint pink hair whilst the other seemed to be a mixture of colors the former couldn’t name. This stand off seemed to have lasted for an infinite amount of time before the one with red hair began to slowly shift forward, one foot cautiously moving forward after the next as their hands carefully raised from their sides and calmly in front of their chest. The nether born would immediately flinch at the movement, their body jolting backwards and away from the hole they called a window. The stranger, noticing the flash of fear in the child’s frame and white eyes, instantly stopped — opting to stand still in hopes of not frightening it any further.
They would quickly connect eyes once more, the air feeling as if it got heavier. Neither were brave enough to say a word to each other, until —
“It’s okay…it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you..”
A velvety voice cut through the tense hot air like a dagger. It was feminine, sweet, soft, and smooth similar to soul sand in specific valleys. The creature almost dropped its guard then and there, not only because of the intruder's rather pretty looks — but her voice was one they’ve never heard before. To hear it was like being gently placed under a nicely steamed blanket. Comfort is what the Wither Skeleton had felt in that moment. It wasn’t long after this revelation that the nether born would cautiously shift towards the makeshift window, their doe eyes staring at the stranger with a curious yet unguarded glint in their undeniable white gaze. The brown skinned figure simply stood there as still as a crimson tree, her colored eyes trained and focused on the skeleton, a soft shocked smile graced her plump lips.
It was as if she didn’t actually expect the creature to believe and accept her honey laced words.
The Nether born, having made its way to the ledge of the “window”, it peaked its full white eyes over the dark red edge of the nether brick used to make its home. It was the beginning of another silent stand-off except, this time, the hot air wasn’t tense — it was light, full of awe, and mystifying. The red haired stranger gestured her gloved hand out to the skeleton, her smile widening — it was a silent invitation. The Wither descendant stared at her covered hand, its eyes flickering between her face and the outstretched limb.
The nether born then seemed to have made up its answer as it slowly began to climb its way out of the makeshift window. Its body was simply covered by raggy, soot ridden clothing. Its shirt was solid gray that was torn along the sleeves, neck collar, and hem of the shirt. It also had black slacks to match the shirt, the same rags were torn as scorched holes were made lower near the knees and ankles. Tying this outfit together was the surprisingly sparkly clean golden belt wrapped around its waist with a large circular buckle more so in the middle, it also had some sort of golden leaf crown that didn’t connect in the center of its forehead, it curved upward while on some of the leaves were solid white.
The intruder couldn’t help but stare at the jewelry. It was rare to see such fine pieces of it from where she was from, especially with how well made it was and how much gold it could have been used. The creature saw the stranger’s awe stricken gaze before it started to smile at her. It stood on the other side of its enclosure, no longer inside the red bricked room but now outside of it and on the surprisingly soft cushion of the netherrack floor bed before it began to stride to the red haired girl with false confidence — a wobbly smile placed on its face whilst its hands were fiddling with each other. The other noticed this and advanced forward — confusion clear in her eyes as she didn't know if she was supposed to bow or show any sort of formality, thus her own hands retreating back to their sides before she opened her mouth and said;
“Hello..? My name is Adara Calypso.”
She spoke once more, her tone shaken with uncertainty yet overfilled with joy that this new specimen actually came up to her. Her colored eyes then racked around the red terrain before returning back to the nether child, plainly not knowing what to do next.
“I’m sorry — but, do you understand me…?”
She spoke out again, her velvety voice airy with hesitance as she asked her question to the presumed royal. To her absolute surprise, the dull pink haired child stared at her for just only a moment before breaking out into a wide grin and frantically nodding their head. The nether born then made drastic hand motions as they opened their mouth and spewed all types of gurgles, warbles, inhumane noises and whispers. None of which Adara could make out.
“I’m sorry? I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re saying..”
Her tone shifted into a saddened and muddled one, her expression contorting into an empathic look as she eyed the skeleton down. The creature's attitude clearly changed along with the red head’s when it saw her reaction, its excited movements heading to a halt as it processed the words spoken to it. The supposed royal made a face indicating that it was thinking of something to help out this situation, it then made a loud chirp prior to running back to their makeshift window and quite literally jumping through it. Adara would hear all sorts of strange noises of rummaging coming from the ▇▇▇▇ . A few moments later, the Wither descendant crawled back out of the “window” holding a few hand held signs.
“Ah? Can you speak english?”
Adara questioned as she eyed the blood red signs, her gaze hopeful despite hiding the undermined sense of doubt. The creature stared at the intruder before slowly shaking their head from side to side, their white eyes dropping to a disheartened expression from the unwanted reminder. To demonstrate, the skeleton attempted to speak again only for its voice to come out scratchy — rough, and full of strained warbles and cracks. An absolute failure, it was.
“Wait! Don’t strain yourself – please!”
The red haired girl suddenly pleaded as she hurriedly swung her hands forward, hoping to stop the skeletal creature before they did any serious damage. The pink haired one stopped near immediately once hearing that calming voice raise to one of a slightly frightened and begging sound. The Nether born let out a regretful warble before writing down on the red sign;
"⟟｢'⋔⟄ un⏃⅃⏚⊔le t⍜ wr⟟｢te pr⍜per en☌ꓶlish.."
The creature wrote out in a weird mixture of its native tongue and English. Adara squinted at the sign, trying to decipher what the creature was trying to communicate with her. She tilted her head in confusion, as the gears in her head turned and comprehended the text.
"I'm.. unable… to write proper english? Is that correct? If so, you're doing great."
The pink haired child instantly smiled wide from hearing the redhead repeat what they said word for word, but also a faint tint of blue appeared on their cheeks from the praise that was given. Adara giggled a little at the sight before saying,
"What's your name? I can teach you some english."
The Nether born flipped the sign over and began to hesitantly scribble out its name. Along the way, frustrated warbles rang out as the cleaved open part of the fungus bled its sap all over the maroon-colored wood. With a heavy sigh, the resumed royal slowly turned the sign back around.
“M⊬⋖ peo⌿le c⏃⅃ll m⟒□ ⌿⸅⍀⟔⟟｢⋏⊡☊⟒□⌖⟇ ⟒□⍀⟔⌖⟇⟟｢⎅⊐⍜⟃⍀⟔ ⎐⋀⏃⅃⟒□⍀⟔⟟｢...How⟒□ver yo⎍< can c⏃⅃ll me Eilvyre Vulas."
The skeleton looked at the dark red ground, its face contorting into an odd mixture of distrust and a small smile.
"Many.. People call me.. um…. Eilvyre Vulas? That's — a beautiful name. Maybe you can teach me your language, too.”
White eyes suddenly perked up from her silk like voice cutting through the air. The creature’s face exposed another wide grin from the praise, which the red haired girl also responded with a soft smile. The skeleton then excitedly nodded their head from the question, its soul jumping just a bit faster from being able to teach someone else their native language. They stood quiet with each other for a moment before Adara remembered something.
"Would you like to come with me?"
The Wither descendant froze in their spot, its white eyes looking at the intruders' colored ones, its mind clearly having a mental battle with itself. The child contempted and thought. On one hand, this was a stranger—someone who randomly showed up out of absolute nowhere. However, on the other hand, this stranger. No, this new found friend, was the only other person besides the ▇▇▇▇ who would communicate with it. This friend was someone who actually bothered to talk to it despite the language barrier.
Thus, with a heavy heart, the royal nodded its head. A slight closed eyed smile edged on its black translucent skin.
A foolish decision it was for the naive being.
~ ∆ ~
Much assumed time has passed since then. The two beings, both from different worlds entirely, managed to get along swimmingly well. Oftentimes, the mobs of The Nether would find Adara sitting outside the makeshift window of Eilvyre’s humble abode. The pink haired creature scribbled different letters and words in English as a practice whilst Adara had her own writing piece — something called a book and quill. Other times the two would roam along the edge of the numerous lava rivers, faint traces of blush along their faces as they would be caught hand in hand on occasions.
It was an adorable sight to witness.
The both of them sitting on hill tops of netherrack with Eilvyre leaning against Adara. The latter has a book in her hand reading off plants, colors, names and much more to the former. It would become how Eilvyre found a favorite color and flower – both that never has and never will exist in the realm they live in now.
Green. Green was its favorite color. It was the color that daunted Adara’s gorgeous eyes, a pasty but pretty version on her wings, even the tips of the white coat she always wore had a bleeding fade of green. The blue orchid was also its favorite flower along with something called a pink tulip. The blue of the orchid’s petals was something to die for, it was nearly as mesmerizing as Adara’s green. The pink tulip was something the Nether born wanted to see badly since the redheaded girl always compared the flower to its hair, despite the green stem and the creature's black body being complete opposites.
The skeletal child even found themselves feeling a warmth in their cheeks each time Adara called them that nickname. “Tulip”.
Sometimes, during these bonding moments of these, the Wither Skeleton would see the green eyed one write down large words into her book, too big for them to even begin to wonder what it says. This only happened once or twice when the child revealed that they didn’t possess any powers of its deity, The Wither, like it was supposed to. Similar to how it told Adara that it was more so an outcast compared to their specimen. To which the brown skinned girl promptly responded with;
“I’m sorry you had to bear that alone Tulip… I fear they all wilted your precious petals didn’t they…?”
She said in an empathic voice, her soft hand trailing up the back of the neck of the creature before resting on the cheek that was steadily growing a dark blue. The descendant couldn’t help but melt into the warm delicate hand that held their face before they slowly nodded their head — a saddened frown edged its way onto their face.
“Don’t worry Tulip. I’ll make sure to re-pot you somewhere safe, okay?”
The Nether born nodded once more as they let out a small warble, a simple confirmation. Adara slowly moved her hand back down and grabbed the Nether born's hand before bringing them to the first place they met. The black rectangle with a colored interior, now known as a Nether Portal. The redhead stopped directly in front of it, a soft breeze blew through hitting the both of them in the face as the purple particles danced along with bodies. Their hands still held together.
Eilvyre would let out a confused and slightly startled noise from the new sensation that was other than hot but they would be uncertain as to why the both of them were now in front of this portal. It wasn’t until Adara noticed this series of indecision and moved her face closer to the royal. Her minty warm breath tickling the ear of the Wither Skeleton makes such creature’s soul race and prance around.
“One day, we’ll be able to leave this place and I’ll show you the Overworld. I’ll show you a real Tulip.”
She whispered, her voice as quiet as a calm ghast. The Nether born froze before they nodded as they roasted their white gaze to the intruder. Their eyes racking around her face, to distracted by how those few simple words paired with this beauty of a woman set their body a flame to even begin to notice how those green eyes were trained on the portal ahead, how those same eyes held strained hesitance, how that soft jaw of hers was now tense making her thin her lips.
To the child, this was simply a declaration, a promise that they would both soon see a new world together. In their mind, this royal thought they were merely in the presence of a goddess. They were simply too clouded with their love, adoration, and naivety to notice the signs ahead of time.
~ ∆ ~
With this strange relationship comes the closeness of each other — what they know about each other specifically. However, that would bring up a certain problem. Eilvyre, the presumed Wither Skeleton, knew nothing about its beloved. It was a predicament so to speak. To the Wither descendant — in its mind, it knew this balancing beam wasn’t exactly perfectly balanced, thus it set out on a journey to attempt to fix it.
One day, the Nether born decided to ask specific questions regarding Adara’s appearance. It sat next to Adara as she was ferociously writing inside her journal once more. The words were as always too much for the sweet skeletal one to understand besides one or two words – something about the portal, a plan with the red realm, and taking the assumed royal, all things Eilvyre happily glossed over thinking nothing more of it.
It wasn’t long before the pink haired child gently poked the intruder’s shoulder, its translucent hands holding up a red sign that read;
“Can I know what are you..?”
The redhead paused their writing, the white “feather” being placed inside of the book before she closed it giving Eilvyre her full attention as she read the sign. She gave the creature a small tight smile before tilting her head.
“Your grammars all off again Tulip, it should be “Can I know what you are” not “Can I know what are you.”” She commented with a slight giggle. “But I already told you, didn’t I?”
The Nether born slowly shook its head, its dull disheveled pink hair bouncing along with the movements. It didn’t remember the intruder stating what kind of – well thing she was. If she had told them, it guaranteed it should have – no no would have remembered. It’s love, Adara simply stared at them, her green eyes soft and lidded as her cheeks curled into a smile before she nodded.
“I’m pretty sure I did Tulip, are you already having memory problems..?”
The creature nearly flinched from what the intruder said, memory situations usually implied that it was indeed losing its recollection of certain events according to the various Nether made books it read. It then began to scribble down on the crimson wooden board once more;
“Memory problems..?”
The skeleton asked on its board, the handwriting more neat than before as its anxiety deliberately made it write slower than usual, a key sign of hesitance. Its face was wide, innocent, confused, and slightly scared as their white eyes gazed at Adara’s. Her facial features more aligned with concern, sadness, and something else underlined within those pasty green eyes of hers – something Eilvyre couldn’t exactly pinpoint. The literal redhead slowly nodded her head with a disheartened smile.
“Remember Tulip? You told me you were having trouble recollecting some of your memories. It was one of the following things you wanted to talk about with how…different…you are.”
She explained, her hands slowly traveling to cup themselves in the lap of her charcoal gray pants and white fading into a green coat. Her smooth voice grew slow and cautious with each word she spoke, her eyes flickering everywhere but the creature in front of her.
“But…I felt fine…”
It tried to argue. There was no way it was losing its memory when it felt fine, when it remembered everything, right? It remembered talking to Adara about its most vulnerable thoughts, feelings, and problems but never about memory issues.
“Are you absolutely certain, Tulip?” She questioned, “You know you can tell me anything.”
The Nether born looked at its current infatuation, more confusion and reluctance to answer was bobbing in its throat as a weird feeling of frustration built up in its chest. It had told Adara everything, but she hadn't told them anything. The presumed royal placed the maroon sign down before grabbing another one and began writing on it with its blaze rod pen, the words becoming engraved in the board from the hot material.
"What about you?"
The usual hot air suddenly became tight. Balmy, searing wind blew through both of their hair as they abruptly locked eyes with each other.
“What?”
Her voice cut through the steam, it wasn’t as smooth as it once was – her voice sounded forced as it was shaken between that sweet comforting tone Eilvyre loved so dearly and something that was harsh and bold like a whip.
It scared them, It made them uneasy.
It hesitantly shifted its gaze from the intruder, its body fidgeting from one foot and to the other before it slowly flipped its sign over. The pit in its stomach growing ever so slightly – knowing that a pair of green eyes was watching.
“I want to know more about you.”
Adara slowly flickered to the red sign before sighing and leaning back on the netherrack ground, using her hands as support.
“I thought I told you that I didn’t want to tell you.” Her tone was flat once she spoke those words, her eyes closed as her head was tilted up at the crimson ceiling. “Anything I say is supposed to be strictly a secret.”
The Wither descendant looked at their love before a frustratedly sad pout edged its way onto their face. It then let out a small questioning warble. Its shoulders were hiked up and tense – sensing it didn’t need to push for more answers but stupidly so, it felt the want to. Adara slowly opened her eyes before glancing at Eilvyre, her lips now pressed into a thin line as her eyes were lidded once more into a slight glare.
The Skeleton didn’t like that look.
It rubbed them the wrong way — seeing its Goddess glower and frown at it setting an uncomfortable wart in its chest. Usually she would be all smiles, a carefree look on her face and her body relaxed but this? Eilvyre did not like this, especially when those beautiful green eyes were angry and pointed directly at them. It didn’t understand why she was angry nor why she wasn’t meant to say anything.
The two then unintentionally engaged in a staring contest, full white eyes wide and uneasy fidgeted and flickered around those pasty angered ones. Quickly, the creature pivoted their head to the netherrack floor as their hands found each other and began to find much interest in their translucent fingers, the black bones seen through the skin.
“Tulip, don’t you trust me? If it’s meant to be a secret, it should stay a secret.”
Her voice suddenly cut through the silence, it was thick with sternness and demand. The Nether born simply flinched in place from the rudeness of her voice as it kept its gaze everywhere but her.
“Do you understand me, Eilvyre?”
The skeleton heard her voice whispered in an apathetic and harsh tone right on the lobe of their near as they then felt a soft hand placed against the side of their cheek and neck. The presumed royal tensed up in her hold, they then pressed their face into the hand – into Adara’s hand. Its fears slowly melting and breaking apart from this small moment of comfort. It expected its beloved to caress her thumb up and down its cheek just like before, however no such thing happened. There was no arm around its waist similar to past times when the two were in this predicament, instead the pink haired child felt her grip tighten.
As fast as it came, the warm feeling of Adara’s hand dissipated instantly. Instead it was replaced with distress and alarm. The previous feeling of her soft hand no longer felt like such, and was filled with an uncomfortable severity. The creature felt its face and neck steadily pulsate with growing pain from the unyielding grip of Adara’s surprisingly strong hand. Its cheek was pushed up to its eye, blocking a part of their vision. The Nether born could feel fear crawling up its spine as they were forced to look up at the redhead, its neck bent in a slightly uncomfortable way as its chest felt full with a foreign feeling.
It was eerie. The hot air of the Nether didn’t feel as such, the blistering noises of sparks flying, soot falling, and lava rolling no longer made a difference as the two eyed each other. One confused and terrified as to what was happening to the one standing menacing above it and the other leering down at the former, their eyes unforgiving and strict with relentlessness. The former seemingly desperate and tempted to move away from the latter.
Adara then forced Eilvyre’s head up once more before the red head leaned down ever so slightly and whispered into its ear;
“Eilvyre, I asked you a question.”
She asked in a terrifying leveled and smooth voice before she slowly tightened her grip once more. The skeletons' eyes flickering around with distress as its vision blurred more.
“Do. You. Understand. Me?”
The creature locked eyes with the redhead above them. Unknown terror racking throughout its entire being as it stared and stared at her. Before hesitantly, it let out a scared, timid warble as it meekly nodded its head as much as it could within the confines of those terribly soft hands. Adara’s gaze then shifted dramatically, the air no longer tight and uncomfortable to breathe in, her grip on the Nether borns neck and face were loosened as her thumb began to leisurely caress the slowly forming bruise.
A small, warm, and comforting smile even graced her brown cheeks.
"See? Doesn't it feel better when you listen to me, Tulip?" Her voice was light, concerned, and pleased. "Your leaves, stems, and petals have all overgrown this pot of yours." She stated, pronouncing her words with clarity.
"I think you're in need of a trim, my flower."
With each word she said, the vibrancy of the red realm dimmed and dulled. The sentence spewed out at a dreadfully slow pace. The Wither descendant could feel its muscles tensing from whatever thought was hidden between each syllable. However, they did not know what nor were they too cautious about it.
Like a love sick fool they were, they selfishly glossed over it, too consumed by the solace given by Adara’s smooth hands dancing across their neck and cheek, too much of an idiot to selfishly push themselves back into those same hands that harmed them. The creature simply let out another soft warble of confirmation as they relished the feeling of comfort, this simple feeling of love they always cherished from Adara — not even realizing that they were agreeing to words they couldn’t understand.
The two stayed in that position for a moment before they switched into a more comfortable position. Adara would be on the netherrack ground in a Sezia sitting position, her calves tucked under her bottom as her lap was on display and her back straight, the skeleton would soon find itself happily placing its head on her lap as Adara would then rake her hands through its soot ridden dull pink hair. The Nether born released pleasant soft chirps and coos as the redhead above them hummed an unknown melody through this sudden somber moment.
A tinder, heartening moment that would seemingly be the final thread in the needle for the both of them
After that incident, Eilvyre would begin to notice a shift in behavior for its Goddess. Small ones that drastically changed into problem starters. At first she would be shifty around them, her eyes flickering from area to area, hill top from hill top, even cliff to cliff. Almost like she was keeping an eye out for something whether it was to find it or stay away from it. During these times she would even begin to ignore or miss Eilvyre’s signs asking if she was okay or asking a general question.
Building off of that she would begin to purposefully move away from areas. When the two were on their usual walks along the lava shore the creature couldn’t help but notice how Adara would stare off into the distance before grabbing their hand and forcefully turning the other direction without explanation. The Wither descendant stumbled after the redhead as their face contorted into displeasure from the sudden switch before hundreds of questions confronted their mind.
Why did she change directions? Why did she stare so far out? What does she mean by a mob escaping? Who was NDLS-07 and Matthew ▇▇▇▇?
They then carefully lifted their heads up and looked at Adara, her face was unusual as well. It looked alarmed and frustrated. The creature opened its mouth before letting out a soft comforting and confused chirp. The redhead then snapped its gaze to the skeletal child, her eyes were wide with slight panic and anger. The Nether born couldn’t help but to shrink back, not necessarily liking the way she looked at them before they forced themself to smile at their love.
Adara’s beautiful green gaze shifted down to the meek smile before her eyes softened just a tiny bit. Despite the sense of ease making way to her gut, her expression remained stone cold as she dragged Eilvyre back the opposite direction. The presumed royal’s smile slowly fell, disappointment settled deep in their chest along with another unfamiliar emotion before they were tugged forward. A sharp warble escaped their mouth as they solemnly followed their beloved.
During this motion, they turned their head backwards in the direction of where Adara was once looking at. All they could see was a rather pink looking figure. Its body was all pink but slightly more vibrant than the Skeleton’s own hair. It had horns as well – four of them in fact, small stubby ones that seemed like a darker shade than its short yet fluffy haired body, its feet were hooves similar to the piglin of the realm, and it had two long yet thin tails. This creature didn’t spare one glance at the Wither Skeleton as the latter gazed at it from the distance it was at.
Until, they both locked eyes. Small full beady black ones leering deep into the skeletons full white ones. They gaped at each other — both not used to seeing something so utterly different than what's supposed to have originated in the red realm. Eilvyre could visibly see this pink critter shift its black eyes onto Adara before it shakenly raised its rather slim and boney hands and pointed at her. Just as it was about to say or do something a loud bang rang out before something bright and sparky hit the pink creature.
It fell to the ground letting out a blood curling, inhumane agonizing screech.
The Wither descendant couldn’t bear to watch any more before it reluctantly turned its head back around, its chest felt tight as its throat felt like it was closing in on itself. It then directed its white gaze to the passing netherrack floor as it numbly followed Adara like a lost piglet. Its eyes were wide and full of pain, confusion, regret, and guilt.
Between Adara’s behavior and Eilvyre witness something similar to that this wouldn’t be the first nor the last that this has happened.
Adara would become more secretive with her words and actions. She would repeatedly use bigger words that the Wither Skeleton knew no knowledge of, whenever she thought it wasn’t looking she would glance at them before writing something in that brown journal of hers. She was even more aggressive with her words whenever the Nether born would ask a question regarding whatever she was working on. Each query asked would be replied with some sort of angry retort, a glare, a sigh, or her not responding at all.
The creature did not like any of that. Every time its Goddess didn’t answer but spared them an action that let it know she heard them always struck a pained and saddened core within its chest. It was confused and hurt as questions stirred in its brain — it questioned itself on whether it did something wrong that upsetted her or if they said something they weren’t supposed to.
To the creature, Adara's behavior seemingly worsened after that. She wouldn't appear in their designated spot they met up at whenever she was required to leave back out that black and purple rectangle. Whenever they were together it would notice how she disappeared from where she originally was.
It disturbed them.
It didn't like any of this. How secretive its love had been lately, how tired, frustrated, and angry she's been — how she's been appearing whenever before spontaneously leaving. It started to doubt itself on whether the Adara it knew now was the same Adara from when they first met. It was always depressed by the thought — too knee deep in its own heart to question the strange actions happening. It knew she kept secrets, it knew it was most likely for its own good to not know, it knew deep down that its Goddess wasn’t completely honest with them. Even with those seeds of doubt and knowledge, it kept that silver lining of hope in its mind.
However, this time it was different for the Nether born. It loved Adara. Yes, it loved her if not more than its needs and wants to see the sun, the moon, and the proclaimed stars for the first time. It loved Adara, but if being alone, neglected, and isolated from any form of friendly communication had taught it anything about how important relationships were then it knew it had to mend this one before its greatest fear became reality.
Where Adara would suddenly become too focused on whatever she was working on to even begin to start caring for the creature or she would finally realize how pathetic and so different it was.
Thus, it set itself a new goal for the time being. When Adara leaves off it could attempt to find her and possibly ask her a series of questions. Hopefully when she seems to be in a good mood.
~ ∆ ~
It all started out nearly as normal as any other time. The creature would sit on the outer wall of its makeshift window, its fingers playing with the netherrack ground below it as it sat patiently with a furrowed brow and a slight frown. The only thing that was different this time around was the plethora of black and purple rectangles, portals Adara had called them. The skeletal child had been wondering how and why so many had appeared. It had heard its beloved murmur and mumble about them along with something else that started with a “puh-” sound. Like the curious thing it was, it started to ponder about the growing amount of portals only for those thoughts to dissipate in a moment's notice as the one person Eilvyre was waiting for emerged through the portal. Instantly, the creature felt more energized as it started to approach her.
Adara in all of her gorgeous glory stalked towards it, purple particles were dancing around her like leaves off a crimson tree. Her face she arrived with was tense and clamped together until those green eyes of hers glossed over and down to the Wither descendant. Slowly, her expression and body relaxed ever so slightly at the sight, as a small smile graced her lips.
During this moment alone, Eilvyre could feel its doubts and worries wash away.
From there the two continued on their routine as always. Adara would exit from the portal and meet the presumed royal, they would converse as best as possible while they both smiled with intertwined hands. Even with the both of them pretending everything was fine, certain mannerisms Adara held made it impossible to pretend any longer. However, the Wither Skeleton couldn’t help but try its best.
They would then stroll near the lava shore, the hot breeze fanning across both of their faces. Eilvyre flickered their full white eyes around the red terrain they called home and spotted more of those black and purple rectangles. It was nothing new of course but what was disturbing was the lack of sound.
It was quiet.
No yawns or roars of the Ghasts, no snorts or the hogs and piglins, not creaking of other Wither Skeletons nor the flaming sounds of the Blazes.
Just pure silence.
The only noises present were the lava ocean's soft, bubbling sound, the subtle footfall of the unlikely couple, and the quant falling sound of the soot and ash.
It was empty.
The Wither descendant concluded as they slowly turned their gaze side to side, eyeing down one of the nearby villages. Usually it would be full of noise from the different children playing or the adults trading away.
It was different this time.
The Wither Skeletons white eyes widen. It could feel its chest tighten and its throat close in – it felt unable to breath as its soul may as well stop in place.
Upon looking over at the villages, it noticed a large disgusting detail compared to the last time the both of them strolled past as only one word could describe what laid in front of its eyes.
Destroyed.
The village was simply and plainly destroyed.
All of the houses, the buildings that stood taller than the rest, the watchtower. All of it was damaged and decimated. Even though this realm runs on fire, ash and lava, the Nether born felt ill looking at the village. It was ruined — soot everywhere, some roofs holding residue of ash. Even the smell of it was rotten.
It made them sick.
The scent of burnt wood violently wafted across the landscape, the smell of flesh and fur hit their noses like a freshly cut nether wart. The small creature felt pressure behind its eyes, as if it was about to cry, but no relief came out as it was staring at the decimated town. It couldn’t tear its eyes away from the morbid sight. It suddenly couldn’t breathe correctly, the air it was taking in didn’t feel right, it felt like poison, they were breathing in too much. It couldn’t take it. Its chest rose and fell with quick succession as its eyes crinkled, still focused on the town.
Suddenly, it felt a pair of soft hands glide onto their face and onto its eyes, effectively and completely blocking their vision.
“Shhhh, it's okay my flower.”
It heard her voice as its body was slowly pushed back and engulfed into a warm and solid figure. It felt the figure behind them softly rise and fall in a soothing rhythmatic form. Eventually, the once panicked creature fell into that soothing pattern, its breathing back to its regular formation. However, that stinging pain in its chest and throat did not waver.
“You’re losing yourself Tulip, breathe.” Her sickly sweet voice slid into the creature’s ears, the sound cutting through the chaotic white noise it heard. “Breathe my flower, it's okay. Everything’s okay.”
Like the carefully crafted plant it was, it obeyed and listened as it forced itself to take in a deep breath of the rotten air. Its eyes were still covered from Adara’s hands, no longer soaking in the devastating sight of death and destruction. It relished in it, not the disturbing sight and smell of the Wither coming to reclaim its subjects but the knowing feeling – the knowing fact that its own Goddess still loved them, that Adara still cared and cherished them the equal amount that they had.
If time in the Nether were a real thing, then the unlikely couple would have been standing there for near minutes on end. The creature's delight in knowing its love had still kept those same feelings calmed it down effectively as it stayed in that same position. Adara on the other hand had not said a word throughout the entirety of the ordeal. The only movement she made was when she was about to remove her hands back off of the Nether born’s eyes. That motion had failed as the skeleton’s arms snapped up and kept her hands there, seemingly not wanting to see the same annihilation of the village – or not wanting to remove its beloved’s hands at all.
It was the latter than the former.
The second time Adara had made the same movement of trying to move her limbs Eilvyre made a sound of discontent only to be immediately silenced by the redhead hushing it before she whispered a sweetened reassured promise;
“I’ll be back, my flower. I’ll just be gone for a short moment.”
She said as she slowly returned the creature’s vision back before she started to back away. The presumed royal darted its eyes away from the source of the Wither’s return. It was trying to find Adara, however it only caught a glimpse of her retreating figure, her hands folded behind her back as she took long, paced strides in a certain direction.
The Wither Skeleton decided it was best to turn away from the village and sit down facing the lava sea before it. The tremendous ash and smoke didn’t rest behind it nor did the wretched smell of burning flesh and hair. Nonetheless, it sat there. Patiently waiting as it tried not to let the smell tempt and sink into its mind.
It waited and waited and waited.
Until it grew tired of waiting that is. It wanted to move, it now wanted to find Adara. It felt like a long while when Adara stated she would be back in a short one. So what was taking her so long?
That's when it decided — it had a goal in mind, which was to find their love.
Thus, it removed itself from its spot on the netherrack ground and began walking in the same direction as Adara, its footfalls soft and filled with uncertainty as it was deep down scared to even follow its Goddess as she had given it an unsaid order or staying back there. However, curiosity took over its mind as they trudged forward. Its soul bounced wildly in its chest as it walked and walked.
Along the way it saw more portals, it saw some parts of the red terrain deformed in some areas as if something was messing with it, it smelt like more burning flesh. It quickly gripped its arm as a way to focus on the task at hand and not at the second town that had met its untimely fate.
It wasn’t before long where it spotted something bright and white in the distance. It was also rectangular shaped similar to the portals but this time it was wider and taller, as well as the lights on it weren’t yellow or orange. It was different, a “blue” color it remembered Adara teaching it – but it wasn’t a dark blue like in the pictures, it was light and pasty like its loves wings and eyes.
It walked closer to it, a small scared yet fascinated feeling crawled into its gut as it made its way towards the building. Slowly and cautiously it walked towards the front of the white thing, written and engraved on top and across the entry doors were;
“Celestial ▇▇▇▇ : Owned by Matthew ▇▇▇▇”
The creature was not able to make out the words due to them being unable to read them along with the words seemingly scratched or burned out of place. It caused a sick sense of dread to build in its gut but it didn’t know why. The doors were ajar. It confused the creature as they stalked inside, its throat closing up along the way. The walls and floor were white as the ceiling was blue with those strange pale blue lights as well. It looked like the complete opposite of a Fortress. It unnerved them.
It walked, and walked, and walked until it noticed something — or, rather, someone.
It was that pink being from before, trapped behind a see-through glass, huddled in the far corner of the room. Its long and slender limbs twitched in place as blue blood was splattered across the room, onto their clothing, body, and majority on top of its head where one of its four horns seemed to have been horribly chopped off. Blue blood looked as though it spouted from where the horn once was. The Wither Skeleton felt sick just by staring at it, watching the poor thing twitch and stutter in place from behind the glass border.
Eilvyre stared at the creature before it flickered its gaze to the wall, on it was engraved the letters “NDLS-07”. The creature could feel their white eyes widen ever so slightly as they reminisced what Adara had muttered under her breath prior to this predicament.
This was NDLS-07.
It concluded as it flickered its gaze back, it then froze as it saw those same beady black eyes staring directly at it. The Wither Skeleton practically felt its soul freeze in place as it was forced into a locked eye contact with the fully pinked creature.
Slowly it made its way to the edge of the glass border as it lost eye contact with the being, it could still feel those eyes rack its form. As Eilvyre made it to the edge of the glass, it began looking for a way to open it — a door perhaps. It looked and looked until it spotted some sort of black and gray pad on the wall next to the border. It stared at the pad before it strode towards it and cautiously began to randomly push every button and flip every switch, hoping it did something helpful for the creature inside.
Just as it was about to push another button, it heard soft yet muffled warbles and groans from inside the containment. The Wither Skeleton refocused its gaze on “NDLS-07”, confusion lined its face before it gave it a wobbly yet reassuring smile. The pink horned creature froze in place as its eyes looked at something behind the Wither descendant, then it swiftly hunched back over — digging its head back into its knees and chest, its body shaking ever so slightly.
The Nether born showed visible puzzlement once it saw the actions the other creature had done, hurriedly it began to attempt to communicate to the creature in its native tongue. The warbles, chirps and coos eased out of its mouth in a quick and precise manner–
“Eilvyre, what are you doing here?”
The Wither Skeleton felt all the air leave their body as they flinched at the cold voice that was said harshly directly behind them. It knew who that precious voice belonged to but it couldn’t help the gut wrenching feeling of being terrified, why was it scared of its love?
“Eilvyre, you aren’t supposed to be here yet.” The Wither descendant flinched again. “Answer me, what are you doing here?”
The Nether born pivoted backwards quickly after confirming that voice was real, its soul violently jumped from place to place in its chest. It made an awkward chirp noise before swiftly silencing itself as it heard Adara’s footsteps walk closer before she made her way to the front of them. As she did that the Nether born tilted their head down like a child about to be scolded, its shoulders were hiked up and tense as its jaw was nervously clenched shut — its white eyes were hyper focused on the white floor beneath them and part of the glass border to the side of them.
It felt its love’s precious green eyes burn holes into their head as they both remained silent, the redhead fuming in her spot as the pink haired child stood as still as a board – the only other noise were the pink creatures' soft chirps and warbles as it cautiously observed the scene with its beady black eyes peeking above its arms. Hesitantly, Eilvyre slowly opened its mouth only a tiny bit before it released a barely audible series of sounds in its native tongue. Adara stood there, her feelings no longer were able to be detected as she stared and stared at Eilvyre — her face was stoic. The Wither Skeleton had finally stopped talking, its hands curled into fists as it gripped the shredded hem of its gray and gold shirt.
A harsh sigh then ripped through the empty white halls. Adara was now pinching the bridge of her nose frustratedly after hearing the flowers' explanation. With a deep inhale and exhale she directed her attention back to the skeleton. Noticing how its head was still down, she let out a small “tut”.
“Eilvyre, you know how rude it is to avoid eye contact during conversations.” Her silk-like voice rang out, annoyance and irritation soaked in her words. “Look at me, flower.”
The skeletal child fidgeted in its spot, not wanting to deny the request but also it did not want to comply with it. A small feeling of dread and uncertainty welded up in its stomach as it stood still. The redhead let out another “tsk” as she observed the obvious inner conflict happening.
“Tulip, look at me please?”
She asked again. The Wither descendant slowly and reluctantly lifted its head up. However, it seemed that it wasn’t the pace Adara was looking for as she moved her index finger and thumb on its chin, slightly forcing its head up so that they were now both as direct eye contact despite Adara still looking down at the creature.
“That’s it, good girl.”
Eilvyre could feel its black, translucent cheek burn as blood rushed upwards and towards their face from the flattery and gazing into her now soft eyes and smile. Adara then maneuvered her hand to the side of Eilvyre’s face, her thumb gently caressing their cheek in a loving manner regardless of the slightly rough caressing she was doing.
“Tulip, I'm going to need you to leave this place, okay?” She asked the Nether born, her voice quiet and low. “You interfered with a secret you were never supposed to find. However — don’t worry, I’ll come out soon after you so you can get that much needed trim we talked about.”
The skeleton would voice a small noise of protest only to be immediately hushed by Adara as her hands became a bit firmer on its facial cheek before she released its face. With a dejected expression, the creature slowly backed up and turned away from its Goddess, its eyes spotting the pink specimen watching the whole scenario – its face lined with confusion and fear as its eyes stalked every advancement forward Eilvyre made.
They both didn’t notice Adara holding a device near her ear and whispering something in it. They both wouldn’t see her slowly putting the device back into her coat pocket before her pasty green eyes stared Eilvyre down.
Every footstep the Wither Skeleton made, it created an equal amount of echoey noise that bounced around them.
Every thud.
Every thump.
Every click.
Every clack.
Each footfall caused a sense of unease and terror to fill their stomach.
Until it heard a sudden whirring sound, it attempted to look at the direction of where the sound was coming from only to be stricken with something small and sharp stab in the back of its knee on its right leg. It let out a small cry as it stumbled. It didn’t think much of the pain before it spreaded. The Wither Skeleton let out a loud, raspy, inhumane, agonizing screech as they collapsed to the ground. The back of its leg burned in agony. Its chest tightened as its throat closed up and its eyes crinkled with the now familiar unsatisfactory emotion.
Its vision blurred violently as its leg and lower body entirely spasmed widely. It was torture to both feel and witness. The Nether born let out cry upon cry, scream after scream.
It was tormenting.
NDLS-07 watched everything from behind its enclosure, it flinched and covered its ears tightly. The action only muffled the screeches of agony, nothing more nothing less. It closely watched Eilvyre from the other side of the glass, its heart clenching and beating violently just watching them cry in pain.
Adara, on the other hand, stood there and watched. Her soft face melted into the stoic one from before. She then flickered her eyes from the pink creature in containment to the writhing Skeletal child a few feet in front of it. Slowly, she began striding towards them. Each step she took, her expression morphed into one of concern and fear.
Finally, she made it to the presumed Wither Skeleton, she bent down onto her knees as she slowly and cautiously grasped Eilvyre’s shaking shoulder. The Nether born reacted quickly with them twisting their upper body around and grabbing Adara’s wrist. Its chest was heaving rapidly as its lower body still twitched and spasmed in place. However, during this moment of chaos, Adara noticed something;
Eilvyre was subconsciously attempting to use the naturally born powers of the Wither they never received.
With an unidentifiable smile, the redhead slowly removed their hand off of her wrist. Calmly she maneuvered the skeletons head onto her lap where she softly hushed the creature and grazed its knotted and dirty hair with her hands.
“It’s okay Tulip.” She comfortably whispered into their ear “It’ll all be over soon my flower.” Eilvyre would also gasp, stutter, whimper, and cry in pain, Adara looked at them in the eyes once more before giving it a small loving smile. “I just need you to open your mouth a bit, okay? I have something that should fix all our problems.”
Without much thought, the skeleton nodded its head and opened its mouth a tiny bit. Adara swiftly removed her hands and reached into her pocket where she then fished out a red bottle, she next opened it and poured some in the creature's mouth. Which prompt rewarded her with the response of them gagging, closing their lips, and turning away. Adara let out a soft chuckle before shaking her head with another small “tut”.
“No Tulip, you have to drink all of it. It’ll make you feel better I promise.”
After hearing that, Eilvyre hesitantly turned back and opened their lips. Adara resumed the process of pouring the mysterious substance down the skeletons throat. As she did such, the Nether born felt the pain in its leg fade away and numb out.
“Good girl.”
Adara praised once more, the Wither descendant could feel its blood rush to their face once more however that wasn’t the only revelation as they suddenly felt better.
Adara then moved the now empty bottle away and placed it down gently on the white ground before she let out a soft sigh.
“Eil, this is why you weren’t meant to come here. This is why you were supposed to listen to me.” She whispered in a velvety tone.
“You were never meant to follow me, Tulip. You let yourself become overwatered and now look at you,” her voice began to turn dark.
“A twitching mess of limbs… You can’t even say anything that isn’t a whimper or a whine.” It became a mocking tone.
“And look at that, your leg...your poor stem flower…you may not feel the pain any longer — but I fear you won’t be able to walk on it correctly ever again.” She stated, her voice light and mock concern.
The creature was confused on both its emotions, its pain, and on its beloved. Despite it all, they melted into those soft warm hands it always adored as they let out a desolate noise. The redhead was quick to shush them again.
“It’s okay, Tulip, I’ll take care of you until then since flowers can’t survive without their daily need of sunlight and water.” She declared “I’ll be right by your side — that is…if you promise to do the same.”
Eilvyre, ever the naive Nether born they were, nodded their head as they let out a small warble. A confirmation. Adara then broke out into a large smile before she caressed the creature's head.
“That’s my flower. I suppose this concludes your trim, Tulip.”
She said, however the Wither Skeleton wasn’t paying any mind to her words, they would simply enjoy this feeling of solace they’ve been granted regardless of the numbing stinging pain in their knee. It would forever be a silent reminder of their arrogance and of their disobedience towards their Goddess.
~ ∆ ~
The Wither skeleton did not know how long it had been since that moment. It remembered vividly how Adara graciously picked them up and carried them out of the white building, it remembered how it stared at NDLS-07 on the way out, it remembered the stinging feeling of guilt from not being able to open its door. It stared at the pink creature until those same doors it entered in had closed, breaking its line of sight off completely.
Afterwards, Adara had carried them back to their “home”. Past all of the town ruins, past the vast lava oceans — even with the scorching heat hitting her face she did not seem phased in the slightest. She trudged forward with an off putting smile on her face, her pasty three wings fluttering ever so slightly as it appeared that the tips of them shone. Eilvyre thought it was simply their own imagination due to the high of emotions and the various amounts of glowstone everywhere.
However, something that had always caught the Nether borns attention was the added amount of black and purple rectangular portals. They were everywhere. It concerned them. It didn’t stop the more they walked forward either, it continued on like a horde of zombie piglins.
It wasn’t until the two of them finally made it back. Adara sat just on the outer wall of Eilvyre’s home before she carefully placed the skeleton right on her lap — pushing their head in the croak of her neck in the process. She then started to rock side to side and hum an unfamiliar tune. The Wither descendant happily listened to its loves’ sweet melody before it began to drift off to sleep in the lap and the presence of the person they loved the most.
At that moment, it had failed to see all of those portals light up at once.
At that moment, it did not once notice the abundance of white coats walking through the very same portal Adara always walked out of.
At that moment it did not see Adara talk to the person standing over them.
However, in that moment, all this flower could see was the simple white name tag;
“Matthew Twiright.”