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If asked, Pearl wouldn’t lie — she was nervous.
It was the beginning of a new season of Hermitcraft, and although she knew that everyone had voted and agreed to let her in, there was still that nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to be careful.
It was irrational, she knew, but the last time she had joined a pre-established server had been Evo — and that hadn’t exactly ended well.
So, yeah, she was nervous. It would be more strange if she wasn’t nervous.
And then they put her in a hole.
To be fair to Xisuma, Mumbo, and the other few Hermits who had put her in there, she wasn’t alone in the hole — a lovely woman named Gem had hopped in a few moments after Pearl, and they were quickly becoming hole buddies. Besides, the hole wasn’t that deep; if she really wanted to, Pearl could probably poke her head over the side and see exactly what was happening.
That, or Pearl could balance on Gem’s shoulders, as the other woman had offered.
Hermits were weird, even the new ones.
But Pearl didn’t peek over the edge of the hole, even though she could, because that wasn’t the point of it all. The point was to stay in the hole until the other Hermits arrived, and she wasn’t going to ruin the fun.
Voices spoke around the hole, and she and Gem grew silent. It didn’t sound like they were starting just yet, but they would soon, any second now.
More voices joined, enough that Pearl couldn’t pick out any individual conversations. There were more people than Pearl had expected, somehow, despite knowing that there were 24 Hermits, not counting herself and Gem.
One voice caught her attention, but Pearl couldn’t hear enough to figure out why.
“Are we going? Is this- is this the start of the season?” Mumbo said, and everyone quieted down, including the familiar voice. Pearl sighed softly, and began listening to Mumbo.
After stumbling through the beginning of his speech, he directed the other Hermits to look down the hole that Gem and Pearl were in.
“…It’s a little bit intimidating, looking at all these faces,” she joked as multiple heads popped into view over the hole, loudly greeting them. Gem was waving excitedly, and one of the Hermits started sprinkling flower petals over them.
Mumbo said something else, voice barely audible over the loud greeting, but Pearl’s attention was taken by the sight of a rapidly approaching Iron Golem barely visible above the hole.
Huh, she thought, that’s strange, and then there was a loud thunk, a roar of laughter from the Hermits, and her communicator buzzed with a death message. Most of the Hermits moved away from the hole, and Gem took that as her cue to scramble up the side.
“Come on!” Gem called back, offering Pearl her hand.
With Gem’s help, Pearl yanked herself over the edge. She thanked the other woman quickly, scanning her eyes across the crowd of excited Hermits.
They were bunched up and laughing at whoever had just respawned, mostly hiding them from view. Pearl tilted her head in an attempt to get a better view, and the person pushed their way through the Hermits with a familiar laugh.
And then he looked at Pearl.
Dark blonde hair, red sweater, brown eyes meeting hers. A beige mask, wrapped around his mouth and nose. He was taller than she remembered, somehow, though that could be because of the wings he now sported on his back. He was so different - and yet the sparkle in his eyes was the exact same.
Wings! Pearl couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry as she stepped towards him.
Grian seemed to decide for her, laughing and meeting her halfway. He pulled her into a crushing hug, wings wrapping around her slightly.
Pearl squeezed him back as hard as she could, and he wheezed slightly. Good. He could deal with a couple of bruised ribs - she had thought he was dead .
She squeezed him tighter for a moment, and then pulled back slightly. Her vision was blurry. There were a few matching tears in Grian’s eyes, though whether they were from emotion or from Pearl squeezing him too hard was anyone’s guess. She stared at his face, drinking it in.
He was alive!
“Hi,” he greeted her, eyes twinkling in fond amusement.
He was alive.
Pearl pulled herself from his arms and wings, stepped back, and punched him in the face as hard as she possibly could.
Multiple Hermits around them shouted, some in alarm and some in excitement. Interestingly, it was Mumbo who stepped forward first, Xisuma right behind him.
“Okay,” he started, hands in-between Pearl and Grian as if he could stop that fight.
Pearl didn't even look at him. Her eyes were locked on Grian, who had stumbled back with the force of her punch. His hand was pressed to his face, and it was with a mixture of satisfaction and dread that Pearl noted red staining his mask under his nose.
Grian looked back up at her. She stared back, fist still clenched by her side.
“You deserved that,” She said, unflinching.
“…Yeah,” Grian agreed. “I probably did.”
“ Probably? ” Pearl’s eyes narrowed.
He sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. “Definitely.”
She watched him for a moment longer, and then suddenly relaxed, the anger and tension draining from her frame. “I’m really glad you’re not dead. We’re talking about this later.”
Grian winced slightly. Pearl half expected him to argue, or try to weasel his way out of it, but he just nodded weakly.
“Sure,” He agreed. She nodded back at him, before turning to the other Hermits.
They had been watching the entire scene like a tennis match, heads moving back and forth in both of concern and amusement. As she turned them, Pearl was pretty sure she saw one of them quickly pull a bag of popcorn out of sight.
“Alright!” She clapped her hands, smiling. “Were there any other announcements?”
“Uh,” Mumbo spoke up after a moment of silence, “There was something…”
“Two things, Mumbo.”
“Two things??”
—
Grian caught her later that evening, in her ( freshly rotated! ) starter base.
She hadn’t joined Boatem just to be near him — surprisingly, her life doesn’t revolve entirely around her not-dead brother. She had genuinely stumbled across the Boatem Pole, and everyone had seemed plenty excited for her to join. It would be fun, she figured, to have neighbors. Having Grian nearby was just a bonus.
As he knocked on one of her doors, she found herself pleased that she didn’t have to track him down for this. She hadn’t genuinely thought she would need to — they are both adults, after all — but it was still nice.
Besides, they both knew that there was very little that could stop Pearl from having this conversation. Had Grian tried to avoid her, they both knew she would appear in his base within a few days at most, breakfast on the stove and, most likely, a sword at his throat.
“Come in!” She called, closing the journal where she had been sketching out her mega-base ideas.
She looked up just in time to watch Grian miss the front door, and instead open up one of the trapdoors next to it. They made eye contact, equally confused.
“Uh,” He opened another two trapdoors. “What.”
Pearl put her head in her hands. “…Grian.”
“This is not my fault, you’ve got too many options,” He argued, finally opening both of the actual doors. Pearl watched in shock as he still chose to duck in between the trapdoors. “I got it!”
“Why can no one use my door?"
Grian quickly closed all of the doors behind him, and then stood stiffly in the middle of the room. With a jolt, Pearl realized that she couldn’t quite read his body language — and she couldn’t tell if it was the mask on his face or the years they’ve spent apart that caused it.
“For what it’s worth,” he started, “I’m sorry.”
“For not being able to open my door?”
“Wh—” He snorted slightly, “Pearl!”
They smiled at each other for a moment. Pearl looked away first.
“Come here, sit down,” She patted one of the seats at her table. “Do you want a drink?”
Grian was clearly confused, but sat down anyway, “No, thanks.”
Pearl shrugged, standing to get herself some tea. The water had just begun to boil when she spoke again.
“So,” She pulled two mugs out of a chest, “What are you sorry for?”
“…What am I sorry for?” Grian sputtered behind her. Pearl just hummed in response and began digging through a couple other chests, looking for the tea bags that she knew were somewhere in her kitchen.
“Pearl,” he continued, “You know what I’m sorry for.”
Finally, she pulled out an old, duct taped box of tea bags. “I’m not sure I do,” She filled both mugs with boiling water and dropped a bag in each.
“Plus,” She turned back towards Grian and handed him a mug, “I want to hear it from you.”
He frowned down at the tea in his hands, “...I said no to the drink.”
“I know,” Pearl sat back down, across from him.
He didn’t respond, and just stared at his drink. Pearl stayed silent as well.
Eventually, Grian sighed. When he looked at her, his eyes were fond but exhausted. “I’m sorry for leaving you, and for not finding you. I’m sorry for not explaining sooner.”
Pearl’s empty hand clenched under the table. “You left?”
“From Evo. I left. I…” He trailed off, blinking at her. “I thought that’s what you wanted me to apologize for?”
Pearl took a deep breath, and held it for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was firm. “Why did you leave? ”
“...When we jumped in the portal, I ended up alone on the other side. The…” He hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. “They had separated me from you, and had me fight the dragon on my own. They said it was a test, and once I had passed, They said I was worthy of going with Them.”
“So you just —” Pearl closed her eyes. “You went with Them? You didn’t even like Them!”
Grian’s wings twitched in slightly, curling around him. “I wanted to protect you all,” His voice went bitter. “Not that it did much.”
Pearl paused. “From what?” She asked. Things were connecting in her head; it felt like there was no air in her lungs.
“They wanted me to join Them,” Grian’s eyes returned back to his tea. His fingertips were white. “Or They’d disconnect the server.”
She had never been an admin - she found most of the coding and paperwork over complicated and, quite frankly, extremely boring - but even she had heard the horror stories of disappearing worlds. It was considered an extraordinarily rare glitch that corrupted a world’s code, disconnecting it from the server’s World Hub and forcing it into stagnation.
It was one of the few things capable of permanently altering a player’s code — the players that survived, at least.
How many of those disappearances were caused by Them?
Pearl’s mouth was dry; stuck together as she locked eyes with Grian. His eyes looked almost black, reflecting an uneasy purple in the dim lighting.
“I mean,” He shrugged, looking away. “That’s what it sounded like. I’m sure you remember They liked being vague. So I left.”
Pearl took a flavorless sip of her tea.
“You didn’t leave.” She said decidedly.
“Um,” Grian watched her blankly. “I absolutely did.”
“No,” She shook her head, voice getting stronger as she continued, “You didn’t. They took you.”
“I went with them,” Grian protested. “I agreed to go with them.”
“You didn’t —” Pearl’s temper flared again, but this time, it wasn’t directed at her brother.
“I could have stayed! ” He interrupted her, wings flaring. “We might’ve been able to figure something out, or —”
“Or what? You would’ve stayed in a corrupted server?”
“At least I would’ve been there when the world shut down! But I wasn’t, I chose-”
“If your only other option is to die, then that’s not a choice, Grian! You didn't leave, They took you.”
They stared at each other for a moment, silent. Grian collapsed back into his seat. Pearl hadn't realized either of them had stood up, but she followed and sat back as well. Her base felt empty without their voices, and even the mobs outside had quieted.
She pulled her mug closer, but didn’t drink any. The tea bag had been left in for too long; it was probably bitter.
Without a word, Grian reached for his own untouched tea as well. He hesitated for a moment, but then brought it closer to his face. His eyes closed as he smelled it.
“I didn’t think…” His voice was soft as he trailed off. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I haven’t had this tea in years. I couldn’t find it.”
When his eyes opened again, they were wet. Pearl watched in shock as he pulled down his mask and took a large sip of the tea.
“It tastes… a bit different than what I remember,” He winced slightly at the flavor, and as they both laughed, she could finally see his smile in full.
“It’s oversteeped,” She explained, “And a bit old. I think they stopped making it a year or two ago. I tried figuring out the recipe, but…”
Grian’s smile grew. “You made poison instead, didn’t you?”
Pearl snorted but didn’t deny it. She glanced back at the mask now wrapped around his chin. He had either washed it or changed it for an identical one; the blood from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s up with the mask?” She asked. It was one of the things she was most curious about, aside from the wings, but his face looked the same underneath it. “I thought you were hiding something, but you look the same under there.”
“Hm? Oh!” Grian’s eyes went wide as he pulled his mask off. “It’s habit more than anything at this point, especially at the beginning of the season. I forgot you wouldn’t…”
The mood dropped again at the reminder of the time they spent apart.
Grian cleared his throat, “Mumbo actually got this one for me; it’s a funny story, if you want to hear it.”
“Yeah?” Pearl smiled at Grian, encouraging him to continue. “Go on, then.”
Their conversation wasn’t over — Pearl hadn’t missed how Grian had changed the subject. She still had questions for him; questions about his wings, about his time after Evo, about Them. But for the first time in years, they had time. She was more than content to just sit and listen to his stories for now.
And, as she sipped her lukewarm tea, Pearl found that she didn’t mind the bitterness at all.