Chapter Text
Hermes still couldn't believe that they had been able to convince their parents to have the lot of them out for Jellie's and Violet's eighteenth birthdays, but no one was complaining. They were going to enjoy the camping trip, the weather was set to be good for weeks, if a bit cold, although that was the price of camping in taiga. It was the summer, though, so snow was still months off.
Joe and Violet had insisted that they go stargazing, so there were blankets setup. Mob spawning had been turned off in the area, so they could have a peaceful camping trip and didn't have to worry about getting exploded in the middle of the night.
David and Tom were playing some sort of obscure card game.
Jellie was morphed as a cat, getting all the love she could ever want from Joe and Gregory, and he and Violet were drinking wine. The cat-hybrid had given them both disappointed looks, but she wasn't one to tattle, and there was always the mutual agreement among the children. If one of them was in trouble with their parents, they were all in trouble. If you got someone else grounded, you were going down with them, so nobody told on each other unless it was pretty serious. Sneaking out a bit of alcohol wasn't a problem, but if they drank themselves to the point of blacking-out, then they'd get told on.
"So how's uncle Sausage been lately?" Violet asked, lying down fully.
"Oh, he's fine, getting pretty grey, though. Abuelo's beard is pretty impressively white though. Still don't see what he sees in uncle Oli."
She laughed quietly. "I think they're sweet together. Gotta be weirder from your perspective, though. At least he doesn't insist you call him gramps or something, although it is funny that your uncles are younger than you."
"And they always like to let me know that they are my uncles."
"Hey! Look- look North! Oh..." Greg was looking up at the sky, mesmerised by the aurora in the sky.
Hermes smiled, putting down his cup down and laying back to look up themself. It'd been quite some time since they had last seen an aurora, hell, it was probably the first time Gregory would ever remember seeing one.
It was a beautiful evening.
And then the earthquake happened, so much like the one that had happened just over a decade ago. Hermes hardly even remembered it- but they did. It had been such a chaotic time during their life, and even Dave remembered it a bit. Jellie had quickly morphed back into being a human, her hair all frizzy from her fur standing on end. There was magic in the air.
There was magic in the air, it hadn't been a normal earthquake.
And there was a new crack in the ground, one that Hermes hadn't seen earlier as they got up, the earthquake having quickly dissipated.
"We should call someone..." the cat-hybrid said, still holding Greg and Joe close, even though the earthquake had quickly ended.
David let out a frustrated sigh. "It's the middle of the night, nobody will be awake- and even if we do, you know our parents will never let us go out on our own like this again."
"Jellie's right- Dave we need to call someone," Violet said, sitting up and downing her cup of wine that somehow hadn't been spilled, Hermes' own was long gone. "You know we'll be in a whole lot more shit if we don't."
"We could go look and see if it's serious," Hermes suggested, though they knew that they were still shaking. "And then call an adult. If anyone, we should call fWhip, he'll want to know if there's the chance of their being a new rift."
Violet sighed, and got up herself. "Come on, we can make it an adventure- we've all got elytra, right?"
"Or wings," Greg pointed out.
"Race to the earthquake hole?" Tom suggested, with a grin on his face. They all knew that he'd regret it soon enough, but he had had the foresight to bring his forearm crutches.
The younger three began running, and David quickly went after them, shouting something about fair competitions. Hermes just grabbed a bag, and Tom's crutches, Jellie and Violet grabbing two bags before following at a quick enough pace, joking and poking at each other.
It was a rift. But it was different to the one he remembered, and Jellie was touching where crying obsidian ended, and a magenta portal began. It was weird. Really weird, and not just poppy technology weird, no, that was another weird thing, but it was a different issue. Yes, world breaking, but not Rift world breaking.
"We need to call someone," David said, starting to hyperventilate in panic. Joe grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.
And then Tom tripped.
Hermes didn't even have time to think before they ran to try to catch him- their little brother was falling towards the rift and-
Their hands connected, but it just meant that they got pulled through the portal as well.
The two of them appeared in the outskirts of a town. It looked familiar, though it was certain that neither had ever been there before. It was late, but not the middle of the night as it had just been for them, the sun just starting to set. Hermes looked around, brushing themself off as they got up, and looking around. Their brother was not far away, sitting up against a tree, nervously tapping the ground, his other arm holding a grass block tightly, hunched over himself. "Tom, are you alright?"
"Daddy's gonna kill us," the younger teen said, letting out a warble. "We're going to be in so much trouble."
Hermes sighed, sitting down next to Tom, and started rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah, we're in trouble, but we'll figure it out. We've been in worse shit before, remember when I snuck Greg out to teach him how to fly and we both got so hurt? I still haven't heard the end of it. We'll get through this, we've gotten through everything before. Do you remember those stories I've told that you that have an evil version of my Papi?"
The enderian's eyes sparkled slightly, though were still terribly dull, and he nodded. "Yeah, like with- with you and Bubbles saving him, right?"
"Yeah, well, those stories really happened. And while it really scared Papi and Dad, it all ended up okay in the end. I was grounded for like- a year, but it ended up alright. Everything will end up okay, even if it doesn't seem like it currently is, Tom. I mean- I'll be taking over Sanctuary in a couple of years, even."
"I know that, it's just- it's- everything is happening right now, is all."
The demi-God nodded, and put an arm around their brother. "I know. But it'll be alright. We'll be alright. Jellie and Violet will call for help, and we'll be home before either of us know it, bothering Abuelo and Tia Marie into making the lot of us cookies before we're grounded forever."