Back in Time | Hermitcraft AU

Chapter XV

- TIMESKIP -
“I forgot to ask you Xisuma,” Pearl said as he told her how she would summon a portal to the dimension he wanted to go to. “How the heck would I be able to do all that?”

“Well you see, I don’t know why but you’ve somehow gained powers,” Xisuma explained. “You didn’t have these in the beginning of the season, since I would never let someone with powers in. Knowing you are trustworthy, I will help you to get rid of these now. I feel like it has something to do with the facility.”

“Are you sure she’s trustworthy though?” Jevin questioned, still suspicious after Pearl killed Hypno. “What if Pearl’s being possessed or something?”

The glare Xisuma sent him was enough for Jevin to shut up.

“Pearl, something must’ve gotten messed up for you to gain those powers,” Xisuma explained. “Is there anything weird you have experienced the past weeks?”

Pearl’s mind immediately thought of the war, how she killed everyone and how she travelled back in time. That’s probably where she got these powers. After all, she don’t know who or how she travelled back in time, and for all she knew it could’ve been a fatal mistake. Screw it, of course it was a fatal mistake.

But why mention it? She’s held it in so far, why would she talk about it now? A lie would do just as good.

“Uhm, I remember being knocked out in the beginning of the season,” she said. Technically it wasn’t a lie, just not the whole truth.

“Oh god yeah, I remember that!” Gem exclaimed. “Do you reckon that’s why?”

“It’s possible,” Xisuma replied thoughtfully. “But I can’t see how that would’ve done what has been done to Pearl.”

“Oh luv, who did this to you?” Stress sighed. “I’m not sure those glitched powers of yours are good, maybe you unknowingly created a copy of yourself to kill Hypno or something like that.”

“Best theory so far,” Pearl muttered.

“There’s only one way to find out if the facility has a part in this, so what are we waiting for?” TFC said a bit impatiently. “The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better.”

“Right,” Xisuma said, as if he had forgotten. “Pearl, are you ready?”

“Mhm,” she answered, the nervousness rising steady. What if she messed up? What if she hurt herself or the hermits? What if she trapped them somewhere where they couldn’t go back.

Xisuma noticed her hesitation, and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I believe in you Pearl,” he said in a fatherly way. “Remember that this is not only to figure out what happened to you, also to potentially save Minecraft.”

Pearl smiled at those words. People mess up sometimes. And she would make sure that this wasn’t one of those times.

She went through Xisuma’s instructions in her head before she started. Summon the magic. Think of the facility. Use all your powers to create a portal to it.

She closed her eyes and tried to find every ounce of magic that she didn’t even know she had until recently within her. She let the power flow to her right hand, where sparks in all kinds of colours appeared. It was glitchy, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. Kinda like glitchy fireworks.

Pearl now focused on the facility. She didn’t know what it looked like, but she pictured it being a big laboratorium with lots of corridors and people running around, doing experiment after experiment. She felt something spark in her, like she was ready for the next step.

Now she opened her eyes. She pictured where the portal would be and how it looked like. Ignoring the both curious and concerned looks from the other hermits, she raised her hand and started building the frame of the portal. She thought of it like building a Nether portal, but instead of placing blocks she summoned blocks. She felt her energy drain at a quick pace, but she forced herself to continue. She couldn’t give up now, she was almost done.

Now was only the vortex left. The hardest part. This is where everything can go wrong. With every little corner of her body, she thought of the facility. At the same time, she swiped her hand left and right as if she was painting the vortex. It appeared bit by bit, and the hermits faces only looked stunned by now. Except Xisuma, who was carefully watching over the whole process.

When about half of the vortex was there, an immense pain exploded in Pearl’s body. She almost lost it, but managed to hold back the pain.

Only a... Few... swipes... left, she thought tiredly. If she had come this far, giving up would be pointless.

She gathered all the magic left within her, and activated the portal. She did it. Now she only had to hold up the portal so the others (and herself when nobody saw) could enter the portal.

“Go, now!” Xisuma urged the seven hermits. First they stood still, but then they straightened up when they realised and basically flew through the portal. Xisuma was last, sending Pearl a quick glance full of worry, accomplishment and excitement. “See you when we’re back.”

Then he stepped through the portal.

Time for Pearl to carry out her plan.

It was very simple: hold up the portal and step through, don’t get caught. That was it. She approached the portal, but froze when she heard a voice behind her.

“What’re you doing, Pearl?” False said suspiciously. “You’re not going through the portal, are you?”

Pearl’s answer to that was a blast of magic towards False, who fell unconscious.

“That’s for when you killed me,” Pearl whispered bitterly.

And when she stepped through the portal her powers were so drained that she almost passed out.

---

Well folks, it’s been a hot minute
No for real, it’s been over half a year why did I take this long

I just want this book done so I can mark the complete button, but I have so much motivation now so maybe you’ll get the next chapter soon :)

(aka in less than 6 and a half months)

Adventure awaits!
- Amethyst

(IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I SAID THAT AHHH)