A Crown of Broken Runes (ACOBR)

The Temple

Keralis slowly opened his eyes.

"Hello?" he called. In a few moments, Etho, Xisuma, Impulse and Grian were all standing over him.

"Oh thank goodness." Grian sighed. There were dark circles under Impulse and Grian's eyes, and by the way Xisuma was standing, he was probably pretty exhausted too. It looked like they had been awake all night for several days, waiting for Keralis to recover. Grian looked oddly guilty, but Keralis passed off that thought. His head hurt. Grian spoke to him in a soft voice.

"Do you remember what happened in the crater?" he inquired, typing into his communicator to inform the other hermits that he had woken.
Keralis's face screwed up as he searched for his memories.

We explored the crater... we found this thing... the black thing. I reached out to touch it... a crackle of lightning... a blast of pain.

He remembered, alright. He imagined that he must have been hit by the full force of that electric wave, since he was in the worst condition by far. Xisuma appeared to have a brand-new helmet, and Iskall had a bandage on his arm, but the other hermits in the room looked otherwise unharmed. In the back of his mind, he wondered why Iskall didn't just eat something and heal up. He tried to lift himself out of the bed, but his eyes became unfocused and he slumped back down again, looking nauseated.

"Hey buddy. Glad you're okay. The healing potions weren't doing anything..." Impulse rubbed his shoulder.
"What- that was was that? The shock that hit me?" He quavered shakily.

Xisuma's expression turned dark. "We... don't know. Whatever it was, it was strong. We were worried that you would die."

"But you would've gotten my stuff for me. It would have been alright."

"Keralis, your hearts have been, and still are, full. Whatever that blast was, it hurt you, but didnt do any damage. This kind of power... it could kill."

They all went silent as that thought sunk in. Something that could harm them... permanently.

Interrupting the sombre mood, Tango slammed open the door, closely followed by Beef.

"Glad to hear you're doing better!" Tango grinned, and gave Keralis a tight hug. He half laughed, half gasped in pain as his friend hugged him, and Tango quickly let go. Next came Cleo, with Joe and Stress. Keralis noticed Grian, Xisuma, and Iskall backing off to let the other hermits trickle in to visit.

Keralis smiled. He was going to be alright.

~ ⬩ !¡ᒷᔑᓵᒷ, ⬩ ~

Grian silently slipped out of his base. Keralis had recovered quite well over the last week and a half, and was back on his feet. Grian, however, was still curious about what the mask was.

I'll be careful, he promised himself. If I feel even a hint of the lightning on my skin, I'll snatch my hand back, and leave the mask where it is.

He had built a huge wall, separating the eerie abyss from the rest of the server. Its great stone facade loomed over Grian menacingly as he landed at the bottom. He mined through the wall with his trusty pickaxe, and covered the hole behind him. He was in.

The violet fog was denser than before, and the black spires loomed out of the fog like shadows. After what seemed like an eternity of stumbling over porous tan stone, Grian saw the ground transition into bedrock as he approached the mask.

Warily, he slid down and inspected it. There didn't seem to be any kind of strap, nor were there eye holes. The front had the same symbol as his hands. However, it was definitely a mask, as the bottom was moulded to leave room for the bridge of a nose.