Fall from Grace | Hermitcraft x Empires SMP AU

Grian: Acceptance

When Grumbot Prime next spoke to Grian, it was a while later. And he didn't even say anything properly, he just dumped a bunch of compasses in front of Grian.

Upon further testing, Grian quickly figured out that the compasses all led towards the Rift, and there were 16 of them. Grian could only assume that the compasses meant that Grumbot Prime wanted them to go through the Rift, though he couldn't exactly say he wasn't nervous. 

Scar's theory kept coming back to the front of Grian's head whenever he looked at the Rift, though he didn't want to think about it too much. There was no way that Mumbo had gone through the Rift. 

It was closed when Grian had found it anyways. Mumbo physically couldn't have gone through it, even if Mumbo had found it. 

Delivering the compasses to his selection of hermits, Grian went on autopilot. He knew where he needed to take the compasses, he didn't need to think about it too much. What he instead focused on was his anxieties about the Rift. 

Scar's theory aside, Grian had no idea about what could potentially be on the other side of the Rift, let alone why Grumbot Prime wanted them to be there. Grumbot Prime refused to give Grian any new information either, he hadn't said anything since the Rift had been opened. 

Grian sighed, counting the number of compasses in his hands. Not many now until he'd delivered them all. 

---

There was one last compass for Grian to deliver, after putting all the others in place. He knew it didn't really matter, and maybe he was being stupid.

But just before making it back to his base, he stopped by the memorial for Mumbo, and left a compass in the chest. 

Mumbo was dead. Grian could accept that now. 

But he'd never forget his old friend. 

---

He definitely felt nervous when the other hermits started to show up, trickling in to Grian's Rift cave. Xisuma greeted Grian warmly, as did Scar and Pearl, but the more hermits that showed up, the more and more nervous Grian grew. 

What if something went wrong? What if they couldnt end up getting home? What if they ended up finding something horrible on the other side of the Rift? 

Not to mention that Grian didn't even know how the Rift would work in the first place. Any time he'd tried to go through it ever since it had opened, he'd just bounced off of it. It would ripple, and momentarily get darker in colour, almost like it was intentionally denying him. And it would weirdly give him flashes to some other place, differing each time. 

If the Rift would take them away from HermitCraft, where would he end up, he wondered? Or would it just take them much further out in the HermitCraft world? Would it take them to a previous season? Or would it take them to the alternate timeline that Grumbot Prime had originally lived in? 

So many questions, that really only made Grian's anxieties worse. But all the hermits were here now, chattering amongst themselves, so Grian had to ask one final question to them, and take the plunge. 

Grian settled for standing on top of the lodestone, to make his announcement. He was cautious to not stand on the button again, in case it turned the Rift off somehow or did something else,his wings fluffing up slightly. 

"Thank you all for joining me here today," he said. "It's just past 8pm now, so we're actually a little bit late, but just before we go through the Rift, I wanted to ask if this phrase is familiar to anyone." Grian cleared his throat slightly, looking down at the little piece of paper. 

The Rift had spat it out at him a few days prior, and Grian felt like something was slightly off about the note, though he couldn't tell what. He also couldn't understand what the note meant to say, the message confusing. Perhaps that's what felt off about it? 

"Toy mica jam is nifty?" Grian looked up, slightly disappointed when he saw how everyone stared at him blankly. 

"What?" Xisuma blinked up at him, and False frowned slightly from beside him. 

"Show us the note?" Grrian stepped off of the lodestone, and passed the note to False, who just frowned again. 

"No clue, sorry." 

"It's fine, I was just a bit confused." He paused for a second, turning to face the Rift. "I guess we should go now?"

Scar took initiative, walking forwards. Jellie trailed behind him, purring slightly. When Scar reached forwards towards the Rift, he didn't have the same reaction as when it had first opened. Rather, Scar's hand seemed to melt into the Rift, as if the surface of the Rift was an ocean that Scar was about to jump into. 

Ripples crossed the surface of the Rift where Scar's hand had been, and with a grin, Scar scooped up his cat, tucked his cane into his inventory, and leaned backwards into the Rift. 

And then he was gone. 

Grian swallowed slightly, his anxiety picking back up again. But before he could act on it, or do anything, Doc went through the rift, followed by Pearl and Cleo. The rest of the gathered hermits slowly trickled into the Rift, primarily going in groups, until it was just Impulse and Grian left. 

"Are you ready?" Impulse asked, extending a hand out to Grian. 

He wasn't ready. He really wasn't ready, his heart was going at a million miles an hour and Grian felt like he was going to throw up. But he took Impulse's hand nonetheless, and closed his eyes anyways, letting the warmth of the Rift wash over him. 

---

When Grian was next aware of his surroundings, there was a bright blue sky overhead, the Rift behind him. It was closed, Grian figured out, brushing his hand against it. The other Hermits were chattering amongst themselves, and Grian stumbled forwards, still holding onto Impulse's hand. 

They were in some sort of festival area, he realised. The remains of one, at least. The festival seemed to have been a few days prior, with only what hadn't been taken down yet to remain.

An unfamiliar girl wearing a rather large hat was taking down some of said decorations, oblivious to the hermits behind her. She was chattering to someone next to her, a man with dark crows wings and black hair who had his back to the hermits, leaning against a pole, Grian too far away to understand what either of them were saying. 

And then the man turned around slightly to help the girl carry something, and Grian's heart skipped a beat. Impulse gasped slightly beside him, Grian frozen to the spot. 

"Mumbo?"