Zombie Fungus (Hermitcraft AU)

Chapter 13

(To anyone who noticed the mature rating got added, yeah this chapter is kinda the main reason.)

(henceforth, I'll be using fewer warnings. Blood, violence, parasitism, talk of death, etc. are kind of a given, and I don't want to spoil which chapters have death, so be aware. Warnings will be for the really bad stuff)

(!!THAT BEING SAID THIS CHAPTER DOES CONTAIN SEVERAL MENTIONS OF SUICIDE!!)

(*ahem*)

(3876 words)

That morning, Mumbo woke up feeling great.

It was one of those days where he just had a spring in his step. The sun was out and the weather was pleasant. Before resuming work on his main base, he decided to walk to his starter hobbit hole. Parrots whistled overhead and Mumbo couldn't help but join them with a cheery tune.

Of course, he still knew not everything was alright. He still knew in the back of his mind that there were Hermits neither he nor anyone would ever see again. He still knew no one could say for certain what had happened to XB(or seemed willing to tell). He still knew there was so much he didn't know.

But he wasn't going to think about those right now, because right now, today was a good day.

He soon reached his starter base and checked his end of the minecart rails. No new messages from Grian. But that was okay, he could send one to get the conversation going.

But by the time he'd gathered paper and minecart, he had a better idea. Why send a message when he could visit himself? To be honest, he missed seeing Grian. And it didn't sound like Grian had gotten out much in the past few days.

He scrawled out a quick note:

"Surprise surprise! :D"

Then he put the paper in a minecart and sent it off. After about five minutes(in his excitement, it might have been less), he climbed into a second minecart and pushed himself off down the tunnel.

He hummed as he rode along, the warm glow of lanterns and the wooden frames which supported the tunnel rushing past him. He wondered how surprised Grian would be when he showed up.

As he neared the end of the tunnel, he heard the ringing of a bell, indicating that the other minecart was still there.

His minecart rolled to a stop, bumping into the other (untouched) one as he arrived in Grian's starter base.

It was... kind of a mess. The mess in question being mostly papers. Mumbo's notes, as well as several balls of crumpled paper littered the room. It was surprisingly dim for how bright the sun was shining, and most notably, there was no one to be seen.

"Hello?" He called, climbing out of the minecart. The only response was the echo of his voice throughout the hobbit hole. "Grian? You here?"

It didn't take long to determine that really no one was home. That quick search also had Mumbo find that there was only one light on in the entire base: a desk lamp which sat next to a sheet of paper with writing. A note of some sort.

Driven by curiosity, he picked up the note. It was just as likely to be none of his business as it was for it to be intended for his eyes.

But as he read, a horrible, sickening feeling settled in his stomach, and the air grew heavy.

"If you're reading this, I'm probably already dead... So much of this is my fault... I never wanted any of this... I can't go back. I can't fix things... the last letter you'll ever receive from me. I'm sorry... I don't want it to end... Goodbye..."