The Unseen Beauty of the Ungrateful

Chapter 22: Do We Have A Deal?

Mumbo's hands trembled as he drew glittering scarlet lines through the air, blinking rapidly as his eyes glossed over.

He wanted to collapse, to cry, to scream, but Mumbo couldn't conjure up the will to try and unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

He wished God's could sleep, or faint, or at the very least exhaust themselves to the point of delirium. Unable to tire or weaken, he forced himself to work, spending days, months, years on new machines and contraptions, hoping to distract himself. To try and form a plan. To do... anything but just sit and wait for the end of time so he could see Grian again.

A wrap of knuckles on his door, made him jump.

He opened his mouth to speak but only let out an audible breath as his vocal cords failed him.

"Redstone?"

Mumbo walked slowly to his door, pulling it open a crack and quickly shielding his eyes from the bright light of the unwelcome sun.

"Redstone! Oh thank Gods. May I please come in? We need to have a talk"

Mumbo's blood ran hot and he felt fury build within every cell of his body as he stepped back and slammed the door in Ocean's face, his fists shaking at the thought that one of the Primaries would even dare to show themselves.

He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it, letting a choked out scream get lost in the fabric as the red headed God continued to bang on his door.

"Redsto- Mumbo, please! I know I'm the last person you want to see, but we need  to talk! Now!"

After several long minutes of continuous knocking, Mumbo finally snapped.

He lurched to his feet and yanked open the door, glaring down at Ocean who still had her fist raised.

"Get out of here!" Mumbo yelled, his voice horse and croaky from lack of use. "If you don't leave right now, I will kick you down to the ground!"

Ocean took a few steps back and raised her hands.

"I understand, I get it, please just listen for a minute. I promise you'll want to hear what I have to say"

Mumbo glowered and crossed his arms.

"Talk fast" he hissed between gritted teeth.

"Ok, ok" she looked around. "But not here. I'm sorry, but-"

Before he could stop her, Ocean had brushed past him and entered his palace, motioning for him to close the door.

"You have a, uh, beautiful home" she mumbled awkwardly, glancing around before her eyes settled on the fresh stacks of blueprints that littered the floor.

"30 seconds left" Mumbo snapped.

"Ok, ok! Look, I need your help to go get Chaos out of the realm"

Mumbo's enraged expression broke as his eyes grew wide.

"You... what?"

"We ... we were wrong about Chaos" Ocean said, beginning to pace back and forth. "He's not pure destruction or confusion, and he does a lot more than we thought. The world is getting more shaken up every year that Chaos has been locked away and the others won't listen to me! I don't know if they're in denial, or if they truly hate him that much, but I just don't understand how they can ignore the facts. Right after Death confined Chaos in the realm, the titanic sank, followed shortly by a World War, the Armenian genocide, the Great Depression, two separate civil wars in Russia and China, the Holocaust, a Second World War, the Korean War, and now the Vietnam war! People are dying horribly by the millions and we don't know why! False is out of her mind, and none of us know how to explain what's wrong! I..." she hesitated and bit her lip. "I saw the way you looked at him"

Mumbo felt his heart skip a beat and tried to ignore the way his stomach knotted up as the ghost of Grian's laughter reverberated in his eardrums.

"I know... at least I think I know how you feel for Chaos" Ocean continued, her cheeks flushing in second hand embarrassment. "And I need help getting him out. The other Primaries can act like they hate him all they want, but I know they're hurting too. He is our brother, our family. He's been with us since the creation... and if they are going to refuse to do anything about the dreadful situation on the ground, then I will. Hopefully... with your help?"

Mumbo sat down and put his head in his hands. Of course he wanted to get Grian out of the realm of death. Every second since the small God's imprisonment had felt like his very own specialized type of torture, pieces of himself getting chipped away with each passing day. The hollow feeling in his chest was becoming unbearable. Of course he wanted to get Grian out of the realm, but...

"How do I know I can trust you?" Mumbo asked, raising his gaze and scrutinizing the God in front of him. "You seemed to be on board for imprisoning him in the realm, and clearly had a say in banishing him to the ground originally"

Ocean sighed and glanced to the seat next to Mumbo in a silent question of permission. He rolled his eyes but nodded, allowing her to settle beside him.

"Chaos... Chaos has done horrible things" Ocean said quietly. "And I know you... like him, but I think you have a right to know what he has done... why we are all so afraid"

When her statement was met with silence, Ocean grimaced and settled down in her chair, relaxing her opaque blue wings behind her back and straightening her shoulders as though she were preparing for a battle.

"So about 2000 years ago, somewhere around 300 B.C.E I think, Chaos was testing some new products of his on the ground"

Mumbo raised his eyebrows in question.

"Explosives. He was tampering with explosives" Ocean explained, making Mumbo wince. "And you know how curious he is about everything, so... he lit his TNT in the middle of a small town, causing a fire which burned down the village and killed over 200 people"

"B-but Grian can control fire" Mumbo stuttered, struggling to accept the influx of information that had been heaped on his lap. "Why wouldn't he stop it?"

"He was holding some of the explosives when he lit them" Ocean explained. "And he was in a corporeal body, so he passed out from the trauma. The next time we saw him he had a cloth wrapped around his face and accepted the blame for the crime"

"He just... admitted to it?"

"Yes" Ocean sighed. "He may be eccentric but Chaos was never cruel... or at least I thought he wasn't until he killed that poor man so dreadfully"

Mumbo's chest tightened painfully.

"He was trying to protect me, Ocean. It was my  fault"

She shook her head.

"You are not responsible for his actions Mumbo, and that rule is there for a reason. We cannot die, and thus if we must take a killing blow to avoid taking an unnecessary soul, then so be it. I mean, there is a reason none of us are too keen to spend time on the ground"

"Except Grian"

"Yes... that's true" she sighed. "Chaos always loved the humans. I think he liked their constant curiosity and maddening ideas they would come up with, but... any God who just kills so recklessly..."

She trailed off into silence, and Mumbo took a deep breath.

"I'll help you"

"You will?! That's-"

Mumbo held up a finger.

"On one condition"

Ocean's smile faltered.

"Yes?"

"After we get him out, leave him alone. If I see any of you trying to punish him again, or hear even one snippet of ill-intent, I'll make sure you find out exactly  how he's been feeling since he was abandoned, and more" he held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did please consider leaving a like and a comment to let me know what you think!