Smack.

"AHAHAHAhahahahaha!!!"

Even Xisuma chortled a bit as Iskall and Grian laughed jovially. Upon the branches and leaves in front of them lay all of Keralis' items, along with several orbs of experience, floating about lazily. Iskall was sitting on a branch of the adjacent tree, while Grian and Xisuma were standing on the edge of one of the bee man's very own buildings.

Xisuma was a fair bit taller than both Grian and Iskall, but was only a little taller than Keralis. His yellow doom suit glinted, catching the sun, and his clear insect wings shifted slightly as he chuckled. They were merely cleverly disguised elytra, but it merged seamlessly into the body of the suit. His face was hidden behind the tinted window in his mask, and two small antennae poked out of the top, imitating that of a bee.

Iskall was wearing his normal clothing, jeans and a green sweatshirt to match his singular robotic green eye. His other eye was grey, and his hair looked as if it had been soaked in dark chocolate. Despite his initially startling mechanical additions, Iskall was friendly and agreeable, and another of Grian's jungle neighbours.

Grian had worn his normal red sweater over his brand-new cloak, and his dirty-blond hair was always messy. The wing concealment had worked marvellously so far. He had gotten friendly compliments on how it looked and nothing more. His eyes were the one thing he worried about, but they probably wouldn't notice the change.

Keralis wore a black cap on his head, and he had this look about him that made him look constantly shocked. His bright orange construction worker vest shone brightly as, a few minutes later, he rocketed back. He always looks ready to build with that getup. A pair of old spare elytra were strapped to his shoulders, and his dark hair looked dishevelled. He hit the ground with another loud thud, but managed to right himself. He picked up his armour and blocks, grumbling at his friends' continued amusement at his mistake.

"Keralis, what— how—" but Iskall couldn't finish the sentence and he collapsed, shaking with another bout of mirth.

"Oh hush." Sighed Keralis, giving in to a small smile. "It's not that funny."

~ ⬩ ⎓╎リ↸ᓭ ⬩ ~

The air seemed to press in around them. The dense lavender haze was almost suffocating, much worse than nether fog. They could just barely see a few steps ahead of their feet. The mist swirled around them in eerie loops, and sound was unable to penetrate the crater. It was black as night, and the ground was pale and porous. The only sounds were the muffled echoes of their footsteps as they made their way along. Dark shapes rose out of the fog around them, huge black towers rising into a starless void. Grian glanced about at his friends. Iskall's expression, Grian noticed, seemed very nervous, and Keralis looked downright terrified. Even Xisuma appeared to be shivering slightly, as if he was standing in a cold draft of air. Grian was scared, yes, but this place's spooky atmosphere seemed to affect the others more than himself. In the back of his mind, he dully wondered why.

They pushed ahead in silence, the hush was like in a church. It felt as if any small sound that could shatter the serenity would shatter the world as well.

They continued quietly, even the scraping of their shoes muffled by the thick, dreary atmosphere.

Finally, Grian broke the silence. "There's something dark up ahead..."

The others started, slightly surprised by the sound. They all gathered around, peering through the fog.

"This is pretty frickin spooky..." Iskall mumbled.

"I think that's the centre of the crater." Xisuma uttered.

Keralis took a tentative step forward. The others followed, looking at their surroundings. Ahead, the hard greenish-yellow stone sloped downwards and transitioned into a mix of shining black obsidian and dark, grey-and-black bedrock.

"This, this rock, it isn't supposed to be abouts here, is it?" Keralis scraped at the bedrock with his foot.

As the group moved forwards, the mist parted, and they could see the centre relatively clearly.

"This feels... wrong. Whatever caused this doesn't belong here." Xisuma scraped up some obsidian and yellowy stone, and deposited it into his storage for later inspection.

He tried for a moment to pry up a piece of bedrock, but it wouldn't budge.

Grian looked up. The sky was dark, darker than it should have been. There were no stars, no pinpricks of light, only a deep inky blackness that felt as if it would consume them.

From up ahead, Iskall's voice echoed oddly across the heart of the crater, refracting off of the craggy landscape. "Uh...guys...you should probl'y see this...".

In the very epicentre of the crater, there was a small pedestal.

"What's that?" asked Grian with genuine confusion.

A black rectangular object sat upon it, a symbol of glowing violet etched into the front. It's smooth, pitch black surface seemed to absorb the light around it. The shimmering symbol stood out on stark contrast, a deep magenta that seemed to swirl and eddy like a liquid.

Keralis and Xisuma were not far behind, and Keralis was holding a bottle containing some of the fog that surrounded the rest of the crater. The group shuffled forwards, and realised that the mysterious item was moulded, as if to be worn over the face.

"It looks like... some sort of mask. But that can't be right. Then how would you see?" Xizuma inspected the mask from a distance.

Keralis took a tentative step forward, and reached out to grab the mask for a closer inspection. The air began to tingle as his fingers got closer to the surface. Xisuma started forwards. "Keralis wait! We don't know—"

And then the lightning came.

Iskall, Grian and Xisuma were all thrown backwards by the wave of energy. They watched, stunned and horrified, as flickering black lightning coursed through their friend. Keralis let out a yell of pain, and was thrown backwards from the mask. He landed, hitting his head on the ground with a loud crack, and was still.

Grian was first to recover. He had landed oddly, and his ankle burned, but the bird man seemed otherwise okay. In a moment, Xisuma and Iskall were by his side. Iskall had a bad cut on his arm, and Xisuma's helmet was cracked, but they both seemed okay. Keralis, however, was not. He was deathly pale, and his skin covered in burns. Iskall pulled off his sweatshirt, and used it to staunch the blood that was seeping out of a gash on the back of his head, from when he hit the ground.

The three of them began to make their way out of the crater, taking turns carrying Keralis's limp form. First Iskall and Grian would carry him between them, then Xisuma would carry him, proving that he was quite a bit stronger than he looked.

After a long and arduous journey, they made it out. The dense purple cloud now faintly crackled with energy here and there. They set Keralis down in some leaves on the jungle floor.

"Alright. Grian, you go get some blocks to wall off the crater, and warn other hermits not to go near it. Xisuma, can you go get some potions? I heard that you've been planning on making a brewery, I'm hoping that you have some in storage already. I'll stay here and take care of Keralis." Iskall commanded.

Both men stood up and nodded. Xisuma took off immediately, while Grian typed out some messages on the communicator. Then he took off as well.

Back at his base, he grabbed a shulker of building materials and some other random items and made his way back quickly. He tapped his communicator one last time before slipping it into his pocket.

<Grian> No one go near the crater. Keralis got really hurt when we went in, so be careful. We don't know if he'll be okay.

<Zombiecleo> What happened? Did a mob attack you?

<Grian> No, it was some kind of lightning. He tried to grab something we found in the crater, but it pushed us all back, and it hit him the most.

<Grian> It was a little black mask or something.

<Renthedog> Give him some food, I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets some hearts back.

<Grian> That's the odd thing though. His hearts seem to be fine. He's hurt in a much worse way. STAY AWAY FROM THE CRATER

...

Poor Keralis. So early in the story, too! I think he'd appreciate it if you left a vote. 

Also, let me know what you think in the comments!