Keralis heaved a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat rolling down his cheek. A ghast had landed a direct hit on him, setting his clothes on fire under his armor. After much panicking and several potions from Xisuma, he had finally gone out, and not a moment too soon. "You okay, Keralis?" Xisuma rested a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm at half of a heart, buddy! This is why I don't go to the nether!" He cried.

Xisuma had decided to teach Mumbo and him how to survive the nether, and it was going just as badly as Keralis had expected. "I'm sorry, but you did a good job staying calm?" Xisuma offered with a crooked smile.

"Whatever! Where's Bumbo anyway?" Keralis scanned the red landscape, searching for the dapper boy. Keralis had grown attached to him almost instantly, taking the teenager under his wing.

"Oh good grief... you stay here by the portal, I'll go find him." Xisuma hurled an ender pearl over the lava lake, disappearing into the red haze. Keralis took another deep breath, leaning against the portal's frame.

He rested that way for a while, keeping an eye out for ghasts and Xisuma while he continued to munch on fried chicken. A heavy hand landing on his shoulder startled him into dropping his chicken, and before he had a chance to see if it was Xisuma or Mumbo, it pulled hard, dragging him through the portal. The cool air of the overworld hit his face in a pleasant wave, but before he could get a word in edgewise, a potion bottle cracked against his forehead, knocking him out cold.

Keralis woke up with a shiver, trying to roll over but finding the ground unrelentingly cold. His blind search for a blanket yielded no results, so he cracked one eye open, adjusting to the harsh lights. Why would there be harsh lights in his base? He knows better than that! In a rush, the memories of his day caught up to him, and he groaned, worried which prankster had roped him into their schemes this time. He sat up slowly, touching his forehead gingerly where the potion had landed. It was still pretty tender, but wasn't freely bleeding, so he should be fine.

Taking in his surroundings was pretty disappointing to say the least. He was faced with a large grey box, seemingly made out of seamless stone. A large door with a small window caught his eye, but it was clearly a fancy redstone door he would never be able to open. Once he stumbled to his feet, he peered through the small window, noting sadly the hall looked just as bland as his room. Was this a Skyzm and Pungence prank? It was certainly elaborate.

After a few more minutes of musing, a sharp rapping on the door startled him to attention. Trotting up to the window, Keralis recoiled at the sight of a... creeper? Robot? Person? It was startling, though the creature seemed to have no qualms about the situation. He said something that looked like English, though Keralis couldn't hear through the door, and gestured toward a small hatch to his left he hadn't noticed before.

Reluctant to turn his back on the creeper-man, Keralis carefully opened the slot to find a purple box, which rattled like a full chest when he picked it up. He looked back through the window for an answer, but was disappointed to see the retreating figure of his seeming captor. With not much else to do, Keralis set down the box and opened it up, exploring the contents.

The food was greatly appreciated, and the blocks were clearly meant to build a bright beach house, which he was more than capable of doing. Though he hesitated to do what his captors wanted, there was nothing else to do, so Keralis set to work. He fell into a rhythm, building a design he had done before recently and singing a chipper tune to himself. There was no way to tell time here, but it must have been a few hours before the small build was complete. Ready for a nap after all that work, Keralis stretched out on the lounge chair on the front porch, humming gently as he lulled himself to sleep.

Not thirty seconds later, a gentle tap on his window jerked him awake, fearful of encountering the creeper monster again. Thankfully, a very human man peered into the room, and Keralis practically flew over to him, begging for freedom. Looking back it would strike him as odd that he had encountered two people who were not familiar hermits, but he didn't care much in the moment. The man just looked back at him expressionless, and Keralis began to fear he was in cahoots with the creeper. He couldn't help the tears forming in his eyes, but he had always been a crier, so he didn't mind.

The freckled man smiled, putting Keralis instantly at ease. His gaze flickered to his left, at something outside the door Keralis couldn't see, and he hoped it was the lever to open the door. He raised a tentative hand and reached towards the thing, and Keralis did a small dance, eager to be free and exact his revenge on whoever put him here.

A booming voice rattled Keralis' brain and made his knees buckle, and clearly his new friend was just as startled. They both snapped their attention down the hall, and discovered mister creeper storming down the hall, very clearly upset. He began talking to the other man, who looked just as scared as Keralis felt. His gaze flickered between the two as they argued, but as the fight ended, he locked eyes with the man. Keralis gave his best puppy eyes, begging for freedom despite what mister creeper wanted.

The man's expression hardened slightly, and he slammed his fist down next to the door, activating the button and opening the door with a hiss. Keralis was squeezing out of the cell as soon as the doors had opened wide enough to let him, and he began sprinting down the hall as quick as he could. He snagged the hand of his new friend as he ran past, dragging him along behind despite having no idea how to get out. The sound of the creeper giving chase made Keralis' heart skip a beat, and he let out a high screech, the adrenaline of fear and excitement threatening to make him explode. He scrambled up the ladder at the end of the hall, pleased to see sunlight as soon as he poked his head out the top.

After ensuring his friend was still close behind him, Keralis booked it towards the forest directly ahead of him, just beyond the large strips of stone across the ground. The smell of fresh air and flowers motivated him more if that was possible, and in no time the pair was well obscured by the undergrowth, the holding cell nowhere in sight. He slowed his run to a walk, breathing heavily, and his friend seemed much more drained by the crazy escape, barely walking straight through the trees without stumbling to catch himself from falling.

Keralis found a cozy clearing between a few trees to set up camp for the night, and his friend almost instantly crashed into his makeshift bed of leaves, falling asleep quickly. Still energized by the lingering adrenaline, Keralis kept watch for some time in case mister creeper found them, but eventually the boredom made sleep catch up with him. He laid down to sleep, but after about 20 minutes, he woke up and simply couldn't sleep anymore.

He made sure his friend was still covered in his warm leaf nest, and gently moved his cowboy hat where it wouldn't get damaged. Keralis took in the sight of his companion, noting his shallow breathing and dirty socks, clearly torn up from running earlier. He should teach his friend about shoes and boots someday, it would save a lot of socks. With one final check to make sure his cowboy would be safe, Keralis headed out on his own, searching for civilization. Xisuma would have a lot of questions to answer when Keralis finally found him again, but he might still be in the nether, so it could be a while. He wasn't exactly sure where he had been taken, but it couldn't have been too far from the portal he went through, so he picked a random direction and started walking.

This must've been such a confusing day for him 🥺😂

Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar