Thunder crackled in the night sky, occasionally lit up by the lightning forking across the dark clouds. A castle covered in black plates loomed in front of Grian as wind whipped his hair across his face. He squinted as dust and black powder was flung repeatedly in his eyes. 

A massive groan sounded around him, as if the fortress was giving way underneath the quantitative force of the gale. As another bolt of lighting shot across the sky, Grian spotted a figure. A familiar figure. It was his sister, Isabell.

"Isabell!" He cried out. She was being held back by a figure cloaked in black robes and a silver mask covering his face.

"Grian!" She cried back fighting against her captor. "Run! They have come, they have come!"

"I won't leave you!" Grian started running towards her, tripping on the perilous terrain. He fell scraping his elbows on sharp stones. "I won't leave you!" His vision swam as he felt his body being shaken over and over again.

"Grian!" Isabell's voice rang in his ear. "Wake up! It's just a nightmare."

Grian bolted upright, his sheets falling off of his body. A nightmare, the third one this week. His thirteen year old sister sat down beside him. Grian clutched the clammy sheets to his body. He was still shaky from his nightmare. Isabell put her hand on his shoulder and tucked a strand of sweaty hair behind his ear.

"Was it the same one?" She softly asked. Grian nodded swallowing the lump in his throat. Isabell knew about her predicament, and what Grian had done five years ago to save her. How long before the coders figured out what Grian had done? 

"I don't want to lose you Izzy." Grian used the loving nickname he had given her years ago. "I can't save you. What use is the creative talent? I can't fight or make contraptions that-"

"Grian stop." Isabell interrupted. "Your talent is amazing. You can build crazy things and create new creatures. You made the command cube. Who knows what you can do with that?" Isabell got up and grabbed an outfit for Grian.

"Now change out of your pajamas and come down for breakfast. We need to discuss what just happened with the Redstone guild." Isabell closed the door leaving Grian alone to his thoughts. He stared down at the faded red sweater and the gray trousers. He hadn't worn these since he was fifteen.

He sighed and put the clothes on. Being an adult now, he had so much more responsibility. The Builders Guild had decided that he should lead some projects. All of this led to massive stress on Grian's shoulders. 

The outfit still fit him. I'm just as skinny as ever. Grian laughed to himself. No wonder he wasn't a fighting talent.

Pound, pound, pound. "Hey Grian, you done yet?" Isabell's muffled voice broke his train of thought.

"Yeah, I'm done." Grian grabbed his bag and opened the door. Isabell grinned. "That sweater contrasts your eyes perfectly." She was referring to his jade green eyes that somehow complimented everything he wore. "Hold on, just need to fix the hair." Isabell reached up to his honey blond hair. Grian playfully swatted her away.

"Hey I like the messy look!" 

"Just like your storage?" Isabell teased. Grian glanced back, a bit shamefully, at the mess of chests his room had become.

"To be fair, there is no easy way to keep them stored without redstone."

"Oh, and the person who invented command cubes can't create portable storage? And what about Pearl? Doesn't she do redstone?"

Grian felt his cheeks heat up. "I'll think about it Izzy. I'm very busy as it is."

At this point the siblings had reached the bottom of the stairs to find their parents waiting.

"I think someone is here to deliver some special news." Mrs. Seys had a twinkle in her eyes, and Isabell had a teasing grin on her face. Something was up. Or someone for that matter. What was the news? His parents stepped back to reveal Pearl on the couch who was tinkering with a tiny redstone contraption. As she saw Grian, a big grin spread across her face.

"Grian! I have some great news." Pearl tossed the contraption into the air, causing it to vanish in a poof of red light. Grian never ceased to be amazed at her talent.

"What is the news?" Grian sat down on the couch, very aware of what he was currently wearing. Why had he put on the old sweater?

"To start off, the redstone guild has created something never done before." Pearl glanced down at his old sweater. "Red really suits you." 

Grian's face probably matched his sweater. He took a deep breath. "Thanks, what was created?"

Pearl's face lit up. She pulled out a hologram emitter. "The first ever flying machine." The device lit up projecting an image of a rocket. Well the inside of one at least. "Here is the special news." Pearl put her hands on her knees. "We need a builder to create the housing for all the parts of the machine. So the guild has decided to employ you as the master builder."

Grian's eyebrows shot up in happy surprise. "Me?"

"Yes, you!" Pearl gently shook his arm. "You are extremely talented. It would be wrong for them not to pick you. Especially after your invention of the command cube! That has revolutionized the redstone community." She paused to look directly into his eyes. "We believe there are other worlds out there, ready to be explored. Please agree to take the job."

"Oh I am!" Grian pushed his glasses up his nose. His vision had worsened over time. "I just wasn't expecting this to happen."

"Honey," His mom told him. "I'm so proud of you!"

Isabell was standing next to his parents with a smile plastered on her face. She was genuinely happy for her brother, but sadness shone in her eyes. She was an outcast in her village.

That night the Sey's invited Pearl to stay for a celebration. She would come back in the morning to brief Grian on the assignment. Isabell stayed in her room, fiddling with one of Grian's command cubes. It was the one that made it seem like she had a talent. What if she could change it to be so that she did have a talent?

The screen lit up as she tapped on it rapidly. She would have a talent soon.

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Grian arrived at the redstone guild entry, currently blocked by a guard. 

"Name and business?" The guard simply stated.

"I am Grian Seys." Grian pulled out a letter from Pearl. "I am here on official business."

The guard looked at the letter and his eyebrows rose. "Pearl Rans? She's one smart gal."

Grian smiled. "Yes she is. She is also a good friend of mine."

The guard cracked a friendly smile. "You shouldn't keep her waiting then." He opened the door and handed back the letter. "Good luck with your girl."

"She's not my-" Grian started to protest until he saw Pearl standing right there. "Umm, hi Pearl." He improvised while hearing the guard snicker.

"Hello Grian." Pearl's greeting was formal. "You ready to design the rocket shell?"

"Ready as I'll every be," Grian grinned, hoping that she hadn't heard the exchange ten seconds ago.

 Pearl led Grian deeper into the hallway on the way to the main hangar. As they walked, Grian debated himself.

"She's just a friend."

A friend that visits you.

"Any friend will do that."

She compliments you.

"So does everyone else."

She gives you that 'look'.

"I'm sure she looks at all guys like that."

"Grian...." Pearl was waving her hand in front of his face.

"What? Yes!" Grian did an involuntary scramble as he gathered his thoughts.

"How often do you tune out the world?" She flicked his chin with one of her fingers and continued to walk down the long hall.

Blood rushed to his face as another thought battle ensued.

See what I mean?

"Shut up....."

They finally reached the hangar where the skeleton of the rocket stood. Redstone intertwined with pistons and various other components that Grian didn't understand. It stood proudly awaiting a shell to take it to the skies. There was a lift next to the machine that would take them to the middle, for the optimum functionality.

"Well, do your stuff!" Pearl sat herself comfortably in a chair, her stark blue eyes gleaming.

"Now?" Grian tilted his head making some hair fall in his face. He really needed a haircut.

"Yes, now." She made a hurry up gesture. Grian plopped down on the floor pulling out his builders orb. He started to gather his concentration, to activate the orb, only to have it broken by Pearl speaking. He looked up respectfully, despite being put off about being interrupted.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Her voice was tipped with what seemed like a plea. So she had heard. Grian searched for a reply as his mind's voice butted in.

She's pulling the card!

"I know, I know! I'm working on it."

Well, say something!

Grian opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. He was saved from a reply when the leader of the Redstone guild appeared. The burly man nodded in Grian's direction.

"Pearl," he turned towards to her. "Your assistance is required in the Exotic Mechanisms room. Don't worry, I'll supervise the builder."

Peral nodded and left giving Grian a look that clearly said 'We aren't done yet.' Grian felt a bit off. Just a builder? Supervised? What was he, four? The leader sat down in the chair and stared Grian down.

"Well." He broke the silence. "Do your stuff." He said it way less kindly than Pearl had. Grian sighed and focused once more on the orb. He felt a tug in his gut as the blue orb rose into the air. In his mind's eye, he selected what he wanted to create, a rocket shell. The orb reassembled itself into some different supplies. 

Grian stood up and pushed his hands to his sides. The pieces scattered across the exposed redstone, securing themselves to the proper places. Furrowing his brow, Grian maneuvered the most difficult piece into position using his mind. A massive clunck followed signifying that it was successful. The orb whisked out from the rocket back into Grian's waiting hand.

He turned to see the leader's jaw agape. He smirked, just to show he didn't need supervising.

"Now, what is this going to be used for?" Grian flopped his hair back and tucked his shirt in.

"Well..." The guy seemed at a loss for words. He also seemed to be about Grian's age.

"Oh my word!" Pearl had arrived on the platform. "This is amazing!"

"I thought I told you to check on the Exotics." The leader had an accusing tone. Grian was about to defend Pearl, when she replied.

"Well as that might be, Exotics just had a minor bug. Nothing I couldn't repair, Dane."

So his name was Dane. Dane seemed a bit taken back a bit by the harshness of her tone. "Pearl I didn't mean it that way."

"Dane, I told you. It's not working that way."

"Ahem," Grian cleared his throat awkwardly. Pearl and Dane swiveled their heads towards him with equal looks of shock and surprise. Apparently they had forgotten he was there. "If you need time to talk about your-"

"No, Grian." Pearl tucked her clipboard to her chest. "You aren't interrupting anything. Right Dane?" She gave Dane a hard stare.

"R-right." Dane looked sheepishly at Grian. Then understanding shone in his eyes. "Oh. I get it now."

Oh my. Grian had a feeling that he should have never been here in the first place. He still wanted answers to his many questions. So he diverted the conversation to his previous question.

"What is the rocket going to be used for?"

Pearl glanced at Dane, who quickly nodded. "We are going to send it into space to explore some of the worlds that are close to us."

Dane glanced at Pearl with a smile on his face. "Pearl designed a life sensor which has detected life forms on these close planets.

A bell rung in the open room. Lunch break, if the Redstone guild followed the same schedule as the Builder's. Pearl grabbed Grian's hand and walked him out of the hangar. Grian wasn't exactly sure what she was doing or why, but he would follow her lead.

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