#Did you notice the tiny reference to Grian? I hope so

[eristarlight]

I'm having trouble with ideas of what to draw

In addition, something big is in the process, but I don't have the energy and time for it yet-

In any case, I will be glad to receive requests ^^

[thathermitweirdo]

So recently I posted fusion art of Grian and Doc from the Gemcyt au, and I love them so much (bc toxic) so I wrote a oneshot for them. This oneshot features Grian, Doc, Scar, Mumbo, Watermelon Tourmaline (my fusion of Mumbo and Doc) and Purple Azurite (my fusion of Grian and Doc). I’d recommend looking at their designs if you haven’t already, just to more easily understand the oneshot.

Credit to @chrisrin for Scar, Grian, Mumbo and Doc designs, and also for making Gemcyt au in the first place :)

-

The day was like any other, Mumbo watching as Scar and Grian practiced their duels, standing on the balcony of the beach house. His gaze was focused on Grian, watching as the aquamarine pulled water balloons from his gem, soaring above the ground as he attacked Scar. The spinel sliced through each of the balloons with his cane sword, giggling happily as he did so.

“Hey, Mumbo!” Grian paused, tossing a water balloon in his hand as he waved to the peridot. “Why don’t you come down and practice with us?”

“Oh, um-“ Mumbo blushed slightly. “I-I’m okay. You know I’m no good at fighting..”

“Awe. Okay.” Grian said, turning back to continue his fight. Only, he ended up pausing, his wings slowly flapping as he landed on the sandy ground.

“Gri?” Scar raised an eyebrow. “What’s up? Why’d you stop?”

“I thought I saw—“ He said, before smiling. “I did! I-I think that’s him!”

“Him?” Scar and Mumbo asked in unison, the two looking further down the beach to spot a large figure. Grian smiled widely as he flew off, rushing to meet the figure.

Mumbo came down the steps of the beach house, he and Scar sharing a confused look. “Do we…follow him?”

“I suppose.” Mumbo said, walking along the beach to follow after Grian.

Grian and the mystery gem were already walking back to the beach house, so the four met at the halfway point. When Mumbo approached the two, the gem that Grian was with was nearly twice his size. And Mumbo was quite tall, this new gem had to be at least twelve feet!

He was some kind of centaur gem, maybe bloodstone, used for heavy construction and even wars. His gem was on his left eye, and he was laughing with Grian perched atop his shoulder.

“Oh, guys!” Grian smiled as the new gem came to a stop in front of the two. “This is— wait, hold on..”

He paused, suddenly noticing the spikes along the new gem’s body that were leftover from corruption. “Oh my gosh, I-I didn’t even notice! Doc, what on earth happened to you?!”

The gem known as Doc let out a slight chuckle. “Oh, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice those..”

“Doc..” Grian spoke, his voice nearly a whisper as he placed the palm of his hand against the bloodstone’s cheek. “You were corrupted, weren’t you?” He asked quietly, a sad look across the smaller gem’s face.

“I wanted to get stronger.” He muttered, his voice somewhat ashamed of his actions. “I missed you. I missed fusing with you.”

“So you fused with a corrupted gem? Oh Doc..” Grian’s expression saddened further at that thought, leaping off the bloodstone’s shoulder. He flapped his wings, hovering face to face with Doc. His tiny hands were placed on Doc’s cheeks, while Grian pressed his forehead against the larger gem’s. “Is that why it’s been so long? You’ve been corrupted? All this time?”

“It was just a couple thousands of years.” Doc said gruffly as he pulled away, a slight blush across his face.

“I can’t believe you!” Grian put his hands on his hips, the wings on his back flapping angrily. “You fused, knowing you would get corrupted!”

“Um, sorry.” Mumbo stepped between the two, a bit nervous to approach the twelve foot tall gem. “Gri, who exactly is this..?”

Doc seemed a little upset as the peridot referred to Grian with a nickname, though the smaller gem didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, sorry Mumbo. Sometimes I forget I met you and Scar after leaving Homeworld. This is Doc. He and I worked together back on Homeworld.”

“Mm.” The bloodstone nodded, opening the palm of his hand to give Grian a place to land comfortably. “We ran away together after we realized the diamonds would never allow gems like us to be together.”

“Buh-, be together-?” Mumbo seemed a bit jealous as he stumbled over his words, while Doc simply had a smug grin across his face.

“I-it was a long time ago, really.” Grian said dismissively, sensing the tension between the two gems.

“Wow! So you two were together?” Scar asked excitedly, while Mumbo looked away sadly.

Doc nodded proudly. “We even fused. Y’know, back when it wasn’t acceptable.”

“Wow G! I didn’t know you had this whole other life before us!” The spinel said excitedly, reaching out to try and pet the fluff on Doc’s chest as he spoke. The larger gem slapped his hand away, growling slightly. Grian pat his shoulder, helping to calm the beast down.

He gave an awkward chuckle. “Oh boy, there’s a lot of things I haven’t told you guys.”

“Oh.” Mumbo sighed, deflating visibly. “I’ll um, let you two catch up. I’ll be inside, okay?”

“Wait, Mumbo!” Grian tried to follow the peridot, who was clearly upset, though Doc grabbed his wrist.

“C’mon, let him go.” Said the bloodstone, shooting a cold glare at Scar as he spoke. The spinel gem looked intimidated, shrinking under the stare.

“I’ll, uh..go check on him…” Scar forced an awkward giggle, rushing after Mumbo.

Grian frowned, clearly concerned about the two, though Doc dragged a claw through his hair, bringing the aquamarine back to the present. “I never thought I’d see you again. I thought I’d be stuck a corrupted gem forever.”

“I really am glad to see you again, Doc.” Grian nodded, a sad smile across his face as he glanced back to the house. “But I think my friends are a bit intimidated by you..”

“Aw, they can use a bit of toughening up.” He said dismissively, “Those two haven’t seen what we have. Especially that peridot.”

“Mumbo is fine just the way he is.”

Doc’s nose wrinkled in disgust, the bloodstone glancing away with a mix of anger and upset across his face. “So he’s clearly your new fusion partner.”

“Don’t talk like that, Mumbo and Scar are my friends. Yeah we fused, but as friends.”

“I don’t think that peridot thinks so.” Doc sneered.

Grian frowned. “You’re not being very nice right now. I’m starting to remember why we went our separate ways.”

“You mean how you left me?” The bloodstone asked, raising his voice slightly.

Grian opened his wings, flying slightly above Doc’s hand. “Because you wanted to stay fused! You know that’s not what I wanted! All you wanted was to fuse to be stronger, you just wanted to use me!”

Doc scoffed, looking insulted. “You loved being Azurite just as much as I did. Don’t act like I forced you to fuse.”

“That’s all you ever did! You only wanted me because I was able to make you stronger! You could have done that with any other gem!”

“But I wanted to do it with YOU!”

The two went silent, staring at one another with anger and frustration in their eyes. Grian sighed, turning away while crossing his arms. “You’re the same as ever. I don’t think you should stay.”

Growling, Doc stomped closer to the aquamarine. “I came all this way, just to see you, and you’re just going to reject me?!”

“What, were you expecting things to magically go back to normal?” Grian snapped. “It’s been hundreds of thousands of years! We were only together for a couple hundred!”

“I came back because I wanted to fuse with you again! To be Purple Azurite again! Don’t you want that too?!”

Grian shook his head, keeping his back facing the bloodstone as he crossed his arms. “No, I don’t. I want you to leave.”

He growled again, a deep growl from his chest, Doc grabbing ahold of Grian’s arm to pull him close. “We’re fusing.” He spoke darkly, a cold look in his eye.

Grian frantically shook his head, trying to pull his arm free. “W-Wha-? Doc—?! Nono, I-I don’t want to fuse—!” His voice cracked, tears starting to well in his eyes as he began to panic.

He tried to spin Grian in an attempt to dance, though the small aquamarine wasn’t cooperative, squirming in Doc’s grip while trying to escape. “We can be together again.” Said the bloodstone, “We can be Purple Azurite forever.”

“N-no! I don’t want to be, not with you!” Grian said, kicking Doc’s arm to try and free himself, with no success. “M-Mumbo! Scar! Anyone, please!”

The two gems came running out of the house upon hearing their names called, both had clearly been watching the whole time out of concern for Grian. Doc paused with a growl, pulling the aquamarine closer to him. “What are you two runts supposed to do?” He spoke tauntingly with a laugh in his voice.

Scar and Mumbo shared a look of concern, the peridot grabbing the shorter gem’s wrist. “Scar.” He said, eyes pleading. “Please. Fuse with me to help Grian.”

The spinel’s lips curled into a grin that spread across his face, excited at the proposition. “Oh boy, it’s been a while!”

Mumbo wrapped an arm around Scar’s waist, dipping the gem slightly. “Then let’s dance, shall we?” The green gem smirked, taking Scar’s hand with his free one.

The gem on Mumbo’s forehead began to glow, as well as the gem in the center of Scar’s chest, while Grian’s face lit up with hope. Mumbo tossed Scar into the air, catching him by the waist before twirling with the spinel in his arms. Scar giggled as he was dipped again, before Mumbo lowered his head, pressing his gem against Scar’s.

Their bodies were enveloped in a white flash of light, Doc growling underneath his breath. He clenched his teeth tightly, shaking his head in annoyance. “Fine. I’ll take care of the two of you.” The bloodstone said as he released his hold on Grian before stepping forward.

“Don’t you mean the one of us?” An excited and bubbly voice spoke up, causing a tall figure to step through the light, the fusion of the two gems revealing himself. “Oh, wait, is that grammatically correct? Oh dear, that would be embarrassing if it wasn’t.”

One hand was on his hip as he spoke, while the other scratched his chin. The second pair of hands lifted up the fusion’s tophat and scratched the top of his head as he pondered for a moment. “Oh well, no time for that!”

“Watermelon!” Grian smiled upon spotting the fusion, relief washing over the aquamarine. “I’m so happy you’re here!”

Doc began to laugh, reaching up to his gem. “Watermelon? You gotta be kidding me.” He said, pulling his battle axe from his gem. “I’m going to shatter the two of you.”

“Watermelon Tourmaline, to be exact.” The gem introduced himself, lifting his tophat as he bowed. “And I’m not too sure my friend there is on board with fusing.”

“And you’re supposed to stop me?” Doc snorted, letting the handle of his war axe rest on his shoulder. “Even as a fusion, you two are still runts.”

Watermelon blushed out of embarrassment, before letting out a sigh to keep his cool. “Yes, we are, but I won’t tolerate any violence towards Grian.” Said the fusion, reaching to his chest gem. He pulled out a cane in a matter of seconds, pointing it at the bloodstone. “So either leave, or we’ll take care of you.”

Doc chuckled darkly, raising his axe slightly. “It might be one vs two, but I don’t lose to scrawny gems.”

He tapped his cane against the ground, causing the end of the walking stick to reveal the hidden blade attached at the end. Watermelon raised his cane sword, a smile across his face. “En garde.”

Doc growled as his face heated with anger, raising his axe as he galloped forward. He slashed down at Watermelon, the latter blocking easily with his own sword. He stepped to the side, avoiding a follow up attack, and brought up his cane to block Doc’s next attack. Watermelon smirked, using his sword against the axe to hold his ground.

“You aren’t good enough for Grian.” Doc spat as the two fought to hold their ground.

“I wouldn’t say that.” Replied Watermelon with a sly smirk.

Doc growled in annoyance as he charged once more, swinging his axe downwards. Watermelon parried, making contact with the axe before slashing upwards, knocking it off balance slightly. He then thrust his left leg upwards, knocking the axe out of Doc’s hands and sending it flying into the air.

Watermelon’s second pair of arms cartoonishly wrapped around Doc’s body, tying him up securely. His other pair of arms took off his hat, and without breaking eye contact, he held the hat off to the side. Doc’s axe came down from the sky, falling right into the tophat. Watermelon smirked as he showed Doc the inside of the tophat, revealing his weapon was suddenly gone.

Grian’s smile grew wider as he began happily clapping his hands together. Watermelon placed his tophat back on his head, chuckling slightly as he began to do a few bows. “Thank you, thank you! I’m here all night, folks!”

Doc looked at Grian, wrath burning in his gaze. With the sudden burst of rage Doc grabbed Watermelon’s arms, still bound, using them to swing Watermelon Tourmaline around with enough force to send him flying into the side of the rocky cliff. Doc pulled a new axe from his gem, clearly more angry than before.

Watermelon groaned, adjusting his top hat. “Jeez, this guy packs quite the punch.” He muttered underneath his breath, reaching to pull a new cane sword from his gem.

Doc moved quicker than before, practically leaping across the beach to reach Watermelon before he could grab his new weapon. Just as he had grabbed the edge of his cane, Doc used the flat end of his axe to knock the cane out of Watermelon’s grasp.

“I told you.” Doc growled, lowering the axe just an inch away from Watermelon’s chest. “You two will never be enough for Grian.”

He brought the axe down, slicing Watermelon’s body, causing the two gems to split from their fusion. They fell apart, both exhausted as they landed onto the sandy beach. “And you-“ Doc growled angrily, grabbing Mumbo by the collar of his shirt. “I’m going to enjoy shattering you.”

“Doc, no! Stop!” Grian rushed over, grabbing the handle of the bloodstone’s axe, trying to pull the weapon from his grasp. “Please, d-don’t! Y-you can’t, d-don’t shatter him.”

Grian was begging, tears rolling out of his eye as he shook his head. “Please, I-I’ll fuse with you, I’ll stay with you, I swear! Don’t hurt Mumbo or Scar, pl-please!”

Doc smirked, dropping Mumbo to the ground. He fell limp, barely conscious he hit the ground. “Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.” The gem leaned in close, cupping Grian’s cheek with his free hand. “I promise I won’t shatter your friends, then.”

He looked back down at the defeated Mumbo, before shoving his axe into the peridot’s chest, causing his body to poof, while his gem landed safely in the sand. Doc chuckled, turning towards Grian while offering his hand. “Shall we?” He asked, a dark grin across his face.

Grian sighed, placing his hand in Doc’s as he nodded. “Yes. Let’s fuse.”

“G-Gri—“ Scar tried to speak up, though he was clearly very beat up from the fight. Doc growled at him, glaring down the spinel.

“Scar, it’s okay.” Grian spoke softly, refusing eye contact with the pink gem. “Just..please. Don’t look for me. And take care of Mumbo.”

Doc began the fusion dance, not giving Scar a chance to react. Grian stayed in the air to keep the dance easier, the bloodstone twirling the aquamarine before pulling him close. He chuckled darkly as their gems began to glow, the light overtaking the two of them.

“NO!” Scar yelled, watching as the light cleared.

Purple Azurite had his arms wrapped around his body, as if he were hugging himself, his breathing ragged. He looked down at his purple skin, dragging his hands through his long hair. His face twisted into a dark grin, a laugh escaping the fusion as he dragged a hand along Grian’s gem.

“We’re us again.” Azurite spoke, looking up at the sky while he chuckled to himself. “I’m me again.”

Scar reached into his gem, pulling out his cane sword. He stood up with shaking legs, eyes filled with tears. “Gr-Grian, no, s-stop-“ The spinel tried to argue. “Don’t, d-don’t do this-“

“That’s not our name!” Azurite snapped, eyes filled with fury. “Grian isn’t here anymore. He’s gone!”

“P-please—“ Scar reached out his hand, using his cane as support to hold himself up. Azurite grabbed his wrist, lifting the pink gem off of the ground with a horrifying grin. He threw Scar against the wall, hard enough to cause a crater to form and shake the cliff side.

“Stay down.” Azurite spoke, his voice more of Grian’s than Doc. “Don’t make me poof you.”

Scar curled up into a ball, shaking from the pain and fear. His breath came quickly, short gasps coming from between clenched teeth. He looked up at the fusion with his eyes filled with tears, watching as they walked to the edge of the beach.

The wings of water formed on his back, opening up to reveal they were three times the size of Grian’s original wings. Azurite looked back for a moment, before looking forward once more.

His wings flapped a few times, lifting the fusion off of the ground, before he flew off.

[sweetest-honeybee]

To Hell and Back

Chapter 15

Summary: Hels takes a visit on his own to Beef and things don’t go as he initially planned. Not to mention, he seems to be changing too.

Characters: Helsknight, Beef, Ex mention, Impulse mention, Wels mention

TW: Implied threats

——————

Less than a week later, Hels had met each and every Hermit on the server- except Beef. He saw their bases, Scar’s village being his personal favorites, and had at least one decent conversation with at least half of them. Others he simply greeted and they had other tasks to perform before they had a chance to get to know him.

It was odd having so many people view him as nothing more than another Hermit. They didn’t fear him in the slightest, not even Stress. Though, he’d admit the little lady was a tiny ball of wrath if you wronged her. But again, he was very soon simply able to visit everyone as he pleased.

With that also came the ability to claim some land to build on. He couldn’t stay in Ex’s base despite the reoccurring offer, the knight needed some privacy at least. He opted for a smaller, similar castle to what Grian had built. Maybe he’d add some of his own touches. Instead of prismarine, he’d use Nether brick, and many decorations revolved around obsidian and basalt.

Unfortunately today, Ex was unavailable to assist him in the beginnings of the castle, but it wasn’t like he practiced a bit in building sometimes. Compared to many of the other residents in Hels, he was one of the better builders. It wasn’t every day people from Hels were visiting the Nether building bastions like he did.

Hels decided about half the size of his reference would be good enough. He didn’t need anything large and luxurious. Just enough for a few farms and storage. The Hermits were nice, but not everyone could just walk on in and use each other’s farms and villagers without paying a price and he had no intentions for IOUs with his immense lack of diamonds.

This wasn’t new to him, at least. In Hels, everyone was greedy and kept to themselves and their farms so he’d always usually build his own. Though, usually it was blown up within a couple days.

Finally, he had a floor plan set up on a hill near Ex’s base. It was funny how many flowers and greenery there was on the outside of it, certainly more than Hels could count just by staring. He had to admit, it was a bit of an eyesore for those who flew by. Ex wasn’t exactly an amazing builder. Hels could still see some dirt blocks hanging around a mile away accompanied by several wool, concrete, glass, cobblestone, brick, and whatever else kind of blocks possibly existed in the game.

Still, he kept to himself for the entire afternoon, not once taking a probably well needed break. That was until he had finished the facade of it. He stepped back and admired his work with a grin. Unfortunately, no other hermits were around to gawk at the detail of it, but he was sure someone would fly by eventually.

With that, he decided he was done for the day. It was the early evening so he could do more, but it could wait. He could find something else to do.

Ex still wasn’t back to check on the knight and Hels never saw the figure of him fly to his own base. He must’ve been quite busy to be gone for that many hours. Whatever Impulse needed him for, it was taking quite a long time. Not that it mattered of course, Hels thought. He was willing to wait.

Alone.

On his front steps.

No other bases around than the empty one a hundred blocks away.

He sighed. Well, that was pathetic- pitying himself. It wasn’t like the other Hermits weren’t almost constantly busy. Even if Ex was finished with his tasks with Impulse, he had every right to go spend time with other people. Not like he hadn’t practically been glued to Hels’s side for the last week.

He stood from the steps and threw on his elytra again. Today, he decided, was the day he’d go back to the sandstone village and greet Beef again. This time not through puffy eyes and heaving breaths. He was Helsknight for crying out loud, he could handle anything. He also just needed something to do.

And yet, the anxiety still stood. Lord only knew what Wels told him and what he probably thought of Hels but considering their last interaction, the butcher most likely had no ill intentions. Like the other Hermits, he treated Hels just the same as he would anyone else.

That was, if he wasn’t stuck on the whole “Wow, I made a clone successfully” thing. Hels wouldn’t have been surprised if the man didn’t poke and prod at him and ask a million questions a minute. Given a particularly invasive recent interaction between himself and Doc, he wouldn’t have been surprised. The old man was more curious than he looked.

With that being said, the knight took a deep breath and lifted off into the sky quickly.

And within a second, he had already forgotten where on earth the little village even was. He groaned and pulled out a map.

Minutes later, he finally made it to his destination. He landed near where they landed the time before next to the library and peeked his head around the corner. What was he hiding from, Hels honestly had no clue. Despite being a couple buildings away, he could hear the whirring of some kind of machinery and a periodic clanking of metal.

Well, better to get it over with now than wait and hide like a coward. Oddly, the thought turned his head to the general direction of where Wels’s base was, but he disregarded it.

The knight peered into the building and watched as Beef replaced several different parts of the machinery. The butcher whistled and hummed while he worked with his back towards Hels. Only after circling the machine did he notice Hels watching while he leaned against the wall. He practically leaped into the machine itself.

“Holy- Jeez! Don’t scare me like that!” Beef laughed. He tilted his head with a confused grin. “You’re the last person I expected to be here.”

“Hm, well, I thought it was about time I came back. You’re the only hermit I haven’t had the pleasure of actually greeting. I also uh...came to apologize for what happened the other day.”

Despite the kind statement, it only made Beef frown, remembering his recent interaction with the other knight. “Wow, you’re….different than I expected.”

Hels cocked his head to the side with a raised brow. “What do you mean? I don’t feel different.”

The butcher rubbed at his neck. “Just nicer I guess? At least nicer than what Wels depicted you to be. Though, given what he’s said to me recently, I think I might know why.”

That only made Hels more curious. “What did he say?” he asked.

“Nothing too bad, I guess. He’s just not him, ya know? More ignorant I would say and...threatening.” Beef sighed through his nose. “Anyways, hope you were okay after the other day. You weren’t looking too hot.”

Now it was Hels’s turn to rub at his neck. “Right, yeah, I am. Village just gave me a scare, iron golems aren’t the nicest.” Too easily, Beef could tell he was lying through his teeth.

“Are you sure? Nothin’ about this machine here?” The knight’s breathing hitched and much to Beef’s surprise, he stammered. This wasn’t the egotistical ignorant knight he had expected from Wels’s descriptions.

“Well I’m- I’m sure that might be one reason,” Hels laughed nervously.

“If I may ask, how’ve you been feeling recently?” Beef stepped closer to Hels, this time with his head lower into a glare. “More emotional?” He stepped again. “Careful?” Step. “A bit more kind?” One more step and he had Hels by the wall. “Not yourself?”

Beef then unsheathed his sword.

“Oh, um- I just-“ The knight kept stuttering and pressing himself into the wall as if Beef was practically a ravager. He was frozen in place. This was it. This was where he’d die and he’d never see Ex again. Bracing for the attack, the knight screwed his eyes shut and ducked his head.

That was until Beef stepped away again with wide eyes. “You didn’t fight back....”

“Wh….” He lifted his head, slowly opening his head. “What?” Hels heaved.

“I was testing something, don't worry.” Beef put the sword back in its sheath. “I was trying to threaten you but you didn’t pull the sword on me.” Reminded of Wels’s current state, he visibly deflated. “Oh this is bad. This is very bad.”

The butcher began to ramble and Hels watched while he paced around the cloning machine. This was utterly confusing, what was he talking about?! Hels just wanted to have a nice conversation.

“Does this have to do with Evil X?!” Beef finally concluded, growing more exasperated.

“I don’t….understand. What’s wrong here? Am I missing something?”

Beef tugged at his hair. “Hels, dude, you’re starting to act like Wels- well- Wels a few weeks ago. I mean he would’ve drawn his sword if someone was threatening him though...” Again, Beef started rambling. “But even then, he wouldn’t resort to immediately attacking, he’d say something to get me to stop, wouldn’t he?”

“Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Wels, but I think I’m gonna go-“ Before Hels could leave, he was grabbed by the wrist.

“Hels, I need you to stay here. Something is wrong with you and Wels, I can feel it.”

Suddenly, Hels seemed quite upset, not hardly trying to escape from the grip around his face. “And why do I need the help when Wels is your friend? I’m just a clone. You can just get rid of me.”

Beef gasped as if Hels said something offensive. “Because I care, Hels! I created you! You’re not just some clone to me!” He deflated and dragged a hand down his face. “I- You’re just important, alright? I created you and- well, you’re sentimental. I just want to help you.” The butcher let go of the knight sadly.

Though, what he didn’t expect was a set of arms to wrap around him tightly.