The Void.
An empty, desolate place that lied beyond. Sealed behind layers of unbreakable bedrock, blocks that proudly denied entry to any reckless creature that would dare to mine far beyond they should’ve. And that was probably for the best.
Because, in the void, there was nothing. No islands, no concept of time, no life.
Nothing survived the void.
Those who fruitlessly struggled against its whispers of death would only die faster.
However, through the endless abyss, near where the bottom side of the layer of bedrock prevented escape back to the mortal plane, there floated a figure. A figure so small amongst the darkness that it would be easy to miss it.
A figure that, while being so small against the ever-encompassing void, still tried to escape, ramming its heads up against the bedrock, furious looks on all three of its faces.
Krael had been trying to escape for days. Or was it weeks? Months? A year? Time was trivial in a situation as hopeless as his. When his continued attempts fell flat, and not a single crack formed in the ceiling of bedrock, he growled in frustration.
For so long, ever since that boy-wizard had sent him down into this prison, he was trying to escape death. That wizard must’ve thought that it would be a quick death for the wither, due to how withers couldn’t keep afloat forever and had to descend for rest some time or later. But here, letting himself rest would just result in his death. So Krael held on. Fueled by only rage and vengeance, and possibly even the thoughts of his wife Kora waiting for him in another plane.
The lack of rest had taken a toll on him, however. When he was first sent here, it hadn’t taken him long before he realized that the boy-wizard had somehow sapped the powers from the Crown of Skulls on each of his heads, making them useless. Without his amplified powers, he could only fire his regular exploding skulls at the bedrock, which were unable to make a single dent. As time went on, his spine became sore, his senses started to numb, and he lacked the energy to shoot any more skulls and could only slam himself at the bedrock at best.
But even as his body ached, as his three skulls all dreamed of a world without any pain, he continued, fueled by bloodlust.
“That boy-wizard will pay for all that he has done,” Krael thought angrily to himself. He stopped hitting the bedrock for just a second, suspended in the void, heads drooped down in exhaustion. “He has killed my army, he has denied my revenge, and he has TAKEN MY LOVELY WIFE FROM ME!”
An image of the smirking boy-wizard with his girlfriend suddenly materialized in Krael’s mind. How he still had that pathetic excuse of a partner with him, how haughty and gloating he was…
It was enough to send Krael into a rage as he slammed into the bedrock again.
Krael winced from the impact and slowly floated back down a little, taking cautious not to get too close to the void’s deathly grip. Kora… his beautiful wife, Kora… Thinking about her made his anger wash away, as he scoured for memories of her to relieve.
It wasn’t clear as to how he and Kora became husband and wife. After all, when he was summoned by the wizard Tharus alongside his “siblings,” his mind was only plagued with thoughts of death and destruction. He regarded every other wither as an equal teammate while they were fighting for the wizards.
However, sometime after defecting to the warlocks’ side, Krael noticed how one wither seemed to stand out from the others. While all withers may have seemed identical from the outside, there was just something about this wither that drew Krael to her.
She was ruthless. A merciless fighter. Her laughter could make blood turn cold, and yet made Krael’s pride swell. And despite the show she put on, her soothing voice and calm demeanor helped calm the nerves of the other withers- which included Krael himself, who was rather hotheaded. He had trouble defining this feeling at first- since withers weren’t meant to have it in the first place. He could only describe it as a profound respect.
So, feeling much respect for this unknown wither, he sought to draw her attention to him, so that he could understand her better. He helped her take down mobs. Floated next to her when the withers were traveling. And even complimented her a few times on her skills.
The rest was blurry, but they did eventually grow close and became married. Since then, Krael had never experienced a single ounce of love that wasn’t for his wife.
Thinking about Kora, he was unable to feel angry. As he thought of her soothing voice and many attempts to calm him down in the past, he had trouble focusing his anger on the boy-wizard.
Ah. The boy-wizard. Simply thinking of his name made his mouths curl into scowls. He was the one who did this to him. He was the one who did this to Kora. And when Krael would find his way back to the surface eventually, as punishment, he would raze his village to the ground, kill everyone that the villager loved…
“And yet, that won’t bring back Kora.”
She was lost forever. His frustration, his rage, his anger… all of that was swept away and only sorrow and mournfulness sprouted from where they used to be.
Because, he came to a shocking revelation.
He did not care about the boy-wizard and his gang anymore.
He just wanted Kora back.
And truth be told, he did have her back. When he rescued her and the others from the Cave of Slumbers. With Kora back, he could’ve just stopped there, and lived a happy life with her and the other withers. But thoughts of the boy-wizard had plagued his mind, and he spiraled into a futile quest in ridding the world of him. A quest that had ultimately led to his wife’s demise, all to satisfy his revenge against the boy-wizard.
He put his revenge above his own wife, the one he had tried to please so hard all those centuries ago.
And when Kora had questioned his plans- with good reason, now looking back- he simply ignored her. Without much thought or consideration, brushing it off as a frivolous opinion.
Maybe he should’ve listened.
The boy-wizard wasn’t even all bad as his perception had twisted him to be. The villager had even offered him a chance at peace before, and he, being the mad wither he was, mocked him for it.
Kobael, the tiny little wither, had tried to reason with Krael on the idea of good wizards. Knowing fully well that Krael possessed the power to vaporize him in a moment’s notice. What a brave little thing.
As the events and memories began flooding Krael’s heads, mocking him of all the terrible decisions he had made, he realized just how ungrateful he was for Kora’s presence.
In the end, after all was done and he had lost, he only wished for the one thing he took for granted for so long.
Perhaps the void was a blessing. Because, in all his time of existing, Krael had never felt so clear-headed before. Back in the Overworld, he was always plotting to get a magic artifact before the boy and his friends could get their slimy hands on it. But here? He had the chance to think to himself about all that had happened.
Krael sighed and looked down at himself. Bones scarred and scratched, fighting so hard back against his death, all for what? Even if he did get his revenge on the boy in the end, it still wouldn’t fill the large gaping hole in his figurative heart.
It was hopeless. He had nothing left to fight for anymore.
His whole body began to tremble, and he felt his vision get cloudy, for whatever reasons. Inky black liquid sprouted from his eyes, which confused him. “What is this… what is this feeling? “
He wanted to stop the liquid flow- this felt wrong, like he shouldn’t have them in the first place. And yet, as he continued to think of his mistakes, the droplets just gathered even more.
He eventually just let the liquid spill, just so that he could get a good look at it, and saw the inky droplets fall into the depths below.
Releasing those droplets somehow made him feel much better now. And, seeing them letting themselves get consumed by the void, he knew what he had to do.
His life, excluding Kora, was meaningless. He was only meant to be a weapon for war and continued to stick to that objective long after the war had ended. All mobs cowered before him, in fear of execution. His only purpose was to hurt the lives of others for his own personal gain. The world would be a better place without him, for all mobs.
Seeing as how irrational and evil he was, he genuinely felt respect for the boy-wizard’s persistence now.
He hoped Kobael, that tiny little wither he thought was a coward because of his pacifist nature, would contribute more to this world than him.
And wherever Kora was now, he knew that with her skills and level-headedness, she would be okay without him. Possibly even better.
Admitting all that to himself felt like taking a large weight off his shoulders.
After so much time struggling against his death, with a battered and bruised self that ached from the inside, Krael stopped floating, and let gravity take him down. Relief washed over him, as he realized that all the pain would be over soon.
And, as he fell, watching the bedrock ceiling slowly grow smaller and smaller in his vision before he eventually closed his six eyes, Krael finally felt at peace with himself.