The lushcaves are nice

#The Emperor -> Carmelian's story, from her adventures, how she met everyone and what she did before her "retirement".

#The Empress -> Amethyst's story, how she follows in Carmelian's footsteps and all the things that happen after The Emperor steps down.

#Side Tales -> Stories from other corners of Carmelian's and Amethyst's world, some that might not directly follow them or characters related to them, but shed some light onto why their friends and family are as they are.

#The Death -> The story of Opal, as she rescues illager, villager and witch children from abusive households, or recieves young ones that have been abandoned.

#The Emperor and the Arch-illager -> Carmelian's adventure on the Dungeons Continent, where she gathers allies to defeat the tirant that has taken over the land.

#The Empress' messenger -> Archie's redemption as he pays for his crimes in the Dungeons Continent, safe from the clawing hands of his (many) enemies, he learns from the past as the Empress helps him adjust.

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The Emperor

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Carmelian notes how the presence of illagers has become more prominent, and as anxiety within the duo villager village grows, she takes time to measure the threat level. In turn, she makes the discovery they were... harmless-ish.

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The Pillager Outpost Tower in the distance stuck out like a sore thumb; it was tall and dark against the desert’s pale sand, and it was one of the first things she asked Quint about when she had arrived. At first, the librarian was… Reluctant to talk about it. Carmelian did not push, although she was objectively terrible at reading people’s emotions, she understood what their silence likely meant.

The hero would work in the village, doing as she could to be discreet. She had seen more movement inside of it as the days went by; she knew that pillagers could appear in those towers, and it was not a good sign.

Pillagers meant raids, raids meant destruction, and destruction equalled death.

It was not a risk she was willing to take, not when she had just managed to get things going. The homes were mostly fixed, the entire village was walled up, the farms were picking up crops. Things were looking up, and she was not about to risk it falling to a bunch of rabid, ashy, crossbow-wielding savages… And yet, when she stared at that tower, she felt nothing. She should feel rage; she should feel protective. She should go up there and kick them out, and if they refused, she should “Wash the ground with their blood.”

She jolted, the words echoing in her head for a long moment, the voice of who the quote belonged to felt like a sliver in her ears, all her muscles cramping for a second before she could recompose herself.

No. Not that. Not here.

As much as it might seem like an… easier… solution, she did not feel like doing that. She rationalized that it wasn’t as easy as she thought. That she’d be wasting her weapons on them, her arrows were hard to come by still, her farm did not produce as many chickens, nor did she find as much flint to make the points of them. And it was a given that she did not really know much about illagers as a whole; she had never… interacted with them as much, not where she came from anyway. Besides her current fountain of information, also known as Quint the desert Librarian, being too traumatized to talk about it (which she understood too personally to blame them), there were also no books in the library for her to study. 

Therefore, there was one solution.

Observation.

She had thankfully come across a few amethyst geodes, copper was not rare either, so a spyglass came in hand. And so there began the new routine…

Build the village;

Take trades to Quint and Omer;

Watch what the pillagers are doing from a distance;

Finish the day mining before it gets dark.

Easy.

So, the first day came up, and she went looking. She spotted them in the Tower, as always. It was a very small number of illagers, though she made sure to remember the features of each one. 

There was a smaller one, he didn’t wear the usual plaid, which is what stood out at first; he wore a simple shirt instead, not plaid, but of a dark brownish-red tint. His eyes were also different; they seemed more blue than green, which should have told her he was a vindicator, but it did not make any sense. Why would a vindicator be in the desert? Why would they be following a bunch of pillagers around? They did seem young and definitely seemed inexperienced, so perhaps they were just a kid who was shadowing them? 

Those questions stayed with her as she watched the rest. 

The next one that caught her attention was the tallest; they seemed just as young as the previous one, but they did wear the plaid shirt. They seemed shy, quiet. From where she was, Carmelian barely saw the other’s mouth move. Either way, when it came to shooting, they seemed to have the better aim out of all of them.

Then there were the “twins” as she called them, as they were the same height and very similar body structure. The one that looked female had red tints on their hair, and looking from the front, there was a large rose tattoo on their cheek that bloomed in their cheek and viney thorns went down their neck. Meanwhile, the one that looked male had green hair, their shirt was constantly open, and they did not wear the typical black t-shirt underneath. The two always walked together, not being more than a few feet apart, which cemented to Carmelian how much closer they were than the rest. They were also the two that seemed to bring around the most trouble, seen as they were constantly running around and dragging monsters where they (apparently) should not be.

Then, finally, the captain. Whenever they were far from the tower, they wore the banner strapped to their back. The others followed them around like ducklings, obeying everything they said. Their ponytail was constantly slick, always impressively kept. They were always keeping the twins in check, always giving pointers to the smallest one, always guiding the tallest. They seemed like a decent leader, though perhaps too harsh.

Though what did interest her was the training regimen.

… How to even describe it?

In the darker days, they’d go out into the plains biome nearby, find rabbits, and try to shoot at them. On warmer days, they’d roam the savannah and shoot (or try to) anything that was alive. Some days they’d try shooting things in the river, fish, drowned or even squid. 

As someone who did get a level of proper training, it made Carmelian cringe so hard in fact, she caught herself sighing. On one end, it was an absolute relief that they seemed so flat-out pathetic in their methods; it would take months if not years for them to actually be capable of causing any damage. That would make Quint a lot calmer; that was for sure. If they ever did become a problem, then it’d be easier to disperse than she expected. 

Either way, she kept watching, wondering if it’d change at all through the day. But no, they spent the entire day trying to hunt to various degrees of success. She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed, perhaps the closest she had recently been was her chuckling at Omer’s jokes, but watching them almost tripping over each other to try to shoot a fish did get her by surprise. The red-haired held back as hard as she could not to laugh then and there, continuing to watch from a distance. 

Though as the sun began to set and the light began to dim, Carmelian began to ready to move out mine. 

But something caught her eye. 

The captain and the short one were moving on a different path than the others; they all seemed to bid them farewell as they moved towards the other side of the river, using a patch of shallower waters to cross. 

Okay, this was interesting. Carmelian knew that illagers bands were supposed to always stay together, so seeing the captain go one way and the rest of them go another was, to say the least, confusing. She was too far to hear anything, but she knew that something had happened there, and if she were to get any closer, the chance of them spotting her was way higher. It was a bit confusing, but for now, she decided she’d let them be. They didn’t seem to be making any plans on going towards the village; in fact, they seemed to be going away from it.

For the night, the red-eyed woman let it be, only following them with her spyglass while they disappeared in the vegetation of the savannah. 

Next morning, she went ahead to the village, and while trading with Quint, they spoke once more.

“So… Did you… Did they do anything… important?” They queried, showing a haunted face.

“Well, since you ask. No, not really, and I have good news!” Carmelian shrugged, “The illagers are pathetic. I think it’s more of a training party than anything. They can barely shoot a cow from three blocks away.”

Quint’s expression shifted to one bug-eyed as they tilted their head, “A… training party?”

“I mean, they did not attempted anything at the village yet and most of them seem young and inexperienced. So honestly, I think even if they got better soon, things would take a while to really pick up. So, for now, I think you have nothing to worry about.” She explained, turning to the tower in the distance, which was hard to see, but there was movement. “By the time they do anything worrisome, I’ll have this place fortified. For now, you got nothing to worry about.”

The librarian sighed, relieved, “So… Will… Will you get rid of them?”

As they turned to Carmelian once more, they saw her eyes turn grave, staring at them as if they had asked the unthinkable. “There’s no need right now. It’d be a waste of resources.”

“But- Carm-!” 

Carmelian’s eyes turned even harsher. Perhaps it was the shadows the sun cast, perhaps it was how expressionless she seemed, but she seemed ready to kill. The librarian took a step back, and the silence lasted longer, a familiar shiver going down their back. “It’s a waste of resources.”

Her statement forced Quint into silence. She turned her back almost immediately, her steps going deeper into the sand beneath her than normal.

Omer, who had been watching the situation, ran to his partner, who refused to take their eyes from the parting human. “Amor! Are you alright? What happened? What did she say?”

The librarian finally snapped their gaze back to the other villager, the sight of his dark green eyes helping them ground their thoughts. “I… She said we were safe…”

A hand went to their abdomen instinctively; they were not carrying yet, they’d not even tried. And that…

*An enemy tribe has snuck themselves into the cave systems, claiming they'll take all Carmelian's treasure.*

Rex *running to stop them*: CARMELIAN COME ON WE GOTTA STOP THEM!!! Carmelian: ... Nah. Rex and the others *stopping abruptly*: WHAT?! Anik: Carmelian! They'll take anything that isn't nailed down!! Quartz: You worked so hard- Carmelian: *sitting down on the grass* Nah. Let them. Rex: Carmelian! What the Nether- Why are... you... Carmelian: Rex: You're doing... Nothing? Carmelian: Rex: You're doing nothing... Carmelian: *smilles* Rex: *Lightbulb* OH YOU- scooch. *sits next to her* Quartz + Ivy + Rose: ... Carmelian + Rex: :) Q+I+R: *Lightbulb* OOOOH! *sit down next to them* Anik: *Confusion* WHY are we not gonna try to stop them?? Rex: Maninho. Sit down. And watch. Anik: *confused, but does so.*

*Once all of them are sat down, they stare at the cave entrance that the enemy entered through. A loud roar and some screaming later, the pillagers all run out booking for the hills with parts of their clothes missing.*

It wasn't uncommon for her to end up cleaning up the mess left by that particular group; several times she had to run so they wouldn't end up bringing trouble to the village. She'd killed hordes of zombies, skeletons, a whole bunch of creepers, all because the illagers couldn't just keep up with each other and had worse aim than any she'd ever seen. Sure, most of them looked young, but that (in her understanding) didn't justify why they were aiming at live targets. Often it went wrong, and as they ran to the village, they risked everyone there. 

Carmelian didn't know which god she had angered to put those idiots there, so close to her base, but apparently, this god knew what they were doing, because she didn't want to see them die. She felt sorry for them, actually, and even though she didn't like the extra work, at least she was rewarded with materials. At the same time, she knew she wouldn't always be there, and she dreaded the day she wouldn't see them.

That afternoon, they were incredibly lucky for her to be passing through the area, collecting wood and saplings to plant later.

Her first instinct upon seeing them leaving the cave was to think it was some kind of trap, that they were going to attack her as they had been doing for months.

Their expectations proved to be unfounded, since, upon appearing, they were not in a condition to face her. The young ones were in better shape, though covered in scratches and dust, probably having fallen against a pile of gravel or sand. But it was their leader who drew the most attention; he was almost being carried by the "twins," or that's what she had heard them referred to before. He was covered in bruises, and a cut on his leg was completely bathing his calf in red.

When they saw her there, they froze. She still had her weapons in hand, she could easily attack them; now, the captain was in no position to protect them. The shortest among them stepped forward, placing himself between the human and his companions, his eyes determined. But the tallest intervened, pushing him back, turning with an even more severe and determined look.

"Please…" She began, confronting the heroine with unparalleled desperation and sincerity. “Please help us. Help him.”

The pain in her voice stirred something in the woman, a memory, perhaps. In any case, she nodded and approached faster than she herself expected. She laid the pillager down and examined it, without time for formalities or questions. The cut on his leg was deeper than she had imagined, but it was reasonably clean, save for the blood that almost gushed out. With each passing moment, the captain grew redder and redder, his skin gradually cooling.

He didn't have that much time.

"We need to stop the bleeding. Now!” Carmelian's voice came through with such aggression that it made all the pillagers pay attention, but none of them knew what to do. Realizing that she was probably the only one who had any idea of a procedure, she began to give orders to everyone,"Tall-One. Come here." The tallest of them approached, kneeling obediently beside the human."Put pressure on the wound, as much as you can, put all your weight on it if you need to..." She obeyed, pressing both hands onto her captain's leg and supporting her weight with it."Green-haired! Tattooed! I want wood. Let's make a bonfire."

"For what?!" The grass-haired pillager asks, confused.

"Shut up and obey!" His sister scolds him, starting to run after the wood.

The human turned to the second youngest member of the group, tossing a bucket his way, "Shorty. Grab that bucket and go fetch some water. Run."

Carmelian looked around, clearing the area where they were as much as she could, laying some rugs on the ground to cover the grass. At least they would have a clean area, and the sunlight would repel monsters. It wasn't long before the twins returned, each holding a pile of sticks; at the same time, the shorter one came with the bucket full of water. They gave the sticks to her, who examined them and took one before arranging them and lighting it with her lighter.

Reaching into her pocket for her sewing kit, where she kept a needle, she carefully held it with her sheers and placed it against the flame. "Start placing him on the carpets."

The pillager agreed, carrying her boss to where the heroine had asked. When she turned around, she saw Carmelian with the needle. Before she could ask, the human was already placing the stick in the leader's mouth.

"Bite hard, ‘cause it's gonna hurt." 

Rex nodded, aware of the next steps, and turned when he felt her begin to stitch. It wasn't the first time she'd had to forcefully close a wound like that; in fact, it was strange for her not to be stitching herself up. The squadron captain groaned, sweat dripping from his forehead with the excruciating pain, yet he kept as still as possible. It wasn't the first time he'd had a wound closed with a needle and thread either, but it was never a pleasant sensation, and they usually gave him something to lessen the pain. If he weren't biting the stick, he'd be cursing the woman with every name under his belt.

Incredibly, the human finished quickly.

Even though he was dizzy from the pain, he could feel the sensation of the cold water being poured on the wound, felt the human's calloused hands on his leg, pulling and examining the stitches, as well as the pressure of the bandage she was now applying. He sat up a little, spitting out the stick that was now adorned with the marks of his teeth; he wanted to say something.

But soon his world darkened and he fainted.

—---

When he awoke, he was no longer in the same place. He was back in the tower. The dark oak beneath him was cold against the hot desert wind and he was covered in leather hides; the sound of boots against the floor caught his attention. He saw Quartz walking, a hand on her face, the marks of her boots on the ground told him she'd been doing the same thing for some time. Clearly, she wasn't paying attention, otherwise she would have seen him, so he called to her.

“Quartz.” The pillager turned around, leaping to her knees beside the captain. "How long did I sleep?"

"One day. The... The others went to get food. You... You lost a lot of blood."

"I can feel it." He sat up, finally looking at the wound on his leg. The bandages were clean, white, with only stains of the blood that was still trying to escape. "Where's the hero?"

"She... She left you here. Then she told us how to take care of the wound and left... She told us to call Asha." The captain's eyes widened; how did she know about Asha? "Exactly our reaction, sir."

Rex looked again at the wound on his leg, trying to reason. It wasn't the first time the heroine had done something like that; at this point, it was making the captain increasingly confused. It didn't make sense how she acted, protecting them, showing them mercy, helping them… Yet, she was stern, skilled with a sword, skilled with a bow. It made no sense at all; they had seen her kill more monsters than they could count, so why not kill them too?.

"Quartz. Tell Anik to go get Asha. I want to talk to her."

"He's gone already. As soon as the human left." Quartz explains. “Rex… I…” His voice trailed off as he looked at his leader, only allowing himself to speak when he noticed his leader's brow soften. "I thought you were going to die..."

The captain of the guard raises his hand and gently places it on the young sharpshooter's shoulder. "But I didn't die. And I'm not going to die anytime soon."

The girl nods, a faint smile on her face. "I'll get you some water..."

“Listen I can… I can get up. It’s fine.” Carmelian sighed, attempting to do so. 

However, the moment she tried, she almost lost her balance and fell back. Vertigo took over her head, weakness falling on each of her limbs; it felt like someone had thrown slowness on her. The angry look she sent towards the illager in front of her apparently gave away her thought process, as Rex stared at her unmoving. 

“Did you goddam-?!”

“No, I did not give you slowness, though I wish I did!” He scowls, having her sit down again. “You have to rest, Carmelian!” 

“No, I don’t! I have things to do! It’s getting late too!” Night was closing in and she didn’t like the idea of running with half her heart down and a leg that refused to obey. “I need to go!”

“What you NEED is to sit down and rest! I know you humans are hardy, but you’ve just fallen and burned your leg in lava!” Rex insisted. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, pushing her down when she tried to get up, over and over again. “CARMELIAN FOR FUCKS’ SAKE STOP FIGHTING FOR ONCE!”

“Rex I need to head home-!!”

“A zombie won’t break down your door like that! Just sleep here for fuck’s sake!” Rex stated, leader voice ringing loud and clear. 

The fighter glared up at him, almost offended that he even offered. “I am FINE!!”

“No you’re fucking not and you’re not leaving this place for the night!” The pillager leader stated, locking the door and plopping himself on the bed.

Carmelian looked from the pillager to the locked door, a deadpan expression arising on her features. “You know I can break down the door either way… Locking it is useless.”

“If you have good manners, you won’t!” Rex glared at her. 

Stubbornly, the human got up, limping to the door, leaning back on their not-injured but bad leg, and twisting, only to fall back down and cringe at the feeling of each and every piece of her flesh tear, whining quietly and pressing her face on the floor. She heard a heavy sigh, right as she was picked up. After a moment of panick, Carmelian sees Rex’s features while the pillager carried her to bed, dropping her unceremoniously and plopping down right next to her. 

“What the-?!”

“You are fucking sleeping.” 

Carmelian tried to get off, get away from Rex. 

Rex, meanwhile, held tightly to her, not letting her off in the slightest, holding her sternly but gently. He smiled at her puny attempts, eventually tiring herself out, not even trying anymore, simply lying there. 

“You’re an asshole.” The fighter mumbles, face pressed down on the bed. “I can’t sleep when I’m around… Dangerous things…”  

Rex looked at the human, one brow lifted. “You find me dangerous?”

“Well- I- I can kill you whenever I want-! But… Yeah… Basically.”

“Well, right now you couldn’t kill a fly even if you wanted to.” Rex grinned, patting her head. “I am not gonna hurt you. Tho.”

“You better not!” Carmelian frowned.

“And I will not!” 

Both of them laid there, after a few minutes, the illager got up to put down the lights. Soon the room was close to pitch dark, safe for the light of the lit candles, which waved and wavered. He got back in bed, turning to the hero once more, he noticed the widened eyes watching the candles, but shifting every other second to other parts of the room. Any sound made Carmelian jolt, she’d turn, in a gesture as if unsheathing a blade, only to catch herself and stop. 

Rex sat down in bed, lowering her hands and lowering her head. 

“Carmelian.” Her eyes went to him, vivid red eyes, filled with what he could only assume was fear. “Breathe.” 

Diverging her eyes, the human takes a deep breath, then another, then another. Her shoulders unstiffened in the slightest, but eventually her body curled up. The pillager watched the display, watched the hurt, scared woman. It was… Pitiful… This was nothing like how humans were supposed to be; it wasn’t how she was supposed to act. 

Who did that to her…?

Rex pulled the blanket from beneath the girl, covering her with it soon after, tucking it gently underneath her. Laying down on top of them, draping an arm around her, the illager rubbed her back slowly in a circle motion. Keeping a certain distance between them, since the leader was aware Carmelian wasn’t fond of that kind of contact. Any contact, really.

Slight jolts still happened; the human yelped quietly and whimpered. She was hurting.

“~Comforting… memories… We share… Till ever apart… And we hope we will… Always make more…~” Rex’s voice took over the room, rich and soft, matching the soft pats to the rhythm of the song. 

The hero turned her eyes to him, her thoughts racing, being replaced by his voice and the melody. Her mouth sealed shut, she breathed once more through her nose, and once more her shoulders relaxed. 

It was Rex. 

Just Rex.

He wasn’t a threat

He’d keep her safe.

He wasn’t a monster...

The illager sang for a while, repeating the song until she completely fell asleep, when every jolt stopped, when her shivering ceased, when her eyes were closed and her breathing even. After that, he brushed his eyes, turning to the clock on the wall, it was high night. He still had long hours till morning came, sleeping was tagging him as well, after all, he didn’t have much of an option. Any move he made might startle the light sleeper which is Carmelian.

The door then creaked open, Rex almost jumped, but then with one glance he saw Anik and Quartz coming in. 

A wordless conversation ensues.

He tilted his head. “What?”

Anik shakes his head, pointing to the bed. “Can’t sleep… Can we sleep with you?”

Quartz brings both her hands together. “Pleeeaese?”

Rex rolls his eyes, using his free hand to gesture. “Come on.” As the duo approaches, he quickly however, gestures to them to stop, pointing at Carnelian and pressing a finger to his mouth. “Be quiet. She’s asleep.”

Both young ones’ eyes shoot wide. “She’s here?!”

Rex doesn’t respond, shutting his eyes. Quartz puts their cushions on the floor next to the bed, lying down with Anik laying on top of her with the blankets. The leader of the party sneaks a glance at them, nodding and turning back. 

— — — 

Morning came, as the red eyes woke up, she realized she was much closer to the leader than she remembered the previous night. Slowly moving back, was when she noticed the sound of more snoring. Peaking from over Rex she noticed the four other illagers on the floor.

“When the fuck did-” 

As if reading her thoughts, Rex shook, stretching his entire body. After a long yawn, going to the point of stretching his tongue past his teeth, he rubs his eyes and realizes the human was awake. 

“Oh. Heya human. Early bird, huh?”

“When did- when did they..?”

“Right after you went to sleep… Don’t know when Ivy and Rose showed up tho.” He admitted. 

Carefully, the illager slides out of bed, stretching a bit more and better. Carmelian watches, changing glances between him and the others. 

She really fell asleep? Around them? She didn’t wake up. She wasn’t hurt. Not more than she was the day prior. She was okay. They were asleep too. It didn’t hurt her. She isn’t dead. 

“How did you sleep?”

Rex’s voice caught her attention. One thoughtful second later, she replies with slight sarcasm. “Meh. I don’t co-sleep.”

“Says the cuddler.” The leader chuckles back. “Feeling any better?”

Carmelian moves her legs, but still winces. “Could be better.”

“Nothing a bit of Chilling-Non-Aggressively can’t fix.” He states, looking through the chests and chucking some bandages at her. 

It hits her on the face. “ ‘non-aggressively’?”

“It goes for you not me!” The illager grins. 

The human rolls her eyes, opening the mandages and moving to untie the previous ones, cleaning off the dried off blood with a bottle of water and drying before tying the new wrappings. The new ointments were cool, which was pleasant, like a cool cover on a hot night or drinking cold water in the desert. Cold was much better than hot. Maybe one day she’d move her base to a colder biome, if she found one. 

Once finished with wrapping her leg, she moved to her arms. While she did, more rustling covers and lazy groans erupted. Quickly enough the others sat up, Quartz holding Anik like a plushie and Rose basically forcing Ivy to sit up. 

“Moorning siiir…” They greeted, half-yawning. 

“Morning crew! Say good morning to the hero there, too!” 

“Mooorning humaaan!” They greeted each other once again. 

“Morning,” Carmelian responds, still not paying much attention to them and getting up instead. “I'd better head off.”

“Not gonna stay for breakfast?” Quartz questions, sounding a bit disappointing.

“Why would I?”

“‘Cause we got food?” The tallest pillager insists. “Come on! This once!”

The human headed for the door, unlocking it and opening it. Now that she thought about it, she could’ve done that the night prior.

“I’ll make us my special bacon-potato eggs!” Rex piped up. “Eggs scrambled with potatoes and pieces of chopped pork… Even some other things…” 

Carmelian stopped, the imagery of the food popping into her head. It sounded… good. 

The others watched her curiously. With a defeated sigh, she leans on the door. “Fine. This once.”

“HECK YEAH!!” The second youngest got up, pulling Rex by the wrist and out the door. “Come on!!” 

The others followed along, the human tarding a bit with Ivy, the most lazy of the group. They walked slower with the rest, chuckling. “Not bad, ey?”

“Shush, weed-head.” She chuckled back.