The Emperor of the Nether was enraged. Jets of smoke steamed from his nostrils, his crimson eyes gleamed with fire and broken blood vessels, his limbs quaked. Could he have heard correctly? Yes, there was no mistaking it. Someone had opened a portal into his sequestered realm. A PORTAL!! Didn't they know that the Nether had long since broken off from the Overworld and become a land of its own, and because of its vast variety of precious resources it had been purposely closed from all inter-world travel? And here someone had dared to cross his law- and opened a portal!
The page who delivered the message was killed the very next day, and following the brutality, the Emperor assumed a massive army of the strongest Zombie Pigmen (trained to be senselessly rabid in battle) and went off at once to discover who had done such a dreadful thing. Lo and behold, he came upon a glittering gate of some queer purple metal which he had never seen before. This must be the portal! Strangely enough, it was not guarded: standing with its shimmering door wide open. The Emperor felt himself be transfixed by the portal, and thus did not destroy it immediately- and the very next moment, a girl stepped out from behind it.
She was the most beautiful thing the cruel, stone-hearted ruler had ever seen in his life: slender and elfin, with golden hair tumbling to her bare feet, and a sleeveless dress of maroon silk. The Emperor fell in love with her at first sight, and ordered his army to leave the portal standing (for the girl had come from the Overworld). Thus he brought her back to his invincible fortress of nether brick, build high in narrow bridges and walkways across the sizzling lava many fathoms below. The girl could not seem to remember her Overworld name, so the Emperor simply called her "My Princess"... and soon they were married.
Shortly afterward the precious, heavily-guarded mine of Aavos was infiltrated by miners from beyond the world; robbed of every single mineral and jewel. Unable to catch the elusive, wraithlike burglars, the Emperor seethed and chased in vain, becoming increasingly ruled by his desire for the invaders' blood and the wealth that had been stolen from him. Very soon he realized he was battling against something he had never imagined and did not have the strength to combat- and invisible foe, very great and very powerful, and the thought struck terror in his heart. He knew that his kingdom was about to be conquered and ripped to pieces: the Overworld would triumph at last, their King would trample the Nether's citadels and mines, robbing and plundering and killing right and left.
The Emperor would not be taken, his pride would not allow him to admit that there was someone stronger and more capable than he- and he could not bear to sit in shackles and watch his world be torn apart. One night, in the darkest hour, there came screams of "Fire! Fire!" and the Emperor awakened to see massive tongues of fire leaping at his great four-poster bed. Grabbing his wife and four-month-old son, he leaped out the window, knowing it was the Overworlders attempting to kill him and his family. Rather than be captured alive, he raced towards the edge of the land and skidded, straight into the boiling face of the lava pit.
His wife gave a scream and laid their son on the ground, flying to the edge of the lake and kneeling beside the Emperor's charred form- and gripping him close to her, she cried, "You cannot die like this! Those wicked Overworlders have killed you!"
"Nay, my princess... my pride has killed me," and with that, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell limp against her.
Sobbing, the girl clutched his body to her as if she might bring him back to life that way- for many hours she lay there until she began to notice that the shouts of the Overworlders were getting steadily nearer. Looking up, she realized two of the hulking human forms were careening down the slope towards her: she laid her husband's body aside and turned full-on to face them. She was suddenly overcome by a rage coursing through her very veins, crackling and popping: hatred for these vile strangers boiled within her. She would not stand and do nothing! She would not let her husband die unavenged! As the Overworlders came so close she could see their eyes flashing terribly in their faces, she gave a scream of anger and threw out her hands. A blast of light exploded before her eyes and she was stunned to see the ground lying broken and burning, with no sign of the savages. Stunned, she tried the motion again, and a fireball flew from her hands and penetrated the wall of the fortress- it collapsed in on itself with a deafening roar of falling masonry and fire.
A fierce joy welled up inside her: a joy only known to those who have been consumed by fury or avarice. Glimpsing more figures running down towards her, she sent three fireballs and watched, smiling, as the entire netherrack wall crashed down, sending clouds of fiery sparks everywhere. What, of course, she could not see was what she had become: the life and color had been drained out of her hair and skin, making them a ghastly, livid white. Her clothes were charred and streaked with ashes, turning them a sickly grey. Her hands glowed with fire that did not burn her, ready to strike at a moment's notice. And her eyes, which had once been an innocent blue, gleamed like two red embers. She was a terror now: no one would dare to attack her, for she could shoot flame and engulf camps and mines, cities and castles- anything that the Overworlds would dare to place in the realm of the Nether.
"And now, son, you understand why we cannot leave this bunker," said the old man, leaning carefully on his walking stick as he eyed the low stone ceiling above. His young nephew watched with entranced eyes, thinking all the while of the dangers above: for he had never glimpsed the "Upper Land" at all. "The Ghast, she roams the world still, for they say she is immortal," his uncle said at last, a strange flicker in his eyes as he spoke in that crackled, wavering voice.
"Uncle Nain, why is it that some people are ruled by pride and anger?" asked the boy, very sadly.
That was a deep question. "'Tis hard to tell. But now you understand why I impress upon you strongly not to ever let your emotions control you," answered the other quite sternly. "Now, once you are old enough to travel the Upper Lands as a warrior, you need know one thing. Always beware if you hear a shriek in the wilds, for the Ghast is known to wail and scream as she lashes fire on anyone that comes near her. In fact, I hear the strangest thing about her is that if you look straight into her eyes, you will see a single tear fall from them."
~ Thε ξℵd! ~
(This really had little to do with Halloween, but it was very eerie soo... yes.)