Awakening

Stella awoke in bed for the first time in 3 years and she had to admit it was quite nice being in bed for once. The room was rather small, the floor was made up of crimson planks with the walls being a mix of basalt and blackstone with the structural supports being made up of some stripped warped logs. There was a small nightstand to her left with a small glowstone lamp sitting on it. The bed in Stella's opinion was the best bed she had ever had the opportunity to lay on. The mattress was made up of an off-white material that looked similar to leather but felt like clouds. The temperature of the mattress was also much cooler than the surrounding air, the blankets were made up of the same off-white material although much thinner than the mattress was.

Upon getting up she noticed that she was clothed in a white dress that she had never seen before and she saw that her storage bag was hanging on one of the posts at the foot of the bed. While looking through her stuff she noticed that nothing was missing, her hammer wand focus pouch and even her armor were inside the bag.

"I think you should know but you have been asleep for 3 weeks, it was kinda funny watching the Piglins feed you." The taint spoke

"What about water?" Stella asked ignoring the copy of herself sitting on the bed

"They fed you ice." The taint responded

Stella noticed a mirror standing in the corner of the room and when looking at herself she saw that the taint had reached the corner of her mouth and had started to spread down her waist. Remembering that she had some medicine in her bag she took it out and injected it causing the taint to recede back to her forearm.

"You are no fun, you should have kept embracing the taint." The taint spoke

The version of herself that was once on the bed had shrunk dramatically going from her size to the size of her fist.

"Why can I still see you?" Stella asked with annoyance lacing her voice

"Well, my metaphysical existence here is dependent on 2 things: the percentage of taint that covers your body and your sanity. Although the taint percentage is low your sanity is definitely in the deep end." The taint said while appearing on Stella's shoulder "Now that you are partially insane I can exist full time!"

"You said 'can' exist full time so can you stop existing?" Stella asked

"I can but I can be your guardian angel! How fun would that be!" The taint said

"You are far from an angel." Stella flatly stated, "What's up with you though? I could excuse the last time we spoke because your life was on the line but the only other time you spoke to me was less than pleasant, not just that but my status changed because of it as well."

"There is a reason for that, the first time we spoke was when I first awakened, before that, I wasn't quite awake yet. When you left your old world the connection I had to the hivemind was severed. To follow that I am a copy of the previous hivemind, I contain the knowledge they have but my personality is different." The taint explained

"You don't look like you understand what I am implying… Ok, let me explain what the taint is in a little more detail."

"The taint is a horrific corruption of the land, the physical manifestation of chaotic magic twisting the life of the natural world. It is a multilayered affliction, affecting the landscape as Tainted Land. Tainted lands show a dramatic purplish coloration, with plants and trees visibly decaying. Creatures that get infected by the taint are influenced by the taint itself. They gain dramatic purplish coloration along with severely increased bodily abilities. This goes on until one of 2 things happens, either the taint is overused and reaches the brain allowing the taint to kill the infected, or 2 the creature dies in some other fashion, and the taint gains control."

"This much I know, what else?" Stella said

"Control is a bad way of explaining things, what really happens is the creature is completely assimilated, all the memories, feelings, and knowledge of the being is added to the hivemind. The problem with this is that the taint started as an unfeeling inanimate force, but once it started assimilating creatures it gained a mind, one filled with many many voices. It's like posing a question in your mind and having hundreds of thousands of people all answer at the same time. It would be chaos." The taint explained

"Ok, but how does that relate to you being so chill?" Stella asked

"I was one of those voices, it was constant screaming and wailing, with hundreds of thousands of creatures both human and animal alike all in constant agony. I had to deal with that for who knows how long, but one day the screaming stopped. I think you can piece the rest together." The taint spoke

"Wait, does that mean you don't want to consume the entire world anymore?" Stella asked rather surprised

"Yes but it is far more subdued, I am nowhere near as aggressive as the other world's counterpart." The taint said

"Doesn't that mean you would add more voices to your head?" Stella responded

"There is a solution to that, and it is to not assimilate the memories of living things." The taint responded

"You can do that? If that was the case why didn't you do that before?" Stella asked

"You try accomplishing anything complex with hundreds of thousands of creatures screaming all at the same time." The taint mocked

Stella had finished getting her gear back on, and she had to admit it was quite a nice feeling to have her armor back on.

"I'd love to continue this talk we have been having but it seems that someone is coming for you." The taint said

Just as the taint said that there was a knock on the door, causing Stella to wonder how the taint knew that. Stella went over and opened the door and saw a maid who looked rather surprised.

"I didn't think you were going to be awake, well now that you are, do you mind following me? I'm sure the elders would love to finally meet you." The maid said

"Sure let's go, it is about time to speak with them." Stella responded

----------------------------

Word Count: 1097

A little more world-building so that things get fleshed out a little more! Suggestions and power stones are always welcomed!