Hi! This is OnceInALongTime. I am re-writing this story, for my own enjoyment, the sake of writing and because I want to try to make it even better than before. I'm just making this up on the spot. I will update it when I can, every week or from time to time if I am feeling creative.
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Chapter 1. Just A Dream
In which mornings are overcome, jobs are done, and redstone needs wiring
It took a few seconds, if it existed, to realize what was happening. I float, just a few meters from the ground, as the tall grass brushed against the heels of my feet. I can only look up, but I know of the field right below my field of vision.
The tall, golden bright flowers that crawl around the soil, climb up to meet my feet, and my legs, and my waist. Slowly, around my torso, and my arms, and I look up to the sky. All I see is the dark, creeping up and swallowing the clouds, and the bright blue, and finally, the sun. There is nothing, but the slow, cool absence of color.
Slowly, the golden flowers turn black and assemble hands and claws, and they pull me down towards the ground, ever so slowly. I open my mouth to utter a small shriek, but only my breath leaves my body and I am left with nothing but my flesh.
The black hands and claws scrape and scratch at my soul, and I plunge into the sea of black and white, and I breathe no air, and I see no one. Nothing. Nowhere.
The sockets of my eyes roll back into my head, and replaced with an eerie purple and I throw my head back and I fall, and I keep falling, and I hear the roar of something out there, waiting.
The End is coming.
“Huh?”
The musty smell of old dust collecting in the room, and the soft rays of sunshine shining through the cracked window pane are the first things I notice, I think I’m awake.
My hands are in my hair, pulling and tugging on the brown strands. I inhale the soft breeze, and rub my eyes groggily, and a small yawn escapes my lips.
It was just another dream, I assure myself. It all seemed so, real. I couldn’t breathe, and I knew something was there.
Watching me, waiting patiently for the time to run out. I quickly dismiss the thought and look at my pet wolf, peeping at me from the foot of the bed.
Eres, his soft, gray fur and his deep blue eyes, barks softly. I feel my cheeks lift up, as I smile.
“Good morning, Eres.” I whisper, and I sit up to scratch him behind his ears, and he begins to laugh. He rolls around in the blankets, and I hug him close to my chest. Other than the folks here at the Woodland Campsite, Eres was one of my only close friends.
I had found him only as a pup, when I was young and foolish, when I was playing around in the branches of the Elder Woods and I found him stuck in a thick bush. Only a pup.
The Elder Woods were where the rare Elder Trees stood. Some said they’d been there longer than any other tree in Minecraftia, but I didn’t take the time to care all that much.
I reached into a pot on the desk beside me, and I took out a bone and I placed it on my lap. Eres walked casually to it and picked it up in between the fangs of his mouth, and began to gnaw on it, keeping him busy.
The sun was already above the horizon, and I knew Regoreidin would be up already. Cooking the breakfast for the other guests or commanding angrily at the cooks in the Woodland Kitchen to do it faster. Or, I’d find him in a corner with a half empty wine bottle, as he gazed around the rooms dizzily.
It was in fact, this week that Woodland Camp was having a carnival today. Just out back, in the fields at the base of Greene Hill.
Today was the first day of Minecraft Week. Celebrating four to six “Out-Verse” years, but thousands and millions of Minecraftia years already. Or so said the Government Officials.
Nearly five thousand people were expected today, and if I don’t go out now to arrange the tents and sort things out, Regoreidin is going to blame me for something he was supposed to do. Being more than a decade younger than him, I’ve nothing to do that will convince him anything otherwise.
I put my feet over the edge of the bed, being careful not to kick Eres, and I walk towards the small bathroom in the corner of the room. I quickly change into a green-blue shirt with a diamond sword on it, a pair of blue jeans, a brown belt, and black, leather boots. I check the chain on my neck, with a blue-green block pendant, I tuck it under my shirt.
I look into the mirror. Same brown hair, reaching the base of my shoulders, my peculiar black eyes, my pale skin. Me.
Eres hops over the side of the bed and scratches at the door, and I take hold of the silver knob and open it. Eres quickly runs out and down the hallway, softly, heading to the backyard to play with the other wolves.
The hallways are empty, but there are a few guests already awake, and locking the doors to their rooms. The lights are dim, but enough to see, and I make my way as I put on my “employee” cap, to find wherever Regoreidin may be.
I mutter a few “excuse me’s” and “good morning’s” as I make my way to the Woodland Main Kitchen.
“Chef Kinnley!” I hear, and I see him shouting at a chef in the corner of the room. The scent of spices, fruits and a variety of other foods floats around the room, and the heat of grills brush against my skin.
“I told you, roasted chicken! Not these silly pork-chops!” he threw a recipe book at the chef, and he caught it in his arms quickly and ran away to fix things.
I shake my head and roll my eyes, “Typical.”
I walk up to Regoreidin. He wore a “Assistant” labeled shirt and a pair of ripped jeans and worn out sneakers. He wasn’t exactly known for his clothes. His hair was long and almost reached his shoulders, a brown streaked blonde.
Regoreidin noticed me first and placed his right hand on my shoulder and an almost unnoticeable smile creeps up his face.
“Ah.” he says. “Celeste, you’re awake. I have a few chores for you.” I groan softly, and he takes out a crumpled piece of paper and hands it to me.
“You have to help out some of our chefs and bring out some plates and place the silverware around in the Dining Pavilions 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then, you have to put up the banner at the entrance of the gate. Last, you need to fix our RS connection. There is something wrong with the redstone. You can do whichever first, I suppose you should fix the redstone first though.”
He scratched his goatee and waved his hand, signaling for me to go off. He handed me a walkie-talkie to contact him and I hook it on my belt.
I walk off and head to Chef Kinnley and whisper in his ear, “Sorry about Reg. He’s very serious about all of this. Just remember the recipe.” I smile and wave, and he nods in response, and we both get back to what we are supposed to do.
After that, the day went off normally.
I still had a few thoughts at the back of my head about the dream, but I was much too busy helping the guests to think about it.
“Excuse me, employee coming through.” I said, as I passed through growing crowds and laughing children, as the sun beat down. The banner on the gate was up, it wasn’t too hard either, check. The Dining Pavilions were already set up, thanks to Xavier. Another employee. Check.
All I needed to do was fix the redstone in the control room. I head back inside the Main Woodland cabin-house. It only takes me a few minutes to reach the control room.
I fish a chain of keys from my pants pocket and open the door to the control room, which opens with ease. The iron door closes behind me as I enter, and I switch on the lights. I open the drawers and boxes in the corners. I take out a few pieces of redstone wiring, repeaters, redstone torches, and a few other things.
I placed each in the correct spot, and I turned on the lever a few minutes later. A line of redstone lamps lit up. The Redstone Connection in almost all of the camp is available for our guests.
Finally, the power reaches the command block and a message is transmitted to all of our guests. Welcoming them, informing them of the camp rules, and things like that.
Wiping the sweat from my head, I turn around to open the door and leave. Something catches my eye first. At the corner of the room, a redstone wire is not connected. I could have sworn I attached that. I move back and add it quickly, I turn around again to open the door and...
SWOOSH.
I turn around to see it gone again, but covered in a thin, purple substance. I pick it up and observe it, what is it? I look around the room.
“Hello?” I call. “Anyone there?” I look around again and I hear it again.
SWOOSH.
Freaking out a little, I call out louder. “Show yourselves!” with my left hand, I hold on to the pendant on my necklace and it all happened too fast.
He was twice my size, rough, black skin and piercing, purple eyes. Grabbed onto my arms too quick that I was not able to notice it.
Picking me up, he stared into my eyes and I stared into his, and I couldn’t look away. Something told me not to.
Celeste. Young One. Yes...
His eyes were filled with a sort of deep pain, and with the final whisper, we were gone. I remember the light fading away in a whirl of purple dust, and the colors of the world slipping away. I remember the world, and that I was no longer there. The air was being taken from my lungs, and I fell, like in my dreams.
I did the only thing I could do at the moment. I fainted.
Chapter 2. A Glitch In Time
In which a pendant is stolen, someone is realized, and there is a need to survive
I groan, slowly blinking my eyes open. I know I’m not in my room. “Where am I?” I ask myself, and no one in particular.
I place my palms on the white, cool, marble ground, and lift myself up to sit. My clothes are normal and my hair is fine. I can see around me, but it’s just an infinite space of white with a marble floor. I try pounding at the ground, but the effect is like Bedrock. Nothing.
I can’t smell anything, I’m not going to taste anything, for there is nothing to taste, there aren’t any buttons to push or levers to pull... But I can hear someone’s footsteps, walking slowly behind me.
“Awake, now are you?” I turn around quickly and see the long legs of a man in a black business outfit. He looks like a normal business man, and then I look up and see his face. Wrinkled and old, and frightening. Like, he knows something I don’t, then I see his eyes. A striking purple, and I remember what happened.
I stand up and start questioning him. “Where am I? I am very confused of all this, sir. Please! Help me!” the man shakes his head and stretches out his arms, and it now seems longer than it was. I look back at the man, now he is about one or two blocks taller than me, and I back away.
“Silentium.” he mutters and with another outburst to his dialogue, I open my mouth to shout at him, but nothing comes out. Just air, if there is any wherever I am. I run towards the man, but he mutters something else.
Before I know it, I fall to the ground and hit my back, and scream out in pain. Of course, no sound comes out of my mouth. I can feel my hands and feet being tied together, but there is nothing, and I lie there.
The man walks closer, and his pants and shirt slowly turn darker and darker, and thinner and thinner. His fingers become long and bony, sharper, like the points of daggers and swords, and his face. With an eerie smile, his black hair mends into his face, and his eyes grow bigger and brighter, and scarier. Enderman purple. That’s what it was.
I remember when my parents used to tell me stories before I went to sleep, every night. They would read me the stories or make ones up sometimes if they were feeling “creative.” My particular favorite was a story about a group of Endermen and how they were discovered, and how Notch banished most of them to the Enderlands. Of course, that was a myth, right?
I could feel a small chill slip through my flesh and pass through my blood, and I began to shiver from head to toe, until the chill reached my bones.
It felt horrific. It twisted and pulled my bones and tightened me into a terrible and very uncomfortable position. My hands behind my back, legs as well, and my head thrown back with my hair splattered against the floor, and I could only look up into the Enderman’s eyes. I couldn’t look away, from what I remembered from my parents.
“Effor.” the Enderman muttered. I opened my mouth and began to shout. “Regoreidin!” I shout! “Regoreidin! Chef Kinnley! Anyone?” I shut my eyes foolishly and I heard a growl from the Enderman above. He reaches his long, slender arm and rips the chain of my necklace out, and the pendant clatters to the floor. The chain in his hand.
He tosses the chain away, and it lands about ten seven blocks away. He crouches down to grab the pendant and utters a few words, which I can only recognize “contego” and “sumo.”
What in blazes is he saying? I’ve never heard such a language before, in which I can only recognize some of the words. How though? What does that mean? What does a “sumo” have to do with anything?
The pendant flies up to his hand and a he grins, a small, clever grin.
“Give that back! That’s mine! My mother gave that to me!”
“I’ve been looking for this for many a moon, Young One, the Master will be most pleased. Most pleased, indeed.” he laughed a humorless laugh.
“What are you talking about?”
The Enderman walks away, and I lean on my side to see him walk away and the floor ripples in a pattern similar to water, but none that I have ever seen before.
A door materializes out of nowhere, with a doorframe of moving obsidian blocks. He looks back and waves, pendant in hand. “See you in Nexus. They can’t take you out of a Time Glitch.” and with that last note, he slips through the doorway and is consumed in purple dust, and the door disappears behind him.
I can’t think properly and my point of view is messed up. I can feel my arms and legs being released, but I can’t go anywhere but here, and I could get lost. I have no food, and no water, nothing but the clothing on my back.
I take the walkie talkie from my belt and shout through the speaker, “Regoreidin! It’s me Celeste, help! I’ve been taken by an Enderman, I don’t know where I am! Help me!” but all I hear back is static.
A tear rolls down my cheek, and I begin to rub my eyes. Now isn’t a time to cry, Celeste, I tell myself.
Though, I can’t help myself. They roll down my face and hit the floor and I begin to weep and to cry out. To my dead parents, to the family I no longer have, to Regoreidin, to anyone I’ve ever known.
I’m just lucky someone heard me that quick.
Chapter 3. When Figures Fade
In which she is aided to, one is let go, and not all goes well
I heard the sound. Heavy, metal chains, being dragged along the floor, growing louder and lower as whoever held the chains walked closer to me. I sit down and lower my head into my hands.
“Who’s there?” I mutter weakly, with my left arm, wiping away the tears and trying to rub my eyes clean.
“You look familiar. Have I, seen you somewhere?” I turn my head a little, and a gray cat with dark eyes, stares back at me. I never really was comfortable with cats, what would Eres say? Of course, he’s a dog...
“Do you know who I am?”
I shake my head. “No, I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
“Peculiar. Are you absolutely sure I don’t know you?” I nod my head. “I don’t know you, whoever you are.”
“Wonderful.” the cat replied. Curiously, I don’t feel surprised to know that a cat is talking to me, and asking me if I know him or if he knows me.
“Why is that?” I ask.
“It would be so, terribly embarrassing, if you were to know who I am. Fortunately for me, you don’t know who I am.” it replied.
I turn around to see that its tail lies droopily on the floor, and its head in between its paws.
“Can you tell me where I am?”
“Can you tell me why you’re crying? It’s enough of a racket already.”
I glare at the cat for a while. How rude, I think to myself.
“It’s none of your business, cat.” I reply back, coming closer to the cat.
“My name is Sirius Silvere Silas Moone, human girl. If its none of my business, might as well be on my way. You want to know things don’t you? I heard the ruckus a few hundred void-cubes away.”
“Can you answer my questions?” I ask in annoyance.
“We can trade. Mine for yours and yours for mine, I get to ask you more though, for you have more questions than I do.”
“Fine, whatever.” I say.
“Tell me, who are you?” Sirius asked.
“I’m Celeste Helena Eden Lux. I’m 18 years old.” I answer plainly. “I don’t know why I’m here though. Regoreidin is going to kill me.”
“Kill you? That’s not that bad. I’ve been through worse.” Sirius laughed, despite his name which I had never heard of, he laughed a humorous yet cruel laugh. I sigh and continue.
“Where did you come from? I haven’t seen your species in a long time, I’ve already forgot.”
“I’m from the Woodlands.” I reply.
“No, I meant what planet. Or dimension. Unless you live in a rift, do you live in a rift?”
“What are you talking about? I live in the Overworld.”
“Pffftt.” said Sirius. “Of course, and I live in Nexus!”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Overworld? Doesn’t exist. Not anymore.” I display of pandemonium and worry covers my face.
“Yes, it does!” I shout. “I just came from there, you silly old cat.” I cross my arms and give it a nervous look.
“What?”
“Yes. It does, gonna loose your marbles?”
“The Endermen said they were going to- Never mind. Let’s get back to your problems.” I scoot a little closer to Sirius.
“What were you going to say?”
“Nothing. Just nothing. I’m just an silly old cat, after all.”
“I didn’t mean it- “
“Nope. Let’s continue.”
Wondering what he was going to say, I put my walkie talkie on the floor and open it, only hearing the sound of redstone static.
“Who was that Enderman?” I ask, while clicking the special “record” button on the walkie talkie.
“The Enderman who put you here, like they did to me, was a servant of the Dark Lord. We must not speak of his name.” Sirius looks around the room and back at me, making sure no one was there.
“I do not know why he put you in here, though I shall not ask, as you have not asked me. Must be for a special reason, eh?” he nudged with his leg. “I was running towards you, and I saw him taking something from you and going back through the Passageway. He probably needs it for something, orders from the master.”
“Ive done nothing to harm their kind. I’m not part of the MC National Army or any of those not-so-secret fighting societies. I don’t hunt or kill any monsters. Not even animals...”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Sirius asked.
“Yes, of course I am. Can I ask you why you can talk? You’re a cat.”
“Cats talk all the time, do cats not talk in the Overworld?” I nod.
“They need some serious help, that’s first grade stuff.” I giggle and pat Sirius on the head. I look at Sirius and my eyes widen.
“Sirius...? Where are your paws?”
Where his paws should be, there is no more. He looks down and smiles.
“I’m fading away! I’m actually fading away!” he cried happily. “They’re letting me go! When you fade, you go! When you fade, you go!” He laughed again.
“Where are you going, Sirius? I have more questions!” I exclaimed.
“I’ll find you then, if it is that which you desire.” his belly and chest began to disappear.
“How will you find me?”
“I just will. You gotta trust me on this one, unless they kill me. If the Endermen kill me, I know one way you’ll be able to find me. Or I to you.” his neck began to disappear.
“I don’t want you to die! I’ve no one to talk to, how long have you been in here?”
“I won’t die, neither will you. Time does not matter in a glitch. I’ll see you soon-” only his black eyes were visible now and I knew he was smiling anyways.
“hero-” and just like that, he was gone, a figure faded away. I was alone again. Not for long though, time doesn’t matter in a glitch.
***
“Have you seen Celeste?” I asked. “Nope. Sorry, Reg. I haven’t. Maybe you should look for her in her cabin?” I nodded and made my way to her cabin.
Once I reached her door, I knocked a few times, but she didn’t open the door. “It’s me, Regoreidin.” I said. She did not answer. “Oh, for the love of Notch,” I muttered. She isn’t there.
I walk out and into the crowd of people, laughing and shouting, and the others trying to help families set up their tents. How did this become my job? Out of everything?
“Oof!” I was too lost in the crowd, I bumped someone and fell down onto the grass and cobblestone pathways, and landed quick on my bottom. I groaned and cursed softly.
“Sorry!” she apologizes.
A girl who looks about the age of Celeste stands in front of me, staring at me. She seems most peculiar, for she had fair skin, and white hair which brushed against her back. Her blue eyes seemed to care deep, but being myself, I recognized her to as well be dangerous... She wore iron combat armor. On her belt, she had pouches full of different things and a scabbard with an clean, sharp iron sword. She had a diamond sword in one hand, which she hid quickly.
What was a girl like this doing on the camp grounds?
I quickly got up from the ground and brushed the dirt from my pants. She turned to disappear into the crowd, but I grabbed her by the arm in a strong grip and turned to face her, almost releasing my anger. Must not do that so, I promised myself.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to drain away the red from my face.
She stood still and tried to wriggle out of my grip. It didn’t work of course.
“I asked you a question.” I repeated. “Who are you?”
The girl hesitated but answered quite strongly, “That isn’t any of your business.” she turned away with her chin in the air.
“What are you doing here, huntress?” I asked, hoping I assumed right.
“I really need to go now.” I could see her slowly moving her sword, the tip sticking out from behind her. I clench my fist and soften it to intimidate her, I think it might make her tell me something.
“I won’t hurt you, but your fighting strategies nor your cleverness will trick me, huntress.” I can see a surprised look in her eyes. “Drop the weapon and we can have a chat near the fireplace. How’s that sound?”
“Let. Me. Go.” she hissed.
“What about, no?”
“You are making a mistake.” she threatened and furrowed her brow, and it all happened pretty fast, but not really.
She kicked me in my waist, but I stepped backwards in time. She tried to punch me in the face, but I bent over and in a flash of moves, we were moving through the crowd, dodging and sometimes able to hit each other.
“Who are you?” I shouted. She did not reply, but instead, took out another sword from her inventory and defended herself.
“Come at me, old man.” she threatened. I would not fall for it, but it wouldn’t be likely for her to actually defeat me. I could feel myself turning red, and opened my clenched fists to reveal a small light, glowing and growing brighter and brighter. The girl stared at my fist in awe, then at me.
“Who are you?” she asked, and she ran towards me in a flash of shouts that scared and horrified the crowd, whom began to run around me.
“I told myself I wouldn’t.” and I closed my eyes and let my mind take over. I don’t know what happened then and there, but when I opened my eyes, I remembered. With my memory, her figure slipped away.
Chapter 4. They All Come Back
In which victory is theirs, a door is opened, and more is remembered
With the last fading wisp of Sirius the cat, I stand up, and I pace around the room in annoyance, delirium, and controlled pandemonium. If that’s possible, I’m not entirely sure what I was feeling. Perhaps, imagine a “sucker-punch to the heart,” time three. It felt like that.
It didn’t take long, or maybe it did, until someone eventually came by as well. My visitor did not comfort me. Nor did he help me, but he took me by my arms. In a tight grip of his, and his fingers coiled around my arm. I let him be.
He cackled softly and pulled me across the floor. I heard a few grunts and groans. His sleek, long legs and thin body weren’t built for this. He muttered a word and I flew somewhere between his shoulders and his arm. I let him be.
I had no other options.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, a little hesitantly. I could feel his grin and his purple eyed gaze. With his whispery, hissing voice, he said,
“Enderlands. Home. Darkness. Power. Lord.” and he left it at that, and I let it be.
“Maybe you could lessen your grip?” I ask. “It tugs at my skin, making it red, and terribly uncomfortable.” with a strong attempt in confidence, I inhale and exhale continuously, and softly.
The Enderman said, “I do not take orders from the likes of you.”
I frowned and a cool feeling climbing up my chest stopped me from saying anything else, and the Enderman smiled wickedly.
“Stay completely still...”
I would’ve asked what he meant, but I couldn’t. My mouth was closed shut and my body still. Not this again, I think to myself frustratingly, and I feel my thoughts slipping away.
The absence of life around me, and the dark curls my hair around, lifting it up. Tugging at the wrinkles in my clothes and skin, and shutting my eyes forcibly and entirely.
Before I know it, I don’t know anything. What’s happening to me, why it is, where I am, when... Who am I?
Finally, at a piercing stop, my eyelids fall open and so does my hair, getting into my eyes irritably. I shake my head a little, causing the curls to fall aside and the Enderman to shout something in a foreign language, again.
As I blink my eyes open, my jaw drops, and I am able to talk.
What is the ground made of, nothing I’ve ever seen before. Perhaps a meteor, or a rare rock, or something else altogether. It was colorless and tough and resembled different blocks, with uneven holes poked into the side.
Tall, and from the looks of it, Obsidian, towers shoot out from the ground. Thick and dark and menacing. A bolt of white light from the top of the sky shot down to the top of the several Obsidian towers onto a block of similar, glowing light.
I would’ve noticed the sky at first, instead of the ground, but the fact that there was no sky, was hard to observe. It was colorless as well, but dark and harsh. It moved weirdly a few times, in wave patterns, but not really. I searched for where the light had struck down from, and I heard it.
A sort of wailing, screaming sound. Similar to the shout of the Endermen, but muffled in choked shrieks. I strained my eyes closer, and I saw the sky was not moving at all.
Blending in with the sky, a winged creature flew above me, emitting an eerie glow with it’s purple glare.
It opened it’s mouth wide, and no sound came out, but I could still hear it. Higher and stronger, I noted it’s tail and it’s body. Purple dust and the scent of dark magic trailed behind it.
The Dragon of The Dark King.
That’s what it was, in all those stories and legends of the Steve The Great and Powerful. Where he had vanquished it from existence.
Apparently not.
It flew towards me, before noticing something else and flying closer to an Obsidian tower and shooting down another streak of light.
“Where, where am I?” I mutter, feeling the sly grin of the Enderman gripping my skin.
“It would not hurt to tell you anymore, knowing that you have no more chances...” he lessened his grip, and with his free, sleek, bony hand, he said, “This is the Enderworld.” and I glanced towards the Endermen who stared back at me as I tried to avoid their gaze. The Enderman looked at the Endermen and shouted back at them in awe.
“Victory will be ours!” he shouted and a transparent box formed under me and grew, incasing me in it, and lifting me up above the Enderman’s head.
Even from the box, I could hear the chorus of cheers and shouts from below, with the raising of hands as they stopped what they were doing in order for this lovely, celebration of theirs. Or, I think it’s a celebration.
I, on the other hand, had no idea why this was happening. What did I have to do with anything, why was I so very important? I hit the walls of the transparent box and kicked at it, but it was no use. It was the strongest block I’ve ever seen, other than that sample of Bedrock I’ve seen in a museum before.
“Let me out!” I shouted in a fury. A line of excruciating anxiety attack my chest and found myself breathing heavily inside the box, hoping that I wouldn’t die, which I was 99% sure would happen.
I might’ve cursed a little bit too, but I was too worried and angry that I can’t remember a thing I said.
The Enderman below me grabbed the box in his arms and with a gesture of his hand, dismissed the Endermen and smiled at me.
“He will be so pleased.” he muttered tauntingly, before there was another black out in my head, and I was sure he was probably teleporting me somewhere. I was just worried where.
I opened my eyes and I was still in the box. It was wrapped in silver chains and floating more than fifty blocks off the ground, below it about fifty blocks away, was a small body of water.
It looked refreshing and innocent, and it looked a little safe too. Or, at least safer than hanging around in this box.
Other than that, the room was decorated with wooden bookshelves, but they were bigger, three blocks big for each shelf. It didn’t have any books too, just doors. They were all different colors and obviously, made with different materials as well.
One of the doors was mixed with redstone and glowstone dust and I could see a few puffs of smoke curling around the corners of the doorframe and the light flickering on and off.
They had signs in the middle of each door that either said “PUNISHMENT” or “ACHIEVEMENT” engraved in bold, diamond letters.
I wonder what it meant, but remembering my situation, it must not be good.
Just at that same moment, an Enderman appeared on the top of the transparent box I was enclosed in. He had a rusty, bronze key in his right hand and he held the lock chaining me up in the other. I looked at his hands, avoiding his gaze, and I saw him. Slipping the key greasily into the lock.
“No.” I muttered.
Before I knew it, he was gone, and my head hit the ceiling of the box quick and I just stared down at the body of water beneath me and the box broke open, once it fell into the water.
I coughed and sputtered, covering my eyes with my hands to avoid any of the glass shards. I looked at the flesh on my arms and my legs, and there were no cuts, just lines with red oozing out of it, painfully.
Once I saw the biggest of the glass shards settle on the floor a few ten blocks away, I kicked my legs and my arms and I swam up.
I inhaled deeply.
Oxygen. Air. I loved it so.
Once I had settled, and had lifted my legs to bring myself up on the floor, dripping wet from each strand of hair to my clothes, which clung to my skin annoyingly, I lay down.
“Thank Notch.” I muttered and opened my eyes to look around. The smallest of the glass shards surrounded me on the rough, wooden floor. I hit at it, at the wood, but nothing happened. Not like chopping off wood from trees in the woods. There, it would simply come off, and at the end of the day, I would rub my knuckles from the pain.
I looked around, and I saw only one door in front of me. It was a door made of obsidian and smudged ender eyes around it. It looked strange and it was a door’s purpose to lead someone somewhere.
It smelled of nothingness, but it gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
Engraved in the center of the door in smudged letters, I could only make out the last four letters. MENT.
“Go on.” I turned ‘round to see an Enderman standing in the corner, wearing dark shades over it’s eyes. “We’re letting you go.”
“You’re lying.” I hissed. I hope they really were, I’m debating with myself if this really is a dream or not. Maybe I’ve gone mental...
“We do this two ways, kid.” he said. “One, you go through the door and we won’t do you no harm. Two...” he snapped his fingers and two Endermen wearing similar dark shades walked in beside him. Then another two, and another two, until they surrounded me completely.
“We escort you there. You’re choice.” I looked around, a worried expression on my face as I was on the verge of crying. I looked at the door and at the now grinning Endermen.
“You have 5 seconds to think, or...” he clenched his fist.
“5...” I looked at the Enderman blankly, and I thought about my real life with Regoreidin and Eres and everyone else.
“4...” I stared around at the Endermen beside him, beside each other, and I thought of as many possibilities as I could of why this was happening to me.
“3...” I looked at the door, and thought of nothing.
“2...” I read the letters on the door, MENT. Perhaps this was “meant” for me or something...
“1...” I closed my eyes and I whispered, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” and tried tapping my shoes together.
“0...” I opened my eyes and I was still there. Dang it, Dorothy.
“What is your decision, kid? We haven’t more time.”
Hesitantly, I took a step towards the door, and another, and another. I could feel the hairs on my skin stand up and I began to shiver slightly.
I was already face to face with the door, that the tip of my nose brushed against the obsidian.
“You’re slow, kid.” I heard him say.
The door opened as if by itself, and I felt a number of hands, or maybe they were bones, push me into through the door and I fell to the grassy floor below me.
I caught myself with my hands and stood up.
“Let me out!” I cried. “They’ll look for me!” I heard the Endermen snicker through the door.
“Soon, there will be no “they.” Soon.” I heard them leave, and I heard a click in the key-hole and the key slide to the floor.
I was alone, and I only had some time to realize my surroundings. The once grassy ground gave way to a floor of wooden planks, muddy boot prints and the average bread crumbs scattered. The room began to form and transition, as if it was a ripple in a pond.
It was he living room of the Woodland Cabin. I looked around and everything was, exactly, the same as it was and is. It was peculiar and confusing, and I didn’t like it.
“Tiring!” I heard a deep, male voice call. It was comforting, and it was owned by the only Regoreidin I knew. He walked in tired and exhausted, and fell onto the couch, kicking off his shoes and using the side of the couch to keep them up.
Another girl came in, and I recognized her as another staff member. She wore a yankees baseball cap and tied her blonde hair in a messy ponytail. She was big and muscular and she loomed over you like a giant.
Her name was Andrea.
Her brother came in. He was another employee. His hair was a messy, mousy brown and his shirt was worn the wrong way. He didn’t notice it though, but he was smiling.
His name was Felix.
“Aren’t we so glad?” Regoreidin mumbled. “That she’s finally gone?”
They all nodded and smiled, and from nowhere, they raised some wine bottles and cheered. They gulped it down.
“Celeste, why didn’t she leave sooner?” said Andrea. Felix smiled.
“It made my - our lives, so much easier.” he said. They laughed and gulped down another bottle, and I stood there confused for awhile.
“Regoreidin?” I muttered. I reached my hand and tapped him on the shoulder, only for his figure to fade a little, as my hand went through him. He was no Regoreidin. It was worrying me.
Then the floor changed again. Soon, the walls did too. They turned brighter, as the small flames of candles lit them up, and lamps hung from the ceiling.
A long wooden table grew in the center of the floor, and I hopped out of its way. Paintings of meadows formed on the walls, and the fireplace was ablaze with charcoal and orange embers.
It was familiar, and I knew where I was.
Two people walked in.
One was a woman, she looked young and graceful and happy. In her left hand, she held a tray of plates and spoons and forks, and in the other hand a vase of roses and daffodils. Red and yellow.
Her hair rested on her shoulders, her brown chestnut hair, which fell against her fair skin. With bright, golden highlights in a few strands. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were a dark brown and her lips were a restful red.
The other was a man. He looked strong and happy and by the look on his face, laughing. Quietly laughing. He put down a large pick-axe, silver and bronze, in a corner of the room and took in a deep breath, that I could hear it from across the room.
He had a few ink and charcoal smudges on his face, but that didn’t change his mood. Although, he was tired and sweating, he was happy. His skin was tanned a nice brown and his hair was midnight black and curly. His eyes were a bright brown.
My mother. My father.
I remembered.
They sat down at the table and called a name, “Cel!” my mother called, in her sweet, tinkling voice. “Come to the table, we’re having your favorite soup for dinner!” and she smiled.
“Coming, ma!” From a corridor in the room, a little girl appeared. Seemed only to be the age of five or six. Her hair was braided, and her dress was a light white and blue. She was happy too. We were the same person, and I was feeling happy.
I watched from the corner, speechless, and in awe.
She sits at the table and the scent of the soup in a large bowl in the middle of they table filled the room. The family says their grace and begins to serve the vegetables and the soup. The little girl drank it with delight and the room was warm and happy.
I approached the table and I took a bowl and a spoon and the soup. I dipped the spoon into the soup and brought it to my mouth and sipped it, and I felt it warm my throat, and my chest, and my arms, and my legs, and my heart. I felt like I belonged.
“Thanks ma, thanks pa.” The little girl said cheerily.
I mouthed the words of my parents. “We love you too.”
I blinked my eyes and rubbed my sleeve on my eyes. I was happy, and I wasn’t. I was very, very miserable. Very miserable.
Things only got worse. The scene changed again and I could smell smoke and I coughed on my sleeve and covered my eyes.
Like the fire in the chimney, it was tall and warm, but it was not comforting. I stood at the door, and I backed away and caught myself as I fell on the grassy floor. The flames whispered in my ears, and I crawled backwards, gasping.
“Help! Somebody! Anybody!” I heard. “Help!” I stood up, and with a tear falling down my face in confusion, I brushed the soot of myself and I ran. I heard the voice getting louder, and it was crying and screaming and it was little. Two people were stuck in between the boards of the burning house and the little girl’s hand clung on to that of her mother and the other hand clung on to that of her father.
“I’m not leaving you!” I heard her shout. I was still running to her, but I was not moving or going anywhere.
“We’ll be fine, Celeste. Let go, and run.” her mother said, crying. “Hurry, you mustn’t be late!” her father hugged her from where he stood stuck. Punching at the burning wood.
Her mother reached into her pocket and took out a chain with a pendant on it. She held out her hand to Celeste.
“Take it, my child. Take it and go, we love you. We will always love you. Keep safe. Keep safe.” the child took the chain from her and tugged on her hand.
“No!” she shouted. “No!” and she screamed and kicked at the hot burning wood and the cackling of the birds flying by the burning cottage of wood and straw.
“Go, Celeste!” he shouted. “Go!” and I could not do anything. The little girl ran and ran and ran, into the forest and the night. Under the trees and the stars in between the shadows and the light, so that she could have the moonlight’s comfort.
She cried as she ran and I ran with her, for I am her, and she is my shadow. Soon, she disappeared, and I was running in her place. From behind, I could hear the wailing and the shouting.
The loud beating of wings.
Chapter 5. Accidental Discovery
In which it is defeated, she is found and lost again, and a world is accidentally discovered by another
“What was that?” I clutch the folds on my shirt and turn around. I see nothing, it’s just dark, a little to dark. The air was still and the night was cold, and I was worried, the dark was moving. The trees covered in black were moving, swaying, mourning a loss, yet celebrating victory. I did not understand.
I could hear it, moaning and growling. I did know where the sound was coming from, and then I looked above me.
It was bigger than I thought, and it was very, very close. I could feel now, the beating of the wind beneath it’s wings and it’s chilly warm breath. It’s purple gaze was mesmerizing.
I heard it say something, like ‘fish alley,’ and then it opened it’s mouth. Revealing rock-hard, needle-sharp, bone-white teeth. It’s jaws hung open, from one smiling point to the other, and it cackled. It let out a deafening roar. My body shook, from my head to my toes, and I could feel goosebumps pop out from my skin and all the hairs on my skin stand straight up.
I did the stupidest thing I could’ve ever done. I began to run.
I felt the ground shake with every step I took, the branches in my hair and the scratches on my face. The grass stuck to my legs and the blood running down them. The leaves were sharp and the branches were tough, and this was no ordinary forest.
“Regoreidin!” I shouted. “Regoreidin!” I tried looking behind me, and saw a blur of my brown hair, dark air, and dragon. A big, black, purple eyed dragon. It began to spread it’s wings and with a last grin, it flew up into the air, and I looked up.
It was now right above me, and a sight like it in flight was bigger than my mind could behold and more than my heart could believe. It roared again, and again, echoing in my ears and the forest trees. Which wrapped around my world and, unluckily, my left foot. I tripped and caught myself on the bleeding rough palms of my hands.
I cry out in pain and for a quick curious moment, I feel the hot embers on my face. I see a cottage and a fire again, and I see myself. Running from it. I didn’t understand it.
Then I saw him.
He was an Enderman as well, but his chest glittered and he held his head high. He wore silver armor, that gleamed purple and blue, and I had a sense of something unordinary was about to happen. He held up a bronze sword, heavy and bright, with a letter engraved on the blade: H. I did not know what it meant, but I knew something else.
His sword danced, like the flame, or the flame was the sword. The sword gave out puffs of smoke and red hot embers like the fire, that swirled around the blade and the sword’s handle, and the Enderman’s bony fingers to his feet. He grinned and looked at me, then disappeared.
I was at a loss for words. I knew I was going to die right now, tonight, and I couldn’t remember what I was doing before all this happened. I knew something, and it was that I was not going to die without trying.
It was lowering down to me, and I caught the breath and the strength to run a little ahead of it by, maybe, a few inches.
“Come and get it!” I shouted, and I heard it whisper something like ‘food itch’ and I shiver again, but I stand up straight and brush the dirt from my clothes.
“For my family!” I shout, and the dragon lowers in front of me and lets out a screech aggressively. It opens its eyes, but instead of a dark swirling purple, I see a blinding white inside and it screeches again. Except, not in anger or triumph, but in fear.
A soft, bright green light swirls around my feet, climbing up my legs and my waist and my neck. It tickles my hair and my face, and I feel refreshed. A blue light wraps itself alternatively around me as well and I suddenly smell the soft scents of my world and my life.
It climbs up the veins in my hand and it seeps in slowly, and I feel something weird in my chest, and I realize that my whole being is glowing. Weird patterns glow on my arms and my legs and from it, a giant figure is formed from me, made of light. Soon, I become something like a giant version of me, wearing full armor with a glittering diamond sword in hand, or something stronger than diamond.
I did nothing, but I thought of fighting and I felt angry, and the light being encasing my body held the sword strongly and slashed it against the dragon’s back and his scales glowed purple, and he just disappeared.
In a pile of purple dust.
The light being around me was gone and I was lying on the ground, feeling like I had been paralyzed or I was just hit by lightning. That wasn’t the case though, and I helped myself up and grinned widely.
“Regoreidin?”
He smiled back at me.
I didn’t realize it was him at first, he looked taller, and older, and more mature. He wore a red cloak over his face, lined with golden patterns. His eyes were the same, and his nose and his smile... But his hair was longer and lighter, and he had more wrinkles than I would’ve remembered.
In his right hand, he held a long, tall stick. It was brown, the sides scratched and rigid. He held out his left hand and helped me up.
“How did you find me here?” I asked.
“I followed you, of course. I followed the trail you made.” he looked up at the ceiling, for there was no more sky and no more trees and grass. The whole room was blank and it remained a dark black. “You have a very strong aura. Stronger than those of the Grand Wizards. No wonder they found you so quickly.”
I cocked my head to one side, “What are you talking about? Do you know what is happening? Do you know what I just went through, like, at this very moment?” I put my hands on my hips, panting.
“Look at my hands and my legs!” I showed him the palms of my hand, the blood drying up on my skin, but I could still feel it sting.
“You’re right. I have to get you to Nurse Altha.” I shook my head.
“Did you hear anything I just said? Hello?”
“Leonine will explain later, Cel. I have no time to do it myself, bring word of me to Leonine. Tell him I’ve returned.”
“For Aether’s Sake, Reg! What in Nexus are you talking about?” Regoreidin looked at me and frowned.
“Do not speak of The City Of Nexus in that tone, it is troublesome and luring. Unless you want to die, or worse, speak not of it.”
“What is with this new accent?”
“Celeste! Snap out of it!” he cried. “You are in terrible danger, I have to go and you do too-”
“Where am I going?”
“To the Alliance of course, they will help you there. A lot has changed since you left the Overworld. Do you know how long you’ve been here?” I shake my head. “For a month. You’ve been gone for a month. Or maybe a week or three. Time doesn’t have a pattern here in the Enderworld.”
I sniff and I feel something wet fall from my cheek, and I wrap my arms around Regoreidin’s neck. “I was so scared. Where were you?”
“I have to go.” he released and turned to his staff. It now was a dark gold with blue carvings on the side, and a large, gold colored diamond on the tip, which glowed black and purple.
“Are you leaving me again?”
He muttered a few words, while holding the staff, shutting his eyes tight. With a final glance, he waved his hand and he was gone, and I had a feeling that I was not in Enderworld. Not anymore.
***
“Is she gone?” I ask. I emerge from behind my own cloak, which Regoreidin had lent me. It allows one to be unseen by the naked eye.
“I transported her into the hands of Leonine and The Alliance. They are expecting her, but not like this, Annie. Not like this.”
I was that girl in the crowd earlier, he had blasted me with some kind of golden celestial light. I had been knocked to the ground, paralyzed for a few seconds, then I ran away.
He caught up with me soon enough. I knew it would be suicide to try and cross him again, so I tried shooting him with an arrow as he entered my campout in the forest. He dodged it simply. I tried again and again, but he dodged it still, and caught a few, and stuck them into the wood of a few trees or threw them at the ground.
“Anastasia.” he called, and I became confused. In my travels, I have told nobody of my true name, for it was hard to speak of, and hard to trust. But there was a man in front of me, who I have only known for a few minutes, including a fight. I have told nobody. He knew my name.
I lowered my self down to him, and I asked him what he did to me back there. He told me he was merely angry, and he just wanted to know who I was without remembering.
I put down my weapons, and I told him about myself. About how I’ve been living with myself, untrusting, for 10 years. How I almost reached my home, with my mother and my father. My father, battling away the creatures courageously, while my mother and I hurried off. They left me and told me they would come back, “We’ll come back for you, Anastasia!” I told him how my house had burned down and her village as well.
I did not cry, I did not allow myself too, but he did. He told me to cry, he let me cry. So I did, and he told me that the world wasn’t perfect and that it was the work of balance. It did not like itself.
He told me that the balance of our world was growing weaker. He told me that the world is sometimes not satisfied with the amount of power it holds. It is our job to keep that balance. I told him I did not like the dark, and that all I wanted was light, and happiness. He told me that I did not really want that. He told me I wanted balance.
For the past weeks, I haven’t seen the Sun. Only the moon, and monsters, more monsters, are doing the same thing they did to my village. The destruction and pain, dotted around the lands of the Overworld.
I had sworn to secrecy, to help the Alliance, after those weeks with him, and I have someone to trust. He can never replace my father although. I know nothing of magic, but I will soon, for the Alliance. I will follow in my father’s footsteps. If he died for my safety, I have to do something.
So here, I am now. The world is in pandemonium, or it is beginning to, and I am here in the Enderworld with Regoreidin.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask him.
“They do not know I’m alive. My honor died with me when I disappeared, you know that.” I nodded.
“Why don’t you go back? You have no more to lose.” Regoreidin thought for a moment and nodded. I will, but there is really one more thing I have to do here.”
“What is it?”
He took from his cloak an old tattered piece of parchment. It rolled up from the sides to the center.
“How is this going to help? I have weapons, you know.” I brushed a strand of hair from my face to my shoulders.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“You’ve already asked me that once, how old are you?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t become very important to me after I left the Alliance. I was tired and I guess that in my youth, the appreciation I got just wasn’t enough. I was once young, and I was once very, very stupid. Much like you.”
I was taken aback. “Hey! I’m not stupid!” I shout, taking out my dagger. “You’re stupid!” I shout. I run towards him, but stop mid-way. He’s trying to get to me.
“All the best people start out as stupid. No one really is stupid. It’s just a word, Annie, don’t let it get to you. You say you are a ruthless killer, and you can be ruthless if you really wanted to.” Regoreidin turned his back. “But words do not bite and words do not scratch, if words hurt you, what kind of killer are you?”
He smiled.
“Exactly.”
He waved his hand in a following gesture, and I put the cloak back on, scowling. I was not born to put up with this. I follow him anyway, now, I have something to lose, and I intend not to lose it.
Chapter 6. Allied
In which almost all is explained, something is promised, and another is somewhat healed
“Regoreidin!” I shout, kicking at the wall. I take in a deep breath and continue, “Reg, get me out, or so help me, I will-” I sigh. There’s no point in doing this. He’s either gone, or I left.
I am no longer in a blank room, nor am I surrounded by tall, eerie men with purple eyes and midnight black skin. No need for such descriptions. It appears that I am now in a room of some kind of gold.
It is a shimmery, cold gold.
The room smelled like wild roses. I did not know why I thought that. I had smelled roses before, and I thought they were innocent and secretive. I don’t know what would make a rose wild.
The room was only ten feet long and maybe seven feet tall. I could reach up my hands (and maybe even tip-toe) and my palm and fingers could brush against the ceiling. The room had four walls and I had only noticed now, that there were signs on all but one wall. To my left, a sign said: BEFORE. Behind me, a sign says: NOW. To my right, the sign is blank.
I trace the word ‘now’ on the sign behind me while repeating aloud but softly, “Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why-”
There was a sound behind me, that sounded something like a rusty door being opened, years after it had stopped being opened. I looked behind me, and I did not feel surprised at all.
Another man, young and handsome, stood where the last wall used to be. His hair was a dark brown, which she almost mistook for black, it stood out. A few strands of hair went to his left, the other to his right, and the rest tangled with every other tuft of hair altogether.
His eyes were blue. I had never seen anyone who had blue eyes. Maybe there was one time when I had seen a few guests who had blue eyes, but I didn’t pay attention to them. It would’ve made them feel awkward.
His skin was fair, it grew tanner and darker to his hands, but it transitioned greatly or so I think.
He wore a cloak, similar to Regoreidin’s, but it was an ocean blue. It had strange patterns on the edges of the fabric, sewed in with silver thread. His cloak shimmered, a little. He wore long, black boots, that reached halfway to his knees. His shirt and pants were hidden by the cloak.
He gave me a weird look and took out a small book, as big as the palm of my hand and a long wooden staff from behind his back, and I had no idea where it came from.
“Speak your business here, human.” he said heavily. I put both my hands up.
“I-” I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“What’s your name?”
“Why do you wa- want to kn- know?” he pointed the tip of his long staff at me.
“I will fire without mercy, tell me who you are, and you shall not be harmed.” he threatened. I backed up against the wall and tried to open my mouth.
“I’m Celeste, Celeste Lux, I’m 18 years old. I promise no harm, I haven’t done anything. I don’t know where I am or how I got here and-” the man raised his hand, and I stopped immediately.
“I’ve heard enough, you may exit and walk with me. We have things to discuss.” he showed no change in emotion, and he backed away from where he stood. I cautiously walked forward and through the wall that wasn’t there.
I just stood there in awe.
I was on a long balcony, overlooking a majestic looking hall. There were marble columns on both sides of the hall with red tarps hung onto them. Showing the mane of a lion, where the lion’s face should’ve been, there was a letter ‘A’ engraved in gold.
The floor was covered in a glistening red and a welcoming aroma of roasted chestnuts and something oddly familiar. The ceiling had a few more balconies. From the columns. As if an illusion, the columns grew bigger and thicker towards the top and became somewhat towers, with people playing lyres and chatting merrily.
The hall below was filled with people. Some I could not see their faces, hidden by long cloaks and robes. Some were wearing diamond armor like none I had ever seen before, and were proposing toasts from table to table. There were some women, dressed fancy with big, cloudy gowns and jewelry. Dancing across the floors with others, having the grandest time in the world.
They looked happy for the end of the world.
“Come with me.” the man said again. I looked away from the balcony’s edge and followed him. Down a few halls and people, who gasped or made way or whispered or bowed when I walked by.
Whatever are they doing that for, I thought.
“We’ve been awaiting your arrival for, very long, Celeste.” he explained, as if I had told to him my thoughts aloud.
Soon, we arrived at a circular shaped room, with arches of wooden shelves filled from edge to edge with old parchments and books. The ceiling was high, with a candlelit chandelier hanging above, which seemed like the only source of light in the whole room.
A table with two chairs, a normal wooden meeting table, sat lowly in the center of the room. The man took a seat at the head of the table, and I followed him, taking a seat in the opposite head.
There was an awkward silence for a few moments until I could take it no more.
I ask, “Why am I here? Who are you, where am I, what am I doing here, why were those people bowing to me, how did I end up here-”
“You have too many questions!” he exclaimed, loudly.
“I only asked six questions.”
“And there were many more to come.” I slumped down into my seat, stubbornly. I did not understand the world anymore.
“Look, I’m lost and scared and I don’t know what is happening to my life anymore. Can you please help me? Can you loose that serious attitude, I’ve gotten enough of that from Regoreidin. He told me I had to go to The Alliance, and I haven’t an idea what my life has to do with that-”
“Regoreidin?”
“Stop interrupting me!” the man chuckled in his spot for a while, then his face became unreadable and he frowned. He reached out his hand to pat me on the back, but I inched away and he put his palm flat on the table instead.
He said, “My child. You are confused. How do you know of Regoreidin?”
“He said I needed to go here. I am now. Regoreidin, I’ve been working for him back at home. Or, Woodland Campsites.”
“Woodland Campsites?” I nod. “That place doesn’t exist anymore. It was one of the first areas in The Overworld to be wiped out by the first attacks of the Mob. Many of the people there died, except for the few who survived the first thirty minutes. It was a brutal slaughter. We took the survivors here. And they live happily, and they live unaware. Plus...” he stroked his chin, as if there was supposed to be a beard there.
“Regoreidin has been dead for decades.” I stood there dumfounded for a minute then I asked him.
“What are you talking about? What attacks? Regoreidin isn’t dead. I just said so!”
“Regoreidin was a very powerful battle mage back in his time. The most powerful and loyal battle mage. Unfortunately, after a past task given to him by the Wizards Of The Grand Alliance, he disappeared. We tried tracing his aura and his being, but it was not found. We assumed he had died during his journey, since no other battle mage we sent before him had returned either.”
“A battle mage? No, he can’t be!”
“Why not?”
“Number one, he is the assistant manager of the campsite. Number two, he’s only been alive for two or three decades. Number three, he gets drunk, very easily I should add! Number four, I’ve known since, forever. Number five, he’s just not cool enough!”
This time, the man was really laughing his head off, “You think battle mages are, how do you moderns say it, cool?” he chuckled. “Well, at least now I can notify the others to that he is in fact alive. Say, where did you come from?” his mood lightening up a little more.
“The Enderworld. A fireless hell.”
“Do not compare the Enderworld to Nexus!”
“You know it’s true!” his face grew red and I knew now was a good time to shut up. As Regoreidin had taught me.
“I’m sorry, please continue.” I looked down at my feet.
“No, no. I’m sorry.” he apologized. “I should not treat you that way, but your knowledge of our world, you are a latecomer. You do not know what you should, and you have already lost one of the most important keys to our future. Your knowledge on the practice of magic, you only know of their legends.”
“What?”
“I shall begin at the beginning of the Alliance.” the man muttered a few words. Suddenly, a thick, hard covered, leather book appeared in front of him. It was covered in a wrinkly gold with the letter ‘A’ on it, engraved in a bloody, murky red.
The man opened it and began to tell of the Alliance.
In the beginning of time, and of Minecraftia itself, there were two brothers. The older brother’s name was Brine, and the younger brother’s name was Notch. They ventured through the lands in search of adventure, before that one night.
When they had dug deep down to the core of an ancient cave, they had reached a glitch. A ditch. A rift, a tunnel from deep into the structure and the core that made our land. Brine was taken in, through the tunnel.
Ever since then, Notch could not reach into the binding that made Minecraftia, because that would mean destroying his brother. For Notch, is a kind, forgiving ruler. He created man, the man we know as Steve. He created him in his likeness to adventure, to explore the world and share to his world.
He created the world to a place where Steve could call his home. Notch never realized that Brine was not dead, but very much alive. He had taken in him the essence and molded it into his being, and he sacrificed his memories and his vulnerable mortal feelings into what he is now.
From the nowhere, he created the City of Nexus, or the Nether. Where he could sometimes, steal the souls of Notch’s living beings and drive them into insanity and pandemonium. They would end up in the Nether. But Brine was smart, and he knew Notch would find out sooner or later. Yes, Brine still remembered Notch. But only as his enemy. He returned to the nowhere, where he had taken it’s essence, and he hatched an idea.
He called the nowhere, the Void. There, he took the already corrupt souls from the Nether, and instead of making them suffer for eternity, he did something worse. He added the essence of the Void inside of them, and quickly, they changed. The corrupt souls grew bodies. They were literally dead souls in living bodies, brought to life by the Void’s essence.
And from this, he created the remaining souls into his own evil creations and found a tunnel, the same tunnel, the rift, he took from the Overworld to The Void. He released the creatures there and they repopulated. They haunted the villages and destroyed them, killing people in their paths.
We still have no way of changing them back, and Notch cannot hurt his only brother. There is still a bond between them, which Brine cannot and refuses to find.
Steve, Notch’s first creation, had already become aware of Notch’s struggle, for he was able to communicate with Notch unknowingly. Through this, Notch had told him about the upcoming battles he would have to face.
Steve knew that he could not be around for too long, and he had lived on Minecraftia for many years. He had created cities and communities. He taught people how to defend their homes from Brine’s monsters, and for a long while, there was balance in the world.
But balance is not enough for Brine. He wanted more. More power over others and more power over the universe. He crafted the ultimate monsters again mankind.
The Ender Dragon. He made it with all his strength, power, and of course the essence of the Void. It was only himself and Notch, who knew that deep inside the corrupt heart of the Ender Dragon, was a piece of Brine’s soul. It leaked out of the Enderworld and began to attack the Overworld. About half of the world’s population were killed and only about a hundred were not harmed at all throughout the whole attack.
People began spreading rumors about the Dragon and it’s creator, and his name went around as Herobrine.
Meanwhile, Brine had created a small vortex, big enough to transport him to The Aether, where Notch was at the moment. Notch knew that he could not destroy the creature, for it had a piece of Brine’s soul within its heart. He welcomed Brine into his domain, Brine had no power in The Aether anyways.
Brine had told his brother why he had done all this and he asked Notch to join him, and make the world a better place than what Notch had created it to be. Brine had told him about the fascinating things he had learned about The Void, and the lands he had created. He told him every single thing. He knew that for sure, Notch would join him.
Although, he was wrong. Notch declined the offer. With only little, but strong power, Brine attacked Notch. He was foolish, and Notch countered the attack quickly. The battle was done too quickly, and Notch transported Brine back to The Enderworld. Brine was enraged, but by that time, Notch had already taken Steve to The Enderworld to kill the dragon. It was best for the people of The Overworld, and for the greater good of Brine.
Notch could see Brine was not fully evil, but he was so close, and Notch did not want that to happen. But he could not interfere with him, and had to send another.
Steve journeyed there, discovering the army of Endermen which Brine had raised during Steve’s absence. And for a moment, Steve was dead. There were too many Endermen and it was too much even for a skilled fighter. Brine announced that they had won and that victory was theirs, but it was not over.
Notch still had a piece of Steve’s soul inside of him, and he sacrificed a piece of his beating heart, to give Steve immortality. Of course, Notch was immortal, but he still has the feelings of a human. It took a while to heal, and Notch could still be defeated. But not entirely.
Steve was stronger than ever, and his power was more than the mind can behold, and Brine was not prepared for it. No one is so sure how that battle went, but The Ender Dragon was killed, Brine disappeared, and Steve came back to The Overworld. Beaten and bruised, but nursed back to health slowly.
So came the beginning of the Alliance. During the attacks and the awareness of Herobrine, Steve formed the Alliance. It started with his few friends, then their friends, and soon enough, every survivor. They promised to their own oath and served their purpose to Minecraftia.
Steve is the founder of The Alliance. He was already awarded several times by the chiefs and leaders of several villages and communities and by the time, he was known across the world. In which, he contacted them, and they agreed to join together to protect the world.
The Alliance was never, although, announced to the public, for they feared that the forces of evil, and of the now infamous Herobrine, would find them. Many people around the world are part of the Alliance. Acting normally, not giving anything away, only members of the Alliance, the true members, know and can identify one another.
The man cleared his voice. “We protect the world in secret.”
He closed the book and stared at me. “A little too long, I know.” he muttered.
I stood up from my spot immediately. “You’re protecting people from the truth.” I said, walking over to his seat. “That isn’t right, and you still haven’t told me what I have to do with, all this!”
“Calm yourself, that’s something that needs a little exploring, for, we’ve been waiting for you even before you existed. Come, I’ll take you to your bedchambers.”
The man stood up and guided me down another long hall, this time without any people, only statues and paintings hung on the walls. Portraits of people I didn’t know and statues of people I’ve never seen.
There was a tall doorway at the end of the hall, actually, a lot of them. Lined up in rows, side by side. He held the knob of one of the doors, a tall wooden one lined with silver and sprinkled with gold, and turned it.
It opened to a silver bedroom. A four poster bed stood in the farthest side of the room, dark blue sheets and purple pillowcases. Small, golden pillars lined the room and pictures of the sun and the moon were posted between them.
A few chairs and a table stood in front of a roaring fire, soft and welcoming, and I sat by the fire, and hugged my knees.
“Is anything wrong?” the man asked.
“It’s been a long day.” I answered. I looked at the man again, “Wait, you haven’t told me your name.” he smiled.
“I am the Seeker, Celeste. I am Leonine Cupitor. Now, get some rest, another long day is ahead and I have to arrange a meeting for me to introduce to you your brothers and sisters. Like myself.”
He shook my hand, but I jerked away afterwards. “Brothers? Sisters?”
“Yes.” I shake the thought away.
“What about Regoreidin?”
“Regoreidin is a talented wizard, as I have told you, a battle mage. We should not be worried. He has come into contact with himself, remembered his past. If he has not come to us yet, he is either dead, which is unlikely now, or he has something to do.” Leonine shrugged.
Leonine walks towards the door, and before shutting it completely, he mutters ‘good-night’ and disappears.
I walk over to my bed, and without cleansing myself or properly changing, I fall onto the bed. Tucking myself in and crying myself into dreamless sleep.
***
I can already sense that the master will not be pleased when I tell him what has happened, what will he do to a lowly Enderman like me?
I climb up the spiraling staircase in the highest of the obsidian towers, where the master currently stays. Lives without living, undetected and unfound. A small tear in the highest wall, just a block below the beacon. The tear is literally a rip in existence. It shouldn’t even be there.
The tear flickers gray and white, and I cautiously slip my right leg into it, then my left leg, until I fully appear in the master’s throne room.
He sits atop his throne in the center of the dark room. His throne being the only source of light. His throne moans and wails silently, made of decaying corpses and chained souls.
“Master.” I bow down in front of his throne and stand up again. Try to be strong, Corone, I tell myself. “I come to deliver some bad news, Your Darkest One.”
He turns to stare at me with his pale, emotionless, white eyes. “What is your news, Enderman?”
“The girl has been rescued and sent elsewhere, guards have sighted Regoreidin, the battle mage. They are trying to find him and capture him but he is too -”
“What?” the master asked. He stood up from this throne and looked at me. “You let them escape?” he lifts up his hand, clenches his fist and pulls it towards himself. I can feel something, grab my waist and pull me up from the ground, moving closer to the master. He drops me down onto the floor.
“I want every Enderman on their case, it is not the right time for me to defeat her, for I am still weak.”
“What about the construction of the lands, your Evil Lordship?”
“Are you questioning my orders? Are you questioning my orders!” he lifts up his fist again and punches it forward.
I am being lifted up again, and with quick force, smashed onto a wall that isn’t there. I stand up in a daze with the master before me.
“I will blind you, Enderman. Your left eye is already injured, and if you acted properly now, I would’ve healed it!” he shouted. Why do I have to be such an idiot?
The master shook his head and told me to sit down. I did as he told me, sitting down on the floor in front of his throne, not muttering a single word or a single sound.
“Do you know why I have called you in here?” he called me here? Oh well, I just have to go with it. I shake my head.
“Of course not, tell me, Hawthorne, the story of your left eye?” I gulp and, with my mouth quivering, I tell him my story.
“I was in the Overworld, because I and a few other had found the portal that you sent us through, to be your spies. I had only been in the Overworld for a day, and already half of the spies you sent were dead. The sunlight and the water, murderers all of ‘em. When the sun set below the horizon, I travelled quicker and came across a small village. It was marvelous, nothing I had ever seen before.
“I came into the light, and saw the people there. They did not notice me at first, but a smaller man, brown skinned in black clothing, looked at me and shouted, “Mob!”
“The whole crowd looked at me and everything became, crazy. I grabbed the nearest weapon, a diamond scythe lying around in a place labeled “BLACKSMITH’S” and I was good at fighting them. I killed a few lot of them, and they only gave me some cuts and soon-to-be bruises. Until he came.
“A man dressed fully in diamond armor, and I had met my match. He charged towards me and the real battle started. I had injured the man very badly after a minute of battling and the villagers were too scared to fight. I began to weave my portal to return back to the Enderworld, when I turned around and there was the man and his sharp sword...
“Me and my left eye were never the same again.” the master nodded.
“Yes, okay. I will offer you something you cannot refuse. Now, I have realized your skill. You are one of the only Endermen who actually learned great weapon skill on your own before... Never mind. Anyways, realizing your skills, I offer you a bigger role in the conquering of the Overworld and The Aether. You may speak your mind.”
I rubbed my hands together,
“How am I to take on a bigger role with my left eye damaged. I’m so sorry, you - your Darkest One. I cannot accept your offer.”
“Oh, but I can fix that. Do not trick me or lie to me, Hawthorne, my consequences are worse that death and you know it. Swear to me first that you will help me and I will help you.” I gulped again and recited.
““I swear to the Dark One. To the flight of the Dragon. I swear to the Ender Lands and my people. I swear to myself and the Balance undone.” I bow to my feet. The master nods.
“Very well. I shall not fully heal your eye. This gives a chance to tweak it’s vision.” He says a few words, none I can understand, and he shoots a purple bolt into my eye, knocking me backwards. Again. I moan again and open my right eye, same as always. Then, my left and I am astounded beyond measure.
My vision, I can see! I can even see shades of purple and I can zoom into Ender particles! I go forth to the Dark One.
“Thank you, your Darkest. May your soul be blessed with shadow.” the Dark Lord stares at me.
“Stay away, Corone. Your first orders, to determine your skill, is quite challenging. You have back-up anyway. Here is what you are going to do...” I lean in closer to listen to his orders.
NOTICE: The content has become too long, click here to continue: NEXT
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Bio:
Appearance:
Personality:
Good or Evil?
Other:
Characters accepted:
The Observer, Evil (TBA) Griss the Zombie Pigman, Good (Will appear in Ch. 8-10)
Raht, the Nightmare, Evil (Will appear in Ch. 8)
Anastasia the Human, Good (Appeared Ch. 3)
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Disclaimer
All rights go to MOJANG, for I do not own any part of Minecraft. If there is any of use of Herobrine in this story, please note that he is a fictional character. He is not real and he never will be real in MOJANG's Minecraft. All characters, events, settings, and other, are all fictional. If there are any connections from any of the things used in this story to reality, it is coincidental. Of course, this is my fan fiction, but all rights go to MOJANG and The Minecraft Forum Team.
Very nice, and that's just from the first two chapters!
(When I saw the original Visions To The Past thread, I thought to myself, this is a lot of chapters to read. So I put it aside. Now, this gives me a chance to read it little by little!)
I like that your main character is a girl because I don't see that very often on the Literature forums. It's good that you're doing something different! (I like different sometimes) Speaking of different, you could have gone with the dystopia type of story with the setting you choose. But that's just me and it is your story. I also like your writing style, how you describe Celeste's memories of the Woodland Campsite and her emotions.
I think the only thing I could really tell you to improve on is the time other characters are introduced. Giving a longer introduction of characters would be nice because, as interesting as Celeste's journey is, it would give the readers more time and reason to connect with the people Celeste meets.
Other than that, amazing job.
Oh, also...
Name: Anastasia "Annie" Vershinin
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race: Human (Russian also if you haven't noticed...)
Bio: Since she was 10 years old, fighting was her one and only thing she could rely on for survival. She lived in a village full of different people with different nationalities. These people only know that they are different, none of the specifics (as in if someone is Mexican or British or something else).
All her life, Annie's been all alone since her parents left her when she was 10. She vaguely remembers that night.
Endermen, teleporting across the forest. Her mom pushing her along while her dad was warding off the enemies with his staff. Annie's mother was a nurse and her father was a battle mage. They were half to the village when Annie tripped over a root in the ground.The root latched on to her as if someone was grabbing onto her ankle. Her mother tried her best to set her free but it was futile. She still remembers her mother, kicking and screaming as her father held her back from saving her. Annie locked eyes with her mother for the last time, tears streaming down their eyes. Her father yelling "We'll come back for you, Anastasia! We promise!" They left her in minutes. Even after, she could still hear her mother's screams echoing in her head as she was whisked away by an Endermen.
She escaped the clutches of the evil Endermen by pushing the one holding in to her into the lake. She ran as fast as she could from the Endermen, towards the village. It was too late. She arrived as the flames buried her old house. She tried to find her parents among the destruction and ruins. But they weren't there. Her sobs echoed throughout the lonely night...
The years past and she has evolved into a ruthless, hardened warrior. Even 10 years after that night, she still clings onto the promise her dad left her.
"We'll come back for you, Anastasia!..."
Appearance: White, silky and long hair. Tall and strong. Light blue eyes and pale, soft skin. She wears a red t-shirt and blue jeans that are slightly short. On top of that, she wears iron, brigandine armor for combat. On her belt, she has pouches full of different things and a scabbard with an clean, iron sword. Annie also wears a diamond gauntlet looted off of a knight she killed.
Personality: Aside from her exterior of ruthlessness, she's a very caring person. She will do also anything to protects the ones she loves. Annie's also a very focused person. She rarely gets off-topic and is always determined to reach a destination or goal. When is comes to combat or tactics, she is very smart and calculating, cunning even.
Good or Evil?: Good
Other: She doesn't know she's Russian because she doesn't know what a Russian is. Annie's just of Russian descent. (Just ask me if I need to clarify the whole Russian thing more. I'm trying to not make it too confusing...) Also, the only reason she kills is to survive.
Name:Griss
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male Race: Zombie Pigman
Bio: Griss is one of the last survivors of an apocalyptic pigman destruction, he wanders the overworld searching for his family. He is well versed in literature and has a vast store of knowledge.
Appearance: Zombie pigman but instead of showing torn parts he wears a strong clothlike material.
Personality: Persistant, and very loyal to those he believes in.
Good or Evil? Good.
Other: He carries an enchanted wooden sword, but its enchantment is so powerful that it will NEVER break. He may also be able to cast spells of decay. your choice.
Alright, let's see here....I'm going to attempt a character application here.
Name: Raht
Age: As old as the beginning of Minecraftia
Gender: Male
Race: Nightmare [evil dream character]
Bio: Raht is probably the deadliest of all Nightmares. He stalks the dreams of unsuspecting victims, turning their pleasant visions into midnight terrors. His first sighting was at the beginning of Minecraft, and he has been sighted in dreams ever since. Legend says that Raht can make your dreams so horrifying, that you can die. There have been more than twenty mysterious deaths believed to be caused by the Nightmare. Raht is feared all throughout Minecraftia. People say that he is so frightening, that Herobrine is a like a cow compared to him. If you fall prey to Raht's dreams, there is no escaping the horrors that await.
Appearance: Wears a black cape with a hood obscuring his forehead. He has no face, but his skull awaits his victims. Raht carries a bronze scepter, which he can transform into a serpent to terrify victims. The cape hides the rest of his body. Raht wears a horrible grimace, and has black pits for eyes.
Personality: Terrifying, scathing, fears none, is feared by all
Good or Evil: Evil
Other: Raht only exists in dreams, he is not real. Sometimes he is believed to give messages or warnings. Other times, he enters dreams to terrify or kill. There is no way to stop Raht from entering your dreams until the Nightmare is pleased.
Alright, I gave it a shot. Good luck with the story!
Very nice, and that's just from the first two chapters!
(When I saw the original Visions To The Past thread, I thought to myself, this is a lot of chapters to read. So I put it aside. Now, this gives me a chance to read it little by little!)
I like that your main character is a girl because I don't see that very often on the Literature forums. It's good that you're doing something different! (I like different sometimes) Speaking of different, you could have gone with the dystopia type of story with the setting you choose. But that's just me and it is your story. I also like your writing style, how you describe Celeste's memories of the Woodland Campsite and her emotions.
I think the only thing I could really tell you to improve on is the time other characters are introduced. Giving a longer introduction of characters would be nice because, as interesting as Celeste's journey is, it would give the readers more time and reason to connect with the people Celeste meets.
Other than that, amazing job.
Oh, also...
-skit-
I can make out in my mind how she can fit into the story... Where is she at this moment? Also, about my first one with so many of the chapters there already, I felt like that when I was reading Immortus's story. He was already in Chapter 26 or 27 and I was in Chapter 1. I caught up eventually, and I'm glad I did!
Name:Griss
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male Race: Zombie Pigman
Bio: Griss is one of the last survivors of an apocalyptic pigman destruction, he wanders the overworld searching for his family. He is well versed in literature and has a vast store of knowledge.
Appearance: Zombie pigman but instead of showing torn parts he wears a strong clothlike material.
Personality: Persistant, and very loyal to those he believes in.
Good or Evil? Good.
Other: He carries an enchanted wooden sword, but its enchantment is so powerful that it will NEVER break. He may also be able to cast spells of decay. your choice.
Hmm... Where shall I add this...? Oh! I know! I know, I know, I know! Accepted. Also, since I like Corone (the character sc1020 made in the previous VTTP), he'll be back in this one. Plus, he is cool.
Intriguing. I was aware you had at least one story but I never actually read it. I'll put this on my Literature subsection reading list. I like your use of chapter descriptions similar to mine, by the way. I think they do a great service to readers. Perhaps together we can make them part of customary use for stories on the Literature subsection.
Also, it's always a nice touch when one of the words in the title is "Ender". Adds that Minecraft flair. Yes, I just said "Minecraft flair". It's late.
Feel free to leave your comments. Or criticisms, I suppose, if they're constructive. Almost anything really, unless it's an outright threat. In that case I'd prefer you put it in a private message.
@DreadMage: You're welcome. It fit perfectly into my semi-planned out plot.
@Kasparal: The chapter descriptions? Oh, I just added that because the "In which..." part seemed cool to me and the children's book (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making) I was reading a few days ago (yes, I can't read novels all the time) had it as well. The title "Ender?" Yes, that is ONE reason out of the many of why I added that.
@DreadMage: You're welcome. It fit perfectly into my semi-planned out plot.
@Kasparal: The chapter descriptions? Oh, I just added that because the "In which..." part seemed cool to me and the children's book (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making) I was reading a few days ago (yes, I can't read novels all the time) had it as well. The title "Ender?" Yes, that is ONE reason out of the many of why I added that.
I did a similar thing with my story, if you didn't know. My inspiration was Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose". It's a kind of half Sherlock Holmes half Da Vinci Code adventure story set in the 14th century Roman Empire. I highly recommend it, if you have free time.
Feel free to leave your comments. Or criticisms, I suppose, if they're constructive. Almost anything really, unless it's an outright threat. In that case I'd prefer you put it in a private message.
Yes, I just checked it out. Didn't realize it, I'm just happy it's a weekend day, today. Are you referring to books or the TV Show/s? You probably mean the books, right?
Yes, I just checked it out. Didn't realize it, I'm just happy it's a weekend day, today. Are you referring to books or the TV Show/s? You probably mean the books, right?
UPDATE: Poll added
I've only read Sherlock Holmes, so yes, I was referring to the book there. I want to read the Da Vinci Code book, too, but I haven't yet. I meant the movie there.
Feel free to leave your comments. Or criticisms, I suppose, if they're constructive. Almost anything really, unless it's an outright threat. In that case I'd prefer you put it in a private message.
Oh, okay then. Perhaps I will in the future, I think I have a few Sherlock Holmes books on my kindle/iPad...
What? I meant that Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose" is similar to Sherlock Holmes and the Da Vinci Code, but I got the idea from "Name of the Rose". And yes, as I said before, I'd really recommend it. I'm not even finished with it yet and I already consider it one of the best books I've read this year.
Feel free to leave your comments. Or criticisms, I suppose, if they're constructive. Almost anything really, unless it's an outright threat. In that case I'd prefer you put it in a private message.
If you have any constructive criticism, don't hesitate to tell me. Questions and suggestions may be commented below (preferred) or if you want it more private, you may PM me. Also, if you liked this, click that little green button with the arrow on it on the bottom-right corner. It will make
yourmy dreams come true!This story is a part of the RIFT PROJECT (hosted by sc1020) and Minefic: Legacy (also hosted by sc1020).
Chapter 1. Just A Dream
In which mornings are overcome, jobs are done, and redstone needs wiring
It took a few seconds, if it existed, to realize what was happening. I float, just a few meters from the ground, as the tall grass brushed against the heels of my feet. I can only look up, but I know of the field right below my field of vision.
The tall, golden bright flowers that crawl around the soil, climb up to meet my feet, and my legs, and my waist. Slowly, around my torso, and my arms, and I look up to the sky. All I see is the dark, creeping up and swallowing the clouds, and the bright blue, and finally, the sun. There is nothing, but the slow, cool absence of color.
Slowly, the golden flowers turn black and assemble hands and claws, and they pull me down towards the ground, ever so slowly. I open my mouth to utter a small shriek, but only my breath leaves my body and I am left with nothing but my flesh.
The black hands and claws scrape and scratch at my soul, and I plunge into the sea of black and white, and I breathe no air, and I see no one. Nothing. Nowhere.
The sockets of my eyes roll back into my head, and replaced with an eerie purple and I throw my head back and I fall, and I keep falling, and I hear the roar of something out there, waiting.
The End is coming.
“Huh?”
The musty smell of old dust collecting in the room, and the soft rays of sunshine shining through the cracked window pane are the first things I notice, I think I’m awake.
My hands are in my hair, pulling and tugging on the brown strands. I inhale the soft breeze, and rub my eyes groggily, and a small yawn escapes my lips.
It was just another dream, I assure myself. It all seemed so, real. I couldn’t breathe, and I knew something was there.
Watching me, waiting patiently for the time to run out. I quickly dismiss the thought and look at my pet wolf, peeping at me from the foot of the bed.
Eres, his soft, gray fur and his deep blue eyes, barks softly. I feel my cheeks lift up, as I smile.
“Good morning, Eres.” I whisper, and I sit up to scratch him behind his ears, and he begins to laugh. He rolls around in the blankets, and I hug him close to my chest. Other than the folks here at the Woodland Campsite, Eres was one of my only close friends.
I had found him only as a pup, when I was young and foolish, when I was playing around in the branches of the Elder Woods and I found him stuck in a thick bush. Only a pup.
The Elder Woods were where the rare Elder Trees stood. Some said they’d been there longer than any other tree in Minecraftia, but I didn’t take the time to care all that much.
I reached into a pot on the desk beside me, and I took out a bone and I placed it on my lap. Eres walked casually to it and picked it up in between the fangs of his mouth, and began to gnaw on it, keeping him busy.
The sun was already above the horizon, and I knew Regoreidin would be up already. Cooking the breakfast for the other guests or commanding angrily at the cooks in the Woodland Kitchen to do it faster. Or, I’d find him in a corner with a half empty wine bottle, as he gazed around the rooms dizzily.
It was in fact, this week that Woodland Camp was having a carnival today. Just out back, in the fields at the base of Greene Hill.
Today was the first day of Minecraft Week. Celebrating four to six “Out-Verse” years, but thousands and millions of Minecraftia years already. Or so said the Government Officials.
Nearly five thousand people were expected today, and if I don’t go out now to arrange the tents and sort things out, Regoreidin is going to blame me for something he was supposed to do. Being more than a decade younger than him, I’ve nothing to do that will convince him anything otherwise.
I put my feet over the edge of the bed, being careful not to kick Eres, and I walk towards the small bathroom in the corner of the room. I quickly change into a green-blue shirt with a diamond sword on it, a pair of blue jeans, a brown belt, and black, leather boots. I check the chain on my neck, with a blue-green block pendant, I tuck it under my shirt.
I look into the mirror. Same brown hair, reaching the base of my shoulders, my peculiar black eyes, my pale skin. Me.
Eres hops over the side of the bed and scratches at the door, and I take hold of the silver knob and open it. Eres quickly runs out and down the hallway, softly, heading to the backyard to play with the other wolves.
The hallways are empty, but there are a few guests already awake, and locking the doors to their rooms. The lights are dim, but enough to see, and I make my way as I put on my “employee” cap, to find wherever Regoreidin may be.
I mutter a few “excuse me’s” and “good morning’s” as I make my way to the Woodland Main Kitchen.
“Chef Kinnley!” I hear, and I see him shouting at a chef in the corner of the room. The scent of spices, fruits and a variety of other foods floats around the room, and the heat of grills brush against my skin.
“I told you, roasted chicken! Not these silly pork-chops!” he threw a recipe book at the chef, and he caught it in his arms quickly and ran away to fix things.
I shake my head and roll my eyes, “Typical.”
I walk up to Regoreidin. He wore a “Assistant” labeled shirt and a pair of ripped jeans and worn out sneakers. He wasn’t exactly known for his clothes. His hair was long and almost reached his shoulders, a brown streaked blonde.
Regoreidin noticed me first and placed his right hand on my shoulder and an almost unnoticeable smile creeps up his face.
“Ah.” he says. “Celeste, you’re awake. I have a few chores for you.” I groan softly, and he takes out a crumpled piece of paper and hands it to me.
“You have to help out some of our chefs and bring out some plates and place the silverware around in the Dining Pavilions 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then, you have to put up the banner at the entrance of the gate. Last, you need to fix our RS connection. There is something wrong with the redstone. You can do whichever first, I suppose you should fix the redstone first though.”
He scratched his goatee and waved his hand, signaling for me to go off. He handed me a walkie-talkie to contact him and I hook it on my belt.
I walk off and head to Chef Kinnley and whisper in his ear, “Sorry about Reg. He’s very serious about all of this. Just remember the recipe.” I smile and wave, and he nods in response, and we both get back to what we are supposed to do.
After that, the day went off normally.
I still had a few thoughts at the back of my head about the dream, but I was much too busy helping the guests to think about it.
“Excuse me, employee coming through.” I said, as I passed through growing crowds and laughing children, as the sun beat down. The banner on the gate was up, it wasn’t too hard either, check. The Dining Pavilions were already set up, thanks to Xavier. Another employee. Check.
All I needed to do was fix the redstone in the control room. I head back inside the Main Woodland cabin-house. It only takes me a few minutes to reach the control room.
I fish a chain of keys from my pants pocket and open the door to the control room, which opens with ease. The iron door closes behind me as I enter, and I switch on the lights. I open the drawers and boxes in the corners. I take out a few pieces of redstone wiring, repeaters, redstone torches, and a few other things.
I placed each in the correct spot, and I turned on the lever a few minutes later. A line of redstone lamps lit up. The Redstone Connection in almost all of the camp is available for our guests.
Finally, the power reaches the command block and a message is transmitted to all of our guests. Welcoming them, informing them of the camp rules, and things like that.
Wiping the sweat from my head, I turn around to open the door and leave. Something catches my eye first. At the corner of the room, a redstone wire is not connected. I could have sworn I attached that. I move back and add it quickly, I turn around again to open the door and...
SWOOSH.
I turn around to see it gone again, but covered in a thin, purple substance. I pick it up and observe it, what is it? I look around the room.
“Hello?” I call. “Anyone there?” I look around again and I hear it again.
SWOOSH.
Freaking out a little, I call out louder. “Show yourselves!” with my left hand, I hold on to the pendant on my necklace and it all happened too fast.
He was twice my size, rough, black skin and piercing, purple eyes. Grabbed onto my arms too quick that I was not able to notice it.
Picking me up, he stared into my eyes and I stared into his, and I couldn’t look away. Something told me not to.
Celeste. Young One. Yes...
His eyes were filled with a sort of deep pain, and with the final whisper, we were gone. I remember the light fading away in a whirl of purple dust, and the colors of the world slipping away. I remember the world, and that I was no longer there. The air was being taken from my lungs, and I fell, like in my dreams.
I did the only thing I could do at the moment. I fainted.
Chapter 2. A Glitch In Time
In which a pendant is stolen, someone is realized, and there is a need to survive
I groan, slowly blinking my eyes open. I know I’m not in my room. “Where am I?” I ask myself, and no one in particular.
I place my palms on the white, cool, marble ground, and lift myself up to sit. My clothes are normal and my hair is fine. I can see around me, but it’s just an infinite space of white with a marble floor. I try pounding at the ground, but the effect is like Bedrock. Nothing.
I can’t smell anything, I’m not going to taste anything, for there is nothing to taste, there aren’t any buttons to push or levers to pull... But I can hear someone’s footsteps, walking slowly behind me.
“Awake, now are you?” I turn around quickly and see the long legs of a man in a black business outfit. He looks like a normal business man, and then I look up and see his face. Wrinkled and old, and frightening. Like, he knows something I don’t, then I see his eyes. A striking purple, and I remember what happened.
I stand up and start questioning him. “Where am I? I am very confused of all this, sir. Please! Help me!” the man shakes his head and stretches out his arms, and it now seems longer than it was. I look back at the man, now he is about one or two blocks taller than me, and I back away.
“Silentium.” he mutters and with another outburst to his dialogue, I open my mouth to shout at him, but nothing comes out. Just air, if there is any wherever I am. I run towards the man, but he mutters something else.
Before I know it, I fall to the ground and hit my back, and scream out in pain. Of course, no sound comes out of my mouth. I can feel my hands and feet being tied together, but there is nothing, and I lie there.
The man walks closer, and his pants and shirt slowly turn darker and darker, and thinner and thinner. His fingers become long and bony, sharper, like the points of daggers and swords, and his face. With an eerie smile, his black hair mends into his face, and his eyes grow bigger and brighter, and scarier. Enderman purple. That’s what it was.
I remember when my parents used to tell me stories before I went to sleep, every night. They would read me the stories or make ones up sometimes if they were feeling “creative.” My particular favorite was a story about a group of Endermen and how they were discovered, and how Notch banished most of them to the Enderlands. Of course, that was a myth, right?
I could feel a small chill slip through my flesh and pass through my blood, and I began to shiver from head to toe, until the chill reached my bones.
It felt horrific. It twisted and pulled my bones and tightened me into a terrible and very uncomfortable position. My hands behind my back, legs as well, and my head thrown back with my hair splattered against the floor, and I could only look up into the Enderman’s eyes. I couldn’t look away, from what I remembered from my parents.
“Effor.” the Enderman muttered. I opened my mouth and began to shout. “Regoreidin!” I shout! “Regoreidin! Chef Kinnley! Anyone?” I shut my eyes foolishly and I heard a growl from the Enderman above. He reaches his long, slender arm and rips the chain of my necklace out, and the pendant clatters to the floor. The chain in his hand.
He tosses the chain away, and it lands about ten seven blocks away. He crouches down to grab the pendant and utters a few words, which I can only recognize “contego” and “sumo.”
What in blazes is he saying? I’ve never heard such a language before, in which I can only recognize some of the words. How though? What does that mean? What does a “sumo” have to do with anything?
The pendant flies up to his hand and a he grins, a small, clever grin.
“Give that back! That’s mine! My mother gave that to me!”
“I’ve been looking for this for many a moon, Young One, the Master will be most pleased. Most pleased, indeed.” he laughed a humorless laugh.
“What are you talking about?”
The Enderman walks away, and I lean on my side to see him walk away and the floor ripples in a pattern similar to water, but none that I have ever seen before.
A door materializes out of nowhere, with a doorframe of moving obsidian blocks. He looks back and waves, pendant in hand. “See you in Nexus. They can’t take you out of a Time Glitch.” and with that last note, he slips through the doorway and is consumed in purple dust, and the door disappears behind him.
I can’t think properly and my point of view is messed up. I can feel my arms and legs being released, but I can’t go anywhere but here, and I could get lost. I have no food, and no water, nothing but the clothing on my back.
I take the walkie talkie from my belt and shout through the speaker, “Regoreidin! It’s me Celeste, help! I’ve been taken by an Enderman, I don’t know where I am! Help me!” but all I hear back is static.
A tear rolls down my cheek, and I begin to rub my eyes. Now isn’t a time to cry, Celeste, I tell myself.
Though, I can’t help myself. They roll down my face and hit the floor and I begin to weep and to cry out. To my dead parents, to the family I no longer have, to Regoreidin, to anyone I’ve ever known.
I’m just lucky someone heard me that quick.
Chapter 3. When Figures Fade
In which she is aided to, one is let go, and not all goes well
I heard the sound. Heavy, metal chains, being dragged along the floor, growing louder and lower as whoever held the chains walked closer to me. I sit down and lower my head into my hands.
“Who’s there?” I mutter weakly, with my left arm, wiping away the tears and trying to rub my eyes clean.
“You look familiar. Have I, seen you somewhere?” I turn my head a little, and a gray cat with dark eyes, stares back at me. I never really was comfortable with cats, what would Eres say? Of course, he’s a dog...
“Do you know who I am?”
I shake my head. “No, I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
“Peculiar. Are you absolutely sure I don’t know you?” I nod my head. “I don’t know you, whoever you are.”
“Wonderful.” the cat replied. Curiously, I don’t feel surprised to know that a cat is talking to me, and asking me if I know him or if he knows me.
“Why is that?” I ask.
“It would be so, terribly embarrassing, if you were to know who I am. Fortunately for me, you don’t know who I am.” it replied.
I turn around to see that its tail lies droopily on the floor, and its head in between its paws.
“Can you tell me where I am?”
“Can you tell me why you’re crying? It’s enough of a racket already.”
I glare at the cat for a while. How rude, I think to myself.
“It’s none of your business, cat.” I reply back, coming closer to the cat.
“My name is Sirius Silvere Silas Moone, human girl. If its none of my business, might as well be on my way. You want to know things don’t you? I heard the ruckus a few hundred void-cubes away.”
“Can you answer my questions?” I ask in annoyance.
“We can trade. Mine for yours and yours for mine, I get to ask you more though, for you have more questions than I do.”
“Fine, whatever.” I say.
“Tell me, who are you?” Sirius asked.
“I’m Celeste Helena Eden Lux. I’m 18 years old.” I answer plainly. “I don’t know why I’m here though. Regoreidin is going to kill me.”
“Kill you? That’s not that bad. I’ve been through worse.” Sirius laughed, despite his name which I had never heard of, he laughed a humorous yet cruel laugh. I sigh and continue.
“Where did you come from? I haven’t seen your species in a long time, I’ve already forgot.”
“I’m from the Woodlands.” I reply.
“No, I meant what planet. Or dimension. Unless you live in a rift, do you live in a rift?”
“What are you talking about? I live in the Overworld.”
“Pffftt.” said Sirius. “Of course, and I live in Nexus!”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Overworld? Doesn’t exist. Not anymore.” I display of pandemonium and worry covers my face.
“Yes, it does!” I shout. “I just came from there, you silly old cat.” I cross my arms and give it a nervous look.
“What?”
“Yes. It does, gonna loose your marbles?”
“The Endermen said they were going to- Never mind. Let’s get back to your problems.” I scoot a little closer to Sirius.
“What were you going to say?”
“Nothing. Just nothing. I’m just an silly old cat, after all.”
“I didn’t mean it- “
“Nope. Let’s continue.”
Wondering what he was going to say, I put my walkie talkie on the floor and open it, only hearing the sound of redstone static.
“Who was that Enderman?” I ask, while clicking the special “record” button on the walkie talkie.
“The Enderman who put you here, like they did to me, was a servant of the Dark Lord. We must not speak of his name.” Sirius looks around the room and back at me, making sure no one was there.
“I do not know why he put you in here, though I shall not ask, as you have not asked me. Must be for a special reason, eh?” he nudged with his leg. “I was running towards you, and I saw him taking something from you and going back through the Passageway. He probably needs it for something, orders from the master.”
“Ive done nothing to harm their kind. I’m not part of the MC National Army or any of those not-so-secret fighting societies. I don’t hunt or kill any monsters. Not even animals...”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Sirius asked.
“Yes, of course I am. Can I ask you why you can talk? You’re a cat.”
“Cats talk all the time, do cats not talk in the Overworld?” I nod.
“They need some serious help, that’s first grade stuff.” I giggle and pat Sirius on the head. I look at Sirius and my eyes widen.
“Sirius...? Where are your paws?”
Where his paws should be, there is no more. He looks down and smiles.
“I’m fading away! I’m actually fading away!” he cried happily. “They’re letting me go! When you fade, you go! When you fade, you go!” He laughed again.
“Where are you going, Sirius? I have more questions!” I exclaimed.
“I’ll find you then, if it is that which you desire.” his belly and chest began to disappear.
“How will you find me?”
“I just will. You gotta trust me on this one, unless they kill me. If the Endermen kill me, I know one way you’ll be able to find me. Or I to you.” his neck began to disappear.
“I don’t want you to die! I’ve no one to talk to, how long have you been in here?”
“I won’t die, neither will you. Time does not matter in a glitch. I’ll see you soon-” only his black eyes were visible now and I knew he was smiling anyways.
“hero-” and just like that, he was gone, a figure faded away. I was alone again. Not for long though, time doesn’t matter in a glitch.
Once I reached her door, I knocked a few times, but she didn’t open the door. “It’s me, Regoreidin.” I said. She did not answer. “Oh, for the love of Notch,” I muttered. She isn’t there.
I walk out and into the crowd of people, laughing and shouting, and the others trying to help families set up their tents. How did this become my job? Out of everything?
“Oof!” I was too lost in the crowd, I bumped someone and fell down onto the grass and cobblestone pathways, and landed quick on my bottom. I groaned and cursed softly.
“Sorry!” she apologizes.
A girl who looks about the age of Celeste stands in front of me, staring at me. She seems most peculiar, for she had fair skin, and white hair which brushed against her back. Her blue eyes seemed to care deep, but being myself, I recognized her to as well be dangerous... She wore iron combat armor. On her belt, she had pouches full of different things and a scabbard with an clean, sharp iron sword. She had a diamond sword in one hand, which she hid quickly.
What was a girl like this doing on the camp grounds?
I quickly got up from the ground and brushed the dirt from my pants. She turned to disappear into the crowd, but I grabbed her by the arm in a strong grip and turned to face her, almost releasing my anger. Must not do that so, I promised myself.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to drain away the red from my face.
She stood still and tried to wriggle out of my grip. It didn’t work of course.
“I asked you a question.” I repeated. “Who are you?”
The girl hesitated but answered quite strongly, “That isn’t any of your business.” she turned away with her chin in the air.
“What are you doing here, huntress?” I asked, hoping I assumed right.
“I really need to go now.” I could see her slowly moving her sword, the tip sticking out from behind her. I clench my fist and soften it to intimidate her, I think it might make her tell me something.
“I won’t hurt you, but your fighting strategies nor your cleverness will trick me, huntress.” I can see a surprised look in her eyes. “Drop the weapon and we can have a chat near the fireplace. How’s that sound?”
“Let. Me. Go.” she hissed.
“What about, no?”
“You are making a mistake.” she threatened and furrowed her brow, and it all happened pretty fast, but not really.
She kicked me in my waist, but I stepped backwards in time. She tried to punch me in the face, but I bent over and in a flash of moves, we were moving through the crowd, dodging and sometimes able to hit each other.
“Who are you?” I shouted. She did not reply, but instead, took out another sword from her inventory and defended herself.
“Come at me, old man.” she threatened. I would not fall for it, but it wouldn’t be likely for her to actually defeat me. I could feel myself turning red, and opened my clenched fists to reveal a small light, glowing and growing brighter and brighter. The girl stared at my fist in awe, then at me.
“Who are you?” she asked, and she ran towards me in a flash of shouts that scared and horrified the crowd, whom began to run around me.
“I told myself I wouldn’t.” and I closed my eyes and let my mind take over. I don’t know what happened then and there, but when I opened my eyes, I remembered. With my memory, her figure slipped away.
Chapter 4. They All Come Back
In which victory is theirs, a door is opened, and more is remembered
With the last fading wisp of Sirius the cat, I stand up, and I pace around the room in annoyance, delirium, and controlled pandemonium. If that’s possible, I’m not entirely sure what I was feeling. Perhaps, imagine a “sucker-punch to the heart,” time three. It felt like that.
It didn’t take long, or maybe it did, until someone eventually came by as well. My visitor did not comfort me. Nor did he help me, but he took me by my arms. In a tight grip of his, and his fingers coiled around my arm. I let him be.
He cackled softly and pulled me across the floor. I heard a few grunts and groans. His sleek, long legs and thin body weren’t built for this. He muttered a word and I flew somewhere between his shoulders and his arm. I let him be.
I had no other options.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, a little hesitantly. I could feel his grin and his purple eyed gaze. With his whispery, hissing voice, he said,
“Enderlands. Home. Darkness. Power. Lord.” and he left it at that, and I let it be.
“Maybe you could lessen your grip?” I ask. “It tugs at my skin, making it red, and terribly uncomfortable.” with a strong attempt in confidence, I inhale and exhale continuously, and softly.
The Enderman said, “I do not take orders from the likes of you.”
I frowned and a cool feeling climbing up my chest stopped me from saying anything else, and the Enderman smiled wickedly.
“Stay completely still...”
I would’ve asked what he meant, but I couldn’t. My mouth was closed shut and my body still. Not this again, I think to myself frustratingly, and I feel my thoughts slipping away.
The absence of life around me, and the dark curls my hair around, lifting it up. Tugging at the wrinkles in my clothes and skin, and shutting my eyes forcibly and entirely.
Before I know it, I don’t know anything. What’s happening to me, why it is, where I am, when... Who am I?
Finally, at a piercing stop, my eyelids fall open and so does my hair, getting into my eyes irritably. I shake my head a little, causing the curls to fall aside and the Enderman to shout something in a foreign language, again.
As I blink my eyes open, my jaw drops, and I am able to talk.
What is the ground made of, nothing I’ve ever seen before. Perhaps a meteor, or a rare rock, or something else altogether. It was colorless and tough and resembled different blocks, with uneven holes poked into the side.
Tall, and from the looks of it, Obsidian, towers shoot out from the ground. Thick and dark and menacing. A bolt of white light from the top of the sky shot down to the top of the several Obsidian towers onto a block of similar, glowing light.
I would’ve noticed the sky at first, instead of the ground, but the fact that there was no sky, was hard to observe. It was colorless as well, but dark and harsh. It moved weirdly a few times, in wave patterns, but not really. I searched for where the light had struck down from, and I heard it.
A sort of wailing, screaming sound. Similar to the shout of the Endermen, but muffled in choked shrieks. I strained my eyes closer, and I saw the sky was not moving at all.
Blending in with the sky, a winged creature flew above me, emitting an eerie glow with it’s purple glare.
It opened it’s mouth wide, and no sound came out, but I could still hear it. Higher and stronger, I noted it’s tail and it’s body. Purple dust and the scent of dark magic trailed behind it.
The Dragon of The Dark King.
That’s what it was, in all those stories and legends of the Steve The Great and Powerful. Where he had vanquished it from existence.
Apparently not.
It flew towards me, before noticing something else and flying closer to an Obsidian tower and shooting down another streak of light.
“Where, where am I?” I mutter, feeling the sly grin of the Enderman gripping my skin.
“It would not hurt to tell you anymore, knowing that you have no more chances...” he lessened his grip, and with his free, sleek, bony hand, he said, “This is the Enderworld.” and I glanced towards the Endermen who stared back at me as I tried to avoid their gaze. The Enderman looked at the Endermen and shouted back at them in awe.
“Victory will be ours!” he shouted and a transparent box formed under me and grew, incasing me in it, and lifting me up above the Enderman’s head.
Even from the box, I could hear the chorus of cheers and shouts from below, with the raising of hands as they stopped what they were doing in order for this lovely, celebration of theirs. Or, I think it’s a celebration.
I, on the other hand, had no idea why this was happening. What did I have to do with anything, why was I so very important? I hit the walls of the transparent box and kicked at it, but it was no use. It was the strongest block I’ve ever seen, other than that sample of Bedrock I’ve seen in a museum before.
“Let me out!” I shouted in a fury. A line of excruciating anxiety attack my chest and found myself breathing heavily inside the box, hoping that I wouldn’t die, which I was 99% sure would happen.
I might’ve cursed a little bit too, but I was too worried and angry that I can’t remember a thing I said.
The Enderman below me grabbed the box in his arms and with a gesture of his hand, dismissed the Endermen and smiled at me.
“He will be so pleased.” he muttered tauntingly, before there was another black out in my head, and I was sure he was probably teleporting me somewhere. I was just worried where.
I opened my eyes and I was still in the box. It was wrapped in silver chains and floating more than fifty blocks off the ground, below it about fifty blocks away, was a small body of water.
It looked refreshing and innocent, and it looked a little safe too. Or, at least safer than hanging around in this box.
Other than that, the room was decorated with wooden bookshelves, but they were bigger, three blocks big for each shelf. It didn’t have any books too, just doors. They were all different colors and obviously, made with different materials as well.
One of the doors was mixed with redstone and glowstone dust and I could see a few puffs of smoke curling around the corners of the doorframe and the light flickering on and off.
They had signs in the middle of each door that either said “PUNISHMENT” or “ACHIEVEMENT” engraved in bold, diamond letters.
I wonder what it meant, but remembering my situation, it must not be good.
Just at that same moment, an Enderman appeared on the top of the transparent box I was enclosed in. He had a rusty, bronze key in his right hand and he held the lock chaining me up in the other. I looked at his hands, avoiding his gaze, and I saw him. Slipping the key greasily into the lock.
“No.” I muttered.
Before I knew it, he was gone, and my head hit the ceiling of the box quick and I just stared down at the body of water beneath me and the box broke open, once it fell into the water.
I coughed and sputtered, covering my eyes with my hands to avoid any of the glass shards. I looked at the flesh on my arms and my legs, and there were no cuts, just lines with red oozing out of it, painfully.
Once I saw the biggest of the glass shards settle on the floor a few ten blocks away, I kicked my legs and my arms and I swam up.
I inhaled deeply.
Oxygen. Air. I loved it so.
Once I had settled, and had lifted my legs to bring myself up on the floor, dripping wet from each strand of hair to my clothes, which clung to my skin annoyingly, I lay down.
“Thank Notch.” I muttered and opened my eyes to look around. The smallest of the glass shards surrounded me on the rough, wooden floor. I hit at it, at the wood, but nothing happened. Not like chopping off wood from trees in the woods. There, it would simply come off, and at the end of the day, I would rub my knuckles from the pain.
I looked around, and I saw only one door in front of me. It was a door made of obsidian and smudged ender eyes around it. It looked strange and it was a door’s purpose to lead someone somewhere.
It smelled of nothingness, but it gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.
Engraved in the center of the door in smudged letters, I could only make out the last four letters. MENT.
“Go on.” I turned ‘round to see an Enderman standing in the corner, wearing dark shades over it’s eyes. “We’re letting you go.”
“You’re lying.” I hissed. I hope they really were, I’m debating with myself if this really is a dream or not. Maybe I’ve gone mental...
“We do this two ways, kid.” he said. “One, you go through the door and we won’t do you no harm. Two...” he snapped his fingers and two Endermen wearing similar dark shades walked in beside him. Then another two, and another two, until they surrounded me completely.
“We escort you there. You’re choice.” I looked around, a worried expression on my face as I was on the verge of crying. I looked at the door and at the now grinning Endermen.
“You have 5 seconds to think, or...” he clenched his fist.
“5...” I looked at the Enderman blankly, and I thought about my real life with Regoreidin and Eres and everyone else.
“4...” I stared around at the Endermen beside him, beside each other, and I thought of as many possibilities as I could of why this was happening to me.
“3...” I looked at the door, and thought of nothing.
“2...” I read the letters on the door, MENT. Perhaps this was “meant” for me or something...
“1...” I closed my eyes and I whispered, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” and tried tapping my shoes together.
“0...” I opened my eyes and I was still there. Dang it, Dorothy.
“What is your decision, kid? We haven’t more time.”
Hesitantly, I took a step towards the door, and another, and another. I could feel the hairs on my skin stand up and I began to shiver slightly.
I was already face to face with the door, that the tip of my nose brushed against the obsidian.
“You’re slow, kid.” I heard him say.
The door opened as if by itself, and I felt a number of hands, or maybe they were bones, push me into through the door and I fell to the grassy floor below me.
I caught myself with my hands and stood up.
“Let me out!” I cried. “They’ll look for me!” I heard the Endermen snicker through the door.
“Soon, there will be no “they.” Soon.” I heard them leave, and I heard a click in the key-hole and the key slide to the floor.
I was alone, and I only had some time to realize my surroundings. The once grassy ground gave way to a floor of wooden planks, muddy boot prints and the average bread crumbs scattered. The room began to form and transition, as if it was a ripple in a pond.
It was he living room of the Woodland Cabin. I looked around and everything was, exactly, the same as it was and is. It was peculiar and confusing, and I didn’t like it.
“Tiring!” I heard a deep, male voice call. It was comforting, and it was owned by the only Regoreidin I knew. He walked in tired and exhausted, and fell onto the couch, kicking off his shoes and using the side of the couch to keep them up.
Another girl came in, and I recognized her as another staff member. She wore a yankees baseball cap and tied her blonde hair in a messy ponytail. She was big and muscular and she loomed over you like a giant.
Her name was Andrea.
Her brother came in. He was another employee. His hair was a messy, mousy brown and his shirt was worn the wrong way. He didn’t notice it though, but he was smiling.
His name was Felix.
“Aren’t we so glad?” Regoreidin mumbled. “That she’s finally gone?”
They all nodded and smiled, and from nowhere, they raised some wine bottles and cheered. They gulped it down.
“Celeste, why didn’t she leave sooner?” said Andrea. Felix smiled.
“It made my - our lives, so much easier.” he said. They laughed and gulped down another bottle, and I stood there confused for awhile.
“Regoreidin?” I muttered. I reached my hand and tapped him on the shoulder, only for his figure to fade a little, as my hand went through him. He was no Regoreidin. It was worrying me.
Then the floor changed again. Soon, the walls did too. They turned brighter, as the small flames of candles lit them up, and lamps hung from the ceiling.
A long wooden table grew in the center of the floor, and I hopped out of its way. Paintings of meadows formed on the walls, and the fireplace was ablaze with charcoal and orange embers.
It was familiar, and I knew where I was.
Two people walked in.
One was a woman, she looked young and graceful and happy. In her left hand, she held a tray of plates and spoons and forks, and in the other hand a vase of roses and daffodils. Red and yellow.
Her hair rested on her shoulders, her brown chestnut hair, which fell against her fair skin. With bright, golden highlights in a few strands. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were a dark brown and her lips were a restful red.
The other was a man. He looked strong and happy and by the look on his face, laughing. Quietly laughing. He put down a large pick-axe, silver and bronze, in a corner of the room and took in a deep breath, that I could hear it from across the room.
He had a few ink and charcoal smudges on his face, but that didn’t change his mood. Although, he was tired and sweating, he was happy. His skin was tanned a nice brown and his hair was midnight black and curly. His eyes were a bright brown.
My mother. My father.
I remembered.
They sat down at the table and called a name, “Cel!” my mother called, in her sweet, tinkling voice. “Come to the table, we’re having your favorite soup for dinner!” and she smiled.
“Coming, ma!” From a corridor in the room, a little girl appeared. Seemed only to be the age of five or six. Her hair was braided, and her dress was a light white and blue. She was happy too. We were the same person, and I was feeling happy.
I watched from the corner, speechless, and in awe.
She sits at the table and the scent of the soup in a large bowl in the middle of they table filled the room. The family says their grace and begins to serve the vegetables and the soup. The little girl drank it with delight and the room was warm and happy.
I approached the table and I took a bowl and a spoon and the soup. I dipped the spoon into the soup and brought it to my mouth and sipped it, and I felt it warm my throat, and my chest, and my arms, and my legs, and my heart. I felt like I belonged.
“Thanks ma, thanks pa.” The little girl said cheerily.
I mouthed the words of my parents. “We love you too.”
I blinked my eyes and rubbed my sleeve on my eyes. I was happy, and I wasn’t. I was very, very miserable. Very miserable.
Things only got worse. The scene changed again and I could smell smoke and I coughed on my sleeve and covered my eyes.
Like the fire in the chimney, it was tall and warm, but it was not comforting. I stood at the door, and I backed away and caught myself as I fell on the grassy floor. The flames whispered in my ears, and I crawled backwards, gasping.
“Help! Somebody! Anybody!” I heard. “Help!” I stood up, and with a tear falling down my face in confusion, I brushed the soot of myself and I ran. I heard the voice getting louder, and it was crying and screaming and it was little. Two people were stuck in between the boards of the burning house and the little girl’s hand clung on to that of her mother and the other hand clung on to that of her father.
“I’m not leaving you!” I heard her shout. I was still running to her, but I was not moving or going anywhere.
“We’ll be fine, Celeste. Let go, and run.” her mother said, crying. “Hurry, you mustn’t be late!” her father hugged her from where he stood stuck. Punching at the burning wood.
Her mother reached into her pocket and took out a chain with a pendant on it. She held out her hand to Celeste.
“Take it, my child. Take it and go, we love you. We will always love you. Keep safe. Keep safe.” the child took the chain from her and tugged on her hand.
“No!” she shouted. “No!” and she screamed and kicked at the hot burning wood and the cackling of the birds flying by the burning cottage of wood and straw.
“Go, Celeste!” he shouted. “Go!” and I could not do anything. The little girl ran and ran and ran, into the forest and the night. Under the trees and the stars in between the shadows and the light, so that she could have the moonlight’s comfort.
She cried as she ran and I ran with her, for I am her, and she is my shadow. Soon, she disappeared, and I was running in her place. From behind, I could hear the wailing and the shouting.
The loud beating of wings.
Chapter 5. Accidental Discovery
In which it is defeated, she is found and lost again, and a world is accidentally discovered by another
“What was that?” I clutch the folds on my shirt and turn around. I see nothing, it’s just dark, a little to dark. The air was still and the night was cold, and I was worried, the dark was moving. The trees covered in black were moving, swaying, mourning a loss, yet celebrating victory. I did not understand.
I could hear it, moaning and growling. I did know where the sound was coming from, and then I looked above me.
It was bigger than I thought, and it was very, very close. I could feel now, the beating of the wind beneath it’s wings and it’s chilly warm breath. It’s purple gaze was mesmerizing.
I heard it say something, like ‘fish alley,’ and then it opened it’s mouth. Revealing rock-hard, needle-sharp, bone-white teeth. It’s jaws hung open, from one smiling point to the other, and it cackled. It let out a deafening roar. My body shook, from my head to my toes, and I could feel goosebumps pop out from my skin and all the hairs on my skin stand straight up.
I did the stupidest thing I could’ve ever done. I began to run.
I felt the ground shake with every step I took, the branches in my hair and the scratches on my face. The grass stuck to my legs and the blood running down them. The leaves were sharp and the branches were tough, and this was no ordinary forest.
“Regoreidin!” I shouted. “Regoreidin!” I tried looking behind me, and saw a blur of my brown hair, dark air, and dragon. A big, black, purple eyed dragon. It began to spread it’s wings and with a last grin, it flew up into the air, and I looked up.
It was now right above me, and a sight like it in flight was bigger than my mind could behold and more than my heart could believe. It roared again, and again, echoing in my ears and the forest trees. Which wrapped around my world and, unluckily, my left foot. I tripped and caught myself on the bleeding rough palms of my hands.
I cry out in pain and for a quick curious moment, I feel the hot embers on my face. I see a cottage and a fire again, and I see myself. Running from it. I didn’t understand it.
Then I saw him.
He was an Enderman as well, but his chest glittered and he held his head high. He wore silver armor, that gleamed purple and blue, and I had a sense of something unordinary was about to happen. He held up a bronze sword, heavy and bright, with a letter engraved on the blade: H. I did not know what it meant, but I knew something else.
His sword danced, like the flame, or the flame was the sword. The sword gave out puffs of smoke and red hot embers like the fire, that swirled around the blade and the sword’s handle, and the Enderman’s bony fingers to his feet. He grinned and looked at me, then disappeared.
I was at a loss for words. I knew I was going to die right now, tonight, and I couldn’t remember what I was doing before all this happened. I knew something, and it was that I was not going to die without trying.
It was lowering down to me, and I caught the breath and the strength to run a little ahead of it by, maybe, a few inches.
“Come and get it!” I shouted, and I heard it whisper something like ‘food itch’ and I shiver again, but I stand up straight and brush the dirt from my clothes.
“For my family!” I shout, and the dragon lowers in front of me and lets out a screech aggressively. It opens its eyes, but instead of a dark swirling purple, I see a blinding white inside and it screeches again. Except, not in anger or triumph, but in fear.
A soft, bright green light swirls around my feet, climbing up my legs and my waist and my neck. It tickles my hair and my face, and I feel refreshed. A blue light wraps itself alternatively around me as well and I suddenly smell the soft scents of my world and my life.
It climbs up the veins in my hand and it seeps in slowly, and I feel something weird in my chest, and I realize that my whole being is glowing. Weird patterns glow on my arms and my legs and from it, a giant figure is formed from me, made of light. Soon, I become something like a giant version of me, wearing full armor with a glittering diamond sword in hand, or something stronger than diamond.
I did nothing, but I thought of fighting and I felt angry, and the light being encasing my body held the sword strongly and slashed it against the dragon’s back and his scales glowed purple, and he just disappeared.
In a pile of purple dust.
The light being around me was gone and I was lying on the ground, feeling like I had been paralyzed or I was just hit by lightning. That wasn’t the case though, and I helped myself up and grinned widely.
“Regoreidin?”
He smiled back at me.
I didn’t realize it was him at first, he looked taller, and older, and more mature. He wore a red cloak over his face, lined with golden patterns. His eyes were the same, and his nose and his smile... But his hair was longer and lighter, and he had more wrinkles than I would’ve remembered.
In his right hand, he held a long, tall stick. It was brown, the sides scratched and rigid. He held out his left hand and helped me up.
“How did you find me here?” I asked.
“I followed you, of course. I followed the trail you made.” he looked up at the ceiling, for there was no more sky and no more trees and grass. The whole room was blank and it remained a dark black. “You have a very strong aura. Stronger than those of the Grand Wizards. No wonder they found you so quickly.”
I cocked my head to one side, “What are you talking about? Do you know what is happening? Do you know what I just went through, like, at this very moment?” I put my hands on my hips, panting.
“Look at my hands and my legs!” I showed him the palms of my hand, the blood drying up on my skin, but I could still feel it sting.
“You’re right. I have to get you to Nurse Altha.” I shook my head.
“Did you hear anything I just said? Hello?”
“Leonine will explain later, Cel. I have no time to do it myself, bring word of me to Leonine. Tell him I’ve returned.”
“For Aether’s Sake, Reg! What in Nexus are you talking about?” Regoreidin looked at me and frowned.
“Do not speak of The City Of Nexus in that tone, it is troublesome and luring. Unless you want to die, or worse, speak not of it.”
“What is with this new accent?”
“Celeste! Snap out of it!” he cried. “You are in terrible danger, I have to go and you do too-”
“Where am I going?”
“To the Alliance of course, they will help you there. A lot has changed since you left the Overworld. Do you know how long you’ve been here?” I shake my head. “For a month. You’ve been gone for a month. Or maybe a week or three. Time doesn’t have a pattern here in the Enderworld.”
I sniff and I feel something wet fall from my cheek, and I wrap my arms around Regoreidin’s neck. “I was so scared. Where were you?”
“I have to go.” he released and turned to his staff. It now was a dark gold with blue carvings on the side, and a large, gold colored diamond on the tip, which glowed black and purple.
“Are you leaving me again?”
He muttered a few words, while holding the staff, shutting his eyes tight. With a final glance, he waved his hand and he was gone, and I had a feeling that I was not in Enderworld. Not anymore.
I emerge from behind my own cloak, which Regoreidin had lent me. It allows one to be unseen by the naked eye.
“I transported her into the hands of Leonine and The Alliance. They are expecting her, but not like this, Annie. Not like this.”
I was that girl in the crowd earlier, he had blasted me with some kind of golden celestial light. I had been knocked to the ground, paralyzed for a few seconds, then I ran away.
He caught up with me soon enough. I knew it would be suicide to try and cross him again, so I tried shooting him with an arrow as he entered my campout in the forest. He dodged it simply. I tried again and again, but he dodged it still, and caught a few, and stuck them into the wood of a few trees or threw them at the ground.
“Anastasia.” he called, and I became confused. In my travels, I have told nobody of my true name, for it was hard to speak of, and hard to trust. But there was a man in front of me, who I have only known for a few minutes, including a fight. I have told nobody. He knew my name.
I lowered my self down to him, and I asked him what he did to me back there. He told me he was merely angry, and he just wanted to know who I was without remembering.
I put down my weapons, and I told him about myself. About how I’ve been living with myself, untrusting, for 10 years. How I almost reached my home, with my mother and my father. My father, battling away the creatures courageously, while my mother and I hurried off. They left me and told me they would come back, “We’ll come back for you, Anastasia!” I told him how my house had burned down and her village as well.
I did not cry, I did not allow myself too, but he did. He told me to cry, he let me cry. So I did, and he told me that the world wasn’t perfect and that it was the work of balance. It did not like itself.
He told me that the balance of our world was growing weaker. He told me that the world is sometimes not satisfied with the amount of power it holds. It is our job to keep that balance. I told him I did not like the dark, and that all I wanted was light, and happiness. He told me that I did not really want that. He told me I wanted balance.
For the past weeks, I haven’t seen the Sun. Only the moon, and monsters, more monsters, are doing the same thing they did to my village. The destruction and pain, dotted around the lands of the Overworld.
I had sworn to secrecy, to help the Alliance, after those weeks with him, and I have someone to trust. He can never replace my father although. I know nothing of magic, but I will soon, for the Alliance. I will follow in my father’s footsteps. If he died for my safety, I have to do something.
So here, I am now. The world is in pandemonium, or it is beginning to, and I am here in the Enderworld with Regoreidin.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask him.
“They do not know I’m alive. My honor died with me when I disappeared, you know that.” I nodded.
“Why don’t you go back? You have no more to lose.” Regoreidin thought for a moment and nodded. I will, but there is really one more thing I have to do here.”
“What is it?”
He took from his cloak an old tattered piece of parchment. It rolled up from the sides to the center.
“How is this going to help? I have weapons, you know.” I brushed a strand of hair from my face to my shoulders.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“You’ve already asked me that once, how old are you?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t become very important to me after I left the Alliance. I was tired and I guess that in my youth, the appreciation I got just wasn’t enough. I was once young, and I was once very, very stupid. Much like you.”
I was taken aback. “Hey! I’m not stupid!” I shout, taking out my dagger. “You’re stupid!” I shout. I run towards him, but stop mid-way. He’s trying to get to me.
“All the best people start out as stupid. No one really is stupid. It’s just a word, Annie, don’t let it get to you. You say you are a ruthless killer, and you can be ruthless if you really wanted to.” Regoreidin turned his back. “But words do not bite and words do not scratch, if words hurt you, what kind of killer are you?”
He smiled.
“Exactly.”
He waved his hand in a following gesture, and I put the cloak back on, scowling. I was not born to put up with this. I follow him anyway, now, I have something to lose, and I intend not to lose it.
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Submit A Character!
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Bio:
Appearance:
Personality:
Good or Evil?
Other:
Characters accepted:
The Observer, Evil (TBA)
Griss the Zombie Pigman, Good (Will appear in Ch. 8-10)
Raht, the Nightmare, Evil (Will appear in Ch. 8)
Anastasia the Human, Good (Appeared Ch. 3)
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Disclaimer
All rights go to MOJANG, for I do not own any part of Minecraft. If there is any of use of Herobrine in this story, please note that he is a fictional character. He is not real and he never will be real in MOJANG's Minecraft. All characters, events, settings, and other, are all fictional. If there are any connections from any of the things used in this story to reality, it is coincidental. Of course, this is my fan fiction, but all rights go to MOJANG and The Minecraft Forum Team.
*Insert signature here*
(Apparently i am addicted to these; :D)
Well, yes. I am planning to add the characters you submitted in this story.
If so, I hope you enjoy it!
(When I saw the original Visions To The Past thread, I thought to myself, this is a lot of chapters to read. So I put it aside. Now, this gives me a chance to read it little by little!)
I like that your main character is a girl because I don't see that very often on the Literature forums. It's good that you're doing something different! (I like different sometimes) Speaking of different, you could have gone with the dystopia type of story with the setting you choose. But that's just me and it is your story. I also like your writing style, how you describe Celeste's memories of the Woodland Campsite and her emotions.
I think the only thing I could really tell you to improve on is the time other characters are introduced. Giving a longer introduction of characters would be nice because, as interesting as Celeste's journey is, it would give the readers more time and reason to connect with the people Celeste meets.
Other than that, amazing job.
Oh, also...
Name: Anastasia "Annie" Vershinin
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race: Human (Russian also if you haven't noticed...)
Bio: Since she was 10 years old, fighting was her one and only thing she could rely on for survival. She lived in a village full of different people with different nationalities. These people only know that they are different, none of the specifics (as in if someone is Mexican or British or something else).
All her life, Annie's been all alone since her parents left her when she was 10. She vaguely remembers that night.
Endermen, teleporting across the forest. Her mom pushing her along while her dad was warding off the enemies with his staff. Annie's mother was a nurse and her father was a battle mage. They were half to the village when Annie tripped over a root in the ground.The root latched on to her as if someone was grabbing onto her ankle. Her mother tried her best to set her free but it was futile. She still remembers her mother, kicking and screaming as her father held her back from saving her. Annie locked eyes with her mother for the last time, tears streaming down their eyes. Her father yelling "We'll come back for you, Anastasia! We promise!" They left her in minutes. Even after, she could still hear her mother's screams echoing in her head as she was whisked away by an Endermen.
She escaped the clutches of the evil Endermen by pushing the one holding in to her into the lake. She ran as fast as she could from the Endermen, towards the village. It was too late. She arrived as the flames buried her old house. She tried to find her parents among the destruction and ruins. But they weren't there. Her sobs echoed throughout the lonely night...
The years past and she has evolved into a ruthless, hardened warrior. Even 10 years after that night, she still clings onto the promise her dad left her.
"We'll come back for you, Anastasia!..."
Appearance: White, silky and long hair. Tall and strong. Light blue eyes and pale, soft skin. She wears a red t-shirt and blue jeans that are slightly short. On top of that, she wears iron, brigandine armor for combat. On her belt, she has pouches full of different things and a scabbard with an clean, iron sword. Annie also wears a diamond gauntlet looted off of a knight she killed.
Personality: Aside from her exterior of ruthlessness, she's a very caring person. She will do also anything to protects the ones she loves. Annie's also a very focused person. She rarely gets off-topic and is always determined to reach a destination or goal. When is comes to combat or tactics, she is very smart and calculating, cunning even.
Good or Evil?: Good
Other: She doesn't know she's Russian because she doesn't know what a Russian is. Annie's just of Russian descent. (Just ask me if I need to clarify the whole Russian thing more. I'm trying to not make it too confusing...) Also, the only reason she kills is to survive.
Seems like I have some...
Name:Griss
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Race: Zombie Pigman
Bio: Griss is one of the last survivors of an apocalyptic pigman destruction, he wanders the overworld searching for his family. He is well versed in literature and has a vast store of knowledge.
Appearance: Zombie pigman but instead of showing torn parts he wears a strong clothlike material.
Personality: Persistant, and very loyal to those he believes in.
Good or Evil? Good.
Other: He carries an enchanted wooden sword, but its enchantment is so powerful that it will NEVER break.
He may also be able to cast spells of decay. your choice.
Name: Raht
Age: As old as the beginning of Minecraftia
Gender: Male
Race: Nightmare [evil dream character]
Bio: Raht is probably the deadliest of all Nightmares. He stalks the dreams of unsuspecting victims, turning their pleasant visions into midnight terrors. His first sighting was at the beginning of Minecraft, and he has been sighted in dreams ever since. Legend says that Raht can make your dreams so horrifying, that you can die. There have been more than twenty mysterious deaths believed to be caused by the Nightmare. Raht is feared all throughout Minecraftia. People say that he is so frightening, that Herobrine is a like a cow compared to him. If you fall prey to Raht's dreams, there is no escaping the horrors that await.
Appearance: Wears a black cape with a hood obscuring his forehead. He has no face, but his skull awaits his victims. Raht carries a bronze scepter, which he can transform into a serpent to terrify victims. The cape hides the rest of his body. Raht wears a horrible grimace, and has black pits for eyes.
Personality: Terrifying, scathing, fears none, is feared by all
Good or Evil: Evil
Other: Raht only exists in dreams, he is not real. Sometimes he is believed to give messages or warnings. Other times, he enters dreams to terrify or kill. There is no way to stop Raht from entering your dreams until the Nightmare is pleased.
Alright, I gave it a shot. Good luck with the story!
He will fit in perfectly in the story. Accepted!
I can make out in my mind how she can fit into the story... Where is she at this moment? Also, about my first one with so many of the chapters there already, I felt like that when I was reading Immortus's story. He was already in Chapter 26 or 27 and I was in Chapter 1. I caught up eventually, and I'm glad I did!
Also, it's always a nice touch when one of the words in the title is "Ender". Adds that Minecraft flair. Yes, I just said "Minecraft flair". It's late.
@Kasparal: The chapter descriptions? Oh, I just added that because the "In which..." part seemed cool to me and the children's book (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making) I was reading a few days ago (yes, I can't read novels all the time) had it as well. The title "Ender?" Yes, that is ONE reason out of the many of why I added that.
I did a similar thing with my story, if you didn't know. My inspiration was Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose". It's a kind of half Sherlock Holmes half Da Vinci Code adventure story set in the 14th century Roman Empire. I highly recommend it, if you have free time.
UPDATE: Poll added
I've only read Sherlock Holmes, so yes, I was referring to the book there. I want to read the Da Vinci Code book, too, but I haven't yet. I meant the movie there.
What? I meant that Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose" is similar to Sherlock Holmes and the Da Vinci Code, but I got the idea from "Name of the Rose". And yes, as I said before, I'd really recommend it. I'm not even finished with it yet and I already consider it one of the best books I've read this year.