Alex sat in her room. The room that imprisoned her - and that's just the way she liked it. She had made it, after recent events had scarred her beyond belief. She built it on top of the gallery, where it was a bit difficult to get to, and made certain that no one would ever bother her again. She barricaded the door with iron bars, and made a secret exit that only she knew about. It was in the back, hidden by a section of wood that one would have to break in order to find the door. She locked herself in here for days to weeks to months.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed; the mornings and nights all blurred together in her mind. But she could understand that it must have been at least a few months since she last went outside. Alex resisted any form of outside contact, whether it be from monsters, Rufus, or Steve. She stockpiled several months worth of food, and was beginning to run low. She even thought of starving herself a little before daring to venture outside. Alas, her stomach couldn't handle the discipline. Alex would need to go out within the next day if she wanted to get more food and survive. Even survival had lost its appeal on her, however. She would find herself not eating for days, and then suddenly gorge herself full of food when she cowered down from death.

Of course, she wasn't completely alone in the world. Steve had come to visit her several times, attempting to get her to come out and talk to him. She always refused. He would bring news with him, sometimes. About a month into her withdrawal, Steve told her of how he had found Rufus, who was living with a pack of wolves, fully grown. The thought of the wolf at first made her happy, but then a second passed, and the thought of Michael came to her mind. How he sacrificed himself...she withdrew.

When Steve would come, he occasionally brought supplies with him, as well, unwilling to let Alex die hungry. He hadn't come by in a while. She couldn't help but rely on him for food. There was food in the main hall of the Sky House, but Alex couldn't bring herself to go back in there again. Bringing back the memories would only bring unnecessary pain. She wasn't Ami anymore. Ami was gone, dead in The End where she belonged. Alex was a new person. Free of the grief and misery. But she didn't feel free.

Alex thought of Luke, to take her mind off of it all. She decided to check on him, see if he was still kicking. But nobody was in his cell. It was empty, though a Luke-sized hole was visible within the obsidian. So he had escaped and set off into the world. She didn't know where. Alex didn't even know if he was still alive. She wasn't even sure if she felt anything when she discovered that he had left.

Alex nibbled on the last steak she had, savouring what little she had left. Suddenly, she jumped in her spot. A loud thud had startled her, and more thuds followed it. The sound was unfamiliar, uncanny, and unnerving. She could barely recognize it as footsteps.

"Ami?" Steve's voice came through the iron bars. Alex bustled to the other room, lingering in the shadows. Steve spoke again. "Ami? Are you there?"

"My name is Alex," she said, her voice raspy and ragged. She hadn't used it in months.

"Right," Steve didn't seem that overly concerned with her name. "Anyway, I came here to let you know I'm going to be leaving for a while. It's a bit of a journey I'm going on, and I'll be taking Rufus with me." He waited for a response. There was none, so he continued on. "You can't rely on me anymore. I might be gone forever this time. Ami, you need to get out of this stuffy room. I know you're running out of food. And...I didn't bring you any this time around. There's plenty in the Sky House, or even the old wooden home that Michael used to live in." Alex twitched at the mention of his name. Steve paid no mind. "Worse come to worse, you can even go hunt your own stuff. It's not that hard. But from this point on, you're on your own." Steve sighed, looking as though he were already weary. He gazed forlornly into the room, spotting Alex in the shadows. He gave her a nod, and then turned away, his footsteps getting quieter as he went.

She couldn't believe he was actually gone. Alex did something she never thought she would do - she stepped into the light that broke through the room and gazed outside. It was early morning, the sun was shining, and Steve was fading from view. The rays warmed her skin better than any torch could have. Alex lingered in the sun for a moment longer, and then retreated back into the confines of her prison.

* * *

Her stomach growled. Her body ached. Alex wanted out. For the first time in so many months, she wanted out. She was out of food, and that wasn't boding very well on her body. Her stomach to this day wasn't very adapt at being disciplined, so it lurched and growled and moaned for her to feed it. She could barely take it. Seeing as she had no other choice, Alex made her way to the secret exit she had fashioned for herself. Opening the door and breaking down the wall, she was this time greeted with a light snowfall.

With a shaky leg, she stepped outside. The cold, icy snow tickled her feet, chilling them to the bone. The fact that she only had a white T-shirt and plaid jacket on, coupled with her black yoga pants, didn't help matters. She had given up on wearing shoes, too, since she was always inside. But her shoes were in the main hall. Miserable, and freezing, Alex shuffled her way across the roof to the vines. She slowly climbed down, her arms shaking from the amount of weight they had to support. She hadn't done any sort of exercise in months, so she had become very weak, though amazingly retained her figure.

The snowflakes fell gently on her, as if lightly encouraging her in their chilly way. She stood in front of the main entrance, her stub lingering on the door. Was she really ready to experience it all over again? Alex frowned, shutting her eyes and opening the door. The soft creak was reminiscent of younger and fuller days; the door itself was a little difficult to open because of all the vines. Alex slowly stepped into the room, her eyes still tightly shut as she felt her way around. After she was in, there was nothing to lean on for support, so she was forced to open her eyes and witness the memories as they played out all over again.

"Cake party!" The high pitched, singsong voice of Izzy rang through the air. They were all alive, settling down at the table for a festival like no other.

Michael and Charlotte were busying themselves with the cake, laying out enough for everyone, Aiden stumbled as Izzy ran into him for a hug that sent both of them into a fit of laughter. Steve was watching the cake being prepared, mellow as usual. Even Luke hung around with his head in his stubs, lazily waiting to be served. Alex stared at the guy with the black hair, slightly crooked nose, and dark eyes. Jack climbed down from the chest room through the vines, strutting over to the cake with a giddy smirk on his face. He looked at the cake, licked his lips, and glanced up.

He waved, calling out, "Come on, Ami! You're missing out!" Alex took a step forward, tears in her eyes.

"Coming! Don't eat my piece, okay? I'll...I'll cut your arm off!" Ami ran past Alex, leaving her in the dust. The girl had her hair in two braids, her happy face always smiling. She sat down beside Jack and bounced in her seat.

"Stop squirming!" Michael complained, the entire bench moving. Ami squirmed more, thrashing about. Laughter circled the table. Alex gazed from afar, taking another step forward. Like a strike of lightning, it all disappeared into the night. The table was empty and barren, no laughter rippled through the air, and Alex was truly the only soul there. She stared at the ground, biting her lip. She knew it wasn't real. She knew that it was all a fable of her own mind. So why did she think he was real, even for a second, when she had watched him die?

Alex sighed to herself, taking a deep breath. Calm down, she told herself. Just make it in enough to find a chest, grab some food, and you're out. Don't linger on memories. Don't. Keep. Them. With. You. Alex kept her head down, staring at the wooden floor and trying to pretend that she was in her room. Her room that freed her from the memories.

A chest was only a couple feet away. She ran to it, ramming it open and searching hastily for any supplies of food. There was nothing except some string and spider eyes. So maybe it wasn't this one. Alex tried going into the secret chest room, searching through all the chests for food. The best she found was five steaks. Five. That was barely enough to last her a day. Alex ran her stubs through her hair, which was loose and wavy. She feared being forced to go outside, it was too soon.

She entered into the main room again, defeated. The memory that never happened played out again and again around her, the people passing through her like ghosts. She paid them no mind. Or at least, she tried to. She made it to the front doors again, exiting them and gazing out into the sunlight. Alex knew for a fact there was food in the wooden house. But with food came more memories in a different place. Even the journey there would reopen scars. She had no choice. Alex took a brief glance in her inventory. The five steaks and her one sword was all she had. She didn't want to go back inside, so it would have to do for now.

Alex climbed down the vines, carefully letting her feet touch the soft earth. She noticed that she had forgotten to grab her shoes, as well, and mentally slapped herself. The journey wouldn't be as comfortable as she initially thought. She had to admit that the soil felt nice under her feet, and as she moved on, the stone wasn't so bad either. Alex bit into her first steak, hoping that she wouldn't completely run out by the time she got to the wooden house. It was already late morning as she walked, and Alex briefly pondered on how long she had stayed in the house before she set off. She shook her head. It was all in the past now, no need to recall it and feel the pain all over again.

* * *

Over the mountain, across the plains. Alex travelled until her feet were becoming sore, but even then she didn't stop. Not once. The morning turned to afternoon, and then the blending colours of the evening were upon her. She eyed the sun, which was slowly setting, halfway buried by the horizon. The moon was steadily rising, and she could already see the glaring eyes of mindless monsters stare at her. The sound of a spider, the rattling of a skeleton. Even the moans of the zombie accompanied her through her journey. The house was coming into view, and Alex felt relieved, having just finished her last steak. She stopped when she saw the state of the house. Spiders dangled down from the roof, Creepers littered about, and a couple skeletons were idling around as well.

She brandished her sword, diamond, with a couple chips and tarnishes. It was old, yet it still retained its form well. Alex easily sliced through the skeletons, barely even noticing them burst into dust. The Creepers were next, approaching her and hissing wildly. She slashed once, twice, and the third time they went down. She spared no moment, always acting and attacking. The spiders were last, taunting her by barricading her from her next meal. Alex wouldn't have any of it. She stabbed two in one go, their dust twirling in the air, and then another, and another, until they were all gone. The night was clear; her sword had a new chip; all was well.

Alex's stomach growled. All was not well. She burst inside and located the food chest, almost in tears when she saw a full-sized cake waiting for her. Drooling, she shoved the cake in her mouth without hesitation, relief coursing through her as her stomach was filled to the brim. Now she could relax. Her eyes lingered on the room before her. Simple, wooden, filled with chests that contained hidden wonders. It brought back memories of - no. She closed her eyes. There was nothing here that Alex would be bothered by. Only Ami would feel that kind of pain. Ami was gone, dead, even. Alex was new, alive.

A pounding knock disrupted her thoughts, startling her so badly she jumped to her feet, sword drawn. Alex inched towards the door, cautious and ready to strike.

"Please!" A girl's voice pleaded. "I know someone's in there...please just let us in!" People? Alex thought. There wasn't any other soul...there couldn't be any other souls here! Alex opened the door, to find a shorter, blonde girl in tears. On her shoulder, weighing her down, was an unconscious boy with black, scraggly hair dressed in a soggy leather jacket and black skinny jeans. The girl looked at Alex, her blonde curls wet and drooping. Alex noticed that it had started to rain, and hard. Lightning rumbled in the air.

"Oh, thank you, thank you...please, let us in. Th-There was a m-monster and it just a-attacked him and...please help." She was begging her. Alex looked from the boy to the girl, a flashback of a similar occurrence threatening to fill her mind. Alex took a deep breath, and motioned for the girl to come in. She thanked her over and over again, dragging the unconscious boy through the house. Alex closed the door and helped the girl escort the boy into one of the several beds. Alex pushed out memories of her friends that had once resided here.

"Who are you?" Alex asked of the girl, once the boy was lain down and the moment to speak had come.

"Cadence. I'm Cadence. He's Ace." She pointed to her companion. "What's your name?"

"Am-" She stopped herself, clearing her throat. "Alex. My name is Alex."

"Okay. Alex...thank you so much, Alex!" Cadence seemed to be a little too optimistic for Alex. She wasn't sure why she had let them in, or even what had transpired that night, but she felt she had done the right thing.

"You should get some sleep, too." Alex said, standing and exiting the room, leaving Cadence to her own thoughts.

(Hey hey. So this is the first chapter of a new adventure, huh? Well, I'll keep on planning this out, but I'll only put out the next chapter if I get at least three people to favourite/comment on this story. People who enjoy this story, look forward to the next.)

2: Fruitless Efforts

        The next day turned out to be a warm, sunny, glorious morning. Rabbits hopped around in their usual, gallant manner; the flowers all bloomed effortlessly to create an earthly rainbow. It was the type of morning that enthralled the eyes of children and adults alike to come out and play. And that's just what Alex planned on avoiding. She shut herself away in the lapis lazuli filled kitchen, or at least as much as she could. Seeing as she didn't have any materials that could aid her in barricading herself off from the other two souls in the house, she resigned to hiding in the corner of the room, unseen by what ideally would be a fridge. Unfortunately, if one were to break the fridge 'door' open, they would only find the outside world. Most of this kitchen was simply for display, aside from the food chests.
        She heard a ruckus outside in the living room. Two bodies were moving around. That must mean that Ace was mobile and well enough to speak. 
        "I'm so happy you're really okay!" The girly voice of Cadence spoke gratefully.
        "A simple explosion wouldn't send me off that easily," The slightly deep, but clearly going through puberty voice of who Alex could logically determine as Ace replied. 
Cadence giggled. "Such big talk for a guy who would have died without me." 
        "Okay, so maybe I need a bit of outside help. Where are we going, anyway? Also, don't walk so fast, it still hurts a little..." The quick footsteps of Cadence slowed to meet the rhythmic timing of Ace's.
        "I'm going to introduce you to the girl that saved us last night. She let us into this amazing house!"
        "Oh, cool. Did she make this all?" Ace seemed to be marveling at the handiwork.
        "No idea. Alex! Where are you?" Cadence called. Alex shrunk down into her corner. She wasn't up for any more social interaction for a good ten days. The cap to her tolerance of human beings had overfilled maximum capacity. She heard Cadence sigh in annoyance.
        "I don't know where she went," she said irritably. "but I can say with a hundred percent sure-ness that she's in this house."
        "How can you be so certain?" Ace questioned. Alex heard Cadence hesitate before she answered.
        "Well, it's hard to explain. Do you know how you just get this...vibe about someone and it's like you just know a thing or two about them?"
        "Er..." Ace clearly had no clue what she was on about. "Yeah," he said anyway.
        "That's what it's like," Cadence stated. "She just comes off as the kind of person that doesn't seem to enjoy going outside. At all." Alex felt a nerve in her brain twitch. Sure, she was right. But hearing it said out loud didn't exactly help matters for her. She knew that she was going to have to make herself visible sooner or later, and huddling in the corner didn't seem like the greatest first impression a girl could make for herself. Alex grudgingly crept out from the corner, relieved to see that they hadn't trod into the kitchen yet, and opened a chest to pretend that she had been preparing breakfast all this time. A couple seconds passed and Alex was relieved she had thought of such an incredible plan.
        "Here she is!" Cadence's gleefulness came back in full force. "Alex! I know you saw Ace last night, but...here he is - conscious, even!" Alex stared at the boy, his dark, penetrating eyes looking so much like...she turned away to the chest, refusing to gaze into those strikingly similar sockets. 
        "Hello," she managed, reaching into the chest and grabbing out a couple pork chops for them all.
        "Go on, introduce yourself, you cowardly mouse!" Cadence hissed at Ace, giving him a push forward. Alex almost smiled at the gesture.
        "Uh," Ace started nervously, a chill seeming to have slithered its way up his spine like a slippery snake. "I'm Ace. But you know that already...it's er, good...to...meet...you." He struggled on the last words. Alex rose from the chest, chops in one stub and the other stub pushing down the lid of the chest. She forced herself to gaze into his eyes, her eyes as cold as diamonds themselves. She walked right up to him and shoved some pork into his chest.
        "Eat," she said simply. "you're both probably starving." Alex handed the rest of the pile to Cadence as Ace's eyes widened at the food. He began to devour the chops, his stomach eager for food.
        "The more the merrier!" It would have said, if stomachs could say such things. Alex strutted through the duo, averting her eyes from the various things in the room that were a little too familiar for comfort. She instead directed herself to a nearby chest, and began to rummage through it.
        "But what about you?" Cadence asked blankly. "Don't you need to eat?"
        "Of course," Alex agreed. "but we will need more food for me to do that. I'm going hunting." Cadence was quiet. Alex took it as an opportunity and headed for the door without looking back. However, just before she exited, she felt a tug on her sleeve. She turned to see the concerned face of Cadence overlooking her, the giant, verdant orbs scorching her heart.
        "No," Cadence said. "take some of this. You'll need it more than I will." She offered three-quarters of her portion, three chops.
        "I can't take all of it," Alex refused, startled by the sudden offer.
        "So just take a bit. It'll keep you kickin', right?" she insisted. A reluctant Ace approached her as well, begrudgingly holding out his last chop without making eye contact. Alex sighed, taking both offers and stashing them in her inventory.
        "Thank you," she said. "I'll be back soon."
        "Oh, no." Cadence held out a stub in protest. Alex raised an eyebrow.
        "Don't you get it?" Ace blinked. "We're coming with you."

* * * 

        "Keep with me," Alex said calmly, internally screaming. They walked along the plains, across an artistic meadow to where Alex knew livestock would be sooner or later. She didn't intend to have taken them out at all. She actually wanted to have a bit of solace in the glorious hours of the day that remained. Alone. But the two clueless slackers that trailed a little ways off behind her was company she never expected to have, ever. 

        "Oh, but can't we just stop and take a moment to look at it all?" Cadence said with wonder.
        "No. Keep up." Alex took a couple more steps, and with great exasperation, knew that the two had come to a standstill. She turned and stomped to where Cadence was gazing around with a smile on her face. Ace seemed happy just to be alongside her. Cadence looked at Alex with a dreamy expression, sending a small twang of grief to Alex's heart. A flash of a curly mane of hair and happy emerald eyes came into her vision, and she had to stop for a moment to grasp herself.
        "Alex, aren't the flowers beautiful? There's tulips, lilacs, and even roses...Alex?" Cadence stopped in her observing when she saw the horror-struck look on Alex's face. 
        "Yes, they're pretty," Alex said, wiping a lock of hair out of her face hurriedly and trying to compose herself, the sweat running down her neck. "We can always look at them when we come back. Let's go. Just a little ways until we find the food, okay?" She turned around abruptly, her heart beating faster than a hummingbird's wing. She trod on, oblivious to the glances that were exchanged between Cadence and Ace.

* * * 

        "Here we are," Alex stated, not stopping to observe the pasture. Everything within the fields was contained behind a sturdy, oak fence. There was only the one gate that they came through, meaning it was also the only exit. Cadence and Ace, on the other hand, really couldn't get enough of the world surrounding them. Alex ignored their gawking, striding over to where the pigs were located. They all looked at her with crossed, dumb eyes. Though she had to admit the pigs were pretty cute, all things considered. Alex sighed, pulling out her sword and raising it over her head.
        "Stop!" Alex halted her motion mid-swing, narrowly missing the pig, and luckily not cutting Cadence in half. She had sprung forward in an instant, shielding the pig and giving Alex a look of utmost horror. "You can't kill them like this!" she exclaimed. 
        "Step aside," Alex said. 
        "No," Cadence persisted.
        "Do you want to eat or not?!" Alex yelled, fed up with her. Cadence stood firm in her ground, a pale, delicate hand on the pig.
        "There has to be a different source of food than innocent animals," Cadence stared at Alex with a steely eye. "If there is in the real world, then there has to be here." Alex stuck her sword into her inventory, and then squatted down to eye-level with Cadence.
        "If you want to grow your own food, you can do it yourself. This is an easier way for me to get sustenance. So step aside, I want my dinner." Cadence flinched under her cold stare.
        "Fine," she agreed, getting to her feet. "But only if I can keep this one." She gestured to the pig she had been protecting. Alex stood, a glare in her eye. Keeping a pet would make their food stock plummet, for sure. But arguing with this girl was meaningless and impossible to achieve a winning position. 
        "Take care of it yourself," Alex said coldly. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go get food for myself." Without another word, she went to where a section of cows grazed peacefully, brandishing her sword. Cadence averted her eyes from what she knew Alex was going to do, and desperately tried to deafen her senses to the cries of the slaughtered animals. 
        "Cadence?" Ace gazed at her with concerned eyes. His hands were shaking. 
        "I'm okay," she said. "I managed to save one of them. We can find our own way to make food - there must be some way to grow food here!" She flashed him a smile. 
Ace sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry I didn't do anything. I was...scared." He stared at the ground, ashamed.
Cadence gave him a small nudge. "Don't worry about it. I was scared, too." A faint smile crossed Ace's face. The two stood together in silence, gazing out into the oncoming sunset. When the last of the horrific cries had died down, the presence of Alex brushed past them, already leaving. She said nothing, and acted as if they weren't there. Cadence and Ace followed her closely anyhow, Cadence's pig following at her heels. The route home seemed to be quicker than the way there; the duo didn't focus so much on their surroundings and instead thought of their destination. By the time Ace and Cadence had gotten themselves sorted when they arrived back home, Alex was nowhere in sight.

* * * 

        "Ace! Come here for a second." Cadence called, her back aching already from the heat of the day. His soft footsteps signaled his approach. 
        "What is it?" Ace asked, his face strewn with dirt. His hands weren't safe, either, for they were coated in a fine layer of earth.
        "I found some seeds! I was looking around on the ground, but it looks like I was doing it wrong the entire time. I thought I saw a monster out of the corner of my eye, but it turned out to be grass, and when I broke it - seeds!" Cadence explained her story with mixed expressions, first starting with happiness, then to slight embarrassment, and ending with the same, giddy look that made the dimples in her cheeks crinkle. 
        "That's awesome!" Ace grinned, all-knowing of how eccentric Cadence's stories could be. He had known her so long that the initial shock of her oddness had worn off completely. "I finished digging up some dirt with the hoe I found in one of the chests...do you think we can really do this?"
        "Of course!" Cadence sprung up, plenty of fresh, budding seeds in her hands, ready for planting. "Show me where you dug, and we can plant them right away!" She ran off ahead of him, ignoring her own statement.
        "Cadence! Wait up!" Ace called casually, slowly maneuvering his way over to where he had dug. He had dug up a large square of land, all of the empty spaces boxed in with each other. They could fit about twenty-four seeds in the land that was tilled so far, and Cadence took no time to wait. 
        "Here," she said, handing him half of her seeds. "Let's get planting!" The two started at opposite ends, gingerly planting the seeds, covering them in a blanket of dirt. Just above the hill, her presence a secret to them both, stood Alex, calmly observing their attempts. She gazed at their efforts with the eye of a professor, assessing it and instantly knowing where they went wrong. She knew she couldn't stand there forever and let all of their hard work go to waste, so she sighed, cracked her neck, and leaped into action.
        "Stop," Alex said, startling them both.
        "You scared me!" Cadence laid a dirty hand over her heart. "Anyway, there's no way that we're stopping now. Besides, you're the one that told us to grow our own food."
        "I know that," Alex scoffed. "But you're doing this all wrong."
        "Really?" Cadence drawled disbelievingly. "Then why don't you show us how it should be done?" 
        "Cadence," Ace warned, noting the glint in Alex's eye. Alex paid no mind to him, a mischievous grin crossing her face.
        "What a brilliant idea," she said. "then how about we make a deal? You try and grow food with your garden, and I'll try and grow some with my own? Call it a competition." 
A glimmer of zeal shone in Cadence's eyes. "Oh? A competition, huh? You're on. Whoever can produce more food in, let's say, three days, wins."
        "Wins what?" Alex questioned. By this point, Ace was desperately trying to reason with either of the girls, but such attempts to do so were wasted. Neither of them would listen to a word he said. Cadence stopped for a second, thinking. 
        "Here's an idea! If we win, Ace and I, then you need to agree to never harm another animal again! No more killing only to supply yourself with food!"
Alex grimaced, but recovered quickly. "Fine, that seems fair enough. However, if I win, you two need to consider me your leader. For example, listening to any commands I say, following instructions to the point, and not following your own reckless desires."
        "Unfair!" Cadence exclaimed. "We already consider you a leader! You can't treat us like slaves!" 
        "That's not my intent," Alex said irritably. "Do we have a deal?"
        "But-"
        "You'll find out what I mean when this is over. Do we have a deal?" Alex extended her stub. Cadence, after a moment of hesitation, extended hers, and the two fist-bumped, sealing the deal. 
Alex grinned. "May the best farmer win."

* * * 

        It had already been a day, and things were looking bad for Cadence and Ace. They had built a water system outside the square, encasing it all within a wall of water that seeped through the soil, soaking the outer plants. But, that was the problem. It only watered about half of what they had planted, and the rest were being neglected. Every now and then, Cadence would glance over to Alex, who was managing a constantly growing stream of crops. She had made rows of crops, still using the same amount of seeds as they had, and yet her crops were already sprouting. Between every row of crops was a row of water, so that the water adequately soaked the plants around it with ease and fluid to spare. 
        Cadence scratched her head furiously, trying to think of a way to water the inner crops. She thought of making another square of water in the middle, but was unwilling to pull up the seeds they had already planted. A course from above wasn't the best way, because all of the water would be gone before they knew it, and her brain couldn't come up with any other way.
        "Cadence, maybe we should call it quits. It's clear that Alex knows more about this than-"
        "No! There's still a way we can win." Cadence interrupted him, the gears turning in her head with great velocity. She sighed miserably, continuing on. "It looks like we'll have to take the chance and make a section of water in the middle. I hate to say this, but...can you help me dig up the seeds?" Ace sighed, shrugging. Cadence knew that shrug to be an agreement. 
        Alex watched in amusement as the couple uprooted their plants, replacing it with water. They were already losing, it was clear enough from the get go. It was interesting to see their new ideas, though, Alex had to admit. She had never seen a more creative way to try and grow wheat in her life. Mind, she was only ever taught the one way, but Cadence herself was certainly a force to be reckoned with. She was competitive, reckless, selfless, ecstatic, and...happy. She reminded her a lot of Ami. Alex shook her head. Linking Cadence with her was the last thing she needed to do. Alex gazed at her crops, watching them grow with a bored look on her face.

* * * 

        "Ugh, I give up!" Cadence cried desperately. "You win." It was the end of the third day of their competition, and the results were clearer than blood on snow. Alex had won by a landslide, her crops producing three times as much as theirs. All Cadence and Ace were able to produce was one measly fifty high stack of wheat. Compared to them, Alex was that of a God, having performed a miracle that could feed thousands. 

        "So it looks like you won," Ace said, considering Cadence was caught up in the aspect of losing. Alex nodded, staring at Cadence.
        "What's the worst you're gonna do to us?" Cadence glared at her. "I really don't want to feed you grapes."
        "It's nothing like that. Come here." She lead the two to her crops. 
Cadence scoffed. "Wow. So you want to gloat in your victory?" 
        "Shut up and listen for once in your life," Alex said, ignoring the brilliant shade of red Cadence's face went. "Now, look. I have them divided into rows, with water in the middle of each. Tell me something. Why would this work better than your idea?" Cadence didn't answer, but was saved by Ace.
        "The water can distribute itself to all of the crops?" he suggested.
        "Right. And there's so much to spare, so they never go thirsty. It's simple, really. But I do appreciate what you tried to do. Planting in a square is what I would have originally thought would be a good idea. The more seeds you have planted, the more you should get. Have them closer together to avoid using space you don't need and trying to water accordingly. It seems like an okay plan, but it never really ends in a good profit. Know what I mean? This is the ideal way you should try and plant, okay? For the future." Cadence and Ace were taken back; this was the longest Alex had ever spoken for aside from a cold remark or a glare. Their wide and astonished looks must have been splattered across their faces like paint, for Alex glanced from one face to another, clearly confused.
        "Y-Yeah," Ace stammered out. "For the future, right Cadence?" He nudged her on the arm. She snapped back into it, agreeing quickly. 
        "Right," Alex said slowly. "Let's go back home, it's getting late. I have something else to show you." She lead the way back, unaware of the glances exchanged between the chattering duo behind her. Wheat in hand, and with the mystery of Alex puzzling both Cadence and Ace, the trio watched as the everlasting sunset cast an aura of serenity upon them all.

* * * 

(Oh snap! Minecraft returns! So again, let me know if you guys want more. I'll always be thinking of how to further this story, and I won't even abandon it. I just take a while to write it all out. //SHAMELESS EXCUSE// But hey. Minecraft. It's a thing. I need to develop a better way to end my own thoughts...)

3: Suspicious Glances

"Now place the wheat three across on the table," Alex instructed, pointing to the boxes on the crafting table. Ace laid out the wheat in the desired pattern carefully, his dark eyes focused and eager to get it right.

"See how a little thing lights up on the right?" Alex's stub drifted to where a picture of a loaf of bread had appeared just above the crafting boxes.

"Yeah," Ace followed.

"Tap it." He did, and his eyes lit up as he did so, the bread appearing before him, warm as if it had just come out of the oven. He muttered a soft 'whoa' under his breath and held the bread gingerly in his stubs.

"Wow, Ace!" Cadence gushed, peering over their shoulders.

"That's all there is to it," Alex finished, the curl of a smile teasing her lips. "I'm going to go do some of my own work, so have fun with the bread." She walked away, dropping the pile of wheat she had beside the couple. Ace and Cadence were so busy popping out bread they hardly noticed her leave. The two stayed there for quite a while, using up all the wheat they had to make a couple hefty stacks of bread, food that would last them weeks.

"Are you okay with eating bread for the rest of your life?" Ace raised an eyebrow at Cadence, who had just sunk her teeth into a soft, warm loaf of bread which breathed the fresh taste of bread into her mouth.

"Mmm," she savoured the bread with a calm look. "Probably. There has to be different kinds of plants here, it's not like we're in a barren wasteland. Right, Alex?" She looked where Alex was, blinking a couple times to assure her senses that she was truly gone. She huffed a sigh, a couple breadcrumbs falling out of her mouth. "Rude," she commented.

"Want to go find her?" Ace suggested.

"Nah, she probably found a better hiding place this time. Maybe buried herself." Cadence paused, considering something in her head. "Want to go for a walk?"
Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Sure, if you know where you're going." Cadence rolled her eyes. "That's the thrill of the adventure, stupid. Marking our own path should be fun!" Ace gave her an unsure look, subconsciously biting his lip. Cadence noticed and held his arm.

"Please? We won't go that far, anyway. Just a little walk?"

"Oh, alright." Ace sighed, averting his eyes from her puppy-dog stare. Cadence grinned, squealing with happiness as she practically dragged him out the door. Ace started to go forward, but Cadence stopped him once more, pointing to the roof, her eyes glinting with what Ace knew may end up becoming his demise.

Cadence and Ace went up the ladder, and Ace's arm was released (much to his relief) as Cadence marveled at a fountain that spouted running water efficiently and beautifully. It was wooden, akin to the house, and quite big, for it took up a large section of the roof. But there was still room for more as Ace spotted a bench that could seat two, as well as a gigantic beacon that stemmed from the base of the house like a beanstalk and extended high into the sky, touching the clouds. He supposed it would be easy to find their way back if they tread too far.

Ace leisured his way over to Cadence, who was already speculating on how genius the idea of a fountain was. She went on about how, with the right amount of colourful and vibrant light, the structure could truly shine and gleam in the astounding auras of the entire colour spectrum. He remained silent, content with hearing her extraordinary vision and sense of design.

"And, and, maybe a, uh...oh! Do you think magenta would work there?" She paused only moment to glance at him, her face muddled with concern and thought.

"Try a bit brighter," he said, and Cadence smacked herself in the forehead, dumbfounded realization splatted on her face.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "How could I be so stupid! I'm lucky to have you around, Ace, otherwise I'd be lost." He chuckled at that, staring up at the magnificent fountain himself. It did have a nice look to it, he had to say. Ace briefly pondered whether Alex had come up with the concept herself and built it. After a moment, he shook his head. Of course she would have, there was no one else who could have. This was her house, after all.

"Ace," came the troubled voice of Cadence.

"Yeah?" He faced her.

Cadence fiddled with her stubs. "Do you miss the real world?" Ace sighed and looked down at his toes. "So you know that this isn't home either."

"Obviously," Cadence said, her curly pigtails bobbing as she moved. "Where else would I have met you? We knew each other coming into here, so...it only seemed right, I guess."

Ace nodded. "Same goes for me. I don't remember much from out there, though, do you?"

"No,"

"I thought as much. Actually, all I remember that isn't connected to this world is you and my baby."

"You mean that old guitar of yours?" Cadence giggled. "It's always falling apart!"

"But I can fix it," Ace grumbled. "Besides, I bet you don't remember anything else." He stuck his tongue out at her. Cadence narrowed her eyes.

"And what makes you think that?" she inquired. Ace simply shrugged, and Cadence hit him on the shoulder. Ace recoiled, rubbing the spot.

"Ow," he said with a grin. "So you do remember something?"

"Not really," Cadence admitted irritably, crossing her arms. "Maybe it'll come back to me later," she sighed, walking over to the beacon and cranking her neck upwards to try and see the top. She gave up after a couple of seconds, and shifted her attention on some sort of figure in the distance. It was a tad difficult to see, but the shape of the object was clear.

"Ace...come here for a second." She said slowly. She felt his presence and pointed to the unmistakable figure. "Tell me that's not what I think it is." Ace's face lost its colour. He looked at her with fear in his eyes.

"I'm afraid it is," he said with a gulp. "It's a graveyard."

* * * 

Cadence clung to Ace, her body shaking uncontrollably. Ace did his best to calm her down, but to do so would be nearly impossible. They were walking in a graveyard. Mind, there wasn't that many graves, but the eeriness of the situation still sunk deep into their skin. They had many questions, but none were such as obvious as their number one.

"Why does Alex have a graveyard behind her house?" Cadence asked with a small squeak. Ace struggled to find the words.

"I...I wish I knew," was the best he could muster as they examined each gravestone. They were all towering crosses, the area in front of each cross covered in stone to show where the bodies were. What was unique about this graveyard was that around every grave was its own type of flower. One had tulips, the other had daisies, they were all different.

"Aiden, Jack, Charlotte, Michael, Izzy..." Cadence read the names on each of the tombstones in order. "There's only five. One of them seems like it has some sort of suicide note...w-well, if Alex is a psychopath m-maybe this could be a g-good thing?" She gave a shaky smile to Ace, who scratched the back of his head uncertainly.

"Er...I don't think she killed all these people. Does Alex really seem like the type to go out of her way to kill people? She's more of an introvert than anything."

"Yeah, but-"

"Do you really think she's crazy? She saved our lives without even knowing us."

"Okay, you have a point." Cadence sighed in defeat. "But you have to admit this is really ominous. I don't like it at all."

"Then why don't we go and ask her?"

"What."

"Let's ask Alex what happened to these people! There's no easy way around it! Unless you'd rather sleep with the thought of her as a psycho-killer..."

"Fine! Let's just go, this place is freaking me out." Cadence shivered, hurrying away. Ace trailed after her, giving one last fleeting glance to those who rested underground. He hoped he wasn't wrong about Alex.

* * * 

"You ask her,"

"No! This was your idea! You ask!"

"But you're the one who ran off so quick to do this!"

"What does that matter?! There's no way I'm doing it!" Cadence and Ace argued in hushed tones, neither willing to take the first step. Alex sat in the corner of the room, twirling her sword idly, hardly paying attention to what she was doing. She was more concerned about eavesdropping on the whispers that surrounded her. She didn't make any attempt to converse, they would start that tedious process for sure. Alex pretended that she didn't notice them, and it must have worked, because within the next few moments Ace took a deep breath and approached her.

"Alex," he started, sounding more unnerved than usual. Alex locked her blue eyes with his dark ones. Ace stiffened, continuing on. "We need to talk to you about something that we found."

"Oh?" Alex mused. "What is it? Cows aren't that fascinating, you know..." She smirked to herself, getting to her feet. Ace didn't smile at all in return, which struck her as odd.

"It's different," he said, leading her to the back of the house.

"Where are we going?" Alex asked calmly, her heart pounding inside of her chest. What had they seen? Why were they so stone-faced? What had they seen?! The thoughts raged throughout her mind as they made the short walk across the roof. Ace and Cadence were silent, which only tormented Alex. As they hit a cobblestone path, Alex knew. She knew where they were going. She knew what they had seen. When she forced herself to look up, her chest constricted as if vines were ensnaring them. Their graves stood before her, looming and casting their shadow of grief. However, she noticed that there were three more graves than the last time she had been here. Charlotte, Michael, and Izzy had joined Aiden and Jack in their eternal slumber. She scanned the stones over and over again, confused on who could have put them there in the first place. There was only one possible explanation.

"Steve," she muttered to herself, overwhelmed with it all.

"...ey...Hey! Hello! Earth to Alex! Are you there?" Alex flinched, only now noticing that Cadence was trying to get her attention. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that the people around her had disappeared for a moment.

"Y-Yeah, sorry." Alex hastily apologized.

"You need to tell us what's up with this freakshow," Cadence continued, fired up. "Who are these people?!"

"Cadence, calm down." Ace grabbed her shoulder gently. The shorter, blonde girl relaxed slightly.
Alex stared at the ground. "My friends," she said glumly.

"So you did kill them!" Cadence blurted out, any calmness gone.

"Cadence!" Ace shushed her. Alex forced a laugh.

"I'd be more likely to kill myself than any one of them, that's for sure," she said hollowly. "did you think I was a psychopath?" The couple exchanged nervous glances with each other. Alex rolled her eyes. "They were killed. That's all. I'll head back, if you don't mind, then." She started without another word.

"B-But didn't one of them commit suicide?" Cadence inquired quietly.

Alex paused before saying, "Yes. What's your point?" She watched as Cadence pointed to the signs that lingered behind the grave.

"On the signs. I can see that he mentioned just about everyone else in the graveyard, but...there are two people I don't know, Luke and Ami. Who are they?"

"One of them ran away, the other doesn't exist." Ami finished coldly, heading back inside without any more claims or objections. Cadence and Ace were left in stunned silence to contemplate what she meant.

* * * 

For the first several minutes of their time alone, Cadence took it upon herself to pace the roof at wild speeds, frightening Ace into thinking she might accidentally walk off and fall to her demise. Luckily this didn't happen, and weariness began to take over. Once she had exhausted herself, she resorted to crumpling in a tired heap beside Ace on the wooden bench.

He looked at her with weary eyes. "Stop worrying about it, Cadence. You're going to make yourself sick."

"How can I not worry about it!" she stressed. "Okay, sure, maybe this Luke person ran away somewhere, that's believable, but how can a human being not exist?" Ace sighed.

"I know it's hard to not think about it, but you're going to have to sleep at some point tonight. Messing up your mind even worse than it already is is pointless."

"Are you suggesting that I'm messed in the head?" She gave him a look. Upon realizing what he had said, Ace smacked himself in the face, trying to recover.

"Ah, that's not really what I...uh..." he sighed, giving up on the attempt. Like Cadence, he was also exhausted.

Cadence smiled. "Don't worry about it. You're a little messed, too." Ace smirked at her comment. Cadence continued, "Well, if I can't concern myself with a non-existing person for the time-being, at least the stars look nice tonight."

Ace gazed up at the sky with her. "Sure is. It's one of the best things about being in the middle of nowhere - at least the stars are pretty." Cadence gave out a little hum to show that she had heard him, transfixed with the specks of illumination coming off the pitch-black sky. Ace sought out the chance, deciding to look at Cadence instead. Their eyes locked, and the two leaned in for a kiss, their lips gently pressing against one another. The couple shared in their love for each other for but a moment, breaking apart soon. Cadence was blushing, her cheeks rosy and happy. Ace couldn't be sure what the future would bring, but he knew that he would always have his girl beside him to face off against whatever came their way.

* * * 

He ran through the caves, his mouth dry and his lungs wheezing for air as his legs ached for him to stop and take a break. Despite his physical weakness, he couldn't stop. If he did stop, the beasts would claim him for sure. He couldn't kill them, he wasn't much of a fighter. But his legs, oh his legs could carry him far! However, he did tire very easily, thus his legs suffered for their glorious ability to keep a steady pace. He knew it was a bad idea, but he stopped.

Just long enough to catch some of his breath. The beasts were a while away, but that didn't mean he could rest just yet. If he did, it would all be over. His legs would probably break in an ironic fashion, preventing him from escaping at all! So he paused to orient himself, checking to see that his legs were, in fact, not broken and still mostly functional. He broke off into a run again, following the trail of torches he had made himself. Even if he was running for his life, he was still prepared for it.

Checking the clock he kept handy, it would be about five minutes until the beasts would catch up to him. Ahead of schedule, as per usual. But that didn't mean he had time to dawdle! Through the corridor, down the stairs, he was almost there!

The maze stood before him, making a mockery of his poor skills. Shoot, he thought. He hadn't counted on the maze of the mine coming in his way when he took this route. He made a mental note to write down that this passage was a no-go on his map. Darting past the endless halls of mining that he had done weeks prior to this, he eventually found the correct path after a couple wrong turns. Checking the clock, that had put him behind by two minutes and thirty seconds. Unacceptable! They almost had him cornered!

But today was his day, the day that he would triumph over them all. He skidded a corner, almost losing his balance as he passed the narrow, sharp turn as he stormed up a flight of stairs with painful ease. Though he was gifted with perfect running legs, actually training them to run coherently and properly was an entire ordeal in itself. Perhaps that should be the next thing he would focus on...how could he lose concentration of what was at hand?! The beasts were gaining!

He zoomed along, taking all the correct turns and grinning to himself as the minecart came into view. He grabbed the cool, metal surface, giving it a push and hopping in as he felt himself skyrocket forward into the caves. His hair flew behind him, and a grin plastered itself across his face. It was as if he were in a dream! Flying around faster than he could have ever imagined on an exhilarating rollercoaster ride, it was amazing! The cave opened up, the tunnels disappearing and a open space leading outside greeted him. The minecart gained elevation steadily, and as it reached the top, he touched the warm kiss of sunshine, and went right back down again, yelling the entire way down. The rollercoaster went through spirals, through more wondrous places, until it finally stopped.

He was a little sad that the ride was over, but as he checked his watch, he marked a new record in his journal. The simulation was complete. He had developed the perfect escape plan in case anything were to ever try and take hold of him as he lived out his days in the caves. Getting out of the minecart and proudly gazing at his creation, he walked up the steps leading to his house, a small shelter that was occupied by a bed, furnace, and crafting table. He had a singular chest which contained everything he needed, and another chest that held all of his journal entries.

Entry after entry he had constructed and developed his fun escape, and today's fifty-second test was the first to ever be a success. He eagerly wrote down the details of his achievement, not forgetting to throw in a few ideas (that took up three pages) of how to improve it even more. He was quite content with his lively little life underground, and surely intended to keep it that way for a long, long time.

* * * 

Do you really think it's going to be a quiet life forever, little dude? I don't think so. Feel free to review, guys! There will be more coming.

4: The Inventor

"We're going underground?" Cadence clarified uncertainly in the main room the next morning.

"Yep. Grab a couple pickaxes, and a lot of food. We'll be down there a while." Alex busied herself with grabbing three pickaxes for herself, and tossing a couple in Cadence's direction. Cadence dodged a pickax that was headed straight for her face and turned back to face Alex.

"But what about holding fort here, or...taking care of the animals?" she searched her mind to find any sort of excuse to stay.

"The animals will be fine, and there isn't really a fort to hold down. It's not like anyone is going to show up and steal our base, right?" Alex closed the chest, a small smirk crossing her face.

Cadence huffed a sigh. "Fine. I hope you know what you're doing." Alex crossed over to her, giving her a light pat on the shoulder, and then continuing to one of the many food chests, pulling goodies from there. At that moment, Ace entered the premises, his eyes outlined with bags and drooping. He yawned, scratching his back and giving a tired smile to Cadence.

"I take it you didn't sleep that well," Cadence commented.

"On point, as usual." Ace managed a lopsided grin. "What's going on?" He had just noticed Alex, who was throwing meat and bread into neat piles.

"Someone thinks we need to go mining for materials, that's what. I don't get it, we're perfectly fine as we are now!" Cadence complained.
Alex shot her a nasty look. "Don't take it for granted. You'll have a lot more to whine about when we're out of coal. No fuel means no fire. Let's head off." She thrust a pickax into Cadence's arms, heading out the door. Ace and Cadence exchanged glances before hurriedly following her out the door.

They didn't have to walk far, for Alex lead them only a brief walk away from the house where a hole in the ground could be seen. Cadence opened her mouth to criticize Alex about the hole, but before she could Alex had jumped down into the hole, seeming to disappear from existence. This undoubtedly came as a shock to the two confused adventurers.

"There's a ladder," she called up from below. Cadence and Ace let out a relieved sigh, sliding their way down the ladder one by one.

"Goodbye sunshine," Cadence said sadly as she paid the sun a last, fleeting glance.

"Come on, Candy, don't fall behind." Ace waited for her to catch up, walking alongside her as Alex lead the path. They had dropped into a cavern that Cadence found it hard to believe was within that small hole. It was definitely bigger on the inside, and the torches that already marked the path lead her to believe that Alex had been here before. They traveled along through the lengthy cave, and soon came to a section where the path branched into several different directions. Cadence began to count how many; one, two, ten...she lost count. There were so many different paths that it was all rather dizzying to the mind.

"Listen up," Alex started, turning to face them. "What we're going to do is something called branch mining. We're all going to split off into different paths and hammer our way through the blocks, collecting any material we can get, okay?"

"We're going to split up?" Cadence gasped. "Isn't that the wrong thing to do in any sort of situation?!"

"In a horror movie it is," Alex said flatly. "But here we're safe, okay? Just use your stone pickaxes to get through the stone. If you see an ore that's blueish, or really any ore that looks important at all, use the diamond pickax. The stone might damage a really rare ore if you're not careful. Got it?"

"I don't have a pickax," Ace gave a nervous laugh.

"Good thing I brought extra, then." She handed him two stone pickaxes and one diamond pickax, as well as some food. "Feel free to eat whenever you need to, there won't exactly be scheduled lunch breaks for this. If there's a problem, find me. I'll be in this mine, here." She marked it with a sign, writing her name on it. "You two go down those two." She pointed to the two paths opposite hers. They were adjacent to each other, which made Cadence feel a little more calm about mining. She could always burst into Ace's side of the mine if she panicked. Alex didn't say another word, and instead began her way down the long corridor.

"I'm just a couple blocks away, okay?" Ace gave her a reassuring smile. Cadence flashed him a grin.

"I got this in the bag!" she said gleefully, embarking down her own path.

* * * 

She definitely did not have this in the bag. The tedious work of smashing down stone after stone leading to only more stone and nothing interesting to occupy her attention otherwise was driving her mad. Cadence stopped again, crouching and leaning against the wall. She pulled out some bread and chewed on the end. Her senses had unfortunately become dull to the once fresh taste of the warm loaf. Now it was just crumbs and mush in her mouth that she struggled to swallow. Cadence took a small drink out of her water, conserving the little bit she had left. Her stomach somewhat full, she got up, cracked her back, and went away at her work.

She got through maybe four blocks, when much to her surprise an entire room appeared before her. She peered out the small window she had broken, her eyes widening. Her heart pounded as she broke her way into the room, stepping down from the small ledge her path had forged. Cadence gazed around at the astonishing sight before her. A wide corridor presented itself to her, a set of railroad tracks extending for what seemed like miles. She gingerly grazed her stub against it, pondering many questions at once. However, none of these questions were answered, for she followed her undying curiosity and followed the direction of the tracks, or at least the way she figured they were going.

Along her way, she marveled at how much care must have gone into creating such a track. Not only did it go on for a while, but there was a rise and fall, an upwards spiral, and even some sharp turns, as if it was all a rollercoaster. In fact, that's what Cadence ultimately deemed she had stumbled on. An abandoned rollercoaster that lead to an untold destination.

After what felt like hours of walking, the tracks came to an end, and only a small wall of stone blocked her from witnessing the treasures that may lay inside. Determined and prepared, she pulled out her pickax and struck the stone, and immediately screamed. What she expected to happen was the stone to break and allow her access to the next room. Instead, the so-called stone disappeared the moment she struck it, and in its place a small, silver bug with spikes along its body squirmed and writhed around, crawling its disgusting body towards Cadence. Following the first bug were several more, and Cadence found herself skittering away and hacking at all of them madly with her sword. The creatures died off one by one, and once Cadence had gathered most of her bearings, she glanced up. The wall was gone, and in its place an astonished-looking boy.

He had cherry-red hair that almost covered his eyes, and wide, hazel eyes that seemed to take in everything around him. The boy wore a baggy, dusty pair of jeans that had several unidentifiable stains on them, a simple white T-shirt with more stains along with some burnt holes in it, and a pair of golden goggles hung around his neck. His mouth was agape, and he seemed to be at a loss for words. He looked from the destroyed creatures to Cadence, easily piecing one and two together.

"My silverfish..." he muttered to himself. Cadence didn't hear this, and instead tried to make conversation.

"H-Hi," she said awkwardly. The boy's eyes instantly shot up from their place on the ground, lingering on Cadence for a second. Cadence opened her mouth to say something else, but the boy was quick; he had sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Cadence cried, insulted. "Come back!" She scrambled up from her place on the floor and chased after him to the best of her ability.

* * * 

He had to run. He knew he would have to run for real at some point, but never imagined it would be from another human being. The idea of more people existing alongside him made him skin crawl. He was quite fine on his own. He should never have inspected that awful scream. Here he was, enjoying himself in his own paradise, and by chance he heard a horrendous noise - barely able to recognize it as a scream. The situation he had walked in on was more...peculiar than he had imagined.

A pretty girl, a really pretty girl, was sitting on the ground, stabbing his silverfish trap mercilessly, yelling and screaming her head off. Needless to say, it was an easy decision to run from such an oddity. After all, he knew these corridors better than anyone else. There was no way she would catch - she was right behind him. Curse his frail legs! They couldn't break down on him now, of all times! He also cursed himself for glancing behind him at all, that was a horrible idea to begin with!

All he could really do was run, and hope to reach his next trap and trigger it to slow her down - he tripped. Over nothing. Fool! This had to be the most pathetic way he imagined himself going. Face flat against the cool stone of the cave, helpless to the impending doom that awaited him...it was about to come unto him and ruin his elaborate and masterpiece of a plan...anytime now...where was it?

He lifted his head, glancing over his shoulder. The girl was wheezing, catching her breath beside him. She seemed like she was trying to communicate.

"Please...stop," she panted. "I just want...to talk." Well, he didn't exactly have any other option at this point than to accept his punishment of defeat. He rolled over and got to his feet, tempted to run all over again. No! It was a part of his code to admit defeat fairly. He wondered briefly where he had written down such an odd code, it seemed rather useless in this world. For now he supposed he would follow them more like guidelines.

"Let's start this again," the girl said, dusting herself off a bit and extending her stub of a hand. "I'm Cadence." He stared at her stub for a moment, and before he could even plan out an effective response, his mouth did the talking for him.

"A handshake in this situation would be an absolutely horrendous way of greeting someone," he said. Instantly he regretted his words, for they seemed to have no immediate effect on the girl. She seemed more confused than anything.

"Er...right. How about a fist bump? We can kind of do that." Cadence, yes, that was her name, continued to hold out her stub. Reluctantly, he obliged and fist-bumped her. Her skin was unnaturally soft. He couldn't help but stare at her - it had been ages since he had seen another person. Her blonde curls bobbed beside her head, seeming to have a universal force of their own, her eyes shimmered a soft blue, and her lips were pink and smooth-looking. The white, lacy tank top she wore was slightly revealing, and the ivory leggings accented her figure like a goddess. She was the most stunning, alluring, elegant woman he had ever seen.

"Are you okay?" she asked, unnerved. He realized he had been staring and snapped himself back into it.

"Yes, perfectly so." Was all he said. He wasn't sure if Cadence had expected more, because she tucked a silky strand of hair behind her ear and continued on.

"What's your name?" she insisted.

"I'm Lucas," he said, extending his stub and instantly regretting it. "And...we've already fist-bumped. That's awkward." She giggled at that. Lucas smiled.

"So, um, what are you doing down here?" she asked curiously.

"I thought it was obvious," Lucas said without thinking. "I live here."

Cadence seemed taken back. "You live here?! That's amazing! So, so, does that mean you were the one that built those tracks over there?"

"Yes," Lucas answered slowly, unsure of how to understand the situation. This wasn't exactly something he had planned for. Beasts, sure, no problem. An entire herd of moss-monsters couldn't penetrate his fortress, but one girl? His plan was K.O'd, as some would put it. Cadence began to squeal. And it was so annoying. Lucas wasn't as sure about this girl as he was twenty seconds ago.

"Wow! I didn't think...I mean, I didn't even know there was someone else down here so it was a big surprise anyway that you made all of this, and..." she blabbered on and on about how she was so fascinated by the 'underground rollercoaster,' she called it. Lucas didn't know how to understand this girl. She was surely something, that much could be said. The words seemed to pour out of her mouth like an endless fountain of nonsense, and yet Lucas enjoyed every second she kept on babbling. Eventually she did tire out, most likely from the fact that she had ran out of air. As she took a deep breath in, Lucas seized his chance.

"Would you like to see the rest?" he suggested. Cadence's eyes lit up.

"There's more?"

* * * 

Cadence couldn't believe that there was even more to this place than there already was. The company wasn't overly to her tastes, but everything else was spectacular. Lucas lead her through more passageways, showing her all the different creations he had manifested. There were other coasters that lead to various places (though Lucas insisted that they were mineshafts and he had simply rearranged their path) and Cadence couldn't help but be blown away. They came to what appeared to be a small bunker, which was completely sparse aside from a teensy bed, chest, crafting table and furnace.

"And this is where I live," Lucas said proudly. Cadence blinked, confused.

"It's really...bare." She shot him a look. "Compared to everything else, I mean."

Lucas shrugged. "Well, I don't need a mansion. As long as I have the essentials then there's no reason to expand anything more, is there?"

"Maybe to show off?"

"To who? It's not like I have regular visitors. It's a comfortable space, even if it's not glorious. Besides, everything I need is right close to me."

"How so?" Cadence persisted.

"Well," Lucas began, scratching his chin. "There's food, supplies, and my journal. Not much else a guy really needs."

"Oh," Cadence pondered to herself for a moment, finding it hard to believe that someone who could invent such extravagant displays lived such a simplistic lifestyle. Lucas seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, admiring the minimalist style that was his room. After a beat, he went over to the one chest he had, rummaging through it and pulling out a messy book that had paper sticking out of it in every which way. He opened the book, flipping to a page and scribbling down something with a smile on his face.

"Er..." Cadence tried to make conversation. "What are you doing?" Lucas didn't look up from his work as he spoke, writing the entire time, "Writing down an idea. I'll forget it if I don't write it down. Ooh, I'm definitely expanding on this later..." His left hand scribbled fast, and before Cadence knew it, he snapped the book shut and turned his attention back on her as if this was a casual occurrence. She took this as an opportunity.

"Well, this has been...nice," she smiled. "but I think it's time I headed back. I should tell Ace and Alex about this place, too, for the future."

"Wait, there are more of you?" His smile faded.

"Of course! Not all of us are supergeniuses. You could come with us, someone with ideas like these shouldn't rot away in a cave."

"Uh...I'll have to pass." Lucas edged away from her, backing himself into the wall. "Maybe next time."

"Why?" Cadence questioned. "Can you at least try? It's not like they're going to hurt you." She reached out to him, he smacked her hand away, an exhilarated look upon his face. Not missing a beat, Lucas dashed out the door, disappearing down the path they had come. Cadence sighed irritably, angry that things seemed to be repeating themselves as she chased after him.

* * * 

Alex came out from her mine, having exhausted the resources available, which wasn't overly much to begin with, aside from a bunch of coal. She counted thirty-nine in total. It would last them a little bit, but hoped that Ace and Cadence were able to find more than she ended up with. Otherwise she would have to do this all over again, and that was something she wanted to avoid entirely.

Ace came out of his mine, his entire body coated in a fine layer of dirt. He dragged his pickax on the ground, evidently drained of any energy.

"I take it you had quite the adventure," she commented.

"No, I just, ah, fell." Ace replied, embarrassed.

"Fell?"

"I accidentally dug into a mineshaft and fell into it. Not my proudest moment."

"Oh. Find anything interesting?"

"There was this railroad track, as if a cart or something could fit on it. Do you know anything about that kind of thing?"

"Not at all," Alex said, surprised. She had heard of abandoned mineshafts, but those never had any sort of tracks.

"They seemed to have a path, too. Like someone had intentionally built them. I followed them for a bit, but didn't find anything interesting. Just kind of a dead end." Ace sounded a little disappointed.

"No chests?"

"Nah." The two finished that conversation rather quickly, entering a period of silence where Alex avoided eye contact as best she could by staring at a particularly boring piece of stone, trying to make it seem interesting. It wasn't working all that well. Luckily, she heard a fast-paced set of footsteps approaching, assuming it must be Cadence. Instead, a surprise to both of them, was a bit of a shorter boy with a shock of ginger hair, and a terrified expression. He halted in his run as soon as he saw her, his eyes looking from Alex to Ace repeatedly. It was a few seconds of stunned silence before any moves were made. Another set of footsteps, probably Cadence this time, pattered along, and the boy snapped into action, dashing down the corridor.

"Who was that?" Ace asked, still recovering from the initial shock.

"...No idea," Alex was rattled about the entire scenario herself. Just then, Cadence appeared, panting heavily. She had enough strength to point to the boy, and spoke with a wheeze.

"Him...genius! Run...catch! Friend!" Her speech was difficult to understand, in the very least, but she took a deep breath and ran after him anyways.

"Do you think we should follow her?" Alex turned to Ace.

"Probably," he replied with a heavy sigh.

* * * 

Stupid legs! He had a cramp! Lucas never dreamed that he would have to deal with this kind of situation. The people. Not the legs. His legs were something that were never dependable enough to rely on. All the running he was doing made him exhausted. Perhaps he should add exercise to his to-do list. But now wasn't the time to think of adding such things, as he pounded his feet against the cool stone of the caves. He could feel himself getting closer to the surface, it couldn't be far now.

Although he had to admit that breaching the surface and facing the outside world was a horrid thought. The very idea sent a chill down his spine. One of the reasons he spent so much time down in the caves was that he was less likely to find monsters there since he had uncovered so much territory. He had made sure that light shone in every corner so that nothing could hide.

But he didn't have much of a choice. Face the surface or communicate with the other people. They had already found his hideout, he couldn't return there. Where could he go? All of his options looked grim, there was no easy way about it. Lucas bit his lip, running blindly.

Unfortunately, this blindness lead him to run face-first into a wall. He recoiled, rubbing his nose gingerly and gazing at the rude wall that had hurt him so. It wasn't so much a wall as it was an exit. A ladder leading straight up, most likely to the surface. Had he really traveled that far? He hadn't had much time to rationally consider his options. The echo of footsteps began to get louder. He didn't exactly have much time to reconsider. He grabbed the ladder, his arms shaking, and pulled himself up, exiting out of a small hole in the ground.

It was dark outside, which made things worse. Yet the night had an eerie peacefulness to it as he briefly gazed upwards. The sky gleamed with tiny fires, and the tranquil silence was breathtaking. Lucas had forgotten what it felt like to be on the surface. It was nice, he had to admit, and he made a mental note to build his own way of seeing the sky. A giant hole didn't seem to be the best idea...what was he doing? Oh, right. Lucas didn't have anywhere to go, so he simply went straight. Where straight ahead was was another question, but it seemed like a good path to him.

It wasn't.

It was mere moments before he had encountered a zombie, and then a spider, and a creeper, and more zombies, until there were too many for him to fend them all off. Lucas didn't pride him self on his fighting skills in the first place, but had no choice in the matter. Seeing as he didn't have anything overly useful as a weapon on him, he instead brandished his trusty pickax, which would have to serve as a miracle at this point. He braced himself, preparing to strike.

* * * 

Alex pulled herself up and on the ground, getting to her feet and cracking her neck. It was dark. Not good. She saw Ace and Cadence already running ahead; they must have spotted the kid. As she ran to catch up, things seemed to had taken a rough turn for the guy. He was surrounded by all sorts of monsters, and yet seemed to be handling himself fairly well. He was pretty banged up, though Alex wasn't sure if that was because of his initial filth. Regardless, she jumped in with the rest to take care of the ruckus.

A couple minutes later and most of the monsters were obliterated, but more still came.

"Follow me! The house isn't too far from here - it'll be safe!" Alex called, leading the way. Ace and Cadence followed, as expected, and the boy hesitated before running after them. The house came into view once they had passed the hill, and all four of them quickly piled into it, relieved and worn out. Cadence collapsed to her knees, gasping in air. Ace dusted himself off while the boy stood awkwardly in the room, appearing to reconsider his choice.

"Okay. Now that we're all alive, I'd like some things cleared up. Who are you?" Alex addressed the red-haired boy. He seemed to be lost for words, struggling to speak at all. He opened his mouth to speak several times, but eventually closed it for good.

"His name's Lucas," Cadence answered. "He's an inventor." Alex nodded, thinking to herself for a moment.

"Well, you should stay here for the night, at least." She moved over to a chest, already unloading. Lucas seemed like he was about to object, but then shook his head and just sighed.

"Thanks," was all he said for the rest of the night. Alex didn't push it. He would talk when he was ready. Probably. If she ended up getting impatient she considered making him talk, but the inner angel within her urged her otherwise.

Lucas was already asleep in bed by the time she entered the bedroom, his notebook and pen sprawled on the floor. Alex rolled her eyes, picking up the book, falling onto a random page. The page contained an immensely complex drawing of a machine Alex couldn't identify. She wondered if he was really an inventor like Cadence claimed. Looking again at the sketch, she smiled to herself, placing the book on the chest beside his bed. Perhaps this kid was more than she thought after all.

* * *

(Whoa ho ho! This has to be one of the longest chapters I've written...ever! A lot happened. And a lot more will happen. Stay tuned for the next!)

5: Intuition

The sun had risen high, dominating the sky with its fierce roar and menace. The entire world bowed before it, using the glorious roar to be rejuvenated and refreshed. And for once in her life, Alex decided to join in this warmth. She sat outside in a spot by the crops, the smell of wheat grass tickling her nose and the mane of the sun burning the back of her neck. She had found a straw hat in one of the chests, and decided to wear it. Alex briefly speculated on why or how such a hat could be in there, but then she simply shrugged and dismissed the idea, placing the hat atop her fiery head. She was very glad she did this, for the raging sun was extraordinarily hot today, and perhaps this would make sure that the only part of her that wouldn't burn would be her face.

Not a breeze blew by in the humidity of the day, and not a second did anyone go without breaking a sweat. While Alex mildly enjoyed the sun, ironically remaining inside was Cadence, who was followed by Ace. They tried to keep cool in any way they could, but found the entire ordeal exhausting to begin with, so they eventually gave up trying and sat sprawled out on the ground.

Lucas was sitting on his bed, scrawling something almost illegible in his journal. He paused a moment, pressing the pencil to his pursed lips, and with a smile returned to writing. After finishing his sentence, he closed the book, stretched, and sought to find Alex, stepping over the sweaty remains of Cadence as he went. Lucas came to the farm-ground, spotting Alex at the far end, and waded through the water to get to her. She didn't seem to mind, amazingly enough, and Lucas felt slightly more refreshed by passing through the cool, silky stream.

"Hey," he said, shaking the water off his feet. Alex gazed up at him with calm eyes. It seemed that that was going to be the closest thing to a response. Lucas continued, "I was looking through my plans and remembered something important. I need all my supplies from the caves."

"Mm?" Alex mused, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. "and how do you propose you'll get those?"

"I'll walk there myself," Lucas stated flatly. "But before I went I wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"For saving my life!"

"Oh, yeah." Alex seemed preoccupied with something else, passing off the remark nonchalantly.

"Well - it was...nice." Lucas felt his confidence draining. "So...thanks, I guess?" He slowly started to back away, unwilling to let the conversation fester into something horrid.

"Wait," Alex called. Lucas bit his lip, silently cursing to himself. "Take Ace with you. He needs to get out of the house and away from Cadence for a bit."

Lucas blinked. "Why?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

Alex made a face. "Their lovey-dovey thing really bothers me. The kid probably needs some time with another guy. And seeing as you're here..."

"You know I'm probably the worst choice for something like this."

"Yeah, you are. Now go, I want to see how much I can burn." She wiggled her fingers, which were already turning red. Lucas briefly worried about her health, but went off to fetch Ace without further question.

* * * 

Cadence seemed horrified by the prospect of distancing herself from Ace when Lucas brought it up.

"But why does he have to go with you?" she complained.

"Safety," Lucas lied, hoping it would suffice. "Don't know what could happen down there, right?" he tried a grin. Cadence shot him a death glare. The grin faded.

"I'll be fine," Ace agreed with him, sending a wave of relief through Lucas. "You can have girl time with Alex." Cadence made a disgusted face.

"I don't think Alex knows how to be a girl," she said glumly.

"Well, try finding common ground. That's how things usually start, right?" Ace smiled reassuringly. Cadence sighed, nodding and bidding him farewell. As the two split from home, an awkward silence befell them both. Lucas wasn't willing to initiate conversation, and Ace was finding it difficult to think of common ground. Luckily, they didn't have far to go before they slipped down the ladder and into the caves. An idea popped itself into Ace's head.

"So you built all the tracks?" he asked.

"Yep." Lucas stretched his arms behind his back. He said nothing more.

Ace decided to try something else. "What's it like living down here?"

"Peaceful,"

Ace was beginning to get slightly aggravated. "How so?" Lucas seemed to be getting slightly irritated as well.

"Not much in the caves, is there?" He shot Ace a look.

"I wouldn't know." Ace kept his gaze on Lucas.

"That's too bad." Lucas fell silent again, and Ace gave up trying. They came to Lucas' bunker, and Lucas began to dig through his chest, grabbing his necessities. Ace left him to it, exploring around the cave. He briefly glanced at the rail tracks that were laid out in such an elaborate pattern that it was no wonder riding in it would feel like a rollercoaster. Since he wasn't overly fond of heights or being disoriented, he left it be. Wandering slightly further, he came to a door. Curious, he pushed it open and was instantly even more confused upon walking in. All throughout the room were blocks stacked high on each other, collecting dust. They seemed to be ordinary, serving no clear purpose. It didn't seem right that they would be there for no reason.

He decided to tap one. It made a faint noise. He tapped it harder. The noise was louder. Ace went to another block and tapped it. Another noise - but in a different pitch. The lights in his brain snapped on when he realized what it all was. Grinning to himself, he excitedly began tapping all the blocks he could lay his hands on, and began to create music. High pitches of happiness and joy, low pitches of sadness and deprivation, and everything in between flowed from his stubs. His music rang out into the corridor, though he didn't notice it much. He also didn't notice the stunned figure behind him until it spoke up.

"How did you do that?" Ace stopped playing, spinning around. It was Lucas. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I just...hit them?" he shrugged.

"No, not that. How did you make that into something nice?" Lucas allowed himself into the room, inspecting Ace closely.

"What do you mean?" Ace felt a little uncomfortable with his snooping. Lucas sighed irritably.

"I mean how did you make actual music? What kind of mechanic or strategy did you use to determine the note block's secrets?" He averted his attention from Ace and began inspecting the blocks.

"Note blocks?"

"They're exactly as they sound. Blocks that will make a certain note when you hit them. Note blocks. I think the sound is usually random, though. How the blazes did you get it to sound that good?"

"Intuition, I guess." Ace shrugged. "I've always kind of been drawn to music." Lucas stopped poking the blocks and turned to face Ace again. He studied him with his brilliantly hazel eyes that seemed to constantly be changing colour.

"Intuition," he repeated. Ace flashed him a cocky grin.

"Intuition," Ace assured. Lucas sighed, walking to the nearest wall and smacking his head on it repeatedly. Ace opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Lucas had already sprung from it and began to tinker with the boxes.

"Aha!" he exclaimed as he scattered about. "It must be a certain order of blocks, in a certain pattern...oh, you had me fooled! Or it could have been pure luck. Er, I'll think the latter. You must show me the order you prodded these blocks in!" Lucas had a wild flare in his eye.

"Um," Ace started. Lucas grabbed him, pointing to the blocks.

"Which one was first?" he asked eagerly.

"...I don't know," Ace said flatly.

"What."

* * * 

Alex was slightly regretting her life choices. Her skin was tender to the touch, and radiated a fine scarlet. Maybe it wasn't always a good idea to try and become an extrovert in her spare time.. She waddled inside, deciding she was in idiot after all. Cadence watched her walk by in pain.

"Did you get a sunburn?" she raised an eyebrow with a cocky smile.

"No, this is cloudburn," Alex answered sarcastically, collapsing on the smooth lapis lazuli tiles and relishing in the cold.

"Shouldn't you have worn sunscreen?" Cadence peered over her burned body.

"I would if there was some," Alex glanced up at her in annoyance. "You won't believe how many things I've had to go without."

Cadence giggled. "Oh? Does that mean you just can't cope?"

"You're one to talk. Don't you miss all the luxuries you used to have? Phones, TV, everything good with the world..." Cadence tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It was alright. I'm kind of used to functioning without it now. There's a lot more things here to do."

"Like what?"

"Survive." Alex lifted her head, looking at the blonde-haired girl in surprise. She hadn't expected a response like that. She sat up and spoke, "Define survive," she instructed.

"Like, farming and defending against monsters and stuff. Finding food, treasure. I guess building a home. I never really got to know what that one was like."

"Huh," Alex blinked, staring at Cadence for a good second too long. She seemed to become a little uncomfortable, because she inched away and tried to change the conversation.

"What about you? Don't you miss it?" Alex supposed she would let it slide.

"The bits I remember are still in this world, for the most part." Cadence was silent, as if urging her to go on. Alex sighed and took a breath. "I like astronomy."

"The star science?"

Alex twitched. "Not just stars! Planets, galaxies, and everything in between! It's just interesting, that's all." She attempted to keep her cool. Star science. Hah. She barely knew a thing.

"So you want to be an astronomer or something?" She leaned against her stub, and Alex realized that she had been sitting there for a while now. Was she...making small talk? The thought was strange. But the action was much stranger.

"Preferably," she admitted. "But my folks want me to be a doctor, since I'm good with medicine."

"That's no fun," Cadence pouted.

"They're a little right. I'd make a great doctor or nurse. But my passion definitely lies with astronomy." Alex stopped then, taking a deep breath and glancing at Cadence. Her sapphire eyes were wide and intrigued. She inched a little closer. Alex inched slightly away. She directed the conversation to Cadence, "What do you want to do as a career?" She blinked, as if thinking hard.

"I don't know," she finally said, seeming troubled. Alex motioned for her to continue. Cadence sighed. "There's just nothing in the world that interests me all that much. I'm kind of a jack of all trades."

"Well, what's something you like to do?" Alex suggested. Cadence shrugged helplessly.

"Being with people, I guess? It's not exactly a profession to just talk to people."

"Actually, it is." Alex pulled herself into a more comfortable position, staring Cadence in the eyes. "Counselling, teaching, psychologists, the list goes on. You could be good at any one of those."

"I don't think that's going to happen here, though."

"Why not? You don't need a slip of paper to tell you that you know something when you already know it in your head. Just try it out."

"I mean, there aren't many people other than us. Ace already knows a lot about me, Lucas is kind of weird, and you're...Alex. Just Alex." Cadence shifted her eyes away from Alex's at that moment, leading her to question her actions.

"What's that supposed to mean? 'Just Alex'?"

"U-Um...you're kind of hard to describe?" Alex stared at her, unsure of what to do or think. Just Alex. That was kind of...bland. Uninteresting. Secretive. On a whim, she decided to let it go.

"Alright, then."

* * * 

"So this 'intuition' you speak of..."

"It's not exactly easy to explain. Have you really never improvised something before?" Ace and Lucas chatted on their way back home, and Ace was finding it difficult to describe the term 'improv.'

"Does writing any idea I get in my journal for future reference count?"

"No,"

"Then there's your answer." Lucas shrugged, seeming defeated about the entire thing himself. "I guess I just can't understand." Ace bit his lip, his eyebrows kneading together.

He glanced at Lucas. "You can probably learn how. Making stuff up on the spot isn't easy, but everyone can do it."

"That's just it. I like to have a plan. I get ideas and whatnot, but I need to flesh them out as much as possible before I even think of attempting anything."

"I could teach you," Ace suggested. Lucas scoffed and shook his head in a scornful matter. Ace shrugged, turning his attention back on the path ahead of them. "My offer still stands. Take it whenever you feel like it." He doubted that Lucas would give it a second thought, but something told him to leave it open anyway. They came to the wooden doors of their home, the now warm, forest smell greeting them with open arms. But the sight that welcomed them was far from ordinary. As Ace and Lucas entered, Alex and Cadence were caught lying on the floor, Cadence holding a bucket of water and Alex lying on her stomach, her usual plaid shirt gone and replaced with a cloth that covered her chest.

"Ready? One, two...ack!" The bucket of water slipped from Cadence's hands as she spotted the duo at the door. Alex had no time to react until her fate was sealed. The water splashed graciously on her back, which was quite lovely to her peeling skin, but the bucket fell with it, which sent a sickening crack through the air. A shock of pain shot up Alex's spine, and she was immobile for a second. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Cadence with watery eyes. Cadence couldn't tell if it was from the water or the bucket.

"Why did you drop it?!" she exclaimed.

"I didn't try to! He distracted me!" Cadence pointed at Ace, who went a little red. Alex looked to Ace, pain clearly coursing through her veins.

"Sorry?" Ace said sheepishly, scratching his nose.

"I think I'll ask the better question here, then. What are you two doing?" Lucas stepped in, baffled by the scene.

"I have a sunburn," Alex started.

"So I thought I'd pour some water on her," Cadence continued.

"To cool it off a little." Alex finished.

"But it didn't exactly work as planned." Cadence sighed after her final comment, her eyes flicking from Lucas to Ace. Ace was stifling a laugh, and Lucas was trying to hide a smile. Lucas cleared his throat, composing himself.

"On that note, I'll be going." His smile shone clearly as he quickly walked away to the bedroom. The other three watched him go.

"Do you feel any better?" Ace asked Alex with a grin. She rolled her eyes, coming up into a sitting position and yawning, "As good as I could feel after that bucket broke my spine," she answered sarcastically. After a moment, she got up, stretching and looking outside. "Still this early?" she said mostly to herself, rubbing her back and heading to the chairs at the table, sitting in one. Cadence and Ace joined her, the silence beginning to become stifling.

"You have a lot of scars," Cadence commented, staring at Alex's back.

Alex blinked. "Oh, yeah." She coughed for a moment, averting her eyes from the two of them. But Cadence's curiosity could not be contained.

"Where did you get them?" She prodded. Alex sighed. There was probably no way out of this conversation.

"I was in a fight," she said. Cadence leaned her chin in her stubs, eagerly listening for more details. Ace looked like he was trying not to listen, but both Cadence and Alex knew he was intrigued as well. Alex continued, "A long time ago I battled against a creature called the Ender Dragon. It wasn't exactly easy, going up against a dragon with nothing but a bow and a sword. I wasn't great at using the bow, either. I ended up winning though, a-" she stopped herself, surprised that she had gotten this far without tying them all into this. The only reason she had won that fight was because everyone else died. And what did she have to show for it? A couple scorches and no way out of her own hellhole. Alex was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she had hardly noticed how much time had been spent in silence.

"It sounds like it was tough," Cadence sympathized. "But at least you made it out in one piece, right?"

"R-Right." Alex came back to reality, stammering out a response. Ace shot a look at Cadence, and they both understood that it would be wise to leave this topic alone for a while yet.

"Want to come pick flowers with me, Candy?" Ace shifted the topic. Cadence seemed to be relieved, nodding and heading out with him, giving a small wave to Alex, who forced a smile. Once they had left, Alex sighed. She reached around as best she could and felt the scars that lined her back. She's never really noticed them at all before. In fact, she may have never noticed if Cadence hadn't pointed them out. It did explain why her back had been hurting for so long after the battle, though.

Alex stood, grabbing her plaid shirt from the floor by the kitchen and putting it on. She pushed the thoughts of the battle out of her head again, sighing again and sitting at the table once more. She pulled out some paper and began to write.

Lucas sat on his bed, his pen frozen in its place. It had been like a stone for a few minutes now. He couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation, and now his thoughts were scattering everywhere, theorizing and speculating. He tapped the pen against the page of his notebook, unable to concentrate on the task at hand. Just what had that girl gone through?

And here it is. After...three weeks. Hey, not as bad as its been before, amirite? I'm not entirely sure when the next chapter will be, I'm having a bit of an episode of writers block, so I'll need to organize my thoughts into something legible. Welp. Until next time.

6: Couple Troubles

"Aren't these ones pretty?" Cadence cooed.

"You've said that about all of them," Ace laughed. The couple had been walking along the meadow for most of the morning, with a plan to visit the animals in the afternoon. It was the perfect place to take a girl like Cadence, Ace knew, but the constant 'ooh shiny' that she went through was delaying their journey ever so slightly. Not that he minded, but they had both promised Alex that they'd be back by sunset. Nevertheless, he followed Cadence as she practically embedded the scent of flowers into her skin.

"Can I take this one, too?" she peered down at a lonely lilac.

"If you can hold it." Ace raised an eyebrow at her. Cadence stuck her tongue out, scooping the flower into her already full arms. She had several bunches of different types of flowers in her arms, varying from the ever expanding bunch of lilacs to the drooping tulips she so favoured. Ace reflected on the trail they had traveled across that morning. The sun was halfway in the sky, not too hot and not too cold, the life of nature was astounding on the way here, he couldn't have asked for a better way to treat Cadence. Thinking back to Alex, he recalled the scars along her back. They seemed to be from deliberate slashes, but whether he entirely believed the story of her battling a dragon was another thing.

"Ace? Hellooo?" Cadence waved her hand in front of him. Ace blinked, coming to his senses.

"Sorry," he said with a smile. "got lost in thought."

"I'll say," Cadence sighed. "You okay?" Ace nodded, only now noticing that her other arm was struggling to maintain the weight of the several flowers she had. "Want me to take those for you?" he offered. Cadence gave a sheepish smile, handing him the flowers.

"Thanks," she said. A pause. "I really appreciate you taking me out here," she twirled a lock of hair that dangled in front of her face.

"I'd do it again," Ace grinned. "We needed a day to just get away from everyone, you know?" Cadence nodded, sinking to the ground and picking some daisies. Ace continued, "I'm still not entirely sure of Alex, though."

"What do you mean?" Cadence inquired nonchalantly.

"Do you really believe that she fought a dragon? Aren't dragons just mythical creatures?" Cadence hummed to herself quietly for a moment. After a breath, she answered, "We used to think the same of zombies and skeletons. The dead coming back to life? Impossible. But here...things are different here. I've learned to just kind of go with the flow. So...yeah, I believe her."

"But a dragon?" Ace was still a little reluctant.

Cadence shrugged. "Maybe it'll fuel some of those weird dreams I get. Riding a dragon sounds a lot better when they actually exist."

"And could kill you."

"That's all luck of the draw," Cadence flashed her toothy smile, bringing up another bunch of flowers. She crossed over to another patch, but just as she was about to bend down, there was a rustling from nearby. Cadence and Ace froze in place, unsure of what to do. It was still daytime, so monsters shouldn't be out...a thousand thoughs raced through Ace's head. Before he even thought of reacting, a figure stepped out from the bushes and trees.

"Excuse me," he said. "but I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about a dragon?" The boy that stood in front of them had a faded dark blue streak in his pitch black hair, which accented his dim, ocean eyes that seemed to see more than they told. Neither Cadence nor Ace knew who this boy was.

"Y-Yeah," Ace cleared his throat. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing...but it might intrigue you to know that such a dragon does exist in this world." Ace raised a disbelieving eyebrow, while Cadence's eyes widened in fascination. The boy continued, "They call the beast the Ender Dragon. I've recently heard that it was slain, as well. A group went in, I'd say about five in total, and only one came out. It's surely a riveting story, no?" The boy smirked playfully.

"But it's just a story-" Ace started.

"No it's not!" Cadence interrupted. "Sorry," she apologized before continuing. "But doesn't it fit with Alex's story? That name, the 'Ender Dragon,' it's the same in his story!"

"So maybe they're tag-teaming it, I don't know! It all sounds...fishy." Ace scratched his nose.

"Who's this Alex you speak of?" The boy asked curiously.

"Um...our leader, I suppose. She helped Ace and I out of a tight fix, and we've just ended up sticking together ever since. Er...are you lost? Do you want to meet her?" Cadence suddenly became concerned with the boy's situation.

"Oh, no, I'm not lost. I have my own house just a short walk from here. You two should come over, there's other people there, too. It's not like you'll be late for anything, right? It's barely even midday..."

"It wouldn't hurt, would it, Ace?" Cadence looked to him with puppy-dog eyes. He hated it when she did that. Though Ace couldn't shake a bad feeling he had about the entire ordeal, he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if he at least didn't give it a chance.

"Sure, let's go. Er, what did you say your name was?" They started to walk. The boy seemed to have mentally slapped himself in the face.

"Ah! Where are my manners...my name is Luke."

* * * 

Alex flinched as she grazed her stub over her sunburn. It still hurt. She could already feel the skin beginning to peel away - it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Stop touching it, you'll only make it worse." Came the voice of Lucas, who was busy with frantically writing something in his journal.

"I know that," Alex fired back. "It just...really hurts."

"That's what you get for going outside," Lucas smirked. The one hand he was writing with hadn't slowed down in speed at all as he talked. "You should just put your shirt on and forget about it."

"But then the fabric rubs against it, and then it gets itchy, so I scratch, and then it gets even worse!" Alex exclaimed. Lucas sighed, his pen finally coming to a halt. "Do you want me to get some ice?" Alex nodded vigorously, so much that Lucas feared her entire head just might bob off. Lucas closed his book, leaving it on his bed and passing by Alex, who gave him a happy smile. He went outside, grabbing a bucket from a chest as he went, scooped up some water from a nearby pond, and proceeded to climb up the beacon. From what he understood, the wood went above the clouds. It was so high, in fact, that one could see it from almost any distance. But because it was so high up, it also made for excellent cooling conditions. Indeed, as Lucas traveled upwards, he began to feel a chill course through his thin shirt.

Once he got to the top, he could feel the snow tickling the back of his neck. With a grunt, he emptied the water into a wooden tub on the very top of the beacon. And then he sat down on the opposite end, and waited. It didn't take very long for a thin layer of ice to appear on the top of the water, but Lucas waited ever so patiently still. He counted one-hundred seventy-two more seconds and the ice was mostly solid. Unwilling to remain in this chill for any longer, he deemed it good enough, took the ice, and slid back down.

Alex seemed to rejoice when she saw Lucas bring in the ice. She instantly pressed the cool substance to her back and breathed deeply. Lucas rolled his eyes.

"I don't see why you and Cadence couldn't have used this method last time." He picked up his notebook again, found his page, and began to sketch out a drawing.

"She wasn't all too willing to go up that high," Alex said, rubbing some of the ice on her shoulders and exhaling slowly. "And I didn't want to add hypothermia to my list of problems. So, we opted for the water bucket instead. The cleanup wasn't the best, but given the circumstances it worked, for the most part."

"I suppose the entire bucket thing didn't help matters?"

"Not exactly." Lucas chuckled a little at that. He made a couple more lines in his book, pondered on them, and nodded.

"I think I'm done," he said.

"Done what?" Alex prodded, sad to find that she was coming to the last little bit of her ice. Lucas hesitated before answering, "Can you keep a secret?"

"For the most part." Alex cracked her neck. Lucas gazed at his drawing. "Good enough, I suppose. Take a look - it's an idea I had for all those note blocks I have in storage. Ace gave me the idea. If I use redstone and control the circuit in such a way...we could make actual songs out of them."

"For real?" Alex was impressed. This kid clearly knew a lot more than he let on.

"Yeah, all we'd need is a heck of a lot of redstone and redstone repeaters, not to mention even more note blocks...it'll definitely take us a while."

"But if you could actually do it..."

"Then I'd have bragging rights. I also figured out how to build a fireplace, if you ever want to put one in. It'll end up getting cold in here at some point." Alex peered at Lucas' many sketches and jotted down notes. It was clear that he put a lot of effort into it all. The note block idea had already taken up five separate pages, and the fireplace was a hefty seven.

"I seriously hope that you never run out of paper," she was still entrapped in wonder by the entire thing.

"Well, considering the amount of sugar canes we have growing on the farm, and the fact it doesn't need much to grow and survive, I'm sure we'll have more than enough for an eternity."

Alex rolled her eyes. "It's a compliment. You have good ideas. A good mind. Don't let it go to waste."

"That's why I invent." Lucas shrugged. "It's probably the result of too much free time and not a soul to talk to, but it seems to be a good use of time."

"Good for you. Now, that fireplace idea sounds really cool." Alex rubbed her stubs together eagerly.

"Yeah? Then let's get started."

* * * 

Luke led Cadence and Ace closer to a cozy-looking, small, wooden home. Compared to Alex's full-size house, this place was teensy. It was one big room with enough space to house three people, Luke included. There were armchairs and couches about; bookshelves and torches aligned the walls, and a few beds were huddled in the farthest corner. No more than two chests, furnaces, and crafting tables were present, and it certainly made Cadence and Ace's minds put Alex as a bit of a neat freak.

"So...it's not much, but it's cozy," Luke gave them a warm smile, admiring his house fondly. A rustle from around the corner and a girl popped her head out from a chair.

"You're home early," she commented, her long eyelashes batting seductively. Her doe-eyed, soft expression was eyeing them with a spot of curiosity as her loosely flowing, tasseled ivory hair draped over the arm of the chair.

"I found some new company," Luke explained. "Play nice, alright, Mona?" In response, Mona stuck out her tongue from her full lips and then returned to what she was doing. She seemed to be giving herself a makeshift manicure.

"She's alright once you get to know her," Luke shrugged.

"I can still hear you," Mona gave them a one-eyed glare. Luke continued on anyway, "Usually there's another guy around...Mona, have you seen Josh?"

"He went out a little after you left," she was focused on trying to make sense of the fingernails she didn't have. She was obviously frustrated, so she dropped her stub to her tan waist.

"Where?" Luke sounded a little off.

"Do I look like I know? Probably off to smash a mountain with his fist or something. I don't doubt that he couldn't pull it off, either." Luke sighed, turning to Ace and Cadence.

"Sorry, I need to go out and look for him. Are you two fine with staying here for a while?"

"Sure!" Cadence piped up instantly before Ace could say anything. Luke shot another smile and darted out the door, off to search for the mysterious Josh. Ace huffed out a breath of air.

"You know we can't stay for long," he said irritably.

Cadence batted away his comment, "Come on, Ace! Live a little! We've finally found more people than just...Alex."

"Don't forget about Lucas," Ace pointed out. "he's new."

"But he's...weird." Cadence shifted around uncomfortably.

"You barely know him." Ace raised an eyebrow.

"You had to hang out with him for a while, too! There's something off about him, isn't there?"

"It's called living in a cave for a while. Not talking to anyone but yourself for a long time will give you an edge. He's relaxed a lot more over the past few days than you think." Ace defended Lucas coolly.

"How do you know?"

"It's a guy thing." Cadence rolled her eyes, making herself at home.

Ace sighed. "Look, let's just wait until Luke comes back, thank him for his hospitality, and go home. We can always come back, right?"

"But..." Cadence stopped herself, biting her lip.

"But what?" Ace pressed. Cadence avoided his eyes, staring at a particularly interesting dot on the floor. She took a deep breath and said, "There's something I've wanted to talk to you about for a while. Do you...I mean, this sounds stupid, but...would you consider running away with me? Like, getting our own place, living without anyone else. I just want to be somewhere where I don't have to feel on edge the entire time. This place feels...comforting, somehow. Doesn't it?"

"Cadence, this doesn't sound like the best idea..."

"Why not?" her voice got a little louder. "I'm sick of staying in our 'merry' little group, dealing with that moody weirdo and that creepy mechanic!"

"They're our friends!" Ace yelled. "They've gone to extreme lengths to make sure we stay alive! Why can't you see that?!"

"Ugh!" Cadence threw her arms in the air dramatically. "Then you can go back to them tonight, without me."

"Don't be an idiot-"

"When haven't I been?" She glared at him through tearful eyes. "Don't lie - I've always been the idiot in our group. I'm staying here. For good. Goodbye, Ace." Ace said nothing, instead glaring at her and storming off outside.

"Well, that was interesting," Mona was relaxing on the couch still, looking amused. Cadence was suddenly quiet. She wrapped her arms around herself, sat on the couch, and began to cry. Mona sighed.

"Don't be so upset about it. If he really cares about you, he'll come back."

"If not?"

"Then it was never meant to be."

* * * 

"This looks a lot better than I thought it would," Lucas said with pride, grinning at the completed project. A fireplace now stood proudly in the far wall of the bedroom. It was nice enough that it could provide good heat, but hopefully not too much.

"You got that right. This sunburn's already feeling way better." Alex was dabbing at the burn across her back.

"I was talking about the fireplace," Lucas said blankly.

"Oh," Alex cleared her throat. "That's pretty cool, too." Lucas rolled his eyes, grabbing his notebook from a nearby table and already jotting something down. Alex hopped on over beside him, smiling. "What's next?" Lucas snorted a laugh. "What?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," he said. "You just come off as a lot more joyful than I thought you'd be. I don't think Cadence and Ace really knew what they were talking about. They said you were mostly mopey and depressed a lot of the time."

"When did they say this?" Alex asked, this time sounding more concerned.

"It was a while ago. You went out to get food or something and Cadence was complaining about you. It was soon after I ended up here. Er, which is to say, not long ago? It's hard to gauge weeks and months here."

"Am I really mopey?" Alex hadn't overly considered it before. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't even mustered up the courage to take a step outside until she was forced to, and was more than a little reluctant to let Ace and Cadence in on that rainy night.

"What? No, you're optimistic, if anything." Alex pondered the term. Optimistic. She had willingly gone outside more often, she was actively socializing and even noticeably enjoying herself more often. It wasn't that long ago she had hardly any thoughts and hardly anyone around her. But now her circle of people was steadily growing. It started with the couple of Cadence and Ace, and now she'd taken in Lucas as well. She briefly wondered if there would be a many as there was before.

"An optimist, huh?" She cracked a grin, and it felt real.

A few minutes passed by without much of anything happening. Lucas had retreated into the confines of the bedroom, where he was either writing in his notebook or pacing around, and Alex decided to use her time wisely by lying on the floor and tracing the lines of the floorboards with her stub. There wasn't much else to do - everything was well-stocked, and they'd just finished a fireplace.

Alex was just following the path of a slightly crooked line when she heard stomping from outside. She was surprised that she'd heard it in the first place - but it was soon clear why. Ace's feet thundered against the ground, and he didn't look too happy either. His brow was tightened and his face turned into a scowl. He said nothing as he thudded over to a chest and unloaded.

"You seem angry," Alex mentioned, attempting to start a conversation. Ace shot her a dirty look. Maybe not the best idea.

"Yeah. I am." He slammed the chest shut and stood up again. Alex supposed she'd try again.

"Where's Cadence? Did she find a hybrid lily or-"

"Cadence isn't coming back," Ace said bitterly. "because she just can't see reason."

"Um. I have several questions about this." Alex sat up, all thought of floor lines abandoned.

"Don't expect an answer."

"Where is she?"

"I just said-"

"Where is she?" Ace took a step back. Alex was on her feet now, staring him in the eye. Ace gulped, a great majority of his anger leaving him in that second.

"With other people..." he said slowly.

"Like, strangers, or...?"

"Kind of. We just met them today on our walk."

"Names?" Alex pestered.

"The one guy - he had a faded streak in his hair - I think his name was Luke. Why, does it mean anything? Alex, are you okay?" The colour had drained from her face like a passing shadow. Her heart nearly stopped, and within seconds began to hammer so hard she thought it might burst.

"Grab your things," she choked out, her heart so high up in her throat her words came out jagged. "we need to get her back."

7: Unfortunate Circumstances

Alex's feeble heart had not slowed down ever since she heard his name. To think that Luke was so close to her...it was unsettling at best. She followed Ace's lead through a flowered, bright field, her eyes skittering back and forth and her hand resting on her sword's handle. Both Ace and Lucas had asked her who Luke was, and why he was deemed a criminal in her eyes. She answered none of these inquiries.

In fact, Alex was struggling in herself to truly find a reason why Luke was doing any of this. Sure, he was a jerk. He had generally been antisocial and unfriendly from the get go. But to overreact so much on one person...Alex couldn't recall a die hard, cold fact that she could pin against Luke for being so bad. Well, except for his extreme freak out when he tried to kill her. While Luke had done some terrible things, Alex couldn't think of what motivated him to do it all. So she kept quiet.

"Here it is," Ace said hesitantly as they came to Luke's small cabin home. "Are you sure you want to do this? We don't have to break the door down or anything." Alex surveyed the exterior. It was cozy and somehow emitted a warmhearted, uplifting feel that seemed to lure her in.

"I'm not going to break anything down," Alex said coolly. "We're going to have a respectful, calm talk and get out of here as soon as humanly possible." Lucas and Ace exchanged glances behind Alex's back. Without another word spoken, Alex swallowed down her fear and knocked on the door.

* * *

"I don't see why I have to come back."

"You know why, Joshua! We need to stick together as a group!"

"Unlike you, I am perfectly fine on my own. So go on back to your little hideout, I'm not coming back." Luke sighed, scratching his head. At this point, he was getting steamed. Usually when Josh would run off and proclaim how well he would do on his own, it would only be a matter of seconds before he crashed down on his own words, sometimes sobbing and begging to come back. Luke always told him he was welcome back anytime. Usually that's how it would go. Nice and easy. But this time, he was being more than difficult. It took all the self control Luke had to not blow up at him.

"Look. Josh. I don't know what's going on, but you know how important you are to us." Josh scoffed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"I've had enough. There's no sort of authority you have over me, Luke." Josh gave him one last, angry look, his ocean eyes boiling, and then continued on his way. Great. Just great. Luke knew that tailing after him wouldn't resolve matters. Josh wasn't exactly the talking type, either. He'd come back, eventually. All Luke had to do was bide his time wisely. Luke sighed, and turned in the opposite direction. He'd left his guests alone for quite some time now, so it wouldn't be polite to dawdle any more than he already had been.

* * *

"Well this isn't exactly what I expected," Alex said, staring at the floorboards. What she had rightfully expected was a cruel mastermind at work, plotting some sort of scheme to take over the world or something. Mind, with a world as free as this, there wasn't much point in taking over such a thing. Alex shook away that train of thought, instead trying to focus on her surroundings. Most others had made themselves at home. Lucas sat on the couch in between Ace and Cadence, who were avoiding each other to the extreme, one looking to the left and the other in the exact, polar opposite direction. She wished they would get over whatever differences they had bickered about. Not speaking to one another wasn't exactly the core definition of teamwork. Alex shifted her eyes over to the maiden in black. Her hair trailed down her tanned back, her coal black eyes eerily staring back.

"Don't look at me," she countered defensively. "Luke runs out of here all the time."

"I'm not blaming you-" Alex started.

"Mmhm," Mona gave her a doubtful look. Alex sighed, feeling a bit aggravated. "What did you say he was doing again?"

"Chasing after our dumb blond, of course," Alex could feel the hatred dripping from her every word. "again," she added after a beat.

"Does he run out a lot?" she pestered. Mona didn't answer, instead giving her a look that smacked the word 'stop' into her face. Nevermind, Alex thought bitterly. She kept her mouth shut, allowing her attention to waver to something - anything new. To her luck, Lucas started a conversation, which seemed a bit odd.

"So why exactly aren't you coming with us?" he mused, gazing at Cadence. She stared daggers first at him, and then at Ace. With an air of sharpness in her tongue, she spoke, "I don't exactly think I'm welcome anymore, Lucas." He said nothing, instead motioning for her to go on. Cadence took a deep, shaky breath. "Why be in a group where I'm always overshadowed by everyone else? There's no point."

"I beg to differ," Lucas seemed to be hiding a smirk. "There's always something to learn or figure out, so it can hardly be con-"

"Oh shut the hell up," Cadence spat. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"No," he said.

"No?" Cadence fumed.

"Nope. Not in a thousand lifetimes, my dear."

"Don't call me that, you-"

"What?" Lucas interrupted. Cadence shut her mouth tightly, her lips thinned. Lucas pressed on, "What am I, Cadence?"

"How about you both shut your traps." Alex stepped in. "I think we should be going, anyway. If Luke isn't going to show, then I'm going to go find him instead. Come on." She straightened up and headed for the doorway. The crew followed, Cadence and Mona excluded. Alex sighed. "You two, as well. Let's go."

"Alex-" Cadence complained.

"Let's go," Alex said. "We came all the way here for you, didn't we?" Cadence said nothing, hesitating a moment but soon rising with arms crossed around her stomach. She stared at the floor with a frown, joining the group as they went outside.

"I said you're coming, too." Alex stared at Mona.

"I'm not a part of your little group, remember? You can't have a reason for wanting me to tag along."

"You're our best shot of knowing where Luke is. Besides, it can't be very fun sitting here for hours on end." Alex said no more and went outside. She counted heads, noting that everyone was all together. She heard a rustle and the sound of a door opening and closing behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know that Mona was giving the stink eye to anyone that thought of opening their mouths.

"Since he's searching for Josh, Luke probably ended up by the river. It's this way." Mona lead the way, and the group fell silent. Not a word was spoken the entire way there. As they approached closer to the river, Alex realized that the path was starting to become very familiar...it was the same route to the animal pen. Mona commented on this, describing it as "something similar to a slaughterhouse," and sticking up her nose at it. Alex fought the urge to punch her in the face. Aside from her distastefulness to Mona, she was at least correct about Luke and Josh's whereabouts. The two stood below the hill, beside where the river ran steadily, appearing to be in a heated argument.

"Stop. Running. Away!" Luke panted, his face dripping with sweat.

"Stop following me!" The boy Alex assumed was Josh yelled. He didn't appear to be tired at all.

"Are you two ladies done with your squabbling?" Mona gazed down at them with an air of dullness. The two snapped their necks violently in her direction. Josh's face turned to one of grateful surprise, while Luke fought to explode with rage.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was clearly wavering.

"Not my idea, princess." She seemed to be bored of the situation already, despite Luke's swarming emotions. Luke took a deep breath, opening his mouth to say something, and suddenly stopping. Him and Alex had made eye contact. All anger seemed to disappear; he seemed to forget that Josh even existed beside him. An odd sort of smile played at his lips, and he breathed out a laugh.

"Ami?" She could tell that he hardly believed she was here.

"Alex," she said stiffly. Luke shook his head disbelievingly. "Where's the rest of the crew? You don't usually travel alone." He was playing her and she knew it. But it didn't stop the lump rising in her throat, threatening to choke her. It didn't stop her eyes from beginning to water; she bit her lip to force them back. He wouldn't break her.

"They're gone." Her stub grazed the handle of her blade.

"And you're not."

"I don't think there's anything else to discuss on that subject. Why did you take Cadence?" For a split second he looked confused, but the next the emotion was gone, and the smile returned.

"So you replaced them."

"I did not."

"You found new people that resembled them so much, and you replaced them." Alex gritted her teeth. Luke continued, "I guess your friends really meant nothing to you after all-"

"Shut up!" Alex shouted, her sword half-drawn, eyes wide with wrath. There was a moment of silence in which Alex realized that there were several pairs of ears listening. Listening, and saying nothing. Almost invisible. Alex's expression dropped like her sword did in its scabbard. She looked behind her, the startled faces of her friends gazing back. Cadence's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open. Everyone had essentially the same look, as if they had just made a groundbreaking connection. And then Alex realized - they did. Luke had used her forgotten name. They knew. They knew that she was someone else and she had done so many horrible things and abandoned herself and-

"Why are you so mean to her?!" Cadence exclaimed. Alex's entire thought process stopped. What. Did she just not make the connection? Her heart hammered impatiently within her chest. Cadence continued, "I dunno if you have some sort of grudge against each other, but seriously - look at her! I've never seen Alex show actual emotions before! Are you really this...vile?" Silence. Luke appeared to be searching his brain rapidly to find a response to her outburst. Before he could spit out anything, there was a scream in the distance. Everyone present flinched, exchanging glances with each other to certify that it wasn't anyone nearby. Alex squinted into the distance where the river separated the grasslands from the desert, and far enough away she could see a figure sprinting towards them. As the figure approached, Alex felt something jump in her stomach.

"Steve?" she said in disbelief. There was no mistaking his tan skin, blue eyes, dark hair, torn clothes...wait. Alex abandoned all reason and darted after him. Steve crashed into the river, barely swimming across by himself. Alex grabbed and dragged him to shore, completely shocked at his appearance. His clothes were so torn they looked more like rags, there were so many scratches, cuts, and bruises on his body that she lost count, and his normally fit body was skinny and malnourished.

"What happened?!" Alex quickly pulled out a flask of water, letting him drink briefly.

"Ruins...him..." he coughed, his voice already straining itself. "Run." Exhaustion took over his body then, his eyes closing. Alex was too stunned to speak. She blinked, swallowing down all of her questions.

"Get him somewhere safe," she ordered. "Now." She helped support his upper body as Josh took the rest. He really was a beefy guy. Ace came beside her. "I got this," he said. Alex let him take over. Ace turned his head to the side. "Alex, what's going on? Who is he?" He looked so worried.

"A good friend that I can't lose." Her eyes hardened. "I'll explain when we get home." Ace nodded, his face set. Alex walked beside them, nervously glancing at Steve every few seconds. Lucas came beside her. He dragged her out of earshot of the others.

"You never said anything," he started.

"How could I?" she avoided his eyes.

"She does exist. You just don't want to remember it."

"How can she exist when I have taken a new name? I'm a different person now." Lucas' eyebrows kneaded. "I find that hard to believe. Everyone changes in their life. You have to accept that - there's no running away from yourself." Alex bit her lip. She walked faster, leaving Lucas behind her. He sighed, and didn't try to pursue anything else. Alex spent the entire walk with her mind reeling, thoughts boiling and flying through her mind.

* * *

And it's back! Oh, it's a miracle! I finally have a bit of direction for this story! I - I mean...I most certainly have direction and just needed a lot of time to put it into words. Yes. That's what I meant. Stay tuned for the next.

8: The Birth of Destruction

Dawn swept across the blackened sky, casting light that was shaded a slight bit pink. The colours blended in curious harmony together, signaling the start of another day. Alex was gazing out the window of the wooden house, watching the sun lazily rise from the clouds, pondering a great many things. Theories on what happened to Steve, worries about Luke, what to have for breakfast.

Alex glanced back over at Steve, who had been slumbering peacefully until now. The covers rustled, and he sat up.

"We need to leave," he said, still a little groggy.

"Leave? Don't be stupid. You're still pretty roughed up. Also you just woke up, so I wouldn't recommend trotting around the world in just a pair of shorts." Alex paused.

"Why do you want to leave anyway?"

"You didn't see it?" His face fell. Alex took on a skeptical look.

"See what?" Steve sighed. He threw the covers off of him and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Then maybe it was a hallucination..." he muttered to himself. After a moment, he scrunched up his face and shook his head. "But then how...?" At the very least, something seemed to be troubling him. Alex rotated herself on the stool she sat on.

"I guess you have a bit of explaining to do," she said. Steve nodded, though he said nothing. "Maybe after some breakfast." Alex suggested. She stood, and leisurely walked out of the room and into the lapis lazuli kitchen. Every now and again she forgot that it was entirely blue. Michael must have found a million of these before finding any diamonds. She felt a small twang in her chest at the thought. It hurt...but not as much as it once had. It felt so distant now, but she knew it would never truly fade.

Alex opened the main "fridge," which was just a chest filled with meat. She wondered how none of it went bad. Well, none of it was really breakfast material, so naturally she took out a steak for herself and moved on, nibbling on it as she opened the chest next to her. This one was a little more reasonable, containing fruits and vegetables and the likes. She grabbed an apple and bread, closing the chest with her foot and carrying it all out with her.
She stopped as she came into the living room, sucking more of the steak into her mouth and noticing the look Steve gave her from the table.

"You're still the same," he said, the shadow of a smile entrancing his lips.

"Mmphh," Alex shrugged, placing the food before him. He thanked her and ate, still staring off into nothing with vacant eyes. Alex's face fell. He was never like this. She finished off her steak in record time, shifting herself to sit beside him.

"Steve," she started, gazing at him with concern. "What happened?"

"Where did the others go off to?" He dodged the question. Alex hesitated, then sighed.

"Cadence and Ace offered to water, Lucas is in his caves, and Luke's group went off somewhere. I just hope they don't come back ready to fight."

"So you found him after all." Steve finished his bread, moving onto the apple.

"Did you find him before?" Alex asked.

"When I was travelling, yeah. He seemed pretty well-off. We just kind of waved at each other. He didn't really want to talk."

"Speaking of which," Alex stretched. "I've been meaning to ask, where did you end up going? Also, where's Rufus? I know you took him with you." Steve was leaning in to take another bite of his apple, but he suddenly stopped. He placed the apple on the table, a solemn expression crossing his face.

"No..." Alex shook her head. "He's not-"

"I don't know," Steve said. "We were split up. But in the circumstances we were in...it would be a miracle if both of us made it out alive. It's possible that he's out there, it's just...unlikely." Alex took in a deep breath.

"What happened?" She brought it up again, her eyes hard. Steve seemed to crumble under the pressure.

"I - I think I met God." Steve folded his hands together. He was shaking.

* * *

Steve and Rufus had been walking a long way. Through deserts and flatlands they had traversed, searching and searching for a lost temple. And at last, they had found it. In the midst of an eternal jungle, where everything was alive. The towering trees that shrouded them from direct sunlight, the sounds of a rushing river that never seemed to be too far off, frogs croaking at all times of the day. The way that the sunlight peeked through the leaves, never truly blinding yet always enough to make the world around them bright.

On one occasion, Steve and Rufus came across a lone Ocelot that stopped off only to say hello. After taking one of Steve's fish, it seemed quite content to stick around for a while. But once they neared the temple, they split apart. The Ocelot ran off, perhaps in search of more food, or maybe it was simply tired of their company. That last one hurt a little, so Steve liked to think otherwise.

But now he came to a towering building, ravaged with vines and moss that came with existing in such a place for so long. It appeared to be rustic, indeed, with parts of the architecture having already crumbled away. It all looked so fragile, but upon closer inspection, that is to say, Steve knocking a firm fist upon it, it seemed to be quite the opposite.

"Well, Rufus," Steve released his stub from the cool rock. "I think it's time. Let's go." The wolf looked at him with affectionate eyes, yipping as his tail wagged, and stuck close to his side. Steve grinned, patting him, and set off towards the rustic temple.

He pushed open a heavy, wooden door to reveal nothing but darkness. Squinting, he pulled out a torch and placed it on the wall. In an instant, a patch of light illuminated enough in front of them so that a set of levers was visible. There were five in total, and they aligned the wall in such a fashion that it would be foolish to think there wasn't some sort of puzzle involved. A few feet away, there was a locked door. Steve's best guess was that he needed to manipulate the levers to open it. Steve glanced back down to Rufus, who's tongue was out in that sloppy way dogs stick out their tongues. He might not be the best of help in this situation.

Steve chose to head left, sticking torches up as he went. A small room revealed itself, where five signs rested, not unlike the levers from before. In reading them from left to right, he discovered that they were arrows pointing in one of four directions.

"Up, up, right, left, down?" Steve read the pattern aloud. Of course! That must be the way to put the levers, thus solving the puzzle. Steve grinned to himself, thinking he was rather clever, and inputted the pattern onto the levers. He looked to the door with expectancy. However, nothing of note happened. Perhaps it became even more locked than it already was.

Steve scratched his head. Maybe he just didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle quite yet. He trotted over to the right, Rufus at his heels. A single sign hung on an otherwise empty wall, displaying a message.

"Inverted," he read. "That's it? What do you think, Rufus?" The wolf looked at him with sparkling eyes. Clearly not too much, Steve reasoned. He went to the middle of the room again, where the levers were. He had a moment where nothing ran through his head, and then another where a lightbulb certainly could have shone brightly over his head. He went back to the five signs and read them again, then went back to the levers and inputted a new pattern.

"Down, down, left, right, up." Steve flicked up the last lever and jumped as he heard the locks of the door shift. The door opened a crack, and Steve laughed at his own brilliance, calling for Rufus to follow him through the new passageway.

* * *

"It doesn't sound that treacherous," Cadence interrupted. Steve and Alex flinched. "...What?"

"When did you get here?" Alex held a stub over her chest.

"When he started. Don't look at me like that! Everyone else is listening in, too." She swung out of the room, saying something to the others in the room. Soon, the faces of Lucas, Ace, and even Mona presented themselves.

"Why are you here?" Alex asked Mona. She just shrugged. Alex sighed. "Were you all listening in to this?" They nodded. Alex groaned, apologizing to Steve.

"No, it's alright," he insisted. "they were going to find out soon anyway. It's probably better like this. Er, probably." A moment of silence. A cough from within the group.

"Well, go on." Ace said. "What happened next?"

* * *

Behind the once locked door was a descending staircase, winding down and down. Steve couldn't even see the bottom of it all. Regardless, he trudged forth, prepared for anything. There was another door at the bottom of the staircase, and when he opened it, the room inside was pitch black, like the other one. At this point, the darkness didn't faze him that much anymore. He reached into his bag again to pull out more torches, and suddenly heard a noise that made him stop in his tracks.

It was an alien-like noise, creeping throughout the room. A kind of clicking that seemed to be everywhere. Steve quickly whipped out a torch, lighting up the space before him to reveal a horde of spiders. Their red eyes glittered curiously at him. If he had tried to count them all, it would be futile either way. In short, there was a lot.

"Run," he said to Rufus, who whimpered. As he jumped the stairs two at a time, an awful hissing followed. Steve glanced back for only a second, and regretted that he did. A cloud of blackness followed him, gaining speed incredibly fast. He felt sick when he knew that those were all spiders. He ascended the staircase, burst out the open door, and breathed in the fresh air of the eve.

Steve knew he couldn't hesitate, and promptly began to climb the walls of the temple. He heard a whimper, and stopped. Rufus looked to him with fear-filled eyes. There was a determined glint in Steve's eye. He snatched up the wolf and held him in his arm as he used the other to pull himself higher and higher. He was admittedly thankful that they were in a jungle, of all places, where the vines decorated the place like stench on a hog.

Hissing from beneath him assured Steve that the spiders weren't finished with him quite yet. He heard their legs tip tapping against the wall in a hurry, and he too rushed to get to the top. At least he'd have a chance to fend them off up there.

With a grunt and a great heave, Steve pulled himself to the top, his back and shoulder muscles aching. He shook as he stood, drawing an azure-tinted sword that shone in the light of the moon. He centered himself on the roof platform and deployed Rufus beside him. They were going to get through this together, no doubt about it.

Legs began to show themselves from all angles, along with blood eyes that feasted upon Steve as though he were their next meal. Which, in fact, he probably was. Steve readied himself, waiting for one to strike. A shriek from his left, it was ready to pounce - and it stopped. The spider started to tap on the ground worriedly. Before Steve could even act, a tremor shook the building. And not just the building, but the powerful trees around them. It wasn't powerful enough to knock Steve over, but it was certainly enough to prevent the spiders from attacking, if only for a moment.

Another tremor shook, this time more forceful, and Steve could only glance down in horror as the stone beneath him began to crumble away, leaving him to stand on air. This didn't work fairly well, as Steve found himself falling down the hole. A steady thud and an aching pain in his head that more than likely wouldn't leave for a few days. Rubbing the side of his head, Steve gazed at the room he had found himself in. It was extraordinarily large, yet quite bare, the only thing within it a full body mirror that was feet away from him.

He approached it, and to his surprise, saw nothing. Not even his own reflection stared back. After a moment, the tiniest block appeared, though it seemed to be very far away. Steve squinted into the mirror, trying to deduce what it was. The block soon made itself very clear - and by that it actually jumped out of the mirror straight at Steve's face, knocking him down forcefully.

Steve felt a searing pain on his face, and desperately attempted to claw it off with whatever strength he had, but to no avail. The pain turned into what felt like fire melting off his face - and then it was gone. Steve coughed, his body shaking and feeling twice as exhausted as he was before. He looked up, and everything stopped. The thing that was before him was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

His presence was commanding, demanding Steve's attention. And it wasn't hard to, with looks like that. He looked identical to Steve, right down to the stubble on his chin. But what shook Steve the most was the one key difference between them. His eyes glowed an impossible white - whiter than the moon that hovered above - stared into nothingness. They appeared to take everything in, yet held none of that information within themselves. Steve stared up at his replica, and the thing stared back. Steve could only know because odd tingles shot themselves through his entire body, making him feel like a rabbit against a fox.

Any and all urges told him to run. Run, grab your wolf and run as fast as you can. But he couldn't move. Whether it be courage or stupidity, something kept him rooted to the spot. His hands were shaking as he rose to his feet, his mind reeling, attempting to make sense of whatever this thing was. For the first time in a long while, Steve was terrified.

"What are you?" he asked. It would be nice to get that nasty question out of the way. The thing looked at him, saying nothing. Instead, it cocked its head, and began to rise in the air. Then, he just hovered there. No, it wasn't so much hovering as it was the air simply moved around him, as though he had control over such things. The being was silent, though it did something Steve wouldn't expect him to do. He smiled. It wasn't a nice, heartfelt smile, no, it was the grin of a villain. A heinous, appalling, wicked smile that shook Steve to his core.

It then looked to Steve, still grinning, and raised an arm. The floor and anything beneath it erupted in a cloud of dust right next to Steve. Steve gazed at the empty space in abject horror, his heart hammering. This seemed to please the being, for he began to laugh. It was more of a cackle, really. Steve took the opportunity and ran. He darted down a nearby staircase, only to realize that it was being destroyed from all sides. As the rubble beneath his feet was torn away, Steve fell to the grassy ground, cold and hard.

He got to his feet quickly, his body throbbing and struggling to keep him up.

"Rufus!" he shouted into the chaos. A soft, yet clearly discernible howl rang through. By this point, the being had taken several blocks and had began to weave them around his body. They floated along with him, swirling madly. There was no way that Steve could get through all that and find Rufus. He hated how he could do nothing.

"Rufus! We'll rendezvous back home, got it?! Meet me there when you're out of this mess!" A yip from afar, and Steve knew that he was understood. Well, as much as he really could be, anyway. The being had begun to rip out the ancient trees right from their roots, stripping away the ground as he went. Steve bit his lip, and ran. He ran as hard as he could, every step a clap of thunder as he distanced himself as far as he possibly could from that thing. He didn't stop running. If he stopped, he feared that the beast would catch up to him and end him right then and there.

It was a long time before he felt his limbs go slack. Where the cool surface of the water brushing over him felt like a caressing blanket upon his face. Where the cries of someone shouting his name became distanced and muffled.

* * *

"...And that's it," Steve finished. He seemed paler now than when they had began the story. Nobody was certain of how to respond to this.

"Did it have a name?" Alex asked after a long period of silence.

"No," Steve answered.

"What do we do?" Cadence sank to her knees. Ace gave her a reassuring pat.

"I don't know," Steve said, his voice cracking. Alex looked at him, astounded. She had never seen Steve act like this before.

"What is it?" Ace asked quietly.

"Well, if I had to place a guess," Steve said. "I'd call it a God."

9: A Fight to Remember

Smack. Tip. Snap. Smack. Tip. Snap. These were the sounds that echoed through the house, their source being Alex, who was carelessly throwing her sword into the floor, getting it stuck, and pulling it out again. She threw it, smack, and then used a little muscle strength to pull it out again, tip. Snap. She didn't know how long she'd been doing this, only that she'd been doing it for a while.

Lucas walked through, bypassing her on his way to the front door, when he stopped for a moment. He watched her throw it, smack, and then pull it out, tip. Snap.

"Honestly, it's as though you don't have any concern for the floors at all." He shook his head. Alex gazed up at him with a bored expression.

"I don't," she said, and threw again, smack. Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm off to a meeting. I'll see you around."

"A meeting?" Alex sat up. "Since when did we do anything so official?"

"You didn't hear?" Lucas lingered by the door. "Steve set it up. We're going to talk about the thing. Steve's replica, remember? You should come." He exited then, leaving Alex to her thoughts. She briefly wondered why she wasn't told about this, but ended up blaming it on her lack of energy to socialize with other human beings. She pulled out her sword, tip, snap, and followed after Lucas.

* * *

By the time she made it outside, the others were already in a discussion. Oddly enough, they decided to have such a meeting in the back of the farmlands. Why they were in such a place was a mystery, but Alex decided to wait to answer that particular question.

"...so it's probably best to figure out what we know now. Ah, Lucas, there you are." Steve looked up from the group, of whom Cadence, Ace, Mona, Josh, and with a stone sinking far in her chest, Luke, were present. It didn't quite make sense. If Steve was the one who organized this, why was he here? "Alex?" Steve spoke up. Alex's eyes flicked away from Luke and rested on Steve's icy ones.

"Hi," she said coldly. "what's going on?"

"Just a little meeting," Steve said a little too quickly.

"You're welcome to join," Luke suggested. "The more the merrier, right?" Alex glared at him, but joined the group anyway. Steve cleared his throat.

"O-Okay, with that out of the way, I've asked all of you to come by because there is a very real threat out there. Herobrine possesses power like I've nev-"

"Wait, wait, backtrack." Ace interrupted. "It has a name?"

"He has a name," Steve clarified. "I just thought that it would be better to have a name that we can all refer to him as."

"What brought up 'Herobrine'? It sounds like the guy's a hero or something." Josh asked. Steve shrugged.

"It just seemed to fit, you know? A-Anyway! Herobrine, as most of you know, is God-like in power and being. For Luke's group, since most of you don't know, Herobrine basically looks exactly like me but with big, glowy eyes. Got it?" They nodded. He continued, "If you ever see anything that even looks similar to him, get out of there. It's safe to say that he won't hesitate to kill you." Steve stopped abruptly, gulping. There was a period of silence in which no one spoke up. As if they knew what to say to something like that.

"Do we have any way to defend ourselves?" Alex asked once she got sick of the silence.

"We have our swords and armour, as well as any other weapon." Steve stared at the ground.

"Running is an option, isn't it?" Cadence suggested.

"I ran for hours, maybe a couple days, and it probably didn't matter to him. He can catch up to us easily, I just know it." Cadence sighed bitterly.

"But we can try, can't we?" she insisted. No answer met her plea. After a silence more painful than the last, Alex spoke up again.

"I understand how Herobrine is a threat, but he doesn't exactly have a reason to come after us."

"He didn't have a reason to try and kill me, either. If - if you had seen him, you'd know. He just...destroys." Steve said bleakly.

"So...why do they have to be a part of this, then?" Alex nudged her head at Luke.

"Unless you want to go it alone, we all have to pitch in this together. I don't like it anymore than you do, Ami." Luke crossed his arms. Alex twitched when he said her name.

"He's right," Lucas said. Alex jumped; it was the first time he'd spoken up.

"Steve!" Alex exclaimed, looking to him in desperation. He gave her a pitiful look.

"We need to survive, don't we? The more of us that stick together, the better all our odds are. Besides, they're people too, Alex." She felt like her head was about to explode. Working with the same guy who actively tried to kill her? It didn't seem very ethical.

"But don't you remember-"

"Of course I remember-"

"Then why did you-"

"How could I not?!"

"Fine!" Alex slammed her fist into the dirt beside her. "I'll make you a deal. Luke and I fight. Whoever gets the other into such a position that they can't fight anymore wins. If I win, Luke leaves."

"And if you lose?" Luke smirked. He appeared to be very intrigued by this offer.

"Then..." Alex exhaled. She wasn't quite sure what she would do in that situation.

"How about you just let him stick with us? Forget the fight, Alex. It's not worth it." Ace tried to console her. Alex shook her head, determined.

"I'd be up for it, if it'll settle the tension." Luke took a step forward.

"Are you an idiot?" Mona nudged him with her elbow. "She's just being all uppity about it, don't fuel her on."

"Come now," Luke chuckled. "Sometimes you just have to settle old fights. Let's go to the fields, there's more space there." The fact that he was so willing to fight struck a string within Alex. Something wasn't right.

* * *

Alex's long hair flew in the breeze, untied and loose. It looked like a cloud of fire encircling her head. With her old, trusty diamond sword held in her hand, and a daring gleam in her eye, Alex had the look of a warrior.

On the other side of the field stood Luke, his ivory hair stagnant, still. In his hand he held a rather new looking sword. It's gleam was that of a very fine sword indeed, and it seemed to make Alex's sword look like a cheap toy. A playful smile danced on Luke's lips. She hated it how he thought this was all a game.

"Alex, are you sure about this? It's really unnecessary." Cadence passed by her. Her and the others were on their way to the side, where they could watch the match. Alex said nothing. She stared at Cadence with an icy eye. Cadence sighed and rolled her eyes, carrying on. Steve came in the middle. Somehow he had been the one elected to referee the match, and he didn't seem to be too pleased with the job.

"You two ready?" He looked from Alex to Luke. Without a word being spoken, Steve nodded. He stepped back a safe distance and raised his stub. With a commanding 'GO' and his stub firmly swung down, the fight ensued. It wasn't quite what Alex expected. She thought there would be some - a lot of screaming, some sword clinks, and then she'd have Luke pinned down. She would be able to send him off a cliff with a happy heart. But this was far different from what she imagined. All was quiet. All was still. The two of them circled each other like wolves, neither willing to strike the first move.

Luke was playing it defensively, Alex was resisting the urge to go all out. After a few minutes of this, she began to grow tiresome.

"Are you going to hit me?" she asked, annoyed.

"Are you?" Luke cocked his head. Alex clicked her tongue, her rage, and impatience, skyrocketing. She took a breath, and with it a great swing at Luke. He saw this and reacted quickly, parrying the blow and launching his sword straight for Alex's stomach. She barely had any time to react, jumping and stumbling backwards. She regained her footing, taking a quick glance to Luke, only to see that he was still smiling. Instead of spurring her on, this only made Alex feel uneasy. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

He struck again, this time with more force. Alex's sword defended it with an ear-piercing clang that could have reverberated across the mountains. Without hesitation, Luke raised his sword again, stabbing and swinging and slashing. Alex could hardly keep up with it all, her heart beating fast, the sweat dripping down her neck. All her senses were on alert. She only saw a blue blur whip by when Luke turned on the offense, and her legs were starting to cramp up from the restless movement.

She knew she had to do something, otherwise she would lose. Alex held herself steady, parried another strike, and countered. This took Luke by surprise, as he had to jump back to avoid her blade. She swung again, as fast as she could, trying to catch him in one of her swings. It wasn't a great plan, which was evident by the glint in Luke's eye. It was only there for a split second, in which Alex swung a little too far, losing her balance and tipping over, that Luke struck. His sword clashed against hers, harder than ever before, knocking the blade out of her hands and sending it rocketing through the air. There was a horrifying crack followed by a snap as Alex's sword broke in half.

She gasped, eyes wide as she stared at her broken blade. She didn't even try to move, and soon found Luke's sword at her throat.

"I win," he said with a smile. Alex was to aghast to respond, her mind still reeling like a hamster wheel, trying to process what just happened. At last, panting, she fired up.

"That wasn't part of the deal!" she exploded, pushing away Luke's sword and getting to her feet. "You cheated! Destroying my sword was against the rules!"

"Oh? That's funny, I don't recall there ever being a rule against that." His words struck her harder than any slash he could have made.

"Y-Y-You-"

"Me," he said coldly. "The point is that I won, and a winner claims his prize. Therefore you can't just exclude me out of the group. I'm here to stay, as they say." Luke sheathed his glowing blade and began walking back to the rest of the group, leaving Alex to an eerie silence. She knew that the possibility of losing was real, but...
She crawled over to where the pieces of her blade lay. She picked up the pieces and gingerly rubbed her stub across it.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Steve was beside her.

"My sword..." she croaked.

"Oh," Steve crouched to the ground, putting an arm around her. "You can always make a new one, right? I'm sure there's enough diamond..."

"This one was special." Alex saw her own reflection in the blade. Though the image was jagged and chipped, the grief upon her face was evident. There were more lines on her face than ever before, and her eyes had a hollow-like quality to them. The last time she'd properly looked at her reflection she had looked nothing like this. Then again, that was in many days past.

"Special how?" Steve spoke gently.

"It was I-Izzy's," she said, the name unfamiliar upon her tongue."I j-just happened to pick it up once she died. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, you know?"

"Pass me the hilt," Steve said. She did. As he looked closer to the blade, an unforgettable name was still somehow legible. "Aiden," he read aloud. He then placed the sword on the ground, where it disappeared into dust, it's time finally up. Alex held the blade firmly, her fist clenching when the material evaporated from existence.

"Oh, Alex." Steve held her tightly as she shook. She didn't cry. He didn't expect her to. She felt her soul being crushed all over again.

"Steve? Is she okay?" The voice of Cadence came behind them. Her, Ace, and Lucas had come out from the sidelines, all expressing concern.

"Just give her a bit, alright? You three have no idea what that sword meant to her." Steve gave them a patient smile. Cadence nodded, taking a few steps back. Ace accompanied her. Lucas could only stare in wonder at Alex.

"I heard you say a name before. Was there a name inscribed on the blade?"

"Yeah," Steve said. "Alex, can I tell them? It'd be a miracle if they haven't figured everything out by now, but don't you think it would be good for me to clear some things up?" She nodded within his comforting arms. Steve cleared his throat. "Y'all might want to sit down for this," he said. "Cadence, if you'd be kind enough, could you grab Josh and Mona for me? They deserve to know." She nodded, exchanging a glance with Ace and dashing for the other side of the field.
Luke, Mona, and Josh were conversing. It seemed that Josh was chiding him for something.

"You shouldn't have broken her sword, man." He shook his head. "That just wasn't cool."

"The sword itself was already at a breaking point. Better that I break it instead of a Creeper."

"Josh is right," Mona assisted. "The fight itself wasn't necessary, and now you've broken one of the better fighters on our team. Look at her! She's lost more than her pride." She gestured to Alex.

"Um...hi," Cadence introduced herself sheepishly. "Steve wants you two to come by. He wants to share something with all of us." Mona and Josh exchanged glances. They then both looked to Luke, and then back at Cadence.

"I will join you," Mona said, her Latin accent shining through.

"Same here," Josh agreed, ready to go.

"Cool," Cadence lead them over. As they began to walk, Luke began following them as well. Cadence stopped, trotting over to him and scratching her neck. "Yeah, uh, I don't think it's a good idea if you come along right now. Alex might snap or something. We'll see you later, right?" Luke regarded her with a cold stare.

"Fine by me," he said, and he was off. Cadence sighed in relief, jogging back to Steve with Josh and Mona readily behind her.

"Thanks," Steve said. "Now, I only know a bit of the story, but I'll tell you what I know of what happened to us. All of us. Not just Alex and me, but...others, too. Once I get my part out, Alex, you'll have to fill in the blanks. Nobody else can. Can you do that?" She nodded. Steve patted her gently.

"Now, Some of these names might sound a bit familiar to some of you. There was a big group of us, me, Alex, Michael, Charlotte, Izzy, Aiden, and Luke. And, well, we didn't start off too big..." Steve went on to tell a tale that Alex remembered the last detail to.

When he came to the end of his knowledge, Alex knew that it was time to talk. And though she still hurt, the pain had an eternity before it would ever leave, she knew that the only thing she could really do was reach out. So she talked. For a long while, the memories were pleasant, and horrific as she described all the adventures she had been on. She could even remember Jack in a better light. Jack. His name still sent tingles through her. Alex didn't even notice the time passing by as she talked, the words flowing out seamlessly, as though she had to make no effort at all.

After the tale of the Ender Dragon was fully revealed (all detail included), it was silent for a minute, perhaps to reflect on it all. Steve pat her on the back, and Cadence hugged her. They all made their way back to the wooden house, chatter of old, happy memories and jokes filling the air with a relief and joy that could never be replaced.

* * *

A relaxing end to a tense chapter, huh? It seems Alex is finally getting better, even if it takes baby steps. Stay tuned for the next, guys.

10: Pressing Times

        Alex readied her bow, lodging the smooth arrow into the tiny little indent of the wood where it fit nicely. She drew back, her muscles straining from the pressure, her arms shaking. Her chest held tight, she held her breath. She released the arrow and watched as it flew good ways above the target, missing it by an elephant's stride. She groaned, smacking herself in the face and shaking her head. She shielded her eyes from the sun and squinted at the target. She refused to move any closer than she already was, which wasn't that far, and still seemed to be making no headway.

        She clicked her tongue, noticing then that her mouth was quite dry. Alex reached to her inventory and took a great swig from her flask, feeling slightly refreshed. Sometimes she wished the sun would just disappear. She exhaled once releasing the bottle from her lips, wiping the excess with her sleeve. Steve walked up from behind her, analyzing the shot she had just made.

        "You know I'll never make a good archer," Alex sighed. Steve shrugged. "I think that one was at least a little closer than the last." Alex rolled her eyes, reaching into the canister that held all of her newly-fashioned arrows and taking aim again. Steve watched her, jiggling his leg.

        "Try angling it a bit farther down than usual," he offered. She did so and fired the arrow. It went straight into the dirt. She turned around and shot him a glare. Steve held up his hands in defense. "I never said it would work." Alex opened her mouth to retort something that would have earned her an R rating but stopped when she saw a looming figure lingering by the trees.

        "You can stop pretending to hide," she said. Luke came closer to the archery range, taking a glance at the cartoonish figure that resembled a target. It was shaped as a person, with the standard coloured lines showing key points of the body; heart, brain, knees, the pinky toe. 

        "I hope you're not practicing to hit me," he smirked. 

        "Don't tempt me," Alex said, tone unwavering. Luke clicked his tongue and took a breath. The leaves crunched against his shoes, and very loudly at that. Alex tried to ignore them, taking aim again, and - crunch crunch snap. She lowered her weapon and faced him. "Can you go be revolting somewhere else?" 

He was unfazed. "I only came to help you out." Alex scoffed, taking aim at the target again. Luke frowned. "I'm serious. Call it, uh, my way of apologizing." She fired, the head of the arrow lodging itself over the target's head again, though this time it grazed the figurative hairs on its head. She exhaled and spoke, "You're doing a pretty poor job so far." Steve took this opportunity to glance at his wrist and cough, tapping his foot impatiently.

        "Ah, it seems like it's about time to check on the, uh, animals. Yes, animals." He spun around and trotted away with more swish in his hips than a dancer. Alex made a noise that sounded like a drowning snake. Thanks, she thought bitterly. She tried to disregard it and aimed again. This time, she was interrupted by the same buffoon as before.

        "No, no, no." Luke shook his head. "Your stance is all wrong. Look, if you want to actually shoot something worthwhile you have to have the right posture."

        "Oh, yeah?" Alex narrowed her eyes into slits at him. "How about you try? I've never once seen you use a bow before." He lifted his eyebrows up a little and took Alex's bow with a firm stub. He slipped one of her arrows and took his stance. Alex crossed her arms, praying that he would miss. He breathed, pulled back and launched the arrow right beside where the supposed heart would be. He turned around, smirking. Alex's lips were thinned into a chalk line. She took the bow back from him without a word, gently slipped out another arrow, the sound akin to that of sharpening a blade, and took aim again. Luke watched her intently, instantly tutting and telling her to straighten up, look forward, keep your body in a horizontal line. Don't rotate your elbow like that - and for heaven's sake I'd better not see you move that toe up any further.

        "What do you think they're doing?" Cadence asked Ace as they walked by, bundles of wheat in both arms. Ace squinted into the distance, huffing a bit of a laugh. He pulled Cadence along and grinned. "Maybe they're finally getting along."

Cadence frowned. "I doubt it."

* * *

        "Oh, for the love of - Steve, we can't just plan something like this out yet! Alex barely has a grasp on the bow yet, and she won't settle for a new sword!" Lucas followed him around the house, pressing the matter at hand earnestly.

        "Herobrine isn't going to wait, Lucas." Steve paled. "We have to make a plan, get a move on, something. Anything! I can't stand just sitting by and waiting for him to come and - "

        "What good will it do if we're down one of our best fighters?" Lucas stared Steve hard in the eye. Steve pursed his lips, brow kneading together, as he sharply turned to the armour chest. He fumbled through it, counting the amounts of what they had. Clearly, he was going to have to make more. Lucas kept pestering him. "Steve, I know how worried you are, how we all are, but we'll all be killed if we run out there blindly! Let's at least take a couple days to plan this out."

        "A couple days?" Steve looked at him, bewildered. "In less than half that time he could be here, ripping our door right out the ground. We can't stick around for that." He slammed the chest shut, strutting to the next.

        "You're being unreasonable," Lucas stepped in front of him, and the two did a doe-c-doe around each other for a moment. Steve sighed, running a stub through his hair. "Please let me through," he said. Lucas stayed firm in his stance. Steve glowered at him, sending sparks that threatened to light the place on fire his way. Lucas clenched his fist, motionless. Steve finally yelled out in frustration, pushing Lucas out of the way and moving along himself. Lucas fell to the ground with a defining thud, and within moments another face popped in from the bedroom, curious.

        "Everything alright?" Ace glanced from Lucas to Steve.

        "If I can't talk some sense into this blasted arse, maybe you can." Lucas rubbed his tailbone. Steve ignored the comment and continued filtering through chests, this time doing a count of the weapons they had. Still not enough. Ace took a breath and sauntered into the room uncertainly. 

        "Steve?" he approached him cautiously. "What are you doing?"

        "Taking inventory," he said quickly. "we need a lot more than I initially thought, and I don't think we have quite enough armour to spread around to all of us for the journey."

        "What journey?"

        "Defeating Herobrine, of course. Or at least getting ourselves as far away as we can from him. We'll need as much protection and food as we can carry to last us." He muttered something unintelligible to himself and closed the chest rapidly. He rubbed his stubs together, tapping his foot against the wooden floor. He was like a rabbit with all the constant movement.

        "Steve, when was the last time you slept?" Ace noted the bags under his eyes.

        "If I can get all this prepared, we can surely leave tonight, or tomorrow morning if we want to be safe...but who can be safe, in these times? We may be safer at night than any closer to him..." Lucas and Ace exchanged expressions. They both more or less had the same thought. 

        Before any of them could act, a noisy duo burst through the front door. Alex was looking rightfully pissed, Luke trailing her like an unpleasant smell. He was going on about something relating to treating a string like a cradle when he stopped mid-sentence and saw the scene that had unfolded. "Ah," was all that came out of his mouth. Alex passed out of her anger and gazed at Ace, then Lucas, and finally her eyes rested on Steve, who was currently pacing the room as though he were running a marathon. 

        She approached him, acting as though this were a regular occurrence. "Steve," she said curtly. He paid her no mind. She exhaled and spoke again. "So, you didn't just leave us for the sake of spiting me after all." She paused, then continued. "It's no use, we don't have enough material to work with at the moment."

        "Then we'll just mine for more. Use stone if we have to, leather in the worst case - "

        "Steve," Alex said firmly.

        "We have to get a move-on. If we don't then he'll - "

        "Steve!" Alex thundered, her voice commanding the attention of any who were so unlucky to fall victim to it. He stopped. She touched his shoulder gently. "Come on, you desperately need some sleep." He was immobile. She tugged him along, but he refused.

        "You don't understand," he said. "he'll kill us all, tear up the ground..."

        "No, he won't. Trust me, it'll - "

        "YOU DIDN'T SEE HIM!" Steve shouted, looking more disheveled than ever. Alex flinched, releasing his arm. He trembled. "YOU WEREN'T THERE, YOU DIDN'T LOSE YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOU DIDN'T SEE HIS EYES - his glowing eyes..." He faltered, falling to the ground and holding his head. Alex caught her breath and knelt down beside him.

        "You're right," she said. "You're right. I wasn't there. But Steve, if we ever want a chance against this thing, this supernatural force, then we all need to be at our best, right?" He nodded. She went on. "I'll keep working on my archery if you promise to take a nap. Just a teensy one, alright? An hour, just an hour. Let us handle getting ready for a journey of any kind from now on. You get some rest, make sure you're all strong and ready, and then we'll head out, okay? Yeah, that's it...come on, right through here." She lead him into the bedroom, taking small steps. No one else dared to speak a word. They stood in awe and watched as Steve and Alex disappeared around the corner. After a few minutes of glancing at each other and waiting, Alex came back out, looking relieved.

        "He's asleep," she said. "Crashed as soon as he hit the pillow." A steady exhale from everyone in the room.

        "What caused him to go like that?" Lucas asked. "He wasn't even making sense."

        "That was mostly the lack of sleep, I think." Alex reasoned. "Don't forget the entire ordeal he went through to get here. I think it would give anyone nightmares. Not to mention, he had to leave Rufus behind. They were close after we came back."

        "He will be okay, right?" Ace gazed concernedly to the room beside him. Alex was silent for a moment.

        "I hope so," she said. A grim haze lingered in the atmosphere, stifling the already stuffy room. One by one, each of them dispersed to their own tasks, unsettling thoughts poking at their minds.

* * *

         Rufus had his nose pressed against the dirt, pushing out the grass and snorting a good chunk or two of muck while he was at it. His back leg hovered in the air, a throbbing pain coursing through him, steady as a heartbeat. He had gotten used to this by now. What was more interesting was the smell he had just discovered. Smell? It didn't smell anything itself, but it was something that could be smelled with a big snoof of his nose. Smelled like...mud? He loved mud! Mud was troublesome to get off, but it usually meant...water! 

         Rufus' tongue dangled out of his mouth as he panted, trotting over to the little pond he had found. He drank in great slurps, the cool water soothing on his throat. Once he had quenched his thirst, he looked around. Nothing but the quiet and trees. He got in the water, whimpering as he soaked his back leg. Maybe this would help. Maybe just until he got home, found his owner. He missed his owner, his Papa. He never did come back from that shadowy place. Rufus placed his head on the ground sadly. That other man had taken care of him since he and the red-haired girl came back. He called them Dirtman and Strawberrywoman. That's what they both smelled like, anyway. He thought they were adequately named.

         The water was cooling on his body, unfortunately not warm to his comfort level, but enough so that his leg was starting to go numb. Maybe that was bad. The sun was dropping from the sky again. Rufus wasn't concerned, though, since it always bounced back up a while later. But when the sun was gone, monsters came out, like Deadman and Porkman with the arrows that really hurt. Rufus didn't have anywhere to go to be safe - even the top of the tree wasn't always safe! He sighed and licked his nose. There was a low rumbling in his head. He lifted it and shook. No, not just his head. Noises don't like to stay in your head. 

         Rufus climbed out of the water, ears lowering and fur standing on end. He growled, the rumbling getting louder. When suddenly - crash! A tree exploded right in front of him! He flinched, deciding it was better to keep quiet. He limped away behind a set of trees as others sprung up little ways away. He sniffed, instantly recoiling. It was Badman. He didn't really smell like something he knew, but Rufus knew that stench had to be him. He hurt Dirtman! He growled lowly again at the very thought. He watched from his hiding place as the figure came through the trees, sucking them up into a hole that seemed to exist only around his body. 

         Rufus whimpered. Even the dirt and stone was being sucked up, disappearing into the black void around Badman. Rufus looked behind Badman, only to see that what he left behind was fire. A liquid fire that spurted hot sparks that burned his nose from time to time. He had to move. Rufus quickly trotted away, following his nose, the smell of dirt, strawberries, and a little bit of B.O. his homing beacon.