I didn't think I would ever go back. So many intense feelings ran through my body, if someone asked me how I felt, I wouldn't be able to give them an answer. Of course, with all the chaos going on, no one would ask me such a silly question. I stared at the large, demolished castle I once called home, now littered with the dead bodies of my friends, family, and the Pig Monsters. A rush of deep sadness ran through my gut, overpowering all the other feelings that were running through me. I knew that my life would change forever, and I would never come back here. Yes, it's not the nicest fortress in the Nether, but it's mine. Or, it used to be mine. I took one final look at my former home, and leaped into the portal.
My name is Marissa Constance, I'm fourteen years old, and I live during the apocalypse. The Endermen have taken over the surfaceworld and only a few human settlements still remain. Many humans, like my parents, took their family's to the local Nether Portal and flooded the strongholds. A sort of government has been set up in the post-apocolyptic world in the past 13 years. We live "happily" under the king of the stronghold and if we keep our mouths shut, no one gets hurt. Only the incredibly rich have touched water since they resided in the Nether, and with lava constantly under us, the smell is something you have to learn to get over. Every day we have exactly 2 bowls of mushroom stew. Even If you're on your back dying of starvation, you don't get any more. The men in blue come every week from the portals with buckets of milk for us to drink. I'm not sure if the milk comes sour, or if the heat of the Nether turns it sour. We only get cooked meat once every month during the feast, which is definitely the happiest time for all of us. Once a boy reaches the age of 14 he gets shipped to the surfaceworld to be trained to fight for the emperor. Well, accept a select few, like the prince, the handicap, and the reproducers. No girl ever leaves the nether under the age of 20. After the age of 20, if the girl has permission from her husband, she and her family may leave. My best friend Noah got shipped only a few months ago life has been a living hell ever since.