Gabriela woke up from her afternoon nap. Her green eyes caught sight of a recently answered worksheet as she stood up from her chair. Right, she did her homework awhile ago. She then stretched her legs and arms, her chestnut brown hair bouncing and following her head to energize herself. She later stored her homework in her bag before laying it next to her bed. She's excited, to say the least. That was because her father had a present for-

Her bedroom door opened and a boy with curly red hair and crystal blue eyes appeared. His grin was alight as he grabbed her hand out of the door. "C'mon, Story Mode is here, sis! Let's go!"

"Whoa, Cedric,"She said as her younger brother led her to his room, which is just next to her room. On one side was Cedric's bed and a drawer. On the other side were a study desk and a work table, each having their own chair. The third side had a closet and a rectangular window beside it. Some parts of the pale green walls have wooden shelves. They were lightly decorated with programming knickknacks. The only difference is that her walls were a pale lilac and she decorated her room with her own interests. She knew there's a fencing foil in her room and some cheesy joke posters are in her walls.

Gabriela liked their rooms. It may have the same layout of furniture with only different wall colors, but they were able to customize it to their own liking. It may have been months now, but she's happy that her adopted brother was contented.

Right now, what's on the work table was Cedric's laptop, which is connected to a charger. It whirred on progress, as a fresh, new video game has been installed. Minecraft: Story Mode.

Her father, Pascal Peletier, was a skilled programmer. He had left their home in Paris to assist the game's creation in the United States. He still tried to make time for the family while abroad even if last month had been hectic for all parties involved. Hectic was an understatement.

Well, today's October 13th, they're done with their schoolwork, might as well spend the rest of the day enjoying their father's new creation with the help of many people.

Cedric grinned as the siblings sat on the two chairs, the redhead clicking the game. The loading screen loaded for a moment before the main menu is shown. There was an animation of a bunch of block-headed people building buildings with different materials.

It was simple, but Gabriela thought it gets the job done. She glanced at Cedric. "You ready to play?"

"Of course."Cedric replied, clicking play and selecting his preferred character before he spoke again. "This is a decision game so uh... can you help me with the important choices?"

"Sure, but why? It's just a game."

"Yeah, but Dad says that the character we're playing is a leader. You know me when it comes to leadership." Cedric laughed dryly before he smiled. "Thanks, Gabby."

"No problem, Ced."Gabriela viewed the screen now. It was a group of friends looking at a block with a small-grid on the center. On the bottom is the episode title, The Order of The Stone. "What's that?"She blinked.

"You don't know the Command Block?"Cedric teased.

"Sorry, Curls, I'm only covering the basics."

"Ah, yes, by basic, you mean dying in the Nether while carrying loot. Sad reality."Cedric deadpanned before he chuckled. "I'm kidding. I'll let you know after this."

"Go ahead and play then."Gabriela chuckled back as Cedric clicked play. The computer suddenly glitched out, pixels of different colors flashing in the screen before cutting into black.

Cedric groaned. "Great, I'm gonna uninstall it again."He said as he tinkered on the laptop.

Gabriela suddenly felt weird. Sleepy, to be honest. There was a sharp tingling sensation in her feet, cascading up to her legs. She had a nap earlier, why was she feeling sleepy again? Pins and needles, perhaps? She tried to move her legs, except she can't feel her legs.

She looked down and- oh, dear France, her stomach hurts like a punch. Her feet had basically vanished, the last of her lower limbs dissolving into pixels at the moment. The pixels have traveled onto her lower chest and everything hurts. "Cedric-"

The pixels' travel suddenly sped up in rate, going onto her hands. Cedric turned to look at her, his eyes in alarm. "Gabby!"

Gabriela placed her hands over her heart to stop the pain. It didn't work. "Open up the Lady- ack!"The pixels have reached her mouth, silencing her voice. Her arms have disappeared, the only thing left was her face.

"Gabby, stay with me."She felt Cedric grasp what was left of her. She tried to hold on, to still feel him.

The pixels reached her eyes. She couldn't see nothing but an endless blur of colors, a drifting weightlessness and-

"Gabriela!"

Then nothing.

————

Guess who's back! You Can't Wither Me Down is now rewritten as Unyielding and Unbowed.

RavenBlaze4850