Minecraft: Three Kingdoms

Hello and welcome! I'm Grav and this is the first story I have ever written. Keep in mind that English isn't my native language, however, I will try to do my best.

The reason why I decided to write this is quite simple; after so much reading I stopped for a moment and thought 'Maybe I can write too? It doesn't look that hard…' Apparently it's much more difficult than I originally thought.

I should stop writing so much here, after all, you came here for a story, did you not?

I do not own Minecraft or Mobtalker characters, they are the property of their respectful owners. I don't really own anything, it's just fan fiction.

The cover art is from anime 'Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?', also known as 'DanMachi'. Which I also do not own. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter.

'I'm bored' - thought.

"I'm bored" - dialogue.

Chapter: 1, Where am I?

The whole sky was covered by gray clouds, a few raindrops were falling here and there. The streets were mostly empty during this late hour and the terrible weather wasn't helping.

A young teen was walking on the pavement, while listening to some music from his earphones. He was staying on the right side of it, trying to get as far as possible from the road, so any occasional cars that drove by wouldn't splash water on him. The boy glanced at the sky, wondering if the day could get any worse.'The weather might be bad, but… It's peaceful at least.' He looked around, admiring the view. Most people hated when it rained, but not him. The smell, the quiet sound of raindrops hitting the ground, the lack of strangers… it was all somehow relaxing.

A few hours ago the teen was playing some computer games at his friend's place. It was Friday and during that day there was always some extra time to spend after all of the lessons were over. In this case, they just spent it on games. While they were playing, both of them lost the track of the current hour. Being so focused on what was happening on the screen made them feel like only a few minutes have passed, but in reality it was a whole hour or even more. When one of them checked the time in curiosity, they were quite surprised to see how late it was. Looking back at it now, the boy seemed to regret it. If they only played one less match, all of this could have been avoided.

That was the reason why the boy was outside in a terrible weather on his way to the nearest bus stop, with his backpack still full of different books from the school. The worst part was that it was only getting colder – the sun was completely gone and it was beginning to fully rain.

The boy wondered how much time there was left before the bus. He pulled out his phone and checked it. 'Okay, I should have about… fifteen minutes. Damn it.' The possibility of him being late and waiting a whole hour for a next bus became much more likely with every second that passed. After putting on his hood, he began running in the direction of the bus stop, hoping to make it in time.

The sprint was needed for only a short while as the teen has reached his goal. Even if it was just a short distance, it made him breathe heavily. If there was a need, he would be able to run for a little longer, but that didn't stop him from being disappointed in himself. 'I'm really not in shape… Maybe running in the park instead of playing games wasn't such a bad idea after all.' He then walked towards a timetable for the buses to check if it was the right time. 'Alright, more than five minutes left. I got here rather fast.' He glanced around and noticed that there was a wooden bench nearby. After sitting on it, he pulled out his phone and earphones. The boy put them on and turned the volume way up. After a quick search, a music application was up and running. 'So much to choose… Random track should do the trick.' He clicked the play button and closed his eyes, with the intent to relax.

Not so long after that, he felt some movement in front of him. It seemed like someone was just passing by, so he decided to ignore it.

"Hello? Excuse me? Hey. Hey! Come on!" Someone said, his or her voice muffled by the sound coming from the earphones. 'I wonder who is that person talking too…' The teen continued listening to the music, ignoring the situation that was very likely in front of him.

"It's important! You can hear me, right? Don't be like that!" That was beginning to be rather strange. There weren't many people around at this hour, in fact, nobody near this station. The realization hit him like a truck – that person was talking to him! He quickly opened his eyes and was taken back by seeing a girl staring at him, with her face way too close, clearly invading his personal space. The boy backed his head a little and pulled out his earphones, which were still playing music.

"Excuse me? Were you saying something?" Even if the answer to that question was obvious, the teen decided that a small lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Finally, you've heard me! I wanted to ask you if you have a spare ticket." She scoffed.

The boy tilted his head. 'A spare ticket? Why is she asking me thi- Oh. I see.' Being in a good mood and wanting to repay for ignoring her, he reached into his pocket and took a single ticket.

"I do have one. There y-" As he was in middle of a sentence, the unknown woman continued talking.

"Perfect! Could you give me one? I was hoping to buy one here, but that kiosk over there is already closed. At this hour!" She rolled her eyes, without a doubt not happy with the whole situation. The boy took a glimpse at the little shop and indeed, all lights were turned off and there was nobody there.

"Like I was saying, there you go." He handed her the ticket, which she gladly accepted.

"Thank you! You just saved me from a lot of trouble." The girl said, as she sat on the same bench. For a short while, both of them stayed silent. The boy was wondering if listening to music now would seem rude and the girl about topics they could talk to make the time go a little faster.

"What are you doing here at this late hour? There aren't a lot of people around." She said and looked around one more time to confirm if that statement was correct.

"Going back home. Stayed too long at a friend's house." He simply answered.

"I see. Pretty much the same thing that happened to me. Which bus are you taking, by the way?" She continued with the questions.

"I think it was… number twelve? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the twelve one."

"Ha! Same. More time to talk then. Do you have to change lines, or…?"

"Not really. This bus drives almost straight to my house." He replied.

"You won't be alone on the bus then. I have a pretty long way to go too." She smirked. "So…" A short silence followed.

Talking to someone seemed a lot more interesting than listening to music, so the teen decided to make the conversation a little less one sided.

"What is your name? I don't think we introduced ourselves correctly yet." He smiled, making her feel reassured about the talk.

It sounded a little sudden to hear an actual question from him. Or any sign that he wanted to converse. She was beginning to ponder if he didn't want to talk. "It's Sara. What's yours?"

"My name's Aiden. Well, it's nice to meet you, Sara. Even if it's only for a short while." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away from her with a small smile.

"The pleasure is all mine." Her attention was caught by a rather loud sound of a bus coming. In front of it, there was a small screen with '12' on it. "Look! It's finally here… I thought that they were always late." The girl said, with still slightly raised eyebrows.

The teen ogled his phone to check the time and put it back into one of his pockets. "Technically, it's one minute late." He said, with a grin.

"Really funny." She responded as they got up and entered the vehicle, not amused by that little remark.

After getting on the bus, Sara was finally able to take a better look at the boy. The first thing she noticed was that he was much taller than expected. When they were still sitting on that bench, it seemed that the height difference was rather small... But now, it felt very different. If the girl had to guess, Aiden was almost six feet tall. Maybe a little less than that. But it was still a lot, compared to her.

He was wearing a gray hoodie, some blue jeans and gray sneakers. Nothing too fancy, but it suited him. However, it did make it hard to see his body build. It seemed to be rather coltish. Even so, the teen did have some muscle on him – not much… but enough to be noticed. 'Might be training something...' His skin color was medium, but due the weak light, Sara wasn't completely sure.

His body was well developed, but he was still a teenager. One look at his face was enough for her to know that he wasn't that old. Aiden's hair was in a deep shade of black and didn't have much style to it. It was simply short and messy, but it looked good on him. But perhaps the thing that stood out the most were his eyes. They were in a dark brown color, which almost blended in with the pupil in a weak light. But they also seemed… playful, almost like Aiden was smiling with them. Adding the fact that he had a small grin from time to time, it made him look friendly and just like a person you wanted to talk to. But there was something more to that. Something like a natural charm, the way he talked and looked… It made her wonder if the boy knew about that or if it was just a part of his nature.

"Sara? Are you going to let me validate your ticket too?" Aiden said, with a waiting hand, standing right next to a small machine.

"Wh-What? Oh, right! There you go."She stammered and gave the item, completely lost in her thoughts. "Mind if we sit? It's going to be a while" The girl quickly changed the topic.

"You can go on and do that. I'll keep on standing" She sat on a nearest chair, with a furrowed brow.

"Are you sure? It's comfy here, and except the driver, there's no one else on the bus. No need to worry about leaving the seat for someone that may need it." Sara found it odd, that he didn't want to sit. She was unsure if it was because of her, or for some other reason.

"Alright." The teen said, as he sat next to his companion. "I… forgot to ask you why are you out in this terrible weather at this hour."

"You're right! So, today I went to a shopping center with my best friend, Ashley. We usually go there on each Friday, to see if there are any new clothes. We were unlucky this time and didn't really buy anything. Well, maybe expect some wine... After we were done with shopping, we went to her house. We drank and talked and generally had a great time. Later on, I realized that there's a meeting tomorrow, to which I have to attend to. It's going to be in the morning, so I have to go to sleep earlier than I usually do. Normally, one of us could just drive to my home, but... the wine made that impossible. Ash proposed to call a taxi, but I don't mind taking a bus. After all, it's not that all bad, right?" She waited a moment for an answer, but Aiden stayed silent.

"Come on, you ignored me before, that was enough." Sara tilted her head and looked at him. The teen had his eyes closed and was breathing calmly. 'Is he… Did he fall asleep?'

"Aiden? Are you awake?" There was no response. 'I know that I'm bad at telling stories, but I didn't know it was that bad…' If he fell asleep so quickly, it might mean that he was very tired. It was at least what she thought. With nothing to do, Sara decided to simply sit next to him and wait until he's awake.

"Hey… It's time to wake up." Like the last time, there was no answer from him. 'Why do you have to sleep so heavily? You leave me no other choice.'

"Ow! What the hell? Why did you hit me? Where am I?" He quickly asked.

"You are still in the bus, don't worry. You had a little nap and I didn't want to wake you up." She answered.

Aiden looked around, trying to understand what was going on. "I do feel awake… Wait a moment, how did you know that we haven't passed my home yet?"

After he boy said that, her eyes went wide. "I… hadn't thought about that."

He covered his face with his hand. "Did we drive past the stadium?" He asked.

"No! I'm sorry for that, I haven't thought about this… Anyway, I woke you up because I'll have to leave soon."

"I see."

"If you want, we can meet again sometime." Sara took a look outside and noticed that her stop was getting closer. "My full name is Sara Beler, just search it online and add me on whatever pops up. You should be able to recognize me. Regardless, it was nice to meet you. Good night, Aiden" With a last smile, she headed for the exit of the bus.

"Good night." He waved his hand and with that, the boy continued his little journey.

For the past ten minutes, Aiden has been trying to stay awake. It seemed that the nap had the opposite effect and only made him even more tired. He pulled out his earphones and played some random music again, trying everything to not fall asleep.

The teen wondered about the things he had to get done that day. There was no need to study or do any homework, since there was still time on Saturday and Sunday, so it was pretty much up to him. The options were to either sleep or play some games and such. He chose the latter and after a quick search, called to one of his friends.

"Hi Will. I have a whole night to play games, but no one to stay up late with. Interested?" For a few seconds, there was no response. Aiden looked again at the screen of his phone, to check if the call was up and to his surprise it was.

"My bro! It's been a while, what, you don't like games anymore? Sure, what do you play?"

"Not sure… Any ideas?" Aiden stared at the pavement, thinking about the games that they both had.

"I have one, but before you say 'That game is boring!', there was a huge update to Minecraft. I was planning to play it, but no one except you would like to go for it. Just like the old times. You're my only hope, to even survive the first night." The first part was true – Aiden did think too that some parts of the game were boring. The problem was that, every time he started playing with someone, after few hours, everyone began leaving the game. After a few days passed and everyone was back, they just made a new server, since nobody remembered much about the old game. The progress, repeated itself, until Minecraft seemed simply boring. However, something was off. Aiden didn't recall his friend actually having that game, or ever mentioning it.

"Will? We... Never played that game. You do realize that, don't you? Have you bought it recently?" He asked.

"Hey now, I told you it was better now. Come on, I'll invite you after this match." Will responded.

"I'm not even online, you should be able to see that. Are you... even listening to me? H-Hello?" Aiden was becoming even more confused.

"Alright, alright. Can't wait to play that game again! See you soon." And just like that, Will hang up.

That was weird, even for Will. They've never played that game. He was sure of it. When Aiden really thought about the whole situation, his friend... Didn't even sound like himself. Too happy, too... Excited. It would be fine, if it was just a small change of behavior, but what was about those responses? He decided to ask Will about it later. 'It might be just a joke or something...'

The teen looked through a window and saw how bad it was outside. Rain was still pouring, making him wonder how cold it was. It almost made him want to stay on the bus until it was better. 'This is going to be a long walk…'

Around half an hour has passed. The bus stopped and opened all of its doors. Aiden got off the it and just like expected, was welcomed by rain. That wasn't enough of a reason to run, but nonetheless it made him pick up the pace. After all, running in weather like this would just end up giving him a cold.

Normally the lack of other people was fine with him. No one could interrupt his thoughts and it was much more quiet. This time, it felt… different. Was it the fact that it was late? Maybe it was because of the whole thing with Will? The boy was unsure. It was just plain strange. However, he couldn't stop having a feeling that someone or… something was watching him. 'Get a hold of yourself, man… If someone is watching you, you should take it as a compliment.' It might have sounded silly, but at that moment Aiden wanted to see another human being more than ever. Whenever it was the fact that it was late, or it was just his imagination… Something was wrong and the worst part about it was that the teen didn't know what. It might be paranoid, but he took a sharp right turn, just to get to his home faster.

Aiden's house was located at almost the very end of Evergreen Lane. It wasn't a very spacious street, holding only a small amount of buildings. During the night, the only light sources were either houses or street lamps. However, this time, only the lamps were on. It was like everyone else was out or already sleeping. The teen was currently on a pavement on the right side of the street. It led directly to his house, which was finally close.

Aiden had hoped that the silly feeling from before would simply go away. It did not. Rather than that, it seemed to get only stronger. 'It's like I have just watched a horror movie…'

He felt a cold chill that ran throughout his whole body. It wasn't due to the fact that his clothes were getting wet and his body temperature was dropping. Humans have a natural instinct that tells you when you are being watched. Or at least Aiden has heard before. Whenever it was true or not, the teen did feel… someone's eyes on him.

'Could it be that one of my neighbors is watching me…?' He looked around, trying to find if some creep was indeed hiding in one of the houses. After a shrug, he continued walking. But as soon as it was done, Aiden heard a whisper. He couldn't understand what it actually was, but the strange thing about it was that it sounded like somebody was right behind him.

His whole body froze right after hearing that noise. Before, it could have been just him imagining things. Now it was clear, that indeed, something was very wrong. Fear wasn't an unknown feeling for him, but it was never like this. This single mere whisper made him terrified. He tried to get a grip of his trembling body, but to no effect. After shaking his head, as to make sure it was real, he glanced behind with a small hope in finding nothing. This was not the case.

Right on the other side of the street, there was someone. Or rather something. The thing was just a shadow in a humanoid shape, with the only differences being its way too long arms, with huge finger-like claws and the fact it was hunching. There was nothing else, no eyes, no details, no mass. If it wasn't for the street lights, the creature wouldn't be even visible.

The creature wasn't moving at all, just silently staring. The lack of eyes didn't stop Aiden from feeling like being watched. He backed away a few steps and after a quick spin, began running. With only one goal in mind, being to get away from it as soon as it's possible, he ran to his house.

At the halfway through, Aiden glanced behind him, which was instantly regretted. Besides, almost making him trip over, he saw that the creature did move. Not a lot and still wasn't moving when in his vision, but it was now in the middle of the street, its empty head turned in his direction.

After running a short distance, the boy was finally at the door of his house. He pulled out the keys, which he almost dropped; his hands were shaking too much. Aiden managed to successfully open the door and get inside. He slammed it shut and locked it in every possible way.

Every single light was turned off, which could only mean one thing – no one was home. The teen turned on a few switches and got to the kitchen as fast as he could. The windows located in that room allowed to see the street, which was the next thing he has done.

The creature was gone, or at least gone from the last place it was in. 'Was it even real? It could have been a hallucination…' Trying to remember that thing only resulted in giving him a headache. He shook his head and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Panic wouldn't help anything. But one single rational thought didn't stop his racing heart.

Just to be sure, he inspected the whole room. No trace of that monster. The only unusual thing the teen managed to find was a small paper note on the fridge. It was from his mother, and said:

'Aiden! I won't be back today, so don't stay up late waiting for me. I should be back tomorrow in the morning. I have the other pair of keys, no need to worry about that either. The fridge is full of food, so you won't starve. I might not be able to pick your call, but I'll try leaving a message. Love you – Mom'

It wasn't a new thing. His mother often worked during the night, only to come in the morning to welcome him. The only difference was... She never left any notes. Never. Aiden inspected the text further, only to discover that it wasn't even her handwriting. It was similar, but there were major differences. "What the fuck?" He whispered, being somewhat afraid that somebody might hear him and dropped the piece of paper on the floor.

The boy was unsure what to do next. Calling his mother was out of options, his friend Will too. Part of him still thought, or maybe hoped, that all of that has been just a one huge coincidence. His friend had a great day and his mother was in a hurry, so her writing was off a little. It all could have made sense. 'For now I have to take care of my safety…' He still had to check if that creature was truly gone, or if it somehow got inside.

Aiden began the search, coming to each room and putting the lights on. So far every part of his house was empty. When he got close to the exit door, he paused. The creature seemed to be only moving when no one was looking… It was very possible, that the monster was right behind that door. 'If it is there… what would I even do? Run? Call the police? Fuck, please don't be there, please don't be there…' With that on his mind, Aiden used the peephole and was relieved to see that there was no one there.

The house appeared to be safe, the same for the street. He returned to the kitchen and looked through a window just to be sure. Still nothing. With a sigh of relief, Aiden took out his phone and hesitated. 'Who should I call to…' It might have been an overreaction, but what's worse: someone thinking that you're crazy, or being murdered by some monster? The 911 number was dialed, followed by a few beep noises.

After a short wait, someone finally answered. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Hello? I, uh… M-My name's Aiden and I… I was being followed by some… weird guy. I think I saw him holding some sort of a weapon." Like it or not, he had to lie. Nobody would believe him otherwise.

"Sir, where are you now?" The man continued.

"I-I'm at my home, number 19 in Evergreen Lane"

After a short pause, the dispatcher asked other questions. "Are you safe now? Did the man follow you to your home?"

"Last time I saw him, he was still on the street. I locked all my doors and-"

"Sir, -ld re- th-?" Most of the response was corrupted, the phone's signal was dropping.

"Hello? Hallo?! Can you hear me?"

"-n't hang up. Help is-" The call ended there, followed by three beep noises. The phone's signal was completely gone. Aiden put the thing on the table, panicking again. "Why did they hand up? Why now?!"

Now there were two options left: Either stay and try surviving or go to the other house nearby and hope that creature is gone and that a neighbor is just sleeping. The latter option seemed risky, but a lot more reasonable. If that monster was real, this home was a death trap. The teen walked to the door of the kitchen, which was slammed close just before his face. Aiden jumped back, scared by the sudden movement and loud noise. He crept closer to it and tried to open it with force – to no avail. It was completely locked. "No... It must have got in here!" He screamed and backed away from the door.

Just as the teen wanted to go and try escaping through the window, he coughed. It wasn't just a cough from the cold weather, it was much stronger. After it started, it didn't stop. It felt just like he was choking. Aiden covered his mouth with one hand, only to see it covered in blood – his own blood. The lack of air made him weak, too weak to even stand on his feet. He fell on his knees and barely supported himself with both of his hands. Another cough; more blood. His vision began to get blurry, the body kept on becoming weaker. "What is-" The teen's hand slipped over his own fluid, making him hit his head on the cold floor. With the remaining strength, Aiden tried to get on his fours and crawl to the window. To make someone see him, to make someone help him. But that action was pointless. His conscious was slipping away, every move was more painful and harder to make than the last one. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. With a loud thump, his unconscious body fell onto the floor.

What's going to happen next? You'll have to read the next chapter to find out!

This chapter has been rewritten. I can proudly say, that this is my current level of writing. It might still be wacky, but I do try my best! After all, this chapter is twice as long as the version before the rewrite, so that's something. I do hope to see you in the next one!

The rest of the rewrite will be posted soon.