Sky POV—

Though I was excited that Dawn was pregnant, she made me swear that I would tell no one. If anyone else knew, Dawn believed that it would be a one-way ticket to a fast death for us, our friends, Sky Army, it's alliances, and the unborn child. No one that already didn't know would find out.

I walked back out to the main grounds, watching the snow come down in buckets. The Sky Army was taking the usual refuge in the main building, crowding around anything that radiated warmth—the kitchen furnaces, all the fireplaces, the fires in the armory—talking and laughing in attempt to lighten the mood. Susan, Ruby, and Sapphire were together, talking and laughing as well like best friends. A few men actually tried to hook up with them at one point, but the trio only drew their weapons and told them to go away.

I had to respect them.

I soon walked to the cafeteria and spotted my friends' table. I smiled as I sat down and greeted them. "Hey guys."

Bodil, Minecraftuniverse, Seto, Ssundee, Antvenom, Bajan, MUDKIPZ, Caveman, and Sparklez all smiled and welcomed me back. "Good to see you, Sky."

I looked around and noticed a few other people at a separate table. I broke out into a grin. "Well, well, well. Looks like we have some trouble over here."

The children of Notch—iAngel, Zhubox, Luna, Del, and Polska—looked up and waved to me. With them were Marz and Noah—the two children of Herobrine and siblings.

I looked to my left. I saw almost all of Sky Army's alliance leaders: TobyTurner from The Audience.

PBG, Kyrak, and McJones.

Markiplier and Minion.

All of Team Press Start. Skylander and Snapp were talking with PBG and Markiplier.

I laughed. "Either someone here did a prank and told everyone here there was cake, or..." I trailed off. "Wait..."

Bodil bit his lip. "Sky, we have something to tell you. Your friend, Athena..."

Luna broke in from the other table. "Athena isn't what you think she is."

I nodded. "Yeah. I know. I don't know what she is, but I know she isn't normal. Is she a Squid?"

Zhubox shook his head. "No! Her family was killed by The Squids! She's one of our personal friends! She's just... not completely human."

I blinked. "Okay. As long as she doesn't work for The Squids, I don't care what she is."

Seto started a fit of fake coughing. "*coughcough*She has dangerous information that could destroy Sky Army...*coughcough*!"

I snapped my attention to him. "What?"

iAngel sighed. "She has a plan, information, and so many other things that if they backfire onto us, it could wipe out the human race."

I looked at her. "And this plan is?"

Marz and Noah pulled out small vials filled with a variety of colored liquids, setting them on my table. Marz motioned to them. "When she was a kid, her parents mixed the essence of certain animals and monsters in her siblings' and her own essence. This created human-monster-hybrids, like Herobrine used with the creation of zomibe-pigmen, or the squid-human hybrids in the Nether. She believes that if we mix all of the Sky Army with monster essence, we can defeat The Squids. However..."

Noah picked up. "If the essence makes the Sky Army rogue, then we gotta say bye-bye to the human race."


Athena POV—

I sat in the iron chair that I was strapped to, writhing as horrible pain burned throughout my body. Vic had mixed together certain materials that would help expel the wither-essence from my body and replace it with normal human-essence. He turned it into a gaseous vapor that I was forced to breathe in, and by the time the vapor had disappeared, I was writhing in my chair.

I heard my brother and sister, shouting and screaming at me for making the mistake of trying to be normal. Calypso and Hephaestus' shouts I didn't mind, but Eris'...

Why!? Your gift was going to save hundreds of people if you just kept it! You needed it in the future! Eris yelled in my mind.

Tears of grief and pain slid down my cheeks. "I don't wanna be an abomination! I just wanna be a normal person!" I yelled back.

The misty form of my little sister appeared in front of me. She was sitting on the ground, petting our wolf Odysseus (who died when a skeleton took him out without me seeing). She had her iron chestplate on, holding her budder daggers, just like old times when she was alive. Eris turned her attention to me. I lived my whole life believing that I was a normal human! You were special, knowing what you really were! I know what I am now!

A shutter passed through me and I sobbed, aware that Vic was watching me from behind a glass window in safety. He was probably writing down some notes saying that I was delusional and was having hallucinations. "I'm sorry! I wanted to keep you safe!"

Eris frowned. What you are planning to get your revenge on The Squids, don't do it. We were only ones who were turned because we were the only ones that were stable enough to take the essence. I have an idea that could help.

I tried to stand desperately, but the iron chair held me back. "What? What is it?"

Remember what I was a hybrid of?

"Y—Yeah," I nodded slowly, noticing the pain from the vapor starting to fade.

As much as you hate what happened in the past, this is the only thing that may help you, Eris explained. Don't mistake me for something else. I can help you defeat The Squids, but you have to trust me on what is gonna happen, okay?

I nodded. "Okay, Eris. W—What is it?"

Eris motioned to Odysseus, and the dog walked towards me. Even though he was just a mist form of my old wolf-friend, I still felt a pang of guilt and sadness fill me. My old hunting companion carefully nudged my hand, dropping a small sphere in my palm. It was blue-green, with nothing but a dark slit in the center. It turned from a form in the mist into a real, solid shape in my palm.

An Eye of Ender.

I looked back at the person/animal that used to be a part of my life, clasping my fingers around the sphere. "What will this do?"

Before Eris could say anything, one of the burly guards pulled me from the iron chair, and my little sister faded away. The guard pulled me away and back into my quarters, not saying a word along the way. I cleverly hid the Eye of Ender behind my palm, keeping it out of the guard's sight. If he saw the Eye, maybe he would take it away, and I was not letting the guard take away something that my sister had just given to me.

I dragged myself onto the bed and let the sobs of pain and grief overcome me, and I lay in the bed. I snapped my wrist, hoping to still be able to summon a wither skull. But all I got was a small puff of white smoke. My gift was gone.

"Eris... Hephaestus... Calypso..." I let out the tiny moan and felt a pang of pain in the center of my heart.

My fingers tightened around the Eye, and I felt the tears start to threaten to pour out. I blinked once, keeping my eyes closed for three seconds to keep the tears from flowing. The Eye of Ender grew warm in my hands and warmed my chest, and I sighed, slightly soothed by how it felt. Everything felt normal in a way, but when I opened my eyes...

I was in the End.