Chapter 10: Phillip- Arriving in Town

Phillip opened his eyes slowly and groggily. He was facing a spiked wall of cactus. He rolled over off of the bed and onto a floor of sand. There was cactus above them too. He sat up and looked around slowly recalling what had happened last night. He stood up and shook off the covers, flinging sand everywhere. Slender stood up and yawned, shaking himself a little before walking up to Phillip. They sat down on the bed and Phillip rubbed behind the cat's ear. Then he heard fire. Not a small campfire flame, but a huge roaring fire. He grabbed his sword and sliced through a block of cactus. He bent down and peered outside, surprised and relieved at what he saw. The skeletons and zombies were on fire. The skeletons bones melting, the zombies flesh peeling and charring. The spiders stumbled around groggily, stumbling to the jungle to get to their nest for sleep.

Phillip sliced the bottom block out of the hut and walked outside. The sun had just risen over the horizon, its life-giving rays bringing death to the monsters. He walked out side and lay down in the sand. Inside he heard the others stirring. He stayed on the ground and Slender walked forward and sat with him. He got up, said good morning and put some porkchops on the crafting table, turning the six into six bacon strips. He tossed them into the furnace along with a fish and sat down on the bed. They began to talk about getting to the village, how nice and hospitable the people were when suddenly they heard a short, low hiss and the sound of light, muffled footsteps. Phillip stood up to investigate, but before he could reach the exit, Slender dashed out of the hut. He turned the corner and hissed ferociously, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Phillip dashed out side, sword in hand, but when he arrived, there was no one outside. He picked up Slender and carried him back inside. Soon, they packed up their beds, the crafting table and the furnace and headed outside. As they began trekking through the desert, Slender seemed on edge. He would jump of and on Phillip or Josie shoulder, hissing insanely, teeth and claws bared. Then within an instant he stopped and continued on with the group. They looked at the possible source multiple times, but there was never anything but cacti…

Eventually, they reached the village. The town was filled with small buildings made of oak planks, oak wood, cobblestones and stone slabs. Children Josie and Phillip's age roamed the town, along with the adults of the village who seemed to be conducting trades and whatnot. Josie and Phillip walked in and were immediately greeted. They were offered numerous trades and such but each was turned down.

"Hey Randolph, do you know where Mayor Eliza is?" Josie asked. The tall farmer, who had been talking intently with the butcher, turned and looked at Josie. "Hey there kiddo! Haven't seen you guys in a while." He placed a large powerful hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "The mayor? I think she's at her house. If the Iron golems don't let you by, the password is 'Rose'."

"Okay, thanks. See you around." The group walked through the town, admiring the fountains and the crisp clean dirt on which the village stood. Pigs ran around rummaging through the mud, chickens laying eggs everywhere and ducks swimming in the fountain. Eventually they reached the back of the village. The building was a small brick mansion, surrounded with 4 block tall iron fence. The roof was covered with oak shingles and there were numerous glass pane windows on the first and second floors. The yard was filled with flowers and tall grass, where rabbits frolicked and birds sang.

David and Endrax gawked at the massive structure in front of them while Josie and Phillip walked straight up the gravel path to the iron door. As soon as they reached the end of the path, two enormous, rusty metallic statues came to life. They flexed their large rounded hands and their joints creaked with movement. As they roared to life, the vines on their bodies broke free from their point of origin, hanging solely on the golem's bodies. Their eyes glowed the color red and they stepped close together blocking the door by standing shoulder to shoulder.

"State your name and business here." the left golem said.

"My name is Josie, and this is my brother Phillip. Those two are our friends David and Endrax. We're here to see Mayor Eliza."

"Name: David. Does not compute. Name: Endrax. Does not compute. Name: Josie. Does not compute. Name: Phillip. Access Granted. You may enter." The golems parted ways and Phillip rushed inside. Once in he waited at the doorway for his friends to be able to pass.

"Humph. Fine. Password 'Rose'." Josie said irritated.

"Password: Rose. Verifying Access…Access granted. You may pass." The golems parted ways again, and Josie, Endrax and David passed through the doorway. The inside of the house was even more impressive than the outside. The floor was colored in blue wool and a wooden chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was a magnificent skylight and bookshelves lined the walls. There were two hallways to the left and right of the main hall. The one to the left read 'guest rooms', while the one to the right read 'dining hall'. There was a set of stone bricks leading up to a landing that broke off into upper left and right wings and a door on the landing leading into a lone room. From the door came another iron golem. However this one was smaller only two blocks tall, slightly taller than the kids.

Unlike the bulky, rusty counterparts that guarded the mansion entrance, this one was thinner, about the same girth as a human. Its joints were ball-and-socket instead of segmented plating and it seemed to be wearing a dark grey top and loincloth. A vine was draped over its right shoulder and hung down to its upper thigh. It had grey wool coming from the top of its head, like hair and had a light grey hat, similar to the head of the golem outside. The feminine golem turned to the door way and cupped her hand to the side of her mouth.

"Madame, someone is here to see you."

"Alright, I'll be out in a minute." A voice called. A few seconds later, a lovely young woman in a strapless green dress and long green gloves exited the doorway. Her hair was a reddish-brown coloring tied into a massive single braid and put over the front of her shoulder. Her eyes were a light lime green and she radiated elegance and power as she walked down the stairs. She paused abruptly when she saw Endrax, but quickly gained her composure. "Hello Josie, Phillip." She said with a smile. "How are you today? Who're your friends?"

"Oh we're great. This is David and Endrax."

"Hello. Nice to meet both of you." she said curtseying.

"Nice to meet you too, ma'am."

"Now, Josie, what is it you need?"

"Well, you see, David here has amnesia. We were wondering if there were anything we could do to get his memory back."

"Hm. That is a problem. Maybe you should take him to see Doctor William."

"Alright. Also, we'll need a place to stay for a couple of nights. Would it be alright if we stayed here?"

"Of course! Stay as long as you need to."

"Thank you. Phillip and I need to go and buy more supplies. Is there anyone who can show Endrax and David around?"

"Absolutely. Rosy, could you please go get Gabriel from her room? She has work to do!"

"Yes ma'am." The iron golem walked up the stairs and up to the east wing as Mayor Eliza walked back into her office.

"Shit…!" Phillip thought. He stole an anxious glance at Josie, who returned the glance and nodded.

"Alright guys look around the town and behave yourselves." Josie said sternly.

"You're not my mom…" David replied. As soon as the door was closed, Phillip and Josie bolted.

"We've gotta get to the farm! She'll never look for me there!" Phillip said.

"Good idea! Lets go!" They took off through the village until they reached a large wooden barn with a silo at it's base and a fence surrounding it. They walked quickly through the fence gate and around the small house next to it. They knocked on the door and waited for the owner to unlock the door. A few minutes later the door swung open and they were greeted by a tall man with a brown robe and mossy red-brown hair. He wore a brown robe and a light yellow straw hat and held a pitchfork in his hand.

"Hey, Phillip Josie! Ain't seen y'all round here for a while! Whatcha' need?"

"Hi Eli. We umm… wanted to trade." Josie said.

"Alright, whatcha need?"

"Well we need 16 porkchops, 13 wheat, 8 bread, 7 mushroom soup and 7 chickens."

"Hm… that totals up to be about...$20.00." Josie handed the farmer 13 coal and Phillip handed him one cobble. "Thank yah kindly." he replied.

They exited the farm and began to roam around the town. They sold some wood and wool to get some iron and some more wheat. When they had finished trading, they began to head back to the mansion. The sun had begun to set and the sky was a violent pink. As they were discussing what they should do tomorrow, Phillip felt a powerful force ram into his stomach. He lay there dazed, for a second, until he realized what had happened. Gabriel had tackled him.

"Oh Phillip! I haven't seen you in so long!" she said, crushing him beneath her body. Phillip struggled and squirmed trying to get away from the crazed villager. She stood up pulled him to his feet and pressed his face into her chest. "I thought I'd never be able to hold you like this again…" she said holding the back of his head to her body. Phillip pushed against her arms, frantically trying to escape.

"Damnit, Gabriel I told you to stop doing that!" he screamed at her, blushing. David and Endrax came up the path panting hard.

"Jeez. Gabriel you're…freaking fast… That wasn't…a tour at all…" David said panting between words.

"I'll do anything to get to my precious Phillip as soon as possible." she said placing a hand on Phillips face, which he quickly slapped away. Phillip looked back at Gabriel, glaring angrily. She looked the same as she had when they had when they had met four months ago. She wore the same long brown robe, the same creamy skin, the same red-brown hair in two braids that merged into one below her chin. Yep, she looked the same. Except that she had grown a little taller and gotten…bigger. Phillip closed his eyes and shook his head, knocking the image out of his mind.

"You've gotta stop hugging me like that Gabriel. It's embarrassing."

"But Phillip, I love you!"

"I don't believe that, and besides your four years older than I am. It's…weird." At this, David and Endrax began to snicker. Josie gave them a death stare and they stopped. At this, Gabriel looked over at Josie and the two met glances. Their glaring match held for at least ten seconds, both sides with hatred in their eyes.

"Uh…Phillip? What is happening?" Endrax said.

"For some weird reason, Gabriel hates Josie. Every chance she gets, she tries to torture or humiliate her."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Josie. Still haven't been showering regularly I see."

"Why do hate me?" Josie asked. "Do I pose a threat to you or something?! I don't get it!" Gabriel ignored Josie and began circling her, looking her up and down.

"Hmph. Still insecure as well." she said.

"Argh! I don't have time for this bullshit!" Josie yelled as she stormed off to the house. The group walked off after her, giving each other looks of confusion. When they arrived at the house, Gabriel gave Phillip a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off to her room. Phillip shuddered and wiped his face off. They walked into the guest rooms and saw eight entrances, four on each side of the hallway.

The third door down on the left was closed and light was shining out of it. This had to mean that Josie was in that room. Phillip walked into the room farthest down on the left and shut the door.

The floor was made of bright green wool. Inside was a clean, freshly made bed, a wood block serving as a nightstand with a lamp on it and a chest. The room was relatively small, but still roomy enough. He took off his backpack and tossed it on top of the chest. He flopped on the bed and looked out his window.

The sky was a deep dark orange hue. The rest of the villagers were locking up animal pens, closing down shops and heading into their homes. He could hear David, Josie and Endrax now leaving their rooms and walking upstairs. He stayed on the bed, looked up at the ceiling, and quickly fell asleep.

Well there's a ton of weird, broken stuff in this chapter, I know. I've learned not to write when I'm tired anymore.