The tunnel didn't last long before it opened up into what felt like a giant cavern. Pillars of netherrack spewed up from the floor of lava far below them. The track had no sides; if anyone leaned over too far, they would fall into the boiling lava below. It was unnerving. Their carts rocketed down the track at a speed that seemed to help prevent tilting, but still.
"God, that was close." Olivia breathed, pushing a hand to her chest for a moment.
"No kidding." Lukas sounded winded. Jesse shot a glance back at them, but promptly turned again as her hair started hitting her in the face.
"Yeah, I don't like this," Olivia mumbled. "This is way too dangerous for my tastes."
"Your tastes are boring!" Olivia glared back at Axel. "You never think the dangerous stuff is fun."
"Because it's not! You could get hurt!" Olivia retorted. Axel made a face. Silence didn't last more than a moment.
"Wow," Lukas breathed behind her. "The Nether."
"Yeah, that is a lot of lava," Olivia turned to look over the other side of the cart. "And fire. And other things that could burn you to death." Jesse shot a nervous glance over the side of her cart, then faced forwards again.
Reuben suddenly squealed and ducked into his minecart. "Oh no-!" Jesse grabbed the edge of hers. Olivia looked past her to see what had caused the reaction.
The track dropped several blocks ahead, and they were getting rapidly closer.
"Oh, that's a drop!" Lukas' cart rattled. "That is very, very much a drop!"
"What are you talking about, new guy? What dro- oh crap! You weren't kidding!" Axel's cart rattled as well. Olivia covered her face with her hands. Sure enough, she felt her stomach lift as the carts picked up speed rolling down the track. Luckily, the drop only lasted a couple of seconds, before the carts shook and flattened out again.
"Oh no-!" Jesse's terrified whisper caused Olivia to peek out from between her fingers, only to hear a shout from Lukas practically in her ear.
"Duck!" She barely had time to grab the sides of her cart before she swooped down, hiding her head in her lap. The whoosh of wall went right over her, nearly hitting her back. She sat up as Jesse did, and almost immediately ducked down again.
"Watch it!" She yelped. Jesse's cart rattled as the other woman ducked down again. There was another whoosh of wall, and she deemed it safe to sit up again, hopefully for good. She peeked up, then sat straight. Jesse sat up, glancing back at them, then back towards the track ahead.
"Okay, so-" Olivia's eyes widened as she saw a curtain of lava ahead of them, rapidly growing closer- "I'm not the only one who seeing that we're running out of track, right?"
"No!" Lukas' response was immediate.
"Good!" Olivia glanced around for something to stop the carts, to grab onto as they passed, something. She quickly spotted a switch right beside the track, obviously connected somehow. Maybe it would stop the lava?
"Jesse, that switch!" Olivia pointed to it, and Jesse followed her motion. "Now! Do it!"
"Oh, arms, don't fail me now…!" Jesse was barely heard over the rattling of the track; she pushed up just enough to hold her arm out. She tensed her fingers, then swung her hand, managing to hit the lever at the last second. Olivia sighed in relief as Jesse re-braced herself in the cart, only for the carts to lurch to a stop only a second later.
"Oh, f-!" Olivia felt a hand suddenly hit her back, pushing her forwards a little. She glanced back to Lukas, who had one arm out against her and the other gripping the edge of his cart. He shot an apologetic smile her way. "Sorry." Olivia shrugged, turning around again.
The carts suddenly lurched down all at once, the sound of slamming pistons resonating beneath them. Then, it happened again not a second later. It continued, lowering their train of minecarts down. Olivia could see more track below them.
"W-wow, I uh…" Jesse risked a glance back at them. "I thought something bad w-was gonna happen there, but…" She shrugged. Olivia started to return it, but the carts started forwards again. Jesse turned back around just in time to suddenly turn sharply to the left after Reuben. The empty cart followed her, but Olivia's cart turned sharply right instead of right. "Whoa-!"
"Jesse!" Olivia glanced back to see Lukas and Axel following her, while Jesse and Reuben went the other way.
"No!" Axel's cart rattled.
"Whoa!" Lukas' yell was just behind her to start, then faded as Olivia's cart suddenly turned, neither of the other two's carts following.
"Wait!" She turned to see them thrown around tiny curves in the track, letting out other startled shouts as they did. Olivia's cart was thrown around a curve again.
"Oh man!" Axel sounded like he would be sick. She felt bad for Lukas. Jesse called out something, but it was too muffled to make out; Olivia turned back to the other track, realizing Jesse and Reuben, as well as the empty carts, were nowhere to be seen. She didn't get to think about it, though, as her cart suddenly went racing down another drop. She couldn't even throw her hands over her eyes before it reached the bottom of the drop, rocketing forwards.
Glancing around, she realized that she couldn't see any of the others now. Panic began to set in as she was thrown around another turn, this time to her left. Almost immediately, she was thrown around a complete one-hundred-eighty degree turn to the right. The track made less and less sense to her as she was forced down it.
As she was allowed a short stretch of straight track, her mind began to go wild. What was going on? Why was the track so crazy? Would she ever meet up with the others? Would her cart even stay on the track much longer? Her questions continued to berate her as she was thrown around another curve. This one nearly knocked her into the lava below, but she managed to think fast enough to lean and keep on the track. Then, she found herself shooting rapidly up a ramp.
Some high-pitched noise rang out from nearby. It sounded almost like a squeaky piston. Olivia glanced around for the noise as the cart leveled out again, but it stopped before she could find it. Then, as she was watching the track behind her, something rammed into the front of it. Her head whipped around to find another cart was attached to hers; or, rather, hers was attached to it. Axel was seated in the cart, knuckles white as he gripped the sides of it while glancing around at her.
"Oh, hey!" He turned back around briefly. "There's someone I recognize!"
"Thank god-!" She barely responded when something slammed into the other side of her cart; she turned to find Lukas' cart now reconnected to hers, while the blond himself was wide-eyed and white-knuckled like they both were. "Okay, three of us are alive."
"Did either of you see Jesse?" Lukas loosened his grip slightly as they started up another ramp. Olivia glanced at Axel as he shook his head.
"No," Olivia called over the rattling of the carts. They leveled out, then shot around a left turn, followed immediately by a right, and found themselves in another long tunnel.
"Hopefully her track converges with ours soon; we're bound to meet up at some point." Lukas shrugged nervously. They all watched the direction they were headed, and not a moment later, something crashed into the back of Lukas' cart. They swiveled around.
Jesse was wedged in her cart, holding tightly to Reuben as she glanced between each of them, very slowly relaxing. Olivia gave a small sigh of relief.
"Is… Is everyone okay?" Jesse called over the rattling. No one answered at first.
"Well, I'm not dead." Axel turned back around. "I guess that's pretty good."
"Ditto." Olivia turned as well. "Ditto with the not dead."
"I just can't believe Petra comes down here all the time." Lukas sounded terrified. "This place is awful." Jesse didn't say anything, but Reuben let out a snort that was barely heard over the carts. "Heh, your throat's gonna be sore later, Axel."
"What are you talking about?" Axel glanced back at the blond briefly.
"What, wasn't that you screaming earlier? Sounded like you were really shredding your larynx." Olivia blinked. Was that what that noise was?
"Oh, yeah." Olivia glanced back to Lukas. "I think I heard that too. Really high-pitched, kind of like a squeaky piston?" Lukas nodded, grinning.
"What? No, shut up." Axel gripped the sides of his cart. Lukas choked back a snicker.
"Huh. Guess it must have been something else." He was forcing down laughter as he spoke. Olivia grinned, rolling her eyes. Jesse still hadn't spoken, so Olivia glanced back at her. She simply watched the wall ahead of them, eyes unfocused as she held onto Reuben.
"Mortified silence?" Axel spoke up, not turning around. Jesse snapped back into focus and glanced at him. "You and me both, pal." No one responded to this.
The carts rocketed out of the tunnel and into another cavern; it was very similar to the first, with stalagmites rising from the bubbling lava below and stalactites stretching down towards them. As Olivia glanced nervously over the left side of her cart at the lava below, she spotted two more lines of track. Glancing to her right, there were another six or so. She followed them, spotting their likely destination.
A hub of sorts, with tracks coming out of almost every nook and cranny on its rounded surface, was rapidly approaching. Peering past Axel, she could see their current track leading into a hole in the side. The hub's sides rounded off into a point at the bottom, while the top was flat. Spires and partial arches sat scattered around the edge of the top. The entire thing was made of what looked to be brick, but it was a good deal darker than regular brick. Small lava flows ran down the sides into the massive pool below them. Axel put his hands in the air, briefly, then barely managed to pull them down again before their carts shot through the hole.
It was only a matter of seconds for the carts to lurch to a stop, with a wall on one side and a small platform on the other. Olivia swallowed, pulling herself out of her cart and onto the platform as slight nausea became evident.
"Is…" Jesse hauled herself out of her cart, Reuben waiting for her on the platform. "Is it possible to throw up like…" She put a hand to her stomach. "Inside your body?"
"Uh-huh." Olivia turned and followed Axel up the stairs. "I know because I just did. About five times." Reuben passed her, reaching the top of the stairs in a few hops. He let out a snort, moving away from the steps towards the center of the floor. Olivia reached the top, and allowed her eyes to widen.
The top of the hub was just as impressive as the hub itself. The spires and arches stretched above them, the floor patterned to match the aesthetic of the whole thing. There was a pattern of fires between each pillar, and different kinds of fences all over the place. Across from the stairway was a single Nether portal.
"Wow… Look at this place…" Jesse breathed, looking around in glanced around at the tracks below.
"All these tracks converge at this point," she mused, turning to look at Jesse. "You could probably get anywhere in the world from here." Jesse nodded slowly, turning to her left.
"There's the portal." She motioned to it, a look of relief crossing her features. Lukas approached it cautiously.
"This must be what Gabriel was talking about." He shot a look towards Jesse. She nodded, though she seemed to get more wary the longer she watched the portal. Olivia blinked. What Gabriel was talking about?
"Hold on." Olivia lifted her hands. "Time out. What was Gabriel talking about?" Jesse and Lukas both looked at her, then shared a glance.
"Gabriel… Gabriel told me t-to find the rest of the Order." Jesse started digging around in her pocket. "He said to find their temple… And then use this." She pulled her hand from her pocket, pulling an amulet with it. Not just any amulet, though, but the Order's actual amulet. The one on the posters and signs.
"Yeah." Lukas placed one hand on his hip and lifted the other slightly. "Ivor said to use that track, probably to get here. And since this looks like the main meeting point of all the other tracks…"
"That's our way out." Axel finished the blond's statement and started towards the portal as Olivia placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"It must lead back to the surface." She shared a look with Lukas.
"The surface is also where that creature is," he pointed out. Axel, who had been preparing himself to jump through, hesitated, then straightened again, eyeing the portal warily.
"He's right." Jesse pulled her arms in to hug her torso. "W-we have no idea what we're walking into. It could be dangerous." Axel turned around, glancing between them, then scratched his head and turned to examine the portal again. Lukas watched him for a moment.
"Thanks for being so brave, Axel," Lukas said softly. Olivia shot him a look, then looked back at Axel.
"Alright, I'm gonna go." He straightened. "I'm going. I'm going right now." He motioned with his hands to add emphasis to the last couple of words, then glanced over his shoulder at Jesse. He turned back around. "Like right, right now." Jesse lifted a hand, opening her mouth to speak, then shut it again and returned her hand to her other arm. "I just need to make sure-" Axel pat his pockets thoughtfully- "I have everything I'll need."
"You can do it, Axel." Jesse squeaked out. Axel turned, giving her a lopsided grin.
"That's right, I can do it!" He turned to face the portal once again, then glanced briefly over his shoulder at Jesse again.
"I'll be right behind you. Whatever's on the other side, has no idea w-what it's got coming." Jesse let her hands drop.
"Alright, here I go. Thanks Jesse." She nodded. Axel turned back to the portal, taking a deep breath.
"Be safe up there, Axel." Olivia dropped her hands, allowing a look of concern to flash across her features. Axel nodded once, then walked firmly through the swirling purple light. Jesse hesitated a moment, then slowly approached the portal, following Axel through. As she was teleported back to the surface, there was a brief, quiet noise that sounded almost like a yelp. It faded before she could determine if she had actually heard it or not. Sharing a glance with Lukas, she sighed, and moved forwards, passing through the portal with quite a bit of hesitation.
AN: sorry about how late the chapter is today, i had a lot to do. on the plus side, they're finally out of the mayhem for a bit!
until next time!