A/N Hello wonderful readers! I come bearing another chapter of The Reborn King! The strange thing is that this is actually my third try at writing Chapter 14. Anyhow, I bet you guys were all surprised by the appearance of Alex-Or were you? Whatever the case is, I don't own Minecraft. Microsoft does. Oh, and I need to apologize to a character. In all the events that have gone on, I've forgotten about Steve's beloved pet Wolf. But I'm fixing that in this chapter. A random fact I just realized-Out of all the stories I'm updating today, this is the only that ends with something kind of funny and cute. Anyhow, onto the guest review!
Ravenstar-Yup. They're finally together again. :) All will be revealed eventually. I just have to decide when. If you aren't an anime fan, I think you're going to be one after you start watching Naruto. *evil grin*
ANNOUNCEMENT-The poll is still going on, so please vote. If you're a guest, check out the poll and tell me your vote in a guest review.
There's also a really cool YouTube channel that I found and want to share the existence of with fellow writers. It's called WordNerds, and it has videos on writing advice, books in general, and both types of publishing. Check it out if you're interested in writing!
Chapter 14:
Visions
Steve continued to stare at the woman before him with frightened eyes. She was dead. He was certain of it. He had seen the house go up in flames. But I never stayed around long enough to see how many bodies they found in the rubble. He realized. But how did we never meet up again until now? That was twenty four years ago. It's been twenty four years since I last saw Alex. Did we just keep missing each other every single time we traveled the same path?
And there was only one woman who could still be like a child at the age of thirty one. "I...I believe you." He managed to get out. Despite the whole situation seeming like it was a wistful dream, there was no way to deny that this woman before him was his adopted sister.
"I was waiting for you to! I'm glad I didn't have to go through the whole, 'Do you remember doing that? Do you remember doing this?' thing!" The way that her eyes lit up at what he said, and the grin that created wrinkles around her eyes was just the same as when they were children.
He gave a smile as well. "You haven't changed at all."
"I'm preserving my innocence and childlike beauty!" Steve suppressed a snicker. She really hadn't changed since they were only seven years old. As he thought about how long it had been since they had last seen each other, he found that his chest was hurting. It had been more twenty years. If someone lived to a hundred, that would be a fifth of their lifetime. They had been separated for that long, and there was no way to regain the time that they had lost.
"You have a sister?!" Levi suddenly exclaimed, breaking the miner out of his train of thought. "You never said that you had one...You know, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm the only one here who doesn't have some secret that they're keeping from the rest of the group." His idea was confirmed when no one met his gaze.
"None of you seemed shocked by this revelation..." Steve noticed, staring at Aria, Gwen, and Orpheus.
The three gave uneasy glances at each other. "Um, remember that game Gwen mentioned earlier? The one that she started playing after Levi died?" Aria started slowly. The part about Levi dying gained a curious stare from Alex.
Steve gave a nod.
"For us, this world is just a game...At least that's what we thought." Gwen added.
When Gwen wouldn't continue, and Aria stayed silent, Orpheus took the matter in to his own hands. "But now we're stuck here looking like our avatars in the game. So we know how basic parts of this world works. And there's two default skins, or avatars, in the game." He held up two clawed fingers. "Steve and Alex. People often think of you two as rivals, siblings, or lovers."
The two's faces went bright red. "Lovers?!" Alex exclaimed.
"We're just...We're just siblings, that's all!" Steve protested at Orpheus' comment.
"I'm merely restating the facts." But even as he said so, Steve noticed a small smile on the ten year old's lips. He thinks of the two of us as lovers.
It was hard to believe that Levi was truly alive. Her best friend was back again, but still out of reach. The two were never going to get a happily ever after-It would be Levi and Aria who did. She had to admit that they were meant for each. It almost stung, in a way. Almost everyone had someone meant for them, even if they didn't quite realize it themselves. Aria had Levi. Alex had Steve. And little Pandora had Orpheus. But for her, she was alone. She was the seventh wheel, the Leo Valdez of the chosen.
She glanced at the bed next to hers-Alex's. Aria had decided to sleep on her on, Steve and Levi had gone to sleep in their usual bedroom, and Orpheus was currently in the library with Pandora. Gwen gently squeezed her new ears. It was still hard to believe that she was in what she had thought to be a game. She had no idea how both Orpheus and Aria had adjusted to their new bodies so quickly. Then again, both of them were tailless.
She drifted off into a deep sleep.
Before her stood a man. A man that radiated darkness, radiated ultimate power. Who could this man be? Something was telling her that this man wasn't human-Maybe it was the fact that darkness was literally seeping out of his eye sockets, or the fact that he had black feathery wings. He walked through the halls of a palace in the End, constructed of obsidian and endstone. He entered a room full of spheres. But these spheres weren't ordinary spheres that you would find in a garden. No, these spheres were more unique and valuable. There were made of diamond.
Yet he walked right past them and entered a secret room. Sitting, as if in a place of honor, upon his desk was a leatherbound book. He opened it to a story called The Dark King, a sad smile appearing on his face as he read it. Gwen wondered what the story could entail, and why it would make this deity grow depressed.
Then the vision shifted into another. There was an older teenager in a clearing. Then there was darkness spreading throughout the forest. And then there was Orpheus crouching behind a bush, a look of shock on his face.
Cold water splashed onto her face. The culprit was none other than Alex, grinning childishly. "Knew that would work! I always did it to Steve when we were kids. Aria says breakfast is ready."
Gwen lazily got out of the bed. "Who cooked it?"
"Aria. She was the first one up." Alex started to exit the room.
"Alex?" Gwen questioned suddenly. The pale woman stopped and turned to face her. "Remember how Steve told you we're all Herobrine's reborn allies, and how I'm the Seer?"
Alex gave a nod.
"I think I just had a couple of visions."
Downstairs, an entirely different situation was arising. Steve shook Levi's shoulder frantically, despite knowing the risk of not letting the teenager wake up on his own. The minute Levi awoke he glared at the older man. Though all that really happened was his eyes glowing brighter, Steve got the point.
"Why did you wake me up?" There was a venomous tone to his voice, and each word was spoken slowly. Steve withheld the urge the gulp. Levi in the morning was absolutely terrifying. But there was a more important matter.
"Wolf's missing." Steve wrung his hands together, the worry evident in his eyes. "I thought that he had just gone out to hunt on his own or take a walk, but he hasn't come back since you brought Gwen here."
Levi got to his feet, his anger at Steve forgotten. Wolf had always been by Steve's side for as long as he had known him-He mentally cursed himself for not noticing what Steve had. And Wolf was something that had always been in his memories of the past five years. A life without Wolf wouldn't be normal.
Meanwhile, in the library, Pandora was entertaining herself by pointing out birds and animals through the open window. Orpheus, on the other hand, was reading a book in the sofa chair.
Levi burst into the room. Startled, Orpheus accidentally dropped the book. He cringed when he saw that some of the pages had been bent. Making sure not to rip a page with his claws, he picked the book up and put it on the sofa. "Steve and I need your help." Levi said. Since the reincarnation of Herobrine wasn't someone that asked for help often, if even at all, Orpheus knew that his reason behind doing so had to be important.
"With what?"
"Finding Wolf."
"Wolf?"
"Steve's dog." He couldn't help but notice the lack of creativity in naming the pet.
"So cute~" Pandora said, pointing out the window. Her breath clouded the glass as she pressed her face against it. "A mama and her babies!"
Both Levi and Orpheus ignored her exclamation, and Orpheus began to interrogate Levi for more information on the missing pet. "What does Wolf look like?"
"Wolf has white fur and a red collar. He's been getting fat recently." Levi quickly replied. Suddenly Orpheus understood that it wasn't just Steve who wanted to find Wolf. Though Levi was good at hiding it, he was worried about him as well.
"Orphy, come and see the little babies!"
Orpheus quickly glanced at the young enderman. "In a little bit, alright? Levi needs my help with something." He turned back to the anxious Levi. "What else can you tell me?"
"He hasn't been seen since yesterday morning-"
"Orphy, can we keep one of the babies? I've always wanted a pet!"
"Just give me a minute, Pandora!" Orpheus shouted over his shoulder. He had to help Levi first. The babies could wait for later.
Steve entered the library, eyes wet from tears that were no longer showing. Wolf had to be like a best friend to Steve. The loss of him was hurting the miner, and that made Orpheus all the more determined to find the dog. "What kind of places do you and Wolf go to?"
"There's an old tree in a clearing a little while away from here. But we always go there together…" Steve look heart broken, and Orpheus understood. He had lost his pet cat once. That cat, Fluffy, had been a victim of a car on a hot summer's road. He hoped that something along those lines hadn't happened to Wolf.
"Orphy, you have to let me keep one of the puppies!"
"Pandora, I'm almost done-Wait, puppies?!"
The enderman hybrid rushed to the window. With a grin, Pandora pointed out a white dog with five small puppies around its feet. "Steve, are you sure that Wolf is a boy? Did you ever check for certain parts?"
"I did. He didn't have them, but with the collar, I figured that someone had already owned him and had spayed him. Why are you asking?"
"I was just wondering if you ever considered having more dogs someday."
"Huh?"
Levi walked over to the window, jaw dropping as he gazed at the mother and her pups. "Steve, you have to see this."
"Why-Is that Wolf?!"