Author's Note: I've had this chapter in the works for a long time. Even though I had planned out the majority of the details, it wasn't meant to be so emotional. But I love how it turned out, and I'm glad I decided to touch on Aleks' connection with a certain player.
Minecraft still isn't mine.
September 23rd, 2017
-Sae-
Chapter 27
Lexal
After several hours of tense conversation, a plan still hadn't been settled on.
Aleks tapped his foot on the ground. Renee's knowledge of the apparently flying fortress was extremely limited, and each suggestion on how to tackle such a threat was met with criticism. There was no simple or direct way to defeat Eras and her forces. That shouldn't have mattered so much. If he was given the option, he would have just barged in there to rescue Lex.
He glanced over at Phoenix. Though she had remained silent throughout the majority of the discussion, he could easily tell that she was just as impatient as he was. Her lips were pursed, and her gaze darted about the room.
After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed onto her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. She needed the comfort as much as he did. They had to hold onto the hope that they would be able to save Lex before his soul was used. Then they would save the world like they had already done once before, and everything would be back to how it should have been.
An unsettling silence fell upon the room. Aleks looked away from Phoenix and over at the doorway. An enderman nervously surveyed the room's occupants. Though Aleks certainly didn't know all of the ones who lived in End, he didn't recognize this one. The young enderman looked over his shoulder and gestured at the cloaked mob standing behind him to come closer.
It was the unknown identity of the newcomer that made them all uneasy, though the stranger's silence also contributed to it.
Télos got to his feet. "Who are you two?" he asked.
The stranger and the enderman looked at each other.
As the stranger removed their hood with light gray hands, the enderman became Zephyrus. Even those who hadn't been there for Lex's abduction rushed to their feet with a startled cry. Aleks reached for his sword. Nearby, Aquarius hesitantly took a step forward. Renee's eyes widened in alarm and terror. There couldn't possibly be a good reason for Zephyrus to have come.
But then the stranger cried out, "Don't hurt him!"
Attention immediately shifted from the demigod to the surprisingly human young man. Though he had a human form, several features of appearance suggested that he hadn't always been one. His eyes were an impossibly bright blue. His short black hair pulsed with highlights of the same color. Even his skin suggested his true nature. His skin was the same shade of light gray that Aleks' was.
And that was the only confirmation that he needed.
He should have been suspicious. Though one might think his impulsive nature would lead him to attack first and ask questions later, he was much more likely to evaluate a possible foe and then attack. This shouldn't have been an exception, but it was. Maybe it was the sound of his voice, or the way that he seemed so much like the soul that had been used in his creation. But whatever the reason was, Aleks slid his sword back into his sheath and walked over to him.
The man watched him with blue eyes that were both unsettling and oddly familiar. He didn't say anything, but neither did anyone else in the room. They were a heaviness that had settled upon everyone, and a suspicion that none of them could shake.
Now that they were standing less than a foot apart, he noticed that they were the same size. That only supplied more proof to his theory, but he was past the point of caring about it. He took in every little detail of the man's face. Though it was the face of the stranger, he also saw the boy he had first seen standing before Télos years ago. The resemblance was far from being uncanny, but it was impossible to deny the little details.
"Hi," the man nervously said in a voice that had never been his but now was. He gave a small, shaky smile that Aleks found to be quite familiar. "I'm guessing you've figured out who I am?"
Aleks nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak.
After a brief pause, he continued speaking. "I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I'm not the Wither. Well, I mean, I technically am, but I'm not really because I'm still in control of all my actions and I was Lex first and-"
"I believe you," Aleks interrupted. A small smile briefly flickered across his lips – if no one stopped him, he would have continued rambling for who knows how long. "I believe that you're Lex. You're nervous right now, and you're rushing like you always do when you're terrified. And only you would have thought that it was necessary to get a humanizing potion from Hero's base before coming here."
"Actually, that was my idea," Zephyrus piped up.
Aleks ignored him. "So now you've got your own body."
"Yeah," Lex quietly said.
"And now that means you wouldn't be bugging me to change up my style."
"Yeah."
"And I won't be the awkward third wheel on your and Phoenix's dates."
"Yeah."
"And I won't have to listen to you reply to all of my questions with the same fucking answer."
"Yeah," Lex said with a laugh.
Aleks hesitantly hugged him, his tone softening.
"I missed you, bastard."
The man he had come to see as his brother returned the embrace.
"I missed you too."
