School... it is seriously ruining my life... and probably my mental state as well. Do freshman usually have 4-5 hours minus stidying for tests and weekend homework? This seems a little excessive :/ Well anyways, sorry about the delay but this last few months have been kind of dedicated to sports and sport training. I ended up going to the State Championship with my team so that took away a lot of time. And my birthday passed by again so yay! :D 15 Years! And 85 years to go... ... ... Well I'll figure that out later.

Sorry this took so long :( When I start writing its usually heavily influenced by the tone of the most recent thig I've read and well... We just finished Of Mice and Men (By John Steinbeck) and we did a writing project on it...topics signed topic was along the lines of: Dreams are destined to fail, human nature is evil and will destroy itself, and oh yeah... the ending of the book. I don't know if anyone else had to read the book but hat ending... it is messing with me... why is it messing with me. My teacher asked the class what we would do if we were in George's situation and it was our best friend instead of Lennie... I've never had a class period so quiet before... :/ Well anyways,tot the new chapter!

"It was a little while back," Maria begins. "Do you guys remember when my little sister came to visit? It was about a month before Steve spawned."

"Little sister? Oh! Laura, right? Yeah I remember her... such a peaceful little girl... unlike her siblings." Apricot replies calmly and casts a vengeful glance in Tyler's direction. "What about her?"

Tyler grumbles something under his breath but refrains from commenting. Maria either doesn't react to the comment or didn't hear it, completely oblivious as Tyler narrows his eyes in suspicion. "R-right, well when she came for a visit, she brought a letter addressed to Tyler and I." Maria continues with a frown. "It was from the Aether-"

"...Aether...," Stripes repeats slowly and tips her head to the side. "It's gone now... right?" The entire group turns to look at the girl in confusion. "Yes, it's gone now... but why..." She blinks a few times and her face returns to normal. "Huh? Oh, sorry, just lost in thought."

"Someone from the Aether, I can't remember who it was at this moment, had just learned that the first hero's recarnation was going to spawn in a few weeks, and asked if my brother and I would watch over him," Maria explains blankly, seeming to ignore Stripes comment. "Of course, being the logical one in the family, I did the logical thing... and immediately turned it down."

"What?!" Apricot and Brandon yell out simultaneous. Brandon coughs slightly, taking a second to regain his composure before adding, "I mean... we know that you eventually agreed, but..."

Tyler just laughs, his signature grin forming on his features. "Trust me, she didn't want anything to do with this!" The others turn their attention to the young red haired teen who simply leans back against the wall and adds, "I managed to convince her~"

"First of all, it didn't work like that." Maria states with a frown and adds, "And second of all, if it had worked like that... probably by some weird catastrophe that probably blew the logIc of reality out a metaphorical window... then you don't need to be rude about it."

"I'm not being rude!" Tyler immediately argues, throwing his hands in the air and falling flat on his face due to the sudden movement. "...Well then..." He mutters unhappily but it'd muffled by the wooden flooring. He manages to roll backwards again and returns to a normal sitting position; casting a 'if you say anything about what just happend I will seriously kill you' kind of look in Apricot's direction. "What was I saying before? Oh yeah, I wasn't being rude! I was just... celebrating..." He grins.

"Yeah... well anyways, I eventually 'agreed' to help the first hero out and well..." Maria sighs and stops to look at the others with blank eyes. "The rest is history."

Everyone silences for a moment at Maria's comment and a few shift uncomfortably. "Umm... right... well that explains why you two met," Brandon replies slowly. "Does anyone else have a question?"

"I have one," Apricot says with a frown and glances towards Tyler. "You said that Steve died in an accident but you never told us what happened."

Tyler straight out glares at the girl in horror before quickly glancing towards his sister. "It was an accident," He growls. "That's all you need to know."

"...Tyler," Maria mutters and places a hand on the teens shoulder. "It's ok... they have a right to know." Tyler blinks in surprise before frowning and nodding reluctantly. "It was really my fault... when we reached the city I left Tyler and Steve alone for a little while." Maria begins quietly. "There was some sort of an earthquake and the ground split apart. They both fell in but Steve was injured."

The red haired teen frowns at the comment and narrows his eyes slightly. "I managed to get up and ran to find help," Tyler cuts in and glances back at Maria. "By the time we got there he was already dead. If it was anyone's fault then it was mine... I should have tried to help him instead of getting help."

"What?! If you had stayed behind you could have been killed!" Maria argues. "I was the one who left you two alone, it's my fault."

"Then I should have ran faster," Tyler replies. "You didn't know that everything was going to fall apart! I was the one with Steve, it's my fault!"

Everyone else watches in silence as the red haired teen shakes his head and calms down. Maria looks too surprised at his sudden outburst to reply. "Err... well that's enough for today, right?" Brandon begins uncertainly and continues to stare at the siblings. He turns back towards Lady Willow and adds, "Maybe this is a good time to give Maria that message you were talking about?..."

Maria's head snaps up at the comm to and refocuses on the girl. "I don't think this is a very good time..." Red Willow trails off before sighing. "I'm not sure who it was but they were worried about the remaining border dimensions... I think they wanted one of you to travel there..."

"The End and the Nether?" Brandon asks with a frown and glances at Maria. "Right?"

"No. There just happens to be a bunch of other dimension orbiting the Overworld and we just can't see them." Tyler grumbles sarcastically. "Of course it's the End and the Nether." He pauses and adds, "One of us... so they want us to split up again?"

The room freezes at the comment and lady Red Willow nods silently. "There's two dimensions and well... there's two of you..." She mutters and glances at the siblings who both visibly stiffen. "I think they want us to split up."

"But we just managed to regroup!" Apricot cries out in alarm. "We shouldn't split up again!"

"I have to agree with Apricot," Brandon adds uneasily. "This could be some sort of a trap... we shouldn't risk it."

"We have to," A voice replies and everyone turns to see Tyler frowning at Maria. "If what you told me earlier is true... then they're going to need as much help as they can get."

No one dares to move as Maria stares at her brother with a blank expression. The red haired teen presenting an expression that looks almost... serious. Maria nods slowly in agreement and glances back towards the others. "Brandon and Apricot can come with me to the Nether. Everyone else can go with Tyler to the-"

"I wanna go to the Nether!" Tyler cries out in outrage, slipping back to his normally hyperactive self. "My hair will work as camouflage!" Stripes and Brandon both smile slightly at Tyler's antics while Apricot promptly face palms. "I could sneak attack anyone! I'd go climb up on a ledge and wait for that little-" Maria sighs and clamps her hand over the teens mouth.

"Well now you definitely aren't going." Maria growls and slowly removes her hand. "Tyler can lead lady Willow and Stripes to the End..." Tyler starts to argue but is cut off as Maria continues, "We should leave in an hour-"

"No we shouldn't." Tyler argues, pointing to a clock on the wall. "It's REALLY late already... we should rest up tonight and leave in the morning!" For once, most of the others nod in agreement at the teenagers plan.

Maria starts to argue but quickly realizes that it's probably best if they rest up a bit. "Fine," She agrees with a sigh. "But we leave first thing tomorrow morning, alright?"

Tyler flashes his signature smile before turning to look at lady Red Willow and Stripes. "Ok guys, you two have the honor of being on the best team! So I was thinking that because we are the best team we deserve to have a team name!" He rambles on and on while making large explanatory gestures ranging from ninja poses to swimming. Stripes stares in shock as the movements grow faster and faster until all you can see is a blur of color. "So you guys got any suggestions?"

Stripes blinks a few times to redirect her attention while lady Red Willow simply replies, "We could do something with our names."

"... S...T...R... S.T.A.R! Welcome to the club fellow S.T.A.R members!" Tyler states with a smile and jumps up to high five the new "Team S.T.A.R" members.

"What's with the A?" Apricot asks and raises an eyebrow. "Stripes, Tyler, and Red Willow."

"It's just there for the effects," Tyler explains and rolls his eyes. "It just makes the name sound cool~" He smirks slightly and mutters, "Unlike your boring team that doesn't even have a name..."

Apricot stutters slightly before glaring at the red haired teen and beginning to argue, "Says who? We could have an awesome team name planned out already and we're just keeping it a secret so you don't try to steal it! What then, huh?"

Tyler just grins, waltzing over to the couch and sitting himself sown right between Brandon and Apricot. "No offense Apricot... but no one gives half a piece of coal about your opinion~." He sits there for a few seconds before lunging off of the couch, (barely missing a closed fist) and somersaulting over to his sister. "Everybody get ready and get some sleep," Tyler says with a smile, leaning to the side to avoid a few blocks of cobble being thrown at his face. "Like Maria said, we're leaving first thing in the morning!"

Stripes stares at situation between the red haired teenager and Apricot in utter bewilderment. Brandon continues to calm Apricot down as Tyler runs over to ask lady Red Willow something and bounds out of the room. Maria eventually gets up and leaves the room with Stripes following soon after her. Lady Red Willow eventually stands up as well and glances back at the two remaining members. "You'll have to excuse Tyler," She says with a sign and glances down one of the hallways. "I haven't seen him like this in a very long time..."

"Like this? He's being an arrogant little..." Apricot begins to rant but is cut off by a hand on her shoulder. She sighs and glances over at Brandon before continuing, "He's being Tyler... it's not that unusual, trust me."

"Then you haven't met him," She replies sharply and turns away from the duo, walking a few steps before turning back. "Sorry, I'm just a bit shaken by the sudden turn of events..."

Apricot sighs and mutters, "You have no idea." She slowly stands up and stretches her legs before taking a few steps. "Sorry to intrude and all but do you have a guest room I could use? It's been a rather long journey and I'd like to get some sleep..."

"Of course," She replies with a smile and points down the hallway. "Try the second door on the left, it should be open. Oh, and could you tell that other girl that she can use the room next door?"

"Yeah, I'll tell her," Apricot replies, stifling a yawn and stretching her arms. "Well goodnight guys, see ya in the morning..." She smiles at Brandon and Willow before disappearing into the dark hallway.

The two watch in silence for a moment before Brandon mutters, "Do you know the whole story or are you being kept in the dark as well?"

Lady Red Willow looks back in surprise before her face darkens and she looks away. "No, they've been keeping me in the dark on this as well," She answers with a sigh and shakes her head weakly. "Though it's not hard to guess what happened."

"No, I suppose it's not," Brandon mutters quietly and moves his gaze to the floor. "But I can't understand their reaction to it..." He sighs and shakes his head. "By the way, what did you mean earlier?"

"About what?" Red Willow replies curiously and tilts her head.

"You said that we haven't met Tyler," Brandon clarifies with a frown and appears to be deep in thought. "Obviously we've all met Tyler... I mean he was sitting right there a little while ago."

Lady Red Willow stiffens at the comment and the room grown quiet yet again. After a little while she replies, "I've known their family since I was really little... me and Tyler basically grew up together... So I notice what he's doing much quicker then most people."

"What do you mean?" Brandon asks seriously, wondering if they're even taking about the same Tyler. "Notice what?"

"Maria may be older and act like the leader... but Tyler has always been the more cunning of the two." Red Willow keeps her voice to a whisper and continues to glance at the doorway. "He's naturally a cheerful person, but when someone tries to hurt his sister..." She shivers slightly and stares straight through the doorway. "He snaps."

"Hey, are you ok?" A voice asks cautiously. "Wait! Don't go back to sleep!" What in the world... Something moves right next to me but all I can see is darkness. "You're dreaming right now, you need to open your eyes." I'm dreaming? Well, that might explain some things. "Come on... wake up." I open my eyes and light floods through my vision.

"Ah! You're awake!" The voice says in surprise and a blur of color darts across the light. Blobs of green begin to morph into trees and the sky slowly fades into a dark gray. Where am I... and why am I lying on the ground? "I was worried that you weren't going to wake up... some of the others never did."

"...Oth-ers?" I ask slowly and blink at the sound of my own voice. When was the last time I used it? "...Wh-o"

"Don't try and talk, I doubt you're body is ready for that yet," The voice says quickly and something lands on my shoulder. "You need to calm down and regain your senses, ok? You'll get your answers when your done."

The world still spins around in my vision but it starts to slow down and materialize. I stare up through the trees and admire the murky color; it's like someone turned off all of the stars in the night sky.

"Admiring the sky?" The voice asks curiously with a hint of amusement. "Now that I think about it, it is kind of strange."

Pausing to collect my voice, I close my eyes and try to focus on the present. I was just in the End with that girl. There was a dragon... why was there a dragon? "W-where am I? Who are-" I pause before continuing on. "Who are you?" May as well start with the simple questions.

"You've been out for who knows how long, lying in the middle of nowhere, and the second thing you ask is who I am?" The voice asks with a chuckle and something moves next to me. It pauses for a second before adding, "I don't remember my real name, not anymore at least... you can just call me East. You?"I pause at the question and try to remember the answer. What is my name? After a little while I give up and mutter, "I don't remember..."

"I see..." The voice says quietly and someone a few blocks away shifts in what I believe to be grass. The movement suddenly pauses and the voice adds, "Whats that?" The figure moves closer but I can't even lift my neck to look at the stranger. It's like my body isn't responding. "A book? You managed to drag something with you?"

I freeze at the words and try to get a look at the figure. "What is it? What book? Why can't I move?" Despite my efforts, my body doesn't move and results in a sharp pain shooting through my back. It takes a few moments for the pain to subsided and I quickly notice how quickly I'm breathing. "Wh- what's going on."

"Wait! Don't try to move! What part of 'you need rest' do you not understand? Are you trying to kill yourself?!" The figure yells out in horror. My mind freezes at the comment. "You need to rest, ok? Your body may be here but your spirit isn't... if you try to move you'll kill yourself."

"I don't understand... why am I here," I ask in horror. "Where am I?" Something else folds into place and I quickly add, "What do you mean my spirit isn't here?!"

The figure pauses for a second before replying, "It's um... It's kind of hard to explain. For some reason your spirit was brought here by the code. I don't know why or even how but- well you're here." It falls silent for a second. "You'll be able to move pretty soon, your body just needs to rest." Paper crunches a few feet away and I assume the figure is now reading the book.

"Ok... I guess that makes sense, but why am I here?" I ask with a sigh and force my mind to calm down. It's not like I can do anything right now. "What do you mean I dragged something with me?"

"What- oh, you mean this," The voice answers quickly and more paper crinkles. "Sometimes when new people come here they accidentally drag physical objects with them. It's pretty rare though, I only know one other person whose ever done it." There's a pause before the voice mutters, "S...te...ve... Steve! Hey, does that sound familiar to you?"

"Come on Steve, you need to go with your sister," The women calls out softly and holds the child's hand. A little boy hides behind her, and immediately shakes his head and tried to hide behind the women. "I know you don't want to but..." She trails off at the comment sighs.

"Why do I have to go? They don't need me!" The child cries out and continues to hide before the women. "As long as they have her I'm not important!"

The woman pauses at the comments and turns back towards the child. She kneels down next to him and whispers, "Is that what you think?" The child falls silent but eventually nods. "You're very important! Just as important as she is."

"Then how come no one notices me?" He argues unhappily. "When she's around... no one even cares that I'm there..."

"Oh, I don't count?" She mutters with slight smile. "I always notice you."

The little boy pauses for a second before muttering, "You don't count." He folds his arms over his chest and frowns. "If you really cared about me, then you wouldn't keep sending me away. You don't care about me at all... just like them."

"That's not true!" The women cries out in surprise, her eyes darkening slightly. "I care about you more then I care about myself, I don't want to keep sending you away!" She sighs and puts on a brave smile. "Now come on now, it's only for a little while... and I'll be waiting for you when you get back, ok?"

"You promise?" The child asks and glances towards the doorway. "You promise that you'll be here when I get back?"She nods and replies, "I promise..." The little boy nods and slowly walks towards the door, glancing back at her about a block before the doorway. He frowns and slips out of the room, leaving the women alone in the silence.

Just beyond the doorway, gray eyes flash in pain, the little girl simply closes the door after her brother and doesn't bother to glance back.

"Steve," I mutter subconsciously before snapping back to the present. What in the world just happened? "I- I know that name... That's my name! It's Steve!"

"Well that was quick," East says with a laugh. "I wasn't really expecting the name to sound familiar." My right hand stings slightly as my fingers slowly start to curl around the object in my hand. If I can move my hand then I should be able to move around soon...

"Huh? What-" The voice suddenly cuts off and something walks toward me. "What's in your hand?"

"What-"I begin to ask what East meant when my mind registers the object my hand is wrapped around. The object is smooth like some sort of a metal but it doesn't feel particularly like any metal I can recall. "Umm... I'm not sure. What is it?"

The other person falls silent for a very long amount of time before muttering, "How." I blink at the comment and try to spot the other but I still can't move my head. "Why would you... but that would mean... I should have noticed earlier!"

"Uh, sorry to interrupt in all, but what the nether are you talking about?" I cut in with a sigh and return my gaze to the sky. Why exactly am I lying on the ground in the middle of no where listening to someone talk about stuff that doesn't make any sense? "I don't remember how I got here, much less why I would have a particular object."

"Oh yeah, sorry about a that." East apologizes quickly and adds, "I just got a little side tracked... it happens from time to time. You don't need to worry about anything I just said, okay?"

"Okay?" I reply cautiously, unsure exactly how I should reply to the comment. "Umm... I'm just curious, but how long will it be until I can move again?"

"Pretty soon. Once you can move your hand it comes back rather quickly." East answers and I relax at the thought. I'll be up and moving soon! Though where I'll be moving is another question. "Once you can walk I'll take you to see the others," East adds calmly. "They're all kind of strange, but you get use to it."

The others? Oh yeah, East mentioned that there were others earlier. "How many are there?" I ask curiously.

East falls silent for a moment before replying, "I don't have a clue. There's a lot of beings here but you'll never see them." The voice pauses before adding on, "I only know three others but some of them know more."

"What do they look like?" I add and flex my left hand. May as well learn a bit more about my surroundings while I wait, right?

"Hmm... well they're all rather different." East says honestly. "North is an old geezer, he never shuts up when it comes to some old thing no one remembers. It's always "when I was a kid" or "you should respect your elders" or "no running down the hallway at three in the morning" kind of stuff. He's pretty smart though, if you ever need to know something you should ask him."

East pauses and then continues on with the next person. "Then there's South... think sandy blonde hair and brown eyes. She's might be pretty, but you couldn't pay me to be anywhere near her. The tiniest little thing will piss her off and when she gets angry its almost impossible to calm her down. She chased me up three flights just because I insulted her. I would stay away from her if I were you."

"Umm... ok." I reply calmly and smile when I manage to move my foot a tiny bit. "What about the third person?"

"West...hmm... she's a bit harder to explain. I was her apprentice back in the day..." East pauses and laughs before adding, "She's fourteen years older then me but I tend to forget our age difference. She's kind of like that caring older sister I never had... sort of."

These people don't sound to strange, I mean they don't sound any worse then some of my friends. My friends... "That must be nice," I try to keep my tone cheerful but it drops off at the end. I was so close to remembering something and then it just stopped. Why? "How old are you guys anyways?"

East just laughs again and mutters, "I'm not really sure. I died when I was 22 so I guess I'm permanently that age. Physically at least. South was 29 and North was in his eighties... lucky guy, living a full life." The voice just sighs and the figure shifts a bit in the corner of my vision. "West was 35, she was the last one to arrive."

"Arrive?" I ask in confusion. "What do you mean by arrive? You came here on purpose?"

"Not exactly, we never chose to be here if that's what you're asking. I never would have imagined a place like this existed, and I certainly never imagined I'd come here," East answers calmly.

"A place like this?" I ask curiously and I frown. "What do you mean by that? Where are we?"

The others individual pauses for a moment before finally replying, "You should be able to sit up by now, it would be easier for you to see it then for me to explain it to you."

I carefully nod my head and pull one of my arms back so I can prop myself up. The entire process takes over two minutes but I manage to lift my head and glance at my surroundings. At first I think that I'm somehow staring at the sky due to the overwhelming amount of darkened space, but the outline of trees distort the image. Everything past about fifty blocks fades into a strange black fog and the only source of light is behind me.

"Interesting, right?" East asks behind me and I jerk my head backwards to identify the newcomer that has been helping me. A man dressed in all black sits about two blocks away with a single glowing torch in his hand. His blonde hair stands out against the darkness and green eyes watch in amusement. "When I first got here I almost had a panic attack. Don't worry, this place grows on ya after a while."

"I'll take your word for it," I mutter and glance back at the darkness. Some of the fog seems thinner on some parts but I can't see the ground. "Wait, am I just imagining it or is this-"

"An island?" He questions with a grin. "I guess you could say that. The correct term would be a fragment. We are standing on a fragment of reality, a place where an event took place that formed an invisible passage between two worlds and thus..." East makes a grand gesture to the entire clearing. "Created this tiny area."

"... ... ... What?" I ask and stare at him blankly.

East just sighs and mutters, "Why does no one ever understand my explanation?" He proceeds to sulk for a little while before elaborating. "You came from a world known as Minecraftia, it's made up of a central dimension and three others that rotate around it. Opposite of it is another world, one that doesn't have a name." He motions to the island or "fragment" as he called it earlier before continuing, "This is the area between the two dimensions. Most people just call it 'Space'. When the worlds accidentally connect it causes a fragment to form."

Minecraftia? "Ok...?" I reply honestly and decide to simply go along with whatever he's talking about. "Are there other fragments then? Beyond this one."

"Of course there are," East answers and starts laughing at the question like its the strangest thing he's ever heard. When he finally stops laughing he slowly stands up and motions to the edge of the island. "Here' I'll show you." He walks over to the edge of the island and slowly moves his hand over the edge of the island. The second his hand touches the fog it disapears into the darkness. "The fog serves as a portal to to the other fragments." He pulls his hand back and it instantly reappears. "Try walking through."

I carefully walk to the edge of the fragment and stare at the mist. Surely this can't be any diffrent then any portal I've been through before, right? I mean the End portal had lave under it but I jumped into it without worrying. "I seriously hope this thing works..." With one final breath I step into the fog and watch as the world reappears around me. "What the-"

The ground is covered with sand and a few stray cactuses stand in random locations throughput the new island."You made it," Someone says behind me and I turn to see East reappearing from the fog. "It doesn't work for everyone so I guess your pretty lucky." He shrugs and motions towards the other side of the fragment. "If we keep going we'll eventually run into the others. Just follow me and try to keep up, okay?"

I nod in reply and start following the man. It's not like I know where I am much less where I'm going so I may as well just follow him.

"You have to do it again, like you did before. Remember what you have to do!" The voice echoes through my head and I glance around to find the source. Maybe I just imagined it?

"Defy them, defy everything they've told you!" Well I don't thing I'm imagining it. I glance forward to see if East is hearing things but he seems completely unaware of it.

"They're going to test you." What?

The red haired teenager bounds around the corner as Apricot walks down the hallway. She doesn't notice the boys presence until hs's standing a few feet behind her. "Hi Apricot," Tyler says with a grin and watches as the girl spins around to glare at him.

"You!?" She blurts out angirly. "Why are you here? Can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Sorry, but no." Tyler replies and shrugs slightly. "I need to ask for a favor." The two stand there for a few seconds before Apricot bursts out laughing.

When she calms down Tyler adds, "Trust me, if the situation wasn't like this you'd be the last person I'd ask." He sighs and shakes his head. "Look, I need you to keep an eye on Maria while I'm gone, alright? I don't think she's thinking straight right now."

"What makes you say that?" Apricot asks, trying to seem uninterested but imimediately wondering what the boy could be talking about. "She seemed just find to me..."

"She's sending me to the End," Tyler growls. "Trust me, if she was thinking clearly she wouldn't even consider it and the fact that she choose to go to the Nether..." He pauses and looks away. "Just watch out for her, ok? If she tells you not to follow her then you follow her anyways."

"Whatever," Apricot replies and opens the door to her room. "I'll make sure your sister doesn't do anything stupid while your away.

Tyler nods in thanks and walks to the edge of the hallway that connect back to the main room. He stands beyond the doorframe where the light cuts off and watches the conversation between the two remaining members with mild intrest