Chapter seventeen: Smoke and mirrors
"Remind me again why we're going to these Caverns of Kninth," Kelly complained, "while our friends are risking their lives looking for some human who's supposedly trying to play the hero."
Gelli glared at her. "First of all, their abilities are a lot more useful in dangerous situations than ours, and we'd just get in the way. Secondly…" She fell silent when she noticed Sylvia's downcast look.
"Oh, come on," Kelly said. "How are we ever going to learn how to use our powers in combat if we never even pick a fight to begin with?"
"Picking a fight isn't exactly a good idea for our younger sister."
Kelly sighed but said nothing more. The group continued walking over the green plains, their only light source being the moon and stars. After Andr had teleported them outside the Realm and bid them farewell, they'd immediately picked up their pace. Every single one of them—except for Ellie—was carrying a backpack with food, potions, a tent to protect Yaebi from sunlight during the day, and some other supplies.
The others were doing about as well as expected. Ellie didn't seem completely aware of the seriousness of the situation and just looked around. Despite her young age, she was used to walking great distances. Kelly was grumpy and bitter, and she complained regularly. Yaebi was in a conversation with Cupa, and they both looked around ceaselessly in search of danger—a habit most mobs Gelli knew shared. She herself was no exception.
Gelli had noticed Sylvia's distant mood when they started walking. She was going to have to talk to the younger mob when dawn broke. Something Mystia and Sylvia had discussed before they left the Realm…
You said we'd tell him the truth together. That's what Sylvia had said to the witch. What truth?
Gelli wanted to know more about whatever was going on. She felt that there was something going on she wasn't aware of. And Sylvia knew what that something was.
Nothing.
That was what happened when he stepped into the hallway of mirrors. Nothing. He paused, then looked to his right. An infinite number of Jacks looked back.
The pain in his leg, chest, side and back from the fight in the first Trial had dulled further. He hoped that meant that the damage wasn't serious.
What was this one again? he thought, again thinking back to when Minerva talked to him about the Trials. Trial of the Body, followed by Determination and…
Reality. The Trial of Reality. In a hallway of mirrors. Something about that scared him.
He slowly kept walking. He jumped every time he thought he saw something in the mirror, but when he looked he only saw his reflections staring back. Everything remained quiet for a while.
In fact, things were so quiet that Jack slowly felt himself relaxing. He knew that wasn't good; Áhýdan was trying to have him let his guard down. He couldn't afford to relax when something attacked him.
A branch snapped behind him. He whirled around.
Suddenly he stood in a clearing in a forest. The mirrored hallway had been replaced by an open grassy area, surrounded by trees. It was evening, but the sun gave enough light to clearly illuminate everything.
There stood a tall figure. A mob in black clothing.
Jack froze. "Andr…?"
She teleported forward. Next thing he knew, she punched him in the stomach. He doubled over.
With superhuman strength, she shoved him to the grassy ground.
He looked up at her, shocked. Her purple eyes were cold. Stern. "Andr," Jack said. "What are you…"
"You left," Andr said. Her voice was cold, but there was a clear hint of anger. Of betrayal. "You left us. You left me…"
Jack slowly got up. "It's…more complicated than that…"
"Complicated? You just ran. Left us to rot in the Realm!"
He sighed. "Andr… I'm…"
"It's a little late for apologies."
He looked up at her. She stood before him, glaring him down. Her usually luminous eyes looked muted, their irises were a duller purple than they should've been. She had her fist clenched. Had he ever seen her do that?
Then a sword drove itself through Andr's chest from behind. Her eyes widened in shock.
Time slowed down.
The sword removed itself. Andr collapsed.
Acting on instinct, Jack leaped forward and caught her before she hit the ground. He frantically looked in her eyes, dropping to his knees.
Andr's eyes were lifeless. She was dead.
"Jack…"
The voice didn't reach him.
"Jack!"
He finally looked up. Minerva stood next to him.
Then he realized what had happened. The sword that'd killed Andr… It must've been Minerva's. But Andr's danger sense should've—
"Jack!" Minerva said. "It's fake. It's all fake. Focus!"
Then the environment changed. Suddenly Jack was back in the hall of mirrors again.
Minerva didn't vanish. She grabbed him by the arm and helped him to his feet. Only then did Jack realize that Andr had vanished along with the forest. He'd felt her weight in his arms disappear, but somehow barely registered it.
That hadn't been Andr, he finally realized. That had been the Trial. The beginning of it, at least.
Minerva held his shoulder. "You okay?" she asked.
"Thanks," he softly said. "I…didn't expect that."
She nodded, removing her hand. "Keep your guard up. We don't want to get decapitated by some sword coming out of nowhere."
Jack kept quiet. Some part of him was still shocked at the illusion from before. Seeing Andr die like that…
He felt pain in his stomach where Andr had hit him. No—illusion wasn't the right way to describe this. Illusions couldn't punch him.
The Trial of Reality. Alternate realities, maybe…? He just came face to face with some version of Andr—a different version of someone he knew personally… Perhaps Áhýdan really was using his memories and thoughts against him, like Jack thought he did with Determination.
Or maybe she really was that pissed at him, now. Who was going to say? It'd been a while since he'd last seen her.
He banished that thought from his mind. "This is only going to get worse."
"No turning back now."
"Never had the luxury of turning back to begin with," Jack said.
They shared a glance, then continued walking through the hallway. Jack made sure to stay as sharp as he could. He could tell that Minerva was doing the same, keeping her sword raised, holding the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other. Jack suddenly wished he had a weapon with him.
Funny—during my time in Ironhand, Raulyn suggested I get a weapon…and I was too stubborn and cocky to listen. Now look at me, all helpless.
With every step he took, he expected the hallway to change again. Every time it didn't, he only got more nervous. This was Áhýdan's game—to build tension, to keep things quiet for a while before attacking out of nowhere. A part of Jack just wanted to sprint through the hallway to reach the end as soon as possible, but he was sure that that would somehow kill him. There was no way Áhýdan would even risk letting anyone cheat a Trial like that.
Suddenly they stood in a hallway of stone, lit by glowstone lamps. Before them, the hallway took a turn. Jack turned around to see a dead end behind him.
He recognized it. "This is the Silver Cave," he said. "Where I met Yaebi and attacked Tristan."
"You know this place, then?"
Jack nodded. He was surprised he remembered the place at all. The Silver Cave—located in Ironhand—supposedly still held a lot of resources, but it looked small and insignificant compared to what he'd seen in the abandoned mine Yaebi used to call home.
Even so, in his mind's eye, Jack could still see the young mob cowering against the dead end of the very hallway he and Minerva now stood in, trying desperately to hide from the humans who hunted him.
No time to think about that now. "You hear anything?" he asked Minerva.
She paused, listening. "Nothing. Why?"
"Last time I was here," Jack said, "the Hunters went on a mob hunt. Figured the Trial might have them do it again."
"Well, it isn't."
Jack looked ahead, where the crude stone hallway took a turn. "Guess we'll just have to keep walking, then."
He moved forward, only for Minerva to grab his shoulder. "Wait," Minerva said. "You don't know for sure what's going to happen, and last time the Trial surprised you, your girlfriend's clone almost killed you."
Jack frowned. "I'm fine, thanks."
"If you were fine, you'd have fought back. Instead, you just stood there waiting for her to cut your mission short—and you with it. When I killed her, you still acted as if it were all real. You reacted exactly how Áhýdan wanted you to. You didn't even consider that it might be fake."
Jack took a step away, freeing his shoulder from her grip. "I didn't know what this Trial was about," he shot back defensively. "Now I do, and I'm prepared."
"I don't think we know anything. If anyone can catch you off-guard, it's Áhýdan. Whatever this Silver Cave is going to hold, it could be deadly or demoralizing—or worse, somehow."
"Well then, what do you want me to do?"
"Let me go first. These Trials were designed to test human limits—which I don't have."
Good point. Jack shrugged. "Fine, whatever. I'll watch our backs."
Minerva walked past him and took point. Her pace was slow and careful. She held her sword at the ready. They rounded the corner. There was nothing there. As they continued through the cave, Jack kept glancing back in case Áhýdan had hidden something behind them, but nothing happened.
"Say," Minerva whispered. "You don't happen to know how to get to the exit, do you?"
"Why? Is there an intersection ahead?"
"Not yet…"
Jack paused. "The answer is no," he said. "I've been here once, for…probably less than an hour. That was about four weeks ago. I don't know the layout."
"Great. So what do we do when we come across an intersection?"
"We guess."
"Even better."
"At least you might survive. You get into a bad situation, Herobrine will just teleport you out of here. I don't have that luxury. I was dead the moment he brought me to the Overworld."
She stopped and turned to him sharply. "No," she said. "That's not going to happen. I was selfish enough to leave Athena in the Overworld; I'm not going to lose another friend. Least of all in a place like this."
"That's not up to you," Jack simply said.
She glared at him, then resumed walking. Jack silently followed. The atmosphere had become tense in more ways than one.
Minerva stopped.
Jack frowned. "What—?" he began, but Minerva held up a hand to silence him.
A figure popped up ahead, walking in a slow, tired pace. It froze when it saw Minerva and Jack.
Jack recognized the figure instantly. "That's him," he said. "That's Yaebi. It's only going to be a matter of time before the Hunters get here, too."
"How much time?" Minerva asked.
"I don't know. The hunt started just after he was seen going in here."
"You seem to know a lot about what happened here…"
"Just…ask Herobrine when you get back."
She nodded.
Then she turned to Yaebi and threw her sword at him like a spear. It hit him right in the chest, and he fell over.
Jack gasped "What are you doing!" He tried to run to Yaebi, but Minerva stopped him.
"It's fake, Jack!" she said. "You're doing it again! You're playing his game again!"
Jack fell silent.
"Right now," Minerva said, "we need to survive. We're the only ones who are real, here."
Jack looked past her to Yaebi. The boy was still alive, but not for long. Jack had been told that Yaebi was more difficult to kill thanks to his lack of a heartbeat, but he wasn't invincible.
Yaebi cried out in pain. His blood vessels began to turn an unnaturally dark color. Minerva's wither poison. Yaebi was immune to most types of toxins, but this was obviously an exception. Jack tried to hold his gaze, but he soon found himself looking away. Illusion or not, he couldn't watch the boy he'd grown so fond of die a death so slow. Yaebi's cries echoed through the cave, each one weaker than the last.
Eventually he fell silent.
Minerva walked over to Yaebi and yanked her sword from his chest. Jack had closed his eyes. He couldn't look, he didn't want to know what a dead Yaebi looked like…but when he reopened his eyes, he inevitably felt them gravitate towards the corpse not far ahead.
Or, rather, where the corpse had been. The environment had shifted again, and Jack was met with the familiar mirrors the hallway was composed of.
"See?" Minerva said. "Remove one piece, you win the game."
Jack gave her a glare and kept walking to the crystal. Minerva silently followed. For a while, neither spoke as they slowly advanced on the crystal ahead.
"He's being too blatant," Jack eventually said. "This Trial can't be that easy."
"Easy? You got fooled twice."
"These Trials were meant to test human limits," Jack said. "Any human that isn't as gullible could just waltz through here."
"Really? Your girlfriend hit you pretty hard. Gullible or not, this Trial is still dangerous to pretty much anyone, especially when they don't have a mob on their side. Being easily fooled only makes it easier to die."
That was true. "Still," Jack said. "I feel as though—"
"As though he's going easy on you?"
"As though he's not going all out."
"He can't. Herobrine's remaining control over the prison limits the Trials' deadliness, remember? And Áhýdan didn't count on me being here, either."
Jack fell silent. He'd almost forgotten about that—which was odd, considering he could still feel Herobrine's influence on his head. Once again, he was almost as thankful for that as he was resentful; if it weren't for Herobrine egging him on, Jack was sure he'd have given up and died before even breaking the first crystal.
You will have to see for yourself, I fear, he remembered hearing the spirit say. I can tell you that the remaining control Hera and I have over this prison prevents Áhýdan's Trials from becoming too extreme. Theoretically, you should be able to pass them—especially with a mob at your side. Should he go too far, we will force him to either limit himself or to give you something that may help.
He still didn't feel good about it. "I don't think that's it. Herobrine's power shouldn't limit the Trials this much, should it?"
"That's what Áhýdan wants you to think. You're playing his game again—and you're wasting time and focus contemplating things we barely even—"
The environment changed. An abandoned mine, more spacious and better lit than the Silver Cave.
Athena stood there aiming an arrow at them, her face contorted into a glare Jack had never seen on her before. "You…" Athena said. "You killed my little brother…"
Jack ducked into a dead-end hallway to his side. Athena shot an arrow at Minerva, who swiftly moved sideways and almost delicately deflected the projectile with her sword.
Athena shot another arrow. Minerva avoided it again. Athena then strode to a hallway to her right, firing arrow after arrow as she walked. None hit their target.
Finally she stepped out of sight. Minerva relaxed a bit, then glanced to Jack. "We need to kill her," she matter-of-factly said.
Jack frowned. "Are you kidding me?"
"You know the rules. If you play Áhýdan's game, you'll lose. The only reason why you haven't died yet is because of me."
Jack sighed. "And because of the others," he said, remembering the help Iris and Charlotte had lent him.
She paused, glancing at him. "Right," she finally said. "And because of the others."
Jack frowned again at her reaction.
Should he go too far, we will force him to either limit himself or to give you something that may help.
…force him to either limit himself or to give you something that may help.
"Let's get this over with," Jack said. "It's been a few years since you abandoned Athena; she doesn't look very happy to see you here, and for good reason. She really seems to hate you."
"I noticed," Minerva absently said, looking at where Athena had gone. "How big do you think this cave system is?"
"Assuming I'm right, and this really is a replica of Athena's former home, pretty big."
"We have to split up, then. There might be others around we'll have to kill."
"Split up! Are you serious?!"
"If we stick together, they'll kill us both in a single trap. Athena might not be our only target."
"Well, I can't beat her in a fight—especially when she has a bow and arrow."
"This isn't really her."
"It's close enough to be dangerous."
She shot him an annoyed look, then tossed her sword to him. It clattered to the ground at his feet. "Here," Minerva said. "You'll need it more than I do."
"Don't suppose I can borrow some of your wither venom, too," Jack sarcastically said.
She shook her head derisively, then proceeded to follow Athena. Jack considered going after her, but he soon decided against it. Now that he was onto her, it didn't seem like a good idea. He wordlessly picked the sword up from the ground. He'd had some minor training on Earth with swords, but only during his training in the Realm had he put it into actual practice—and the wooden weapons he'd used in the Realm had been makeshift at best. Their weight and balance had been off. That wasn't the case with this sword.
Jack sighed. He looked at the dark, one-handed blade in his hands. He couldn't count on Minerva saving his life here. She was right: Once he saw someone—anyone—he couldn't afford to hesitate; he had to go for a quick kill.
Athena, being an 'undead' mob, was going to be the hardest to take down. Like Yaebi, she couldn't bleed out—at least not as easily as a human. Ah well, Jack sardonically thought. There's no kill like overkill.
He went into a hallway opposite of where Athena and Minerva had gone. He was met with more cave. He kept walking, not really knowing where he was going.
During his few days in Athena's hideout, he'd spent a large portion of time locked away, unable to explore the place. Even so, there was the occasional thing that gave off a familiar vibe. A broken glowstone lamp here, an open door to a small, barely furnished bedroom there. Even though it had only been a few weeks, finding his own guest room would definitely make for a nostalgic experience.
Not that he needed nostalgia right now, but finding the room might help him orient. If this Trial directly grabbed things from Jack's memories—even the ones he forgot—it could be where Athena or some of the other mobs were situated. Jack still didn't know if Athena was his only target, but if not, he was probably going to have to face Ari, Cassandra and Sylvia too.
He heard no sound aside from his own footsteps as he advanced deeper into the eerily quiet cave, but he watched his back nonetheless. Some mobs could be very silent if they wanted to.
Eventually he walked into a room. Stacks of hay and wool and flat pieces of wood were set on the floor as makeshift seats, surrounding a large makeshift stone table in the middle. Jack soon recognized the conference room where he, Cupa and Andr had formally met Athena's group.
He let out a chuckle as he walked to the other side of the room, if only to check for any hiding spots the mobs could be using now. The room brought back some good memories—when everything was only a little complicated.
He turned back to the doorway he'd come through. A young mob in silver clothing stood there, wide-eyed.
Jack froze momentarily as he recognized the kid. "Sylvia," he greeted. "How're you holding up?"
She bolted.
Jack sighed. It was worth a shot.
Keeping the sword close, he went after her. She just turned the corner at the far end of another hallway. Jack continued to follow, trying to keep his step as quiet as possible. He wasn't necessarily planning on killing Sylvia, but she might lead him to some of the other mobs. As risky as that was, it could speed things up.
Sylvia was a fast runner for her age, but not difficult to keep up with. Jack tried to stay hidden; if she didn't know that she was being followed, she couldn't tell the other mobs where Jack was. If he could stay out of sight and hearing distance of the other mobs as well, he might have some advantage against them.
"Athena!" Sylvia screamed, sounding panicked. "Ari! Cassandra!"
Jack almost felt bad for her, but he kept Minerva's words in mind: This wasn't real.
She rounded another turn. Jack didn't follow; he waited near the wall just before the corner, hearing Sylvia's cries as she ran farther away. He waited for a moment, listening for—
"Sylvia!" a second voice said from around the corner. Jack recognized Ari's voice, albeit a more serious and alert version. "What's happening? Are you alright?"
Jack didn't peek around the corner. He just froze. If he made the tiniest bit of sound, chances were Ari's sensitive ears would hear him. He needed to wait for her next move.
"It-it's him…!" Sylvia frantically said. "In-in the break room!"
"No," someone behind Jack said. "He's here."
Jack spun around. Cassandra. Jack had watched his back the whole time, but he'd been stupid to think that'd keep him safe.
Ari's voice came closer. He had to act now.
Taking a risk, he threateningly held the sword towards Cassandra and resolutely strode her way. She cautiously moved aside, and he walked past her. She didn't attack. Some mobs' abilities were so powerful that they could beat an armed opponent, but even they realized that attacking a guy with a sword was a bad idea.
Likewise, attacking a mob like Cassandra was a bad idea, too. Even with a weapon.
With a quickened pace, he found himself ten steps away from Cassandra when Ari and Sylvia emerged behind her. Jack began to sweat as he faced the three; he couldn't fight them head-on. He had to do something. Outthink them. But how? They knew the environment better than he did, and as far as he knew, they could do everything he could.
"Stop," someone behind him said.
He turned. Athena stood there, an arrow aimed at him. Minerva was nowhere to be seen. Jack froze, but Athena didn't fire.
Athena glared at him. "Jack," she suddenly said. "Why?"
He didn't respond.
"Why?" she repeated. "Why'd you save Yaebi if you were just going to kill him later?" Her voice shook. "I thought I could trust you…"
"I told you, Athena," Cassandra said. "We should never have trusted him."
"You were right," Athena responded, slowly approaching Jack. "You were right all along, Cass." She stopped when her arrow was mere inches from Jack's neck.
She stood close enough for him to hit her. She wasn't afraid that a human might be able to beat her, here. Though Athena's powers were strong enough to beat multiple humans, she'd never been as cocky as she was now.
Minerva, however, had—back at the Nether fortress, when she'd threatened Jack with her sword. And he'd managed to disarm her.
All he needed to do now was replicate that event.
In a single swift motion, Jack grabbed the bow with one hand, stepped aside and cut Athena's hand—the one that held the arrow—with his sword. She let go of the arrow.
Ari—who'd silently walked up to Jack from behind—took the arrow to her chest. She fell over.
"ARI!" Cassandra screamed.
Athena moved to retaliate. Jack—who reflexively recognized her attack pattern from their fighting sessions in the Realm—backed off quickly, slashing Athena's forearm as he did. Wincing, Athena glanced at the cuts, but she didn't seem too bothered by them. Minerva's wither venom really hadn't stuck to the sword as Jack had futilely hoped. His only hope to defeat Athena was to decapitate her. But how?
I can't get too far away from her, or she'll be able to shoot me, he thought. I also can't get too close, 'cause she can beat me in a one-on-one fight.
Athena backed away, preparing to grab another arrow.
Thinking quickly, Jack reached into his pocket. He took out his healing potion and threw it her way. The small bottle crashed against the stone wall right next to Athena, and the red fluids inside splashed in all directions. Both Jack and Athena were hit by several drops. Athena let out a cry of pain and dropped the arrow.
Jack looked at her as she struggled to stay on her feet. He'd been right; Minerva had seemed afraid of the healing potion when she took it from him back in the Nether, and now he'd confirmed why. She and Athena—two directly related 'undead' mobs—were affected differently than others.
This isn't real.
Athena—still in pain—looked weaker than Jack had ever seen her. Taking advantage of this, he dashed forward and kicked her leg. She fell to one knee.
This is the Trial.
Jack swiftly cut off her head. Her remains went limp.
Without freezing or hesitating, he turned to the remaining two mobs. The healing potion had hit him as well, making the pain from the previous Trials fade a little. His clothes had caught most of it, but that somehow hadn't blocked the potion's powers.
Sylvia had backed off, shocked. Cassandra had risen to her feet, glaring at Jack with tears in her eyes. Out of both mobs, Cass was the real problem; she was young, but her powers had developed quickly so far. She wasn't as skilled as Ari and Athena, but—
Minerva rounded the corner behind the mobs, grabbed Sylvia and snapped the little girl's neck. Cassandra turned around, horrified.
She then leaped to Minerva with a scream of rage. A terrible, bestial sound.
A brief struggle followed. Cassandra lost.
As she died, the hallway of mirrors returned again.
Jack met Minerva's gaze.
Should he go too far, we will force him to either limit himself or to give you something that may help.
…force him to either limit himself or to give you something that may help.
…force him…to give you something that may help.
"Well," Minerva said, "That's that. Let's keep going." She reached for her sword, but Jack stepped back, keeping it out of her reach. Minerva frowned. "What are you doing?"
"It's funny," Jack said. "I know Áhýdan doesn't intervene directly in his Trials, but this Trial somehow knew that Herobrine had sent me help before. I guess it knew that because it gets its tricks from my memory and my fear. Or maybe the Trials are connected, and this one—Reality—knew what happened in the Body and Determination."
"… What are you talking about?"
Jack glanced behind him. The entrance to the hallway was even closer than he'd expected. It was as if he barely moved away from it. "We've made no progress here," he stated. "If anything, I'd say we only got sent back every time the environment changed."
"Might have something to do with you slacking off every time."
"When I mentioned the others who helped me in the Trials so far, you reacted in a weird way. Like you didn't know who I was talking about."
"Of course I knew who—"
"Oh yeah? Who helped me during the Trial of the Body? And Determination?"
"We don't have time for this…!"
"When I mentioned that you abandoned Athena and that she didn't want to see you, you also didn't respond the way I expected. Didn't even give me a look. You've been killing the people in those illusions and expected me to just get myself together and keep going, not caring about what I just saw."
"Are you going to get to the point?"
"But the one thing that made me so sure that something wasn't right," Jack said, ignoring her, "was you wanting to split up—in a big convoluted mineshaft full of mobs who wanted to see me bleed. Earlier you said you were selfish enough to leave Athena alone and that you won't do something like that again, but you didn't hesitate when you said we had to part ways."
…force him…to give you something that may help.
Jack let out a chuckle. "I'll admit," he continued, "you had me fooled for a while. You really copied Minerva's personality at first—you even earned my trust by helping me with those other illusions. She'd 'teach' me how to pass this Trial, but she'd also demoralize me—by judging me for being so easily fooled." He gestured to the entrance mere meters behind him. "We weren't ever going to reach the end like this. Your plan was to perpetuate my miserable time in this Trial until one of the illusions killed me—something not even Minerva could've prevented."
"Then why did I help you in the first place?" Minerva asked. "Why not kill you immediately? You think Áhýdan would be arrogant enough to play with his food like this?"
"The Trial—you are not completely under Áhýdan's control," Jack said. "I've heard it time and time again. You said it earlier: Áhýdan doesn't have absolute power because Herobrine limits him. Herobrine's remaining influence on this prison made you help me, if only to an extent. He mentioned something like this to me: Thanks to him, every Trial has a power ceiling; Áhýdan raised yours higher than he should've, so Herobrine raised the floor under that ceiling to put things back in balance. He made you help me—made you raise my chances of survival. You made the most out of it by using Minerva's face to manipulate me. And this is not the first instance of that; the Trial of the Body had water and a bucket to help me fight the enderman!"
He wasn't sure if that was entirely right; at this point, most of what he said was guesswork, but at least some of it had to be correct. Right?
Minerva shook her head, looking unimpressed. "That's nice," she said, "but there's one more flaw to your theory. If I'm an illusion of this Trial, and the Trial draws its ideas from your memory, shouldn't I know who helped you in the other Trials?"
"Actually, the Trial—you—messed up earlier," Jack said. "Athena's personality was all off. She could've shot me, but she was overconfident; she just walked up to me without any precautions. She was a lot more cocky than I remember. Same goes for Andr's illusion being more resentful—she even looked a little different. You tried to mimic their personalities through my memory, but you made mistakes.
"Also, there was something about the places I saw. I recognized the Silver Cave and Athena's former home—places I clearly remembered visiting—but where did the Trial send me to fight Andr? If you'd sent me to the lake where I first met her, maybe it would've had more credibility, but instead you chose some random forest. It wasn't even anywhere in the Realm. Maybe we'd passed it during our travels, but I don't remember that. Feels a little sloppy to me.
"My theory? You've got access to most of my memory, but not all of it. It didn't matter to you if having Athena shoot me on sight was more efficient or not: You just wanted to make the illusion as Athena-like as possible…but going through my head is like going through a fog, isn't it? You can see some things, but you miss or misinterpret others. You thought I'd remember that forest Andr fought me in, you thought Athena had more confidence than sense, and you couldn't figure out who helped me in the other Trials.
"You know, I think this actually makes sense. Like I said—like you said, the Trial isn't absolutely powerful. You can do a lot, but not everything. Maybe, just maybe, if I'd spent more time here, you could've made your tricks more accurate, but you didn't have that luxury. You had to work with what you could get, and you had to deal with Herobrine's limitations at the same time."
He looked Minerva in the eye challengingly.
"Don't you think this is a little far-fetched?" Minerva dryly asked.
"Sure," Jack said. "But this is Áhýdan we're talking about."
"That still doesn't prove anything."
"You forgot what Harrison said?"
"No, of course I didn't, but even that doesn't confirm your theory. Harrison isn't here now, so what he said doesn't matter."
Jack looked at her.
"What?" she asked.
"I think you did forget," he said. "Because the only thing Harrison Snyder ever said was that he always used his middle name: Jack."
She fell silent.
Jack flashed a smirk. "You fooled me," he said. "Thought I'd return the favor."
"How?"
"Lucky guess on my part," Jack said. "Again, you don't have full access to my mind, so I decided to give it a shot." He tapped his head. "You've been wandering around in there since I got to this Trial, but you never even found out what my first name is? Who's the fool now?"
Minerva sighed, her gaze turning colder than Blazette's and Cassandra's ever had. "This wasn't part of the plan," she said. "You were supposed to be killed by one of the other illusions, sooner or later…but I suppose it'll have to be done like this now." She made a gesture with her hand, and Jack's sword vanished in a puff of white smoke that dissipated quickly. "Now that you've found me out, I can attack you directly. Since you're alone, I won't be able to use other illusions without hitting the power ceiling, but it'll be enough to kill you."
Despite his rising fear, Jack let out a chuckle. "Well, that's funny."
She tilted her head. "Funny?"
"Another thing I later realized was how you appeared," Jack said. "Unlike with Iris and Charlotte, there weren't any fancy lightshows when you happened along and stabbed Andr in the back. Now, though…"
She paused, then spun around. The crystal had begun to light up. The now-familiar swirls of purple energy formed a maelstrom around it, then shot down the hallway towards the duo.
The fake Minerva took a step back. She turned back to Jack and leaped towards him, reaching for his neck. He narrowly dodged her attack.
Then a stake of purple light ran Minerva through from behind. She gasped.
The bundle of light assumed a shape. The real Minerva appeared, the stake becoming her sword. She yanked it free, then cut off her doppelgänger's head.
The fake Minerva collapsed immediately. Her body vanished in the same way as the sword had.
Silence followed. Jack took a deep breath, cursing silently.
"Well," Minerva—the real one—said. "You've seen better days."
He looked up at her. She flashed a small smile.
"What'd I miss?" Minerva asked.
"Nothing important," Jack said. "Good timing, though. I just hope you're real."
"Of course. And I hope killing my evil twin was enough to beat the Trial."
Jack paused, looking at something behind her. "You know, I think it might've."
She turned around.
The end of the hallway had come closer.
"I guess she was the ringleader of the illusions, or something," Jack said. "A powerful ally to have…which only let the Trial make the illusions more hectic."
Minerva smirked. "Did you just say I'm a powerful ally? I'm flattered."
Jack rolled his eyes.
"It doesn't make sense though," Minerva said. "Why was the one element in this Trial that helped you in some way also the thing we had to kill in order to proceed?"
"Guess Herobrine forced that part in as well. Or maybe Áhýdan didn't expect me to kill my only hope of survival, and set it up like this in order to trick me. With each Trial I pass, things get more and more weird."
She nodded, apparently accepting that as a valid answer.
"Let's go," Jack said.
The crystal stood on a modest pedestal in a tiny stone room right in front of them. They carefully entered. Jack looked at it, then looked around the small room. Then he turned to the hallway, focusing on the entrance at the very other end. What lay beyond looked different than what he'd come from—the environment Ironhand's copy was in must've changed—but he couldn't make out any details.
He sighed in frustration. "There's no other exit except where we came from. We're going to have to walk all the way back with this thing."
"Great. I'm willing to bet something's going to happen the moment we grab that crystal."
"Indiana Jones," Jack mumbled. "Not that it matters; we have to do this sooner or later, and there's no way to know what the Trial is going to do. If we start guessing, it'll probably do something completely different."
"Right—it might do the reality shift thing again, but it might also…not."
"Whatever happens though, it might give us the means to destroy this thing." He eyed the crystal, not moving.
A silence fell. Neither proceeded to take the crystal.
"Athena is in the Fallen Realm," Jack suddenly said, not looking at her. "The former capital of the Kingdom. Or, she was there last time I saw her. Chances are she and the others moved sometime after I left, but it might be worth checking out anyway."
She looked at him.
"You said you didn't know what the fifth Trial was," Jack said, "because Áhýdan has too much power over it. That's a bad sign. I've survived so far, but I won't leave this prison alive. Figured that if I'd tell you where Athena is, this'd be my last chance."
She opened her mouth to speak, but she remained silent. Eventually she just nodded. "Thank you."
Jack sighed. "I don't even know if I befriended them, you know. That could've been Herobrine's doing, too. I'm pretty sure he's been inside my head since I got to the Overworld."
"You can't think like that…"
"I'm just being realistic."
Another silence fell. Then Jack glanced at Minerva, raising his hand in preparation to take the crystal. She gave another nod, and he returned it.
Then he lifted the crystal off the pedestal.
The light that illuminated the mirrored hallway suddenly went dark. The other end was still visible, but the reflections in the walls, floor and ceiling were little more than shadows.
Jack futilely looked around him. "Minerva…?"
"I can see," Minerva said, her eyes apparently as adaptive as Jack had hoped. "We're fine now, but we should move."
Jack immediately stepped back into the hallway. Minerva followed.
Twenty steps later, a cracking sound erupted from behind them.
They looked back. In the room where the crystal had been, something had appeared. Jack could make out a small luminous blue and purple vortex with a black disk at its center. Some kind of black hole.
The mirrors closest to the crystal room began to crack. A few shards broke off and were sucked into the vortex.
The cracks spread further into the hallway, shaped like lightning. The mirrors broke, their remains taken by the black hole. In the strange dim light that the vortex around the black hole emitted, Jack saw stone walls, floor and ceiling just underneath where the mirrors had once been.
"Run!" Minerva cried.
They did so.
Despite that, Jack heard the cracking behind him getting louder. The destruction was catching up.
Jack felt something tugging at him from behind. His run slowed down. With every step he took, the gravity-defying force yanked him back.
Fear gripped him. There was no escape… There was no getting away from it.
Was this the part where he died?
Then he was lifted off the ground. Minerva followed soon after.
Somehow, Jack felt no wind rush past him as he flew through the air. He tried to resist, to somehow get his feet back onto the ground, but it was of no use.
This was the part where he died.
With skillful maneuvering, Minerva kicked herself off the wall and overtook him. She slashed at him with her sword.
Jack felt something pinch his hand, and by reflex he let go of the crystal. He'd almost forgotten that he had it. The crystal didn't hit the ground, instead shooting right past Minerva and into the vortex.
It was soon sucked in by the dark sphere of nothingness that stood at the vortex's center.
A tremor. The destruction stopped. Jack and Minerva suddenly fell onto the ground, the black hole having disappeared.
The hallway—albeit only the parts where the mirrors were still intact—regained its light. Jack looked at the crystal room. No vortex. No crystal. Just a stone hallway leading into darkness.
He sighed, relaxing.
Then he realized that most of his emotions were all but muted. He felt a little relief, but no lingering shock. Back when he'd decapitated Athena, he'd just continued. It was obvious why this was, but he didn't remember Herobrine's influence being that blatant before, not even when Drake died.
Minerva, on the other hand, had wide eyes and shaky breath. She slowly stood up. "That was close," she said.
"Yeah," Jack calmly said as he, too, got to his feet. His movements were sluggish. Herobrine's power couldn't combat fatigue, it seemed. "Come on, let's keep moving."
She looked at him unsettled.
Jack rolled his eyes. "It's him," he said. "He's still in my head." He paused, looking at the cut Minerva had made on his hand. She'd been precise enough to hurt him without causing serious damage. "You saved both our asses, by the way."
Minerva let out an uncertain chuckle. "That's what I'm here for," she said.
Then a white light appeared around her. Herobrine was taking her away.
A rumbling sound erupted from the crystal room. Jack looked.
The room's stone ceiling collapsed. Then, from there, the rest of the hallway began to collapse as well.
"Jack," Minerva said. "Run—!"
She was taken away.
Feeling his emotions—mostly his fear—return, Jack took off running again. His tired pace was slower than before. Only when he heard the rumbling get louder did he speed up a bit.
As his goal got closer, so did the destruction.
The exit was just about seventy feet away, now.
A stone nearly fell on his heel.
Forty feet.
The hallway's reflective ceiling in front of him began to crack.
Twenty feet.
Ten
Five.
In a final burst of exertion, Jack leaped forward, crossing the border. The rest of the hallway fell behind him. He landed on his feet and collapsed, out of breath.
Still lying on the ground, he quickly looked around the room he was in. It wasn't familiar, but it didn't look dangerous either. The environment really had changed. Ironhand was gone.
He looked at the collapsed hallway. Pieces of stone and tiny shards of glass stared back.
Jack slowly sat up and against the flat wall, sighing.
He wished he'd stayed in the Realm.