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STRINGS OF FATE
Part III: Not Very Ideal Circumstances

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It's been three days since Steven and Alex's meeting with Raina. True to his word, Steven was taking a break from major heavy lifting, mainly just sneaking down into the mines and gathering small bits of ores he came across.

As the summer heat beat down on the surface, people sought shelter from the harsh waves. Steven found his own refuge; protected by the cool embrace of the winding caverns of the subterranean realm. He wasn't feeling like going too far down if he could help it. Normal stone was a pain as was to mine through, but the layer beneath it was even worse; compacted denser over eons of pressure making this other stone so much harder to mine. Instead he trailed through this narrow cave, half expecting it to taper into a dead-end like the previous two.

It sloped down steep before opening to a larger cavern to his surprise. Steven held his torch out as he stood on the ledge of the previous tunnel. The natural path led down as long-settled sediment that opened this winding cave into the next hall. Large pillars held up the roof as glowing vines lit up parts of the cavern. It was silent save for the rushing water ahead. It was dark, serene, and beautiful in every strange way. He may not truly call it home as the creatures that roam its grand halls eternally, but it welcomed him either way.

The sound of water hit his ears. Distant rushing, not like a trickle of a stream, but of a steady current whisked away by the pull of gravity into another cavern slowly filling with this runoff. Steven kicked his legs into a faster pace, excited to see what lay ahead.

An underwater river? Interesting. Maybe there might be some gold. He knew there were no rivers nearby that were known for panning but who knew with the spontaneous nature of the subterranean domain? Places like the lush cave forests and the bone-chilling deep dark, strange and alien and always changing. He was feeling lucky.

He fished a night-vision potion from his inventory and popped the cork. Carefully he leaned his head back as dripped a drop into each eye. It ached like a strained muscle for a split second before the darkness whooshed away into the light. His eyes were clouded as he blinked the grainy remnants of the potion away, the scent of carrots in his face, and a strange musty mushroom. Tears welled in his eyes, the same way it would if he had walked into a dusty room. And his sight cleared fully.

Tall pillars reached up to the massive cavern's ceiling holding it high above. What looked to be a series of ledges lined the walls on the opposite side of this dip. Glistening rock on a crack in the floor, dripping wet, a moss-lined lip. It's where the noise of rushing water was coming from. Centuries of water washing over the rocks slowly eroded it away into a small path, dividing the cavern. There were no nearby mobs from what he could see and hear, most of the echoing sounds seemed to be muffled by the water anyway.

Trotting forward into the cave, ores peeked from shells of stone high above him. Different ones protruded from the ground and others sat on the walls of towers of broken pillars. He watched his step as he got closer to the river; the stone was smooth and slick.

The algae wouldn't help if he fell in. Yet as he got closer, minding the edge, it was literally a small river. Not that deep, but the sound came from the chunks of gravel and boulders that the water rushed and crashed into. A creek, or a brook. Not strong enough to whisk him away, but enough to slow down anything trying to cross.

No shadow or form of mobs was nearby, strangely enough. Steven wasn't complaining, all the easier for him to mind his business and do what he needed. The miner sauntered to the creek, hopped across larger stones protruding from the current, and continued to the other side, minding his surroundings.

There wasn't much he was interested in, but still his eyes scoured the neared wall, where quite a few ledges were. Then he caught sight of an exciting gleam. He thought his eyes had fooled him to the orange of copper, but they saw no tinge of blue tarnish on the exposed metal, just the glimmer of yellow. A large pocket of gold sitting high on a shelf.

The slope up to the wall was ridged with easy leverages so that the miner could scale up the cliff. He hoisted himself up onto the cliff, only two meters up and a few more footholds up to the gleam of gold. It made him giddy. A lopsided smile on his face as iron was clustered there as well. He stood before the first ore of the trip.

Pick in hand, he heaved it above his head and swung down, instantly dislodging chunks of stone as they clattered to his feet. Again and again, he struck the wall till at last, the shiny golden chunks came loose.

He dug further and further until the vein ended and moved to the iron, doing the same rhythmic process. Tedious and melodic, like the pounding of a marching drum, it was comforting to him. The familiarity reminded him why he was doing this in the first place.

But as he bent down to scoop up the remaining pieces of gold and iron, his hairs stood on end. As if he was being watched. The night-vision drops would not fade anytime soon, so his eyes did not fail him when he glanced around. Not a creature or soul in sight. Then a footstep, a quiet one, as if stalking something. It was right below him. Probably a very stealthy zombie, those nuisances can be silent when you least expect it.

Steven grimaced and blinked, a cloud of invisible dust suddenly in his eyes, cloudy. He looked over the ledge and felt his heart drop. Staring back was a curious enderman. Immediately, those reptilian eyes went from circles to narrow slits as a static fuzz entered his head. The creature unhinged its jaw and screeched.

"GrrrraaaaaaAAAAAAAAH!"

Hands over his ears and stumbling back, Steven stared wide-eyed at the ledge as low enormous claws scratched at the edge of the stone, pulling tiny pieces of debris off. The creature began pulling itself up, causing a ruckus as its sharp claws couldn't get a good grip on the stone.

It wouldn't stop warbling and squawking. The clanking of bones and moaning of zombies echoed from beyond the turns and crannies of the cave, called by the sound of an angered enderman.

In a quick motion, Steven switched out for his sword and shield and readied himself.

The creature peeked its head over and Steven vaulted over the enderman, using his shield arm as a buffer as he rolled into a landing. It was a four-meter drop.

The impact of the roll knocked the air from his lungs but he couldn't waste time recovering. Quickly getting to his feet, he took off into a run. An arrow whizzed past his ear. Shit. Dammit.

The river would slow him down. How could he get across? Jump? It was worth a try. Steven picked up momentum as the creek got closer, the stone slick.

The enderman teleported in front of him with a static roar, swiping its massive claws at him. Steven skidded to a halt and raised his shield. The nails of the creature scraping across the thick panel of wood. Steven retaliated with a swipe of his sword, but it was easily dodged by the enderman that teleported behind him. Quick turns. Slashing and lunging forward. They were getting nowhere, and more and more mobs were being drawn to the commotion.

He needed to get across the creek and those damn mossy stones. Steven pushed the enderman away with his shield and took off for the creek. Ready for a leap across. But he fudged the landing. Steven couldn't recover from the slickness of the stones, instantly sliding and knocked prone by his own terrible balance. Arrows dug into the surrounding ground. He flipped over to see a zombie above him.

'Hummm'

"Gwuh?" The zombie recoiled with a woeful groan, as did the rest of the mobs as they stopped dead in their tracks. Even the enderman lost its aggression as it shifted to confusion. His chest felt uncomfortably warm, as if a very energetic bee was right against his chest buzzing.

Wasting no time in this perfect opportunity, Steven leapt to his feet, grabbed his sword, and slashed at the zombie. Forcing it even further away. He surveyed the grounds to find a small ring around him, not getting closer, but expanding. Mobs backing away as some looked stressed and others pained.

Steven gingerly placed a hand to his chest, where the humming originated. The pendant. The silly little trinket he had got at the market. He fished it from beneath his shirt, and sure enough, the gold pendant was vibrating just enough for a faint buzz to be heard. The mobs grew uncomfortable the longer they stayed in this presence, even backing away after a few seconds of sitting there.

Taking it as his cue, minding the slippery lichen on the stone, he backed away. Not a soul got closer to him. The sparse collection of mobs gave him a wide berth as he exited the cavern. Not looking back, not a break in his stride.

The opening to the cave, after hiking back into his main mine and finally into the original cave, came into view. Right at the perfect time as the ache came back; a sign that the night-vision was waning. The pulses of magic in the corners of his eyes were slowly growing towards the center. It was getting dimmer within the cave. The only true source of light was the little window up ahead.

The miner wasn't at all put into a foul mood by the turn of events and the emptiness of his bag, it was a sour mood that drove him there in the first place. To exhaust some steam on some rocks and ores. Resources were the last thing on his mind. He needed nothing. This was stockpiling to sell, really. Anything to occupy his mind so it didn't wander, which it was doing a lot as of late.

Frustrating. So much politics in getting orders done. He just wanted to go in the mines, do his thing, and return with things fulfilled and get his emeralds. Maybe treat him and Alex with some more exotic foods that weren't native to the more temperate areas. Maybe some cocoa beans from the southern jungles, even citrus from the hotter areas. So many ideas. Even the sweet berries from the nearby taiga grew bitter after eating them so much.

Steven exited the cavern and looked up to the sky. The heat of summer was thick in the forest, a heat-wave he presumed. The old thermometer had broken after the dog knocked it off the wall, but his instincts weren't that far off. It was hot. He could feel his body start to sweat more from the sudden change of climate and itch pulling him back into the temperate depths of the caves, cool and damp, ideal.

He didn't mind the heat. No, that was false, he loathes being excessively hot. The kind that has you sweating buckets upon buckets of water, so humid you might drown by breathing air. Luckily that kind of humidity wasn't here, but the heat was. Long story short: Steven resented the heat-waves of summer. It made working in the fields so much more difficult and not to mention the risk of overheating with no cool place for rest! The only places with climate control like that were the big redstone-saturated cities, also known as capitals and city-states. He would find nothing this far in the wilds.

Above was a bird, flying straight toward his house. Following the vague trail he's carved himself, the miner made the trek home. This cave wasn't far, it was one of the reasons he made his house where it was, only about a thirty-minute hike through woods.

The forest was calm, cheerful even. The events in the cave washed away. The humming of the pendant disappeared. Serene. Many woodland creatures ambled through the deciduous forest. The ground was rich in nutrients from the trees' annual loss of leaves, small fruits, mushrooms, and plants grew in abundance.

The miner passed by a marker of stacked rocks, a cairn. A stone that told him he was getting near the meadow, that their house was settled in. Ready for a warm shower to help with his back. He was right on the meadow now, maybe another minute until it came into view-

'BOOM!'

His stomach dropped, his heart in his throat. The wind shivered as a flock of birds fled in a series of panicked squawks. The house. Alex. By the aether, no.

Steven took off into a run, his feet nearly stumbling over everything. The scent of sulfur was riddled in the meadow. He saw scorch marks, ashy debris. A creeper explosion. A small crater.

"ALEX?" It was a struggle to force himself to speak, but he needed to hear Alex. Where were they? "Alex...?"

The miner rounded the corner to see a winded Alex slumped against the wall, rubbing at her ears. Burns tore through her shirt and pants, angry bruises and marred lesions. Slowly growing slick and wetter with blood. Her arm was already swelling badly, more than the other, and looked like it took the brunt of the damage. She wasn't wearing armor; she was just taking care of chores.

There was an indent in the ground and a massive hole in the house. The ground and edges of the exterior wall were scorched beyond repair. Support beams weakened. You could see easily inside, enough space for him and Alex to walk in without a problem. A couple of shingles from the roof came clattering down, already weak from the storm a while back. A few chickens were running around crazily, seeking shelter. The dog was trembling, tail between his legs as he nudged Alex.

Steven knelt at her side and immediately took out his mining first-aid kit. Helping with carefully removing her shirt and looking at her arm. She looked at him numbly. The shock was deep in her system. The pain will flare any moment now. The shirt was ruined, but it wasn't an enormous loss. It was an old shirt that had seen many darnings. At this point, it was scrap fabric more than anything.

Steven took out his canteen and wet a rag, using the rest of the water on the largest burn. Alex leaned her head back as the water rushed and cleaned out the top layer of debris. The wet rag to wipe down the rest, he got most of the larger burn. They would have to clean it up inside.

"Wh... wha..." Dammit, not this again. Steven waved his hand in front of Alex's face and started to sign.

'What happened?' His brow creased as he cocked his head.

"Creeper."

'Figured that already.' Steven rolled his eyes, urging her to continue.

"Got a message from Raina from a messenger bird, I was too busy reading to notice the creeper. I thought it was the chickens I let out till I heard... ow... a squawk..." Alex hissed as Steven applied pressure to one of the bleeding burns.

"The exploding bastard was a young one, sniffing a basket of mushrooms I went and picked after you left. One of the chickens... got... defensive- ow shit, and started rushing it, scaring the shit out of me. I tried getting close to shoo it... away, but it got so scared suddenly seeing me and the chicken screeching at it that it exploded. The chicken's fine."

'Can't say the same for you.' Steven sighed as lowered his hands, 'this is going to be a problem.'

"Yeah." Alex tried sitting up, only to wince and relax back into the wall.

Steven scrunched his face in worry. 'You good?'

"We've both had worse, it's just a creeper burn. I'm fine, I swear."

'With how your arm is swelling, I'd say different. That sudden swelling has to be a fracture. Our potions will probably mess it up more.' Steven huffed as he gingerly lifted her arm. It was bruising badly in some areas. Yellow and purple and blue. It needed a long time to heal.

'You are going to need to see a doctor.'

"... Are you going to ask what Raina sent?"

'And stay at the village too,'

"It's pretty interesting if, dammit that burns, pretty interesting."

'I am more concerned with your arm not being broken!' Steven signed fast and abruptly, his eyes practically screaming how much he wants to bonk her on the head to take her wounds seriously, 'how can you be so calm about this?'

"Shock hasn't worn off. So, the message was from Raina's friends, actually." Alex said ignoring the ache that was surfacing, "You know what she gave right, big stuff? Well, they said, they're willing to give double or more for their resources. Nether resources are at insane scarcity since you know who doing you know what, so... what do you think? The same amount of resources, but double the money?"

'Cannot fucking believe you.' Steven signed, exasperated. But the thought was alluring.

It would take every emerald Raina had given them and more for medical costs, repairing the house, and restocking supplies to go spelunking into the nether. The structural damage would be a nightmare to replace, and the dangers of living in a house without full walls were... considerably more than the chance of the roof caving in on them. And if another storm sweeps through the area? No more house, that's for sure.

"So," Alex cocked her head with a lopsided grin, mischievous, "You want to make bank, Stevie?"

'What about healing your arm, you ass!' Steven signed wildly, putting his palms to his face and dragging them down, pulling his face. He raised his hands, 'You are going to be the death of me. I swear that explosion knocked a few screws loose.'

"Who said... ow ow ow. Who said I had any tight screws in the first place?"

'Up, I am cleaning the rest of this inside. Tell the dog to keep watch.'

"Aight."

Alex told the dog to wander near the hole and sniff around for other creepers. They may be solitary creatures, but the younger ones tended to stick vaguely close. They even convinced the cat to nap near the gaping hole for extra measure.

Steven fully assessed the damage, cleaned everything, put creeper burn ointment, and carefully wrapped up Alex's arm, and put patches on her torso burns. His throat felt dry from the scare, but Alex was right. It was a young one. Young enough that it's exploding mechanism hadn't fully developed yet. They could heal easily. They, themselves, could heal easily from a wound like this. The only thing that itched was that now he would have to go into the nether by himself. He's done it many times before, Alex has done it many times before. It would be easy, he could avoid the large cavern and go down into a strip-mine himself.

Steven finally tore himself away from playing nurse to let Alex breathe. Immediately she raised her wounded arm and winced. The ointment stung as it disinfected and also numbed the nerves. Steven put away everything from the kit and Alex gingerly got up, testing her bruised leg and arm. She tried picking up one of the couch's pillows, only to yelp in pain.

Steven tried opening his mouth, but still he couldn't get anything in his throat to respond. His anxiety hadn't choked him up this bad in a long time; and with his chaotic life who knew what caused it. He snapped his fingers to get Alex's attention.

'We may need to stay at the village until you recover, I can ask if any of the farmers are willing to house our stock. I do not like the thought of staying in a crumbling house during storm season.' He signed slowly, he was still shaken up after the effects filtered from his system.

"I don't know about that, dude." Alex said flopping on the couch.

Steven tilted his head and raised a brow, 'why is that?'

"You've gone mute over me getting scuffed by a baby creeper, I wouldn't put you through the village again. You've told me yourself that you'd rather sleep in the nether than live back in the village."

'That was before they started to treat me like I wasn't a spawn of hell.'

"Tough luck. We can't have both of us out of commission with you recovering mentally."

'Wait no, I was supposed to be correct in this conversation.'

They both laughed. Steven managed to squeak out a snicker as he sat next to her. But his smile faded as fast as it had come. It felt like five ravagers were stacked on his shoulders, struggling to breathe.

The house was in bad shape, Alex possibly has a broken arm, and Steven, himself, was stressed beyond his wits. She was right, he wouldn't survive in the village. A miniscule group of the villagers still spat at his feet when he passed, the ones that preferred paranoia to reason. It would only cause more damage, making Alex worry and slowing her healing to a snail's pace.

It was going to be a rough season.

...

Planks, boards, nails, putty, tools, and everything else. Alex was feeding the chickens, her injured arm in a sling through about an hour of nagging from the other. Steven started by leveling the earth from the dent and replacing bricks and stones on the side of the house, repairing cracks in the foundation, and starting on patching up the hole. It was a temporary ordeal. Something to keep the mobs from wandering in.

He would need to tear down the entire wall to repair the load-bearing beams inside and fix any other structural weaknesses. Also, reseal any cracks in the exterior wall and the windows. Damn, he'll need to either smelt his own glass or order some from the village. The glass he made was pretty good quality. It was the process that was always daunting.

Steven lathered the putty on top of the brick and cobble foundation siding and balanced the first board upon the foundation, lined up a nail with the support, and struck the nail with a hammer. Immediately after, a shingle from the roof fell off and hit him square on the back. Steven jumped and glared at the piece. It was one of the ones that were damaged previously. But it was a problem that the under part of the roof was slowly exposing itself with more and more shingles falling off.

He shrugged it off and continued on. Continuing a frame and putting a layer of sealing putty and another of wood planks. Slowly sealing up the hole until it was patched. It wasn't the best, but it would work for a while. The zombies and skeletons were dumb enough to believe it was a sturdy wall. Creepers don't have opposable thumbs, and endermen didn't care. He was good to go.

"Yo Stevie, I'm going to head to the village and spend the night."

Steven tilted his head, 'for what?'

"You were right. I'm going to see the doctor there and get supplies for you to survive the nether." Alex looked sheepishly at the other.

'At least take the dog, I'll help with your armor.' Steven was too spent to gloat, 'You know what we need right?'

"Of course, but I can suit up myself, the horse on the other hand..."

'I'll do it.'

"Thanks, bro."

At least Alex would be able to stay out of danger for the first night. She would also need their entire store of emeralds if she's also getting other supplies as well. Steven sighed as he trotted over to the horse's pen.

He beckoned Alex's horse closer and harnessed them, leading them to the storage barn, and started saddling them up. The horse nudged his shoulder affectionately, huffing as Steven groomed its mane.

Alex came out a bit later, suited up in a mix of iron and leather and extra bags. Dog trotting happily by with his own armor as well. Alex mounted the horse, Steven picked up the dog and put him on the horse's back, and they set off on the trail to the village. She would arrive a little after nightfall, but just enough time to avoid the mobs.

It was Steven all alone in the middle of the woods now. He went back inside and flopped on the couch. He would have to stay alert during the night, just in case. Like clockwork, his mind wandered.

He felt pulled by the portal, the purple waves sucking him in like a vortex, to delve back in the red deep. He shook the idea from his mind, no. He would avoid that cavern and that fortress at all costs. Just stockpile every material he could get his hands on and sort out orders as they come.

Alex came to mind next. Despite her charming and goofy personality, when she felt like it, she was incredibly knowledgeable. Mainly with legends and relics. Anything to help with finding ruins to explore and adventures to go on.

He had asked her about what legends she had heard about the demon, anything really, despite interacting with the demon. Things he didn't already know, more obscuring whispers that passed from adventurer to adventurer.

They had discussed how strange it was. The demon attacked humans, that was given, but confrontations were rare. He would scare people away before turning to the offensive. Hardly were there stories of the demon attacking on sight. But the recent idea of a demeanor switch was unnerving, to say the least. To encounter the demon again, especially on one's lonesome, was a death sentence if this was the case. His legendary thirst for blood becoming active again. The miner could only speculate what could have caused it.

Alex relayed an obscure folktale about his keep. His remote fortress that none have ever stepped foot in and those that supposedly had were never seen again. Save for Alex and Steve. Damn, they really weren't the most intelligent, now that he thought about it.

Continuing, Alex described a winding path of choke points, crumbling bridges, and traps that led all the way down into the demon's dungeon. A large cavernous room with multiple floors of cramped, stifling hot chambers. Where he held his prisoners until they perished from the heat.

Supposedly there was a vault past the dungeon where an entire mound of precious gems, gold, valuables, and loot from previous explorers sat. An ever-expanding hoard made to tempt adventures to steal from his stock, imprisoning them for their greed in the dungeon to wither away. It's said he kept a pile of their bones in the center of the main dungeon. A macabre reminder of their fate.

It was terrifying. So much, it made his stomach sink.

And then a single phrase of their conversation really echoed in his head.

"I feel bad for whoever becomes his soulmate. They must be truly evil to pursue such a thing. Their heart is colder than the tundra in the deep north knowing that he has murdered and harmed countless of their own if they're even human that is."

"..."

Steven woke up to a buzzing on his chest. It must have been nighttime as no light shone through the window. The pendant was trembling like crazy, it's humming was louder than it was in the cave. It was hot against his chest. Steven rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up from the couch.

He sauntered over to the weapon rack, grabbed some shoulder and arm guards, strapped them on, nicked a blade from the rack, and snuck outside. To his surprise, not a creature was in sight. He saw a zombie shambling near, but once it got to a point, it stumbled back into the darkness. Strange.

Steven lifted the pendant off his chest and looked at it. It was trembling a lot, the glitter of an enchantment strong in the gold's shine. It seemed to ward away mobs, but why now out of the entire time he had it on? Would it work on nether beasts and the denizens of the nether? It works on enderman so it should. He could explore in peace. Finally, some good news.

Like an annoying fly, the thought of entering the castle again surfaced. Go to the castle, find the demon, find this vault or even the pile of bones, and convince himself that this string business was fake, a fabrication of his mind. Maybe, in a cruel turn of events, the monster was stronger than the pendant. Or maybe made him slightly passive. It would explain why he survived despite such a close encounter.

Steven leaned on the wall next to the door and slipped off the glove. Two strings appeared. One, teal, pointing to the horizon where Alex was staying, the other, painfully crimson, pointing straight down. His personal curse.

Once Alex comes back with the new gear, he'll be able to go and explore to his heart's content. He knew it. Venturing in the deep bowels of the nether, exciting and terrifying. But they desperately needed the money. They could be self-sufficient, but such stress with mobs on top of natural needs took a massive toll on their health to learn how to do anything and everything.

The miner looked up to the sky, a beautiful cloudless night. The stars twinkle above as the clouds of stardust shone lightly in the murky darkness. Even on this humid summer night, he couldn't help but stare into the cosmos and wonder what else laid beyond this realm.

...

(A. N. If you want to see what I do between chapters, go check out my tumblr: bi-ocelot. Thanks Splintergirl13 for beta-reading.)