Chapter 27: Joules.
Waking up to a chorus of various otherworldly chirps and other sounds was not what Steve was expecting, but after realizing that he had fallen asleep, Steve slowly allowed his senses to adjust to his surroundings.
Panic soon flooded his veins as he fully processed the realization that he'd fallen sleep.
Opening his eyes, he was met with total darkness, which he soon recognized was being accompanied by the feeling of leather gloves against his skin. The hand kept him from shooting upwards in order to look at the area around him.
As he opened his mouth to speak, a small "Sshh..." came from beside him.
"For your safety, Steven...I-I advise you to keep your gaze either covered, or cast downward." Herobrine's voice came in a quiet tone.
With a hesitant nod, Steve raised a hand in order to move the other's palm away from his face. Following his instructions, his eyes remained shut as he sat up slowly. Once he was situated, he slowly opened his eyes, only to see several pairs of long, black legs covered in scales surrounding him.
Not too long after seeing them, he shut his eyes again, moving to lie down against the ground as he had been moments prior.
"Tell me that those aren't what I think they are. Please."
A small laugh came from not too far away.
"I'm sorry, Steve. I promise that endermen aren't aggressive when they can help it. Just don't make eye contact, alright?" Came Andvari's voice.
Sitting back up once again, Steve let out a small groan as he slowly opened his eyes, keeping his gaze focused on the clawed feet in front of him, unfamiliar with who they belonged to. Not finding the situation particularly comforting as he almost looked up by mistake, Steve simply closed his eyes again.
"Uh...quick question. Why are they here?" He asked.
From off to the side, Herobrine let out a shaky sigh.
"I-I ordered them to come. You all...you all are suffering in terms of efficiency for my sake, so I-I've decided to make a drastic decision here." He said in a somewhat stronger manner.
Steve raised a brow as his eyes remained closed.
"...That being?"
"The endermen surrounding us right now will be teleporting us closer to the kingdom. Hopefully. They'll attempt to, anyways." Andvari cut into their conversation, standing just above the miner.
Looking back at Herobrine with a worried gaze, Andvari let out what could only be described as a soft whine.
"This isn't a good idea. We don't know if they'll be able to teleport us all in one piece, let alone to the same location. Besides...we don't know how teleportation will work for you as of right now. You can barely move around by yourself, the wound has yet to fully heal."
Herobrine let out a small scoff.
"T-that doesn't matter."
With disappointment appearing on his face, Steve turned his head toward the other.
"Herobrine...we said that we were gonna work on you being less careless, right?" Steve asked him gently.
Herobrine waved them off.
"T-this isn't being 'less careless,' this is being practical…" He defended.
"We could all potentially get hurt here, sir. Well, most of us, anyways. I brought the most capable along with me, but I'm unsure if they're lucid enough to properly communicate and cooperate with us." Andvari stated.
"T-then we can only hope…well, f-for the best." Herobrine said weakly as he began to sit up, holding up a hand as Steve opened his eyes again and began to move in order to help him, stopping the miner from doing so.
Andvari let out a small hum.
"...I will instruct them to teleport us only a short distance closer. Nothing further, nothing less. We need to make sure that this is worth it before we go for longer distances, at this point." He said, turning to face the other endermen in question.
"How close are we getting?" Steve asked quietly.
Andvari responded with a small shrug.
"Several field reports came back with the information that a small ring of villages surrounds the kingdom itself, sort of like a barrier. If we were to get to one of those, we wouldn't necessarily have to worry about time. The distance between those villages and the kingdom is practically nonexistent compared to the distances between the places that we've already seen, but it'll still take a day or so to properly cross over into the place from one of those. Still, it's better than being out here with the prospect of it taking more days or even weeks for us to get out there."
"Weeks?!" Steve asked in disbelief.
Andvari nodded.
"With Herobrine's current state being taken into consideration, that's how long a journey might take for us. We were planning on relying more on his teleportation abilities once he strengthened them again to a certain point, but that little ambush from the Aether threw a wrench in that plan. We can't rely on an injured man to exhaust himself and possibly leave us stuck in limbo should the process go awry, so...of course, this is the next best option."
Steve nodded slowly as he processed the information. "But...it's still safe, right?"
A small laugh escaped the enderman's lips.
"Depends. Endermen travel freely, and they barely listen to me without the master's help. They only carry smaller things like piles of dirt and sand, flowers and such. Who knows how they'll manage to carry a human somewhere, let alone if they even understand where they're supposed to go."
Not feeling any better about the situation, Steve opened his eyes again, letting out a sigh.
"And walking definitely is not an option?"
"Unless you want to make the journey unnecessarily longer, then no, it is not a viable option. At least, that's what the master said." Andvari confirmed.
"S-steven, don't fight this. I-I've...I've made my decision." Herobrine said, his voice a bit stronger.
Before he could fight the other any more on the issue, a small yelp came from nearby, leading to his attention being directed toward a startled Constiere.
"What the hell is going on here?!" He asked, sitting up abruptly at the sight of the various endermen around them. Apparently, much to Steve's amusement, he'd fallen asleep as well.
Andvari let out a sigh.
"Master wants us to teleport closer to Lunarus to make up for lost time. Not a long distance, because the endermen might not be able to handle it. Just a short enough one to see how things go." He explained.
With a nod, Constiere let out an "Ah" as he looked around at the small haunting of endermen.
"...You sure that this won't end poorly?"
Steve gestured toward the boy.
"See! Even he's worried about this!"
Andvari shook his head at both of them.
"I'm not letting you die on my watch. Whichever enderman you go with, I'll make sure to remember them so that I can punish them accordingly should they lead you astray."
"That's not comforting."
"That's still not comforting."
Steve and Constiere responded to the enderman, leading to a small groan escaping him.
"I...Master said to do this, not me. Take your complaints with him, but we need to move sooner or later, and we need to know for certain how well the endermen are faring. Killing two birds with one stone here, guys." Andvari gestured over to the endermen as he spoke.
Hearing a hum and some approaching footsteps, the group found Malgun walking towards one of the endermen, expression neutral.
"...Might as well get it over with. The longer we debate about this, the more we screw ourselves over in the long run."
"...What if Lord Herobrine can't handle teleporting, even if someone else is doing the work?" Constiere asked quietly, watching the skeleton move.
Andvari sighed.
"I will be taking him myself to be safe, but again, this is his decision. He knows the risk well enough, and is willing to take it."
Moving to place himself by the demigod's side, Andvari looked at the others with determination in his expression.
"There's only so much time we can waste here. Let's try it out now, and bear the consequences later."
Crouching down to Herobrine's level, Andvari took a moment to grab a firm hold on the other's body before lifting him up slowly.
With a sharp breath, Herobrine wrapped his arm around the other's shoulder.
"I...Y-you don't have to h-hold me like this...a-at least let my feet touch the ground, Andi." He said, appearing somewhat embarrassed by the situation.
Andvari shook his head.
"I'm not taking any chances. We've done this before, so we'll do it again. I need to guarantee your safety."
With a sigh of defeat, Herobrine cast a quick, but weak glare in Steve's general direction.
"...Not a word." He said, tone entirely serious.
Making a zip and lock gesture over his mouth, Steve stood up himself, keeping his gaze directed downward as he tried to quell his growing sense of fear.
Why did it have to be so dangerous for the endermen to teleport them? What "consequences" would they face? Though his first experience with teleporting was pretty disorientating, he didn't think that it would become even more dangerous when performed by a creature that was seemingly able to do it quite freely. Hell, he thought that it'd be a breeze. Did they often get confused with minor details such as location? Did they not understand what they were supposed to do? Did they truly have no minds of their own?
A few garbled chirps left Andvari's mouth before the endermen started moving, getting closer to each member of the group as they began to get to work. A pair of claws grabbed Steve's shoulders rather roughly, and it took everything in his power to not look up directly at the creature who'd grabbed him. Effortlessly, the endermen lifted him off the ground, holding him awkwardly up in the air.
With a single, loud chirp, the pressure around the miner became a suffocating one as he suddenly came to the realization that his surroundings were changing. In a single instant, the two suddenly found themselves in a another, thin forest, surrounded by oak and birch trees alike as the enderman soon dropped the miner from its grasp in response to the new location. The feeling that lingered after being teleported elsewhere caused a bit of nausea to overwhelm the miner, who was still trying to fight off his disorientation as he stepped away from the enderman that had carried him there. That, of course, was nothing compared to the state of the demigod close by him as he and Andvari appeared suddenly as well.
In less than a few seconds, after the group had found themselves in the new area, Herobrine immediately pushed himself away from Andvari in an attempt to distance himself, with the enderman letting him go with a slightly surprised expression on his face. Not too long after, Herobrine was fully on the ground in a collapsed heap, coughing as it became clear that he, unfortunately, was back at square one when it came to tolerating the effects of teleportation. In fact, it seemed like he was even further behind square one as Steve noticed how the other wasn't even trying to fight his nausea, this time vomiting a bit on the ground, to his general disgust and concern.
"Brine, are y-?!"
With a glare abruptly sent in his direction, the miner immediately shut his mouth. That gaze told him a simple message: shut up.
Andvari shook his head as he leaned over in order to comfort the demigod.
"See? That blade made your body more confused than it already was, and now look at you. You couldn't handle being transported."
The other's words didn't seem to be that comforting.
As Herobrine wiped off his mouth with his sleeve, he turned to glare at the enderman. "I-I'm...I'm still here. Minor consequences."
"...That can easily turn into larger ones sometime down the road. No more teleporting for now, okay?"
Herobrine shook his head.
"I-I can take it! You're...you're worrying about nothing!" His voice elevated a bit as he responded to the enderman, leading to a few shushes being directed right back at him.
"I don't want you to suffer needlessly. I hate to be strict with you, but that's enough." Andvari said in a surprisingly commanding tone to the other.
To his absolute shock, Steve watched as Herobrine immediately went silent, dropping the conversation entirely as what seemed to be regret and embarrassment appeared on his face. It was almost as if he was watching a father scold his own child, even though in this case, the child was significantly more of a threatening presence than his guardian.
Stepping away from the demigod, Andvari looked around them as the rest of the group appeared in small clouds of purple particles as well. Though Malgun took his time to leave the enderman that had brought him, Constiere let out a huff as he came, separating himself from the enderman rather abruptly.
"Hey. Did you say it was alright to bring us to areas filled with lava ponds? Because this guy right here-" Constiere back toward his enderman. "Teleported right into a field filled with them. No remorse. Pretty sure he did it on purpose!"
Andvari rolled his eyes as he straightened back up, approaching the other carefully.
"They don't have the thought capability for that." He said bluntly.
"They can follow directions, though! Isn't that proof enough that they can mess with me consciously?!"
"They can't form malice. They have no free souls. Therefore, they cannot form the emotions needed to inconvenience you on purpose, simply enough." Andvari clarified as Constiere crossed his arms over his chest in response.
Andvari began to walk back toward Herobrine.
"Excuse me for a moment. Now I need to guide the endermen into teleporting our beloved Squash." He said as he completely passed by the demigod.
As the enderman teleported away, a small laugh escaped Constiere's lips as he stared at the spot where Andvari had been moments prior. "...'Beloved?' Where did he get that from?"
Steve glared at him. "Squash is ours, y'know. I treasure her deeply, she's beloved to me!"
Hearing another laugh separate from Constiere's, Steve turned to find Malgun laughing as well.
"Because you're the one who gets to have a break from walking thanks to her, right?" The skeleton asked in a lighthearted manner.
"I offered a ride to you too!" Steve exclaimed in defense.
"I know, I know. Still."
Frowning at the other, Steve turned away as the endermen soon returned, a confused and somewhat angered Squash in their grip. Before she could attack them, however, most teleported away, leaving Andvari as the sole remaining enderman.
"There. Now we're all present."
Teleporting a bit closer to Herobrine with a wary expression meant for the ravager, Andvari looked over the group with a sigh.
"That could've gone better, but honestly, we can only rely on miracles at this point when it comes to them."
Constiere dusted himself off a bit. "So, when can we expect for them to start a reaction?"
Andvari closed his eyes in deep thought.
"...Soon. As they teleport without the added weight, they'll realize that something's wrong, and will act accordingly."
Curious, Steve looked up at the enderman.
"...What do you mean?"
Andvari opened his eyes to look off into the distance.
"...Endermen aren't typically that lucid when it comes to functioning. Side effect of…unfortunate circumstances." The other corrected himself as he took a glance toward the demigod that was near him. "They'll freak out at the smallest of changes to their normal activities, and this just happens to be another one of those changes. When that happens, they go on small little tantrums, or rampages, so to speak. If you're still around them when that happens, they'll attack you. Or just outright kill you. Or both. Then, they'll potentially kill themselves in the confusion. It's too much to handle."
Disturbed with the information, Steve didn't necessarily appreciate it when the other continued.
"If they freaked out while carrying us, we might've quickly found ourselves stuck in the space between our previous location and here. Which is...well, technically nowhere. Using the endermen specifically for teleporting is very, very risky for those reasons."
Before Steve could find himself too horrified, an arm found its way around his shoulders as he was pulled a bit downward toward a laughing Constiere.
"But that didn't happen, so don't worry about it!"
Steve frowned.
"...Let's never do it again though, yeah?"
Moving away from the boy, Steve took a glance at his surroundings, trying to peak through the trees in order to get a better sense of where they currently were. After a few seconds, however, he gave up as his curiosity overwhelmed him.
"So...uh, where are we?" He asked, turning back toward Andvari with a curious expression.
"We're in Lunarus. Well, technically, it's a subsection of Lunarus, but it's still pretty close to the actual place...the location of the festival is most likely going to take place within the kingdom's main city itself, so we're currently in a location that's near the closest associated village. The field mobs directed me to its general location, so I had the endermen bring us here." Andvari answered.
Looking off toward the distance once again as he stepped further into the treeline, Steve found himself with the glimpsed sight of what looked like a massive city, with large, two-story buildings that were mostly made of what seemed to be concrete and wood from their current location.
"That's a village?!" He asked in sheer disbelief, leaning forward in order to get a better view of the area.
Andvari responded to his surprise with a laugh.
"Yes, and it's only one of them. You'll get to scout it out, too."
Looking back at him with slight worry on his features, Steve laughed nervously.
"You...you're serious?"
He heard a small laugh come from the side, leading him to turn toward Constiere, who'd followed him as well.
"Unfortunately for you, yeah! Sorry I can't join you on this one, bright-eyes. I'm not familiar with this place at all."
With a sigh of defeat, Steve turned his focus back toward the distant "village."
"...What do I do, then?"
"G-go in."
Hearing the demigod's weakened voice, Steve turned toward him once again to find the other struggling to stand up, using Andvari as a sort of crutch as he did so. Wiping his mouth again a bit, Herobrine continued.
"...Go to the kingdom, and find an inn to stay in. Get...get some sleep and food. We'll...we'll send a message when we're ready." He said in a commanding fashion.
Andvari looked at Steve with an equally-as-commanding look.
"While you were asleep, we had a small discussion about our future plans. In short, we'll be here organizing things and getting ready for a proper attack in order to target the champions here. You may come back here as you wish should you find anything interesting, but for the most part, stay hidden. We're planning on launching something from one of the inner spaces between these villages and the actual kingdom's main city, but we need to set a perimeter out here beforehand just in case we need to fall back or call for help."
Steve raised a slight brow at them. "And I can't be around for that because…?"
"Mobs, dude." Constiere answered. "You saw how the zombies came after you despite Lord Herobrine saying not to, right? In all the confusion and preparations, you might get attacked out of nowhere. We can't have two injured guys right now."
Nodding in understanding, Steve tightened his hold upon his backpack. "I'll just get in there and check things out, I guess. I can't take Squash into something that confusing, right?"
The others shook their heads.
"You're supposed to stay rather low. Squash would only bring attention." Andvari explained.
Steve let out a hum as he took in the information.
"Whatever information you can gather, report it back, at least." Malgun instructed him, leading to Steve nodding again.
"I will. Hopefully there's at least something to see in there."
"...Be careful, Steven." Herobrine instructed him weakly.
Beginning to walk away after giving the demigod a small smile, Steve let out a quick breath as he left the group, making his way toward the massive village in front of them as he maneuvered himself past the trees.
When he finally reached the village, he wasn't even remotely prepared for the feeling of all of his senses being assaulted at once.
The village was bustling with people, all running and moving around frantically as they themselves were either carrying something, or approaching someone else who was carrying something to take that thing from them. Various different food stands were busy with cooking food that many people were eagerly purchasing and taking, filling the space with strange, yet satisfying smells that the miner couldn't help but feel hungry for. Noise was everywhere, making Steve feel as if he couldn't even hear himself think. Different people moved past him at different speeds, but most managed to avoid him, with some accidently bumping into him, knocking him around a bit.
Suddenly, he found himself very appreciative of his own village's emptiness and tranquility. He could handle crowds, sure, but not crowds like this.
Walking into the village with his gaze wide open, Steve glanced around nervously as he began his search for an inn of some kind. He could barely see through the crowd as he walked, but as he went along, he took glances at the various items of decoration being set up everywhere, such as banners, flowers, and paper crafts.
Were they involved with festival preparations? Was this the actual location of the festival?
Trying his best to not be carried away by the crowd, Steve soon enough found himself in a large plaza, where he immediately took himself to an open spot, free of people. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Steve began to look over the area he was now in.
The plaza was surrounded by large, concrete buildings, all of which were covered in various different plants, potted and otherwise, creating some pleasing natural decoration. The ground beneath his feet was cobbled and a bit damp with what appeared to be the aftermath of gentle rain. Looking back up, he found the place to be hand-decorated by the festival items he'd spotted just moments before, leading the way up to a heavily-decorated stage that he now just realized was being occupied. The plaza was filled with people all surrounding this stage, eagerly listening to the one standing upon it.
On top of the stage stood a man decorated in fancy clothes that suggested a higher status, possibly a royally-associated one. His expression held clear excitement as he gazed off into the crowd, his form being equally-as-illuminated by the paper-covered lights that were being held just overhead. His dulled, orange hair appeared as if it were more of a coral color underneath that light, making him seem even brighter than he already was.
"People of Lunarus! I bring you good fortune today, as I join you and grace you with my presence." The other spoke, his booming voice ringing out through the crowd as all attention fell upon him. "Surely, you are aware of the fact that in just a few days time, hundreds will gather here within our glorious kingdom to celebrate our founding together? There will be festival officers coming around both today and tomorrow to check up on decorations and other festival preparations, so be sure to have those ready. Our glorious champions will be coming around as well to check up on you all, so be sure to give them a proper greeting if you can!"
Hearing most people within the crowd respond excitedly to his words, Steve looked around to find people slowly starting to resume their individual tasks, paying him no mind while keeping their focus mostly on the official before them.
"Soon enough, the distant champions will arrive as well, and we'll judge for ourselves their true worth! We are the eyes of the world, and thus, we know the best of the best when we see them! With the gods' blessings, our champions will achieve greatness across the lands!"
Applause and cheers erupted from the small audience that had formed, though, Steve couldn't help but feel somewhat disgusted by the other's words as he mentioned the champions. His disdain appeared slightly on his face as he turned to leave, finding a few people in his way as he began to walk away.
Before he could get far enough away from the scene, a hand found its way on his shoulder, turning him around to meet with the somewhat aggravated expression of a tall stranger.
"Boy, what's that look for? The festival is a time of jubilation and freedom, what gives?"
Confused on why somebody was this bothered by his reaction, Steve shrugged.
"I dunno. I just...it's not my thing, so to say."
The stranger's brows furrowed.
"Not your thing? Are you disrespecting the hard work of our glorious champions? Do you not realize how difficult it is to do what they do?"
Not feeling emotionally invested enough to engage with the other, Steve shook his head.
"I don't know their titles, so I'm not that invested. I know it's hard being a champion, but I'm sorry. I'm not familiar to the area, and-"
The stranger grabbed him by the collar roughly, dragging him forward abruptly.
"You better watch your mouth, boy! Nobody here talks trash about our champions, and I'll have you know that those who do learn their lesson pretty quickly. You wanna apologize or-"
Suddenly, he found a hand pushing him away from his attacker and a stranger placing themselves in between him and the small audience that had gathered, back turned to him.
"Calm down. Not everybody has to be head-over-heels for the champions, alright? If anything, it's better that he's not totally obsessing over them like you folks are. Don't you understand how irrational you're all being?" Came the new stranger's voice, which was low in tone and somewhat threatening.
The man who'd initially engaged with him let out a small huff.
"Listen, I dunno who you are, but-"
"-Leave him alone. I'm not gonna ask you twice. Besides, the man up there is still giving out instructions, it's best if you pay more attention to those than a stranger."
Realizing that the other was right, the man slowly turned back toward the speaker up on the stage, but not before giving Steve one last judgemental look. As others followed, Steve watched as his savior began to walk away, keeping an eye on his attacker for a moment before doing so.
"Hey, thanks for your help, I-"
Before Steve could even thank the other properly, he'd disappeared into the crowd in somewhat of a rush, leaving him standing awkwardly by himself.
Turning his own attention back to the stage in a somewhat confused manner, Steve found himself unable to actually focus on the man speaking up ahead. Finding his words somewhat intelligible from where he was standing, Steve began to walk closer to the stage, his feet momentarily hesitating to do so.
"Isn't this terrible, what they're doing? Absolutely makes me sick."
Stopping in his tracks and looking to the side to find the person that had spoken to him, Steve found himself within the presence of a tall individual, who had roughly about a foot high advantage over him, dressed in a somewhat loose, white long-sleeved shirt that had said sleeves folded halfway up, brown pants, and long, black boots. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, though, the more Steve looked at it, the more he realized that this "ponytail" was originally a bun, with most of the hair now sticking out and hanging on for dear life under the loose band that had once held it. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stared intently forward, his slightly tanned skin a bit hidden by the shade of the banner that was hung up above them.
It was the man who'd saved him. He came back, strangely enough.
In all certain terms, this man seemed quite ordinary and bland. He gave no certain impressions from his words, only the kind that typically come from strange faces in large crowds. He looked normal, spoke normally, and by all means, was normal.
Everything about him was ordinary, except for his eyes. Everything else about him was forgotten as Steve's gaze was utterly captivated by the other's eyes.
Black. Pure black. His eyes seemed normal enough from a distance, but as Steve looked at his eyes, they stunned him to silence.
"...I'm talking to you, y'know." When the stranger glanced over to him, he got a clearer view of the other's eyes, and he soon found himself staring directly into a total sea of void, seemingly endless. The other's eyes had no pupils, presumably as they had been swallowed up by that darkness, if he could take an imaginative guess.
Everything else about this man seemed ordinary. His eyes, however, made Steve get the feeling that this man wasn't exactly human.
Feeling the early warning signs begin to ring out within him, Steve let out a small, nervous chuckle as he came back to reality.
"Y-yeah. I'm kinda sick of this champion business, myself."
The stranger, with eyes widening momentarily as he listened to his voice, soon after looked down at him with curiosity.
"Are you one as well?"
Steve nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes. I was selected randomly at first, but now I have the title of 'Champion of Beasts.' It's nice, but...y'know, it's overwhelming."
Receiving a nod of understanding, he watched as the other closed his eyes in deep thought.
"I completely understand you. The grandiose nature of the situation is tantalizing enough, but the burden it brings is too much for a lot to handle. Being a champion means you risk death, so it shouldn't simply be a thing that just anybody can be saddled with randomly. How would a farmer handle suddenly being chosen to be a hired mercenary, y'know?"
Listening to the other speak, Steve felt a mixture of emotions that was held by a singular thought that rose above the rest.
This man, vaguely enough, seemed a bit familiar to him. They'd never met before, but nevertheless, Steve couldn't shake the feeling of having seen the other in some way, prior to this current moment in time. Despite this, he was still rather wary of the other's presence. It seemed like he'd appeared out of nowhere, with no warning, suddenly relating to him as if he were trying to gain his trust. Maybe he was a normal stranger, sure, but nobody else in the immediate area seemed to hold any disdain for the champion phenomenon quite like he did. All were overly obsessed with it, quite frankly appearing a bit cultish in nature, so why wasn't this man the same? He'd nearly gotten attacked for even looking a bit upset about the champions, how was this man still alive?
Suddenly, the stranger's expression lit up as his eyes opened to look back down at the miner.
"That's besides the point! The point now is…"
The stranger placed a finger under his chin as he examined the miner for a moment with a grin. "What I have here is a stranger who shares my sentiments! That's notable enough on its own!"
Holding out a hand for him to shake, the other's expression became a bit softer. "My name is Joules. You are?..."
Hesitantly grabbing the other's hand and shaking it in return, Steve smiled back. "S-Steve."
There was a moment after they'd released hands when Joules looked at him with an even softer expression that implied something beyond their current conversation, but Steve decided to leave things where they currently were, untouched as he tried to figure out for himself just how much of a threat this "Joules" currently was.
"Eh...uh, why are you here, anyways? The festival isn't for another couple of days, or few actually, so...why the early travel?" Joules asked with a bit of curiosity, his previous expression vanishing.
Days? The champions were about to be put into action in a few days? Had they really been closer to complete disaster than they realized?
Thinking up an excuse to chase away his momentary shock, Steve let out a small laugh.
"I...I haven't been here before, so I thought that I'd do a little bit of...um...sightseeing! Yeah."
Letting out an acknowledging "Ah," Joules cast a glance back over toward the stage.
"You won't find much to do, I'm afraid. Everybody's working on the upcoming festival, so a lot of the tourist spots are closed down for repairs, upkeep, and whatever."
Feeling upset at the information, and yet a bit guilty that he'd lied somewhat, Steve cast a glance over to the side.
Should he be honest with the other? What if he was part of an elaborate capture plan? What if he had sick intentions?
Steve decided to take a gamble.
"Actually...I'm not just here to sightsee."
Joules looked back at him as he paused before continuing.
"My...my friend is very sick. He...I gave him potions in order to get better, but they didn't really help solve everything. I came here to possibly get some help."
Joules looked at him with deep worry and pity on his expression.
"Is that so? Well, um...I think I could possibly help. Well, depending on if you think stronger potions might assist you."
The other smiled at him kindly, pointing with his thumb to the street behind them that led away from the plaza.
"I work at an apothecary, and we may have some potions that can help! I'll give them to you, just follow me, alright?"
Gesturing for the miner to accompany him, Joules led him away from the area as the fancy individual who was on the center of the stage continued his booming speech.
Listening to him for a brief moment, Joules rolled his eyes.
"...Ignore that man for the time being, he's not exactly here for fun. He's just trying to get the people to do what he wants them to do, not make pleasantries and small talk." Joules said with a laugh.
Walking off onto a nearby street, Steve looked at the other curiously.
"Who is he, anyways? He's dressed pretty fancy, is he the king of Lunarus? Or like, some other royal figure?" The miner asked.
Joules shrugged.
"I mean, he is a king, but not Lunarus's. That's Maxwell, he's still a big deal though. Got on the high council in Lunarus's inner court, so he makes a lot of big decisions here."
Hearing the name Maxwell made his heart drop into his stomach.
With a nervous laugh, Steve tried to play off his uncomfortableness.
"You say he's a king? I mean, I have heard of a Maxwell before, but-"
"-You mean Maxwell, King of the Aether? Yeah, that's him. That's the same guy. Man couldn't apparently get enough of the constant attention he got in the Aether, so he's here."
Looking back to where they came from in utter shock, Steve's gaze immediately fell upon the man in question as he tried to gather as much visual information about him as he could capture from afar.
Strangely enough, as he examined the other's face, it reminded him nothing of the demigod that the man had apparently fathered. He tried looking as hard as he could, but nothing on the man's face matched his son's. Maxwell displayed an attitude that seemed rather full of himself, but other than that, he couldn't read the other as well as he wished he could've, possibly because of the distance between their current locations in the crowd.
Remembering that this was, in fact, the highest-ranked divine being in existence, Steve looked back at Joules in disbelief. "Wait, why is he even here?!"
Bringing the miner to a small alleyway, Joules shrugged once again.
"Festival preparations. This thing just happened to be big enough that the divines had to oversee it. Apparently, they agreed to aid the champions in a way, or something like that, I'm not sure what they're implying there."
Steve raised a brow.
"...Aid?"
"Something that's gonna be shown in the official ceremony. They'll lend their aid there."
Stopping by an old wooden door, Joules took a moment to get out a pair of keys to unlock it, soon opening it as he gestured for the miner to enter.
"Here's my little apothecary. Don't mind the mess, the place is closed for the festival for the time being!"
As Steve stepped in hesitantly, he was met with the sight and smell of various different potions and ingredients, all placed in various different decorative locations around the small, darkened space. Lanterns hung from the ceiling and glowed somewhat dimly, barely illuminating the room as Steve's gaze trailed the various paths of papers and books that were strewn everywhere, from different tables to the wooden floor. Potions were placed on various different shelves instead of books, and several different potion ingredients, such as sugar and mushrooms, laid in bowls that lined the edges of old tables. Windows across the room were covered by old brown curtains that were torn in some places, preventing most of the outside light from coming in. Finding a large, more decorated double-door in between a pair of windows, Steve came to the realization that they'd taken the rear entrance in.
With a nervous laugh as he went around to the lanterns, first taking out a flint and steel, Joules began to relight the lanterns one-by-one.
"It may seem like this place has been abandoned, but I assure you, I just haven't tidied up in a hot minute."
Steve approached a bookshelf of potions, eyes scanning carefully over the various labels that were on them.
"...You said that this place is closed for the festival, right? What if somebody needs potions, then?"
Joules shrugged, continuing to light the lanterns.
"That's partially why this place is such a mess, right now. I tripled my typical order count for a day in order to get everything that somebody might need over the next few days ready for use. That way, nobody needs to come in. I'm not just gonna let people die, y'know? I'm not cruel!" The man finished with a small laugh.
Nodding slowly, Steve's gaze trailed over the different potions, watching with intrigue as the contents of each bottle seemed to glow with some sort of energy. No potion he'd ever gotten his hands on seemed to be any similar to these, making him question what exactly had been brewed into them.
Finishing with the lanterns, Joules put away the flint and steel and dusted his hands off as he went to approach the miner.
"Alright, now that we're not working in the dark here…"
Stopping by a nearby table, Joules leaned against it as he looked eagerly at Steve. "What kind of ailment are we talking about here? The flu? Zombification? Some sort of other infection, maybe?"
With a saddened look to the side, Steve began to speak as he turned to meet the man.
"...Do you take care of issues caused by physical wounds? My friend got hurt because of me, and he has some internal damage that he can't get proper surgery for. Normal potions helped with the bleeding, so do you have anything stronger than that?"
Looking at him with genuine worry on his expression, Joules immediately stood straight back up as he began to walk away from the other.
"Internal damage?! H-hold on, I...I got something for that."
Disappearing into another room, Joules left Steve in silence as he waited for the other's swift return.
Five minutes passed before the man finally came back, a glowing purple potion in hand.
Joules displayed the bottle to the other.
"This…uh...I hope your friend doesn't respond poorly to ghast tears...I'm not entirely familiar with Nethren brewing materials, but from what I've experimented with, you never can get that sorrowful taste out of the final product when you make stuff with them."
Handing the potion to the miner, Joules stepped back away from the other with a kind smile.
Taking the potion carefully, Steve held up the contents of the bottle with pure awe, swishing it around ever-so-slightly.
Suddenly, the man in front of him snapped his fingers abruptly as his expression lit back up.
"Oh! I forgot! Please, whatever you do, do not consume that potion for yourself."
Steve looked at the man with a raised brow.
"Why not?" He asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.
Joules let out a small chuckle.
"Because it's a prescription, duh! Haven't you ever heard the concept of not taking medication meant for other people? If you take some instead of your friend, you'll potentially rob him of getting the proper help that he needs to recover! I heard 'internal damage,' meaning that he needs a super strong dosage to heal up what can't be sewn back together. You take that potion instead, and who knows what kind of stuff it'll do to your perfectly fine, healthy body." He explained, pointing to the potion in question as the miner nodded in understanding.
Feeling somewhat bad about the fact that he immediately suspected the other of wrongdoing, Steve gave him a weak smile.
"Oh, okay! I...we've been sharing potions since it's all we've got, so...I didn't know."
Joules smiled kindly at him.
"Commercial potions have that versatility, prescription ones do not. It's a common mistake! Just don't want you to get hurt for it."
Holding the potion closer to his body, Steve nodded his head a bit.
"Thank you so much. By the way, how much will this cost?"
Joules held up a hand, shaking his head.
"Nothing. No need for money, I don't believe in withholding help for monetary reasons. I give my assistance freely."
With shock, Steve stared at the other with widened eyes after letting a sound of utter bewilderment escape his mouth.
"You're doing this for free?! C'mon, at least let me give you something in return..."
Joules shook his head again.
"Then give me the status of your friend's recovery process once he's taken the medication. All I wish for is that people no longer suffer due to worldly ailments, and all I ask for is that you take good care of him, alright?"
With an expression of deep appreciation, Steve gave the other a slight bow.
"T-thank you! I...wow, that's really kind of you, and-"
"-Simply get it to him as soon as possible, Steve. The longer we dally around, the bigger the chance that he heals improperly. We'll speak later, got it?"
Grabbing the miner's shoulders and turning him around, Joules began to push him outside. After a moment or so, Steve began to walk on his own, looking at the other with appreciation in his gaze.
"I'll update you as soon as I can, alright?"
Joules nodded, giving the other a small wave.
"Please do. I'll see you later, Steve. Take care."
With a small wave in return, Steve left the building from the back. Hoping that the others would accept whatever excuse he could muster for even receiving the potion, Steve began to head off back to where they were, hoping that the mobs would leave him alone in the meantime. Though it took him a while to navigate back to where he'd entered from, he eventually did, much to his general relief.
Mobs were everywhere.
Upon reaching the area that the others told him to return to, he was met with the sight of tons of mobs moving amongst the trees carefully, though, they were primarily creepers and unsuspecting endermen, with a few spiders mixed in and some skeletons scattered about.
Though quite a few spiders hissed at him and bared their fangs, a few responding hisses from nearby creepers quelled their aggression, much to his silent awe.
Moving along carefully as he tried to spot his companions, Steve let out a sigh of relief once he spotted a glimpse of a more humanoid figure with actual, living human flesh on them.
Approaching the familiar orange-haired boy, Steve took more quick glances around out of habit as he monitored the surrounding mobs, somewhat expecting one to jump out and attack him.
"Constiere! Where's-"
"-The others? Up ahead." Constiere pointed directly in front of him. "Y'know, you'd think that it'd be easy getting a bunch of mobs here for a coordinated effort while also keeping them hidden enough, right?"
Steve shrugged. "Are there not that many, or something?"
Constiere nodded.
"Yeah. Not that many yet, at least. It's gonna take a minute for enough to gather for a small ambush, but…we got a while until we need them at least, right?" He finished with a small laugh.
Steve shrugged once again, this time a slightly nervous expression appearing on his face.
"Y-yeah. About that, uh…" Pausing as he gathered his thoughts, Steve took a small breath before continuing."Look, they're all preparing for the festival in there, and...well, I heard that it's happening in just a few days."
Constiere looked at him with complete shock on his face.
"A few?! Shit, we were getting behind, weren't we?!"
Steve nodded.
"It's uh...yeah, I thought the same too. We're cutting it pretty close."
With a quick whistle, Constiere turned to find a creeper approaching him eagerly. Speaking in that same, strange hissing language that he'd heard only briefly before. Soon after, the creeper began to trot away quickly, with its commander looking back at Steve with a small smirk in response to his clear awe.
"What? Not used to the creeps?"
Steve shook his head.
"No, I...I'm just interested in that language you were using."
Constiere shrugged.
"Common creeper language. I told her to run off to inform our checkpoint mobs to quicken the pace of the approaching parties. She'll bring others as well, we need to hurry it up if what you're saying is accurate!"
Nodding in response, Steve began to walk away from the other.
"Cool, I'll just make my way to Herobrine, then. I got something for him."
Curious, Constiere tilted his head at his words.
"...You got a gift for rosebud?"
Remembering the demigod's other nickname, Steve shook his head with a laugh.
"It's just another potion to help him get better. A stronger one, I think."
With a nod of acknowledgement, Constiere let the miner walk away fully, moving back to monitor the various different mobs that were moving all over the place.
Finally locating the injured demigod and his enderman assistant, Steve found himself staring at the two in silence as it appeared that they were in deep conversation with one another. Though Herobrine appeared to be quite dismissive of the other, Andvari was speaking to him eagerly, eyes filled with what appeared to be a mixture of excitement and worry.
Despite not wanting to interrupt the conversation, Steve stepped closer to the others until they finally noticed him, with Andvari giving the other a small smile.
"Did you discover anything particularly interesting?" The enderman asked.
Steve shrugged, his grip upon the bottle in his hands tightening for a moment.
"Other than the fact that the festival is only happening in a few days, there was an apothecary within that village that offered me this. He gave it to me for Brine to use."
"Days?! Wh-"
Andvari's words were cut short as Steve presented the potion to the others carefully. While Andvari seemed to be genuinely intrigued by the bottled substance, Herobrine looked at it with a skeptical expression.
"...A-are you positive the potion-maker was licensed? This...t-this doesn't look like a health potion." The demigod asked.
Steve shrugged, a bit of embarrassment beginning to appear on his face.
"I-I...I didn't ask, I just accepted his help. Said he used something called 'ghast tears' for this?"
Even more intrigued with the potion, Herobrine leaned forward and took it from the other's hands carefully, holding the potion in front of his face as he examined it.
"...Ghast tears don't cause potions to glow t-this color...T-there's something else in here."
Uncorking the bottle, Herobrine held it up to his nose, taking a small sniff. His expression turned to one of pure puzzlement.
"...I...I only smell the ghast tears...The hell?"
Steve let out a small chuckle at the other's confused tone.
"Think that more than one of your senses took a hit, Brine?"
Herobrine shrugged.
"...Nothing that a mortal concocted can kill me. M-might as well give it a try."
Before the other could down the potion in its entirety, Andvari stopped him with a single claw.
"Are you sure about doing this, sir?"
Herobrine nodded.
"Either it h-helps me out, or I throw it back up."
Taking a deep breath, Herobrine braced himself before putting the potion up to his lips and drinking it with a neutral expression.
Just moments after taking the first swig, Herobrine removed the potion from his mouth abruptly, coughing some of it out as regret soon found its way on his face.
As Steve and Andvari went to help the other, Herobrine held up a hand, struggling to force out his words.
"I-it's-" Another set of coughs. "It's...n-not easy to s-swallow. B-bitter, too-"
The demigod continued to cough, but the moment he got a break, he continued to drink the potion, much to Steve's surprise.
"Don't you think you should put some of that on the wound?" Steve asked quietly.
Herobrine shook his head, coughing as he put the bottle down once again.
"W-works either way, if this...i-if this is a regular potion."
Finishing the potion, Herobrine placed the empty glass bottle on the ground, letting out a sigh once he swallowed the last bit of fluid. A few moments later however, Steve noticed that the other's eyes were beginning to flutter shut as he began a small struggle against oncoming unconsciousness.
"Brine, you feeling alright?"
Herobrine nodded weakly.
"...N-numb…a-and tired."
It was clear that the other was certainly feeling something beyond those two things as he now found himself struggling to keep upright.
Worried that he'd accidentally led to the other getting more hurt than helped, Steve began to panic.
"I-I...Brine, I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"-It's not hurting me." The other gazed up at him with hazy eyes. "I'm fine."
The words left the other's mouth as he fell over, now fully unconscious. Though the miner failed to catch him, Andvari had already crouched down to the other's height and caught the other.
"Do...do you know what was in that potion, by any chance?" Andvari asked him quietly, pulling the demigod in his arms a bit closer to his body.
Panicking, Steve found himself undecided as he tried to think of what to do, looking between his own two hands and the demigod before him.
He could either comfort the demigod or do what he was sent to do.
…
He decided on grabbing the bottle that had once held the strange potion from beside the unconscious demigod, and began to head back to the village he'd found in order to search for the man who had given it to him initially.
"I...I'm gonna go and see. Please take care of him, alright?" Steve said to the enderman, earning a nod in response.
"Of course. I'll be right here."
With a slightly frustrated expression, Steve left the other as he made his way back to the village.
Maybe it was a bad idea to trust Joules.
Arriving back in the busy streets of the village, Steve found himself walking somewhat aimlessly as he tried to search for the plaza that he initially met Joules in, mostly so that he could use it as a starting point for retracing his steps. Though he eventually found the place where the one stage was, as he began his small hunt around the area, once he retraced his steps and came back to the alleyway that the strange man had brought him to, he couldn't find an entrance anywhere in sight.
Utterly confused by the sight of bare, empty walls, Steve continued to walk straight through the alleyway, going toward the front of the building.
'...Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere?...' He thought to himself, beginning to feel the early warning signs of being totally lost.
Upon reaching the entrance of the building, he took a moment to collect himself before raising a hand to knock on the door. A few moments passed before a young woman opened the door slowly, meeting him with a slightly surprised gaze.
"Hello? How can I help you?"
Steve gave her a small smile.
"I'm looking for a guy named Joules. He runs an apothecary in this village, and I kinda got lost trying to find it. Do you know where it is?"
The woman suddenly looked confused as she processed his words for a moment.
"You're...you're looking for a man named Joules, correct?"
Steve nodded as the other stared at him with a bit of a worried gaze.
"...We...we don't have an apothecary in this village."
Shock appeared on Steve's face as the other's words processed themselves within his currently broken brain.
No apothecary? Where had he been taken, then?
"But...he lives in this village, right? Joules?" He asked nervously, a bit of panic beginning to set in.
The woman thought to herself for a moment before shaking her head.
"I've heard about him being around here before, but I'm not sure about where he lives. Maybe he travels here from one of the other Lunarian villages, since they have some apothecaries here and there?"
Finding himself rather upset with her answer, Steve let out a sigh of defeat.
"I...I'll keep searching for him, then. Sorry for the intrusion."
The woman waved him off with a small laugh in response.
"It's okay! Just be safe out there, alright?"
Waving her goodbye, Steve turned away from the building, moving to walk down the streets in silence once again.
…
Now what the hell was he supposed to do?
He was alone in a foreign place, having been supposedly tricked by one of the locals there. He didn't know where an inn was, he was totally lost, and, probably worst of all, he was on a time limit. An unspecified one that could very much be shortened within a moment's notice, but a time limit, nonetheless. With him giving Herobrine the potion in the first place, he could've completely ruined their plans entirely if the other was being actively harmed by the substance, despite his earlier words saying otherwise.
He knew damn well not to have let his guard down around Joules. Now, he was bearing the consequences for his actions.
Too overwhelmed by his own thoughts, he didn't even notice it when the sound of his own name began to come within earshot. The more he came back into reality, the louder the sound of his name became, and the more familiar the voice of the man who was yelling it became as well.
"Steve! There you are!"
Turning around, Steve was met with the sight of Joules, this time with a small bag hung over his shoulder.
He didn't know how to feel with the sight of the other, so he settled with slight frustration.
"Joules! It might've been nice to know where you were gonna be, y'know?" He said with an annoyed tone in his voice as he approached the other.
Joules let out a nervous laugh as he reached the miner.
"S-sorry. It only dawned on me after you left that you might've not been able to fully memorize the way to my shop after a single visit. I apologize."
The man bowed before him, bag nearly touching the floor before he shot back up abruptly, causing the miner to flinch. An expression of worry overtook Joules's face.
"That's nothing, though. What about you? Are you okay? Did I stress you out? How's your friend, did he take the potion? How's he feeling?"
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the rapid questions, Steve took a moment to compose himself again before taking the bottle that he'd received and presenting it to the other.
"Yeah, about that...he…" Steve let out a small sigh. "He passed out after drinking it. What the hell did you-"
He was interrupted by the other grabbing the bottle from his hand with an apologetic smile on his face.
"I forgot to explain! I'm so sorry for causing you to get so stressed. You see, if he passed out, that means it's working."
Confused, Steve raised a brow at the man.
"...What?"
Joules let out a small laugh.
"In order to maximize the healing effects, I mixed the compound with heavy amounts of purified lavender and natural anesthetic in order to induce sleep. To put it simply, while the body rests, the wound heals! Your friend will wake up soon enough, don't worry."
With a sigh of relief, Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest in a relaxed manner.
"Thank goodness! I thought I killed him. I thought you killed him."
Joules looked at him with a softened expression.
"...He must've been hurt pretty badly, yes? Stab wounds are utterly nasty."
Steve nodded his head, though his expression was soon overtaken by slight confusion.
"...Did I say it was a stab wound?" He thought out loud, soon after thinking back to his previous conversations with the other.
Joules suddenly appeared quite embarrassed with his words, shaking his head excessively.
"I-I only assumed! I've only ever heard of internal damage that requires the usage of potions being caused by cuts and stuff like that, so…n-natural assumption, I'm sorry."
With suspicion appearing briefly in his gaze, Steve waved the other off with a feigned smile.
"I get that! It's easy to jump to conclusions, and you were right, anyways. He was stabbed."
Joules looked somewhat relieved at his answer which only helped to raise Steve's suspicion further.
"Ah. Ouch. Do you need any further assistance with him? Maybe I can help him out more if we were face-to-face?"
Before Steve could absent-mindedly agree to the other's help, he froze as he realized how poorly that situation may have played out.
He didn't know exactly who Joules was. Sure, he was giving off the impression of wanting to help him, but who was to say that was his true intentions? What if he knew who he was? What if he knew about Herobrine's involvement with him? What if he was a champion himself, and wanted to use his knowledge to take advantage of him?
In addition to those scenarios, Herobrine and the others were making preparations with the mobs, how would Joules even react to that?
Shaking his head, Steve let out a nervous chuckle.
"No, he's...he's already doing better. I have other friends who are taking care of him right now, I think they got this!"
With a small nod of understanding and a slight glint of disappointment in his eyes, Joules then gave the miner a quick smile.
"Of course. But now, if he doesn't need any help, do you? You came back for me, didn't you?"
Steve nodded.
"I...uh, I came to ask about the potion, but...by any chance, do you know where an inn is?"
Joules nodded his head eagerly.
"Yes! But…" His expression fell into one of slight annoyance. "The festival brought a lot of people here. The inns here are likely all booked up at the moment. Every one I've stopped by has had several people leaving through the front doors of the inns while complaining about the lack of space."
Steve let out a sigh as disappointment filled his gaze.
"...That's...well, that sucks."
Joules nodded, leaving him in silence for a moment as he looked at the miner's saddened face with a bit of sadness on his own. Suddenly, his expression lit up as he grabbed the miner's shoulders, as well as his attention, once again.
"I have a solution to that! If you don't mind the mess, you can hang out with me! I have an extra room in my house for guests, and I always keep that one tidy, at least!" Joules froze, embarrassment soon finding its way onto his face. "T-that is, if you want to stay, of course! It might not be comfortable for you to stay with a stranger, and all..."
Though suspicion filled his gut in an alarming way, Steve nodded at the other's abrupt offer.
"Y-yeah, I'll accept that offer! How much do you want in return for it?"
Happy with his reply, Joules let out a laugh.
"Nothing! I offered you the room!"
Disbelief appeared on Steve's face.
"You...you can't just give everything away for free!"
"Yes I can! And I will."
Clapping his hands together, Joules gestured for the miner to follow him.
"C'mon, let me show you to your room. Be sure to remember the way there this time just in case, alright?"
Following after the other closely, Steve watched his surroundings as Joules brought him back towards his home.
Strangely enough, his surroundings were quite familiar.
…
It quickly dawned on him that Joules had led him right back to the alleyway he'd just searched through. As the other brought him back, the sight of the old door from before, now back exactly where it had been earlier, gave Steve a certain feeling of psychic damage that utterly broke his brain as he tried to explain what had just happened to himself.
How did he miss that door? Did he step into the wrong alleyway at first, and this one was just similar to another? No, this building was a distinct shade of light grey, and there was a pile of wood near the place that was there prior, right in the same location, which was just a couple feet away from the front door. The door was big enough and distinct enough from the wall, there was no chance in hell that he'd just miss it like that.
Bewildered, Steve allowed the other to take himself into the old apothecary, following Joules into a room that sat off to the side of the main shop. Within that room was a small kitchen and a flight of stairs, leading up to a second floor where three more rooms laid.
Pointing to the one closest to the stairway, Joules smiled at him kindly.
"This one will be your room, alright? Sorry it's next to the stairs, but I promise that the creaking won't be too bad, alright?" He said with a smile.
Steve waved him off playfully.
"It's fine! I don't get bothered by stuff like that."
Opening the door as he spoke, Steve soon found himself being met with the sight of a noticeably tidy, quaint little space.
A bed covered with plush, white sheets sat diagonally in the corner of the room, while large bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling sat firm against one of the walls across from it, covering that wall completely with a large collection of books held upon their various shelves. A wooden table with a small lantern was placed next to the bed underneath a large window, which, as the miner approached it, led out to the sight of the plaza that they'd met in. A small writing desk was sitting next to the door as Steve turned around to look at the man who'd offered the space with thankful eyes.
"This is perfect! Thank you so much, Joules! Are you sure I can't give you anything in return?" He asked eagerly, waiting for the other's response.
Joules shook his head, giving him a gentle smile.
"Nothing except your happiness. I'm glad you like it, Steve."
The way the other spoke calmed his entire being in a manner that genuinely shocked him to his core. His tone was kind, loving even, as he looked at him with an expression that matched it. It was almost like he cast a spell to calm his fears and confusion, and honestly, Steve didn't necessarily find himself minding if the other actually did, somehow.
Giving him a small, thankful nod, Steve began to take off his backpack.
"If you say so, then. I'll keep it as tidy as I found it, alright?"
Joules shook his head.
"Don't worry about that. You're in my house. Just relax and leave the housekeeping to me."
Turning to walk away with a quick wave, Joules left the miner alone within the room.
Watching the other leave, Steve soon went to, as carefully as he could, close the door in order to give himself more privacy.
Moving over to the bed, Steve sat down upon it almost carelessly, only to find himself startled as he sank a bit into the surface of the sheets. They were very, very plush and soft, to his general surprise, almost immediately beckoning him to sink into their hold to sleep. Fighting it off, however, Steve instead chose to stare up at the ceiling with a blank stare.
He was still bothered by the door from earlier, but his thoughts soon shifted over to Joules, who had earned his full attention. Who even was Joules? A potion maker, sure, but who was he?
He'd helped Steve without hesitation, for free, and wanted nothing in return except his "happiness." Who even said something like that? What kind of a person would even want payment in happiness like that? It was irking him how genuinely nice the other seemed to be, and despite his body telling him to do otherwise, he was fighting himself to believe that Joules was, indeed, just genuinely nice for the sake of being genuinely nice. He owned the other that much, but his growing suspicion was preventing him from fully accepting the other as he was. Apart from that, it was starting to annoy him how familiar the man seemed to be to him, despite just meeting him earlier that day.
Why did he feel that way? What was going on with him?
What was preventing him from seeing Joules as being Joules? What exactly was bugging him so?
Annoyed with himself, Steve stood back up in order to grab his backpack that he'd left against the small desk in the room, searching through its contents absent-mindedly for his journal. Pulling it out, he placed the book on the desk, along with his quill and ink.
….
He didn't know what exactly to write. His brain was still being actively broken.
I managed to post on time, let's goooooooo!!!
Apologies for the phone update, though. Even though I'm using the same writing program for this chapter (Google Docs lol) my phone autocorrect literally skips over mind-numbing errors, so if I've missed anything, that's why T_T I also didn't have my usual bird's eye view (and by that, I mean my laptop bc it helps me to find errors on a larger scale), so there's that XD For some reason, despite being literally the same writing program, Docs mobile spots entirely different spelling and grammar errors than the usual Docs on a computer.
Sorry for any formatting issues as well, lol. I tried doing what I usually do for converting files, but apparently moving things on mobile only allows like, half of the chapter to be placed into the doc manager T_T Had to save the fic into PDF format, upload it, THEN go through everything again to add all the bold and italic parts -_-
Anyways, now we're getting into Lunarus! Well, part of it, anyway. A small city on its outer physical circle ain't a bad place to start lol. I've been debating with myself on how I want to handle the place, and I think that the best course of action here is to, once again, have the place be covered over the course of a few chapters. When I TELL you that I wanted to have everything happen in like, a chapter or two at most, I was seriously considering it XD but I soon realized that what occurs in Lunarus needs to happen at a steady pace so that it has like, a big impact lol. Things will be picking up soon enough, and the real "Understanding" that Steve gets a hold of will come into play! I'm really excited here, idk how I'm gonna handle this like I've been wanting to! :P
In the meantime, another fav character of mine has joined the fray! Meet Joules, a strange ally who hates the champion movement with a passion lol. He's taken a liking to Steve! He's also not exactly who he seems to be :P. I like drawing him a bit, he's fun!
Anyhoooo, fun facts!
1.) Lunarus is massive. Like, really massive. Being the center of Minecraftia, it spans for quite a bit of land, and consists of three areas: the outer circle border villages, the middle circle villages, and the inner city, which surrounds the castle. The gang finds themselves currently within the outer circle, next to one of the many villages there.
2.) There's a reason why it's better to use Ender pearls to teleport instead of the whole enderman lol. Less amount of chances to be killed, to be specific.
3.) Yes, Maxwell is messing around in the Overworld lmao. His ego is massive and he loves praise and acknowledgement wherever he goes, and where else could you get those things readily available other than from humans? Of course, that ain't the only reason why he's down there, but still!
4.) Joules is a complete science nerd named after a science concept.
5.) Speaking of science nerds, Joules is a relatively notable potion-maker! His services are kept under wraps by his clients due to the potential laws he might be breaking due to him using some Nethren ingredients, lol.
Anyways, that's it for now! Leave a review if you have any thoughts!
