Jack sighed happily and stood on the small shore overlooking the vast ocean, his hands confidently placed on his hips. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of fresh sea air. Then, he turned his head around to look back at the two people who were lagging behind. "Come on, slowpokes!," he teased. "Don't tell me you guys are already exhausted! Heh, and you two call yourselves adventurers?" His two friends finally caught up with him, panting heavily with sweat pouring down their faces. One was an old man with a white beard. He was dressed in a blue hooded robe with goggles on top of his head. The other person was a young woman with dark yellow hair that was tied into a messy ponytail, and slightly dark skin. The most noticeable thing about her, however, was the strange, prismarine gauntlet that was stuck on her arm.
"Well, excuse me, Jack," the bearded man huffed tiredly. "Not all of us are lucky enough to be naturally gifted with absurdly monstrous stamina." Jack chuckled. "Come on, Vos, don't be such a sourpuss," he said goodnaturedly. "Exercise is good for you! Or did none of your books ever tell you that?" "If this is what exercise is like," Vos retorted, "then yes, I would very much prefer to spend my spare time in a library." Jack chuckled before turning to the only female of the group and playfully slapping her on the back. "What about you, Sammy?," he asked. "Are you up for a little adventure?" Sammy glared up at Jack while breathing heavily, her hands on her knees. "You suck, Jack," she sighed tiredly. "Ouch," Jack said jokingly, holding his hand to his chest in mock pain. "Man, I'm surrounded by wimps. Come on guys, where's your sense of adventure?" "In case you've forgotten, this isn't supposed to be a fun little trip like you're making it out to be," said Vos. "We're only going to that sea temple in order to get that Structure Block and cover up the Pit before it spits out more mobs." "I still don't like that name," said Jack, his forehead scrunching up. "Pit. Sounds more like a bathroom stop than anything else."
Suddenly, the gauntlet on Sammy's arm began to glow. "Saaammyyy," a faint whisper echoed in her ears. Jack eyed the gauntlet suspiciously. "Yeah, we're definitely close now," he said. "But how on earth are we going to get to the sea temple?," asked Vos. "I mean, the entire structure is underwater and protected by guardians." Jack chuckled. "Vos, old buddy," he said. "You forgot who you're talking to. I ALWAYS come prepared." He took out three diving helmets and gave two of them to Vos and Sammy while putting the third one over his head. Vos and Sammy did the same with their helmets. Then, Jack proceeded to dig a small hole in the sand, place a chest in it, fill it up with some spare helmets, then cover the hole back up again. "Just in case we need to come back here," Jack explained, not knowing that in the near future, he won't EVER want to return to this place ever again. "Alright, you guys ready?" "About as ready as we can be," replied Vos, while Sammy gave a thumbs up. "Okay, then," said Jack. "Let's do this." The three of them dived into the water and let themselves slowly sink to the bottom. "Let's see… it's gotta be this way," said Jack, pointing in a seemingly random direction. "Excuse me, Jack, but how do you know that's where we are supposed to go?," asked Vos. "Intuition," Jack said casually, shrugging his shoulders. The three of them swam in that direction until a large castle made of prismarine was finally in their sights. "Wow...it's beautiful…," said Sammy.
"And deadly," said Jack. "Look." He pointed at what appeared to be dark blobs moving around the temple. When the blobs came closer, the three of them were finally able to see what they were. "Guardians!," cried Sammy. "Get down!," yelled Vos. The group quickly swam down, just in time to avoid a laser shooting out of the eye of one of the guardians. "Swim to the temple as fast as you can!," Jack ordered. The three of them swam towards the temple while narrowly dodging lasers cutting through the water. However, when they arrived at the temple's front gate, they couldn't get it to open. "We're locked outside!," yelled Vos. The group turned around and saw the entire group of enraged guardians swimming towards them. "Take cover!," yelled Jack, ducking his head. However, Sammy had something different in mind. She noticed a small hole in the wall, which seemed to fit the size of her gauntlet, and she knew that it couldn't be a mere coincidence. As the guardians got closer, she decided to take the risk and punch the gauntlet into the hole. A giant shockwave emanated from the temple, killing off every guardian in the surrounding area, while also opening the gate. Jack and Vos slowly turned to Sammy, who was staring at the gauntlet in shock. "...you know, this gauntlet's really starting to grow on me," she said. "Heh, you can say that again," said Jack. "Man, that was freaking awesome."
Once the group swam into the temple, a bunch of sponges popped up from the temple floor, quickly absorbing all of the water. This allowed Jack, Vos, and Sammy to finally take off their diving helmets. "Whoo!," Jack sighed, feeling the refreshingly cold air touching his face. "I don't know about you guys, but wearing these helmets really makes you appreciate fresh, open air." Sammy suddenly started giggling. "Vos, look at your beard," she snickered. Jack looked as well and burst into laughter. Vos' helmet was so stifling that his beard had now become puffy and frizzled, almost like he was electrocuted. "Oh, ha ha, very funny," Vos huffed, smoothing his beard back out. "Just wait until both of you reach MY age. Then we'll see who's laughing." After that fun little moment, the group made their way through the temple and eventually came across a long bridge. Standing on both sides of the bridge were giant prismarine statues, bigger than any other statue that they had ever seen. And as the group walked across the bridge, they began to notice something. "Guys...I think these statues are looking at us," Sammy whispered nervously. "W-what?," Vos chuckled nervously. "Now that's nonsense. Statues can't do that." "Not normal statues anyway," Jack murmured, eyeing said statues with suspicion. Fortunately, the statues didn't do anything else and the group was able to make it across safely.
But alas, their luck was about to run out. The group soon came upon another room, and quickly hid behind some pillars when they saw that the room was filled with elder guardians, glowing obsidian, and...floating water? "Floating water?," Vos murmured. "But that's impossible. That's defying the very laws of physics!" "Do you think this could be because of the…?," Sammy asked uncertainly. Jack shook his head vehemently. "No," he said firmly. "No way. The Admin is NOT real, guys. You need to start learning to differentiate fiction from reality." "But Jack," said Vos, "considering what we're seeing right now, we may need to consider that-" "Damn it Vos, you're supposed to be the smart one," Jack groaned. "There's no such thing as the Admin! He's just some fairy tale that someone cooked up to tell their children before tucking them into bed or something!" "Why are you so adamant on not believing in the Admin?," asked Sammy, slightly bewildered by how violently Jack was reacting against the very idea of the Admin's existence. "Because I refuse to believe that there's someone out there who's controlling my life!," Jack retorted angrily. Unfortunately, the group unwittingly gave away their hiding spot with their petty arguing, causing one of the guardians to shoot a laser at the pillar that they were hiding behind. The pillar broke in half and toppled down, forcing them to run out into the open before they were crushed to death. Another guardian shot a laser directly at Sammy, who was unable to react to the oncoming attack. "SAMMY!," Jack and Vos cried out, too far away to do anything.
The laser struck Sammy directly in the chest and came out on the other side. When the laser dissipated, there was now a large, gaping hole in Sammy's body. Sammy slowly looked down at the hole in her chest, which was leaking blood and all sorts of other various fluids, then looked up at Jack and Vos. "Help...me…," she managed to croak out, before finally dying from her wounds. In a single puff of smoke, she was gone, leaving behind nothing but her items floating an inch above the ground. "Oh god...oh god…," whispered Vos, his face as pale as snow. Jack was no better, rooted in place while staring at Sammy's items as if he was stuck in a trance. Suddenly, a massive gust of wind began blowing throughout the room, even though the entire temple was underwater and there was no way that wind could possibly enter it. The wind was so strong that Jack suddenly found himself being pushed out of the room, no matter how much he tried to fight against it. For some reason, the wind was blowing Vos in the opposite direction, forcing him deeper into the temple. "Vos!," yelled Jack, reaching out in a futile effort to get his friend back. "VOS!" Vos yelled something back, but by then, the wind was so loud that Jack couldn't hear a single thing come out of his mouth. Finally, Jack was sweeped off of his feet and sent flying back through the corridors, painfully crashing into walls along the way. At one point, something sharp, probably a small chunk of prismarine, embedded itself into Jack's eye, causing him to scream in pain. After what felt like forever, he was spit out of the temple and back into the water like an apple seed. But unfortunately for him, it didn't stop there.
A giant whirlpool suddenly appeared out of nowhere, dragging Jack through the water like a broken rag doll. Jack could've sworn that he heard what sounded like male laughter. After a while, the whirlpool spit him out of the ocean and back onto the small island, where he laid motionlessly for hours on end, fresh blood leaking out of his empty eye socket. Whatever force was inside that temple decided to spare him, though he had no idea why. The only thing that Jack was sure of was that he was never going to be the same man ever again.
Meanwhile, in the deepest, darkest part of the sea temple...Vos was screaming.
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"Oh wow," said Petra, admiring the items. "'The Upper Lowlands?' 'Spider-Peak Mountain?' 'The Ice Crags of Doom?'" "Eh, I've seen better," said Ghost, trying to sound unimpressed even though he looked just as excited as Petra. "This is pretty cool," Alex said, looking around. "I don't even recognize some of these items." "It's just like I told you," said Petra excitedly. "Jack might be the best adventurer in town!" "See Petra?," asked Jesse. "Beacontown has some pretty cool stuff too, huh?" "Oh," said Petra, rubbing the back of her head. "Uh, well I mean what's cool about all of this is that it...isn't...from Beacontown, though. But you've got a good point - This is a big win for Beacontown." Jesse noticed a button on the counter with a sign that said "PUSH FOR SERVICE." He pushed the button, which made a ding sound.
At first, nothing happened. "Welcome to Jack & Nurm's Adventure Emporium," said a voice. They turned and saw a man leaning against a bookshelf, his back facing them. Petra made an unintelligible squealing sound before clearing her throat and placing her hands on her hips. "I mean, sup," she said. Alex tried hard not to burst into laughter right then and there. "You pushed the button," said Jack, still facing away from them. "Very, very brave."
"I mean, I don't know how brave it was, I was just doing what the sign said," said Jesse. "Ha," Jack barked. "There are lots of 'signs' in the world; not everyone's brave enough to follow them." They looked at each other in confusion, then looked back and were shocked when they couldn't see him anymore. "Oh shit," whispered Ghost, sweating bullets. "He's a ghost!" Alex glanced at him and was about to ask him why he was so afraid of ghosts if his own name was literally "Ghost" when they heard Jack's voice again. "The Warriors of the Whispering Mountain call me 'The Stab-Walker'," he said, now on the other side of the room but still not facing us. "The Air Titans of the East call me 'He Who Slashes Like Thunder.' But you may call me...Jack." Jack finally turned around, revealing himself to be a gruff looking man with a small beard, unruly yellow hair, and a single blind eye. "I have lots of names too," Jesse suddenly spoke up. "The people of Sky City call me the Ground-Finder. To some I'm the Wither Slayer. You can call me…" He flexed his arms rather pitifully. "...Jesse." Ghost let out a loud laugh at the display, which he quickly disguised as a coughing fit. "Cool names," said Jack, nodding.
He walked behind the counter. "So what can I do for you today? Desert temple?" Alex went forward and placed her arm on the counter, showing him the gauntlet. "Woodland manssAIE- Whoa!" She blinked at his reaction. "Uh...yeah," she said. "That's what we're here for." "Wow, huh," Jack replied shakily. "Crazy glove you got there. Not that I've ever seen one before." "Jack, look at yourself," said Jesse. "We know you're lying. Why?" "Yeah, uh, be straight with us," said Petra, trying to make her voice deeper. "Um. Daddy-o." Alex inwardly cringed at Petra's attempt to sound cool. "Tone it down, will you?," she whispered to her, causing her to blush and look down awkwardly. "I...That is…," said Jack, unsure on where to start. He sighed and started pacing around the room. "Found it on top of a creepy bottomless pit, right?," he asked. "Spitting out monsters?" "Actually, it was just one monster," Alex corrected. Jack raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Just one?" "It was freaking massive!," Ghost boomed, startling all of us. "It was like a zombie, but a billion blocks tall!" "Mmmore like twelve or thirteen," Alex said. "And it had a slot with, like, a weird symbol?," said Jesse. Jack shook his head gravely. "You should have never picked up that gauntlet…," he said, giving them a stern glare.
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Alex notched another arrow and aimed it below the other guardian, then noticed that Jack had not thrown his sponge yet. He was too busy staring at what appeared to be a pile of items floating next to him. "Jack? Jack!," said Petra. "Jesse we've got a Jack problem!" Jesse quickly grabbed another sponge and threw it at the water in front of Jack. The guardian flopped uselessly on the ground and was quickly finished off by Alex's arrows. They all ran towards Jack, who was still staring at the items. "I'm...I'm so sorry," he sniffed, holding back tears.
Jesse, however, was unphased by how Jack was acting. In fact, he only seemed mildly irritated. "Hey, care to explain yourself Jack?," he said irritably. "Jesse!," Alex snapped. "Have a little more tact, will you? Jack's going through trauma right now!" "I don't have to explain… Ugh!," Jack groaned. "You're right. I really messed up. I'm really sorry everyone. That pile of inventory there? That was my friend Sammy." They all sadly looked down at the inventory, now understanding what Jack was going through. Jesse looked down in shame upon realizing how cold he was acting. He had lost a best friend too, so he should've known better.
"I'm...so sorry, Jack," Alex said weakly. "No! I don't need your pity!," said Jack. "I don't...I don't deserve it. I need to be alone right now. Whatever's left of Vos...must be somewhere down here too…" He picked up the items and walked away, hoping to find some space to think.
Alex saw Jack standing in a dark corner by himself while clutching Sammy's inventory to his chest and walked towards him. "Are you alright, Jack?," she asked. "Don't really feel like being talked to right now, Alex," said Jack. "I'm brooding." "Yeah, I can see that," Alex said. "Look...I know how you feel-" "Do NOT say that," Jack suddenly growled, turning to face her. "You do NOT know how I feel. Look at you. You've got everything. You're a famous hero, you're surrounded by friends, and you're even smooching with the mayor! I, on the other hand, am just some has been who people barely even remember. I saw my best friend die right in front of me and all I got left is my shop and ol' Nurm. You think you know how I feel? You DON'T."
He sighed. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to snap at you. Just had a lot of stuff to get off my chest." "It's okay," Alex said, relatively unphased by his outburst. "But you're wrong, by the way. After what you just said, I'm convinced that I know EXACTLY how you feel." Jack raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "I wasn't always this big hero, you know? Heck, I didn't even know how to use a bow back then. As a young teenager, I didn't have the support of anyone and I was constantly living in fear. I met this one guy and I thought we had something, but…" She shook her head. "...he wasn't as, well, pleasant as I thought."
"And if you think becoming friends with Jesse and the gang put an end to all that, think again," she continued. "Although I was finally making a better life for myself, I still had to confront my past. And with the help of my friends, I did." Jack snorted. "So what, does that make us best buddies?," he asked. "I watched my friends die too," Alex said, my face hardening. "Back when we first met the Old Builders." Jack's brow furrowed. "You mean the Games?," he asked. "Didn't that place have these things called 'respawn zones?'" "Yeah," Alex said, nodding. "But I didn't know that when we first arrived. So when I saw my friends poof into dust in front of my eyes, I legitimately thought they were dead. I lost control of myself at that moment and...hurt someone who didn't deserve it, because I couldn't keep my emotions in check." "But that's different," Jack pointed out. "Your friends came back in the end. I'll never see MY friends ever again." "Maybe," Alex said. "But what I'm trying to say is that I do know what you're going through. I've experienced it too. And I don't want you to think that it's your fault either. Trust me, I've gone through the same phase myself and I don't want anyone else to feel the same way I did, that it was all my fault and that I could have done something to prevent it."
"But I COULD have prevented it," Jack argued. "I could've found some other way to get that gauntlet off Sammy's arm than going to this damned temple. Hell, I could've dragged her away from that gauntlet in the first place." "That doesn't matter," Alex said sternly. "What's done is done. Constantly torturing yourself by asking these what-ifs over and over again won't change anything. You care about Sammy and Vos, don't you?"
Jack glared at her. "What kind of question is that?," he asked angrily. "Of course I care about them! They were like family to me!" "Exactly," Alex said. "You only had the best intentions for them. You and your friends went to this temple to help Sammy get rid of the gauntlet. You didn't know it was going to end that badly. You didn't PURPOSELY lead them into some kind of trap. You were just trying to help them. And if your friends were still alive and here right now, I have no doubt in my mind that they would agree." Jack stared at her for a moment, then sighed heavily and looked down at his feet. "I don't know," he muttered. "I'm still not sure about that. But...you've definitely given me a lot to think about. Thanks."
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"Hey Alex!," Jack hollered, suddenly jogging towards Alex, who slightly jumped in surprise, not expecting the sudden intrusion. "Hi Jack," she said. "Is there...something you need?" Jack seemed unsure on what to say next. Nurm walked up to him and softly bumped into him to snap him out of it. "When I saw the Admin-teleport, er, take, y'know, it was, uh…" He rubbed his arm awkwardly, his face red. "Well it was…" "Jack?," Alex asked, concerned.
Jack finally swallowed his pride and looked her in the eye. "I'm trying to say that I was worried about you, okay? I was...I was scared. After what happened with V- not-Vos, y'know, and then Petra, and uh…" Alex walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay, Jack," she said softly. "It's alright to be afraid. So am I. But I promise that I'm going to get us out of here." "Yeah. Yeah I know you will," said Jack, sounding very nervous for some reason. "Oh! And, uh...I thought about what you told me...back at the sea temple." Alex blinked in confusion, her memory a little muddied. "Which was..?" "You know," said Jack, grimacing uncomfortably. "About how Vos and Sammy being dead wasn't really my fault…"
"Oh...are you still hung up about that?," Alex asked sadly. "A little," Jack sighed. "But...I still want to thank you. I realized that I never thanked you back at the sea temple, so...thank you." "It's no big deal," Alex said, a little flustered. Jack shook his head, however. "No Alex, you don't get it. It IS a big deal. To me, anyway." He sighed again, looking as if the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders. "Look, I never told anyone about this, but...Vos and Sammy weren't my only friends back then. And before you ask, I still hadn't met Nurm yet." Alex closed her mouth and listened intently. "After Vos and Sammy died," Jack continued, "I found out that my other friends aren't really my friends after all. They blamed me for their deaths and said that if I hadn't led them to the temple, Vos and Sammy would still be alive."
"...Jack," Alex whispered, her voice cracking. "Let me finish," said Jack, barely holding himself together. "What I'm trying to say is...you're the only one besides Nurm who said otherwise." "...I had no idea you went through that," Alex said softly. "I'm so sorry." "You got nothing to be sorry for," said Jack. "Just wanted to get that off my chest." He paused, then suddenly hugged Alex tightly. After a while, he let go and walked back to the rest of the group with Nurm, his face tomato red. Alex just stood there, shocked by what just transpired.
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Ramus noticed the troubled expression on his wife's face. "Isa, is something wrong?," he asked worriedly. Isa sighed heavily. "Nothing. It's just...was it really wise to adopt her without even consulting me first?," she asked. "What are you talking about?," asked Ramus. "I thought you wanted a child. You've always talked about wanting to have kids with me." "Yes, I know," said Isa. "But I don't think I'm ready. This is happening so fast. I never expected you to bring home a baby today. What if I turn out not to be a good mother?"
Ramus sat down next to Isa and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Isa, you don't have to worry about that," he assured her. "I know you're going to be a great mother. I started having doubts of my own back at the temple, so I know how you feel. Being a parent for the first time...having that realization finally sink in...it's terrifying. I won't sugarcoat it. Whether we like it or not, we'll always be worrying about Lucy as she grows up. As a baby, we'll worry that she may crawl out of her crib and injure herself. As a teenager, we'll worry that she might have her heart broken by a boy. As an adult, we'll worry that she won't be able to take care of herself. Yes, parenthood is not going to be easy, but…" He reached over and his fingers intertwined with Isa's. "...we'll never know if we don't try, right?"
Isa smiled and kissed Ramus on the cheek. "No, we won't," she said, then stared down at Lucy, who was sucking her little thumb in her sleep. "Ramus...have you told your friends that you're visiting me right now?" Ramus winced apologetically. "Sorry dear, but...I haven't quite told them yet. I'll break the news to them in about a month, I promise." "That's exactly what you said last month," Isa sighed. "And the month before that. And the month before that. Ramus, why are you so keen on hiding our marriage from them? We've been together for three years, and the Order of the Stone still doesn't even know my name." Ramus awkwardly rubbed the back of his head uneasily. "Isa, if you don't mind...I'd rather not talk about it."
Isa opened her mouth to say something back, but decided not to push it, certain that Ramus would tell her once he was ready. "Alright then," she conceded. "Still, you should tell them sooner or later. The worst case scenario would be them finding out on their own and realizing that you've been lying to them." "Yes, I'll tell them soon," Ramus promised. If Isa had looked closer, she would have noticed him hiding one of his hands behind his back and crossing his fingers. "So you named her Lucy, huh?," said Isa, stroking the sleeping baby's hair. "That's a beautiful name." "It sure is, my dear," said Ramus, smiling at Lucy. "It sure is."
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Unbeknownst to the rest of the Order, Ellegaard had been exchanging letters with Isa for a long time now. The two of them met quite by chance. Ellegaard was shopping for some brand new redstone repeaters to replace her old ones, while Isa was shopping for wheat and eggs. By some crazy coincidence, the two of them did their shopping in the same marketplace on the exact same day, and they ended up bumping into each other and spilling their newly bought items. After some fervent apologies and helping each other pick up their belongings, Ellegaard introduced herself and Isa immediately exclaimed, "I've heard about you!" At first, that was no surprise to the redstone engineer, since plenty of people had heard about her due to her fame in the world of redstone machinery. But then, Isa continued with, "Ramus told me all about you." That definitely caught her off guard. Since Ramus was not an official member of the Order, very few people knew about him, let alone actually spoke to him. Ellegaard grew curious and asked her how she knew Ramus. Imagine her surprise when she learned that Isa was actually Ramus' wife. "Ramus never told us that he had a wife before," she said in surprise.
Isa rolled her eyes. "Of course he didn't," she sighed. "Ramus doesn't want his work life to mix with his personal life, or at least, that's what he told me. It took a whole year before he even told me about you guys." After that, the two of them bonded very well and ended up talking to each other until night fell and the marketplace began to close down. Both of them were surprised by how much time had passed. "It was very nice to meet you, Isa," said Ellegaard. "I only wish we could see each other more often." Isa nodded slowly. "But we won't," she said in a sad voice. "Ramus wouldn't allow it." The two of them grew melancholy for a moment before Isa had a bright idea. "You know, we don't have to physically see each other to get to know each other more," she said. "You can go back home now. You'll know what I mean by tonight."
So Ellegaard went back to the temple and waited, wondering what Isa could possibly have meant. By about midnight, a bat flew into her room, nearly giving her a heart attack in the process. Tied to the bat was a roll of paper. Ellegaard remembered untying the paper, sending the bat on its way, and reading what was written on it: "So did it work?"
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Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Isa was last visited by Ramus and Lucy. They didn't even send a letter telling her they were alright. Isa spent most of her nights laying in bed wide awake, fear and paranoia plaguing her thoughts. Finally, she could stand it no more. She had to make sure that her family was alive and well, even if she had to run all the way to the Order's temple. Screw Ramus' insistence on not wanting Isa to be seen by his friends! She was going to find out what happened to him and Lucy even if it killed her!
As luck would have it, it was raining heavily and lightning was flashing across the sky, followed by peals of thunder. She was tired, drenched, hungry, and in danger of being attacked by mobs, but she still persisted. As Isa ran through a forest that was halfway between the temple and her own house, her ears suddenly started ringing and she grew incredibly nauseous. Her focus began slipping. Everything around her turned blurry.
As a result, she slipped on a mud puddle and banged her head against a nearby tree. She was instantly knocked unconscious. After a few hours, Isa finally woke up with a splitting headache. The sky was clear. The sun was shining. There wasn't a cloud in the sky…
...so why did something feel so...off? Isa quickly figured out why. The sky wasn't just above her. It was also below her. And next to her. It was all around her. She gasped and stood up, scanning her surroundings. Only there was none. Not a single block in sight. All she could see was a single tree...which she was currently standing on. Below the tree was a vast void of nothingness. "Wh...what is this place?," she whispered fearfully. "Where am I?"
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"Have we met?," Isa asked, studying Alex very closely. "You seem...awfully familiar to me." Alex shook her head in confusion. The Founder continued to observe her. Suddenly, her eyes bulged out and she stepped off the throne, walking towards her until she was practically right in front of her face. Alex nervously smiled. "Uh oh, she could be one of those obsessed fangirls who spend their time stalking people," said Kevin. "We'd better run before she locks us in a trunk." The Founder continued staring at her, like she was a goddess in her eyes. Finally, she spoke one word. It was enough to shake Alex's whole world. "...Lucy?"
Behind her, Lukas was staring at her like she grew a second head. Ivor's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, his eyes bulging out in the same manner as the Founder's. And meanwhile, Alex was so shocked that the word didn't reach her brain until five seconds later. "H-how do you know my name?," she asked. The Founder gave her a nurturing smile that could melt the heart of a zombie. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't know my own daughter's name?," she asked. ...wait...DAUGHTER?! "Now wait just a minute!," yelled Ivor, pointing an accusing finger at the Founder. "How can you be her mother when I don't even recognize you?!" The Founder glared at Ivor. "Do you mind?," she huffed. "Me and Lucy were just having a bonding moment. And who are you supposed to be, anyway?" "He's my uncle," Alex said, still shocked by what had transpired. "He's my dad's brother." The Founder looked thoughtful, then rolled her eyes. "Now it makes sense," she groaned. "Ramus was never comfortable in sharing his personal life. He didn't even have the decency to tell me he had a brother." "Woah, woah, woah!," yelled Lukas, waving his arms madly. "Just what the heck is going on here?!" The Founder glared at him and called for the guards. The ones from earlier entered the room and saluted. "Take these two to the dungeon," she ordered. The guards nodded and began to pull them away. "Wait a minute!," Alex cried. "You're not gonna hurt them, are you?"
"Don't worry, Lucy," said the Founder. "They'll just be staying in a cell for the time being. I'll decide what their punishment is later." After the guards exited the room with Ivor and Lukas in tow, the Founder squeed and gave Alex a crushing hug. "Crap, she's got you in a death grip, Alex!," screamed Kevin. "Get out before she smothers you with her gigantic boobs!" Kevin! Shut! The hell! Up!, Alex thought. Finally, she let her go, allowing her to breathe once again. "I can't believe it's you, Lucy!," she cried. "You grew so much since the last time I saw you! If only your father was here too!" Slowly, her smile died. "Where is your father? Isn't he with you?" Alex sadly shook her head. "I don't know where he is," she replied.
Slowly, the Founder sat on the throne, rubbing her forehead as if trying to soothe a headache. It wasn't long before she was smiling again. "Oh well," she said. "I still have my beloved daughter back. That's all that matters." "Um...Miss Founder?," Alex asked. The Founder blinked. "Isa," she said. "Isa…," Alex said, "...are you really my mother?" Isa looked hurt. "What do you mean?," she asked. "Of course I am. Lucy...don't you remember me?"
Alex looked at the floor mournfully. "I don't remember anything about my family," she muttered. She heard footsteps and felt Isa hugging her again. "It's alright, sweetie," she cooed. "I'm here for you now." Alex smiled and hugged her back, then realized that something didn't add up. "Wait a minute," she said, pulling herself out of her grasp. "How did you even get here? How did you become the Founder?" Isa looked down and sighed sadly.
"That's a very sad story, Lucy," she said. "When I heard that you and your father were missing, I immediately assumed the worst and headed towards Soren's fortress as fast as I could. But before I could get there, I tripped and hit my head on a tree. When I came to, I found myself on this tiny island with a single tree. Below me was nothing but air. I did my best to survive and eventually made a little colony all to myself. But I was miserable. I was all alone with no one to keep me company, and all I could think about was you."
Isa took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing. "It wasn't long before other people showed up on the island. They were just as scared and confused as I was. Since I was the first one here, they looked towards me for guidance. Together, we built Sky City and I became their ruler. Whenever I showed myself to the public, I would smile and wave to help them feel more safe and secure. But whenever I went to bed, I would cry myself to sleep… because I missed you so much." She sniffled and wiped away some tears.
"But everything's alright now," she said, smiling. "You're finally here. Really here, not just in my dreams." She frowned in confusion. "Wait, how are you here?" Alex told her everything that happened, including meeting the Order of the Stone, defeating the Witherstorm, and traveling to the Far Lands. However, she left out the parts with Kevin in it, mainly because she didn't want her mom's first impression of her to be a crazy person.
After she finished, Isa was staring at her, gobsmacked. "Well...it sounds like you had quite the adventure," she said. Alex giggled and rubbed her head bashfully. Isa looked out of a window and gasped. "It's already sundown," she said. "We must've been talking for hours. We should get you ready for dinner. I'll have some tailors make you a new outfit." Before Alex could respond, three tailors walked into the room and dragged her out of the room. Isa walked back to her throne and sat down with a loud sigh, unaware of a single tear running down her cheek.
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"Your mother lives here now?," asked Ramus, nervously playing with his thumbs. Alex nodded. "Yep! This is where she lives!," she exclaimed, pointing at the small, wooden house in front of them. "She used to live in a palace in the sky, but it got overrun with mobs." "I see…," said Ramus, slowly nodding. "And...you still don't know how she got up there?" Alex shook her head. "Nobody does," she said. "Everyone who ended up in Sky City just remembered passing out and waking up there. Not even Isaac knows." Ramus nodded again and wiped some sweat from his face. "I am so nervous," he said...well, nervously. "I haven't seen Isa in so long. What will she say? How will she act? How-?" Alex quickly hugged her father tightly. "It's going to be fine," she said comfortingly. "Okay?" "Right," said Ramus, trying to convince himself. "You're right. Everything will be fine." Alex smiled, then knocked on the door.
"Coming!," Isa called from the other side of the door. Ramus noticeably stiffened from hearing a voice that he never thought he'd ever hear. The door opened, revealing Isa wearing her golden headband, but instead of her yellow robe, she was wearing a turquoise shirt and white jeans. "Alex!," she cried happily, hugging her daughter. "Oh, you have no idea how worried I was when I heard you went off to fight some all powerful being! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Alex giggled. "I'm fine, mom," she said, hugging her back. "I...brought someone back, by the way. You might know him." "I do?," asked Isa, looking up. "Who could it b-?"
The woman's eyes widened in shock upon seeing what looked like a ghost from her past. Only it wasn't a ghost. It was a real, flesh and blood person. "Hello, sweetie," said Ramus, giving a nervous smile. "It's been a while." Isa slowly released herself from Alex, then walked towards her husband, not taking her eyes off of him. "R-Ramus?," she whispered.
"I found him, mom," said Alex, starting to cry with joy. "I-I found dad."
Isa began crying as well, though it wasn't from joy. Suddenly, she reared her hand back and gave Ramus the biggest slap in the face she could muster. SMACK! Ramus stared at his wife in shock, a red handprint beginning to form on his cheek. "...twenty years," Isa hissed, tears of anger streaming down her face. "You've been gone for TWENTY. YEARS. Do you have any idea what Alex and I have been through?!" "S-sweetie," Ramus whispered.
"Don't 'sweetie' me!," Isa yelled, causing everyone in the vicinity, including Milo, to stare at the strange spectacle. "We all thought you were DEAD! Do you have any idea how it felt when I heard the news that my husband and daughter were missing?!" "M-mom…," said Alex, taken aback by Isa's outburst. "Not now, Alex, I'm venting!," Isa snapped. "I cried myself to sleep every night because of you, Ramus! We were supposed to spend our anniversary together, but nooooo! You wanted to help Soren with his little experiment, and look what happened!"
By now, her face was wet with tears and her voice was growing weak. "A-and now you think you could just...w-waltz back into our lives like nothing happened? How could you-!" Before she could continue, Alex and Ramus hugged her tightly, cutting her off. "Isa, I am so sorry," Ramus whispered into her ear. "I swear, If I could turn back time and prevent that from happening, I would. But what's done is done, and we'll just have to make the best of it, alright?" "Dad's right, mom," Alex agreed. "The only thing that matters now is the present and future. We're a family again. We should be celebrating, not tearing old wounds."
Isa began crying softly, hugging them back. "I'm sorry, dear," she said to Ramus, her voice filled with guilt and shame. "It's just...this is so much to take in. I let my emotions get the best of me and I just...snapped. Please forgive me, both of you." "Sweetie," said Ramus, smiling sadly. "There's nothing to apologize for." "I know this is a lot to take in, mom," Alex spoke up, "so we'll explain everything to you." Isa nodded. "Of course," she said, letting them go and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Let's go into my house. We'll talk things out in there."
With that said, the three of them entered Isa's house, while everyone outside who heard the commotion went back to their daily routines. None of them realized that there was one person in the crowd who had been watching Alex, Ramus, and Isa with interest. He appeared to be a normal person at first glance, with fairly dark skin, a light blue shirt, and purple pants. However, if one looked very closely, they could almost see his eyes shifting from brown to pure white. What a happy and sad reunion, Herobrine thought in amusement, still staring at Isa's house. Happy because they are a family once more...and sad because it will not last forever. A vicious smile grew on his face. Not if I have anything to say about it.
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Jack sighed heavily and stood on the small shore overlooking the vast ocean, his arms slumped to his sides in morose resignation. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of fresh sea air. Then, he slowly turned his head around to look back at the three people who were still lagging behind while forcing a confident smile onto his face. "Come on, slowpokes!," he teased, waving them over with one hand. "Don't tell me you guys are already exhausted! Heh, and you three call yourselves adventurers?" Isa, Reginald, and Nurm finally caught up with him, and while Nurm and Reginald weren't too exhausted due to their active lifestyles, sitting around all day with not that much else to do had definitely taken a toll on Isa's fitness.
"Founder! Er, I mean, Isa! Are you alright?," asked Reginald, rubbing Isa's back. Isa, who was bent down with her hands on her knees, waved her hand to show that she was fine and eventually straightened back up, taking in deep breaths of air. "That was…*huff*...quite a long walk," she said. "Well, the sea temple wouldn't exactly be that much of a legend if it was right on your doorstep," said Jack. "Anyway, are you guys ready? The temple's probably nowhere near as dangerous as before with the Admin gone, but we can't be too sure." "Oh, we're more than ready," said Reginald, grinning and holding out his sword to show just how ready he was. Nurm hummed in agreement and nodded excitedly while Isa gave a thumbs up. Jack nodded. "Alright then," he said. "Let's get going. But first…" He began digging up a hole in the sand, revealing a chest that was buried there a long time ago. Jack opened the chest and took out four identical diving helmets. He gave three of them to Isa, Reginald, and Nurm, while keeping the remaining one for himself. "We're gonna need these to get to the sea temple," said Jack.
The four of them dove into the ocean and began swimming their way towards the sea temple. Fortunately, Isa and Reginald proved themselves to be pretty proficient swimmers and were able to keep up with Jack and Nurm in the water. Once they got to the sea temple, there were thankfully no guardians there to greet them. The group swam into the temple, and just like before, a bunch of sponges popped up from the temple floor, absorbing all of the water in nearly an instant. They took off their diving helmets and gave them all to Nurm, who stored them away in a leather bag that he was carrying with him. "So where do we go now?," asked Isa. "The item could be hidden anywhere inside this temple." "Well, this is just a wild guess," said Jack, "but I think we have to go to the room where we found the Structure Block. I don't really know any other place that Herobrine could've hidden it in." With that said, the group began silently walking through the temple hallways. Fortunately, it was much easier than the last two times, since with the Admin now dead, the statues that used to roam the temple have been reverted back to their frozen, lifeless states, and they had already killed off the elder guardians the last time they were here. And thanks to Jack's perfect sense of direction, they were able to navigate through the entire temple without any chance of getting lost. They eventually found themselves climbing up a set of stairs, but they were unaware that the end of the staircase led to a sudden drop. As a result, Nurm wasn't watching where he was going and found himself teetering on the edge.
"Nurm!," cried Jack, grabbing the villager's hand and pulling him to safety just in the nick of time. "You gotta watch where you're going, man!" Nurm hummed an apology. Isa carefully walked up to the edge of the staircase and looked down. Her eyes widened in shock. "Jack?," she asked. "Was this room like this when you and the others arrived here about a few months ago?" The room that they had just stumbled upon was the same room where the Structure Block was once held in. It used to be huge and majestic, with exquisite architecture and ancient writings on the walls. But now, while the room was still huge, it was no longer quite as "majestic" as it used to be. There were now giant holes in the walls, which seemed to have been created by something of massive size and strength. The entire room was now half filled with water that had entered the room through those holes. And at the very bottom, completely submerged in the dark and murky water, stood numerous statues with axes and spears gripped in their hands. Each of these statues were nowhere near as large as the ones that they had walked past on the bridge, but they were still about twice as tall as a normal human, and probably ten times heavier due to being sculpted out of prismarine. Fortunately, none of them were moving around and attacking them like last time, showing that Romeo's influence was indeed gone now.
Jack shook his head. "Naw, it wasn't like that at all," he said. "For one, there weren't any holes in the walls when we came here the last time. It wasn't flooded either, and there were no statues standing at the bottom." "So what happened here?," asked Reginald. "Well, things got a little...crazy when we went to get that Structure Block," said Jack, shrugging his shoulders. "The statues that you see underwater barged into the room, so we had to use the Structure Block to fend them off, then one of those very BIG statues - yeah, the same ones that we just walked past on that bridge - broke its way through that wall right here." He pointed at the wall on the right, which had a single, massive hole that was vaguely human shaped. "Then, it punched the ceiling, a bunch of water started pouring in, and we managed to escape in the end. Yeah, it was pretty hectic." Nurm hummed impatiently, causing Jack to raise an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me," he said. "We gotta keep our eyes peeled for that hidden item, whatever it might be. It's gotta be around here somewhere." With that said, the group stayed near the edge of the staircase and scanned the room with their eyes, trying to find the missing treasure that Herobrine took from the Order's treasure room. Fortunately, they had an eagle's view of the entire room, so it wasn't long before Jack finally spotted it. "Look, there it is!," he said, pointing at the water below them. "That's gotta be it!" Deep underwater was what appeared to be a strange book with particles floating around it. Jack was only able to spot it in the murky water because it was glowing. For some reason, one of the statues was holding it in its hands.
"What is that?," asked Isa, squinting at the book. "Is that…?" "It's the Atlas," said Jack. "Jesse told me all about it. It's this book that allows you to travel anywhere in the world, without having to go through a portal." "Something like that actually exists?!," Reginald cried in shock, earning a nod from both Jack and Nurm. "...wow," Reginald murmured. "You learn something new every day." "I'll go get it," said Jack, putting his diving helmet back on. "I'm the strongest swimmer out of all of us." Nurm hummed, his unibrow creased in worry. Jack patted his friend on the shoulder comfortingly. "I'll be fine, Nurm," he said. "It's just a little swim. Trust me, I'll be back before you know it." Then, he jumped off the edge of the broken staircase and dived into the water. He honestly regretted doing that due to how freezing cold the water turned out to be, nearly passing out in the process. However, he persevered and swam towards the statue that was holding the Atlas. Jack was about to take the book, but stopped when he made eye contact with the statue. Even in the statue's lifeless state, Jack still couldn't stop a chill crawling up his spine, and it wasn't from the water's freezing temperatures. Although Jack acted like he was over the whole thing, the memories of this temple were still fresh in his mind. He just couldn't get the image of that guardian's laser piercing Sammy through the chest out of his head. And if he was honest, he was still afraid of the statues that this place was still littered with.
Jack shook his head. "Get a hold of yourself, damn it," he muttered. "I mean, look at that thing. It's clearly dead now. You got nothing to worry about. So quit acting like a big baby." Even after that, it still took him about a minute to gather up his courage, and only because he didn't want to worry Nurm and the others by staying underwater for too long. Trying not to make any further eye contact with the statue, Jack grabbed the Atlas and slowly pried it from the statue's hands. He knew that he couldn't just pull it away in one go, otherwise he might end up tearing it apart by accident. After about a minute, he managed to pry the Atlas away without a single tear in its pages. The statue, of course, remained just as still as before. Jack couldn't resist sticking his tongue out at it before swimming back up to the surface with the Atlas now in his hands. But unbeknownst to him, he wasn't the only one underwater. Someone else, or rather, someTHING else was watching him from the darkness of the water, and it was neither a human nor a living prismarine statue. Perhaps it was once a human a long time ago...but not anymore.
Jack finally resurfaced and took off his diving helmet. He grinned up at Isa, Reginald, and Nurm, who were looking down at him from the edge of the staircase in worry. "Jack, what happened down there?," asked Isa. "You were underwater for a pretty long time." "Ah, it was nothing," Jack said casually. "Just got a little caught up with something. But hey!" He took out the Atlas and waved it around so that everybody could see it. "I got the Atlas!" "That's great!," Isa cheered, while Reginald let out a shrill congratulatory whistle and Nurm jumped up and down while making happy villager sounds. "I'll bring it right up!," said Jack, and was about to swim towards them when he suddenly felt something bump against his leg. "What the-!," cried Jack, looking down in surprise, but the water that he was swimming in was so murky that he could only see his legs slowly paddling. Anything below that was hidden in darkness.
"Are you alright, Jack?," Isa hollered, seeing him slightly freeze up in the water all of a sudden. "What's going on down there?" "Uh...it's probably nothing," said Jack. "Something just bumped against my leg, that's all. It's probably just a drifting piece of wood or somethi-" Jack suddenly let out a loud scream of pain when he felt a slimy, rotten hand grab onto his ankle so tightly that his ankle bones broke. "HMMM!," Nurm cried, terrified for his injured friend. Jack tried kicking away the hidden assailant, but that only caused whatever was grabbing him to grip his ankle even tighter. Suddenly, he felt another hand dig its nails into his leg and SCRATCH right through his flesh. At the same time, he felt something bite onto his other leg, instantly crushing his femur, and shaking him around like a rag doll. "Jack, hold on!," cried Isa. "Keep fighting! We'll find some way to-!" Isa couldn't even finish her sentence before Jack was dragged into the water with tremendous force, completely submerging him in the dark and murky water. A few seconds after that, the area of water where he had disappeared began to turn a dark red color, eerily similar to the color of blood. The Atlas floated to the surface not long after, now ripped into shreds and covered in the same red liquid. "...holy shit," Reginald swore, his eyes turning as wide as saucers. "He's dead. Jack's dead!" Nurm slowly fell to his knees, then began wailing loudly, tears flowing from his eyes. "I...I don't understand," Isa whispered. "What just happened? What killed him?" "Isa," Reginald said, his voice suddenly becoming stiff and quiet. "Look." He pointed at something in the distance. Isa and Nurm looked in the direction that he was pointing at and saw what appeared to be PEOPLE climbing out of the water.
Of course, they weren't just regular people. They had green, rotting skin, pale blue eyes, shredded clothes, and some of them even had parts of their bodies missing. They were almost identical to zombies, only they weren't. They were actually… "...the drowned," Isa whispered, her voice laced with fear. Ramus had told her about these types of mobs. They were pretty much like normal zombies, only they were much rarer and lived in swamps or lakes of water, often waiting for clueless prey to come by so they could jump out of the water and drag their victims underwater, holding them there until they drowned before feasting on their flesh. They were also much more dangerous. Unlike normal zombies, which thankfully burn when in direct sunlight, the drowned are unaffected by the sun, most likely because they had been living in swamps and lakes for so long and had so much water absorbed into their bodies that sunlight can no longer burn them. They were also faster and smarter too, and that's what makes them so dangerous when compared to other nighttime mobs. People always underestimate the drowned, assuming that they are just as slow and stupid as normal zombies, and before those people can realize their mistake, they are already dead. A drowned zombie can easily outrun someone, even when that person is sprinting, and they can even be as smart as wolves and ocelots. The drowned also hunt in packs and prefer to work together when hunting down prey. And Isa knew that if they didn't get out of here as fast as possible, they would soon become that new prey.
"We have to get out of here now!," cried Isa, grabbing both Reginald and Nurm by their hands and running away while dragging them with her. Nurm, who was too broken up by his friend's recent death, let himself be dragged away with no resistance. "But wait, what about the Atlas?!," Reginald protested. "Just leave it!," yelled Isa. "It's no use to us anymore!" However, it seemed that they didn't get away fast enough, because right when they got to the bottom of the staircase, a loud guttural screech could be heard from behind them, followed by numerous rapid footsteps running after them. Isa knew that a simple drop wasn't going to be enough to stop these mobs. They were smart enough to stack themselves on top of each other in order to get to high places, or could even climb up walls if they wanted to. The drowned were not a group of mobs that should ever be taken lightly. "Hurry, this way!," yelled Isa, running down a hallway with Reginald and Nurm in tow. Unbeknownst to them, however, someone else was watching them from behind the corner of the hallway. Reaching out with one hand, that person clenched his fist, and at the same time, the entire hallway began to...shift. It seemed to tilt backwards, as if some giant was tilting the entire structure, causing Isa, Reginald, and Nurm to lose their footing and fall backwards, all the way back to where they started a few moments ago.
To make matters even worse, the drowned zombies had finally caught up to them, and it wasn't until they had gotten close enough that Isa was actually able to recognize some of them. A long time ago, back before this whole mess started, Ramus used to go on and on about his favorite adventurers, which actually included Jack, and often showed her photos of them in their prime. Strangely enough, all of those adventurers vanished under mysterious circumstances, and now, Isa was finally able to figure out why. Most, if not all, of those zombies bore an eerie resemblance to the great adventurers that vanished without a trace. She was only able to recognize them because they almost looked exactly like the ones in the photos that Ramus used to show her all the time. Is this really where they all ended up? Did those people suffer the same fate as Vos and Sammy, going into this sea temple unprepared only to never see the light of day again? As the drowned zombies got closer, three of them at the front of the horde were easily recognizable. There was Vos, who now had the same skin color as the other zombies, as well as a noticeable limp, and was moaning and growling with his arms outstretched. Next to him was Sammy, who was also now a zombie, with a gaping hole in her chest. And finally, Jack was also among them. His skin wasn't green and rotting like the other zombies, mainly because he was only dead for a few minutes, but his leg had huge scratch marks in it and was nearly torn to shreds at the knee. Nurm's eyes widened upon seeing his friend and, in a trance like state, began slowly walking towards him. "Nurm, no!," cried Isa, grabbing Nurm's arm before he could go any further. "That's not your Jack anymore! Don't fall for it!" Without any warning, the villager suddenly spun around and punched Isa in the face, knocking her back.
"Isa!," yelled Reginald, pulling her back to her feet. The two of them stared at Nurm, who was glaring back at them, his pupils having shrunk into pinpricks. He was breathing heavily and one of his eyes was twitching. There was no doubt about it now. Nurm had snapped. He had snapped upon seeing his friend screaming in pain, upon seeing him being dragged underwater, upon seeing his blood contaminating the water like a drop of liquid spilling on a piece of paper. Now, he wanted to be with Jack, even as a zombie, and there was nothing that Isa or Reginald could do to talk him out of it. Nurm turned back and slowly walked towards the zombified Jack, almost moving like a zombie himself, until he was right in front of him. Jack slowly opened his arms, as if to welcome Nurm into a big, friendly bear hug, which Nurm was eager to return. However, it was quickly revealed that Jack had no such intentions. He grabbed onto Nurm with both hands, then began biting and chewing Nurm's face. Spurts of blood sprayed everywhere, covering the nearby zombies as well as staining Isa and Reginald's faces with a few drops. For some reason, Nurm made no move to escape, nor did he cry out in pain. He just stood there and took the pain, hugging Jack just as tightly as ever. The poor villager was more than glad to let himself be eaten if it meant spending his last few moments with his best friend.
Vos and Sammy joined in on the carnage, and it wasn't long before Nurm was reduced to nothing but a pile of blood and guts, which were being feasted on by the three zombies. The rest of the drowned continued walking towards them, hissing and growling. "Stay back, Isa!," said Reginald, taking out a sword. "I'll find a way to get us both out of here!" Isa managed to snap out of her horrified state and pulled out two swords of her own. "If you think that I'm just going to let you fight on your own, then you're mistaken!," she said. Reginald looked like he wanted to argue, but eventually nodded. He knew that he couldn't take down all these zombies on his own. In fact, he doubted that either of them would be walking out of this place anytime soon. But at least he'd be spending his last moments fighting alongside the woman that he had sworn to protect. The sight of Jack, Vos, and Sammy consuming Nurm's body quickly vanished into the crowd of other zombies that had them surrounded. Letting out their own battle cries, Isa and Reginald lunged forwards with their swords at the ready, entering the fight of their lives.
Working together in nearly perfect tandem, the two of them were able to hold off the zombies for an impressive amount of time, killing dozens of them in the process. However, skill and teamwork could only get one so far, and eventually, the two of them were too tired to keep this up, while the zombies' relentless tenacity and energy, as well as their numbers, were able to quickly overwhelm them. One zombie managed to grab Reginald's arm and drag him into the horde, intent on sharing its new meal with the others. "Reginald!," Isa cried, reaching out with her hand in a futile effort to rescue him. Of course, it was far too late for that, and the guard was quickly dragged away and out of sight. Isa couldn't spot him in the horde of the drowned, but if his death was going to be as gruesome as Nurm's, then she preferred not to see it.
Now alone and with nobody else to have her back, Isa shifted into another combat stance and held her swords out in preparation for another battle. If she was going to go down, then she was going to go down fighting. However, that battle never came. Instead of attacking her like they did to Jack, Nurm, and Reginald, the drowned suddenly stopped in their tracks and just stood there, silently staring at her with soulless eyes. Isa had no idea what was going on, but she refused to fall for such a simple trap, so she kept her guard up, knowing that whoever was controlling these zombies could have them start attacking her again at any moment. Then, the zombies DID start moving, but it wasn't to attack her. Instead, the entire horde slowly began to separate from each other, creating a long path between them, wide enough for someone to walk through. Isa had a feeling that the path wasn't meant for her, and just a few seconds later, her suspicions had been confirmed. She heard what sounded like footsteps echoing across the inside of the prismarine room, and saw a figure walking towards her, ignoring the zombies that he was walking past. Strangely enough, the zombies ignored him as well. Isa narrowed her eyes. So this was the person who instigated the whole thing. She didn't care that she was exhausted and badly outnumbered. She was going to make that scum pay for what he did to Jack, Nurm, and Reginald. However, as the figure got closer, Isa was finally able to see him more clearly, and upon doing so, all the strength left her and she ended up dropping her swords, which clattered to the floor loudly. No, she thought, shaking her head in denial. It can't be…
But it was. Standing in front of her, completely unharmed save for a missing finger, was her own husband, Ramus. Instead of feeling the happiness that she usually felt whenever she saw Ramus, this time, all she felt was a deep sense of fear and dread. Isa was instantly able to recognize her own husband, yet at the same time, he seemed like a total stranger to her. His face, which used to be the epitome of kindness, now seemed to be carved from granite. His usual, carefree smile had been replaced with a cold scowl, and his eyes, which used to twinkle like the stars in the night sky, were now two bottomless pits of darkness. This was definitely Ramus, and at the same time...it wasn't. "...R-Ramus," Isa said quietly, slightly nodding her head. Ramus nodded back. "Hello, Isa," he said. "It's good to see you again. Though I kind of wish that it was under better circumstances." Isa nodded silently in agreement, then sighed heavily and looked Ramus in the eye. There was no point in beating around the bush, so why bother? "Are you going to kill me now?," she asked, surprised that not a hint of fear could be heard in her own voice. Ramus' eyebrows raised to his hairline in surprise, either because of how brave she sounded or how blunt her question was. They lowered back down as quickly as they came up. "Yes," he said, with absolutely no hesitation. "That's exactly what I'm going to do." "...even after everything we've been through?," Isa asked quietly, hanging her head. "Even after all the good and bad times we've had?" Ramus' shoulders noticeably stiffened. For a while, he was completely silent and didn't say a word. Finally, he said, "Isa...you know that I still love you, right?" Isa snorted bitterly, tears running down her cheeks. "Well, you have a very funny way of showing it," she said. Ramus sighed. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be," he sighed. "I don't have a choice in the matter." "Bullshit," Isa growled. "You ALWAYS have a choice."
After that, the two of them were silent again. Then, another figure suddenly materialized right behind Ramus. It was Herobrine, staring at the scene in front of him with both interest and irritation. "What are you waiting for, old friend?," he hissed. "Finish her off. Prove that you are not as weak as I say you are." A single tear ran down Ramus' cheek, though Isa had no idea whether or not it was actually genuine. Then, Ramus took out a sword, though it was unlike any other sword that Isa had ever seen. Its appearance was strange and otherworldly, and it almost seemed to be...glitching. The edge of its blade was so sharp and thin that it almost disappeared completely when turned sideways. Ramus slowly raised the sword over his head, ready to cut his own wife into pieces. "This will be quick and painless," he whispered. "I'm sorry."
"...so am I," said Isa. Before Ramus could ask what she meant by that, Isa scooped up a pile of glowstone dust that she was keeping in her inventory and tossed it at both Ramus and Herobrine's faces, temporarily blinding them. Then, she turned and ran as fast as possible, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they sent the drowned zombies after her again. And lo and behold, she was right. "GET HER!," she heard Herobrine roar. "DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!" She heard the zombies snap out of their trance and run after her, but she didn't dare look back. Instead, she ran even faster, knowing that she couldn't outrun them forever. All of a sudden, the entire hallway began to shift backwards again, but this time, she was ready for it. Once the floor tilted at a forty five degree angle, she got down on all fours and crawled the rest of the way up. Then, she spotted a small opening in the wall and quickly squeezed herself into the small crevasse. She managed to hide herself just in time, as the zombies rushed past her hiding place, chasing after a nonexistent phantom. Isa sighed in relief, believing that he was finally alone. Suddenly, a rotting hand placed itself on Isa's shoulder from behind, causing Isa to scream in fear and instinctively grab the zombie behind her, then toss it over her head. The zombie flew across the air and landed in a heap in front of her, making a loud clanking noise as it hit the floor. Isa was momentarily confused by that sound, then realized that the zombie was wearing diamond armor for some reason. The zombie slowly dragged itself back up and turned to stare at her. Isa's heart stopped. She recognized the zombie's face almost instantly.
It was the face of Gabriel, one of her husband's friends as well as a prominent member of the previous Order of the Stone. But...that didn't make any sense. Gabriel's corpse was all the way back at Beacontown. It was probably in some coroner's office, being inspected by a team of doctors and detectives. What was it doing all the way here in the sea temple?
"...Isa…," the zombie spoke in a low and hollow voice. The hairs on the back of Isa's neck stood up. "How...how do you know my name?," she quietly asked. Even though she knew about Gabriel - it was impossible NOT to know him nowadays - she had never met him before personally. It would make sense for Isa to know Gabriel's name, but not for Gabriel to know Isa's name. Unless...this was all just another trick? The zombie shambled towards her, causing Isa to raise up her fists in self defense. But it made no move to attack her. Instead, it pointed at her with a trembling finger. "You...wife…" Then, it pointed at itself. "Me...husband…" Then, it pointed at the direction where Isa had run from. "Ramus...fake…" Isa was completely speechless.
Suddenly, a sword flew towards the zombie and embedded itself into its skull, splattering rotten brain matter all over the place. Isa turned to where the sword came from and saw Ramus and Herobrine standing side by side. Ramus had his hand out, indicating that he was the one who threw the sword, and the expression on his face was one of pure fear. Was he worried that the zombie was going to hurt her? Or did he not want Isa to know something…?
Herobrine, on the other hand, had a triumphant grin on his face. "There you are," he growled. Isa gasped and began running away. Behind her, she heard the groans and footsteps of the zombies running after her again. In the distance, she could make out the exit.
But as she got further towards the exit, she noticed that the walls of the temple were beginning to close in on her. She gritted her teeth and ran faster and harder, feeling like her legs were about to snap in half at any moment. She could see the exit growing closer and closer. She could also feel the hot breathing of the zombies closing in from behind her. A rotten hand reached out and grabbed a strand of her hair...before she jumped and dived into the water that led out into the ocean, ripping that strand of hair off of her head in the process.
Isa kept on swimming and didn't look back, not even when she heard Herobrine's furious yell shake the temple behind her. Eventually, she arrived back at the island where the group first started and flopped onto the sand, coughing up large amounts of seawater. For a while, she laid in the same position that Jack did all those years ago. Then, she began to sob.
Ramus, her husband...the love of her life...had just tried to kill her.