ZackTheDemon (guest): I have three stories to work on as well—and I've had to do laboratory work a lot recently. But these are not the only reasons why this took so long.
While I like writing, I have other things to do. For me, writing is becoming dangerously close to feeling more like an obligation than a hobby. Taking my mind off of it is something I occasionally have to do in order to negate that a little bit. Additionally, some stories have become more difficult for me to write for reasons I cannot really put into words.
But the absolute main reason why this took so long is uncertainty. I've proofread the first and second acts' chapters many, many times (the third needs a rewrite), and even now I'm afraid to publish this.

repiya: I hope so too.

Chapter two: Guided by a premonition

Jack opened his eyes.

In front of him stood a creature he couldn't quite identify. A human-shaped creature with red eyes that gave a faint glow.

Before Jack could do anything, the creature grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Its other hand formed a fist.

That fist slammed itself right through Jack's chest.

Heat.

Jack reopened his eyes to see an enormous cave-ish place. The floor, walls and ceiling were made of a red otherworldly rock, and several fires and lava pools were present. Roughly shaped pieces of a glowing stone were hanging on the high ceiling.

The Nether, Jack numbly realized. I'm in the Nether. He looked down at his chest, where he saw nothing out of the ordinary. There wasn't even any damage to his clothes. And I'm alive?

He sensed someone's gaze on him. He looked up.

In front of him stood a tall muscular man whose white eyes were glowing faintly. The man was surrounded by five luminous purple crystals that protruded from the ground, their sharp edges pointing upwards.

Jack immediately recognized the man. His breathing turned funny for a moment. Herobrine, it flashed through his mind. How? That's not possible…!

And yet there the creature was, staring Jack down.

"Hurry," Herobrine suddenly ordered. His voice was unlike anything Jack had heard before. "We do not have much time. Come find me in the Nether. These worlds are not merely a game—they are not what you may believe them to be."

A voice in the distance called his name. Jack didn't hear it. He just kept his gaze on the creature before him.

"Jack!" the voice said for a second time. "Wake up!"

"Áhýdan must die,"Herobrine continued. "Before he reaches his goal."

Jack frowned.

Then a black cloud began to envelop him. Herobrine, the crystals, the lava—the entire Nether disappeared from sight. Only the ground nearby remained visible. As if the cloud didn't get too close to him.

As if it was scared of him.

No, no—it wasn't scared of him. It was scared of something near him. Something he couldn't see.

He suddenly stood tall, facing something in the darkness ahead. He felt a sudden power burst into him.

Not just that. He was the power. He wasn't just himself.

"The die has been cast," he heard himself speak in three different voices, one of which was his own.

Then his skin began to peel off, floating away in pieces.

It was followed by his flesh. His internal organs. Nerves, veins, bones—tearing and breaking and turning into dust.

It didn't hurt. But he felt himself slipping away.

HE IS LYING TO YOU.

I AM NOT THE ENEMY.

HE IS.

HEROBRINE MADE ME INTO WHAT I AM TODAY.

"Jack!"

Jack woke up with a jolt, gasping for air. Sweat glued his t-shirt to his torso. He felt dust get into his airways, and he coughed. Tears stung behind his eyes.

As he laid there, squirming and coughing, the figure who had been calling his name took a small step backwards to give him some much-needed space.

Jack fell silent. With bloodshot eyes, he looked up at the girl—who was standing crouched at the side of his bed—while trying to steady his breathing.

"Jack…" Andr whispered. "Are you okay? You were twitching…" She glanced away. "…again…"

Jack shakily sat up in his bed. His heart was still thumping heavily. "Uh…I'm fine," he awkwardly said. Fortunately he always wore pants and a shirt when going to sleep, otherwise things would've been even more embarrassing. "Thanks for checking up on me, I guess."

Andr remained silent for a second. "Was it…?"

Jack sighed. He hunched forward and put a hand to his forehead. "Yup," he spoke, looking down. "Same dream. That thing kills me, I get taken to the Nether, Herobrine says some vague stuff about Áhýdan and that I have to come to him. And then I turn into a weirdo." He decided to leave the last, four-sentenced message out. That one was always different, but every time it accused Herobrine of being the villain.

When he mentioned his death at the hands of the unidentified red-eyed figure, he saw Andr grimace a bit from the corner of his eye.

"You still want to go there, don't you?" Andr asked. "To the Nether?"

"Yes, I do," Jack said more curtly than intended. "We've been through this…but this is the part where you give me a lecture about how dangerous Herobrine is and all, so I'm not even going to say anything."

"Herobrine isn't the only danger…"

He scowled. "What, the insanity theory? I still think that's far-fetched."

"What about the portal?"

Jack sighed again. She had a point there. The only intact Nether portal they knew about was dangerously close to Ironhand. Raulyn hadn't told Jack about it when he was there, but it was apparently common knowledge for these parts of the Overworld—or, at the very least, a popular rumor.

Fact and rumor weren't always separated as easily when the dominant societies—that is, human societies—were things to be shunned. They spread news and knowledge amongst themselves, but rarely to outsiders—and certainly not to mobs.

"Let's be honest here," Jack growled as he got out of bed, gritting his teeth, "because I'm starting to feel like I haven't been clear enough. Mystia knows shit about other worlds aside from the Nether. If anyone can get me back home, it's Herobrine, but I'll have to help him first."

"We know you think that," Andr said. "But you don't know for sure that he will get you home, do you?"

"Did we know for sure that Mystia was leading us to the Realm when we first met her?"

She sighed. "Jack…"

"Don't worry," he grunted as he reached for his jacket. "I'm not planning anything."

They both knew he was lying.

Jack put on his jacket and went straight to the closest lake with Andr. At the lake, they met Cupa, who was eating a meal that consisted of food she collected from the surrounding trees and the group's food storage. Next to her, two other flat stones—which served as a substitute for plates—were put on the ground, each with an apple and a big loaf of bread.

She was sitting on the ground, facing the lake. She had her back to them, but she turned around as soon as they came close. "Morning!" she cheerfully greeted. "You two want breakfast?"

"Yes," Jack said, still a bit drowsy. He and Andr walked over to the girl in green, who offered them the two other plates.

Jack took his plate and sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree with his back. Andr and Cupa did the same, looking over the lake in front of them as they ate. The two girls immediately began a conversation about how things had been going for the past few weeks, how the others were doing, if anyone had sighted any notable animals in the Realm—all kinds of small talk. Jack remained silent, absentmindedly munching on his bread and staring into space.

Cupa stole a glance from him before she turned back to Andr. "Hey, Andr…" she spoke in a hushed voice.

"Yeah?" Andr responded.

"Has Jack slept at all tonight?"

Andr sighed. "Same nightmare…"

"Oh…right." Cupa glanced at the human again. "Huh…I wish there was something we could do."

Andr looked at the ground. "He thinks that the only way for us to help him is to let him go to the Nether."

"Well, we can't do that."

"No, we can't." She paused, then quieted her voice some more. "Cupa?"

"Yeah?"

"I…I know I don't have any right to say this, but…" Her breath shook a little. "I don't know if I want Jack to leave."

"We're not going to let him go to the Nether."

"No, I mean…his own world."

"Oh…" Cupa paused. "Oh…yeah…"

"But I don't want to prevent him from going, either. He's got people there who care about him…"

"I know," Cupa sighed, leaning back. "I know…"

After breakfast, Jack went straight to the rooms that belonged to Athena and Yaebi. He didn't go inside; he only knocked on their doors and waited for a response to make sure they had made it there safely before the sun could harm them. He did that every day. He knew that made him a little overprotective, but he didn't care—and neither did they.

He then proceeded to take a walk through the Realm, thinking about what he'd seen in his dream. That was another thing he'd been doing more and more often lately.

"This world is not merely a game," Herobrine's voice echoed in Jack's head as the human pensively strolled around the ruins of the city. That's what Herobrine said. What does it mean? Some things in this world are different from what I'm used to seeing in Minecraft…so is this actually supposed to be a completely separate place? But what about the similarities—?

"Hey, Jack."

Jack turned to the source of the voice—which was revealed to be Gelli, who herself was taking a walk as well. Her younger sisters, Kelly and Ellie, were messing around near what was left of a stone house a small distance away.

Jack gave a tired wave. "How's everything going?"

Gelli shrugged. "Can't complain. What about you, though? You look like death—no offense meant."

"None taken. Nightmare. Again."

"Oh… Same one?"

"Yup."

"And you still want to go to the Ne—?"

"Yes, but I know what you're going to say about it. Everyone else says the same." Exasperated, Jack glanced to the side.

"You know us too well, Jack." The slime girl tilted her head a bit. "And it's only been, like, two weeks."

"A lot can happen in two weeks."

Gelli fell silent. "You miss your family, don't you?" she finally asked, her voice soft.

He huffed, not replying. She knew the answer to that question. She knew the experience of being separated from family members. If Jack didn't know any better, he would've assumed she purely asked that question out of sadism.

"You don't have to worry, Jack," she said. "We will find a way to get you back. That's a promise."

Jack glanced at her. "There's a difference," he finally said, "between a promise and a reassurance."

"One doesn't exclude the other. Mystia's smart."

"I'm not claiming to be a scientist, but when you live around my brother for long enough, you know that 'quickly finding a solution' to something you don't know anything about is too unrealistic to be true—unless maybe you're lucky."

"Unrealistic?" Gelli said, smiling. "Like being taken to a world full of people with superhuman powers? Would your brother say that's normal?"

Jack sighed. "Whatever."

Her smile fell. "Why're you so negative all the time?" she softly asked. "You don't think Mystia can do it?"

"I'm not being negative. I'm being realistic."

"You're assuming that the Nether will help you get back home," Gelli softly said. "I'm sorry to say this Jack, but that's not realistic."

"Maybe not," Jack admitted. "But it's all I've got at this point."

After some more walking, Jack came across two more familiar girls, each with purple hair and red eyes. They seemed to be having a debate, but they fell silent when he appeared.

Ari, the tallest and oldest of the two, offered him a lazy wave. "Morning, Harry," she greeted. "Wow, what happened to you?"

Jack gave her an unamused look. "What does that even mean."

"You look terrible," Cassandra flatly said as she opened a book and pointedly kept her gaze on it. Jack guessed it was one of Mystia's books. He was pretty sure Cassandra couldn't read—few mobs in the Realm could—so either she was more interested in the pictures or she wanted an excuse not to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Ari said, "but she's right. You do look terrible."

"Call me Harry again, and you're going to look terrible too," Jack said.

Ari chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were doing fine."

"I am fine."

Ari narrowed her eyes a little. She took a step towards Jack, examining him with a look of suspicion.

"What?" Jack said.

"Trying to figure out if you're lying. You're pale and tired. And you've got that look in your eyes."

"What look?" Jack asked.

"The one that says, 'Shut up and help me get to the Nether, 'cause that's going to solve all my problems'."

"Oh, that one," Jack said with a clear hint of resentment in his voice.

The spider girl sighed. "What are you planning…"

Jack remained silent.

From behind her book, Cass scoffed. "Yeah, Jack," she mockingly said. "What are you planning?"

Ari closed her eyes. Jack turned to Cassandra, who put the book down and stood up.

"Oh, I so wonder what other secrets you've got up your sleeve," Cassandra said. "You wanna go to Ironhand to 'get to the Nether'? Well then, go ahead. Go to the Nether and have Minerva stab you in the gut."

"Cass," Ari reprimanded, glaring at her sister.

"Make sure your other secrets won't get anyone here killed."

"Cass!" Ari barked. "Shut up!"

She put up her hands. "Okay, okay." She paused. "Ari's right, you know. Can't let you go. Can't have you betray our position to Raulyn."

Jack—who'd managed to remain composed during Cass' attack—felt his fingers twitch a little. As if they wanted to form fists. "Did you seriously just accuse me of working with the Hunters?" he asked.

Cass nodded.

Jack fell silent. "I get that you're mad at me for keeping secrets," he slowly said, a threatening undertone in his voice. "I can take it when you tell me to get out of your way, I can understand if you think there're still things I'm not telling you…"

As he spoke, Cass visibly became more uncomfortable. So did Ari. Odd—they weren't easily scared, especially of a human. Not this kind of scared, at least.

"But saying that I'm conspiring with a bunch of genocidal maniacs who kill everything that's remotely different from what they're used to?" he continued. "You're going to take that back."

Cassandra's eyes narrowed, and she visibly regained some of her fighting spirit. "I'm not taking anything back, human," she said. "You've only been in the Overworld for, what, a couple of weeks? And you spent most of that time in the Realm. You don't know anything about the life of a mob, so don't pretend like you're entitled to tell me who I can and can't trust."

"I fought Raulyn, you little shit," Jack growled. "You think I challenged a guy with a sword just 'cause I felt like it?"

"Who's going to say? I've never understood humans."

"So now I'm the bad guy because I'm human, is that it? And what about Mystia, huh? Is she working with the Hunters?"

"At least she's sincere."

Frustrated, Jack shook his head and turned away. "Well," he said, "have fun slandering people."

"Thanks. You have fun getting everyone killed. You should start with yourself—it'll make things a lot easier for us."

He didn't respond as he walked away. He could hear Ari reprimand Cassandra with a sarcastic—and very angry—"Good job, Sis", followed by an unintelligible protest from Cass. It lead straight to another argument, but Jack wasn't going to intervene. Not this time.

Besides, he knew Cass probably didn't mean it when she told him to get himself killed.

Probably.

"Thank you," Mystia said to Sylvia, who gave her another stack of necessary potion ingredients. "I needed these."

Sylvia sat down on the ground, feeling tired after having worked for almost the entire day. It was currently nearing the evening. She'd seen Jack—the only human in the Realm other than Mystia—walking around and talking to other mobs, but she herself hadn't approached him. He looked like he had a lot on his mind already.

Yeah… she thought with shame. So do I.

Even now, she didn't talk to him very often; facing a person from whom she was withholding such important and personal information wasn't easy… But, like Mystia, Sylvia didn't dare tell Jack the truth.

Both girls looked over when the door opened, revealing Jack himself. Sylvia immediately felt the guilt that dug in her stomach increase, but she tried not to show it. She wondered if Mystia felt the same.

"Hey, Jack," Mystia said. She either didn't feel bad, or she was very good at hiding it. "Are you okay?"

"That's not usually what people say when I visit," Jack dryly said. "Though I guess this day's an exception."

"You forgot to knock," Mystia said with a similar dryness in her voice. "Knowing you, that either means trouble for me or a very normal day for you."

Sylvia really couldn't understand how Mystia was able to appear so carefree in front of the person she was deceiving.

"Yeah, yeah," Jack said. "Anyway, I need your opinion on a few things."

That made Mystia put down the stuff she'd been holding. She gave Jack a questioning look. "What is it?"

He visibly hesitated. "How ridiculous is the idea of a supernatural being giving their power to some regular mortal guy?"

"You finally taking an interest in this world's stories and legends?"

He looked at her flatly.

"Well," Mystia said, "I'd say that—if it's even possible—it'd be a pretty rare thing. There are some assumptions about it, but those have never been proven." She paused. "Now, there are known instances—in stories, at least—where such entities temporarily allowed a mortal to use their power and knowledge."

That seemed to spark Jack's attention. "Tell me more."

She shrugged. "Well, it's…pretty similar to what you say happened in your dream. An entity basically merges with a mortal, becoming some kind of amalgamation. They have absolute control over their powers, and their combined minds are one…but separate at the same time, somehow."

The mention of Jack's dream made Sylvia shiver a little. The only reason Jack had told everyone about it was because some of the others had noticed he'd been behaving weirdly. They later found out he'd thrown up in his room not long before. The mobs demanded an explanation from him, and he'd told them—and Mystia, of course—about the recurring dream he'd had.

Mystia had wondered if it was a sign; it was suspected that powerful creatures could convey messages through thoughts or dreams. When she told Jack that, he immediately proposed the idea to go to the Nether to investigate, just like how Herobrine had said in his dream. No one had agreed.

"The catch is," Mystia continued, "that, unless specific countermeasures are taken, the mortal's body and mind will decay and weaken for as long as they're merged with the entity. This could—directly or indirectly—lead to the mortal's death. There's an irony in that; entities are known to merge with mortals in the first place because they want to save that mortal from an otherwise unavoidable demise."

"Why the decay?" Jack asked. "Is the entity just that powerful?"

"Well…yeah, actually. Mortals aren't resilient enough to withstand such intense power and knowledge. The decay can be somewhat slowed down with preparations, but it can never be fully stopped. Most heroes who've merged with an entity haven't been able to stay that way for long without dying—or temporarily disappearing." She paused. "But if the stories involving this phenomenon are really true, then it hasn't been done in a long, long time. At least not to anyone's knowledge."

"Right…" Jack said. "Okay, so that was just one question. If you don't mind me asking more…"

"Ask away."

"Let's just say I was going somewhere we didn't know anything about. Some place that might be dangerous, but might also be…not dangerous. What should I bring?"

"You mean, like, in terms of potions?"

"I guess. Among other things."

"Well." Mystia put her hand on her chin. "I'd say some fire resistance potions would be handy—especially considering where you're planning on going." Her look became pointed.

Jack gave her an unamused gaze. "I know I'm being predictable here, but if you've got something to say, just say it."

"How many times have I told you," Mystia said as she rose from her seat, "that you'd become a splatter of blood the moment you go through that portal?"

"That's only if Herobrine were my enemy."

"You know very well that he might be! What do you think he's going to do? Merge with you? You think that's somehow beneficial? Have you heard anything I just told you about the side-effects?! When're you going to stop this, Jack?"

"When I'm back home!"

A silence fell. Jack sighed.

"Look," he said. "There's more to the dream than you all think. Something's going to happen."

"What's going to happen is you getting yourself into trouble," Mystia answered. "Going to the Nether is the worst idea you can have. You'll die for sure if Athena's sister decides to have a sparring match with you."

"I'm not worried about me."

"But we are!" Sylvia suddenly spoke up. She wasn't sure where she got the courage. Maybe she didn't want to risk Jack dying without telling him the truth first. "Jack, if you…if you don't return, we…"

"She's right," Mystia agreed. "We can't lose you, Jack. And I'm not just saying that because you're free security. You're part of this family, now. You proved that when you fought Raulyn."

"I already have a family!" Jack shot back.

A silence fell.

Jack averted his dark gaze, looking almost ashamed. "Look," he softly said. "I need to get back to my world. At any cost. I'm ready to risk my life for that."

"I get that," Mystia said, suddenly looking and sounding patient, if a bit sad. "But we're not. I'm doing the best I can here, and I know it's taking a while, but I'll get there eventually. I promise. You don't have to risk your life. All you have to do is wait."

Sylvia looked down. She wasn't a violent person, but a part of her wanted to punch Mystia straight in the face right then and there.

Jack sighed, then turned to the door. "I should go," he grunted.

When he left, Sylvia turned to Mystia and hesitated. "We should tell him the truth," the mob finally said.

Mystia snapped her gaze to the younger girl. "What're we going to do?" she demanded. "Tell him that returning him to his own world is impossible? Take away his last hope of returning home—his last hope ever? What do you think he'll do to himself if he finds out about that?"

"L-lying to him is only going to make things worse," Sylvia countered. "I-I can't look at him anymore without feeling terrible! How can you do it?"

Mystia's eyes softened. "I do feel terrible. I just… I can't bring myself to tell him that he's never going to see his family again. And I can't take the risk of him…hurting himself because of it."

"He'll find out eventually. Best to hear it from us. He didn't tell us about his past, but this is something completely different. He doesn't deserve this!"

"I know. Just…wait. Okay? He keeps talking about going to the Nether, but I doubt he's really going anywhere anytime soon. We'll have plenty of time to think about this."

Sylvia didn't reply. She hoped Mystia was right.

Jack sat down on his bed, his pack at his feet.

Once again, it had been made obvious: Everyone—except maybe Cassandra—was very much against the idea of Jack going to the Nether. Should they catch him trying to sneak out of the Fallen Realm, he wouldn't even get the chance to worry about Herobrine. The mobs would never let Jack out of their sights—let alone the Realm—if he were to attempt such a thing.

Which was why he decided to go to bed early that evening.

He had packed some supplies—some of which he'd taken from the Realm's central storage—into his backpack. They were going to come in handy—that was, assuming he'd be able to leave the Realm without being seen in the first place.

The main problems were Yaebi and Athena, who roamed the Realm during the night. They might not be as overprotective of Jack as Andr, but their eyes were as sharp in the dark as hers, and their ears were sharper. If Jack was lucky, they'd remain on the other side of the Realm.

If he wasn't, he'd have to sneak past them—which, knowing them, was going to be impossible.

Jack let his head hang. For the first time since he deserted the Hunters, he felt truly alone. There was no one who would help him get out of the Realm.

Which meant that he was going to have to be extra careful.

Nighttime

Showtime, Jack thought. Or no, actually. I can't show myself, after all.

He grabbed the backpack, then carefully opened the door—wincing when it creaked a bit—and peeked around. He saw no one nearby. He let out a breath, went through the doorway and closed the door behind him.

Alright, he was outside. That was the easy part. Now he needed to figure out where Athena and Yaebi were. Then he had to—

Shit, he suddenly thought.

It just came to his mind: It was a three-day trip through the caverns to the outside. The mobs needed less than one day to notice his absence, after which they'd most certainly start searching for him in the cave systems. Andr's teleportation ability would allow her to cover quite a bit of ground in a small amount of time, and if she managed to find him…

He shook that thought out of his head. He had to try this. If it wasn't going to work now, it never would. Besides, even with Andr's powers, the mobs were going to have a hard time finding him; there were just too many caves to explore.

He had to be quick, though. Quick and careful. That was not a simple combination.

He knew about the nightmare of course, but he did not realize just how deeply my power was rooted.