Act 2: The Nether
Chapter six: A world with no sun
"Alright," Cassandra suddenly spoke up. She and the others had been sitting around a campfire near the wall that surrounded the Realm, silently thinking of what to do next.
The other mobs looked at Cassandra as she sat upright.
"Yeah?" Ari asked, her voice betraying her tiredness. "What is it?"
Cass looked around the group. "Since no one else is talking, I'll just do it myself," the cave spider said. "I think that idea we were thinking about earlier really isn't that terrible."
"Teleporting around, travelling to Ironhand until we find Jack?" Ari sighed. "Sorry Cass, but even if we all agreed to do that, there's a big list of problems we'd have to be ready to deal with."
"We're mobs. There shouldn't be anything we aren't used to by now. We've got to do something. We owe Jack at least that."
Some of the others frowned. Cassandra standing up for Jack? That was…quite unexpected.
Ari wanted to retort, but she kept quiet.
"Jack wouldn't want us to do that, though," Athena softly said. "And if he's really made it to the Nether—"
"Want?!" Cassandra practically screamed. "Jack wants to go to the Nether! He wants to risk his life because of some dream! He wants to fulfill this mission he thinks Herobrine gave him! This isn't about what Jack wants, it's about what he needs. And he needs help!"
"And what if we're wrong?" Ari asked, raising her voice as well. "What if these dreams do mean something? Did that cross your mind, Cassandra?"
"That doesn't matter," Cassandra said. "What if I went to the Nether by myself?! Would you just let me go?"
"No, of course not," Ari admitted. "But aside from chaining Jack to the wall and locking his door, we did everything we could to keep him here."
"And what if I were in Jack's position now?"
Ari fell silent. "Yes," she finally said, "I'd look for you. But you're my sister."
"Jack fought for us. He saved Yaebi. Or did you happen to forget that?"
"You seemed to have forgotten that for over two weeks…"
"Cassandra's right though," Yaebi said. "We can't just let him go like that…"
Some of the other mobs agreed. Athena sighed and looked at her brother. "Yaebi," the skeleton said, "I don't like this any more than you do, but where do we even start? We have no idea where he is."
"We should try it anyway." Yaebi sat up. "We split up. Some of us should wait for him near Ironhand in case he hasn't gotten there yet. The others should go to the Nether and look for him there. We don't know where he is, but we know where he's going."
"Going to the Nether and Ironhand?" Athena said. "That's suicide."
"You got a better idea?" Cassandra shot back.
"Guys," Cupa softly spoke up, looking into the fire. "There's…another thing we haven't thought of yet. Not openly, at least."
"What's that?" Cassandra demanded.
Cupa hesitated. "For all his…moblike ways of behaving, Jack is still human. We don't know a lot about him—we barely know anything about the world he's from. A few days ago, he took a copy of Mystia's map and left for Ironhand of all places."
"What's your point?"
"Do you think he'd take that kind of risk? Think about the Jack we've known for these last two weeks, and compare that to what he's doing now. He's risking all our lives by bringing that map with him. What if Raulyn gets a hold of it?"
"His life's in danger, too."
Cupa looked Cassandra straight in the eye. "Is it, though?" Cupa asked.
A sudden shock went through them all when they realized what she meant.
"Cupa…" Andr said. "You're not saying…! No, Jack would never…!"
"When we just met him, we suspected he may be a spy," Cupa gently said. "Maybe we weren't so wrong…"
"But…a traitor?" Andr whispered. "You're really saying he's a traitor?"
"I'm just saying this looks suspicious." Cupa looked around the group. "I hate to say it, I really do…but am I the only one who thinks this might be a little…?"
Another silence.
"Jack could've chosen not to save Yaebi, remember?" Cassandra eventually reminded everyone. "He fought Raulyn. He probably would've bled to death if we hadn't helped him, too. And no human from this world—mob sympathizers aside—would entrust a bunch of mobs with their life."
"Oh, so now that's worth something to you?" Ari mumbled.
"What if he was trying to gain our trust?" Cupa softly asked. "What if he was willing to go to great lengths…to…" She trailed off.
"He did keep his past silent for a while," Sylvia said, her eyes downcast. "What other secrets could he have? What if—"
"Stop!" Cassandra interrupted. "He has kept things from us, yes. But that doesn't make him a traitor."
That was a sentence no one expected to hear from her.
But, as reluctant as the mobs were to believe it, they had taken Cupa's words into consideration. What if those nightmares were just a lie, used by Jack to justify going to Ironhand, and to cover up his true intentions?
"Enough already," Mystia spoke up. "This isn't going to help anyone in any way. If Jack's in trouble, we should look for him in the Nether. If he's a traitor, we should get out of here and look for shelter in the Nether before the Hunters reach the Realm. Either way, our destination is the same."
"Shelter in the Nether, huh…" Athena said, staring into the fire. Her soft voice had a very clear hint of skepticism.
"I know it's risky," Mystia said, "but, one way or another, the Nether will give us the information we need, and right now that's all I care about." The witch glanced at Sylvia. "I don't think I'm the only one."
"You don't have a map to some other safe place?" Athena asked. "Someplace where we can think about our next move?"
"I've got plenty of maps to backup locations and contingency plans, should the Realm ever be compromised. But I'd rather find out where Jack really stands before we risk letting an innocent man die. What about you all?"
"But you said it yourself: If Herobrine is real, and if he is our enemy, we'll die the moment we step through that portal. Seeing how it's located in Ironhand, we might die even before that."
"I'm not going to force anyone to come with me," Mystia said. "Even if I wanted, I don't think I'd be able to. But I'd rather not have this group split down the middle." She paused, giving Cupa a glance with a hint of hostility. "That being said, anyone who wants to come with me is welcome to. But if we split up, and if it turns out that the Nether isn't an instant death trap, we'll need some place to regroup after I get the information I want. One of those backup locations would make for a good rendezvous point."
"Fine," Cass said. She sent some of the others a death glare. "I'm coming with you. I just hope there're some people here who have the same kind of common sense."
"Wasn't it you who said Jack couldn't be trusted?" Ari snapped at her, visibly growing angry as she once again raised her voice—something she rarely did. "Wasn't it you who accused him of working with the Hunters?! Wasn't it you, Cass, who told him to get himself killed so that we'd be safe from the consequences of his secrets?!"
Cass froze. The other mobs looked at her, shocked. Clearly, the only one who'd expected those words to come out of Ari's mouth was Ari herself. It was well known that Cass had been treating Jack like garbage the last few weeks, but evidently no one else knew just how bad it had gotten.
Ari scoffed. "Don't talk to me about common sense," the elder spider said, "when you're about to dig your own grave for someone you labeled a traitor." She stood up. "And don't you dare mention his fight with Raulyn now after having completely disregarded that for weeks. Hypocrite."
She walked away.
Cassandra didn't retort. She didn't protest. Didn't yell.
She just sighed, looking down.
Ashamed.
When the swirling purple light around him subsided, Jack stumbled out of the portal, feeling a little dizzy. He'd expected it to feel similar to Andr's teleportation, but it had turned out to be surprisingly different. There were some similarities to it, but it certainly wasn't the same. At least he hadn't lost consciousness this time.
He looked around where he'd appeared. The cavernous place that surrounded him largely consisted of red rock, lava and fire. Patches of gravel and dark thick sand were placed here and there, and the ceiling held large clusters of glowstone—the same glowstone the Overworld people used for their lamps.
But the most striking thing was an enormous fortress nearby, made of dark red bricks.
The building looked quite intimidating. The bricks looked rough but strong, giving them the same menacing look as the portal.
When Jack was done observing the area, he quickly recollected his thoughts and discovered that he had no idea what to do next. That fortress looked impressive, but not very inviting. He took another look around but found nothing that could help. Platforms and mountains consisting of the red rock—which was probably netherrack—surrounded the place. Down below, a huge sea of lava stretched out as far as the eye could see.
Straying too far from the portal is probably a bad idea, Jack half-sarcastically thought to himself as he took off his jacket and tied it around his waist. He'd been so amazed—and a little freaked out—for the past few minutes that he'd hardly noticed the heat.
He looked at the fortress and hesitated. Was it safe? Probably not, but it was the only thing around here worth investigating. Maybe it'd give him directions to whatever he needed to find.
A wave of fear washed over him, but he took a step towards the entrance.
I knew this was a bad idea.
He shook his head. Those conflicting thoughts were back. He couldn't use them now. He had to focus.
He crossed a bridge that led to a small room with a lava well in the center. The hallway that followed led him further into the building.
As he soon discovered, the place was large. Jack tried to remember the way he came from in case he needed to leave quickly, but there were so many turns, intersections and—frustratingly enough—dead ends that it soon became confusing. He kept watching his back to make sure he wouldn't be snuck up on—the possible danger the local mobs posed lingered in his head, now stronger than ever. And to think he called Athena paranoid.
Jack wasn't sure what to expect from Athena's and Yaebi's Nether relatives. If Minerva and Iris were as good with the sword as Jack had heard, and if they had a problem with a human roaming around, Jack would be dead within a heartbeat if he ran into them. Also, he doubted they were the only two mobs he needed to worry about.
He made it to a bridge on the outside. Short stone walls stood on both sides like railings. The bridge took a turn not far ahead, where it lead to an intersection. On the other side of that intersection was another entrance inside.
From that entrance emerged a figure.
Upon seeing it, Jack quickly crouched down and hid behind the low stone wall that stood on the side of the bridge. He peeked around the corner, hoping that the darkness was enough to hide him.
The figure turned out to be a woman with long blonde hair that reached her back. Aside from the gold-colored metal boots and gauntlets, some kind of robe that consisted of many ribbonlike strips of red cloth sewn together covered her torso and arms in full. The multitude of ribbons parted with one another below her waist—the ones on her front ended past her knees; the ones on her back didn't stop until they reached her ankles—revealing a pair of brown pants underneath. She looked like a compromise between a noble and a typical fantasy adventurer.
She wasn't standing—instead, she was floating a centimeter or two above the ground. Jack looked at her with caution, realizing that he was looking at what he used to call a blaze.
She looked in his direction, narrowing her eyes. "Who's there?" she called
Jack remained silent.
"I know you're there," the blaze said, sounding more annoyed than anything. "Show yourself. It'll make things a lot easier for everyone."
Don't, Jack thought to himself. I'm not trusting anything here yet.
Then why'd I come to the Nether in the first place?
He resumed suppressing the conflict in his head and focused on the mob.
The blaze rolled her eyes. "Fine, have it your way."
Then she floated towards him.
Jack quickly snuck backwards. He reached the room that preceded the bridge. Once he was inside, he rose from his crouched position and quickened his pace. He silently fled to a hallway on his left—which he hadn't explored yet—hoping she wouldn't find him. Having a pissed-off Nether mob chasing him around was exactly the kind of scenario he wanted to avoid.
Several more twists and turns later, he finally stopped and sat down. That had been tense. If that mob had found him, he might've been burned alive.
Suddenly he heard a voice. He froze and looked around, only to realize that it came from outside a nearby window.
"We've got company," the blaze said to someone. She seemed to be floating just outside the window, but she was talking to someone above her—someone who stood on top of the hallway.
So there is more than one mob nearby.
The person the blaze had spoken to said something unintelligible.
"Not sure," the blaze said. "Only caught a glimpse. Tried to get them, but they snuck away."
"Alright, well," the other person said, their voice barely audible. "Keep your guard up. And tell the others to do the same."
"Gotcha. I saw them on that bridge over there. I'm assuming they either jumped off or went back inside."
"I'll check the surrounding area outside; if they jumped off, they probably broke a bone or two. Should make it easier to find them, I suppose…"
"Unless they're a mob." The blaze paused. "Well, whatever. Do some investigating. I'll have Iris warn Honetsu and take a look inside the fortress. Charlotte and I will look around from above."
"Good. When you find our intruder, restrain them and take them to the jail. We'll sort things out from there."
"I know the procedure," the blaze said, annoyed. "You just see if you find anything near that bridge. And if you find 'em, wither 'em."
"Only if I have to."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"I meant you, actually. Don't fry them on sight, got it?"
The blaze grumbled something.
They stopped talking. Jack waited a while longer before sneaking away.
Welp. That took a while.
I'm sorry about that. I've been suffering some major writer's blocks and lack of motivation—two problems that still aren't completely gone.
Also, I just spent three weeks in Alaska, where I didn't have as much time to write.