NovaOrAvon: That is actually quite the coincidence.
I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Chapter eight: True colors
"What do you want to talk to Herobrine about, anyway?" Minerva asked as she followed Jack. "Lot of people don't even believe he exists, and those that do usually want to stay as far away from him as possible. What makes you so different?"
"I'm…a foreigner."
"A foreigner, huh…"
Jack remained silent.
"Who are you, really?" Minerva asked. "Where are you from? Why'd you come here, to one of the single most hated places the Overworld people know about?"
Jack glanced at her. "All I want is to have a word with Herobrine, then I'll leave as soon as I can."
"See, that's another thing," Minerva said. "Most people don't even dare say Herobrine's name, and you bring it up in the most casual way possible."
"Like I said…"
"A foreigner. Right." She paused. "You know any mobs in the Overworld?"
"No," Jack lied.
Minerva fell silent. "Alright," she skeptically said, obviously not believing him. "So…are you a mob sympathizer?"
"Yeah."
She fell silent again. "That way," she finally said, pointing with her sword to a netherrack hill that carried a part of the fortress. They made their way up there—Jack still in front—entered the fortress and went to an outside bridge.
"Turn around," Minerva ordered. Jack did so, turning to face her. "So… Jack, was it? You said you're a mob sympathizer, but you don't know any mobs?"
"Let's just say I was raised by sympathizers," Jack improvised.
"Then why'd you run from us? Aren't sympathizers supposed to believe that mobs aren't the monsters most humans think we are?"
"I ran because this is the Nether. I didn't know what might be different here. Besides, you can still kill me."
"You've got to have a really good reason to talk to Herobrine if you're risking your neck like this."
Jack didn't respond.
Minerva examined him, her eyes narrowing. "You're a weird one, Jack. A sympathizer who's scared of mobs and wants to talk to Herobrine? That's got to have an interesting story behind it."
"I'm only scared of mobs when they wave a sword in my face."
Minerva looked down at her sword. She then put it in her other hand, holding it where the blade met the guard, the pommel pointing forward—as if she was standing down.
"I still don't feel very safe," Jack dryly said.
She just looked at him unamused. "How'd you know who I was?" she finally said.
"What?"
"You said my name the instant you saw me," Minerva said. "I've never seen you before in my life. How'd you know?"
Jack hesitated. Telling her about Athena didn't sound like a good idea just yet; as ironic as it sounded—he was the intruder, after all—he still didn't trust any of the Nether mobs. He wasn't sure why, but they struck him as the kind of people who left him alive simply because they wanted to find out what he knew.
When he remained silent, Minerva took a step towards him, looking impatient. He stepped back.
"Minerva!"
Behind Minerva, Iris emerged from the fortress. She strode towards Minerva, holding her golden sword in the same stand-down manner.
"How're Honetsu and her sisters?" Minerva asked, not taking her eyes off Jack.
"They're fine," Iris said. "They were a little shocked to see a human roaming around, but they're unharmed."
"And the others?"
"Well, Blazette seems a little angry—nothing unusual there—and Charlotte got kinda nervous, but she's calming down now that things are under control."
"Good."
Iris turned to Jack. "Now that that's out of the way…" Iris said.
"His name's Jack," Minerva said, "he's a mob sympathizer, and he's looking for Herobrine. That's basically what he's said so far."
Iris looked to Jack, raising an eyebrow. Or maybe both her eyebrows; Jack couldn't tell thanks to the piece of cloth that covered half of the mob's face.
"So," Jack said. "Will you help me get to Herobrine? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
"What's in the bag?" Minerva asked.
"Food."
"Let's see about that." Minerva nodded to Iris, who stepped forward.
Jack sighed but didn't resist as Iris took his backpack and opened it. She rummaged through it a bit and took out two maps, the flint and steel, and—carefully—the healing potion.
"Well, he didn't lie," Iris said as she put the pack on the ground next to Jack. She handed the healing potion to Minerva, who cautiously took it with a hint of unease on her face. "Aside from the food, there're these two maps. This one here shows a region Ironhand is in—which has a portal connected to the one next to our fortress…" She fell silent as she looked at the other map.
"What is it?" Minerva said, keeping a mistrustful eye on Jack. She held the healing potion like it was the most fragile thing in the world.
"This map…" Iris muttered. "It's…different. Looks like some kind of maze." She turned to Jack. "Where is this?"
Jack didn't respond.
Minerva approached him, then skillfully tossed her sword in the air and caught it by the handle. She raised the weapon and put the flat part of the blade on Jack's shoulder, threateningly close to his neck. "I could just play this differently," she quietly said.
Jack felt a drop of sweat fall down his face as he defensively put up his hands. There was nothing he could do here; one sudden move and he'd have two sword-wielding mobs to deal with.
Minerva seemed scared of the healing potion. Maybe if he could kick it out of her grasp, let it crash on the floor…
"Minerva…" Iris said warningly.
"Did you know I can transfer a unique kind of poison into your bloodstream through my sword?" Minerva said to Jack, her voice still quiet. "I could just do that right now. From there, it'd be simple: you tell me what I want to know, and I'll give you that healing potion to save your life. You don't tell me, and I'll just let your corpse wither away on this bridge."
More sweat tickled the sides of Jack's head as he focused on Minerva and the sword. She could easily just kill him if she wanted, and she seemed ready to.
Even so, he mustered up the courage to make one final bold move.
With a swift motion, he grabbed the blade with one hand. Minerva was visibly surprised by this—and even more so when Jack punched her jaw. She retreated, almost dropping the potion.
Iris grabbed her sword and assumed a basic stance. Minerva—still grasping the potion—swiftly recovered and moved to do the same.
Only then did she realize that Jack had relieved her of her weapon.
Jack threateningly raised the dark blade, suddenly enraged. He wasn't a master, but even with this weapon he'd had some practice back on Earth. Some of the self-defense classes he'd taken insisted on teaching him, and he'd been able to develop that skill a little further in the Realm.
"Why defend me from Blazette when you were going to poison me anyway?" Jack demanded.
With wide angered eyes and clenched teeth, Minerva gave an incredulous, almost feral glare. "Yeah, I defended you! And what did I get in return? You lied. About everything. You really expect me to patiently sit around until you happen to decide that we're actually worth your time?"
"For all I know, you'll kill me the moment I'm done explaining everything!"
Minerva was about to retort, but Iris stepped between her and Jack. "You two," Iris said. Her voice was controlled, but warning.
Minerva looked at her, visibly calming down a tad bit. She then turned to Jack again. "How'd you know my name?" Minerva finally asked, controlling herself with visible effort. "And who else here do you know about? The truth, this time."
"Why?" Jack said. "You going to poison me if I don't?"
"Human," she warned.
Jack hesitated, then sighed. "I know Athena. Your sister."
Minerva froze.
"I also know Yaebi," Jack said, glancing at Iris. "And Gelli and her sisters."
"Yaebi's alive?" Iris whispered.
Jack nodded, lowering the sword. "He got targeted by Ironhand at some point. That's when I first met him."
"Athena…" Minerva whispered. "Is she…?"
"She's fine," Jack said. "She's friends with Yaebi, actually."
"Where is she?" Minerva asked, taking a step towards Jack. "Did she come with you? I need to see her."
"She's not here," Jack replied as he backed off. "I came here alone."
"What? Why?"
Jack hesitated. Should he tell her about how scared Athena was of her? He could only imagine how she'd react…and then she'd really be dangerous.
Blazette ascended into the air beside the bridge.
"You still haven't withered him…" Blazette said. "You need someone to do it for you? Because I'll gladly—"
"Shut up, Blazette," Minerva sharply said.
Blazette frowned at her, visibly caught off-guard by her response.
Minerva looked at Jack. Her glare had disappeared, but she still didn't look amused. "I believe you," she said. "And I'll take you to Herobrine—on the condition that you'll tell me everything on the way there. No more lies, no more secrets."
"What about my stuff?" Jack asked as he nodded to the healing potion and the maps.
"You can have them," Minerva said. "Except for the healing potion. You'll get that back when we reach Herobrine."
"And I'm supposed to take your word for that?"
"I told you—if we wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
"You seemed about ready to make me dead just now," Jack retorted, tossing the sword to Minerva's feet. It wouldn't help him if Blazette decided to shoot fire at him.
Minerva grunted and picked up her weapon.
Apparently happy with that, Iris handed Jack the maps and his flint and steel. He put them in his backpack.
"Which way?" Jack asked.
The three mobs—Blazette was floating next to the bridge to lead the way, while Iris and Minerva stayed behind Jack—led him through the fortress to another exit. From there, they led him deeper into the Nether, passing lakes of lava and random fires that perpetually burned but never spread on the netherrack ground.
Jack felt uneasy. This world was filled with things that could kill him. Heights, fires and even the thought of the ceiling collapsing kept him on edge.
At some point, Blazette landed on the ground next to Jack and walked alongside him. Jack didn't acknowledge her, silently hoping she'd go back to flying around. He didn't feel comfortable near her.
"What did you do?" Blazette finally hissed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Those two behind us are acting weird," Blazette said, glancing at the others. "Too quiet. It's obvious they're unhappy about something."
"Why don't you ask them?"
"I will, but I asked you first."
Jack glanced at her. "It's none of your business."
Blazette stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "What did you say, human?" she demanded.
Jack just looked back. He considered punching her again.
"You two done?" Minerva asked from behind him.
Blazette grunted, reluctantly stepping out of the way. "Sure."
They continued. Blazette rose into the air again. Jack ignored the hostile glances she occasionally threw his way.
"How far is it to Herobrine, anyway?" Jack asked when the atmosphere had lost some of its tension.
"Not that far," Minerva said.
It'd been evening when Jack snuck through Ironhand and reached the portal. Since things had calmed down a bit, he'd been feeling more tired, but he was able to move on. He could rest later.
"Why'd you come here alone?" Iris asked. "Why isn't Yaebi with you?"
"Or Athena?" Minerva added.
Hearing those questions out loud removed some kind of weight from the air, but it also added a weight to Jack's shoulders. He was going to be honest with them this time. There was no point in hiding it.
"Yaebi and Athena are somewhere else," he said. "Somewhere safe with a bunch of other mobs and a sympathizer. And me, before I left."
"Why'd you leave?" Minerva asked.
"Well…" Jack hesitated. "I'm not sure. Something convinced me to go to the Nether."
"'Something' convinced you? Must've been 'something' persuasive."
He sighed. This was going to sound stupid. "Recurring dream. About Herobrine."
A pause. Blazette let out a chuckle. "Really? You came here because of a dream?"
"It sounds ridiculous, you don't need to tell me that," Jack snapped. "And like I said, I'm not sure why I listened to it in the first place."
"Let me guess," Minerva said, sounding almost amused. "You didn't want to tell anyone about your dream because they'd think you were crazy, so you just snuck away and came here."
"Actually I didn't keep the dream quiet," Jack said. "My plan to go to the Nether wasn't a secret, either."
"It wasn't?" Minerva said. "And still no one wanted to come with you?"
Jack sucked in a breath. "Well…" he began. "There was the problem of Herobrine. They said that if he was real, and if he really was trying to get me to go to the Nether—like I thought at the time—he'd kill me the moment I went through that portal."
"Which didn't happen," Minerva said. "Alright, I can understand that…but is that the only reason…?"
"What exactly makes you ask that?"
"A hunch. I just want to be sure."
"Must be a very persuasive hunch."
"Just tell me. Is there more to it or not?"
"Yeah," Jack admitted. "They were scared that…being here for so long—with or without Herobrine—might've…had an impact on your head."
"What do you mean an impact—" She stopped herself. She also slowed her pace, causing Jack to turn around. "They're scared of us?"
Jack nodded.
She stopped walking, looking shocked. So did Iris, whose stoic mask from before was cracking.
"But…" Minerva quietly said. "But why? Athena and I, we were a team…"
"She remembers that," Jack said. He glanced at Iris. "Yaebi remembers, too. But they thought either Herobrine or isolation would've caused you to…" He trailed off.
"… I…" Minerva said. "I see." She looked away, leaning against a nearby netherrack wall with her lower arm. "I…think we should rest here. It's late." She put her back to the wall and sat down. Iris took a seat on a nearby flat rock, her half-open eye downcast.
Jack sighed. Maybe he'd been too direct in his explanation.
Blazette landed near the other two. She briefly put her hand on Iris' shoulder, then glanced at Minerva with a sympathetic gaze she hadn't shown before.
She then turned to Jack.
Oh, shit, Jack thought. She's going to kill me.
But she didn't attack him. She didn't approach. She didn't even glare at him. She just sat down next to Minerva.
Jack ended up sitting down as well, his back against the wall. Despite the fight he had with Minerva earlier, he felt bad. He should've been more cautious.
Or maybe he should've convinced Athena to come with him so she could make amends with her sister. But that had never been a real option. Athena was a good friend, but she would never even have allowed Jack to go to the Nether—let alone accompany him there.
He unconsciously fell asleep against the wall.