NovaOrAvon: That might be my fault—I mean, it obviously is, but it's just that A world with no sun and Into fire were originally one single chapter. Splitting them up might've slowed things down a bit. That was not my intention.

Chapter nine: Trading stories

A knock came at Cupa's door.

Cupa, who was sitting on her bed in a hunched position, glanced up at it. "It's open," she called.

The door opened slowly. There stood Andr.

Cupa sighed softly. "Hey, Andr."

"Hey." The taller girl entered the room, closing the door behind her. "You're…sitting alone in the dark here?"

"I just need to think. Things aren't looking too good."

Andr sat down on a flat rock opposite of Cupa. "We've been through a lot already," Andr said. "Everyone here has."

That was true. Before the Realm, everyone kept their pasts quiet. This had partly been because of privacy, and partly because there hadn't been many good moments to tell stories. After they settled down, everyone began to open up a bit. Most stories told so far included some dark moments—the type of which could be expected in a mob's life.

"True," Cupa said, "but this? It's not just the two of us now; we're a large group of pretty powerful mobs." She hesitated. "If Jack is a spy, the Hunters would be in the perfect position to attack us all right now. If he isn't a spy, he's probably made it to the Nether already. Or Ironhand's jail. Or worse…"

Andr winced a little. None of those scenarios were fun to think about. "What do you suppose we should do?"

"That's what I was thinking about," Cupa said. "Those ideas Yaebi and Mystia had…are all I've got."

Andr's eyes lit up.

"Alright," Cupa said, "no offense, but I still think it's crazy."

"It is crazy. We're just so desperate to solve this situation."

"I know. I am too. I'm just so scared of…a lot of things."

"You mean Ironhand. And the Nether."

"Ironhand we might survive. But if the Nether mobs are against us? If Herobrine's against us? We wouldn't stand a chance."

Andr looked down at the ground. "I know…but I can't live with myself without making sure Jack is…" She trailed off.

"I know that feeling," Cupa agreed.

Andr paused. "Some of us are willing to go and look for Jack while others wait in one of Mystia's backup locations." She glanced down. "I'm…going with Mystia to the Nether."

Cupa sighed, though she wasn't surprised to hear it. "I figured."

"Can you expect me not to?" Andr softly asked.

"It's just… I know where you're coming from, but…" Cupa trailed off.

"You're talking about your spy theory," Andr said. "I don't think it's enough reason for me not to go, if only to find out the truth."

"And what if it is true and Jack himself ends up…" Cupa swallowed. "…killing you?"

Andr's eyes darkened. "He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because he isn't able to kill me."

That actually caught Cupa off-guard. She'd expected Andr to tenaciously uphold the idea that Jack was still on the mobs' side—she could be quite emotional about those things. Now though… That cold confidence in her voice was reminiscent of Jack himself. It was something he would be more likely to say than Andr.

A second later, Andr glanced down. "I don't know for sure if Jack's a spy or not," she softly said. "I don't believe he is, but I can't know for sure." She looked up at Cupa. "What I do know is that my powers are one of the reasons why I'm still alive now. Spy or not, Jack can't change that."

Cupa nodded, still a little taken aback.

"Not the answer you expected?" Andr asked with a hint of a smile.

"Not exactly," Cupa said. "But it's…valid."

"I guess being around Jack so much changed me a little bit." Andr paused. "Maybe that's why I don't believe he's a spy. He's…helped me."

Helped you become more confident, Cupa thought, holding back a smile. I noticed that.

"You don't have to come with us," Andr said. "I won't think less of you if you go to one of those backup locations instead. You don't have my powers; you'd be in more danger than I if you went to Ironhand or the Nether."

"Maybe," Cupa pensively said. "But I honestly don't know what I'm going to do." She glanced down. "I'm not as sure about my spy theory as I might seem."

Andr nodded. She stood up. "You need some time to think about it…?"

"Probably. But you'll be the first to know when I've made up my mind."

"Thanks."

"I feel like I should thank you."

Andr blinked. "For what?"

"Being…patient."

She tilted her head.

"I reckoned you'd be angry," Cupa softly said. "Whether or not that spy theory is true, it's what drove us all apart."

Andr shook her head. "That's not your fault."

"Isn't it?"

"We're supposed to be aware of possible dangers," Andr said. "That's what you did—you made us aware. Don't worry about what's going on in our group right now. We'll get back together, before or after we find Jack."

"How do you know that?"

"We can't exactly stay divided forever because of something like this, can we? People disagree with each other all the time. We'll make amends sooner or later."

Cupa paused, then chuckled. "Heh."

"What?" Andr smiled.

"Jack's confidence really did rub off on you," Cupa said. "You're even giving me a pep talk."

"I guess I am," Andr said, sounding surprised.

"Well, I appreciate it."

Andr nodded. "Anytime."

Jack woke up. His back was sore.

The red environment let him remember where he was, and the memories of everything that had happened between him and the mobs followed soon after. He immediately felt uncomfortable when he recalled telling Minerva and Iris about their siblings.

With a groan, he stood up and stretched. How had he fallen asleep in this place? Everything—from the wall he'd leaned against to the high temperature—made sleeping that much more difficult, yet he'd somehow done it. He must've been more tired than he'd realized.

He noticed something to his left and looked to see Minerva appearing from a cave entrance in the wall mere meters ahead.

The mob looked back. "Morning," she said. "You got a good night's rest?"

Jack gave a nod. "I suppose. How're things?"

"We're not that far away from Herobrine, now," Minerva said. "If we hurry, we can make it there before noon. Blazette's gone to the fortress to tell Charlotte and Honetsu where we're going. They're coming after us, but we don't have to wait for them."

How can they tell time here? Jack thought. "Alright. Point me in the right direction, and we can start walking."

"I'll take the lead," Blazette spoke up as she appeared from seemingly nowhere, floating in the air.

"You're back quickly," Jack said.

"Of course I am," Blazette said. "I can fly."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

She rolled her eyes. "You humans and your worthless jokes."

They continued their journey, with Jack trying to ignore his lingering tiredness. The terrain they passed varied greatly—from relatively flat, fiery plains to steep mountains whose only light sources were the lumps of glowstone on the ceiling—but no other mobs ever showed themselves. It was eerily quiet.

Jack felt himself getting more and more agitated throughout the trip. The conflict in his head acted up again, and it became worse as he approached his goal. Something about it made him feel so…well, agitated. If it really was Áhýdan's doing, Jack reckoned he'd have to bring it up when he met Herobrine.

"Let's get some rest," Minerva eventually said. "I think we can all use something to eat."

"Yeah," Blazette said. She turned to Jack. "You happen to have anything in that backpack of yours?"

"I don't have much," Jack said as he put his pack on the ground and opened it. "Ate most of it during my trip to Ironhand."

"Of course," Blazette said. "Typical human appetite. It's almost impressive."

"… Thanks," Jack dryly said. "Not so bad yourself."

Her eyes widened in anger. "What did you say to me, human?!"

"Charlotte and Honetsu are bringing more supplies with them," Minerva intervened. "We just have to wait for them to catch up."

They divided the little food they had among them. After finishing that, they decided to continue almost immediately.

Jack proceeded to follow Blazette again. This time, Iris walked next to her, and the two started a conversation. It was the kind of talk you'd expect to see between two friends, albeit with one stoic and one grumpy person.

Jack felt a little tension rise when Minerva went to walk next to him.

"You're fast," Minerva eventually said. "You really caught me off-guard back there on the bridge. You even disarmed me."

"Learned that back home," Jack softly said. "And from the Overworld mobs."

She looked at him. "The Overworld mobs? Did Athena…?"

"Yeah. She alone taught me a lot about fighting—in just two weeks."

"You can't have become that skilled in two weeks."

"Like I said, I also learned things back at home."

Minerva regarded him. "Who are you, really?" she finally asked. She didn't sound angry or impatient. "Where're you from?"

He hesitated.

"One thing you should know…" Minerva said. "I was bluffing about that poison thing."

"Really? So you can't…?"

"I can," she said. "But I wasn't going to. I don't like torture. And neither does Blazette, by the way." She sounded honest, but Jack knew how good Athena was at fooling people. He wouldn't be surprised if Minerva was just as skilled.

"So…what, she was bluffing too?" Jack asked.

"I know it didn't look like it," Minerva said, "but trust me, I know her. Her temper is a little short, but she's not as…sadistic…as she seems." She paused. "She might've burned you if you'd hurt anyone here, though."

"That I understand."

She paused, glancing away. "I just…want to apologize for threatening you back there."

"Eh, I have that effect on people sometimes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Problems in the Overworld?"

"Disagreeing with the humans' views on mobs in the Overworld can get you some enemies."

"Tell me about it," she said. "How'd you become a sympathizer? You weren't really raised in a family of sympathizers, were you?"

"No, I wasn't," he admitted. "Where I'm from, there are no mobs. Just humans."

"Really? Must be a boring place."

"Anyway, when I found out that mobs weren't as monstrous as the local humans in the Overworld said they were, I…went rogue."

"How long ago was that?"

He took a moment to count the days. "A little over four weeks ago, I think."

"Four weeks, huh?"

"It all really started a day after I got to the Overworld."

"That's not very long ago. You left anyone behind in your own…place?"

An image of his parents flashed before his eyes. "… Yeah," he sighed.

She frowned. "Then why go to the Overworld at all? If you still have friends in your homeplace…"

"I didn't leave," Jack grimly said. "I was taken."

He basically felt her confusion.

"I didn't even know the Overworld existed until then," Jack continued. "I don't even know for sure who or what brought me here in the first place. I was hoping Herobrine could shed some light on that, too."

"He mentioned it in that dream of yours?"

"No, that dream was about…something else. I was hoping he could send me back to where I'm from."

"And leave your friends in the Overworld?"

Jack fell silent. "They'll understand," he finally said.

Minerva glanced at him.

He glanced back. "What about you? Do you have any plans of going back to the Overworld?"

"I want to see Athena again someday," Minerva said. "So…yeah. I want to go back to the Overworld at some point. I just don't know for sure when."

"How come you haven't started looking for her already?"

Minerva remained silent at first. "I…" she finally said. "Let's just say that I can't blame her for thinking I've gone insane. We went our separate ways after a…disagreement."

"Must've been a really bad disagreement, then."

She shot him a look. "It was. She was too scared to go to the Nether; we didn't know enough about the place to be sure that it was safe. I was fed up with being hunted by humans all the time, and I was desperate to get away from that. So I just abandoned her there.

"Not long after that, I…came to my senses. I wanted to go back to the Overworld, but I couldn't; she'd buried the portal on her side. I could go through it, but not much further—the portal was located in an old ruin, and she'd somehow brought the entire place down. I have no idea where she went after that."

Jack remained silent. Athena never mentioned any of this; she always spoke so highly of Minerva, fondly recalling memories of the time before they got separated. Not once did she mention a fight between them.

Minerva looked at him. "Any suspects on who might've taken you to the Overworld?" she asked.

Jack nodded, pretending to not notice the sudden change in subject. "Áhýdan," he said. "Herobrine mentioned him in that dream of mine."

"… Áhýdan, huh…"

He turned to her. "You mentioned his name back at the fortress. What can you tell me about him?"

She glanced back at him, suddenly looking very uncertain. "I don't know much," she said, "but there are a few things—"

"You two," Blazette intervened. "We're here."

She pointed. Jack looked and saw something…not very impressive. He'd expected Herobrine's base to stand out—like a castle or even just a tower—but all he saw was a set of stairs leading upwards into a netherrack wall. The entrance at the end of the stairs didn't look dissimilar to that of a mineshaft.

Next to him, Minerva let out a chuckle. "Underwhelming, right?" she said. "Yeah, when I first saw it, I thought the same thing."

"That's Herobrine's…home?" Jack asked.

"You could say that," Minerva affirmed. "Let's go in there. There're a few things we need to do before we go to him."

"Like what?"

She didn't reply; she just gestured with her head to the stairs. Jack followed Blazette and Iris into the mountain.

It really was a mineshaft, albeit one in the Nether. Immediately following the entrance, there was a small room that stood at the core of an intersection. The hallways were lit with weak, reddish torches. Redstone torches, Jack assumed.

"Jack," Iris said, pointing with her sword to the hallway on their left. "That way."

"You three go ahead," Blazette said. "See if the human can make sense of things there. I'm going to this place's little break room and wait for Charlotte and Honetsu to catch up."

She turned and went into the right hallway. Jack frowned and turned to the other two. "Make sense of what?"

"Can you read?" Iris asked.

Jack nodded.

"Good," Iris said. "Thing is, we can't. Herobrine left something in this place. We think it's a message."

"Why would he leave a message you can't read?"

Iris shrugged. "Let's find out."