Ivor decided that the person running this whole ordeal was completely and utterly crazy.
Guaranteed, they were definitely powerful, seeing as they somehow managed to teleport several people and empty them of their inventories, which made him slightly afraid of whatever these 'punishments' were.
But what kind of person wasted their time building an enormous hallway with what seemed to be hundreds of rooms, if they were all empty?
They had gone through forty-two rooms(since going through the hallway was really the only thing they could do at this point), all with walls and floors either all white or all grey, every single one with nothing in them, except for a single mirror on the wall opposite of the entrance. No chests. No wooden stairs. Just small, square rooms. It was starting to get aggravating.
It probably didn't help that Cassie Rose had, about twenty some rooms ago, came up with the idea to go back and check the empty rooms for hidden entrances. Which was actually a pretty good idea, but when Otto and Harper said they'd both go with her to 'help her find any possible hidden passages', well, he knew they were just using this as an opportunity to talk some things out. Which left him to go through the remain rooms. With Aiden.
The two didn't really speak to each other (What was there to talk about? They were trapped in some place waiting to be 'punished' for their 'sins', and they weren't exactly friends) unless they were saying a room was, like all the others, empty, and that wasn't exactly a conversation starter.
Ivor made his way to room number forty-three, and grumbled under his breath, "I swear if this is another empty room, I'm going to murder some one," as he placed his hand on the door handle(he was vaguely aware of Aiden scooching away from him, but really didn't care at this point). He swung the door open, expecting another empty, useless, room.
He was wrong.
The first thing he noticed was the desk at the opposite end of the room, and the second thing he noticed was that there was a second mirror on the wall left to the entrance.
Ivor stood there for a moment, blinking at the not-so empty room, before making his way over to the desk, Aiden following him. Noticing the papers on the desk, he picked up all three, and realized that the handwriting reminded him of Jesse's. Disturbed, he began to read.
The first letter told him nothing, besides that the person writing it had to learning how to use their hand again. And that they apparently hated writing.
He was about to start reading the second one when he heard Aiden say, "Why is there a book by Soren here?"
"What?" Ivor asked, and looked over at the books Aiden had in his hands. The book with the red cover, titled 'Commands of the Command Block', was indeed by Soren of all people. "One of these days I'm going to track down that man and I'm going to find out why his books are absolutely everywhere."
Aiden looked at him, bewildered, "Everywhere?"
Ivor waved him off, "Not important right now. What's the other book?"
Aiden, stilling looking confused from the Soren comment, glance at the blue book, "Apparently," he said, "It's called 'Tales of Tim the Legend', by somebody called Dealmaker?"
The memory of the games, Jesse's revelation that the hero all the competitors looked up to was all a lie created by the Old Builders, sent a shudder up his spine. But then, something fresher, swam up to the surface of his mind, and he said, "Wasn't Dealmaker what that voice said would be Otto's punishment?"
Aiden's eyes widened, "I thought it sounded familiar..." he said, "Wait, does that mean that the 'punishments' are people?"
Ivor rolled his eyes, "Well, monsters can't exactly write books now, can they? And if you want more details, then I suggest you read this," he shoved one of the letters into Aiden's hands, "because it's the only thing we have."
He read the second letter, which only confused him more, because despite having the exact same handwriting as the other letters, it sounded like it was from a completely different person. Not to mention that the basic gist of the letter seemed to be them moping over trying to befriend Aiden, and that they somehow seemed to know Lukas. If it hadn't been for the way it sounded, and for the signature at the bottom, he would've thought that Jesse could have written it.
"Hey, uh, Ivor?" Aiden said, a perplexed and slightly disturbed expression on his face, "I think you should read this. Besides the overall weirdness, there seems to be some kinda... wrong about? It could just be me, but I think you should check it out anyways."
Ivor took the paper from Aiden, "I suppose it couldn't hurt... oh, and I think you should read this one," he said, handing the letter to Aiden, "It seems like you've got an admirer, of sorts." Chuckling to himself as the younger spawn's eyes widened while reading the journal entry, he turned his eyes to the third and final letter. He read it, and then had to re-read it several times to process it.
"It's not just me, is it?" Aiden asked.
"No, it's not just you. But this- this is just to creepy. It goes from using far too many exclamation points to flat out threatening without any sort of transition," he placed the letter back on the table, "And there's also the fact that it says it's from Jesse, and it's to Axel and Olivia, and it's even in her handwriting- but it doesn't sound like her at all. In fact, none of these do, yet they're all in her handwriting!" Ivor groaned, hitting the palm of his hand against his head, "And we haven't learned anything about the challenges from these letters either- if anything I have even more questions now!"
Aiden opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't get the chance to.
Because the mirror in the left side of the room, at that moment, shattered.
And out stepped something that made Ivor's heart stop.
Ivor stared at the creature(or person? was it a person?), horror pulsing through his veins. Shadowy black tentacles surrounded around the thing, black staining their arms and face. All of that, with the glowing pink eyes, reminded Ivor of the Witherstorm he'd created so long ago. But the most terrifying thing?
It looked like Jesse.
By all means, it shouldn't. Their skin was a few shades too dark, their hair was braided and brown instead of black, and their clothes were all the wrong colors. Yet the familiar colored streak of hair, though red instead of yellow, and just something about their face and body, all made Ivor want to call them Jesse(and oh gods, it took everything for him not to).
"You," their voice was raspy, but still sounded just like Jesse, (why did it sound like her, it shouldn't sound like her), their eyes set on Ivor, and he felt like their gaze was piercing his soul, "You bastard. Look what you've done to me!" their scream shakes Ivor to his core, but somehow, some way, he makes eye contact with Aiden.
They look at each other, and they know that there's only one thing they can do.
Run.