Chapter 5: In Medias Res

Blake when hit the floor with a hard "thud," landing on his injured side. He groaned and put a hand on his hip in an attempt to ease the dull ache. Although the effort was pointless, he did notice that his palm didn't feel wet. He wasn't bleeding anymore, and his slash wound seemed to be gone altogether.

"Where…?"

He'd passed out in the sand, but he was neither on a beach nor back in the forest. Blake sat in a cramped room with a row of beds lined up along the walls, dimly illuminated by a lone torch in the corner. His surroundings were made of wooden planks, though curiously of no universal type. Oak, spruce, acacia, and jungle blocks all came together for a very patchwork-looking construction job. The room had no windows and a single birch door on the opposite wall to the beds.

"Did I get captured-"

As he tried to stand, the floor rocked under him. He stumbled and landed on his rear, hitting the back of his head against the bed he'd already fallen out of. While Blake rubbed the stars out of his vision, the door opened.

"I knew I heard something! Are you okay?"

It was the redheaded girl- Celia, he remembered. She stood by him, hesitantly offering a hand. Blake took it and dragged himself to his feet before the floor could sway again.

"I'm… fine," he managed to say. "The wound's gone. What happened?"

Celia's eyes were locked onto his torn purple shirt, as if to verify his claim. "Felix and I scurried to stabilize you," she said after a moment. "We found some cold pork chops among your belongings and fed them to you after you lost consciousness. Thankfully, it would seem that your body was able to recover quickly on a full stomach."

"Never underestimate the healing power of pork," he mused. "How long's it been? Where are we?"

The floor lurched again, nearly causing him to fall over. Celia, who seemed unaffected, helped keep him steady. "I believe you were only unconscious for an hour or so. We're currently at sea, putting more distance between us and our pursuers… perhaps you should come outside with me. You must have many questions."

Nodding, Blake followed her out the door and onto the sunlit deck. The rest of the small boat was similarly made of assorted wooden planks, with a flat deck and a makeshift railing of mismatched fence posts. Despite the relatively strong winds, there was no sail or mast; how the craft propelled itself was unclear. Felix stood at the bow, fiddling with a series of buttons and levers. Ahead, Blake could see nothing but waves. Behind, the enormous tree was still visible, but they'd clearly moved a good distance from the beach.

"We can take you back if you would like," Celia said as she placed a wooden plank on the deck and sat on it, "but we ask that you listen to what we have to say first."

Why was he having trouble figuring out a response all of a sudden? It had been over a year since his last major interactions with other people, but he couldn't have forgotten how to socialize that much, could he?

"I… don't want to go back. I'm moving on."

He cleared his throat hard, still trying adjust to speaking again. Celia frowned. "Are you well? You've been hoarse ever since we ran into one another."

"Sorry! It's been a while!" he blurted out.

She only seemed more confused. Felix, who was now looking over his shoulder at them, had a quizzical expression of his own.

"I haven't really talked to anyone in a long time," Blake said after a long sigh. "Sorry. I'm trying to relearn it."

"That's… fine, I suppose," Celia replied. "Very well. As I said, you must have many questions. Perhaps you can find your voice by asking them?"

He nodded, resisting the urge to ask everything at once. When he had vowed to set out and find a new purpose, he didn't think he'd so quickly wind up in the middle of someone else's story.

"Okay. First, did those people say you were a princess…?"

"Countess," Celia said with a big smile. "My father is the Duke of Luxmouth, the Ever-Glowing City."

Blake had heard of self-appointed royalty among other villages, but this was the first time he'd ever met an actual figure of authority. He had even less of an idea how to conduct himself now. "Who's he, then?" he asked, pointing to Felix. "Your bodyguard?"

"Felix comes from a family of craftsmen and architects. They have been personally commissioned by House Lumis many times since the days of our great-grandparents." She grinned again. "And, he is a good friend. We grew up together."

Blake raised a brow. "Not really a fighter, then? Do you not have any guards?"

He saw Felix cringe out of the corner of his eye. Celia's face fell before she replied. "We came here ourselves. Our city can hardly spare the resources and manpower to track down a Genesis Core in the midst of an invasion."

There it was, the topic he'd really wanted to get to. Once more, Blake refrained from blurting out every question he had in mind. "Invasion? Is that what the magic bonemeal orb I found is about?"

"Partially," Felix said, finally turning to face them. Whatever he was doing at the controls, it seemed his full attention wasn't needed at the moment. "It's one of many special objects called Genesis Cores. They imbue their wielders with immense amounts of power over specific elements. In your case, you found a Bonemeal Core."

Blake could still feel its energy lightly pulsing within him. It was a surreal sensation, but there was nevertheless a strange sort of comfort about it.

"A Bonemeal Core? There are others?"

"One other," said Celia, "that is currently housed in Luxmouth, bound to nobody. All Genesis Cores come in pairs, one colored brilliant gold and the other a cool amethyst. Yours was the latter, I presume?"

He nodded. His new acquaintances both seemed to perk up, with Celia in particular appearing utterly elated.

"Did you know who those other people were?" he asked, recalling the brashness with which she had spoken against Ray. "They were hunting me down over the orb."

Just like that, the cheery mood faded. The two strangers looked back at the enormous tree, which had become smaller on the horizon.

"They are agents of our enemies, the invaders," Celia said, seeming deeply troubled. "Agents of the Usurpation Army."

As intrigued as Blake was to hear more, his thoughts briefly turned to the enemies they'd just escaped.

"I wonder what happened to them…"

Sunlight trickled through the thinning branches as Ray stumbled toward the forest's exit. With one hand he held his dirtied iron sword, with the other he clutched at a gash on his stomach. More zombies than even he, with his Grass Core, could handle had zeroed in on their position. Ray's cloak was in tatters, and he sported small wounds everywhere. He was injured, both in pride and body, but he was alive. The same couldn't be said for the rest of Lime Squad.

"All gone… except me. What kind of sick fate is this?"

He'd known them for years. They had fought and struggled together, surviving against all odds in the chaotic wastes beyond the Inlands. The group had worked well enough as a team to be assigned Genesis Core retrieval duties- Ray had even been given one of the artifacts!

"They trusted me to guide them. We were supposed to be unstoppable together, weren't we?"

He nearly tripped over a fallen sapling as he finally broke free of the woods.

"Weren't we…?"

When he staggered onto the beach, his heart sank even further: the small ship he and Lime Squad had arrived in was nowhere to be seen. Ray walked along the shore, desperately trying to convince himself that he just wasn't looking in the right place, but it was for naught. All that awaited him was a pair of wooden rowboats, abandoned several chunks away from where his team had landed.

He sat down in the sand, withdrawing a pair of items from his inventory. The first was a potion of healing, of which he drank half and sprinkled the rest onto his various injuries. As Ray recovered, he examined the second object: a modified map which tracked Genesis Cores. Two readings were displayed, one for his own Grass Core, and the other for the wayward Bonemeal Core. Finding them should have been nigh impossible without a radar, so how the "Countess" had tracked one down was a mystery to him.

"She might have followed us. But those simple rowboats could never keep up with our redstone engines…"

The reality of his situation weighed on him, regardless of probability. He had been foiled, his team was gone, and without the ship it would take much longer to regroup with the rest of the army. All of this humiliation had come at the hands of a trio of lowly Inlanders- he would never live it down.

"Hey there, stranger…"

Ray looked back toward the woods, scowling. A large-nosed, gray-skinned creature was leering at him from just a short distance away, casually resting an axe against his shoulder and carrying a banner. Two others, too similar in appearance for him to bother differentiating them, were standing at the newcomer's sides. One of them also wielded an axe, while the other had a crossbow loaded. His eyes narrowed when he realized that the gray people were holding scraps of tan cloth and metal masks.

"Are these yours?" the leader chuckled. "We picked 'em up off some poor saps under this giant tree. They'd probably get us some real prestige from our brothers in arms. Your garb seems the most intact, though, and I'm feeling generous. Why don't you hand it over to us, and we won't hurt you?"

Ray looked out at the ocean. He could never catch up to the trio in just a rowboat- but he could follow them nonetheless.

"I'm talking to you, human."

"I… am not in the mood to listen to your blathering, Inlander." He got up, wiping some sand off of his cloak. His sword was gripped tight.

"Eh? Inlander? Never heard 'o that," the leader said with a hum. "Ring a bell for you, Johnny?" The second axe-wielder shook his head, so he shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter. We'll be taking everything you've got on hand now."

Ray, despite all of the day's humiliations, smirked. He turned fully to face the three brigands. "You know, I ought to thank you. I've had quite the rough day, you see. I should be following the people who got my team killed, but…"

As they raised their weapons, he let out a deep chuckle. The Grass Core's power welled up within Ray, and he brought up his sword. "…I could use something to vent my frustrations against first."

He'd easily dispatch these pests. Then the real hunt was on.

"The invasion began about two months ago," said Celia. "Since then, the Usurpation has conquered many settlements with the powers of their Genesis Cores. I fear they will reach our home soon enough."

Blake was equal parts enraptured and troubled by the tale. So much had happened out in the world while he remained isolated; if he hadn't left home, would the war have eventually found him anyway? He didn't believe in destinies apart from those which people made for themselves- that was what he'd set out for in the first place. Yet a part of Blake acknowledged that he'd been unwittingly roped into the conflict from the moment he'd chosen to investigate the giant tree. "What else do you know about them?" he asked.

"Scarcely anything, I'm afraid. Their motives are as difficult to grasp as their operatives in most scenarios."

There was an awkward silence before Blake spoke again. "Well then… what's your next move?"

"Our course is set for Luxmouth," Felix said, "where we can help you remove the Bonemeal Core. Without having to cause you harm like the Usurpation wanted to, of course."

Celia's hands were clasped together. "I understand you may find this all a bit overwhelming- it is the case for us as well. But I beg of you to at least accompany us to our city, so the Core does not fall into the wrong hands. You mentioned not wanting to go home?"

He wasn't sure how to describe the confused knot of reactions that had entangled his head. This was overwhelming him. "That's right. I've been at home for too long, anyway. I…"

Although Blake hesitated in continuing, he knew there was no turning back. He'd made a commitment to himself, one he didn't plan on breaking. "I'll come with you. I'd planned to cross overseas in the first place, so I might as well."

Celia beamed at him. "You will be well compensated for your assistance, I assure you. For the moment, all I can offer is my gratitude. Felix! How long will the return voyage take?"

Felix took off his leather helmet, enjoying the ocean breeze. "Well, given how much faster this Usurpation craft is than our boats, we'll make much better time than we did on the way here. We won't even need to stop to make camp on any islands, so… maybe six days, without any complications."

Blake leaned over the rail. He could see water churning at the rear of the boat, and propelling it by some mechanism unfamiliar to him. He assumed it was the work of some redstone gadget, but couldn't fathom how it might have worked. Engineering was not his specialty.

"Did you say Usurpation? Is this ship stolen?"

Celia giggled. "Our assailants were thoughtful enough to leave their vessel unsupervised. We weren't about to bring you overseas in a pair of rowboats with such an opportunity before us, and Felix was able to learn how to control it rather quickly. We considered returning for the Grass Core the agents possessed, but we felt it would be best not to push our luck after such a perilous escape."

When Celia turned to look out over the railing ahead, Felix pointed toward himself after her last remark with an exasperated expression. Blake got the message.

"They seem nice enough. I guess as long as we've got a common enemy, I'll stick with them."

The tree, and his old home, were getting smaller in the distance. Blake joined Celia and Felix at the front of the deck, wordlessly gazing at the ocean. For the first time in a while, he felt he had some direction in his life.

End of Part One