Chapter 49: Ten Converging Fates
"Twenty-Four! Get over here!"
Tara still hadn't gotten used to her new designation- Expansion Defense Squad 1, Trooper 24- but she knew when she was being summoned. Marshal Crux may have had a short tone and even shorter patience with most of her underlings, yet Tara was privileged enough to receive a special degree of derisiveness. In her brief time as ED1-24, she'd been ordered around the Nether fortifications nonstop, and today would be no different; in fact, Tara had a feeling she was in for more orders than usual that morning.
With news of an imminent attack, Incursia was bracing itself for the battle to come. The Industrial Division was hard at work producing more weapons and armor, and shipments from their factories were nonstop. A few Reestablishment Division members had recently arrived through the Nether, and the word was Commandant Blue would be sending ahead a force of her own, small enough to evade detection by those still defending the northern plains of the Inlands but large enough to help defend the city. Tara, meanwhile, had been helping her fellow Expansion troopers fortify the Nether base's corridors and construct barricades of stone and brick around the gates before receiving her order.
Knowing Crux didn't like to be kept waiting, Tara dutifully jogged to where she was waiting and stood at attention. "Here, Marshal."
"You've done enough here. Our allies from the Ender Forge are providing their own assistance, applying enchantments to our armor and tools." Indeed, Crux's advanced black havenite chestplate had a distinct purple shimmer over it. "Head to the eastern Expansion Fortress and see what buffs you can get. The rest of ED1 is setting up defenses on the Nether side, so you are to join them there and wait for further orders."
"Understood. Moving out." She took a step to leave, but Crux put a hand in front of her.
"By the way… you've been performing better than expected under my command. You follow orders, and you don't complain. It would seem even in disgrace, the Ice Queen still has her merits."
She knew Crux was fishing for a response, but gave none other than a short nod.
"That is why I'm considering a reward for your good behavior may be in order," Crux continued. She pulled something from her inventory and showed it to Tara, letting its golden radiance fill the dark Nether tunnel. "You've done good work for us with the light Ice Core in the past. And so, depending on your actions when the attack comes, you may find yourself wielding it for the Army once again when the dust settles."
Tara remembered first receiving it from Marshal Orion, not long after her promotion to a Usurpation Knight. She had led Crimson Squad to great success in escorting a convoy of weapons in the wastes, protecting it from the mobs which preyed on couriers. In spite of her efforts to be dispassionate and clinically efficient, Orion had seemed so proud and happy for Tara as he entrusted her with the Ice Core. He'd been the one to recruit her to the army, after her former gang had abandoned her and when she was struggling to fend for herself. He'd given her somewhere to belong, a cause to champion.
And she'd responded to the praise by conditioning Crimson Squad to all but worship her instead of focusing more on what would be best for the Usurpation. As if that weren't enough, she'd even gotten Orion killed, and that thought alone made it uncomfortable to so much as look at the Ice Core. Even the knowledge that it was, in some capacity, a piece of the entity called Notch didn't compare.
"Thank you, Marshal. I will do my best," was all she said.
Tara made her way to the nearest Nether portal and returned to the city proper. She arrived in a portal hub at the western Expansion Fortress, right on the scene of a group of GCRB agents delivering what resembled cracked Netherrack blocks through a different portal. Also present was a very sour-looking Overseer Fornax, who glanced her way and frowned.
"Excuse me, Trooper. You were Dame Tara, right?"
She wasn't thrilled to be interrupted, but stopped and saluted. "That is correct… former leader of Crimson Squad, Expansion Division."
"Then you were with Esme." Fornax's thin, almost birdlike face was mostly hidden behind her mask, but her eyes had become narrow as if sizing Tara up. "And would you say you two were friendly with one another?"
Now it was Tara's turn to frown under her black bandana. She hadn't known Sir Merric particularly well, and her relationship with Ray and Esme wasn't much better. "I would not, Overseer. We were colleagues, nothing more."
She nodded. "Good, then you won't have any trouble striking her down if you ever see her again."
Tara froze. "Kill her?"
"She has abandoned the Usurpation and betrayed our purpose. The official notice will be sent out later that she is to be terminated, assuming she doesn't flee back to the wastes to rot. Now then, as you were."
Fornax followed her agents through the portal before Tara even had a chance to ask for elaboration. Frankly, the idea that Esme of all people could do something worthy of death on sight was unbelievable, and she'd already become suspicious of the Usurpation Army's higher-ups. But there was no time to dwell on it, so she just found another portal which was set to the Nether fortification on the eastern side and stepped through.
Her day didn't get much better when she saw who exactly was enchanting for them.
Even with his hood and mask up, there was no mistaking Shade's tiring cheeriness. He was surrounded by ramshackle bookshelves and hunched over a glowing tome on an obsidian table, yet his body language remained easygoing as he chanted in some tongue she didn't recognize and imbued mystic power into the equipment before him. Usurpation soldiers were gearing up in their newly empowered armor and admiring the glow of their weapons before moving out, and soon enough Tara was the last one in line.
"Well hello there! I'm so glad you stopped by to visit me, you've made my day brighter already," he teased.
She sighed. "Save it. What can you do for me?"
Shade reached into a chest behind him and pulled out a few chunks of lapis lazuli, laying them on the table beside his enchanting book. "Hand me your chestplate and one weapon of choice. I'll give them the best effort I can."
There wasn't much of a choice as far as the weapon went; the diamond axe she'd taken in Tenebyss had been confiscated, leaving her with just a standard-issue iron Usurpation sword. She handed it to Shade, who marveled at the curved edge for a moment before getting to work. One incantation later, the blade emitted a glowing purple aura, and he repeated the process with her chestplate.
He grinned and explained himself as she took back her items. "I've given your sword the gift of Knockback. You'll find it can push enemies further away now. Your armor, meanwhile, I was able to imbue with Mending. Just like us, it'll slowly repair itself over time. That should serve you well when your foes arrive."
"What will you be doing?" she couldn't help but ask.
"The Mouth has announced that we're going to stick around and fight with you all. Most of the Forge is still scattered across Old Lux, but those of us in Incursia will help you defend the city. He's going to be here too." Shade leaned forward over his table. "And the best part is your enemies aren't even going to have the numbers they planned to."
Tara raised a brow. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Two Senior Forgers are in a southern city called Granitetown right now, ready to stop their armed forces from joining the attack."
"Granitetown? Isn't that where Ray said he was going?" she thought. A subtle, inexplicable sense of worry had crept into her heart. She asked, "What do your people have in mind?"
"I don't know all the details, of course, but the plan is to gather a few very special flowers called wither roses. They're very dangerous, and how exactly they're grown is a secret kept by the Senior Forgers. But once we have them, we can start another plague and deal a crippling blow to our enemies!"
He looked positively giddy at the thought, to such a degree that Tara was actually a bit unsettled. "Another…?"
"Some undercover agents from the original Forge scattered wither rose pollen around Luxmouth about 17 years ago. The city's got a very large, very condensed population, so it was easy for them to deal a lot of damage."
Tara's stomach clenched.
"The plague killed a lot of people, including the last survivor of House Damascus," Shade continued. "She'd gotten married to Duke Lumis, and they had a child together. But you've already met her, of course."
"Then… if that was 17 years ago…"
He shrugged. "Yeah, she was still a baby at the time. It's too bad the Forge couldn't get her father too, a little noble kid all by herself would've been easy pickings. But hey, that's what we have this alliance for, right? You Usurpers get to overthrow the Overworlders, and we Forgers get to dispense justice in the name of the Banished King."
When Tara spoke again, she found herself using the emotionless affect she'd briefly dropped.
"Right… justice."
"I was looking for a chance to throw another splash potion, but that was when the lightning struck. If it weren't for Cupa, I would have been hit. She attracted the bolt to herself and used its energy to fry the last skeleton."
Melissa wasn't one to tease others, a certain noble excluded, but she had to admit the increasingly astonished look on her brother's face was priceless.
It was just before noon, and after reaching a decision on what to do next the party had split up for the moment. While Celia and Blake went to speak with Gwendolyn again, the rest were left to their own devices, so Melissa spent her time catching up with Galen in TOEC's section of the camp. At his request, she'd joined him in his tent and the two were sitting across from one another on the beds. She'd recounted the trip to Teras and the subsequent battle in the mansion, as well as their encounter with the four riders when he asked why they'd arrived on skeletal horses.
"It's been a hectic week for us," she said, cracking a smile at his wide eyes. "But we pulled through it together."
"I… see. That all would explain why your suit's in such bad shape."
She cringed. "You noticed that? I thought I'd sewn the tears together convincingly."
"Melissa, there are bloodstains on your clothes!"
"Yeah… I took a few hits along the way. No permanent injuries, although my shoulder still aches a bit from the arrow-"
"From what?!" Galen jumped up from where he sat in the tent. "You were hit by an arrow?"
She twisted to show him her back, and the spot on her shoulder where she'd been shot. Of the various stained areas on her dark suit, none were as large as that spot, and the splotch left behind by her wound stuck out from the rest of the dark fabric. "Skeletons, Galen. They carry bows."
His mouth hung open. "You make it sound like it's not a big deal."
Melissa shrugged. "I couldn't just let Cupa take an arrow to the head. She was distracted by the lightning. Besides, it's completely healed now."
She'd chosen not to mention their attack from the other night, lest her story distress him even further. In fact, none of them had spoken of it to anyone at all, especially not after what Felix had revealed earlier. Melissa still didn't know what to make of it: nothing about his logic seemed unreasonable, but the idea that they were carrying and using shards of the Creators themselves refused to make sense in her head.
Galen heaved a sigh. "Well, at least you're here in one piece. The Countess too, for that matter." Then his expression changed, and he had a very small grin. "Which reminds me, how are things with her?"
Something in Melissa tensed up, and she gave him the flattest look she could. "She's been pleasant company, if a little stubborn. Blake and Felix must not have had an easy time escaping the Usurpation Army with her."
His grin widened. "That's not what I mean, Mel."
"Damn him," she thought, suddenly worried if she'd been found out. "I don't think I'm following you."
Her concern must have showed, because Galen was snickering. "The two of you are attached at the hip whenever House Lumis visits, and the Countess jumped at the chance to go with you to Teras. I can put two and two together."
She went very still. "...Mom and Dad, they…"
"They figured it out too," he said. "You might've kept it under wraps, but let's be honest: the Countess is a terrible actress."
Melissa's heart began to race, as she had no idea how this was going to play out but was fearing the worst.
"...I'm disappointed," Galen finally said, before his smile turned outright goofy. "Six years younger than me, and you managed to get a girlfriend first. Maybe I should get out of the caves more often."
She looked at him in bewilderment. "What?"
"Well, go on, tell me about her!" he continued. "I don't know Countess Celia that well, but if she's won your heart then I want to hear all the details."
Melissa's eyes narrowed. "Are you making fun of me?"
He shrugged and sat back down. "Maybe a little. And if you're uncomfortable sharing, then I'm sorry. But… if you and she are happy together, then I'd like to hear about it, and so would Mom and Dad."
To say the turn of events was unexpected was an overstatement. Melissa was glad her family wasn't bothered, but she wasn't at all prepared to be put on the spot for details. Still, though… after hiding her discreet relationship with the Countess from her family, some part of her relished the chance to discuss it openly.
"She can be stubborn, I wasn't making that part up. But she's also so upbeat, it's impossible not to feel happier with her." Melissa felt her face begin to heat up a little as she continued. "And when we're together, it's like I can see so much more color and life in the world. I think I could listen to her talk for hours."
"Who knew you could be so romantic?" he chuckled.
Melissa rolled her eyes. "You're an ass, Galen."
He put his hands up defensively. "All right, I know when I've gone too far. In all seriousness, I'm glad you've found someone like her. You two sound perfect for each other."
She smiled, but it faded quickly. "Then you know why I have to do this. Why I can't go back to Tenebyss."
Galen frowned. "You're sure about it? Absolutely sure?"
"I am. The others and I talked it over together, and we've made our choice. We won't be cooped up if we can make a difference."
"The Countess is rubbing off on you," he remarked.
Indeed she was, and so were the rest of her companions. Felix's revelation may have recontextualized many things about the journey, but it didn't change the danger posed by the invaders. They could figure out what to do about Notch and Herobrine after the threat was driven back.
And so, after a lengthy debate over what would be for the best, the Inland Alliance had chosen to take part in the battle after all.
"Keep up, kid," Ulrich shouted behind him. "We still have a ways to go."
He watched the young Far Lander nearly lose his footing as he stumbled through the soul sand valley, and briefly wondered if he would need to pull him out of another ditch. Ray was clearly able to fend for himself to some capacity, but Ulrich was used to traveling alone and having someone else to worry about was already getting on his nerves.
"All due respect, sir, but I'm about 22 years old." It was the closest to a complaint Ray had made since they joined forces. "I'm not exactly a child."
Ulrich rolled his eyes. "All due respect, kid, but that's still less than half my age. Keep moving."
It was the morning after they'd joined forces. They hadn't gotten very far when the thought occurred that Granitetown's security forces wouldn't take long to find the hidden portal. To avoid detection, they had instead broken out of the deep netherrack tunnel into the sprawling Nether caves, and were continuing on a longer- albeit less conspicuous- path toward their destination. Ulrich had a rough idea of how far away the Usurpation's fortress city was, thanks to reports that the small communities in the middle of the Great Badlands had been conquered, so he figured they could use the Nether to get closer before making the final approach on foot.
Of course, using the Nether came with its own hazards, namely the terrain and the mobs. It had been months since Ulrich last visited, and his skills at fighting the residents had dulled. Ghasts lurked overhead, living magma cubes sprang at them from the lava flats, and skeletons stalked the wastes. He was well-equipped, with full Netherite armor and diamond-tier weapons, but Ray lacked much more than a few spare swords. Whatever Usurpation armor he'd come to Granitetown with had broken when the Wither escaped.
And yet, remarkably, Ray remained more than capable of fighting off the various mobs they came across. His incredible ability to control plant matter extended to the fungal vines of the Nether's crimson forests, which he fashioned into lassos and tendrils that could swing weapons at incredible distances. He'd called the source of his power a "Genesis Core," which Ulrich had never heard of.
"I'm sorry for the delay, sir," Ray said as he caught up. He'd lowered his hood to reveal scraggly black hair, thick with sweat from the heat. "I'm just thinking of what to say to the other Far Landers… of how I'll convince them to stop fighting."
"And you think that'll work."
Ray flinched. "I want to believe it will. I want to believe my people aren't so far gone as to have no doubts about all this."
"How long did it take for you to start doubting the invasion?" Ulrich asked him.
He saw Ray's hazel eyes widen for a moment, as if he'd just recalled something. "It took a long time, longer than I'm proud of… and it took a lot of death. But I met somebody. I chased him across the sea, and we kept running into each other afterwards."
Ray looked down with a sigh. "I wanted to kill him at first, because I'd gotten a few other Far Landers killed and convinced myself it was all his fault. But… the last time we met, he saved my life. He apologized. And… and I let him go. Ever since, I'd been having second thoughts. What just happened with the Wither was the last straw."
Ulrich let out a snort of laughter. "Could've come to your senses before people got killed."
"Yeah. I could have…"
Above them, a ghast screeched and spat a fireball. Ulrich swatted it back with his diamond shovel, cracking a grin under his helmet when he heard the impact and the mob's dying shriek.
"Nice shot," Ray muttered.
"I might still have to turn you in once this is all over," he replied. "I hope you understand that."
Ray was still looking at the ground. "I do… and if that's how I can make things right, then it's what I'll go along with."
Ulrich raised a brow. "Even if they execute you?"
"Even if they execute me. If the war is over… then I will be satisfied with whatever fate I meet."
Whether Ulrich would do such a thing remained to be seen; there was still too much uncertainty in the near future. He was willing to keep his options open, though. As they continued on their way, with no other mobs in sight, a question came to mind.
"This guy you were chasing. Where do you think he is now?"
Ray frowned, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes. "The last place we met was in Tenebyss… he was with the Countess of Luxmouth."
Ulrich's step faltered, and he had to regain his stride before his reaction became obvious. Ray either didn't notice or didn't remark on it.
"Countess, eh? So he's in noble company."
He'd heard of Celia Lumis on a few occasions in his travels. However, her name was less interesting to him than her title: if Ray knew her as the countess, then it meant she hadn't ascended the throne of her house just yet.
It meant that Xavier was still alive and kicking.
Cupa would never say she regretted leaving Teras, but she couldn't deny that she'd had no idea what she was getting herself into at the time.
The group had first come together just shy of a week prior, yet it felt like at least a month had passed for her with all that had happened. A part of Cupa's mind couldn't shake the feeling of being a stranger in her new friends' storied lives. There she was, preparing to fight an enemy she barely knew alongside allies she- admittedly- also wasn't the most familiar with. That wasn't to say she didn't trust her team, quite the contrary, but as the newcomer to their vast world she was struggling to convince herself she really belonged with them.
"Blake came here from somewhere else, didn't he? Maybe I can talk to him about it sometime…"
For the moment, she contented herself with staying close to Felix as he followed Ember through the camp. It was nearly the middle of the day, and troops were bustling about.
"Our spare weapons and tools are stored over here," he was saying. "The Network brought plenty, so you can have your pick of them."
Ember brought the pair of them to another long tent not far from theirs, lined with so many chests there was hardly room to walk. Cupa lifted a few lids to find they were filled with weapons of finer craftsmanship than anything even the Illagers had to offer, let alone Teras. She didn't know how to swing a sword or an axe to save her life, but she imagined in the hands of someone trained they would be hugely effective.
Someone like Felix, perhaps. He'd found a chest full of axes and taken one with a diamond head, almost cradling it as he inspected the blade and handle. She watched him look it over, then mutter something under his breath and put it back in the chest before fetching another. It looked identical to Cupa, but Felix must have had a better eye for axes, because he gripped it with a satisfied nod. Once he seemed convinced of its quality, he lowered the weapon to his side, and it disappeared into thin air. She'd given up trying to understand how their "inventories," their means of storing even the heaviest items without issue, worked or made any sense. As she felt her last few arrows jostle in the pockets of her cloak, however, she still felt a twinge of jealousy.
Speaking of arrows, she needed to arm herself. The bow she wielded wasn't an old one, but it had been cobbled together with subpar materials like most of Teras' weaponry, and the string was on the verge of snapping. Turning to Ember, she asked where she could get a replacement.
"Bows and arrows are over there," he replied, "near the corner. The sections are marked, you'll see the signs."
She could see the signs, posted above every few chests, yet as Cupa took a step toward the corner he'd indicated she felt herself grow tense. She recognized the letters by then, having practiced them exhaustively in her head, but actually putting the sounds together was still a struggle.
"Come on, you can do it," she told herself. "Bow isn't a big word, right? You've got this… it starts with a 'B,' of course. There's no other letter which makes that sound. Then… then it has to be an 'O' after that. Uh, and then… 'H,' maybe? B-O-H?"
Cupa found a chest in the corner and hesitantly approached it. She spotted 'B' and 'O' on the sign, but she was only half-confident she knew what she was doing. Praying she wasn't about to make a fool of herself, she lifted the lid and was faced by stacks of arrows, as well as- to her delight- brand new bows. She let out a relieved sigh and began to peruse them.
"I did it! I DID IT! Okay, so it's B-O-W!"
Deciding it would be best to stick with what was familiar, she settled on a bow made of dark oak like that from her forest, with a similar tightness on the string. She then took as many arrows as she could comfortably carry and stowed them in her cloak's inner pocket.
"You're not using your inventory for that?" Ember asked.
She flinched, rubbing the back of her head. "Uh, it's easier this way! I can fetch 'em quickly from these pockets."
If she hadn't been a little self conscious about it, she might have found his expression hilarious: he looked blown away by the concept, eyes wide and mouth agape. "I've… never thought about that! Maybe we should try it out."
At least she'd made some contribution to the wider world. "Yeah, maybe…"
Before long, she and Felix had returned to their tent. The rest of the group was still elsewhere in the camp, leaving the two with some privacy to continue Cupa's studies. She successfully recited the alphabet to him, and the proud smile he gave her was extremely motivating.
"Good job," Felix said, "and good job back there with the signs."
"I did it all by myself! Not bad for a first timer, right?"
"Indeed. Now, you can try to write some simple words." He opened his notebook to an empty page and wrote the letters in a line at the top. "I'll help you if you need to sound something out. What do you want to try first?"
Cupa thought it over. "How about all of our names?"
Felix grinned again. "That'd be a good start. Okay, you…" his face fell, and his brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Oh. Huh…"
"Something wrong?" she asked him.
"Um… how would we spell your name? I've never heard one like it, do you know if it means anything?"
She looked down and tugged on her hood. "My dads rescued me from the Illagers when I was really little… they've always told me I couldn't pronounce 'creeper' at that age, so the sound I made was what they stuck with."
"I… see… well, in that case, why don't you decide how to spell it?" Felix handed her the quill, giving her another encouraging look. "It's personal, after all."
She took it from him and stared at the page, mulling over her options. She began to write after a moment's contemplation.
'K-O-O-P-A-H'
Then she scribbled it out. That sounded right, but she wasn't satisfied with the spelling.
'K-U-P-A-H'
Better, but still not to her liking.
'K-U-P-A'
Another improvement, as she felt the 'H' she'd been trying was unnecessary. But it still wasn't clicking for her, and she didn't know what else could be changed. Turning to Felix again, she asked, "Does it have to start with a 'K?'"
"Well, the letter 'C' can also make that sound. It's called a hard 'C.' Why don't you try that?"
She wrote one last line in the book, 'C-U-P-A,' and stared at it. "Perfect," she said afterwards. "It's perfect."
Nothing about her name had really changed, but she felt like a brand new person all the same. Felix looked at it as well, then nodded. "You're right, I think it suits you."
Cupa was getting excited. "You all have two names, right? Should I have one too?"
"Surnames are used in large populations, where a lot of people might end up having the same first name," he explained. "Not everyone has one- Blake doesn't- but they are pretty common."
If he was to be believed, she wasn't at risk of running into any other Cupas, but some part of her still felt like she was missing something. An idea came to her, and she blurted out, "What if I tried using yours?"
Felix was silent for a moment, then turned very red in the face and looked away. "U-uh…! They're usually used for family members, so you're probably better off asking your parents about it the next time you see them!"
She didn't know what had him so embarrassed, but she supposed it made sense. "Sure, I'll do that. Anyway, I'll keep trying some other words- I'm not stopping here!"
As she got back to it, however, she couldn't shake the thought that 'Cupa Silverhand' rolled off the tongue very nicely.
Ander hadn't made many decisions before, but she'd decided that following Esme was the best one yet. As she accompanied her odd new friend, the hot landscape presented itself with more and more fascinating sights. There were dry brown plants and thorny green ones, and in some places the ground rose to incredibly high points with patterns of striped sand and rocks. The heat, while a bit uncomfortable against her thick dark scales, was still a welcome change to her cold and torturous cell.
The world was vast, but it wasn't always safe. To her horror, at one point they came across a flowing mass of Burning which stretched and wound through the landscape, cutting off their progress as it was too wide to leap over.
"A river! Wait here, I need a drink," Esme said, walking right toward it.
In spite of her fear, Ander grabbed onto her arm and tugged her back before she could get too close. Esme shrieked at the pull, hastily stepping away from her once she'd let go.
"Not safe! Burn you. You, burned. We find other way," she explained.
Esme was rubbing her shoulder with wide eyes, but as Ander finished giving the warning, her expression softened and she sighed. "It's okay, I promise. Water doesn't hurt me. Here, I'll show you."
She took another step toward the Burning- or the "water" as she'd put it- and Ander's tail thumped anxiously against the sand. Esme went up to the edge of the river and kneeled beside it. The anxiety nearly jumped to panic when Ander watched her dip a bare hand into the substance, yet her expression didn't reflect any pain or even discomfort. When Esme pulled her hand out, the water hadn't so much as left a mark on her gray, pale skin.
"You see? I'm okay."
That was true, but Ander still couldn't bring herself to watch for more than a second when she started to drink the wretched stuff. Instead, she chose to look around at the environment again. Was the whole world like this, hot and sandy and orange? Her eyes could only see so far into the distance, and she wondered what else might await… like that strange, groaning creature emerging from a hole in the sand.
She blinked at it, trying to figure out what it was. The thing was shaped just like Esme, and was about her height, but its skin looked dry as dust and it had hollow, dark eye sockets. It also wore ragged clothing, albeit with none of the care that Esme clearly had for her gray cloak. It shuffled toward Ander with a growl, raising its arms.
"Look out!" she heard her friend yell. "That's dangerous!"
The creature approached Ander and took a swing at her. Its clawed, rotten hand scraped against her scales without leaving a mark, and it actually seemed confused by the lack of effect. She didn't give it a chance to swipe again: a single punch was enough to knock the thing's head clean off, and its body collapsed before her.
"You see?" Ander told Esme with a toothy grin. "I okay."
Then the scent hit her nose. She looked down at the creature's body and realized it smelled just like what the bad people had fed her, only even better thanks to being so warm. With a delighted growl, she hunched over it and began to tear off chunks of delicious meat with her teeth and claws. A choking noise behind Ander got her attention. She looked over her shoulder to see Esme standing there in silence, with both hands over her mouth and with her eyes practically bulging from her head as she watched.
A pang of guilt shot through Ander: what if Esme was hungry too? It wouldn't be fair for her to eat the whole thing, so she tore one of the beast's arms free of the torso and held it out. "For you. Small one, small piece. You eat?"
Oddly, her offer didn't seem to work. Esme just covered her mouth even tighter and vigorously shook her head. Ander began to gnaw on the arm herself, touched that her new friend was so willing to give up her share of the meat. She would have to pay Esme back for the kindness somehow.
It was still early in the afternoon by the time Felix watched Cupa write her first, short sentence: 'I AM CUPA.'
He'd been certain that teaching her would be a slow, frustrating process, yet Cupa had surprised him with how quickly she learned. Although her handwriting was incredibly rough, and she hadn't gotten the hang of consistently sizing and spacing her letters, for a beginner she was doing much better than expected. He only had vague memories of Emily teaching him to read and write, and he wondered how hard it might have been for her.
"Then again, Cupa's much older than I was when I learned. Maybe it comes easier to people our age? Either that, or she's just that determined…"
He didn't mind helping her at all, especially not if it helped get his mind off the upcoming battle. In the end, the party had come to agree with Celia that joining the fight was for the best, but that didn't mean Felix was any less nervous about it. And why wouldn't he be? They would be facing their most crucial battle yet, and also likely their most difficult. The Usurpation's numbers would be greater than any they'd seen in their prior encounters, and this time the goal was to defeat the enemy, not just escape or defend.
To top it all off, even wielding the Genesis Cores- their lifelines up to that point- no longer inspired as much confidence as before. Notch's Soul Core (as he'd come to call it) was still in their possession, and they'd discussed the possibility of "reassembling" him with the other yellow ones they had. Two problems quickly shut down such an idea: firstly, it would require allowing the Soul Core's wielder to be possessed; secondly, everyone in the group was fairly confident that Notch hated them after what had happened with Steve, and how he would react upon having his powers again was anyone's guess. Felix had proposed finding Herobrine's Soul Core to convince Notch they hadn't killed him after all, but truth be told, he didn't like the thought of that plan very much either.
"Hey, am I getting this right?"
Felix had to stop himself from thanking Cupa for bringing him back to the present. She was holding out the book and pointing to a line at the bottom of the page, and when he looked at it he failed to stifle a laugh.
'CUPA FELIKS BLAK SELEA MLISA'
"What, that's not it?" she asked. The look on her face wasn't exactly offended, but she'd clearly hoped for a different response.
Felix cleared his throat and composed himself. "It looks like you've written out our names phonetically- that means you're spelling them how they sound to you. Like, you've spelled Melissa's name with just an 'M' and an 'L' because together they make the 'mel' sound. There's supposed to be an 'E' between them, though."
"Are we not saying it right, then?" she asked with a confused frown. "It's not Mee-lissa, is it?"
On second thought, maybe it wouldn't be as fast a process as it had seemed. It only just struck him how many little nuances and rules there were, and the thought of trying to explain them made him shudder. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to renege on his offer to teach her.
"No, there are just different sounds that some letters can make in some cases, like with 'C.' I can go over that with you later, for now, just try writing out the simpler words I've taught you."
Her gaze hardened. "You think I can't handle anything complicated?"
"Well," he replied, trying not to crack a grin, "my name is spelled with an 'X,' so…"
Cupa pouted. "Fine." Then, as she was bringing up the quill to try and write something else, she paused. "Um… thanks again. For teaching me this, and for not telling anyone."
"It's my pleasure," Felix replied. She gave him a smile and a nod before going back to work, fixedly staring at the page. Slowly, delicately, she continued practicing short words and sentence fragments.
But although she was no longer looking at him, her smile was stuck in his mind. Felix wasn't watching the page, rather, she had his attention. Her light amber eyes, the furrow to her brow as she concentrated, the carefree warmness she exuded-
He snapped his gaze down, ashamed for staring and even more so for the heat in his face which had nothing to do with the desert climate.
"Are you feeling okay there?" She was looking at him again. "You're a little red again."
"I-I'm fine! It's just…" he searched for an answer, and settled for the lamest he could think of, "...hot here."
Cupa giggled. "Tell me about it. I'm melting in this wool cloak, but I don't have much else."
Damn it, even her laugh was getting to him. Felix fell silent as she got back to her writing, trying to ignore his sudden realization of how pretty she was.
It was well into the afternoon, more than a whole day since she'd first been joined by Ander, yet Esme realized there was still quite a ways to go before they reached Incursia again. The pair were traveling much slower than IR3 Squad had, mostly owing to Ander's insatiable curiosity. Every few paces, she would be distracted by something or other and deviate from their course to inspect it. No matter how trivial the finding was, often as simple as a dead bush, it seemed to fascinate her to no end.
Esme was doing her best to be patient- she'd behaved not dissimilarly the first time she entered the Inlands- but she was anxious to find Ray. She wanted to believe he, of all people, would listen to her.
"But… where would we go?"
Fornax was right: she was unwelcome in the Inlands and among the Usurpation Army, and if Ray joined her then he would be as well. Returning to the wastes was the absolute last thing Esme wanted, but it would at least let them escape retribution by their former colleagues. Fleeing further south, beyond the Usurpation's reach, was also an option. She didn't know just how large the Inlands were, but there must have been somewhere they wouldn't be found.
She jumped at the sound of a creeper hissing. Esme whirled to face it, drawing her broken blade, only to see Ander punt the mob away from them. It landed in a heap, twitched, and went still in the sand.
"No meat," Ander remarked with a snort. "No eat."
There was also the issue of her. It wouldn't be fair to drag Ander on the run with them, but Esme wasn't sure what to do about her. Would anyone in the Inlands be able- or even willing- to look after someone twice their size with a taste for rotten flesh?
"One thing at a time," she told herself. "Find Ray, and hope he'll listen. Then… I don't know what."
Sir Paolo hadn't been swayed, and Fornax was likely telling everyone in the Army about her betrayal. Esme didn't have much in the way of friends to turn to, nor did she have any long-term plans. She felt lost, operating on little more than instinct and the desperate hope that she could become something better than an invader.
Her thoughts turned to the journal still tucked in her inventory. Briefly, she considered the likelihood of finding Celia Lumis and returning it to her, so she would have some way to remember her fallen companion. Now more than ever, she wished she could have spoken to Felix Silverhand personally. He had so many ideas, but with his death they would never see the light of day.
"I don't know what to do anymore…"
"Slow! You are slow!"
She looked up. In her stupor, she'd failed to notice Ander charging ahead.
"S-sorry! I'm coming!"
Esme ran after her, hoping she would be able to think of something before they reached Incursia.
Meeting with Gwendolyn had taken longer than expected, and it was late in the afternoon by the time Blake returned to his group's tent. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what made him worthy of being there with the assembled leaders other than being Celia's unofficial bodyguard. She'd provided the council with some details of their encounters with the Usurpation Army, but as the party's experience in large-scale conflict was limited, so too was her contribution to the discussion. Regardless, the two of them had agreed to go along with Gwendolyn's instructions during the attack- now, they just had to relay said instructions to their friends. Felix, Cupa, Melissa, and Galen were already there as Blake stepped inside, and the four of them looked at him and Celia in unison.
"You were out for a while," Melissa remarked. "How did it go? Do you know the plan?"
Celia was looking down, and her expression looked a bit forcedly neutral. She wasn't responding, so Blake explained instead. "The attack is being carried out on four fronts. Soldiers from Luxmouth and Spruce Roost will hit the Usurpation from the western side. Over here on the east, the assembled fighters will split into two groups, one to storm the city's outer walls directly and another to head into the tunnels underground, so they can catch the Usurpers by surprise."
"TOEC's forces are going to be in the latter group, tunnels are our specialty," added Galen. "We'll burst out from under them. What about you all?"
"We," Blake continued, "are going to be on the fourth front with Gwendolyn. The Network's scouts have confirmed the Usurpation has fortifications in the Nether, so she's bringing her troops down there to take over the portals there. After we take care of that, we'll be coming back to the Overworld to join the rest of the army." He took a breath. "Once everyone's together, we'll fight our way into the inner city and take back the territory."
It was a bold strategy, and not a complete one: little was known about the Usurpation's stronghold, including its layout and infrastructure, and Gwendolyn herself had admitted the plan was one step above merely charging in and hoping for the best. If they could at least detain the commanding Usurpers and free the people they'd conquered, however, the invasion force would suffer a massive hit to its progress. From there, as far as Blake understood, it would be a slow and arduous battle to drive the Usurpation back up north to the Far Lands border.
"What's it like in the Nether?" asked Cupa.
"Hot, uncomfortable, full of mobs," Felix replied. "But if the area near the city has been fortified, then it might not be so bad… other than the enemy soldiers, anyway."
Galen sighed, looking at Melissa. "I don't like the thought of you going through the Nether, but if you'll all be together then that's some comfort. And you'll be with Gwendolyn, to boot. Just… try not to get directly involved in the fighting, please?"
"Don't worry. Dame Gwendolyn instructed us similarly. 'No heroics,' as she put it."
Blake turned. Celia had finally spoken up, but her voice had an unmistakable bitterness to it, and her expression had hardened.
"She's the expert," Melissa said, clearly trying to reason with her, "and we don't want to get in her way."
Celia frowned. "Do not start with that again."
A tingle shot up Blake's back; he was already bracing himself for an argument. "I'm with her on this. We'll help however we can, but we shouldn't pretend we'll be the ones to turn the tide by ourselves."
"Of course not, Blake. But does it not bother you to be talked down to like that?" she asked.
He struggled to find a reply. That was the impression she'd taken from Gwendolyn? "What do you mean? She was just looking out for us, she didn't want us to get into any trouble. We're experienced fighters, but nowhere near her level, Celia. We weren't a match for S-"
She glared at him. "Our. Attacker."
A hush fell over the tent, but Blake had had enough. "Okay, what's the matter with you? You blow up at us every time we even mention that, especially if we use his name!"
"It wasn't him," she almost growled.
Blake stood his ground. "Is it that important? We all could've died, but you're worried about the name he used?"
"He was lying. He just wished to bolster his own image, to make himself more intimidating."
"The Usurpation wouldn't know who he is," Felix began, and Blake felt a sudden sense of panic as he realized what was about to happen, "but he still called himself-"
Celia rounded on him with a stomp, practically screaming, "THAT. WAS. NOT. HIM!"
"BACK OFF!" Cupa was on her feet and stood defensively in front of Felix. "Why are you acting like this?!"
"You wouldn't understand!" she spat. "You wouldn't know what it's like!"
Blake swore he heard Cupa let out a hiss. "Help me understand, then. That's what I'm here for, isn't it? Or are you just gonna talk down to me?"
"That's enough."
Everyone looked at Felix, who hadn't stood up from his bed. He just hung his head with a small sigh, not meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry if I said too much, Lady Celia. I didn't mean to upset you."
Instantly, the vitriol vanished from her face. Celia's wide eyes flicked from Blake, to Felix, to the others, and she shakily put a hand over her mouth.
"No," she all but whimpered. "No, that… I didn't… you… everyone, I…"
She'd spun on her heels and run outside before Blake, or anyone else, could say another word.
As Ray watched Ulrich expertly strike down another undead pig-man with a single chop of his axe, he couldn't help but be reminded of his time following Commandant Red. They were taking a circuitous route through the Nether, forced to navigate the winding caves and valleys instead of using the straightforward tunnel back to Incursia. That meant more time spent dealing with the local mobs, and while Ray was getting miserably hot even without his armor, Ulrich didn't seem to have any trouble.
But, he told himself, his new ally was different to Red. Ulrich only ever fought the mobs that attacked them directly, rather than seeking out battles, and he never relished in the violence. Ray saw he was brutally efficient, dishing out killing blows to undead beasts in quick succession, yet he wouldn't spend more time than was necessary taking down threats.
"Figure out anything yet?" Ulrich shouted to him as he wiped down the blade of his axe.
"I have an idea in mind." Ray pulled out his enchanted notebook, showing him the faintly glowing sigil. "We use books like this one to communicate at long distances. It's lit up, which means I'm close enough to another book to send the owner a message."
Ulrich stared at it. Through the small gaps in his helmet, Ray could see his face scrunch a bit in confusion. "Long distance? Then you can reach out to the Usurpers from here?"
"The enchantment isn't strong enough to manage more than one connection at a time. I could send messages to a few people, but what I need is for everyone to see it at once." Ray thumbed through the book and pointed at a particular message near the top of one page: the initial warning about the riot. "This is from Incursia's central communications tower. The strongest enchantments should be there."
"I can't read this, but I see what you're getting at," Ulrich said as he looked at the paper. "We'll need to get inside and find a stronger book for you?"
Ray shut it with a nod. "Exactly, and then I can tell the entire city to stand down before it's too late."
"I think you're missing something here. How are we supposed to do that without getting caught? A tower like that will be heavily guarded, and we're just two people."
He flinched; he hadn't considered that. It was still difficult to acknowledge that he was no longer a Usurpation soldier, and to plan around the lack of access to the Army's resources. With that in mind, he considered his other options.
"I could get my hands on a Marshal's or Overseer's book, they're stronger than mine. They'd be able to reach more people, and I could at least send out an order to a large group."
"Is there anyone higher-ranking?" Ulrich asked. "Would they be able to reverse that order?"
Ray deflated again. "The Commandants. There are three in total, and two of them are in Incursia…"
"In that case, what are our chances of getting one of their books?"
"A-are you insane?!" Ray sputtered. "Even if we found them, they'd still kill us both! We wouldn't stand a chance!"
Ulrich was giving him another blank stare. "You just killed a Wither."
He tried and failed to formulate some response to that. After a few seconds, Ulrich just muttered something and turned around to keep moving. Ray, dejected and feeling no closer to a plan, followed him.
Further ahead, the winding netherrack tunnel began to echo with a cacophony of snorts and grunts. Ray drew his sword, anticipating a group of Piglins or their undead counterparts, but nobody else was there. Despite that, it didn't take long for them to find where the sound was coming from: an opening in the tunnel wall revealed a vast cave below them, lush with red plants and fungi, and currently playing host to an army of Piglins. At least a hundred of them, golden weapons in hand, were marching through the forest. The two of them peered over the edge together, too high up to be spotted but close enough to see where they were going. To Ray's concern, their heading was in the same direction as Incursia's Nether compound.
"Look at the front," Ulrich whispered.
Leading the Piglins was a person, apparently a villager or Illager, wearing ornate golden armor. He chanted, "Death to the invaders!", and his troops responded with more aggressive snorts.
Ray's heart skipped a beat. "They're not going to attack, are they?"
"Seems so," Ulrich grunted. "The Usurpation's made enemies of just about everyone."
As he watched them march past, Ray's confidence dwindled. "A battle is coming… people are going to die, and I won't be able to stop it. The Piglins, the Inlanders… they're out for our blood now."
"Sounds about right. Still think you're gonna stop everyone from fighting with a few impassioned words, kid?"
He clenched his fists, furious at the injustice of it all yet feeling helpless to do anything about it. So many Inlanders and Far Landers alike were about to meet needless ends, could he really do nothing more than wait and hope the death toll wasn't too high?
"Unless… the Commandants…"
He feared for the rank and file of the Usurpation Army, but he had no such concerns for its leaders. They were the ones behind all of the suffering. They had started the war. And just maybe, if removed from power, they would lead to its end.
"It seems we've got no choice but to take down the Usurper Commandants," Ray declared. "If the battle's going to start anyway, the least we can do is try to defeat them and end the fighting."
"So we'll end up working with the attackers," Ulrich mused. "You do realize this could mean having to fight your way past other Far Landers in the process… you sure you can do it?"
Now wasn't the time for doubt. Ray nodded, and the Grass Core within him seemed to bolster his resolve with a wave of energy.
"Absolutely. For an end to the bloodshed, I will do whatever must be done."
The setting sun danced off the oasis with a dazzling shimmer of lights, one which did nothing to improve Celia's mood. She'd stormed out on her companions, knowing that staying with them would have led to only more arguing. Melissa hadn't seen her point of view, Cupa and Blake were both agitated, and Felix…
"Lady Celia. He called me 'Lady' Celia…"
A tear ran down her cheek. After so long, she'd finally gotten her friend back, and the walls between their positions could be ignored on the journey. And she'd just blown up in his face to such a degree that he'd reverted to using honorifics.
So she left, she left and found a secluded area by the edge of the lake where she could sit against a tree and just be alone for a bit. But this was nothing like Luxmouth's gardens, and in spite of the sun going down for the day she was still uncomfortably warm. Yet she stayed there nonetheless, too hesitant to confront her friends again. She didn't have much choice, though: footsteps approached from behind, and when she looked over her shoulder she was met with a blank stare from Blake.
"There you are," he said. "We were all worried."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled.
An awkward silence hung between them, before she sighed and patted the ground next to her. "The view is nice. You can join me if you'd like."
Blake shuffled over and sat down, staring at the oasis with her. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes.
Once the silence had become painful, Celia finally worked up the nerve to say something. "I don't think we've ever had a battle as close as we did the other night. I thought… I thought we were going to die. We might have defeated him, but it didn't feel like a victory at all. We could only flee and hope he wouldn't find us again."
Blake shrugged. "It wasn't the first time we've had to do that."
"No, but… it felt different then. The Usurpers may have pursued us, and we were caught too unawares to handle the Ender Forge, but none of our previous enemies terrified me the way that man did."
Admitting it made her feel hollow, but she couldn't stop herself from continuing.
"He was the strongest fighter I've ever seen, but he was so cruel. Even before he attacked us, he spoke as though what he'd done to Felix meant nothing, or as though we'd just forgive him when he promised to defeat the invaders. And he's been using the name of a Legendary Hero. How could someone like that be one of the people I've grown up hearing stories of?"
"Is that what's been bothering you?" Blake asked.
"Yes… no, that's not all," she said, sighing in exasperation. "I've been thinking about something since we arrived here. You've seen the people Gwendolyn has rallied. Most of them are seasoned fighters, likely with far more experience in battle than us."
Blake scratched his head. "Yeah… but that's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Of course it is. But when I see them, it just makes me realize something uncomfortable." Celia looked down. "These are not just civilian militia, or security guards, or even knights from Luxmouth and its neighbors. And they certainly aren't explorers or mob hunters. They are soldiers now. All of them… are soldiers. They are here to fight the Usurpation, here to fight in a war."
"I'm not sure I get it."
"We're so close to the enemy's fortress, Blake. We've traveled a long way from your home to Luxmouth, and then across the old Kingdom. Now we find ourselves at the forefront of the war, surrounded by older and more experienced fighters." She looked down. "And I am forced to wonder if I'm out of my depth… if I really am still just a child dreaming of adventure."
"What Gwen said really got to you," Blake remarked, finally seeming to understand.
"'No heroics,' Blake," she repeated, with a soft, bitter laugh. "Is that what I needed to hear? Am I nothing more than a pampered little noble playing at being a hero?"
He didn't say anything. The two of them sat there beside one another, trying to find the right words.
"So, the reason you didn't want to believe our attacker really is Steve…"
Celia nodded. "I used to beg my father to read stories of the Legendary Heroes to me so often as a little girl that I was eventually given my own small library. The books are still there in my room, with worn pages and weathered spines. They inspired me that much, Blake." She had to wipe her eyes. "And if we were to meet one of my idols today, only to be dismissed as worthless and nearly killed… if that were taken away from me, I…"
Blake put an arm around her shoulder, and as she leaned against him she let out a whimper. A second later, she was weeping.
"Celia?"
Felix, Melissa, and Cupa had found them, and none other than Gwendolyn was there too. She couldn't stay composed before them at that point even if she wanted to, so she began to bawl. "I'm so sorry, everyone! I-I was so horrible to you all, and I didn't listen, and I yelled, and… and… I…!"
"I heard what you were just saying," Cupa said. "I'm sorry too. You were right, I didn't understand."
"You've been trying to keep a brave face, but you were having doubts about your ideals," added Melissa. "You don't need to wrestle with them all by yourself."
She felt utterly unworthy of looking Felix in the eye as he sat before her and Blake. "Why… are you all being so kind to me? After everything I said?"
Felix didn't answer the question, rather, he asked one of his own: "What is it you want to fight for, Celia?"
A flicker of hope lit up in her heart; he hadn't addressed her formally. Still fearful of driving him away, she chose her words as carefully as she could. "If I can somehow help the war effort, if I can do anything to ensure victory in the battle ahead, then I can learn to cope with what happened the other night. If one of my childhood heroes really is that kind of person, then I will do my best to grow out of his stories. Our survival is more important."
"I see what this is about." Gwendolyn stepped closer. Her expression was gruff as usual, but her voice sounded softer. "When you left the briefing earlier, you looked about ready to melt down. At the time I didn't know if it was just stress getting to you, but now I see I may have been insensitive. Forgive me."
Celia took a deep, but shaky breath. "You owe me no apology. It is my own fault for holding… fairy tales in too high regard."
She thought she saw Gwendolyn smirk for a split second, but then her face hardened. "I won't talk down to you and say real life is just like the stories you've heard, you're old enough to know the difference. What I think you should learn is that heroes are people… and people aren't perfect. To tell you the truth, I don't like being called the Diamond Knight very much. I am an accomplished warrior, and I have achieved some impressive feats, but I'm still human. There's a part of me that even resents hearing stories retold about the things I've done."
While Blake still hadn't let go of Celia, he turned a bit to look up and ask, "But you still call yourself that?"
Gwendolyn approached and took a knee in front of them. Celia might have imagined her old age would make that difficult, but the motion was fluid and natural. "I may have just said heroes aren't perfect, but the world needs them right now. If boldly announcing myself as the Diamond Knight gives people hope, then I'll put up with it as long as I have to."
"Where does that leave us?" Celia asked.
A look she couldn't quite identify passed over Gwendolyn's face, before it broke out into a comforting smile. "I don't think you need to stop believing in the ideals those stories of yours had, Countess. You can still live up to them in your own way. Like I said, the world needs heroes now, not those from centuries ago. So… be your own kind of hero, Lady Celia. Be the best you can be for yourself and your friends, not for the memory of people who lived hundreds of years earlier."
"I'll be here to back you up while you do," said Blake
"So will I," Felix added. "I hope you can still count on me, Celia… and I hope from now on, you'll tell us if you're ever feeling insecure about anything."
Cupa and Melissa nodded as well, and Celia nearly burst out crying again. This time she barely kept herself composed. "Thank you so much… I won't let any of you down again."
Gwendolyn's expression turned as gruff as it had been, and she stood back up. "The army's packing up. Have your equipment ready within the hour; we'll be moving out."
As she watched Gwendolyn turn to leave, she blurted out one last question. "Um, e-excuse me! Is it true… have you killed a Wither by yourself?"
She paused, and looked over her shoulder at them. "I have."
Celia couldn't help but bounce on her heels a little in excitement. "A-and you did it with just… a stick and an ink sac?"
Gwendolyn chuckled to herself before continuing to walk away. "Use your imagination."
Maybe she would never know the real story, but Celia didn't mind that so much anymore. Surrounded by her friends, and feeling a new rush of confidence, Celia got up and dusted herself off. "Let's not keep the rest of our allies waiting, then."
There was still room in the world for heroes after all.
Note from the author:
And so ends the longest single chapter I have ever written for any story. It took up over ten thousand words and thirty pages on the document I've been using. This was a special occasion, because I wanted to have a section for all ten of our protagonists now that the main cast has been introduced. I hope it was worth the wait, just as I hope what comes next will be. Please join me next time for the beginning of Book Two's three-part finale: Incursia.