Episode 1, Chapter 6: Deep Below
"And you can't help us with that? Not even to enact a little petty revenge?" Jess asked quietly. Jack closed his eyes, exhaling sharply.
"I... No. I'm sorry." He looked at them. "I like your early work. The Witherstorm was something we're all thankful you defeated. I don't really get the Old Builder thing but it was a nice touch how you started a revolution in the dorms. But… This world, the one you call home, it's… way bigger than you think it might be."
He led them back into the back room, Nurm nodding understandingly as he flicked the lever on the wall. The map sunk into the wall, the edges growing as pistons added maps to the sides. In the bottom-right quadrant, right in the middle, was an empty stone block.
"I threw the map into a volcano not long after it happened…" He sighed, looking at Nurm… almost pleadingly. "He's been bugging me to help him make a new one, what with my perfect memory…"
"Sounds like you need to go back anyway." Jess said, putting their free hand on Jack's arm. He recoiled slightly, but eventually began to slowly nod. "It'll be tough, but… I think you can do it."
"I… Maybe you're right." He nodded more confidently, looking at Nurm. "Nurmie, do you wanna come with?"
Nurm practically leapt from his seat, grinning wildly as he mumbled something excitedly. Jack laughed, giving him a soft peck on the nose as they walked to opposite ends of the room, grabbing various things from chests.
"Guess they need to get their adventuring gear, huh?" Petra said. Jess nodded as the two walked back over to them - Jack now sporting black fingerless gloves, while Nurm donned a beat-up leather jacket, the two of them seeming way more relaxed now that they were more prepared.
"All of you, with me." Jack said, putting a hand to his chest with a far more confident smile. "Jess, Petra (was it?), you two guard our rear. Nurm, we'll need you to point out landmarks for them." He grinned. "I'll take the lead."
"That's the spirit!" Jess cheered, them and Petra high-fiving as they all left the building, Nurm quietly locking the door with a gentle smile. Leave it to a couple of rowdy newcomers to re-ignite Jack's adventuring spirit…
"I've always loved adventuring during springtime." Jack mused softly. "The leaves are always so pretty. Have you ever noticed just how… blue? The leaves are?"
Nurm said something in confusion, and Jack gave him a look. Petra and Jess looked at each other, Petra shrugging as they carried on.
"The uh. The leaves are green, Jack." Jess corrected quietly. "What makes you think they're blue?"
"They just look blue to me, kid." He shrugged. "I've always seen things a little differently."
The sun had set behind them ages ago, the moon lurking behind clouds pouring rain as they arrived on a deserted island. Thunder crashed around them, lightning flashing in the distance as they hurried towards a cave in the center of the island, Petra narrowly avoiding getting struck as she was the last one to dive into the cave.
"This was where… my group and I had planned our…" Jack took a deep breath. "Final adventure. Though we didn't know it then."
Nurm put a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder. He tensed up for a brief moment, his fingers interlocking with Nurm's as the two looked out the mouth of the cave.
"It was the four of us. Myself, Nurm… and our friends, Sammy and Vos. Nurm had only just left his clan when we found ourselves here… He used to say it was this island that gave him the inspiration to start his cartography work."
Nurm nodded, softly burying his chin into Jack's shoulder. Jack smiled softly, playfully swiping Nurm's hat - and allowing deep brown hair to spill out from the center, loosely flopping to the side.
"So that's what you two used to do? Just adventure?" Jess asked. The two nodded.
"We did a lot." Jack laughed. "But here…" He sighed. "Here, it all changed."
They made their way into the cave again, Jack breaking the dirt wall behind Petra. Behind them was a barrel - Jack pried the lid off, throwing it to the side and pulling out four leather helmets - each dyed and glowing a different color. Jack put on the yellow one, while Nurm put on the green one. Petra and Jess each looked at their helmets - Petra's was orange, while Jess' was a sky blue.
"Here goes nothing, I guess…" Jess mumbled as the two put their helmets on, following Jack and Nurm towards the beach. The storm had started to let up, the chaotic lightning now turning to low, rumbling thunder in the distance.
"We'll have to swim deep - but these helmets are enchanted." Jack explained, pointing towards the water. "Down there is a sea temple - the Sea Temple. When Sammy first explained it to me…" His brow furrowed, trying to remember. "It'd called it 'Heyvn', said it was… the 'fourth counterpart' or something like that…"
"Heyvn? That's kind of a dumb name." Petra snickered.
"The Admin named it, not us." Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on."
He took a long breath, closing his eyes and diving into the water - the other three following.
It wasn't long before they found themselves in front of a giant pyramid, made of prismarine and quartz - with a huge hole through the side of it.
"I did that." Jack said, sounding… smug, but in a bitter way. "Bit of revenge."
"Wow…" Petra said incredulously. "You tore the wall to shreds!"
The currents around them got rougher as they swam closer. Jack tried to lead them towards the hole in the side, only for a wall of current to blast them all backwards.
They ended up going through the original entrance, the water around them receding.
"So why are we down here, anyway?" Jess looked up at Jack. "You never explained it."
He looked away, falling suspiciously quiet as they ventured farther into the temple. They came to a large door, with a single hole in the center.
"There." He said, pointing. "For the Gauntlet."
Jess nodded, walking forward and punching the hole. The wall rumbled, Jess pulling their hand away as it came down, giving way to a larger room - Quartz floors, dark prismarine walls, with obsidian on the corners. There were four floating cubes of water, each holding a sleeping… fish thing.
"Guardians." Jack whispered. "We'll have to sneak past them."
The others nodded, quietly tiptoeing through the room…
Until Nurm's foot touched a pressure plate. Rather suddenly, the room began to rumble, the four Guardians awakening and staring at the group menacingly.
"SCATTER!" Petra screamed, ducking and rolling to the side as Jack and Jess ran in opposite directions, hiding behind pillars.
Nurm, however, was caught in the combined beams of all four Guardians, screaming in terror… before poofing into smoke. Where Nurm once stood was nothing more than his hat, jacket and robe… and a glittering emerald bracelet.
The Guardians looked around, glaring menacingly at the seemingly open air before falling asleep once more.
Jack crept out from his pillar, falling to his knees and limply picking up Nurm's hat, clutching it in his quaking, ghostly white hands.
"This… this isn't happening…" was all he managed to whimper.