Chapter Seven: Outside or Inside?
As soon as Steve's health bar was full, he and Alex headed down to the lower levels to meet up with Jimmy and Elli. While waiting in the lower-class neighborhood, Steve ran around with the group of the kids from earlier, kicking around a half-hardened slimeball, which unnervingly bounced (this grossed Alex out, but there's no way she'd admit it).
Steve swatted the ball, which ricocheted against the broken-down fountain and bounced off Marie's head, causing her siblings to screech with laughter. Alex leaned against the wall of a nearby house, able to see the entrance to the city and the paths upwards easily. After what had just happened, she was ready for anything, even Herobrine himself rising from the dead to attack her. She drummed her fingers against the smoothed wood of her bow. This was actually the eleventh or twelfth bow she'd used since meeting Steve. The infinity bow given to her by Herobrine, though it was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, she'd burned, because, honestly, a bow of bones and poison made her want to throw up.
Voices from up the path caught her ears, and Alex made sure that Steve was fine with the kids before creeping through the alleyways and towards the sounds nearby. It was oddly disorienting to follow them, though, because she just couldn't tell where they were coming from.
This dragon-cursed city is messing with my head, Alex silently grumbled, finally deciding to just break through the weak cobblestone walls in order to find the voices.
Digging through the tunnel, fear began to nestle into the pit of her stomach, and Alex shuddered, afraid of the dark, cramped space. She continued on, not lighting torched for the fear of attracting attention.
She had just broken another stone block when her Iron Pickaxe hit something hard with a shattering noise. The voices stopped, and Alex returned her pick to her inventory, keeping as quiet as she could.
Reaching forward, she gingerly touched the thing she hit, hissing and jerking her hand back when she realized it was the sharp corner of an obsidian block. Her pick had chipped the side of the block, and her poor hand had unfortunately touched the sharp edge of the natural glass.
Frowning, Alex stepped closer as the voices started up again. What would someone need to hide so badly they had to encase it in obsidian? Especially here? Most members of this city were rather trustworthy.
Pressing her ear against the obsidian, Alex could barely catch traces of a muffled argument between two males. One voice was oddly familiar… but the other really scared her. It was cold, calculating, hateful. Alex shivered when he spoke.
"How could you let this happen!?" Familiar's muffled voice shouted, angry.
"I did my best," Calculating answered. "It's not my fault you failed to provide us with a suitable- muffled" his voice became muffled at the end, even if Alex strained to listen.
"But it's still your responsibility to watch over innocent idiots," Familiar snapped, furious. "How do you expect I'll muffled with a reputation like that?"
"Do you really need to, though, with…" Calculating's voice muffled, as if he was whispering to Familiar. "No one questions a man with dragons. Why? Because he has dragons! The principle still stands!"
"Either way," Familiar answered, sounding unhappy. "'Dragons' or not, people are less likely to revolt if they believe they choose this future for themselves."
"What do you suggest then?" Calculating asked, his voice a hiss. "Allow the masses to actually-"
"NO," Alex could catch the shouting in Familiar's voice. "We need our blue-blood to easily win in our favor. They are the last resort against our fall."
"Not quite," Calculating grumbled. "My army is our true last resort."
"Well, if your idiot spawn could properly brainwash the populace and would stop hanging around with that little-"
Alex suddenly understood who the voices were. Familiar was so familiar because he was Mr. Braxon, the man from the election speeches. Fury began to build in her veins, putting pressure on her cognitive abilities. How dare that cheating spider call her sister such derogatory terms! And the other voice, that was none other than Mr. Terro, Jimmy's father!
But… what were they doing in an obsidian bunker?
And what was with all the secrecy?
Besides, what was that about dragons?
Boiling with questions, Alex turned back towards the tunnel she'd made, and sighed. She'd need at least another brain to try and figure this out. Steve could help.
Sighing, she took a step forward-
Crunch.
Alex froze, horrified. She'd forgotten about the chip of obsidian on the floor-
The voices had stopped.
It only took a few minutes of heart-stopping silence and the grinding of pistons for Alex's bunched muscles to spring. Panicked, she sprang like a frightened horse towards the end of the tunnel. Fleeing towards it, she heard shouting and chaos behind her as she ran, before the twang of a bowstring, and a sharp piercing feeling in her calf, causing her to cry out.
Yanking herself up, she only caught a glimpse of a Slowness Arrow in her leg before animal instincts took over and she sprinted towards the opening of the tunnel, the slowness spreading through her muscles causing fatigue.
Before she could reach the end, and other arrow pierced her shoulder, poison seeping into her flesh as she struggled for control. Finally, as she was pulling herself up, a final arrow of weakness hitting its mark in her hip.
With a gasping cry, Alex was only able to call with the sounds of a wounded beast in trouble. Unable to pull herself off the floor, she collapsed, crying in anguish.
Braxon and Terro approached, their voices growing louder as she lay helpless, only a few feet from safety.
"She put up quite a fight," Braxon remarked, nudging Alex's arm with the toe of his boot. "Impressive, for little more than a scrap."
Terro huffed. "Although I agree with your assessment, what are we to do with her?"
"I'm sure one of your finest general-"
"No," Terro answered, his voice final. "The wretch is married. Her dopey mate might come looking for her. We could leave her in the caves and wait for creatures to get her?"
"That's not good enough," Braxon examined Alex's bleeding wounds with a frown. "We need to get her out of her, and far."
"Are you suggesting...?"
"Of course. That pitiful tribe would be happy to have a new addition to their ranks. And besides, they travel. By the time her consort realizes she's gone, they'll be halfway across the world." Braxon answered. "Come on, let's get her out of here."
Alex couldn't move, lying helpless as an unfamiliar soldier slung her over his shoulder like a bundle of wheat. Struggling, she panicked. I'm… helpless. But… but I hate feeling helpless!
Steve noticed that Alex was missing after he and the kids had stopped for a drink. Actually, he'd noticed that a while back, but, being Alex, he'd expected that she was going to satisfy her curiosity or talk to her mom or yell at someone, like she did at home.
Then he noticed the tunnel.
Two blocks tall, one block wide, hastily patched up with andesite, that hadn't been there before.
Grabbing his diamond pick, Steve opened the adesite, and was horrified by what he saw. A bloodied scrap of Alex's clothing lay on the floor, around other splatters of her blood, as if she was trying to flee while being attacked. Running towards the mess, Steve dipped his fingers in her blood and sniffed it, hissing under his breath.
"Poison!"
Review Replies:
Elbert the Cookie: Aha, you've picked up on it ;).
JimmyPenguin421: That was Jimmy's dad. He's in charge of armed forces.
Moatazabou4: As you will soon discover, this society has very unrealistic expectations of what they think a 'lady' can do, and what they're actually capable of.
Ayannamichaeli: Throw it in the garbage can. XD
ScarOfHerobrine: Whoops… XD. Also, don't worry, you and Moatazabou4 will be coming in very soon!