Author's note:

Firstly I want to thank those that have read my story (I know at least one person did). So for that fact, I've decided to send in the next chapter after about a few hours of working out any last issues.

So without further tension, commence the reading!

Chapter 3: Andrea's Friend?

My eyes flickered open, a harsh light waking me up. The sun was shining through the curtains in front of the window, lighting up my room. I started getting awake in my head, memories pouring in. Tyler..., Minecraft..., Sky, Endermen, A dungeon, Andrea...

I shot up, trying to process if the last part was real or a dream. My question was answered when I noticed I was being held by two arms. I looked back, my eyes falling down on the still sleeping Endergirl. Thoughts entered my mind, flooding my head. The most prominent:

Cute.

She looked cute, sleeping like that. She had turned around in her sleep and her arms were wrapped around my waist, holding on fairly strong. A blush covered my face, but I quickly gathered myself together. I noticed that her arms weren't cut anymore and that the burn was almost completely gone. Her bruises were almost all gone too. 'Probably something connected to her being a hybrid.' My mind concluded, still seeming a bit sleepy.

I sat like that for a few moments, until I looked at the clock on my nightstand.

10.31 A.M.

'Good luck that it's summer-vacation.' I thought to myself. I tried to get Andrea to let go, but her hands were holding very well. She shook a little when I tried to get out of her grip.

'Dang-it.' I sighed. I didn't want to wake her, something that seemed to hurt me in the heart. But I did have to get up and eat something. I gathered every bit of courage I had and shook Andrea. Her eyes fluttered open, her eyes quickly scanning the room. The moment she saw me and how she was holding me, she let go and scooted over a few inches, her cheeks on fire.

"S-sorry." She stammered, her shyness making me deem her even cuter.

"It's nothing." I said, a gentle smile on my face. She calmed down a bit at that, her shoulders loosening up a bit. I got out of bed, now noticing that I was still dressed in my yesterday-clothes. "I'll get changed and then I'll prepare breakfast, okay?" I asked. I saw a smile appear on Andrea's face at the mention of breakfast. She gave an approving nod. I walked to my closet and got my new clothes and headed to the bathroom.

"Andrea! Breakfast's done!" I yelled, putting the plates with food down. I had made a simple breakfast: Baked eggs, toast and bacon. I filled my glass with water but stopped when preparing to fill that of Andrea, a memory entering my mind.

'Andrea is a hybrid. That means half-human, half-Enderman. Or, girl. Can she handle water?'

That question Tyler had asked yesterday hit my head, causing me to stop. 'He's actually right. CAN she handle water? Or is it like fire to her?' The thought made my fantasy go wild, a scene in which she would burn herself from the water in the glass crossing my eyes. I shrugged at the thought, trying to ignore it. I decided to ask her in a moment, but suddenly heard a scream come from the bathroom.

'Bathroom? Oh no...'

I put the bottle down and practically ran into the bathroom, finding Andrea shivering in the corner of the room, her eyes fixated at the sink in the bathroom. Water was leaking down from it. 'Of course.'

"Everything alright?" I asked, getting a bit closer and lower to the ground, so I was at least on eye-level. She exchanged a glance at me and then the sink before nodding, slowly. I helped her up, her hand in mine. At that point, I just had to try something. My heart said not to, but my mind was to fast. I grabbed her hand tighter, making sure mine was underneath hers before pulling it to the leaking sink. She shrieked at the sudden movement, her eyes closed as she waited for the unavoidable to happen.

Drip...

That one thing that could hurt her the most.

Drip...

That would burn her soul.

Drip...

That didn't do anything?

She opened her eyes, watching as the water-droplets fell down on her hand and cascaded down her fingers into the sink-basin.

Her fear was replaced with utter joy, a smile unlike nothing I'd seen with her before now showing. She giggled and squealed as the drops fell down, softly touching her hand. She let go of mine, not even noticing I was blushing a bit, and tried her other hand. Again, safe. She squealed of joy with this discovery, and my heart made a jump of relieve and of how cute her giggle was. How could a person even make such a cute noise?

'At least that's sorted out.'

We sat down at the dining table, both our glasses filled with clear water. Andrea was almost devouring breakfast, even going as far as asking me for more. 'Of course, if all you could eat in Minecraft is plain bread and cooked meat.'

I simply settled with one portion, waiting patiently until the Endergirl was finished as well.

A few minutes later she was exploring my house. I told her not to go outside, to which she luckily obeyed. She eyed many of the things with the curiosity of a child, touching anything if she could. I stopped her when she wanted to try Tyler's computer, giving her a simple "no." before letting her hand go. I knew Tyler would kill me if anyone but him had touched his 'sensitive equipment'. Especially some girl from a game.

She continued until she noticed she forgot something in the bathroom, vanishing right before my eyes and appearing in the bathroom a split-second later, purple particles following her. I rubbed my eyes, still a bit stunned at that one thing. I wondered how it worked, but stopped when I remembered during our talk yesterday, Tyler almost broke his head trying to figure that out himself. A slight laugh escaped me, the thought leaving my mind. 'He went as far as quantum-mechanics before giving up.'

I sat down on the sofa, waiting for Tyler to knock on the door, my mind ready to find Andrea if she would jump from the sudden noise and teleported away. I was surprised to see she only stopped in her tracks when the knock came, eyeing the door with suspicion.

I tapped her shoulder, the Endergirl turning to me, a bit of concern on her purple eyes. I smiled before heading to the door, unlocking it and slowly opening it.

At the other side was Tyler, a bag full of tech-stuff hanging from his shoulder. I gestured him to come inside, his eyes immediately going to Andrea, who was standing in the middle of the living room with her hands behind her back, her legs crossed and her eyes to her feet.

"Don't worry, she didn't touch your computer." I whispered in Tyler's ear. his eyes went to me, examining me to see if I was lying. He sighed when concluding I wasn't and stepped inside the living room, pulling the full bag up. He dropped it on the table with our computers, the table straining under the weight. No one would say it, but Tyler was the son of a pro-wrestler, so he was trained to be as strong as his father. He chose to be as smart as his mother though, a scientist working for the government.

"I've got everything I need to figure out whatever we might need to know." Tyler said, grabbing all sorts of gadgets and stuff from the bag and positioning them on his side of the table.

"You're almost setting up a whole lab! How much stuff DO you have?" I asked, my eyes looking at all the gismo he had put down. Wires were scattered everywhere, lights going on and off. 'I'll never understand all this stuff.'

"I got everything I thought we might need. I surely want to examine how Andrea's teleporting works. Maybe she has an enderpearl inside her, or maybe it's something natural that's connected to quantum-physics. And I want to know how it's even possible she's here." Tyler started rambling, his mind zoning into 'science-mode'. I shrugged at the thought of him putting all kinds of wires on Andrea. She was practically shaking, fear filling her eyes. I quickly walked over to the Endergirl, grabbing her shoulders and slightly rubbing them. She looked at me, her eyes turning back to normal, her shaking subsiding.

"Maybe you should ask her if she would like that. She's still human ya know." I said, patting Andrea's shoulder. She simply nodded at this.

"Uhm... Well, would you?" Tyler asked, now realizing that he was going a bit to far. Andrea shook her head at that, any sign of a smile on Tyler's face now gone. Tyler his shoulders slugged down, his mood ruined for the rest of the day. He sat down, mumbling something to himself before turning his computer on. I simply shook my head and giggled before letting go of Andrea. She seemed to get a bit nervous again when I let her shoulders go, turning to me. I was walking to the sofa, sitting down and simply started humming a little bit to myself of boredom. I didn't remember the text of the song, but the tone was simple. I remembered the title of the song though: ' A girl like you', from Edwyn Collins.

"I've never known a girl like you before." Tyler started, his head clearly remembering the text. That mad the rest pop to me. Andrea simply glared at us, not knowing what was going on.

"Now just like in a song from days of yore." I continued, the rhythm coming back to me.

"Here you come a-knockin', a-knockin' on my door."

"And I've never met a girl like you before!" The two of us said on chore, the song now getting complicated. The rhythm got a bit different.

"You give me a taste, so I want more.

Now my hands are bleeding and my knees are raw.

'Cause now you've got me crawlin', crawlin' on the floor."

"And I've never know a girl like you before." The central part of the song, where it all was about.

We skipped a part, both not adoring it as much as the rest of the song.

"And I've never known a girl you before." The repetition soon starting.

"Never, never, never, never!" We both liked this part. You could go on forever with it.

"Never known a girl like you before!"

We both jumped, the sudden addition of a softer, sweeter, almost angelic voice joining in shocking us. We both turned to Andrea, who was blushing zealously.

"You've got a beautiful voice." I said. As soon as I realized what I said, I turned, hiding my own blush. Andrea blushed even harder, and Tyler could only giggle.

"Sky's on the server." Tyler said, wanting to turn the embarassing subject to something else. I jumped from the sofa, walking to my own computer and starting Minecraft. Andrea joined next to me, her eyes glistering at the computer. She must have never known anything more advanced then restone circuits. Electricity was definitely something not present in Minecraft.

My player appeared where I last logged off. Sky was helping Tyler block the tunnel that lead to the dungeon. I turned to face the outside, examining everything. Nothing was of, until I found a strange gap in the side of a level of grass.

'Endermen'

I turned to Tyler I.R.L. and gestured to my screen. He noticed what I meant and nodded.

"Sky, Archer found something." He said into his mic. I heard Sky mumble something about 'time he did' and she quickly appeared next to me and Tyler.

"There's a gap here that doesn't fit here." I explained, looking back at Andrea I.R.L. She didn't realize anything yet until Tyler and Sky spoke in unison.

"Endermen."

Andrea shrugged back, fear grabbing her tight. I put my headgear down and stood up, grabbing her by the shoulders and repeated my gesture from before, adding a simple hushing. Her tension lowered, but she was still shaking.

"I don't think that Endermen can get to you here. They can't teleport into real life." Tyler explained, trying to sound as comforting as possible. Andrea nodded, but she didn't relax much. I faced her and gave her a questioning look. I didn't need to say anything, Andrea nodding at my unspoken question. 'Everything alright?'

"Still, how are we going to deal with this. Just leave her with you and forget that portal leading to The End is there?" Sky asked, my headphone unplugged so Andrea could hear her too and the mic like so so she could speak with her to. Sky's voice wasn't as gentle as Andrea's, but it was still kind.

"Wait." Andrea suddenly spoke up, the first thing she said with Tyler here today, besides that part that she sang.

"What is it?" Sky and Tyler asked in unison (since when did they get like that?). Andrea tensed again, but I assured her everything was alright.

"Friends tell each other the truth." I said, giving her a comforting smile. She nodded, understanding what I meant. Tyler nodded to, Sky simply giving an agreeing 'mhm'.

"M-my friend. She's still in... In The End." Andrea said, voice shaking hard. My jaw dropped at what she said. She isn't alone? There's another one? It's a she?

"What?!" Sky yelled through the boxes of my computer, making the three of us jump.

"Yes." Andrea said after relaxing a bit, her eyes were going to the ground. I could tell she was afraid we would leave her friend there, to fight for herself.

"Does she mean we have to go inside that portal, fight an ARMY of Endermen, not to mention face the Ender Dragon?!" Sky yelled again, ending even louder then before. I turned the volume down a bit, not wanting her next yell to make us all deaf.

"She... Well..." Andrea stumbled over her words. I could see she was closing on us so I stood up and grabbed her by the shoulder, the best smile I could muster on my face. Her eyes glistened at me before turning to Tyler, who simply nodded. She took a deep breath and finished her sentence.

"She's the Ender Dragon's daughter."

...

...

Wha-

"WHAT?!" Sky practically screamed, making us flinch. I thought I had the volume down low enough? Did she scream that hard?!

"She's what?" Tyler said after a moment, his voice shaking hard. I could only stare into the void, my mind on pause. I heard Tyler ask something to me, but my mind didn't process it anymore. I felt something touch my hand, grabbing hold of it. My eyes turned to it, noticing my hand was now intertwined with that of Andrea, who was looking at me with concern. I shook my head, getting the shock out of my system. I think my heart might even have stopped for a moment there.

"The Endermen didn't approve her, s-so I tried to get her to safety. I-I failed my best friend..." Andrea explained, trailing of. I could hear her sniffing, a tear welling up in her eyes. My heart stopped, once more, this time of the hurt I felt, looking at Andrea like this. I used my free hand to reach to her cheek, brushing the ready-to-fall tear away with my thumb. I adjusted her face to look at mine, a kind smile on it. She looked away, not wanting to face my eyes. She felt terrible, disappointing her friend was something she hated, that was clear.

"Andrea..." I said, my voice shaking. I could feel a tear of my own forming. I quickly brushed it away before focusing back on the Endergirl. She was staring at the ground, a tear falling down.

That was enough. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, slightly making her shriek. She saw the intention though, and reciprocated the hug warmly. For a moment we just stood like that, until Tyler gave a very suggestive couch. Our eyes locked and both of us realized what he meant. We quickly parted, both blushing a bit. I looked back at Andrea and saw the girl that's kind an cheery again, but behind that I could see a scared little girl who failed her best friend and had undergone horror to survive.

"If we're going to The End, we'll have to prepare ourselves. First, gear." Tyler said, momentarily taking my spot as strategist. Sky sighed in annoyance but agreed, heading to the mines we had dug out nearby, a pick already appearing in her hand. Tyler looked at me, his eyes telling what he was thinking. I nodded before grabbing Andrea, who had been eyeing Tyler's every move, and bringing her to my room (or should it be OUR room whilst she's staying here?).

"I need to know how The End looks like." I said after we arrived in the room, catching the Endergirl off guard. She looked at me with a sign of fear, not in the mood to recall the memories. I rubbed my neck, a bit nervous to ask something so close and personal to her. She lived their, her friend lives, or rather will have lived there, and it was her home, until they tried to kill her. I felt my fist clench as the thought that those Endermen tried to kill her passed.

"I-I don't think I can explain..." Andrea responded, twirling her fingers around. She avoided eye-contact, meaning she didn't feel good about telling. That's when something crossed my mind. Something brilliant. I stood up, walking to my own desk, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.

"Then, can you write it down?" I asked, giving her the paper and pen. She eyed the two objects carefully before trying it out. She drew a simple line to test the pen. She smiled, looking up and nodding before walking to my desk and sitting down, staring to write everything down. I looked with a pleased look, finally having discovered a way for her to help without worrying about talking.

After half an hour, she finished and handed me the sheet of paper, now completely full. I eyed it, my iris' growing large as I gazed at what was written down.

"Tyler, you have to see this!"

A moment later, Tyler was gazing at the writing on the sheet of paper. On it, a collection of symbols were written down, forming perfect phrases and lines, but not making any sense to a simple person.

"What for language is this?" Tyler asked, looking up to Andrea before going back to examine the strange writing.

"Minecraftian, don't you see?" I said, a little bit of surprise in my voice. "They use that for the enchantment table, don't they?" Tyler looked at me with a puzzled look before something seemed to click in his mind.

"Now I know what you mean! Yes, it does resemble it very much. Is this how you write in Minecraft?" Tyler asked curiously, his gaze now back to Andrea. She simply nodded, confirming Tyler's suspicion.

"-The End is filled with pillars. The biggest are in the centre, forming a near-perfect circle. On their tops are the End Crystals, which protect the Ender Dragon and heal any injury it receives. Endermen guard the pillars, a group of four to five always standing around it.-" I read a section. Tyler looked at me with his typical open mouth. His eyes blinked, his mind stunned.

"D-Did you just read perfect Minecraftian?" Tyler finally said, still trying to wrap his head around it. I nodded, rubbing my neck. I never really liked being in the centre of things.

"I taught it to myself when I started playing Minecraft. It seemed like a nice challenge back then. In the end I learned how to read it perfectly and I can even write myself, although not so perfect like Andrea." I finished, patting the black-haired girl on her shoulder. She blushed at the compliment. "Thanks."

"So what do we have?" Sky asked through the boxes of my computer.

"As good as everything we need to know." I said, a bright smile on my face. "All thanks to Andrea."

"She wrote everything in Minecraftian, but Archer can read it!" Tyler finished the report to Sky. For a moment, everything was silent.

"Great job, Archer! See if you can memorize everything. We'll need it! I've gotten all the gear we'll need. Now we just need to enchant the armor and weapons and get a bunch of potions brewing!" Sky said, giving her own report to us. We nodded, even though we knew she couldn't see that.

"A-Are you really going to try and... Kill the Ender Dragon?" Andrea asked, worry in her voice. I looked at her, noticing she wasn't feeling comfortable with the thought.

"We'll try and get your friend out without fighting the Ender Dragon, but if we have to... Yes." I said, trying to sound comforting. I failed, as Andrea only seemed more worried then before. I sighed, failing to come up with anything else to say. I went back to my computer, helping the others with the last bits of work.

'Why do I feel like I could do better? Like she deserves better. Why am I acting so strange around Andrea? I think I've blushed more in the past two days then in a whole month! What's going with me? Why does my heart act so strange around her? She's just a girl, right? Well, maybe an Endergirl, but is that really so different? I just... Feel like there's more. Something deeper.' My thoughts were running full gear, not leaving me alone for a single second. Andrea had gone to toying with the pencils on the table, twirling them around in her hand. Our eyes met for a split second, but in that short time it seemed like I read a whole book.

Andrea was worried, and not just for herself or her friend. She was worried for us. She dragged us into this. She didn't want us to get hurt trying to help her, even though she knew we were controlling our players from a save distance.

Still, she didn't feel right about it.