Max was not at all fond of the dark. Shadows jumped out at her as they walked down the stone brick hall, laughing at her fright. Voices drifted just beyond her hearing, not even real. She walked close to Wither, or, where she thought Wither to be. She hated herself for this weakness, but she couldn't help it. Ender had ruined her relationship with the dark, and she hadn't been too keen on it before, either.

Max kept one hand on the wall to make sure she wouldn't get turned around, following the sound of Steve's footsteps as he confidently walked forwards, undeterred. She tripped, but her hand on the wall helped her recover quickly. It was getting hard to tell where the noises of her companions' footsteps were coming from in the never ending black that utterly destroyed Max's sense of direction. She kept walking, ears strained to make sure Steve and Wither were still there and she wasn't just walking alone with their footsteps echoing to her from somewhere else.

Her skin crawled, she felt like she was being watched. She swatted at herself where it began to feel like bugs were tapping over her flesh, though she knew nothing was truly there. Then something real tapped her shoulder. Max yelped and instinctively punched at it, not even sure if she was aiming in the right direction. Her fist was gently caught and she tried to squirm away, alarmed because she didn't know what it was and it could see and she couldn't. "Woah. Max, calm down," Wither's voice said as the grip on her hand was released, she stumbled backwards, hitting the wall. "It's just me."

Max realized that the tapping noise from her companions had stopped, except for a soft sound that was probably Steve being inpatient, and unable to stand still. A slight pressure on her shoulder told her that Wither was holding it to steady her. "Are you okay?" He questioned, His tone worried.

Max shrugged His hand off, trying to steel herself against the dark. "Yeah, I'm fine," she assured Him.

"Really?" He asked, sounding as though He didn't believe her. "I saw you stumbling around and swatting at your skin randomly. I wouldn't say tha-"

"Wait," Max interrupted Him. "You saw?"

"Yes. I do have eyes."

"Wither, it's pitch black in here! Unless... for the love of All, please tell me I'm not going blind."

You're not. Wither can simply see in the dark.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Max snapped.

"Who? Me? What did I do?" Wither asked, sounding confused.

"Not you."

Me?

"No! Er- yes! All, shut up, go away, you're annoying. Wither-"

"Ah, voices in your head. Got it."

"No, I don't have voices in my head! It's just- You know what? You can shut up, too," Max told Him. It was frustrating to hold two conversations at once where one person didn't even know what the other was saying. "Steve, how much farther?"

"An hour or two more if we go at the same pace as before," the other Minecrafter answered. He sounded annoyed that they had stopped.

Max started walking in the direction she heard his voice. "Let's hurry up, then. I don't want to be in here all day." Wither followed her, she could almost feel His concerned gaze drilling into her back. "You can stop looking at me as though I'm going to have a panic attack, Wither."

"But-"

"I'm fine. I'm just not fond of the dark. Now, stop it," she said coldly.

They continued on in silence, Max fuming quietly. She knew she was being harsh, but the dark was making her uneasy. She'd probably apologize to Wither, later.

After quite a while had passed, Steve abruptly stopped. Max's eyes had adjusted, but the only light came from Wither's eyes (which, Max was startled to discover, glowed faintly), so she still couldn't see much ahead of her. "We're here," he whispered quietly, voice full of awe. The only reason Max could hear him was because of her being an Akroatis, and even then it was difficult to make out the Minecrafter's words.

Walking forwards, Max could see Steve had a hand placed delicately on a stone brick wall in front of them, his eyes wide with wonder. Then his face flashed with fear and he took out his pickaxe, swinging violently at the barricade. "So close," she heard him mutter. "So very close. I won't let it be taken away from me. I won't."

Within a few minutes, a hole in the wall had appeared, leading to a room with a raised alter in the centre of the room, a hallway at the other side that was too dark to distinguish where it went. It was brighter in the room due to decorative lava pools in the corners. Steve climbed the stairs that led up to the alter, but Max couldn't see what it looked like, so she followed him curiously despite Wither's warning look.

The alter was a three by three square of blocks, the type of block wasn't familiar to Max. There was odd looking Enderpearls slotted into the blocks, but one had fallen out, most likely due to a mob moving around in the room. The item had long since been destroyed by time, so now they had no way to reach the End.

"No," Max whispered, tone filled with disbelief when she realized what that meant. Charlie was going to die. She was never going to be able to have a real family. She was never going to find out what the Nether a "Rift" was. And monsters would continue to invade until one too strong for them to defeat appeared. Her father was going to die. True, she didn't know him very well, but there was the wish to, to bond with someone she was related to, who would care for her, and laugh with her, and... And she would never get to do all those things that "normal" people who didn't have the voice of the Nether-loving-End Universe in their head did! She felt herself lower, sinking to her knees in despair as she blinked back tears. A part of her hated herself right now for showing such weakness, but the rest of her was mourning the life that would die back at Notch's castle.

She looked to Wither after she had composed herself enough that she wouldn't burst into tears. "Is there any way you can replicate the weird Enderpearl?" she asked, though she seriously doubted it.

He shook His head. "I can not recreate magical things that I haven't created," He told her, tone sad at her distress.

Steve was also distressed, a panicked look on his face as he muttered to himself quietly. "No. No, nonono. She was right. How could a dream be right?!"

Max, the good All spoke up.

How much would you sacrifice to get to the End? It was the evil one's turn to speak.

Does it really matter so much to you? All's Minecrafter form appeared before Max, eyes sorrowful.

Max nodded. "Yes," she said, feeling hopeful.

All looked down to the ground, the pointed to Steve. He holds Her eye, the key you need.

"What?" Max said, looking to Steve. "Steve, do you have any items you didn't have before?"

Steve seemed surprised at her question, then began to search himself at her request. He looked even more surprised when he found something: one of those Enderpearls.

"Yes!" Max cheered, her sorrow turning to happiness as Steve placed the item in its slot. A dark void appeared within the area between the blocks, leading down forever though nothing was different underneath. It was dizzying. Wither, with His aversion to nights, didn't look very enthusiastic that they would have to jump through to reach the End.

Steve immediately jumped through before Max could fully take in the sight. Wither insisted on going next, maybe so He wouldn't wimp out once Max was through. That left only the female Minecrafter and All's apperation that still looked sad. "Thank you, All. But I don't understand why you're so sad that you put that in his pocket," Max said, smiling as she made her way to the portal.

It looked like All wasn't going to say anything, so after a moment, Max made to step into the portal when she heard All say: That's the problem; I didn't.

"Wha-?" Max tried to stop her momentum to stop herself from entering the portal before she could get an answer out of All. What did It mean by that? It had to of put the pearl on Steve! How else would it get there?

Max was already leaning too far towards the portal to stop, and she fell into it, watching the world disappear.

I'm sorry.

Yes. I do insist on being evil and putting a cliffhanger there. It's the second-last chapter! How could I resist?

Also, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those that don't! Consider this chapter my gift to you, whoever you are, random person that for some reason likes this story enough to read this far.

Why do you think All is so sad?

RIGGBI299:

Thank you! And I sure will! Well, until it's done.

NotReallyAName:

Yes! I have succeeded with having a cool name! I don't think they do. Christmas was originally created by Christians to celebrate when they believed to be Christ's birth, and Jesus isn't in Minecraft. Do you mean Ender? She may or may not have been. Remember that Ender has been deleted from existence, but also remember that She practically lived for revenge. It does make sense, I have experienced that many times. "Half-winter" is just a name I came up for Fall/Autumn because there is normally snow anyway. Otherwise I just call it Fall.