The sound of Ant's lone footsteps echoed throughout the entire structure, yet he was not truly alone. From high above, stark white eyes silently studied the Minecraftian from afar. As the feeling of being watched grew stronger, the pryomancer was being to regret telling Phantom, the cloaked Minecraftian he had met eariler, to stay outside of the otherworldly Wither's ancient temple. Suddenly, he thought he heard someone behind him, and Ant swiftly spun around to face this mysterious presence. However, no one was there. I must be getting paranoid again... Ant frowned, still quite uneasy. He resumed walking down the long corridor; continuing to experience the sensation of being stalked, before it eventually reached the point that it became unbearable. Ant immediately stopped in his tracks at the sound of a blade being unsheathed. It wasn't his sword though; it was someone else's. Before he had any time whatsoever to react, the Minecraftian was pinned against the wall, with a razor sharp golden sword (at least, it appeared to be) held at his throat. The sword's actual material was hard for him to distinguish, since it seemed to glow faintly in the rising moon's light, unlike any other sword he had seen before.

Ant stared right into the face of his captor, which instantly shocked him. "A-Anti!?"

The older Minecraftian's white eyes narrowed at the mention of his name. "The Anti you know of is no longer here."

And with that, Anti released his grip on his younger brother, throwing him to the ground, and slashed him across the face, drawing blood as soon as the blade touched the younger Minecraftian's skin. Ant hissed in pain, covering his face with his hands. Anti appeared to be rather pleased at this, and performed another slash, this time aimed at Ant's back. The younger of the two was unaware of the blow his brother was about to issue, and was cut straight across the back. Ant struggled to get back to his feet, only to be struck down over and over. Pain evident in his voice, the Minecraftian could only manage to state: "Why are you doing this!? Tell me!"

Anti's expression faded into a frown, and his eyes flickered their original color for a second, before he was forced under the control of Herobrine yet again. His face then took on a look of crazed delight as he raised his sword yet again. Suddenly, he was slammed out of the way by another Minecraftian. It was Phantom, who was carrying two shining iron daggers in his hands. "Stay away from him, foul demon!"

The possessed Minecraftian slowly rose to his feet, still retaining his crazed expression from before he was tackled. "It's not polite to interfer with other peoples' affairs, you know."

"Shut up. Let's just get to the point, shall we?"

The younger pryomancer finally managed to stand on his two feet, and immediately became aware of what Phantom was about to do. His voice still strained from taken several wounds, he attempted to alert the other Minecraftian. "Phantom! Don't!"

Phantom snorted. "He was just about to kill you, and now you want to show mercy to him? How noble of you."

Before Ant could say anything more, Phantom raced forward; dark grey eyes locked on to his target. He effectively struck Anti with the two daggers of his, picking up speed with every single blow he made to the Minecraftian. In only a few swipes and slashes of his selected weapons, he had drained the other of almost all of their energy with little effort on his own part. He kicked the pryomancer to the cold, stone brick floor, then proceeded to stab said Minecraftian with a poison-tipped blade. Ant's dark brown eyes widened at the sight of Phantom easily defeating his older brother, and took an uncertain step forward. The cloaked figure turned ever so slightly at the sound, before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Then, as soon as he had disappeared, Phantom reappeared behind Ant, taking no time to rest before he grabbed the other Minecraftian and threw them to the ground in a single sweep of his leg, which served to crumple the other's form. Luckily for him, Anti had already injured his younger brother enough so that Phantom had to do very little to make Ant subject to his will and unable to escape, let alone move. "Finally, the very last of the Venoms shall be rid from these lands!"

Ant moved his head just barely enough for him to see Phantom. "Why? What do you have against my family?"

Phantom only smirked at Ant's weakened voice. "My family and your family have always been mortal enemies, and ever since your father murdered my own, I have had a personal vendetta against all of you, regardless of your actions. And now, the feud between our families has been settled. The Nightshades shall live on!"

After finishing his little speech, Phantom brandished one of his daggers, which was now coated in the same exact substance that he had used on Anti only a minute or so prior. "Farewell, AntVenom."

The cloaked Minecraftian immediately thrust the blade into Ant's side, causing an almost instant effect on the pryomancer, who was suddenly drained of any and all strength that he had left and collapsed due to the drain. Phantom put away the dagger, pausing only to wipe the remaining poison off of it. "There was no Wither in the first place. It was slain centuries ago. This was all just a trap that you freely walked right into, and you must pay the price for doing so."

He began to walk away, taking a second to look back. There was no possible way that they could survive now. But of course, he was still subject to underestimating them, which he was. As Ant watched Phantom leave him and his brother to die, Ant's breath suddenly hitched and he blacked out as his conciousness was transported to the realm known as the Dreamscape. When the pryomancer awoke in the Dreamscape, he found himself floating in pure darkness, which was extremely similar to what had happened when he had first encounter Anti in this little adventure of his. Out of nowhere, a sharp pain shot through his head; growing stronger by the second. It then vanished, leaving Ant where he was, now heavily breathing from the experience. After a few seconds, it returned, the now-unbearable pain jolting his entire being. He couldn't help but cry out in severe pain, which was like complete torture to him. Not long after, he was suddenly overwhelmed by it, only falling further into the dark abyss around him.

Through the torturous pain he was facing, Ant was slowly beginning to regain his memories, one by one. Everything from his training in the magical arts as a child, to the real story behind his father's death. He lived through everything in his memory over again, as the poison that was now coursing through his veins somehow reversed his memory loss, which Ant now knew was caused by being injected with a special agent that would erase the memories of a single person by the Dark Legions. They were the ones responsible for his mother's and father's deaths. His eyes widened at these revelations, but had only a minuscle amount of time before the pryomancer returned to reality. He awoke to find himself in a different building than the temple he was in eariler. Ant looked to his left, and saw his older brother, still unconcious, lying on a bed nearby. The younger pryomancer then looked around the room they were in for a bit longer from the bed he was now sitting on. It appeared to have been some sort of storage room at some point, judging from the faint outlines of a box-like shape on some parts of the wooden flooring.

Outside of the room, he heard light footsteps coming towards his direction, and Ant didn't even bother pretending he was still gone to the world. He wanted to know what happened while he was in the Dreamscape. He wanted answers. Finally, the footsteps stopped, and in the doorway was a girl, no more than 14, with blond hair that seemed to have more of a golden hue, who wore a bright blue t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, and faded blue jeans, and she had sky blue goggles strapped to her head. She looked surprised at the fact that Ant was up so soon, and walked into the room. "Well, look's like someone's up," she commented, "Perfect timing, too!".

Ant was unfazed by her overly cheerful personality, and proceeded to question her. "Tell me. Who are you, and how did you find my brother and I?"

Her bright blue eyes seemed to twinkle in the brightly lit room as she performed a quick bow. "The name's Dray Eterna, future airship captain, skilled hoverboard rider, and expert mechanic!"

The pryomancer gave a slight nod. "Nice to meet you. Still, you didn't-"

The blonde cut his sentence off, acknowledging the fact that she hadn't finished just yet. "You're currently in the lower level of my workshop, based in Windvale."

A faint groan came from the other side of the room in that moment, indicating that Anti had finally awoken. When the eldest of the other Minecraftians turned to face them, his facemask slid down slightly, but he quickly pulled it back up before anyone could catch a glimpse at his face. He cleared his throat. "So, where are we, exactly?"

Dray began her short explanation yet again, but this time, Ant tuned out, instead staring off into space at some unseen object. His eyes easily revealed that the Minecraftian was troubled, but about what? He wasn't even sure. Something just seemed... off. Suddenly, a wave of nausea overcame him, causing Ant to fall back onto the bed. His consciousness began to dwindle as the space around him began to fade away. Anti immediately became aware of his brother's sudden silence and turned towards him. "Ant?"

The younger pryomancer's eyes were rolled back into his head, making them appear fully white. His brother's expression changed to that of concern. "This hasn't happened since we were kids," he murmured, "It's never happened afterwards, at least... before they came."

A small frown formed on Dray's face. "What do you mean by that?"

He shook his head. "It's not important."

She fell silent, unsure on what to do in the current situation.

"I would prefer it if you left the room."

The only reason Anti had asked was only as a precaution, in case this girl was in fact a member of the Legions or at least someone who would recognize him from his abilities. Dray nodded, then rose from her crouching position, and walked towards the door. When she got into the hallway, the teenager slid up against one of the walls by the doorway, just barely clear of sight. As she waited outside of the room, pressing one ear to the wall, Dray heard Anti mumble angrily from the other side.

"Damnit! This is worse than I thought..."

She poked her head into the doorway for a quick glance at what was going on. From what she saw, Ant's condition was getting much worse, just like Anti had said. The unconcious pyromancer was violently twitching from time to time, and it creeped her out. Whatever was going on, it was definitely unnatural. She shuddered, sneaking back into the hallway. Meanwhile, Anti had finally figured out what he had to do in order to bring his brother back to reality. He had to enter the Dreamscape. The older Minecraftian frowned, still unsure about what he was about to do. Normal Minecraftians shouldn't be able to, but with the help of magic, perhaps I can... Anti shook his uncertainty off, and placed his hand on Ant's forehead. "I promised to protect you, and that's what I'll do."

Anti's head jerked backward, and his own eyes rolled back into his head. All awareness of the real world slipped away from him as the pryomancer entered the mysterious realm known as the Dreamscape. When he came to, Anti found himself standing on absolutely nothing but pure darkness, yet he was still standing. As he observed his surroundings, the Minecraftian noticed several different tunnels leading out of the large space, almost as if it was a cave. A few moments later, he found himself being lead down one of them by some unknown force. Finally, after wondering through a maze of passages, Anti regained control of himself. The pryomancer was perched on top of a cliff overlooking yet another large area in the strange cave system. One of the first things he spotted were floating, shadowy beings that oddly resembled an octopus. They seemed to be heading towards the other side of the cavern, and he was drawn to follow the creatures.

After enduringly reaching the other side, Anti had finally found his younger brother. As he tried to approach him, one of the shadow octopi slammed into the pryomancer and knocked him back. He got back to his feet, eyes narrowed. "If you don't want to be burned to cinders, I suggest you move out of the way."

The creature leaned forward and let out a gurgling noise, as if it was challenging the Minecraftian. "Suit yourself."

A bright flame formed in the palm of Anti's hand, and in the blink of an eye, he had vanished. The shadow octopus looked around frantically for the pryomancer, but to no avail. As soon as he had vanished, Anti reappeared behind the creature and blasted it with the small fireball. It hissed in pain, quickly spinning around, smacking the pryomancer with one of its tentacles in the process. He rose to his feet almost immediately, only to find the shadow creature nowhere to be found. Although he was aware it could be still around, Anti pressed on. With little to no resistance from that point on from the mysterious entities, he shortly reached his brother's location. However, it seemed that Ant had already been attacked by one of the creatures, and it looked as if he didn't even have a slight chance against it. The Minecraftian was covered in all sorts of cuts, and was bleeding somewhat profusely. Anti shuddered at the horrific sight. I have to get him out of here... He rested his hand on Ant's forehead, much like he had done earlier, and concentrated on exiting the realm/ Sure enough, the Dreamscape began to fade away and transform into their surroundings in the Overworld. As soon as Anti became aware of his senses, the first thing he felt was pain.

Dray stood behind the Minecraftian, gripping her shining iron sword tightly. The blade was tipped in dark red blood, indiating that she was the one who had struck him in the right shoulder. Anti turned around slowly from his spot, holding his wound. The pryomancer's red eyes flashed angrily. "What was that for!?"

The teenager silently sheathed her sword, in refusal to speak, much to the annoyance of the older Minecraftian. He was tempted to lash out at her, but decided against it. It wouldn't help the matter if he did. She adjusted her goggles, which had slid down a bit, then spoke. "You better tell me who you guys are, and what's going on, right this instant. That is, unless you want me to hack your arm off."

Anti severely doubted that the girl would be able to, but he had learned in his many years as an assassin to never underestimate your opponent. "Very well. My name is Anti, and this," he said, gesturing to his brother, who was beginning to wake up again, "is my brother Ant."

Dray's expression didn't change too much at hearing this, as it was still in a slight frown. "Faction?"

The pryomancer appeared irritated at the question. "Do you seriously have to ask that?"

"I'm just checking. Sheesh."

At that instant, faint sounds of gunshots were heard from above. The youngest of the three cast her sight at the ceiling and scrowled. "Crap. Back already?"

She returned her focus back to the other two. "Here's the thing. The only reason I asked about factions is because-"

A loud blast came from above, interrupting her. The teen glared in the direction of the sound and faced them again. "-the Legions have recently been trying to overtake Windvale. If you're willing to help fight 'em off, I won't ask any more questions. Alright?"

Ant, now fully conscious, nodded. "Deal."

(A/N: OMIGURD, GAIS! I'M SO SOWWY FOR DA LATE CHAPTERRRR! 7TH GRADE IS BEING A BUTT AND ALL, OK!? *slapped* Alright, I'm good now. So yeah, that's the reason this chapter is so late, 'cuz of school and all. Which is also the reason why I made this chapter much longer. (And ever since I typed "CHAPTERRRR", it's suggesting it whenever I try writing anything starting with an "c".) Anyways, that's really the only reason why some chapters are late (also due to my lazyness and cases of writer's block). On the other hand, I got an awesome idea for one of the characters, thanks to a thesis statement practice my friend and I are doing in Language Arts. Hooray for plot twists! And coming up with random dialogue! :P As a side note, I'm pretty sure you guys noticed that I added my character into the story. I would write down the Reviewer Questions this time, but my school blocks Fanfiction, so I can't see reviews, yet it allows me to post chapters on there. It makes no sense! D: *ahem* Dray, signing out!)