Tragic got home, and just as she was going to open the door, someone pulled her away from it. Startled, Tragic reached for her sword, but saw it was only Lily before she pulled it out. She sighed, then slapped Lily on the arm. "You scared the hell out of me! Don`t do that!"
Lily smiled, then crossed her arms. "Those were two people from the Yogscast. Idiots, right? Well they are smarter than they seem, so don`t trust them. They`ll end up betraying you." Something flickered across her face, but it was soon gone.
Tragic nodded slowly, and Lily then ran back to the forest to do whatever it was she did all day.
Tragic pondered over what had flashed across her new friends` face, but couldn`t figure it out. Regret? Sadness? She couldn`t tell.
Tech poked his head outside, and saw his cousin standing there. "Tragic!" He shouted, happy to see her back safely. "I heard someone out here, who was it?"
Tragic remembered that she hadn`t introduced Tech and Lily and mentally face-palmed. "Oh, that was just a friend. I`ll let you meet her later. But now we mine!"
Tech tossed Tragic her pick and shovel, and the two raced each other to their cave.
LINEBREAK
Lily looked at herself in the mirror, and slowly removed the shades covering her eyes.
She stared at her disfigurement, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'Damn you, Blackspirit ,for doing this to me.'
Lily clenched her jaw to hold back the angry tears, and squeezed her eyes closed. She didn`t want to see her hideousness anymore.
But she opened her eyes and looked at herself again, forcing herself to take it in, making herself angry and sad at the same time. Angry at her cruel abusers. Sad because she knew she could never again be normal.
Lily stared at her beautiful blue eye, and tried to imagine what it`d be like if both her eyes looked like that. If they were both a gorgeous shade of sky-blue. If her father hadn`t done what he did to her, and made her like this.
She always had to keep her thoughts from the Nether because of this. Even though she knew what was happening in there, she didn`t want to see it. She didn`t want to witness the brutality of it down there.
But as she was cursing what had happened to her, her mind wandered, and she thought of the Nether. With a jolt, she saw what was happening. She saw the pigmen, squealing to be let out. She saw the ghasts, shooting fireballs everywhere. She saw the native creatures, and those who had been forced into this alien environment for the good of all Minecrafters. She didn`t want to see it all, but her eyes forced her to.
Lily forced herself to breathe, and to think back to her house, and of the Overworld, not of the Nether. She was suddenly back in her house, hands pressed into her eyes to stop seeing.
Lily was crying, she realized, and looked back to the mirror. Her eye was glowing, and she stared into its black-and-white depths.
'Only a freak like me has eyes like these. Black in color and white in pupil? It isn`t right. It isn`t right.' Lily thought, and forced her tears away. 'I need to find something to get my mind off of the Nether. Maybe I can talk to Tragic.'
Lily rose from her knees, and escaped into the bright sunlight.
LINEBREAK
Tech smiled, and finished mining the obsidian he had been trying to get for a while. He looked over at Tragic, who was waiting for him to be done, and nodded. "Let`s go back up."
Tragic nodded back at him, then started back up the way they had come.
As they made their way back to the surface, Tech felt that something was off, then he realized what it was, and said, "Hey, where are all of the mobs? I haven`t seen a single one since we arrived."
Tragic looked at him, but said nothing, and her eyes told him not to ask again.
Tech shrugged it off, but the look in her eyes bothered him. 'Why won`t she just tell me?' He wondered, then remembered her telling him about her new friend. 'Maybe it has something to do with her?'
They finally reached the surface, and it was night time. They made their way home, and when they walked in, a stranger was sitting on Tragic`s bed, smiling.
Tragic smiled back at the stranger, and went over to her. "Hey, Lily. Why are you here? Did something happen?" Her voice had gone from happily surprised to worried.
The girl, Lily, shook her head. "No, nothing happened, I was just feeling lonely, so I came over."
Tragic nodded, then turned to Tech. "Lily, this is my cousin Tech. Tech, this is my friend Lily."
Lily walked forward and shook Tech`s hand. "Nice to meet you, Tech. Tragic told me about you." She looked him over. "You know what? You two look a lot alike. More like siblings than cousins."
Tragic laughed. "Yeah, right. We`re just cousins. I sometimes wish we were siblings, though."
Lily laughed, too, but hers was more forced. "That`s cool." She looked at Tech, then back at Tragic. "Have you told him yet?"
Tragic shook her head, and Tech said, "Told me what?"
Lily nodded, then took Tech`s arm and led him outside, and told him what she had told Tragic yesterday.
It took all night, but by morning Tech understood what was going on, and why there were no mobs, and had no more questions for he and Tragic`s new friend.