Chapter 9: Rebel Anarchy
Hours went by and Red sat there in dead silence. She couldn't even cry anymore from how much she had already been. All she could hear were the loud freighting crying wails of the ghasts in the distance and crackling of fire from the outside Nether's surroundings. Resting her head onto her knees, she continued to glare off where she had last seen Herobrine. She fantasized herself going over and beating him up until he was literally begging her to leave. Of course, she knew that wasn't the reality of the situation but it made her feel a little better.
'I can't sit here and sulk forever. I bet that kidnapping damn stalker is watching me now as I speak.' Red thought to herself bitterly. Finally finding the strength to pull herself up from her spot on the ground. Red leaned against the wall and tried to think of what to do next. She was completely at loss to her location, she knew she was in Herobrine's apparent 'castle' but she didn't know exactly where she was inside it. Pushing herself off, she surveyed her left and right to see two long corridors that were only lit up by the dim lighting of red-stone torches. 'This place looks like its going to be a maze. Wonderful.' She thought irritably to herself and began to just start randomly walking down the left nether brick corridor, unsure of where she would end up.
She went down some hallways and past a few locked doors, until she finally came to a twirling staircase that went downwards. Not having any better options, she headed down the stairwell until she was at the bottom of a much darker place. Squinting her eyes, she wished she had a torch on her so she could see through the shadows that lingered through the halls. She swore she could hear the sound of moans and weeping in the distance of the hall. It was a little discerning but she doubted Herobrine would have any access to anything that he didn't want her wandering into or getting hurt in… or at least that is what she assumed. Cautiously she treaded down the dreary halls until she came to some double iron doors at the end. There was a lever on the side that looked like she could use to open the doors up with. Reaching over and pulling the lever, the doors proceeded to creak open up briefly, enough for her to step inside. The sound of the moans and weeping was much louder than before, it didn't sound anything like the sobbing from the ghasts. It sounded like actual people crying and groaning in pain. Looking around she tried to see if she could find a button or anything to activate a light, she tried brushing her hands up against the nether walls until and was surprised when she did hear a click. Two separate walls with red-stone lamps activated and faintly lit up the room. Red gasped at the sight, when her eyes were finally able to visually see just what was producing the pained mourning.
The room was a giant torture chamber looking room, that had prisons with random people she has never seen before inside. Some were even lying dead on some torture devices that they unfortunately were killed with. Red put her hand to her mouth and shook her head fearfully. Now racing over to one of the jail cells, she saw a young man around her age with short messy shoulder-length black hair and blueish silvery eyes that were strained looking with dark periorbital circles underneath them. He looked like he hasn't slept in days. His black and silver trimmed cloak and pants had looked to be quite expensive and decent at some point, but they were now torn and tattered in quite a few places. Stepping up to the bars of the cell, she quietly watched him sitting there on the side of a bed and staring down at the floor blankly. He looked like a man who has been mentally and physically defeated.
Red felt sympathy for the man and tapped on the bars, gaining his attention right away. His bluish silver blood shot eyes veered over at Red and went wide, "W-who are you!?" He shouted in a voice that sounded hoarse, probably from either screaming too much or rather not using it at all in a long time. He backed away on his red bed, into a corner and stared at Red with complete fear.
"It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you or anything." Red tried to reassure him with a voice that sounded like she was talking to a frightened little puppy. He shuttered and stared at her distrustfully.
"W-what do you want from me!? Leave me alone! I have nothing! He took it all, I swear!"
"Calm down! My name is Scarlett Chandler but you can call me Little Red. I'm not here to take anything from you. I just want to know why you're in here with these other people."
The man looked at her through narrowed eyes and was obviously skeptical of her intentions. "I'm here because of that monster Herobrine. Isn't it obvious? Just how are you roaming free, anyways? You're not one of his are you!?"
"I-I… No! He kidnapped me too, but uh he didn't put my in a cage, thankfully." She replied with a nervous laugh and was honestly relieved she wasn't trapped in one of these dirty claustrophobic cells that only had a small stiff bed and toilet beside it.
His eyes widen at that answer, "He didn't? Did he have you in one of the torture chambers then? You survived? You look fine!"
"Er no… he just kidnapped me here… It's a long story, okay? What is your name?" Scarlett questioned and leaned up against the cold bars to get a better view of him. He shifted on the bed and turned to look at Red better.
"My name is Wolfgang Aurich. I don't know how you are walking free, 'Little Red', but it would certainly be kind of you to release me from this infernal cell. Or at least please go rescue my girlfriend Ruth Caplin first. She's in another chamber close by. if you keep walking down the corridor to the next room. She knows the castle grounds much better than I do since she's a Scouter. Unfortunately, she was found out when she was scoping out vantage points from the upper outskirts of the Nether empire." Wolfgang told her and stood up from his bed to shakily walk over to the bars.
Red stepped back a bit in hesitation and began to look nervous, "I don't know if I can save you and your girlfriend…" Red murmured. Wolfgang grimaced and glared her furiously.
"And why not!? You're free! Please, I don't want my poor Ruth here any longer than she has too! I think she can figure out how to the disarm the booby-traps on these cells. I've been trying forever to figure it out myself, but I'm afraid I'm going to only blow myself up if I really try. She's an expert at this stuff. I'm only a Tracker…"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What do you all mean with this Scouter and Tracking business?" Red questioned with the raise of her red eyebrow. He sighed heavily and brushed his pale hand through his greasy messy jet black hair.
"Look it's top secret stuff to outsiders. I'll tell you if you save Ruth. She'll explain to you how to disarm the traps and open the cells. Please, if you have a heart. Let us out. If you do, we can even figure out a way to save the other prisoners in here before they're slaughtered by that white-eyed monster."
Red contemplated in her mind which alternative would be a good idea. She knew if she tried to save these two, she would absolutely make Herobrine livid with her if he found out, and she preferred to stay on his 'nicer' side. On the other hand, she might have a chance of getting out of here if she saves these two, which could possibly be a step in getting back to her big sister somehow.
"Please, Scarlett. If you leave us here, he's going to kill us. That's what he does to all of us. Please, I'm begging you." He pleaded as he gripped onto the bars and stared at her intensely. She stared back at him blankly before sighing and glancing in the direction he had mentioned Ruth was.
"Oh fine, but I have a feeling this isn't going to go well." Red gave in which made him smile widely at her.
"Great! Thank you so much! I would further my congratulations but first I want to see truth to your words. Go find Ruth. She has long light brown hair in a pony-tail with dark brown eyes! Just ask for her name, she'll defiantly respond. Now hurry! I don't know when the next patrol is going to come back down. Don't let them catch you!"
"Uh, I won't!" Red responded and with a faint anxious smile, she began walking down the row of cells that had more people begging her for release. It made her feel sick inside. Why would Herobrine be keeping these people down here like this? It was nothing but gruesome and pure evil!
Going down a few dark hallways, she heard the sound of rough scraping in the distance. She listened to the sound for a moment and followed over to it to see just who she was looking for. A thin tan woman upon hearing sudden footsteps on the nether brick flooring, she swiftly hide her sharpened nether quart that she had somehow gotten her hands on inside the backs of her denim jean pockets. Her narrow dark brown eyes peered right at Red like a hawk, "Who are you?!" She spat out with a glare.
"Whoa, watch your tone of voice with your possible savior. Are you Ruth Caplin?"
She didn't make a sound for a second but scoffed not seconds later. Crossing her slightly muscular arms together she finally snappishly responded, "Yeah, what's it to ya? Are you one of the false-king's cronies? You certainly don't look the part. Too scrawny…" She inquired as she eyeballed her up and down with an unimpressed look. Red frowned in offense and placed her hands on her hips.
"I am not scrawny! I came here to save your stupid sassy ass because your little boyfriend begged me to come over here, but if you keep giving me that attitude, I might reconsider."
"Look, Wolfgang might be the type to 'beg', but I certainly don't. I can get out of this hellhole myself if I have too. I don't NEED your help. It would only be a slight convenience if you do help, nothing more. Just how are you roaming around freely like you own the place, anyways? You seem really suspicious to me, sister."
"Don't worry about it, I'm on your side. I'll get you out of here if you tell me what to do. I only have one favor from you and that's it."
Ruth titled her head at her with a blank frown and retook out her white sharpened nether quartz. "Alright, I won't ask because I don't care. All I care about it getting out of this shit hole. Here use this. It'll be more useful to you than me, anyways. I've been trying to dig through a weak spot in the nether brick, but it's taking forever and may not even work." Ruth commented as she tossed the sharp nether quartz through the bars and over to Red. Catching it clumsily in her hands, Ruth rolled her eyes and then looked over left in a certain direction of the hall.
"There are seriously dangerous booby-traps offsetting the cell's locks junctions. It's the white-eyed bastard's funny little extra contraption he thought would be funny to add in with the already tedious and difficult effort of just getting out of here and reaching the release levers. You touch one of those levers without disarming the traps connected to it and it's goodbye to you. Nice knowing ya… but I know the way around it." Ruth explained and then eyed over to the other side of the corridor to make sure there were no patrols out and prowling. Seeing it was save, she looked back at Red and crossed her arms. "Now what do you want? I'm not promisin' you nothin."
"If I get you out of here. You have to help me get back home."
"Great and where is home? If it's anywhere out of our way, forget it." Ruth replied crossly and tossed her tight ponytail's brown hair over her shoulder. Red looked annoyed and glanced down at the surprisingly really sharp quartz in her hand.
"I'll take that as a 'yes, you're going to help me'. Just tell me what to do and I'll bust you out."
Ruth smirked and shook her head, "I'll give it to you, sister. You got some nerve to save some random strangers and possibility get your head blown off, but if that's your thing. I'm not complaining. Down the hall to your right, you will clearly see a wall of levers. Each lever is labeled by a cell number. Mine is twenty three and Wolfy's is thirty five. Pulling them randomly is only going to get your head blown off, and trust me I've seen enough heads blown off to know. One of our fellow little jail bird friends down here found out there is a secret door behind the levers that have tripwires that are being activated by red stone circuits. If you can cut the tripwires with that quartz I gave you, the red stone circuit is as good for nothing. Just be very careful not to activate it by accident…" She warned and then began to look a bit hopeful. "I trust you are at least capable of that."
"Yes, I am capable of that." Red mocked back which made her roll her eyes. Scarlett nodded at Ruth and gave her a thumbs up. "I'll get you and Wolfgang out of here in a jiffy."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Ruth mumbled and laid back on her bed with her hands behind her head. "Hurry up before a patrol finds you."
"I'm going, I'm going!" Red replied with an eye roll and hastily began rushing down the right hallway to go and find the grouping of levers that would be her place to start looking for the secret door to the trap's activation room.
Sapphire searched different biomes for hours but didn't come across a single bit of evidence of her sister's whereabouts. She had literally had the whole of her map discovered and still she has not seen anything! 'Just where are you, Red!? I don't even know where to look anymore…" Blue thought in discouragement. Glancing down at her dog, she sighed in real life. She set up a makeshift camp in the side of a cave and was beginning to put her good stuff away in a chest. She heard outside that it began to furiously rain and thunder, which meant chances of random fires appearing because of the lightning. Wonderful.
"I'll just wait and sleep the night. I'd rather not have to deal with mobs right now." Blue muttered to herself and waited for nightfall so she would be allowed to sleep. A couple minutes went by and she was finally about to make her character go to bed, when suddenly something began banging loudly on her wooden door of her camp.
"Not a zombie!" Blue griped to herself and went over to the door and opened it with her iron sword out, but she was shocked when she didn't see a zombie, rather something entirely different. Blue backed her character off with her sword up and ready for the attack. It wasn't until the side of her screen had white text pop up.
"Wait! Don't kill me! I need to talk to you!"
In real life Blue's eyes widen, she wasn't playing online! Making a wary expression, she continued to back her character away unsurely before typing back.
"Who are you?"
The short brown haired man with a light aqua colored shirt and blue jeans, smiled at her even though she couldn't actually see it through her screen.
"My name is Steve! It' nice to finally meet you, Sapphire!"
Blue stared for a long time and didn't know how to comprehend what she was seeing. The famous default character known as Steve was talking to her! She didn't for a moment doubt it was actually him, because she's had weirder happenings occur as of late.
"How do you know my name and what do you want?" Blue shakily typed back to the polar-opposite of Herobrine.
"You don't have to be afraid, Sapphire. I don't want to hurt you, I'm here to help you." He replied which made Blue feel somewhat relieved in a strange way. Blue watched as Steve closed the door behind him and typed some more to her, "I know this is kind of startling for you and I'm sorry things have turned out this way. I know your name because I know about your sister, Scarlett."
"You know about Scarlett!? Where is she!?" Blue typed back hastily, dying to know where her poor little sister could possibly be at. Steve looked down as if in shame and replied to her demanding response.
"I know about her, everyone does. She's most likely is locked away with Herobrine in his kingdom in the Nether."
"Then we have to get her back!" Blue typed back with a determined look in her eyes. Steve looked back up at Blue's character and shook his head.
"It's not that simple, unfortunately. My brother has his kingdom fortified to the brim with his minions and his highly powerful enchanted magic that is acting as a ward against us. Our people have tried our best to assault the castle multiple times, but every time we only end up with multiple dead armed forces and usually more kidnappings. We are in desperate need to get your little sister away from Herobrine. She has done something that regrettably is only channeling an ultimate dark power to him. Your sister has by mistake turned herself into a conduit of unlimited power for him to draw from."
Blue shook her character's head and took a step forwards to him, "I don't know how this happened but please you must help me get her back. I don't know what to do! I'm not in your world! I only saw my sister kidnapped by that mad man and now I feel powerless. I don't know what Red exactly did but I'm so sorry!"
Steve smiled sadly at her, "It's not your fault, Sapphire. You didn't know, I doubt she even knew what she was doing at the time. My brother is a very tricky man. He knew just how to deceive your sister into doing his biddings. Even worse Notch has said that he believes that my brother has taken more of an interest in her than just a pawn for himself. I didn't think my brother could feel anything like love, but it's a rumor that's been spreading. We think he wants to make her his Queen."
Blue looked down and internally cursed, "When he appeared in my home he had said that he wanted to make her his Queen…"
Steve looked surprised and shook his head again, "So it's true then… Shit. Then you must come with me, Blue. I think it's time you talk with Notch."
"Notch!? You mean like the creator of the game!?"
"He is Herobrine and my father… So yes, he is the creator. He is also the leader the Rebellion and I'm second in command. Will you please come with me and meet with us? I think it's time you join the rebellion to stop my brother for good."
Blue narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows. It seemed like this was the only way. At least, now she had a fighting chance. Putting her sword away into her inventory, she kneeled in front of Steve and nodded to him respectfully.
"Please… I'll do anything to save my sister. Anything..."
Steve shook his head and crouched down to look at her face to face, "You don't need to bow to me, Sapphire. I'm plenty happy to help you save your sister from my brother. With you and the rebellion's help, we could all save Minecraftia together. So thank you, Sapphire. We'll all greatly appreciate it."
Sapphire smiled in real life and made her character stand back up to her full height, Steve followed right behind.
"Then show me the way." she commented back. He nodded enthusiastically and waited for her to get her things back out of the chest,before running off and out into the rainy night with her dog trailing behind and ready to protect it's master at all costs.