Chapter 5

Ancient Worlds

"Alright where to this time guys?

Lukas had already pulled out his journal unfolding the ever growing map contained inside. He placed it on the floor, smoothing out the crinkles, "Well, for starters I think we should avoid that hall way over there, we've already hit every door down there. So unless there is a hidden one, we don't need to be down there."

Jesse leaned over Lukas, "What about that one?" He asked pointing to a spot on the map.

"We've already hit that one remember?"

"We have?"

"Yeah, Petra ate that mushroom and..."

"Oh yeah, and she had that whole hallucination about Wonderland and..."

Petra let the boys continue talking as she casually made her way down the hallway, careful not the wander too far out of line of sight. They had almost lost Lukas down here already. He had stopped to lace his boots and the next thing you know...

Petra shuddered at the thought. It had taken nearly seven hours to find him again, and by that point Lukas had come down with something... It resulted in three nightmarish days of Lukas trying not to die.

It was also the time the residents of Ground Town had fallen through.

Petra didn't blame them, not really. When they lived in Sky City sickness wasn't common. So when the Order members had come through that portal door and one of them was carrying an unknown disease...Well... It had upset Isa greatly to make that decision, but they couldn't help, not with the chance of a plague at risk.

That was probably the point Petra had started to trust Aiden again. He helped, he had pulled through. Lukas had been his best friend first after all. Between him a Petra there had been plenty of panic. Because it there was one thing Petra couldn't stand, it was someone getting sick.

Not after her wither sickness.

"Petra don't go too far!"

She turned her head to look back; Jesse stared at her, a nervous expression plastered on his face. He was thinking the exact thing Petra was thinking.

"Guys, how about here?"

Petra returned to the group and joined Jesse in leaning over Lukas. "Where?" she asked.

"Here," Lukas pointed to the corner of the map, "There is hallway up there. It dead ends so we didn't stay long. But I mapped it out. We haven't hit any of the doors up here yet."

Petra eyed the corner of the map, it was on the opposite side of their current location, and "Do we want to start so far away?"

"If you guys think we shouldn't..."

"I think it might be for the best," Jesse says, "It's got the most doors to explore and therefore a higher chance of it being our world. I know we want to make this a one door thing, but let's face it guys, the chances are a thousand to one."

"I'm game," Lukas nods.

"Alright," Petra sighs, fingers tapping the map, "Let's hit it guys."

The walk took hours, and while the Hallways of Worlds - Lukas's temporary label- was indeed impressive; it got old after the hundredth time.

"Hey Jesse, remember that one?" Petra teased, pointing at a green hued door, its border covered in glowing mushrooms.

"Isn't that the one with the bats?" Lukas asked.

Jesse made a face and walked a little faster, ignoring the laughter of the other two.

After a moment however he slipped back into the group, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Petra gave him a look, "What?"

Jesse pointed, "Look familiar?"

Petra followed the finger, gaze coming to rest on a flower covered door, the inner magic ruby red. "It was not my fault they didn't allow women to wear pants Jesse!"

Jesse laughed, "They tried to burn us as witches, and all you had to do was wear a dress."

Petra elbowed him, "Well fine. If the next door requires you 'men' to wear something ridiculous, I won't be going easy on you."

Lukas walked around the corner, "Let's hope that won't be necessary," He stopped, "Here we are."

"Eww, now I know why we didn't stay here."

This part of hallway's never ending maze, was in poorer condition than the rest of the area. Stone pillars lay broken, dust and debris covered the floor, the torches had long since failed to burn. Some of the doors were cracked, their portals shut off and dormant.

It was a dark sad place.

"Notch, I hope one of these isn't it," Jesse mumbled, running his hand along the remains of a shattered door.

Petra lit a torch, "I'm sure it isn't. We just need to pick a door we can agree on."

"I'll go first," Lukas said, "We don't go through this one." Before Petra could ask why, she took a closer look at the door Lukas stood by. The door itself looked fairly normal, made from simple stone. But all around the floor by it, deep lacerations cut into the foundation, as if something had been dragged into the magical gateway, something big.

She eyed the suspicious red stains around the claw marks, "I second the notion."

Jesse hardly gave the door a two second glance, "Motion carried." He moved to an obsidian door, one with magic as black as the stone itself, "How about this one guys?"

"I don't know Jesse..." Lukas said, joining him.

"Petra..."

Jumping slightly, Petra turned around, looking towards the sudden strange noise. At the very end of the hall, of course stood a door, but this one seemed off. She looked back towards the boys, the pair still debating over the obsidian door. Turning her focus again she moved down the hall, careful to avoid debris.

On closer inspection, the entrance was old. The frame was cracked in a few places, but everything about this door was unique. The walls around it were decorated, depicted in an art style that Petra didn't recognize. The door frame was smoothed down, each piece put together with the most dedicated of care. She looked carefully at the etchings, admiring depictions of battles, farmers, growth, and exploration... Portal light was different too. Not quite white, but not quite grey. It was soft, and warm, like a sunrise peaking over the hills.

She looked down, surprised to find footprints in the thick layers of dust. The markings were covered in a thinner layer of dirt. But someone had been here, maybe not that long ago, but someone had come.

"Petra..."

Petra looked back up at the door, leaning in slightly...

"Petra!"

Petra jumped, as Jesse joined her by the door, "Didn't you hear me?" he asked.

She stared at him blankly, "What?"

The brunette frowned, "Didn't you hear us? We were calling to you but you seemed kinda zone out."

"Oh. I was just ...looking at the door."

"Guys someone's been through here," Lukas said, he had discovered the prints.

"I was also looking at those," Petra added.

Jesse looked at the floor, "Are you sure those aren't ours and we haven't been here before?"

Lukas shook his head, "No, they're too big." He turned his attention to the door, "Wow, look at the stone work, they have everything in this door. Clay, stone, iron...It's beautiful."

Petra stared at the glowing light, "I think we should go through this one."

Jesse looked at her, "What?"

"I really think we should."

"Do you have a intuition about it or..."

"I don't think it's our door," Petra sighed, holding up her hand before the others could speak, "But I've got this feeling it will help us get home." she looked hard at the portal, "I know it sounds nuts, but...There is something on the other side and we need to find it."

Jesse inspected her closely for a moment, and then looked at Lukas, "Lukas?"

The blonde shrugged, "If Petra thinks so..."

Jesse sighed, "Alright, this is the door." he gestured, "After you."

Petra nodded and led the way, Lukas following, Jesse last.

The hall once more, fell into silence.

Jesse didn't open his eyes till he felt a cool breeze on his face, opening his eyes he found himself in a dim room. There were no lanterns, just two glow stones placed in the center of the room, covering the walls in a faint glow.

Petra was already inspecting the many round pillars that filled the room, "It looks kinda like a temple."

"Our door was in a temple." Jesse grinned.

"It was wasn't it?" the female smiled.

"Well whatever world we're in, this is the first one the door has still been there when we came through," Lukas points.

Jesse turned around surprised to see the portal door still behind him. This side was just as decorated as the other half, "Well that's a first."

"At least if this isn't it," Lukas said, "We can leave right away."

"Ye-ah..." Jesse replied slowly.

This was the first time the door had still been there...He wasn't sure if that should bother him or not.

"Guys come check this out!" Petra called, pulling Jesse away from his thoughts. Jesse and Lukas exchanged quick glances before hurry outside.

"Oh my Notch," Lukas gaped.

Outside the ruins doors, was a vast expanse, one like Jesse had never seen. Far as the eye could see there was something spectacular to look at: Towering canyons cliffs, covered in thick vines and topped with jungle trees; thick waterfalls falling between crevices roaring as the fell into misty lowlands. There were rolling hills and rivers weaving between converging into swamps. Far in the distance a massive lonely mountain towered over the lowlands, smoke billowing from its peak and fog drifting down its side. Farther still, the volcano stood in front of a long range of mountains stretching far and wide.

It looked untouched.

"I don't think this is home," Lukas said, "But this..."

"It's amazing!" Jesse finished.

"Yeah that's it."

Petra was grinning, "I knew there was something about that portal door, I just knew it!"

"Do you think anyone lived here?" Jesse wondered aloud.

"Had to be," the female responded, she gestured behind her, the trio turning to look at the decorative ruins, "Someone had to build this."

"It could have been the Old Builders."

"I don't think so, there is too much detail around this portal. The rest is all plain and simple. Besides," Petra turned back to the view, "Who would leave a world like this unexplored?"

Lukas was looking out as well, his expression wary as he eyed darkening clouds above, "Maybe there is a reason..."

"We got to explore it a little bit."

"Petra..."

"Oh come on Lukas, I still got a feeling about this place. Jesse?"

Jesse looked around, "Well I guess wandering around a bit couldn't hurt. It's not like we don't know where the door is."

Petra was off before the sentence was finished.

Lukas frowned.

Jesse gave him an apologetic look, "I know we need to get home, but there might be something here to help Ivor. Like temple loot or something. Just for a little bit Lukas, I promise."

That seemed to pacify him, and Lukas gave out a huff, "Alright, I'll admit it does kinda look cool."

Jesse grinned, "That's the spirit!"

Lukas just rolled his eyes and followed Petra down the remains of the temple stairs.

It didn't take long for Jesse to partially regret his decision, the stairs were all but crumbled to bits and navigating down the steep hill was difficult. Slowly but surely however they made their way down the range, inspecting buildings as they went.

"It looks like there was a whole town up here at one point," Lukas noted, he was inspecting a old square building. "I think this was a house, or maybe a shrine," he pulled out his journal, doing quick rough sketches of the wall's markings. "I wonder what these letter's mean?"

Jesse shook his head, humored by Lukas's doodling and walked into the 'house'. "They looked kind of old fashioned." Stone chairs were carved into the walls, the fabric and any cushioning it might have had now piles of dust. A broken statue was in the center of the room, the face no longer recognizable. There were a few elegant trunks in the corner, which Jesse casually kicked open.

One chest contained a set of rusted weapons and tools. The other could have possibly contained food. It was covered in black mold. Jesse moved away from it, and climbed up the stairs.

The upper floor was in horrible condition, walls and ceiling were gone, almost smashed clear off. Whatever was in this room there was no sign of what had been here before now. The elements had been unkind, but surprisingly there was still a chest intact. Jesse popped it open, "Hey Lukas! There is obsidian up here!"

"Hang on to it, we might need that."

Jesse grabbed the loot and walked back downstairs and outside, Lukas was still examining the outside of the house.

"I think someone important lived here, or it was meant for someone of importance anyway."

"Why would you think that?"

Lukas finished his sketch and closed the book, "Because out of all the buildings in this area, not only is this one the most carefully built, it's the only house with actual gems in the carvings.

"What?"

"Take a look,"

Jesse leaned in, examining a carving of a warrior, he bore no armor, only a sword. He raised it high as he advanced upon a creeper. Inside the eyes of both the warrior and the creeper were colored gems stones. Even the creeper was lined with emerald.

Jesse rubbed a finger on the gems, "I wonder who he was?"

Lukas shrugged, "We'll never know I guess, but he was important to the people here. Oh! Maybe he's their deity..." he trailed off talking to himself, before he looked around, "Where is Petra?"

"Down the hill I think."

Lukas made a funny noise that pulled Jesse's attention away from the house, "More like down the mountain."

Jesse followed his gaze, spotting Petra in another abandoned village far away. "Wow...that was fast."

"I hate it when she doesn't that! What if she gets attacked?"

"It's Petra; she can handle pretty much everything."

Lukas just mumbled something about danger and risk.

Jesse elbowed him, "Still want to head back to the Hallway?"

Lukas was silent for a moment, looking around the ghost town, "I guess we can look around a little longer," he said with a soft smile.

Jesse grinned and together they trekked off down the mountain path.

They were wheezing by the time they made it down. Above them the higher villages and the temple had become buried in mist. Even the light rain that now fell from above did little to dissipate the fog.

Petra sat on a fallen tree, the majority embedded in a former hut.

She waved, "What took you guys so long?"

Lukas lowered himself onto the damp branch, "We aren't as fast as you. We really shouldn't split up like this."

"Relax Lukas, this isn't the Hallway. Besides, you took the long way."

Jess straitened from his feeble wheezing," What? Did not."

Petra pointed behind him, to a set of still intact staircases embedded in the side of a cliff, the top not visible in the fog, "You took the wrong stairs."

Jesse eyed to precarious drop from the steps, "I'm good with the long way," He turned back to the ginger. "Find anything cool?"

"Some stuff, old rusted weapons and such." She pulled a small handful of cloth from her inventory, "Some old paintings too, thought you might like them Lukas."

Lukas let out a grateful gasp - still trying to get his breath back- and quickly tucked the objects into his journal.

"I also... found bones,"

"Sounds like- what!"

Petra frowned a bit, "I think there was a battle or something here."

Jesse looked around, "It doesn't really look like a battle happened."

Lukas shrugged, "I'm not so sure, there are a lot of metal bits lying around. They look like axe heads, hoes, pieces of swords. Something could have happened to drive people off." He looked at Petra, "You said you found bones?"

Petra nodded, "I didn't think of much at first, I thought it was some animal. But I've never seen, well, remains of people before. There is a whole bunch of them..." She jabbed her head gingerly towards the house, "I think the tree..."

Jesse walked towards the house peeking inside the window. The dim light made it difficult to see, but Jesse could make out stained bones on the floor. He could have sworn there was a skull-

"That's it," Lukas said suddenly.

Jesse jumped, unaware that the blond had joined him by the window, "Lukas!' Don't scare me like that!"

Lukas stepped away, clearly not conflicted to get away from the unmarked grave, "This place is now officially creepy."

"Its fine, whatever happened here happened ages ago." Petra urged.

"Or, it's still here." Lukas argued.

"Lukas calm down, not every world we're are visiting is going to be dangerous."

"Name me one Petra."

"Well for starters..."

"Jesse."

Jesse jolted, swiftly turning around. But there was nothing behind him. There was only the edge of the ruins and the massive forest. Jesse stared at the dark trees in confusion, searching carefully for any sign of a person.

But there was none.

"Jesse."

Now he was sure he heard it. There was something in those trees. Ignoring his friends arguing and his possible better judgment, Jesse walked into the woods.

He lost sight of the village almost immediately, the overgrown trees made it difficult to see. Looking down however he spotted an old path. Much of it was covered by the forest, but he could still make out enough.

It was eerily silent as he made his way down the trail. No birds cripped, no spawns, no animals. There was only the snap of twigs as his feet took each step, the swish of the tree branches as he pushed them aside. It was only him.

"Keep going."

Part of him knew that listening to an ominous voice- was probably a bad idea. But Petra seemed okay with it here, why shouldn't he?"

The path opened up suddenly and Jesse found himself standing before a small cabin. The clearing was resting up against a rushing river, the volcano rumbling in the distance.

Jesse whistled, "Whoever lives here really has a view."

But as he approached the house, it was clear that no one longer lived here. Grime covered the window, the ivy bush now covered and entire side of the house.

Jesse wiggled the door knob, the door easily swinging open.

As he stepped inside he took in his surroundings. For no one around, the house had held up well against the elements and other offences. A thin layer of dust covered everything, but other than that...

It was quaint, to say the least; one room one floor. There was a bed in one corner, a dinner table in another. A crafting box and furnace sat side by side. A small chair was by the furnace, indicating it was used for warmth as well. Next to that was a desk, piled high with books.

"Jesse."

Jesse looked at a desk, and moved towards it. He opened the first book at the top. It was journal, he could tell by the print; but the written language was unfamiliar to him.

"I wonder..." Jesse flipped through quickly, but was unable to find any illustration or a readable text to help him.

Could this place have belonged to an Old Builder?

"Jesse!"

Jesse jolted, the book falling to the floor with a thud. The noise loud against the silent room, he looked outside.

"Jesse! Where are you?!"

Jesse ran outside, "Guys! Ahhhh!" he was drenched instantly.

It was now considerably darker outside, the rain heavily pouring. Behind the house the river roared, little streams of water running down the hill to join the rapids. Jesse pushed aside the fact that it had gotten dark considerably quickly and started to look around the forest edge.

"Jesse!"

"I'm here guys!"

Lukas and Petra burst from the tree line, looking around before finally spotting him. Then much to Jesse's confusion they rushed at him.

"You idiot!" Petra grabbed him, shaking him, "Where have you been?!"

"What do you mean," Jesse argued, "I just walked down the trail while you two were arguing and-"

"Arguing?!" Jesse looked at Lukas and found him to be pale. Lukas shook his head, "Jesse that was forever ago! We noticed you were gone and then we couldn't find you. We've been looking for hours."

"I've only been gone a few minutes, what the heck are you talking about?!"

"We seriously couldn't find you! The sun went down over an hour ago!" Lukas explained.

Jesse stared, shocked.

"Either you need to get a watch," Petra stopped shaking him and stepped away, "Or you better explain yourself."

"I don't know guys I swear." Jesse stammered. "It was only a few minutes..."

Petra hugged him, "We were worried sick,"

"I'm sorry,"

As Petra stopped hugging him and pulled away, Lukas crossed his arms, "I vote we stay together now."

"I agree." Petra says, "I mean, do you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Petra looked around, the trees towering high above her, "Guys...this world feels...different."

Jesse and Lukas looked around, but it was the blonde who spoke up about their joint confusion, "Petra what do you mean."

Cutting through storm; all around them the forest echoed with soft whispers. It almost seemed like a tune, a song sung through many ages. It was old, but a held a deeper meaning to it. "I don't know. It's doesn't give me a bad vibe or anything. It just feels different."

Jesse shifted, "Let's not worry too much about it, we'll head back to the portal and-"

Through the roaring of the river and the howling of the wind, a high shrieked whistle was heard. It cut through the air like a knife.

Skeleton archer.

Jesse hadn't even pulled his sword when the first arrow struck. It glanced off his armor forcing him to stagger. The second followed swiftly after, catching him in his stunned state. It slipped easily through a crack in his armor straps and embedded itself in his side.

"Augh!"

"Jesse!" Petra hurried close to him.

Jesse kneeled to the ground, dodging a third arrow, "I'm fine just kill the archer." He yanked on the arrow in his side, using his other hand to stop the blood from gushing.

"Ummm, guys," Lukas said suddenly.

The followed the direction Lukas's bow was pointing to the archer at the edge of the woods.

Petra's eyes were wide, "Is that?"

Lukas swallowed nervously, "He's riding a spider."

"I've heard of them from Ivor, but I've never seen-"

The spider swiftly advanced and Lukas pulled his bow string back, "Which do I shoot first?"

Jesse tugged a little harder on the arrow, hissing as the arrowhead remained firm, "Kill the archer! We'll handle the spider when he gets here."

Lukas hit the archer right when the spider jumped, "Petra!"

The ginger lunged forward, stabbing the monster's underbelly before it could land on Lukas.

Their enemies dead they turned their attention to Jesse, Lukas kneeled down next to him ,"Are you-"

"I'm fine Lukas," Jesse said through gritted teeth, "It's just an arrow,"

Lukas reached for the shaft, "It looks stuck,"

"I'll get it out,"

"Let me help."

Jesse looked over Lukas's shoulder, "No time for that," he snapped the majority of the arrow shaft, leaving the rest of it embedded, "We've got more company."

The others looked back to see - much to the trio's dismay - the entire clearing was slowly filling with monsters, all drawn out by the noise and rain.

Another spider riding archer shot an arrow, the deadly point landing not far from Lukas's foot.

"Guys back up," Petra ordered.

The rushed back, till Jesse felt icy water splashing against his legs, "I don't think this was the best plan."

Petra cursed.

"Don't worry," Jesse said, "We can handle this."

Lukas looked back at him, giving him a firm stare, "You shouldn't be fighting right now, you'll bleed to death."

"I'm fine-"

"Lukas is right," Petra cut in, "We fight off the monsters, just lay low."

Lukas shot a spider right as it jumped at him. "Petra! Creeper to your right!"

Petra knocked the explosive beast sideways, sending it spiraling into the river where it was swallowed by the swirling currents.

Jesse kneeled down as his friends fought, furiously trying to pull the remained of the skeleton arrow out.

"There is too many of them! Petra what do we do?"

"We can make a break for the house!"

"We'll be boxed in! The zombies will tear it to bits!"

"You think we'll have a better chance in the woods...:

His friends voice's became warbled. Jesse's vision started to swim; he had to squint to focus on his hands. He couldn't have lost that much blood already; could he?

An arrow landed about a foot from him and Jesse immediately noticed the familiar green dripping down the arrowhead.

"Crap, uh guys." Jesse stood, his head swirling, "Guys I think-" He struggled to find his balance, and staggered backward.

His body was enveloped in sudden coldness, and everything went dark.

Next time on Minecraft Story Mode Immortal's Child...

Chapter 6

Woods Full of Strangers

Jesse stared hard at the stranger before him, carefully thinking his next words. "Alright, I accept you don't want to kill me. And you probably don't want to eat me either."

The other nodded in understanding., "I don't blame you for being cautious. But that's good to hear, may I have you're name now?"

Jesse paused, then, "I'm Jesse. Can I have yours?"

She smiled, her eyes sparkling like diamonds in firelight.

"My name is Alex."