Author's Note: Mr. J 's BACK IN TOWN, BABY!

Ahem.

Again, ideas are welcome. BTW, infested Terrans WILL be in the next episode. Lots and lots of horror elements. :D

Please review! Enjoy!

BTW, if you missed any chapters, the last update was a triple update (ikr). Make sure you read ALL OF THEM.

On second thought, re-read the entire story just to refresh your memory. IMO.

Lots of physics going to take place. Warning ya'!

AESEARIA

Again that blissfulness. Again the gently arcing lightning. Again the paradise.

She was barely aware that she was aware before –

"Greetings, Protoss. We meet again."

Aesearia (that was her name, it seemed) was taken aback. Where had she…

"In the time that we have spent apart, I have collected several important figures - "

Oh right. The crazy Voice again.

" – most of which are vitally crucial to you, of all. Firstly, your fellow Protoss and, for that matter, all that ever and will exist, are facing a threat far greater than any that the Zerg or even the Xel'naga can ever pose."

…What?!

"The natural phenomenon that brought you and your companions here is a result of the weakening bonds of the Universes, in their entirety. If we do not heal it, all that is shall perish."

…How did this happen? Why didn't it happen before?

"…I am to understand that this is to do with entropy and Dust, and several other factors which you would be completely alien to, despite your advanced knowledge in the sciences. I am amongst the pathetically few that are, and perhaps, ever will be aware of this. I am not all powerful, and neither are the sentiences with whom I can and do consult. Therefore, I require assistance. Yours, in particular, since you of all have been chosen to be fit to aid us.

"The first you must do is make your way off this world, this parallel universe. You, of course, shall be accompanied by others, but whether or not you will stay together I cannot foresee, for much is that which clouds the future, and neither I nor my peers are able to pierce through the dark that cloaks the Dust. I should think, however, that your quest shall both start and end in this world.

"But I am not certain. Nothing is, anymore."

How am I supposed to make it off this world?

There was a pause, in which Aesearia could sense the thick, tangible perception of Doom that she felt the last time she was around the entity once more. It grew stronger and stronger still, until –

Her setting darkened in the matter of a Blink, and angry flashes of malignant energy, not the peaceful discharges of static from before, blasted across the clouds, and she could barely sense the Voice raising something in defense –

"Hey, Aesearia. You scannin' me?"

She became aware of her surroundings very slowly, and saw Ethan's face looming over hers.

"What happened?" she intoned blankly.

Then she became aware of a cool feeling around her feet and hands, whereupon she sat up to look down on her limbs –

And saw small buckets of a thick, white liquid.

She raised her right hand, examined it, and recognized that the liquid, curiously, did not cling to her skin.

"Glad to see you came about," Daniel's voice said.

She looked up, and saw Daniel standing at the doorway to their humble house, silvery moonlight streaming in behind him. There was a smile on his face, but there was something grim about it. She could literally feel that something was bothering the Terran; out of sheer respect, she did not peek into his mind. Though she could have.

"I had to find some milk in order to cure you of the poison," he continued, pacing around the room. "That was the only thing that could have been affecting you. I could think of nothing else. You obviously had no mouth, so I had to gamble that you could absorb it through your skin. Looks like I was right." He paused, leaned on a wooden table, and continued. "None of the rest of us had been poisoned. The spiders shouldn't have been able to even touch you. The only thing I can conclude is that someone purposefully poisoned you." He stopped again and stared into Aesearia's bright blue eyes, as if trying to read her thoughts.

(Yeah, as if that could ever happen.)

"Tell me. Did you hear any glass breaking? A twang? Anything?" Aesearia replied with all shakes, and Daniel pressed a hand to his forehead, obviously frustrated. "To make things worse," he said from under his hand, "I found this note nailed to our door." He unceremoniously threw a piece of cube-formed paper at Aesearia.

She caught it with her psionic abilities, raised her right hand to receive it, and –

"I can read none of this."

(This was followed by much face-palming and sighing on Daniel's behalf and much stifled laughter on Ethan's behalf. Arf sleepily raised a head and then lowered it.)

Aesearia handed the paper over to Daniel, who received it and proceeded to read aloud. "'I'm watching you,'" he said, and placed it on the table behind him. His face was grim. "This, combined with the fact that you were poisoned, tells me that something very dangerous is probably on our tail. I'm guessing Herobrine. It's about time he noticed us."

Aesearia shuddered mentally. If she were to fight this Herobrine alone, he would probably be demolished. If the Protoss army fought him ("it"?), he would be gone before you can Blink. But fight him on his territory, where he was indestructible can do whatever he pleased…

They were all dead.

So very dead.

"Why," Aesearia voiced tiredly, "doesn't he simply kill us all right now, then? If he can do these things - "

"I have no idea," Daniel muttered softly. "It seems as if he's toying with us. After all, there's nothing else in this world for his attention.

"Right?"

By the next morning, it had been decided that mining trips were out of the question (much to Daniel's protest). Daniel, from that point forth, would have to rely on "stone tools", and would take up farming (for food). Aesearia raised the question of whether or not the note-bearer was even Herobrine, but Daniel firmly assured her that it was him, and Ethan agreed with a grunt.

("This guy might be crazy," Ethan had muttered to Aesearia while Daniel was gone, "but he sure as hell knows what he's doing. I'm betting he's right on this one as well.")

So she had nothing to do but meditate and cast experimental psionic storms. She was getting better at them, and honing her mental skills helped making them less exhausting.

Daniel had introduced to them a game called "chess" (which, given the absurd rules, had to have originated from Earth), of which Daniel was a prodigy, Ethan knew little, and Aesearia was clueless. Daniel had taken it upon himself to create a small game-board, matching pieces, and teach Aesearia how to play.

Needless to say, he dominated both of them.

Ethan had suggested darkly (behind Daniel's back, of course) that Daniel was making the whole thing up and rigging it so that only he could win.

Aesearia had then suggested that Daniel make the pieces for the Protoss game Koramund.

(The sarcasm was entirely missed by Daniel.)

Daniel had insisted that Aesearia explained the rules first.

He fell asleep before Aesearia could explain the fifth piece.

(To be sure, the nighttime may have contributed to that, but Daniel had claimed to rather roast alive than to sit through another explanation.)

Ethan refused to even talk about the subject, after seeing Daniel's reaction.

What? It wasn't as if she could brainwash them or anything…

Oh, wait.

She could.