Chapter 20: The Beginning

When he woke up in his bed the next morning, Pickaxe wanted to believe the whole thing had been a dream.

He wanted to believe that Parker had truly died by killing himself in his own cell. That he didn't really stage his death just to kidnap Jewel and Rosetta, killing the rest of the prisoners. That he didn't travel to the Nether and summon a creature so unholy, it made the Nether ten times worse. That Pickaxe and his friends didn't have to face off against this creature to prevent any further casualties. That Pickaxe didn't kill the creature and gained its loot. That Pickaxe didn't somehow have a strange meeting with an enderman. That Pickaxe and his friends didn't reactivate the portal and return home because Parker's flint and steel was conveniently left in his inventory pile. But he couldn't believe any of that…

...because the Nether Star was still in his hand, and Endre had somehow collected that obsidian himself.

He sighed, pulling himself out of bed. He put the Nether Star back in his pocket. He was supposed to be somewhere. After mentally preparing himself, he climbed down the ladder of his mushroom house. He headed towards the village, which was mysteriously empty, save for the few villagers and iron golems still wandering about. Pickaxe didn't worry, though. He knew where they all were. He walked through the desolate village, until he reached one of the hills.

There, right in front of him, stood the memorials.

Many village miners had died throughout Parker's War (Texik had suggested the name). Some of the biggest casualties were during the invasion of Parker's Nether base, and during his invasion as well. All throughout the memorials were signs bearing the names of miners and their contributions, as well as a chest that carried their belongings and even inventories, which were beneath the ground level in order to be buried, for fear of being stolen. While Pickaxe felt sorry for the families and friends gathered around their loved ones' memorials, there was one memorial Pickaxe was dead set on seeing.

It stood between Pickaxe's own group of friends.

There the memorial stood, everyone looking solemn over it. Victor, Rosetta, Vincent, and Margret had joined Jewel's family and the others just to see it. This particular memorial, along with a few others, was planned to be decorated later. Of all the people present, Endre seemed to be shaken up the most. Pickaxe put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he was a good man," he assured Endre, trying to comfort him. He wiped a tear from his eye, slowly nodding in response. Pickaxe and Endre opened the chest of this particular memorial. Pickaxe placed the Wither Slayer inside, while Endre put in an ender pearl. The memorial's sign read:

Shawn

Father, Husband, Friend, Adventurer

The First Fallen, He Will Not Be Forgotten…

As the villagers slowly trickled back to their normal lives, Pickaxe headed toward Jewel's house. Reed had something he wanted to share with the others. It just so happened Pickaxe was the first one to arrive, after Jewel and Stan, of course. He waited in the main room, as the others began to arrive one by one. Jewel eventually joined them, rushing from her room. Before Pickaxe could ask her something, Reed had entered into the room. Jewel had asked for Pickaxe's Nether Star, and had yet to give it back.

Reed looked around to make sure everyone was accounted for, and cleared his throat.

"First off…" he started, a bit of nervousness in his voice, "I'd like to apologize. Even though you did disobey my direct orders, and nearly got killed… you survived. And even though you went behind my back yet again, it proved effective with making sure Parker's invasion wasn't a complete success, and allowed us to end his war. Not only that, but when my daughter and niece were captured, you helped to not only rescue them, but defeat a formidable foe a select few have managed to conquer."

"...and for that… I thank you."

With his speech concluded, Reed turned behind him towards a large chest. He motioned for the group to look inside. Perplexed, the group decided to approach the chest. Since Stan was the only one unwary of the chest's contents, he took it upon himself to open it. The group simultaneously gasped in shock. Within the chest was all the groups old materials! "My TNT!" Texik exclaimed, now pouncing on the chest. Sarah looked at Reed in surprise as the others reunited with their old materials. He simply cracked a smirk.

Then Texik pulled out something questionable… another Nether Star.

Everyone in the room gave Texik an incredulous look. He turned beet red, awkwardly confessing, "I might have stolen from an adventurer that one time…" Everyone then decided to give him deadpan stares. "...I have really deep pockets…" was all he said after that, facing the floor in embarrassment. "As much as I'd like to whack you upside the head," Madison interjected, "this actually works in our favor." She faced Jewel, giving her a knowing look.

Jewel sighed, and walked towards Pickaxe.

She was carrying something in her hand. It was the Nether Star, only… it was attached to a string. Not only that, but this string appeared to be adorn with bits of gold, netherrack, and even wither skull material. It was interestingly beautiful. "Pickaxe," Jewel started, her voice soft at first, "we may have faced the Wither together, but… it was you who finished it off. It was you who helped us navigate the Nether, who never gave up in the fight against Parker. You're the reason I-no, all of us, are still here. And for that…" Jewel grabbed the necklace with both hands, raising it over Pickaxe's head before placing it on his neck.

"...I give you this."

Pickaxe didn't know what to say. His Nether Star necklace went all the way to the center of his chest. He was truly honored. He looked at Jewel, his face filled with gratitude. "Thank you," he replied, honestly happy beyond belief. Jewel gave him a little smile. "Not only that…" she stated, turning towards Texik and Endre, "but you can help us make the village's very own beacon!" Pickaxe looked confused. What was a beacon?

Endre held out some obsidian, and Texik held out the other Nether Star.

Pickaxe accepted both, albeit somewhat hesitantly. Jewel handed him some glass. "Relax," she reassured him, "you've got this." Some fine words of encouragement… Pickaxe headed towards the crafting table, determined to figure out the beacon recipe. Naturally, he placed the Nether Star in the center. After some thought, he placed the three obsidian blocks at the bottom. He put the remaining five glass blocks everywhere else. The materials began to shake.

They merged into a brand new block.

The block had a smaller glowing block within the center, with an obsidian base and a glass encasement. So this was a beacon, huh? Everyone eyed the block in anticipation, their excitement levels building up. "Come on!" Madison exclaimed, leading the group outside. To their surprise, in the center of the village, there was a pyramid-like structure made of diamonds. Rosetta wiped her forehead, carrying several spare diamond blocks in hand. "Well, Pickaxe?" she asked, motioning towards the pyramid top, "You do the honors." Pickaxe looked around; the whole village was watching. No pressure there, he thought. Nonetheless, he walked along the pyramid, raised it like a long lost relic…

...and slammed it smack in the center of the pyramid top.

At first, the block just stood there. Suddenly, the block began to glow, and this glowing intensified until… a column of light shot up into the air. It lit up the village in a glorious light, as Pickaxe stood in awe. Jewel handed him an emerald, saying, "Why stop there?" Curious, he drew closer to the beacon. He pressed onto it, and was suddenly surrounded by 6 different options. Different icons that represented different powers: speed, haste, resistance, jump boost, strength, regeneration.

But which one to choose...

He was still trying to recover from the whole Wither incident; regeneration sounded good at the moment. He took out his emerald, and placed it in the beacon's slot. He tapped the regeneration icon, and was met with a check vs. an "x." He chose the checkmark, and was suddenly warped back to reality. He felt a wave of health wash over him and his friends. The beacon had granted them the power of regeneration.

Defeating the wither had been more than worth it.

Pickaxe began walking toward the mines, his old diamond pickaxe in hand. Just because he and his friends saved the village and killed a Wither didn't mean they could slack off. Besides, he needed more iron to make an anvil. He was just about to reach the mines, when someone grabbed him, and pulled him off to the side. At first he was shocked, but he turned around, only to see… Sarah!? What was she doing? Wait, was she… blushing!? She pulled Pickaxe close, to the point of which the two were practically in each others faces.

Without warning, she kissed him on his cheek.

When she finished, she ran off without saying a word, her face redder than he had ever seen. Pickaxe was too shocked to do anything. How...why...what…, was his current thought process in a nutshell. Eventually, he had to shake it off, distracting himself by mining. Even then, he couldn't get what Sarah had just done out of his mind. She hadn't even shown interest in him since their first meeting. The only time he'd ever seen her act like this was when…

...was when… she was looking at him… at the dance…

Sometime later, Pickaxe emerged from the mines, having just enough iron and a bunch of other resources. He planned on retreating to his house and call it a day, but then he heard someone shouting, "HEY! PICKAXE!" He turned around, surprised to see Texik and the gang (as well as Rosetta) sat on logs around a campfire. He joined them, trying not to bring up the fact that Sarah was expertly avoiding eye contact with him the entire time.

Other than that, it was a really good conversation between friends.

Eventually, sunset began to greet the land. "Man," said Endre, recollecting previous events, "We've all been through so much. Jewel came back home, Parker turned out to be a crazed maniac, we defeated a Wither…" Everyone agreed with him wholeheartedly. They really had been through a lot, hadn't they? "What else is there?" asked Rosetta, cleary wondering if there was another challenge they were yet to face. Pickaxe looked at Rosetta. Then at Endre. Everyone looked at him, as though he possessed knowledge very few obtain. He pulled out an ender pearl.

"Where else..." he began, "...but the End?"

End of Book Two: Nether Dead